代谢组学在量子点毒性研究中的应用进展及前景

量子点是由Ⅱ～Ⅵ或Ⅲ～Ⅴ族元素组成的半导体纳米微晶体。因其独特的光电学特性,例如荧光强度高和稳定性好,被广泛应用于生命科学领域,用于荧光探针、药学研究、医学成像和生物芯片等。但是,由于应用较广的量子点成分通常含有重金属,研究者普遍认为量子点具有一定的毒性,因而通过毒理学研究来评价量子点的生物安全性对于量子点的生物学应用至关重要。代谢组学是利用分析化学方法来研究一个代谢组中小分子代谢相关物质的含量,以及内外因素导致其变化规律的学科。目前,越来越多的研究者将代谢组学应用于量子点毒性研究中,利用其生物标志物的特异性,为量子点毒性研究提供了新的思路和技术。应用代谢组学不但提高了纳米毒理学研究的完善度,更可以准确地研究某些以前在量子点低剂量暴露后无法发现的生化反应。本文重点阐述了代谢组学在量子点毒性研究中的应用进展及发展前景,为以后相关的研究方向和研究内容提供有价值的参考。     

量子毒理学在药理学和毒理学上的潜在发展与应用

随着量子科学的发展以及新材料技术的出现,量子毒理学已成为毒理学研究领域的一个新的分支。量子毒理学主要研究药物、化学品和量子等的毒理作用机制。量子毒理学在药理学和毒理学领域有着潜在的发展前景。本文简介了量子毒理学的概念、研究方法以及其在药理学和毒理学方面的发展前景。化学反应的量子效应会增强毒理效应,这是预测量子和纳米化合物的毒性以及其他毒理机制的重点。量子毒理学研究外源物质与机体靶标分子之间的相互作用和结构-效应关系,采用量子化学、量子生物学和量子药理学等的理论和方法研究毒理机制及毒性防治方法。     

量子点的合成、毒理学及其应用

作为荧光标记物,与传统的有机荧光材料相比,量子点具有更强的发射光强度和稳定性,并且量子点发射光的波峰位置仅受量子点半径大小的影响,因而在生物医学领域有着极大的应用前景.水溶性量子点作为一种生物亲和性材料,能够和各种生物大分子共轭连接,弥补了传统有机荧光材料稳定性差和激发光范围狭窄的不足.本文主要讨论了Ⅱ-Ⅵ族量子点的合成、毒性及其在生物医学领域的应用     

碲化镉量子点细胞毒性研究进展

随着纳米技术和纳米医学的飞速发展,越来越多的纳米材料应用于生物医学领域。量子点(QDs)作为一种新型的荧光材料在工业和医学领域有着广阔的应用前景,而碲化镉量子点(cadmium telluride quantum dots,CdTeQDs)是目前常用的一种QDs,其生物安全性引起了极大的关注。体内外的研究表明CdTeQDs可以对生物体造成损害。CdTeQDs的细胞毒性主要表现为细胞活力和生存率降低,细胞正常形态被破坏,基因突变,染色体畸变以及细胞凋亡的出现。而毒性机制的研究集中于活性氧(ROS)水平的升高,线粒体形态和功能的破坏,DNA受损和自噬作用等方面。笔者综述了CdTeQDs对体外细胞造成的毒性作用及其机制,旨在为CdTeQDs的生物安全性研究和更好的应用提供有价值的参考。     

量子点细胞毒性效应研究进展

量子点(quantum dots,QDs)是一种新型的无机纳米荧光标记材料,以其激发光谱宽而连续、荧光发射峰窄而对称、一元激发多元发射以及耐光漂白性好等荧光光学优势在细胞标记、成像、示踪等方面得到广泛的应用.随着对QDs研究的不断深入,发现QDs具有一定的细胞毒性并在一定程度上限制了其应用.本文对近年来QDs细胞毒性研...     

量子点环境暴露与细胞毒性效应研究进展

量子点作为一种新型的荧光标记物近年来已在生物学中得到广泛应用.同时,量子点材料的大规模生产和应用对人体健康与生态环境可能产生的不利影响也引起了人们的普遍关注.论文概括了量子点的暴露途径,综述了机体对量子点的吸收、量子点在生物体内的转移、积累和清除的作用方式,重点阐述了不同类型量子点细胞毒性等方面的研究进展,最后,在目前研究的基础上对量子点生物安全性研究的发展方向进行了展望.     

