孕期不同环境对仔鼠恐惧行为的影响

目的 研究孕期丰富环境和应激刺激对发育期仔鼠恐惧行为的影响.方法 将初次妊娠11天的孕鼠随机分为:应激组、丰富环境组和对照组,每组仔鼠分别于生后25d、45d和60d进行旷场实验和防御退缩实验测试.结果 (1)在旷场实验中,各日龄应激组仔鼠均较相应对照组中央格停留时间延长,总穿格数及站立次数减少(all P＜0.05),与之相反,生后25d时丰富环境组仔鼠较对照组总穿格数增加[(101.75±11.87)格;(89.13±11.20)格;P＜0.05],而中央格停留时间缩短[(1.88±0.64)s;(3.63±1.41)s;P＜0.05].(2)在防御退缩试验中,生后25d时,应激组较对照组潜伏期延长(P＜0.05);生后45 d时,不仅潜伏期延长(P＜0.05),自小室退出次数亦减少(P＜0.05);而生后60d时,在上述表现的基础上,给予束缚应激刺激后其在小室内的时间较相应对照组明显延长(P＜0.05);与之相反,生后25d时,丰富环境组较对照组潜伏期缩短[(10.43±4.27)s; (22.16±4.50)s; P＜0.05],自小室退出次数增加[(6.34±1.03)次;(3.94±1.08)次;P＜0.05].结论 孕期给予丰富的环境可以降低其幼鼠的恐惧水平,增加其探究行为.     

基于中空纤维液相微萃取的黄酮类化合物测定

目的建立中空纤维液相微萃取(HFLPME)-高效液相色谱法(HPLC)测定中药侧柏中黄酮类化合物含量。方法以聚偏氟乙烯为有机溶剂载体,正己醇为接受相,10-5 mol/L HCl为供相,在1 500 r/min搅拌下萃取45 min,萃取结束后,蒸干接受相中有机溶剂,用50μl甲醇溶解后进行HPLC分析。结果分析物二氢杨梅素、杨梅素、漆黄素、槲皮素、柚皮素、山柰素、异鼠李素和白杨素在0.01-10.0μg/ml范围内线性关系良好;检出限为0.01-1.0 ng/ml;平均浓缩因子在5.4-30.6倍之间;中药侧柏中分析物的平均回收率为97.5%。结论 HFLPME操作简单、快速、有机溶剂用量少、富集倍数高、对测定中药中微量或痕量黄酮类有效成分具有重要的意义。     

Environmental enrichment,prefrontal cortex,stress, and aging of the brain

As a result of living in an enriched environment, the brain of animals undergoes molecular and morphological changes leading to improvements in learning and memory. These improvements correlate well with increase in neurogenesis, synaptic density, or neurotrophic factors. We review here, in the context of the literature, the experiments performed in our own laboratory on the effects of environmental enrichment on the dynamics of dopamine and acetylcholine in the prefrontal cortex under a situation of acute mild stress. In these last studies we found that the release of dopamine and acetylcholine under stress is reduced in animals housed in an enriched environment. We also reported that the stress-induced release of dopamine but not acetylcholine is lower in aged rats compared with young rats. These results suggest that environmental enrichment reduces the reactivity to stress of the prefrontal dopaminergic and cholinergic systems in the rat. We further hypothesize that the positive effects on stress coping behaviors of housing animals in an enriched environment are associated with reductions, rather than increases, in the release of dopamine and acetylcholine in the prefrontal cortex. Finally we propose that a reduction in the stress-induced release of dopamine observed during aging in control animals might be an index of a better adaptation to stressful stimuli. Dedicated to the special issue on Brain Plasticity, Prof. Fuxe.     

Enrichment of osteosarcoma stem cells by chemotherapy

Osteosarcoma is the most common primary malignant bone cancer in children and adolescents.Emerging evidence has suggested that the capability of a tumor to grow is driven by a small subset of cells within a tumor,termed cancer stem cells(CSCs).Although several methods have been explored to identify or enrich CSCs in osteosarcoma,these methods sometimes seem impractical,and chemotherapy enrichment for CSCs in osteosarcoma is rarely investigated.In the present study,we found that short exposure to chemotherap...     

