播散型组织胞浆菌病研究进展

组织胞浆菌病是由组织胞浆菌引起的深部真菌疾病。播散型组织胞浆菌病为所有临床分型中最为凶险的类型,其特点为起病急、发展快、死亡率高,诊断及治疗也颇为棘手。该病既往被认为是一种地方流行性疾病,多见于美国中西部等西半球地区,我国少见且多为输入性病例。但现阶段我国本土病例也屡有报道,故本文在复习相关文献基础上总结了播散型组织胞浆菌病的流行病学现状、易感人群、临床表现、诊断方法及治疗进展,以飨读者。     

Radially Oriented Single‐Crystal Primary Nanosheets Enable Ultrahigh Rate and Cycling Properties of LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2 Cathode Material for Lithium‐Ion Batteries

Ni‐rich Li[Ni_xCo_yMn_1?x?y]O₂ (x ≥ 0.8) layered oxides are the most promising cathode materials for lithium‐ion batteries due to their high reversible capacity of over 200 mAh g^?1. Unfortunately, the anisotropic properties associated with the α‐NaFeO₂ structured crystal grains result in poor rate capability and insufficient cycle life. To address these issues, a micrometer‐sized Ni‐rich LiNi_0.8Co_0.1Mn_0.1O₂ secondary cathode material consisting of radially aligned single‐crystal primary particles is proposed and synthesized. Concomitant with this unique crystallographic texture, all the exposed surfaces are active {010} facets, and 3D Li⁺ ion diffusion channels penetrate straightforwardly from surface to center, remarkably improving the Li⁺ diffusion coefficient. Moreover, coordinated charge–discharge volume change upon cycling is achieved by the consistent crystal orientation, significantly alleviating the volume‐change‐induced intergrain stress. Accordingly, this material delivers superior reversible capacity (203.4 mAh g^?1 at 3.0–4.3 V) and rate capability (152.7 mAh g^?1 at a current density of 1000 mA g^?1). Further, this structure demonstrates excellent cycling stability without any degradation after 300 cycles. The anisotropic morphology modulation provides a simple, efficient, and scalable way to boost the performance and applicability of Ni‐rich layered oxide cathode materials.     

培土栽培对麻竹笋品质的影响机理研究

为了评价不同栽培模式对麻竹笋品质影响,提高竹林经济效益,采用培土栽培和不培土栽培两种方式,通过研究麻竹笋外观形态、营养物质、呈味物质及氨基酸含量,分析了不同培土栽培对麻竹笋品质的影响。结果表明:(1)培土栽培的麻竹笋个体重量、基茎、长度及可食率较不培土栽培竹笋分别显著提高了28.09%、12.76%、19.61%、23.53%,箨壁厚度显著降低了46.43%。(2)培土栽培的麻竹笋灰分、蛋白质、脂肪及淀粉含量较不培土栽培竹笋分别显著下降了10.08%、12.77%、26.09%、48.84%,而还原糖、可溶性糖、水分及维生素C含量均不同程度增加。(3)培土栽培的麻竹笋单宁、草酸、纤维素、木质素含量较不培土栽培竹笋分别下降26.32%、20.26%、39.12%、25.47%。(4)培土栽培的麻竹笋氨基酸总量较不培土栽培竹笋显著增加了26.08%,其中的苦味、芳香类和鲜味氨基酸含量占比均下降,但甜味氨基酸占比则显著上升。研究发现,培土栽培可以改善麻竹笋外观形态,同时增加竹笋甜味、减少粗糙度和酸涩味,从而使竹笋品质得到明显提升。     

A 1,500-year record of Antarctic seal populations in response to climate change

The historical seal populations at King George Island, Antarctica, for the past 1,500 years, have been estimated from the seal-hair abundance, bio-element concentrations, total organic carbon (TOC) and total nitrogen (TN) in one terrestrial sediment sequence influenced by seal excrement. Prior to human interference, the seal populations exhibited dramatic fluctuations with two peaks during 750–500 and 1400–1100 years before present (yr B.P.) and two troughs during 1100–750 and 500–200 yr B.P. A tentative comparison of the seal populations and historical climates in the Antarctic Peninsula region suggests that the seal populations may be linked to climate-related factors such as sea-ice coverage and atmospheric temperature.     

cAMP inhibition of Akt is mediated by activated and phosphorylated Rap1b

Rap1b has been implicated in the transduction of the cAMP mitogenic signal. Rap1b is phosphorylated and activated by cAMP, and its expression in cells where cAMP is mitogenic leads to an increase in G(1)/S phase entry and tumor formation. The PCCL3 thyroid follicular cells represent a differentiated and physiologically relevant system that requires thyrotropin (TSH), acting via cAMP, for a full mitogenic response. In this model system, cAMP stimulation of DNA synthesis requires activation and phosphorylation of Rap1b by the cAMP-dependent protein kinase A (PKA). This scenario presents the challenge of identifying biochemical processes involved in the phosphorylation-dependent Rap1b mitogenic action. In thyroid cells, Akt has been implicated in the stimulation of cell proliferation by TSH and cAMP. However, the mechanism(s) by which cAMP regulates Akt activity remains unclear. In this study we show that in PCCL3 cells 1) TSH inhibits Akt activity via cAMP and PKA; 2) Rap1b is required for cAMP inhibition of Akt; and 3) transduction of the cAMP signal into Akt requires activation as well as phosphorylation of Rap1b by PKA.     

