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Dityrosine (Dityr) is the most common oxidized form of tyrosine. In the previous studies of mice treated with dityrosine, cell death in the pancreas, kidneys, and liver was detected in the presence of enhanced plasma triiodothyronine (T3) content. Due to its structural similarity with the thyroid hormone T3, we hypothesized that dityrosine might disrupt T3-dependent endocrine signaling. The cytotoxic effect of dityrosine was studied in C57BL/6 mice by gavage with a dityrosine dose of 320 μg per kg per day for 10 weeks. Cell death in the liver was detected in the presence of enhanced plasma thyroid hormone content in mice treated with dityrosine. The antagonistic effect of dityrosine on T3 biofunction was studied using HepG2 cells. Dityrosine incubation reduced T3 transport ability and attenuated the T3-mediated cell survival

The investigation in attack angle induced by canards control force is an important issue for trajectory correction technology. This paper focuses on the attack angle response of projectile considering not only durable force but instantaneous force. Following the introduction of the projectile nonlinear dynamic models in the non-rolling reference frame, the equations of attack angle under control are established. The initial angular rate is derived through a model with conservation of angular momentum. The analytical solutions of attack angle under the two conditions are presented. The analytical expression of the relationship between trajectory shift and attack angle is presented. When instantaneous force is taken into consideration, the magnitude of the maximum angle of attack is raised by 10.2%, the steady-state time is extended by 15.2%, whereas the trajectory under two kinds of condition varies little.

2D trajectory correction technology has been adopted to improve the accuracy of mortar. The fuze equipped with a trajectory correction canard is a method to achieve effectively 2D trajectory correction. The circular grid-fin has the characteristic of shorter length of fin cell, thereby the flowing choking is reduced effectively. The use of grid fin is well known for its smaller control moments resulting in smaller actuators, which can solve the problem of fuze space limitation. In addition, the circular layout allows it to be closed folded along the surface of the fuze, resulting in little influence on the aerodynamic characteristics of the trajectory correction mortar in the flight before correcting. The computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations are carried out to investigate the aerodynamic characteristics of trajectory correction mortar with planar canard and circular grid-fin canard respectively, in the condition of subsonic, transonic and supersonic. Lift coefficients, drag coefficients, lift/drag ration, pitch moment coefficients and center of pressure of trajectory correction mortar with circular grid-fin canard and planar canard are compared. The results indicate the circular grid-fin canard is a good configuration for 2D trajectory correction.

During this study, the effect of germination in combination with in vitro pepsin and pancreatin digestion of protein flours extracted from black soybean on the production of bioactive peptides was investigated. Black soybean (Glycine max L.) were germinated for 3 days (at 24, 48 and 72 h, respectively germination periods) and harvested. Protein hydrolysates from germinated black soybean were prepared from protein isolate by in vitro digestion using pepsin and pancreatin and then evaluated for antioxidant activity. Soy protein hydrolysate from 48 h of germination exhibited the highest scavenging activity against 2, 2-Diphenyl-1-Picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radicals (76.56 % at 2.5 mg/mL) followed by 24 and 72 h (66.62 and 60.55% at 2.5 mg/mL, respectively). Protein hydrolysate from germinated black soybean also exhibited noticeable scavenging activity for hydroxyl. Soy protein hydrolysate from 48 h of germination (97.475% at 2 mg/mL) significantly was the most effective in neutralizing •OH (p

