CCL5/CCR5 axis promotes the motility of human oral cancer cells

CCL5 (previously called RANTES) is in the CC‐chemokine family and plays a crucial role in the migration and metastasis of human cancer cells. On the other hand, the effect of CCL5 is mediated via CCR receptor. RT‐PCR and flow cytometry studies demonstrated CCR5 but not CCR1 and CCR3 mRNA in oral cancer cell lines, especially higher in those with high invasiveness (SCC4) as compared with lower levels in HSC3 cells and SCC9 cells. Stimulation of oral cancer cells with CCL5 directly increased the migration and metalloproteinase‐9 (MMP‐9) production. MMP‐9 small interfering RNA inhibited the CCL5‐induced MMP‐9 expression and thereby significantly inhibited the CCL5‐induced cell migration. Activations of phospholipase C (PLC), protein kinase Cδ (PKCδ), and NF‐κB pathways after CCL5 treatment was demonstrated, and CCL5‐induced expression of MMP‐9 and migration activity was inhibited by the specific inhibitor of PLC, PKCδ, and NF‐κB cascades. In addition, migration‐prone sublines demonstrate that cells with increasing migration ability had more expression of MMP‐9, CCL5, and CCR5. Taken together, these results indicate that CCL5/CCR5 axis enhanced migration of oral cancer cells through the increase of MMP‐9 production. J. Cell. Physiol. 220: 418–426, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Ecologically heterogeneous populations of the invasive ant Wasmannia auropunctata within its native and introduced ranges

Abstract 1. The biology of most invasive species in their native geographical areas remains largely unknown. Such studies are, however, crucial in shedding light on the ecological and evolutionary processes underlying biological invasions. 2. The present study focuses on the little fire ant Wasmannia auropunctata, a species native to Central and South America that has been widely introduced and which has become invasive throughout the tropics. We characterise and compare several ecological traits of native populations in French Guiana with those in one of its introduced ranges, New Caledonia. 3. We found ecologically heterogeneous populations of W. auropunctata coexisting in the species’ native geographical area. First, we found populations restricted to naturally perturbed areas (particularly floodplains) within the primary forest, and absent from the surrounding forest areas. These populations were characterised by low nest and worker densities. Second, we found dominant populations in recent anthropogenic areas (e.g. secondary forest or forest edge along road) characterised by high nest and worker densities, and associated with low ant species richness. The local dominance of W. auropunctata in such areas can be due to the displacement of other species (cause) or the filling‐up of empty habitats unsuitable to other ants (effect). With respect to their demographic features and ant species richness, the populations of native anthropogenic habitats were to a large extent similar to the invasive populations introduced into remote areas. 4. The results point to the need for greater research efforts to better understand the ecological and demographic features of invasive species within their native ranges.     

产生鬼臼毒素菌株的诱变选育

目的:提高原始菌株鬼臼毒素的产量,以期组织工业化生产,从而扩大鬼臼类化合物的资源。方法:以交链孢霉Ty为研究对象,进行紫外线和He-Ne激光复合诱变,再对所获得高产菌株进行发酵条件的优化。结果:筛选到一株鬼臼毒素高产菌株Ty4-16-13,产量达4.213μg/L,比原始菌株提高96%。结论:诱变后的菌株经7次传代,产量较稳定,可用于工业化生产。     

PML/RARalpha fusion protein mediates the unique sensitivity to arsenic cytotoxicity in acute promyelocytic leukemia cells: Mechanisms involve the impairment of cAMP signaling and the aberrant regulation of NADPH oxidase

Acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) cells are characterized by PML/RARalpha fusion protein, high responsiveness to arsenic trioxide (ATO)-induced cytotoxicity and an abundant generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). In this study we investigated the association among these three features in APL-derived NB4 cells. We found that NADPH oxidase-derived ROS generation was more abundant in NB4 cells compared with monocytic leukemia U937 cells. By using PR9, a sub-line of U937 stably transduced with the inducible PML/RARalpha expression vectors, we attributed disparities on ROS generation and ATO sensitivity to the occurrence of PML/RARalpha fusion protein, since PML/RARalpha-expressing cells appeared higher NADPH oxidase activity, higher ROS level and higher sensitivity to ATO. On the other hand, the basal intensity of cAMP signaling pathway was compared between NB4 and U937 as well as between PR9 cells with or without PML/RARalpha, demonstrating that PML/RARalpha-expressing cells had an impaired cAMP signaling pathway which relieved its inhibitory effect on NADPH oxidase derived ROS generation. In summary, the present study demonstrated the correlation of PML/RARalpha with cAMP signaling pathway, NADPH oxidase and ROS generation in APL cells. PML/RARalpha that bestows NB4 cells various pathological features, paradoxically also endows these cells with the basis for susceptibility to ATO-induced cytotoxcity.     

