Macrophage colony-stimulating factor expression in retrovirally transduced cells is dependent upon both the adherence status of the target cells and its 5' flanking untranslated region

Numerous cell types retrovirally transduced with macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF) using LXSN-based vectors showed a variable expression of the transgene. Expression of M-CSF correlated with the cells' adherent status. Transduced adherent cells produced the M-CSF, whereas the non-adherent cells synthesized little M-CSF. Studies showed that the 5'-UTR of the M-CSF gene regulated transgenic M-CSF gene expression. Ligation of this 5'-UTR to the enhanced green fluorescent protein gene (EGFP) caused the expression of EGFP to show the same dichotomy as previously seen with the M-CSF. Transgenic M-CSF was expressed within non-adherent cells when the 5'-UTR was removed from the LXSN vector. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis confirmed that lesser production of M-CSF mRNA occurred within the non-adherent cells than in the adherent cells. This difference was eliminated when the 5'-UTR was removed from the retroviral vector. Our work suggests that this 5'-UTR of the M-CSF gene could be an important way to get transgenic expression within adherent cells, but not in non-adherent cells.     

盐穗木钾转运蛋白基因HcKUP12的克隆及在盐胁迫下的表达分析

利用RACE技术从盐生植物盐穗木(Halostachys caspica)中克隆获得了一个钾离子转运体基因,经BLAST同源比对发现该基因与拟南芥钾离子转运蛋白At KUP12基因最为相似,命名为Hc KUP12。Hc KUP12基因c DNA全长为2953 bp,含有2544 bp的阅读框、262 bp的5'-UTR和147 bp的3'-UTR,编码847个氨基酸,分子质量为93.31 k D,理论等电点为7.19。利用实时荧光定量RT-PCR分析了Hc KUP12基因在600 mmol/L Na Cl处理下胁迫24 h的表达模式,结果显示该基因在盐胁迫下表达量显著增加,至处理24 h时达到最高(为对照的225倍),初步推测其可能是与盐穗木耐盐相关的一个候选基因。     

tRNA regulation of gene expression: interactions of an mRNA 5'-UTR with a regulatory tRNA

Many genes encoding aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases and other amino acid-related products in Gram-positive bacteria, including important pathogens, are regulated through interaction of unacylated tRNA with the 5'-untranslated region (5'-UTR) of the mRNA. Each gene regulated by this mechanism responds specifically to the cognate tRNA, and specificity is determined by pairing of the anticodon of the tRNA with a codon sequence in the "Specifier Loop" of the 5'-UTR. For the 5'-UTR to function in gene regulation, the mRNA folding interactions must be sufficiently stable to present the codon sequence for productive binding to the anticodon of the matching tRNA. A model bimolecular system was developed in which the interaction between two half molecules ("Common" and "Specifier") would reconstitute the Specifier Loop region of the 5'-UTR of the Bacillus subtilis glyQS gene, encoding GlyRS mRNA. Gel mobility shift analysis and fluorescence spectroscopy yielded experimental Kds of 27.6 +/- 1.0 microM and 10.5 +/- 0.7 microM, respectively, for complex formation between Common and Specifier half molecules. The reconstituted 5'-UTR of the glyQS mRNA bound the anticodon stem and loop of tRNA(Gly) (ASL(Gly)(GCC)) specifically and with a significant affinity (Kd = 20.2 +/- 1.4 microM). Thus, the bimolecular 5'-UTR and ASL(Gly)(GCC) models mimic the RNA-RNA interaction required for T box gene regulation in vivo.     

Differences in the translation efficiency and mRNA stability mediated by 5'-UTR splice variants of human SP-A1 and SP-A2 genes

Surfactant protein A (SP-A) plays an important role in host defense, modulation of inflammatory processes, and surfactant-related functions of the lung. The human SP-A (hSP-A) locus consists of two functional genes, SP-A1 and SP-A2. Several hSP-A 5'-untranslated region (UTR) splice variants for each gene have been characterized and shown to be translated in vitro and in vivo. In this report, we investigated the role of hSP-A 5'-UTR splice variants on SP-A production and molecular mechanisms involved. We used in vitro transient expression of hSP-A 5'-UTR constructs containing luciferase as the reporter gene and quantitative real-time PCR to study hSP-A 5'-UTR-mediated gene expression. We found that 1) the four (A'D', ABD, AB'D', and A'CD') 5'-UTR splice variants under study enhanced gene expression, by increasing luciferase activity from 2.5- to 19.5-fold and luciferase mRNA from 4.3- to 8.8-fold compared with the control vector that lacked hSP-A 5'-UTR; 2) all four 5'-UTR splice variants studied regulated mRNA stability. The ABD variant exhibited the lowest rate of mRNA decay compared with the other three constructs (A'D', AB'D', and A'CD'). These three constructs also exhibited significantly lower rate of mRNA decay compared with the control vector; 3) based on the indexes of translational efficiency (luciferase activity/mRNA), ABD and AB'D' exhibited higher translational efficiency compared with the control vector, whereas the translational efficiency of each A'D' and A'CD' was lower than that of the control vector. These findings indicate that the hSP-A 5'-UTR splice variants play an important role in both SP-A translation and mRNA stability.     

Molecular characterization of lapinized classical Swine Fever vaccine strain by full-length genome sequencing and analysis

The complete genome of a lapinized classical swine fever virus (CSFV) vaccine strain was amplified into nine overlapping fragments by RT-PCR, and nucleotide sequences were determined. Complete genome sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis indicated 92.6-98.6% identities at the nucleotide level with other reported CSFV strains and could be grouped into subgroup 1.1 along with other attenuated strains of CSFV. The 5'-UTR demonstrated >97.0% nucleotide similarity with most of vaccine CSFV strains from China. Further, its 3'-UTR sequence indicated a length similar to all the CSFV strains from China with >98.0% nucleotide similarity, although high length heterogeneity of 3'-UTR was reported among different CSFV strains. There was 12 nt (TTTTCTTTTTTT) insertion in 3'-UTR similar to other reported attenuated vaccine strains. However, secondary structure of 3'-UTR indicated that Indian CSFV strain requires further passage to obtain a 3'-UTR structure similar to most of the attenuated strains.     

拟南芥AtPSK3基因的克隆及序列分析

根据拟南芥基因组数据库提供的信息,首次以特异引物经PCR技术克隆到拟南芥硫肽激素α的一个前体基因———AtPSK3,并对其进行了测序。序列分析表明,所获得的AtPSK3基因全长为505bp,含有一个内含子和两个没有3′或5′非转译区的外显子,与数据库提供的序列比较,同源性为100%。