Reduction of In-Stent Restenosis Risk on Nickel-Free Stainless Steel by Regulating Cell Apoptosis and Cell Cycle

High nitrogen nickel-free austenitic stainless steel (HNNF SS) is one of the biomaterials developed recently for circumventing the in-stent restenosis (ISR) in coronary stent applications. To understand the ISR-resistance mechanism, we have conducted a comparative study of cellular and molecular responses of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) to HNNF SS and 316L SS (nickel-containing austenitic 316L stainless steel) which is the stent material used currently. CCK-8 analysis and flow cytometric analysis were used to assess the cellular responses (proliferation, apoptosis, and cell cycle), and quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) was used to analyze the gene expression profile of HUVECs exposed to HNNF SS and 316L SS, respectively. Flow cytometry analysis revealed that 316L SS could activate the cellular apoptosis more efficiently and initiate an earlier entry into the S-phase of cell cycle than HNNF SS. At the molecular level, qRT-PCR results showed that the genes regulating cell apoptosis and autophagy were overexpressed on 316L SS. Further examination indicated that nickel released from 316L SS triggered the cell apoptosis via Fas-Caspase8-Caspase3 exogenous pathway. These molecular mechanisms of HUVECs present a good model for elucidating the observed cellular responses. The findings in this study furnish valuable information for understanding the mechanism of ISR-resistance on the cellular and molecular basis as well as for developing new biomedical materials for stent applications.     

Oncogenic GBX2 promotes the malignant behaviors of bladder cancer cells by binding to the ITGA5 promoter and activating its transcription

Functional & Integrative Genomics - In bladder cancer patients, metastasis after surgical resection and serious adverse reactions brought by cisplatin-based systemic chemotherapy make it urgent...     

Novel aminopeptidase specific for glycine from Actinomucor elegans

Glycyl aminopeptidase was purified 600-fold from a cell extract of Actinomucor elegans by ammonium sulfate fractionation and sequential chromatography on DEAE-Toyopearl, Toyopearl HW65C, and FPLC-Superdex 200 HR, with recovery of 3.3% of the activity. The enzyme highly specifically hydrolyzed Gly-X (amino acid, peptide, or arylamide) bonds. The enzyme hydrolyzed other amino acid residues but at a rate of less than one fifth that with Gly. The order was Gly > Ala > Met > Arg > Ser > Leu. The Km value for glycyl-2-naphthylamide was 0.24 mM. The enzyme was most active at pH 8.0 with glycyl-2-naphthylamide as the substrate and its optimal temperature was 40 degrees C. The enzyme was inhibited by iodoacetic acid, and p-chloromercuribenzoate but not done by diisopropylfluorophosphate, o-phenanthroline, or EDTA. Magnesium and calcium had no effect on enzymic activity, but the activity was suppressed by cadmium, zinc, and copper ions. The molecular mass was estimated to be 320 kDa by gel filtration on FPLC-Superdex 200 HR and 56.5 kDa by SDS-PAGE, so the enzyme probably was a hexamer.     

芽胞杆菌BSD-8肌氨酸氧化酶的纯化与性质

对一株从土壤中分离到的芽胞杆菌Bacillus sp.BSD-8菌株所产生的热稳定性较高的肌氨酸氧化酶进行纯化,并对该酶的特性进行了研究。通过硫酸铵分级沉淀、DEAE-纤维素离子交换柱、Toyopearl疏水层析柱和Sephadex G-75分子筛层析,使酶提纯25倍,比活力达到5.3U/mg。研究了纯化后的酶的生化特性,确定了该酶的主要特性:该酶为黄素蛋白,与黄素以非共价键的方式结合,由单一亚基组成,其亚基分子量为51kDa。酶的最适反应温度及pH分别为60℃与8.5。该酶在60℃及pH8.0~10.0条件下稳定。以Lineveaver-Burk作图法求得该酶米氏常数Km值为3.1mmol/L。Ag+、Hg2+、SDS及Tween80对该酶有强抑制作用,而Tween20和Triton X-100对酶活性无影响。该肌氨酸氧化酶在耐热性质上比以前所报道的肌氨酸氧化酶有很大的提高,在酶法肌酐测定应用中有明显的优势。     

Regulation of Pattern Formation and Gene Amplification During Drosophila Oogenesis by the miR-318 microRNA

Pattern formation during epithelial development requires the coordination of multiple signaling pathways. Here, we investigate the functions of an ovary-enriched miRNA, miR-318, in epithelial development during Drosophila oogenesis. mir-318 maternal loss-of-function mutants were female-sterile and laid eggs with abnormal morphology. Removal of mir-318 disrupted the dorsal–anterior follicle cell patterning, resulting in abnormal dorsal appendages. mir-318 mutant females also produced thin and fragile eggshells due to impaired chorion gene amplification. We provide evidence that the ecdysone signaling pathway activates expression of miR-318 and that miR-318 cooperates with Tramtrack69 to control the switch from endocycling to chorion gene amplification during differentiation of the follicular epithelium. The multiple functions of miR-318 in oogenesis illustrate the importance of miRNAs in maintaining cell fate and in promoting the developmental transition in the female follicular epithelium.     

