Up-regulation of connexin 43 and gap junctional intercellular communication by Coleusin Factor is associated with growth inhibition in rat osteosarcoma UMR106 cells

Gap junctions, formed by connexin (Cx) family proteins, permit direct exchange of regulatory ions and small signal molecules between neighbouring cells. Gap junctional intercellular communication (GJIC) plays an important role in maintaining the homeostasis and preventing cell transformation. Most of the tumour cells feature deficient or aberrant connexin expression and GJIC level, and restoration of connexin expression and GJIC is correlated with cell growth control. Numerous researches has suggested the possibility of connexins as potential anti-tumour targets for chemoprevention and chemotherapy. We investigated the ability of Coleusin Factor (CF, also named FSK88) to regulate the Cx43 expression and GJIC level in rat osteosarcoma UMR106 cells. The results have demonstrated that CF increased the mRNA and protein expression of Cx43 in both in a dose- and timedependent manner, and concomitant with up-regulation of Cx43, CF treatment up-regulated the diminished GJIC level in UMR106 cells as assayed by dye transfer experiments. In addition, Cx43 distribution at the plasma membrane was also enhanced dramatically by CF treatment. Furthermore, we discovered that CF was potent to inhibit the growth and proliferation of UMR106 cells. These results provide the first evidence that CF can regulate connexin and GJIC, indicating that Cx43 may be a target of CF to exert its anti-tumour effects.     

腹毛目纤毛虫鬃棘尾虫纤毛器基部微管的荧光标记

腹毛目纤毛虫鬃棘尾虫的纤毛器微管骨架由口围带、波动膜、额腹横尾棘毛、左右缘棘毛和背触毛等纤毛器微管和纤毛器基部附属微管等组成,其中口围带基部含小膜托架、小膜后微管、小膜托架微管及小膜托架间的倒"V"形微管连接;波动膜基部形成微管骨架网;额腹横棘毛和左、右缘棘毛基部含前纵微管束、后纵微管束和横微管束,但不同位置的棘毛基部微管发达程度不一样;背触毛基部以纤毛基体为中心向前、后皮层发出前纵微管和后纵微管,形成背皮层微管网.     

蚊浓核病毒介导的人工内含子在蚊体内外的初步应用

根据人β-球蛋白基因第一内含子5′-端供位序列与免疫球蛋白重链可变区基因3′-端受位序列构建人工内含子,将人工内含子插入重组蚊浓核病毒质粒载体p7NS1-GFP中GFP融合表达的病毒非结构蛋白NS1的编码框内,构建成载体p7NS1-Intron-GFP,与辅助载体pUCA共转染蚊C6/36细胞系,荧光显微镜下观察细胞内GFP的表达情况。纯化、回收共转染后形成重组病毒与野生病毒,共感染白纹伊蚊二龄幼虫并观察幼虫体内GFP的表达情况。结果在C6/36细胞与蚊幼虫体内均观察到GFP的高效表达,证实人工内含子无论在蚊细胞系内还是在活体幼虫内均可正常行使其自我剪切的功能,未影响到下游蛋白GFP的表达。本研究为人工内含子在蚊虫细胞内的应用奠定基础,为蚊虫及其病原体相关基因工程技术提供新的策略。     

Characterization of <Emphasis Type="Italic">HoMADS 1</Emphasis> and its induction by plant hormones during <Emphasis Type="Italic">in vitro</Emphasis> ovule development in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Hyacinthus orientalis</Emphasis> L.

To understand the molecular mechanism of ovule development, a MADS box gene,HoMADS 1, has been isolated from the ovule tissues of Hyacinthus. Sequence comparison showed that HoMADS 1 is highly homologous to both class C and D genes. Furthermore, phylogenetic analysis suggests that HoMADS 1 is most likely a class D MADS box gene. RNA hybridization revealed that HoMADS 1 was exclusively expressed in the ovules. Over-expressing HoMADS 1 in transgenic Arabidopsis plants produced ectopic carpelloid structures, including ovules, indicating that HoMADS 1 is involved in the determination of carpel and ovule identities. Interestingly, during in vitro flowering, no HoMADS 1 mRNA was detected in the floral tissues at high level hormones in the media. However, HoMADS 1 mRNA accumulated in the floral tissues when the regenerated flowers were transferred to the media containing low level hormones which could induce in vitro ovule formation. Our data suggest that the induction of HoMADS 1 by plant hormones may play important roles during ovule initiation and development in the regenerated flower. Whether HoMADS 1 expression is also regulated by cytokinin and auxin during ovule development in planta remains to be investigated.     

