Individual variation in buffalo somatic cell cloning efficiency is related to glycolytic metabolism

Science China Life Sciences - Mammalian individuals differ in their somatic cell cloning efficiency, but the mechanisms leading to this variation is poorly understood. Here we found that high...     

Efficient one-pot synthesis of molecularly imprinted silica nanospheres embedded carbon dots for fluorescent dopamine optosensing

A new type of eco-friendly molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) was synthesized through an efficient one-pot room-temperature sol-gel polymerization and applied as a molecular recognition element to construct dopamine (DA) fluorescence (FL) optosensor. Highly luminescent carbon dots (CDs) were firstly synthesized via a one-step reaction in organosilane, and their surface were anchored with MIP matrix (CDs@MIP). The resulting composite of a synergetic combination of CDs with MIP showed high photostability and template selectivity. Moreover, the composite allowed a highly sensitive determination of DA via FL intensity decreasing when removal of the original templates. The new MIP-based DA sensing protocol was applied to detect DA concentration in aqueous solution, the relative FL intensity of CDs@MIP decreased linearly with the increasing DA in the concentration range of 25-500nM with a detection limit (3σ) of 1.7nM. Furthermore, the proposed method was successfully intended for the determination of trace DA in human urine samples without the interference of other molecules and ions.     

Fanconi anemia complementation group A (FANCA) protein has intrinsic affinity for nucleic acids with preference for single-stranded forms

The Fanconi anemia complementation group A (FANCA) gene is one of 15 disease-causing genes and has been found to be mutated in ～60% of Fanconi anemia patients. Using purified protein, we report that human FANCA has intrinsic affinity for nucleic acids. FANCA binds to both single-stranded (ssDNA) and double-stranded (dsDNA) DNAs; however, its affinity for ssDNA is significantly higher than for dsDNA in an electrophoretic mobility shift assay. FANCA also binds to RNA with an intriguingly higher affinity than its DNA counterpart. FANCA requires a certain length of nucleic acids for optimal binding. Using DNA and RNA ladders, we determined that the minimum number of nucleotides required for FANCA recognition is ～30 for both DNA and RNA. By testing the affinity between FANCA and a variety of DNA structures, we found that a 5'-flap or 5'-tail on DNA facilitates its interaction with FANCA. A patient-derived FANCA truncation mutant (Q772X) has diminished affinity for both DNA and RNA. In contrast, the complementing C-terminal fragment of Q772X, C772-1455, retains the differentiated nucleic acid-binding activity (RNA > ssDNA > dsDNA), indicating that the nucleic acid-binding domain of FANCA is located primarily at its C terminus, where most disease-causing mutations are found.     

系谱分析中概率问题的贝叶斯分析一例

《生物学通报》2007年第2期“遗传概率的一个认识误区”一文,给出了一个家系概率问题的答案,但没有详尽的分析过程,不利于初学者的学习掌握,本文对此予以补充和完善。[第一段]     

Preparation,Pharmacokinetics, Biodistribution,Antitumor Efficacy and Safety of Lx2-32c-Containing Liposome

Lx2-32c is a novel taxane that has been demonstrated to have robust antitumor activity against different types of tumors including several paclitaxel-resistant neoplasms. Since the delivery vehicles for taxane, which include cremophor EL, are all associated with severe toxic effects, liposome-based Lx2-32c has been developed. In the present study, the pharmacokinetics, biodistribution, antitumor efficacy and safety characteristics of liposome-based Lx2-32c were explored and compared with those of cremophor-based Lx2-32c. The results showed that liposome-based Lx2-32c displayed similar antitumor effects to cremophor-based Lx2-32c, but with significantly lower bone marrow toxicity and cardiotoxicity, especially with regard to the low ratio of hypersensitivity reaction. In comparing these two delivery modalities, targeting was superior using the Lx2-32c liposome formulation; it achieved significantly higher uptake in tumor than in bone marrow and heart. Our data thus suggested that the Lx2-32c liposome was a novel alternative formulation with comparable antitumor efficacy and a superior safety profiles to cremophor-based Lx2-32c, which might be related to the improved pharmacokinetic and biodistribution characteristics. In conclusion, the Lx2-32c liposome could be a promising alternative formulation for further development.     

