Proteomic profiles of mouse neuro N2a cells infected with variant virulence of rabies viruses

We characterized the proteomes of murine N2a cells following infection with three rabies virus (RV) strains, characterized by distinct virulence phenotypes (i.e., virulent BD06, fixed CVS-11, and attenuated SRV9 strains), and identified 35 changes to protein expression using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis in whole-cell lysates. The annotated functions of these proteins are involved in various cytoskeletal, signal transduction, stress response, and metabolic processes. Specifically, a-enolase, prx-4, vimentin, cytokine-induced apoptosis inhibitor 1 (CIAPIN1) and prx-6 were significantly up-regulated, whereas Trx like-1 and galectin-1 were down-regulated following infection of N2a cells with all three rabies virus strains. However, comparing expressions of all 35 proteins affected between BD06-, CVS-11-, and SRV9-infected cells, specific changes in expression were also observed. The up-regulation of vimentin, CIAPIN1, prx-4, and 14-3-3 theta/delta, and downregulation of NDPK-B and HSP-1 with CVS and SRV9 infection were ≥ 2 times greater than with BD06. Meanwhile, Zfp12 protein, splicing factor, and arginine/serine-rich 1 were unaltered in the cells infected with BD06 and CVS- 11, but were up-regulated in the group infected with SRV9. The proteomic alterations described here may suggest that these changes to protein expression correlate with the rabies virus' adaptability and virulence in N2a cells, and hence provides new clues as to the response of N2a host cells to rabies virus infections, and may also aid in uncovering new pathways in these cells that are involved in rabies infections. Further characterization of the functions of the affected proteins may contribute to our understanding of the mechanisms of RV infection and pathogenesis.     

Defining the replication program through the chromatin landscape

DNA replication is an essential cell cycle event required for the accurate and timely duplication of the chromosomes. It is essential that the genome is replicated accurately and completely within the confines of S-phase. Failure to completely copy the genome has the potential to result in catastrophic genomic instability. Replication initiates in a coordinated manner from multiple locations, termed origins of replication, distributed across each of the chromosomes. The selection of these origins of replication is a dynamic process responding to both developmental and tissue-specific signals. In this review, we explore the role of the local chromatin environment in regulating the DNA replication program at the level of origin selection and activation. Finally, there is increasing molecular evidence that the DNA replication program itself affects the chromatin landscape, suggesting that DNA replication is critical for both genetic and epigenetic inheritance.     

The 21-nucleotide, but not 22-nucleotide, viral secondary small interfering RNAs direct potent antiviral defense by two cooperative argonautes in Arabidopsis thaliana

Arabidopsis thaliana defense against distinct positive-strand RNA viruses requires production of virus-derived secondary small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) by multiple RNA-dependent RNA polymerases. However, little is known about the biogenesis pathway and effector mechanism of viral secondary siRNAs. Here, we describe a mutant of Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV-Δ2b) that is silenced predominantly by the RNA-DEPENDENT RNA POLYMERASE6 (RDR6)-dependent viral secondary siRNA pathway. We show that production of the viral secondary siRNAs targeting CMV-Δ2b requires SUPPRESSOR OF GENE SILENCING3 and DICER-LIKE4 (DCL4) in addition to RDR6. Examination of 25 single, double, and triple mutants impaired in nine ARGONAUTE (AGO) genes combined with coimmunoprecipitation and deep sequencing identifies an essential function for AGO1 and AGO2 in defense against CMV-Δ2b, which act downstream the biogenesis of viral secondary siRNAs in a nonredundant and cooperative manner. Our findings also illustrate that dicing of the viral RNA precursors of primary and secondary siRNA is insufficient to confer virus resistance. Notably, although DCL2 is able to produce abundant viral secondary siRNAs in the absence of DCL4, the resultant 22-nucleotide viral siRNAs alone do not guide efficient silencing of CMV-Δ2b. Possible mechanisms for the observed qualitative difference in RNA silencing between 21- and 22-nucleotide secondary siRNAs are discussed.     

