模型动物在动物流感病毒传播机制研究中的应用

动物流感（influenza）不仅会对畜禽养殖业造成巨大的经济损失,而且可以跨越种间障碍进入人群,引发全球性的公共卫生危机和灾难性后果.模型动物是研究流感传播机制的重要基础.模型动物的使用有助于我们对流感病毒传播机制的深入了解.本文从流感病毒的宿主范围、常用模型动物的宿主限制因素和模型动物在流感病毒跨种传播机制中的选择与应用等三个方面进行了综述.     

关于新型冠状病毒动物宿主和动物感染的研究进展

新型冠状病毒（Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, SARS-CoV-2）是一种全新的病毒,是继严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒（Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus, SARS-CoV）和中东呼吸综合征冠状病毒（Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Syndrome Coronavirus, MERS-CoV）之后引起人类大范围感染的第三种冠状病毒。目前不少研究提示SARS-CoV-2可能来源于动物,动物在疫情的发生与传播过程中起着重要作用。这篇综述总结了目前关于SARS-CoV-2动物宿主和动物易感性的最新研究进展。现有研究提示,SARS-CoV-2很可能起源于蝙蝠,穿山甲是中间宿主。恒河猴,水貂、白尾鹿,动物园里的老虎、狮子,以及宠物猫、狗等动物可能在暴露后发生SARS-CoV-2感染,此外实验室动物感染实验也证明了一些动物对SARS-CoV-2易感,提示下一步需要加强对动物宿主中的SARS-CoV-2监测,为病毒溯源、变异进化规律与传播机制分析...     

土壤动物肠道微生物多样性研究进展

随着分子生物学技术方法的快速发展,动物肠道微生物已成为医学、动物生理学与微生物生态学等研究领域热点。土壤动物种类繁多,分布广泛,其作为陆地生态系统重要组分,是驱动生态系统功能的关键因子。土壤动物体内的微生物由于与宿主长期共存,在与宿主协同进化中形成了丰富多样的群落结构,能够影响土壤动物本身的健康,进而介导土壤动物生态功能的实现。近些年,土壤动物肠道微生物工作方兴未艾,日渐得到重视。总结了四个部分内容：1)首先总结了土壤动物肠道微生物多样性领域的研究现状,该领域年发文量逐年增长,且近十年增长快速。土壤模式生物肠道微生物多样性研究较多且更为深入。土壤动物肠道微生物多样性组成与驱动机制、共存机制及群落构建的理论研究是该领域前沿;2)进而展示了土壤动物肠道微生物多样性组成和研究方法,土壤动物肠道菌群组成以变形菌门、厚壁菌门、放线菌门和拟杆菌门为主。早期工作基于传统分离培养,近年来新一代测序技术推动了该领域发展;3)接着关注了土壤动物肠道微生物的生态学功能,总体上体现在肠道微生物能帮助宿主分解食物基质、参与营养利用、影响寿命和繁殖及提高宿主免疫能力,且其能够影响土壤动物的气体排放及介导其对生态系...     

ANGPTL4在肠道微生物影响动物脂肪代谢中的作用

血管生成素样蛋白4(Angiopoietin-like protein 4,ANGPTL4)是一种与动物脂肪代谢密切相关的蛋白,在动物体多组织广泛表达,是沟通肠道菌群和宿主脂肪代谢的重要媒介之一。综述了肠道微生物与宿主脂肪沉积的关系、肠道微生物对宿主ANGPTL4的影响、ANGPTL4在动物脂肪代谢中的作用以及肠道微生物-ANGPTL4-动物脂肪代谢关系,讨论了肠道微生物通过ANGPTL4调节动物脂肪代谢研究的意义及存在的问题,为将来更好解释益生菌和酸化剂等饲料添加剂影响畜禽脂肪沉积、促进生产性能的现象提供依据。     

基于无菌动物研究肠道微生物与类风湿关节炎发病相关性

肠道微生物与宿主的生长发育、免疫、代谢等方面均密切相关,但肠道菌群与宿主之间复杂的相互作用在很大程度上仍然是未知的。目前无菌动物已成为探索肠道微生物与宿主相互作用的重要工具,多项研究使用无菌动物模型探讨肠道菌群在宿主代谢、机体免疫系统的发育和成熟等方面的作用,其中包括肠道菌群在自身免疫性疾病发病及预后中的作用。研究发现,肠道菌群作为环境因素之一可能参与类风湿关节炎(rheumatoid arthritis,RA)发病,然而其因果关系未明。本文将对使用无菌动物探讨肠道微生物参与类风湿关节炎发病的相关性研究作一综述,为进一步深入研究肠道菌群在RA发病中的作用及机制研究提供理论依据。     

