Kidney Injury Caused by Preeclamptic Pregnancy Recovers Postpartum in a Transgenic Rat Model

Preeclampsia (PE) is characterized by the onset of hypertension (≥140/90 mmHg) and presence of proteinuria (>300 mg/L/24 h urine) or other maternal organ dysfunctions. During human PE, renal injuries have been observed. Some studies suggest that women with PE diagnosis have an increased risk to develop renal diseases later in life. However, in human studies PE as a single cause of this development cannot be investigated. Here, we aimed to investigate the effect of PE on postpartum renal damage in an established transgenic PE rat model. Female rats harboring the human-angiotensinogen gene develop a preeclamptic phenotype after mating with male rats harboring the human-renin gene, but are normotensive before and after pregnancy. During pregnancy PE rats developed mild tubular and glomerular changes assessed by histologic analysis, increased gene expression of renal damage markers such as kidney injury marker 1 and connective-tissue growth factor, and albuminuria compared to female wild-type rats (WT). However, four weeks postpartum, most PE-related renal pathologies were absent, including albuminuria and elevated biomarker expression. Only mild enlargement of the glomerular tuft could be detected. Overall, the glomerular and tubular function were affected during pregnancy in the transgenic PE rat. However, almost all these pathologies observed during PE recovered postpartum.     

Fractionation of transgenic corn for recovery of recombinant enzymes

Two germ-separation methods, dry-milling and density separation by flotation, were evaluated for recovering recombinant β-glucuronidase (rGUS) that accumulated primarily in the germ of transgenic corn. The dry-milling process consisted of (i) seed tempering, (ii) degerming with a horizontal-drum degermer/dehuller, (iii) particle size fractionation with standard sieves, (iv) germ and endosperm separation by roller milling and sifting, and (v) removal of hulls by aspiration. Sieves nos. 5, 6, and 7 retained the majority of germ, and subfractions from these sieves were pooled as a germ-rich fraction. Mass balances showed that the germ-rich fraction, which constituted 17% of the total dry-milled corn weight, contained 49% of rGUS activity and 64% of the total recoverable oil. Germ fractionation by flotation was tested as a proof-of-concept method aimed at separating corn fractions based on their difference in specific gravity (sp gr). The process consisted of impact-grinding of corn kernels followed by density separation using 1.15 or 1.3 specific gravity sodium nitrate solution. The oil-containing germ fraction floated, whereas the heavier endosperm fraction sedimented. The flotation method was simpler and resulted in higher enzyme recovery, that is, the germ-rich fraction was 20% (w/w) of the initial corn weight, and accounted for 80% of rGUS activity and 77% of total oil. The sodium nitrate solution did not have an adverse effect on the enzyme activity.     

转基因棉花品纱对棉铃虫抗性的研究

采用室内生物测定和田间棉铃虫危害调查方法,分析了辽宁省经济作物研究所转育的3个转基因棉花品系（4830,4877,4786）和美国构建的Bt基因棉花品系新棉33B的不同器官的抗虫性,结果表明,棉花不同器官抗虫性不同,功能叶抗虫性最强;转基因棉花4830和新棉33B抗虫性强弱没有显差异,并均高于转基因棉4877,4786,这说明中国转基因抗虫棉与美国抗虫棉具有等同的杀虫效果,转基因棉花的蛋白毒性在棉铃虫体内具有一定的残效。在田间小区种植中,4830,4877,4786和33B均表现出了对棉铃虫幼虫较高的抗虫效果,两次调查中（7月5日,7月14日）,4830,4786,33B品系均未发现棉铃幼虫,顶尖蕾铃也未发现受害现象,在4877品系中发现了少理的低龄棉铃幼虫,蕾铃受害率为3．01％,辽棉15号（CK）蕾铃受害率为10．6％,各品系之间抗性差异不明显。     

转基因微藻的研究进展

介绍了有效核转化微藻的方法和策略，以及微藻中密码子使用存在偏爱性，指出微藻作为绿色细胞已用来生产具有特殊价值的代谢物和外源蛋白质，转基因微藻在生物工程上已得到应用。     

Intramaze and Extramaze Cue Processing in Adult APPSWE Tg2576 Transgenic Mice.