1998-2013年新疆艾比湖湖面时空动态变化及其驱动机制

采用1998年9月,2002年9月,2007年9月,2011年9月以及2013年9月多期Landsat数据,利用归一化水体指数模型(NDWI)和修正归一化水体指数模型(MNDWI)提取新疆艾比湖水域面积,研究近年来艾比湖湖面的动态变化。以最大似然分类结果作为标准,验证了用NDWI和MNDWI模型提取面积的精度,得出NDWI模型所提取的湖泊面积更符合实际情况,湖泊总面积从1998年的519.26km²减少到2013年的422.73km²,缩小了18.59%,表明目前艾比湖正在退化,从而促使生态环境受到影响。对5期影像中的艾比湖湖面进行了边界的提取和叠加,利用湖泊面积动态模型研究艾比湖湖面积的动态变化,在此基础上分析了影响艾比湖湖面积变化的驱动机制,近年来随着温度的逐渐升高,降水量呈下降的趋势,加上大量的蒸发作用、径流量变化及沙尘日数等综合作用的结果,导致了艾比湖面积的缩小。多年来艾比湖流域内随着人口数量的增加、耕地面积的不断扩张、牲畜的大量增长,导致需水量逐渐增大,因此也是导致湖面面积减少的主要原因之一。开展艾比湖湖面时空动态变化及其驱动机制研究,对于干旱区湖泊来说具有重要的理论和实际意义。     

Overview of the HUPO Plasma Proteome Project: results from the pilot phase with 35 collaborating laboratories and multiple analytical groups, generating a core dataset of 3020 proteins and a publicly-available database

HUPO initiated the Plasma Proteome Project (PPP) in 2002. Its pilot phase has (1) evaluated advantages and limitations of many depletion, fractionation, and MS technology platforms; (2) compared PPP reference specimens of human serum and EDTA, heparin, and citrate-anti-coagulated plasma; and (3) created a publicly-available knowledge base (www.bioinformatics.med.umich.edu/hupo/ppp; www.ebi.ac.uk/pride). Thirty-five participating laboratories in 13 countries submitted datasets. Working groups addressed (a) specimen stability and protein concentrations; (b) protein identifications from 18 MS/MS datasets; (c) independent analyses from raw MS-MS spectra; (d) search engine performance, subproteome analyses, and biological insights; (e) antibody arrays; and (f) direct MS/SELDI analyses. MS-MS datasets had 15 710 different International Protein Index (IPI) protein IDs; our integration algorithm applied to multiple matches of peptide sequences yielded 9504 IPI proteins identified with one or more peptides and 3020 proteins identified with two or more peptides (the Core Dataset). These proteins have been characterized with Gene Ontology, InterPro, Novartis Atlas, OMIM, and immunoassay-based concentration determinations. The database permits examination of many other subsets, such as 1274 proteins identified with three or more peptides. Reverse protein to DNA matching identified proteins for 118 previously unidentified ORFs. We recommend use of plasma instead of serum, with EDTA (or citrate) for anticoagulation. To improve resolution, sensitivity and reproducibility of peptide identifications and protein matches, we recommend combinations of depletion, fractionation, and MS/MS technologies, with explicit criteria for evaluation of spectra, use of search algorithms, and integration of homologous protein matches. This Special Issue of PROTEOMICS presents papers integral to the collaborative analysis plus many reports of supplementary work on various aspects of the PPP workplan. These PPP results on complexity, dynamic range, incomplete sampling, false-positive matches, and integration of diverse datasets for plasma and serum proteins lay a foundation for development and validation of circulating protein biomarkers in health and disease.     

The human plasma proteome: analysis of Chinese serum using shotgun strategy

We have investigated the serum proteome of Han-nationality Chinese by using shotgun strategy. A complete proteomics analysis was performed on two reference specimens from a total of 20 healthy donors, in which each sample was made from ten-pooled male or female serum, respectively. The methodology used encompassed (1) removal of six high-abundant proteins; (2) tryptic digestion of low- and high-abundant proteins of serum; (3) separation of peptide mixture by RP-HPLC followed by ESI-MS/MS identification. A total of 944 nonredundant proteins were identified under a stringent filter condition (X(corr) > or = 1.9, > or = 2.2, and > or = 3.75, < or = C(n) > or = 0.1, and R(sp) > or = 4.0) in both pooled male and female samples, in which 594 and 622 entire proteins were found, respectively. Compared with the total 3020 protein identifications confirmed by more than one laboratory or more than one specimen in HUPO Plasma Proteome Project (PPP) participating laboratories recently, 206 proteins were identified with at least two distinct peptides per protein and 185 proteins were considered as high-confidence identification. Moreover, some lower abundance serum proteins (ng/mL range) were detected, such as complement C5 and CA125, routinely used as an ovarian cancer marker in plasma and serum. The resulting nonredundant list of serum proteins would add significant information to the knowledge base of human plasma proteome and facilitate disease markers discovery.