人诱导多能干细胞与人胚胎干细胞分化过程中Oct4/Nanog 基因 表达的比较

目的:比较通过慢病毒方法获得的人诱导多能性干细胞(iPSCs)与人胚胎干细胞(hESCs)分化过程中全能性基因Oct4、Nanog的表达变化。方法:收集分化不同时间点的拟胚体(EBs),检测三胚层分化基因以及全能性基因Oct4/Nanog的表达,并通过畸胎瘤组织切片的荧光染色分析Oct4的表达。结果:iPSCs获得的EB中内外三胚层分化基因表达的出现明显晚于hESCs来源的EB。不同于hESCs,iPSCs悬浮培养获得的EBs在体外培养18天未见内源性Oct4、Nanog基因表达的下调。未分化的iPSCs注射严重联合免疫缺陷(SCID)小鼠培养10周后获得的畸胎瘤中仍存在Oct4阳性的细胞,但iPS-#2中明显少于iPS-#5。结论:通过慢病毒方法获得的iPSCs虽然具有向三胚层分化的能力,但在分化过程中仍维持较高水平的全能性基因Oct4、Nanog的表达。     

AMI 患者血浆NT-proBNP 水平与心肌缺血及预后关系的研究

目的:探讨急性心肌梗死(AMI)患者血浆N末端B型尿钠肽前体(NT-proBNP)的水平与心肌缺血及预后的关系。方法:98例急性心肌梗死患者根据患者是否行直接PCI手术治疗,分为PCI手术治疗组和非PCI治疗组,观察缺血改善情况与NT-proBNP水平的关系,同时根据治疗后NT-proBNP的水平分为三组,A组NT-proBNP<125pg/ml、B组125pg/ml≤NT-proBNP<450pg/ml、C组NT-proBNP≥450pg/ml,观察NT-proBNP的水平与预后的关系。结果:行PCI组NT-proBNP的水平下降程度(438.3±134.5)明显高于未行PCI组者(158.6±146.1,P<0.05),MACE的发生情况C组明显高于A组(P=0.006<0.01),也高于B组(P=0.028<0.05),A组与B组相比,B组的MACE发生率有上升的趋势,但是无统计学意义(P=0.432>0.05)。结论:急性心肌梗死患者早期血浆NT-proBNP的水平在一定程度上可以反应心肌的缺血程度,且与患者的预后成明显的负相关。     

古尼虫草与亚香棒虫草亲缘关系初探

目的:用分子生物学方法,对古尼虫草和亚香棒虫草进行研究,对其寄主昆虫CO(Icytochrome oxidase subunit I,细胞色素氧化酶亚基I)和真菌ITS(Internal Transcribed Sequence,内转录间隔区)区的基因序列进行比较,以确定两者亲缘关系。方法:在古尼虫草和亚香棒虫草性状研究的基础上,对两者来源真菌ITS区和寄主昆虫COI基因进行了PCR扩增和序列测定,对序列进行比对分析,并与GenBank核酸序列数据库中的序列进行BLAST检索比对。结果:发现古尼虫草和亚香棒虫草的来源真菌ITS区和寄主昆虫COI基因序列均有较高相似度。结论:古尼虫草和亚香棒虫草有较近的亲缘关系。     

经典Wnt 信号通路在牙齿发育中的研究新进展

经典Wnt信号通路是参与胚胎及器官发育的四大信号传导途径之一,在牙齿发育中扮演了重要的角色。本文对其中的β-catenin,Lef1,Apc,Axin2这4个关键因子在牙齿发育中研究的新进展做了简要的概述:β-catenin在间充质中会调控多个信号,影响牙上皮和间充质相互作用;Lef1会和Tcf家族一道调控上皮细胞命运;Apc能抑制多余牙齿的形成;Axin2在牙晚期发育中影响牙本质的形成。通过这些因子的研究,希望人们能在牙齿再生等生物医学工程上有新的突破。     

两种微创方法治疗颈椎间盘突出症的疗效比较

目的:比较经皮激光椎间盘减压术( PLDD)和经皮颈椎间盘等离子消融术治疗单节段突出的神经根型颈椎间盘突出症的临床疗效及安全性.方法:回顾2007年6月至2011年5月的颈椎间盘突出症住院患者36例.其中PLDD治疗17例(A组),等离子消融治疗19例(B组).根据VAS评分和JOA评分,评价术前和术后一月内的疗效,同时记录两组患者的不良反应和并发症.结果:所有病例均成功穿刺并完成随访.两组手术后一月内各观察点的VAS评分和JOA评分均明显优于术前(P＜0.05),其中B组患者术后3d和7d的VAS评分低于A组(P＜0.05),而两组间术后JOA评分无明显差异.两组均未发生严重并发症.结论:与经皮激光椎间盘减压术相比,经皮椎间盘等离子消融术治疗颈椎间盘突出症患者症状消失更快.     

