Lipid rafts, the sarcoplasmic reticulum and uterine calcium signalling: an integrated approach

The pathways involved in Ca²⁺ signalling in the uterus remain incompletely understood, impairing our ability to prevent preterm and difficult labours. In this review we focus on two elements in the pathway of Ca²⁺ signalling that have recently emerged as playing important roles: membrane lipid rafts and the sarcoplasmic reticulum. We examine the evidence for lipid rafts in the uterus and discuss their functional role. We suggest that the increases in cytosolic [Ca²⁺] and contractility that occur with raft disruption are due, at least in part, to effects on large conductance Ca²⁺-activated K⁺ (BK) channels that are localized to rafts. The role of the SR in contributing to subsarcolemmal cytosolic microdomains in uterus is evaluated, along with its interactions with ion channels on the plasma membrane. Thus, signalling microdomains play an important, but incompletely understood, role in the uterus, and integrating them into other Ca²⁺ signalling pathways is a challenge for further research. We suggest that the role of the SR changes in pregnancy, from promoting quiescence via BK channels or SR Ca²⁺ uptake, to promoting Ca²⁺ entry and contractility at term, and relate data on lipid rafts to clinical outcome in obese pregnant women.     

细胞内外膜跨膜电位频率响应模型及滤波器特性的研究

提出球形单细胞内外膜跨膜电位频率响应模型和仿真计算方法。通过对频率响应的仿真分析，发现内外膜跨膜电位分别表现出一阶带通和低通滤波器特性，并在内膜频率响应中心频率到上限截止频率的范围内，内膜跨膜电位大于外膜同时能保持在较高水平，这将有利于诱导细胞内电处理效应。计算结果与动物实验吻合得很好，为纳秒脉冲电场治疗肿瘤的窗口参数合理选择提供了理论依据。     

Relationship of the quality and quantity of circulating anti-BSA antibodies to the severity of glomerulonephritis in rats with chronic serum sickness.

Chronic serum sickness glomerulonephritis, induced in hyperimmunized rats by daily intravenous administration of bovine serum albumin, occurs in three stages, mild, moderate and severe, with abrupt onsets and distinctive features of kidney pathophysiology and immunopathology. We have studied the relationship between circulating anti-BSA antibodies and the severity of glomerulonephritis at each stage. The total amount of antibodies declined gradually during the course of disease, to low concentrations in the most severe stage of kidney inflammation. High levels of immune complexes were present in the circulation while precipitating antibodies were maintained, and rats remained in the mill stage of disease, exhibiting no abnormalities of kidney function and only mesangial immunopathology. The start of the moderate stage of chronic serum sickness, identified by proteinuria and the accumulation of immune deposits along the glomerular basement membrane, was associated with the disappearance of precipitating antibodies from circulation. With the onset of the severe stage of disease, marked by depressed glomerular filtration and sodium excretion, circulating antibodies of high affinity were no longer detected and circulating immune complex levels were only marginally elevated above normal. The experiments reported here demonstrate that, in chronic serum sickness glomerulonephritis of rats, transitions from one stage of kidney disease to another can be inferred from changes in the population of circulating antibodies. Kidney histopathology, therefore, can be predicted reliably from serological data alone.     

Interleukin-4 enhances interferon-gamma synthesis but inhibits development of interferon-gamma-producing cells.

Interleukin-4 (IL-4) is antagonistic for many of the activities of interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) and, as well as suppressing the development of T-helper type-1 (Th1) cells, has been reported to block directly the synthesis of IFN-gamma in human lymphocytes. However, IL-4 transgenic mice produce increased amounts of IFN-gamma as well as IL-4. We have compared the ability of rat IL-4 to regulate IFN-gamma secretion in short-term cultures of spleen cells with its effect on the differentiation of T lymphocytes into IFN-gamma-producing, or Th1-type, cells. Normal rat spleen cells were stimulated using a variety of mitogens and ovalbumin antigen, with or without IL-4, for 12-24 hr and the levels of IFN-gamma in the supernatants measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The results show that when normal rat splenocytes were stimulated with phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) or concavalin A (Con A), IL-4 enhanced secretion of IFN-gamma after 12-24 hr. This enhancement was also apparent when splenocytes from animals immunized 10 days previously with alum-precipitated ovalbumin were stimulated with ovalbumin in vitro, and appeared to be mediated primarily via CD+ T cells. In contrast, when spleen cells were maximally stimulated with phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) and ionomycin, addition of IL-4 had no effect on the amount of IFN-gamma secreted. When splenocytes were stimulated with Con A for 4 days in the presence of IL-4, and restimulated with PMA and ionomycin, IFN-gamma secretion was greatly suppressed. Our results indicate that IL-4 exerts differential effects on IFN-gamma secretion and on the development of IFN-gamma-producing lymphocytes.     

