miR-199a-3p/Nme2在TGF-β1信号通路中的作用分析

通过microRNA芯片技术在小鼠GC-1 spg细胞中筛选发现microRNA-199a-3p(miR-199a-3p)受转化生长因子TGF-β1调节。为了进一步探讨二者的关系,通过基因克隆与载体构建技术、双荧光素酶报告基因检测及定量PCR实验,发现miR-199a-3p靶向识别肿瘤转移抑制基因2(Nme2)的3'非编码区(UTR)序列,且正向调控Nme2的表达。利用TGF-β1处理GC-1 spg细胞后,结果显示Nme2和miR-199a-3p在mRNA水平的表达均显著上调;进一步将miR-199a-3p和TGF-β1双重作用于GC-1 spg细胞后,结果表明Nme2的表达会明显增强,而且在TGF-β1通路中,miR-199a-3p被抑制的部分功能可能会被Nme2补偿。综上,miR-199a-3p对Nme2基因具有直接靶向识别和调控作用,且在参与TGF-β1信号通路的生物学效应中,二者在功能上相互关联。     

特发性少精子症和无精子症与Pygo2基因蛋白编码区SNPs的相关性

男性不育常伴随精子数量减少。Pygo2基因在染色质重塑的伸长精细胞中表达, 其功能受损会导致精子形成阻滞和精子生成减少而引发不育。文章旨在检测引起人特发性少精子症和无精子症的Pygo2基因突变。从77例正常生育力男性和195例特发性少精子症和无精子症患者静脉血提取DNA, 采用聚合酶链式反应-测序方法对Pygo2基因3个蛋白质编码区进行测序对比, 非同义单核苷酸多态性(Single nucleotide polymorphisms, SNPs)位点分别用SIFT、Polyphen-2和 Mutation Taster软件进行诱发蛋白质结构和表型改变的检测和分析。结果表明, 195例患者中, 178例(30例轻度或中度少精子症, 57例重度少精子症和91例无精子症)基因序列分析报告完好, 无精子症中3例患者分别在2个位点(rs61758740, rs141722381)发生了非同义突变SNPs, 重度少精子症中1例患者在位点rs61758741发生了非同义突变, 3个突变位点在SNPs基因数据库都已有报道, 轻度或中度少精子症患者以及正常生育力男性中不存在SNPs。rs61758740可使PYGO2蛋白第141位蛋氨酸(M)变为异亮氨酸(I), rs61758741使PYGO2蛋白第261位碱性赖氨酸(K)变为酸性谷氨酸(E), rs141722381使PYGO2蛋白第240位亲水侧链天冬酰胺(N)变为疏水侧链异亮氨酸(I)。软件分析表明, 在所发现的3个SNP非同义突变位点中, rs141722381引起的单个氨基酸改变会导致PYGO2蛋白空间结构破坏和诱发相关疾病。因此, Pygo2基因蛋白质编码序列区SNPs可能是特发性少精子症和无精子症的诱发因素之一, 导致男性不育。     

豚鼠精子在发生及顶体反应过程中细胞内Ca~(2+)的定位研究

实验利用焦锑酸钾法对豚鼠精子在发生及顶体反应过程中的Ca~(2+)定位作了较详细的研究。在精母细胞及精子细胞上都有Ca~(2+)分布,但睾丸中的精子上则无Ca~(2+)。成熟精子中Ca~(2+)主要定位于顶体帽的整个腹面及背面的两个特定区域。发生顶体反应的精子上Ca~(2+)则位于顶体外膜上或囊泡内,已发生顶体反应的精子中Ca~(2+)则位于顶体内膜上。     

