Expression and purification of the angiogenesis inhibitor 16-kDa prolactin fragment from insect cells

The 16-kDa fragment of prolactin (16-kDa PRL), derived from proteolytic cleavage of 23-kDa PRL, was shown to have antiangiogenic activity. Previous studies have shown that recombinant 16-kDa PRL produced from bacteria often contained endotoxins, which are cytotoxic to endothelial cells, and varied in its biological activity due to changes in its refolding from inclusion bodies. These problems limited the use of recombinant 16-kDa PRL. To improve the generation of recombinant 16-kDa PRL, we expressed 16-kDa PRL in Sf9 insect cells using a baculoviral expression system. The signal sequence of the human PRL gene and codons for seven histidines were added to the N- and C-termini, respectively, of the 16-kDa PRL cDNA construct. Recombinant 16-kDa PRL was detected in both the cell pellet and the medium. About 0.28 mg purified protein was isolated from the cell pellet of 4 x 10(7) infected cells using nickel affinity chromatography. Sixteen kilodalton PRL was posttranslationally modified with apparent molecular weights of 16 and 18 kDa on SDS-PAGE. The level of 18-kDa protein was significantly reduced after digestion with peptidyl-N-glycosidase, suggesting that the heterogeneity was due to glycosylation of 16-kDa PRL. N-terminal sequence analysis confirmed the fact that both proteins were human 16-kDa PRL and the signal sequences were cleaved at the same position as that of human PRL. Consistent with its role as an angiogenesis inhibitor, purified recombinant 16-kDa PRL inhibits the proliferation of endothelial cells with a potency similar to that previously reported for the protein generated in Escherichia coli. This 16-kDa PRL expressed in Sf9 cells is a useful reagent for functional studies and for the purification and identification of its receptor.     

云南星云湖酵母菌多样性及产类胡萝卜素的评价

【背景】星云湖属云南高原湖泊,对其酵母菌的多样性研究和产类胡萝卜素菌株的筛选有助于开发利用星云湖酵母菌资源。【目的】研究云南星云湖酵母菌群落结构多样性,筛选和评价产类胡萝卜素活性菌株。【方法】采用膜过滤平置培养对星云湖水样进行酵母菌分离;应用26S rRNA D1/D2区域序列分析和形态特征及生理生化指标相结合,对分离获得的酵母菌进行鉴定;运用软件BIO-DAP分析酵母菌类群的多样性;采用酸热法提取类胡萝卜素,紫外分光光度计测定类胡萝卜素含量。【结果】从星云湖湖水中分离得到797株酵母菌,鉴定为18个属37个种。胶红酵母(Rhodotorula mucilaginosa)和Naganishia albida是优势种,分别占总菌株数的36.64%和28.86%;有28株酵母菌类胡萝卜素产量可达200μg/g细胞干重以上;有4株类胡萝卜素产量可达300μg/g细胞干重以上;粘红酵母(Rhodotorula glutinis) 2株、胶红酵母(Rhodotorula mucilaginosa)和Rhodosporidiobolus fluviale各1株。【结论】云南高原湖泊星云湖的酵母菌具有丰富的多样性,湖泊的营养化程度以及地理差异影响酵母菌群落的结构;红冬孢酵母属(Rhodosporidiobolus)和红酵母属(Rhodotorula)是星云湖类胡萝卜素产量可达300μg/g细胞干重以上的主要类群。有进一步开发研究的价值。     

Neutrophilia and elevated serum cytokines are implicated in glycogen storage disease type Ia

Glycogen storage disease type Ia (GSD-Ia) patients deficient in glucose-6-phosphatase-alpha manifest a disturbed glucose homeostasis. We hypothesized that disturbed glucose homeostasis might affect myeloid functions. Here, we show that GSD-Ia mice exhibit normal neutrophil activities but have elevated myeloid progenitor cells in the bone marrow and spleen. Interestingly, GSD-Ia mice exhibit a persistent increase in peripheral blood neutrophil counts along with elevated serum levels of granulocyte colony stimulating factor and cytokine-induced neutrophil chemoattractant. Taken together, our results suggest that a loss of glucose homeostasis can compromise the immune system, resulting in neutrophilia. This may explain some of the unexpected clinical manifestations seen in GSD-Ia.     

