Efficient Gene Transfer Mediated by HIV-1-based Defective Lentivector and Inhibition of HIV-1 Replication

Lentiviral vectors have drawn considerable attention recently and show great promise to become important delivery vehicles for future gene transfer manipulation. In the present study we have optimized a protocol for preparation of human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1)-based defective lentiviral vectors (DLV) and characterized these vectors in terms of their transduction of different cells. Transient co-transfection of 293T packaging cells with DNA plasmids encoding lentiviral vector constituents resulted in production of high-titer DLV (0.5-1.2 × 107IU/mL), which can be further concentrated over 100-fold through a single step ultracentrifugation. These vectors were capable of transducing a variety of cells from both primate and non-primate sources and high transduction efficiency was achieved using concentrated vectors. Assessment of potential generation of RCV revealed no detection of infection by infectious particles in DLV-transduced CEM, SupT-1 and MT-2 cells. Long-term culture of transduced cells showed a stable expression of transgenes without apparent alteration in cellular morphology and growth kinetics. Vector mobilization to untransduced cells mediated by wild-type HIV-1 infection was confirmed in this test. Challenge of transduced human T-lymphocytes with wild-type HIV-1 showed these cells are totally resistant to the viral infection. Considering the effective gene transfer and stable gene expression, safety and anti-HIV activity, these DLV vectors warrant further exploration for their potential use as a gene transfer vehicle in the development of gene therapy protocols.     

Role of venom and ovarian proteins in immune suppression of Ostrinia furnacalis （Lepidoptera： Pyralidae） larvae parasitized by Macrocentrus cingulum （Hymenoptera： Braconidae）, a polyembryonic parasitoid

Venom and ovarian proteins in braconid and ichneumonid wasps play an important role in the successful parasitism of their host, especially for immune suppression immediately after oviposition. In this study, we compared the effect of venom and ovarian proteins collected from the female wasps of Macrocentrus cingulum, a polyembryonic parasitoid of the larvae of Ostriniafunacalis, on the encapsulation capacity of Sephadex A- 25 beads at 4 h and 24 h post-injection both in vivo and in vitro. The results showed that the ovarian proteins significantly interfered with the encapsulation capacity of hemocytes in a dose-dependent manner. Spreading and viability of hemocytes in O. furnacalis was not disrupted by venom and ovarian proteins at various concentrations injected. It seems likely that the ovarian proteins from M. cingulum play a role in suppressing the encapsulation capacity of host hemocytes.     

Myobacterium tuberculosis induces selective up-regulation of TLRs in the mononuclear leukocytes of patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis

Human and mouse studies indicate that TLRs are important in mycobacterial infections. We investigated TLR gene expression in fresh unstimulated blood and bronchoalveolar lavage from patients with pulmonary tuberculosis using a well-validated, real-time PCR. A human splice variant of TLR1, designated hsTLR1, was found in all donors tested. hsTLR1 mRNA lacks exon 2, which is a 77-bp region of the 5'-untranslated region, but contains the same coding sequence as TLR1. Compared with the matched controls, whole blood from patients had increased levels of mRNA encoding TLR2 (p = 0.0006), TLR1 (p = 0.004), hsTLR1 (p = 0.0003), TLR6 (p < 0.0001), and TLR4 (p = 0.0002). By contrast, expression of these TLRs was not increased in bronchoalveolar lavage. An increased level of hsTLR1 mRNA was found in both CD3- (p = 0.0078) and CD4+ cells (p = 0.028), resulting in an increased ratio of hsTLR1 mRNA to TLR1 and to TLR6 mRNA. An in vitro study in THP1 cells suggested that this relative increase in hsTLR1 might be attributable to a direct effect of mycobacterial components because it could be mimicked by mycobacterial preparations in the absence of IFN-gamma or T cells and by the TLR1/2 agonist Pam3CysK4. Half-life studies using blood from patients with pulmonary tuberculosis and THP1 cells exposed to Myobacterium tuberculosis in vitro showed p38 MAPK-independent stabilization of mRNAs encoding hsTLR1 and TLR1. We conclude that M. tuberculosis exerts direct effects on patterns of TLR expression, partly via changes in mRNA half-life. The significance of these changes in the pathogenesis of disease deserves further investigation.     

