Culture of newborn monkey liver epithelial progenitor cells in chemical defined serum-free medium

Studies with hepatic progenitor cells from non-human primates would allow better understanding of their human counterparts. In this study, rhesus monkey liver epithelial progenitor cells (mLEPCs) were derived from a small piece of newborn livers in chemical defined serum-free medium. Digested hepatic cells were treated in Ca²⁺-containing medium to form cell aggregates. Two types of cell aggregates were generated: elongated spindle cells and polygonal epithelial cells. Elongated spindle cells were expressed as vimentin and brachyury, and they were disappeared within 5 d in our cultures. The remaining type consisted of small polygonal epithelial cells that expressed cytokeratin 7 (CK7), CK8, CK18, nestin, CD49f, and E-cad, the markers of hepatic stem cells, but were negative for α-fetoprotein, albumin, and CK19. They can proliferate and be passaged, if on laminin or rat tail collagen gel, to initiate colonies. When cultured with dexamethasone and oncostatin M, the expression of mature hepatocyte markers, such as α-1-antitrypsin, intracytoplasmic glycogen storage, indocyanine green uptake, and lipid droplet generation, were induced in differentiated cells. If transferred onto mouse embryonic fibroblasts feeders, they gave rise to CK19-positive cholangiocytes with formation of doughnut-like structure. Thus, mLEPCs with bipotency were derived from newborn monkey liver and may serve as a preclinical model for assessment of cell therapy in humans.     

MALE PEACH APHID ATTRACTION IN THE FIELD BY SEX PHEROMONES1)

Abstract Field trials by sex pheromone of aphid to trap peach aphids Myzus persicae have been carried out in 1995 and in 1996. Suitable time and the effect of ratio of two components nepetalactone and nepetalactol to apply the lure have been observed.     

LGR5 regulates osteogenic differentiation of human thoracic ligamentum flavum cells by Wnt signalling pathway

Thoracic ossification of the ligamentum flavum (TOLF) is ectopic ossification of the spinal ligaments. Histologically, the development of TOLF can be described as the process of endochondral ossification. However, the underlying aetiology has not been completely clarified. In this investigation, the gene expression profile associated with leucine‐rich repeat‐containing G‐protein‐coupled receptors (LGR) and Wnt signalling pathway in the thoracic ligamentum flavum cells (TLFCs) of different ossification stages was analysed via RNA sequencing. We further confirmed the significant differences in the related gene expression profile by Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis. LGR5 was first identified in primary human TLFCs during osteogenic differentiation. To evaluate the effect of LGR5 on osteogenic differentiation, LGR5 has been knocked down and overexpressed in human TLFCs. We observed that the knockdown of LGR5 inhibited the activity of Wnt signalling and attenuated the potential osteogenic differentiation of TLFCs, while overexpression of LGR5 activated the Wnt signalling pathway and increased osteogenic differentiation. Our results provide important evidence for the potent positive mediatory effects of LGR5 on osteogenesis by enhancing the Wnt signalling pathway in TOLF.     

转Bt水稻土壤跳虫群落组成及其数量变化

以转Bt水稻恢复系"克螟稻"(Cry1Ab纯合基因型)和"华恢1号"(Cry1Ab+Cry1Ac融合基因型)以及融合基因型转Bt水稻杂交系"Bt汕忧63",及其对照亲本水稻"秀水11"、"明恢63"和"汕优63"稻田土壤跳虫类群为对象,系统研究转Bt水稻种植下土壤跳虫群落组成及其数量动态变化,以评价不同基因型和不同育种品系转Bt水稻种植下稻田土壤生态安全性。结果表明,转Bt水稻种植导致土壤跳虫个别稀有类群的消失,并显著影响半土生和真土生类群以及土壤跳虫总量,但对群落多样性、均匀度和种类丰富度等影响不显著。与对照亲本相比,Cry1Ab转Bt稻田半土生类群和土壤跳虫总量及其种类丰富度指标显著增加了54.7%、44.4%和26.7%;Cry1Ab+Cry1Ac转Bt杂交稻田球角跳属百分比和真土生跳虫数量显著增加了212.3%和180.4%。就恢复系处理而言,与Cry1Ab转Bt水稻相比,Cry1Ab+Cry1Ac转Bt水稻种植导致棘跳属、球角跳属和原等跳属百分比以及半土生跳虫数量分别显著降低了62.1%、56.7%、61.8%和43.4%,同时,显著提高了裔符跳属百分比达88.2%。就Cry1Ab+Cry1Ac融合基因型转Bt水稻而言,与恢复系相比,转Bt杂交稻种植导致球角跳属和原等跳属百分比,半土生类群和土壤跳虫总量及其种类丰富度和群落多样性显著增加了312.9%和171.6%,302.4%和233.2%,以及54.0%和26.7%,同时,显著降低了裔符跳属百分比达65.5%。     

