Objective To assess the influence of transcranial electric stimulation (TES) on the recovery of motor function after cerebral focal ischemia and reperfusion and to explore the mechanisms in terms of neural plasticity.Methods An acute focal ischemia-reperfusion model was established by transient occlusion of the right middle cerebral artery (MCAO).Seventy-two male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into a TES group,a model group,a sham-operation group and a normal group.The TES group was given TES 24 h after MCAO;the model group received the operation without any treatment.Forelimb placing (FPT) and beam walking (BWT) were mea-sured at the 3rd,7th,14th and 28th day after reperfusion.Microtubule-associated protein-2 (MAP-2) and growth-associated protein-43 (GAP-43) and grey levels of reaction products in the peri-infarct region were examined by immunohistochemical techniques.Results The TES group rats had markedly better FPT and BWT performance at the 7th,14th and 28th day after MCAO,compared with the model group.Expression of MAP-2 had increased significantly more at the 14th and 28th day in the peri-infarct region in the TES group compared with the model group.Expression of GAP-43 was significantly elevated in the peri-infarct region in the TES group compared with the model group at all time points.Conclusions TES can improve motor function and neural plasticity following cerebral ischemia and reperfusion damage.The functional enhancement may be partly due to up-regulation of the expression of GAP-43 and MAP-2 in the peri-infarct region.

ObjectiveTo assess how transcranial electrical stimulation (TES) concurrent with rehabilitation training influences brain plasticity and behavioral functional performance in rats following a focal ischemic infarction.MethodsAfter an acute focal ischemic infarction by transient occlusion of right middle cerebral artery (MCAO), the electric stimulation concurrent with rehabilitation group was given TES, balancing and rotating and walking exercise everyday; the rehabilitation group was given only balancing and rotating and walking exercise everyday; the control group received no treatment. Growth associated protein 43(GAP-43) was examined by immunohistochemical techniques, and density of reaction product and forelimb placing test (FPT) were measured on the 3rd, 7th, 14th and 28th day after infarction respectively.ResultsThe electrical stimulation concurrent with rehabilitation group provided marked improvement in FPT on the 7th, 14th and 28th day compared with the rehabilitation group and the control group (P<0.01～0.05). The GAP-43 demonstrated statistically significant increase on the 3rd, 7th, and 14th day in the peri-infarct region in the electrical stimulation concurrent with rehabilitation group compared with other two groups(P<<0.01～0.05).ConclusionThe efficacy of transcranial electrical stimulation combining with rehabilitation training can improve functional outcome and neuronal plasticity following ischemic cerebral damage. The mechanism may be partly due to the upregulation of the expression of GAP-43 in the peri-infarct region. Meanwhile, the efficacy is superior to rehabilitation training only.

Objective To investigate the effects of AstragalosideⅣ (AST) on the expression of high glucose peritoneal dialysis solution (PDS)-induced transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1), connective tissue growth factor (CTGF), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in cultured human peritoneal mesothelial cells. To discuss the regulating effect of AST on induced fibrosis cytokines.Methods The HMrSV5 cell line was cultivated to the fifth generation and divided into normal group (10%FBS cultivation solution), model group (4.25% PDS and 10% FBS cultivation solution) and the low, medium and high doses AST groups (4.25% PDS with a respective 10, 20, 40 μg/mL AST). MTT colorimetric assay was employed to detect cell activity and ELISA was applied to detect expression of TGF-β1, CTGF and VEGF in cultured supernatants.Results Except for 5 μg/mL group, HPMCs activity of high glucose plus different concentration AST groups were enhanced in different degrees, especially with 40, 45, and 50 μg/mL (P<0.05). The expression of TGF-β1, CTGF, and VEGF in model group increased. Compared with the control group, expression of the three AST groups significantly decreased and showed dose-effect relationship (P<0.05). Conclusion AST could reduce the expression of TGF-β1, CTGF and VEGF in high glucose-induced HPMCs and was useful in slowing down the progress of peritoneal fibrosis.

