二甲亚砜对人表皮的核酸和蛋白质合成的影响

用体外培养的人的伪表皮作为模型，进行药物毒理学作用的研究，观察了二甲亚砜（ＤＭＳＯ）在不同浓度和不同接触时间条件下，对人的伪表皮细胞脱氧核糖核酸（ＤＮＡ）、核糖核酸（ＲＮＡ）和蛋白质合成的影响：随着接触时间的延长，ＤＮＡ、ＲＮＡ和蛋白质合成均受抑制。低浓度条件下（１％），ＤＮＡ、ＲＮＡ和蛋白质合成增加；在１５～５０％浓度下，ＤＮＡ和蛋白质合成抑制，而ＲＮＡ合成仍增加；在高浓度条件下（７０％～１００％），ＤＮＡ、ＲＮＡ和蛋白质合成均明显抑制。     

The role of the complement system in innate immunity

Complement is a major component of innate immune system involved in defending against all the foreign pathogens through complement fragments that participate in opsonization, chemotaxis, and activation of leukocytes and through cytolysis by C5b-9 membrane attack complex. Bacterias and viruses have adapted in various ways to escape the complement activation, and they take advantage of the complement system by using the host complement receptors to infect various cells. Complement activation also participates in clearance of apoptotic cells and immune, complexes. Moreover at sublytic dose, C5b-9 was shown to promote cell survival. Recently it was also recognized that complement plays a key role in adaptive immunity by modulating and modifying the T cell responses. All these data suggest that complement activation constitutes a critical link between the innate and acquired immune responses.     

The role of complement activation in atherosclerosis

Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease in which dyslipidemia, inflammation, and the immune system play an important pathogenetic role. A role in atherogenesis was demonstrated for monocyte/macrophages, complement system, and T-lymphocytes. Complement activation and C5b-9 deposition occurs both in human and experimental atherosclerosis. Complement C6 deficiency has a protective effect on diet-induced atherosclerosis, indicating that C5b-9 assembly is required for the progression of atherosclerotic lesions. The maturation of atherosclerotic lesions beyond the foam cell stage was shown to be strongly dependent on an intact complement system. C5b-9 may be responsible for cell lysis, and sublytic assembly of C5b-9 induces smooth muscle cell (SMC) and endothelial cell (EC) activation and proliferation. All these data suggest that activation of the complement system plays an important role in atherogenesis.     

Expression of superoxide dismutase and xanthine oxidase in myometrium, fetal membranes and placenta during normal human pregnancy and parturition

Superoxide, an agent which attenuates the half-life of nitric oxide, is metabolized and synthesized by superoxide dismutase (SOD) and xanthine oxidase, respectively. Over the last few years much work has focused on the role of nitric oxide in human parturition. The aim of this study was to determine whether the onset of human parturition is associated with a change in the expression of copper/zinc superoxide dismutase (Cu/Zn SOD), manganese superoxide dismutase (Mn SOD) or xanthine oxidase within the uterus. Samples of myometrium, placenta, decidua and fetal membranes were obtained from women before and after the onset of labour at term. Immunocytochemistry was used to localize Cu/Zn SOD, Mn SOD and xanthine oxidase and measure SOD enzyme activity. Cu/Zn and Mn SOD-like immunoreactivity was detected in syncytiotrophoblast cells, villous stromal cells and endothelial cells of blood vessels in the placenta. In the myometrium Cu/Zn and Mn SOD were localized to myocytes and endothelial cells and to some vascular smooth muscle cells. In the fetal membranes we observed staining for Cu/Zn SOD and Mn SOD in the amnion, chorion, extravillous trophoblast and decidua. There was no difference in SOD enzyme activity or staining intensity for SOD between different cell types before and during labour. Xanthine oxidase immunoreactivity was identified in each of the tissues examined and again there was no difference in immunostaining in tissues obtained from women delivered before or after the onset of labour. These results show that the pregnant uterus is capable of both synthesizing and degrading superoxide and suggest that superoxide dismutase and xanthine oxidase may play a role in the maintenance of uterine quiescence during pregnancy, but not in the initiation of parturition.      

