Astrocyte proliferation in the rat hippocampus after middle cerebral artery occlusion

AIM: To study rat astrocyte proliferation in ipsilateral hippocampus following focal cerebral ischemia. METHODS: Ischemia was induced by temporary middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). In hippocampus of rats at 3, 7 and 30 days after MCAO, the numbers and anatomic distribution of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) were detected by immunohistochemistry. The protein expression of GFAP and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) in the ipsilateral hippocampus were analyzed by Western blot analysis. RESULTS: Astrocytes appeared hypertrophic, with increased process thickness and numbers at 7 days after MCAO, and the highest density of astrocytes were seen at 30 days in the CA1, CA2 regions of the ipsilateral hippocampus. Western blot analysis revealed that GFAP levels were normal at 3 days, but increased by 7 days and remained elevation at 30 days. Western blot analysis of PCNA protein also revealed identified upregulation PCNA at 3 days after MCAO and the expression peaked at 7 days. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that focal cerebral ischemia in the rat results in a rapid response, a process often referred to as reactive astrogliosis or glial scarring, from resident astrocytes of the ipsilateral hippocampus to the side of ischemia.     

Effects of β-ME and RA on expression of GFAP in mesenchymal cells derived from mouse fetal liver

AIM: To investigate the effects of β-mercaptoethanol (β-ME) and all-trans rentinal acid (RA) on glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) expression in mesenchymal cells derived from mouse fetal liver in vitro. METHODS: Cells suspension from 14.5-days-old mouse fetal liver were cultured in DMEM/HEPES/F12 supplemented with 20％ FCS and mesenchymal cells were acquired after discarding nonadherent cells. The 5th passage cells were induced by β-ME and RA. The characteristics of treated cells were assayed by immunocytochemistry staining at 5 hours and 5 days after induction. β-actin as an internal control, GFAP gene expression of mesenchyal cells was detected with semi-quantitative RT-PCR. RESULTS: After being inducted by β-ME and RA, 80％ approximately of the cells exhibited typical neural morphology and about 85％ expressed GFAP phenotype. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR showed that mRNA expression of GFAP increased in treated cells versus untreated cells (P<0.01). CONCLUSION: GFAP expression in mesenchymal cells derived from mouse fetal liver in vitro increases after being treated with β-ME and RA.     

Changes of MAPKs expression in rat hippocampal neurons after sleep deprivation

AIM: To explore the change and the possible role of MAPKs in rat hippocampus neuron after sleep deprivation. METHODS: The morphology of hippocampus neuron after sleep derivation was observed by TUNEL and HE staining, the activity of ERK was assayed by β-liquid scintillation counting and the expression of JNK was detected by Western blot. RESULTS: In paradoxical sleep deprivation (PSD) group, the number of apoptotic cells in hippocampus was increased. The scores of ERK activity were 1 764.00±941.56. Compared with control groups, the ERK activity was obviously decreased (P<0.05). The JNK expression was 87.5%, which was higher than that in control group. CONCLUSION: These results provide some important evidences that the sleep deprivation could cause changes in MAPKs activity, which may be related to the mechanism of hippocampus neuron apoptosis.     

家鸡Leptin成熟肽cDNA的克隆、重组蛋白表达及纯化

从 18周龄鸡卵巢组织中抽提总 RNA,使用六聚体随机引物反转录后 ,用鸡 L eptin(瘦素 )特异性引物扩增出鸡L eptin编码区第 5 2～ 4 6 0 bp的长度为 4 0 9bp的 c DNA片段。根据鸡 L eptin的 3′端第 4 6 0～ 4 92 bp序列设计了 3条部分相互重叠并且顺序串联延伸的下游反义引物 ,并在最后 1条引物 3′端连接上 Eco R 切点 ;在以上用于反转录扩增的 5′端引物的 5′端连接一 Bam H 切点。用该 5′端引物分别与 3个 3′端引物配对 ,利用反转录扩增出的 4 0 9bp的L eptin c DNA片段作为第 1模板进行扩增 ,扩增产物再作为模板与下一引物对再次扩增。经 3次扩增得到编码鸡 L ep-tin成熟肽的全长 4 5 1bp的 c DNA序列。将该 4 5 1bp的 L eptin c DNA序列经 Bam H 和 Eco R 双酶切后 ,克隆入表达质粒 p RSET A的 Bam H 和 Eco R 两酶切位点之间 ,构建成表达质粒 p L ep- SCAU。转化有重组表达质粒 p L ep-SCAU的大肠杆菌 BL 2 1(DE3)在 L B培养基中培养后 ,经 IPTG诱导表达出相对分子质量为 2 0 10 0的鸡 L eptin融合蛋白和少量 4 0 2 0 0的 L eptin融合蛋白。L eptin融合蛋白的表达在 IPTG浓度为 0 .0 5 mmol/ L 时达到最高 ,占总菌体蛋白的 32 .6 %。用 Ni- NTA凝胶从 7L 发酵培养菌裂解液中纯化出 180 m g左右     

