Interleukin-1beta and tumor necrosis factor-alpha are expressed by different subsets of microglia and macrophages after ischemic stroke in mice

Background  

Interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) are expressed by microglia and infiltrating macrophages following ischemic stroke. Whereas IL-1β is primarily neurotoxic in ischemic stroke, TNF-α may have neurotoxic and/or neuroprotective effects. We investigated whether IL-1β and TNF-α are synthesized by overlapping or segregated populations of cells after ischemic stroke in mice.     

Shuttle vectors for <Emphasis Type="Italic">Candida albicans</Emphasis>: control of plasmid copy number and elevated expression of cloned genes

Plasmids containing the inosine monophosphate dehydrogenase gene CaIMH3 from Candida albicans strain ATCC 32354 transform their host to resistance against mycophenolic acid (MPA). The transformants maintain the plasmids at a high copy number (20–40 per cell) and express the CaIMH3 gene at very high levels relative to untransformed controls. The plasmid copy number can be controlled by the concentration of MPA in the media. The transformation procedure is reproducible and the efficiency of transformation is high, up to 15,000 per microgram. Unrearranged plasmids are readily recovered by transforming total DNA from transformants back into Escherichia coli. C. albicans genes cloned into the plasmid are expressed at elevated levels relative to untransformed controls. A derivative vector containing the CaMAL2 promoter and termination sequences expresses the CaERG11 ORF at high levels and confers moderate resistance to fluconazole. These shuttle vectors should facilitate global genomics approaches in C. albicans that have been hampered by its diploid genome.     

The Effects of Perceived Stress on Reactions to Messages Designed to Increase Health Behaviors

This study examined the impact of perceived stress on responses to messages that encouraged the performance of health promotion and disease detection behaviors. It was hypothesized that increases in perceived stress would be associated with decreased processing of messages encouraging disease detection behaviors, and that increases in perceived stress would not effect the processing of messages encouraging health promotion behaviors. To test these hypotheses participants completed a perceived stress measure and then read a message that encouraged the performance of either a health promotion or a disease detection behavior. Then the participants were asked to indicate their agreement with the message and to attempt to recall the message. The results indicated that participants experiencing higher levels of perceived stress spent less time reading and recalled less of the messages about detection behaviors than of the messages about promotion behaviors. When participants were experiencing lower levels of perceived stress these differences disappeared.

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Allogenic donor splenocytes pretreated with antisense peptide against B7 prolong cardiac allograft survival

The interaction of T cell CD28/CTLA-4 receptors with B7 on antigen-presenting cells (APCs) represents an important co-stimulatory pathway in T cell activation or anergy. Our previous study indicated that recipients immunized with allogenic donor immature dendritic cells (DCs) or resting B cells could induce specific immune tolerance and prolong allograft survival. A possible mechanism for this observation is that the expression of B7 molecules is either at a low level or lacking on these cells. The present study investigates whether blockade of B7 molecules on donor splenocytes with a B7 antisense peptide (B7AP), i.e. a peptide analogue of the CD28-binding region, could induce specific immune tolerance and prolong allograft survival in the recipients. Both the lymphocyte proliferation reaction and the mice pinna cardiac allograft experiment were performed to evaluate the role of B7AP in inducing specific immune tolerance in recipients in vitro and in vivo. The results showed that 56.65% and 20.52% of C57BL/6 splenocytes expressed B7.1 and B7.2 molecules, respectively, on their cell surface. There were no significant changes of the B7 expression on such splenocytes after being treated by the B7AP (53.28% and 19.06%, respectively). B7AP inhibited the mixed lymphocyte reaction by up to 38.4% and a dose-response correlation was observed for inhibition. The recipients (BALB/c) immunized with B7AP-pretreated C57BL/6 splenocytes induced a specific immune hypo-response (43%versus control) and notably prolonged survival of the C57BL/6 cardiac allograft by up to 20.3 days. In contrast to the normal saline group (average: 8.6 days) and FTD(10) control peptide group (<4 days), the cardiac allograft survival of the test group was extended for an additional 11.7 days. These results strongly support the notion that immunization with donor splenocytes, which had been pretreated with B7AP, induced specific immune tolerance and prolonged allograft survival in the recipients.     

