Five New Guaiane Sesquiterpenes from the Endophytic Fungus Xylaria sp. YM 311647 of Azadirachta indica

Five new guaiane sesquiterpenes, 1 – 5 , were isolated from the culture broth of the endophytic fungus Xylaria sp. YM 311647, isolated from Azadirachta indica A. Juss . The structures of these compounds were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic analyses, and their inhibitory activities against five pathogenic fungi were evaluated. All guaiane sesquiterpenes showed moderate or weak antifungal activities in a broth microdilution assay.     

Analysis of temperature‐mediated changes in the wine yeast Saccharomyces bayanus var uvarum. An oenological study of how the protein content influences wine quality

Saccharomyces bayanus var. uvarum plays an important role in the fermentation of red wine from the D.O. Ribera del Duero. This is due to the special organoleptic taste that this yeast gives the wines and their ability to ferment at low temperature. To determine the molecular factors involved in the fermentation process at low temperature, a differential proteomic approach was performed by using 2D‐DIGE, comparing, qualitatively and quantitatively, the profiles obtained at 13 and 25°C. A total of 152 protein spots were identified. We detected proteins upregulated at 13°C that were shown to be related to temperature stress, the production of aromatic compounds involved in the metabolism of amino acids, and the production of fusel alcohols and their derivatives, each of which is directly related to the quality of the wines. To check the temperature effects, an aromatic analysis by GC–MS was performed. The proteomic and “aromatomic” results are discussed in relation to the oenological properties of S. bayanus var. uvarum.     

肌肽对低氧所致大鼠血管内皮细胞损伤的保护作用

目的：研究肌肽对低氧所致大鼠血管内皮细胞损伤的影响。方法：建立低氧条件下大鼠血管内皮细胞损伤模型,用MTT法观察肌肽对低氧损伤的血管内皮细胞活性的影响,测定细胞培养基中LDH活力,并对细胞骨架进行考马斯亮蓝R-250染色观测其细胞结构。结果：浓度为10mmol/L～20mmol/L肌肽孵育血管内皮细胞6h后,可以抑制缺氧12h和24h引起的血管内皮细胞活性下降,同时减少LDH的释放,保持细胞骨架完整。结论：肌肽对低氧所致的血管内皮细胞损伤具有保护作用。     

人源抗滋养层细胞表面抗原?鄄2基因工程抗体Fab的制备及特性分析

应用噬菌体抗体库技术制备全人源抗滋养层细胞表面抗原-2(Trop-2)特异性Fab抗体片段．抗体库经细胞筛选和固相抗原筛选,获得特异性的阳性克隆．阳性载体经核酸序列分析后,构建工程菌,经IPTG诱导表达,SDS-PAGE和Western blot分析,呈现28 ku和32 ku大小的两条蛋白质条带．Fab分子经流式细胞术、细胞免疫荧光检测,结果表明,Fab能够与BxPc3细胞膜蛋白特异性结合,而与NIH3T3细胞不结合．免疫共沉淀与质谱分析结果表明,该Fab分子能够与Trop-2蛋白特异性结合．免疫组化显示,该抗体可结合胰腺癌细胞膜蛋白,在细胞培养液中加入Fab,能够抑制BxPc3细胞的生长．以上研究结果提示,该抗体有望成为胰腺癌临床影像诊断或治疗的候选分子．     

我国新生隐球菌临床株基因型分析

为了解中国大陆地区新生隐球菌临床株基因型分布情况, 我们对来自我国中东部地区的18个省、直辖市的120株血清A型和9株血清B型新生隐球菌临床株采用PCR指纹分析、IGS序列测定和MLST(Multilocus sequencing test)方法进行分析。结果显示血清A型菌株的M13指纹图谱中主要条带与VNI型标准株相同, 但次要条带与VNI现有各亚型均不相符, 我们将这种新VNI亚型命名为VNIc型, 但VNIc型并不只分布在中国大陆, MLST分析显示中国大陆地区的VNIc型菌株同来自美国、日本、马拉维和巴西的7株菌株亲缘关系高达75, 提示VNIc型可能是一种世界范围内分布的基因型; 对血清A型菌株采用(GACA)4和URA-5 RFLP指纹分析则呈现与VNI标准株完全一致的主次条带; 9株血清B型菌株基因型为VGI型。本研究初步揭示了我国大陆地区新生隐球菌临床株的基因型分布。     

Melatonin Regulates the Viability and Differentiation of Rat Midbrain Neural Stem Cells

(1) Neurogenesis driven by neural stem cells (NSCs) is regulated by physiological and pathological factors. Melatonin (MT) has profound neurotrophic and neuroprotective effects. Hence, we studied the role of MT in regulating the viability and differentiation of NSCs derived from rat ventral midbrain. (2) NSCs were isolated from the rat ventral midbrain. The viability of NSCs was determined by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-5-(3-carboxymethoxyphenyl)-2-(4-ulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium assay. The differentiation of NSCs was examined by analyzing the expression of the neural markers, MT receptors, brain derived neurotropic factor (BDNF) and glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) with semi-quantitative RT-PCR, immunofluorescence cytochemistry, and Western blot. (3) Our results showed that MT could promote the viability of NSCs. In addition, MT could significantly elevate the mRNA and protein levels of tyroxine hydroxylase (TH), a marker of dopaminergic neurons, and decrease the expression of the astrocytes maker glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). MT also increased the production of BDNF and GDNF in the cultured NSCs. Meanwhile, we first found that two subtypes of MT receptors, MT1 and MT2, were expressed in the ventral midbrain NSCs. (4) These results demonstrated that MT could induce NSCs to differentiate into dopaminergic neurons and decrease astrocyte production. These findings also suggest that MT could offer a beneficial tool in guiding directional differentiation of NSCs.     