NPAS3 (Neuronal PAS domain protein 3) and VGF (VGF Nerve Growth Factor Inducible) are important for neurogenesis and psychiatric disorders. Previously, we have demonstrated that NPAS3 regulates VGF at the transcriptional level. In this study, VGF (non-acronymic) was found regulated by NPAS3 in neuronal stem cells. However, the underlying mechanism of this regulation remains unclear. This studies aim was to explore the correlation of NPAS3 and VGF, and their roles in neural cell proliferation, in the context of psychiatric illnesses. Firstly, we focused on the structure of NPAS3, to identify the functional domain of NPAS3. Truncated NPAS3 lacking transactivation domain was also found to activate VGF, which suggested that not only transactivation domain but other structural motifs were involved in the regulation. Secondly, Mutated enhancer box (E-box) of VGF promoter showed significant response to this basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factor, which suggested an indirect regulatory mechanism for controlling VGF expression by NPAS3. κB site within VGF promoter was identified for VGF activation induced by NPAS3, apart from direct binding to E-box. Furthermore, ectopically expressed NPAS3 in PC12 cells produced parallel responses for nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells [NF-κB (P65)] expression, which specifies that NPAS3 regulates VGF through the NF-κB signaling pathway. Over-expression of NPAS3 also enhances the cell proliferation, which can be blocked by knockdown of VGF. Finally, NPAS3 was found to influence proliferation of neural cells through VGF. Therefore, downstream signaling pathways that are responsible for NPAS3-VGF induced proliferation via glutamate receptors were explored. Combining this work and published literature, a potential network composed by NPAS3, NF-κB, Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF), Nerve growth factor (NGF) and VGF, was proposed. This network collectively detailed how NPAS3 connects with VGF and intersected neural cell proliferation, synaptic activity and psychiatric disorders.

OBJETIVO: D-dimero e proteina C reativa sao de valores de diagnostico e preditivo em pacientes com tendencia trombotica, como a trombose vascular, doenca arterial coronaria e disseccao aortica. No entanto, o estudo comparativo desses biomarcadores entre os pacientes com disseccao aguda da aorta e doenca arterial coronariana nao foi suficientemente esclarecido. METODOS: Pacientes cirurgicos consecutivos foram selecionados para este estudo por tipo de disseccao aguda aortica (20 pacientes), aneurisma da aorta (9 pacientes) ou doenca arterial coronaria (20 pacientes). O plasma a partir de amostras de sangue no pre-operatorio e sobrenadante de homogenato de aorta dos especimes cirurgicos foi detectado para o D-dimero e proteina C reativa hipersensivel. RESULTADOS: Os valores do plasma de D-dimero e proteina-C reativa em disseccao aortica tipo A ou aneurisma da aorta foram muito superiores em pacientes com doenca arterial coronariana ou de controles saudaveis (pelo D-dimero, disseccao aortica: doenca arterial coronariana, 0,4344 ± 0,2958 µg/ml vs 0,0512 ± 0,0845 µg/ml, P

Rationale:Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) is characterized by clinical and radiological features, including headache, disturbed consciousness, seizures, and cortical blindness associated with findings indicating posterior leukoencephalopathy on imaging studies. Ours is th

This study aims to examine the antioxidant and antibacterial activities and phenolic contents of Conyza bonariensis growing in Yemen. The whole plants of C. bonariensis were ultrasonically extracted by ethanol. The antioxidant activity of the extract was determined by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and β-carotene bleaching (BCB). The effectiveness of the extract on the growth inhibition of some indicators of foodborne illness bacteria were investigated by agar well diffusion assay. The total phenols (TP), total flavonoids (TF), total tannins (TT), and total anthocyanins (TA) were determined by Folin-Ciocalteu method, aluminium chloride method, Folin and Ciocalteu method, and pH-differential method, respectively. The extract of C. bonariensis possessed TP 144.1 mg/g, TF 143 mg/g, TT 0.99mg/g, and TA 0.97mg 100g, with 94.57% inhibition of DPPH and 92.47% inhibition of BCB, and strong inhibitory effects against tested bacteria, which was approximate to those of peel extract of Punica granatum.

Using phosphoric acid as the catalyst and glucose as substrate, microwave-assisted solid-phase bioactive oligosaccharide synthesis was studied. The optimum reaction conditions were that microwave power output of 800 W, microwave irradiation time 10 min, adding 30% water to initiate reaction, adding 10% heteropoly acid A as the catalyst. The yield ratio of product was 76.56%. The product was characterized with HPLC. The component and proportion of synthetic oligosaccharides included glucose 49.25%, maltose 10.10%, isomaltose 21.78%, maltotriose 2.15%, panose 10.08%, isomaltotriose 5.16%, tetrasaccharide and pentasaccharides 1.61%. Free radical scavenging test demonstrated that synthetic oligosaccharides possessed property of scavenging oxygen and hydroxyl free radical.

Upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) produces the most widely used natural fibers, yet the regulatory mechanisms governing fiber cell elongation are not well understood. Through sequencing of a cotton fiber cDNA library and subsequent microarray analysis, we found that ethylene biosynthesis is one of the most significantly upregulated biochemical pathways during fiber elongation. The 1-Aminocyclopropane-1-Carboxylic Acid Oxidase1-3 (ACO1-3) genes responsible for ethylene production were expressed at significantly higher levels during this growth stage. The amount of ethylene released from cultured ovules correlated with ACO expression and the rate of fiber growth. Exogenously applied ethylene promoted robust fiber cell expansion, whereas its biosynthetic inhibitor l-(2-aminoethoxyvinyl)-glycine (AVG) specifically suppressed fiber growth. The brassinosteroid (BR) biosynthetic pathway was modestly upregulated during this growth stage, and treatment with BR or its biosynthetic inhibitor brassinazole (BRZ) also promoted or inhibited, respectively, fiber growth. However, the effect of ethylene treatment was much stronger than that of BR, and the inhibitory effect of BRZ on fiber cells could be overcome by ethylene, but the AVG effect was much less reversed by BR. These results indicate that ethylene plays a major role in promoting cotton fiber elongation. Furthermore, ethylene may promote cell elongation by increasing the expression of sucrose synthase, tubulin, and expansin genes.

1. The current experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of zinc sulphate (ZnSO4) and zinc methionine (Zn-Met) on growth and their effect on plasma growth hormone (GH) concentration, growth hormone receptor (GHR) and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) mRNA expression in mice. 2. Ninety male KunMing (KM) mice were randomly divided into three treatments. The control group was fed on a basal diet containing 11.67 mg/kg of zinc. The ZnSO4 group and Zn-Met group were fed on the diets supplemented with ZnSO4 or Zn-Met at 30 mg/kg (containing zinc of 40.05 and 40.75 mg/kg, respectively). The mice were offered the test diets for 10 days. Weight gains and food intake were measured at the end of the experiment, zinc contents in liver and serum were determined using atomic absorption spectrophotometry; GH was determined by radioimmunoassay, the levels of GHR and IGF-I mRNA were determined with reverse transcript polymerase chain reaction. 3. Both ZnSO4 and Zn-Met enhanced weight gain and food intake in the mice, Zn-Met improved the growth and food intake more effectively than ZnSO4 did (P0.05). The both forms of zinc had no effect on GH and the level of GHR mRNA expression (P0.05) and they up-regulated the expression of IGF-I mRNA (P0.05). As compared to ZnSO4, Zn-Met enhanced the level of IGF-I mRNA significantly (P0.05). 4. Both ZnSO4 and Zn-Met had no effect on plasma GH and the expression of GHR mRNA, but they enhanced the expression of IGF-I mRNA. Zinc methionine enhanced the weight gain and up-regulated IGF-I mRNA expression more effectively than ZnSO4.

Using the suppression subtractive hybridization method, we isolated five gene families, including proline-rich proteins (PRPs), arabinogalactan proteins (AGPs), expansins, tubulins and lipid trans- fer proteins (LTPs), from fast elongating cotton fiber cells. Expression profile analysis using cDNA array technology showed that most of these gene families were highly expressed during early cotton fiber develop- mental stages (0-20 days post anthesis, DPA). Many transcripts accumulated over 50-fold in 10 DPA fiber cells than in 0 DPA samples. The entire gene family—AGP, together with 20 individual members in other 4 gene families, are reported in cotton for the first time. Accumulation of cell wall proteins, wall loosening enzymes, microtubules and lipid transfer proteins may contribute directly to the elongation and development of fiber cells.

