角蛋白酶基因gm2886在密旋链霉菌ACT12中的表达及鉴定

通过生物信息学分析,在本实验室分离得到的1株羽毛高效降解菌微白黄链霉菌Fea-10基因组中发现基因gm2886(GenBank Accession Number:KY368946)可能编码一新的角蛋白酶,通过在该基因5'端和3'端分别连接红霉素抗性基因启动子(PermE)和组氨酸标签编码序列并构建在大肠杆菌-链霉菌穿梭质粒pSET152上,接合转入密旋链霉菌Streptomyces pactum ACT12,从而实现了异源表达,蛋白纯化后对其酶学性质进行了研究。实验结果表明,带有组氨酸标签编码序列的gm2886在密旋链霉菌ACT12中可以表达分泌得到1个大小约为36 kDa的蛋白。多种底物检测表明异源表达得到的重组蛋白GM2886-His6具有蛋白酶活性,可以降解水不溶性的天青角蛋白和羽毛粉;其最适温度和pH分别为50℃和pH 10.0。PMSF可抑制GM2886-His6的酶活,而EDTA不能,说明该酶为丝氨酸蛋白酶。本研究为从分子水平上解析羽毛高效降解菌Fea-10的活性机理,从而进一步开发其应用潜力提供了基础,同时可为该类蛋白酶的研究提供借鉴。     

Candidate Markers That Associate with Chemotherapy Resistance in Breast Cancer through the Study on Taxotere-Induced Damage to Tumor Microenvironment and Gene Expression Profiling of Carcinoma-Associated Fibroblasts (CAFs)

Recently, emerging evidence has suggested that carcinoma-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) could contribute to chemotherapy resistances in breast cancer treatment. The aim of this study is to compare the gene expression profiling of CAFs before and after chemotherapy and pick up candidate genes that might associate with chemotherapy resistance and could be used as predictors of treatment response. CAFs were cultured from surgically resected primary breast cancers and identified with immunohistochemistry (IHC) and Flow cytometry (FCM). MDA-MB-231 cells were cultured as the breast cancer cell line. Cell adhesion assay, invasion assay, and proliferation assay (MTT) were performed to compare the function of MDA-MB-231 cells co-cultured with CAFs and MDA-MB-231 cells without co-culture, after chemotherapy. Totally 6 pairs of CAFs were prepared for microarray analysis. Each pair of CAFs were obtained from the same patient and classified into two groups. One group was treated with Taxotere (regarded as after chemotherapy) while the other group was not processed with Taxotere (regarded as before chemotherapy). According to our study, the primary-cultured CAFs exhibited characteristic phenotype. After chemotherapy, MDA-MB-231 cells co-cultured with CAFs displayed increasing adhesion, invasiveness and proliferation abilities, compared with MDA-MB-231 cells without CAFs. Moreover, 35 differentially expressed genes (absolute fold change >2) were identified between CAFs after chemotherapy and before chemotherapy, including 17 up-regulated genes and 18 down-regulated genes. CXCL2, MMP1, IL8, RARRES1, FGF1, and CXCR7 were picked up as the candidate markers, of which the differential expression in CAFs before and after chemotherapy was confirmed. The results indicate the changes of gene expression in CAFs induced by Taxotere treatment and propose the candidate markers that possibly associate with chemotherapy resistance in breast cancer.     

银杏叶片衰老过程中光合生理特性及叶绿体超微结构的变化

选取自然条件下生长的雌雄银杏植株为实验材料,测定了银杏叶片在衰老过程中部分光合生理指标及叶绿体超微结构的变化。检测结果表明：银杏叶片在衰老过程中净光合速率、叶绿素含量均呈下降趋势,SOD、CAT、APX活性均先上升后下降,MDA含量则一直呈现上升趋势。叶片衰老过程中叶绿体类囊体膜片层逐渐松散,直至膜结构逐渐解体,叶绿体内油脂颗粒增大增多,最终解体。雌雄银杏植株在各项生理指标上差异不显著。     

Invasion of Cryptococcus neoformans into human brain microvascular endothelial cells requires protein kinase C-alpha activation

Pathogenic fungus Cryptococcus neoformans has a predilection for the central nervous system causing devastating meningoencephalitis. Traversal of C. neoformans across the blood–brain barrier (BBB) is a crucial step in the pathogenesis of C. neoformans . Our previous studies have shown that the CPS1 gene is required for C. neoformans adherence to the surface protein CD44 of human brain microvascular endothelial cells (HBMEC), which constitute the BBB. In this report, we demonstrated that C. neoformans invasion of HBMEC was blocked in the presence of G109203X, a protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitor, and by overexpression of a dominant-negative form of PKCα in HBMEC. During C. neoformans infection, phosphorylation of PKCα was induced and the PKC enzymatic activity was detected in the HBMEC membrane fraction. Our results suggested that the PKCα isoform might play a crucial role during C. neoformans invasion. Immunofluorescence microscopic images showed that induced phospho-PKCα colocalized with β-actin on the membrane of HBMEC. In addition, cytochalasin D (an F-filament-disrupting agent) inhibited fungus invasion into HBMEC in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, blockage of PKCα function attenuated actin filament activity during C. neoformans invasion. These results suggest a significant role of PKCα and downstream actin filament activity during the fungal invasion into HBMEC.     

