Butanol Extract of Acanthopanax senticosus (Rupr. et Maxim.) Harms Alleviates Atherosclerosis in Apolipoprotein E-Deficient Mice Fed a High-Fat Diet

This study investigated the effect of butanol extract of AS (ASBUE) on atherosclerosis in apolipoprotein E-deficient (ApoE^−/−) mice. The mice were administered ASBUE (390 or 130 mg/kg/day) or rosuvastatin (RSV) via oral gavage for eight weeks. In ApoE^−/− mice, ASBUE suppressed the abnormal body weight gain and improved serum and liver biochemical indicators. ASBUE remarkably reduced the aortic plaque area, improved liver pathological conditions, and lipid metabolism abnormalities, and altered the intestinal microbiota structure in ApoE^−/− mice. In the vascular tissue of ASBUE-treated mice, P-IKKβ, P-NFκB, and P-IκBα levels tended to decrease, while IκB-α increased in high fat-diet-fed atherosclerotic mice. These findings demonstrated the anti-atherosclerotic potential of ASBUE, which is mediated by the interaction between the gut microbiota and lipid metabolism and regulated via the Nuclear Factor-kappa B (NF-κB) pathway. This work paves the groundwork for subsequent studies to develop innovative drugs to treat atherosclerosis.     

人前列腺生长因子的分离纯化及生物活性鉴定

从人良性增生前列腺组织中经硫酸铵沉淀和肝素－琼脂糖凝胶层析纯化出人前列腺生长因子（ｈＰＧＦ）,纯化倍数约１０００倍,ＳＤＳ－ＰＡＧＥ和等电聚焦电泳示分子量约为１７ｋＤ、等电点同标准ｂＦＧＦ,利用分离培养的人前列腺间质成纤维细胞进行活性鉴定,发现以１．３～１．７ｍｏｌ／ＬＮａＣｌ洗脱部分为ｈＰＧＦ,活性最高,对间质成纤维细胞有显著刺激增殖作用。     

四川55种鱼生活史型的研究

四川５５种鱼生活史型的研究刁晓明,罗一兵李波（西南农业大学水产系,重庆６３０７１６）（重庆大学计算机系,６３００００）ＬｉｆｅＨｉｓｔｏｒｙＰａｔｔｅｒｎｓｏｆ５５ＦｉｓｈＳｐｅｃｉｅｓｉｎＳｉｃｈｕａｎ￥ＤｉａｏＸｉａｏｍｉｎｇ;ＬｕｏＹｉｂｉｎｇ...     

Complementing amino acid substitutions within loop 6 of the alpha/beta-barrel active site influence the CO2/O2 specificity of chloroplast ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase

Photosynthesis-deficient mutant 45-3B of the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii contains a chloroplast mutation that causes valine-331 to be replaced by alanine within the large subunit of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase. This amino acid substitution occurs in loop 6 of the alpha/beta-barrel active site, three residues distant from catalytic lysine-334. The mutation reduces the specific activity of the enzyme and also reduces its CO2/O2 specificity factor by 42%, but the amount of holoenzyme is unaffected. In a previous study, an intragenic-suppressor mutation, named S40-9D, was selected that causes threonine-342 to be replaced by isoleucine, thereby increasing the CO2/O2 specificity of the mutant enzyme by 36%. To determine which other residues might be able to complement the original mutation, nine additional genetically independent revertants have now been analyzed. Another intragenic suppressor, represented by mutation S61-2J, causes glycine-344 to be replaced by serine. This change increases the CO2/O2 specificity of the mutant enzyme by 25%. Of the revertants recovered and analyzed, the mutant enzyme was improved only due to true reversion or by intragenic suppression mediated by substitutions at residues 342 or 344. Changes in the physical properties of the two pairs of complementing substitutions indicate that steric effects within loop 6 are responsible for the observed changes in the CO2/O2 specificity of the enzyme.     

Comprehensive profiling of accessible surface glycans of mammalian sperm using a lectin microarray

It is well known that cell surface glycans or glycocalyx play important roles in sperm motility, maturation and fertilization. A comprehensive profile of the sperm surface glycans will greatly facilitate both basic research (sperm glycobiology) and clinical studies, such as diagnostics of infertility. As a group of natural glycan binders, lectin is an ideal tool for cell surface glycan profiling. However, because of the lack of effective technology, only a few lectins have been tested for lectin-sperm binding profiles. To address this challenge, we have developed a procedure for high-throughput probing of mammalian sperm with 91 lectins on lectin microarrays. Normal sperm from human, boar, bull, goat and rabbit were collected and analyzed on the lectin microarrays. Positive bindings of a set of ~50 lectins were observed for all the sperm of 5 species, which indicated a wide range of glycans are on the surface of mammalian sperm. Species specific lectin bindings were also observed. Clustering analysis revealed that the distances of the five species according to the lectin binding profiles are consistent with that of the genome sequence based phylogenetic tree except for rabbit. The procedure that we established in this study could be generally applicable for sperm from other species or defect sperm from the same species. We believe the lectin binding profiles of the mammalian sperm that we established in this study are valuable for both basic research and clinical studies.     

