Bad seeds produce bad crops: a single stage-process of prostate tumor invasion

It is a commonly held belief that prostate carcinogenesis is a multi-stage process and that tumor invasion is triggered by the overproduction of proteolytic enzymes. This belief is consistent with data from cell cultures and animal models, whereas is hard to interpret several critical facts, including the presence of cancer in "healthy" young men and cancer DNA phenotype in morphologically normal prostate tissues. These facts argue that alternative pathways may exist for prostate tumor invasion in some cases. Since degradation of the basal cell layer is the most distinct sign of invasion, our recent studies have attempted to identify pre-invasive lesions with focal basal cell layer alterations. Our studies revealed that about 30% of prostate cancer patients harbored normal appearing duct or acinar clusters with a high frequency of focal basal cell layer disruptions. These focally disrupted basal cell layers had significantly reduced cell proliferation and tumor suppressor expression, whereas significantly elevated degeneration, apoptosis, and infiltration of immunoreactive cells. In sharp contrast, associated epithelial cell had significantly elevated proliferation, expression of malignancy-signature markers, and physical continuity with invasive lesions. Based on these and other findings, we have proposed that these normal appearing duct or acinar clusters are derived from monoclonal proliferation of genetically damaged stem cells and could progress directly to invasion through two pathways: 1) clonal in situ transformation (CIST) and 2) multi-potential progenitor mediated "budding" (MPMB). These pathways may contribute to early onset of prostate cancer at young ages, and to clinically more aggressive prostate tumors.     

Disrupting the stem cell niche: good seeds in bad soil

Stem cells reside in a microenvironment or niche that is critical for stem cell maintenance and regulation. But what happens when a stem cell niche is disrupted? In this issue of Cell, two reports (Walkley et al., 2007a, 2007b) demonstrate in mice that alterations in the niche for hematopoietic stem cells lead to the development of myeloproliferative disease.     

A method to produce encapsulatable units for synthetic seeds in Asparagus officinalis

A method to produce encapsulatable units for synthetic seeds was developed in Asparagus officinalis L. Encapsulatable units with high conversion ability in non-sterile soil were produced from somatic embryos by a pre-encapsulation culture. The synthetic seeds containing somatic embryos without the pre-encapsulation culture did not germinate in soil. When the pre-encapsulation culture medium did not contain growth regulators, the roots elongated too much to accomplish encapsulation. Several growth regulators were studied and indole-3-acetic acid was considered to be optimum at 28.5 M. The pre-encapsulation culture medium with indole-3-acetic acid inhibited the growth of roots during the pre-encapsulation culture and produced compact encapsulatable units. The growth of roots was promoted when plants were produced from the encapsulatable units. The percent conversion of the synthetic seeds with these encapsulatable units was 72% in non-sterile soil. This is the first report on synthetic seeds in Asparagus officinalis L.     

RLIP: An existential requirement for breast carcinogenesis

Breast cancer (BC) is the most common cancer among women worldwide. Due to its complexity in nature, effective BC treatment can encounter many challenges. The human RALBP1 gene encodes a 76-kDa splice variant protein, RLIP (ral-binding protein1, RalBP1), a stress-protective mercapturic acid pathway (MAP) transporter protein, that also plays a key role in regulating clathrin-dependent endocytosis (CDE) as a Ral effector. Growing evidence shows that targeting RLIP may be an effective strategy in cancer therapy, as RLIP is over-expressed in multiple cancers and is known to induce resistance to apoptosis and chemotherapeutic drugs. Recent studies demonstrated that RLIP is expressed in human BC tissues, as well as BC cell lines. Knockdown of RLIP resulted in apoptotic death of BC cells in vitro, and targeted inhibition and depletion of RLIP resulted in regression of BC in xenograft studies of nude mice. Signaling studies showed that RLIP depletion inhibited endocytosis and differentially regulated signaling to Akt, Myc, and ERK1/2. However, the proliferation and multi-specific transport mechanisms that promote RLIP-mediated cell death in BC are not well understood. In this review, we will discuss a missing but an essentially determining and connecting piece of the puzzle on the understanding of proliferation and transport mechanisms by focused analyses of the apoptotic, drug- and radiation-sensitivity regulated by RLIP, a stress-responsive non-ATP-binding cassette (ABC), high capacity MAP transporter, in breast cancer.     