环磷酰胺对长爪沙鼠精子畸形的影响

目的探讨环磷酰胺（CP）对长爪沙鼠精子畸形的影响。方法取长爪沙鼠随机分成正常对照组,CP组（低、中、高剂量组即剂量分别为20 mg/kg、30 mg/kg、40 mg/kg）,环磷酰胺经腹腔注射,连续注射5 d,药后30d麻醉沙鼠,剖腹取出两侧附睾制备精子悬液涂片,用甲醇固定10 min,用2%的伊红染色30 min,蒸馏水洗片,显微镜观察精子形态。结果低、中、高剂量组分别与正常对照组比较,长爪沙鼠精子畸形率差异极显著（P〈0.01）;低、中剂量组分别与高剂量组相比较,长爪沙鼠精子畸形率差异极显著（P〈0.01）;低剂量组与中剂量组比较,精子畸形率差异不显著（P〉0.05）。形态学观察显示：环磷酰胺对长爪沙鼠精子影响畸形类型主要为尾折叠、尾粗细/长短/扭曲和无钩。结论环磷酰胺对长爪沙鼠精子有一定的致畸率,且对长爪沙鼠精子尾部影响最大。在一定剂量内范围内,环磷酰胺对长爪沙鼠的精子致畸率无明显区别;当高于一定剂量,随着环磷酰胺用药剂量的增加,长爪沙鼠的精子致畸率也增加。     

氧化应激诱导的自噬与隐睾症及畸形精子症的相关性研究

为了分析氧化应激诱导的自噬与隐睾症及畸形精子症的相关性,首先采用高通量的qPCR array技术检测44个自噬相关基因在隐睾症患者和生育力正常男性的睾丸组织中的表达差异,筛选出11个表达差异显著的自噬相关基因;然后用不同浓度过氧化氢(hydrogen peroxide, H_2O_2)分别处理小鼠精原细胞系GC-1 spg和睾丸支持细胞系TM4,通过3-(4,5-二甲基噻唑-2)-2,5-二苯基四氮唑溴盐[(3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide, MTT)]分析H_2O_2处理对细胞增殖活性的影响,并采用实时荧光定量PCR (real-time quantitative PCR, qRT-PCR)检测11个差异表达的自噬相关基因在细胞氧化应激条件下的表达;最后利用GEO (Gene Expression Omnibus)数据库分析自噬相关基因与畸形精子症的关系。通过综合比较发现, BCL2L1、EIF2AK3在隐睾症、畸形精子症及氧化应激过程中均表达上调,表明这两个基因与男性不育的发生有关,推测其作用机制可能是通过响应氧化应激信号来实现。     

精子相关抗原4的功能及其在疾病中的作用

精子相关抗原4(sperm associated antigen 4,SPAG4)是SUN(Sad-1,UNC-84)蛋白家族成员。近年来的研究发现,SPAG4可以维持精子头部结构的完整性,参与精子尾部发育,其功能异常可导致雄性不育。此外,SPAG4 mRNA在多种肿瘤细胞中表达,是一种潜在的肿瘤标志物。对肾透明细胞癌的最新研究发现,SPAG4表达增高将促进肿瘤细胞的增殖和侵袭,其表达受缺氧诱导因子1(hypoxia inducible factor 1,HIF-1)调控。对SPAG4功能的深入研究,将有助于阐明男性不育的分子机制并为研究肿瘤的发生发展提供新的候选靶标。     

高畸形率水牛精子与正常水牛精子差异表达蛋白的分离和鉴定

旨在分析高畸形率和正常水牛精子的差异表达蛋白.运用双向凝胶电泳以及基质辅助激光解吸电离飞行时间质谱(MALDI-TOF-MS/MS)分析鉴定出高畸形率和正常的水牛精子的差异表达蛋白,并对部分蛋白进行生物信息学分析.结果显示,高畸形率和正常水牛精子之间存在16个表达差异明显的蛋白点,与正常水牛精子相比,5个蛋白斑点表达量上调,6个蛋白斑点下调,3个蛋白斑点缺失,2个蛋白斑点在畸形率高的水牛精子特有.质谱鉴定16个差异蛋白,成功鉴定出6个差异蛋白斑点,对应4种蛋白:左旋天冬酰胺酶、热应激蛋白β-9、半乳糖激酶、β-微管蛋白-2C.研究表明,高畸形率和正常水牛精子蛋白质表达存在一定的差异.     

