Use of Ultrastructuke and DNA Hybridization to Detect Replication of the Nuclear Polyhedrosis Virus in Midgut Cells of Homologous Host

It was controversial issue if nuclear polyhedrosis virus(NPV) could replicate in midgut cells of host larvae from Lepidoptera by now.The replication of Mythimna separata NPV(MsNPV) in M.separata larvae midgut cells was studied by ultrastructural and DNA hybridized techniques.The paper demonstrated that the MsNPV could neither infect midgut cell nor replicate in midgut cell of homologous host.Therefore MsNPV virions released from the virial occlusion bodies were considered as direct penetration though the intercellular spaces of midgut cells to hemocoel of the host larvae.

No Intestinal Stem Cell Regeneration after Complete Progenitor Ablation in Drosophila Adult Midgut

Adult stem cells or progenitors are essential for maintaining the normal structure and function of adult tissues （i.e., ho- meostasis）. One of the best examples is the adult intestinal epithelium which is constantly renewed by the progeny of intestinal stem cells （ISCs）. The proliferation and differentiation of adult stem cells must be tightly controlled in order to maintain resident tissue homeostasis. Mis-regulation of stem cell proliferation and differentiation leads to depletion or excessive proliferation of stem cells, eventually resulting in severe diseases such as cancer （Radtke and Clevers, 2005; Morrison and Spradling, 2008）. Understanding the detailed regulatory mechanisms of stem cell proliferation and differ- entiation will shed insights into the causes of related human diseases.

Cytotoxicity and binding profiles of activated CrylAc and Cry2Ab to three insect cell lines

While CrylAc has been known to bind with larval midgut proteins cad- herin, APN （amino peptidase N）, ALP （alkaline phosphatase） and ABCC2 （adenosine triphosphate-binding cassette transporter subfamily C2）, little is known about the recep- tors of Cry2Ab. To provide a clue to the receptors of Cry2Ab, we tested the baseline cytotoxicity of activated Cry 1Ac and Cry2Ab against the midgut and fat body cell lines of Helicoverpa zea and the ovary cell line ofSpodopterafrugiperda （SFg）. As expected, the descending order of cytotoxicity of CrylAc against the three cell lines in terms of 50% lethal concetration （LC50） was midgut （31.0μg/mL） 〉 fat body （59.0μg/mL） and SF9 cell （99.6μg/mL）. By contrast, the fat body cell line （LC50 = 7.55μg/mL） was about twice more susceptible to Cry2Ab than the midgut cell line （16.0/xg/mL）, the susceptibility of which was not significantly greater than that of SF9 cells （27.0μg/mL）. Further, ligand blot showed the binding differences between CrylAc and Cry2Ab in the three cell lines. These results indicated that the receptors of Cry2Ab were enriched in fat body cells and thus largely different from the receptors of CrylAc, which were enriched in midgut cells.