无菌动物及其在微生物与宿主互作机制研究中的应用

无菌动物是指通过现代技术手段在其体内外的任何部位均检测不出细菌、真菌、放线菌、支原体、衣原体、螺旋体、立克次氏体、病毒、原生动物和寄生虫的动物。无菌动物因其不携带任何微生物,可转化为携带特定微生物的动物,同时因其免疫系统处于休眠状态,对微生物感染异常敏感,可建立多种悉生动物模型,用于特定微生物感染实验和致病机制研究。此外,无菌动物作为关键工具,是研究菌群与疾病关系的核心,在微生物与宿主健康、疾病和感染机制研究过程中,起着不可替代的作用。本文将对无菌动物及其在微生物与宿主互作机制研究中的应用进行简要综述。     

结核分枝杆菌在动物中的流行与传播

结核分枝杆菌(Mycobacterium tuberculosis)是一种重要的人兽共患病病原菌,人类是其主要宿主。千百年来,由于动物与人类关系密切,动物也成为结核分枝杆菌的重要宿主,且感染结核分枝杆菌的动物还能成为传染源,将其传播至人类和其他动物。关于动物感染结核分枝杆菌已有大量报道,包括大象、非人灵长类动物、貘、海狮、犬、猫、牛、鸟等。本文就结核分枝杆菌在野生动物、家畜中的流行与传播进行介绍,总结其在动物间传播的主要途径。     

动物肠道菌群与宿主肠道免疫系统相互作用的研究进展

作为动物机体中最大的免疫器官之一,动物肠道是机体阻止外源病原体入侵的重要防线。动物肠道中定殖的微生物与宿主的营养物代谢,疾病和免疫系统发育等密切相关。该文主要综述了肠道微生物对于维持肠道屏障完整性的作用、诱导机体T、B淋巴细胞的发育和分化的分子机制及与一些代谢类疾病发生的关系等内容。尽管如此,肠道微生物与宿主免疫系统相互作用的机制还有待深入研究。随着免疫学、微生物学及分子生物学等学科的发展,对动物肠道菌群与宿主免疫系统互作机制的研究也得到快速发展,并为临床上预防和治疗人类疾病提供理论支撑。     

模式动物在共生微生物研究中的作用

共生微生物是一类定殖于宿主体表或体内, 可执行宿主本身无法完成的功能, 并依赖于宿主所提供的生长环境的微生物。众多研究表明, 人体肠道共生微生物与免疫、营养、代谢, 甚至精神健康等生理功能密切相关, 是重要的“微生物器官”。在早期的肠道微生物研究中, 模式动物就已经作为研究工具被使用。随着肠道微生物研究的不断深入, 模式动物作为不可替代的研究对象发挥了越来越重要的作用。本综述主要对几种重要的模式动物如斑马鱼(Danio rerio)、小鼠(Mus musculus)、猪(Sus scrofa domesticus)和猕猴(Macaca mulatta)在肠道微生物研究中的应用进行了总结, 介绍了各种模式动物的发展过程及特点, 各自在应用于研究时的优缺点, 以及利用这些动物模型在共生微生物领域所取得的一些标志性的科研成果。同时, 也就近年来在共生微生物领域新兴的一些模式生物如蜜蜂(Apis)、果蝇(Drosophila)、秀丽隐杆线虫(Caenorhabditis elegans)等进行了一些探讨。旨在让该领域的研究者们了解模式动物与人体在共生微生物方面的异同, 为更好地利用这一研究工具提供参考。     

转基因动物研究中存在问题

１５年来已建了许多用作研究人类疾病的转基因动物模型。转基因动物已作为研究代谢调节、分化、发育中有关基因功能的工具,它已作为一种分子农场可生产基因产品等。但要看到,转基因还有许多问题要解决。首先是转基因的阳性率低,这是受了许多因素如ＤＮＡ样品质量,分子大小和结构,动物种属,原核的可见性,注射针的调节和微注射技术等影响。通常转基因首建的阳性率在１０-２０％,有时甚至低于１％。在基因操作后,外源基因整合到宿主基因组,可引起包括插入突变在内的宿主细胞基因突变,缺失突变,宿主基因扩增和位移。转基因的表达不能预测,可能因转基因的改变,质粒序列的影响,整合部位和拷贝数不确实,缺乏顺式作用元件或反式作用因子。这使得转基因功能分析紊乱。此外,转基因动物模型可能和预期不符,转基因过度表达可使动物表型异常。一些社会问题也将在本文中讨论。     

Investigation of the mouse serum proteome

With the rapid assimilation of genomic information and the equally impressive developments in the field of proteomics, there is an unprecedented interest in biomarker discovery. Although human biofluids represent increasingly attractive samples from which new and more accurate disease biomarkers may be found, the intrinsic person-to-person variability in these samples complicates their discovery. One of the most extensively used animal models for studying human disease is mouse because, unlike humans, they represent a highly controllable experimental model system. Unfortunately, very little is known about the proteomic composition of mouse serum. In this study, a multidimensional fractionation approach on both the protein and the peptide level that does not require depletion of highly abundant serum proteins was combined with tandem mass spectrometry to characterize proteins within mouse serum. Over 12 300 unique peptides that originate from 4567 unique proteins-approximately 16% of all known mouse proteins-were identified. The results presented here represent the broadest proteome coverage in mouse serum and provide a foundation from which quantitative comparisons can be made in this important animal model.     

