Intestinal epithelial barrier and mucosal immunity

The mucosal immune system acts as a first line of defense against bacterial and viral infections while also playing a crucial role in the establishment and maintenance of mucosal homeostasis between the host and the outside environment. In addition to epithelial cells and antigen-presenting cells (dendritic cells and macrophages), B and T lymphocytes form a dynamic mucosal network for the induction and regulation of secretory IgA (S-IgA) and cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) responses. This review seeks to shed light on the pathways of induction and regulation of these responses and to elucidate the role they simultaneously play in fending off pathogen invasion and maintaining mucosal homeostasis.     

Increased mitochondrial palmitoylcarnitine/carnitine countertransport by flavone causes oxidative stress and apoptosis in colon cancer cells

Cancer cell metabolism is characterized by limited oxidative phosphorylation in order to minimize oxidative stress. We have previously shown that the flavonoid flavone in HT-29 colon cancer cells increases the uptake of pyruvate or lactate into mitochondria, which is followed by an increase in O₂^−.. production that finally leads to apoptosis. Similarly, a supply of palmitoylcarnitine in combination with carnitine induces apoptosis in HT-29 cells by increasing the mitochondrial respiration rate. Here we show that flavone-induced apoptosis is increased more than twofold in the presence of palmitoylcarnitine due to increased mitochondrial fatty acid transport and the subsequent metabolic generation of O₂^−. in mitochondria is the initiating factor for the execution of apoptosis. Received 12 August 2005; received after revision 12 October 2005; accepted 14 October 2005     

Compensatory caspase activation in MPP+-induced cell death in dopaminergic neurons

Many have hypothesized that cell death in Parkinsons disease is via apoptosis and, specifically, by the mitochondrial-mediated apoptotic pathway. We tested this hypothesis using a mouse dopaminergic cell line of mesencephalic origin, MN9D, challenged with the Parkinsonism-causing neurotoxin MPP⁺ (1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium ion). Apoptosis was the main mode of cell death when the cells were subjected to MPP⁺ treatment under serum-free conditions for 24 h. Caspase-3 and caspase-9, however, were not activated, thus indicating the existence of alternate or compensatory cell death pathway(s) in dopaminergic neuronal cells. Using caspase inhibitors, we demonstrated that these pathways involve caspase-2, –8, –6 and –7. A time-course study indicated that activation of caspase-2 and –8 occurred upstream of caspase-6 and caspase-7. Upon MPP⁺ challenge, the apoptosis-inducing factor was translocated from the mitochondria into the MN9D cytosol and nucleus. These results suggest the existence of alternative apoptotic pathways in dopaminergic neurons.Received 20 September 2004; received after revision 5 November 2004; accepted 22 November 2004     

耦合诱导的金纳米棒禁戒等离激元模式激发

用时域有限差分方法（finite-difference time-domain,FDTD）模拟了有不同局域等离激元共振频率和不同体积的外来金纳米颗粒以及外来介质纳米颗粒与金纳米棒的耦合,研究了正入射条件下与各种颗粒耦合对诱发金棒上纵向等离激元的禁戒模式的不同影响,发现外来颗粒上足够多的电荷积聚造成的电场对称性破缺是诱发禁戒模式的原因.这一发现对理解金属纳米颗粒的近场光学实验探测有重要意义.     

江淮梅雨建立的年际变化及其前期强影响信号分析

江淮梅雨建立具有显著的年际变化特征. 利用NCEP/NCAR再分析数据集以及NOAA提供的全球射出长波辐射和扩展重建海温等资料研究了梅雨建立的年际变化及其前期强影响信号, 并探讨了该信号影响梅雨建立年际变化的可能机制. 结果表明, 前期中太平洋ENSO(CP-ENSO)事件是影响梅雨建立年际变化的强信号, 该信号具有较好的短期气候预测准确率和实用性. 当前期冬季2月和春季呈现CP-ENSO暖(冷)位相时, 梅雨建立最有可能偏晚(早). CP-ENSO主要是通过EAP(或JP)遥相关型影响梅雨建立, 其中位于热带西北太平洋的反气旋环流起着重要作用. CP-ENSO暖(冷)位相年, 热带暖湿气流向江淮流域输送偏晚(早), 赤道附近的中太平洋地区海温产生正(负)异常, 通过海气相互作用, 使得西太平洋副高北跳和印度西南季风建立偏晚(早), 东亚上空大气环流由春到夏的季节性转换因而偏晚(早). 大气环流季节性转换和热带暖湿气流向江淮流域输送偏早(晚)是江淮梅雨建立偏早(晚)的主要原因.     

一种改进的地震灾害倒塌房屋遥感信息自动识别方法

地震灾害倒塌房屋的识别是地震灾害损失评价的重要环节, 也是判断地震强度的指标之一. 5.12汶川大地震发生后, 中欧地震灾害评估项目组使用自动识别技术处理0.5 m分辨率的ADS40航空遥感数据, 需要克服航空遥感数据中未倒塌混凝土桥梁、滑坡体滚石与倒塌房屋反射光谱的相似性. 经过多次实验改进后的技术, 一次性识别的倒塌房屋面积覆盖率优于95%. 介绍了这次实验过程和结果, 实验表明, 该方法也可以用于其他灾害造成的倒塌房屋的自动识别.     

Wolves in sheep’s clothing: three new cases of aggressive mimicry in Red Sea coral reef fishes

ABSTRACT

Here we document three cases of mimicry in coral reef fishes not previously reported in the literature involving two groupers (Epinephelus leucogrammicus and Plectropomus marisrubri) and a soapfish (Diploprion drachi) as mimics, and two wrasses (Larabicus quadrilineatus and Cheilinus quinquecinctus) and a blenny (Meiacanthus nigrolineatus) as models. All three cases are of aggressive mimicry, with a predatory species mimicking a harmless one, and in one of the cases, the mimicry is also Müllerian, where both the predator and harmless species are unpalatable.     

Evolutionary genetics. Clonal inheritance of avian mitochondrial DNA.

We have taken a new approach to test the commonly accepted, but recently questioned, principle of clonal inheritance of vertebrate mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) by relating its inheritance to a female-specific marker of nuclear DNA. Whereas this is impossible in organisms with male heterogamy (such as mammals), we show here that genealogies of mtDNA and the female-specific W chromosome of a bird species are completely concordant. Our results indicate that inheritance of mtDNA is free of detectable recombination effects over an evolutionary timescale.