Bone microenvironment and androgen status modulate subcellular localization of ErbB3 in prostate cancer cells

ErbB-3, an ErbB receptor tyrosine kinase, has been implicated in the pathogenesis of several malignancies, including prostate cancer. We found that ErbB-3 expression was up-regulated in prostate cancer cells within lymph node and bone metastases. Despite being a plasma membrane protein, ErbB-3 was also detected in the nuclei of the prostate cancer cells in the metastatic specimens. Because most metastatic specimens were from men who had undergone androgen ablation, we examined the primary tumors from patients who have undergone hormone deprivation therapy and found that a significant fraction of these specimens showed nuclear localization of ErbB3. We thus assessed the effect of androgens and the bone microenvironment on the nuclear translocation of ErbB-3 by using xenograft tumor models generated from bone-derived prostate cancer cell lines, MDA PCa 2b, and PC-3. In subcutaneous tumors, ErbB-3 was predominantly in the membrane/cytoplasm; however, it was present in the nuclei of the tumor cells in the femur. Castration of mice bearing subcutaneous MDA PCa 2b tumors induced a transient nuclear translocation of ErbB-3, with relocalization to the membrane/cytoplasm upon tumor recurrence. These findings suggest that the bone microenvironment and androgen status influence the subcellular localization of ErbB-3 in prostate cancer cells. We speculate that nuclear localization of ErbB-3 may aid prostate cancer cell survival during androgen ablation and progression of prostate cancer in bone.     

Enhanced short-cut nitrification in an airlift reactor by CaCO<Subscript>3</Subscript> attachment on biomass under high bicarbonate condition

The short-cut nitrification (SCN) performance of an airlift reactor (ALR) was investigated under increasing bicarbonate condition. The sequential increase of bicarbonate from 2.5 to 7.0 g/L accelerated the nitrite accumulation and improved the NAP to 99 %. With the increase of bicarbonate dose to 11 g/L, the ammonium removal efficiency and the ammonium removal rate (ARR) were improved to 95.1 % and 0.57 kg/m³/day, respectively. However, the elevation of bicarbonate concentration from 11.0 to 14.0 g/L gradually depreciated the nitrite accumulation percentage to 62.5 %. Then, the reactor was operated in increasing ammonium strategy to increase the nitrogen loading rate (NLR) to 1.1 kg/m³/day under 700 mg/L influent ammonium concentration. The ARR and nitrite production rate were elevated to 1.1 and 0.9 kg/m³/day, respectively. The SCN performance was improved to 1.8 kg/m³/day (NLR) by the subsequent progressive shortening of HRT to 4.8 h at ammonium concentration of 350 mg/L, which was 1.6 times higher than that of the increasing ammonium strategy. Chemical analysis with EDS, FTIR and XRD confirmed the presence of CaCO₃ precipitates on biomass surface during the long-term operation under high bicarbonate conditions. The attachment of precipitates to the SCN sludge helped to improve the biomass settleability and finally enhanced the SCN performance of the ALR.     

辽东栎的组织培养和植株再生

1植物名称辽东栎（Quercus liaotungensis Koidz.）。2材料类别成熟合子胚。3培养条件以MS为基本培养基。（1）不定芽诱导培养基：MS＋6-BA 1.0 mg·L-（-1）（单位下同）＋2,4-D 0.5;（2）不定芽增殖培养基：MS＋6-BA 1.0＋NAA 0.5＋GA_30.5;（3）生根培养基：1/2MS＋NAA 0.5。以上培养基均加入30 g·L-（-1）蔗糖和6.5 g·L-（-1）琼脂,pH 5.8。培养温度为（25±2）℃,光照强度为40～50μmol·m-（-2）·s-（-1）,光照时间为16 h·d-（-1）。