利用优化改造的家蚕杆状病毒表达系统提高NS1表达产量

为优化家蚕杆状病毒表达系统,提高外源基因的表达产量。文中通过同源重组技术,用串联的氯霉素基因(Cm)表达盒和绿色荧光蛋白基因(egfp)表达盒将其替换,从而获得Chitinase和Cystein Protease两个基因缺失的家蚕杆状病毒载体。通过转座,将多角体启动子控制的家蚕二分浓核病毒(Bm BDV)ns1基因表达盒,定点插入到改造后的该分子载体中。将重组载体转染Bm N细胞,获得能表达家蚕二分浓核病毒(Bm BDV)NS1的缺失型重组病毒;另外,将多角体启动子控制的ns1基因转座到野生型Bm-bacmid中,获得能表达Bm BDV NS1的野生型重组病毒。将这两种病毒分别皮下注射家蚕,对感染后的家蚕血液中NS1表达水平进行比较,发现缺失Chitinase和Cystein Protease重组病毒感染的家蚕血液中,NS1的表达量是对照组的3倍,从而建立了一种高效表达可溶性NS1蛋白的方法,为靶蛋白的结构与功能研究奠定基础。     

PPENK-MIDGE-NLS基因载体的构建及其在活体大鼠的表达

增加体内免疫细胞合成分泌内源性阿片肽,可对心肌缺血再灌注损伤产生保护作用。基因治疗是增加内源性脑啡肽(Enkephalin,ENK)的一种有前景的研究方向,但是以往的病毒、质粒等载体受到其自身免疫原性的限制并存在基因重组、原癌基因激活、抗细菌蛋白抗体产生以及基因表达改变等诸多问题。本研究采用非病毒、非质粒的微量免疫原定义的基因表达(Minimalistic immunological defined gene expression,MIDGE)方法构建前脑啡肽原(Preproenkephalin,PPENK)PPENK-MIDGE-NLS基因载体能克服病毒和质粒载体的上述缺点。用PCR技术扩增大鼠前脑啡肽原(Preproenkephalin,PPENK)外显基因,产物插入p EGFP-N1质粒,双酶切质粒获得包含启动子、目的基因、RNA稳定序列的线性载体,两端以不受外切酶作用的发夹样脱氧寡核苷酸序列(Oligodesoxynucleotides,ODNs)封闭。为保证载体的入核和表达效率,载体的一端连接了核定位序列(Nuclear localization sequence,NLS)。流式细胞术和激光共聚焦检测其转染效率,Western blotting检测组织内前脑啡肽蛋白的表达。结果显示,PPENK-MIDGE-NLS能够转染大鼠活体细胞并表达前脑啡肽蛋白,增加载体的量能够在一定范围内提高转染效率。研究结果表明该载体可能成为预防和治疗心肌缺血再灌注损伤的新方法。     

A Highlights from MBoC Selection: Discovery of a vezatin-like protein for dynein-mediated early endosome transport

Early endosomes are transported bidirectionally by cytoplasmic dynein and kinesin-3, but how the movements are regulated in vivo remains unclear. Here our forward genetic study led to the discovery of VezA, a vezatin-like protein in Aspergillus nidulans, as a factor critical for early endosome distribution. Loss of vezA causes an abnormal accumulation of early endosomes at the hyphal tip, where microtubule plus ends are located. This abnormal accumulation depends on kinesin-3 and is due to a decrease in the frequency but not the speed of dynein-mediated early endosome movement. VezA-GFP signals are enriched at the hypha tip in an actin-dependent manner but are not obviously associated with early endosomes, thus differing from the early endosome association of the cargo adapter HookA (Hook in A. nidulans). On loss of VezA, HookA associates normally with early endosomes, but the interaction between dynein-dynactin and the early-endosome-bound HookA is significantly decreased. However, VezA is not required for linking dynein-dynactin to the cytosolic ∆C-HookA, lacking the cargo-binding C-terminus. These results identify VezA as a novel regulator required for the interaction between dynein and the Hook-bound early endosomes in vivo.     

Methylene Blue Reduces Acute Cerebral Ischemic Injury via the Induction of Mitophagy

The treatment of stroke is limited by a short therapeutic window and a lack of effective clinical drugs. Methylene blue (MB) has been used in laboratories and clinics since the 1890s. Few studies have reported the neuroprotective role of MB in cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury. However, whether and how MB protects against acute cerebral ischemia (ACI) injury was unclear. In this study, we investigated the effect of MB on this injury and revealed that MB protected against ACI injury by augmenting mitophagy. Using a rat middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) model, we demonstrated that MB improved neurological function and reduced the infarct volume and necrosis after ACI injury. These improvements depended on the effect of MB on mitochondrial structure and function. ACI caused the disorder and disintegration of mitochondrial structure, while MB ameliorated the destruction of mitochondria. In addition, mitophagy was inhibited at 24 h after stroke and MB augmented mitophagy. In an oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD) model in vitro, we further revealed that the elevation of mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) by MB under OGD conditions mediated the augmented mitophagy. In contrast, exacerbating the decline of MMP during OGD abolished the MB-induced activation of mitophagy. Taken together, MB promotes mitophagy by maintaining the MMP at a relatively high level, which contributes to a decrease in necrosis and an improvement in neurological function, thereby protecting against ACI injury.     

