Unusual amino acid usage in the variable regions of mercury-binding antibodies

Monoclonal antibodies (mAb) specific for mercuric ions were isolated from BALB/c mice injected with a mercury-containing, hapten-carrier complex. The antibodies reacted by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with bovine serum albumin-glutathione-mercuric chloride (BSA-GSH-HgCl) but not with BSA-GSH without mercury. Nucleotide sequences from polymerase chain reaction products encoding six of the antibody heavy-chain variable regions and seven light-chain variable regions revealed that all the antibodies contained an unpaired cysteine residue in one hypervariable region, which is unusual for murine antibodies. Mutagenesis of the cysteine to either tyrosine or serine in one of the Hg-binding antibodies, mAb 4A10, eliminated mercury binding. However, of two influenza-specific antibodies that contain cysteine residues at the same position as mAb 4A10, one reacted with mercury, although not so strongly as 4A10, whereas the other did not react at all. These results suggested that, in addition to an unpaired cysteine, there are other structural features, not yet identified, that are important for creating an appropriate environment for mercury binding. The antibodies described here could be useful for investigating mechanisms of metal-protein interactions and for characterizing antibody responses to structurally simple haptens.     

Water stress augments silicon-mediated resistance of susceptible sugarcane cultivars to the stalk borer Eldana saccharina (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae)

Silicon (Si) can improve resistance of plants to insect attack and may also enhance tolerance of water stress. This study tested if Si-mediated host plant resistance to insect attack was augmented by water stress. Four sugarcane cultivars, two resistant (N21, N33) and two susceptible (N26, N11) to Eldana saccharina Walker were grown in a pot trial in Si-deficient river sand, with (Si+) and without (Si-) calcium silicate. To induce water stress, irrigation to half the trial was reduced after 8.5 months. The trial was artificially infested with E. saccharina eggs after water reduction and harvested 66 days later. Silicon treated, stressed and non-stressed plants of the same cultivar did not differ appreciably in Si content. Decreases in numbers of borers recovered and stalk damage were not associated with comparable increases in rind hardness in Si+ cane, particularly in water-stressed susceptible cultivars. Overall, Si+ plants displayed increased resistance to E. saccharina attack compared with Si- plants. Borer recoveries were significantly lower in stressed Si+ cane compared with either stressed Si- or non-stressed Si- and Si+ cane. Generally, fewer borers were recovered from resistant cultivars than susceptible cultivars. Stalk damage was significantly lower in Si+ cane than in Si- cane, for N21, N11 and N26. Stalk damage was significantly less in Si+ combined susceptible cultivars than in Si- combined susceptible cultivars under non-stressed and especially stressed conditions. In general, the reduction in borer numbers and stalk damage in Si+ plants was greater for water-stressed cane than non-stressed cane, particularly for susceptible sugarcane cultivars. The hypothesis that Si affords greater protection against E. saccharina borer attack in water-stressed sugarcane than in non-stressed cane and that this benefit is greatly enhanced in susceptible cultivars is supported. A possible active role for soluble Si in defence against E. saccharina is proposed.     

Virtual dyscalculia induced by parietal-lobe TMS impairs automatic magnitude processing

People suffering from developmental dyscalculia encounter difficulties in automatically accessing numerical magnitudes [1-3]. For example, when instructed to attend to the physical size of a number while ignoring its numerical value, dyscalculic subjects, unlike healthy participants, fail to process the irrelevant dimension automatically and subsequently show a smaller size-congruity effect (difference in reaction time between incongruent [e.g., a physically large 2 and a physically small 4] and congruent [e.g., a physically small 2 and a physically large 4] conditions), and no facilitation (neutral [e.g., a physically small 2 and a physically large 2] versus congruent) [3]. Previous imaging studies determined the intraparietal sulcus (IPS) as a central area for numerical processing [4-11]. A few studies tried to identify the brain dysfunction underlying developmental dyscalculia but yielded mixed results regarding the involvement of the left [12] or the right [13] IPS. Here we applied fMRI-guided TMS neuronavigation to disrupt left- or right-IPS activation clusters in order to induce dyscalculic-like behavioral deficits in healthy volunteers. Automatic magnitude processing was impaired only during disruption of right-IPS activity. When using the identical paradigm with dyscalculic participants, we reproduced a result pattern similar to that obtained with nondyscalculic volunteers during right-IPS disruption. These findings provide direct evidence for the functional role of right IPS in automatic magnitude processing.     

Nonvisual motor learning influences abstract action observation

Neuroimaging studies have recently provided support for the existence of a human equivalent of the "mirror-neuron" system as first described in monkeys [1], involved in both the execution of movements as well as the observation and imitation of actions performed by others (e.g., [2-6]). A widely held conception concerning this system is that the understanding of observed actions is mediated by a covert simulation process [7]. In the present fMRI experiment, this simulation process was probed by asking subjects to discriminate between visually presented trajectories that either did or did not match previously performed but unseen continuous movement sequences. A specific network of learning-related premotor and parietal areas was found to be reactivated when participants were confronted with their movements' visual counterpart. Moreover, the strength of these reactivations was dependent on the observers' experience with executing the corresponding movement sequence. These findings provide further support for the emerging view that embodied simulations during action observation engage widespread activations in cortical motor regions beyond the classically defined mirror-neuron system. Furthermore, the obtained results extend previous work by showing experience-dependent perceptual modulations at the neural systems level based on nonvisual motor learning.     

