糖尿病对内皮祖细胞移植促血管新生作用的影响

背景：内皮祖细胞为血管新生的前体细胞,通过促血管新生作用治疗糖尿病血管病变有着良好的前景。 目的：探讨糖尿病对内皮祖细胞移植治疗缺血性疾病过程中促血管新生作用的影响。 方法：制备糖尿病大鼠模型,提取糖尿病和正常大鼠供体骨髓单个核细胞体外定向培养为内皮祖细胞。同时建立糖尿病及正常大鼠下肢缺血模型,并于缺血病变部位局部移植糖尿病或正常大鼠内皮祖细胞或PBS进行对照。移植后定期应用ELISA方法检测病变部位血管内皮生长因子含量,应用免疫组化方法计数病变部位微血管密度。 结果与结论：①受体相同,移植物不同时：移植糖尿病大鼠来源或正常大鼠来源内皮组细胞后,下肢缺血组织中血管内皮生长因子水平及微血管密度比较,差异无显著性意义(P > 0.05)。②移植物相同,受体不同时：正常大鼠移植内皮祖细胞后下肢缺血组织中血管内皮细胞生长因子含量和微血管密度均高于糖尿病组。说明在体外定向培养和病变部位局部注射条件下,糖尿病对骨髓来源内皮祖细胞移植促血管新生作用无明显影响,而对血管新生所处的病变部位微环境有明显影响。     

Electrocortical processing of social signals of threat in combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is characterized by avoidance, emotional numbing, increased arousal and hypervigilance for threat following a trauma. Thirty-three veterans (19 with PTSD, 14 without PTSD) who had experienced combat trauma while on deployment in Iraq and/or Afghanistan completed an emotional faces matching task while electroencephalography was recorded. Vertex positive potentials (VPPs) elicited by happy, angry and fearful faces were smaller in veterans with versus without PTSD. In addition, veterans with PTSD exhibited smaller late positive potentials (LPPs) to angry faces and greater intrusive symptoms predicted smaller LPPs to fearful faces in the PTSD group. Veterans with PTSD were also less accurate at identifying angry faces, and accuracy decreased in the PTSD group as hyperarousal symptoms increased. These findings show reduced early processing of emotional faces, irrespective of valence, and blunted prolonged processing of social signals of threat in conjunction with impaired perception for angry faces in PTSD.     

抗人甲状腺过氧化物酶抗体与其他自身抗体的关系

甲状腺过氧化物酶（ＴＰＯ）是甲状腺微粒体的抗原成分。在纯化抗原建立测定抗ＴＰＯ抗体ＥＬＩＳＡ法的基础上，并对抗ＴＰＯ与其他自身抗体的伴随关系作了研究。发现除自身免疫性甲状腺病有较高阳性率外，ＳＬＥ等患者抗ＴＰＯ检出率也很高（１０％￣５２．１％），且抗ＴＰＯ阳性者，抗核抗体等其他自身抗体的阳性率也高达３０．８％￣９５．２％。抗ＴＰＯ抗体与其他自身抗体的相关系数ｒ＝０．７４６７（Ｐ〈０．０１）。     

SARS-CoV-2 spike protein favors ACE2 from Bovidae and Cricetidae

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) causes the recent COVID-19 public health crisis. Bat is the widely believed original host of SARS-CoV-2. However, its intermediate host before transmitting to humans is not clear. Some studies proposed pangolin, snake, or turtle as the intermediate hosts. Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is the receptor for SARS-CoV-2, which determines the potential host range for SARS-CoV-2. On the basis of structural information of the complex of human ACE2 and SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain (RBD), we analyzed the affinity to S protein of the 20 key residues in ACE2 from mammal, bird, turtle, and snake. Several ACE2 proteins from Primates, Bovidae, Cricetidae, and Cetacea maintained the majority of key residues in ACE2 for associating with SARS-CoV-2 RBD. The simulated structures indicated that ACE2 proteins from Bovidae and Cricetidae were able to associate with SARS-CoV-2 RBD. We found that nearly half of the key residues in turtle, snake, and bird were changed. The simulated structures showed several key contacts with SARS-CoV-2 RBD in turtle and snake ACE2 were abolished. This study demonstrated that neither snake nor turtle was the intermediate hosts for SARS-CoV-2, which further reinforced the concept that the reptiles are resistant against infection of coronavirus. This study suggested that Bovidae and Cricetidae should be included in the screening of intermediate hosts for SARS-CoV-2.     

The goat mammary gland as a target organ for atrial natriuretic peptide

Milk secretion represents a major route for electrolyte and water excretion in the dairy goat. The aims of this study were to investigate whether the mammary gland is a target site for atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) in the goat and whether ANP affects mammary sodium and water secretion. Receptor autoradiography using ¹²⁵I-ANP as radioligand revealed specific binding sites in the secretory tissue of the mammary gland. The radioligand was totally displaced by unlabelled ANP, but not by brain natriuretic peptide or the ANP fragment c-ANP_4–23, indicative of ANP-A receptor preference. To elucidate the role of ANP in milk secretion, ANP (30 ng kg^?1min^?1; 120 min) or 0.15 m NaCl (control) were administered in vivo. The ANP infusions caused haemoconcentration, but did not change milk flow or the concentrations of sodium, potassium, lactose, fat and protein in the milk. The results show that the mammary gland of the goat expresses ANP-specific binding sites, however, a physiological role of ANP in goat mammary gland function remains to be elucidated.     

