Comparative Toxicity of Nanomaterials to Air-blood Barrier Permeability Using an In Vitro Model / 生物医学与环境科学（英文）

OBJECTIVE@#To comparatively study the toxicity of four metal-containing nanoparticles (MNPs) and their chemical counterparts to the air-blood barrier (ABB) permeability using an in vitro model.@*METHODS@#ABB model, which was developed via the co-culturing of A549 and pulmonary capillary endothelium, was exposed to spherical CuO-NPs (divided into CuO-40, CuO-80, and CuO-100 based on particle size), nano-Al2O3 (sheet and short-rod-shaped), nano-ZnO, nano-PbS, CuSO4, Al2(SO4)3, Zn(CH3COO)2, and Pb(NO3)2 for 60 min. Every 10 min following exposure, the cumulative cleared volume (ΔTCL) of Lucifer yellow by the model was calculated. A clearance curve was established using linear regression analysis of ΔTCL versus time. Permeability coefficient (P) was calculated based on the slope of the curve to represent the degree of change in the ABB permeability.@*RESULTS@#The results found the increased P values of CuO-40, CuO-80, sheet, and short-rod-shaped nano-Al2O3, Al2(SO4)3, and Pb(NO3)2. Among them, small CuO-40 and CuO-80 were stronger than CuO-100 and CuSO4; no difference was observed between Al2(SO4)3 and sheet and short-rod-shaped nano-Al2O3; and nano-PbS was slightly weaker than Pb(NO3)2. So clearly the MNPs possess diverse toxicity.@*CONCLUSION@#ABB permeability abnormality means pulmonary toxicity potential. More studies are warranted to understand MNPs toxicity and ultimately control the health hazards.

Preparation, characterization and brain targeting efficiency in mice of huperzine A-PLGA nanoparticle / 国际药学研究杂志

Objective: To prepare huperzine A (HupA) -poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid)(PLGA) nanoparticles (HupA-PLGA-NP) and to study their distribution property in mice. Methods: HupA-PLGA-NP were prepared by emulsion solvent evaporation method with PLGA as the carrier material, and the formulations were optimized by orthogonal design test. Nanoparticles were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and laser particle diameter analyzer. Encapsulation efficiency (EE) was detected by HPLC. Distribution of nanoparticles in mice was evaluated by in nivo imaging system. Results The nanoparticles prepared by the optimal preparation were uniform spherical particles by TEM. Mean diameter, polydisperse index and Zeta potential of nanoparticles were (46.49 ± 1.37) nm, (0.31 ± 0.01) and (- 38.3 ± 1.56) mV, respectively. EE was (28.45 ± 1.52) %. The verifying experiments indicated that the repeatibility of the experiment was satisfactory. Results: of in vivo imaging confirmed that nanoparticles with the diameter of about 50 nm could cross blood-brain barrier into brain and had good sustained-release effect. Conclusion: HupA-PLGA-NP are found to have smaller particle size, sustained release of HupA and elevated drug concentration in brain.

Sequence analysis of VP1 gene of the duck hepatitis A virus type 3 strains isolated from Shandong Province of China in 2012 / 病毒学报

To reveal the genetic variation of the viral protein 1 (VP1) gene of the duck hepatitis A virus type 3 (DHAV-3), the VP1 gene of 13 virulent DHAV-3 strains isolated from Shandong province of China in 2012 were amplified by RT-PCR, sequenced and analyzed. The results showed that all the VP1 genes of the 13 isolates contained 720 nucleotides encoding 240 amino acids, and shared with nucleotide identities of 94. 6%-99.9% and amino acid identities of 95.0%-100%. The nucleotide and amino acid sequence homologies between the 13 DHAV-3 isolates and other 31 DHAV-3 reference strains were 92.5%-100% and 90. 8%-100%, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the VP1 gene of DHAV-3 had distinct geographical characteristics. Distribution of genotypes of the 44 DHAV-3 strains was as follows: except the vaccine strain B63, all the other Chinese isolates belonged to genotype I (GI), Vietnamese wild isolates mainly belonged to subtype 1 (S1) of genotype II (GII), and all Korean isolates belonged to subtype 2 (S2) of GII.