ETA基因作为荧光定量PCR靶基因设计TaqMan探针快速检测铜绿假单胞菌的研究

铜绿假单胞菌是临床上常见致病菌, 传统的检测方法有各种弊端。本研究对该细菌的ETA基因用生物信息学方法加以分析, 选取相对保守且高度特异的DNA序列, 设计一对特异性引物和一个TaqMan探针, 建立FQ-PCR (fluorescence quantitative PCR)检测PA的方法。通过对梯度浓度的铜绿假单胞菌基因组DNA样品进行FQ-PCR检测和对多种细菌的DNA进行扩增, 来检测其灵敏度和验证引物和探针的特异性。试验结果表明, 对比现有的检测方法, 以ETA基因为靶基因, 基于TaqMan探针的快速FQ-PCR检测技术有更高的灵敏度和更好的特异性等优点, 具有很好的研究价值和应用前景。     

Prolamellar bodies formed by cyanobacterial protochlorophyllide oxidoreductase in Arabidopsis

In angiosperms, chlorophyll biosynthesis is light dependent. A key factor in this process is protochlorophyllide oxidoreductase (POR), which requires light to catalyze the reduction of protochlorophyllide to chlorophyllide. It is believed that this protein originated from an ancient cyanobacterial enzyme that was introduced into proto‐plant cells during the primary symbiosis. Here we report that PORs from the cyanobacteria Gloeobacter violaceus PCC7421 and Synechocystis sp. PCC6803 function in plastids. First, we found that the G. violaceus POR shows a higher affinity to its substrate protochlorophyllide than the Synechocystis POR but a similar affinity to plant PORs. Secondly, the reduced size of prolamellar bodies caused by a knockdown mutation of one of the POR genes, PORA, in Arabidopsis could be complemented by heterologous expression of the cyanobacterial PORs. Photoactive protochlorophyllide in the etioplasts of the complementing lines, however, was retained at a low level as in the parent PORA knockdown mutant, indicating that the observed formation of prolamellar bodies was irrelevant to the assembly of photoactive protochlorophyllide. This work reveals a new view on the formation of prolamellar bodies and provides new clues about the function of POR in the etioplast–chloroplast transition.     

DNA聚合酶Polι的研究进展

Y家族DNA聚合酶是一种跨损伤复制酶,即能以损伤的DNA为模板进行复制。Y家族DNA聚合酶广泛分布生物界,人类细胞中Y家族DNA聚合酶至少包括Rev1、Polκ、Polι、Polη四种,Polι在以DNA为模板进行复制时错配率很高而不同于其他跨损伤DNA聚合酶,Polι是目前发现的所有DNA聚合酶中保真性最低的DNA聚合酶。很高的错配率导致很高的突变率,最后基因的突变导致癌症的发生,因此Polι在各个国家被广泛的研究,并且对Polι的各个不同的特性进行了研究,取得了一系列成果,现对Polι的研究进展予以综述,并展望了未来的研究趋势。     

Progesterone and DNA damage encourage uterine cell proliferation and decidualization through up-regulating ribonucleotide reductase 2 expression during early pregnancy in mice

Embryo implantation into the maternal uterus is a crucial step for the successful establishment of mammalian pregnancy. Following the attachment of embryo to the uterine luminal epithelium, uterine stromal cells undergo steroid hormone-dependent decidualization, which is characterized by stromal cell proliferation and differentiation. The mechanisms underlying steroid hormone-induced stromal cell proliferation and differentiation during decidualization are still poorly understood. Ribonucleotide reductase, consisting of two subunits (RRM1 and RRM2), is a rate-limiting enzyme in deoxynucleotide production for DNA synthesis and plays an important role in cell proliferation and tumorgenicity. Based on our microarray analysis, Rrm2 expression was significantly higher at implantation sites compared with interimplantation sites in mouse uterus. However, the expression, regulation, and function of RRM2 in mouse uterus during embryo implantation and decidualization are still unknown. Here we show that although both RRM1 and RRM2 expression are markedly induced in mouse uterine stromal cells undergoing decidualization, only RRM2 is regulated by progesterone, a key regulator of decidualization. Further studies showed that the induction of progesterone on RRM2 expression in stromal cells is mediated by the AKT/c-MYC pathway. RRM2 can also be induced by replication stress and DNA damage during decidualization through the ATR/ATM-CHK1-E2F1 pathway. The weight of implantation sites and deciduoma was effectively reduced by specific inhibitors for RRM2. The expression of decidual/trophoblast prolactin-related protein (Dtprp), a reliable marker for decidualization in mice, was significantly reduced in deciduoma and steroid-induced decidual cells after HU treatment. Therefore, RRM2 may be an important effector of progesterone signaling to induce cell proliferation and decidualization in mouse uterus.