Porcine Type III RNA Polymerase III Promoters for Short Hairpin RNA Expression

Based on the highly conserved sequences of small nuclear RNA and small cytoplasmic RNA between vertebrate species, three porcine type III RNA polymerase III promoters, pY1, pY3 and pU6, were identified by using genomic DNA walking. To test the functional relationship of these sequences, the human H1 promoter of pSUPER-EGFP-l-neo vector was substituted with these three promoters to create the ppPol III-MCS vectors. The strength of each promoter was measured by its ability to derive expression of shRNA to repress expression of luciferase via RNA interference in the pig kidney epithelial cell line LLC-PK1. We determine that the ranking of promoter strength in descending order is pU6 > pY1 > pY3.     

发夹RNA(shRNA)在哺乳动物RNAi研究中的应用

在哺乳动物的RNAi研究中,载体表达的shRNA分子比细胞同时表达的siRNA分子的正义链与反义链对靶基因的抑制效率要高。shRNA可由PolⅢ的启动子在体内表达产生,酶切cDNA和shRNA芯片是产生shRNA的最新方法。对shRNA的设计应注意靶基因序列、环序列以及载体酶切位点的选择。诱导表达shRNA的载体系统的表达效率有所差异,质粒载体转染效率尚不稳定,且持续时间短,通过病毒载体介导是目前进行基因敲除最有效的工具。     

小鼠肌肉生长抑制素基因短发夹RNA促进MyoD在C2C12细胞中的表达

肌肉生长抑制素(myostatin,MSTN)属于转化生长因子-β(transforming growth factor-β,TGF-β)超家族,主要功能为负向调节骨骼肌的生长.肌肉生长抑制素基因敲除小鼠肌肉出现显著增加,而将干涉该基因的短发夹RNA注射并电击转化入大鼠胫前肌则引起肌肉重量、肌纤维以及MHCⅡ表达的增加.通过与小鼠肌肉生长抑制素基因表达载体共转染HEK293细胞,筛选到两条能够高效抑制小鼠肌肉生长抑制素基因表达的小干涉RNA.构建了这两条小RNA的表达载体Mst-shRNA1和Mst-shRNA2,用其分别转染小鼠C2C12成肌细胞,并通过G418药物筛选和流式细胞仪富集整合了短发夹RNA表达载体的阳性细胞.通过采用Real-time PCR和Western blot分析,检测到在分别整合了Mst-shRNA1和Mst-shRNA2的C2C12细胞中,内源性肌肉生长抑制素基因的mRNA水平分别下降了10.2%和35.5%,蛋白质表达则分别下降了29.3%和64.7%.同时,在这两组中MyoD的表达上升了24.4%和40.4%,证明通过RNA干涉实现的肌肉生长抑制素基因的抑制导致了下游MyoD基...     

短发夹结构RNA干扰新城疫病毒的增殖

 以新城疫病毒（NDV）NP基因为标靶,构建3个细胞内表达发夹样结构小干扰RNA（shRNA）的质粒载体,在鸡胚成纤维细胞（CEF）和鸡胚上进行了RNAi试验,筛选出一个有效抑制病毒复制的小分子ndv1.用阳离子脂质体转染试剂Silent-fect 将ndv1转染CEF,以不相关shRNA质粒载体HK为阴性对照,4 h后接种NDV,与对照相比,干涉组在病毒感染后3 h NP基因的表达量降低2.3倍,6 h 降低21.1倍,9 h降低9.8倍;ndv1能在48 h内完全阻断NDV在CEF中的增殖,延缓病变出现时间,减轻病变程度.将Silent-fect-ndv1混合物与NDV同时注入10日龄SPF鸡胚绒毛尿囊腔,能使10⁵ ELD₅₀NDV感染后17 h鸡胚尿囊液中病毒增殖量减少94.4%,使10⁶ ELD₅₀NDV感染后17　h鸡胚尿囊液中病毒增殖量减少62.5%.实验结果证实,在CEF中存在RNAi机制,抑制NDV NP基因的表达能有效阻断该病毒增殖,说明NP基因在NDV复制过程中起重要作用.实验结果为进一步利用RNAi技术在CEF和鸡胚中研究病毒基因组功能及筛选抗病毒小分子奠定了基础.     

