Surface hydrophilic modification with well-defined glycopolymer for protein imprinting matrix

Well-defined lactose-containing glycopolymer has been synthesized by reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization with (4-cyanopentanoic acid)-4- dithiobenozoate (CAD) as chain transfer agent. The glycopolymer was introduced onto the exterior surfaces of the bovine serum albumin (BSA) imprinted polymer beads by grafting copolymerization with methyl methacrylate and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate. After alcoholysis, the hydrophilic lactose residues of glycopolymer will stretched on the surface of the MIP beads and then the hydrophilicity of the surface will be enhanced. Rebinding test shows that the glycopolymer hydrophilic modified BSA imprinted polymer presents higher performance selectivity than that of unmodified one, which means that the hydrophobic-hydrophilic balance of the imprinted polymer surface is in favor of the improvement of specific recognition property of the material.     

Draft Genome Sequence of Paenibacillus sp. Strain OSY-SE,a Bacterium Producing the Novel Broad-Spectrum Lipopeptide Antibiotic Paenibacterin

A strain of Paenibacillus sp., OSY-SE, was isolated from soil and found to produce a novel lipopeptide antibiotic. The antibiotic, paenibacterin, is active against Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacterial pathogens. Paenibacterin is biosynthesized by a nonribosomal peptide synthetase pathway. Here we report the draft genome sequence of Paenibacillus sp. OSY-SE.     

Specific interactions between adenosine and streptavidin/avidin

The screening of ligands against proteins plays important role in drug discovery and biological research. Using a dye labelled Streptavidin binding aptamer (SBA) as a competitive reporter probe, we found that adenosine bound to streptavidin specifically. Fluorescence spectral analysis showed that adenosine bound to both avidin and streptavidin with the K_ds in the range of 0.1–0.2 mM, and these bindings can be blocked by biotin. Although streptavidin and avidin are well-known and widely used in bioanalysis, their biological role is still a riddle so far. Since adenosine is a ubiquitous physiological regulator present in cells, our finding provides new clues for the understanding of the functions of both proteins.     

Synthesis and structure–activity relationship studies of cytotoxic vinorelbine amide analogues

A series of 3-demethoxycarbonyl-3-acylamide methyl vinorelbine derivatives (compounds 7a–7z) were designed, synthesized, and evaluated for their inhibition activities against human non-small cell lung cancer cell line (A549). Most of the amide derivatives exhibited potent cytotoxicity, with the size of the introduced substituents being the foremost factor in determining the resultant cytotoxic activity. Test results in vivo against nude mice bearing A549 xenografts indicated that 7y showed comparable activities compared to the parent NVB.     

Topoisomerase I‐Mediated Antiproliferative Activity of 10‐Substituted and 12‐Substituted Homocamptothecins

Homocamptothecin (hCPT) is an E‐ring modified camptothecin (CPT) analogue, which showed pronounced inhibitory activity of topoisomerase I. In search of novel hCPT‐type anticancer agents, two series of hCPT derivatives were synthesized and evaluated in vitro against three human tumor cell lines. The results indicated that the 10‐substituted hCPT derivatives had a considerably higher cytotoxic activity than the 12‐substituted ones. Among the 10‐substituted compounds, 8a, 8b, 9b , and 9i showed an equivalent or even more potent activity than the positive control drug topotecan against the lung cancer cell line A‐549. Moreover, the hCPT analogues 8a and 8b exhibited a higher topoisomerase I inhibitory activity than CPT at a concentration of 100 μM .     

利用Cre-loxP自动敲除H5亚型禽流感病毒血凝素重组鸡痘病毒中的报告基因

研究去除重组鸡痘病毒中的报告基因,构建一株只含目的基因的重组毒。将H5亚型AIV的HA基因作为靶基因,两侧含loxP序列的GFP表达盒插入鸡痘病毒重组臂基因构建了转移质粒载体,将其与脂质体混合转染CEF细胞,获得了表达H5和GFP的鸡痘病毒重组体。通过二次转染,利用Cre酶自动敲除重组病毒中的GFP基因,最终获得了只含H5血凝素基因表达盒的重组鸡痘病毒。免疫荧光和病毒滴度测定结果表明,经过连续传代后重组病毒仍然稳定复制并表达H5血凝素。用10⁵PFU和2×10⁵PFU rFPV H5免疫SPF鸡,28d后,免疫组鸡抗体平均滴度(HI)分别达到4log 2和4.5log 2,结果表明,H5HA基因重组病毒能刺激鸡群产生较高特异抗体。     

Detrimental effects of endogenous oestrogens on primary acute myocardial infarction among postmenopausal women

Objective

Traditionally, oestrogens were considered to be protective for the cardiovascular system for premenopausal women. Therefore, we conducted a retrospective case–control study to examine the association between endogenous oestrogens and acute myocardial infarction (AMI) risk among postmenopausal women.

Methods

A case–control study was performed among 30 primary AMI patients and 60 control subjects. Baseline characteristics data was collected and endogenous sex hormones levels were determined using chemoluminescence and radioimmunoassay methods. Conditional logistic regression models were developed with adjustment for confounders.

Results

Compared with controls, the circulating oestrone, oestradiol, androstenedione and testosterone levels were significantly higher in AMI patients (P < 0.05) while the sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) level was lower (P < 0.05). Spearman correlation coefficients showed oestradiol was positively correlated with body mass index (BMI) and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) in cases, but not in controls. In univariable conditional logistic regression models, oestrone, oestradiol, testosterone, WHR, BMI, diabetes and hypertension were all found to be positively associated with AMI (P < 0.05). After adjusting for these factors, oestradiol (odds ratio (OR) = 4.75; 95 % confidence interval (CI) = 1.07–21.10; P = 0.04) and WHR (OR = 6.46; 95 % CI = 1.09–38.39; P = 0.04) continued to demonstrate strong positive associations with AMI.

Conclusions

A higher level of oestradiol was potentially associated with primary AMI risk among postmenopausal women.