Expression of Hsf1, Hsf2, and Phlda1 in cells undergoing cryptorchid-induced apoptosis in rat testes

Surgery‐induced cryptorchidism, in which the testes are prevented from descending into the scrotal sac, results in testicular germ cell death, and it is commonly used as an experimental tool in the study of spermatogenesis. However, the molecular events underlying the activation of germ cell death remain poorly understood. In the present study, we investigate selective cell loss from cryptorchid rat testis by using DNA flow cytometry and by determining protein and mRNA expression of Hsf1, Hsf2, and Phlda1. The hypo‐haploid cell fraction is significantly decreased as early as 3 days after surgical induction of cryptorchidism (from 42.01 ± 5.74% to 15.98 ± 3.88%), followed by a significant decrease in the haploid cell fraction at Day 7. At the latter time point, an apoptotic peak of spermatocytes appears in DNA histograms just before the tetraploid peak; the percentage of aneuploid cells between diploid and tetraploid rises as high as 14.05 ± 2.98% of the total cells in 7‐day cryptorchid testis, suggesting that a large number of spermatocytes are undergoing apoptosis. The expression of Phlda1 mRNA is significantly elevated 3 days after induction of cryptorchidism. After 7 days of cryptorchidism, Hsf1 and Phlda1 are strongly expressed in the nucleus and cytoplasm, respectively, of primary spermatocytes. Numerous apoptotic spermatocytes are also observed at this time point. These results suggest that the Hsf1/Phlda1 pathway plays an important role in the apoptosis of primary spermatocytes in cryptorchid testis. We present evidence suggesting that Hsf2 is also involved in germ cell removal in cryptorchid testis. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 78:283–291, 2011. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Extended haplotype analysis of ovine ADRB3 using polymerase chain reaction single strand conformational polymorphism on two regions of the gene

The β3 adrenergic receptor (ADRB3) plays a critical role in the regulation of energy metabolism in mammals. In sheep, intronic polymorphism of the ADRB3 gene has been associated with lamb survival and various production traits. This study investigates variation in the ovine ADRB3 3' untranslated region (3'UTR), a region that may impact expression of the gene. Using PCR- single strand conformational polymorphism (SSCP), six unique patterns (named a-f) were observed in an approximately 304-bp amplicon. Sequencing revealed three single-nucleotide polymorphisms (c.*233A>C, c.*271G>C, c.*357A>T) and a single-nucleotide deletion (c.*257delG). Haplotype analyses showed that the previously described allele A defined by variation in the ovine ADRB3 intron can be divided into three haplotypes (Aa, Ab, and Ac). In total, 16 haplotypes through ovine ADRB3 were detected. This study suggests that ovine ADRB3 is highly polymorphic and that the extended haplotype analysis through the promoter, 5'UTR, coding sequence, intron, and 3'UTR needs to be performed to define the full extent of variation in this gene.     

高效液相荧光法测定大鼠脑内氨基酸类神经递质方法的改良

目的 改良测定大鼠脑组织氨基酸类神经递质的反相高效液相色谱荧光法.方法 改良使用磷酸盐-甲醇-乙腈作为流动相,反相高效液相色谱洗脱,高丝氨酸作为内标,邻苯二甲醛柱前衍生和荧光检测器,检测大鼠大脑皮质、海马、纹状体、中脑、小脑和下丘脑6个脑区中天冬氨酸(Asp)、谷氨酸(Glu)、谷氨酰胺(G1n)、甘氨酸(Gly)、γ-氨基丁酸(GABA)和牛磺酸(Tau)6种氨基酸类神经递质含量.结果 6种氨基酸在20 min内洗脱完全,分离效果良好;在6.25～ 400 μmol/L浓度范围有较好的线性关系,其相关系数不低于0.99;6种氨基酸日内试验精密度范围为1.38％ ～7.59％;日间试验精密度为2.7％～8.68％;6种氨基酸回收率不低于80％.结论 改良后的反相高效液相色谱荧光法灵敏度较高、重复性好,能有效分离检测大鼠脑组织分区中氨基酸类神经递质含量.     

