Avaliação do efeito do inibidor de histona deacetilase Panobinostat (LBH589) no metabolismo energético de células derivadas de câncer de pulmão

Os mecanismos de ação citotóxica do inibidor de histona deacetilase LBH589 foram investigados em associação com o quimioterápico cisplatina (CDDP) em duas linhagens derivadas de câncer de pulmão de não pequenas células (CPNPC). Os resultados foram analisados em relação ao tipo de morte celular associada às alterações em enzimas relacionadas ao metabolismo energético e a via glicolítica. Para realização do trabalho, foram utilizadas as linhagens tumorais A549 (selvagem para o gene de p53) e Calu-1 (nulo para o gene de p53) tratadas com LBH589 em combinação ou não com CDDP. Foram realizadas curvas de tempo e dose-resposta com as drogas isoladamente pelo ensaio de viabilidade celular (MTT) nas duas linhagens para a escolha das melhores condições para o nosso estudo. As condições dos tratamentos isolados com redução da viabilida celular menores que o IC50 de cada fármaco foram selecionados para realização dos tratamentos combinados. As avaliações de apoptose foram realizadas por citometria de fluxo pelo ensaio de Anexina V/PI, e com a marcação de proteínas por Western Blotting. As proteínas relacionadas a via glicolítica foram avaliadas por Western Blotting e a expressão de RNAm por qPCR. Os resultados demonstraram que o LBH589 combinado a CDDP foi capaz de induzir apoptose em 70% das células (Calu-1) e 54,9% (A549) no tempo de 24 horas, e 90% (calu-1) e 62,1% (A549) em 48 horas, independendo, portanto, do status da p53. Os níveis de expressão de enzimas relacionadas com o metabolismos energético também sofreram alterações nos tratamentos estudados. O LBH589 induziu aumento de cerca de 4x dos níveis de RNAm de HK isoformas I e II em ambas as linhagens. Houve também um aumento na expressão proteica das isoformas de HK I e II. Outras enzimas relacionadas a via glicolítica como PFKP, PKM2 e LDHA foram analisadas e apresentaram redução da expressão proteica, principalmente na presença do LBH589. A combinação da CDDP com LBH589 parece ser promissora para o tratamento de CPNPC induzindo apoptose através de alterações no metabolismo energético tumoral.

Predicting the distribution of Vibrio vulnificus in Chesapeake Bay

Vibrio vulnificus is a gram-negative pathogenic bacterium endemic to coastal waters worldwide, and a leading cause of seafood related mortality. Because of human health concerns, understanding the ecology of the species and potentially predicting its distribution is of great importance. We evaluated and applied a previously published qPCR assay to water samples (n = 235) collected from the main-stem of the Chesapeake Bay (2007 – 2008) by Maryland and Virginia State water quality monitoring programs. Results confirmed strong relationships between the likelihood of Vibrio vulnificus presence and both temperature and salinity that were used to develop a logistic regression model. The habitat model demonstrated a high degree of concordance (93%), and robustness as subsequent bootstrapping (n=1000) did not change model output (P > 0.05). We forced this empirical habitat model with temperature and salinity predictions generated by a regional hydrodynamic modeling system to demonstrate its utility in future pathogen forecasting efforts in the Chesapeake Bay.

Some aspects of population dynamics of juvenile hilsa shad (Tenualosa ilisha Ham.) from the Meghna river, Bangladesh

Population dynamics of the juvenile hilsa shad (Tenualosa ilisha) in the nursery ground of the Meghna River have been studied on the basis of the length cohort analysis of 8023 specimens. The growth parameters viz; asymptotic length (Lα), curvature character (K) and initial time (t0) were found to be 30.69 cm, 1.2 yrˉ¹ and 0.45 yrˉ¹ respectively. Curvature parameter indicates that jatka is a fast growth performer. The natural, fishing and total mortality were found to be 1.37 yrˉ¹, 1.41 yrˉ¹ and 2.78 yrˉ¹ respectively. Survival rate (S) was found to be 6.2%. A small difference was found between the age at first capture (Tc) and the recruitment age (Tr). Stocks of jatka seem to be overexploited and need to be conserved.

Assessment of Saurida tumbil (Bloch) stock in the northwest continental shelf water of India

Based on the data collected from New Ferry Wharf, Sassoon Dock and exploratory survey of MFV Saraswati on the Northwest coast of India, the growth, mortality, population and stock parameters of Saurida tumbil is reported in the present communication. The Von Bertalanffy growth function (GF) parameters for growth on length were found to be L∞=49.8 cm, K=0.96/year, t0 = -.141 year. The length at recruitment (lr) is 80 mm. (tr=.167 year) while the length at first capture (lc) for the commercial trawl fishery is 100 mm (tc=0.25 year). The annual fishing mortality coefficient (F) for 1983-85 was 0.43, the natural mortality coefficient (M) was 1.33 and the exploitation ratio (E) was 0.25. The yield per recruit (Y/R) attained the maximum of 54.99 g at F=1.091 for E=0.45 for the present tc at 0.25 year. The annual total stock (P) and standing stock (P) in the exploitation portion at the inshore grounds to a depth of about 50 m were estimated to be 12,811 tons and 6,034 tons respectively. The average annual yield of 2,635 tons at the present F=0.439 (E=0.247) was less than the maximum sustainable yield (MSY) for 3,331 tons attainable from the inshore grounds at E=0.45.

