trkB-Receptor Activation Contributes to the Kainate-Induced Increase in BDNF mRNA Synthesis

1. The expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) mRNA is induced by neuronal activity through increased intracellular calcium. As BDNF also increases intracellular calcium levels through trkB activation, we have examined here whether BDNF also regulates the synthesis of its own mRNA.2. Neurotrophin mRNA expression was induced with kainic acid administration in transgenic mice overexpressing the dominant-negative form of BDNF receptor trkB and wild-type littermates.3. Kainate strongly induced BDNF mRNA expression in both genotypes, but the upregulation was significantly lower in transgenic mice.4. These data suggest that the synthesis of BDNF mRNA is at least partly mediated by BDNF release and the activation of trkB receptors. The present findings further suggest that the BDNF signaling system in brain is regulated by positive feedback.     

角蛋白启动子在人乳头瘤病毒的转基因小鼠中的研究进展

人乳头瘤病毒（Human Papillomavirus,HPV）感染与多种疾病相关,但引起这些疾病的机制还不是很清楚。因此,人们想通过构建动物模型来深入了解HPV引起的各种疾病的机制。HPV具有严格的嗜人类组织的特性,这就要求在构建转基因动物模型中利用不同外源启动子,使HPV癌蛋白定向表达在特定的组织细胞中。本文主要介绍人角蛋白启动子在HPV的转基因小鼠中的一些研究进展。     

A 900 bp genomic region from the mouse dystrophin promoter directs lacZ reporter expression only to the right heart of transgenic mice

In order to study the regulatory mechanism of developmental and tissue-specific expression of the muscle type dystrophin gene in mice, transgenic mice were generated carrying the 900 bp genomic fragment derived from the muscle type dystrophin promoter region fused to the bacterial lacZ gene. Six independent transgenic mouse lines showed specific reporter gene expression in the right heart, but not in skeletal or smooth muscle. The reporter gene expression was first detected in the presumptive right ventricle of the embryos at 8.5 days post coitum, and the expression continued only in the right ventricle throughout the development and at the adult stage. The results indicate that the 900 bp genomic fragment contains the regulatory element required for expression of dystrophin only in the right heart, suggesting that distinct elements are responsible for the expression in the left and right compartments of the heart, and/or in skeletal and smooth muscle cells. Based on these findings, the relationship between defects in muscle type promoter and the diseases caused by abnormal dystrophin expression is discussed.     

前列腺特异启动子和部分靶基因在转基因模型中的应用进展

遗传工程小鼠模型已被大量用于前列腺癌发生、发展、恶化和转移的研究。构建小鼠模型的途径主要包括转基因的过表达、基因敲除或敲入,以及使用Cre/lox技术进行条件调控。本文综述了目前构建的有明显遗传表型的转基因小鼠模型所用到的前列腺特异的启动子,以及所用到的靶基因。     

Level of p75 receptor expression in sensory ganglia is modulated by NGF level in the target tissue

Neurotrophins play an essential role in sensory development by providing trophic support to neurons that innervate peripheral targets. Nerve growth factor (NGF), neurotrophin-3, neurotrophin-4, and brain-derived neurotrophin exert their survival effect by binding to two transmembrane receptor types: trk receptors, which exhibit binding specificity, and the p75^NTR receptor, which binds all neurotrophins. To determine how target-derived neurotrophins affect sensory neuron development and function, we used transgenic mice that overexpress NGF in the skin to examine the impact of NGF overexpression on receptor expression. Previous studies of trk expression in trigeminal ganglia of adult NGF transgenics showed that the percentage of trkA neurons doubled and their number increased fivefold. The present study focused on the p75 receptor and shows that the percentage of neurons expressing p75^NTR also increase in NGF ganglia, but only by 10%. This increase did not encompass the small, BS-IB-4 isolectin-positive cells as they remained p75 negative in transgenic ganglia. Interestingly, levels of trkA protein were not increased on a per-cell level, whereas levels of p75^NTR increased nearly threefold. These results show that in sensory systems, target-derived NGF modulates the level of p75^NTR receptor expression, and in so doing, may act to regulate the formation of functional receptor complexes and subsequent trophic action. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Neurobiol 35: 258–270, 1998     

Polyglutamine tract-binding protein-1 dysfunction induces cell death of neurons through mitochondrial stress

Polyglutamine tract-binding protein-1 (PQBP-1) is a nuclear protein that interacts and colocalizes with mutant polyglutamine proteins. We previously reported that PQBP-1 transgenic mice show a late-onset motor neuron disease-like phenotype and cell death of motor neurons analogous to human neurodegeneration. To investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying the motor neuron death, we performed microarray analyses using the anterior horn tissues of the spinal cord and compared gene expression profiles between pre-symptomatic transgenic and age-matched control mice. Surprisingly, half of the spots changed more than 1.5-fold turned out to be genes transcribed from the mitochondrial genome. Northern and western analyses confirmed up-regulation of representative mitochondrial genes, cytochrome c oxidase (COX) subunit 1 and 2. Immunohistochemistry revealed that COX1 and COX2 proteins are increased in spinal motor neurons. Electron microscopic analyses revealed morphological abnormalities of mitochondria in the motor neurons. PQBP-1 overexpression in primary neurons by adenovirus vector induced abnormalities of mitochondrial membrane potential from day 5, while cytochrome c release and caspase 3 activation were observed on day 9. An increase of cell death by PQBP-1 was also confirmed on day 9. Collectively, these results indicate that dysfunction of PQBP-1 induces mitochondrial stress, a key molecular pathomechanism that is shared among human neurodegenerative disorders.     

高等植物胁迫诱导型启动子的研究进展

逆境胁迫严重影响植物生长发育,降低作物产量。目前在植物抗逆基因工程中,大多使用组成型启动子驱动目的基因表达,组成型启动子的表达虽然能提高转基因植株的抗逆性,但持续过量地表达转化的外源基因有时会阻碍植物的生长且降低其产量。因此,诱导型启动子的研究具有重要的应用价值。该文对近年来植物在逆境胁迫处理下,一些诱导型启动子的种类和功能,可能具有的顺式作用元件,反式作用因子及其研究方法进行了综述。