刺参基因组DNA提取的探讨

以刺参为试验材料,分别以CTAB法、SDS法、Segama试剂盒法对刺参的触手、管足、体壁、纵肌、肠和呼吸树组织进行基因组DNA的提取,均得到了高质量的基因组DNA。Segama试剂盒提取DNA条带较其他两种方法清晰,杂质少且无降解,效果最佳。对比6种不同的刺参组织,其中纵肌组织3种方法均获得高质量基因组DNA,为提取基因组DNA的首选组织。开发了利用刺参触手和管足活体取样提取基因组DNA的方法,得到了高质量的基因组DNA,这为刺参无损伤取样提供了数据支持,使得将来刺参家系建立过程中保证亲体的健康存活及减少试验样品取样所带来的损伤成为可能。     

响应面优化紫萍黄酮提取工艺及其抗氧化活性

采用响应面法优化微波提取紫萍黄酮的条件。在单因素实验的基础上,选取乙醇体积分数、微波功率、液料比为影响因子,应用Box-Behnken中心组合法进行三因素三水平的试验设计,以紫萍黄酮得率为响应值,进行响应面分析(RSM),结果表明:微波提取紫萍黄酮的最佳提取条件为乙醇体积分数62%、液料比17∶1(mL/g)、微波功率500 W、微波时间9 min;在优化工艺下,紫萍黄酮的得率达到4.14%。对微波提取的紫萍黄酮进行抗氧化性研究发现紫萍黄酮对DPPH.清除作用较好,其抗氧化活性要优于相同浓度的抗坏血酸(VC)和2,6-二叔丁基对甲酚(BHT)。     

光动力治疗在各类恶性肿瘤病人姑息治疗中的应用探讨

光动力治疗(photodynamic therapy,PDT)是近二十年来新兴的肿瘤治疗方法,与肿瘤传统手术、化疗和放疗方法相比,能选择性地消灭局部的原发和复发肿瘤,而不伤及正常组织。大多数肿瘤出现临床症状时,已是肿瘤晚期,丧失了肿瘤治疗的最佳时机。光动力治疗作为新兴的肿瘤治疗技术,能够以较小创伤为代价改善患者的生活质量,并提高患者生存时间,有望成为恶性肿瘤姑息性治疗的首选。     

Molecular cloning,characterization and mRNA expression of selenium-dependent glutathione peroxidase from abalone Haliotis discus hannai Ino in response to dietary selenium,zinc and iron

A novel selenium-dependent glutathione peroxidase (Se-GPX) was cloned from abalone Haliotis discus hannai Ino (HdhGPx) by homology cloning with degenerate primers and RACE techniques. The full length of HdhGPx cDNA was 963 bp with a 669 bp open reading frame (ORF) encoding 222 amino acids and a 101 bp eukaryotic selenocysteine insertion sequence (SECIS) in 3′ untranslated region (UTR). It was showed that HdhGPx has a characteristic codon at ²³⁵TGA²³⁷ that corresponds to selenocysteine (SeC) as U₇₂. Sequence characterization revealed that HdhGPx contains a characteristic GPx signature motif 2 (₉₆LGLPCNQF₁₀₃), an active site motif (₁₇₉WNFEKF₁₈₄). In addition, two potential N-glycosylation sites (₁₁₂NGTE₁₁₅ and ₁₃₂NLTQ₁₃₅) were identified in HdhGPx. 3D modeling analysis showed that the overall structure of HdhGPx monomer had more similarity to human GPx3 than human GPx1. Relatively higher-level mRNA expression was detected in hepatopancreas, mantle and gonad by real-time PCR assays. The relative expression levels of HdhGPx mRNA in hepatopancreas and haemocytes were detected by real-time PCR in abalone fed with nine different diets containing graded levels of selenium (0.15, 1.32 and 48.7 mg kg^− 1), zinc (6.69, 33.85 and 710.63 mg kg^− 1) and iron (29.17, 65.7 and 1267.2 mg kg^− 1) for 20 weeks, respectively. The results showed that the expressions of HdhGPx mRNA were statistically higher at adequate dietary selenium (1.32 mg kg^− 1), zinc (33.85 mg kg^− 1) and iron (65.7 mg kg^− 1) than those in low dietary minerals, respectively. But HdhGPx mRNA expression levels were down-regulated by high contents of dietary selenium (48.7 mg kg^− 1), zinc (710.63 mg kg^− 1) and iron (1267.2 mg kg^− 1), respectively. These results indicated that adequate dietary minerals could increase the mRNA expression of HdhGPx, and then to increase the total antioxidant capacities in abalone.     