The anterior heart-forming field: voyage to the arterial pole of the heart

Studies of vertebrate heart development have identified key genes and signalling molecules involved in the formation of a myocardial tube from paired heart-forming fields in splanchnic mesoderm. The posterior region of the paired heart-forming fields subsequently contributes myocardial precursor cells to the inflow region or venous pole of the heart. Recently, a population of myocardial precursor cells in chick and mouse embryos has been identified in pharyngeal mesoderm anterior to the early heart tube. This anterior heart-forming field gives rise to myocardium of the outflow region or arterial pole of the heart. The amniote heart is therefore derived from two myocardial precursor cell populations, which appear to be regulated by distinct genetic programmes. Discovery of the anterior heart-forming field has important implications for the interpretation of cardiac defects in mouse mutants and for the study of human congenital heart disease.     

Cancer modeling in the modern era: progress and challenges

Genetically engineered mouse models have contributed extensively to the field of cancer research. The ability to manipulate the mouse germline affords numerous approaches toward understanding the complexities of this disease, possibly providing accurate preclinical models for therapeutic and diagnostic advances. This review highlights some of the current strategies for modeling cancer in the mouse, recent accomplishments, and key remaining challenges.     

Mouse beta thalassemia, a model for the membrane defects of erythrocytes in the human disease

The present study describes the pathophysiology, at the cellular level, of the mouse beta thalassemia and shows the pertinence of this model for the human disease. The homozygous state of mouse beta thalassemia is characterized by a clinical syndrome similar to the human beta thalassemia intermedia, but it cannot be explained by the small deficiency in beta chain synthesis. The small pool of unpaired and soluble alpha chains present in mouse reticulocytes contrasts with the large amount of insoluble alpha chains in erythrocytes which is induced by the high instability of mouse alpha chains and the absence of significant proteolysis. The amount of insoluble alpha chains associated with red cell ghosts is similar in human and mouse disease of similar severity. The study of membrane protein defects showed a decreased amount of spectrin (alpha and beta chains) and dramatic changes in the distribution of the most reactive thiol groups of membrane proteins. These results were similar to that previously described in the human disease (Rouyer-Fessard, P., Garel, M. C., Domenget, C., Guetarni, D., Bachir, D., Colonna, P., and Beuzard, Y. (1989) J. Biol. Chem. 264, 19092-19098). Abnormal density distribution curves of erythrocytes and oxidant-induced lysis of red blood cells used as functional tests were similar in the human and mouse beta thalessemia. We conclude from the present study that 1) mouse beta thalassemia is an excellent model for the membrane defects occurring in the human disease; 2) disease expression is not the reflection of the globin chain unbalance only nor of the soluble pool of alpha hemoglobin chain but mainly is a reflection of insoluble alpha chains; and 3) the rate of proteolysis and instability of alpha chains are important factors which must be taken into consideration in the pathophysiology and the clinical heterogeneity of the disease.     

Insights into the molecular basis of polyglutamine neurodegeneration from studies of a spinocerebellar ataxia type 7 mouse model

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 7 (SCA7) is one member of a growing list of neurodegenerative disorders that are all caused by CAG repeat expansions that produce disease by encoding elongated polyglutamine tracts in a variety of apparently unrelated proteins. In this review, we provide an overview of our efforts to determine the molecular basis of polyglutamine neurotoxicity in SCA7 by modeling this polyglutamine repeat disorder in mice. We discuss how our SCA7 mouse model develops a phenotype that is reminiscent of the retinal and cerebellar disease pathology seen in human patients. All of these findings are considered in the context of numerous other models of polyglutamine disease pathology in mice and other organisms, together with various other in vitro and biochemical studies. We present the competing hypotheses of polyglutamine disease pathogenesis, and explain how our studies of SCA7 brainstem and retinal degeneration using this mouse model have yielded insights into possible mechanisms and pathways of polyglutamine disease pathology. In addition to illustrating how our SCA7 mouse model has allowed us to develop and advance notions of disease pathogenesis, we propose a model of polyglutamine molecular pathology that attempts to integrate the key observations in the field. We close by describing why our SCA7 mouse model should be useful for the next phase of polyglutamine disease research--the development of therapies, and predict that this stage of experimentation will continue to rely heavily on the mouse.     

