Reduction of SOST gene promotes bone formation through the Wnt/β-catenin signalling pathway and compensates particle-induced osteolysis

The increase in bone resorption and/or the inhibition of bone regeneration caused by wear particles are the main causes of periprosthetic osteolysis. The SOST gene and Sclerostin, a protein synthesized by the SOST gene, are the characteristic marker of osteocytes and regulate bone formation and resorption. We aimed to verify whether the SOST gene was involved in osteolysis induced by titanium (Ti) particles and to investigate the effects of SOST reduction on osteolysis. The results showed osteolysis on the skull surface with an increase of sclerostin levels after treated with Ti particles. Similarly, sclerostin expression in MLO-Y4 osteocytes increased when treated with Ti particles in vitro. After reduction of SOST, local bone mineral density and bone volume increased, while number of lytic pores on the skull surface decreased and the erodibility of the skull surface was compensated. Histological analyses revealed that SOST reduction increased significantly alkaline phosphatase- (ALP) and osterix-positive expression on the skull surface which promoted bone formation. ALP activity and mineralization of MC3T3-E1 cells also increased in vitro when SOST was silenced, even if treated with Ti particles. In addition, Ti particles decreased β-catenin expression with an increase in sclerostin levels, in vivo and in vitro. Inversely, reduction of SOST expression increased β-catenin expression. In summary, our results suggested that reduction of SOST gene can activate the Wnt/β-catenin signalling pathway, promoting bone formation and compensated for bone loss induced by Ti particles. Thus, this study provided new perspectives in understanding the mechanisms of periprosthetic osteolysis.     

FHA2 is a plant-specific ISWI subunit responsible for stamen development and plant fertility

Imitation Switch (ISWI) chromatin remodelers are known to function in diverse multi‐subunit complexes in yeast and animals. However, the constitution and function of ISWI complexes in Arabidopsis thaliana remain unclear. In this study, we identified forkhead‐associated domain 2 (FHA2) as a plant‐specific subunit of an ISWI chromatin‐remodeling complex in Arabidopsis. By in vivo and in vitro analyses, we demonstrated that FHA2 directly binds to RLT1 and RLT2, two redundant subunits of the ISWI complex in Arabidopsis. The stamen filament is shorter in the fha2 and rlt1/2 mutants than in the wild type, whereas their pistil lengths are comparable. The shorter filament, which is due to reduced cell size, results in insufficient pollination and reduced fertility. The rlt1/2 mutant shows an early‐flowering phenotype, whereas the phenotype is not shared by the fha2 mutant. Consistent with the functional specificity of FHA2, our RNA‐seq analysis indicated that the fha2 mutant affects a subset of RLT1/2‐regulated genes that does not include genes involved in the regulation of flowering time. This study demonstrates that FHA2 functions as a previously uncharacterized subunit of the Arabidopsis ISWI complex and is exclusively involved in regulating stamen development and plant fertility.     

化龙山七筋姑种内二倍体与四倍体表型分化分析

七筋姑(Clintonia udensis Trautv. et Mey.)属百合科(Liliaceae)七筋姑属(Clintonia Raf.),多年生草本,具有二倍体(2n=14)和四倍体(4n=28)两种倍性。在陕西化龙山地区,二倍体主要分布在南坡海拔2 450 m处,四倍体主要生长在北坡海拔1 900 m左右,成为研究种内多倍体分化的理想材料。该研究从七筋姑营养和繁殖系统出发,研究其不同倍性的表型分化,揭示不同倍性的生态适应特征,为阐明七筋姑种内多倍体的演化提供线索。研究表明：(1)在根、茎、叶、花、果实、种子的11个性状中,二倍体的果实体积性状最为稳定(CV=0.02),叶长性状遗传多样性最高(CV=0.85);四倍体中果实体积性状也最为稳定(CV=0.06),而花数量性状多样性最高(CV=0.42)。(2)四倍体的果实体积平均值明显高于二倍体,但种子数量平均值显著少于二倍体,果实体积和种子体积性状在不同倍性间的分化占比最高(V_st=0.69)。(3)四倍体营养器官表型性状的遗传变异丰富度低于二倍体,其平均变异系数(CV=0.16)小于二倍体的变异系数(CV=0.44);在繁殖系统表型性状中,四倍体的遗传变异丰富度高于二倍体,平均变异系数(CV=0.30)大于二倍体(CV=0.26)。(4)显著性分析表明,二倍体与四倍体表型性状差异显著(P<0.05),而繁殖系统性状在不同倍性间无显著差异(P>0.05);PCA分析同样显示二倍体与四倍体间存在明显差异。四倍体显著的表型差异是对低海拔环境长期适应的结果。     