近红外长余辉纳米颗粒经小鼠眼部暴露后体内分布和代谢情况

为了研究纳米颗粒通过眼部暴露后进入体内的路径及在体内的分布和代谢情况,实验采用近红外长余辉纳米探针作为示踪剂,对小鼠进行眼部暴露,随后利用活体成像技术观察其进入小鼠体内的过程及分布情况,于暴露第4天收集代谢产物,第7天取重要脏器和血液,并检测纳米探针的存在情况.结果显示纳米探针可由眼经口腔进入胃肠道中,并且纳米颗粒暴露4天后在小鼠的粪便中检测到强荧光信号,而尿液中的荧光信号较弱,暴露7 d后在小鼠的眼睑结膜、胃及眼球中检测到强荧光信号,而其余器官的荧光信号较弱.这表明通过眼部暴露后,纳米颗粒主要分布在眼和消化系统中,最后大部分经消化系统代谢.     

石墨烯类纳米材料作为药物载体的研究进展及其潜在风险

石墨烯作为一种新兴的二维碳纳米材料,近年来受到了医学领域科学家的高度关注。由于石墨烯类纳米材料具有较大的比表面积,易于表面修饰等优点,目前在药物载体方面的研究发展迅速。随着纳米技术的发展,除了氧化石墨烯外,进一步将还原氧化石墨烯、石墨烯量子点、石墨烯纳米带等石墨烯类纳米材料作为药物载体应用到医学领域。本文综述了石墨烯类纳米材料作为药物载体在医学领域的研究进展,并从石墨烯类纳米材料的相关毒性研究角度,提醒了人们负载药物前后石墨烯类纳米材料的迁移规律对其潜在风险研究的重要性。     

人工纳米材料的生物效应及其对生态环境的影响

人工纳米材料由于具有独特的物理化学性质而得到广泛的应用,其对人体健康及环境的潜在影响也已引起科学界及政府部门的关注.通过总结近年来的相关研究资料,分类归纳了目前国内外对一些常见的人工纳米材料如富勒烯、碳纳米管、量子点、二氧化钛、纳米铁材料及纳米铝材料的生物和生态效应研究,详细总结了纳米材料毒理学的研究对象、研究方法以及最新研究成果,同时分析了各种纳米材料生物毒性的可能机制,最后对纳米材料安全性今后的研究方向进行了展望.     

磁性纳米颗粒对不同模式生物的毒性研究

磁性纳米颗粒在生物医学等领域应用广泛,而其毒性研究尚未深入,对生物的影响及作用机制仍未阐明。本文综述了磁性纳米颗粒近年来对于细胞、鼠、家兔和秀丽隐杆线虫的毒理学研究,为磁性纳米颗粒的应用提供参考。     

Rapid,recurring, structured survey versus bioblitz for generating biodiversity data and analysis with a multispecies abundance model

A bioblitz inexpensively and quickly generates biodiversity data, but bioblitzes are often conducted with haphazard, unreplicated sampling. Results tend to be taxonomically, geographically, or temporally biased, lack metadata, and consist of lists of observed taxa that do not enable further analyses or correction for imperfect detection. A rapid, recurring, structured survey (RRSS) uses a structured sampling design and temporal and spatial replication to survey randomly selected sites on a conservation property. We participated in a loosely structured bioblitz and a subsequent RRSS at Big Canoe Creek Nature Preserve in Springville (St. Clair County), Alabama (USA) to compare observed richness derived from the 2 survey approaches. The RRSS data structure enabled us to fit models that accounted for imperfect detection to estimate abundances, occupancy probabilities, and habitat associations. The loosely structured bioblitz data could not be used in such models. We present a new integrated multispecies abundance model that we applied to avian RRSS data. Our model extension enables estimation for the community, employs data augmentation to estimate the number of undetected species, and incorporates covariates. The RRSS generated a more comprehensive and less biased list of observed taxonomic richness than the loosely structured bioblitz (e.g., 73 vs. 45 bird species and 104 vs. 63 insect families from the RRSS vs. loosely structured bioblitz, respectively). Models fit to the RRSS data identified seasonal patterns in avian community composition and allowed for estimation of habitat–occupancy relationships for insect taxa. The RRSS protocol has potential for broad transferability as a standardized, quick, and inexpensive way to inventory biodiversity and estimate ecological parameters while providing an outreach opportunity.     

Compliance with and ecosystem function of biodiversity offsets in North American and European freshwaters

Land-use change via human development is a major driver of biodiversity loss. To reduce these impacts, billions of dollars are spent on biodiversity offsets. However, studies evaluating offset project effectiveness that examine components such as the overall compliance and function of projects remain rare. We reviewed 577 offsetting projects in freshwater ecosystems that included the metrics project size, type of aquatic system (e.g., wetland and creek), offsetting measure (e.g., enhancement, restoration, and creation), and an assessment of the projects’ compliance and functional success. Project information was obtained from scientific and government databases and gray literature. Despite considerable investment in offsetting projects, crucial problems persisted. Although compliance and function were related to each other, a high level of compliance did not guarantee a high degree of function. However, large projects relative to area had better function than small projects. Function improved when projects targeted productivity or specific ecosystem features and when multiple complementary management targets were in place. Restorative measures were more likely to achieve targets than creating entirely new ecosystems. Altogether the relationships we found highlight specific ecological processes that may help improve offsetting outcomes.     

