杆状病毒对不同哺乳动物细胞基因转移及表达效率的研究

研究已证实杆状病毒可进入某些哺乳动物细胞,这提示了可将重组杆状病毒作为一种对哺乳动物细胞的新型基因转移载体。利用已构建的重组杆状病毒BacV-CMV-EGFPA,以含病毒的Sf9细胞培养上清同时孵育多种哺乳动物细胞,利用流式细胞术检测报告基因在不同细胞株中的转移效率及表达效率。共使用了20种哺乳动物细胞株,其中有12种人类组织细胞,7种小鼠组织细胞,1种猴组织细胞。实验结果显示携带CMV启动子的重组杆状病毒可有效进入多数哺乳动物细胞,其中对人、猴来源细胞的基因转移效率显著高于对鼠源细胞,对贴壁细胞的基因转移效率显著高于对悬浮细胞。同时,通过脂质体LipofectAMINE将携带有CMV启动子和EGFP基因的哺乳动物细胞表达质粒pCDNA3-1-EGFP分别转染部分特别是被认为杆状病毒进入能力较低的细胞株,结果显示CMV启动子在这些细胞中均可有效引导EGFP基因的表达,因此认为携带了CMV启动子的重组杆状病毒对不同哺乳动物细胞基因转移效率能基本反映出杆状病毒对不同种哺乳动物细胞的进入能力。通过综合比较携带CMV启动子的杆状病毒对不同种属及组织来源细胞的基因转移及表达效率,可看出杆状病毒对灵长类动物贴壁细胞的基因转移及表达效果是较好的,而对小鼠来源的细胞及悬浮培养细胞却并不十分理想,这表明将重组杆状病毒作为一种对哺乳动物细胞的基因转移工具,仍有其局限性,不一定对所有的细胞都合适,在应用时应予以充分考虑。     

不同异源启动子与MDVgB启动子及其复合启动子的活性比较

为了选择适宜的启动子调控外源基因的表达,以改善马立克氏病病毒为载体的重组病毒的免疫保护力。将hCMV立即早期启动子及增强子、SV40早晚期启动子及增强子或hCMV立即早期增强子的部分序列分别与马立克氏病病毒(MDV)自身的囊膜糖蛋白B基因(gB)启动子核心部分在体外杂合,分别构建复合启动子PhCMV-gB、PSV-gB或Pen-gB;将这些启动子与虫荧光素酶报告基因相连,构建表达载体。利用脂质体将以上质粒与内标质粒(pSV-β-LacZ)共转染鸡胚成纤维次代细胞,于转染后48h,将细胞刮下来,利用荧光素酶测定试剂盒和β-半乳糖苷酶测定试剂盒分别测定转染细胞的荧光素酶和β-半乳糖苷酶的活性,通过荧光素酶和β-半乳糖苷酶活性的比值获得虫荧光素酶的相对活性,利用虫荧光素酶的相对活性进行启动子的活性比较。结果表明,复合启动子相对马立克氏病病毒自身的gB启动子,活性有不同程度的提高,其中复合启动子PhCMV-gB的活性最高,而复合启动子PSV-gB和Pen-gB的活性相当;但与商业强启动子相比,复合启动子活性要弱一些或相当。因此,从某种意义上讲,这些复合启动子既具有gB启动子的一些特性,又有商业强启动子的一些特性,为以马立克氏病毒为载体的新兴疫苗的开发奠定了基础。     

含PR启动子的原核高效表达载体的构建及应用

组建了一个仅含PR启动子的原核高效表达载体pRC,它同时含有cⅠ调控基因、多酶切位点和两个强的转录终止序列.现已成功地用于表达重组人肿瘤坏死因子-α(hTNF-α)、重组人白细胞介素-3(hIL-3)和抗溶菌酶(HEL)抗体Fd基因,表达量均占菌体总蛋白的36%以上.同时还研究了不同的宿主菌和原核增强子序列等因素对PR启动子载体表达的影响.此外,还比较了分别以PR、PL或PRPL作为启动子时表达hTNF-α的情况,结果表明,单用PR或PL启动子可获得与使用PRPL串联启动子一样的高效表达.     

