MicroRNAs in Lymphoma: Regulatory Role and Biomarker Potential

Although it is now evident that microRNAs (miRNAs) play a critical regulatory role in many, if not all, pathological and physiological processes, remarkably they have only formally been recognized for less than fifteen years. These endogenously produced short non-coding RNAs have created a new paradigm of gene control and have utility as both novel biomarkers of cancer and as potential therapeutics. In this review we consider the role of miRNAs in lymphoid biology both under physiological (i.e. lymphopoiesis) and malignant (i.e. lymphomagenesis) conditions. In addition to the functional significance of aberrant miRNA expression in lymphomas we discuss their use as novel biomarkers, both as a in situ tumour biomarker and as a non-invasive surrogate for the tumour by testing miRNAs in the blood of patients. Finally we consider the use of these molecules as potential therapeutic agents for lymphoma (and other cancer) patients and discuss some of the hurdles yet to be overcome in order to translate this potential into clinical practice     

Regulatory Potential of SNP Markers in Genes of DNA Repair Systems

Molecular Biology - A broad range of SNP markers associated with diseases and pathogenically significant features were identified in noncoding regions of the human genome. The mechanisms that...     

Sox2基因3'非翻译区保守元件对基因表达的调控作用

转录因子Sox2是脊椎动物早期发育中最早表达的神经系统特异性基因之一,同时在干细胞的维持中也起着关键作用。通过生物信息学分析,作者发现在脊椎动物Sox2 mRNA 3'非翻译区中存在4段非常保守的富含AU的区域。将这些片段按照不同的组合克隆到GFP和荧光素酶两种报告基因载体中,在非洲爪蟾胚胎和培养细胞中检测了这些片段对报告基因表达的影响。结果显示,Sox2的3'UTR可影响报告基因的表达水平,特别是其中的保守片段2可显著提高报告基因的表达水平,表明Sox2 3'非翻译区有可能参与Sox2表达的转录后调控。     

Potential Role of Pyrophosphate:Fructose 6-Phosphate Phosphotransferase in Carbohydrate Metabolism of Cold Stored Tubers of Solanum tuberosum cv Bintje

To gain a better understanding of the mechanism of cold induced sweetening, sugar accumulation in potato, Solanum tuberosum cv Bintje, was compared to the maximum activity of inorganic pyrophosphate (PPi):fructose 6-phosphate 1-phosphotransferase (EC 2.7.1.90) and the concentration of two regulatory metabolites. Mature tubers accumulated reducing sugars and sucrose at an almost linear rate of 13.4 and 5.2 micromole per day per gram dry weight at 2°C and 4.5 and 1.3 micromole per day per gram dry weight, respectively, at 4°C. During storage at 8°C sugar accumulation was nil. Sugar accumulation was preceded by a lag phase of about 4 days. The accumulation of reducing sugars persisted for at least 4 weeks, whereas sucrose accumulation declined after 2 weeks of storage. The ratio of glucose:fructose changed concomitantly with sugar increase from 65:35 to equimolarity. The maximum activity of PPi:fructose 6-phosphate 1-phosphotransferase was 2.51 and 2.25 units per gram dry weight during storage at 2 and 8°C, respectively. The temperature coefficient of this enzyme from potatoes kept at 2 or 8°C was 2.12 and 2.48, respectively. The endogenous concentration of fructose 2,6-biphosphate increased from 0.15 to 1 nanomole per gram dry weight during storage at 2 and 4°C but remained the same throughout storage at 8°C. After exposure to 2°C an initial increase in the concentration of PPi was observed from 4.0 to 5.6 nanomoles per gram dry weight. Pyrophosphate concentration did not change during storage at 4°C but decreased slightly at 8°C. All observed changes became annulled after transfer of cold stored tubers to 18°C. These data strongly indicate that PPi:fructose 6-phosphate 1-phosphotransferase can be fully operational in cold stored potato tubers and the lack of increase in PPi concentration supports the functioning of this enzyme during sugar accumulation.     

