Absence of metallothionein 3 expression in breast cancer is a rare but favorable marker that is under epigenetic control

Cadmium (Cd²⁺), a known carcinogen, mimics the effects of estrogen in the uterus and mammary gland suggesting its possible involvement in the development and progression of breast cancer. This lab showed through analysis of a small set of archival human diagnostic specimens that the third isoform of the classic Cd²⁺ binding protein metallothionein (MT-3) is not expressed in normal breast tissue, but is expressed in some breast cancers and that expression tends to correlate with a poor disease outcome. The goals of this study were to verify that overexpression of MT-3 in a large set of archival human diagnostic specimens tends to correlate with poor disease outcome and define the mechanism of MT-3 gene regulation in the normal breast epithelial cell. The results showed that MT-3 was expressed in approximately 90% of all breast cancers and was absent in normal breast epithelium. The lack of MT-3 staining in some cancers correlated with a favorable patient outcome. High frequency of MT-3 staining was also found for in situ breast cancer suggesting that MT-3 might be an early biomarker for breast cancer. The study also demonstrated that the MCF-10A cell line, an immortalized, non-tumorigenic model of human breast epithelial cells, displayed no basal expression of MT-3, nor was it induced by Cd²⁺. Treatment of the MCF-10A cells with the demethylation agent, 5-aza-2′-deoxycytidine, or the histone deacetylase inhibitor, MS-275, restored MT-3 mRNA expression. It was also shown that the MT-3 metal regulatory elements are potentially active binders of protein factors following treatment with these inhibitors suggesting that MT-3 expression may be subject to epigenetic regulation.     

热闷钢渣用单轨移动罩车的设计

根据钢渣热闷工艺要求进行单轨移动罩车的结构设计与行走装置的设计,通过三维建模软件及理论力学分析计算此罩车的配重及质心,使罩车与导向装置接触处的压力最小,且罩车施加给低地轨的横向静摩擦力最小。通过此方法设计的单轨移动罩车能大大改善钢渣热闷厂房的工作环境,减少厂房的腐蚀,提高厂房屋顶的寿命周期。     

液氮冻融破碎生物污泥制备生物絮凝剂

利用城市剩余生物污泥,采用液氮冻融破碎、提取液提取的方法制备了生物污泥絮凝剂。对絮凝剂的制备条件及其絮凝性能进行了研究,结果表明:采用液氮冻融破碎,pH为1.0的稀盐酸溶液作为提取液提取所制备的絮凝剂,对高岭土悬浮液的絮凝效率可达98.5%。液氮冻融破碎的次数对絮凝剂制备没有明显影响。同时考察了絮凝剂投加量以及絮凝体系的pH对絮凝剂絮凝活性的影响。     

洞庭湖湿地Cd富集植物蒌蒿(Artemisia selengensis)的耐性生理机制研究

采用盆栽植株和外源Cd胁迫的方法,分别对不同生长期蒌蒿植株根、叶组织中的抗氧化酶活性、可溶性蛋白及MDA含量进行测定,以揭示蒌蒿在Cd胁迫下的抗氧化机理和耐受机制。研究结果表明,Cd胁迫对上述生理指标均有显著影响:≤20mg·kg-1的Cd处理可使幼苗期植株器官中的可溶性蛋白含量增加16.5%～19.1%,100mg·kg-1的Cd含量水平则导致其含量减少近30%,可溶性蛋白含量的变化与植株的生物量积累关系密切;3种酶活性在0～10mg·kg-1的Cd处理下未显示出明显变化,幼苗期植株CAT、POD活性在10～80mg·kg-1的Cd胁迫下增加明显,高于此浓度范围则使酶蛋白受到破坏而失活,中等含量水平(≤40mg·kg-1)的Cd处理经过长时间作用可使植株逐渐适应胁迫环境,胁迫强度较大的Cd处理可显著提高SOD酶的活性;Cd胁迫过程中植株MDA积累量不断增加。3种抗氧化酶活性的增强在蒌蒿植株耐受Cd胁迫方面能起到较好的防御作用。     

Carbon sequestration of black locust forests in the Yellow River Delta region,China

The Yellow River Delta region in China is a land area of 1,200,000 ha with rich natural resources. Adverse environmental conditions, such as low rainfall and high salinity, promote the dominance of black locust trees for afforestation. With the increase of CO₂ in the atmosphere, this forest and others throughout the world have become valued for their ability to sequester and store carbon. Forests store carbon in aboveground biomass (i.e. trees), belowground biomass (i.e. roots), soils and standing litter crop (i.e. forest floor and coarse woody debris). There are well-developed methods to sample forest ecosystems, including tree inventories that are used to quantify carbon in aboveground tree biomass. Such inventories are used to estimate the types of roundwood products removed from the forest during harvesting. Based on standard plot inventories and stem analyses, carbon sequestration estimates of trees were 222.41 t ha^?1 for the Yellow River Delta region accounted for 67.12% of the whole forest. Similarly, carbon storage by herbaceous matter and soil was 0.50 and 50.34 t ha^?1, respectively. The results suggest that carbon sequestration in the forest ecosystem was performed by most of the forest, which plays an increasingly important role in sequestering carbon as the stand grows.     