杆状病毒用于哺乳动物细胞快速高效表达外源基因的研究

现已发现杆状病毒可进入某些培养的哺乳动物细胞,这提示可将杆状病毒作为一种对哺乳动物细胞的新型基因转移载体。对杆状病毒转移载体的改造及对哺乳动物细胞的基因转移方式进行了进一步的研究。以绿色荧光蛋白基因为报告基因,利用Bac-to-Bac系统构建了分别含有正向和反向CMV启动子表达盒的两种重组杆状病毒。可观察到CMV启动子在Sf9细胞中可启动报告基因的表达,但表达效率较低。用重组杆状病毒感染后Sf9细胞的培养上清直接与HepG2细胞作用,以流式细胞术检测基因转移效率及荧光表达强度,发现这两种病毒在相同的感染复数下对HepG2细胞具有相似的基因转移及表达效率。同时,利用流式细胞术进一步研究了直接使用重组杆状病毒感染4d后Sf9细胞的培养上清对哺乳动物细胞进行基因转移的方法。通过对HepG2细胞的实验结果显示,将带毒Sf9细胞培养上清(1.2×10⁷PFU/mL)用哺乳动物细胞培养基1倍稀释后,37℃下孵育靶细胞12h(moi=50),可达到较高的基因转移及表达效率,同时不会对细胞造成明显损伤。将重组杆状病毒与脂质体和逆转录病毒这两种系统对HepG2及CV1细胞的基因转移效率进行了比较,结果发现在同样未经浓缩等特殊处理的条件下重组杆状病毒对这两种细胞的基因转移效率是最高的。因此可以认为,经过适当改造后的Bac-to-Bac重组杆状病毒系统可作为一种对哺乳动物细胞简便高效的基因转移表达载体。     

H1启动子siRNA载体的构建及应用

利用双链RNA(dsRNA)调控基因表达已经成为研究基因功能的有力工具。用人H1启动子构建了pBS／H1PS小干扰RNA(siRNA)表达载体,用于在哺乳动物细胞中产生特异性dsRNA转录产物。通过对293细胞中的PSMA7分子进行表达抑制,证明该siRNA载体能够有效产生针对靶基因的RNA干扰(RNAi)效应。     

通过启动子同源重组研究人凝血因子Ⅸ的组成型表达

为了探索定点整合基因治疗血友病B的可行性,开展了在HeLa细胞中的hFIX组成型表达研究.同源重组载体p921构建后,电穿孔转入细胞,经过GCV和G418克隆选择,通过特异性的PCR证实了同源重组的发生,hCMV启动子定点替换hFIX基因在非肝细胞中可以被启动子hCMV转录表达,显示人为进行基因表达调控的可行性.     

序列优化的小鼠IL-33基因在哺乳动物细胞中的有效分泌表达

目的: 白细胞介素(IL)-33具有重要的免疫调控作用,在疾病中扮演着重要的角色。本文旨在通过基因优化实现IL-33在哺乳动物细胞中的高效表达,为疾病机理研究以及疫苗免疫佐剂应用等提供基础。方法: 根据小鼠白细胞介素-33成熟肽(mIL-33)的氨基酸序列,以哺乳动物细胞基因表达密码子偏好性进行基因优化设计;化学合成优化的mIL-33基因片段,通过搭桥PCR将编码人CD8α信号肽的核酸序列分别与优化或未优化的mIL-33基因连接,并与绿色荧光蛋白(EGFP)基因分别构建到双表达单元质粒 pBudCE4.1的不同启动子下;重组质粒经 lipofectamine 3000 和PEI转染293FT 细胞;以 Western blot和ELISA检测重组蛋白的表达;收集表达的mIL-33刺激巨噬细胞Raw264.7,ELISA检测培养上清的TNFα水平,以证明IL-33的生物学活性。结果: 重组质粒经酶切鉴定及测序分析证实构建成功; lipofectamine 3000转染效率较PEI转染更高;Western blot和ELISA 结果显示密码子优化的mIL-33表达水平较未优化序列更高,在EF-1α启动子和CMV启动子指导下mIL-33在293FT 细胞表达水平相当,CD8α信号肽成功引导mIL-33的分泌,产物具生物学活性。结论: 密码子优化操作显著改善了 mIL-33在哺乳动物细胞中的表达水平,为进一步研究奠定了基础。     

