宫颈癌细胞系中HPV病毒感染与P16和E-cadherin表达的相关性分析

目的探讨宫颈癌细胞系中HPV感染状态与P16和E-cadherin表达之间的相关性。方法应用免疫细胞化学染色、免疫荧光、Western-blot以及RT-PCR的方法检测HeLa、SiHa和C33A三个细胞系中P16和E-cadherin的表达情况。结果HPV阳性的两个细胞系HeLa和SiHa中P16的表达呈强阳性而E-cadherin的表达呈弱阳性,HPV阴性的细胞系C33A中P16的表达为弱阳性而E-cadherin呈强阳性表达。结论宫颈癌细胞系中HPV的感染与P16的表达呈正相关而与E-cadherin的表达呈负相关。     

Pathways-Driven Sparse Regression Identifies Pathways and Genes Associated with High-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol in Two Asian Cohorts

Standard approaches to data analysis in genome-wide association studies (GWAS) ignore any potential functional relationships between gene variants. In contrast gene pathways analysis uses prior information on functional structure within the genome to identify pathways associated with a trait of interest. In a second step, important single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) or genes may be identified within associated pathways. The pathways approach is motivated by the fact that genes do not act alone, but instead have effects that are likely to be mediated through their interaction in gene pathways. Where this is the case, pathways approaches may reveal aspects of a trait''s genetic architecture that would otherwise be missed when considering SNPs in isolation. Most pathways methods begin by testing SNPs one at a time, and so fail to capitalise on the potential advantages inherent in a multi-SNP, joint modelling approach. Here, we describe a dual-level, sparse regression model for the simultaneous identification of pathways and genes associated with a quantitative trait. Our method takes account of various factors specific to the joint modelling of pathways with genome-wide data, including widespread correlation between genetic predictors, and the fact that variants may overlap multiple pathways. We use a resampling strategy that exploits finite sample variability to provide robust rankings for pathways and genes. We test our method through simulation, and use it to perform pathways-driven gene selection in a search for pathways and genes associated with variation in serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels in two separate GWAS cohorts of Asian adults. By comparing results from both cohorts we identify a number of candidate pathways including those associated with cardiomyopathy, and T cell receptor and PPAR signalling. Highlighted genes include those associated with the L-type calcium channel, adenylate cyclase, integrin, laminin, MAPK signalling and immune function.     

Cell membrane surface potential (psi0) plays a dominant role in the phytotoxicity of copper and arsenate

Negative charges at cell membrane surfaces (CMS) create a surface electrical potential (psi(0)) that affects ion concentrations at the CMS and consequently affects the phytotoxicity of metallic cations and metalloid anions in different ways. The zeta potentials of root protoplasts of wheat (Triticum aestivum), as affected by the ionic environment of the solution, were measured and compared with the values of psi(0) calculated with a Gouy-Chapman-Stern model. The mechanisms for the effects of cations (H(+), Ca(2+), Mg(2+), Na(+), and K(+)) on the acute toxicity of Cu(2+) and As(V) to wheat were studied in terms of psi(0). The order of effectiveness of the ions in reducing the negativity of psi(0) was H(+) > Ca(2+) approximately Mg(2+) > Na(+) approximately K(+). The calculated values of psi(0) were proportional to the measured zeta potentials (r(2) = 0.93). Increasing Ca(2+) or Mg(2+) activities in bulk-phase media resulted in decreased CMS activities of Cu(2+) ({Cu(2+)}(0)) and increased CMS activities of As(V) ({As(V)}(0)). The 48-h EA50{Cu(2+)}(b) ({Cu(2+)} in bulk-phase media accounting for 50% inhibition of root elongation over 48 h) increased initially and then declined, whereas the 48-h EA50{As(V)}(b) decreased linearly. However, the intrinsic toxicity of Cu(2+) (toxicity expressed in terms of {Cu(2+)}(0)) appeared to be enhanced as psi(0) became less negative and the intrinsic toxicity of As(V) appeared to be reduced. The psi(0) effects, rather than site-specific competitions among ions at the CMS (invoked by the biotic ligand model), may play the dominant role in the phytotoxicities of Cu(2+) and As(V) to wheat.     

Gene mapping related to yellow green leaf in a mutant line in rice (Oryza sativa L.)

A mutant, which derived from the restorer line Jinhui10 treated with EMS, showed completely yellow green leaves, and it had low chlorophyll content and poor agronomic characteristics during the growing stage. The F1 plants from the cross between normal × the mutant showed normal green leaves, and the segregation ratio of normal to yellow green leaves was 3 : 1 in F₂ population. It indicated that the trait was controlled by a single recessive nuclear gene, temporarily designated asygl3. The geneygl3 was mapped between RM468 and RM3684 with genetic distances 8.4 cM and 1.8 cM on chromosome 3. This result would be used as genetic information for fine mapping and map-based cloning ofygl3 gene.     

小脑电刺激对家鸽乙酰胆碱酯酶活力的影响

选用成年健康家鸽,对小脑进行连续电刺激后,分别抽取家鸽外周血清及全脑测定乙酰胆碱酯酶活力变化,以探讨鸟类小脑刺激与乙酰胆碱酯酶活力变化之间的相关性.结果 表明:在刺激小脑皮层后,家鸽外周血清中乙酰胆碱酯酶活力显著上升(P＜0.05);而在刺激小脑皮层后,脑组织中乙酰胆碱酯酶活力显著降低(P＜0.05).推测电刺激引起外周组织乙酰胆碱释放,从而引起肌肉强直,血清中胆碱酯酶的活力升高.而电刺激小脑使抑制性神经元功能兴奋,脑中胆碱能神经元功能减弱,乙酰胆碱的释放减少,脑组织中胆碱酯酶的活力降低.     

Erratum to: MYH7B variants cause hypertrophic cardiomyopathy by activating the CaMK-signaling pathway

Science China Life Sciences -     

全球变化现象及其效应

通过论述大气臭氧层的损耗、大气中氧化作用的减弱、全球气候变暖、生物多样性的减少、土地利用格局与环境质量的改变和人口的急剧增长等全球变化现象,阐明只有推行可持续发展战略才能改善环境,从而根本上遏制全球变化的加剧．文章对全球变化的若干基本问题进行了论述．     

Bioimage informatics: a new area of engineering biology

In recent years, the deluge of complicated molecular and cellular microscopic images creates compelling challenges for the image computing community. There has been an increasing focus on developing novel image processing, data mining, database and visualization techniques to extract, compare, search and manage the biological knowledge in these data-intensive problems. This emerging new area of bioinformatics can be called 'bioimage informatics'. This article reviews the advances of this field from several aspects, including applications, key techniques, available tools and resources. Application examples such as high-throughput/high-content phenotyping and atlas building for model organisms demonstrate the importance of bioimage informatics. The essential techniques to the success of these applications, such as bioimage feature identification, segmentation and tracking, registration, annotation, mining, image data management and visualization, are further summarized, along with a brief overview of the available bioimage databases, analysis tools and other resources.