精子鞭毛轴丝结构相关基因异常与弱精子症

精子鞭毛轴丝是精子运动的主要动力来源,参与鞭毛组装和运动调控的基因变异可导致精子活力降低,从而引起弱精子症(asthenozoospermia, ASZ)。常见的弱精子症包括两大类:(1)精子鞭毛在光学显微镜下无明显畸形,(2)精子鞭毛多发形态异常(multiple morphological abnormalities of the sperm flagella, MMAF)。弱精子症主要由轴丝组分编码基因变异所致,在过去的十年里,在揭示致病基因方面取得了显著进展。在MMAF的遗传研究领域,中国和法国是两个涉及比较广的国家。通过系统文献检索和Meta分析中国和法国关于MMAF的基因变异研究,纳入1 796名不育男性参与者,结果表明,在中国的弱精子症患者中, DNAH1基因的突变比例显著高于法国(OR=4.97,95%CI=[1.70; 14.49], P<0.01)。而CFAP43、CFAP44、CFAP251等基因在两国间未显示显著性差异(P>0.05)。这一发现为理解弱精子症的遗传变异的多样性奠定了基础。     

畸精子症病人的睾丸特异性表达基因SPEM1筛查分析

目的:探讨睾丸特异性表达基因SPEM1突变与畸精子症患者之间的关系.方法:收集从2005年4月至2007年3月临床上不明原因的畸精症患者113份外周血标本以及100份正常生育能力男子的外周血标本,抽提其DNA.然后采用PCR技术、变性高效液相色谱技术(DHPLC)以及测序等手段对全部DNA样本进行该基因的突变筛查.结果:在畸精症患者中发现1个新的未见报道的多态性位点;尚未发现有基因突变或微缺失.结论:SPEM1基因突变或缺失不是引起本组畸精子症病人的主要致病基因.该基因在对畸精子症所致不育的诊断价值尚需进一步研究.     

Double knockout Nme1/Nme2 mouse model suggests a critical role for NDP kinases in erythroid development

Nm23/NDP kinases A and B encoded by the Nme1/Nme2 genes are multifunctional enzymes responsible for the majority of NDP kinase activity in mammals. This review summarizes recent studies on their physiological roles using a mouse model in which both Nme1 and Nme2 genes have been deleted. The double knockout mice are stunted in growth and die perinatally. Additionally, these mice display hematologic phenotypes, including severe anemia, abnormal erythroid cell development, loss of the iron transport receptor molecule TfR1, and reduced iron uptake by Nme1 ^?/? /Nme2 ^?/? erythroid cells. We hypothesize that Nm23/NDP kinases regulate TfR1 gene expression in erythroid cells in some manner, and that defective iron transport into these cells is responsible for the anemia and death. This Nme1/Nme2 mouse model also links nucleotide metabolism with erythropoiesis, suggesting alternative or additional mechanisms that may explain the observed phenomena.     

Critical Role of the HMGA2 Gene in Pituitary Adenomas

The molecular pathway leading to pituitary tumorigenesis is still largely unknown and is one of the challenges of the endocrine oncology. The development of pituitary adenomas in HMGA2 transgenic mice and the finding of HMGA2 amplification and overexpression in human pituitary adenomas led us to investigate the mechanism by which the HMGA2 gene plays a crucial role in pituitary oncogenesis. This mechanism has been recently described by our group: it entails the acetylation of E2F1, and its consequent enhanced activity, following the displacement of HDAC1 from the pRB/E2F1 inhibitory complex. Based on the mating between HMGA2 transgenic and E2F1 knockout mice, the activation of E2F1 appears to be the main mechanism of the onset of HMGA2-induced pituitary adenoma development. Nevertheless, other events may be also involved in this process, and are discussed here.     

Potential Role for PAD2 in Gene Regulation in Breast Cancer Cells

The peptidylarginine deiminase (PAD) family of enzymes post-translationally convert positively charged arginine residues in substrate proteins to the neutral, non-standard residue citrulline. PAD family members 1, 2, 3, and 6 have previously been localized to the cell cytoplasm and, thus, their potential to regulate gene activity has not been described. We recently demonstrated that PAD2 is expressed in the canine mammary gland epithelium and that levels of histone citrullination in this tissue correlate with PAD2 expression. Given these observations, we decided to test whether PAD2 might localize to the nuclear compartment of the human mammary epithelium and regulate gene activity in these cells. Here we show, for the first time, that PAD2 is specifically expressed in human mammary gland epithelial cells and that a portion of PAD2 associates with chromatin in MCF-7 breast cancer cells. We investigated a potential nuclear function for PAD2 by microarray, qPCR, and chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis. Results show that the expression of a unique subset of genes is disregulated following depletion of PAD2 from MCF-7 cells. Further, ChIP analysis of two of the most highly up- and down-regulated genes (PTN and MAGEA12, respectively) found that PAD2 binds directly to these gene promoters and that the likely mechanism by which PAD2 regulates expression of these genes is via citrullination of arginine residues 2-8-17 on histone H3 tails. Thus, our findings define a novel role for PAD2 in gene expression in human mammary epithelial cells.     