First records of tick-borne pathogens, Borrelia, and spotted fever group Rickettsiae in Okinawajima Island, Japan

In early April 2000, tick-borne pathogens were surveyed in the northern area of Okinawajima Island, Okinawa Prefecture, which is the southernmost area of Japan. Borrelia valaisiana, a Lyme disease spirochete, was isolated from a field mouse Mus calori, and unidentified rickettsiae of the spotted fever group were isolated from all stages of Amblyomma testudinarium. These are the first reports of these pathogens on Okinawajima Island.     

Genetic evidence in the mouse solidifies the calcium hypothesis of myofiber death in muscular dystrophy

Muscular dystrophy (MD) refers to a clinically and genetically heterogeneous group of degenerative muscle disorders characterized by progressive muscle wasting and often premature death. Although the primary defect underlying most forms of MD typically results from a loss of sarcolemmal integrity, the secondary molecular mechanisms leading to muscle degeneration and myofiber necrosis is debated. One hypothesis suggests that elevated or dysregulated cytosolic calcium is the common transducing event, resulting in myofiber necrosis in MD. Previous measurements of resting calcium levels in myofibers from dystrophic animal models or humans produced equivocal results. However, recent studies in genetically altered mouse models have largely solidified the calcium hypothesis of MD, such that models with artificially elevated calcium in skeletal muscle manifest fulminant dystrophic-like disease, whereas models with enhanced calcium clearance or inhibited calcium influx are resistant to myofiber death and MD. Here, we will review the field and the recent cadre of data from genetically altered mouse models, which we propose have collectively mostly proven the hypothesis that calcium is the primary effector of myofiber necrosis in MD. This new consensus on calcium should guide future selection of drugs to be evaluated in clinical trials as well as gene therapy-based approaches.     

Defining the role of essential genes in human disease

A greater understanding of the causes of human disease can come from identifying characteristics that are specific to disease genes. However, a full understanding of the contribution of essential genes to human disease is lacking, due to the premise that these genes tend to cause developmental abnormalities rather than adult disease. We tested the hypothesis that human orthologs of mouse essential genes are associated with a variety of human diseases, rather than only those related to miscarriage and birth defects. We segregated human disease genes according to whether the knockout phenotype of their mouse ortholog was lethal or viable, defining those with orthologs producing lethal knockouts as essential disease genes. We show that the human orthologs of mouse essential genes are associated with a wide spectrum of diseases affecting diverse physiological systems. Notably, human disease genes with essential mouse orthologs are over-represented among disease genes associated with cancer, suggesting links between adult cellular abnormalities and developmental functions. The proteins encoded by essential genes are highly connected in protein-protein interaction networks, which we find correlates with an over-representation of nuclear proteins amongst essential disease genes. Disease genes associated with essential orthologs also are more likely than those with non-essential orthologs to contribute to disease through an autosomal dominant inheritance pattern, suggesting that these diseases may actually result from semi-dominant mutant alleles. Overall, we have described attributes found in disease genes according to the essentiality status of their mouse orthologs. These findings demonstrate that disease genes do occupy highly connected positions in protein-protein interaction networks, and that due to the complexity of disease-associated alleles, essential genes cannot be ignored as candidates for causing diverse human diseases.     

Murine mutants in the study of systemic iron metabolism and its disorders: an update on recent advances

Many past and recent advances in the field of iron metabolism have relied upon the use of mouse models of disease. These models have arisen spontaneously in breeder colonies or have been engineered for global or conditional ablation or overexpression of select genes. Full phenotypic characterization of these models typically involves maintenance on iron-loaded or -deficient diets, treatment with oxidative or hemolytic agents, breeding to other mutant lines or other stresses. In this review, we focus on systemic iron biology and the contributions that mouse model-based studies have made to the field. We have divided the field into three broad areas of research: dietary iron absorption, regulation of hepcidin expression and cellular iron metabolism. For each area, we begin with an overview of the current understanding of key molecular and cellular determinants then discuss recent advances. Finally, we conclude with brief comments on prospects for future study. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Cell Biology of Metals.     

ENU mutagenesis in the mouse: application to human genetic disease.

Genetic approaches in model organisms provide a powerful means by which to examine the biological basis of human diseases as well as the physiological processes that are affected by them. Although not without its drawbacks, the mouse has become the mammalian species of choice in studying the molecular basis of disease. Targeted mutagenesis approaches in the mouse have led to dramatic increases in our understanding of human disease processes. As a complement to these gene-driven studies, three developments have led to the reassessment of a phenotype-driven approach in the mouse--the accumulation of information that has emerged from human and mouse genome sequencing projects, the use of high-efficiency point mutagens such as N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU) and the application of systematic hierarchical screening protocols for the mouse. In this paper, progress with existing phenotypic screening programmes is discussed and opportunities for the development of new mouse disease models are presented.