谈“十四五”生态保护与绿色发展的生态关系

 从“十四五”保护与发展的生态关系角度，探讨了生态保护与绿色发展的十大生态关系，阐述了生态保护和绿色发展中的一系列有关生态关系的生态智慧及生态技术，并对长江、黄河等流域的生态保护和修复提出了相关建议。     

Digging with ‘hands’: observations of food capture in the flying gurnard Dactylopterus volitans (Linnaeus, 1758)

ABSTRACT

Videofilms of a foraging flying gurnard (Dactylopterus volitans) were collected at Itaipu, Niterói, RJ, Brazil. Analysis revealed details of the use of anterior parts of the pectoral fins which act as digging ‘hands’ to access infaunal prey items that are subsequently captured by oral suction feeding. Each pectoral fin has two distinct sections articulated separately on the pectoral girdle. The digging ‘anterior pectoral fin’ mainly consists of segmented and flexible fin rays but has an anterior robust unsegmented ray that provides an edge to the ‘hand’, allowing penetration of the substratum. The huge ‘posterior pectoral fins’ are supported by unsegmented rays. Most digging episodes involved one ‘hand’ and consisted of 1–7 cycles of movement with frequencies 1.15–3.74 cycles s^?1. During a cycle, the ‘hand’ is moved forwards and medially above the substratum, then is twisted medially and simultaneously depressed so that the anterior unsegmented ray impacts and enters the substratum. The hand is then drawn backwards and laterally to disturb the substratum. To prevent upward pitching of the head during digging, the ‘posterior pectoral fins’ are both moved anteriorly and laterally to shift the centre of gravity forwards while the caudal and ?second dorsal fins continue to provide propulsive force.     

The influence of chronic nicotine treatment on stress-induced gastric ulceration and emptying rate in rats.

Ten-day treatment with nicotine (5, 25 or 50 micrograms/ml drinking water) dose-dependently intensified gastric ulceration induced by cold-restraint, and emptying rate. Stomach contractions produced by graded doses of bethanechol i.v. were elevated further by nicotine treatment. It is suggested that chronic nicotine administration produces hypersensitivity of the gastric muscarinic receptors; stomach hypermotility contributes to the ulcer-worsening action of the alkaloid.     

Alcohol dehydrogenase 2 is a major hepatic enzyme for human retinol metabolism

The metabolism of all-trans- and 9-cis-retinol/ retinaldehyde has been investigated with focus on the activities of human, mouse and rat alcohol dehydrogenase 2 (ADH2), an intriguing enzyme with apparently different functions in human and rodents. Kinetic constants were determined with an HPLC method and a structural approach was implemented by in silico substrate dockings. For human ADH2, the determined K_m values ranged from 0.05 to 0.3 μM and k_cat values from 2.3 to 17.6 min⁻¹, while the catalytic efficiency for 9-cis-retinol showed the highest value for any substrate. In contrast, poor activities were detected for the rodent enzymes. A mouse ADH2 mutant (ADH2Pro47His) was studied that resembles the human ADH2 setup. This mutation increased the retinoid activity up to 100-fold. The K_m values of human ADH2 are the lowest among all known human retinol dehydrogenases, which clearly support a role in hepatic retinol oxidation at physiological concentrations. Received 12 October 2006; received after revision 6 December 2006; accepted 8 January 2007     

Mutations in TTBK2, encoding a kinase implicated in tau phosphorylation, segregate with spinocerebellar ataxia type 11

The microtubule-associated protein tau (encoded by MAPT) and several tau kinases have been implicated in neurodegeneration, but only MAPT has a proven role in disease. We identified mutations in the gene encoding tau tubulin kinase 2 (TTBK2) as the cause of spinocerebellar ataxia type 11. Affected brain tissue showed substantial cerebellar degeneration and tau deposition. These data suggest that TTBK2 is important in the tau cascade and in spinocerebellar degeneration.     

A recurrent mutation in MED12 leading to R961W causes Opitz-Kaveggia syndrome

Opitz-Kaveggia syndrome (also known as FG syndrome) is an X-linked disorder characterized by mental retardation, relative macrocephaly, hypotonia and constipation. We report here that the original family for whom the condition is named and five other families have a recurrent mutation (2881C>T, leading to R961W) in MED12 (also called TRAP230 or HOPA), a gene located at Xq13 that functions as a thyroid receptor-associated protein in the Mediator complex.     

Cellular internalization of proinsulin C-peptide

Proinsulin C-peptide is known to bind specifically to cell membranes and to exert intracellular effects, but whether it is internalized in target cells is unknown. In this study, using confocal microscopy and immunostained or rhodamine-labeled peptide, we show that C-peptide is internalized and localized to the cytosol of Swiss 3T3 and HEK-293 cells. In addition, transport into nuclei was found using the labeled peptide. The internalization was followed at 37°C for up to 1 h, and was reduced at 4°C and after preincubation with pertussis toxin. Hence, it is concluded to occur via an energy-dependent, pertussis toxin-sensitive mechanism and without detectable degradation within the experimental time course. Surface plasmon resonance measurements demonstrated binding of HEK-293 cell extract components to C-peptide, and subsequent elution of bound material revealed the components to be intracellular proteins. The identification of C-peptide cellular internalization, intracellular binding proteins, absence of rapid subsequent C-peptide degradation and apparent nuclear internalization support a maintained activity similar to that of an intracrine peptide hormone. Hence, the data suggest the possibility of one further C-peptide site of action. Received 31 October 2006; received after revision 27 December 2006; accepted 30 December 2006