A novel peptide, named BF2-X, was designed based on the structure-activity analysis of an analogue of Buforin II, named BF2-A. The BF2-X was a hybrid peptide containing the N-terminal residues 5 to 13 of BF2-A and three repeats of the C-terminal regular alpha-helical motif RLLR, and the residues 8 valine were replaced by leucine. The results of bioinformatics analysis had showed that compared with BF2-A, the helicity, positive charge, hydrophobicity rate and C-terminal amphipathy of BF2-X had remarkably enhanced. Both peptides showed a random coil structure in an aqueous solution, while displaying a typical alpha-helical structure in 50% trifluoroethanol solution (a membrane mimic condition). BF2-X exhibited higher alpha-helical contents than BF2-A in hydrophobic environment. BF2-X displayed potent antimicrobial activities against a broad spectrum of microorganisms. And BF2-X showed stronger antimicrobial activities against bacteria tested than parent peptide BF2-A. These results suggest that the alpha-helical content was directly correlated with the enhanced antibacterial activity. Both peptides had no hemolytic action on mouse erythrocyte.

The aims of this study were to estimate the prevalence of headache subtypes and headache-specific disability among children and adolescents in Shanghai, China, and to assess the validity and reliability of the ID-migraine questionnaire in this population. Of 4812 students who completed the questionnaire, 466 (9.68%) had experienced a headache in the past 3 months. Of the 466 headache sufferers, 44.85% were classified as having migraine. The proportion of migraine varied with age from 23.29% to 43.48%, and high proportions were found at ages 14 years and 15 years. The average proportion of: tension-type headache was 29.18%, and the proportions of cluster and other headache were 6.22% and 19.74%, respectively. According to the Paediatric Migraine Disability Assessment Score classification, the percentage of headache sufferers with grade I disability ranged from 40.54% to 71.43% across age groups and was 61.24% overall. The overall sensitivity of the ID-migraine screening questionnaire was 39.71% and the specificity was 46.63%.

Somatostatin (SST) may protect organism from overnutrition-induced insulin resistance and oxidative stress by inhibiting pancreatic endocrine and exocrine secretion, gastrointestinal digestion and absorption. Many studies clearly show its release becomes perturbed in diabetes and obesity. Therefore, in the present study we first aimed to investigate whether or not plasma somatostatin level was different in patients with hyperlipidemia and normolipidemic controls. We also assessed the relationship between plasma somatostatin levels with atherosclerotic index (AI) and malondialdehyde (MDA) in non-diabetic dyslipidemic patients. Subjects with hyperlipidemia have insulin resistance and high levels of oxidative stress. Median somatostatin (57.2±19.2 vs 68.0±21.9 pg/mL; p0.05) levels were lower in hyperlipidemic than in normolipidemic subjects. Significant inverse relationships between SST level and AI (r=-0.21, p0.05), or MDA (r=-0.31, p0.01) were observed. These results suggest a possible protective role of endogenous SST, at least on hyperlipidemia and atherosclerosis that are attributed to excess energy intake and physical inactivity. Of course these preliminary results should be supported by prospective studies.

