A time-course study of urodynamic analyses in rat models with dopaminergic depletion induced through unilateral and bilateral 6-hydroxydopamine injections.

BACKGROUND: Bladder dysfunction is a common non-motor disorder in Parkinson's disease (PD). This study attempted to determine the bladder dysfunction with disease progression in the PD rat model produced from unilateral/bilateral injections of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA). METHODS: Cystometrographic (CMG) and external urethral sphincter electromyographic (EUS-EMG) measurements were scheduled in a time-course manner to determine the disease timing, onset, and severity. Animals were allotted into normal control, unilateral, bilateral 6-OHDA injected groups and subjected to scheduled CMG, EUS-EMG analyses at weeks 1, 2, and 4. RESULTS: The urodynamic results concluded that voiding efficiency (VE) was reduced in both unilateral and bilateral PD rats at all-time points. VE had decreased from 57 ± 11% to 31 ± 7% in unilateral PD rats and in bilateral PD rats, a decreased VE of 20 ± 6% was observed compared to control and unilateral PD rats. The EMG results in unilateral PD rats indicated declines in bursting period (BP) (3.78-2.94 s), active period (AP) (93.38-88.75 ms), and silent period (SP) (161.62-114.30 ms). A sudden reduction was noticed in BP (3.62-2.82 s), AP (92.21-86.01 ms), and SP (128.61-60.16 ms) of bilateral PD rats than in control and unilateral PD rats. Histological evidence exhibited a progressive dopaminergic neurons (DA) depletion in the substantia nigra (SN) region in 6-OHDA lesioned rats. CONCLUSION: The experimental outcomes strongly implied that significant variations in bladder function and VE decline were due to the depletion of DA neurons in the SN region of the brain.

An engineered multidomain fungicidal peptide against plant fungal pathogens / 生理学报

Fungal pathogens represent major problems for human health and agriculture. As eukaryotic organisms, fungi share some important features with mammalian cells. Therefore, current anti-fungal antibiotics often can not distinguish between fungi and mammalian cells, resulting in serious side effects in mammalian cells. Accordingly, there is strong impetus to develop antifungal alternatives that are both safe and effective. The E1 family of colicin are channel-forming bacteriocins produced by Escherichia coli, which are bactericidal only to E. coli and related species. To target the channel-forming domain of colicin to fungal cell membrane, we engineered a sexual mating pheromone of Candida albicans, α-factor pheromone to colicin Ia. A peptide was constructed consisting of an α mating pheromone of C. albicans fused to the channel-forming domain of colicin Ia to create a new fusion protein, pheromonicin-CA (PMC-CA). Indirect immunolabeling showed that the PMC-CA bound to fungal cells and inhibited growth in the laboratory and field. In the field, the protective activity of pheromonicin against rice blast disease was significantly greater, on a molar basis, than that of triazoles, tricyclazole or isoprothiolane. These results suggest that fusion peptides may be of value as fungicidal agents under agricultural conditions.