土壤病毒生态学研究方法

病毒是地球上最丰富的生物实体,每克土壤中可包含数以亿计的病毒,它不仅影响土壤中其它微生物的群落组成、土壤元素的生物地球化学循环,还会影响土壤微生物的物种进化,甚至影响植物、动物和人体健康。目前人们对土壤中病毒的种类及丰度、分布特征以及功能引起的生态环境效应还知之甚少。在概述病毒生态学研究方法的基础上,对土壤病毒的提取、纯化、定量及分子生态学方法等基本流程进行了比较分析,以期建立一套快速简便、高效稳定的适用于土壤病毒研究的方法,并用于研究土壤病毒的多样性及分布特征,探讨病毒在环境中的生存和传播机制,为土壤病毒的防控及开发利用提供支撑。     

NEIL3-Dependent Regulation of Cardiac Fibroblast Proliferation Prevents Myocardial Rupture

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TUSC3: a novel tumour suppressor gene and its functional implications

The tumour suppressor candidate 3 (TUSC3) gene is located on chromosome region 8p22 and encodes the 34 kD TUSC3 protein, which is a subunit of the oligosaccharyl transferase responsible for the N‐glycosylation of nascent proteins. Known to be related to autosomal recessive mental retardation for several years, TUSC3 has only recently been identified as a potential tumour suppressor gene. Based on the structure and function of TUSC3, specific mechanisms in various diseases have been investigated. Several studies have demonstrated that TUSC3 is an Mg²⁺‐transporter involved in magnesium transport and homeostasis, which is important for learning and memory, embryonic development and testis maturation. Moreover, dysfunction or deletion of TUSC3 exerts its oncological effects as a modulator by inhibiting glycosylation efficiency and consequently inducing endoplasmic reticulum stress and malignant cell transformation. In this study, we summarize the advances in the studies of TUSC3 and comment on the potential roles of TUSC3 in diagnosis and treatment of TUSC3‐related diseases, especially cancer.     

微生物酶法合成低聚半乳糖的新进展

低聚半乳糖(GOS)是目前国际上已开发的功能性低聚糖之一,其商业化产品是应用微生物β-半乳糖苷酶以乳糖为原料进行转糖基反应获得,不同来源的酶合成GOS的结构不同,转糖基效率也存在差异.天然酶合成GOS的产量一般为20%～45%,分子改造获得的人工酶能将90%的乳糖底物转化为GOS;采用两相体系或反相胶束可以在一定程度上提高GOS产量.应用填充床反应器、活塞流反应器、膜反应器可规模化合成GOS;采用色谱柱法、酶法、纳滤膜法和微生物发酵法可纯化GOS产品,去除单糖及乳糖组分,扩大其应用范围.     

Profiling the changes in signaling pathways in ascorbic acid/β‐glycerophosphate‐induced osteoblastic differentiation

Despite numerous reports on the ability of ascorbic acid and β‐glycerophosphate (AA/β‐GP) to induce osteoblast differentiation, little is known about the molecular mechanisms involved in this phenomenon. In this work, we used a peptide array containing specific consensus sequences (potential substrates) for protein kinases and traditional biochemical techniques to examine the signaling pathways modulated during AA/β‐GP‐induced osteoblast differentiation. The kinomic profile obtained after 7 days of treatment with AA/β‐GP identified 18 kinase substrates with significantly enhanced or reduced phosphorylation. Peptide substrates for Akt, PI3K, PKC, BCR, ABL, PRKG1, PAK1, PAK2, ERK1, ERBB2, and SYK showed a considerable reduction in phosphorylation, whereas enhanced phosphorylation was observed in substrates for CHKB, CHKA, PKA, FAK, ATM, PKA, and VEGFR‐1. These findings confirm the potential usefulness of peptide microarrays for identifying kinases known to be involved in bone development in vivo and in vitro and show that this technique can be used to investigate kinases whose function in osteoblastic differentiation is poorly understood. J. Cell. Biochem. 112: 71–77, 2011. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

The effects of ionic liquid 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium trifluoromethanesulfonate on the production of 1,3-propanediol from crude glycerol by microbial consortium

Bioprocess and Biosystems Engineering - Ionic liquids (ILs) as “green” solvents have been widely used owing to their excellent properties, e.g., for biodiesel production. Crude glycerol...     

MicroRNA-155 Regulates Cell Survival,Growth, and Chemosensitivity by Targeting FOXO3a in Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in women. Despite improvement in treatment over the past few decades, there is an urgent need for development of targeted therapies. miR-155 (microRNA-155) is frequently up-regulated in breast cancer. In this study, we demonstrate the critical role of miR-155 in regulation of cell survival and chemosensitivity through down-regulation of FOXO3a in breast cancer. Ectopic expression of miR-155 induces cell survival and chemoresistance to multiple agents, whereas knockdown of miR-155 renders cells to apoptosis and enhances chemosensitivity. Further, we identified FOXO3a as a direct target of miR-155. Sustained overexpression of miR-155 resulted in repression of FOXO3a protein without changing mRNA levels, and knockdown of miR-155 increases FOXO3a. Introduction of FOXO3a cDNA lacking the 3′-untranslated region abrogates miR-155-induced cell survival and chemoresistance. Finally, inverse correlation between miR-155 and FOXO3a levels were observed in a panel of breast cancer cell lines and tumors. In conclusion, our study reveals a molecular link between miR-155 and FOXO3a and presents evidence that miR-155 is a critical therapeutic target in breast cancer.