Development of software for human muscle force estimation

Muscle force estimation (MFE) has become more and more important in exploring principles of pathological movement, studying functions of artificial muscles, making surgery plan for artificial joint replacement, improving the biomechanical effects of treatments and so on. At present, existing software are complex for professionals, so we have developed a new software named as concise MFE (CMFE). CMFE which provides us a platform to analyse muscle force in various actions includes two MFE methods (static optimisation method and electromyographic-based method). Common features between these two methods have been found and used to improve CMFE. A case studying the major muscles of lower limb of a healthy subject walking at normal speed has been presented. The results are well explained from the effect of the motion produced by muscles during movement. The development of this software can improve the accuracy of the motion simulations and can provide a more extensive and deeper insight in to muscle study.     

苜蓿胚状体的分离及其发育过程中三种同工酶酶谱分析(简报)

目前,对胚状体发生过程中的生理生化研究表明,这一过程伴随有核酸、蛋白质等大分子物质合成速度的增加及与胚胎发生有关的特异性蛋白的合成;一些同工酶,如过氧化物酶、脂酶、细胞色素氧化酶和谷氨酸脱氢酶     

Synthesis and fungicidal activity of novel pyrazole derivatives containing 5-Phenyl-2-Furan

Pyrazole constitutes an important heterocyclic family covering a broad range of synthetic as well as natural products that exhibit numerous chemical, biological, agrochemical and pharmacological properties. In order to explore compounds with good fungicidal activity, a series of new pyrazole derivatives containing 5-phenyl-2-furan were designed and synthesized. In vitro and in vivo fungicidal activities were evaluated and the compound ethyl-1-(5-phenylfuran-2-carbonyl)-5-propyl-1H-pyrazole-3-carboxylate (I8) displayed significant fungicidal activity against various fungi, especially against P. infestans. The structures of the novel pyrazole derivatives were confirmed by ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, MS, elemental analysis and X-ray single crystal diffraction. Further study showed that compound I8 might act on the synthesis of cell walls from morphological and ultrastructural studies by SEM and TEM. The results also revealed that compound I8 could block the nutritional transportation leading to cells senescence and death. These results suggested that the novel pyrazole derivatives proved to be promising lead compounds.     

Improving simvastatin bioconversion in Escherichia coli by deletion of bioH

Simvastatin is an important cholesterol lowering compound and is currently synthesized from the natural product lovastatin via multistep chemical synthesis. We have previously reported the use of an Escherichia coli strain BL21(DE3)/pAW31 as the host for whole-cell biocatalytic conversion of monacolin J acid to simvastatin acid. During fermentation and bioconversion, unknown E. coli enzyme(s) hydrolyzed the membrane permeable thioester substrate dimethylbutyryl-S-methyl mercaptopropionate (DMB-S-MMP) to the free acid, significantly decreased the efficiencies of the whole-cell bioconversion and the downstream purification steps. Using the Keio K-12 Singe-Gene Knockout collection, we identified BioH as the sole enzyme responsible for the observed substrate hydrolysis. Purification and reconstitution of E. coli BioH activity in vitro confirmed its function. BioH catalyzed the rapid hydrolysis of DMB-S-MMP with kcat and Km values of 260+/-45 s(-1) and 229+/-26 microM, respectively. This is in agreement with previous reports that BioH can function as a carboxylesterase towards fatty acid esters. YT2, which is a delta bioH mutant of BL21(DE3), did not hydrolyze DMB-S-MMP during prolonged fermentation and was used as an alternative host for whole-cell biocatalysis. The rate of simvastatin acid synthesis in YT2 was significantly faster than in BL21(DE3) and 99% conversion of 15 mM simvastatin acid in less than 12 h was achieved. Furthermore, the engineered host required significantly less DMB-S-MMP to be added to accomplish complete conversion. Finally, simvastatin acid synthesized using YT2 can be readily purified from fermentation broth and no additional steps to remove the hydrolyzed dimethylbutyryl-S-mercaptopropionic acid is required. Together, the proteomic and metabolic engineering approaches render the whole-cell biocatalytic process more robust and economically attractive.     

