Modular lentiviral vector system for chimeric antigen receptor design optimization

The article reports the development of a collection of lentiviral vector constructs enabling time-efficient production and testing of different variants of chimeric antigen receptors (CAR). These artificial surface proteins make it possible to redirect the activity of immune cytotoxic T-cells towards cancer cells. Chimeric antigen receptors usually encompass four functional modules, namely, antigen recognition, flexible linker, transmembrane, and signal modules. The use of modules with different properties allows modulating the affinity and specificity of CAR interaction with target antigens, as well as intensity and quality of activation signaling, which determines the cytotoxic properties of CAR T-cells, as well as their proliferation rate and time of persistence in the organism. The proposed vector system make it possible to easily test various combinations of CAR modules while its being open to distribution allows the direct comparison of the results obtained by different scientific groups.     

4种桦树幼苗耐盐性分析与评价

耐盐植物引种和培育是开发利用盐碱地的主要方式,具有重要的研究价值。本试验以哈萨克斯坦引进的吉尔吉斯白桦（Betula kirghisorum）、欧洲白桦（B.pendula）、毛枝桦（B.pubescens）和本地的白桦（B.platyphylla Suk.）1年生幼苗为试验材料,于2014年7月在东北林业大学进行中性盐（NaCl）和碱性盐（NaHCO₃）的胁迫试验,测定生长量、光合参数和叶绿素含量,并通过因子分析法,对比评价4种桦树幼苗的耐盐碱能力,筛选出综合性状优良的桦树树种,为耐盐植物引种和培育提供有价值的数据。结果表明：随着盐浓度的升高,桦树幼苗的高生长和光合效率受到显著抑制,而当浓度≥0.5%时,大部分幼苗枯死。株高增长量、基径增长量、净光合速率（P_n）、光能利用效率（SUE）、羧化效率（CUE）、表观量子效率（AQY）及叶绿素含量之间的相关性多数达到了显著水平;最后利用因子分析法分别构建了0.1% NaCl、0.3% NaCl、0.1% NaHCO3和0.3% NaHCO₃胁迫处理的综合评价公式,并分别筛选出了综合性状相对优良的单株,其中NaCl胁迫下较优单株为32、33、34、35;NaHCO₃胁迫下较优单株为262、263、264、35。综合比较认为,吉尔吉斯白桦对低中浓度的中性盐的抗性最强,本地对照白桦对低中浓度碱性盐的抗性最强,而吉尔吉斯白桦和毛枝桦对高浓度碱性盐抗性较强。     

Identification of over-expressed genes in human renal cell carcinoma by combining suppression subtractive hybridization and cDNA library array

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is a common uro- genital malignancy and often shows odd biological features. RCC accounts for approximately 2% of ma- lignancies worldwide. The incidence of and mortality from RCC have continuously increased during the last 50 years. One third of the patients already have me- tastases when first consulting the doctors. Another 30%—40% of patients develop metastasis after surgi- Identification of over-expressed genes in human RCC 149 cal excision of the pri…     

腺花香茶菜中的对映-贝壳杉烯类二萜化合物

从昆明产腺花香茶菜(Isodon adenanthus (Diels) Kudo)的地上部分分离到8个化合物,通过波谱分析鉴定,化合物1-3为新的对映-贝壳杉烯类二萜化合物,命名为腺花香茶菜素N、0和P;4个已知二萜为白叶香茶菜戊素(4)、无毛狭叶香茶菜素C(5)、腺花香茶菜甲素(6)和白叶香茶菜乙素(7),同时得到一个高度不饱和脂肪酸9,16-二羰基-10,12,14-三烯-十八碳酸(8)。根据ROESY波谱,对化合物4的结构进行了修正。化合物1对K562细胞显示出明显的细胞毒活性(IC50=0．45μg／mL)。     

GABA transporter 1 transcriptional starting site exhibiting tissue specific difference

INTRODUCTIONIn the vertebrate central nervous system (CNS),GABA transporters (GAT) are believed to play animportant role in termination of GABAergiC transInission. GATI was the first cloned member of neurotransmitter transporters superfanilly[1], and soon,other three subtypes (GAT2-4) were subsequentlycloned. Since GABA is the predominant inhibitoryneurotranslliltter in CNS, abnormallty of GATs hasa direct relationship with certain kinds of nervousdisorders, such as epilepsy a…     

西双版纳苦丁茶挥发油的化学成分

苦丁茶为中国南部及西南部的民间传统药用植物,经两千多年的应用和医学临床试验证明,苦丁茶具有清热解毒、抑菌消炎、抗衰老、降血脂、改善血液粘稠度和微循环、清除人体自由基及增强人体免疫能力等功效,被誉为保健茶、美容茶、降压茶和益寿茶[1,2]。苦丁茶来源较复杂,共有5科1     

Analysis of foreign epitope inserts in HBcAg. Approaches to solving the problem of core particle self-assembly

The hepatitis B virus core antigen (HBcAg) is a promising protein carrier for exposing the epitopes of various human and animal pathogens. HBcAg-based chimeric proteins can be used in creating highly efficient vaccines; however, not all chimeric HBcAg with foreign epitope inserts are capable of assembly into virus-like particles. Using computer programs ProAnalyst, SALIX, and QSARPro, we examined the relationship between the self-assembly capability of chimeric HBcAg and the physicochemical properties of the inserts. The self-assembly was found to be impaired when the inserted peptides contained highly hydrophobic and bulky residues tending to form β-structures; this especially concerned the C-proximal residues in the insert. Recommendations were elaborated for constructing foreign epitopes that would ensure correct self-assembly of chimeric HBcAg particles.     