大肠癌患者VEGF和NO血清水平及其与恶变程度的关系

目的:研究血清中血管内皮生长因子(VEGF)和一氧化氮(NO)表达水平及其与大肠癌恶变程度的关系。方法:分别采用酶联免疫吸附法(ELISA)测定和分光光度法检测46例大肠癌患者术前和30例健康人血清中VEGF和NO的含量。结果:大肠癌患者血清VEGF和NO表达水平均较健康人明显增高(P<0.01),且随着大肠癌浸润深度增加、有淋巴结转移以及Dukes分期愈晚者而显著增高(P<0.01)。血清VEGF与NO含量呈明显正相关(r=0.8152,P<0.01)。结论:VEGF和NO与大肠癌的发生、发展及转移调控过程有关,术前检测血清VEGF和NO含量对判断大肠癌的浸润转移以及Dukes分期具有重要价值。     

脂蛋白脂酶基因缺陷的极度高甘油三酯血症小鼠胰腺炎的研

目的:利用一种特殊的脂蛋白脂酶（LPL）基因缺陷的极度高甘油三酯血症(HTG)小鼠，作为HTG性胰腺炎的实验动物模型，研究其胰腺炎发病特点。 方法:检测野生型及LPL缺陷的遗传性极度HTG小鼠血浆淀粉酶活性并观察胰腺的形态学改变，研究自发性胰腺炎的发生情况；通过腹腔注射左旋精氨酸（L-Arg）诱导小鼠发生急性胰腺炎（AP），研究HTG时胰腺炎易感性的变化。 结果:对胰腺组织的病理观察表明，LPL缺陷小鼠中约34.5%可发生自发性胰腺炎，特点主要为炎细胞浸润和腺泡破坏，有时伴纤维化和出血，病变严重程度与血浆TG水平呈正相关（r=0.604,P<0.05），血浆淀粉酶活性与对照组相比无明显差异。L-Arg诱导的LPL缺陷实验组小鼠胰腺炎病理损害明显重于野生型实验组（P<0.01），但两组间血浆淀粉酶活性无显著差异。 结论:LPL缺陷的HTG小鼠可发生自发性胰腺炎，对于L-Arg诱导的AP比野生型小鼠更加易感，为进一步研究HTG性胰腺炎的发病机制提供了理想的动物模型。     

Rice as a model for centromere and heterochromatin research

Rice (Oryza sativa) has become an important model plant species in numerous research projects involving genome, molecular and evolutionary biology. In this review we describe the reasons why rice provides an excellent model system for centromere and heterochromatin research. In most multicellular eukaryotes, centromeres and heterochromatic domains contain long arrays of repetitive DNA elements that are recalcitrant to DNA sequencing. In contrast, three rice centromeres and the majority of the cytologically defined heterochromatin in the rice genome have been sequenced to high quality, providing an unparalleled resource compared to other model multicellular eukaryotes. Most importantly, active genes have been discovered in the functional domains of several rice centromeres. The centromeric genes and sequence resources provide an unprecedented opportunity to study function and evolution of centromeres and centromere-associated genes.     

Redescription of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Bacciger microacetabularis</Emphasis> (Martorelli et Suriano, 1983) nov. comb. parasitizing <Emphasis Type="Italic">Paralichthys orbignyanus</Emphasis> (Pisces,Paralichthyidae) from Argentina

In this paper Steringotrema microacetabularis (Suriano et Martorelli, 1983) is redescribed and transferred to Bacciger Nicoll, 1924 in the Faustulidae Poche, 1926 based on newly collected material from the type-host, Paralichthys orbignyanus Valenciennes, 1839 and the type-locality, Mar Chiquita coastal lagoon, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. A careful re-examination of the new specimens shows that some anatomical characteristics were ignored or incompletely described by the previous authors and they are included herein. The species is tentatively transferred to Bacciger with which it appears to have closest affinity. Despite the anatomical differences detailed in this paper, confirmation of this proposal must await further work, including molecular studies.     

A new species of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Falcaustra</Emphasis> (Nematoda,Kathlaniidae) and other nematodes from <Emphasis Type="Italic">Sphenomorphus simus</Emphasis> (Squamata,Scincidae) from Papua New Guinea

Falcaustra papuensis sp. nov. (Ascaridida, Kathlaniidae) from the large intestine of Sphenomorphus simus (Squamata, Sciencidae) is described and illustrated. Falcaustra papuensis represents the 4th Australo-Papuan species assigned to this genus and is distinguished from other Australo-Papuan species by the distribution pattern of caudal papillae (6 precloacal, 6 adcloacal, 8 postcloacal, and 1 median), length of spicules (561–714 μm) and presence of a pseudosucker. Sphenomorphus simus was found to harbor 2 additional species of nematodes, Meteterakis crombiei and Oswaldocruzia bakeri. Sphenomorphus simus represents a new host record for each of these nematode species.