固态发酵木薯酒精渣生产生物饲料菌种的筛选

目的:筛选获得能混合固态发酵木薯酒精渣生产生物饲料的真菌组合.方法:利用木薯酒精渣堵养基,初筛能在其上良好生长的植物内生真菌菌株,再将这些菌株两两组合进行固态混菌发酵、添加酵母混菌发酵,测定产物中粗蛋白和粗纤维的含量,获得能有效降低木薯酒精渣中粗纤维、提高粗蛋白含量的菌株组合.结果:菌株G4与C15、Q4与C32混菌发酵效果最好,可将粗蛋白质含最从底物的1.42%分别提高到产物的16.08%与18.54%(于基),粗纤维含量从底物的32.41%降低到27.57%与26.59%.添加酵母培养后,两个组合产物中粗蛋白质含量可进一步提高到21.79%与23.56%,而粗纤维含量几乎无变化.结论:菌株G4(黑曲霉)、C15(白地霉)与郎比可假丝酵母,Q4(黑曲霉)、C32(青霉)与季也蒙假丝酵母可用作混菌固态发酵木薯酒精渣生产生物饲料的菌种.     

白鲜皮水提物对ApoE-/-小鼠动脉粥样硬化早期病变形成的抑制作用

目的研究白鲜皮水提物对载脂蛋白E基因缺损小鼠主动脉弓粥样硬化早期病变形成的影响。方法将40只ApoE-/-小鼠随机分成空白对照组和白鲜皮高、中、低三剂量组（白鲜皮水提物3.2、1.6、0.8 g/kg）给药,计算各组主动脉弓粥样硬化病变的面积。体内检测血清中的脂质含量以及抗氧化指标丙二醛（MDA）含量、超氧化物歧化酶（SOD）、过氧化氢酶（CAT）、谷胱甘肽-S转移酶（GST）的活性变化。测定白鲜皮水提物对Cu2＋介导的人血清低密度脂蛋白（LDL-C）氧化易感性的影响。结果与对照组相比,白鲜皮各给药组小鼠动脉粥样硬化早期病变面积均小于对照组,血清中MDA的含量降低,SOD、CAT活性增高,GST变化不明显,血清脂质含量组间没有显著差异。白鲜皮水提物明显延长Cu2＋介导的人血清LDL氧化滞留时间和达峰时间。结论白鲜皮水提物对ApoE-/-小鼠动脉粥样硬化早期病变形成具有显著的抑制作用,其作用机制可能是通过对抗脂蛋白的过氧化作用而实现。     

亳芍茎尖组织培养的研究

选取亳芍茎尖为试验材料,探究不同培养条件对亳芍组织培养的影响,结果表明:亳芍茎尖在1/2MS+6-BA 1.0 mg/L培养基上培养39 d后,茎尖分化出芽的同时也形成较多的丛生芽;丛生芽在1/2MS+6-BA1.0mg/L培养基上增殖速度最快;来自不同启动培养基上的丛生芽在相同培养基上,接种15 d后观察,不同来源的丛生芽长势不同,30 d后仍存在一定的差异;幼苗在1/2MS+IBA 0.1生根效果最好。     

双Intein介导3片段vWF的反式剪接

von Willebrand因子(vWF)基因突变导致血管性血友病(VWD),由于其基因过大在基因治疗研究中难以为多数病毒载体携带.利用双内含肽(intein)的蛋白质反式剪接功能研究断裂成3段的vWF基因分别表达后在蛋白水平的连接,旨在为vWF基因的3载体联合转移应用于VWD基因治疗研究提供依据.将vWF cDNA于满足剪接所需的保守性氨基酸Cys1099、Ser2004的密码子前断裂为3段(N、M和C),分别与splitSspDnaE intein的N端(En)、C端(Ec)和splitSspDnaB intein的N端(Bn)、C端(Bc)编码序列融合,构建到原核表达载体pET-28a(+)中的His-Tag的下游,得到3种表达载体pET-NEn、pET-EcMBn和pET-BcC.分别转化感受态大肠杆菌BL21(DE3)细胞,经IPTG诱导表达后,以SDS-PAGE分析融合蛋白的表达,并进一步用His-Tag的特异性抗体进行分析;亲和层析纯化分别表达的带His-Tag标签的3段蛋白,复性后体外混合进行剪接实验以观察3片段vWF的连接.结果显示,3段预期大小的融合intein的vWF蛋白均有表达,用His-Tag抗体进行的Western印迹得到进一步证实;3段纯化的蛋白混合后可见明显的剪接条带形成,与vWF的预期分子量大小一致,表明双intein通过蛋白质反式剪接可有效连接3个片段的vWF,为进一步应用蛋白质剪接技术的3重载体真核细胞转vWF基因奠定了基础.     