重组人尿激酶原在CHO细胞中的高效表达及其纯化

用鸡β- globin的MAR序列和人看家基因延伸因子1α(hEF-1α)的调控序列以及旱獭RNA稳定与输出序列,构建了重组人尿激酶原(recombinant human pro-urokinase,rhPro - UK)的高效表达载体,在CHO细胞中获得了rhPro - UK的高效稳定表达,rhPro - UK的表达水平达到1299 IU(以百万细胞1d的表达量计).采用阳离子交换层析、疏水层析和凝胶排阻层析的三步工艺纯化表达rhPro - UK的CHO细胞培养上清液,rhPro - UK的纯度达到98％、回收率为60％ ～70％.     

鲤鱼金属硫蛋白基因启动区功能的研究

以氯霉素乙酰化酶作为报讯基因、利用草鱼肾培养细胞瞬时表达系统,对已克隆的鲤鱼金属硫蛋白基因５’－调节区１．６ｋｂ的序列进行了功能分析。从顺式效应和反式效应研究证明：所克隆的鲤鱼ＭＴ基因５‘－调节区具有典型ＭＴ启动子的特性实验发现哺乳动物病毒ＳＶ４０增强子要以加强鱼类ＭＴ启动子的活性,提示在系统进化上鱼类基因不但存在增强子元件,并具有哺乳动物增强子相似的作用方式,而且作用于增强子的反式效应因子也存在     

A Unique Protease Cleavage Site Predicted in the Spike Protein of the Novel Pneumonia Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Potentially Related to Viral Transmissibility

正Dear Editor,In December 2019, a novel human coronavirus caused an epidemic of severe pneumonia(Coronavirus Disease 2019,COVID-19) in Wuhan, Hubei, China(Wu et al. 2020; Zhu et al. 2020). So far, this virus has spread to all areas of China and even to other countries. The epidemic has caused 67,102 confirmed infections with 1526 fatal cases     

Curcuminoids as inhibitors of thioredoxin reductase: A receptor based pharmacophore study with distance mapping of the active site

Curcumin is the yellow pigment of turmeric that interacts irreversibly forming an adduct with thioredoxin reductase (TrxR), an enzyme responsible for redox control of cell and defence against oxidative stress. Docking at both the active sites of TrxR was performed to compare the potency of three naturally occurring curcuminoids, namely curcumin, demethoxy curcumin and bis-demethoxy curcumin. Results show that active sites of TrxR occur at the junction of E and F chains. Volume and area of both cavities is predicted. It has been concluded by distance mapping of the most active conformations that Se atom of catalytic residue SeCYS498, is at a distance of 3.56 from C13 of demethoxy curcumin at the E chain active site, whereas C13 carbon atom forms adduct with Se atom of SeCys 498. We report that at least one methoxy group in curcuminoids is necessary for interation with catalytic residues of thioredoxin. Pharmacophore of both active sites of the TrxR receptor for curcumin and demethoxy curcumin molecules has been drawn and proposed for design and synthesis of most probable potent antiproliferative synthetic drugs.     