Drosophila U6 promoter-driven short hairpin RNAs effectively induce RNA interference in Schneider 2 cells

The effect of RNA interference (RNAi) is generally more potent in Drosophila Schneider 2 (S2) cells than in mammalian cells. In mammalian cells, PolIII promoter-based DNA vectors can be used to express small interfering RNA (siRNA) or short hairpin RNA (shRNA); however, this has not been demonstrated in cultured Drosophila cells. Here we show that shRNAs transcribed from the Drosophila U6 promoter can efficiently trigger gene silencing in S2 cells. By targeting firefly luciferase mRNA, we assessed the efficacy of the shRNAs and examined the structural requirements for highly effective shRNAs. The silencing effect was dependent on the length of the stem region and the sequence of the loop region. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the expression of the endogenous cyclin E protein can be repressed by the U6 promoter-driven shRNAs. Drosophila U6 promoter-based shRNA expression systems may permit stable gene silencing in S2 cells.     

Cloning and Tissue Expression Characterization of the Chicken APOB Gene

Apolipoprotein B (APOB) serves an essential role in the assembly and secretion of triglyceride-rich lipoproteins and lipids transport. This study was designed to clone the full-length cDNA of the chicken APOB gene, to characterize the expression profile, and investigate the differential expression between layer and broiler of the chicken APOB gene. The full-length cDNA sequence (14,150-bp) that contained a 13,896-bp ORF encoding 4,631 amino acids was obtained by RT-PCR, RACE, and bioinformatics analysis. qReal-Time PCR analysis showed that the chicken APOB gene was highly expressed in kidney, liver, and intestine. The results of differential expression showed that the APOB gene was more highly expressed in intestine and kidney in Bai'er layer than in broiler, but there was no significant difference in liver between the two breeds. The results of this study provided basic molecular information for studying the role of APOB in the energy transportation in avian species.     

靶向山羊痘病毒DNA聚合酶基因shRNA质粒表达载体的构建及筛选

本研究针对山羊痘病毒基因组高度保守的DNA聚合酶区段,选取了5个干扰靶位点。根据RNAi技术原理,构建了包括对照在内的6个shRNA重组表达质粒,转染细胞后接种病毒,通过细胞毒液的TCID_(50)测定和用实时荧光定量PCR检测siRNA重组质粒对羊痘病毒DNA聚合酶基因表达的抑制作用。结果显示,重组表达质粒组的抑制率在63%以上,其中以pSI-W2最为明显,抑制率为93.8%。该研究应用RNAi技术在细胞水平筛选出了能够高效抑制山羊痘病毒增殖的干扰片段,为抗山羊痘病毒转基因羊的研究奠定了基础。     

Knockdown of Cellular RNA Helicase DDX3 by Short Hairpin RNAs Suppresses HIV-1 Viral Replication Without Inducing Apoptosis

The targeting of a cellular co-factor, rather than the HIV-1-specific RNAs, by small interfering RNAs holds promise as the rapid mutational ability of the HIV-1 genome may obviate the potential clinical use of RNAi against this virus. The DEAD-box RNA helicase DDX3 is an essential Rev co-factor in the CRM1-Rev-RRE complex that promotes the export of unspliced and single-spliced HIV-1 RNAs from the nucleus to cytoplasm. In this report, human DDX3 was targeted by specific short hairpin RNAs, and the down-regulation of cell's endogenous DDX3 suppressed the nuclear export of unspliced HIV-1 RNAs but did not affect the cell viability. We further showed that the knockdown of cellular DDX3 could effectively inhibit the replication of HIV-1. Therefore, the current results suggest that the RNA helicase DDX3 may become a potential target by RNAi for future genetic therapy of HIV/AIDS.     

