地衣芽胞杆菌FLP/FRT基因编辑系统的构建及验证

地衣芽胞杆菌有效的基因编辑工具有限,为了拓展和丰富其基因编辑手段,在地衣芽胞杆菌中构建一个抗性标记可重复使用的FLP/FRT基因编辑系统,并通过敲除α-淀粉酶基因amyL、蛋白酶基因aprE及敲入外源透明颤菌血红蛋白基因vgb对该系统进行初步验证。首先以温敏质粒pNZT1为载体分别构建amyL和aprE基因敲除质粒pNZTT-AFKF和pNZTT-EFKF,两个敲除质粒各自包含针对目标基因的同源臂、抗性基因及同向的FRT位点;将敲除质粒转化地衣芽胞杆菌并经过两次同源交换过程实现目标基因的敲除;最后导入一个FLP重组酶表达质粒通过FLP/FRT系统的重组作用介导抗性基因的回收。为进一步验证本系统的实用性及编辑效率,构建了包含透明颤菌血红蛋白编码基因vgb表达盒及基因组丙酮酸甲酸裂解酶编码基因pflB敲除盒的重组质粒pNZTK-PFTF-vgb,并以此进行外源基因vgb在基因组上的定向敲入。结果显示,成功敲除amyL及aprE并回收了抗性标记卡那霉素基因,敲除后淀粉酶活和蛋白酶活分别减少95.3%和80.4%;vgb基因成功整合入基因组pflB位点并回收了抗性标记四环素基因,并利用荧光定量PCR技术检测到vgb的整合表达。文中首次建立了一个适用于地衣芽胞杆菌的、抗性标记可重复使用的FLP/FRT基因编辑系统,并进行了基因敲除及基因敲入验证,为地衣芽胞杆菌遗传改造提供了良好的方法参考。     

中国四齿芥属一新记录种——帕米尔四齿芥

报道了十字花科(Brassicaceae)四齿芥属(Tetracme Bunge)一中国新记录种——帕米尔四齿芥(Tetracme pamirica Vassilcz.)。标本采自西藏自治区札达县底雅乡,生于干燥的河谷坡地。该种与相近种四齿芥的区别是,角果长10~13 mm,种子长1~2 mm。凭证标本保存在内蒙古大学植物标本馆(HIMC)。     

人二氢乳清酸脱氢酶蛋白的表达、纯化及其与新型抑制剂的晶体结构

人二氢乳清酸脱氢酶（human dihydroorotate dehydrogenase, hDHODH）是催化嘧啶从头合成途径的一个关键酶。近年来,多种研究表明,抑制该酶可缓解类风湿性关节炎的症状。但该酶的抑制剂甚少,寻找该酶的高效抑制剂具有重要意义。本研究利用PCR技术扩增hDHODH基因,构建重组质粒pET-19b-hDHODH,并在大肠杆菌(Escherichia coli, E.coli ) BL21(DE3)中表达,获得可溶性蛋白质。用Ni2+-NTA亲和层析柱对蛋白质进行纯化,获得较高（90%）纯度的hDHODH蛋白,将蛋白质与抑制剂3-(5-乙硫基)-1H-1, 2, 4-三氮唑-3-)苯甲酸和底物DHO混合孵育。用Hampton试剂盒初筛晶体并用棋盘法进行优化,获得晶形完美、衍射能力很强的hDHODH蛋白复合物单晶。用X射线衍射晶体,用CCP4、Coot软件解析结构,获得hDHODH蛋白复合物晶体结构。从解析的结构中可以看出,抑制剂与蛋白质的吻合度非常高,且抑制剂通过亲水的羧基端与蛋白质356位和147位的酪氨酸形成氢键网络。抑制剂的5元环与蛋白质359位的亮氨酸和360位的苏氨酸相互作用,使抑制剂与蛋白质牢固结合。该复合物晶体结构的顺利解析,将为开发新型特异性抗类风湿性关节炎药物提供重要基础。     

The complete mitochondrial genomes of two vent squat lobsters,Munidopsis lauensis and M. verrilli: Novel gene arrangements and phylogenetic implications

Hydrothermal vents are considered as one of the most extremely harsh environments on the Earth. In this study, the complete mitogenomes of hydrothermal vent squat lobsters, Munidopsis lauensis and M. verrilli, were determined through Illumina sequencing and compared with other available mitogenomes of anomurans. The mitogenomes of M. lauensis (17,483 bp) and M. verrilli (17,636 bp) are the largest among all Anomura mitogenomes, while the A+T contents of M. lauensis (62.40%) and M. verrilli (63.99%) are the lowest. The mitogenomes of M. lauensis and M. verrilli display novel gene arrangements, which might be the result of three tandem duplication–random loss (tdrl) events from the ancestral pancrustacean pattern. The mitochondrial gene orders of M. lauensis and M. verrilli shared the most similarities with S. crosnieri. The phylogenetic analyses based on both gene order data and nucleotide sequences (PCGs and rRNAs) revealed that the two species were closely related to Shinkaia crosnieri. Positive selection analysis revealed that eighteen residues in seven genes (atp8, Cytb, nad3, nad4, nad4l, nad5, and nad6) of the hydrothermal vent anomurans were positively selected sites.     

