Hypoxic Induction of Vasorin Regulates Notch1 Turnover to Maintain Glioma Stem-like Cells

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小鼠脑组织及培养神经元Neuro-2a 在内质网应激反应时的基因表达谱分析

内质网是真核细胞的重要细胞器。某些细胞内外因素如病原体感染等能引起从内质网到胞浆和胞核的信号传导途径活化,即内质网应激反应。但是,目前国内外尚无针对内质网应激反应的基因表达谱分析报道。本研究中,用3种已报道的内质网应激反应诱导剂,包括蛋白质糖基化抑制剂衣霉素(tunicamycin)、内质网Ca ²⁺-ATPases抑制剂毒胡萝卜素（thapsigargin）和乙脑病毒(Japanese encephalitis virus, JEV),分别处理小鼠颅腔和小鼠脑神经瘤细胞（Neuro-2a）,试剂处理组与未处理组的第二代RNA测序分析发现,衣霉素、毒胡萝卜素和乙脑病毒在体外和体内均引起分子伴侣基因Hsp70表达上调,诱导内质网应激反应。衣霉素、毒胡萝卜素和乙脑病毒体外处理诱导的内质网应激反应信号通路中,基因差异表达相似性高于体内处理组。乙脑病毒和糖基化抑制剂衣霉素体内外处理,主要诱导内质网应激反应的非折叠蛋白质反应信号通路,引起相关基因Atf4、Bip、Edem和Perk等表达上调。内质网Ca ²⁺-ATPases抑制剂毒胡萝卜素主要诱导内质网超负荷反应,激活NF-κB信号通路。乙脑病毒诱导的内质网应激反应相关差异表达基因数量最多,体外与体内合计有40种。乙脑病毒体内外处理上调的基因包括Bax、Casp12、Atf4、Bip、Edem和Perk等,下调的基因包括Sec23/24、Nef、Svip和Jnk等。糖基化抑制剂衣霉素体内外处理上调基因包括Gadd34、Atf4、Ermani和Bip等,下调基因包括Grp94、Atf6、Sec23/24和Nef等。内质网Ca ^-2+-ATPases抑制剂毒胡萝卜素体内外处理上调的基因包括Sec61、Trap和Ask1等。衣霉素、毒胡萝卜素和乙脑病毒体内外处理也通过内质网应激反应,调控与炎症或凋亡相关的MAPK信号通路和P53信号通路。本研究首次通过使用3种内质网应激反应诱导剂分别处理小鼠和细胞,揭示了体内外内质网应激反应引起的基因表达谱变化,为内质网应激反应相关疾病的治疗提供了新思路。     

Functional Integration of Human Neural Precursor Cells in Mouse Cortex

This study investigates the electrophysiological properties and functional integration of different phenotypes of transplanted human neural precursor cells (hNPCs) in immunodeficient NSG mice. Postnatal day 2 mice received unilateral injections of 100,000 GFP+ hNPCs into the right parietal cortex. Eight weeks after transplantation, 1.21% of transplanted hNPCs survived. In these hNPCs, parvalbumin (PV)-, calretinin (CR)-, somatostatin (SS)-positive inhibitory interneurons and excitatory pyramidal neurons were confirmed electrophysiologically and histologically. All GFP+ hNPCs were immunoreactive with anti-human specific nuclear protein. The proportions of PV-, CR-, and SS-positive cells among GFP+ cells were 35.5%, 15.7%, and 17.1%, respectively; around 15% of GFP+ cells were identified as pyramidal neurons. Those electrophysiologically and histological identified GFP+ hNPCs were shown to fire action potentials with the appropriate firing patterns for different classes of neurons and to display spontaneous excitatory and inhibitory postsynaptic currents (sEPSCs and sIPSCs). The amplitude, frequency and kinetic properties of sEPSCs and sIPSCs in different types of hNPCs were comparable to host cells of the same type. In conclusion, GFP+ hNPCs produce neurons that are competent to integrate functionally into host neocortical neuronal networks. This provides promising data on the potential for hNPCs to serve as therapeutic agents in neurological diseases with abnormal neuronal circuitry such as epilepsy.     

Expression and Localization of GEN1 in Mouse Mammary Epithelial Cells

GEN1, a Holliday junction resolvase, is involved in homologous repair of DNA double strand break and in maintaining centrosome integrity. Although GEN1 mutants have been reported in breast cancer patients and cell lines, little is currently known about the functions of GEN1 in the development and oncogenic transformation of mammary gland. In the present study, we demonstrate that GEN1 expression is correlated with mammary epithelial cell proliferation, differentiation in various physiological stages as well as casein. By immunofluorescence analysis, the centrosomal association of GEN1 is confirmed in mammary epithelial cells. Additionally, GEN1 is likely involved in DNA damage response of breast cancer cell lines. These results suggest that GEN1 may play an important role in the development of mammary gland; its response upon DNA damage indicates that GEN1 gene alteration may contribute to breast cancer formation.     

