古基因组揭示史前欧亚大陆现代人复杂遗传历史

古DNA提取与测序技术的发展,让科学家们能够利用史前现代人样本直接开展古基因组研究。古基因组研究发现,在约4万年前,欧亚大陆上至少存在着6个独立的现代人群体,其中3个群体并未对现今人群贡献基因。在距今4万年至末次盛冰期结束,欧亚大陆至少有5个具有代表性的现代人群体。末次盛冰期结束后的部分现代人群体与现今人群拥有更近的遗传关系,而部分群体则未对现今人群贡献基因。本文基于末次盛冰期前(45～19 kaBP)与末次盛冰期后(19～10 kaBP)两个重要时间段的欧亚大陆史前现代人的基因组研究,梳理欧亚现代人在时间与空间上的发展脉络,重点探究此前研究相对滞后的欧亚大陆东部地区。     

Expression of HSV-1 ICPO Antigen Peptide in Prokaryotic Cells and Preparation of Specific Antibody

As an immediate-early protein of herpes simplex virus, infected-cell polypeptide 0 （ICP0） exhibits complicated interactions with host cells, and its regulatory function on gene expression is of great importance. Since the ICP0 encoding sequence contains many rare codons which are absent in E.coli, and ICP0 is highly unstable in prokaryotic cells, expression of entire ICP0 in prokaryotic cells has never been reported. In order to further investigate the function of ICP0, a recombinant plasmid was constructed by subcloning a cDNA fragment encoding an amino-terminal of 105 residues of the ICP0 protein into pGEX-5x-1 vector. The resulting GST-105 fusion antigen peptide was expressed with high efficiency in E.coli. Antibodies prepared after the immunization of mice with purified fusion protein can recognize not only the denatured ICPO protein, but also the native ICPO protein with normal biological conformation.     

Chemical Constituents of the Roots of Vernonia cumingiana Benth.

To search for new and bioactive constituents from traditional Chinese medicines, a new steroidal saponin, named vernonioside G （1）, was isolated from the roots of Vernonia cumingiana Benth. （Compositae）. The structure of vernonioside G was elucidated using spectral methods, particularly two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance analysis. Together with the new compound, eight known compounds were also isolated and identified from the roots of V. cumingiana, among which, VE-1 （2） and 24-methylenelanost-9（11）- en-3β-ol acetate （3） were assigned NMR data for the first time and compound 3 was obtained as a natural product from a plant for the first time.     

α-烯醇化酶基因干扰表达对籽鹅卵泡颗粒细胞增殖及凋亡的影响*

目的: 研究α-烯醇化酶(ENO1)基因干扰表达对籽鹅卵泡颗粒细胞增殖、凋亡和细胞周期的影响。方法: 原代培养籽鹅F1级卵泡颗粒细胞(复合培养),将ENO1基因干扰表达重组质粒转染至籽鹅卵泡颗粒细胞。实验分为四组:ENO1干扰表达组(RNAi)、无关序列干扰组(NC)、培养液组(Control)、转染试剂组(Lip)。流式细胞术检测干扰组和对照各组的凋亡率、细胞周期时相性。结果: ENO1基因干扰表达使籽鹅卵泡颗粒细胞增殖速度变慢,凋亡率增加,G2/M期颗粒细胞比例增高。结论: ENO1基因干扰表达可使籽鹅卵泡颗粒细胞周期发生G2/M期阻滞,诱导细胞发生凋亡,抑制细胞增殖。     

Fus在斑马鱼生长发育及两性生长异形中的功能

为研究肉瘤融合基因(fus)在鱼类中的功能, 在斑马鱼中利用CRISPR/Cas9基因突变技术使fus基因产生移码突变。fus-/-纯合突变体斑马鱼发育正常并且完全可育, 但体长和体重在幼鱼和成年阶段都小于野生型斑马鱼。此外, 相较于野生型斑马鱼, fus-/-纯合突变体斑马鱼不存在雌鱼身体比例大于雄鱼的性别异形现象。在fus-/-纯合突变体斑马鱼早期幼鱼发育阶段, 一些生长相关基因包括gh1、ghra、igf1、igf2a、stat5.1和socs6的表达水平显著低于野生型斑马鱼但其运动能力并未受到影响。因此, 不同于fus基因在哺乳动物中的功能, 它在斑马鱼中不参与运动神经元的发育, 但在调节鱼类躯体生长发育与两性生长异形方面有着重要的功能。     

Biocompatibility of nano-hydroxyapatite/Mg-Zn-Ca alloy composite scaffolds to human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells from Wharton’s jelly in vitro

Seeding cells and scaffolds play pivotal roles in bone tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.Wharton’s jelly-derived mesenchymal stem cells(WJCs)from human umbilical cord represent attractive and promising seeding cells in tissue regeneration and engineering for treatment applications.This study was carried out to explore the biocompatibility of scaffolds to seeding cells in vitro.Rod-like nano-hydroxyapatite(RN-HA)and flake-like micro-hydroxyapatite(FM-HA)coatings were prepared on Mg-Zn-Ca alloy substrates using micro-arc oxidation and electrochemical deposition.WJCs were utilized to investigate the cellular biocompatibility of Mg-Zn-Ca alloys after different surface modifications by observing the cell adhesion,morphology,proliferation,and osteoblastic differentiation.The in vitro results indicated that the RN-HA coating group was more suitable for cell proliferation and cell osteoblastic differentiation than the FM-HA group,demonstrating better biocompatibility.Our results suggested that the RN-HA coating on Mg-Zn-Ca alloy substrates might be of great potential in bone tissue engineering.     