Profiling and integrated analysis of differentially expressed circRNAs as novel biomarkers for breast cancer

Breast cancer (BC) is a globally common cancer with the highest and increasing morbidity and mortality among females. Novel biomarkers are warranted to be discovered for the early detection, treatment, and prognosis of BC. In this study, we investigated the profiles of differentially expressed (DE) circular RNAs (circRNAs) by competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNA) microarray to construct a genome-wide circRNA profile. Then, we performed Gene Ontology (GO) analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Gene and Genome (KEGG) pathway analysis of the host genes (HGs) of circRNAs. A total of 4,370 DE circRNAs were detected and GO and KEGG analysis showed that they were significantly associated with cell cycle, DNA replication, BC, and familial BC. We validated the differential circRNAs and relevant HGs through quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and constructed a putative circRNA–microRNA–messenger RNA regulatory network. Eight circRNAs, including hsa_circ_0069094, hsa_circ_0062558, hsa_circ_0074026, hsa_circ_0079876, hsa_circ_0017536, hsa_circ_0023302, hsa_circ_0017650, and hsa_circ_0017545, were validated significantly DE in BC tissue and associated with TNM staging, lymph node infiltration, and Ki67. Hsa_circ_0069094, hsa_circ_0079876, hsa_circ_0017650, and hsa_circ_0017526 were upregulated in plasma. This study revealed the general expression characteristics of specific DE circRNAs in BC and hsa_circ_0069094, hsa_circ_0079876, hsa_circ_0017650, and hsa_circ_0017526 might be promising candidate targets.     

铁还原菌降解石油烃的研究进展

铁还原菌是指能够利用细胞外Fe(III)作为末端电子受体,通过氧化有机物将Fe(III)还原为Fe(II)微生物的总称。铁还原作用广泛存在于土壤、河流、海洋、地表含水层以及高温高压的地下深部油藏。在厌氧或兼性厌氧条件下,Fe(III)还原耦合有机物的降解,对铁、碳元素的生物地球化学循环具有重要意义。本文介绍了铁还原菌的多样性和铁还原作用机理,综述了铁还原菌在石油烃降解方面的研究进展。此外,还总结了铁还原菌在生物修复中的潜在作用,并对未来的研究方向进行了展望。     

The study of mitochondrial A3243G mutation in different samples

Mitochondrial encephalopathy, lactic acidosis and stroke-like episodes syndrome (MELAS) is the most frequent syndromic manifestation of A3243G mutation in mitochondrial DNA. Detection of A3243G mutation in blood is less helpful for the diagnosis of MELAS and the carriers, and the mutation ratio in blood correlates only in a limited extent with the severity of the disease. Here we compared the ratio of A3243G mutation in four easily available samples (blood, urine, hair follicle and saliva) in patients with MELAS carrying A3243G mutation as well as their maternal relatives from 32 families, to find out the samples appropriate for the detection of the patients and carriers and useful for the evaluation of clinical severity from their mutation ratio. In MELAS patients and the carriers with minor symptoms or normal phenotype, A3243G mutation ratio was significantly higher in urine than in blood. A close correlation between A3243G mutation ratio in blood and that in urine, hair follicles and saliva was found in the probands and their relatives. Clinical features closely correlated with the mutation ratio in urine. Measurement of A3243G mutation ratio in urine is a non-invasive, convenient and rapid method with its diagnostic meaning superior to blood testing.     

