SaRCC1, a Regulator of Chromosome Condensation 1 (RCC1) Family Protein Gene from Spartina alterniflora, Negatively Regulates Salinity Stress Tolerance in Transgenic Arabidopsis.

A regulator of chromosome condensation 1 (RCC1) family protein has been functionally characterized to be involved in various cellular processes. In this study, one RCC1 gene named SaRCC1 was cloned from the full-length cDNA library of Spartinaalterniflora. The open reading frame (ORF) of SaRCC1 was 1440 bp, and it encoded 479 amino acids with a calculated molecular mass of 51.65 kDa. Multiple amino acid sequence alignments showed that SaRCC1 had high identity with other plant RCC1s, and the phylogenetic analysis indicated that SaRCC1 had a closer affinity to Zea mays RCC1 family protein (ZmRCC1). SaRCC1 gene was induced under salt stress conditions, and its encoded protein was located in peroxisome. In order to further investigate the function of SaRCC1, transgenic Arabidopsis plants ectopically both sense-overexpressing and antisense-overexpressing SaRCC1 were generated. SaRCC1-overexpressing lines exhibited an increased salt and ABA hypersensitivity and reduced resistance to salinity stress. On the other hand, the transcripts of some stress-responsive genes in the SaRCC1 transgenic plants were affected in response to salinity stress. Our results provide evidence for the involvement of SaRCC1, negatively regulating salt stress responses by affecting stress-related gene expression in Arabidopsis.

Preparation and characterization of ketoprofen-loaded microspheres for embolization.

To deliver drug locally and relieve the syndrome of pain after uterine artery embolization, N-[tris (hydroxymethyl) methyl] acrylamide-gelatin microspheres were prepared based on inverse suspension polymerization and then separated into a number of subgroups (150-350, 350-560, 560-710, 710-1,000, and 1,000-1,430 µm) by wet-sieving. The microspheres were dried by lyophilization or by washing with anhydrous ethanol. And ketoprofen was loaded by soaking dried blank microspheres into concentrated ketoprofen ethanol solution. The ketoprofen loading level in different subgroups of microspheres was measured and found higher when the microspheres were dried by lyophilization. Equilibrium water content and mean diameters of microspheres decreased after drug loading, especially in subgroups with larger size. The microspheres went through the catheter without any difficulty. Compression and relaxation tests were performed on microspheres before lyophilization, embosphere™, microspheres after lyophilization and ketoprofen loading microspheres. The Young's moduli were 54.74, 64.19, 98.15, and 120.44 kPa, respectively. The release of ketoprofen from microspheres in different subgroups was studied by using the USPII method and T-cell apparatus, respectively. The results indicate that the release rate of ketoprofen depends upon the diameter of microspheres, the type of dissolution apparatus and the flow rate of media in the case that T-cell apparatus was applied. The CH50 test shows that the activation of complement by ketoprofen-loaded microspheres was lower than by blank ones.

[Preparation and property study of ion-exchange embolic microspheres for delivering pingyangmycin].

OBJECTIVE: To develop and study the properties of ion-exchange polyvinyl alcohol-acrylic acid microspheres (PVA-AA-Ms) for embolization. METHODS: The PVA-AA-Ms were produced by the method of inverse suspension polymerization. The morphology and particle size were determined by optical microscope; FT-IR was used to investigate the special functional groups of PVA-AA-Ms; the carboxyl content of PVA-AA-Ms was measured by chemical titration; the compression elasticity was examined by texture analyzer (TA-plus). Pingyangmycin (bleomycin A(5)) was used as model drug to prepare drug-loaded PVA-AA-Ms. Drug loading and entrapment efficiency were measured through UV-spectrophotometer; in vitro drug release characteristic was detected by constant temperature vibration dialysis assay. RESULTS: The PVA-AA-Ms were round and integrated. The average diameter of PVA-AA-Ms was 500 microm with a range of 150-1 000 microm. The carboxyl vibration was demonstrated by FT-IR and the content of carboxyl was 8.905 mmol/g. PVA-AA-Ms were mechanically stable with appropriate elasticity. Drug loading and entrapment efficiency were 30 g/L and 99.4%, respectively. The drug release rate was slow in phosphate buffer solution (PBS), 88.3% of the drug was released after 24 h and the t(50) was 2.19 h. CONCLUSION: PVA-AA-Ms prepared in this study were supposed to be suitable for clinical embolization according to the physicochemical properties. The high carboxyl content of PVA-AA-Ms which allowed them to load cationic drugs (e.g., drug with amino group) through ion-exchange mechanism brought broad prospects for combination of embolization and chemotherapy.

[Preparation and evaluation of radiopaque microspheres].

OBJECTIVE: To develop lipiodol-containing calcium alginate microspheres (LAMs) for embolization, and study the characterization for emoblization and the radiopacity. METHODS: LAMs were prepared by dripping method. The preparation of LAMs was optimized by orthogonal experiment which involved effects of three factors (the volume ratio of lipiodol to the external aqueous solution, airflow rate, and the weight pushing the injector) at three levels on the responses to the size, polydisperse index and entrapment efficiency of LAMs. The morphology of LAMs was observed under microscope. The elasticity of LAMs was investigated by texture analyzer. The capability injected through catheter of LAMs was monitored by video spinning-drop tensionmeter. The radiopacity of LAMs was measured by X-ray imaging system after LAMs were injected into vas of a rat. RESULTS: The optimal condition for preparation of LAMs was: the volume ratio of lipiodol to the external aqueous solution was 3:10, airflow rate was 40 g/mL and the weight pushing the injector was 100 g. According to the optimized condition, LAMs were prepared and characterized. The mean diameter of LAMs was (493.9 +/- 42.6) microm, the polydisperse index was 1.02 and the entrapment efficiency was (88.97 +/- 1.09) %. The LAMs were with round shape and smooth surface in view of photograph of microscope. The maximum average load was (1.09 +/- 0.18) N when LAMs were compressed to 60%. The LAMs were injected through catheter without much difficulty. The radiopacity of LAMs in rats was demonstrated to be visible under X-ray photography system. CONCLUSION: The radiopaque LAMs developed are suitable for the arterial embolization, with round shape, proper size, good elasticity, easy handling character and visible property under X-ray imaging. The radiopaque embolic agent is supposed to be useful for emoblization therapy.