The differentiation of O-2A progenitor cells into oligodendrocytes is associated with a loss of inducibility of Ia antigens

Current data suggest that some astrocytes, one of the 3 main types of macroglia in the central nervous system (CNS), can be induced by interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) to express major histocompatibility complex class II antigens (immune-associated or Ia) and present antigen to T lymphocytes. In contrast, oligodendrocytes, another type of macroglia, cannot be induced to express Ia. The astrocytes which have been shown to express Ia are from a particular glial lineage and are called type-1 astrocytes. The oligodendrocyte-type-2 astrocyte (O-2A) lineage, which gives rise to oligodendrocytes, also gives rise to a second class of astrocytes called type-2 astrocytes and the ability of type-2 astrocytes or the common O-2A progenitor cell to express Ia is not known. We have now found that both type-2 astrocytes and O-2A progenitor cells can be induced to express Ia by IFN-gamma but Ia expression is not induced in oligodendrocytes in parallel cultures. Thus, it appears that differentiation of O-2A progenitor cells into oligodendrocytes is specifically associated with a loss of inducibility of Ia. This apparent loss of the capacity for Ia expression, and presumably antigen presentation, in oligodendrocytes (the cells which produce myelin in the CNS) is of particular interest in view of the ability of immunization of myelin components to produce autoimmune-mediated paralytic disease.     

胺碘酮合用小剂量β受体阻滞剂治疗老年阵发房颤临床观察

目的 比较胺碘酮与小剂量β受体阻滞剂合用对老年阵发性房颤的疗效。方法 回顾分析30名老年阵发房颤患者,根据房颤复律后维持用药的不同,分为3组：单用胺碘酮组（n=11);单用β阻滞剂组（n=9);胺碘酮与小剂量β阻滞剂合用组（n=10)。比较3组患者用药后12个月中房颤控制情况及心室率、心脏传导情况。结果 单用胺碘酮组显效率54．5％,有效率45．5％,无效率0％;单用β受体阻滞剂组显效率22．2％,有效率44．5％,无效率33．3％;胺碘酮与小剂量β受体阻滞剂合用治疗房颤,显效率90％,有效率10％,其疗效明显优于单用胺碘酮（P＜0．05）或单用β阻滞剂（P＜0．01）组,且未见明显副作用：3组间心室率未见显著差别。结论 胺碘酮与小剂β受体阻滞剂合用可有效地控制老年阵发性心房纤颤的发作。     

喉癌中EGFR基因扩增、表达及临床意义

目的研究喉癌中表皮生长因子受体(EGFR)基因的扩增、表达,探讨其在喉癌发生、发展中的作用及临床意义。方法采用差异PCR(differential PCR)方法检测40例喉鳞状细胞癌及配对癌旁正常组织中EGFR基因的扩增(即基因拷贝数增加);应用RT-PCR方法检测EGFR mRNA水平;应用SPSS13.0软件对数据进行统计学分析。结果喉癌组织中有13例(占32.5%)EGFR基因拷贝数增加,癌旁对照组中则未检测到(χ2=15.537,P<0.005);喉癌组织中EGFR mRNA平均积分光密度为872.356±62.340,癌旁对照组为346.425±57.380(t=5.959,P<0.001);喉癌组织分化程度越低,病理分期越晚,EGFR基因扩增和mRNA表达水平越高(P<0.05)。结论喉癌中EGFR基因在DNA水平上的扩增是EGFR mRNA过表达的原因之一,EGFR的扩增和过表达在喉癌的发生、进展中发挥一定作用。     

肿瘤抗原冲击致敏的IL-2基因修饰的巨噬细胞治疗肾癌的实验研究

目的 :观察体外肿瘤抗原冲击致敏的白细胞介素 2 (IL 2 )基因修饰的巨噬细胞对肾癌小鼠的治疗效果并探讨其相关的免疫机理。方法 :通过重组腺病毒的介导 ,将IL 2基因转入新鲜分离的小鼠腹腔巨噬细胞 ,经肿瘤抗原冲击致敏后回输治疗原位肾癌小鼠 ,采用 4h5 1 Cr释放法检测脾脏NK和CTL活性。结果 :IL 2基因修饰的巨噬细胞经肿瘤抗原冲击后体内回输可使肾癌小鼠肺转移结节明显减少 ,存活期明显延长 ,40 %肾癌小鼠达到长期存活。治疗后荷瘤小鼠脾脏NK和CTL活性显著提高。结论 :IL 2基因修饰的巨噬细胞经肿瘤抗原冲击后自体回输是治疗肾癌的有效方法。