Preparation of gold nanoparticles/functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotube nanocomposites and its glucose biosensing application

Gold nanoparticles stabilized by amino-terminated ionic liquid (Au-IL) have been in situ noncovalently deposited on poly(sodium 4-styrene-sulfonate) (PSS)-functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) to form a MWCNTs/PSS/Au-IL nanocomposite. PSS can interact with MWCNTs through hydrophobic interaction. Amino-terminated ionic liquid was applied to reduce aqueous HAuCl(4), and the resulting gold nanoparticles were attached to the PSS-functionalized MWCNTs simultaneously. Most gold nanoparticles dispersed well on the functionalized MWCNTs. Transmission electron microscopy, Raman and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were used to confirm the composition and structure of the nanocomposites. The resulting MWCNTs/PSS/Au-IL composite exhibits good electrocatalysis toward oxygen and hydrogen peroxide reduction. And good biocompatibility with glucose oxidase was also demonstrated due to its good biocatalysis toward glucose substrate, which offered a friendly environment for the immobilization of biomolecules. Such bionanocomposite provides us potential applications in fabrication of biosensors. The resulting biosensor exhibits good response to glucose with a low detection limit 25 microM. It also has excellent reproducibility, satisfied operational stability and good storage stability.     

肥大细胞及肠嗜铬细胞在人胃消化性溃疡发病中的作用

目的探讨肥大细胞与肠嗜铬细胞在人胃溃疡发病中的作用。方法收集胃溃疡标本90例,正常胃组织30例。采用甲苯胺兰检测肥大细胞的数量、分布,免疫组化染色检测类胰蛋白酶、5-羟色胺表达,另取5例新鲜胃溃疡组织进行电镜检测。结果溃疡组与对照组比较肥大细胞及肠嗜铬细胞数量均明显增加（P〈0.05）,肥大细胞在溃疡组脱颗粒现象明显,线性相关分析显示肥大细胞与肠嗜铬细胞数量呈正相关,相关系数为0.741。结论肥大细胞与肠嗜铬细胞在人胃溃疡发病中均发挥了作用。     

原核生物核糖核酸酶HII基因的克隆及在大肠杆菌中的高效表达

核糖核酸酶HII (RNaseHII)能有效降解RNA和DNA杂交链中的RNA链。为进一步研究其功能 ,利用大肠杆菌XL1blue为模板 ,相应的寡聚脱氧核苷酸为引物 ,PCR扩增大肠杆菌RNaseHII(rnh 2 )基因 ,并将目的基因连接到克隆载体 pUC18上 ,经测序确认无误 ,分别亚克隆到能够进行IPTG诱导的表达载体pTrcHisC和进行温度诱导的表达载体pBV2 2 0上。重组质粒转化到大肠杆菌DH5α细胞中获得高效表达。在载体pTrcHisC和 pBV2 2 0中目的蛋白RNaseHII的表达量均超过菌体总蛋白的 2 0 % ,且表达产物以稳定的包涵体形式存在。此项工作为以后目的蛋白的纯化提供了有利条件 ,并为研究其结构和功能奠定了基础。     

Association of potentially functional variants in the XPG gene with neuroblastoma risk in a Chinese population

XPG gene plays a critical role in the nucleotide excision repair pathway. However, the association between XPG gene polymorphisms and neuroblastoma risk has not been investigated. In this study with 256 neuroblastoma cases and 531 cancer‐free controls, we investigated the effects of five potentially functional polymorphisms ( rs2094258 C>T, rs751402 C>T, rs2296147 T>C, rs1047768 T>C and rs873601G>A) on neuroblastoma risk. We calculated odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) to evaluate the association between the five selected polymorphisms and neuroblastoma risk. False‐positive report probability (FPRP) was utilized to determine whether significant findings were noteworthy or because of a chance. We also performed genotype–phenotype association analysis to explore the biological plausibility of our findings. We found that the rs2094258 T allele was significantly associated with decreased neuroblastoma risk (CT versus CC: adjusted OR = 0.65, 95% CI = 0.47–0.90, P = 0.010; and CT/TT versus CC: adjusted OR = 0.71, 95% CI = 0.53–0.97, P = 0.030) after adjusting for age and gender. The association was more prominent for subjects with retroperitoneal tumour or early‐stage tumour. We also found that carriers of the 2–3 risk genotypes had a significantly increased neuroblastoma risk when compared to carriers of the 0–1 risk genotypes. The association with risk genotypes was more predominant in older children, females and subjects with retroperitoneal tumour or early stage. Our results were further supported by FPRP analysis and genotype–phenotype association analysis. In conclusion, our study verified that the XPG gene rs2094258 C>T polymorphism may contribute to neuroblastoma susceptibility. Our findings require further validation by studies with larger sample size and concerning different ethnicities.