Bacillus amyloliquefaciens B10-127 was used to produce 2,3-butanediol (2,3-BD) from residual glycerol obtained from biodiesel synthesis. Important variables for 2,3-BD fermentation, pH and dissolved oxygen, were studied. When pH was maintained constant, the yield of 2,3-BD was inhibited. The highest 2,3-BD yields were achieved by fermentation without any pH control with an optimized initial pH 6.5. Batch fermentative production of 2,3-BD by B. amyloliquefaciens was investigated using various oxygen supply methods by changing agitation speed. Based on the analysis of three kinetic parameters including specific cell growth rate (micro), specific glucose consumption rate (q(s)) and specific 2,3-BD formation rate (q(p)), a three-stage agitation speed control strategy was proposed, aimed at achieving high concentration, high yield and high productivity of 2,3-BD. Maximum concentration of 2,3-BD reached 38.1 g/L, with the productivity of 1.06 g/(L x h), which were 14.8% and 63.1% over the best results from constant agitation speeds. In a pulse fed-batch fermentation, 2,3-BD concentration and productivity were significantly improved to 71.2 g/L and 0.99 g/(L x h), respectively. To our knowledge, these results were the highest for 2,3-BD production from biodiesel-derived glycerol.
Bacillus ; classification ; metabolism ; Biofuels ; analysis ; Bioreactors ; Butylene Glycols ; metabolism ; Fermentation ; Glycerol ; metabolism ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Industrial Microbiology ; Oxygen ; analysis

ObjectiveTo explore the value of Tth-single strand binding protein (SSB) used as an additive to improve the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) specificity for single nucleotide polymorphisms(SNP) alleles genotyping.MethodsTth-SSB plasmid was constructed and the protein was expressed,then the expressed Tth-SSB was added into PCR system detecting cytochrome P450 Protein ( CYP2C19 * 3,636G＞A)genotype to determine the optimal usage and condition.Then,the genotypes of 30 cerebral ischemia patients were tested with established methods and compared with direct sequencing to verify the accuracy of Tth-SSB as an additive into PCR for SNP genotyping.ResultsThe purity of Tth-SSB was 85％ and optimal dosage was 1 μg.The protein could improve the specificity and reduce the dimer when Tth-SSB was added into the PCR system.Thirty patients genotyping results as follow:26 patients belong to G/G homozygote,4 patients belong to G/A heterozygote,no body belong to A/A homozygote.The coincidence acquire 100％ with parallel sequencing.ConclusionAs an additive,Tth-SSB could significantly improve the accuracy of genotyping by eliminating non-specific bands.

.This study is to investigate the analgesic effect produced by intrathecal injection (ith) of oxysophoridine (OSR) and the mechanism of GABAA receptor. Warm water tail-flick test was used to detect the analgesic effect of OSR (12.5, 6.25, and 3.13 mg.kg-1 ith) and to observe the influence of GABA (gamma aminobutyric acid) agonist or antagonist on the analgesic effect of OSR in mice. Immunohistochemistry method were used to detect the influence of OSR (12.5 mg.kg-1, ith) on the GABAARalpha1 protein expression in spinal cord. The results obtained covers that OSR (12.5 and 6.25 mg.kg-, ith) alleviates pain significantly with the warm water tail-flick test (P<0.05, P<0.01), the rate of pain threshold increases by 68.45%; GABA and muscimol (MUS) produces analgesic synergism together with the OSR, picrotoxin (PTX) and bicuculline (BIC) antagonize the analgesic effect of OSR; OSR (12.5 mg.kg-1, ith) significantly increase the positive number of GABAARalpha1 nerve cell in spinal cord (P<0.01) and significantly decrease the average grey levels (P<0.01). In conclusion, OSR intrathecal injection has significant analgesic effect. And GABAA receptor in spinal cord is involved in the analgesic mechanism.

Cobra venom secretory phospholipase A_2 (sPLA_2) is an important component of cobra venom which has a variety of biological activities. Recent studies are mainly focusing on each pharmacological active component of venom, SPLA_2 is one of them. This review summarized the structure, purification and biological activities of cobra venom sPLA_2 with emphasizing its diverse pharmacological effects and toxicity. In addition, some mechanisms of actions of sPLA_2 and possible applications of sPLA_2 were also discussed.

