Enhanced resistance to stripe rust disease in transgenic wheat expressing the rice chitinase gene RC24

Stripe rust is a devastating fungal disease of wheat worldwide which is primarily caused by Puccinia striiformis f. sp tritici. Transgenic wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) expressing rice class chitinase gene RC24 were developed by particle bombardment of immature embryos and tested for resistance to Puccinia striiformis f.sp tritici. under greenhouse and field conditions. Putative transformants were selected on kanamycin-containing media. Polymease chain reaction indicated that RC24 was transferred into 17 transformants obtained from bombardment of 1,684 immature embryos. Integration of RC24 was confirmed by Southern blot with a RC24-labeled probe and expression of RC24 was verified by RT-PCR. Nine transgenic T₁ lines exhibited enhanced resistance to stripe rust infection with lines XN8 and BF4 showing the highest level of resistance. Southern blot hybridization confirmed the stable inheritance of RC24 in transgenic T₁ plants. Resistance to stripe rust in transgenic T₂ and T₃ XN8 and BF4 plants was confirmed over two consecutive years in the field. Increased yield (27–36 %) was recorded for transgenic T₂ and T₃ XN8 and BF4 plants compared to controls. These results suggest that rice class I chitinase RC24 can be used to engineer stripe rust resistance in wheat.     

Co-expression of two fibrolytic enzyme genes in CHO cells and transgenic mice

Cellulose is the main non-starch polysaccharides (NSP) in plant cell walls and acts as anti-nutritional factor in animal feed. However, monogastric animals do not synthesize enzymes that cleave such plant structural polysaccharides and thus waste of resources and pollute the environment. We described the vectors construction and co-expressions of a multi-functional cellulase EGX (with the activities of exo-β-1,4-glucanase, endo-β-1,4-glucanase, and endo-β-1,4-xylanase activities) from mollusca, Ampullaria crossean and a β-glucosidase BGL1 from Asperjillus niger in CHO cells and the transgenic mice. The recombinant enzymes were synthesised, secreted by the direction of pig PSP signal peptide and functionally active in the eukaryote systems including both of CHO cells and transgenic mice by RT-PCR analysis, western blot analysis and cellulolytic enzymes activities assays. Expressions were salivary glands-specific dependent under the control of pig PSP promoter in transgenic mice. 2A peptide was used as the self-cleaving sequence to mediate co-expression of the fusion genes and the cleavage efficiency was very high both in vitro and in vivo according to the western blot analysis. In summary, we have demonstrated that the single ORF containing EGX and BGL1 were co-expressed by 2A peptide in CHO cells and transgenic mice. It presents a viable technology for efficient disruption of plant cell wall and liberation of nutrients. To our knowledge, this is the first report using 2A sequence to produce multiple cellulases in mammalian cells and transgenic animals.     

Chemoenzymatic synthesis and lectin recognition of a selectively fluorinated glycoprotein

A chemoenzymatic glycosylation remodeling method for the synthesis of selectively fluorinated glycoproteins is described. The method consists of chemical synthesis of a fluoroglycan oxazoline and its use as donor substrate for endoglycosidase (ENGase)-catalyzed transglycosylation to a GlcNAc-protein to form a homogeneous fluoroglycoprotein. The approach was exemplified by the synthesis of fluorinated glycoforms of ribonuclease B (RNase B). An interesting finding was that fluorination at the C-6 of the 6-branched mannose moiety in the Man3GlcNAc core resulted in significantly enhanced reactivity of the substrate in enzymatic transglycosylation. A structural analysis suggests that the enhancement in reactivity may come from favorable hydrophobic interactions between the fluorine and a tyrosine residue in the catalytic site of the enzyme (Endo-A). SPR analysis of the binding of the fluorinated glycoproteins with lectin concanavalin A (con A) revealed the importance of the 6-hydroxyl group on the α-1,6-branched mannose moiety in con A recognition. The present study establishes a facile method for preparation of selectively fluorinated glycoproteins that can serve as valuable probes for elucidating specific carbohydrate–protein interactions.     

Synthesis and pharmacological evaluation of novel bisindolylalkanes analogues

In an effort to develop potent anti-cancer chemopreventive agents that act on topoisomerase II, a novel series of bisindolylalkanes analogues such as 3,3′-(thiochroman-4,4-diyl)bis(1H-indole) are synthesized. Structures of all compounds are elucidated by ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR and HRMS. Anti-proliferative activities for all of these compounds are investigated by the method of MTT assay on 7 human cancer lines. Most of them showed antitumor activities in vitro, the half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) value is 7.798 μg/mL of 3a against MCF7. Compound 3a showed comparable topoisomerase II inhibitory activity to etoposide (VP-16) at 100 μM concentration. The rest of the compounds also showed varying degree topoisomerase II inhibitory activity.     