D-dimer and C-reactive protein are of diagnostic and predictive values in patients have thrombotic tendency, such as vascular thrombosis, coronary artery disease and aortic dissection. However, the comparative study in these biomarkers between the patients with acute aortic dissection and coronary artery disease has not been sufficiently elucidated.Consecutive surgical patients for acute type A aortic dissection (20 patients), aortic aneurysm (nine patients) or coronary artery disease (20 patients) were selected into this study. Plasma from preoperative blood samples and supernatant of aortic homogenate of the surgical specimens were detected for D-dimer and hypersensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP).Plasma D-dimer and hs-CRP values in type A aortic dissection or aortic aneurysm were much higher than in coronary artery disease patients or the healthy control (for D-dimer, aortic dissection: coronary artery disease, 0.4344 ± 0.2958 µg/ml vs. 0.0512 ± 0.0845 µg/ml, P0.0001; aortic dissection: healthy control, 0.4344 ± 0.2958 µg/ml vs. 0.1250 ± 0.1295 µg/ml, P = 0.0005; aortic aneurysm: coronary artery disease, 0.4200 ± 0.4039 µg/ml vs. 0.0512 ± 0.0845 µg/ml, P = 0.0013; and aortic aneurysm: healthy control, 0.4200 ± 0.4039 µg/ml vs. 0.1250 ± 0.1295 µg/ml, P = 0.0068; and for hs-CRP, aortic dissection: coronary artery disease, 4.400± 3.004 mg/L vs. 1.232±0.601 mg/L, P0.0001; aortic dissection:healthy control, 4.400 ± 3.004 mg/L vs. 0.790 ± 0.423 mg/L, P0.0001; aortic aneurysm: coronary artery disease, 2.314 ± 1.399 mg/L vs. 1.232 ± 0.601 mg/L, P = 0.0084; aortic aneurysm: healthy control, 2.314 ± 1.399 mg/L vs. 0.790 ± 0.423 mg/L, P = 0.0002; and coronary artery disease: healthy control, 1.232 ± 0.601 mg/L vs. 0.790 ± 0.423 mg/L, P = 0.0113). Besides, there were close correlations between plasma D-dimer and hs-CRP in overall (Y = 4.8798X + 0.8138, r² = 0.4497, r = 0.671, P0.001), aortic dissection (Y = 2.6298X + 1.2098, r² = 0.5762, r = 0.759, P0.001), and aortic aneurysm (Y = 7.1341X + 1.3006, r² = 0.4935, r = 0.7025, P = 0.048) groups rather than in the coronary artery disease or healthy control subjects. In addition, there were no significant differences between D-dimer and hs-CRP values of the aortic supernatant among groups except for undetectable D-dimer in the aortic supernatant of the coronary artery disease group.The patients with acute aortic dissection and aortic aneurysm may reflect the extensive inflammatory reaction and severe coagulopathies in the patients with acute type A aortic dissection, and thoracic aortic aneurysm in comparison to the coronary patients and healthy control individuals. The detections after onset in the patients with acute chest pain may help making a differential diagnosis between the aortopathies and ischemic heart disease. The scanty significance of the tissue biomarkers may preclude their diagnostic value in clinical practice.

To rescue and evacuate people of unexpected events in city, it is very necessary to organize traffic system. On the base of analyzing traffic characteristics of unexpected events, traffic evacuation methods are submitted, such as combination of one-way traffic and special use way, no turn -left, temporary traffic channeling, one-way green wave, and estimation methods also are set. Estimation result illustrates that these traffic evacuation methods of unexpected events can improve network capacity and promote rescue and evacuation.

After analyzing the serious impact of left-turn vehicle on intersection, this paper offers the means of traffic organization by being use of U-turn for carrying out left-turn vehicles at intersection. Meanwhile, the paper gives the calculation models and reference values of design parameters about distance from intersection to U-turn hatch in center isolation, turn radius, and path width. The results indicate the technique of U-turn can cancel left-turn vehicles at intersection, reduce phase numbers of the traffic signals and decrease delay to enhance capacity and continuity of the arteries.

This paper discusses the processing method of survey data at intersection in Wuhan City, and analyze traffic flow characteristics at intersection on base of actual survey data. According to the traffic flow characteristics such as the spatial distribution of traffic volume, time distribution of traffic volume, the traffic flow stability, the traffic flow directional volume, the headway and the traffic composition, we can get the current traffic situation at intersection in Wuhan City, which provides a basis for the planning,designing and management of intersection in Wuhan City.

Carnitine, the only carrier for fatty acid to enter mitochondria for oxidation, has significant effects on serum lipids metabolism and male fertility. This study aimed to investigate the correlation of serum carnitine levels with sex and age among healthy Chinese adults in Nanjing.We obtained fasting blood samples from 347 healthy Chinese adults in Nanjing (182 males, 165 females, aged from 20 to 89), determined the levels of serum free, acylcarnitine and total carnitine by high performance liquid chromatography with pre-column ultraviolet derivatization, and analyzed the correlation of serum carnitine levels with the age and sex of the subjects.Total and free carnitine levels were significantly higher in the males than in the females (P0.05) while no statistically significant differences were found in the acylcarnitine level (P0.05). Among those aged between 20 to 50 years, levels of serum free and total carnitine were significantly higher in men than in women (P0.05) and they increased with age in females, but with no significant differences between males and females older than 50 years. The acylcarnitine level showed no obvious differences in any age and sex groups.Serum free and total carnitine levels are correlated with sex and age in healthy adults.

