NRDRiso酶cDNA的序列测定及生物信息学分析

通过鉴定分析人肝组织中辅酶II依赖性视黄醇脱氢酶不同剪接体全长cDNA核苷酸序列与氨基酸序列的结构特征,为今后进一步研究体内维甲酸的代谢情况奠定基础。根据人、小鼠NRDR编码区的一致性序列,设计一对引物,应用RTPCR方法从人肝组织中得到一条377bp的新的cDNA片段。采用RACE法得到了NRDR新亚型cDNA,并以生物信息学软件分析其生物学特征。 测序得知该cDNA长为1003bp,以NADP-dependent retinol dehydrogenase/reductase short isoform（NRDRiso）登录GenBank。其读码框为525bp,拟编码174个氨基酸的蛋白。     

环形RNA全长组装与定量工具的研究进展

环形RNA是一种广泛存在于真核细胞的内源性RNA,由前体RNA反向剪接而成,不具有5’末端帽子和3’末端poly(A)尾巴,呈封闭环状结构。环形RNA通过miRNA海绵结合等方式参与基因表达调控等许多重要的生物学过程。环形RNA可以通过可变剪接产生不同的环形RNA转录本,因此获取环形RNA转录本内部全长序列信息以及对环形RNA内部可变剪接产物进行精确定量是揭示环形RNA调控功能的前提。生物信息学工具能够高效便捷的处理高通量测序数据,被普遍用来鉴别和分析环形RNA。本文介绍了环形RNA的产生机制以及功能特性,对环形RNA检测、全长序列组装以及定量相关计算工具进行综述。     

癌症中lncRNA调控可变剪接的生物信息学研究进展

可变剪接是指基因在不同剪接模式下生成RNA异构体的过程,是基因转录后表达调控的重要机制。可变剪接已被证实在癌症发生发展中扮演着重要角色,而异常剪接被认为是肿瘤发生的重要标志。长链非编码RNA(lncRNA)是基因可变剪接过程中的重要参与者和调节者,并且诸多证据表明lncRNA可通过调控可变剪接进而影响癌症的发生发展。本文对癌症中lncRNA调控的可变剪接相关研究进行了综述,并对相关生物信息学工具及数据库进行了总结。     

纤维粘连蛋白的分子生物学研究

纤维粘连蛋白是一双链结构、由多个功能区构成的大分子糖蛋白．多肽链分子由三种形式的结构模型重复出现所构成,相邻的几个重复结构组成一个功能区.体内仅一条FN基因,经选择剪切产生多种形式的FN多肽,它们之间的区别在于三个可变区氨基酸残基的不同.纤维粘连蛋白参与广泛的病理及生理过程,其功能区结构及基因结构的深入研究,有利于阐明其结构与功能的关系.     

小桐子YABBY全基因组家族成员的鉴定、表达和可变剪接分析

为发掘能源植物小桐子(Jatropha curcas)的YABBY转录因子,以最新公布的小桐子基因组序列为参考,在全基因组层面鉴定出5个亚家族的7个YABBY基因,同一亚家族的成员具有相似的氨基酸序列、基因结构和保守基序组成。YAB2和FIL/YAB3亚家族的2个旁系同源基因对(JcYAB2A/JcYAB2B、JcYAB1/JcYAB3)具有良好的共线性关系,表明片段复制或全基因组复制是小桐子YABBY家族扩张的主要方式。纯化选择是进化的主要动力,而YAB2亚家族成员可能在进化中经历了更明显的功能分化。基因表达模式和蛋白互作预测分析表明JcYAB2B和JcYAB3可能在种子的发育过程中起到重要的调控作用;同时,细胞分裂素、干旱或高盐胁迫处理抑制了大多数JcYABs成员的基因表达。此外,转录组测序结合q RT-PCR分析表明,低温处理有效诱导JcYAB2A和JcYAB2B的基因表达模式发生变化,并伴随着新的、截短的可变剪接转录本的动态积累。因此,推测JcYABs可能通过剪接体的功能竞争或功能互补参与低温响应的调节,这些结果有助于更好地了解YABBY家族成员的功能分化并阐明可变剪接如何调控...     