Population genetic structure in Atlantic and Pacific Ocean common murres (Uria aalge): natural replicate tests of post‐Pleistocene evolution

Understanding the factors that influence population differentiation in temperate taxa can be difficult because the signatures of both historic and contemporary demographics are often reflected in population genetic patterns. Fortunately, analyses based on coalescent theory can help untangle the relative influence of these historic and contemporary factors. Common murres (Uria aalge) are vagile seabirds that breed in the boreal and low arctic waters of the Northern Hemisphere. Previous analyses revealed that Atlantic and Pacific populations are genetically distinct; however, less is known about population genetic structure within ocean basins. We employed the mitochondrial control region, four microsatellite loci and four intron loci to investigate population genetic structure throughout the range of common murres. As in previous studies, we found that Atlantic and Pacific populations diverged during the Pleistocene and do not currently exchange migrants. Therefore, Atlantic and Pacific murre populations can be used as natural replicates to test mechanisms of population differentiation. While we found little population genetic structure within the Pacific, we detected significant east–west structuring among Atlantic colonies. The degree that population genetic structure reflected contemporary population demographics also differed between ocean basins. Specifically, while the low levels of population differentiation in the Pacific are at least partially due to high levels of contemporary gene flow, the east–west structuring of populations within the Atlantic appears to be the result of historic fragmentation of populations rather than restricted contemporary gene flow. The contrasting results in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans highlight the necessity of carefully considering multilocus nonequilibrium population genetic approaches when reconstructing the demographic history of temperate Northern Hemisphere taxa.     

Persistent Antibody Responses but Declining Cytotoxic T-Lymphocyte Responses to Multiple Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Antigens in a Long-Term Nonprogressing Individual with a Defective p17 Proviral Sequence and No Detectable Viral RNA Expression

Long-term nonprogressor AD-18 has been infected with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) for at least 16 years. During the past 5 years, he has had undetectable levels of plasma viremia, and HIV-1 cannot be isolated from him. Sequencing of proviral DNA indicates that the only HIV-1 sequences that can be identified in AD-18 have gross defects in the p17-encoding regions of the gag gene (Y. Huang, L. Zhang, and D. D. Ho, Virology 240:36–49, 1998). However, AD-18 has strong, sustained antibody responses to several HIV-1 antigens, including p17. Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte responses to Env and Gag antigens have gradually diminished over the past 4 years, at a time when the titers of antibodies to the same proteins have remained stable. We discuss what these observations might mean for the generation and maintenance of immunological memory.     

虹鳟生长激素cDNA在酵母中的表达

采用聚合酶链式反应（ Ｐ Ｃ Ｒ） 技术对虹鳟生长激素ｃ Ｄ Ｎ Ａ 进行改造。将改造后的基因克隆到含酵母 Ｐ Ｇ Ｋ 启动子的大肠杆菌酵母穿梭质粒ｐ Ｍ Ａ９１ ,转化酿酒酵母 Ｙ３３ ,构建表达鱼生长激素的酵母工程菌 Ｙ３３（ｐ Ｍ Ａｒ Ｇ Ｈ１６） ,并在酵母中获得表达,表达量约占细胞可溶性蛋白总量的３ ％ 。表达产物作为饲料添加剂投喂罗非鱼,具有明显的促进生长作用     

巨细胞病毒中性红斑定量试验与高滴度病毒的制备

在巨细胞病毒(CMV)的研究中常需对病毒定量。CMV需低滴度传代,否则会产生没有感染性的缺损病毒颗粒;CMV的抗原性受其感染量的影响;检测CMV中和抗体或纯化病毒都需具备病毒空斑定量基础。另外,制备高感染滴度的无细胞病毒(游离病毒)是对CMV进行分子生物学研究的前提。本文建立了CMV微量板法中性红斑定量技术并比较了几种制备无细胞CMV的方法。     

韭菜病毒分离物初步鉴定

韭菜病毒分离物初步鉴定房德纯,王振东,佟成富,陆庆轩（沈阳农业大学植保系,沈阳１１０１６１）（辽宁省风沙地改良利用研究所,阜新１２３０００）（沈阳市园林科学研究院,沈阳１１００１５）关键词韭菜病毒病,毒原鉴定,韭菜萎缩病毒１９９３年在辽宁省阜新市韭菜...     

液相芯片MASA技术用于儿童呼吸道感染病原学研究

利用多靶点液相芯片(Multi-Analyte Suspension Array,MASA)技术对引起儿童呼吸道感染(respiratorytract infections,RTI)的病原,包括人类呼吸道合胞病毒A型和B型(Human respiratory syncytial virus A and B,RSVA、RSVB)、严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒(Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus,SARS-CoV)、流行性感冒病毒A型和B型(Influenza A virus and Influenza B virus,INFa,INFb)、副流感病毒1型和3型(Parainfluenza virus 1 and 3,PIV1,PIV3)、衣原体(C.pneumoniae,CPN)和支原体(M.pneumomae,MPN)进行了病原学研究.我们采集并分析了140例患典型呼吸道感染症状儿童的咽拭子,发现在这些标本中至少被前述的一种病原感染的标本有95例,阳性率为67.86%.结果显示这些标本中上述病原感染的情况分别为RSVB感染的患儿占35.71%、PIV3感染的占4.29%、INFa感染的占28.57%、INFb感染的占2.14%、MPN感染的占3.57%、CPN感染的占17.86%,被两种以上病原混合感染的患儿有17.14%.这些标本中都没有检测到RSVA、PIV1和SARS-CoV病原的感染.RSVB病原的感染率在3岁以下的患儿中明显高于3岁以上的患儿,而INFa的感染情况则相反;在上呼吸道感染患儿中检测到INFa病原感染的比例明显高于下呼吸道感染,而RSVB病原感染的情况相反.此外,我们发现在2005年3月-5月中造成武汉地区儿童呼吸道感染的主要病原是以RSVB、INFa、CPN为主,而RSVB感染则又是引起儿童下呼吸道感染和引起低龄儿童呼吸道感染的重要病原.