Entropy subspace separation-based clustering for noise reduction (ENCORE) of scRNA-seq data

Single-cell RNA sequencing enables us to characterize the cellular heterogeneity in single cell resolution with the help of cell type identification algorithms. However, the noise inherent in single-cell RNA-sequencing data severely disturbs the accuracy of cell clustering, marker identification and visualization. We propose that clustering based on feature density profiles can distinguish informative features from noise. We named such strategy as ‘entropy subspace’ separation and designed a cell clustering algorithm called ENtropy subspace separation-based Clustering for nOise REduction (ENCORE) by integrating the ‘entropy subspace’ separation strategy with a consensus clustering method. We demonstrate that ENCORE performs superiorly on cell clustering and generates high-resolution visualization across 12 standard datasets. More importantly, ENCORE enables identification of group markers with biological significance from a hard-to-separate dataset. With the advantages of effective feature selection, improved clustering, accurate marker identification and high-resolution visualization, we present ENCORE to the community as an important tool for scRNA-seq data analysis to study cellular heterogeneity and discover group markers.     

RTKN-1/Rhotekin shields endosome-associated F-actin from disassembly to ensure endocytic recycling

Cargo sorting and the subsequent membrane carrier formation require a properly organized endosomal actin network. To better understand the actin dynamics during endocytic recycling, we performed a genetic screen in C. elegans and identified RTKN-1/Rhotekin as a requisite to sustain endosome-associated actin integrity. Loss of RTKN-1 led to a prominent decrease in actin structures and basolateral recycling defects. Furthermore, we showed that the presence of RTKN-1 thwarts the actin disassembly competence of UNC-60A/cofilin. Consistently, in RTKN-1–deficient cells, UNC-60A knockdown replenished actin structures and alleviated the recycling defects. Notably, an intramolecular interaction within RTKN-1 could mediate the formation of oligomers. Overexpression of an RTKN-1 mutant form that lacks self-binding capacity failed to restore actin structures and recycling flow in rtkn-1 mutants. Finally, we demonstrated that SDPN-1/Syndapin acts to direct the recycling endosomal dwelling of RTKN-1 and promotes actin integrity there. Taken together, these findings consolidated the role of SDPN-1 in organizing the endosomal actin network architecture and introduced RTKN-1 as a novel regulatory protein involved in this process.     

海南坡鹿的起源、进化及保护

坡鹿是世界濒危物种,三个亚种分布在东南亚大陆,仅海南坡鹿种群分布在中国海南岛.2003年,国际社会的专家和学者提出了将海南坡鹿引入泰国亚种原分布区,重建已经绝灭野生种群的建议.在此种情况下,明确海南坡鹿的起源、与其它亚种间的系统发生关系、以及遗传多样性水平对有效保护坡鹿具有重要意义.本研究以线粒体DNA D-loop区490 bp基因片段为分子标记,比较分析了海南坡鹿、泰国亚种和缅甸亚种共35个样本的序列差异.我们所测的样本中,总共发现4种单倍型.所有21个海南坡鹿样品共享1种单倍型.利用最大似然法(ML)、最大简约法(MP)、邻接法(NJ)和贝叶斯法(Bayesian)构建的系统进化树表明海南坡鹿种群与泰国亚种的关系较近.但是,二者也发生一定程度的遗传分化.海南坡鹿与泰国亚种的遗传距离均值为0.026.我们推测海南坡鹿可能是在更新世冰期(69万年前)通过陆桥由东南亚大陆迁入中国海南岛.我们的结论说明海南坡鹿的遗传多样性很低,并且已独立进化很长时间.因此,我们不支持将海南坡鹿引入泰国亚种的原分布区,重建已经绝灭的野生种群的设想和建议.我们建议将海南坡鹿与泰国亚种分别作为两个独立的进化显著单元(ESUs)进行管理.