The present study examined spatial and nonspatial learning in adult Tg2576 mice. Transgenic mice were impaired in acquisition of a T-maze forced-choice alternation task. However, mutant mice were as sensitive as control mice to the introduction of retention intervals and proactive interference, and this suggested that short-term memory processes were intact in Tg2576 mice. Probe trials revealed that the Tg2576 mice did not use an allocentric strategy to navigate to the goal arm. However, mutant mice acquired an intramaze brightness discrimination, a simple room discrimination, and a contextual biconditional left-right discrimination in a T maze. Results suggest that Tg2576 mice are able to process both intramaze and extramaze stimuli but are impaired in forming an allocentric representation of their environment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Morphological and chemical studies of pathological human and mice brain at the subcellular level: correlation between light, electron, and nanosims microscopies

Neurodegenerative diseases induce morphological and chemical alterations in well-characterized regions of the brain. Understanding their pathological processes requires the use of methods that assess both morphological and chemical alterations in the tissues. In the past, microprobe approaches such as scanning electron microscopy combined with an X-ray spectrometer, Proton induced X-ray emission, secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), and laser microprobe mass analysis have been used for the study of pathological human brain with limited success. At the present, new SIMS instruments have been developed, such as the NanoSIMS-50 ion microprobe, that allow the simultaneous identification of five elements with high sensitivity, at subcellular spatial resolution (about 50-100 nm with the Cs(+) source and about 150-200 nm with O(-) source). Working in scanning mode, 2D distribution of five elements (elemental maps) can be obtained, thus providing their exact colocalization. The analysis can be performed on semithin or ultrathin embedded sections. The possibility of using transmission electron microscopy and SIMS on the same ultrathin sections allows the correlation between structural and analytical observations at subcellular and ultrastructural level to be established. Our observations on pathological brain areas allow us to establish that the NanoSIMS-50 ion microprobe is a highly useful instrument for the imaging of the morphological and chemical alterations that take place in these brain areas. In the human brain our results put forward the subcellular distribution of iron-ferritin-hemosiderin in the hippocampus of Alzheimer disease patients. In the thalamus of transgenic mice, our results have shown the presence of Ca-Fe mineralized amyloid deposits.     

Roles of Keratins in Intestine

Keratins make up a major portion of epithelial intermediate filament proteins. The widely diverse keratins are found in both the small and large intestines. The human intestine mainly expresses keratins 8, 18, 19, and 20. Many of the common roles of keratins are for the integrity and stability of the epithelial cells. The keratins also protect the cells and tissue from stress and are biomarkers for some diseases in the organs. Although an increasing number of studies have been performed regarding keratins, the roles of keratin in the intestine have not yet been fully understood. This review focuses on discussing the roles of keratins in the intestine. Diverse studies utilizing mouse models and samples from patients with intestinal diseases in the search for the association of keratin in intestinal diseases have been summarized.     

转Bar、Bt基因双抗大米外源基因在食品加工过程中稳定性的研究

旨在了解转Bar、Bt基因双抗大米外源基因在酒酿和米果加工过程中的稳定性,以转Bar、Bt基因双抗大米为原料,进行了6种不同方式的加工,并针对其加工品中外源基因(包括CaMV35S启动子、Ubiquitin启动子、NOS终止子、Bar基因和Bt基因)进行不同大小片段的PCR扩增。结果表明,实验中长度小于200bp的片段均具有较高的GC含量(NOS终止子除外)和良好的稳定性。      

水稻密码子优化的cry2A^＊基因在大肠杆菌中的表达及其表达产物的纯化

通过PCR从克隆载体puC18-3Z/Cry2A*上扩增水稻偏爱型密码子优化的抗虫基因cry2A*,经限制性内切酶Nde I和BamH I双酶切定向插入到原核表达载体pET-28a( ),成功构建了在表达蛋白的N端只带有6个组氨酸标签的融合蛋白表达载体pET-28a( )/Cry2A*,并转入人肠杆菌BL21(DE3)中.通过对其表达条件进行优化,发现在IPTG浓度为0.05mmol/L、诱导时问为3h、诱导温度为20℃的表达条件下目的蛋白大部分以可溶形式进行表达.采用Ni-NTA亲和柱纯化得到高纯度目的蛋白,薄层扫描分析蛋白纯度达到95%.     

多重PCR法检测转Bar、Bt基因双抗稻米

旨在建立一种快速、有效的检测转基因双抗稻米的方法,以转Bar、Bt基因双抗稻米为原料,针对其水稻内源基因SPS和外源基因(包括Bar基因、Bt基因、CaMV35S启动子、Ubiquitin启动子和NOS终止子)设计多重PCR检测体系。结果表明,应用该多重PCR检测体系可快速检测出原料中的全部6条目标基因,检测灵敏度可达0.9%。