Involvement of Annexin A2 in p53 induced apoptosis in lung cancer

Tumor suppressor p53 plays important roles in cell cycle regulation, apoptosis and DNA repair in different cell types including lung cancer. There are different p53 apoptotic pathways in high and low metastatic ability lung cancer cells. However, the exactly mechanism in the pathway is still unclear. Here we found that Annexin A2, a Ca²⁺-dependent phospholipid-binding protein, is involved in p53-mediated apoptosis. First, by using mRNA differential display technique, down-regulated Annexin A2 expression was found in all cell lines transfected of Ad-p53 (adenoviral expression construct encoding wild type p53 gene) especially in highly metastatic Anip973 lung cancer cells. Then, decreased expression of Annexin A2 was further confirmed by Northern blot and Western blot analysis. At last, knock down of Annexin A2 by siRNA inhibited cellular proliferation in BE1 cell line with highly metastatic ability. Taken together, our results suggested that Annexin A2 may play roles in p53 induced apoptosis and it is also involved in regulation of cell proliferation. The authors Yun Huang, Yan Jin and Cheng-hui Yan contributed equally to this work.     

桂林小花苣苔离体快速繁殖技术

对抗结核植物桂林小花苣苔(Chiritopsis repanda var. guilinensis)进行离体培养与快速繁殖技术研究。结果表明: 桂林小花苣苔叶片外植体的最适初代诱导培养基为MS+0.5 mg·L^–16-BA+0.05 mg·L^–1IBA, pH8.0; 最适继代增殖培养基为 MS+0.1 mg·L^–16-BA+0.05 mg·L^–1IBA, pH6.0, 繁殖系数7.0/35天; 最适生根培养基为1/2MS+0.2 mg·L^–1NAA, pH6.0, 生根率为93.6%。模拟桂林小花苣苔自然生境, 在春季对生根试管苗进行大棚移栽, 成活率达90%。根据上述快繁技术, 理论上每株试管苗每年可繁殖桂林小花苣苔种苗46万株。     

地下结实植物白番红花地下果实的生产与种子扩散特性

地下芽地下结实是指由植株地下芽分化形成的具长管状花被的花伸出地表开放、而子房在地下发育成果实的一种特殊结实现象。白番红花(Crocus alatavicus)是生长于天山西部亚高山带、具地下芽地下结实特性的多年生早春短命植物。本文采用野外观测和控制实验方法,对该物种地下子房和幼果的发育特点与种子扩散特性及其适应意义进行了研究。结果表明:白番红花从开花到地下果实露出地表的发育时间约需35 d,地下果实在花梗的伸长生长作用下露出地面开裂并扩散种子,且种子具有油质体等典型蚁传植物种子的特征。蚁类是白番红花种子的主要传播者。在搬运种子的Formica pressilabris、栗色林蚁和黑褐蚁中,F.pressilabris出现的频率最高,但栗色林蚁搬运的速度最快、距离最远。3种蚂蚁搬运白番红花种子的平均距离为62.4±1.7 cm。Formica pressilabris将白番红花种子搬运至蚁穴中后取食油质体,且有超过50%的种子被储藏在蚁穴中。啮齿类和鸟类不传播白番红花种子,但水媒和风媒对种子的短距离散布具有一定作用。这些结果说明:白番红花的地下结实及蚁传特性不仅可保护发育中的子房及果实躲避地表草食动物的取食,避免自然火灾对地上果实的伤害,以及延长果实和种子的发育时间以保障其安全成熟,还可避免真菌和其他病原体的侵扰、减少同胞之间以及母株与子代间的竞争,使种子在适宜环境中萌发并建立新的种群。     

对TMV不同抗性番茄品种的叶绿体DNA限制性内切酶酶谱分析

选用对TMV有抗性和敏感的番茄品种、制备其ct-DNA, 用限制性内切酶BumHI、EcoRI和PstI完全酶解, 三种酶切图谱与前人报道一致, 由酶切片段计算番茄ct-DNA。分子量约为156.9kb。比较抗性和敏感品种的ct-DNA图谱, 发现三种酶切图谱均存在差异, 但由差异片段计算分子量之和又很除近。我们推测这是由于检基顺序变异或小段DNA顺序插入或缺失所造成, 由此证明, 叶绿体基因组与核中的TMV抗性基因, 共同决定着植物体对TMV的抗性。     