合成未来：从大肠杆菌的重构看合成生物学的发展

合成生物学（synthetic biology）是伴随着基因工程、系统生物学以及生物信息学的发展而出现的一个新的交叉学科。大肠杆菌（Escherichia coli）作为一种宿主在合成生物学的发展中功不可没。从某种意义上讲,合成生物学的每一次进展都离不开大肠杆菌。从大肠杆菌的角度出发,对合成生物学的发展进行深入分析,并提出了合成生物学在中圉发展的重点。     

华山新麦草叶片的光合生理特性

对华山新麦草(Psathyrostachys huashanica Keng ex P.C.Kuo)营养叶的净光合速率(Pn)和蒸腾速率(Tr)的日变化曲线进行了分析,并在对叶温(Tl)、气孔阻力(Rs)、光合有效辐射强度(PAR)和气温(Ta)的日变化曲线进行测定的基础上分析了它们对华山新麦草Pn的影响规律。结果表明:华山新麦草Pn的日变化曲线呈"三峰"型,峰值分别为6.5、6.2和9.0μmol.m-2.s-1,依次出现在9:30、11:30和16:30,而且具有明显的"午降"现象;Tr的日变化曲线呈"单峰"型,最大值为1.7 mmol.m-2.s-1,出现在13:30;Tl、Rs、PAR和Ta的日变化曲线均呈"单峰"型,峰值分别出现在12:30、11:30、12:30和13:30。华山新麦草的Pn对Tl、PAR和Ta的响应曲线均呈"抛物线"型,Pn在一定范围内与Tl、PAR和Ta呈正相关,随着Tl、PAR和Ta的升高逐渐增加至最大值后逐渐降低;而Pn与Rs则呈负相关,Pn在一定范围内随Rs的增大逐渐降低。根据拟合方程,华山新麦草营养叶的光补偿点和光饱和点分别为1.1和531.5μmol.m-2.s-1,说明该种类具有很强的喜光性,且对光照强度的适应范围较广。研究结果表明:较大的气孔阻力是造成华山新麦草叶片净光合速率偏低的主要原因。     

Identification and analysis of the gene cluster involved in biosynthesis of paenibactin, a catecholate siderophore produced by Paenibacillus elgii B69

Bacteria belonging to the genus Paenibacillus are recognized as rich sources of bioactive natural products. To date, there are few characterized siderophores from this genus. Here, through genome analysis, we identified a non-ribosomal peptide biosynthetic gene cluster (pae) responsible for siderophore assembly in Paenibacillus elgii B69. The 12.8 kb gene cluster comprises six open reading frames encoding proteins similar to the components of the bacillibactin biosynthetic machinery and bacillibactin esterase. To examine the product of the pae gene cluster, we cultured P. elgii B69 in iron-deficient medium for siderophore expression. A novel siderophore structurally similar to bacillibactin, designated paenibactin, was purified and characterized. Its structure was determined as a cyclic trimeric lactone of 2,3-dihydroxybenzoyl-alanine-threonine. The involvement of the pae gene cluster in paenibactin biosynthesis was confirmed by the biochemical assay of adenylation domain specificity. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the pae gene cluster evolves from an ancestral bacillibactin biosynthetic gene cluster via sequence and phylogenetic analyses. The structural difference between paenibactin and bacillibactin may stem from a mutation-induced change in the adenylation domain specificity. Based on these findings and published models for bacillibactin, we proposed models for paenibactin biosynthesis, ferric-paenibactin uptake and paenibactin-bounded iron release.     

Comparative analysis of protein interaction networks reveals that conserved pathways are susceptible to HIV-1 interception

Background

Human immunodeficiency virus type one (HIV-1) is the major pathogen that causes the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). With the availability of large-scale protein-protein interaction (PPI) measurements, comparative network analysis can provide a promising way to study the host-virus interactions and their functional significance in the pathogenesis of AIDS. Until now, there have been a large number of HIV studies based on various animal models. In this paper, we present a novel framework for studying the host-HIV interactions through comparative network analysis across different species.