An efficient and convenient purifying procedure for recombinant peptide was established. Thereby, the aimed antimicrobial peptide T1 containing the conservative sequences derived from cecropin was successfully expressed and purified. The composition of amino acid of the purified peptide T1 was consistent with that of theoretical design. The significant antimicrobial activity of T1 against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria was demonstrated, suggesting that the conservative sequences in cecropin play an important role in the antimicrobial mechanism and that antimicrobial peptide T1 has the potential to be used as the food preservative.

To investigate the mechanism that Lactobacillus peptidoglycan modulates mice immune response.BALB/c mice were administrated (i.p.) with Lactobacillus peptidoglycan once or three times. Peritoneal macrophages and spleen lymphocytes were isolated for gene expression analysis using gene array. PathwayExplorer and GeneMAPP were used to explore significant pathway in database.The analysis resulted in five significant pathways: cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, T helper cell surface molecules, ribosomal proteins, inflammatory response pathway and mm heme biosynthesis.Lactobacillus peptidoglycan induced expression of considerable genes, which related to protective immune response and activation of Th cells. The induced immune response might be Th1 type.

To study the immune characterization of HBsAg DNA recombinant attenuated salmonella typhimurium vaccine and the expression of enhanced green fluorescence protein gene pEGFPC3 in mice.Plasmid pcDNA3s and pEGFPC3 was transformed into attenuated salmonella typhimurium SL8786 by electricity instrument to construct recombinant vaccine SL8786/EGFPC3 and SL8786/pcDNA3s. Mice were immunized with the recombinant vaccine and the quantity of anti-HBs antibody in the sera was measured by time resolved fluorescence immunoassay(TRFIA), While the cytotoxocity of CTL was measured by LDH release assay.It produced strong specificity CTL response after taking SL8786/pcDNA3s orally to mice and anti-HBs was highest in 11 weeks. EGFPC3 expression in two mice spleen cells was detected by flow cytometry(FCM). EGFP masculine ratio is 19.20% and 17.36% respectively. but SL8786/pcDNA3 in two mice spleens cell EGFP masculine ratio only is 1.95% and 1.63%. The mice was taken SL8786/EGFPC3 orally after three weeks, fluorescence expression in its liver, spleen, kidney, chest gland, duodenum, muscle, etc. were observed.HBV DNA vaccine can induce specific cellular and humoral immune responses in vivo in mice by oral. Recombinant attenuated salmonella typhimurium SL8786/EGFPC3 we constructed. It has green fluorescence expression in mice's partial organization, and it offers a model for research gene engineering vaccine.

The ingestion of lactobacilli is of great importance for the probiotic effect of host gut Peyer's patches (PPs) macrophages. The present study is in time focus on the investigation of the factors determining the ingestion of lactobacilli by PPs macrophages. Physicochemical properties of cell surface and adhesive property of nine Lactobacillus strains were examined in the present work. The association of the bacteria with PPs macrophage was checked with macrophage monolayers on coverslips. The influence of lactobacilli on macrophages phagocytic capacity was also investigated with a neutral red uptake assay in vitro. The results show that the macrophages could ingest lactobacilli in a strain dependent manner, and the most ingested strain is L. plantarum Lp6 compared to other tested strains, which displayed strain specific enhancement on the phagocytic activity of PPs macrophages. And there is no correlation between the physicochemical or adhesive properties of the cell surface and the ingestion. The association of L. plantarum Lp6 with PPs macrophage could be decreased by Protease K treatment. Surface proteins of L. plantarum Lp6 could promote the ingestion of fluorescent latex beads by PPs macrophages. In conclusion, the hydrophobicity of the cell surface might not be the key factor determining the association of lactobacilli with PPs macrophages. Cell surface proteins are the media for the binding L. plantarum Lp6 to macrophages.

To study the regulation of foreign plasmid DNA on immune gene expression in spleen via the gastrointestinal tract in mice.Mice were orally administered with 200 microg of plasmid pcDNA3 and spleens were isolated at 4 h and 18 h after orally administration. Total RNA was extracted from spleen and spleen gene expression profile of BALB/c mice was analyzed by using Affymetrix oligonucleotide genechip after oral administration of plasmid pcDNA3. Functional cluster analysis was conducted by Genmapp and MAPPFinder software.A lot of immune related genes were up-regulated at 4 h and 18 h after oral plasmid pcDNA3 administration. These genes included transcription factors, cytokines and cytokine receptors, MHC I genes, proteasome genes, complement genes and apoptotic genes. The immunoglobulin genes were down-regulated. MAPPFinder result also showed that plenty of immune response processes were up-regulated.Foreign plasmid DNA can modulate the expression of immune genes via the gastrointestinal tract, and further analysis of related genes and process may help to understand the molecular mechanisms of foreign plasmid DNA in the gastrointestinal tract.

