Identification of polcalcin as a novel allergen of Amaranthus retroflexus pollen

IntroductionAmaranthus retroflexus (Redroot Pigweed) is one of the main sources of allergenic pollens in temperate areas. Polcalcin is a well-known panallergen involved in cross-reactivity between different plants. The aim of this study was the molecular cloning and expression of polcalcin, as well as evaluating its IgE-reactivity with A. retroflexus sensitive patients’ sera.MethodsAllergenic extract was prepared from A. retroflexus pollen and the IgE-reactivity profile was determined by ELISA and immunoblotting using sera from twenty A. retroflexus sensitive patients. Polcalcin-coding sequence was amplified by conventional PCR method and the product was inserted into pET-21b(+) vector. The recombinant protein was expressed in E. coli BL21 and purified by metal affinity chromatography. The IgE-binding capability of the recombinant protein was analyzed by ELISA and immunoblotting assays, and compared with crude extract.ResultsOf 20 skin prick test positive patients, 17 patients were positive in IgE-specific ELISA. Western blotting confirmed that approximately 53% of ELISA positive patients reacted with 10 kDa protein in crude extract. The A. retroflexus polcalcin gene, encoding to 80 amino acid residues was cloned and expressed as a soluble protein and designated as Ama r 3. The recombinant polcalcin showed rather identical IgE-reactivity in ELISA and western blotting with 10 kDa protein in crude extract. These results were confirmed by inhibition methods, too.ConclusionThe recombinant form of A. retroflexus polcalcin (Ama r 3) could be easily produced in E. coli in a soluble form and shows rather similar IgE-reactivity with its natural counterpart.     

Neuroimaging the pain network – Implications for treatment

In this chapter, we provide an overview of neuroimaging studies in chronic pain. We start with an introduction about the phenomenology of pain. In the following section, the application of functional and structural imaging techniques is shown in selected chronic pain syndromes (chronic back pain, fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS), phantom limb pain, and complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS)), and commonalities and peculiarities of imaging correlates across different types of chronic pain are discussed. We conclude this chapter with implications for treatments, with focus on behavioral interventions, sensory and motor trainings, and mirror and motor imagery trainings.     

Long-Term Durability of Transcatheter Aortic Valve Prostheses

Background

Very little is known about long-term valve durability after transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR).

基于UPLC-Q/TOF-MS分析淫羊藿炮制前后黄酮组分的变化规律

目的基于UPLC-Q/TOF-MS技术建立淫羊藿炮制前后指纹图谱,对其全成分进行分析并找出标志性化学成分,以明确淫羊藿炮制前后黄酮组分的变化规律。方法采用UPLC-Q/TOF-MS技术,在正离子模式下采集淫羊藿生品及炮制品样品数据,并在此基础上根据正交-偏最小二乘判别分析(OPLS-DA)整体探究9个不同产地、批次的淫羊藿炮制前后化学成分的差异。结果从淫羊藿生品及炮制品中寻找并鉴定出9个标志性化学成分,即8-乙烯-山柰酚、淫羊藿素、淫羊藿次苷I、淫羊藿素-3-O-葡萄糖苷、异戊醇基箭藿苷B、1,3-异戊二烯基朝藿定C、1,3-异戊二烯基-箭藿苷B-7-O-葡萄糖醛酸、3-O-(4-乙酰氧基)鼠李糖-2-O-(间二乙酰氧基)葡萄糖-淫羊藿苷及其同分异构体。结论淫羊藿炮制后黄酮组分结构发生变化,次级糖苷增加,多级糖苷减少,淫羊藿黄酮组分总体向低糖苷组分转化,进一步阐明了淫羊藿加热炮制后黄酮组分的变化规律。     