Microbial functional genes reveal selection of microbial community by PAHs in polluted soils

This report shows an increase of PAH-related microbial functional genes with PAH concentration in soils. Adaptation of microbial communities to organic pollutants such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) is a crucial issue. However, there is little knowledge on mechanisms ruling microbial community selection. Here, we studied microbial functional genes in soils contaminated by PAHs. We used GeoChip, an advanced functional gene array for gene analysis. Soil PAH concentrations were measured and microbial functional genes were categorized. PAH-related microbial functional genes, bph, nah, nidA, phd, dfb, and qor, were quantitatively expressed. Total microbial functional genes and PAH-related microbial functional genes were compared with PAH concentration by cluster analysis and curve-fitting analysis. We found that the average abundance of PAH-related microbial functional genes increased from 0.13 to 0.33, whereas that of total microbial functional genes decreased from 0.22 to 0.10 when PAHs concentration increased from 1.01 to 164.28 mg kg^?1. It was also found that the classification of microbial community structure characteristics based on PAH-related microbial functional genes was closely similar to the classification based on PAHs concentration. Findings reveal that PAH stress promotes the dominance of PAH-related microbial communities.     

土著细菌对江汉平原浅层含水层沉积物中砷迁移的影响

对江汉平原水文地质调查发现,该地区地下水砷含量已远超国家饮用水标准。以沉积物培养的土著细菌混合液为生物材料,以江汉平原高砷含水层沉积物为研究对象,在实验室内模拟地下水系统,研究厌氧环境条件下,不同生物量土著细菌和pH值对沉积物中砷迁移转化的影响,以及土著细菌活动下砷在不同沉积物中的迁移转化。结果表明,不同生物量菌悬液都能促进沉积物中As的释放,增加总As和As(III)的浓度,但150mL处理组,在研究后期,总As和As(III)的浓度呈现减缓趋势;在初始生物量一定的条件下,沉积物中As含量越高,细菌活动下总As相对释出量就越低,而且As(III)占所释出总As的比值就越高,但两个高砷含量沉积物组的差异较小;在初始pH值为5、7和9的培养条件下,细菌都能加速砷的迁移,但pH值为5的处理组(简称pH5处理组)最弱,在前8天,pH9处理组较pH7处理组的低,随后超过pH7处理组。研究表明,土著细菌悬液能加速As从沉积物中释出,并且释出的As以As(III)为主;在耐受的弱碱性环境条件下,细菌对砷的迁移和转化随环境的pH值增加而增强。     

缺氧对贝类的胁迫效应及对其免疫系统的影响

基于缺氧对贝类养殖的危害,从贝类免疫系统角度总结了近年来围绕缺氧胁迫对其细胞免疫和体液免疫系统的相关因子影响的研究。从缺氧对与细胞免疫功能相关的血细胞总数(THC)、吞噬活性和细胞活性氧(ROS)含量、以及参与体液免疫的溶酶体酶、抗氧化物酶、抗氧化因子、酚氧化酶等多种免疫因子的影响,概括了缺氧对贝类免疫系统影响的一般规律。本文不仅能为衡量贝类所在水域的环境变化提供科学依据,还能为围绕贝类在缺氧胁迫下生理适应性机制的相关研究奠定基础。     

太湖水体中5种有机磷农药混合物生态风险评价

有机磷农药是一类广泛分布于我国水环境中的污染物,即使在水体中的污染水平处于规定“安全标准”之下,其联合暴露产生的风险仍有可能威胁水生生态安全。采用基于浓度加和模型与生物敏感度分布曲线的混合物风险商法,评价了太湖水体中敌敌畏、对硫磷、甲基对硫磷、马拉硫磷和乐果5种有机磷农药混合物产生的生态风险。结果表明：2003～2004年期间3个不同时期太湖水体中5种有机磷农药的混合物生态风险商(RQ_m )均大于1,有机磷农药混合物在2003～2004年期间对太湖水生生物构成了一定威胁。     

One-pot preparation of graphene oxide magnetic nanocomposites for the removal of tetrabromobisphenol A

A simple solvothermal method was used to prepare monodisperse magnetite (Fe₃O₄) nanoparticles attached onto graphene oxide (GO) sheets as adsorbents to remove tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) from an aqueous solution. These Fe₃O₄/GO (MGO) nanocomposites were characterized by transmission electron microscopy. The adsorption capacity at different initial pH, contact duration, and temperature were evaluated. The kinetics of adsorption was found to fit the pseudo-second-order model perfectly. The adsorption isotherm well fitted the Langmuir model, and the theoretical maximum of adsorption capacity calculated by the Langmuir model was 27.26 mg?g^-1. The adsorption thermodynamics of TBBPA on the MGO nanocomposites was determined at 303 K, 313 K, and 323 K, respectively. The results indicated that the adsorption was spontaneous and endothermic. The MGO nanocomposites were conveniently separated from the media by an external magnetic field within several seconds, and then regenerated in 0.2 M NaOH solution. Thus, the MGO nanocomposites are a promising candidate for TBBPA removal from wastewater.