Identification and evaluation of reference genes for quantitative real-time PCR analysis in Passiflora edulis under stem rot condition

Molecular Biology Reports - Passion fruit (Passiflora edulis), an important tropical and subtropical fruit, has a high edible and medicinal value. Stem rot disease is one of the most important...     

Dexmedetomidine alleviates H2O2-induced oxidative stress and cell necroptosis through activating of α2-adrenoceptor in H9C2 cells

Molecular Biology Reports - Oxidative stress induced necroptosis is important in myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury. Dexmedetomidine (Dex), an α2-adrenoceptor (α2-AR) agonist, has...     

Single-tube detection of nine bacterial antibiotic-resistance genes by a 2-dimensional multiplex qPCR assay based on fluorescence and melting temperature

Molecular Biology Reports - Simple, multiplex qPCR methods are advantages for rapid molecular diagnosis of multiple antibiotics-resistant genes simultaneously. However, the number of genes can be...     

MicroRNA-203a regulates pancreatic β cell proliferation and apoptosis by targeting IRS2

Molecular Biology Reports - The main pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is autoimmune-mediated apoptosis of pancreatic islet β cells. We sought to characterize the function of...     

LncRNA H19 Attenuates Apoptosis in MPTP-Induced Parkinson’s Disease Through Regulating miR-585-3p/PIK3R3

Neurochemical Research - Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a prevalent age-related neurodegenerative disease which is modulated by various molecules, including long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs)....     

松墨天牛漆酶基因MaLac1的克隆、原核表达及表达谱分析

【目的】本研究旨在克隆并鉴定松墨天牛Monochamus alternatus内源漆酶基因MaLac1,分析其在松墨天牛不同发育阶段的表达水平,为进一步明确MaLac1功能提供依据。【方法】基于松墨天牛肠道转录组测序数据,通过RACE克隆松墨天牛MaLac1基因的全长cDNA序列,并对其进行生物信息学分析;将该基因与pET-32a载体链接构建表达载体pET-MaLac1,导入大肠杆菌Escherichia coli Rosetta (DE3)使其表达;使用qPCR检测MaLac1基因在松墨天牛不同发育阶段(低龄幼虫、老熟幼虫、蛹、雌成虫和雄成虫)肠道中的表达差异。【结果】克隆获得松墨天牛MaLac1的cDNA全长序列(GenBank登录号:KY073340)。MaLac1开放阅读框全长2 067 bp,编码一个含688个氨基酸的蛋白质,预测分子量为78.34 kD,等电点为5.30。SignalP 4.1 Server预测MaLac1在N端包含一个15个氨基酸的信号肽。序列比对分析表明,MaLac1具有典型的昆虫漆酶基因特征,与赤拟谷盗Tribolium castaneum漆酶基因的氨基酸序列一致性达93%。SDS-PAGE检测发现IPTG诱导表达了一条大约78 kD的特异蛋白条带,与推测大小一致。qPCR结果显示,MaLac1在不同发育阶段的松墨天牛肠道中均有表达,其中,在雌成虫肠道中表达量最高,在雄成虫肠道中的次之,在幼虫肠道中的最低。【结论】MaLac1在松墨天牛成虫中表达量显著高于其在幼虫中的,这一结果可能与幼虫和成虫的取食习性差异相关。MaLac1在松墨天牛体内的功能还有待进一步研究。     

LINC00958 facilitates cervical cancer cell proliferation and metastasis by sponging miR-625-5p to upregulate LRRC8E expression

Accepted as a malignant tumor worldwide, cervical cancer (CC) has attracted much attention for its high incidence and mortality rates. Previous studies have elucidated the critical regulatory function that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) exert on the tumorigenesis and progression of diverse tumors. Although multiple investigations have depicted that LINC00958 has a great impact on the complex biological process of many cancers, knowledge concerning the regulatory role of LINC00958 in CC remains limited and needs to be further explored. In our study, LINC00958 expression was evidently overexpressed in CC tissues and cells. Besides this, LINC00958 negatively regulated miR-625-5p expression and was verified to bind with miR-625-5p in CC. Subsequently, it was testified by a series of experiments that LINC00958 promotes CC cell proliferation and metastasis by sponging miR-625-5p. Furthermore, the leucine-rich repeat containing the eight family member E (LRRC8E) could bind with miR-625-5p, and its expression was negatively modulated by miR-625-5p, whereas positively regulated by LINC00958 in CC. Final rescue assays verified the effects of LINC0095/LRRC8E interaction and miR-625-5p/LRRC8E interaction on CC cell proliferation and metastasis. Collectively, LINC00958 facilitates CC cell proliferation and metastasis via the miR-625-5p/LRRC8E axis.     