Results

Based on the proposed framework, we test our hypothesis that HIV-1 attacks essential biological pathways that are conserved across species. We selected the Homo sapiens and Mus musculus PPI networks with the largest coverage among the PPI networks that are available from public databases. By using a local network alignment algorithm based on hidden Markov models (HMMs), we first identified the pathways that are conserved in both networks. Next, we analyzed the HIV-1 susceptibility of these pathways, in comparison with random pathways in the human PPI network. Our analysis shows that the conserved pathways have a significantly higher probability of being intercepted by HIV-1. Furthermore, Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis shows that most of the enriched GO terms are related to signal transduction, which has been conjectured to be one of the major mechanisms targeted by HIV-1 for the takeover of the host cell.

Conclusions

This proof-of-concept study clearly shows that the comparative analysis of PPI networks across different species can provide important insights into the host-HIV interactions and the detailed mechanisms of HIV-1. We expect that comparative multiple network analysis of various species that have different levels of susceptibility to similar lentiviruses may provide a very effective framework for generating novel, and experimentally verifiable hypotheses on the mechanisms of HIV-1. We believe that the proposed framework has the potential to expedite the elucidation of the important mechanisms of HIV-1, and ultimately, the discovery of novel anti-HIV drugs.

     

Identification and evaluation of a panel of serum biomarkers for predicting response to thalidomide in multiple myeloma patients

Evaluation of: Rajpal R, Dowling P, Meiller J et al. A novel panel of protein biomarkers for predicting response to thalidomide-based therapy in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients. Proteomics 11(8), 1391-1402 (2011). Predicting response to thalidomide-based therapy remains a challenging task faced by clinicians in the treatment of multiple myeloma. The pioneering work reported by Rajpal et al. moves one step further towards solving this challenge. They developed a proteomics-based approach that combines immunodepletion, 2D-difference gel electrophoresis analysis and mass spectrometry to search for serum proteins with expressions that show significant correlations to thalidomide treatment. This integrated approach allowed them to identify a panel of protein biomarkers. By using ELISA-based validation and strict statistical analysis, the authors have achieved an overall 84.0% predictive accuracy, with associated sensitivity and specificity values of 81.8 and 86.2%, respectively. Their methods and significant findings are reviewed within this article. This panel of biomarkers may not only guide initial therapy, but can also provide direct implications for personalized medicine in multiple myeloma patients.     

Pharmacokinetics, Efficacy, and Safety Evaluation of Docetaxel/Hydroxypropyl-Sulfobutyl-β-Cyclodextrin Inclusion Complex

Hydroxypropyl-sulfobutyl-β-cyclodextrin (HP-SBE-β-CD) inclusion complex was developed and used as a drug delivery system for DTX (DTX/HP-SBE-β-CD). The objective of the present study was to evaluate and compare the biological properties of DTX/HP-SBE-Β-CD with Taxotere®. The pharmacokinetics, biodistribution, antitumor efficacy in vivo and in vitro, and safety evaluation of DTX/HP-SBE-β-CD were studied. The most significant finding was that it was possible to prepare a Polysorbate-80-free inclusion complex for DTX. Studies based on pharmacokinetics, biodistribution, and antitumor efficacy indicated that DTX/HP-SBE-β-CD had similar pharmacokinetic properties and antitumor efficacy both in vitro and in vivo as Taxotere®. Fortunately, this new drug delivery system attenuated the side effects when used in vivo. As a consequence, DTX/HP-SBE-β-CD may be a promising alternative to Taxotere® for cancer chemotherapy treatment with reduced side effects. The therapeutic potential against a variety of human tumors and low toxicity demonstrated in a stringent study clearly warrant clinical investigation of DTX/HP-SBE-β-CD for possible use against human tumors.Key words: antitumor efficacy, biodistribution, DTX/HP-SBE-β-CD, pharmacokinetics, safety evaluation