Identification of Hc-ß-catenin in freshwater mussel Hyriopsis cumingii and its involvement in innate immunity and sex determination.

ß-catenin is a multifunctional protein that participates in a variety of physiological activities, including immune regulation, sex determination, nervous system development and, cell differentiation. However, the function of ß-catenin in freshwater mussel Hyriopsis cumingii remains unclear. Herein, the gene encoding ß-catenin from H. cumingii (Hc-ß-catenin) was cloned and characterised. The full-length 5544 bp gene includes an open reading frame (ORF) of 2463 bp encoding a putative protein of 820 amino acids residues containing 12 armadillo (ARM) repeats. After injecting H. cumingii with Aeromonas hydrophila or lipopolysaccharides, Hc-ß-catenin transcription was induced in hemocytes and gills, and the greatest responses occurred at 24 h after bacterial challenge, confirming an important role in immune responses. Quantitative real-time PCR analysis showed that Hc-ß-catenin mRNA was distributed in the gill, foot, liver, kidney, mantle, adductor muscle and gonad of male and female mussels. In gonad, Hc-ß-catenin expression was markedly higher in females than males. During the embryonic period, Hc-ß-catenin expression was highest at 3 day. In 1-, 2- and 3-year-old mature mussels, Hc-ß-catenin expression in female gonad tissue was notably higher than in males. In situ hybridisation revealed a significant hybridisation signal in female gonads, indicating that Hc-ß-catenin is a pro-ovarian, anti-testis gene. Our findings demonstrate that Hc-ß-catenin is important in immune regulation and sex determination in freshwater mussel.

Fast determination of aldehyde preservatives by miniaturized capillary electrophoresis with amperometric detection.

A novel miniaturized CE with amperometric detection (mini-CE-AD) method has been developed for fast determination of aliphatic aldehyde preservatives, namely formaldehyde and glyoxal, in commodities. After derivatization with an electroactive compound 2-thiobarbituric acid, these two nonelectroactive aldehydes were converted to electroactive adducts, therefore detectable by mini-CE-AD approach. Under the optimum conditions, two aldehydes can be well-separated with the coexisting interferents as well as their homologs (acetaldehyde and methyl-glyoxal), and the LODs (S/N = 3) were achieved at nanogram-per-milliliter level (1.64-2.80 ng/mL) based on the online enrichment method of transient moving chemical reaction boundary. The proposed method has been applied for the analyses of above aldehyde preservatives in different real commodity samples including skincare products, baby lotion, and toothpaste, and the average recoveries were in the range of 94-105%, which should find a wide range of analytical applications as an alternative to conventional and microchip CE approaches.

[Interleukin-18 and its related cytokines in plasma of patients with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura].

To explore the role of immune regulating cytokines in pathogenesis of the idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) and its clinical significance, the levels of IL-18, TNF-alpha and Sc5b-9 in plasma of 32 ITP patients and 18 normal individuals were detected using ELISA methods. The results showed that IL-18, TNF-alpha and sC5b-9 levels in plasma of ITP patients were higher than that in normal individuals. The level of IL-18 was positively correlated with the levels of TNF-alpha and sC5b-9. In conclusion, The rising levels of the IL-18, TNF-alpha and sC5b-9 were correlated with disorder of Th1/Th2 subsets, and may contribute to the immune dysfunction in ITP patients. The dynamic observation of these cytokines may be useful in directing the clinical treatment for ITP patients.