Objective To investigate the association SLC25A12 and SCN2A2 gene single nucleotide polymorphisms(SNPs) and susceptibility to autism among 105 Japanese family trios consisting of fathers,mothers,and affected offsprings with autism.Methods Genomic DNA was isolated from the whole blood samples.The PCR-single stranded conformational polymorphism(SSCP) technique was used to test genotype of SNPs(rs3770448,rs3769955) at SLC25A12 and SCN2A2 genes.Results The distributions of genotypic and allelic frequencies of rs3770448 and rs3769955 were not deviated from the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium.The results of transmission disequilibrium test(TDT) indicated that the allelic frequency transmitted from the heterozygote parents didn′t deviate 50%.Conclusion The polymorphism of rs3770448 in the SLC25A12 and rs3769955 in the SCN2A2 locus may not be associated with autism.But the association of the other SNPs at the SLC25A12 and SCN2A2 locus with the illness can not be ruled out.

1,2,4-Butanetriol (BT) is an important non-natural chemical with a variety of industrial applications. A recombinant Escherichia coli biosynthesizing BT from D-xylose was constructed by heterologously expressing xdh and mdlC, and knocking out competing pathway genes including xylA, xylB, yjhE, yagH and ycdW. To optimize BT synthesis pathway, the third catalytic step that catalyzes the decarboxylation reaction of 3-deoxy-D-glycero-pentulosonic acid was identified as a potential bottleneck. Consequently, 2-keto acid decarboxylases from three different microorganisms were screened, and the kivD gene from Lactococcus lactis was found to increase BT titer by 191%. The improved strain BW-025 reached a final BT titer of 2.38 g/L under optimized transformation conditions. Attempts on synthetic pathway optimization were also made by fine-tuning the expression levels of each enzyme involved in the whole pathway based on BW-025. As a result, an xdh overexpressed recombinant strain, BW-074 was finally generated, with 48.62% higher BT production than that of BW-025.
Butanols ; metabolism ; Escherichia coli ; metabolism ; Gene Knockout Techniques ; Genetic Engineering ; Industrial Microbiology ; methods ; Metabolic Networks and Pathways

Aim To observe the effect of endomorphin-1 (EM-1 )on TLR2 and TLR4 expressions of dendritic cells (DC)from human peripheral blood.Methods Monocytes isolated from human peripheral blood mono-nuclear cells were cultured in medium containing re-combinant human interleukin-4 and recombinant hu-man granulocyte macrophage colony stimulating factor. After six days of culture,the immature dendritic cells (imDC ) were divided into four groups,the control group (BLA group),EM-1 group,LPS group and LPS+EM-1 group.After 2 days of culture,the expres-sions of TLR2 and TLR4 were determined by fluores-cence activated cell sorter(FACS).The expressions of TLR2 and TLR4 at mRNA level in DC were detected by RT-PCR.Results The FACS results showed that the expressions of TLR2 and TLR4 in imDC were high-er,and their expressions were decreased with the mat-uration of DC.Compared with BLA group,the expres-sions of TLR2 and TLR4 in DC were down-regulated in EM-1 group (P<0.05 ).Compared with LPS group, TLR2,TLR4 on DC surface were significantly lower in LPS +EM-1 group (P <0.01 ). RT-PCR results showed that compared with BLA group,EM-1 interven-tion induced TLR2 mRNA expression was down-regula-ted significantly (P<0.01),there were no significant changes of TLR4 mRNA expression (P>0.05 ).mR-NA expressions of TLR2 and TLR4 on DC in LPS +EM-1 group were lower than those in LPS group (P<0.05 ).Conclusions EM-1 enables the down-regula-tion of the expressions of TLR2 and TLR4 on DC sur-face,the effects of EM-1 on immune function may be associated with TLR2 and TLR4 expressions on DC surface.