Isolation, characterization and expression analysis of a leaf-specific phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase gene in Oryza sativa.

Suppression subtractive hybridization was carried out to enrich gene fragments over-expressed in rice leaves by subtraction to rice roots, from which two identical cDNA fragments were identified to encode putative phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase. Then the corresponding full-length cDNA (Osppc) is isolated by RT-PCR and sequenced, which indicates an open reading frame of 2895bp is contained. Its deduced protein is encoded in 10 exons and shows high similarity to many other plant PEPCs. Comparing with maize and bacterial PEPCs, it is revealed that OSPPC shares many conserved domains and active sites that responsible for the structure, activity and regulation of this enzyme. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrates that OSPPC is grouped with C3 form PEPCs of wheat, maize and sorghum, which is consistent with the classification of rice. And a putative promoter element is predicted with DOF binding box, CAAT box and TATA box in the 5'-flanking sequence of Osppc gene. Moreover, Quantitative RT-PCR analyses are performed in hybrid rice and its parents, which show that Osppc is specifically expressed in leaf including leaf vein and sheath.     

Molecular Cloning and Characterization of Transferrin from Wax Moth, Galleria mellonella

Complete mRNA sequence of transferrin from Galleria mellonella was obtained, and compared with those of other species. Until now, two types of insect transferrin were reported. Transferrins in cockroach and termite have two iron binding sites while those in most other insect groups, studied for the protein, have only one. It was suggested that the presence of two types of transferrin was related with transferrin evolution, because vertebrate transferrins have two iron binding sites, called N and C terminal lobe. It was shown that G. mellonella transferrin also has only one iron binding site (N terminal lobe), and the deduced amino acid sequence was most similar to those of Manduca sexta and Bombyx mori.     

Crystal structure of Streptomyces diastaticus No. 7 strain M1033 xylose isomerase

The crystal structures of Streptomyces diastaticus No. 7 strain M1033 xylose isomerase (SDXyI) have been analysed and refined at 0.19nm. The crystal space group is I222, with unit cell dimensions of a=9.884 ran, b=9.393nm and c=8.798nm. Based on the coordinates of the Streptomyces rubiginosus xylose isomerase (SRXyI), the initial model of SDXyl was built up by the dose packing analysing and R-factor searching and refined by PROLSQ to a final R-factor of 0.177 with the rms deviations of bond lengths and bond angles of 0.001 9nm and 2.1°, respectively. No significant global conformation change existed between SRXyI and SDXyI except the local conformation in the active site.     

小鼠外胎盘锥细胞与层粘连蛋白相互作用机制的研究

本文用LN及含其活性位点序列的合成肽段cYIGSR和RGDS对小鼠EPC细胞与LN的相互作用机制进行研究。结果表明:合成肽段cYIGSR和RGDS能促进EPC粘附并具协同效应。cYIGSR还能促进EPC扩展与次生TGCs迁移。LNA链上RGD和B_1链上YIGSR两个活性位点协同地参与了LN对EPC的粘附、扩展以及次生TGCs的迁移的促进作用。cY R合用不能完全竞争性抑制EPC与LN的结合,说明还有其他作用位点存在。     

Flow cytometric analysis of antibody producing cells using double immunofluorescent staining

Summary Double fluorescent labeling, with fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-labeled F(ab)₂ specific for the heavy chain and R-phycoerythrin (R-PE)-labeled F(ab)₂ specific for the light chain, was demonstrated as a convenient means for the accurate evaluation of a heterogeneous non-antibody-producing population. Furthermore, it could be used for monitoring the changes in each immunoglobulin (Ig) chain content of the cells during the batch culture, which will facilitate the study on antibody synthesis, assembly and secretion.     