Phosphoenolpyruvate: Sugar Phosphotransferase Systems and Sugar Metabolism in Brevibacterium flavum

Brevibacterium flavum mutants defective in the phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP)-dependent glucose phosphotransferase system (PTS) were selected with high frequency by 2-deoxyglucose-resistance. Most of them (DOG^r) still had the fructose-PTS and grew not only on fructose but also on glucose like the wild-type strain. A mutant having 1 /8th the fructose-PTS activity of the wild strain but normal glucose-PTS activity was isolated as a xylitol-resistant mutant. It grew on glucose but not on fructose. The glucose-PTS was active on glucose, glucosamine, 2-deoxyglucose and mannose, and slightly on methyl-a-glucoside and N-acetylglucosamine, but not on fructose or xylitol. The fructose-PTS acted on fructose and xylitol, and to some extent on glucose but not on glucosamine or 2-deoxyglucose. Mutants unable to grow on glucose (DOG^rGlc^-) derived from a DOG^r mutant were all defective in the fructose-PTS. All revertants able to grow on glucose derived from a DOG^rGlc“ mutant had the fructose-PTS. The glucokinase activity was about 2/3rds the glucose activity of the fructose-PTS. All the DOG^rGlc^- mutants had normal levels of glucokinase. One of these mutants grew on maltose and sucrose, which were hydrolyzed to glucose. Thus, glucokinase seems to contribute to the phosphorylation of glucose liberated inside the cell. The fructose-PTS was induced by fructose and repressed by glucose. The glucose repression was not observed in a mutant defective in the glucose-PTS.     

Bacterial Endophytes: Potential Role in Developing Sustainable Systems of Crop Production

Most healthy naturally propagated plants grown in field or potting soils are colonized by communities of endophytic bacteria, embracing a wide variety of species and genera. These bacteria form nonpathogenic relationships with their hosts: some beneficial, some neutral, and some detrimental. Such associations can increase plant growth and hasten development or improve resistance to environmental stress. Endophytic bacteria have been implicated in supplying biologically fixed nitrogen in non-legumes, and these associations can increase the nitrogen economy of a crop, reducing the requirement for N fertilizers. Bacterial endophytes have also been shown to prevent disease development through endophyte-mediated de novo synthesis of structural compounds and fungitoxic metabolites. Such induced protection responses have been linked to certain forms of systemic acquired (disease) resistance. Certain crop sequences have been shown to favor the build-up of specific plant growth-promoting bacterial endophyte populations. These can lead to the creation of beneficial host-endophyte allelopa-thies, with implications for the formation and maintenance of fertile, disease-suppressive soils. Manipulating bacterial populations in soils and within crops will be crucial if endophytes are to be utilized in crop production systems, and special techniques will be required to do so. This review surveys the natural associations between bacterial endophytes and their hosts, and discusses how such relationships can be employed most productively in sustainable systems of agricultural crop production.     

The Regulatory Role of Reticulons in Neurodegeneration: Insights Underpinning Therapeutic Potential for Neurodegenerative Diseases

Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology - In the last few decades, cytoplasmic organellar dysfunction, such as that of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), has created a new area of research interest...     

The Regulatory Role of Sulfhydryl Compounds in Melanogenesis

Since the discovery in 1967 of the phaeomelanin pathway the regulatory role of sulfhydryl compounds in epidermal melanin pigmentation has been a major focus in pigment cell research. The current state of knowledge in the field is briefly discussed, with special reference to some recent studies extending the possible targets of sulfhydryl compounds to pigment intermediates beyond the dopaquinone stage.     

选择性剪接在低氧应答中的调控作用

细胞为适应低氧环境,其相关基因的表达方式发生了改变,其中选择性剪接在低氧应答调控过程中起到了重要的作用。低氧诱导因子介导的低氧应答信号通路在机体适应低氧环境过程中起到了十分重要的作用,低氧诱导因子剪接体通过此通路调控红细胞生成、血管生成、糖酵解等过程。而抑制性PAS蛋白质、脯氨酸羟化酶、促血管生长因子、芳香羟受体核转运蛋白剪接体则通过其它通路进行调控。选择性剪接不仅在低氧应答中起重要作用,而且与阿尔茨海默病、动脉粥样硬化、癌症等常见人类疾病相关。     

Regulatory Role of Zinc in Immune Cell Signaling

Zinc is an essential micronutrient with crucial roles in multiple facets of biological processes. Dysregulated zinc homeostasis impairs overall immune function and resultantly increases susceptibility to infection. Clinically, zinc supplementation is practiced for treatment of several infectious diseases, such as diarrhea and malaria. Recent focus on zinc as a beneficial element for immune system support has resulted in investigation of the immunomodulatory roles of zinc in a variety of immune cells. Besides its classical role as a cofactor that regulates the structural function of thousands of proteins, accumulating evidence suggests that zinc also acts, in a manner similar to calcium, as an ionic regulator of immune responses via participation as an intracellular messenger in signaling pathways. In this review, we focus on the role of zinc as a signaling molecule in major pathways such as those downstream of Toll-like receptors-, T cell receptor-, and cytokine-mediated signal transduction that regulate the activity and function of monocytes/macrophages and T cells, principal players in the innate and adaptive immune systems.     