Protective Effects of Anthocyanins from Coreopsis tinctoria against Oxidative Stress Induced by Hydrogen Peroxide in MIN6 Cells

Anthocyanins (AC) from Coreopsis tinctoria possesses strong antioxidant properties, while the effects of AC on cells damage induced by reactive oxygen species (ROS) in diabetes mellitus diseases progression have not been reported. The present study was carried out to evaluate the protective property of AC against cellular oxidative stress with an experimental model, H₂O₂‐exposed MIN6 cells. AC could reverse the decrease of cell viability induced by H₂O₂ and efficiently suppressed cellular ROS production and cell apoptosis. In addition, Real‐time PCR and Western blot analyses indicated that AC could protect MIN6 cells against oxidative injury through increasing the translocation of Nrf2 into nuclear, decreasing the phosphorylation level of p38 and up‐regulating the protein expression of antioxidant enzyme (SOD1, SOD2 and CAT). Thus, this study provides evidence to support the beneficial effect of AC in inhibiting MIN6 cells from H₂O₂‐induced oxidative injury.     

Genetics and Resistance Mechanism of the Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) Against Powdery Mildew

Journal of Plant Growth Regulation - Powdery mildew (PM) is one of the most severe foliar diseases in cucumbers (Cucumis sativus L.), but the inheritance of PM resistance remains unclear. The...     

Is oral microbiome of children able to maintain resistance and functional stability in response to short-term interference of ingesta?

Dear Editor, A series of studies had focused on the ecological stability of human microbiome (Lozupone et al.,2012;Faith et al.,2013;Moya and Ferrer,2016).Despite the continuous perturbation and the highly personalized composition within the human microbiome (Human Microbiome Project,2012),healthy adults stably maintain their microbial communities in terms of space and time (Faith et al.,2013;Moya and Ferrer,2016;Oh et al.,2016).This stability is proved to be critical for the well-being of human body (Lozupone et al.,2012).On the contrary,major shifts in microbial community composition are often related to diseases (Lynch and Pedersen,2016).     

Improving the acidic stability of a β-mannanase from Bacillus subtilis by site-directed mutagenesis

β-Mannanase can randomly hydrolyze the (1→4)-β-d-mannosidic linkages in mannans, galactomannans and glucomannans, yielding manno-oligosaccharides. In this study, the β-mannanase (MAN) from Bacillus subtilis B10-02 was overexpressed successfully in B. subtilis 168 as a hexa-histidine tagged, secreted protein. The recombinant enzyme BsMAN6H was not stable under acidic conditions, which restricts its use in food and feed industry. We aimed to improve the acid stability of BsMAN6H by changing several surface-exposed amino acid residues to acidic or neutral ones. Among the mutations, the His54Asp resulted in a shift in the optimal pH from 6.5 to 5.5. Accordingly, the acid stability was improved by a factor of a negative potential on the structure surface around the mutated site. Furthermore, the H54D variant showed the enzyme activity up to 3207.82 U/mL in bioreactors using the cheap Kojac powder as substrate. As a result, a bacterial β-mannanase was produced efficiently with increased acid stability, improving its applicability in the animal feed industry.