Prenatal presentation and diagnosis of Baraitser‐Winter syndrome using exome sequencing

Baraitser‐Winter cerebrofrontofacial syndrome (BWCFF) is a rare autosomal dominant developmental disorder associated with missense mutations in the genes ACTB or ACTG1. The classic presentation of BWCFF is discerned by the combination of unique craniofacial characteristics including ocular coloboma, intellectual disability, and hypertelorism. Congenital contractures and organ malformations are often present, including structural defects in the brain, heart, renal, and musculoskeletal system. However, there is limited documentation regarding its prenatal presentation that may encourage healthcare providers to be aware of this disorder when presented throughout pregnancy. Herein we describe a case of a pregnancy with large cystic hygroma and omphalocele. Whole exome sequencing (WES) was performed and a de novo, heterozygous, likely pathogenic mutation in ACTB was detected, c.1004G>A (p.Arg335His), conferring a diagnosis of BWCFF.     

两种塑化材料对断层解剖标本制作效果的比较

目的:研究2种不同塑化材料制作的断层解剖标本的差异.方法:分别采用硅橡胶技术和聚酯共聚体技术制备人体断层标本,并进行比较.结果:硅橡胶技术所制备的标本不透明;聚酯共聚体技术制备的断层解剖标本半透明.硅橡胶材料制备的断层标本不适于研究组织纤维走向和筋膜结构,适用于标本防腐保存;聚酯共聚体材料制备的断层标本可以清晰地显示组织的纤维走向和筋膜结构,同时标本的厚度均匀,表面平滑,硬度较高.结论:聚酯共聚体材料制备的断层标本优于硅橡胶材料,此方法将会发展成为断层解剖学研究的常用技术.     

Biodegradation of benzene and its derivatives by a psychrotolerant and moderately haloalkaliphilic Planococcus sp. strain ZD22

The potential for biodegradation of aromatic hydrocarbons simultaneously at low temperatures and under saline and alkaline conditions is not well understood, but such biodegradation would be useful for remediation of polluted sites. A psychrotolerant, moderately haloalkaliphilic pure culture using benzene as a sole source of carbon and energy was isolated by selective enrichment from alkaline and saline soils in the vicinity of the Daqing oil field in China. An analysis of the 16S rDNA gene sequence and morphological and physiological characteristics showed that this strain is a member of the genus Planococcus, and it was designated as strain ZD22. Strain ZD22 could grow at temperatures between 2 and 36 degrees C (pH 7.5-11) and salt concentrations from 0.5 to 25%. Its optimal conditions for biodegradation of benzene were 20 degrees C (pH 9.5) and 10% salt concentration. Strain ZD22 not only utilized benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and o-xylene, but also degraded chlorobenzene, bromobenzene, iodobenzene and fluorobenzene. The kinetic model of strain ZD22 for benzene was solved to obtain mumax=0.34 h-1, Ks=0.041 mM, n=1.21, Sm=10.2 mM. To our knowledge, this is the first report of biodegradation of benzene and its derivatives simultaneously under multiple extreme conditions.     

An optimal algorithm for configuring delivery options of a one-dimensional intensity-modulated beam

The problem of generating delivery options for one-dimensional intensity-modulated beams (1D IMBs) arises in intensity-modulated radiation therapy. In this paper, we present an algorithm with the optimal running time, based on the 'rightmost-preference' method, for generating all distinct delivery options for an arbitrary 1D IMB. The previously best known method for generating delivery options for a 1D IMB with N left leaf positions and N right leaf positions is a 'brute-force' solution, which first generates all N! possible combinations of the left and right leaf positions and then removes combinations that are not physically allowed delivery options. Compared with the brute-force method, our algorithm has several advantages: (1) our algorithm runs in an optimal time that is linearly proportional to the total number of distinct delivery options that it actually produces. Note that for a 1D IMB with multiple peaks, the total number of distinct delivery options in general tends to be considerably smaller than the worst case N!. (2) Our algorithm can be adapted to generating delivery options subject to additional constraints such as the 'minimum leaf separation' constraint. (3) Our algorithm can also be used to generate random subsets of delivery options; this feature is especially useful when the 1D IMBs in question have too many delivery options for a computer to store and process. The key idea of our method is that we impose an order on how left leaf positions should be paired with right leaf positions. Experiments indicated that our rightmost-preference algorithm runs dramatically faster than the brute-force algorithm. This implies that our algorithm can handle 1D IMBs whose sizes are substantially larger than those handled by the brute-force method. Applications of our algorithm in therapeutic techniques such as intensity-modulated arc therapy and 2D modulations are also discussed.     

Appl1 is essential for the survival of Xenopus pancreas,duodenum, and stomach progenitor cells

An understanding of the molecular mechanisms governing the survival of organ progenitor cells in vivo is crucial for in vitro tissue regeneration. Here, we have found that Xenopus appl1 and akt2 share a similar embryonic expression pattern, showing characteristic expression in the central nervous system as well as in the pancreas and part of the stomach/duodenum (SD) at tadpole stages of development. Specific knockdown of appl1 in endoderm or inhibition of akt activity did not affect the formation of endodermal organ primordia at tail bud stages of development, but led to a gut‐coiling defect, strong apoptosis in endodermal organs, and pancreas and SD hypoplasia or even aplasia at tadpole stages of development. Furthermore, appl1 is required for akt phosphorylation and akt2 in turn can rescue appl1 knockdown phenotypes. Together, our data suggest that appl1‐akt signaling is specifically required for the survival of pancreas and SD progenitor cells in Xenopus laevis embryos. Developmental Dynamics 239:2198–2207, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.