Unique Pattern of Gene Expression in the Erythroid Precursor Cells

Erythroid cells were fractionated by preformed Percoll density gradient from livers of 12.5 day old mouse fetuses. With combination of lysing of mature erythroid cells, the CFU-E (colony forming unit of erythroid) was enriched as high as 30% pure. The mRNA levels of the rt-genes previously cloned as genes expressed in the reticulocytes are estimated in the fractionated erythroid cells. These rt-genes show a drastic change in expression during erythroid differentiation; Their expression was not detectable at the CFU-E cell stage. But it reached to maximum at the polychromatic erythroblast (stage I) and then decreases with maturation. The result suggests that mRNA synthesis of these rt-genes may be induced after the stimulation of erythropoietin.     

Mmi1, the Yeast Homologue of Mammalian TCTP,Associates with Stress Granules in Heat-Shocked Cells and Modulates Proteasome Activity

As we have shown previously, yeast Mmi1 protein translocates from the cytoplasm to the outer surface of mitochondria when vegetatively growing yeast cells are exposed to oxidative stress. Here we analyzed the effect of heat stress on Mmi1 distribution. We performed domain analyses and found that binding of Mmi1 to mitochondria is mediated by its central alpha-helical domain (V-domain) under all conditions tested. In contrast, the isolated N-terminal flexible loop domain of the protein always displays nuclear localization. Using immunoelectron microscopy we confirmed re-location of Mmi1 to the nucleus and showed association of Mmi1 with intact and heat shock-altered mitochondria. We also show here that mmi1Δ mutant strains are resistant to robust heat shock with respect to clonogenicity of the cells. To elucidate this phenotype we found that the cytosolic Mmi1 holoprotein re-localized to the nucleus even in cells heat-shocked at 40°C. Upon robust heat shock at 46°C, Mmi1 partly co-localized with the proteasome marker Rpn1 in the nuclear region as well as with the cytoplasmic stress granules defined by Rpg1 (eIF3a). We co-localized Mmi1 also with Bre5, Ubp3 and Cdc48 which are involved in the protein de-ubiquitination machinery, protecting protein substrates from proteasomal degradation. A comparison of proteolytic activities of wild type and mmi1Δ cells revealed that Mmi1 appears to be an inhibitor of the proteasome. We conclude that one of the physiological functions of the multifunctional protein module, Mmi1, is likely in regulating degradation and/or protection of proteins thereby indirectly regulating the pathways leading to cell death in stressed cells.     

Numb Independently Antagonizes Sanpodo Membrane Targeting and Notch Signaling in Drosophila Sensory Organ Precursor Cells

In Drosophila, mitotic neural progenitor cells asymmetrically segregate the cell fate determinant Numb in order to block Notch signaling in only one of the two daughter cells. Sanpodo, a membrane protein required for Notch signaling in asymmetrically dividing cells, is sequestered from the plasma membrane to intracellular vesicles in a Numb-dependent way after neural progenitor cell mitosis. However, the significance of Numb-dependent Sanpodo regulation is unclear. In this study, we conducted a structure–function analysis to identify the determinants of Sanpodo targeting in vivo. We identified an NPAF motif in the amino-terminal cytoplasmic tail of Sanpodo, which is conserved among insect Sanpodo homologues. The Sanpodo NPAF motif is predicted to bind directly to the Numb phosphotyrosine-binding domain and is critical for Numb binding in vitro. Deletion or mutation of the NPAF motif results in accumulation of Sanpodo at the plasma membrane in Numb-positive cells in vivo. Genetic analysis of Sanpodo NPAF mutants shows that Numb-dependent Sanpodo endocytic targeting can be uncoupled from Notch signaling regulation. Our findings demonstrate that Sanpodo contains an evolutionarily conserved motif that has been linked to Numb-dependent regulation in vertebrates and further support the model that Numb regulates Notch signaling independently of Sanpodo membrane trafficking in neural progenitor cells.     