Effect of Human WEE1 and Stem Cell Factor on Human CD34^＋ Umbilical Cord Blood Cell Damage Induced by Chemotherapeutic Agents

Myelosuppression is one of the major side-effects of most anticancer drugs. To achieve myeloprotection, one bicistronic vector encoding anti-apoptotic protein human WEE l （WEElHu） and proliferation-stimulating stem cell factor （SCF） was generated. In this study, we selected human umbilical cord blood CD34^＋ cells as the in vitro model in an attempt to investigate whether WEEIHu, rather than conventional drug-resistant genes, can be introduced to rescue cells from the damage by chemotherapeutic agents such as cisplatin, adriamycin, mitomycin-c and 5-fluorouracil. Cell viability and cytotoxicity assay, colony-forming units in culture assay and externalization of phospholipid phosphatidylserine analysis showed that the expression of WEElHu and SCF in CD34^＋ cells provided the cells with some protection. These findings suggest that the expression of WEElHu and SCF might rescue CD34^＋ cells from chemotherapyinduced myelosuppression.     

On-line clean-up and screening of oxacillin and cloxacillin in human urine and plasma with a weak ion exchange monolithic column

A weak ion exchange monolithic column prepared by modifying the GMA-MAA-EDMA (glycidyl methacrylate-methacrylic acid-ethylene glycol dimethacrylate) monoliths with ethylenediamine was applied to remove matrix compounds in biological fluid. Using this monolithic column, on-line clean-up and screening of oxacillin and cloxacillin in human urine and plasma samples had been investigated. Chromatography was performed by reversed-phase HPLC on a C(18) column with ultraviolet detection at 225 nm. Results showed that the ion exchange monolithic column could be used for deproteinization and retaining oxacillin and cloxacillin in human urine and plasma, which provided a simple and fast method for assaying drugs in human urine and plasma.     

Nanoparticle-mediated drug delivery and gene therapy

Biomedical application of nanotechnology is a rapidly developing area that raises new prospect in the improvement of diagnosis and treatment of human diseases. The ability to incorporate drugs or genes into a functionalized nanoparticle demonstrates a new era in pharmacotherapy for delivering drugs or genes selectively to tissues or cells. It is envisioned that the transfer of nanoengineering capability into disease therapy will provide constant and concentrated drug delivery to targeted tissues, minimizing systemic side effects and toxicity. We have in this article highlighted the recent state of the art in nanomedicine, focusing particularly on the achievement of nanotechnology in nanoscale drug and gene delivery in vitro and in vivo. In addition, a specific emphasis has been placed on the use of nanotechnology to improve controlled drug release and sustainable drug delivery in solid tumors and on new drug therapies for age-related neurodegenerative disorders.     

基于3种线粒体标记探讨中日沿海角木叶鲽遗传多样性差异

角木叶鲽(Pleuronichthys cornutus)是东亚沿海重要的鲽形目经济鱼类, 为更好地保护和开发利用其种质资源, 有必要全面了解其遗传背景。本研究测定了中国和日本沿海7个群体200尾角木叶鲽线粒体控制区(CR) 5'端、细胞色素b (Cytb)和NADH脱氢酶第二亚基(ND2)基因序列, 比较不同标记在解析遗传多样性和种群结构上的可行性与有效性, 阐明中日沿海角木叶鲽群体间出现遗传分化的分子机制。CR序列分析发现中日沿海7个角木叶鲽群体遗传多样性表现出较高的单倍型多样性(H_d = 0.9699)和较低的核苷酸多样性(π = 0.0061); 各群体间无显著的遗传分化(F_ST = -0.0197-0.0184, P > 0.05); 单倍型网络未显示出明显的地理聚群和谱系结构; 分子方差分析(AMOVA)表明变异主要发生在群体内部(> 99.17%)。进一步通过Cytb和ND2基因分别与CR序列对比分析, 结果表明群体遗传多样性均表现为高H_d (0.9683-0.9829)低π (0.0050-0.0063)模式, 仅有ND2基因分析F_ST值(F_ST = 0.0302, P < 0.05)显示了中国碣石(GDJS)和日本明石(JAP)群体间显著的低水平遗传分化现象。CR、Cytb和ND2的单倍型网络图均无明显的地理聚类和谱系结构, AMOVA分析也显示变异主要来源于群体内(> 98.39%)。种群历史动态分析结果显示, 角木叶鲽可能在第四纪中更新世晚期经历了群体扩张事件, 扩张时间分别为31.93-9.58万年前(CR)、27.53-22.02万年前(Cytb)和26.99-18.75万年前(ND2)。综上所述, 中日沿海的角木叶鲽具有较高遗传多样性, GDJS和JAP群体间存在低度分化; ND2基因比CR和Cytb序列更适于分析角木叶鲽种群遗传结构, 选择多个遗传标记可有效弥补单一标记分析遗传多样性的局限性; 推测冰期两大独立避难所的形成及GDJS和JAP群体距离相隔较远是其发生遗传分化的主要原因。研究结果为中日沿海角木叶鲽渔业资源的种质保护与可持续利用提供了理论依据。