Effects of tributyltin(IV) chloride on the gametes and fertilization of Ascidia malaca (Ascidiacea: Tunicata)

Ascidia malaca gametes before fertilization incubated in 10^?5 or 10^?7 M solutions of tributyltin(IV) chloride, TBTCl, for 3 h appear highly damaged under transmission electron microscopy observation. Also, the fertilization process is affected by the compound: the damaged spermatozoa are present in the vitelline coat and the egg does not cleave. An increase of microbodies, structurally similar to peroxisomes, have been detected in the egg peripheral cytoplasm, probably in relation to their role in alleviating damage to some cellular components. The results have shown that the reproduction of ascidians under unfavourable environmental conditions is prevented. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cellular adhesion and proliferation on poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): Benefits in the electroactivity of the conducting polymer

Cell adhesion and proliferation in poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene), an electroactive polythiophene derivative generated by anodic polymerization, has been investigated. Results show that epithelial cells Hep-2 present significant activity on the surface of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) electrodeposited on stainless steel electrodes, no sign of cytotoxicity being detected for this conducting polymer. Indeed, seeded and cultured cells bound better to poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) than to uncoated stainless steel, the latter substrate being used as a control. Furthermore, the electrochemical characteristics of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) covered with cells was determined in different biological media using cyclic voltammetry experiments. Results reveal a significant increase in the electroactivity of this material when it is covered with a cellular monolayer. The overall of the results evidences not only the biocompatibility of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) with Hep-2 cells but also their electrocompatibility.     

Lysophosphatidic acid induces astrocyte proliferation in hippocampus slices partially through activating extracellular signal-regulated kinases

The goal of the present study is to test the hypothesis that LPA induces proliferation of astrocytes in hippocampus in vivo via phosphorylation of ERK 1/2. We first characterized the expression of GFAP, a special marker fiber protein of astrocytes, in brain slices after direct injection of LPA into hippocampus by immunohistochemistry, and found that LPA induced a remarkable proliferation of astrocytes. Then double-lablled immunofluorescence was used to detect GFAP and phosphorylation ERK 1/2 (p-ERK 1/2), LPA induced an immediate (10 min) and transient (<30 min) phosphorylation of ERK 1/2, and sequence sustained activation of ERK 1/2 was observed, which last for at least 3 weeks after injection of LPA. Reactions are inhibited by U0126, a specific pharmacological mitogen-activated protein kinase (MEK) inhibitor. Laser confocal scanning was used to study spatial relationship of p-ERK and astrocytes. Amazingly, the early (<7 days) phosphorylation of ERK 1/2 is not expressed in astrocytes but in area where neurons and/or in other cell type(s) occupied, expression of p-ERK 1/2 in astrocytes is not detected until 14 days after LPA injection and lasts for at least 3 weeks. Taken together, these data suggest that LPA play an important role in proliferation of astrocytes through phosphorylation of ERK 1/2 in hippocampus. It provides further proof for the functions of LPA in CNS injury, and may contribute to clinical therapy for relative diseases.     

稀土对人正常肝细胞株7701和人宫颈癌Hela细胞生长的影响及其诱导细胞凋亡的作用

采用MTT法考察了16种稀土元素在9×10-8~2×10-4mol.L-1浓度范围内对体外培养的人正常肝细胞株7701细胞和宫颈癌Hela细胞的生长的影响。结果表明,稀土对细胞生长的影响存在浓度依赖性;低浓度促进细胞增殖,高浓度抑制细胞生长;不同稀土离子对细胞作用强弱不同,稀土间存在轻重分组效应;不同细胞对稀土的响应不同,表现出稀土对正常细胞和癌细胞作用的某种选择性。Hoechst 33258标记细胞DNA,用激光共聚焦显微镜和流式细胞仪对稀土处理的肝细胞株7701进行形态学观察和DNA含量分析。结果表明,较高浓度的稀土作用后的肝细胞株7701出现了明显的凋亡特征,稀土表现出的细胞毒性作用,其本质是诱导细胞发生凋亡。     

Intracellular fate of hydrocarbons

In previous work, purification procedures and zymogram analysis conducted with supernatants of crude extracts from aerobic mycelium of the YR-1 strain of Mucor circinelloides isolated from petroleum-contaminated soils indicated the existence of only one soluble alcohol oxidase (sAO) activity. In the present work enzymatic activity of alcohol oxidase (AO) was also detected in the mixed membrane fraction (MMF) of a high-speed centrifugation procedure after drastic ballistic cellular homogenization to break the mycelium from strain YR-1. When mycelial cells were gently broken by freezing the mycelium with liquid nitrogen, smashing in a mortar, and submitting the samples to an isopycnic sucrose gradients (10–60% sucrose), AO activity was detected in particular and discrete fractions of the gradient, showing specific density values quite different from the density of peroxisomes. The results suggest that there could be a different intracellular pattern of distribution of the microsomal fraction in aerobically grown mycelium depending on the carbon source used in the culture media, including alcohols and hydrocarbons, but not in glucose. In working with particulate fractions, we found two AO activities: a new membrane alcohol oxidase (mAO) activity and the sAO. Both activities appear to be located in the inner of the cells in specific compartments different from the peroxisomes, so mAO could be in the membrane of these compartments and sAO in the lumen of the vesicles. We also assayed other enzymatic activities involved in hydrocarbon biodegradation to establish its intracellular location and other enzymatic activities such as peroxidase to use them as intracellular markers of different organelles. In the case of monooxygenase, the first enzymatic step in the hydrocarbon biodegradation pathway, its location was in the same fractions where AOs were located, suggesting the existance of a specific organelle that contains the enzymatic activities involved in hydrocarbon biodegradation.     

