一个新的Br蛋白基因部分序列测定及分析

从新疆北部艾比湖分离纯化到极端嗜盐古生菌AB1,采用PCR方法扩增了其16S rRNA基因（16S rDNA）和编码螺旋C至螺旋G的细菌视紫红质（bacteriorhodopsin,Br）蛋白基因片段,并测定了基因的核苷酸序列。基于16S rDNA序列的同源性比较及系统发育学研究表明,AB1是Natronococcus属中新成员。通过对菌株AB1的Br蛋白亲水性分析表明,AB1的Br蛋白与已报道Br蛋白有类似的超二级结构,进一步的蛋白质序列聚合比对结果表明,AB1中Br蛋白螺旋C至螺旋G的氨基酸序列与其他菌株差异明显。研究结果表明菌株AB1的Br蛋白是一种新的Br蛋白。Abstract: A strain of halophilic archaeum AB1 was isolated and purified from Aibi Lake located in the north of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Partial DNA fragment encoding a bateriorhodopsin (Br) protein as well as 16S rRNA of AB1 was amplified by PCR, and their nucleotide sequences were determined subsequently. On the basis of homology and phylognetic analysis about 16S rRNA gene (16S rDNA), it could be speculated that the strain AB1 is a novel member of the genus Natronococcus. The hydrophathy analysis of Br fragment revealed that the AB1 Br had a transmembrane heptahelical structure similar to that of other Brs. On the other hand, homology alignment using the deduced partial amino acid sequence of Br protein of AB1 with other Br proteins showed that AB1 Br protein is obviously different to others. These facts indicated that the Br in halophilic archaeum AB1 is a new Br protein.     

Cidea controls lipid droplet fusion and lipid storage in brown and white adipose tissue

Excess lipid storage in adipose tissue results in the development of obesity and other metabolic disorders including diabetes,fatty liver and cardiovascular diseases.The lipid droplet(LD)is an important subcellular organelle responsible for lipid storage.We previously observed that Fsp27,a member of the CIDE family proteins,is localized to LD-contact sites and promotes atypical LD fusion and growth.Cidea,a close homolog of Fsp27,is expressed at high levels in brown adipose tissue.However,the exact role of Cidea in promoting LD fusion and lipid storage in adipose tissue remains unknown.Here,we expressed Cidea in Fsp27-knockdown adipocytes and observed that Cidea has similar activity to Fsp27 in promoting lipid storage and LD fusion and growth.Next,we generated Cidea and Fsp27 double-deficient mice and observed that these animals had drastically reduced adipose tissue mass and a strong lean phenotype.In addition,Cidea/Fsp27 double-deficient mice had improved insulin sensitivity and were intolerant to cold.Furthermore,we observed that the brown and white adipose tissues of Cidea/Fsp27double-deficient mice had significantly reduced lipid storage and contained smaller LDs compared to those of Cidea or Fsp27single deficient mice.Overall,these data reveal an important role of Cidea in controlling lipid droplet fusion,lipid storage in brown and white adipose tissue,and the development of obesity.     

Polycomb chromobox 4 enhances migration and pulmonary metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma cell line MHCC97L

We recently report that the expression of polycomb chromobox 4(Cbx4)is significantly correlated with the overall survival of a great cohort of hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)patients and it enhances hypoxia-induced vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF)expression and angiogenesis in HCC cells through enhancing sumoylation of hypoxia inducible factor-1alpha(HIF-1α).Here we continue to investigate the potential effects of Cbx4 on the migration and metastasis of the metastatic HCC cell line MHCC97L.Our results show that Cbx4 overexpression in the cell line increases the in vitro vessel formation of vascular endothelial cells in its SUMO interaction motifs-dependent manner,and promotes the in vitro migration of the cancer cell,which can be effectively abrogated by anti-VEGF antibody.Although Cbx4 expression does not impact the in vitro growth of MHCC97L cells,it still promotes the progression and metastasis of orthotopically transplanted tumors in nude mice.These results further support the role of Cbx4 as a SUMO E3 ligase in the progression and metastasis of HCC.     

Development of Lateral-flow Immunoassay for WSSV with Polyclonal Antibodies Raised against Recombinant VP （19＋28） Fusion Protein

We have developed a sensitive and rapid lateral-flow immunoassay (LFIA) for WSSV, using colloidal gold as an indicator. The fusion protein, VP (19 28), was expressed in E. coli, purified and used to prepare polyclonal antibodies. The purified anti-VP (19 28) IgG were conjugated with colloidal gold. Unconjugated anti-VP (19 28) IgG and goat anti-rabbit IgG were immobilized on nitrocellulose membranes. After assembly, three groups (5 individual animals in each group) of shrimp samples were tested which included healthy, moribund and dead shrimps. For each group, three different tissues (body juices, gills and hepatopancreas) were tested at the same time. In parallel, all the samples were also analyzed using PCR for comparison. Out of 45 samples tested, 30 were detected as positive while 15 were classified as negative. The results of LFIA correlate with those obtained by the PCR analysis, indicating that these two detection methods have the same efficacy in the limited number of samples tested in this preliminary study.     

