Cytogenetic study of mentally retarded children in Taipei

560 blood samples collected from mentally retarded children in Taipei were karyotypically analyzed for the incidence of fragile X and other chromosome abnormalities. The fragile site at Xq27.3 was observed in 18 patients (3.21%), 11 males and 7 females, out of the 560 blood cultures using M medium. Down syndrome (6.25%), 24 males and 11 females, was the other major category of abnormality. Other abnormalities, including inversion, translocation, deletion, duplication, ring as well as an extra marker chromosome were observed. The overall incidence of chromosomal abnormalities in these children was 14.82%.     

降血脂药物（DEHP）对酰基CoA氧化酶基因反式作用因子的影响

从对照和用ＤＥＨＰ处理的大鼠肝脏提取核蛋白,以含酰基ＣｏＡ氧化酶（ＡＯＸ）基因表达调控部位的ＤＮＡ片段和该基因的不同蛋白结合位点的ＤＮＡ片段作为核蛋白结合反应的探针,通过凝胶电泳迁移率改变实验和Ｓｏｕｔｈｗｅｓｔｅｒｎ印迹分析检查了ＤＥＨＰ对ＡＯＸ基因反式作用因子的影响。结果表明,降血脂药物ＤＥＨＰ可显著增加ＡＯＸ基因反式作用因子的含量和（或）与基因的结合活性,在转录水平上促进基因的表达。     

pH降低和短杆菌肽D诱发的PE脂质体融合

 ｐＨ降低和短杆菌肽Ｄ诱发的ＰＥ脂质体融合王卓智,聂松青,林克椿（北京医科大学生物物理教研室,北京１０００８３）生物膜的融合是其在执行生理功能时的一种重要现象,如精子与卵子的融合,吞噬细胞形成吞噬体,出胞和入胞,以及病毒感染细胞等,都经历膜融合过程,此...     

广西HBsAg阳性母亲的胎儿肝、肾细胞中乙肝病毒DNA存在状态的研究

采用核酸分子杂交Ｓｏｕｔｈｅｒｎ印迹法,以３２Ｐ标记的ＨＢＶＤＮＡ为探针,检测ＨＢｓＡｇ阳性母亲引产的４０例胎儿的肝、肾组织。结果有２例胎肝和１例胎肾细胞ＤＮＡ出现大于３．２ｋｂ的杂交带,表明ＨＢＶＤＮＡ已处于整合状态。胎肾细胞基因组中查出ＨＢＶＤＮＡ整合为首次报道。     

Phosphorylation and internalization of gp130 occur after IL-6 activation of Jak2 kinase in hepatocytes.

Recent evidence has shown that members of the Jak kinase family are activated after IL-6 binds to its receptor complex, leading to a tyrosine phosphorylation of gp130, the IL-6 signal-transducing subunit. The different members of the IL-6 cytokine subfamily induce distinct patterns of Jak-Tyk phosphorylation in different cell types. Using monospecific antibodies to gp130, Jak2 kinase, and phosphotyrosine, we investigated the kinetics of IL-6 stimulation of members of this pathway in primary hepatocytes. Our findings show that Jak 2 is maximally activated within 2 min of exposure to IL-6, followed by gp130 phosphorylation that reaches its peak in another 2 min then declines to basal level by 60 min. In vitro phosphorylation experiments show that activated Jak 2 is able to phosphorylate both native gp130 and a fusion peptide containing its cytoplasmic domain, demonstrating gp130 is a direct substrate of Jak 2 kinase. Experiments designed to explore the cell surface expression of gp130 show that > or = 2 h are required to get a second round of phosphorylation after the addition of more cytokines. This finding suggests that activated gp130 is internalized from the cell surface after IL-6 stimulation. Additional experiments using protein synthesis inhibitors reveal that new protein synthesis is required to get a second cycle of gp130 phosphorylation indicating gp130 must be synthesized de novo and inserted into the membrane. These findings provide strong evidence that down regulation of the IL-6 signal in hepatocytes involves the internalization and cytosol degradation of gp130.     