青藏高原几种植物的光合特性研究

通过气体交换、荧光猝灭动力学以及反射光谱等技术研究了两个青稞（Hordeum vulgare L.）品种的光合特性及激发能分配。结果表明，青稞的光饱和点1000 μmol m-2 s-1左右。在0～500 μmol m-2 s-1的光强范围里，青稞叶片的光呼吸(Pr)随着光强升高而增加;光强超过500 μmol m-2 s-1以后，光呼吸变化不明显。光呼吸占总光合的比例(Pr/Pm)随光强增强下降。随着光强增强，PSⅡ有效光化学量子效率（Fv′/Fm′），PSⅡ反应中心的实际光化学量子效率（ΦPSⅡ），光化学猝灭系数（qP）不断降低而青稞叶片的非光化学猝灭(NPQ)不断升高，说明越来越多的光能以热耗散的形式耗散掉。光谱分析表明△PRI 随着青稞叶片暴露于光下的时间迅速增大。因此，我们认为光呼吸不是青稞主要的光破坏防御机制，依赖叶黄素循环的热耗散可能是田间青稞耗散过剩光能的主要途径。 通过气体交换、荧光猝灭动力学等技术研究了四种乔木在拉萨和那曲的光合特性及激发能分配。结果表明，四种乔木藏川杨（Populus szechuanica var. tibetica schneid.），银白杨（Populus alba L.），左旋柳(Salix paraplesia var. subintegra C. Wang et P. Y. Pu)，墨竹柳(Salix maizhokunggarensis N. Chao)在拉萨市的光合速率（Pn），叶片气孔导度（Gs），蒸腾速率（Tr）均显著高于那曲。藏川杨和墨竹柳的光下实际光化学效率（ΦPSⅡ）在拉萨显著高于那曲，银白杨和左旋柳的光下实际光化学效率在拉萨和那曲没有显著差异。四种乔木开放反应中心激发能捕获效率（Fv′/Fm′）和天线热耗散（1－Fv′/Fm′）在拉萨和那曲的差异不显著。测量光合时的气温（Tair）拉萨显著高于那曲，除墨竹柳外叶温（Tleaf）也显著高于那曲，墨竹柳的上述两参数在两地间无显著差异。除藏川杨外其余三种乔木在拉萨的胞间二氧化碳浓度（Ci）显著高于那曲，气孔限制值(Ls)显著低于那曲，藏川杨的上述两指标在两地间无显著差异。除墨竹柳外，其余三种乔木在两地的光合（Pn）与叶温（Tleaf）成显著正相关。对银白杨和左旋柳来说，低叶温通过降低气孔导度（Gs）从而降低胞间二氧化碳浓度（Ci）是造成那曲光合低的主要因素之一。对于墨竹柳来说，可能有其他非温度的环境条件影响其气孔导度进而造成气孔限制。此外，叶温可能主要通过非气孔限制来影响藏川杨的光合速率。因此，我们认为在西藏地区不同乔木对海拔高度的响应机制可能不同，但具体机制还需要进一步研究。

Thermal characterization of SOI CMOS micro hot-plate gas sensors

This work reports on thermal characterization of SOI (silicon on insulator) CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) MEMS (micro electro mechanical system) gas sensors using a thermoreflectance (TR) thermography system. The sensors were fabricated in a CMOS foundry and the micro hot-plate structures were created by back-etching the CMOS processed wafers in a MEMS foundry using DRIE (deep reactive ion etch) process. The calibration and experimental details of the thermoreflectance based thermal imaging setup, used for these micro hot-plate gas sensor structures, are presented. Experimentally determined temperature of a micro hot-plate sensor, using TR thermography and built-in silicon resistive temperature sensor, is compared with that estimated using numerical simulations. The results confirm that TR based thermal imaging technique can be used to determine surface temperature of CMOS MEMS devices with a high accuracy. © 2010 EDA Publishing/THERMINIC.

A nerve growth factor from the venom of Chinese cobra (Naja naja atra) and its effects on male reproductive system in rats

A nerve growth factor (NGF) was isolated from the venom of Chinese cobra (Naja naja ntr a) by ion exchange chromatography, gel filtration and fast protein liquid chromatography (FPLC). The N-terminal sequence of 22 amino acid residues was identical with other NGFs previously purified from the venom of the same genus. The NGF monomer molecular weight was estimated to be 13 500 by reducing SDS-PAGE and the isoelectric point was determined to be 7.2 by isoelectric focusing electrophoresis. NGF improved the epididymal sperm motility of male rats and increased the pregnancy rate and fetus number of mated female rats. The serum levels of luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) of male rats administrated NGF + gossypol was lower than that of male rats administrated gossypol. Histological sections of testes and epididymides showed that NGF reduced the destructive effects of gossypol on rat testes. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.