The nitric oxide pathway in pre-eclampsia: pathophysiological implications

Pre-eclampsia, one of the most significant health problems inhuman pregnancy, complicates 6-7% of all gestations and is theleading cause of fetal growth retardation, infant morbidityand mortality, premature birth and maternal death. Recent researchimplicates free radicals in the pathophysiology of pre-eclampsia.This review covers the biochemistry of nitric oxide (NO) andpossible interactions with other free radicals. Studies in therat show that pregnancy is associated with enhanced productionand responsiveness to NO in both reproductive tissues and bloodvessels. Rats infused with N^G-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester(L-NAME, a NO synthase inhibitor) have been used as an animalmodel of pre-eclampsia, and the effects of steroid hormoneson blood pressure in this model have been tested. Results suggestthat pre-eclampsia may be a state of NO deficiency. However,in humans there seem to be contradictions regarding the involvementof NO in maternal adaptation to pregnancy. It is suggested thatNO may be one of several systems that act in concert to maintaina symbiotic relationship between mother and fetus. However,the input of each system may be genetically determined.     

A novel mitochondria-targeting method using special staining for the detection of apoptotic hepatocytes

ABSTRACT

Early detection of apoptotic cells on histological slides is of major importance for both diagnostic and research areas. In the current study, the aim was to propose a convenient method to stain the mitochondria and establish whether hepatocytes undergoing apoptosis can be identified in tissue sections using the proposed method. Liver tissue from five adult chinchillas was fixed with 10% neutral buffered formalin for Goldner’s trichrome (GT) and Groat’s iron hematoxylin and eosin (HE) stains and with Kolster’s fixative for the Heidenhain’s iron hematoxylin procedure. The HE and GT-stained sections showed the morphological features consistent with apoptosis i.e., homogenous intensely acidophilic cytoplasm, cell shrinkage with an irregular outline, nuclear shrinkage with cloudy karyoplasm, and karyopyknosis in the late stage. Sections stained with Heidenhain’s iron hematoxylin method was used to pinpoint mitochondria and revealed cells which were undergoing the first stages of the apoptosis process i.e., disappearance of mitochondria from the cell, chromatin condensation and margination, paracentral localization of nucleoli, and vacuolated nuclei. In more advanced stages of apoptosis, cells presented significant nuclear and cytoplasmic changes. It was concluded that this is the first report targeting the mitochondria, by performing inexpensive histological staining techniques, in order to assess dead cells in situ.     

Increased expression and release of functional tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) by T cells from lupus patients with active disease

Increased expression of TRAIL in membrane-bound and soluble form in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) has been previously reported. In this study, we characterized the upregulation of T-cell-associated and soluble TRAIL (sTRAIL) in vivo and the modulation of TRAIL expression and soluble protein release in vitro following T cell activation and IFNalpha exposure. The expression of membrane-bound TRAIL as determined by flow cytometry was higher on CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells from lupus patients compared to controls, particularly on activated CD69(+)CD8(+) T cells. Similarly, sTRAIL levels determined by ELISA were significantly elevated in serum from patients with active SLE and correlated with levels of IFNalpha. In vitro, both T-cell-associated and sTRAIL were maximally induced by T cell activation plus IFNalpha in patients and controls. By Western blot analysis, sTRAIL was detected in sera in both the monomeric and multimeric, functional form. Both forms of TRAIL were functional in vitro as determined by Annexin V staining and (51)Cr release assay but the apoptotic activity of membrane TRAIL was 2.5-fold higher compared to that of sTRAIL. These results indicate that IFNalpha-induced enhancement of TRAIL expression and of TRAIL-mediated apoptosis may amplify the abnormal apoptotic process in SLE.