Pharmacological screening of the methanol and dichloromethanol extracts of Genista patens

The pharmacological effects of the dichloromethanol and methanol extracts obtained from leaves and stems of Genista patens DC were analysed in in vitro and in vivo models. Both extracts showed low acute toxicity (LD₅₀ > 3 g/kg), CNS depressor and antiinflammatory activity, and similar analgesic effect in models of chemical and thermal stimulation. Furthermore, the dichloromethanol extract (1–20 mg/kg) induced a pronounced dose-dependent decrease on blood pressure. On isolated organs, the dichloromethanol extract (1, 10, 100 μg/mL) shifted the concentration-effect curve to the right for ACh and reduced the E_max induced by histamine without modifying responses induced by noradrenaline and serotonin.     

Tanzanian medicinal plants used traditionally for the treatment of malaria: In vivo antimalarial and in vitro cytotoxic activities

Seventeen fractions of extracts obtained from 11 Tanzanian medicinal plants, which had previously been shown to possess a high antimalarial activity in vitro were submitted to the 4-day suppressive test in Plasmodium berghei-infected mice, and were investigated for cytotoxic activity in human carcinoma cell lines in vitro. Several fractions administered orally to the mice (500 mg/kg body weight/day) produced a significant reduction of parasitaemia. The most effective plant fractions investigated were those of the root and stem bark of Maytenus senegalensis (90% and 63% suppression of parasitaemia, respectively) and of the roots of Cissampelos mucronata (59% suppression). Highest cytotoxic activities were found with all fractions of Maytenus senegalensis (IC₅₀ 1 μg/mL) and with the PE fraction of the roots of Salacia madagascariensis (median IC₅₀=1.2 μg/mL for HT 29 and 2.3 μg/mL for KB).     

药用植物多倍体诱导研究进展

在查阅国内外相关文献的基础上,概述了药用植物多倍体在应用方面的优势及鉴定方法,总结了染色体人工诱导加倍的常用方法,并提出了药用植物多倍体研究中亟需解决的问题。     

我国医药行业药品委托生产的发展趋势及策略探讨

目的:促进我国医药行业药品委托生产的健康发展。方法:结合我国的宏观环境和微观环境,探讨医药行业药品委托生产发展的新趋势及现实意义。结果与结论:政府应完善法律法规,创造良好的宏观环境;企业应加强内部管理,找到适合自身实际的发展道路。     

人源轮状病毒转基因马铃薯口服免疫小鼠的免疫应答研究

目的分析人源轮状病毒转基因植物抗原的口服免疫应答反应。方法在根癌脓杆菌介导获得系列转基因马铃薯植株的基础上，用ELISA分析转基因马铃薯中目的蛋白表达水平。马铃薯块茎直接口服免疫Balb／c小鼠，ELISA分析免疫小鼠血清、唾液、粪便提取物特异抗体水平。结果获得一株最高表达量的转化株；口服免疫可诱导较强的血清IgG反应和强烈的黏膜sIgA反应，粪便的sIgA最高，唾液次之，尿液中无sIgA；加霍乱毒素B亚单位（CTB）佐剂免疫组小鼠和霍乱毒素（CT）佐剂免疫组小鼠抗体水平无显著差异，无佐剂免疫组小鼠抗体水平略低。结论人源轮状病毒转基因植物疫苗联合黏膜佐剂免疫动物可诱导特异的系统与黏膜免疫应答，且黏膜免疫强度略高于系统免疫。     

Application of molecular and immuno-diagnostic tools for detection,surveillance and quarantine regulation of Karnal bunt (Tilletia indica) of wheat

Disease diagnostics and pathogen detection, a primary component of any crop management programme, is also helpful in monitoring sanitary and phyto-sanitary measures to seed quality. Molecular diagnostics based on immunological and DNA techniques can provide an efficient way for disease surveillance and disease forecasting. Karnal bunt (KB) of wheat has become a major disease of economic importance and an important issue in the international wheat trade. Due to its seed borne, soil borne and air borne nature, KB can be diagnosed in three pathogenic forms of pathogens viz. teliospores, sporidial and mycelial forms which occur in infectious or proliferative entities at different stages of the disease cycle. Suitable sampling and extraction procedures can improve the detection limits of modern molecular diagnostic methods used to test KB. For the extraction of teliospores from both infected and infested seeds, highly efficacious detergent washing techniques have been developed and extracted pathogenic entities were diagnosed by involving several species of specific primers and immuno-chemical reagents. Nucleic acid and antibody based techniques have been developed for the detection of KB pathogen in different forms. These techniques can also be successfully employed for differential diagnosis, disease surveillance of seed borne pathogens of quarantine importance and determination of teliospore load in wheat seeds. These tests can also be designed to assist in the trade of wheat, development of disease forecasting models and molecular and immuno-pathotyping of Tilletia indica isolates collected from different agro-climatic regions. Moreover, these formats could also be employed for molecular characterization of disease determinants and in comprehending their role in molecular basis of host-pathogen interaction. The present paper highlights the use of the principle of molecular diagnostics in exerting disease surveillance and quality assurances of seeds.     

Transgenic tobacco cells producing the human monoclonal antibody to hepatitis B virus surface antigen

The recombinant human monoclonal antibody (MAb) against hepatitis B virus (HBV) surface antigen (HBsAg) was expressed in tobacco suspension cultures. The parental CL4MAb was produced by the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) transformed human cell line TAPC301-CL4. The CL4MAb cDNA was introduced into tobacco suspension cells by Agrobacterium mediated transformation. The monoclonal antibodies (MAbs), B294 and B303, which were derived from CL4 and subsequently produced in plant cells were selected for study. After purification on Protein A columns, B294 and B303 MAbs had anti-HBs relative affinity constants similar to the parental CL4MAb. B303 MAb interacted with cell surface HBsAgs and showed complement-dependent cytotoxicity in a manner that was similar to anti-HBs human immunoglobulins (HBIg) that are used clinically. The results of this study point to the feasibility of producing MAbs to HBsAg in plants as an alternative to HBIg.     

食管癌患者淋巴细胞活性rRNA基因的研究

应用银染色方法研究了食管癌患者,正常人的外周血淋巴细胞核仁形成区。发现食管癌患者的银染形成区均数及其最大横径均数明显高于正常人。结果提示,在食管癌患者淋巴细胞中rRNA基因的数量和转录活性之间呈正相关且高于正常人。     

The mitochondrial DNA of land plants: peculiarities in phylogenetic perspective

Land plants exhibit a significant evolutionary plasticity in their mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), which contrasts with the more conservative evolution of their chloroplast genomes. Frequent genomic rearrangements, the incorporation of foreign DNA from the nuclear and chloroplast genomes, an ongoing transfer of genes to the nucleus in recent evolutionary times and the disruption of gene continuity in introns or exons are the hallmarks of plant mtDNA, at least in flowering plants. Peculiarities of gene expression, most notably RNA editing and trans-splicing, are significantly more pronounced in land plant mitochondria than in chloroplasts. At the same time, mtDNA is generally the most slowly evolving of the three plant cell genomes on the sequence level, with unique exceptions in only some plant lineages. The slow sequence evolution and a variable occurrence of introns in plant mtDNA provide an attractive reservoir of phylogenetic information to trace the phylogeny of older land plant clades, which is as yet not fully resolved. This review attempts to summarize the unique aspects of land plant mitochondrial evolution from a phylogenetic perspective.