Identification of small heat shock protein B8 (HSP22) as a novel TLR4 ligand and potential involvement in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis

Dendritic cells (DCs) are specialized APCs that can be activated upon pathogen recognition as well as recognition of endogenous ligands, which are released during inflammation and cell stress. The recognition of exogenous and endogenous ligands depends on TLRs, which are abundantly expressed in synovial tissue from rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. Furthermore TLR ligands are found to be present in RA serum and synovial fluid and are significantly increased, compared with serum and synovial fluid from healthy volunteers and patients with systemic sclerosis and systemic lupus erythematosus. Identification of novel endogenous TLR ligands might contribute to the elucidation of the role of TLRs in RA and other autoimmune diseases. In this study, we investigated whether five members of the small heat shock protein (HSP) family were involved in TLR4-mediated DC activation and whether these small HSPs were present in RA synovial tissue. In vitro, monocyte-derived DCs were stimulated with recombinant alphaA crystallin, alphaB crystallin, HSP20, HSPB8, and HSP27. Using flow cytometry and multiplex cytokine assays, we showed that both alphaA crystallin and HSPB8 were able to activate DCs and that this activation was TLR4 dependent. Furthermore, Western blot and immunohistochemistry showed that HSPB8 was abundantly expressed in synovial tissue from patients with RA. With these experiments, we identified sHSP alphaA crystallin and HSPB8 as two new endogenous TLR4 ligands from which HSPB8 is abundantly expressed in RA synovial tissue. These findings suggest a role for HSPB8 during the inflammatory process in autoimmune diseases such as RA.     

体外永久培养的人鼠杂交瘤

小鼠骨髓瘤细胞SP2/0(HGPRT~-)与人体外周血淋巴细胞经PEG介导融合、HAT培养基选择,获得了体外永久培养的人鼠杂交瘤。细胞遗传学分析证实杂种群体中尚保留着5—12条人染色体,未查见种间染色体易位。A_4单克隆中保留了人9、11、X、11、18、19、22号染色体。杂种细胞G6PD同工酶电泳出现三带型酶谱,表明人和鼠的G6PD在杂种细胞中均有表达。对杂种细胞及其亲本的自发多核化现象和细胞松弛素B的多核效应进行了观察比较。这种人鼠杂交细胞可望用于制备人类免疫球蛋白链基因克隆和人类单克隆抗体,也可用于人类基因定位及恶性表达分析等方面的研究。     

中国人胃癌和正常组织基因组DNA中癌基因Ha-ras的限制性片段长度多态性研究

本文报道以PHS-49为探针,分析了中国人群中36例胃癌患者癌组织和25位正常人体组织基因组DNA中Ha-ras基因的BamHI限制性片段长度多态性(RFLPs)。发现了10种不同长度的片段和18种基因型。其中4种小于6kb的BamHI片段是迄今国外未见报道的,这可能是中国人群遗传多态性的一个特征。此外,在胃癌组织中发现Ha-ras的一些稀有等位基因和基因型的频率明显高于正常人群。对两名胃癌患者家系中的11名成员也作了RFLPs分析,发现有些成员出现3条和4条限制性片段的杂合个体,表明这些个体的染色体上含有的Ha-ras基因不只一份拷贝。对上述现象的可能原因作了分析和讨论。     

Changes of macromolecular organizations in nonjunctional sarcolemmas after cross-innervation──a study offast-and slow-twitch muscle fibres in rats

INTRODUCTIONMa1n11la1iaIlskeletal1llusclefibresare(listiIlgl1ishedint()severaltypesacc()rdillgtodifferentclassificatiollscl1e111es.Eachtypeofmusc1efibresl1asasetofspecificcharacteristics.Ollewell-kllowl1waytoclassifymusclefibresistodividethemintotwobroadtypestslow-twitcI1ortypeIfibres,andfast-twitchortypelIfibres.ThefOrmerllormallyappearsreda11dthelaterappearswhite.Theypossesswidedifferellceswithrespectt()physiol()gical,biochemical,andmorpho1ogica1pl1ellotypiccharacteristics,suchasisom…     

内蒙古四个民族耳垂基因频率

本文在调查内蒙古汉族、蒙古族、回族、朝鲜族耳垂性状的基础上,计算出上述4个民族的基因频率,并进行了4个民族之间、 4个民族与赫哲族、柯尔克孜族之间耳垂显性基因频率的比较, 研究结果提示:我国北方地区民族群体的耳垂显性基因频率由西向东有逐渐降低的趋势。     

海岛棉无腺体突变基因Gl E 2 的遗传研究

本文对海岛棉无腺体突变基因Gl e 2 的遗传行为进行了研究。结果表明,Gl e 2是一个完全显性基因,不是Kohel等（1984）认为的部分显性基因。基因Gl2和Gl3存在着剂量效应。不稳定的遗传背景也会影响Gl e 2与Gl2和Gl3的相互作用。Gl1及等位基因gl1与Gl e 2没有相互联系。