Objective Intravenous administration of basic fibroblast growth factor （bFGF） is effective to reduce the volume of cerebral infract due to ischemia. This study was designed to investigate the molecular mechanism, es...Objective Intravenous administration of basic fibroblast growth factor （bFGF） is effective to reduce the volume of cerebral infract due to ischemia. This study was designed to investigate the molecular mechanism, especially the signal transduction pathways, involved in this protective role of bFGF. Methods Anoxia-reoxygenation treated atrocytes were used to study the role of mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase kinase （MAPK/ERK kinase, MEK）-ERK signaling pathway after exogenous bFGF administration by Western blot. Electrophoretic mobile shift assay was used to detect the binding activity of early growth response factor-1 （Egr-1）, an important transcription factor for endogenous bFGF. Results bFGF could protect some signal transduction proteins from the oxygen-derived free radicals induced degradation. ERK1/2 was activated and involved in Egr-1 binding activity enhancement induced by exogenous bFGF. Conclusion MEK-ERK MAPK cascade may be an important signal transduction pathway contributed to bFGF induced enhancement of Egr-1 binding activity in anoxia-reoxygenation injured astrocytes.展开更多
The aim of this study was to assess the effect of long-term in vitro sub-culturing on the varietal degeneration of three sweet potato varieties, namely, Monate, Mokone and Ndou which were sub-cultured for 32, 23 and 1...The aim of this study was to assess the effect of long-term in vitro sub-culturing on the varietal degeneration of three sweet potato varieties, namely, Monate, Mokone and Ndou which were sub-cultured for 32, 23 and 12 generations, respectively. Each generation was cultured in a media which is made from 4.43 g/L Murashige and Skoog （MS）, 30 g/L sucrose and 2 g/L gelrite, respectively, and grown under 16 h light and 8 h dark photoperiod for 30 d. For each generation, 45 plantlets were acclimatized for two months in a glasshouse. Data on in vitro growth performance and 11 morphological characteristics during acclimatization were recorded. Early root and shoot formation was observed after the 27th and 21st sub-cultured generations of Monate and Mokone, respectively. During acclimatization, plantlets from the same variety showed differences in morphological traits such as leaf colour, abaxial leaf pigmentation, vine pigmentation, petiole pigmentation, leaf wrinkling and flowering. However, the rate of these morphological differences is random and irrespective to increase in sub-culturing. Therefore, to understand the genetic base of these morphological variability, two plantlets from each variety were subjected to genetic analysis by using five simple sequence repeat （SSR） primers （IB-242, IB-318, IB-255F, 1B-248 and IB-255）. Although SSR loci IB-255F and IB-318 could distinguish between the three varieties, there were no allelic polymorphisms detected in plantlets from the same varieties. Therefore, long-term sub-culturing do not leads to quality degeneration in the three sweet potato varieties.展开更多
Active targeting drug delivery systems （TDDS）, which could improve drug therapeutic efficacy and reduce toxicity, are still the focus of many scientific researches in cancer therapy. The drug circulation time and tu...Active targeting drug delivery systems （TDDS）, which could improve drug therapeutic efficacy and reduce toxicity, are still the focus of many scientific researches in cancer therapy. The drug circulation time and tumor accumulation could be significantly increased with the application of sterically stabilized liposome （SSL）. SSL could also be modified easily with certain ligands to achieve targeting drug delivery. Because many tumors overexpress somatostatin receptors （SSTRs）, octreotide （OCT） becomes a potential targeting ligand due to its high affinity to SSTRs, especially to subtype 2 （SSTR2）. In this study, OCT was conjugated to methoxypolyethyleneglycol-distearoyl-phosphatidylethanolamine （DSPE-PEG2000）, and doxorubicin （DOX）-loaded SSL with a variable percentage of octreotide-methoxypolyethyleneglycol-distearoyl-phosphatidylethanolamine （DSPE-PEG/00o-OCT） were prepared （OCT-SSL-DOX）. All liposomes were about 90 nm in diameter and negatively charged on the surface, with DOX encapsulation efficiency at above 95%. OCT modification exhibited little effect on the physicochemical properties of SSL. In this study, cellular delivery efficacy of all prepared liposomes was evaluated in SSTIL2-positive cells in vitro by flow cytometry for the optimization of the OCT density on the surface of liposomes. Lipid formulation containing 1.5% DSPE-PEG20oo-OCT exhibited the highest efficiency of intracellular drug delivery. The modification of OCT did not alter the release behaviors of liposomal DOX in vitro, but OCT-SSL-DOX increased the cytotoxicity and improved the anti-tumor effect of liposomal DOX in SST1L2- positive cells and tumor-bearing mice models. In summary, OCT-modified SSL succeeded in increasing intracellular delivery and enhancing therapeutic efficacy of encapsulated anticancer agent, suggesting that it might be a promising TDDS for the treatment of SSTR2-overexpressing cancers.展开更多
Solid electrolyte based-resistive memories have been considered to be a potential candidate for future information technology with applications in non-volatile memory, logic circuits and neuromorphic computing. A cond...Solid electrolyte based-resistive memories have been considered to be a potential candidate for future information technology with applications in non-volatile memory, logic circuits and neuromorphic computing. A conductive filament model has been generally accepted to be the underlying mechanism for the resistive switching. However, the growth dynamics of such conductive filaments is still not fully understood. Here, we explore the controllability of filament growth by correlating observations of the filament growth with the electric field distribution and several other factors. The filament growth behavior has been recorded using in situ transmission electron microscopy. By studying the real- time recorded filament growth behavior and morphologies, we have been able to simulate the electric field distribution in accordance with our observations. Other factors have also been shown to affect the filament growth, such as Joule heating and electrolyte infrastructure. This work provides insight into the controllable growth of conductive filaments and will help guide research into further functionalities of nanoionic resistive memories.展开更多
文摘Objective Intravenous administration of basic fibroblast growth factor （bFGF） is effective to reduce the volume of cerebral infract due to ischemia. This study was designed to investigate the molecular mechanism, especially the signal transduction pathways, involved in this protective role of bFGF. Methods Anoxia-reoxygenation treated atrocytes were used to study the role of mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase kinase （MAPK/ERK kinase, MEK）-ERK signaling pathway after exogenous bFGF administration by Western blot. Electrophoretic mobile shift assay was used to detect the binding activity of early growth response factor-1 （Egr-1）, an important transcription factor for endogenous bFGF. Results bFGF could protect some signal transduction proteins from the oxygen-derived free radicals induced degradation. ERK1/2 was activated and involved in Egr-1 binding activity enhancement induced by exogenous bFGF. Conclusion MEK-ERK MAPK cascade may be an important signal transduction pathway contributed to bFGF induced enhancement of Egr-1 binding activity in anoxia-reoxygenation injured astrocytes.