锦鸡儿植物对盐碱地土壤理化性质和细菌群落的影响

锦鸡儿属的多种植物在干旱/半干旱区域水土保持等方面具有显著的作用效果,该研究以柠条锦鸡儿、中间锦鸡儿和小叶锦鸡儿为材料,选择宁夏银北西大滩核心试验站的盐渍化荒地为研究对象,分析了3种锦鸡儿建植1年对盐碱地土壤理化性质及土壤细菌群落的影响,以了解该类植物在盐碱地改良中的作用及生态效应。结果显示:(1)种植锦鸡儿1年能够显著降低盐碱地土壤全盐含量和pH,提高土壤全氮和全磷含量。(2)种植锦鸡儿不影响其非根际土壤细菌群落的α多样性,但小叶锦鸡儿非根际土壤细菌群落的香浓指数最低。(3)不同种锦鸡儿对盐碱地细菌群落结构的影响有所不同,小叶锦鸡儿根际/非根际细菌群落的结构分别与对照土壤以及柠条、中间锦鸡儿根际土壤存在明显差异;在属水平,包括假黄色单胞菌属、新鞘氨醇菌属及根瘤菌属在内的12个优势细菌属的相对丰度在小叶锦鸡儿非根际土壤中显著增加。(4)db-RDA分析表明,盐碱地土壤全盐、全氮及全磷含量分别解释了锦鸡儿非根际细菌群落结构变异信息的23.5%、25.4%和22.2%,3种因子累计共解释48.5%的细菌群落变异(P0.05),但这些因子对锦鸡儿根际细菌群落的变化无显著影响。研究表明,短期种植锦鸡儿属植物对盐碱地土壤理化性质具有一定改良效果,且不影响非根际土壤细菌群落的α多样性,但不同种锦鸡儿对土壤细菌群落结构的影响存在差异。     

Clinical Burkholderia pseudomallei isolates from north Queensland carry diverse bimABm genes that are associated with central nervous system disease and are phylogenomically distinct from other Australian strains

BackgroundBurkholderia pseudomallei is an environmental gram-negative bacterium that causes the disease melioidosis and is endemic in many countries of the Asia-Pacific region. In Australia, the mortality rate remains high at approximately 10%, despite curative antibiotic treatment being available. The bacterium is almost exclusively found in the endemic region, which spans the tropical Northern Territory and North Queensland, with clusters occasionally present in more temperate climates. Despite being endemic to North Queensland, these infections remain understudied compared to those of the Northern Territory.Methodology/Principal findingsThis study aimed to assess the prevalence of central nervous system (CNS) disease associated variant bimA_Bm, identify circulating antimicrobial resistance mutations and genetically distinct strains from Queensland, via comparative genomics. From 76 clinical isolates, we identified the bimA_Bm variant in 20 (26.3%) isolates and in 9 (45%) of the isolates with documented CNS infection (n = 18). Explorative analysis suggests a significant association between isolates carrying the bimA_Bm variant and CNS disease (OR 2.8, 95% CI 1.3–6.0, P = 0.009) compared with isolates carrying the wildtype bimA_Bp. Furthermore, 50% of isolates were identified as novel multi-locus sequence types, while the bimA_Bm variant was more commonly identified in isolates with novel sequence types, compared to those with previously described. Additionally, mutations associated with acquired antimicrobial resistance were only identified in 14.5% of all genomes.Conclusions/SignificanceThe findings of this research have provided clinically relevant genomic data of B. pseudomallei in Queensland and suggest that the bimA_Bm variant may enable risk stratification for the development CNS complications and be a potential therapeutic target.     

土壤增温与氮添加对杉木幼苗细根径级根长分布的影响

通过在福建省三明市陈大林业国有林场内开展土壤增温(增温5 ℃、不增温)和氮添加(不添加、4、8 g N·m^-2·a^-1)的交互试验(共6个处理),研究土壤增温、氮添加及二者交互作用对杉木细根径级根长分布的影响,用扩展模型可很好地拟合6个处理的径级根长分布(R²=0.97).结果表明: 增温使杉木细根总根长变小,但对细根直径影响不显著;氮添加使杉木细根总根长和直径均变小;增温和氮添加的交互作用对细根总根长有显著影响,但对细根直径无显著影响.6个处理细根径级根长分布均能用极值函数模型较好地拟合(R²>0.98).相关分析显示,直径<1 mm细根的比根长与极值模型拟合参数c值呈显著负相关,实际总根长与极值模型拟合参数b呈显著正相关.增温和氮添加及其交互作用可以影响杉木细根形态特征;极值模型拟合各处理径级根长分布所得参数在一定程度上可以反映细根形态特征对环境条件变化的响应.