EGFR signaling in breast cancer: Bad to the bone

The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is a member of the ErbB family of receptor tyrosine kinases. This family includes EGFR/ErbB1/HER1, ErbB2/HER2/Neu ErbB3/HER3, and ErbB4/HER4. For many years it was believed that EGFR plays a minor role in the development and progression of breast malignancies. However, recent findings have led investigators to revisit these beliefs. Here we will review these findings and propose roles that EGFR may play in breast malignancies. In particular, we will discuss the potential roles that EGFR may play in triple-negative tumors, resistance to endocrine therapies, maintenance of stem-like tumor cells, and bone metastasis. Thus, we will propose the contexts in which EGFR may be a therapeutic target.     

A Kunitz trypsin inhibitor of Entada scandens seeds: another member with single disulfide bridge

Sword bean (Entada scandens) is a tree climber that belongs to Mimosoideae, a subfamily of Leguminosae. A potent Kunitz type trypsin inhibitor (ESTI) was purified to homogeneity from Entada scandens seeds by sequential ammonium sulfate precipitation, affinity chromatography on trypsin-Sepharose and DEAE-Sephacel ion-exchange chromatography. ESTI is a single polypeptide chain of 19,766 Da. Both native PAGE as well as isoelectric focusing showed a single inhibitor species with a pI of 7.43. MALDI-TOF analysis also confirmed the monomeric nature. The amino-terminal sequence of ESTI reveals significant homology to the Kunitz-type protease inhibitors of legume plants. ESTI is unique in that it contains a single disulfide bridge, and unlike other inhibitors from Mimosoideae species is a single chain polypeptide. ESTI inhibited bovine trypsin with a stoichiometry of 1:1 and the apparent K(i) was 4.9 x 10(-9) M. In vitro assay showed that ESTI inhibited the midgut proteinase of the fifth instar larvae of Rice moth (Corcyra cephalonica) with an IC(50) of 26.4+/-0.01 nM. ESTI exhibits a mixed type competitive inhibition at lower concentration and pure competitive at higher inhibitor concentrations. Phylogenetic analyses depicted a clear divergence of single disulfide containing inhibitors from other tree legume Kunitz inhibitors. The homology of ESTI to Kunitz inhibitors together with the absence of Bowman-Birk type inhibitors in sword bean further supports the theory that there exists an evolutionary relationship between the families of inhibitors found in Leguminosae.     

Scent and the single male: ring-tailed lemurs produce honest signals

In mating systems that involve competing males and choosy females, males are expected to advertise their genetic quality to discriminating females. Most examples have focused on visual or acoustic signals, such as ornamentation or song; yet arguably, olfactory communication may be more important to the majority of vertebrates with the possible exception of birds. Fortunately, attention has begun to shift to the role of odours in mate choice, with most of that attention being directed at the major histocompatibility complex or more recently at the major urinary proteins. The study of male ring-tailed lemurs presented by Charpentier and colleagues in this issue adds a new dimension to investigations of the influence of genes on mate choice via odour production. By comparing genetic heterozygosity to the production of semiochemicals in the scrotal scent gland, they provide a link between genetic composition and scent-marking behaviour as a potential advertisement of male quality.     

五种作物基因库种子繁殖更新技术研究

用大白菜、荞麦、多花菜豆、薏苡和芝麻等五种作物,每作物4个品种,各设25、50、100、150、200株不同群体的田间种植试验.采用纱网隔离,人工链式杂交,成对杂交,混合授粉,人工辅助授粉或虫媒(蜜蜂、苍蝇)等不同传粉方法.观察、记载主要农艺性状.室内考种并测定各繁种方法与原种繁殖前后10种同工酶,计算遗传多样性指数;比较不同种群及原种与不同繁种方法繁殖后代间的差异显著性(遗传相似性).提出这5种作物基因库种子最佳繁种措施大白菜种植50～100株,群体内进行人工链式杂交;荞麦在网罩内种50～100株,采用家蝇传粉;多花菜豆在全封闭网棚内种50株以上,放蜜蜂传粉;薏苡种50～150株群体,套袋人工混合授粉;芝麻采用非隔离区种植40～50株或利用温室隔离种植.     