年龄增长对GRK5基因缺陷小鼠海马内肿胀轴突丛形成与积累的影响

目的研究G蛋白偶联受体（G protein-coupled receptors）激酶5（GPCR kinase-5,GRK5）基因缺陷和老化交互作用对阿尔茨海默病（Alzheimer＇s disease,AD）早期的病理改变-海马内肿胀轴突丛（swollen axonal clusters,SACs）出现和积累的影响。方法选取5、6、7、9、12～13、18—19月龄雌性GRK5基因敲除小鼠（GRK5 Knockout,GRK5KO）作为观察对象,另选取年龄匹配的雌性野生型（wild type,WT）小鼠为对照,每个年龄段GRK5KO和WT小鼠各4只。用抗人神经原纤维缠结（neurofibrillary tangles,NFTs）特异性抗体的免疫荧光染色方法观察海马内SACs的变化。结果所有小鼠随着年龄增长,海马内SACs逐渐增加;GRKSKO小鼠组海马内NFT^＋ SACs数量较WT型小鼠组显著增加（P〈0．01）;双因素方差分析显示遗传性GRK5基因缺陷和老化双因素对海马内NFT^＋SACs的影响有显著协同效应（P〈0．01）。结论在促进早期AD病理发生的过程中,GRK5缺陷和老化双因素共同加剧了雌性GRKSKO小鼠海马内SACs的形成与积累。     

Ezrin蛋白在眼睑基底细胞癌组织中的表达及其意义

目的探讨Ezrin蛋白在眼睑基底细胞癌组织中的表达。方法收集武汉市中心医院和武汉大学人民医院病理科2002—2009年手术切除及活检的眼睑基底细胞癌（basalcellcarcinoma,BCC）标本共20例,另取癌周围组织5例作对照。采用免疫组织化学方法观察各组细胞内Ezrin蛋白表达。利用图像分析系统测定Ezrin蛋白在以上各组中表达的平均光密度和平均阳性面积率。结果眼睑基底细胞癌组织中Ezrin蛋白呈高表达;癌旁组织中Ezrin蛋白呈低表达。图像分析结果显示：眼睑基底细胞癌组织与癌旁组织之间Ezrin蛋白的平均光密度及阳性面积率的差异有显著性意义（P〈0．05）。结论Ezrin蛋白在眼睑基底细胞癌的发生、发展过程中起了重要作用。     

Algicidal activity against Skeletonema costatum by marine bacteria isolated from a high frequency harmful algal blooms area in southern Chinese coast

Four marine bacterial strains P1, P5, N5 and N21 were isolated from the surface water and sediment of Mirs Bay in southern Chinese coast using the liquid infection method with 48-well plates. These bacteria were all shown to have algicidal activities against Skeletonema costatum. Based on morphological observations, biochemical tests and homology comparisons by 16S rDNA sequences, the isolated strains P1, P5, N5 and N21 were identified as Halobacillus sp., Muricauda sp., Kangiella sp. and Roseivirga sp., respectively. Our results showed that bacterial strain P1 killed S. costatum by release of heat labile algicide, while strains P5, N5 and N21 killed them directly. The algicidal processes of four bacterial strains were different. Strains P1, N5 and N21 disrupted the chain structure and S. costatum appeared as single cells, in which the cellular components were aggregated and the individual cells were inflated and finally lysed, while strain P5 decomposed the algal chains directly. We also showed that the algicidal activities of the bacterial strains were concentration-dependent. More specifically, 10?% (v/v) of bacteria in algae showed the strongest algicidal activities, as all S. costatum cells were killed by strains N5 and N21 within 72?h and by strains P1 and P5 within 96?h. 5?% of bacteria in algae also showed significant algicidal activities, as all S. costatum were killed by strains N5, P5 and N21 within 72, 96 and 120?h, respectively, whereas at this concentration, only 73.4?% of S. costatum cells exposed to strain P1 were killed within 120?h. At the concentration of 1?% bacteria in algae, the number of S. costatum cells continued to increase and the growth rate of algae upon exposure to strain N5 was significantly inhibited.