Amyloid-β （Aβ） protein aggregation is the main hallmark of Alzheimer＇s disease （AD）. Inhibition of Aft fibrillation is thus a promising therapeutic approach to the prevention and treatment of AD. Recently, we d...Amyloid-β （Aβ） protein aggregation is the main hallmark of Alzheimer＇s disease （AD）. Inhibition of Aft fibrillation is thus a promising therapeutic approach to the prevention and treatment of AD. Recently, we designed a heptapeptide inhibitor, LVFFARK （LK7）. LK7 shows a promising inhibitory capability on Aft fibrillation, but is prone to self-assembling and displays high cytotoxicity, which would hinder its practical application. Herein, we modified LK7 by a head-to-tail cyclization and obtained a cyclic LK7 （cLK7）. cLK7 exhibits a different self-assembly behavior from LK7, and has higher stability against proteolysis than LK7 and little cytotoxicity to SH-SY5Y cells. Thermodynamic analysis revealed that both LK7 and cLK7 could bind to Aβ40 by electrostatic interactions, hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interactions, but the binding affinity of cLK7 for Afl40 （KD = 4.96 μmol/L） is six times higher than that of LK7 （KD = 32.2 μmol/L）. The strong binding enables cLK7 to stabilize the secondary structure of Aβ40 and potently inhibit its nucleation, fibrillation and cytotoxicity at extensive concentration range, whereas LK7 could only moderately inhibit Aβ40 fibrillation and cytotoxicity at low concentrations. The findings indicate that the peptide cyclization is a promising approach to enhance the performance of peptide-based amyloid inhibitors.展开更多
A novel sensitive semi-quantitative virus detection technique was developed using the respiratory syncytial virus(RSV) as an example, through dark-field light scattering imaging of the surface state of the virusinvade...A novel sensitive semi-quantitative virus detection technique was developed using the respiratory syncytial virus(RSV) as an example, through dark-field light scattering imaging of the surface state of the virusinvaded host cells. In this method, anti-RSV-antibody modified gold nanoparticles(Au NPs) could bind with the invading virus on the cell membrane of the infected host cells through the specific antibody-antigen binding. Then,the host cells could be imaged by the localized surface plasmon resonance light scattering properties of Au NPs under a dark-field light scattering microscopy, which could be further used to semi-quantify the invading virus.展开更多
In order to explore moldy mechanism of chestnut from Luotian County in storage process,the strains of pathogenic fungi were isolated from chestnuts after storage at room temperature for 70d.Six genera of fungi were fo...In order to explore moldy mechanism of chestnut from Luotian County in storage process,the strains of pathogenic fungi were isolated from chestnuts after storage at room temperature for 70d.Six genera of fungi were found in chestnut through experimental identification,which were Ozoniumsp.,Fusarium sp.,Aspergillus sp.,Penicilliumsp.,Rhiopus sp.and Stachybotrys sp.,respectively.The re-inoculation tests had been conducted on pathogenic fungi whose isolating rate was greater than 10%.The result showed that the rest genera of fungi generally had no pathogenicity except Penicilliumsp.could infect non-injured chestnut with a lower moldy rate and lighter symptoms;but the moldy rate of strains was above 60% in injured inoculation and they showed heavy symptoms,among which the moldy rate of Ozoniumsp.and Aspergillus sp.were higher than 80%.The experimental results showed that injured chestnut were more likely to decay.Ozoniumsp.and Aspergillus sp.were important pathogenic fungi causing decay during storage process of chestnut.展开更多
文摘Amyloid-β （Aβ） protein aggregation is the main hallmark of Alzheimer＇s disease （AD）. Inhibition of Aft fibrillation is thus a promising therapeutic approach to the prevention and treatment of AD. Recently, we designed a heptapeptide inhibitor, LVFFARK （LK7）. LK7 shows a promising inhibitory capability on Aft fibrillation, but is prone to self-assembling and displays high cytotoxicity, which would hinder its practical application. Herein, we modified LK7 by a head-to-tail cyclization and obtained a cyclic LK7 （cLK7）. cLK7 exhibits a different self-assembly behavior from LK7, and has higher stability against proteolysis than LK7 and little cytotoxicity to SH-SY5Y cells. Thermodynamic analysis revealed that both LK7 and cLK7 could bind to Aβ40 by electrostatic interactions, hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interactions, but the binding affinity of cLK7 for Afl40 （KD = 4.96 μmol/L） is six times higher than that of LK7 （KD = 32.2 μmol/L）. The strong binding enables cLK7 to stabilize the secondary structure of Aβ40 and potently inhibit its nucleation, fibrillation and cytotoxicity at extensive concentration range, whereas LK7 could only moderately inhibit Aβ40 fibrillation and cytotoxicity at low concentrations. The findings indicate that the peptide cyclization is a promising approach to enhance the performance of peptide-based amyloid inhibitors.
基金supported by the National Basic Research Program of China(2011CB933600)Chongqing Fundamental and Advanced Research Project(cstc2013jcyj A50008)the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities(XDJK2015B029)
文摘A novel sensitive semi-quantitative virus detection technique was developed using the respiratory syncytial virus(RSV) as an example, through dark-field light scattering imaging of the surface state of the virusinvaded host cells. In this method, anti-RSV-antibody modified gold nanoparticles(Au NPs) could bind with the invading virus on the cell membrane of the infected host cells through the specific antibody-antigen binding. Then,the host cells could be imaged by the localized surface plasmon resonance light scattering properties of Au NPs under a dark-field light scattering microscopy, which could be further used to semi-quantify the invading virus.
基金Supported by Key Project of Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province(2010CBB03901)Key Project of Production-study-research Cooperation Fund for University by Hubei Education Department(C2010060)Forestry Science Technique Extension and Demonstration Project of Central Budget in 2011(2011BH0032)
文摘In order to explore moldy mechanism of chestnut from Luotian County in storage process,the strains of pathogenic fungi were isolated from chestnuts after storage at room temperature for 70d.Six genera of fungi were found in chestnut through experimental identification,which were Ozoniumsp.,Fusarium sp.,Aspergillus sp.,Penicilliumsp.,Rhiopus sp.and Stachybotrys sp.,respectively.The re-inoculation tests had been conducted on pathogenic fungi whose isolating rate was greater than 10%.The result showed that the rest genera of fungi generally had no pathogenicity except Penicilliumsp.could infect non-injured chestnut with a lower moldy rate and lighter symptoms;but the moldy rate of strains was above 60% in injured inoculation and they showed heavy symptoms,among which the moldy rate of Ozoniumsp.and Aspergillus sp.were higher than 80%.The experimental results showed that injured chestnut were more likely to decay.Ozoniumsp.and Aspergillus sp.were important pathogenic fungi causing decay during storage process of chestnut.
