Possible Role of GnIH as a Novel Link between Hyperphagia-Induced Obesity-Related Metabolic Derangements and Hypogonadism in Male Mice

Gonadotropin-inhibitory hormone (GnIH) is a reproductive inhibitor and an endogenous orexigenic neuropeptide that may be involved in energy homeostasis and reproduction. However, whether GnIH is a molecular signal link of metabolism and the reproductive system, and thus, regulates reproductive activity as a function of the energy state, is still unknown. In the present study, we investigated the involvement of GnIH in glycolipid metabolism and reproduction in vivo, and in the coupling between these two processes in the testis level. Our results showed that chronic intraperitoneal injection of GnIH into male mice not only increased food intake and altered meal microstructure but also significantly elevated body mass due to the increased mass of liver and epididymal white adipose tissue (eWAT), despite the loss of testicular weight. Furthermore, chronic intraperitoneal administration of GnIH to male mice resulted in obesity-related glycolipid metabolic derangements, showing hyperlipidemia, hyperglycemia, glucose intolerance, and insulin resistance through changes in the expression of glucose and lipid metabolism-related genes in the pancreas and eWAT, respectively. Interestingly, the expression of GnIH and GPR147 was markedly increased in the testis of mice under conditions of energy imbalance, such as fasting, acute hypoglycemia, and hyperglycemia. In addition, chronic GnIH injection markedly inhibited glucose and lipid metabolism of mice testis while significantly decreasing testosterone synthesis and sperm quality, inducing hypogonadism. These observations indicated that orexigenic GnIH triggers hyperphagia-induced obesity-related metabolic derangements and hypogonadism in male mice, suggesting that GnIH is an emerging candidate for coupling metabolism and fertility by involvement in obesity and metabolic disorder-induced reproductive dysfunction of the testes.     

Growth mechanism for zinc coatings deposited by vacuum thermal evaporation

The vacuum thermal evaporation technique was used to simultaneously deposit zinc coatings onto interstitial free steel plates and single-crystal silicon wafers ...     

以EPROM查表反馈实现的抗干扰细分电路

介绍了新颖的以EPROM查表技术为核心的四细分辩向电路。由于采用了记忆元件及反馈回路,它能有效地滤除各种不符合相序的干扰脉冲信号,同时其它性能参数(如测量速度等)不受影响。该电路可用于光栅、激光干涉仪等输出非调制信号的增量式测量装置的信号处理。     

Development of gated fiber detectors for laser-induced strong electromagnetic pulse environments

With the development of laser technologies,nuclear reactions can happen in high-temperature plasma environments induced by lasers and have attracted a lot of at...     

改性海泡石除磷热力学研究

通过对改性海泡石的热力学性能研究,确定了改性海泡石对磷进行吸附的吸附容量、去除率和改性海泡石用量的关系。根据实验数据求解出吸附等温方程并绘制出等温吸附曲线。对等温吸附曲线进行拟合并比较相关系数的大小,得到改性海泡石的等温吸附方程。它符合修正后的Freundlich等温吸附方程:qe=10.4 4 Ci1.148 29.90。此方程较精确地描述了改性海泡石对P O34--的吸附量随浓度的变化,为改性海泡石的工业化除磷应用提供了理论依据。     

新型耐盐耐溶剂水包油型高分子乳化剂C-5的合成及应用研究

以失水山梨醇单油酸酯(Span-80)作为乳化剂,偶氮二异丁基脒盐酸盐作为聚合引发剂,以丙烯酸(AA)、丙烯酰胺(AM)、二甲基二烯丙基氯化铵(DADMAC)和特殊单体为反应物,通过反相乳液聚合法合成了一种新型水包油型高分子乳化剂C-5,并考察了这种乳化剂的耐盐耐溶剂性能.     

Genome-Wide Characterization and Phylogenetic Analysis of GSK Genes in Maize and Elucidation of Their General Role in Interaction with BZR1

Glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3) is a nonreceptor serine/threonine protein kinase that is involved in diverse processes, including cell development, photomorphogenesis, biotic and abiotic stress responses, and hormone signaling. In contrast with the deeply researched GSK family in Arabidopsis and rice, maize GSKs’ common bioinformatic features and protein functions are poorly understood. In this study, we identified 11 GSK genes in the maize (Zea mays L.) genome via homologous alignment, which we named Zeama;GSKs (ZmGSKs). The results of ZmGSK protein sequences, conserved motifs, and gene structures showed high similarities with each other. The phylogenetic analyses showed that a total of 11 genes from maize were divided into four clades. Furthermore, semi-quantitative RT-PCR analysis of the GSKs genes showed that ZmGSK1, ZmGSK2, ZmGSK4, ZmGSK5, ZmGSK8, ZmGSK9, ZmGSK10, and ZmGSK11 were expressed in all tissues; ZmGSK3, ZmGSK6, and ZmGSK7 were expressed in a specific organization. In addition, GSK expression profiles under hormone treatments demonstrated that the ZmGSK genes were induced under BR conditions, except for ZmGSK2 and ZmGSK5. ZmGSK genes were regulated under ABA conditions, except for ZmGSK1 and ZmGSK8. Finally, using the yeast two-hybrid and BiFC assay, we determined that clads II (ZmGSK1, ZmGSK4, ZmGSK7, ZmGSK8, and ZmGSK11) could interact with ZmBZR1. The results suggest that clade II of ZmGSKs is important for BR signaling and that ZmGSK1 may play a dominant role in BR signaling as the counterpart to BIN2. This study provides a foundation for the further study of GSK3 functions and could be helpful in devising strategies for improving maize.     

Molecular Identification of the G-Protein Genes and Their Expression Profiles in Response to Nitrogen Deprivation in Brassica napus

Heterotrimeric guanine nucleotide binding protein (G-protein) consisting of Gα, Gβ, and Gγ subunits is one of the key signal transducers in plants. Recent studies indicated that G-protein has been proposed as an important mediator of nitrogen responses in rice, wheat, and Arabidopsis. However, little is known about these G-proteins in Brassica napus (B. napus), except for three identified G-proteins, BnGA1, BnGB1, and BnGG2. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to characterize the members of the G-protein gene family in allotetraploid B. napus and to analyze their expression profiles in response to nitrogen deprivation. In total, 21 G-protein family members were identified in B. napus, encoding two Gα, six Gβ, and 13 Gγ. Sequence and phylogenetic analyses showed that although genome-wide triploid events increased the number of genes encoding Gα, Gβ, and Gγ subunits, the gene structure and protein properties of the genes encoding each G-protein subunit were extremely conserved. Collinearity analysis showed that most G-protein genes in B. napus had syntenic relationships with G-protein members of Arabidopsis, Brassica rape (B. rapa), and Brassica oleracea (B. oleracea). Expression profile analysis indicated that Gα and C-type Gγ genes (except BnGG10 and BnGG12 were highly expressed in flower and ovule) were barely expressed in most organs, whereas most Gβ and A-type Gγ genes tended to be highly expressed in most organs. G-protein genes also showed various expression patterns in response to nitrogen-deficient conditions. Under nitrogen deficiency, Gα and five C-type Gγ genes were upregulated initially in roots, while in leaves, Gα was downregulated initially and five C-type Gγ genes were highly expressed in different times. These results provide a complex genetic dissection of G-protein genes in B. napus, and insight into the biological functions of G-protein genes in response to nitrogen deficiency.