Of humans and canines: Immunohistochemical analysis of PCNA, Bcl-2, p53, cytokeratin and ER in mammary tumours

Mammary tumours are the most common neoplasms in humans and canines. Human and canine mammary tumours share several important epidemiological, clinicopathological and biochemical features. Development of mammary tumours involves accumulation of mutant cells caused by excessive proliferation and insufficient apoptosis or dysregulation of cellular differentiation. The present study was therefore designed to investigate the expression of proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis associated proteins together with expression of estrogen receptors (ER) in both human and canine mammary tumours. Thirty breast cancer patients categorized as pre- and postmenopausal, and 30 mammary gland tumours obtained from bitches were included in this study. The expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), Bcl-2, p53, cytokeratin and ER in tumour tissues and adjacent tissues were investigated using immunohistochemical staining. While the expression of PCNA, Bcl-2, p53 and ER was significantly increased, expression of cytokeratin was significantly lower in both human as well as canine mammary tumours compared to corresponding adjacent tissues. The magnitude of the changes was however more pronounced in premenopausal patients compared to postmenopausal patients. The changes in proliferation, apoptosis and differentiation associated proteins in human and canine mammary tumours validate use of the canine model to understand the molecular mechanisms of mammary carcinogenesis.     

Methods for measuring N2O flux from water surface and N2O dissolved in water from agricultural land

A new chamber method and a stripping method were developed for field measurements of the rate of N₂O emission from the water surface and for determinations of dissolved N₂O in water from agricultural land.

These methods were used for the measurement of drainage canal water and flooded water of rice fields during the period of June 1982 to January 1983. The results demonstrate that aquatic systems of agricultural land may provide both source and sink for atmospheric N₂O.     

Cryopreservation of carnation (Dianthus caryophyllus L.) shoot tips by encapsulation-vitrification

Shoot tips excised from in vitro cultured plants of Dianthus caryophyllus L. (cv. Pallas, cv. Pink Candy and cv. Wanessa) were successfully cryopreserved using an encapsulation-vitrification method. Shoot tips (2–3 mm in length) were encapsulated in sodium alginate, precultured on liquid Murashige and Skoog (1962) medium supplemented with various sucrose concentrations (0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1.0 M) for 24 h or 48 h and dehydrated with the vitrification solution PVS2 (up to 4 h) at 24 °C or 0 °C prior to direct immersion in liquid nitrogen (−196 °C). A maximum of shoot regeneration from cryopreserved shoot tips was obtained with the following combinations: preculture in 0.5 M sucrose and 180 min dehydration treatment at 0 °C for cv. Pallas (60% shoot formation), or preculture in 0.75 M and 200 min dehydration at the same temperature for cv. Pink Candy (66.6% shoot formation) and cv. Wanessa (73% shoot formation).     

柔嫩艾美耳球虫棒状体颈部蛋白2基因真核表达载体的构建及在293T细胞中表达

为构建柔嫩艾美耳球虫棒状体颈部蛋白2(Eimeria tenella rhoptry neck protein 2,EtRON2)基因的重组质粒pCAGGS-EtRON2,并转染293T细胞进行表达,以柔嫩艾美耳球虫孢子化卵囊cDNA为模板,经PCR扩增其核心编码区的一部分,将其克隆至pGEM-Teasy载体,构建pGEM-Teasy-EtRON2质粒,双酶切出目的片段后与相应酶切的真核表达载体pCAGGS连接,构建真核表达质粒pCAGGS-EtRON2。该重组质粒经酶切和测序鉴定后转染293T细胞进行表达,分别用免疫印迹和间接免疫荧光鉴定EtRON2基因的表达情况。所构建的真核表达质粒pCAGGS-EtRON2经过双酶切鉴定,可见一条大小约为1172 bp的目的条带,测序结果与GenBank所登录序列完全一致;免疫印迹实验可见大小约为43 kDa的目的蛋白条带,间接免疫荧光实验可以检测到特异性红色荧光。研究结果表明已成功构建了EtRON2的真核表达质粒pCAGGS-EtRON2,并在真核细胞中获得表达,为深入研究EtRON2的生物学功能奠定了基础。