A novel cysteine‐free venom peptide with strong antimicrobial activity against antibiotics‐resistant pathogens from the scorpion Opistophthalmus glabrifrons

Antibiotic‐resistant bacteria, such as methicillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus and vancomycin‐resistant Enterococcus, pose serious threat to human health. The outbreak of antibiotic‐resistant pathogens in recent years emphasizes once again the urgent need for the development of new antimicrobial agents. Here, we discovered a novel antimicrobial peptide from the scorpion Opistophthalmus glabrifrons, which was referred to as Opisin. Opisin consists of 19 amino acid residues without disulfide bridges. It is a cationic, amphipathic, and α‐helical molecule. Protein sequence homology search revealed that Opisin shares 42.1–5.3% sequence identities to the 17/18‐mer antimicrobial peptides from scorpions. Antimicrobial assay showed that Opisin is able to potently inhibit the growth of the tested Gram‐positive bacteria with the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of 4.0–10.0 μM; in contrast, it possesses much lower activity against the tested Gram‐negative bacteria and a fungus. It is interesting to see that Opisin is able to strongly inhibit the growth of methicillin‐ and vancomycin‐resistant pathogens with the MICs ranging from 2.0 to 4.0 μM and from 4.0 to 6.0 μM, respectively. We found that at a concentration of 5 × MIC, Opisin completely killed all the cultured methicillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus. These results suggest that Opisin is a promising therapeutic candidate for the treatment of the antibiotic‐resistant bacterial infections. Copyright © 2015 European Peptide Society and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Semi-solid state fermentation of food waste for production of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Bacillus thuringiensis</Emphasis> biopesticide

In this study, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) biopesticide was produced through different fermentation processes using food waste with different water contents. The semi-solid state sample with 75% water content presented the highest δ-endotoxin efficiency of 862 μg/mL. δ-endotoxin efficiency increased by 30.2% from that of the solid-state sample (50% water content) and 73.8% from that of the submerged sample (99% water content). Results confirmed that semi-solid state fermentation presents considerable advantages compared with other fermentation types (solid-state and submerged). The timing adjustment of pH and recycling fermentation effectively counteracted the inhibition of pH and product, thereby increasing δ- endotoxin efficiency to 1,648 and 2,478 μg/mL (accumulated value of all four fermentation loops), respectively. A δ- endotoxin slow-release formulation using polylactic acid as the carrier was also developed to effectively promote the stability of Bt biopesticide.     

Update of ichthyofauna diversity and ecological status of a coastal River Nero (Côte d’Ivoire – West Africa)

The general aim of this study is to update the inventory of the fish species and to specify distribution patterns in the Nero River ichthyofauna in order to establish some basis for the conservation of these fish communities and their habitat. From February 2009 to January 2010, thirty-three sites were sampled monthly with gill nets and a backpack electrofisher, and environmental variables were recorded. Overall, 46 species included in 33 genuses, 24 families and 9 orders were collected. Eleven families and 30 species were the first records for the Nero River. Including all species previously listed in the literature, the number of species presently known in the Nero River and its tributaries is revised to 59. Four families, Alestidae (21%), Schilbeidae (19%), Cyprinidae (17%) and Cichlidae (16%) that made up 73% of the total number of the catches, were the most dominant. The most dominant numerical species were Schilbe mandibularis and Brycinus longipinnis. Fish species and sampling sites along with eight environmental variables were ordinated with canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) coupled to the Monte Carlo test. Ecological status based on fish assemblage according to environmental variables and anthropogenic pressures showed that miss dead wood leaves and roots, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids, mud, nitrite, basin width, dissolved oxygen and pH, were the primary factors influencing fish distribution. The environmental tolerance index (ETI), ecological tolerance (t_k) and optima (u_k) values of 10 species to 8 different environmental variables were analyzed. Six species (Hemichromis fasciatus, Epiplatys chaperi, Barbus ablabes, B. longipinnis, Hemichromis bimaculatus and Chromidotilapia guntheri) have high ETI and a cosmopolitan distribution in the Nero River. In the tributaries of the middle course, high concentrations of nitrite in the water, added to the presence of a lot of tolerant species in the ichthyofauna are indications of disturbance of these areas. Subsequent recommendations were formulated for efficient restoration and conservation management of this River.