Adults scan own- and other-race faces differently

It is well established that individuals show an other-race effect (ORE) in face recognition: they recognize own-race faces better than other-race faces. The present study tested the hypothesis that individuals would also scan own- and other-race faces differently. We asked Chinese participants to remember Chinese and Caucasian faces and we tested their memory of the faces over five testing blocks. The participants' eye movements were recorded with the use of an eye tracker. The data were analyzed with an Area of Interest approach using the key AOIs of a face (eyes, nose, and mouth). Also, we used the iMap toolbox to analyze the raw data of participants' fixation on each pixel of the entire face. Results from both types of analyses strongly supported the hypothesis. When viewing target Chinese or Caucasian faces, Chinese participants spent a significantly greater proportion of fixation time on the eyes of other-race Caucasian faces than the eyes of own-race Chinese faces. In contrast, they spent a significantly greater proportion of fixation time on the nose and mouth of Chinese faces than the nose and mouth of Caucasian faces. This pattern of differential fixation, for own- and other-race eyes and nose in particular, was consistent even as participants became increasingly familiar with the target faces of both races. The results could not be explained by the perceptual salience of the Chinese nose or Caucasian eyes because these features were not differentially salient across the races. Our results are discussed in terms of the facial morphological differences between Chinese and Caucasian faces and the enculturation of mutual gaze norms in East Asian cultures.     

水牛精子蛋白质组双向电泳体系的建立和优化

建立和优化一种适合水牛精子蛋白质组学研究的双向电泳技术。以水牛精子为研究对象,比较两种不同配方的裂解液,以及不同上样量对其2-DE图谱质量的影响。结果显示,以7 mol/L尿素、2 mol/L硫脲、4%CHAPS、1%DTT、0.5%Cocktail of protease inhibitors为裂解液,24 cm胶条上样量200μg时,可获得较好的精子总蛋白质2-DE图谱。运用ImageMaster 2-Dplatinum分析软件检测出约500个蛋白质点,蛋白质大部分分布在等电点5-7之间,分子量范围约40-90 kD。     

The thymic stromal cell line MTSC4 induced thymocyte apoptosis in a non-MHC-restricted manner

Mouse thymic stromal cell line 4 (MTSC4) is one of the stromal cell lines established in our laboratory. While losing the characteristics of epithelial cells, they express some surface markers shared with thymic dendritic cells (TDCs). To further study the biological functions of these cells, we compared the capability of MTSC4 with TDCs in the induction of thymocyte apoptosis, using thymic reaggregation culture system. Apoptosis of thymocytes induced by MTSC4 and TDCs was measured by Annexin V and PI staining and analyzed by flow cytometry. We found that MTSC4 selectively augmented the apoptosis of CD4^ 8^ (DP) thymocytes. This effect was Fas/FasL independent and could not be blocked by antibodies to MHC class I and class II molecules. In addition, MTSC4 enhanced the apoptosis of DP thymocytes from different strains of mice, which implies that MTSC4-induced thymocyte apoptosis is not mediated by the TCR recognition of self peptide/MHC molecules. In contrast to MTSC4, thymocyte apoptosis induced by TDCs was MHC-restricted. Thus, MHC-independent fashion of stromal-DP thymocyte interaction may be one of the ways to induce thymocyte apoptosis in thymus. Our study has also shown that the interaction of MTSC4 stromal cells and thymocytes is required for the induction of thymocyte apoptosis.     

Analysis of gamma c-family cytokine target genes. Identification of dual-specificity phosphatase 5 (DUSP5) as a regulator of mitogen-activated protein kinase activity in interleukin-2 signaling

Interleukin (IL)-2, IL-4, IL-7, IL-9, IL-15, and IL-21 form a family of cytokines based on their sharing the common cytokine receptor gamma chain, gamma(c), which is mutated in X-linked severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID). As a step toward further elucidating the mechanism of action of these cytokines in T-cell biology, we compared the gene expression profiles of IL-2, IL-4, IL-7, and IL-15 in T cells using cDNA microarrays. IL-2, IL-7, and IL-15 each induced a highly similar set of genes, whereas IL-4 induced distinct genes correlating with differential STAT protein activation by this cytokine. One gene induced by IL-2, IL-7, and IL-15 but not IL-4 was dual-specificity phosphatase 5 (DUSP5). In IL-2-dependent CTLL-2 cells, we show that IL-2-induced ERK-1/2 activity was inhibited by wild type DUSP5 but markedly increased by an inactive form of DUSP5, suggesting a negative feedback role for DUSP5 in IL-2 signaling. Our findings provide insights into the shared versus distinctive actions by different members of the gamma(c) family of cytokines. Moreover, we have identified a DUSP5-dependent negative regulatory pathway for MAPK activity in T cells.