脐带间充质干细胞的生物学特性及旁分泌作用的研究进展

脐带是由胚胎外中胚层和/或胚胎中胚层发育而来的组织,脐带间充质干细胞是具有自我更新、多向分化以及高度增殖潜能的多功能干细胞。研究证明,脐带间充质干细胞具有以下功能：参与炎症反应,抑制炎症因子分泌并促进免疫调节;参与受损伤组织的治疗与修复使其再生并改善特定疾病症状;抑制肿瘤增殖和迁移以及促进其凋亡等。然而目前尚未明确以上功能是间充质干细胞本身发挥作用,还是其分泌的相关因子对机体修复产生作用。主要对脐带间充质干细胞的定义、来源、生物学特性、分泌功能等方面的研究进展进行了综述,旨在更好地利用间充质干细胞修复组织,以期为脐带间充质干细胞的后续研究提供参考依据。     

宏基因组学应用于耐盐酶类及耐盐基因研究的进展

耐盐酶在高盐浓度下仍具备催化活性和稳定性,在高盐食品和海产品加工、洗涤及其它高盐环境生物技术领域被广泛应用;耐盐基因在高盐条件下可以使微生物维持正常功能,获取并研究不同环境中的耐盐基因对揭示微生物的耐盐机制,以及实现其在高盐环境中的定向应用具有的重要意义。宏基因组学避开纯培养技术探知微生物的多样性及其功能,为我们提供了一种发现新基因、开发新的微生物活性物质和研究微生物群落结构及其功能的新技术。文中结合本课题组的研究工作,综述了利用宏基因组学获取耐盐酶类及耐盐基因的策略,同时着重介绍利用宏基因组学从海洋、土壤、胃肠道等环境中获取耐盐酶类及耐盐基因的研究。     

喹诺酮外排泵耐药基因oqxAB的耐药机制及其流行情况

oqx AB是编码Oqx AB外排泵蛋白的多重耐药基因,由2个开放阅读框oqx A和oqx B组成,其主要介导细菌对喹诺酮类药物的耐药。该基因最早是在大肠埃希菌pOLA52质粒上被发现,是质粒介导的喹诺酮耐药基因的重要成员之一。目前已经分别发现了11个oqxA和32个oqxB等位基因。oqxAB通过质粒进行水平传播,使受体菌株容易形成耐药性,增加了临床治疗的难度。该基因目前主要流行于肠杆菌科,但不能排除也存在于非肠杆菌科细菌,给人类与家畜健康造成巨大的威胁。本文综述了喹诺酮外排泵耐药基因oqxAB及其等位基因的发现、耐药机制、国内外流行特点,以期为临床和畜牧生产中合理使用喹诺酮类抗菌药物,减少oqxAB基因的流行提供资料。     

Asia-I口蹄疫病毒P1-2A基因真核表达质粒的构建及小鼠免疫试验

目的:构建含有Asia-Ⅰ型口蹄疫病毒(FMDV)衣壳蛋白前体P1-2A 基因的真核表达质粒pVAXⅠ-P1-2A,并用pVAXⅠ-P1-2A免疫小鼠,评价其体液免疫和细胞免疫水平.方法:通过RT-PCR 方法扩增得到含有FMDV P1-2A编码区的目的基因,并将其克隆到pMD18-T载体上.将pMD18-T-P1-2A和 pVAXⅠ分别经EcoRⅤ和XbaⅠ双酶切后连接构建真核表达质粒pVAXⅠ-P1-2A.将酶切鉴定正确后的重组质粒转染HeLa细胞进行IFA检测.再进行小鼠血清特异性抗体试验、小鼠T淋巴细胞增殖试验和IFN-γ ELISPOT试验.结果:酶切结果与预期目的条带大小相符;荧光结果表明经pVAXⅠ-P1-2A转染的细胞有明显的黄绿色荧光,说明P1-2A基因在HeLa细胞中得到了表达;小鼠免疫结果表明,免疫的小鼠都产生了较强的体液免疫和细胞免疫,并且T淋巴细胞增殖数和产生IFN-γ的细胞数和对照组相比显著提高(P<0.05).间接ELISA试验表明,在免疫第14天抗体水平比对照组明显增高(P<0.05).结论:成功构建了真核表达质粒pVAXⅠ-P1-2A,并通过小鼠免疫试验发现重组质粒试验组能够诱导产生特异性的体液免疫和细胞免疫应答.     

氮磷亏缺对玉米根系水流导度的影响

在人工气候室水培条件下,从单根和整株根系两个层次研究了N、P营养与玉米(Zea mays L.)根系水流导度(root hydraulic conductivity,Lpr)间的关系。结果表明：表型抗旱的杂交种F1代户单4号和母本天四的单根水导和整株根系水导均高于不抗旱的父本478,其中天四的单根水导最高,而户单4号的整株根系水导最高。N、P亏缺均使玉米单根水导和整株根系水导降低,但与N亏块相比,P亏缺的植株具有较高的整株根系水导和较低的单根水导。整株根系的水导更能反映植物根系的输水性能。