鸡输卵管特异表达载体的优化及体内表达

为了实现鸡输卵管特异表达载体在相应组织特异高产表达, 并简化质粒DNA的制备过程, 本研究在已经构建的鸡输卵管特异表达载体pOV1基础上进行了优化改造, 为进一步进行重组药物蛋白的暂态表达及转基因鸡研究奠定基础。首先用限制性内切酶将克隆在pOV1载体的鸡卵清蛋白基因5￠-和3￠-调控区切出, 同时克隆到切除neo基因及CMV启动子的pcDNA3.0载体, 构建成另一输卵管特异表达载体pOV2; 将鸡卵清蛋白基因5￠-调控区单独克隆入同样载体, 获得第三个鸡输卵管特异表达载体pOV3。为了检验三个输卵管表达载体驱动外源基因在鸡体内输卵管细胞中表达的有效性和特异性, 将LacZ报告基因分别克隆入pOV1、pOV2、pOV3中5'-调控区的下游, 获得的重组载体pOV1LacZ、pOV2LacZ和pOV3LacZ经聚乙烯亚胺包裹后, 经翅静脉注射产蛋鸡。用RT-PCR和酶活性检测法对LacZ基因在载体注射鸡体内的表达进行检测, 结果显示肝、脾、肾、心等组织中无LacZ基因的表达, 而输卵管膨大部不仅有LacZ基因的表达, 而且表达的重组酶能分泌到蛋清中, 雌激素注射对报告基因的表达具有促进作用, 其中pOV3LacZ的表达水平较高。这些试验结果表明, 鸡输卵管特异表达载体pOV3具有结构相对简单、表达水平较高、组织特异性较好等优点, 能用于鸡输卵管生物反应器的研制。     

Expression of Green Fluorescent Protein from Bacterial and Plastid Promoters in Tobacco Chloroplasts

The expression of the green fluorescent protein reporter gene (gfp) from the bacterial trc and plastid rrn and psbA promoters has been compared in transplastomic tobacco plants produced by microprojectile bombardment. The homoplasmic nature of the regenerated plants was confirmed by Southern blot analysis. Northern blot analysis indicated that plants expressing gfp from the rrn promoter contained 3-fold more gfp RNA than plants containing the psbA promoter and 12-fold more than plants with the trc promoter. Immunoblot analysis and fluorescence spectroscopy indicated that plants expressing gfp from the rrn promoter contained approximately 90-fold more green fluorescent protein (GFP) than plants containing the psbA or trc promoters. This study demonstrates that the bacterial trc promoter is significantly weaker than the plastid rrn promoter for expression of gfp in tobacco chloroplasts.     

Isolation and Characterization of Low-Molecular-Weight Chromium-binding Substance (LMWCr) from Chicken Liver

Chromodulin (also known as low-molecular-weight chromium-binding substance, LMWCr) is a chromium-binding oligopeptide proposed to play a role in insulin signaling and chromium transport in mammals. This laboratory has isolated and purified this material from a non-mammalian source, an avian. Spectroscopic and physical characterization of the isolated material suggests the material is an oligopeptide with a multinuclear chromium assembly bridged via asparatate and glutamate residues very similar to its mammalian counterparts. The isolated material also possesses a biological activity similar to other LMWCr isolates.     

