Inhibition of early DNA-damage and chromosomal aberrations by Trianthema portulacastruml. In carbon tetrachloride-induced mouse liver damage

The underlying molecular mechanisms of the antihepatotoxic activity of Trianthema portulacastrum by monitoring its effect on mouse liver DNA-chain break, sugar-base damage and chromosomal aberrations, during chronic or acute treatment with carbon tetrachloride (CCl(4)) have been studied. Daily oral feeding with the ethanolic extract (150 mg/kg basal diet, per os) was given 2 weeks before CCl(4)treatment and continued until the end of the experiment (13 weeks). T. portulacastrum extract offer unique protection (P< 0.05-0. 001) against the induction of liver-specific structural-type chromosomal anomalies 15, 30 or 45 days after the last CCl(4)insult, compared to control mice. This was further evidenced by extract-mediated protection (15 days prior feeding following a single necrogenic dose of CCl(4)) of the generation of DNA chain-break and Fe-sugar-base damage assays. The observed hepatoprotective mechanism could be due to its ability to counteract oxidative injury to DNA in the liver of mouse.     

人与小鼠核糖体蛋白基因内含子中的转录调控位点分析

前期对酵母和果蝇核糖体蛋白(Ribosomal protein, RP)基因内含子序列中的寡核苷酸分析表明, 内含子中含有潜在的转录因子结合位点。为进一步发掘核糖体蛋白基因内含子参与转录调控的证据, 文章首先基于频率分析方法抽提出人和小鼠核糖体蛋白基因第一内含子中高频(Over-represented)出现的寡核苷酸片段 (亦称模体, Motif), 这些寡核苷酸中超过85%与已知的转录因子结合位点吻合, 是潜在的转录调控元件。对抽提出的寡核苷酸进行碱基组成分析, 发现95%以上的寡核苷酸富含碱基C和G, 而较少富含A和T。从寡核苷酸在内含子中的分布情况看, 它们相对靠近第一内含子的5′端, 即距离基因转录起始位点和上游区域较近。推测这些特征可能与基因转录调控有关。     

长效促胰岛素降糖酵母的构建及其对糖尿病模型小鼠的治疗效果

益生菌生物药物是指通过口服表达药用多肽(蛋白)的重组益生菌活细胞达到治疗疾病的新型口服给药系统。为了构建一种能有效防治2型糖尿病的酵母生物药物,文章首先构建了酿酒酵母(S.cerevisiae)整合型表达载体pNK1-PGK,并且通过绿色荧光蛋白(GFP)证明其表达功能正常,利用该载体将10×GLP-1 (Glucagon-like peptide-1)基因转化到酿酒酵母INVSc1中,通过营养缺陷型和Western blotting成功筛选出表达10×GLP-1的长效促胰岛素降糖酵母(Long-acting GLP-1 hypoglycemic yeast, LHY)。该酵母生长迅速,外源基因10×GLP-1表达稳定,表达量达到1.56 mg/g细胞湿重。通过链脲佐菌素和高脂高糖饮食联合诱导的方法构建了2型糖尿病小鼠模型,用LHY对其进行口服灌胃治疗,证明LHY具有较好疗效,明显降低血糖水平。     

腓骨肌萎缩症4型遗传学研究进展

腓骨肌萎缩症也称夏科-马利-杜斯氏病(Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, CMT),是人类最常见的遗传性周围神经病之一,其遗传方式以常染色体显性遗传为主,也有部分呈常染色体隐性遗传或X连锁显性或隐性遗传。根据临床表型将CMT分为脱髓鞘型(CMT1)、轴突型(CMT2)和中间型（DI-CMT）。常染色体隐性遗传的CMT1(AR-CMT1,也称CMT4型)临床表现除了CMT常见的四肢远端进行性肌无力和萎缩,以及高足弓和爪形手外,常起病早,进展迅速,并有不同程度的感觉障碍和脊柱畸形(以脊柱侧凸为主)。近年来的研究显示,CMT4有11种亚型,其中有些亚型的致病机制较明确,有些亚型存在建立者突变,有些亚型还局限在临床描述和突变检出上。文章综述了CMT4的最新研究进展,包括各亚型的临床表现、致病机制和小鼠模型等。     

Evaluating nest supplementation as a recovery strategy for the endangered rodents of the Florida Keys