甘蓝型油菜秦优10号杂交种纯度鉴定的SSR引物筛选

为了建立一套快速可靠的油菜杂交种纯度的鉴定方法,本文以秦优10号及其亲本、杂种ZZH2为试验材料,对前人开发的2对SSR引物(7号引物, 9号引物)进行了再次筛选.结果显示,7号引物不但能很好地区别出混入杂交种中的亲本,还能将杂交种子的同母异父组合种子从杂交种中分离出来,能够用于鉴别秦优10号杂交种子的真伪;9号引物能区分出杂交种和母本,但不能区分开杂交种和父本.同时,本试验利用人工制成的秦优10号杂交种标准样(纯度为100%)以及7份大田鉴定不同纯度梯度的杂交种子对7号引物鉴定结果的准确性进行了验证,鉴定结果与大田鉴定结果基本一致.本文结果将为鉴定秦优10号杂交种纯度提供更准确的技术资料.     

Identification of NaCl stress-responsive apoplastic proteins in rice shoot stems by 2D-DIGE

Plants have evolved sophisticated systems to cope with adverse environmental conditions such as cold, drought, and salinity. Although a number of stress response networks have been proposed, the role of plant apoplast in plant stress response has been ignored. To investigate the role of apoplastic proteins in the salt stress response, 10-day old rice plants were treated with 200mM NaCl for 1, 6 or 12h, and the soluble apoplast proteins of rice shoot stems were extracted for differential analysis, compared with untreated controls, by 2-D DIGE saturation labeling techniques. One hundred twenty-two significantly changed spots were identified by LC-MS/MS, and 117 spots representing 69 proteins have been identified. Of these proteins, 37 are apoplastic proteins according to the bioinformatic analysis. These proteins are mainly involved in the processes of carbohydrate metabolism, oxido-reduction, and protein processing and degradation. According to their functional categories and cluster analysis, a stress response model of apoplastic proteins has been proposed. These data indicate that the apoplast is important in plant stress signal reception and response.     

Tumor initiating cells in esophageal squamous cell carcinomas express high levels of CD44

Background

Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma (ESCC) is a major subtype of esophageal cancer causing significant morbility and mortality in Asia. Mechanism of initiation and progression of this disease is unclear. Tumor initiating cells (TICs) are the subpopulation of cells which have the ability to self-renew, as well as, to drive initiation and progression of cancer. Increasing evidence has shown that TICs exist in a variety of tumors. However, the identification and characterization of TICs in esophageal carcinoma has remained elusive.

Methodology/Principal Findings

to identify TICs in ESCC, ESCC cell lines including two primary cells were used for screening suitable surface marker. Then colony formation assay, drug resistant assay and tumorigenicity assay in immune deficient mice were used to characterize TICs in ESCC. We found that just the CD44 expression correlated with tumorigenicity in ESCC cell lines. And then induced differentiation of ESCC cells by all-trans retinoic acid treatment led to decreased expression of CD44. The FACS isolated cell subpopulations with high CD44 expression showed increased colony formation and drug resistance in vitro, as well as significantly enhanced tumorigenicity in NOD/SICD mice, as compared to the low expressing CD44 ESCC cells.

Conclusions/Significance

our study has discovered a novel TIC surface marker, CD44, which can be utilized to enrich efficiently the TICs in ESCC. These findings will be useful for further studies of these cells and exploring therapeutic approaches.     

Extent of height variability explained by known height-associated genetic variants in an isolated population of the Adriatic coast of Croatia

Background

Human height is a classical example of a polygenic quantitative trait. Recent large-scale genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified more than 200 height-associated loci, though these variants explain only 2∼10% of overall variability of normal height. The objective of this study was to investigate the variance explained by these loci in a relatively isolated population of European descent with limited admixture and homogeneous genetic background from the Adriatic coast of Croatia.

Methodology/Principal Findings

In a sample of 1304 individuals from the island population of Hvar, Croatia, we performed genome-wide SNP typing and assessed the variance explained by genetic scores constructed from different panels of height-associated SNPs extracted from five published studies. The combined information of the 180 SNPs reported by Lango Allen el al. explained 7.94% of phenotypic variation in our sample. Genetic scores based on 20∼50 SNPs reported by the remaining individual GWA studies explained 3∼5% of height variance. These percentages of variance explained were within ranges comparable to the original studies and heterogeneity tests did not detect significant differences in effect size estimates between our study and the original reports, if the estimates were obtained from populations of European descent.

Conclusions/Significance

We have evaluated the portability of height-associated loci and the overall fitting of estimated effect sizes reported in large cohorts to an isolated population. We found proportions of explained height variability were comparable to multiple reference GWAS in cohorts of European descent. These results indicate similar genetic architecture and comparable effect sizes of height loci among populations of European descent.