IL-17 Eliminates the Therapeutic Effects of Myelin Basic Protein-Induced Nasal Tolerance in Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis by Activating IL-6

Interleukin (IL)-17 is a proinflammatory cytokine primarily secreted by Th17 cells, which are a CD4⁺ T-cell subset. Th17 cells and IL-17 are important in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis and in its established animal model, experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). However, it is unclear whether IL-17 contributes to EAE immune tolerance. We used the myelin basic protein (MBP) peptide MBP 68–86 to induce nasal tolerance to EAE, and simultaneously interfered with the tolerance by treatment with different doses of IL-17. We found that IL-17 dramatically interfered with MBP 68–86-induced immune tolerance. IL-17 administration increased IL-6 release, skewing T cell differentiation towards Th17 cells and decreasing the number of Treg cells. This led to an imbalance between Treg cells and Th17 cells and spurred the development of EAE.     

A proportion of proteinase 3 (PR3)-specific anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA) only react with PR3 after cleavage of its N-terminal activation dipeptide

ANCA directed against PR3 are highly specific for Wegener's granulomatosis and microscopic polyangiitis, and have been implicated in the pathogenesis of small vessel vasculitis. Most PR3-ANCA are directed against conformational epitopes on PR3. This study was designed to determine whether the cleavage of the N-terminal activation dipeptide of PR3 is required for the binding of PR3-ANCA. Recombinant PR3 (rPR3) variants were expressed in the epithelial cell line, 293. As confirmed by radiosequencing, the rPR3 secreted into the 293 cell culture supernatant is N-terminally unprocessed. Two enzymatically inactive rPR3 mutants were expressed in 293 cells: rPR3-S176A and δ -rPR3-S176A. rPR3-S176A contains the N-propetide Ala-2-Glu-1, δ -rPR3-S176A does not. Culture supernatants of rPR3-S176A and δ -rPR3-S176A expressing 293 cells were used as sources of target antigen for PR3-ANCA testing by capture ELISA. Forty unselected consecutive PR3-ANCA⁺ sera were tested. With δ -rPR3-S176A as antigen all 40 were recognized, compared with only 34 of 40 when rPR3-S176A served as target antigen. The majority of the serum samples contained a mixture of antibodies reacting with epitopes accessible on the mature and on the proform of PR3. In conclusion, the cleavage of the N-terminal activation dipeptide of PR3 is not an absolute requirement for recognition by all PR3-ANCA. However, a substantial proportion of PR3-ANCA recognize (a) target antigen(s) exposed only after the conformational change of PR3 associated with the N-terminal processing. In 15% of sera this PR3-ANCA subset occurred exclusively. PR3-ANCA subtypes can be differentiated using specifically designed rPR3 variants as target antigens, and non-haematopoietic mammalian cells without regulated secretory pathway can be used for their expression.     

ZNF268, a novel kruppel-like zinc finger protein, is implicated in early human liver development

The advancement in gene knockout and transgenesis have brought about enormous improvement in our understanding of mouse embryogenesis in the past decade or so. On the other hand, relatively little is known about human embryogenesis due largely to the lack of easy access to human embryos and tissues for biomedical studies. We have previously isolated a novel zinc finger gene, ZNF268, from a 3-week-old human embryo cDNA library in an effort to identify genes important for human embryonic development. To investigate the potential involvement of ZNF268 in human embryogenesis, we report here the spatial and temporal regulation of its expression during development. Northern blot and Western blot analyses revealed that ZNF268 is expressed in early embryos, predominantly, if not exclusively, in fetal liver with little detectable expression in other fetal organs. Interestingly, unlike most zinc finger proteins, ZNF268 protein was found to be localized mainly in the cytoplasm of embryonic hepatocytes. This subcellular localization was substantiated by the localization of EGFP-ZNF268 fusion protein overexpressed in the transfected COS7 cells. These results suggest that ZNF268 plays a role in early human liver development most likely by functioning through a cytoplasmic mechanism.     

慢性肾衰患者外周血IL-18水平及血液透析对其的影响

为探讨慢性肾衰竭 (CRF )患者外周血IL 18表达量的变化以及血液透析 (HD )对其表达的影响 ,选取 10名健康志愿者及 2 9例CRF患者 ,应用ELISA测定血浆IL 18水平 ,同时采用半定量逆转录多聚酶链反应 (RT PCR )技术 ,检测PBMC中IL 18mRNA表达量。结果是未行HD的CRF患者血浆IL 18水平及PBMCIL 18mRNA表达量较正常对照组增高 ,差异有显著统计学意义 (P <0 0 1) ,单次HD对CRF患者血浆IL 18水平及基因表达无明显影响 (P >0 0 5 ) ,但长期维持HD则可使CRF患者外周血IL 18水平及基因表达增高 (P <0 0 5 )。提示外周血IL 18的高表达可能参与CRF的发病过程及HD相关并发症的发生发展     

辽宁锡伯族和汉族前额发际的基因频率

本文调查了辽宁锡伯族及汉族群体的前额发际出现率和基因频率分布,同时也进行了各民族间出现率及基因频率的比较.研究结果表明:辽宁锡伯族前额发际平齐出现率71.88%、隐性基因频率0.8478;汉族前额发际平齐出现率74.88%、隐性基因频率0.8653.两民族前额发际平齐出现率及基因频率性别间无显著差异.与国内其他民族的相比,辽宁锡伯族及汉族群体前额发际平齐出现率及基因频率均处于较高水平.     

溴氰菊酯对白纹伊蚊C6／36细胞株的杀伤作用及对其形态影响的研究

本文采用ＭＴＴ微量酶反应比色法，研究了溴氰菊酯对白纹伊蚊Ｃ６／３６细胞的杀伤作用、形态影响以及受损细胞的恢复。结果发现用溴氰菊酯处理２４ｈ后，对Ｃ６／３６细胞的半数毒性浓度（ＩＣ５０）为７４８８μｇ／ｍｌ，且毒性作用强度随着药物浓度增加而增强。溴氰菊酯浓度在２０μｇ／ｍｌ以上时可以诱发Ｃ６／３６细胞形态学改变，表现为细胞呈多形性、细胞间有间隙、胞质内充满颗粒，以后随药物浓度的升高，胞质出现空泡、染色质凝成粗大颗粒或无结构大块、大片细胞脱落、崩解、死亡。高浓度溴氰菊酯（１６０μｇ／ｍｌ）作用于Ｃ６／３６细胞，其受损细胞的恢复与作用时间有关，作用２４ｈ的细胞，在经历一段生长停滞后，可缓慢恢复，而作用４８ｈ的细胞，则不可逆转的死亡