Beta-amyloid precursor protein cleavage enzyme-1 expression in adult rat retinal neurons in the early period after lead exposure

Previous studies have reported that non-human primates and rodents exposed to lead during brain development may become dependent on the deposition of pre-determined β-amyloid protein （Aβ）,and exhibit upregulation of β-site amyloid precursor protein expression in old age.However,further evidence is required to elucidate the precise relationship and molecular mechanisms underlying the effects of early lead exposure on excessive Aβ production in adult mammals.The present study investigated the effects of lead exposure on expression of β-amyloid precursor protein cleavage enzyme-1 （BACE-1） in the rat retina and the production of Aβ in early development,using the retina as a window for studying Alzheimer＇s disease.Adult rats were intraocularly injected with different doses of lead acetate （10μmol/L,100μmol/L,1 mmol/L,10 mmol/L and 100 mmol/L）.The results revealed that retinal lead concentration,BACE-1 and its cleavage products β-C-terminal fragment and retina Aβ1-40 were all significantly increased in almost all of the lead exposure groups 48 hours later in a dose-dependent manner.The only exception was the 10μmol/L group.The distribution of BACE-1 in the retina did not exhibit obvious changes,and no distinctive increase in the activation of retinal microglia was apparent.Similarly,retinal synaptophysin expression did not exhibit any clear changes.These data suggest that lead exposure can result in the upregulation of retinal neuron BACE-1 expression in the early period of development and further increase the overproduction of Aβ1-40 in the retina.Our results provided novel insight into the molecular mechanisms underlying environmentally-induced Alzheimer＇s disease.

Establishment of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for beef and lamb contents in cooked meat

In this study,an enzyme 1linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA)was established to detect beef and 1amb components,and its performance was tested.Double-antibody sandwich ELISA was adopted and determined a coating concentration of capture antibody 3G5 of 1:4000,a working concentration of enzyme-labeled antibody 2E7-horseradish peroxidase(HRP)of 1:1000,a sample incubation time of 60 min and a detection antibody reaction time of 60 min.The specificity,sensitivity,repeatability and stability of this assay were detemmined.The limit of detection for beef and 1amb skeleta1 muscle troponin I was 45 mg/kg,the inter-assay and intra-assay recovery rates ranged from 80.4%to 115.7%,the coefficients of variation were below 13.6%,and the cIoss reaction rates of the tissue components of chicken,duck and fish were below 13.4%.The sandwich ELISA method established in this study is stable and has high accuracy.The test results were consistent with the polymerase chain reaction(PCR)method at 50 and 100 g/kg-Therefore,this ELISA method can be used to quantitatively detect beef and 1amb components in meat products.