New antiproliferative 14,15-secopregnane glycosides from Solenostemma argel

Eight new 14,15-secopregnane glycosides, namely argelosides C-J, possessing two ketal functions involved in three five-membered rings, have been isolated from the hairy seeds of Solenostemma argel. Their structures have been established by MS and NMR experiments, combined with quantum mechanical calculations of the ¹³C chemical shifts for the interpretation of the experimental data. On the basis of the obtained results, the structures of argelosides A and B have been revised. Additionally, the effect of these compounds on the VEGF-induced in Kaposi's sarcoma cell proliferation was evaluated. Results indicated that all the compounds reduced the cell proliferation in a dose-dependent manner.     

明胶改性聚醚醚酮微载体的制备、表征及性能

微载体因其具有较高的表面积/体积比等优点可以大大提高哺乳动物细胞培养效率,被广泛应用于生物制药和组织工程等领域。 但微载体多为一次性使用,不耐高温,且主要依赖进口,价格昂贵,因而限制了其国内的应用和推广。 聚醚醚酮(PEEK)材料具有良好的生物相容性、化学稳定性及耐高温等特性,是一种优异的微载体材料,但存在熔点高,加工方法单一和生物惰性等缺陷。 本文以浓硫酸为溶剂,乙醇溶液为萃取剂,采用气流辅助滴注/相分离法,将PEEK制备成448 μm左右,尺寸均匀的微球;经氨丙基三乙氧基硅烷(APTES)处理,获得表面氨基化修饰的PEEK微球(PEEK-N);进一步,以N,N'-羰基二咪唑(CDI)为活性中间体,将明胶分子接枝到PEEK-N微球表面,获得表面明胶修饰的PEEK微载体(PEEK-G)。 对材料的物理化学性质、表面接枝量进行表征;并通过体外细胞实验评估其细胞毒性、细胞粘附效率和细胞增殖能力。 结果显示,通过该方法制备成功了3种不同明胶接枝含量的PEEK细胞微载体(PEEK-G1,PEEK-G2,PEEK-G3),其中明胶含量较高的PEEK-G3毒性最低,细胞粘附和增殖效果最理想。     

Effect of quality control on the proliferation of the extract from Taraxacum mongolicum Hand.‐Mazz. in Lactobacillus plantarum

In recent years, the fingerprint of high‐performance liquid chromatography has been extensively applied in the identification and quality control of traditional Chinese medicine. It can be a potential protocol for assessing the authenticity, stability and consistency of traditional Chinese medicine and guaranteeing the expected biological activity. In this paper, a method using high‐performance liquid chromatography to identify and control the quality of the extract of Taraxacum mongolicum Hand.‐Mazz. (TME) was established. With this method, the correlation coefficients of the similarity of 10 batches were ≥0.994. The TME displayed a steady proliferative effect in Lactobacillus plantarum. In brief, this study successfully built a reliable, simple and efficient method to control and confirm the quality and the stability of biological activity of the TME.     

稀土化合物TbCl3对成骨细胞系MC3T3-E1增殖、分化和矿化功能的影响

在细胞和分子水平上,研究了稀土化合物氯化铽(TbCl₃)对成骨细胞MC3T3-E1增殖、分化及矿化功能的影响。结果表明,细胞水平上,浓度为0.0001、0.001、0.01、0.1、1和10 μmol·L^-1的TbCl₃均促进MC3T3-E1细胞的增殖、分化及其矿化功能,然而,当浓度升至为100和1000 μmol·L^-1时,TbCl₃表现出抑制作用。分子水平上,浓度为0.0001和0.1 μmol·L^-1的TbCl₃明显上调成骨分化相关基因骨形成蛋白2(BMP-2),碱性磷酸酶(ALP),骨涎蛋白(BSP),Ⅰ型胶原蛋白(Col Ⅰ),骨钙素(OCN)和runt 相关转录因子2(Runx2)的表达。浓度为1 000 μmol·L^-1的TbCl₃则抑制上述成骨分化相关基因的表达。浓度为0.000 1、0.1和1 μmol·L^-1的TbCl₃促进成骨分化相关蛋白Runx2,BMP-2和OCN的表达;结果显示,低浓度的TbCl₃促进MC3T3-E1细胞的成骨分化及矿化功能,而高浓度TbCl₃则呈现出抑制作用。TbCl₃通过调控Runx2的表达刺激早期成骨分化相关基因BMP-2、Col Ⅰ和晚期成骨分化相关基因ALP、OCN的表达,从而诱导MC3T3-E1成骨分化。     

Microengineered PEG Hydrogels: 3D Scaffolds for Guided Cell Growth

Designing three‐dimensional (3D) scaffolds for selective manipulation of cell growth is of high relevance for applications in regenerative medicine. Especially, scaffolds with oriented morphologies bear high potential to guide the restoration of specific tissues. The fabrication of hydrogel scaffolds that support long‐term survival, proliferation, and unidirectional growth of embedded cells is presented here. Parallel channel structures are introduced into the bulk hydrogels by uniaxial freezing, providing stable, and uniform porosity suitable for cell invasion (pore diameters of 5–15 µm). In vitro assessment of the scaffolds with murine fibroblasts (NIH L929) shows a remarkable unidirectional movement along the channels, with the cells traveling several millimeters through the hydrogel.