Characterization of Rhodobacter capsulatus genes encoding a molybdenum transport system and putative molybdenum-pterin-binding proteins.

The alternative, heterometal-free nitrogenase of Rhodobacter capsulatus is repressed by traces of molybdenum in the medium. Strains carrying mutations located downstream of nifB copy II were able to express the alternative nitrogenase even in the presence of high molybdate concentrations. DNA sequence analysis of a 5.5-kb fragment of this region revealed six open reading frames, designated modABCD, mopA, and mopB. The gene products of modB and modC are homologous to ChlJ and ChlD of Escherichia coli and represent an integral membrane protein and an ATP-binding protein typical of high-affinity transport systems, respectively. ModA and ModD exhibited no homology to known proteins, but a leader peptide characteristic of proteins cleaved during export to the periplasm is present in ModA, indicating that ModA might be a periplasmic molybdate-binding protein. The MopA and MopB proteins showed a high degree of amino acid sequence homology to each other. Both proteins contained a tandem repeat of a domain encompassing 70 amino acid residues, which had significant sequence similarity to low-molecular-weight molybdenum-pterin-binding proteins from Clostridium pasteurianum. Compared with that for the parental nifHDK deletion strain, the molybdenum concentrations necessary to repress the alternative nitrogenase were increased 4-fold in a modD mutant and 500-fold in modA, modB, and modC mutants. No significant inhibition of the heterometal-free nitrogenase by molybdate was observed for mopA mopB double mutants. The uptake of molybdenum by mod and mop mutants was estimated by measuring the activity of the conventional molybdenum-containing nitrogenase. Molybdenum transport was not affected in a mopA mopB double mutant, whereas strains carrying lesions in the binding-protein-dependent transport system were impaired in molybdenum uptake.     

Photolithoautotrophic growth and control of CO2 fixation in Rhodobacter sphaeroides and Rhodospirillum rubrum in the absence of ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase-oxygenase.

Rhodospirillum rubrum and Rhodobacter sphaeroides were shown to be capable of photolithoautotrophic growth in the absence of the reductive pentose phosphate (Calvin) cycle. Ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase-oxygenase (RubisCO) deletion strains were incapable of photolithoautotrophic growth using hydrogen as an electron donor but were able to grow in the absence of organic carbon using less reduced inorganic electron donors, i.e., thiosulfate or sulfide. Wild-type R. rubrum grown in the presence of thiosulfate contained RubisCO levels that were 50-fold lower compared with those in cells growth with hydrogen as an electron donor without substantially influencing rates of photolithoautotrophic growth. These results suggest there are two independent CO2 fixation pathways that support photolithoautotrophic growth in purple nonsulfur photosynthetic bacteria, indicating that these organisms have developed sophisticated control mechanisms to regulate the flow of carbon from CO2 through these separate pathways.     

Regulation of fibronectin and laminin binding activity in cultured human lymphoblastic cell lines

The current study shows that a clonal derivative of the Jurkat cell line up-regulates both the avidity and density of the α 6/β1 receptor in response to phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA). This derivative attaches to fibronectin and, to a lesser degree, laminin constitutively. Adhesion and spreading are dramatically up-regulated following treatment with PMA. The response on fibronectin peaks within 4 hours, is insensitive to cyclohexaminde, can be blocked by monoclonal antibodies (Mabs) to the β1 and α 5 subunits of the β1 family of integrins, and is not associated with increased expression of the α 5 or β1 epitopes at the cell surface. In contrast, the response on laminin is biphasic. The early phase parallels the response on fibronectin. The second phase peaks after 48–72 hours of treatment with PMA, is sensitive to cycloheximide, can be blocked by Mabs to the β1 and α 6 subunits, and is associated with increased expression of the α 6 epitope. Both the density independent and dependent responses to PMA in Jurkat cells are blocked by the protein kinase inhibitor staurosporine. The HSB-2, CEM, Molt-4, and HPB-ALL T-lymphoblastic cell lines also up-regulate attachment to fibronectin and laminin following treatment with PMA. All four lines constitutively attach to fibronectin and show rapid up-regulation of attachment following treatment with PMA. None of the lines attach to laminin prior to PMA treatment; however, specific adhesion developed after 4–120 hours of treatment. The most mature lines (Jurkat and HPB-ALL) up-regulated adhesion on laminin more rapidly than the less phenotypically mature lines (CEM, Molt-4, and HSB-2). In summary, clonal derivatives of the Jurkat cell line up-regulated attachment to laminin through protein kinase dependent increases in α /β1 receptor avidity and density. In addition, the expression of functional receptors for laminin is linked to developmental maturity in a series of T-lymphoblastic cell lines. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