肌球蛋白X干涉载体的构建与鉴定

肌球蛋白X(Myosin X,Myo X)是近年来发现的在细胞运动中发挥重要功能的非传统型肌球蛋白,但其发挥功能的分子机制目前尚不明确,RNA干扰技术是目前研究基因功能常用的方法。构建针对鼠的Myo X基因mRNA的shRNA真核表达载体,并转染NLT细胞,观察其对Myo X表达的抑制效应。结果显示,shRNA-2能够有效地降低Myo X的蛋白表达水平,而shRNA-1则不能。进一步分析显示,转染shRNA-2的NLT细胞丝状伪足的形成受到抑制,表明shRNA-2是能够抑制Myo X表达的干涉载体,此干涉载体的构建为进一步研究Myo X的新功能,揭示其作用的分子机制奠定基础。     

刺参管足SMART cDNA文库构建及EST分析

以大连广鹿岛野生刺参的管足mRNA为材料,利用SMART cDNA Construction Kit构建了表达型cDNA文库.初始文库的滴度为1.3 × 106PFU/mL,蓝白斑估测量组率合格.扩增后获得96 mL文库,滴度为1.8 × 1010PFU/mL,从扩增文库中随机挑取200个噬菌斑进行PCR检测,电泳检测结果表明重组率大于90％,片段大小在0.25 -2.0 kb之间的插入片段占80.4％,文库构建成功.随机选择122个噬菌斑转化为质拉pTriplEx2并测序,测序成功率83.6％,软件处理后100 bp以上的clean ESTs有72条,测通的为65条,占成功测序样品的63.7％.72条序列经SeqMan软件拼接,获得48条conting/singletons,在线Blast比对发现其中26条具有同源序列并获得注释,另外20条可能为新基因,其功能和结构有待进一步利用生物信息学的方法进行分析和研究.     

绿色糖单孢菌木质素过氧化物酶的分离纯化及鉴定

木质素过氧化物酶是一种重要的具有工业应用前景的木质素降解酶,但已报道真菌来源的木质素过氧化物酶只能在酸性低温条件下发挥作用,限制了其进一步的工业应用.通过培养一株耐热耐碱放线茵——绿色糖单孢茵发酵产酶,采用DEAE-Cellulose,CM-Cellulose和Superdex 75凝胶过滤层析等分离纯化方法,得到一种具有耐热耐碱特性的木质素过氧化物酶.经凝胶电泳检测其为单一蛋白,分子量为41 kD.最终纯化倍数达到20倍,活性回收率为6％.采用LTQ法对纯酶进行蛋白质归类鉴定,得到其部分氨基酸片段,为该酶的进一步分子生物学研究奠定基础.     

水稻蛋白质组双向电泳优化流程及方法

双向电泳是分析蛋白质混合物的一种有力手段,已在蛋白质组研究中得到广泛应用。水稻（Oryzasativa）作为重要的粮食作物,对其蛋白质组学研究开展较早。但由于技术复杂,对实验操作要求高,初学的研究者很难在较短的时间内掌握该实验技术。该文介绍了水稻研究中适合多个组织的双向电泳实验方法和优化流程。该优化流程能使新的研究者逐步优化实验条件,更快更好地完成双向电泳实验。同时详细介绍了实验关键环节的操作方法。     

水稻短根毛突变体Ossrh2的表型分析与基因定位

在粳稻品种中花11为遗传背景的T-DNA突变体库中筛选获得一个遗传稳定的水稻（Oryzasativa）短根毛突变体Ossrh2（Oryza sativa short root hair2）。突变体在苗期表现为根毛数量减少,为野生型的61.4%,根毛长度明显变短,只有野生型的22.8%,同时根毛增粗,根毛形态也发生了变异,局部扭曲膨胀和分叉,除此之外突变体的地上部和根部生长情况与野生型相比没有显著差异。遗传分析表明,该突变性状受1对隐性单基因控制。通过对突变体T2和F2代的分子检测发现,该突变体表型非T-DNA插入引起。利用Ossrh2纯合体和籼稻品种Kasalath杂交构建的F2群体对OsSRH2进行基因定位,发现其与第10号染色体短臂上的SSR（simple sequence repeat）标记RM6370和RM474连锁,遗传距离分别为1.1cM和3.0cM。通过在两标记间发展3个新的STS（sequence-taggedsite）标记,将OsSRH2基因定位于标记S1227和S1531之间,物理距离约为304kb,为进一步克隆OsSRH2打下了基础。