以机油为分散剂高温热解人发合成新型碳点及其生物效应研究

目的以机油为分散剂高温热解人发后发现新型纳米碳点,通过动物实验评价了该碳点的生物效应。方法利用高温热解法对人发和机油进行炭化,对炭化产物进行萃取、过滤分离和透析得到一种具有水溶性的新型物质碳点,并命名为JYRF-CDs。利用透射电子显微镜(TEM)、高分辨透射电子显微镜(HR-TEM)、紫外-可见分光光谱、傅里叶变换红外光谱、荧光光谱、X射线光电子能谱分析(XPS)等多种方法对JYRF-CDs进行表征,利用小鼠单核巨噬细胞RAW264.7细胞进行CCK-8毒性实验来评价JYRF-CDs的安全性,并通过小鼠耳肿胀实验和小鼠醋酸扭体实验对JYRF-CDs的生物效应进行评价。结果 JYRF-CDs外形为类球形,粒径均匀分布在1.8～3.6 nm,晶格间距为0.219 7 nm。细胞毒性实验结果显示,JYRF-CDs具有低毒性,动物实验结果表明JYRF-CDs具有良好的抗炎和镇痛作用。结论首次以机油为分散剂高温热解人发后发现一种全新的碳点JYRF-CDs,以JYRF-CDs为突破口,更加明确阐释以机油为分散剂高温热解人发后炭化产物具有生物效应的物质基础,为纳米类成分的研究提供了一种新方法。     

中国南海石珊瑚Stylophora pistilata化学成分研究

目的 研究中国南海石珊瑚Stylopgora Stylophora pistillata的化学成分。方法 运用硅胶、凝胶(Sephadex LH-20)等多种柱色谱手段对化合物进行分离纯化；利用核磁共振、质谱等波谱学手段并结合其理化性质及文献数据鉴定化合物的结构。结果 从石珊瑚Stylopgora Stylophora pistillata的乙醇提取物中共分离鉴定了8个单体化合物：1,3-十四烷酸甘油二酯（1），正二十五烷（2），正二十三烷（3），肉豆蔻酸（4），2, 2"-氧代双(1, 4-二叔丁苯)（5），(R)-2-乙基己醇（6），2, 2"-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)propane bis(2,3-epoxypropyl)ether（7）和5-hydroxy-3,4-dimethy-5- pentyl-2(5H)-furanone（8）。结论 化合物1～8均为首次从该石珊瑚中分离得到。细胞毒活性测试结果表明，化合物7对人慢性髓原白血病细胞（K562）、人肝癌细胞（BEL-7402）、人胃癌细胞（SGC-7901）、人肺癌细胞（A549）和人宫颈癌细胞(Hela)的增殖显示出一定的生长抑制活性，其余化合物对上述肿瘤细胞均无生长抑制活性。     

Cardiac cine magnetic resonance fingerprinting for combined ejection fraction,T1 and T2 quantification

This study introduces a technique called cine magnetic resonance fingerprinting (cine‐MRF) for simultaneous T₁, T₂ and ejection fraction (EF) quantification. Data acquired with a free‐running MRF sequence are retrospectively sorted into different cardiac phases using an external electrocardiogram (ECG) signal. A low‐rank reconstruction with a finite difference sparsity constraint along the cardiac motion dimension yields images resolved by cardiac phase. To improve SNR and precision in the parameter maps, these images are nonrigidly registered to the same phase and matched to a dictionary to generate T₁ and T₂ maps. Cine images for computing left ventricular volumes and EF are also derived from the same data. Cine‐MRF was tested in simulations using a numerical relaxation phantom. Phantom and in vivo scans of 19 subjects were performed at 3 T during a 10.9 seconds breath‐hold with an in‐plane resolution of 1.6 x 1.6 mm² and 24 cardiac phases. Left ventricular EF values obtained with cine‐MRF agreed with the conventional cine images (mean bias ?1.0%). Average myocardial T₁ times in diastole/systole were 1398/1391 ms with cine‐MRF, 1394/1378 ms with ECG‐triggered cardiac MRF (cMRF) and 1234/1212 ms with MOLLI; and T₂ values were 30.7/30.3 ms with cine‐MRF, 32.6/32.9 ms with ECG‐triggered cMRF and 37.6/41.0 ms with T₂‐prepared FLASH. Cine‐MRF and ECG‐triggered cMRF relaxation times were in good agreement. Cine‐MRF T₁ values were significantly longer than MOLLI, and cine‐MRF T₂ values were significantly shorter than T₂‐prepared FLASH. In summary, cine‐MRF can potentially streamline cardiac MRI exams by combining left ventricle functional assessment and T₁‐T₂ mapping into one time‐efficient acquisition.