Microbial 2,3-butanediol production: a state-of-the-art review

2,3-Butanediol is a promising bulk chemical due to its extensive industry applications. The state-of-the-art nature of microbial 2,3-butanediol production is reviewed in this paper. Various strategies for efficient and economical microbial 2,3-butanediol production, including strain improvement, substrate alternation, and process development, are reviewed and compared with regard to their pros and cons. This review also summarizes value added derivatives of biologically produced 2,3-butanediol and different strategies for downstream processing. The future prospects of microbial 2,3-butanediol production are discussed in light of the current progress, challenges, and trends in this field. Guidelines for future studies are also proposed.     

55例自身血回收的临床应用探讨

总结和分析在心脏手术中进行自身血回收的经验。1999年1月－2000年3月,上海市胸科医院共进行自身血回收55例,其中男性27例,女性25例。年龄范围19－71岁,体表面积1．3－2．2m^2。本院应用的是意大利dideco公司生产的自身血回收机及其管道,不仅回收手术野血,而且回收体外循环管道内的残余血液。结果：55例患者均康复。自身血回收组患者的术后用血量和ICU时间与对照组相比,均显著降低（P＜0．05）。讨论：自身血回收技术除可减少患者术后用血量和ICU时间与对照组相比,均显著降低（P＜0．05）。讨论：自身回收技术除要减少患者术后用血、缓解血源紧张、避免血源性疾病外,还可提供以下有利条件：①为稀有血型患者提供手术保障;②可提供手术中发生意义大出血时的应急处理手段;③为外地患者就医和手术提供方便,并能减轻经济负担。     

慢性缺氧对大鼠肺内皮素表达的影响

本文以ＡＢＣ法和原位杂交技术,观察了慢性缺氧时大鼠肺组织内内皮素－１（ＥＴ－１）的表达情况,结果发现：①正常肺血管内皮细胞有少许ＥＴ－１样阳性染色物质呈现。②缺氧ＩＷ后,肺内ＥＴ－１含量增加,主要位于肺血管内皮细胞和支气管粘膜上皮细胞。③缺氧２Ｗ和３Ｗ后,ＥＴ１阳性免疫物质进一步增加,于肺泡细胞内也见到阳性染色。④缺氧１Ｗ后肺内ＥＴ－１ｍＲＮＡ表达增加,缺氧２Ｗ和３Ｗ后,ＥＴ－１ｍＲＮＡ的表达进一步加强。提示缺氧可刺激肺内ＥＴ－１ｍＲＮＡ的表达,慢性缺氧时肺内ＥＴ－１持续分泌增加,这可能是缺氧性肺动脉高压发生的重要因素之一。     

鹅掌楸贵州烂木山居群的微卫星遗传多样性及空间遗传结构

濒危植物鹅掌楸(Liriodendron chinense)目前仅零散分布于我国亚热带及越南北部地区, 残存居群生境片断化较为严重。研究濒危植物片断化居群的遗传多样性及小尺度空间遗传结构(spatial genetic structure)有助于了解物种的生态进化过程以及制定相关的保育策略。本研究采用13对微卫星引物, 对鹅掌楸的1个片断化居群进行了遗传多样性及空间遗传结构的研究, 旨在揭示生境片断化条件下鹅掌楸的遗传多样性及基因流状况。研究结果表明: 鹅掌楸烂木山居群内不同生境斑块及不同年龄阶段植株的遗传多样性水平差异不显著(P>0.05), 居群内存在寨内和山林2个遗传分化明显的亚居群。烂木山居群个体在200 m以内呈现显著的空间遗传结构, 而2个亚居群内的个体仅在20 m的距离范围内存在微弱或不显著的空间遗传结构。鹅掌楸的空间遗传结构强度较低(Sp = 0.0090), 且寨内亚居群的空间遗传结构强度(Sp = 0.0067)要高于山林亚居群(Sp = 0.0053)。鹅掌楸以异交为主, 种子较轻且具翅, 借助风力传播, 在一定程度上降低了空间遗传结构的强度。此外, 居群内个体密度及生境特征也对鹅掌楸的空间遗传结构产生了一定影响。该居群出现显著的杂合子缺失, 近交系数(F_IS)为0.099 (P < 0.01), 表明生境片断化的遗传效应正逐渐显现。因此, 对鹅掌楸的就地保护应注意维护与强化生境的连续性, 促进基因交流。迁地保护时, 取样距离应不小于20 m, 以涵盖足够多的遗传变异。