Investigation of Tissue-Specific Human Orthologous Alternative Splice Events in Pig

Alternative splicing of pre-mRNA can contribute to differences between tissues or cells either by regulating gene expression or creating proteins with various functions encoded by one gene. The number of investigated alternative splice events in pig has so far been limited. In this study we have investigated alternative splice events detected in humans, in orthologous pig genes. A total of 17 genes with predicted exon skipping events were selected for further studies. The splice events for the selected genes were experimentally verified using real-time quantitative PCR analysis (qPCR) with splice-specific primers in 19 different tissues. The same splice variants as reported in humans were detected in 15 orthologous pig genes, however, the expression pattern predicted in the in silico analyses was only experimentally verified in a few cases. The results support the findings that splice events resulting in preservation of open reading frame are indicative of a functional significance of the splice variants of the gene.     

Regulation of splicing enhancer activities by RNA secondary structures

In this report, we studied the effect of RNA structures on the activity of exonic splicing enhancers on the SMN1 minigene model by engineering known ESEs into different positions of stable hairpins. We found that as short as 7-bp stem is sufficient to abolish the enhancer activity. When placing ESEs in the loop region, AG-rich ESEs are fully active, but a UCG-rich ESE is not because of additional structural constraints. ESEs placed adjacent to the 3′ end of the hairpin structure display high enhancer activity, regardless of their sequence identities. These rules explain the suppression of multiple ESEs by point mutations that result in a stable RNA structure, and provide an additional mechanism for the C6T mutation in SMN2.     

Overexpression of SR proteins and splice variants modulates chondrogenesis

Fibronectin alternative exon EIIIA is largely included in undifferentiated mesenchymal cells of the developing limb bud, whereas the exon is excluded in differentiated chondrocytes. Inclusion of exon EIIIA in chondrocytic cells is increased by overexpression of SRp40, and, to a lesser extent, SRp75, but not SRp55. RT-PCR analysis using real-time PCR revealed that the levels of the mRNAs for these three proteins did not vary significantly in chick chondrocytes versus mesenchymal cells of the developing limb bud. However, a variant spliced form of SRp40, termed, SRp40LF, is detected preferentially in chondrocytes and in chondrifying mesenchymal cells. Forced overexpression of SRp40 or SRp75, but not SRp55, enhanced chondrogenic differentiation of chick limb mesenchymal cells in a high-density micromass assay. Overexpression of SRp40LF, which produces a truncated form of SRp40, also was strongly pro-chondrogenic. In a HeLa cell-based assay, SRp40LF fails to substitute for SRp40 in mediating an increase in exon EIIIA inclusion, suggesting that the latter event is not essential for the pro-chondrogenic effect. These results demonstrate the ability of these highly conserved splicing factors to modulate chondrogenesis and are consistent with earlier results that implicated exon EIIIA-containing isoforms of fibronectin in formation of chondrogenic condensations.     

ASD及其在基因选择性剪接检索中的应用

在生物信息学的飞速发展中,与之相应的各种类型的数据库不断涌现,选择性剪接数据库（Alternative Splicing Database）便是其中之一。本文详细介绍了ASD数据库的主要内容及其功能,并在其子数据库AltSplice中检索NGAL基因的选择性剪接,由此为例说明了ASD数据库在基因选择性剪接检索中的应用。     

人锰超氧化物歧化酶基因剪接异构体的表达分析

对人锰超氧化物歧化酶(human manganese superoxide dismutase,hMn-SOD)基因剪接异构体进行分析,并检测异构体的表达情况。在GenBank库中检索人锰超氧化物歧化酶基因异构体及编码基因组序列,利用Vector NTI9生物软件进行核酸及蛋白序列比对;利用RT-PCR方法分析锰超氧化物歧化酶基因异构体的表达。结果显示,在GenBank库检索发现有3种人锰超氧化物歧化酶基因异构体,剪接异构的类型为可变的5′剪接位点和外显子盒,各异构体基因内含子均符合"GT-AG"规则。3种基因异构体编码两种异构体蛋白,即222个氨基酸的人锰超氧化物歧化酶蛋白以及中部缺少39个氨基酸的截短型异构蛋白。RT-PCR检测结果表明,剪接异构体hMn-SODb在HEK293T和HSC细胞中的表达比在HepG2细胞中高,未见异构体hMn-SODc的表达。