Tn7-mediated Introduction of DNA into Bacmid-cloned Pseudorabies Virus Genome for Rapid Construction of Recombinant Viruses

lacZa-mini-attTn7 was inserted into the intergenic region between the gG and gD genes in a PRV bacterial artificial chromosome （BAC） by homologous recombination in E. coli. The resulting recombinant BAC （pBeckerZF1） was confirmed by PCR and sequencing. Green fluorescent protein （GFP） gene was then transposed into pBeckerZF1 by transposon Tn7 to generate pBeckerZF2. Recombinant viruses vBeckerZF1 and vBeckerZF2 were generated by transfection with the corresponding BAC pBeckerZF1 or pBeckerZF2. The titers and cytopathic effect （CPE） observed for by vBeckerZF1 and vBeckerZF2 was comparable to that of the parental virus vBecker3, vBeckerZF2 was serial passaged for five rounds in cell culture, and the mini-Tn7 insertion was stably maintained in viral genome. These results show that recombinant viruses can be rapidly and reliably created by Tn7-mediated transposition. This technology should accelerate greatly the pace at which recombinant PRV can be generated and, thus, facilitate the use of recombinant viruses for detailed mutagenic studies.     

Anatomy and ontogeny of unisexual flowers in dioecious Woonyoungia septentrionalis （Dandy） Law （Magnoliaceae）

Woonyoungia septentrionalis （Dandy） Law is aceae. The floral morphology and structure of the species a dioecious species with unisexual flowers in Magnoliare conspicuously different from other species and are important to the study of floral phylogeny in this family. The floral anatomy and ontogeny were investigated to evaluate the systematic position of W. septentrionalis, using scanning electron microscopy and light microscopy. All of the floral organs are initiated acropetally and spirally. The carpels are of conduplicated type without the differentiation of stigma and style. The degenerated stamens in the female flowers have the same structures as the normal stamens at the earlier developmental stages, but they do not undergo successive development and eventually degenerate. The male floral apex was observed to have the remnants of carpels in a few investigated samples. As the bisexual flower features could be traced both in the male and female flowers in W. septentrionalis, it suggests that the flower sex in Magnoliaceae tends toward unisexual. As well as the unisexual flowers, the reduced tepals and carpels and concrescence of carpels conform to the specialized tendency in Magnoliaceae, which confirms the derived position of W. septentrionalis in this family. As the initiation pattern of floral parts of W. septentrionalis is very similar to other species in this family, it needs further investigation and especially comparison with species in Kmeria to evaluate the separation of Woonyoungia.     

Phylogenetic origin of Beckmannia （Poaceae） inferred from molecular evidence

The phylogenetic origin of Beckmannia remains unknown. The genus has been placed within the Chlorideae, Aveneae （Agrostideae）, Poeae, or treated as an isolate lineage, Beckmanniinae. In the present study, we used nuclear internal transcribed spacer （ITS） and chloroplast trnL-F sequences to examine the phylogenetic relationship between Beckmannia and those genera that have assumed to be related. On the basis of the results of our studies, the following conclusions could be drawn： （i） Beckmannia and Alopecurus are sister groups with high support; and （ii） Beckmannia and Alopecurus are nested in the Poeae clade with high support. The results of our analysis suggest that Beckmannia should be placed in Poeae.     

C7, a novel nucleolar protein, is the mouse homologue of the Drosophila late puff product L82 and an isoform of human OXR1

The C7 gene was identified in a project aimed to characterize differential gene expression upon attachment of cells to extracellular matrix proteins in vitro. C7 is the homologue of Drosophila L82, a late puff gene (Stowers et al. (1999) Dev. Biol. 213, 116-130) and human OXR1, a gene, which protects cells against oxidation (Volkert et al. (2000) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 97, 14530-14535). All are transcribed into multiple splice forms with a common 3' domain. Additional members of this novel gene family are found in a number of eukaryotic species. In the mouse, the C7 gene is highly and broadly expressed during development in at least 4 splice forms, 3 of which were sequenced. In the adult, the C7 gene is most highly expressed in brain and testis. Antibodies to recombinant C7 protein localized to nucleoli in a variety of cell types, suggesting that C7 may be involved in the formation or function of this important organelle.