A multimarker QPCR-based platform for the detection of circulating tumour cells in patients with early-stage breast cancer

Background:

The detection of circulating tumour cells (CTCs) has been linked with poor prognosis in advanced breast cancer. Relatively few studies have been undertaken to study the clinical relevance of CTCs in early-stage breast cancer.

Methods:

In a prospective study, we evaluated CTCs in the peripheral blood of 82 early-stage breast cancer patients. Control groups consisted of 16 advanced breast cancer patients and 45 healthy volunteers. The CTC detection was performed using ErbB2/EpCAM immunomagnetic tumour cell enrichment followed by multimarker quantitative PCR (QPCR). The CTC status and common clinicopathological factors were correlated to relapse-free, breast cancer-related and overall survival.

Results:

Circulating tumour cells were detected in 16 of 82 (20%) patients with early-stage breast cancer and in 13 out of 16 (81%) with advanced breast cancer. The specificity was 100%. The median follow-up time was 51 months (range: 17–60). The CTC positivity in early-stage breast cancer patients resulted in significantly poorer relapse-free survival (log rank test: P=0.003) and was an independent predictor of relapse-free survival (multivariate hazard ratio=5.13, P=0.006, 95% CI: 1.62–16.31).

Conclusion:

The detection of CTCs in peripheral blood of early-stage breast cancer patients provided prognostic information for relapse-free survival.     

富氧机对机体血氧饱和度及行为能力的影响

目的:在模拟高原环境下,探讨自主研制开发基于富氧膜技术的富氧机对机体血氧饱和度(SpO2)以及行为能力的影响。方法:在低压高原模拟舱中分别模拟海拔3000m,4000m,5000m的高原环境,利用PhilipsMP20多参数检测仪监测8名受试对象在每个模拟海拔高度下使用富氧机前后的SpO2。同时,在模拟海拔5000m的高原环境下,对比8名受试对象使用富氧机前后行为能力(包括目标追踪与二维数字搜索两个实验项目)的测量得分。结果:使用富氧机后,受试者SpO2在三个模拟海拔高度下均显著增高(P<0.05);模拟海拔5000m的高原环境下,受试者行为能力得分显著提高(P<0.05)。结论:使用富氧机能显著增加高原环境下机体的SpO2,提高缺氧环境下的作业效能。     

平均血小板体积相关基因的富集分析

目的通过对平均血小板体积(MPV)相关的易感基因进行功能富集分析,为MPV的功能学研究提供理论指导。方法整合所有全基因组关联研究(GWAS)报道的MPV易感基因作为分析的靶基因集合,通过生物网络基因本体论分析工具(BiNGO)及网页版基因富集分析工具(WebGestalt)对靶基因集合进行功能富集分析,并对两个软件富集的结果进行比较和讨论。结果 MPV易感基因主要富集于止血、体液水平调节和血小板激活等生物学途径,并且在KEGG(京都基因和基因组百科全书)和Wiki通路数据库中共享细胞凋亡、补体凝固系统和黏着斑通路。结论用生物信息学分析工具对6篇GWAS发现的MPV易感基因进行功能富集分析,发现3条与MPV相关的重要通路,为MPV的功能学研究提供了重要的线索。     

Identify mutation in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis cases using HaloPlex target enrichment system

To date, at least 18 causative genes have been identified in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Because of the clinical and genetic heterogeneity, molecular diagnosis for ALS faces great challenges. HaloPlex target enrichment system is a new targeted sequencing approach, which can detect already known mutations or candidate genes. We performed this approach to screen 18 causative genes of ALS, including SOD1, SETX, FUS, ANG, TARDBP, ALS2, FIG4, VAPB, OPTN, DAO, VCP, UBQLN2, SPG11, SIGMAR1, DCTN1, SQSTM1, PFN1, and CHMP2B in 8 ALS probands. Using this approach, we got an average of 9.5 synonymous or missense mutations per sample. After validation by Sanger sequencing, we identified 3 documented SOD1 mutations (p.F21C, p.G148D, and p.C147R) and 1 novel DCTN1 p.G59R mutation in 4 probands. The novel DCTN1 mutation appeared to segregate with the disease in the pedigree and was absent in 200 control subjects. The high throughput and efficiency of this approach indicated that it could be applied to diagnose ALS and other inherited diseases with multiple causative genes in clinical practice.