Effect of glycerol on triglyceride metabolism in the rat

Lipid metabolic studies were carried out on the male Wistar rats fed on glycerol-rich diet in order to elucidate the mechanism of glycerol-induced hypertriglyceridemia. No difference was found between the glycerol fed rats and the control rats in the rate of triglyceride secretion from the liver measured by the Triton WR-1339 method as well as in the rate of incorporation of labeled glycerol into liver triglyceride. The facts that the half-life of the intravenously injected intralipid^® in the blood was significantly delayed in the glycerol fed rats and that the lipoprotein lipase activity released from epididymal adipose tissue of the glycerol fed rats was markedly decreased to 19% of that of the control rats seem to account for the serum triglyceride elevation induced by the glycerol feeding.     

仙台病毒基因结构与功能的研究进展

仙台病毒（SeV）是引起啮齿类动物呼吸道疾病的病原，属于副粘病毒科，单股负链RNA病毒。本文就组成SeV的基因结构和功能做一综述。     

Development of novel method of non-viral efficient gene transfer into neonatal cardiac myocytes

To establish new treatment for cardiovascular disease, the development of safe and highly efficient vectors is necessary. Especially, non-viral vectors are considered to be ideal for human gene therapy, since recent adverse events with retroviral or adenoviral vectors have highlighted the issue of safety. Although we previously reported safety and high efficiency of HVJ-liposome method, we have modified the envelope of HVJ (Sendai virus). In this novel non-viral vector, the envelope of HVJ alone was utilized as a carrier to deliver proteins, genes and oligodeoxynucleotides (ODN). Thus, we optimized the transfection efficiency of HVJ-envelope vector into neonatal cardiac myocytes in this study, since cardiac myocytes is one of the most difficult cells to be transfected. HVJ-envelope, obtained after complete destruction of HVJ genome, containing FITC-labeled ODN or luciferase plasmid was incubated with cardiac myocytes. In addition, the concentration of protamine sulfate was modified (0-700 microg/ml) to increase transfection efficacy. Without HVJ-envelope vector, few cells showed fluorescence, whereas most cells demonstrated fluorescence with HVJ-envelope vector. Consistent with the high transfection efficiency of ODN, high luciferase activity was also detected using HVJ-envelope vector. Moreover, the transfection efficiency varied according to the concentration of protamine sulfate. No obvious cytotoxicity was observed in cells transfected with HVJ-envelope vector. The present study demonstrated the development of a highly efficient novel non-viral vector for cardiac myocytes, suggesting that further development may provide a new useful tool for research and clinical gene therapy in the field of cardiovascular disease.     

Persistent loss of IL-27 responsiveness in CD8+ memory T cells abrogates IL-10 expression in a recall response

CD8+ T cells are central to the eradication of intracellular pathogens, but they can also act to limit inflammation and immunopathology. During primary respiratory viral infection CD8+ effector T cells release the immunosuppressive cytokine IL-10, which is essential for host survival. Here we report that CD8+ T-cell–derived IL-10 is absent in a recall response. We show in mice that the lack of IL-10 is due to a persistent loss of IL-27 responsiveness in CD8+ memory T cells, caused by down-regulation of the common cytokine receptor, glycoprotein 130. CD8+ memory T cells secreted less IL-10 when activated in the presence of IL-27 than did naïve controls, and retroviral expression of glycoprotein 130 restored IL-10 and reduced IFN-γ production upon restimulation. We demonstrate that human CD8+ memory cells are also characterized by impaired IL-27 responsiveness. Our data suggest that CD8+ T-cell activation involves a persistent loss of specific cytokine receptors that determines the functional potential of these cells during rechallenge infection.