Cardiac Fibroblasts Contribute to Myocardial Dysfunction in Mice with Sepsis: The Role of NLRP3 Inflammasome Activation

Myocardial contractile dysfunction in sepsis is associated with the increased morbidity and mortality. Although the underlying mechanisms of the cardiac depression have not been fully elucidated, an exaggerated inflammatory response is believed to be responsible. Nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptor containing pyrin domain 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome is an intracellular platform that is involved in the maturation and release of interleukin (IL)-1β. The aim of the present study is to evaluate whether sepsis activates NLRP3 inflammasome/caspase-1/IL-1β pathway in cardiac fibroblasts (CFs) and whether this cytokine can subsequently impact the function of cardiomyocytes (cardiac fibroblast-myocyte cross-talk). We show that treatment of CFs with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induces upregulation of NLRP3, activation of caspase-1, as well as the maturation (activation) and release of IL-1β. In addition, the genetic (small interfering ribonucleic acid [siRNA]) and pharmacological (glyburide) inhibition of the NLRP3 inflammasome in CFs can block this signaling pathway. Furthermore, the inhibition of the NLRP3 inflammasome in cardiac fibroblasts ameliorated the ability of LPS-chalenged CFs to impact cardiomyocyte function as assessed by intracellular cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) responses in cardiomyocytes. Salient features of this the NLP3 inflammasome/ caspase-1 pathway were confirmed in in vivo models of endotoxemia/sepsis. We found that inhibition of the NLRP3 inflammasome attenuated myocardial dysfunction in mice with LPS and increased the survival rate in mice with feces-induced peritonitis. Our results indicate that the activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome in cardiac fibroblasts is pivotal in the induction of myocardial dysfunction in sepsis.     

色氨酸残基在磷酸烯醇式丙酮酸羧化酶催化功能中的作用

在pH7.5条件下,用NBS对PEP羧化酶中色氨酸残基进行共价修饰表明,PEP羧化酶中48个色氨酸残基均能被NBS修饰。用邹承鲁图解法求得,其中4个残基为酶表现催化活性所必需的。 PEP羧化酶的变构效应剂G6P、Gly及Mal分别与酶预保温后,再经NBS修饰,前两种处理中,同样浓度的NBS所用修饰的色氨酸残基数和处理后的残存酶活与对照相比有很大的差异,而用Mal处理的,两者与对照相差无几。     

马齿苋叶片PEP羧化酶的分子特性

马齿苋叶片PEPCase由四个相同的亚基组成,亚基分子量为83kD。远紫外CD光谱分析表明,此酶含有36.6％α—螺旋结构。马齿苋叶片PEPCase可被G6P激活,但不能被Gly、Ser激活。G6P可防止酶的尿素变性和枯草杆菌蛋白酶的作用。这种保护效应与G6P诱导的酶构象变化有关。 从酶对低温、高温及尿素的反应来看,马齿苋叶片PEPCase的稳定性高于高粱叶片PEP—Case,两者的免疫特性和电泳特性亦不同。     

垂体在刺激脑内渗透压感受器引起的肾脏反应中的作用

实验在α氯醛糖和氨基甲酸乙酯混合麻醉的大鼠中进行。脑室内注射高张盐水(icv.HS)后,肾血浆流量、肾小球滤过率、尿量、尿钠排出量、尿钾排出量和渗透物质清除率均增加,游离水清除率下降。去除垂体后,icv.HS不再能引起上述肾脏反应。另外给大鼠静脉注射血管升压素(VP)拮抗剂(V_1和V_2受体拮抗剂),并不能削弱上述icv.HS引起的肾脏反应。脑室内注射高张盐水后,尿中多巴胺(DA)排出量无显著增多;给予多巴脱羧酶抑制剂苄丝肼也不能削弱icv.HS引起的肾脏反应。上述实验结果表明,在本实验条件下刺激脑内渗透压感受器引起的肾脏反应依赖于垂体的完整性,但看来并不依赖于外周的VP和DA,故垂体通过何种机制介导icv.HS引起上述肾脏反应,有待于进一步的研究。     

杂交水稻干种子内存在α-淀粉酶

水稻种子萌发过程中的α-淀粉酶由盾片上皮细胞合成而运入胚乳(Okamoto等1979,1980),或由种胚分泌的赤霉素(GA_3)的触发作用在糊粉层中诱导形成(Murakami 1966,Ogawa 1966,Tangka等1970)。但迄今尚未见谷类作物干胚乳中预存有α-淀粉酶的报道(Daussant等1983,Tanaka等     

大熊猫与金黄地鼠体外异种受精的研究

在大熊猫精子与地鼠卵的体外异种受精中,发现大熊猫精子穿入地鼠卵后可以激活受精卵产生极区,释放第二极体,受精卵内雌性原核形成。与此同时,地鼠卵的胞质也能促使大熊猫精子头发育成雄性原核,异种精卵间的相互作用与同种受精的相似。 细胞松弛素B能阻抑大熊猫雄性原核从地鼠卵皮层迁移到卵的中央,实验表明大熊猫雄性原核的迁移也受异种卵的微丝的控制。     

贝氏隐孢子虫在珍珠鸡体内发育的扫描电镜观察

采用扫描电镜观察了贝氏隐孢子虫在珍珠鸡体内的发育。大量球形虫体镶嵌于气管和法氏囊微绒毛丛中。气管纤毛消失,微绒毛生发生融合。法氏囊粘膜表面可观察到宿主细胞突起,在突起的表面有数个虫体寄生。滋养体呈球状,平均大小为１．７μｍ。裂殖体拥有４个或８个香蕉状裂殖子。成熟大配子体大小为 ４.２ × ３．３μｍ,在其侧面可观察到锯齿状突起。偶尔能观察到卵囊,其表 面有一明显裂缝。虫体逸出后所留下的带虫空泡似弹坑状,根据其结构可将其分为两类,其中一类为裂殖子或小配子的形成场所,另一类为卵囊的形成场所。     

重组人GM—CSF基因在昆虫细胞中的表达

利用苜蓿夜蛾核型多角体病毒（ＡｃＮＰＶ）带β－Ｇａｌａｃｔｏｓｉｄａｓｅ基因标记的非融合蛋白基因转移载体ｐＢｌｕｅＢａｃ将人粒细胞巨噬细胞集落刺激因子（ｈＧＭ－ＣＳＦ）基因成功地插入病毒ＡｃＮＰＶ的基因组中．ｈＧＭ－ＣＳＦ基因在感染重组病毒的草地夜蛾（Ｓｐｏｄｏｐｔｅｒａｆｒｕｇｉｐｅｒｄａ）培养细胞Ｓｆ９中得到表达,感染后的Ｓｆ９细胞培养液能刺激人骨髓细胞在体外形成典型的集落,表达水平可达２．７×１０５５ＣＦＵ／ｍｌ。以ｈＧＭ－ＣＳＦ单抗所作的ＷｅｓｔｅｒｎＢｌｏｔｔｉｎｇ表明,表达的ｈＧＭ－ＣＳＦ对是３种糖基化程度不同的产物,分子量分别约为１５ｋｄ,１８ｋｄ和２０ｋｄ。