文摘The aim of this study was to assess the effect of long-term in vitro sub-culturing on the varietal degeneration of three sweet potato varieties, namely, Monate, Mokone and Ndou which were sub-cultured for 32, 23 and 12 generations, respectively. Each generation was cultured in a media which is made from 4.43 g/L Murashige and Skoog （MS）, 30 g/L sucrose and 2 g/L gelrite, respectively, and grown under 16 h light and 8 h dark photoperiod for 30 d. For each generation, 45 plantlets were acclimatized for two months in a glasshouse. Data on in vitro growth performance and 11 morphological characteristics during acclimatization were recorded. Early root and shoot formation was observed after the 27th and 21st sub-cultured generations of Monate and Mokone, respectively. During acclimatization, plantlets from the same variety showed differences in morphological traits such as leaf colour, abaxial leaf pigmentation, vine pigmentation, petiole pigmentation, leaf wrinkling and flowering. However, the rate of these morphological differences is random and irrespective to increase in sub-culturing. Therefore, to understand the genetic base of these morphological variability, two plantlets from each variety were subjected to genetic analysis by using five simple sequence repeat （SSR） primers （IB-242, IB-318, IB-255F, 1B-248 and IB-255）. Although SSR loci IB-255F and IB-318 could distinguish between the three varieties, there were no allelic polymorphisms detected in plantlets from the same varieties. Therefore, long-term sub-culturing do not leads to quality degeneration in the three sweet potato varieties.
基金National Basic Research Program of China(Grant No.2009CB930300)State Key Projects(Grant No.2009ZX09310-001)the 863 Project of China(Grant No.2007AA021811)
文摘Active targeting drug delivery systems （TDDS）, which could improve drug therapeutic efficacy and reduce toxicity, are still the focus of many scientific researches in cancer therapy. The drug circulation time and tumor accumulation could be significantly increased with the application of sterically stabilized liposome （SSL）. SSL could also be modified easily with certain ligands to achieve targeting drug delivery. Because many tumors overexpress somatostatin receptors （SSTRs）, octreotide （OCT） becomes a potential targeting ligand due to its high affinity to SSTRs, especially to subtype 2 （SSTR2）. In this study, OCT was conjugated to methoxypolyethyleneglycol-distearoyl-phosphatidylethanolamine （DSPE-PEG2000）, and doxorubicin （DOX）-loaded SSL with a variable percentage of octreotide-methoxypolyethyleneglycol-distearoyl-phosphatidylethanolamine （DSPE-PEG/00o-OCT） were prepared （OCT-SSL-DOX）. All liposomes were about 90 nm in diameter and negatively charged on the surface, with DOX encapsulation efficiency at above 95%. OCT modification exhibited little effect on the physicochemical properties of SSL. In this study, cellular delivery efficacy of all prepared liposomes was evaluated in SSTIL2-positive cells in vitro by flow cytometry for the optimization of the OCT density on the surface of liposomes. Lipid formulation containing 1.5% DSPE-PEG20oo-OCT exhibited the highest efficiency of intracellular drug delivery. The modification of OCT did not alter the release behaviors of liposomal DOX in vitro, but OCT-SSL-DOX increased the cytotoxicity and improved the anti-tumor effect of liposomal DOX in SST1L2- positive cells and tumor-bearing mice models. In summary, OCT-modified SSL succeeded in increasing intracellular delivery and enhancing therapeutic efficacy of encapsulated anticancer agent, suggesting that it might be a promising TDDS for the treatment of SSTR2-overexpressing cancers.
文摘Solid electrolyte based-resistive memories have been considered to be a potential candidate for future information technology with applications in non-volatile memory, logic circuits and neuromorphic computing. A conductive filament model has been generally accepted to be the underlying mechanism for the resistive switching. However, the growth dynamics of such conductive filaments is still not fully understood. Here, we explore the controllability of filament growth by correlating observations of the filament growth with the electric field distribution and several other factors. The filament growth behavior has been recorded using in situ transmission electron microscopy. By studying the real- time recorded filament growth behavior and morphologies, we have been able to simulate the electric field distribution in accordance with our observations. Other factors have also been shown to affect the filament growth, such as Joule heating and electrolyte infrastructure. This work provides insight into the controllable growth of conductive filaments and will help guide research into further functionalities of nanoionic resistive memories.