A palaeo-hydrogeological model for arsenic contamination in southern and south-east Asia

An argument is presented in which areas of natural arsenic contamination of modern groundwaters throughout Asia have a common origin. Arsenic originally accumulated in oceanic ferro-manganoan sediments of the eastern Palaeo-Tethys. This was further concentrated through oceanic crustal extinction in what later became the south-east Chinese accreted mineralised terrain. Proto-Himalayan uplift of this area created the palaeo-drainage systems of the Ganges – Brahmaputra, Irrawaddy, Mekong, and Red Rivers, with consequent headwater erosion of arsenic-rich sediments. Their downstream deposition as immature and easily redistributed Neogene sandstones, silts, and iron-rich clays has created secondary and tertiary reservoirs of adsorbed and authigenic arsenic, from which the current arsenic-rich groundwaters have evolved. Considering river basins within the above palaeo-hydrogeological framework provides a basis for assessing the risk of arsenic in groundwater basins of south and south-eastern Asia.     

Cost‐effective conservation of an endangered frog under uncertainty

How should managers choose among conservation options when resources are scarce and there is uncertainty regarding the effectiveness of actions? Well‐developed tools exist for prioritizing areas for one‐time and binary actions (e.g., protect vs. not protect), but methods for prioritizing incremental or ongoing actions (such as habitat creation and maintenance) remain uncommon. We devised an approach that combines metapopulation viability and cost‐effectiveness analyses to select among alternative conservation actions while accounting for uncertainty. In our study, cost‐effectiveness is the ratio between the benefit of an action and its economic cost, where benefit is the change in metapopulation viability. We applied the approach to the case of the endangered growling grass frog (Litoria raniformis), which is threatened by urban development. We extended a Bayesian model to predict metapopulation viability under 9 urbanization and management scenarios and incorporated the full probability distribution of possible outcomes for each scenario into the cost‐effectiveness analysis. This allowed us to discern between cost‐effective alternatives that were robust to uncertainty and those with a relatively high risk of failure. We found a relatively high risk of extinction following urbanization if the only action was reservation of core habitat; habitat creation actions performed better than enhancement actions; and cost‐effectiveness ranking changed depending on the consideration of uncertainty. Our results suggest that creation and maintenance of wetlands dedicated to L. raniformis is the only cost‐effective action likely to result in a sufficiently low risk of extinction. To our knowledge we are the first study to use Bayesian metapopulation viability analysis to explicitly incorporate parametric and demographic uncertainty into a cost‐effective evaluation of conservation actions. The approach offers guidance to decision makers aiming to achieve cost‐effective conservation under uncertainty.     

Threats to intact tropical peatlands and opportunities for their conservation

Large, intact areas of tropical peatland are highly threatened at a global scale by the expansion of commercial agriculture and other forms of economic development. Conserving peatlands on a landscape scale, with their hydrology intact, is of international conservation importance to preserve their distinctive biodiversity and ecosystem services and maintain their resilience to future environmental change. We explored threats to and opportunities for conserving remaining intact tropical peatlands; thus, we excluded peatlands of Indonesia and Malaysia, where extensive deforestation, drainage, and conversion to plantations means conservation in this region can protect only small fragments of the original ecosystem. We focused on a case study, the Pastaza‐Marañón Foreland Basin (PMFB) in Peru, which is among the largest known intact tropical peatland landscapes in the world and is representative of peatland vulnerability. Maintenance of the hydrological conditions critical for carbon storage and ecosystem function of peatlands is, in the PMFB, primarily threatened by expansion of commercial agriculture linked to new transport infrastructure that is facilitating access to remote areas. There remain opportunities in the PMFB and elsewhere to develop alternative, more sustainable land‐use practices. Although some of the peatlands in the PMFB fall within existing legally protected areas, this protection does not include the most carbon‐dense (domed pole forest) areas. New carbon‐based conservation instruments (e.g., REDD+, Green Climate Fund), developing markets for sustainable peatland products, transferring land title to local communities, and expanding protected areas offer pathways to increased protection for intact tropical peatlands in Amazonia and elsewhere, such as those in New Guinea and Central Africa which remain, for the moment, broadly beyond the frontier of commercial development.     