绝缘子调控基因的表达

绝缘子在调控真核基因时空特异表达的过程中起着至关重要的作用.它的主要功能是增强子阻断和异染色质屏障.已经有竞争、阻断和成环等模型描述其增强子阻断功能;而它的异染色质屏障功能主要是通过影响染色质组蛋白的翻译后修饰来实现.已经确定的绝缘子包括果蝇基因组中的染色质特化结构(specialized chromatin structures, scs)和scs、gypsy、鸡珠蛋白β基因座上游的DNaseⅠ高敏感位点cHS4以及小鼠或人Igf2/H19基因座上的印记控制区(imprinting control region, ICR)和DNA甲基化区域(DNA methylated regions, DMR)元件等.许多转录因子参与绝缘子的基因调控作用,例如脊椎动物中的CCCTC结合因子(CCCTC binding factor,CTCF).利用基因组学和生物信息学等方法,还可以在基因组中发现新的绝缘子元件.     

New Role for the ibeA Gene in H2O2 Stress Resistance of Escherichia coli

ibeA is a virulence factor found in some extraintestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli (ExPEC) strains from the B2 phylogenetic group and particularly in newborn meningitic and avian pathogenic strains. It was shown to be involved in the invasion process of the newborn meningitic strain RS218. In a previous work, we showed that in the avian pathogenic E. coli (APEC) strain BEN2908, isolated from a colibacillosis case, ibeA was rather involved in adhesion to eukaryotic cells by modulating type 1 fimbria synthesis (M. A. Cortes et al., Infect. Immun. 76:4129-4136, 2008). In this study, we demonstrate a new role for ibeA in oxidative stress resistance. We showed that an ibeA mutant of E. coli BEN2908 was more sensitive than its wild-type counterpart to H(2)O(2) killing. This phenotype was also observed in a mutant deleted for the whole GimA genomic region carrying ibeA and might be linked to alterations in the expression of a subset of genes involved in the oxidative stress response. We also showed that RpoS expression was not altered by the ibeA deletion. Moreover, the transfer of an ibeA-expressing plasmid into an E. coli K-12 strain, expressing or not expressing type 1 fimbriae, rendered it more resistant to an H(2)O(2) challenge. Altogether, these results show that ibeA by itself is able to confer increased H(2)O(2) resistance to E. coli. This feature could partly explain the role played by ibeA in the virulence of pathogenic strains.     

The Role of Electrophoresis in Gene Electrotransfer

Gene electrotransfer is an established method for gene delivery which uses high-voltage pulses to increase the permeability of a cell membrane and enables transfer of genes. Poor plasmid mobility in tissues is one of the major barriers for the successful use of gene electrotransfer in gene therapy. Therefore, we analyzed the effect of electrophoresis on increasing gene electrotransfer efficiency using different combinations of high-voltage (HV) and low-voltage (LV) pulses in vitro on CHO cells. We designed a special prototype of electroporator, which enabled us to use only HV pulses or combinations of LV + HV and HV + LV pulses. We used optimal plasmid concentrations used in in vitro conditions as well as lower suboptimal concentrations in order to mimic in vivo conditions. Only for the lowest plasmid concentration did the electrophoretic force of the LV pulse added to the HV pulse increase the transfection efficiency compared to using only HV. The effect of the LV pulse was more pronounced for HV + LV, while for the reversed sequence, LV + HV, there was only a minor effect of the LV pulse. For the highest plasmid concentrations no added effect of LV pulses were observed. Our results suggest that there are different contributing effects of LV pulses: electrophoretically increased contact of DNA with the membrane and increased insertion of DNA into permeabilized cell membrane and/or translocation due to electrophoretic force, which appears to be the dominant effect.