STING promotes senescence,apoptosis, and extracellular matrix degradation in osteoarthritis via the NF-κB signaling pathway

Damaged deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a primary pathologic factor for osteoarthritis (OA); however, the mechanism by which DNA damage drives OA is unclear. Previous research demonstrated that the cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS)-stimulator of interferon genes (STING) participates in DNA damage response. As a result, the current study aimed at exploring the role STING, which is the major effector in the cGAS-STING signaling casacde, in OA progress in vitro, as well as in vivo. In this study, the expression of STING was evaluated in the human and mouse OA tissues, and in chondrocytes exposed to interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β). The influences of STING on the metabolism of the extracellular matrix (ECM), apoptosis, and senescence, were assessed in STING overexpressing and knocking-down chondrocytes. Moreover, the NF-κB-signaling casacde and its role in the regulatory effects of STING on ECM metabolism, apoptosis, and senescence were explored. The STING knockdown lentivirus was intra-articularly injected to evaluate its therapeutic impact on OA in mice in vivo. The results showed that the expression of STING was remarkably elevated in the human and mouse OA tissues and in chondrocytes exposed to IL-1β. Overexpression of STING promoted the expression of MMP13, as well as ADAMTS5, but suppressed the expression of Aggrecan, as well as Collagen II; it also enhanced apoptosis and senescence in chondrocytes exposed to and those untreated with IL-1β. The mechanistic study showed that STING activated NF-κB signaling cascade, whereas the blockage of NF-κB signaling attenuated STING-induced apoptosis and senescence, and ameliorated STING-induced ECM metabolism imbalance. In in vivo study, it was demonstrated that STING knockdown alleviated destabilization of the medial meniscus-induced OA development in mice. In conclusion, STING promotes OA by activating the NF-κB signaling cascade, whereas suppression of STING may provide a novel approach for OA therapy.Subject terms: Apoptosis, Senescence     

KLHL38 involvement in non-small cell lung cancer progression via activation of the Akt signaling pathway

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. KLHL38 has been reported to be upregulated during diapause but downregulated after androgen treatment during the reversal of androgen-dependent skeletal muscle atrophy. This study aimed to clarify the role of KLHL38 in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). KLHL38 expression was evaluated in tumor and adjacent normal tissues from 241 patients with NSCLC using immunohistochemistry and real-time PCR, and its association with clinicopathological parameters was analyzed. KLHL38 levels positively correlated with tumor size, lymph node metastasis, and pathological tumor-node-metastasis stage (all P < 0.001). In NSCLC cell lines, KLHL38 overexpression promoted PTEN ubiquitination, thereby activating Akt signaling. It also promoted cell proliferation, migration, and invasion by upregulating the expression of genes encoding cyclin D1, cyclin B, c-myc, RhoA, and MMP9, while downregulating the expression of p21 and E-cadherin. In vivo experiments in nude mice further confirmed that KLHL38 promotes NSCLC progression through Akt signaling pathway activation. Together, these results indicate that KLHL38 is a valuable candidate prognostic biomarker and potential therapeutic target for NSCLC.Subject terms: Lung cancer, Oncogenesis     

A Novel Construction of Genome Space with Biological Geometry

A genome space is a moduli space of genomes. In this space, each point corresponds to a genome. The natural distance between two points in the genome space reflects the biological distance between these two genomes. Currently, there is no method to represent genomes by a point in a space without losing biological information. Here, we propose a new graphical representation for DNA sequences. The breakthrough of the subject is that we can construct the moment vectors from DNA sequences using this new graphical method and prove that the correspondence between moment vectors and DNA sequences is one-to-one. Using these moment vectors, we have constructed a novel genome space as a subspace in R^N. It allows us to show that the SARS-CoV is most closely related to a coronavirus from the palm civet not from a bird as initially suspected, and the newly discovered human coronavirus HCoV-HKU1 is more closely related to SARS than to any other known member of group 2 coronavirus. Furthermore, we reconstructed the phylogenetic tree for 34 lentiviruses (including human immunodeficiency virus) based on their whole genome sequences. Our genome space will provide a new powerful tool for analyzing the classification of genomes and their phylogenetic relationships.