Geographic variation in parasitism rates of two sympatric cuckoo hosts in China

Rates of brood parasitism vary extensively among host species and populations of a single host species. In this study, we documented and compared parasitism rates of two sympatric hosts, the Oriental Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus orientalis) and the Reed Parrotbill (Paradoxornis heudei), in three populations in China. We found that the Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) is the only parasite using both the Oriental Reed Warbler and Reed Parrotbill as hosts, with a parasitism rate of 22.4%-34.3% and 0%-4.6%, respectively. The multiple parasitism rates were positively correlated with local parasitism rates across three geographic populations of Oriental Reed Warbler, which implies that higher pressure of parasitism lead to higher multiple parasitism rate. Furthermore, only one phenotype of cuckoo eggs was found in the nests of these two host species. Our results lead to two conclusions: (1) The Oriental Reed Warbler should be considered the major host of Common Cuckoo in our study sites; and (2) obligate parasitism on Oriental Reed Warbler by Common Cuckoo is specialized but flexible to some extent, i.e., using Reed Parrotbill as a secondary host. Further studies focusing on egg recognition and rejection behaviour of these two host species should be conducted to test our predictions.     

韩国豹猫与其它豹猫及西表猫之间的遗传分化:基于IRBP、12S rRNA 和Cyt b 序列的分析

利用韩国豹猫的IRBP、12S rRNA 和细胞色素b (Cyt b)序列,并将其与GenBank 中的豹猫及西表猫的上述基因进行比较,以此来重新分析韩国豹猫和其它豹猫及西表猫之间的遗传分化情况。首先,我们从18 只韩国豹猫的IRBP、12S rRNA 和Cyt b 序列分析中分别检测到6 个等位基因、1 个单倍型和3 个单倍型,推测曾经发生 在豹猫种群的瓶颈事件可能是本文发现的不同分子标记之间存在基因型丢失差异的原因。基于Cyt b 序列分析,证实东亚的豹猫形成一个单独的进化枝,本文得到的Cyt b 序列和之前发布结果支持一个分类理论,即认为东亚的豹猫就是东北森林猫。我们发现在IRBP、12S rRNA 基因上,韩国豹猫和西表猫存在相同的序列,支持将西表猫和豹猫视为同一物种。     

冷应激家兔血压与血清细胞因子的变化及其相互关系

应激在人类健康与疾病领域的研究中占据着重要的地位。有研究发现,约75％-90％的疾病与应激机制的激活有关。大量流行病学资料和试验表明,应激容易引起病毒感染、应激性溃疡、心血管病、精神病和肿瘤等疾病。动物试验也证实,寒冷环境能引起高血压的发生。目前,低温对机体免疫功能的影响已逐渐引起了人们的关注,其影响机制十分复杂。应激对机体免疫的影响已有报道,[第一段]     

＂Unconventional＂ Neutralizing Activity of Antibodies Against HIV

Neutralizing antibodies are recognized to be one of the essential elements of the adaptive immune response that must be induced by an effective vaccine against HIV. However,only a limited number of antibodies have been identified to neutralize a broad range of primary isolates of HIV-1 and attempts to induce such antibodies by immunization were unsuccessful. The difficulties to generate such antibodies are mainly due to intrinsic properties of HIV-1 envelope spikes,such as high sequence diversity,heavy glycosylation,and inducible and transient nature of certain epitopes. In vitro neutralizing antibodies are identified using "conventional" neutralization assay which uses phytohe-magglutinin (PHA)-stimulated human PBMCs as target cells. Thus,in essence the assay evaluates HIV-1 replication in CD4 T cells. Recently,several laboratories including us demonstrated that some monoclonal antibodies and HIV-1-specific polyclonal IgG purified from patient sera,although they do not have neutralizing activity when tested by the "conventional" neutralization assay,do exhibit potent and broad neutralizing activity in "unconventional" ways. The neutralizing activity of these antibodies and IgG fractions is acquired through post-translational modifications,through opsonization of virus particles into macrophages and immature dendritic cells (iDCs),or through expression of antibodies on the surface of HIV-1-susceptible cells. This review will focus on recent findings of this area and point out their potential applications in the development of preventive strategies against HIV.