禽大肠杆菌外膜蛋白基因C(ompC)的序列分析

根据 Gen Bank中人源大肠杆菌 K- 12外膜蛋白基因 C(omp C)的核苷酸序列设计引物 ,应用 PCR方法从禽大肠杆菌 O2 、O78株及它们的融合双价弱毒菌株 O2 ,78(Norr Chlr)中分别扩增得到 omp C基因 ,序列测定及分析比较发现 ,3个菌株的 om p C基因均由 170 2 nt组成 ,核苷酸序列完全相同 ,只有 1个大的开放性阅读框 (ORF) ,长 10 92 bp,编码由 36 3个氨基酸组成的前 Om p C蛋白 ,前 2 1个氨基酸残基组成信号肽 ,成熟的 Omp C蛋白由 342个氨基酸残基组成 ,Mr为 4 0 0 0 0。其氨基酸序列也完全相同。从基因水平上证明了禽大肠杆菌 O2 、O78株及融合双价弱毒菌株 O2 ,78(NorrChlr)存在相同的外膜蛋白 C抗原 ,从而为进一步研究 Omp C蛋白的免疫原性奠定了基础     

融合表达淋巴细胞脉络丛脑膜炎病毒和卵清白蛋白CD8+T细胞表位的减毒鼠伤寒沙门氏菌的构建与鉴定

依据淋巴细胞脉络丛脑膜炎病毒(LCMV)主要保护性抗原CD8 T细胞表位VRRPQASGVYMGNLTAQ和卵清白蛋白(OVA)CD8 T细胞表位SIINFEKL,设计、合成两条编码LCMV和OVA CD8 T细胞表位的寡核苷酸片段,经退火后,克隆入绿色荧光蛋白表达质粒pYAGFP,经PCR扩增和序列测定分析,证实成功构建T细胞表位与绿色荧光蛋白融合表达的重组质粒pYAGFPL-O,将此重组质粒pYAGFPL-O转化减毒鼠伤寒沙门氏菌X4550,获得重组沙门氏菌X4550(pYAGFPL-O).用SDS-PAGE电泳测得重组菌表达的融合蛋白约为30kD.同时,荧光显微镜下观察到X4550(pYAGFPL-O)发出黄绿色荧光.这些结果表明LCMV和OVA T细胞表位已成功表达.重组菌X4550(pYAGFPL-O)的获得为研究沙门氏菌载体携带外源抗原的T细胞应答规律及调控机理打下了重要基础.     

Myofibrillar proteolysis in chick muscle cell cultures during heat stress

The effect of heat stress on protein oxidation and myofibrillar proteolysis in chick myotubes was investigated. Myotubes were incubated at 37 or 41°C for 6 and 24 h. Protein carbonyl content, as an index of protein oxidation, increased more at 41°C than at 37°C for 6 and 24 h incubations. N^τ‐methylhistidine release as an index of myofibrillar proteolysis also increased more at 41°C than at 37°C for 6 and 24 h incubations. Proteasome activity also increased more under those same conditions. Calpain and cathepsin D but not B + L activities showed a greater increase at 41°C than at 37°C for 24 but not the 6 h incubation. These results indicate that heat stress increases protein oxidation and proteasome activity, resulting in an increase in myofibrillar proteolysis for short‐term incubation and, for long‐term incubation, it increases calpain, proteasome and cathepsin D activities, finally accelerating myofibrillar proteolysis in chick myotubes.     

C-reactive protein concentrations in canine acute pancreatitis

Objective: To determine if C‐reactive protein (CRP) concentration is elevated in spontaneously occurring canine acute pancreatitis (AP), and to measure changes in CRP during the course of hospitalization. Design: Prospective study. Setting: Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine Foster Hospital for Small Animals. Animals: Sixteen client‐owned dogs with AP and 16 healthy controls. Interventions: Blood samples were obtained from the AP group on the day of diagnosis (Day 1), and on Days 3 and 5, unless the dog died or was discharged from the hospital. Blood was obtained from the control dogs once. Measurements and main results: Serum CRP was measured using a commercial immunoassay for each dog with AP and for healthy controls. Day 1 CRP concentrations were significantly higher in the AP group (56.1±12.7 μg/mL) compared with controls (2.8±1.3 μg/mL; P<0.001). For the 7 dogs that had samples collected on all 3 days, the mean CRP concentrations decreased significantly (P=0.043) over the 5 days of measurement. Of the 16 dogs with AP, 14 were discharged from the hospital and 2 were euthanized. Conclusions: Serum CRP concentrations were elevated in this group of 16 dogs with spontaneously occurring AP. In the 7 dogs that had measurements on all 3 days, the mean CRP concentration decreased from the day of diagnosis to the measurement made 5 days later.     

Evaluation of sampling methods and assessment of the sample size to estimate the weed seedbank in soil, taking into account spatial variability

As field sampling is time consuming, it is necessary to develop efficient sampling techniques to obtain accurate estimates of the weed seedbank in soil. The relative efficiency between sampling schemes depends on the spatial variability in weed seed density across agricultural fields. Spatial variability of the weed seed density was characterized by theoretical correlograms. A systematic sampling (square grill) scheme was considered and it was found that, taking into account spatial variability, this sampling scheme was more efficient than simple random sampling. As a result, the sample size can be reduced in comparison with that given in previous studies, where spatial correlation was ignored. The reduction depends on the correlation structure defined as a function of the ratio, τ, between the nugget effect and the sill of the variogram. The maximum reduction of the sample size, without loss of either precision or confidence level corresponds to the case where there is no nugget effect, τ = 0. The opposite extreme case, where the reduction is nil, corresponds to the case of a pure nugget effect τ = 1. The abaci based on given expressions are provided to determine the sample size in species whose spatial pattern can be fitted either to a Poisson or to a negative binomial distribution.