The phylogenetic position of taxaceae based on 18S rRNA sequences

The evolutionary position of the yew family, Taxaceae, has been very controversial. Some plant taxonomists strongly advocate excluding Taxaceae from the conifer order and raising its taxonomic status to a new order or even class because of its absence of seed cones, contrary to the case in the majority of conifers. However, other authors believe that the Taxaceae are not fundamentally different from the rest of the conifers except in that they possess the most reduced solitary-ovule cones. To resolve the controversy, we have sequenced the 18S rRNA genes from representative gymnosperms: Taxus mairei (Taxaceae), Podocarpus nakaii (Podocarpaceae), Pinus luchuensis (Pinaceae), and Ginkgo biloba (Ginkgoales). Our phylogenetic analysis of the new sequence data with the published 18S rRNA sequence of Zamia pumila (a cycad) as an outgroup strongly indicates that Taxus, Pinus, and Podocarpus form a monophyletic group with the exclusion of Ginkgo and that Taxus is more closely related to Pinus than to Podocarpus. Therefore, Taxaceae should be classified as a family of Coniferales. Our finding that Taxaceae, Pinaceae, and Podocarpaceae form a clade contradicts both the view that the uniovulate seed of Taxaceae is a primitive character and the view that the Taxaceae are descendants of the Podocarpaceae. Rather, the uniovulate seed of Taxaceae and that of some species of Podocarpus appear to have different origins, probably all reduced from multiovulate cones. Correspondence to: W.-H. Li     

Functional analysis of matrix proteins expressed from cloned genes of measles virus variants that cause subacute sclerosing panencephalitis reveals a common defect in nucleocapsid binding.

We have developed an in vitro nucleocapsid-binding assay for studying the function of the matrix (M) protein of measles virus (MV) (A. Hirano, A. H. Wang, A. F. Gombart, and T. C. Wong, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 89:8745-8749, 1992). In this communication we show that the M proteins of three MV strains that cause acute infection (Nagahata, Edmonston, and YN) bind efficiently to the viral nucleocapsids whereas the M proteins of four MV strains isolated from patients with subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE) (Biken, IP-3, Niigata, and Yamagata) fail to bind to the viral nucleocapsids. MV Biken (an SSPE-related virus) produces variant M sequences which encode two antigenically distinct forms of M protein. A serine-versus-leucine difference is responsible for the antigenic variation. MV IP-3 (an SSPE-related virus) also produces variant M sequences, some of which have been postulated to encode a functional M protein responsible for the production of an infectious revertant virus. However, the variant M proteins of Biken and IP-3 strains show no nucleocapsid-binding activity. These results demonstrate that the nucleocapsid-binding function is conserved in the M proteins of MV strains that cause acute infection and that the M proteins of MV strains that cause SSPE exhibit a common defect in this function. Analysis of chimeric M proteins indicates that mutations in the amino-terminal, carboxy-proximal, or carboxy-terminal region of the M protein all abrogate nucleocapsid binding, suggesting that the M protein conformation is important for interaction with the viral nucleocapsid.