Declining expression of a single epithelial cell‐autonomous gene accelerates age‐related thymic involution

Age‐related thymic involution may be triggered by gene expression changes in lymphohematopoietic and/or nonhematopoietic thymic epithelial cells (TECs). The role of epithelial cell‐autonomous gene FoxN1 may be involved in the process, but it is still a puzzle because of the shortage of evidence from gradual loss‐of‐function and exogenous gain‐of‐function studies. Using our recently generated loxP‐floxed‐FoxN1(fx) mouse carrying the ubiquitous CreER^T (uCreER^T) transgene with a low dose of spontaneous activation, which causes gradual FoxN1 deletion with age, we found that the uCreER^T‐fx/fx mice showed an accelerated age‐related thymic involution owing to progressive loss of FoxN1⁺ TECs. The thymic aging phenotypes were clearly observable as early as at 3–6 months of age, resembling the naturally aged (18–22‐month‐old) murine thymus. By intrathymically supplying aged wild‐type mice with exogenous FoxN1‐cDNA, thymic involution and defective peripheral CD4⁺ T‐cell function could be partially rescued. The results support the notion that decline of a single epithelial cell‐autonomous gene FoxN1 levels with age causes primary deterioration in TECs followed by impairment of the total postnatal thymic microenvironment, and potentially triggers age‐related thymic involution in mice.     

Rapid DNA detection by interface PCR on nanoparticles

A novel, rapid DNA detection method based on fluorescence quenching of quantum dots (QDs) by gold nanoparticles (GNPs) through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was developed. In proof-of-concept experiments, the length of the amplicon DNA ranging from 152 to 1003 base pairs (bp) could be determined based on quenched fluorescence intensity with 136 bp as the lower limit of effective range. And the real sample detections were also achieved successfully by this developed method. Therefore, this DNA detection method has the potential to be the powerful gene diagnostic tool.     

Synthesis and cytotoxicity of diam(m)ineplatinum(II) complexes with 2,2-bis(hydroxymethyl)malonate as the leaving group

Six diam(m)ineplatinum(II) complexes with 2,2-bis(hydroxymethyl)malonate as the leaving group were synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, FAB-MS, FT-IR, (1)H and (13)C NMR along with a single crystal X-ray diffraction for a representative compound. All the complexes were evaluated for the cytotoxicity against human cancer cell lines A549/ATCC, HT-29, SGC-7901. The activity is related to the nature of the am(m)ine ligand. cis-[Pt(II)(1R,2R-Diaminocyclohexane)·2,2-bis(hydroxymethyl)malonate] (complex 5) exhibits the greatest activity among those six complexes, and is even more active than its parent compound oxaliplatin. LD(50) was found to be 115 mg/kg by iv administration to ICR mice, much larger than that of oxaliplatin (LD(50)=19 mg/kg).     

Glycolate oxidase isozymes are coordinately controlled by GLO1 and GLO4 in rice

Glycolate oxidase (GLO) is a key enzyme in photorespiratory metabolism. Four putative GLO genes were identified in the rice genome, but how each gene member contributes to GLO activities, particularly to its isozyme profile, is not well understood. In this study, we analyzed how each gene plays a role in isozyme formation and enzymatic activities in both yeast cells and rice tissues. Five GLO isozymes were detected in rice leaves. GLO1 and GLO4 are predominately expressed in rice leaves, while GLO3 and GLO5 are mainly expressed in the root. Enzymatic assays showed that all yeast-expressed GLO members except GLO5 have enzymatic activities. Further analyses suggested that GLO1, GLO3 and GLO4 interacted with each other, but no interactions were observed for GLO5. GLO1/GLO4 co-expressed in yeast exhibited the same isozyme pattern as that from rice leaves. When either GLO1 or GLO4 was silenced, expressions of both genes were simultaneously suppressed and most of the GLO activities were lost, and consistent with this observation, little GLO isozyme protein was detected in the silenced plants. In contrast, no observable effect was detected when GLO3 was suppressed. Comparative analyses between the GLO isoforms expressed in yeast and the isozymes from rice leaves indicated that two of the five isozymes are homo-oligomers composed of either GLO1 or GLO4, and the other three are hetero-oligomers composed of both GLO1 and GLO4. Our current data suggest that GLO isozymes are coordinately controlled by GLO1 and GLO4 in rice, and the existence of GLO isozymes and GLO molecular and compositional complexities implicate potential novel roles for GLO in plants.     

ROR1 is expressed in human breast cancer and associated with enhanced tumor-cell growth

Receptor-tyrosine-kinase-like orphan receptor 1 (ROR1) is expressed during embryogenesis and by certain leukemias, but not by normal adult tissues. Here we show that the neoplastic cells of many human breast cancers express the ROR1 protein and high-level expression of ROR1 in breast adenocarcinoma was associated with aggressive disease. Silencing expression of ROR1 in human breast cancer cell lines found to express this protein impaired their growth in vitro and also in immune-deficient mice. We found that ROR1 could interact with casein kinase 1 epsilon (CK1ε) to activate phosphoinositide 3-kinase-mediated AKT phosphorylation and cAMP-response-element-binding protein (CREB), which was associated with enhanced tumor-cell growth. Wnt5a, a ligand of ROR1, could induce ROR1-dependent signaling and enhance cell growth. This study demonstrates that ROR1 is expressed in human breast cancers and has biological and clinical significance, indicating that it may be a potential target for breast cancer therapy.