Parasitic wasps orient to green leaf volatiles

Summary Undamaged plants emit low levels of green leaf volatiles (GLVs), while caterpillar-damaged and artificially damaged plants emit relatively higher levels of certain GLVs. Female braconid parasitoids,Microplitis croceipes, oriented to both damaged plants and to individual GLVs in no-choice tests in a wind tunnel, but seldom oriented to undamaged plants. Female ichneumonid parasitoids,Netelia heroica, also oriented to individual GLVs in a wind tunnel. Males of both wasp species failed to orient to the GLVs. These data show that leaf-feeding caterpillars can cause the release of GLVs, and that parasitic wasps can respond to these odors by flying upwind (chemoanemotactic response), which brings the wasps to their caterpillar hosts. This supports the hypothesis that plants communicate with members of the third trophic level,i.e., plants under herbivore attack emit chemical signals that guide natural enemies of herbivores to sites of plant damage. In this interaction, the GLVs serve as tritrophic plant-to-parasitoid synomones. That parasitoids from two different wasp families oriented to GLVs suggests that the response may be widespread among the Hymenoptera.Mention of a commercial or proprietary product does not constitute an endorsement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture     

Human Influence and Classical Biogeographic Predictors of Rare Species Occurrence

Biogeographic theory predicts that rare species occur more often in larger, less‐isolated habitat patches and suggests that patch size and connectivity are positive predictors of patch quality for conservation. However, in areas substantially modified by humans, rare species may be relegated to the most isolated patches. We used data from plant surveys of 81 meadow patches in the Georgia Basin of Canada and the United States to show that presence of threatened and endangered plants was positively predicted for patches that were isolated on small islands surrounded by ocean and for patches that were isolated by surrounding forest. Neither patch size nor connectivity were positive predictors of rare species occurrence. Thus, in our study area, human influence, presumably due to disturbance or introduction of competitive non‐native species, appears to have overwhelmed classical predictors of rare species distribution, such that greater patch isolation appeared to favor presence of rare species. We suggest conservation planners consider the potential advantages of protecting geographically isolated patches in human‐modified landscapes because such patches may represent the only habitats in which rare species are likely to persist. Influencia Humana y Predictores Biogeográficos Clásicos de la Ocurrencia de Especies Raras     

Seasonal dynamics of macro-algae in the South Lake of Tunis

The macro-algae communities observed in the south lake of Tunis are characterized by the predominance of nitrophilous algae which are in the order of biomass importance:Ulva, Cladophora andEnteromorpha. We have noted seasonal changes of alga distribution. The wind appears to be one of the most important factors influencing this distribution. The total biomass reaches a maximum in the spring. Rapid decomposition of the biomass leads to a severe ecological imbalance, resulting in crises of anoxia and fish death. A restoration project has already started. It aims at removal of contaminated muds and the introduction of a new circulation system. The main objectives of this work were to collect information on the distribution and biomass of the phytobenthic communities as a first step in the constitution of a database for further comparison.     

Patterns and biases of climate change threats in the IUCN Red List

International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List assessments rely on published data and expert inputs, and biases can be introduced where underlying definitions and concepts are ambiguous. Consideration of climate change threat is no exception, and recently numerous approaches to assessing the threat of climate change to species have been developed. We explored IUCN Red List assessments of amphibians and birds to determine whether species listed as threatened by climate change display distinct patterns in terms of habitat occupied and additional nonclimatic threats faced. We compared IUCN Red List data with a published data set of species’ biological and ecological traits believed to infer high vulnerability to climate change and determined whether distributions of climate change‐threatened species on the IUCN Red List concur with those of climate change‐threatened species identified with the trait‐based approach and whether species possessing these traits are more likely to have climate change listed as a threat on the IUCN Red List. Species in some ecosystems (e.g., grassland, shrubland) and subject to particular threats (e.g., invasive species) were more likely to have climate change as a listed threat. Geographical patterns of climate change‐threatened amphibians and birds on the IUCN Red List were incongruent with patterns of global species richness and patterns identified using trait‐based approaches. Certain traits were linked to increases or decreases in the likelihood of a species being threatened by climate change. Broad temperature tolerance of a species was consistently related to an increased likelihood of climate change threat, indicating counterintuitive relationships in IUCN assessments. To improve the robustness of species assessments of the vulnerability or extinction risk associated with climate change, we suggest IUCN adopt a more cohesive approach whereby specific traits highlighted by our results are considered in Red List assessments. To achieve this and to strengthen the climate change‐vulnerability assessments approach, it is necessary to identify and implement logical avenues for further research into traits that make species vulnerable to climate change (including population‐level threats).