分类: 生物学 >> 生物物理学 提交时间: 2016-05-12
摘要: The ability of animals to respond to life-threatening stimuli is essential for survival. Although vision provides one of the major sensory inputs for detecting threats across animal species, the circuitry underlying defensive responses to visual stimuli remains poorly defined. Here, we investigate the circuitry underlying innate defensive behaviours elicited by predator-like visual stimuli in mice. Our results demonstrate that neurons in the superior colliculus (SC) are essential for a variety of acute and persistent defensive responses to overhead looming stimuli. Optogenetic mapping revealed that SC projections to the lateral posterior nucleus (LP) of the thalamus, a non-canonical polymodal sensory relay, are sufficient to mimic visually evoked fear responses. In vivo electrophysiology experiments identified a di-synaptic circuit from SC through LP to the lateral amygdale (Amg), and lesions of the Amg blocked the full range of visually evoked defensive responses. Our results reveal a novel collicular-thalamic-Amg circuit important for innate defensive responses to visual threats.
分类: 生物学 >> 生物物理学 >> 肿瘤学 提交时间: 2016-05-11
摘要: Malignant pleural effusion (MPE) is a common complication caused by malignant diseases. However, subjectivity, poor sensitivity, and substantial false-negative rates of cytology assay hamper accurate MPE diagnosis. The aim of this study was to assess whether CD163+CD14+ tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) could be used as a biomarker for enabling sensitive and specific MPE diagnosis. Pleural effusion samples and peripheral blood samples were collected from 50 MPE patients and 50 non-malignant pleural effusion (NMPE) patients, respectively. Flow cytometry was performed to analyze cell phenotypes, and RT-qPCR was used to detect cytokine expression in these monocytes and macrophages. A blinded validation study (n = 40) was subsequently performed to confirm the significance of CD163+CD14+ TAMs in MPE diagnosis. Student's t test, rank sum test, and receiver operating characteristic curve analysis were used for statistical analysis. Notably, CD163+CD14+ cell frequency in MPE was remarkably higher than that in NMPE (P < 0.001). In a blinded validation study, a sensitivity of 78.9 % and a specificity of 100 % were obtained with CD163+CD14+ TAMs as a MPE biomarker. In total (n = 140), by using a cutoff level of 3.65 %, CD163+CD14+ cells had a sensitivity of 81.2 % and a specificity of 100 % for MPE diagnosis. Notably, MPE diagnosis by estimating CD163+CD14+ cells in pleural effusion could be obtained one week earlier than that obtained by cytological examination. CD163+CD14+ macrophages could be potentially used as an immune diagnostic marker for MPE and has better assay sensitivity than that of cytological analysis.
提交时间: 2017-05-02
摘要: Nanocomposite WC/a-C coatings were successfully fabricated using a magnetron sputtering process, and post-deposition annealing was conducted in vacuum for 1 h at the annealing temperatures ranging from 100 to 500 degrees C. The changes in coating structur