Three-dimensional perfused cell culture

Compelling evidence suggests the limitation and shortcomings of the current and well established cell culture method using multi-well plates, flasks and Petri dishes. These are particularly important when cell functions are sensitive to the local microenvironment, cell–cell and cell–extracellular matrix interactions. There is a clear need for advanced cell culture systems which mimic in vivo and more physiological conditions. This review summarises and analyses recent progress in three dimensional (3D) cell culture with perfusion as the next generation cell culture tools, while excluding engineered tissue culture where three dimensional scaffold has to be used for structural support and perfusion for overcoming mass transfer control. Apart from research activities in academic community, product development in industry is also included in this review.     

Plasminogen Deficiency Causes Reduced Corticospinal Axonal Plasticity and Functional Recovery after Stroke in Mice

Tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) has been implicated in neurite outgrowth and neurological recovery post stroke. tPA converts the zymogen plasminogen (Plg) into plasmin. In this study, using plasminogen knockout (Plg^-/-) mice and their Plg-native littermates (Plg^+/+), we investigated the role of Plg in axonal remodeling and neurological recovery after stroke. Plg^+/+ and Plg^-/- mice (n = 10/group) were subjected to permanent intraluminal monofilament middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAo). A foot-fault test and a single pellet reaching test were performed prior to and on day 3 after stroke, and weekly thereafter to monitor functional deficit and recovery. Biotinylated dextran amine (BDA) was injected into the left motor cortex to anterogradely label the corticospinal tract (CST). Animals were euthanized 4 weeks after stroke. Neurite outgrowth was also measured in primary cultured cortical neurons harvested from Plg^+/+ and Plg^-/- embryos. In Plg^+/+ mice, the motor functional deficiency after stroke progressively recovered with time. In contrast, recovery in Plg^-/- mice was significantly impaired compared to Plg^+/+ mice (p<0.01). BDA-positive axonal density of the CST originating from the contralesional cortex in the denervated side of the cervical gray matter was significantly reduced in Plg^-/- mice compared with Plg^+/+ mice (p<0.05). The behavioral outcome was highly correlated with the midline-crossing CST axonal density (R²>0.82, p<0.01). Plg^-/- neurons exhibited significantly reduced neurite outgrowth. Our data suggest that plasminogen-dependent proteolysis has a beneficial effect during neurological recovery after stroke, at least in part, by promoting axonal remodeling in the denervated spinal cord.     

Proteolytic processing of Blattella germanica vitellin during early embryo development

In the eggs of the cockroach Blattella germanica, vitellin (Vt) utilization is initiated 4 days postovulation by the proteolytic processing of its three subunits. These reactions yield a specific set of peptides that are consumed by the developing embryo. A yolk proteinase activity, believed central to this processing event, has been investigated. First expressed at day 3 postovulation, just prior to Vt's processing, its specific activity with synthetic substrates increased four-fold to 18-fold through day 6. In addition, a mixing experiment showed that these proteinases(s) can also process Vt's large subunits in vitro. A relationship between Vt processing and proteinase specific activity was also noted with two B. germanica translocation heterozygotes, which displayed differences in the extent of Vt processing. One group of eggs (group A) failed to process any Vt subunit. A second group (B) processed the M_r 102,000 subunit but not the M_r 95,000. A third group (C) processed their Vt normally. Proteinase specific activities in the yolk of translocant's eggs at day 6 mirrored the extent of processing, being highest in group C eggs and effectively absent from the yolk of group A eggs. Eggs defective in Vt processing also contained arrested embryos. It is concluded that the yolk proteinase activity described here participates in Vt processing at day 4 postovulation. Microscopic examination of yolk obtained from eggs of wild type females showed that, as processing began in vivo (day 4), the yolk granules also underwent an abrupt decrease in size from diameters of 15–30 μm to 3–10 μm. Yolk granules of those translocant's eggs that were defective in Vt processing did not undergo this size decrease, suggesting that granule reorganization and Vt proteolysis may be linked functionally.     

Bioenergetics of growth of a cyprinid, Phoxinus phoxinus: the effect of ration, temperature and body size on food consumption, faecal production and nitrogenous excretion

Food consumption, faecal production and nitrogen excretion by minnows, Phoxinus phoxinus , weighing 1–5.5 g were studied at five rations ranging from starvation to ad libitum and four temperatures ranging from 5 to 15°C.
The maximum rate of food consumption (C_max) was related to body weight ( W ) and temperature ( T ) by the relationship: C _max= aW^b1T^b2 . There were significant daily variations in C_max, which tended to decline over time. Absorption efficiency increased with increasing ration size and decreasing temperature. Body weight had no significant effect on the faecal production. The equation F = a C^b1e^b2 T described the relationship between faecal production ( F ), food consumption ( C ) and temperature. Ammonia-N predominated over urea-N in the excreta of most experimental fish. The proportion of urea-N in the total nitrogen excreted was generally higher at lower rations than at higher rations. Rates of nitrogen excretion increased with increased ration size and were, to a lesser extent, influenced by temperature. Body weight had no significant effect on the nitrogen excretion by feeding minnows. The equation N = a+b_lT+b₂C described the effects of food consumption and temperature on nitrogen excretion ( N ) other than urea-N excretion. The relationship between urea-N excretion ( N_u ), food consumption and temperature was described by the equation N_u= ae^b1T ((C+1) ^b 2.
On the average, 11 % of food energy was lost in faecal production and nitrogen excretion by minnows feeding on whiteworms, Enchytraeus spp.     