The Best Gastric Site for Obtaining a Positive Rapid Urease Test

Background Rapid urease tests (RUTs) provide a simple, sensitive method of detecting Helicobacter pylori infection.
Objectives. Our aim, therefore, was to determine whether the yield of detecting H. pylori infection by RUT varied depending on the site of gastric biopsy.
Materials and Methods. Gastric biopsies were obtained from 50 patients for RUT by use of hp fast (GI Supply, Camp Hill, PA). Biopsies were taken from the prepyloric greater curve antrum, from the gastric angle, and from the greater curve in mid-corpus. One biopsy specimen was placed in the RUT gel, and the biopsy from the adjacent mucosa was placed in formalin for subsequent histological evaluation by using the Genta stain. RUTs were examined and scored at intervals of 5, 10, 15, 30, and 45 minutes and after 1, 2, 4, and 24 hours.
Results. Fifty patients were entered in the test (150 RUTs), 32 having H. pylori infection. There were no false-positive RUTs (specificity, 100%). The gastric angle site was positive in 100%. The prepyloric site was positive in 87%, and the corpus site was positive in 84.4% ( p < .052 for angle or prepyloric antrum versus corpus). The most common pattern was for all to be positive (74%). The median time to positivity was similar with angle and prepyloric sites (37.5 and 60 minutes, respectively, p = not significant) and shorter than the corpus biopsy (180 minutes); ( p < .05 for angle or prepyloric antrum versus corpus).
Conclusion. The maximum probability for detecting H. pylori infection using a RUT is to obtain a biopsy from the gastric angle. To prevent missing a positive result when intestinal metaplasia is present, we recommend that (at a minimum) biopsies be taken from both the angle and the corpus.     

Cloning of cDNA for Vitellogenin of the Parasitoid Wasp, Pimpla nipponica (Hymenoptera: Apocrita: Ichneumonidae): Vitellogenin Primary Structure and Evolutionary Considerations

The cDNA for vitellogenin (Vg) of the parasitoid wasp Pimpla nipponica (Hymenoptera: Apocrita) was cloned and sequenced.¹ The deduced amino acid sequence with 1807 residues was obtained. The N-terminal 20 amino acids chemically determined for vitellin (Vn) agreed completely with the deduced 20 amino acids that follow the 16 amino acid residues for putative signal peptide. The cDNA clone for the Vg of the turnip sawfly Athalia rosae (Hymenoptera: Symphyta), previously obtained and partially sequenced, was also completely sequenced and the amino acid sequence deduced. Amino acid sequences were compared between these two species and also with known Vg sequences from other insects. Common to all these insects is the presence of two long regions with relatively well-conserved amino acid sequences, one near the N-terminal extending 267–282 residues (including two cysteines at conserved locations), and the other starting at position 450 to 655 and extending 279–283 residues, and of a region at the C-terminal extending some 200 residues (about 250 in Aedes aegypti due to the presence of a serine-rich stretch) with 10 cysteines at conserved locations. A molecular phylogenetic tree was constructed.     

GI双突变体GIK253RA198C的构建及其性质分析

以双引物法对葡萄糖异构酶（GI）基因进行定点突变,将突变体基因于大肠杆菌中表达,获得了GI双点突变体GIK253RA198C.研究K253R和A198C双点突变对GI的结构和性质的作用,结果表明GIK253RA198C的热稳定性明显下降,最适反应温度降低5℃.文章从结构和机制上解释了为何同是K253R突变,对SM33 GI和密苏里游动放线菌GI的热稳定性产生不同的影响,认为这是由于Lys253在两种GI结构的位置上存在微小差异,从而使引入的Arg对亚基间的相互作用产生了相反效应所引起.     

Mutations in the X-linked E1 alpha subunit of pyruvate dehydrogenase: exon skipping, insertion of duplicate sequence, and missense mutations leading to the deficiency of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex.

Human pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH)-complex deficiency is an inborn error of metabolism that is extremely heterogeneous in its presentation and clinical course. In a study of 14 patients (7 females and 7 males), we have found a mutation in the coding region of the E1 alpha gene in all 14 patients. Two female patients had the same 7-bp deletion at nt 927; another female patient had a 3-bp deletion at nt 931. Another female patient was found to have a deletion of exon 6 in her cDNA. Two other female patients were found to have insertions, one of 13 bp at nt 981 and one of 46 bp at nucleotide 1078. Two male patients were found to have a 4-bp insertion at nucleotide 1163. The remaining six patients all had missense mutations. A male patient and a female patient both had an A1133G mutation. The other missense mutations were C214T, C615A, and C787G (two patients). Five of these mutations are novel mutations, five have been previously reported in other patients, and two were published observations in other patients in an E1 alpha-mutation summary. In the four cases where parent DNA was available, only one mother was found to be a carrier of the same mutation as her child.