VOLATILE CONSTITUENTS OF CHAROPHYTES AS OVIPOSITION DETERRENTS OF CULEX PIPIENS PALLENS (DIPTERA: CULICIDAE)1

Four populations of charophytes (including three species), Chara inconnexa T. F. Allen (populations 1 and 2), C. vulgaris L., and Nitellopsis obtusa (Desv.) J. Groves, were studied for effective chemicals as oviposition deterrents of Culex pipiens pallens. The charophyte volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were retained in Tenax GR, subsequently desorbed using a thermal desorption cold trap injector (TCT), and analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) to elucidate that charophytes have repellent properties. C. inconnexa (1) and C. inconnexa (2) exhibited strong repellent activities, and C. vulgaris showed some repellent activity against C. pipiens pallens with terpenes and benzothiazole playing major roles, while N. obtusa lacked those compounds and did not have an effect. These results suggest that charophytes have potential application as pesticides, but there are interspecific differences. In addition, benzene hydrocarbons were among the volatiles in Chara but not in N. obtusa, implying that some charophytes could be used to absorb these compounds.     

PDCD10/CCM3 acts downstream of {gamma}-protocadherins to regulate neuronal survival

γ-Protocadherins (PCDH-γ) regulate neuronal survival in the vertebrate central nervous system. The molecular mechanisms of how PCDH-γ mediates this function are still not understood. In this study, we show that through their common cytoplasmic domain, different PCDH-γ isoforms interact with an intracellular adaptor protein named PDCD10 (programmed cell death 10). PDCD10 is also known as CCM3, a causative genetic defect for cerebral cavernous malformations in humans. Using RNAi-mediated knockdown, we demonstrate that PDCD10 is required for the occurrence of apoptosis upon PCDH-γ depletion in developing chicken spinal neurons. Moreover, overexpression of PDCD10 is sufficient to induce neuronal apoptosis. Taken together, our data reveal a novel function for PDCD10/CCM3, acting as a critical regulator of neuronal survival during development.     

Identification and Characterization of Bmi-1-responding Element within the Human p16 Promoter

Bmi-1, the first functionally identified polycomb gene family member, plays critical roles in cell cycle regulation, cell immortalization, and cell senescence. Bmi-1 is involved in the development and progression of carcinomas and is a potent target for cancer therapy. One important pathway regulated by Bmi-1 is that involving two cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors, p16^Ink4a and p19^Arf, as Bmi-1 represses the INK4a locus on which they are encoded. A close correlation between the up-regulation of Bmi-1 and down-regulation of p16 has been demonstrated in various tumors; however, how Bmi-1 regulates p16 expression is not clear. In this study, we revealed that Bmi-1 regulates the expression of p16 by binding directly to the Bmi-1-responding element (BRE) within the p16 promoter. The BRE resided at bp −821 to −732 upstream of the p16 ATG codon. BRE alone was sufficient to allow Bmi-1-mediated regulation of the CMV promoter. Bmi-1 typically functions by forming a complex with Ring2; however, regulation of p16 was independent of Ring2. Chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing of Bmi-1-precipitated chromatin DNA revealed that 1536 genes were targeted by Bmi-1, including genes involved in tissue-specific differentiation, cell cycle, and apoptosis. By analyzing the binding sequences of these genes, we found two highly conserved Bmi-1-binding motifs, which were required for Bmi-1-mediated p16 promoter regulation. Taken together, our results revealed the molecular mechanism of Bmi-1-mediated regulation of the p16 gene, thus providing further insights into the functions of Bmi-1 as well as a sensitive high-throughput platform with which to screen Bmi-1-targeted small molecules for cancer therapy.     

Novel Function and Intracellular Localization of Methionine Adenosyltransferase 2β Splicing Variants

Human methionine adenosyltransferase 2β (MAT2β) encodes for two major splicing variants, V1 and V2, which are differentially expressed in normal tissues. Both variants are induced in human liver cancer and positively regulate growth. The aim of this work was to identify interacting proteins of V1 and V2. His-tagged V1 and V2 were overexpressed in Rosetta pLysS cells, purified, and used in a pulldown assay to identify interacting proteins from human colon cancer cell line RKO cell lysates. The eluted lysates were subjected to Western blot and in solution proteomic analyses. HuR, an mRNA-binding protein known to stabilize the mRNA of several cyclins, was identified to interact with V1 and V2. Immunoprecipitation and Western blotting confirmed their interaction in both liver and colon cancer cells. These variant proteins are located in both nucleus and cytoplasm in liver and colon cancer cells and, when overexpressed, increased the cytoplasmic HuR content. This led to increased expression of cyclin D1 and cyclin A, known targets of HuR. When endogenous expression of V1 or V2 is reduced by small interference RNA, cytoplasmic HuR content fell and the expression of these HuR target genes also decreased. Knockdown of cyclin D1 or cyclin A blunted, whereas knockdown of HuR largely prevented, the ability of V1 or V2 overexpression to induce growth. In conclusion, MAT2β variants reside mostly in the nucleus and regulate HuR subcellular content to affect cell proliferation.