A novel antimicrobial peptide from salivary glands of the hard tick, Ixodes sinensis

A novel antimicrobial peptide named as ixosin was isolated from the salivary glands of the hard tick, Ixodes sinensis, by gel filtration, ion exchange chromatography and reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC). Its amino acid sequen

中华硬蜱血小板集聚抑制剂的分离纯化与活性研究

目的研究蜱类抗血小板集聚的生物活性成分, 了解其与其宿主相互作用的分子机制。方法用葡聚糖 Sephadex G-50 凝胶过滤及高效液相从半饱吸血的中华硬蜱(Ixodes sinensis) 唾液腺中分离纯化具有血小板集聚抑制活性 的蛋白质, 用飞行质谱测定该抑制剂的分子量, 并用兔富血小板血浆研究其血小板集聚抑制活性。结果通过液相分离, 从中华硬蜱唾液腺中得到了一种血小板集聚抑制剂, 用飞行质谱测定该抑制剂的相对分子质量(M r ) 为8 065。该抑制 剂对二磷酸腺苷(ADP) 诱导的血小板集聚表现强烈的抑制活性, 在浓度为10 μg/mL 时, 可以抑制90% 以上的血小板集 聚。结论首次分离获得中华硬蜱唾液腺血小板集聚抑制剂, 该抑制剂对硬蜱顺利获取宿主血餐至关重要。

镉、铅污染土壤的植物-微生物联合修复研究

植物－微生物联合修复是利用微生物作为植物修复重金属土壤的一种强化手段，在弥补单纯植物及微生物修复技术不足的同时，利用植物和微生物的共存体系提高植物修复效率。本研究考察了向日葵（Helianthus annuus L.），芥菜（Brassica juncea L.），紫花苜蓿（Medicago sativa L.）和蓖麻（Ricinus communis L.）对Cd、Pb的富集特征，并筛选出向日葵作为富集植物；探讨了向日葵根系分泌物在重金属胁迫下的变化；通过重金属耐受菌株与向日葵的配伍对Cd、Pb污染土壤进行联合修复，结果如下： 液体培养实验结果表明，四种植物对Cd、Pb富集能力明显不同，其中向日葵对两种重金属的提取效果较好。四种植物对重金属的富集量随着浓度的增加而增加，而富集系数随重金属浓度的增加而减小，转移系数同重金属浓度及地上部/地下部生物量比值呈现一定的相关性；Cd、Pb复合处理中，一种重金属的存在会在不同程度上影响植物对另一种重金属的吸收；此外，不同植物及重金属处理中根际区域的酸碱度及氧化还原电位呈现负相关性。 砂培实验结果表明，向日葵对重金属的富集规律基本同液体培养实验相似。富集系数与重金属浓度和培养时间呈现线性相关关系。复合处理中，当Cd和Pb在适当浓度比例时，向日葵可以增加对某一重金属的吸收效率。向日葵的根系分泌物组成因重金属的存在而明显减少，根系分泌物中的草酸、酒石酸、苹果酸、柠檬酸、乙酸及丁二酸含量随着不同浓度Cd、Pb而发生不规则变化。 在以根系分泌物作为唯一营养来源筛选重金属耐受菌株实验中，细菌和真菌对Cd及Pb的耐性及吸附效率不同。总体上看，微生物生物量随重金属浓度升高而降低，而重金属吸附量随浓度升高而增加，重金属复合毒性也减少了微生物对单一重金属的吸收；另外，培养基中酸碱度因微生物种类及重金属浓度而有所差异。 将筛选出的优势微生物与向日葵配伍处理Cd、Pb污染土壤的实验中，由于Cd、Pb污染模式及菌株种类的不同，微生物对向日葵吸收重金属的强化效果呈现很大差异，其中真菌对植物吸收重金属的强化能力较细菌强；同时，根系分泌物中6种有机酸的含量在不同处理中变化较大；在处理单一Cd或Pb污染的时候选用菌株B1、F1或混合菌B1+B2、F1+F2、B2+F1、B1+F2与向日葵配伍修复的效果较好；混合菌F1+F2、B1+F2、B2+F1的添加能较好的强化Cd、Pb复合污染中向日葵吸收重金属的能力。

Functional gold nanoparticles for studying the interaction of lectin with glycosyl complex on living cellular surfaces

In this study. lectin-conjugated gold nanoparticles (GNPs) were prepared by standard biotin-streptavidin chemistry. The lectin-conjugated GNPs call be used as ail indicator for studying the interaction of lectin with glycosyl complex on living cellular Surfaces due to the high affinity of the lectin with saccharides. The interactions of two well-known lectins (Ricinus communis agglutinin and concanavalin A) and three different cell lines (HeLa, 293, and 293T) were selected here to establish this assay. Highly binding affinity of R. communis agglutinin with cells was demonstrated by conventional microscopic and UV-visible spectroscopic Studies. In addition, the binding process can be inhibited by galactose, giving further proof of the binding mechanism. (c) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Sugars-grafted aliphatic biodegradable poly(L-lactide-co-carbonate)s by click reaction and their specific interaction with lectin molecules

A novel biodegradable aliphatic poly(L-lactide-co-carbonate) bearing pendant acetylene groups was successfully prepared by ring-opening copolymerization of L-lactide (LA) with 5-methyl-5-propargyloxycarbonyl-1,3-dioxan-2-one (PC) in the presence of benzyl alcohol as initiator with ZnEt2 as catalyst in bulk at 100 degrees C and subsequently used for grafting 2-azidoethyl beta-D-glucopyranoside and 2-azidoethyl beta-lactoside by the typical "click reaction," that is Cu(I)-catalyzed cycloaddition of azide and alkyne. The density of acetylene groups in the copolymer can be tailored by the molar ratio of PC to LA during the copolymerization. The aliphatic copolymers grafted with sugars showed low cytotoxicity to L929 cells, improved hydrophilic properties and specific recognition and binding ability with lectins, that is Concanavalin A (Con A) and Ricinus communis agglutinin (RCA). Therefore, this kind of sugar-grafted copolymer could be a good candidate in variety of biomedical applications.

Host sex and ectoparasite infections of plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae, Hodgson) on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

A total of 449 plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae Hudgson) individuals were sampled with rattraps from 21 plots (size 1 ha) randomly scattered over the area of the species distribution at the altitude 3275-4807 in a.s.l. in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (West China). Two main ectoparasite species Hypoderma satyrus Brauer and Ixodes crenulatus Neumann of plateau pika were surveyed, and the relations between host sex and parasitism were analyzed. The results were: (i) although not significantly, the infection rate of female young was close to zero and lower than that of male young (6%), while the infection rate of female sub-adults (19%) was contrarily - higher than that of male sub-adults (11%); adult females had significantly higher (41%) infection rate than that of males (18%) (P<0.001); (ii) the parasite infection rates for both males and females increased with increasing age, but female age-groups had obviously steeper slope. We suggested that the differences of body mass, growth rate and home range between males and females had mainly caused the sex-biased parasitism (SBP) of plateau pika at each age stage. Also, due to the higher increases of body mass and maybe as well as of the home range differences between consecutive age-groups, the parasite infections of females became more sensitive to the influences of age than that of males.