Robust inference for the stepped wedge design

Stepped wedge designed trials are a type of cluster-randomized study in which the intervention is introduced to each cluster in a random order over time. This design is often used to assess the effect of a new intervention as it is rolled out across a series of clinics or communities. Based on a permutation argument, we derive a closed-form expression for an estimate of the intervention effect, along with its standard error, for a stepped wedge design trial. We show that these estimates are robust to misspecification of both the mean and covariance structure of the underlying data-generating mechanism, thereby providing a robust approach to inference for the intervention effect in stepped wedge designs. We use simulations to evaluate the type 1 error and power of the proposed estimate and to compare the performance of the proposed estimate to the optimal estimate when the correct model specification is known. The limitations, possible extensions, and open problems regarding the method are discussed.     

Melatonin protects against defects induced by malathion during porcine oocyte maturation

Malathion (MAL) is a common organophosphorus pesticide and affects both animal and human reproduction. However, the mechanisms regarding how MAL affects the mammalian oocyte quality and how to prevent it have not been fully investigated. In this study, we used porcine oocyte as a model and proved that MAL impaired porcine oocyte quality in a dose-dependent manner during maturation. MAL decreased the first polar body extrusion, disrupted spindle assembly and chromosome alignment, impaired cortical granules (CGs) distribution, and increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) level in oocytes. RNA-seq analysis showed that MAL exposure altered the expression of 2,917 genes in the porcine maturated oocytes and most genes were related to ROS, the lipid droplet process, and the energy supplement. Nevertheless, these defects could be remarkably ameliorated by adding melatonin (MLT) into the oocyte maturation medium. MLT increased oocyte maturation rate and decreased the abnormities of spindle assembly, CGs distribution and ROS accumulation in MAL-exposed porcine oocytes. More important, MLT upregulated the expression of genes related to lipid droplet metabolism (PPARγ and PLIN2), decreased lipid droplet size and lipid peroxidation in MAL-exposed porcine oocytes. Finally, we found that MLT increased the blastocysts formation and the cell numbers of blastocysts in MAL-exposed porcine oocytes after parthenogenetic activation, which was mediated by reduction of ROS levels and maintaining lipid droplet metabolism. Taken together, our results revealed that MLT had a protective action against MAL-induced deterioration of porcine oocyte quality.     

Copper promotes the migration of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells via Rnd3-dependent cytoskeleton remodeling

The motility of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) is highly related to their homing in vivo, a critical issue in regenerative medicine. Our previous study indicated copper (Cu) might promote the recruitment of endogenous MSCs in canine esophagus defect model. In this study, we investigated the effect of Cu on the motility of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) and the underlying mechanism in vitro. Cu supplementation could enhance the motility of BMSCs, and upregulate the expression of hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (Hif1α) at the protein level, and upregulate the expression of rho family GTPase 3 (Rnd3) at messenger RNA and protein level. When Hif1α was silenced by small interfering RNA (siRNA), Cu-induced Rnd3 upregulation was blocked. When Rnd3 was silenced by siRNA, the motility of BMSCs was decreased with or without Cu supplementation, and Cu-induced cytoskeleton remodeling was neutralized. Furthermore, overexpression of Rnd3 also increased the motility of BMSCs and induced cytoskeleton remodeling. Overall, our results demonstrated that Cu enhanced BMSCs migration through, at least in part, cytoskeleton remodeling via Hif1α-dependent upregulation of Rnd3. This study provided an insight into the mechanism of the effect of Cu on the motility of BMSCs, and a theoretical foundation of applying Cu to improve the recruitment of BMSCs in tissue engineering and cytotherapy.