Two-component sensor RhpS promotes induction of Pseudomonas syringae type III secretion system by repressing negative regulator RhpR

The Pseudomonas syringae type III secretion system (T3SS) is induced during interaction with the plant or culture in minimal medium (MM). How the bacterium senses these environments to activate the T3SS is poorly understood. Here, we report the identification of a novel two-component system (TCS), RhpRS, that regulates the induction of P. syringae T3SS genes. The rhpR and rhpS genes are organized in an operon with rhpR encoding a putative TCS response regulator and rhpS encoding a putative biphasic sensor kinase. Transposon insertion in rhpS severely reduced the induction of P. syringae T3SS genes in the plant as well as in MM and significantly compromised the pathogenicity on host plants and hypersensitive response-inducing activity on nonhost plants. However, deletion of the rhpRS locus allowed the induction of T3SS genes to the same level as in the wild-type strain and the recovery of pathogenicity upon infiltration into plants. Overexpression of RhpR in the deltarhpRS deletion strain abolished the induction of T3SS genes. However, overexpression of RhpR in the wild-type strain or overexpression of RhpR(D70A), a mutant of the predicted phosphorylation site of RhpR, in the deltarhpRS deletion strain only slightly reduced the induction of T3SS genes. Based on these results, we propose that the phosphorylated RhpR represses the induction of T3SS genes and that RhpS reverses phosphorylation of RhpR under the T3SS-inducing conditions. Epistasis analysis indicated that rhpS and rhpR act upstream of hrpR to regulate T3SS genes.     

A meta-analysis and genome-wide association study of platelet count and mean platelet volume in african americans

Several genetic variants associated with platelet count and mean platelet volume (MPV) were recently reported in people of European ancestry. In this meta-analysis of 7 genome-wide association studies (GWAS) enrolling African Americans, our aim was to identify novel genetic variants associated with platelet count and MPV. For all cohorts, GWAS analysis was performed using additive models after adjusting for age, sex, and population stratification. For both platelet phenotypes, meta-analyses were conducted using inverse-variance weighted fixed-effect models. Platelet aggregation assays in whole blood were performed in the participants of the GeneSTAR cohort. Genetic variants in ten independent regions were associated with platelet count (N?=?16,388) with p<5×10(-8) of which 5 have not been associated with platelet count in previous GWAS. The novel genetic variants associated with platelet count were in the following regions (the most significant SNP, closest gene, and p-value): 6p22 (rs12526480, LRRC16A, p?=?9.1×10(-9)), 7q11 (rs13236689, CD36, p?=?2.8×10(-9)), 10q21 (rs7896518, JMJD1C, p?=?2.3×10(-12)), 11q13 (rs477895, BAD, p?=?4.9×10(-8)), and 20q13 (rs151361, SLMO2, p?=?9.4×10(-9)). Three of these loci (10q21, 11q13, and 20q13) were replicated in European Americans (N?=?14,909) and one (11q13) in Hispanic Americans (N?=?3,462). For MPV (N?=?4,531), genetic variants in 3 regions were significant at p<5×10(-8), two of which were also associated with platelet count. Previously reported regions that were also significant in this study were 6p21, 6q23, 7q22, 12q24, and 19p13 for platelet count and 7q22, 17q11, and 19p13 for MPV. The most significant SNP in 1 region was also associated with ADP-induced maximal platelet aggregation in whole blood (12q24). Thus through a meta-analysis of GWAS enrolling African Americans, we have identified 5 novel regions associated with platelet count of which 3 were replicated in other ethnic groups. In addition, we also found one region associated with platelet aggregation that may play a potential role in atherothrombosis.     

Aspergillus niger DLFCC-90 rhamnoside hydrolase, a new type of flavonoid glycoside hydrolase

A novel rutin-α-L-rhamnosidase hydrolyzing α-L-rhamnoside of rutin, naringin, and hesperidin was purified and characterized from Aspergillus niger DLFCC-90, and the gene encoding this enzyme, which is highly homologous to the α-amylase gene, was cloned and expressed in Pichia pastoris GS115. The novel enzyme was classified in glycoside-hydrolase (GH) family 13.