The Operculum-Plug Area and Membranous Structure of the Eggs of Trichuris Trichiura

Eggs of Trichuris trichiura were prepared for scanning electron microscopy (SEM) by the dimethylsulfoxide freeze-cracking method. The egg-shell and oocyte were examined by SEM. The egg has a chitinous shell which consists of more than 10 layers of dense lamellae. The shell is bordered by a limiting membrane. An operculum and a collar made of chitinous shell together form the opercular area. The operculum is an empty cavity. The chitinous fibers of the egg-shell in this area are diffuse and loose, with numerous micropores or spaces. The egg-shell in this area therefore appears to form a fine tubular network. The oocyte is an undifferentiated cell with a biconcave drum-like shape. The perivitelline space is conspicuous at both ends of the cell

Characterization of two immunomodulating homogalacturonan pectins from green tea

Two natural homogalacturonan (HG) pectins (MW ca. 20 kDa) were isolated from green tea based on their immunomodulatory activity. The crude tea polysaccharides (TPS1 and TPS2) were obtained from green tea leaves by hot water extraction and followed by 40% and 70% ethanol precipitation, respectively. Two homogenous water soluble polysaccharides (TPS1-2a and TPS1-2b) were obtained from TPS1 after purification with gel permeation, which gave a higher phagocytic effect than TPS2. A combination of composition, methylation and configuration analyses, as well as NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) spectroscopy revealed that TPS1-2a and TPS1-2b were homogalacturonan (HG) pectins consisting of a backbone of 1,4-linked α-d-galacturonic acid (GalA) residues with 28.4% and 26.1% of carboxyl groups as methyl ester, respectively. The immunological assay results demonstrated that TPS1-2, which consisted mainly of HG pectins, showed phagocytosis-enhancing activity in HL-60 cells

Effects of P-Glycoprotein and Its Inhibitors on Apoptosis in K562 Cells

P-glycoprotein (P-gp) is a major factor in multidrug resistance (MDR) which is a serious obstacle in chemotherapy. P-gp has also been implicated in causing apoptosis of tumor cells, which was shown to be another important mechanism of MDR recently. To study the influence of P-gp in tumor cell apoptosis, K562/A cells (P-gp+) and K562/S cells (P-gp−) were subjected to doxorubicin (Dox), serum withdrawal, or independent co-incubation with multiple P-gp inhibitors, including valspodar (PSC833), verapamil (Ver) and H108 to induce apoptosis. Apoptosis was simultaneously detected by apoptotic rate, cell cycle by flow cytometry and cysteine aspartic acid-specific protease 3 (caspase 3) activity by immunoassay. Cytotoxicity and apoptosis induced by PSC833 were evaluated through an MTT method and apoptosis rate, and cell cycle combined with caspase 3 activity, respectively. The results show that K562/A cells are more resistant to apoptosis and cell cycle arrest than K562/S cells after treatment with Dox or serum deprivation. The apoptosis of K562/A cells increased after co-incubation with each of the inhibitors of P-gp. P-gp inhibitors also enhanced cell cycle arrest in K562/A cell. PSC833 most strikingly decreased viability and led to apoptosis and S phase arrest of cell cycle in K562/A cells. Our study demonstrates that P-gp inhibits the apoptosis of tumor cells in addition to participating in the efflux of intracellular chemotherapy drugs. The results of the caspase 3 activity assay also suggest that the role of P-gp in apoptosis avoidance is caspase-related

Hollow carbon nanospheres with extremely small size as anode material in lithium-ion batteries with outstanding cycling stability

Hollow carbon nanospheres (HCNSs) were fabricated by annealing the Cu-C core-shell nanoparticles at 1250 degrees C in vacuum. The as-obtained HCNSs have ultrathin shell of 1-3 nm in thickness, small size of about 20 nm in diameter, high surface area of 300 m(2) g(-1), and ultrasmall pores below 5 nin within the C shells. The HCNSs exhibit excellent electrochemical performance as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries. A reversible capacity of 400 mAh g(-1) and capacity retention of nearly 100% are achieved at the current density of 186 mA g(-1) after 100 charging-discharging cycles. The high reversible capacity, improved high-rate capability, and outstanding cycling stability could be attributed to their unique structural characteristics including the extremely small diameter, the high surface area and the hollow structure with porous, ultrathin shell

Gram-scale synthesis, thermal stability, magnetic properties, and microwave absorption application of extremely small Co-C core-shell nanoparticles

Co-C core-shell nanoparticles have been synthesized in large quantity (in grams) by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition with analytical cobalt (III) acetylacetonate as precursor. Extremely small nanoparticles with an average core diameter of 3 nm and a shell thickness of 1-2 nm, and relatively large nanoparticles with an average core diameter of 23 nm and a shell thickness of 5-20 nm were obtained, depending on the deposition regions. The 3 nm Co nanocores are thermally stable up to 200 °C in air atmosphere, and do not exhibit visible structural and morphological changes after exposure to air at room temperature for 180 d. The extremely small core-shell nanoparticles exhibit typical superparamagnetic behaviors with a small coercivity of 5 Oe, while the relative large nanoparticles are a typical ferromagnetic material with a high coercivity of 584 Oe. In the microwave absorption tests, a low reflection loss (RL) of -80.3 dB and large effective bandwidth (frequency range for RL -10-dB) of 10.1 GHz are obtained in the nanoparticle-paraffin composites with appropriate layer thicknesses and particle contents. This suggests that the as-synthesized Co-C core-shell nanoparticles have a high potential as the microwave-absorbing materials