Effects of organochlorine compounds on cytochrome P450 aromatase activity in an immortal sea turtle cell line

Many classes of environmental contaminants affect the reproductive function of animals through interactions with the endocrine system. The primary components affected by endocrine active compounds (EACs) are the steroid receptors and the enzymes responsible for steroidogenesis. This study sought to develop an in vitro model for assessing EAC effects in sea turtles by examining their ability to alter cytochrome P450 aromatase (CYP19) activity. Aromatase is the enzyme responsible for the conversion of testosterone to estradiol. This enzyme is critical in the sexual differentiation of reptiles which demonstrate temperature-dependent sex determination. An immortal testis cell line GST-TS from a green sea turtle was grown in culture at 30 degrees C in RPMI 1640 media. The cells were exposed to three known aromatase inducers; dexamethasone (Dex), 8Br-cyclic AMP, or human chronic gonadotropin (HCG) and one aromatase inhibitor 4-androstenol-dione (4-OHA). In addition, the GST-TS cells were exposed to 0.1-30 microM atrazine and 3-100 microM 4,4'-DDE. The inducing compounds that have been shown to increase aromatase activity in other systems failed to induce aromatase activity in the GST-TS cells, yet exposure to the inhibiting compound, 4-OHA, did result in a significant reduction. Atrazine (0.1, 1.0 and 10 microM) significantly induced aromatase activity following a 24 h exposure, and 4,4'-DDE inhibited the activity but only at cytotoxic concentrations (100 microM). Based on these results, this in vitro model can be useful in examining the endocrine effects of EACs in sea turtles.     

加温养殖下乌龟精巢发育的研究

通过组织切片对加温养殖下乌龟精巢的发育过程进行了研究 ,根据其组织学和细胞学特征 ,乌龟的精巢发育过程可分为精原细胞期、初级精母细胞期、次级精母细胞期、精子细胞期以及精子 5个阶段。 5种生精细胞在曲细精管内有规则的排列 ,排列方式与哺乳动物雄性生殖细胞排列方式相似 ,即从基膜到管腔各级生精细胞按成熟等级依次排列 ,雄性乌龟的性成熟年龄为 1～ 2 a,比传统养殖乌龟的性成熟年龄缩短了 3～ 4 a。     

地下水溶解气CH_4/Ar比值的映震特征的研究

从甲烷、氩气的来源及其化学特性入手 ,结合 19年震例资料 ,分析总结了 10号泉水中 CH4 / Ar(甲烷 /氩气 )比值的映震特征 ,结果认为 :中强震近场前兆异常特征以中期趋势性变化为主 ;中强震远场前兆异常特征以临震脉冲式高值异常突跳或短期异常变化为主。文章最后 ,初步阐述了 CH4 /Ar比 CH4 具有更好映震能力的原因     

青虾(Macrobrachium nipponense)Kazal型丝氨酸蛋白酶抑制因子基因全长cDNA的克隆及表达

采用RACE技术,首次从青虾精巢中克隆得到KSPI基因全长cDNA。青虾KSPI基因cDNA全长890bp,包括80bp的5′UTR,546bp的3′UTR和编码87个氨基酸残基的264bp开放阅读框。预测蛋白包含1个保守的Kazal型结构域(CⅠX5CⅡX(6)VCⅢX(5)TYXNXCⅣX6CⅤX12CⅥ),结构域中P1活性位点为苏氨酸残基。应用MEGA4.1软件对青虾与已报道的虾类共15种KSPI氨基酸序列进行系统进化分析,结果表明,青虾KSPI与同样来源于精巢的罗氏沼虾KSPI进化关系最近聚为一支,其它虾类来源于肝胰腺和血细胞的KSPI聚为另外两支。采用定量PCR技术分析其组织分布,结果显示,KSPI基因在精巢、心脏和卵巢中有较高表达,其中精巢表达水平极高,并与心脏和卵巢表达差异分别达到显著(P<0.05)和极显著(P<0.01)水平,其它组织表达较弱。