Comparative morphology of the carpel in the Liliaceae: Hewardieae, Petrosavieae, and Tricyrteae

The young pistils in the melanthioid tribes, Hewardieae, Petrosavieae and Tricyrteae, are uniformly tricarpellate and syncarpous. They lack raphide idioblasts. All are multiovulate, with bitegmic ovules. The Petrosavieae are marked by the presence of septal glands and incomplete syncarpy. Tepals and stamens adhere to the ovary in the Hewardieae and the Petrosavieae but not in the Tricyrteae. Two vascular bundles occur in the stamens of the Hewartlieae and Tricyrtis latifolia. Ventral bundles in the upper part of the ovary of the Hewardieae are continuous with compound septal bundles and placental bundles in the lower part. Putative ventral bundles occur in the alternate position in the Tricyrteae and putative placental bundles in the opposite. position in the Petrosavieae. The dichtomously branched stigma in each carpel of the Tricyrteae is supplied by a bifurcated dorsal bundle.     

Enterovirus 71 3C proteolytically processes the histone H3 N-terminal tail during infection

Highlights
1. The N-terminal tail of histone H3 is specifically cleaved during EV71 infection.
2. Viral protease 3C is identified as a protease responsible for proteolytically processing the N-terminal H3 tail.
3. Our finding reveals a new epigenetic regulatory mechanism for Enterovirus 71 in virus-host interactions.     

Detection of EBV and HHV6 in the Brain Tissue of Patients with Rasmussen’s Encephalitis

Rasmussen’s encephalitis (RE) is a rare pediatric neurological disorder, and the exact etiology is not clear. Viral infection may be involved in the pathogenesis of RE, but conflicting results have reported. In this study, we evaluated the expression of both Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and human herpes virus (HHV) 6 antigens in brain sections from 30 patients with RE and 16 control individuals by immunohistochemistry. In the RE group, EBV and HHV6 antigens were detected in 56.7% (17/30) and 50% (15/30) of individuals, respectively. In contrast, no detectable EBV and HHV6 antigen expression was found in brain tissues of the control group. The co-expression of EBV and HHV6 was detected in 20.0% (6/30) of individuals. In particular, a 4-year-old boy had a typical clinical course, including a medical history of viral encephalitis, intractable epilepsy, and hemispheric atrophy. The co-expression of EBV and HHV6 was detected in neurons and astrocytes in the brain tissue, accompanied by a high frequency of CD8⁺ T cells. Our results suggest that EBV and HHV6 infection and the activation of CD8⁺ T cells are involved in the pathogenesis of RE.     

Perinatal Vertical Transmission of Chikungunya Virus in Ruili,a Town on the Border between China and Myanmar

正Dear Editor,Chikungunya virus (CHIKV), an arbovirus in the family of Togaviridae, genus Alphavirus, is transmitted by the A.aegyptii or A. albopictus mosquito, and causes disease in humans characterized by fever, rash, and arthralgia (Silva and Dermody 2017; Suhrbier 2019). It was first reported in 1953 in Tanzania, and caused only a few outbreaks and sporadic cases in Africa and Asia in last century. However, in the epidemic in 2004, CHIKV acquired mutations that conferred enhanced transmission by the A. albopictus mosquito(Schuffenecker et al. 2006). Since then, it has successively caused outbreaks in Africa, the Indian Ocean, South East Asia, the South America, and Europe (Zeller et al. 2016).     

Development of a Novel Reverse Transcription Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification Method for Rapid Detection of SARS-CoV-2

In conclusion, the novel visual RT-LAMP assay is a simple, rapid, and sensitive approach for detection of SARS-CoV-2, and it is ready for application in primary care and community hospitals or health care centers, and even patients' own houses in response to the current SARS-CoV-2 epidemic because the assay does not require sophisticated equipment and skilled personnel. Furthermore, it is also ready to be used in fields for screening samples from wild animals and environments to facilitate the identification of potential intermediate hosts that mediate the cross-species transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from bats to humans.