Transgene Expression in the Vegetative Tissues of Apple Driven by the Vascular-specific rolC and CoYMV Promoters

The ability of the heterologous promoters, rolCP and CoYMVP, to drive expression of the gusA reporter gene in the vegetative tissues of apple (Malus pumila Mill.) has been studied using transgenic plants produced by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Replicate plants of each transgenic clone were propagated in soil to a uniform size and samples of leaf, petiole, stem, and root were taken for the measurement of -glucuronidase (GUS) activity by fluorometric assay. The levels of expression were compared with those in tissues of a representative clone containing the CaMV 35S promoter. These quantitative GUS data were related to the copy number of transgene loci assessed by Southern blotting. The CoYMV promoter was slightly more active than the rolC promoter, although both expressed gusA at a lower level than the CaMV 35S promoter. In clones containing the rolC promoter with multiple transgene loci, expression values were generally among the highest or lowest in the range. The precise location of GUS activity in each tissue was identified by staining of whole leaves and tissue sections with a chromogenic substrate. This analysis demonstrated that with both the rolC and CoYMV promoters the reporter gene activity was primarily localised to vascular tissues, particularly the phloem. Our results indicate that both promoters would be suitable to drive the expression of transgenes to combat pests and diseases of apple that are dependent on interaction with the phloem.     

Expression of exogenous proteins and short hairpin RNAs in human primary thyrocytes

Recently, it has been shown that commercial human thyroid lines were in fact derived from colon, mammary carcinoma, or melanoma. Others have demonstrated the absence of a common pattern of gene expression between available thyroid cancer cell lines and tumors from patients. Thus, it is important to use several primary cells with a common pathological origin to achieve reproducible results, and it is necessary to find common methods for manipulation of protein expression in such various cultures. We have standardized a transfection method for efficient expression of exogenous proteins in human primary thyroid cultures. We compared lipid-based techniques with three electroporation systems (Electroporator PulseAgile [PA]-4000, Microporator MP-100, and Nucleofector II). Nucleofection was unquestionably the most efficient even for promoter regulation studies, and it was effective in cultures from different origins as normal thyroid, papillary carcinoma, or lymphoid node metastasis. We also standardized, through lentiviral infection, the short hairpin RNA downregulation of protein expression generating human thyrocytes with low levels of p27KIP1 as a model system.     

鸡贫血病毒衣壳蛋白的表达纯化及多克隆抗体制备

利用PCR技术,以pPrpo-VP1为模板扩增得到鸡贫血病毒的衣壳蛋白基因(VP1),以T4多聚核苷酸激酶磷酸化处理、纯化后,克隆至表达载体pET-30a(+) 中,从而构建了原核表达质粒pET30-VP1.将pET30-VP1转化至感受态细胞E.coli BL21(DE3)中,经IPTG诱导后,SDS-PAGE分析,可见约45kDa的目的蛋白获得表达.该蛋白经亲和层析纯化后,免疫6-8w的雌性Balb/c鼠,三次免疫后,采血分离血清,制得抗VP1的多克隆血清.以纯化的VP1为包被抗原,用ELISA方法检测,制备的血清效价达12800×以上.以Western blot 检测,该血清可与目的蛋白发生特异性反应,证明其具有良好的免疫原性.VP1蛋白的成功表达及其多克隆抗体的制备为进一步研究VP1蛋白的功能及开展CAV疫苗及诊断制剂的研制奠定了基础.     

鸡贫血病毒衣壳蛋白的表达纯化及多克隆抗体制备

利用PCR技术,以pPrpo-VP1为模板扩增得到鸡贫血病毒的衣壳蛋白基因(VP1),以T4多聚核苷酸激酶磷酸化处理、纯化后,克隆至表达载体pET-30a( )中,从而构建了原核表达质粒pET30-VP1。将pET30-VP1转化至感受态细胞E.coliBL21(DE3)中,经IPTG诱导后,SDS-PAGE分析,可见约45kDa的目的蛋白获得表达。该蛋白经亲和层析纯化后,免疫6-8w的雌性Balb/c鼠,三次免疫后,采血分离血清,制得抗VP1的多克隆血清。以纯化的VP1为包被抗原,用ELISA方法检测,制备的血清效价达12800×以上。以Westernblot检测,该血清可与目的蛋白发生特异性反应,证明其具有良好的免疫原性。VP1蛋白的成功表达及其多克隆抗体的制备为进一步研究VP1蛋白的功能及开展CAV疫苗及诊断制剂的研制奠定了基础。