Preparation of [B23-D-alanine]des-(B25-B30)-hexapeptide-insulin by a combination of enzymic and non-enzymic synthesis.

Des-(B25-B30)-hexapeptide-insulin with B23-glycine replaced by D-alanine was prepared by a combination of enzymic and non-enzymic syntheses. The purified product was homogeneous in polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis and could be crystallized. The biological activity in vivo of crystalline [B23-D-Ala]des-(B25-B30)-hexapeptide-insulin was determined as 58% of that of standard pig insulin (27 i.u./mg).     

质粒YRP7的基本特性鉴定

质粒YRP7用氯霉素法扩增,碱变性裂解法提取,酸酚法及核糖核酸酶纯化后,得到了高产量(5.6mg/L培养液),高纯度(A260:A280=2.0)的质粒制品,经转化实验及酶切分析确定YRP7具有下列特征:大小为5.41±0.10kb,可赋予宿主细胞AmP~r、Tet~r的表型,对大肠杆菌C600的转化频率为10~(-6)、转化效率为1.5×10~6转化子/mgDNA。限制性内切酶BamH Ⅰ、ECoRⅠ、Hind Ⅲ及PstⅠ在其分子上的切点数分别为1、2、2、2,并确定了各酶切片段的分子大小,对BanHⅠ的单切点,经插入失活法证实其位于Tet~r的基因上。由上述特征可确定,质粒YRP7是一个比较理想的克隆载体。     

大黄素对豚鼠结肠带平滑肌细胞电和收缩性能的影响

联合应用平滑肌肌力张力测量技术和细胞内微电极记录技术,同步地现测豚鼠结肠带平滑肌自发的肌源性电活动和力学活动,研究了大黄素的药物作用。大黄素能缩短膜电位的波动周期,从而缩短峰电位集簇发放的周期;相应地,可使平滑肌的分节律收缩加快,幅值指数升高。大黄素又能促使细胞膜电位自发的周期性波动的出现,导致峰电位的集簇发放;相应地,可使强直收缩转化为分节律收缩,即促进收缩形式向有利于肠道推进功能的方向转化。以上结果表明,大黄素能有效地提高豚鼠结肠带平滑肌细胞的电兴奋性和收缩功能,并且对其电学和力学活动的影响之间有明确的对应关系。     

烟碱对乙酰胆碱诱发豚鼠回肠收缩作用的调节

在离休豚鼠回肠标本上,ＡＣｈ诱发双相收缩反应：早期相收缩反应持续时间短,与神经节Ｎ受体有关;后期相收缩反应持续时间长,与平滑肌Ｍ受体有关。烟碱１０μｍｏｌ／Ｌ预孵育后,标本对烟碱激动神经节Ｎ受体诱发的收缩作用产生急性耐受,而ＡＣｈ激动平滑肌Ｍ受体诱发的收缩作用增强。     

Studies on atrophic change of soleus muscle and its countermeasures in suspended rat

In the environment of microgravity, the disused atrophy of skeletal muscle, especially leg's muscle, would occur. The three purposes of this study were: 1. To observe the dynamic changes of disused atrophy of skeletal muscle under simulated weightlessness; 2. To approach the mechanism of disused atrophy of muscle; 3. To approach the countermeasures for reducing the degree of atrophy of muscle.     

Role of pulmonary epithelial arginase-II in activation of fibroblasts and lung inflammaging

Elevated arginases including type-I (Arg-I) and type-II isoenzyme (Arg-II) are reported to play a role in aging, age-associated organ inflammaging, and fibrosis. A role of arginase in pulmonary aging and underlying mechanisms are not explored. Our present study shows increased Arg-II levels in aging lung of female mice, which is detected in bronchial ciliated epithelium, club cells, alveolar type 2 (AT2) pneumocytes, and fibroblasts (but not vascular endothelial and smooth muscle cells). Similar cellular localization of Arg-II is also observed in human lung biopsies. The age-associated increase in lung fibrosis and inflammatory cytokines, including IL-1β and TGF-β1 that are highly expressed in bronchial epithelium, AT2 cells, and fibroblasts, are ameliorated in arg-ii deficient (arg-ii^−/−) mice. The effects of arg-ii^−/− on lung inflammaging are weaker in male as compared to female animals. Conditioned medium (CM) from human Arg-II-positive bronchial and alveolar epithelial cells, but not that from arg-ii^−/− cells, activates fibroblasts to produce various cytokines including TGF-β1 and collagen, which is abolished by IL-1β receptor antagonist or TGF-β type I receptor blocker. Conversely, TGF-β1 or IL-1β also increases Arg-II expression. In the mouse models, we confirmed the age-associated increase in IL-1β and TGF-β1 in epithelial cells and activation of fibroblasts, which is inhibited in arg-ii^−/− mice. Taken together, our study demonstrates a critical role of epithelial Arg-II in activation of pulmonary fibroblasts via paracrine release of IL-1β and TGF-β1, contributing to pulmonary inflammaging and fibrosis. The results provide a novel mechanistic insight in the role of Arg-II in pulmonary aging.