Circular dichroism spectra of human hemoglobin reveal a reversible structural transition at body temperature

Previously we have shown that human red blood cells (RBCs) undergo a sudden change from blocking to passing through a 1.3±0.2-µm micropipette when applying an aspiration pressure of 2.3 kPa at a critical transition temperature (T_c=36.4±0.3 °C). Low-shear viscosity measurements suggested that changes in the molecular properties of hemoglobin might be responsible for this effect. To evaluate structural changes in hemoglobin at the critical temperature, we have used circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy. The thermal denaturation curves of human hemoglobin A (HbA) and hemoglobin S (HbS) upon heating between 25 and 60 °C were non-linear and showed accelerated denaturation between 35 and 39 °C with a midpoint at 37.2±0.6 °C. The transition was reversible below 39 °C and independent of solution pH (pH 6.8–7.8). It was also independent of the oxygenation state of hemoglobin, since a sample that was extensively deoxygenated with N₂ showed a similar transition by CD. These findings suggest that a structural change in hemoglobin may enable the cellular passage phenomenon as well as the temperature-dependent decrease in viscosity of RBC solutions.     

链状亚历山大藻赤潮衰亡的生理调控

研究了链状亚历山大藻在对数生长期、衰亡期、高氮、低氮条件下,藻细胞中可溶性蛋白含量、超氧化物歧化酶(SOD)活性、丙二醛(MDA)、过氧化氢(H2O2)和还原型谷胱甘肽(GSH)含量、光合速率和呼吸速率、DNA降解、端粒酶活性的变化。结果表明:在衰亡期、高氮、低氮条件下链状亚历山大藻细胞中可溶性蛋白、GSH含量、光合速率和呼吸速率下降;SOD活性(低氮条件除外)、H2O2、MDA含量上升;端粒酶活性和DNA Ladder随着藻细胞生长而变化,并在衰亡时期,出现了明显的DNALadder。研究结果显示链状亚历山大藻衰亡过程的反应表现为:蛋白质合成受阻或降解,产生大量氧化中间产物(MDA,H2O2等),抗氧化系统被激活,GSH等非酶抗氧化物质被大量消耗,SOD等酶抗氧化物被激活;另外表现为光合速率和呼吸速率下降;同时活性氧自由基(Reactive Oxygen Species,ROS)的积累诱发了细胞凋亡,核酸内切酶被激活,选择性降解染色质DNA。推测低氮、高氮条件均可以加快藻细胞的衰亡的生理过程,链状亚历山大藻的赤潮衰亡是一种有序的死亡过程。     

Analysis of genetic diversity and phylogenetic relationships among red jungle fowls and Chinese domestic fowls

Genetic diversity and phylogenetic relationships among 568 individuals of two red jungle fowl subspe- cies (Gallus gallus spadiceus in China and Gallus gallus gallus in Thailand) and 14 Chinese domestic chicken breeds were evaluated with 29 microstaellite loci, the genetic variability within population and genetic differentiation among population were estimated, and then genetic diversity and phylogenetic relationships were analyzed among red jungle fowls and Chinese domestic fowls. A total of 286 alleles were detected in 16 population with 29 microsatellite markers and the average number of the alleles observed in 29 microsatellite loci was 9.86±6.36. The overall expected heterozygosity of all population was 0.6708±0.0251, and the number of population deviated from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium per locus ranged from 0 to 7. In the whole population, the average of genetic differentiation among population, measured as FST value, was 16.7% (P<0.001), and all loci contributed significantly (P<0.001) to this differentiation. It can also be seen that the deficit of heterozygotes was very high (0.015) (P<0.01). Reynolds' distance values varied between 0.036 (Xiaoshan chicken-Luyuan chicken pair) and 0.330 (G. gallus gallus-Gushi chicken pair). The Nm value ranged from 0.533 (between G. gallus gallus and Gushi chicken) to 5.833 (between Xiaoshan chicken and Luyuan chicken). An unrooted consensus tree was constructed using the neighbour-joining method and the Reynolds' genetic distance. The heavy-body sized chicken breeds, Luyuan chicken, Xiaoshan chicken, Beijing Fatty chicken, Henan Game chicken, Huainan Partridge and Langshan chicken formed one branch, and it had a close genetic relationship between Xiaoshan chicken-Luyuan chicken pair and Chahua chicken-Tibetan chicken pair. Chahua chicken and Tibetan chicken had closer genetic relationship with these two subspecies of red jungle fowl than other domestic chicken breeds. G. gallus spadiceus showed closer phylogenetic relationship with Chinese domestic chicken breeds than G. gallus gallus. All 29 microstaellite loci in this study showed high levels of polymorphism and significant genetic differentiation was observed among two subspecies of red jungle fowl and 14 Chinese domestic chicken breeds. The evolutional dendrogram is as follows: evolutional breeds→primitive breeds (Chahua chicken and Tibetan)→red jungle fowl in China (G. gallus spadiceus)→red jungle fowl in Thailand (G. gallus gallus). The results supported the theory that the domestic fowls might originate from different subspecies of red jungle fowl and Chinese domestic fowls had independent origin.     

斑潜蝇及天敌复合生态系统的主成份分析方法

本文以蚕豆田间斑潜蝇及天敌复合生态系统为例,首先确定了复合生态系统中的昆虫种群,然后运用主成份分析方法对复合生态系统起主要作用的昆虫种群进行了分析,并进一步建立评价函数对复合生态系统各时期进行评分并排序,比较复合生态系统各时期复合体的大小,其结果可直接用于指导实践.