Regulatory Mechanisms of Nervous Systems with Glycosphingolipids

A number of studies have suggested functions of sialic acid-containing glycosphingolipids (gangliosides) in the nervous system. However, results of analyses of the mutant mice lacking gangliosides suggested that they play crucial roles in the maintenance of integrity and repair of the nervous tissues. Furthermore, results of double knockout mice lacking all gangliosides except GM3 (GM3-only mice) suggested that deficiency of gangliosides induced complement activation and inflammation, leading to neurodegeneration. Generation of triple knockout mice by mating GM3-only mice and C3-deficient mice verified the involvement of complement systems in the inflammation and neurodegeneration. For the mechanisms of the complement activation, functional disorders of complement-regulatory proteins such as CD55 and CD59, which belong to GPI-anchored proteins, should be main factors. These results suggested that normal composition of gangliosides is essential for the maintenance of lipid rafts. Therefore, it was suggested that regulation of the complement systems and suppression of the inflammation should be important for the treatment of neurodegeneration, having common aspects with other neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer disease.     

Lotka-Volterra自治竞争系统的共存与绝灭

研究了一类自治n种群Lotka-Volterra竞争系统．建立了一部分种群绝灭，另一部分种群持续生存新的判别准则，推广了已知相关结果．     

Paralogous origin of the rhodopsinlike opsin genes in lizards

Rhodopsinlike opsins constitute a distinct phylogenetic group (Yokoyama 1994, Mol. Biol. Evol. 11:32–39). This RH2 group includes the green-sensitive opsins in chicken and goldfish and the blue-sensitive opsin in a nocturnal lizard gecko. In the present study, we isolated and sequenced the genomic DNA clones for the RH2 opsin gene, rh2 _Ac , of the diurnal lizard Anolis carolinensis. This single-copy gene spans 18.3 kb from start to stop codons, making it the longest opsin gene known in vertebrates. Phylogenetic analysis strongly suggests that rh2 _Ac is more closely related to the chicken green opsin gene than to the gecko blue opsin gene. This gene tree differs from the organismal tree, where the two lizard species should be most closely related, implying that rh2 _Ac and the gecko blue-sensitive opsin genes have been derived from duplicate ancestral genes.Correspondence to: S. Yukiyama     

Nmp4/CIZ对成骨细胞功能的调节作用

核基质蛋白4(nuclear matrix protein,Nmp4),亦称p130cas结合锌指蛋白(cas-interacting zinc finger protein,CIZ),是一种位于细胞核及粘附斑且具有核质穿梭功能的转录调控因子.体内实验证明,Nmp4/CIZ抑制骨形成活性进而抑制骨密度和骨量增加,而对骨吸收参数无显著影响.Nmp4/CIZ通过特异性结合成骨细胞Ⅰ型胶原α1链和基质金属蛋白酶启动子上游调控序列,调节其转录表达,促进骨转换.此外,Nmp4/CIZ抑制骨形态蛋白和甲状旁腺激素诱导的成骨细胞分化,抑制成骨细胞增殖并促进凋亡发生.Nmp4/CIZ参与调节成骨细胞力学-化学信号转导,其表达沉默可抑制尾悬吊诱导的小鼠骨量减少,并促进流体剪切力诱导的成骨细胞β-catenin信号途径.这些体内外实验证据表明,Nmp4/CIZ主要通过负调控机制发挥作用,提示这是一个潜在的骨丢失治疗药物靶点.     

细胞程序性死亡因子家族分子在细胞凋亡中的调控作用

细胞程序性死亡因子(programmed cell death,PDCD)是一类与肿瘤发展相关并在进化上高度保守的蛋白质。PDCD家族由多个成员构成。其中,研究较为深入的包括PDCD1、PDCD2、PDCD4、PDCD5、PDCD6、PDCD7、PDCD8及PDCD10。PDCD在人类的各组织及细胞中广泛分布,其主要功能是对细胞凋亡的调控。目前研究发现,PDCD家族成员可通过不同信号通路实现对肿瘤细胞活力的调控,且某些家族成员的缺失或过表达都会引起机体发生病变,证明其在多种疾病当中具有重要作用。本文汇总了PDCD1、PDCD2、PDCD4、PDCD5、PDCD6、PDCD7、PDCD8、PDCD9、PDCD10、PDCD11、PDCD12的基因结构与蛋白质结构,介绍了各家族成员在细胞程序性死亡过程中的关系,并总结目前所报道的PDCD家族成员在肿瘤,以及多种疾病中所发挥的调控作用,以期帮助科研工作者了解其在细胞凋亡中的作用,以及为肿瘤和相关疾病发生发展的分子机制提供参考。