Effects of xinfuli granule on cardiomyocyte apoptosis in rats with dilated heart failure induced by adriamycin / 中国中西医结合杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the effects of Xinfuli Granule (XG) on cardiomyocyte apoptosis in rats with adriamycin-induced dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Seventy-two male SD rats were randomly divided into 6 groups, i.e., the normal control group, the model group, the irbesartan group, the low dose XG group, the medium dose XG group, and the high dose XG group. The DCM heart failure rat model was established using peritoneal injection of ADR. Equal volume of normal saline was injected to those in the normal control group, once per week for 6 consecutive weeks. The medication was started from the 5th week by gastrogavage. XG was dispensed into 0.5 g/mL suspension with distilled water. The XG was administered at the daily dose of 0.675 g/kg, 1.350 g/kg, and 2.700 g/kg to those in the low dose XG group, the medium dose XG group, and the high dose XG group, respectively. Irbesartan was administered to rats in the irbesartan group at the daily dose of 50 mg/kg. Equal volume of normal saline was administered to those in the normal control group and the model group by gastrogavage, once in the morning for 4 consecutive weeks. Myocardial apoptosis was measured by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL), and the expressions of the Bcl-2 and Bax protein of cardiomyocytes were measured by immunohistochemical assay.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Compared with the normal control group, the cardiomyocyte apoptosis rate and Bax expression level obviously increased, but the expression of Bcl-2 and the Bcl-2/Bax ratio decreased significantly in the model group (P < 0.05). Compared with the model group, the expression of Bax and the Bcl-2/Bax ratio increased significantly in the high dose XG group and the irbesartan group (P < 0.01). The Bax expression level obviously decreased in all groups except the normal control group (P < 0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>XG could obviously attenuate cardiomyocyte apoptosis in the adriamycin-induced DCM rats, and reverse the occurrence and development of heart reconstruction. The underlying mechanism might be related to regulating and controlling the expressions of Bax and Bcl-2.</p>

Expression of hemagglutinin of avian influenza virus (AIV) and its application in diagnosis of AIV H9 subtype / 生物工程学报

In order to differently diagnose avian influenza virus (AIV) subtypes, the HA gene of AIV H9 subtype was cloned, expressed and utilized in an enzyme-linked immunoad sorbent assay (ELISA). HA gene (1683bp) of H9N2 AIV was amplified by RT-PCR from a strain of field isolated H9N2 AIV, and its identity was confirmed by sequencing. The HA gene was subcloned into prokaryotic expression vector pGEX-KG with its secretion signal sequence removed. The expressed HA-GST fusion protein in E. coli BL21 was characterized by SDS-PAGE and western blotting analysis as a 90kD protein with immunogenicity. The fusion protein was present primarily in inclusion bodies and was purified via denaturation and renenaturation. The HA-GST fusion protein was used to establish an indirect ELISA for the detection of antibodies to H9 subtypes of AIV. The assay has 91.57% specificity to H9 AIV, 92.31% sensitivity and excellent reduplication. It could be used to differently detect antibodies to H9 AIV.

Differential susceptibility of naïve versus cloned CD4+ T cells to antigen-specific and MHC-restricted anergy induction / 生理学报

T cell anergy has been successfully induced under different conditions in cloned CD4(+) T cells, but induction of T cell anergy in vivo has been difficult and controversial. Due to the low frequency of naturally occurring T cell population with specificity to a defined antigen, it is very difficult to study anergy of naïve T cells without prior in vivo priming which complicates the interpretation of experimental data. To solve this problem, we adopted the HNT-TCR transgenic mice which have homogeneous antigen specific CD4(+) T cell population. In this study, we generated an influenza virus hemagglutinin (HA) peptide-specific CD4(+) T cell clone from the HNT-TCR transgenic mice and induced anergy using APCs which were treated with the crosslinker, ECDI (1-ethyl-3-3(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide). The proliferative response of the cloned or freshly purified naïve CD4(+) transgenic T cells after treatment with ECDI-treated APCs and the HA peptide antigen was monitored as the index of anergy induction. The results showed that anergy was successfully induced in the cloned HNT-TCR transgenic CD4(+) T cells. It was determined that the induced anergy was antigen- and MHC-specific. By contrast, anergy was not observed in freshly purified naïve CD4(+) transgenic T cells under the same conditions. The results suggest that naïve CD4(+) T cells may have different anergy inducing requirements, or that cloned CD4(+) T cells may have certain priming or in vitro cloning artifact which makes them more susceptible to anergy induction. We propose that induction of T cell anergy may depend on the T cell growth, activation and differentiation state or cloning conditions. The results from the present study may have important implications for the study of the mechanism(s) underlying T cell anergy induction in vivo and for applications of immune tolerance based therapy.