Insect antibacterial peptides produced are kinds of bioactive peptides in hameolymph hen insect has been immunized. These peptides have the wide range of antibacterial,antiviral spectrum and inhibiting growth of tumor cell. The types of antibacterial peptides and its physiological activities,cloning and expression of the genes and transgenetic research are summarized. Its application on medicine and gene engineering are prospected.

In this paper, the interaction of the antibacterial peptide MDL-1 of Musca domestica L and E. coli DNA was investigated by fluorescence spectra. The interaction mode was studied by using ethidium bromide (EB) as an extrinsic fluorescence probe. The result of fluorescence spectra and Scatchard plot indicate that the binding constant and the number of binding sites between DNA and EB decrease with increasing concentration of MDL-1. The change in binding constant and binding sites showed that the conformation of DNA transformed. When the EB molecule just fitted into the interval, the fluorescence intensity was maximum. When MDL-1 was present in the system, the EB molecules was excluded from DNA, then the fluorescence intensity decreased. The result showed that the style was eletrostatic binding, groove binding and intercalation in the interaction of MDL-1 and double helix DNA. The binding constant of MDL-1 complex with DNA was determined. Meanwhile, it helped to explain the molecule mechanism of antibacterial peptides from the interaction style and structure characteristic of antibacterial peptide and bacterial DNA.

Genes encoding enzymes involved in biosynthesis of very long chain fatty acids were significantly up-regulated during early cotton fiber development. Two cDNAs, GhKCR1 and GhKCR2 encoding putative cotton 3-ketoacyl-CoA reductases that catalyze the second step in fatty acid elongation, were isolated from developing cotton fibers. GhKCR1 and 2 contain open reading frames of 963 bp and 924 bp encoding proteins of 320 and 307 amino acid residues, respectively. Quantatitive RT-PCR analysis showed that both these genes were highly preferentially expressed during the cotton fiber elongation period with much lower levels recovered from roots, stems and leaves. GhKCR1 and 2 showed 30%-32% identity to Saccharomyces cerevisiae Ybr159p at the deduced amino acid level. These cotton cDNAs were cloned and expressed in yeast haploid ybr159wΔ mutant that was deficient in 3-ketoacyl-CoA reductase activity. Wild-type growth rate was restored in ybr159wΔ cells that expressed either GhKCR1 or 2. Further analysis showed that GhKCR1 and 2 were co-sedimented within the membranous pellet fraction after high-speed centrifugation, similar to the yeast endoplasmic reticulum marker ScKar2p. Both GhKCR(s) showed NADPH-dependent 3-ketoacyl-CoA reductase activity in an in vitro assay system using palmitoyl-CoA and malonyl-CoA as substrates. Our results suggest that GhKCR1 and 2 are functional orthologues of ScYbr159p.

At present, there are at least five kinds of peptide transporters identified in animal tissues, in which PepT1 and PepT2 were discussed most extensively. PepT1 and PepT2 are all members of proton-dependent oligopeptide transporters(POT) family. PepT1 is peptide transporter of low affinity and high capacity whereas PepT2 is high affinity and low capacity. PepT1 is mainly expressed in intestinal tract and weakly expressed in kidney, but PepT2 is mainly expressed in kidney. These transporters have some significant molecular characteristics: (1) Contain 12 membrane-spanning domains and a large extracellular loop between transmembrane domains 9 and 10, and all of the transmembrane domains are highly conserved, the extracellular loops are much less so; (2) The encoded proteins have a number of potential N-glycosylation as well as protein kinase recognition sites, which may be involved in the regulation of peptide transport; (3) His-57 in PepT1 and His-87 in PepT2 are the most critical histidyl residues that are necessary for the uptake function and probably represent some critical binding sites; (4) The proteins range in size from 707 to 729 amino acid residues in various species, with higher homology between species for a given transporter (approximately 80%) and less homology between transporters for a given species (approximately 50%). With the knowledge of the molecular characteristics and tissue distribution of these peptide transporters, we can understand the molecular mechanism underlying the peptide absorption, which may improve the peptide-drugs development in the future.