Syndecan-1 Is Required to Maintain Intradermal Fat and Prevent Cold Stress

Homeostatic temperature regulation is fundamental to mammalian physiology and is controlled by acute and chronic responses of local, endocrine and nervous regulators. Here, we report that loss of the heparan sulfate proteoglycan, syndecan-1, causes a profoundly depleted intradermal fat layer, which provides crucial thermogenic insulation for mammals. Mice without syndecan-1 enter torpor upon fasting and show multiple indicators of cold stress, including activation of the stress checkpoint p38α in brown adipose tissue, liver and lung. The metabolic phenotype in mutant mice, including reduced liver glycogen, is rescued by housing at thermoneutrality, suggesting that reduced insulation in cool temperatures underlies the observed phenotypes. We find that syndecan-1, which functions as a facultative lipoprotein uptake receptor, is required for adipocyte differentiation in vitro. Intradermal fat shows highly dynamic differentiation, continuously expanding and involuting in response to hair cycle and ambient temperature. This physiology probably confers a unique role for Sdc1 in this adipocyte sub-type. The PPARγ agonist rosiglitazone rescues Sdc1−/− intradermal adipose tissue, placing PPARγ downstream of Sdc1 in triggering adipocyte differentiation. Our study indicates that disruption of intradermal adipose tissue development results in cold stress and complex metabolic pathology.     

Cyp26b1 Expression in Murine Sertoli Cells Is Required to Maintain Male Germ Cells in an Undifferentiated State during Embryogenesis

In mammals, germ cells within the developing gonad follow a sexually dimorphic pathway. Germ cells in the murine ovary enter meiotic prophase during embryogenesis, whereas germ cells in the embryonic testis arrest in G0 of mitotic cell cycle and do not enter meiosis until after birth. In mice, retinoic acid (RA) signaling has been implicated in controlling entry into meiosis in germ cells, as meiosis in male embryonic germ cells is blocked by the activity of a RA-catabolizing enzyme, CYP26B1. However, the mechanisms regulating mitotic arrest in male germ cells are not well understood. Cyp26b1 expression in the testes begins in somatic cells at embryonic day (E) 11.5, prior to mitotic arrest, and persists throughout fetal development. Here, we show that Sertoli cell-specific loss of CYP26B1 activity between E15.5 and E16.5, several days after germ cell sex determination, causes male germ cells to exit from G0, re-enter the mitotic cell cycle and initiate meiotic prophase. These results suggest that male germ cells retain the developmental potential to differentiate in meiosis until at least at E15.5. CYP26B1 in Sertoli cells acts as a masculinizing factor to arrest male germ cells in the G0 phase of the cell cycle and prevents them from entering meiosis, and thus is essential for the maintenance of the undifferentiated state of male germ cells during embryonic development.     

TNF-α Suppresses Apelin Receptor Expression in Mouse Quadriceps Femoris-Derived Cells

Expression of the apelin receptor, APJ, in skeletal muscle (SM) is known to decrease with age, but the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Increased tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α levels are observed in SM with age and are associated with muscle atrophy. To investigate the possible interconnection between TNF-α elevation and APJ reduction with aging, we investigated the effect of TNF-α on APJ expression in cells derived from the quadriceps femoris of C57BL/6J mice. Expression of Tnfa and Apj in the quadriceps femoris was compared between 4- (young) and 24-month-old (old) C57BL/6J mice (n = 10 each) using qPCR. Additionally, APJ-positive cells and TNF-α protein were analyzed by flow cytometry and Western blotting, respectively. Further, quadricep-derived cells were exposed to 0 (control) or 25 ng/mL TNF-α, and the effect on Apj expression was examined by qRT-PCR. Apj expression and the ratio of APJ-positive cells among quadricep cells were significantly lower in old compared to young mice. In contrast, levels of Tnfa mRNA and TNF-α protein were significantly elevated in old compared to young mice. Exposing young and old derived quadricep cells to TNF-α for 8 and 24 h caused Apj levels to significantly decrease. TNF-α suppresses APJ expression in muscle cells in vitro. The increase in TNF-α observed in SM with age may induce a decrease in APJ expression.     

电穿孔介导的人对氧磷酶1基因在小鼠原代骨骼肌细胞中的转移与表达

非病毒载体介导的外源基因在哺乳动物骨骼肌细胞中的表达往往受限于基因转移效率的低下.本文利用电穿孔为基因转移方法,研究了人对氧磷酶基因（PON1）在原代培养的小鼠骨骼肌成肌细胞和成熟肌管中的转移与表达.在上述细胞中加入PON1的真核表达质粒后实施一定条件的电穿孔,通过测定不同时间点培养基与细胞裂解液中芳香酯酶活性的变化以衡量PON1的表达与分泌.结果显示,PON1在成肌细胞中表达的最佳电穿孔条件为800 V/cm, 20 ms and 50 μF;在肌管中为700 V/cm, 20 ms and 50 μF.在此条件下,细胞存活率均达75%以上,且表达的蛋白均可有效分泌.RT PCR分析同样验证了PON1 mRNA在骨骼肌细胞中的高效表达.电穿孔介导的PON1基因表达效率显著高于传统的基因转移方法如磷酸钙法和阳离子脂质体法.因此,以不同分化阶段的骨骼肌细胞为靶细胞,通过电穿孔介导外源基因表达切实可行,并可能在细胞工程与基因治疗等领域均具有潜在的应用前景.