The use of rice seeds to produce human pharmaceuticals for oral therapy

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is the major staple food consumed by half of the world's population. Rice seeds have gained recent attention as bioreactors for the production of human pharmaceuticals such as therapeutic proteins or peptides. Rice seed production platforms have many advantages over animal cell or microbe systems in terms of cost-effectiveness, scalability, safety, product stability and productivity. Rice seed-based human pharmaceuticals are expected to become innovative therapies as edible drugs. Therapeutic proteins can be sequestered within natural cellular compartments in rice seeds and protected from harsh gastrointestinal environments. This review presents the state-of-the-art on the construction of gene cassettes for accumulation of pharmaceutical proteins or peptides in rice seeds, the generation of transgenic rice plants, and challenges involved in the use of rice seeds to produce human pharmaceuticals.     

A genome-wide analysis of single nucleotide polymorphism diversity in the world's major cereal crops

Over 3.5 million expressed sequence tags from the major cereal taxa were used to electronically mine over 176 000 putative single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). The density, distribution and degree of linkage between these SNPs were compared among the different taxa. The frequency of sequence polymorphism was lowest in diploid taxa (rice, barley and sorghum), intermediate in tetraploid maize and highest in allohexaploid wheat and octoploid sugarcane. SNPs were further categorized as either intravarietal (differences between gene family members and homoeologues) or varietal (differences between two varieties), and as either co-segregating or non-co-segregating with neighbouring polymorphisms. Varietal co-segregating SNPs represent the best candidates for molecular markers as they show variation between varieties and have a high probability of being validated, as sequencing errors are unlikely to co-segregate with one another. This elite class of SNPs was most abundant in barley and least abundant in wheat and rice. Despite the large number of observed sequence polymorphisms in allohexaploid wheat, only a fraction of those available are likely to make good molecular markers. In addition, we found that rice SNPs up to 10 kb apart were in linkage disequilibrium (LD), but that high levels of LD attributable to population structure confounded the tracking of LD over greater distances.     

Grape seeds: the best lignocellulosic waste to produce laccase by solid state cultures of Trametes hirsuta

Grape seeds were used by Trametes hirsuta as a substrate for laccase production giving 23 kU l^–1, which was 10-fold the value attained in the cultures with no lignocellulosic waste addition. The dyes, Indigo Carmine and Bromophenol Blue, were easily decolourised (100% in 24 h) by the extracellular liquid obtained in such cultures, whereas Methyl Orange (65% in 24 h) and Phenol Red (36% in 24 h) were more resistant to degradation. This shows the specificity of laccase towards different dye structures.     

Foliar and ground-foraging predators of aphids associated with alfalfa crops in Chile: Are they good or bad partners?

Carabids and coccinellids are the most abundant aphid predators in alfalfa. Depending on the amount of prey consumed, the impact of their combined effect can be additive, antagonistic, or synergistic. Laboratory trials demonstrated that a higher proportion of Aphis craccivora Koch dropped from the alfalfa plants in the presence of coccinellids, and that the interaction between these predators was additive or synergistic, but never antagonistic, suggesting that they might be good partners in controlling aphids.     

主要作物远缘杂交概况

本文综述了水稻、小麦、玉米、棉花、大豆等作物的远缘杂交的概况。这五种作物远缘杂交中,利用的野生近缘植物有水稻的尼瓦拉野生稻、普通野生稻和药用野生稻,小麦的黑麦、偃麦草、冰草、山羊草、簇毛麦、赖草、鹅观草、新麦草、旱麦草,玉米的类玉米和摩擦禾,棉花的墨西哥野生棉、异常棉、瑟伯氏棉、李奇蒙德氏棉、司笃克氏棉和比克氏棉,大豆的野生大豆和半野生大豆。通过远缘杂交获得了新物种如小偃麦、亚比棉等,还获得了大批异附加系、异代换系、易位系等种质材料,以及生产上推广的优良品种。