蛋白质-RNA序列结构界面偏好性及用于对接打分统计势的构建

本文对来自PDB (Protein Data Bank)数据库的蛋白质-RNA复合物结构构建了非冗余非核糖体数据库(694个结构),并对此数据库统计了蛋白质和RNA序列及二级结构的界面偏好性.结果发现,蛋白质β折叠、3_(10)-helix和RNA未配对核苷酸,尤其是未配对中空间排列不规整的核苷酸,具有显著的界面偏好性.据此,对二级结构进行归类,建立了考虑序列和二级结构信息的60×12氨基酸-核苷酸成对偏好势,并将其作为打分函数用于蛋白质-RNA对接中近天然结构的筛选.结果表明,该60×12统计势的打分成功率为65.77%,优于考虑蛋白质或RNA二级结构信息的统计势,及我们小组之前在251个结构上构建的60×8~*统计势.该工作有助于加深对蛋白质-RNA特异性识别的理解,可推动复合物结构预测的进展.     

基于多源数据的“安全公正空间”在大通湖流域环境管理中的应用

如何在确保生态系统安全的同时有效地开发和利用资源、保障人类福祉是当前面临的挑战。近年来兴起的“安全公正空间”(Safe and Just Operating Space, SJOS)理论框架为人类可持续发展提供了有效的评估方法, 即充分利用自然资源来提高人类社会福祉的同时确保环境生态安全。研究以长江中下游地区大通湖流域为例, 根据流域内的社会经济数据、环境监测数据和湖泊沉积记录, 从社会基础和环境系统两个方面构建该流域的SJOS框架, 并利用环境库兹涅兹曲线来揭示总体环境变化特征。结果表明: 流域内淡水利用、空气质量、水质均突破环境上限, 处于危险的状态, 此外流域内无贫困和产业创新两个社会基础维度的完成度相对较低。环境库兹涅兹曲线揭示了大通湖流域内社会-生态系统大致分为初始阶段(1950s—1980s)、严重退化阶段(1980s—2000s)和逐步改善(2000s后)三个阶段。研究为维持区域可持续发展提供了重要的参考信息, 同时也为区域SJOS框架的构建提供了一种有效的方法。     

Synergistic inhibitory effect of berberine and icotinib on non-small cell lung cancer cells via inducing autophagic cell death and apoptosis

Apoptosis - Resistance to epidermal growth factor receptor-tyrosin kinase inhibitors (TKIs, e.g. icotinib) remains a major clinical challenge. Non-small cell lung cancer patients with wild-type...     

模拟氮沉降对长白山苔原灌草混合群落中植物光合特性的影响

由于草本植物持续上侵长白山灌木苔原,形成了强烈的灌草群落种间竞争。本研究以牛皮杜鹃-小叶章群落（Comm.Rhododendron aureum-Deyeuxia purpurea）为对象,根据小叶章的入侵程度设置4种盖度差异显著的样方（无、轻度、中度、重度入侵）,并设3个施氮水平（自然状态、添加11.8 kgN·hm^-2·a^-1及添加23.6 kgN·hm^-2·a^-1）,进行原位氮沉降模拟实验,监测灌木牛皮杜鹃和草本植物小叶章光合特性的差异和变化趋势,研究小叶章入侵苔原带的内在生理机制。结果显示：（1）小叶章净光合速率大于牛皮杜鹃,小叶章盖度越高、其叶绿素含量越高,而牛皮杜鹃叶绿素含量降低,随着小叶章入侵程度的增加,其净光合速率增强;（2）施氮可以提高牛皮杜鹃和小叶章的叶绿素含量和净光合速率,促进植物生长,但小叶章的增幅更大,从而增强了小叶章的竞争优势;（3）施氮和小叶章入侵具有复合作用,小叶章盖度越大,对其施氮导致小叶章净光合速率与叶绿素含量的增幅越大,而牛皮杜鹃的增幅减小。所以小叶章的成功入侵可能与其具有较高的净光合速率有关,并且施氮有利于提高小叶章的净光合速率,随着氮沉降的继续增加,更有利于小叶章的生长并提高其竞争力。     

2,3,4′,5-Tetrahydroxystilbene-2-O-β-D-glucoside Suppresses Expression of Adhesion Molecules in Aortic Wall of Dietary Atherosclerotic Rats and Promonocytic U937 Cells

We sought to investigate whether TSG suppressed the ICAM-1/VCAM-1 expression in dietary atherosclerotic rats and in Ox-LDL-induced U937 cells. For this purpose, 60 male Sprague–Dawley rats were randomly-and-equally divided into six groups. Atherosclerosis was induced by feeding rats a hyperlipidemic diet. TSG (120, 60 or 30 mg/kg/day) was administered by oral gavage. Simvastatin (2 mg/kg/day) was administered as positive control whereas physiological saline (0.9 % NaCl) served as untreated control. After 12 weeks, rats were euthanized by ethyl carbonate (1,200 mg/kg) and aortic wall samples were collected. Besides, U937 cells were stimulated for 48 h by Ox-LDL (80 μg/mL) with and without TSG (120, 60, 30 μg/L) or simvastatin (100 μg/L). ICAM-1/VCAM-1 mRNA expression was determined by RT-PCR and protein expression was detected by immunohistochemistry and/or western blotting. The data show that ICAM-1/VCAM-1 mRNA/protein expression was significantly enhanced in atherosclerotic aortas compared with normal diet group. Ox-LDL-induced ICAM-1/VCAM-1 mRNA/protein expression in U937 cells. Importantly, TSG significantly inhibited ICAM-1/VCAM-1 expression in atherosclerotic aortas in a dose-dependent manner. TSG-pretreatment also inhibited ICAM-1/VCAM-1 expression in Ox-LDL-induced U937 cells. Therefore, we concluded that TSG suppressed the expression of adhesion (ICAM-1/VCAM-1) molecules both in vivo (in aortic wall of dietary atherosclerotic rats) and in vitro (U937 cells).