Cotton fibers are differentiated epidermal cells originating from the outer integuments of the ovule. To identify genes involved in cotton fiber elongation, we performed subtractive PCR using cDNA prepared from 10 days post anthesis (d.p.a.) wild-type cotton fiber as tester and cDNA from a fuzzless-lintless (fl) mutant as driver. We recovered 280 independent cDNA fragments including most of the previously published cotton fiber-related genes. cDNA macroarrays showed that 172 genes were significantly up-regulated in elongating cotton fibers as confirmed by in situ hybridization in representative cases. Twenty-nine cDNAs, including a putative vacuolar (H+)-ATPase catalytic subunit, a kinesin-like calmodulin binding protein, several arabinogalactan proteins and key enzymes involved in long chain fatty acid biosynthesis, accumulated to greater than 50-fold in 10 d.p.a. fiber cells when compared to that in 0 d.p.a. ovules. Various upstream pathways, such as auxin signal transduction, the MAPK pathway and profilin- and expansin-induced cell wall loosening, were also activated during the fast fiber elongation period. This report constitutes the first systematic analysis of genes involved in cotton fiber development. Our results suggest that a concerted mechanism involving multiple cellular pathways is responsible for cotton fiber elongation.

Peptide nucleic acid(PNA) is a kind of artificial DNA mimic. PNA hybridizes with DNA or RNA by means of Watson-Crick's base-pairs complementary with high stability, affinity and selectivity. PNA not only regulates. DNA replication, but also adjusts DNA transcription (or reverse transcription) and translation. Many applications have been explored as a new kind of molecular biological tool and a gene-targeting strategy.

The nutritional and functional properties of Roselle seed protein hydrolysates (RSPH) were studied. Roselle seed protein isolates were digested (for 1.5 h and 3h) using pepsin followed by pancreatin. The maximum nitrogen solubility values of 94.17 and 90.8 were observed at pH 12 and pH 10 after 1.5 h and 3 h of hydrolysis, respectively. RSPH1.5 and RSPH3 exhibited a good foaming capacity of 310 and 300% respectively. Furthermore, RSPH1.5 showed the best foaming stability (300%) after 60 min compared to RSPH3 (144%) at the same time. For both hydrolysates, the amounts of essential amino acids exceeded those recommended by the Food and Agricultural Organization/World Health Organization (2007) for humans. The emulsifying capacity of RSPH1.5 was higher than that of RSPH3 90 and 100 mL/g respectively. RSPH1.5 possessed also the highest water holding and oil holding capacities compared to RSPH3. RSPH3 was more heat sensitive than RSPH1.5. The denaturation temperature for RSPH1.5 and RSPH3 were 95.80oC and 85.93oC respectively. Our results demonstrated that RSPH may be used wholly or partially to replace high-price materials like egg albumen and casein as well as a potential food ingredient.

AIM: To analyse the changes of foreign plasmid copies in different tissues after uptake via gastrointestinal tract and to evaluate the possibility of foreign plasmid integrating on the host genome. METHODS: Samples including lung, kidney, spleen, mesenteric lymph node, thymus, gonads, feces, duodenum, large intestine, blood and liver were obtained 1, 3, 6, 24, and 48 h and 3, 6 wk after oral administration of 200 μg plasmid pcDNA3s. PCR technique was used to detect the distribution and kinetics of plasmid in different tissues. Genomic DNA was assayed for integrated plasmid by PCR after purification of high-molecular-weight genomic DNA away from free plasmid by using gel electrophoresis. RESULTS: Plasmid could be detected in almost all tissues 1 h after oral administration and the copies of plasmid in tissues changed with time. Foreign plasmid could be detected only in kidney and blood at sixth week time. Foreign plasmid mainly as fragment survived in vivo.