The Key Largo woodrat (Neotoma floridana smalli) and Key Largo cotton mouse (Peromyscus gossypinus allapaticola) are federally endangered subspecies endemic to the tropical hardwood hammocks of Key Largo, Florida. Woodrats are considered generalists in habitat and diet, yet a steady decline in natural stick nests and capture rates over the past several decades suggests that they are limited by the availability of nesting habitat due to habitat loss and fragmentation. The more specialized Key Largo cotton mouse appears to rely on old growth hammock, a habitat type that is rare following past land clearing. In 2004, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service started building supplemental nest structures to restore habitat quality and connectivity for these endangered rodents, but nest use requires evaluation. We used camera traps and occupancy models to evaluate the factors influencing woodrat and cotton mouse use of the supplemental nests. We detected woodrats at 65 and cotton mice at 175 of 284 sampled nest structures, with co‐occurrence at 38 nests. Woodrat nest use followed a gradient from low nest use in the north to high nest use in the south, which might relate to the proximity of free‐ranging domestic cat (Felis catus) colonies in residential developments. Cotton mouse nest use, however, was related positively to mature hammock and related negatively to disturbed areas (e.g. scarified lands). The two species occurred independently of each other. Stick‐stacking behavior was observed at supplemental nests and, although it was correlated with detection of woodrats, it was not a strong predictor of their occurrence. We suggest that nest supplementation can be an important tool for species recovery as habitat quality continues to improve with succession.     

Shifts in an invasive rodent community favoring Black rats (Rattus rattus) following restoration of native forest

One potential, unintended ecological consequence accompanying forest restoration is a shift in invasive animal populations, potentially impacting conservation targets. Eighteen years after initial restoration (ungulate exclusion, invasive plant control, and out planting native species) at a 4 ha site on Maui, Hawai'i, we compared invasive rodent communities in a restored native dry forest and adjacent non‐native grassland. Quarterly for 1 year, we trapped rodents on three replicate transects (107 rodent traps) in each habitat type for three consecutive nights. While repeated trapping may have reduced the rat (Black rat, Rattus rattus) population in the forest, it did not appear to reduce the mouse (House mouse, Mus musculus) population in the grassland. In unrestored grassland, mouse captures outnumbered rat captures 220:1, with mice averaging 54.9 indiv./night versus rats averaging 0.25 indiv./night. In contrast, in restored native forest, rat captures outnumbered mouse captures by nearly 5:1, averaging 9.0 indiv./night versus 1.9 indiv./night for mice. Therefore, relatively recent native forest restoration increased Black rat abundance and also increased their total biomass in the restored ecosystem 36‐fold while reducing House mouse biomass 35‐fold. Such a community shift is worrisome because Black rats pose a much greater threat than do mice to native birds and plants, perhaps especially to large‐seeded tree species. Land managers should be aware that forest restoration (i.e. converting grassland to native forest) can invoke shifts in invasive rodent populations, potentially favoring Black rats. Without intervention, this shift may pose risks for intended conservation targets and modify future forest restoration trajectories.     

Involvement of the specific nucleolar protein SURF6 in regulation of proliferation and ribosome biogenesis in mouse NIH/3T3 fibroblasts

The nucleolar proteins which link cell proliferation to ribosome biogenesis are regarded to be potentially oncogenic. Here, in order to examine the involvement of an evolutionary conserved nucleolar protein SURF6/Rrp14 in proliferation and ribosome biogenesis in mammalian cells, we established stably transfected mouse NIH/3T3 fibroblasts capable of conditional overexpression of the protein. Cell proliferation was monitored in real-time, and various cell cycle parameters were quantified based on flow cytometry, Br-dU-labeling and conventional microscopy data. We show that overexpression of SURF6 accelerates cell proliferation and promotes transition through all cell cycle phases. The most prominent SURF6 pro-proliferative effects include a significant reduction of the population doubling time, from 19.8 ± 0.7 to 16.2 ± 0.5 hours (t-test, p < 0.001), and of the length of cell division cycle, from 17.6 ± 0.6 to 14.0 ± 0.4 hours (t-test, p < 0.001). The later was due to the shortening of all cell cycle phases but the length of G1 period was reduced most, from 5.7 ± 0.4 to 3.8 ± 0.3 hours, or by ～30%, (t-test, p < 0.05). By Northern blots and qRT-PCR, we further showed that the acceleration of cell proliferation was concomitant with an accumulation of rRNA species along both ribosomal subunit maturation pathways. It is evident, therefore, that like the yeast homologue Rrp14, mammalian SURF6 is involved in various steps of rRNA processing during ribosome biogenesis. We concluded that SURF6 is a novel positive regulator of proliferation and G1/S transition in mammals, implicating that SURF6 is a potential oncogenic protein, which can be further studied as a putative target in anti-cancer therapy.