Structural analysis of point mutations in the Hairless gene and their association with the activity of the Hairless protein

The Notch signaling pathway (NSP) is an important intercellular communication mechanism that regulates embryo development and adult physiological functions. The Hairless (H) protein is a powerful antagonist of the NSP by its interaction with the Suppressor of Hairless (Su[H]) protein, recruiting the corepressors Gro and CtBP. In the present work, we examined the role of several important amino acids in different H protein domains analyzing four mutant lines of Drosophila melanogaster. The mutant alleles were evaluated by single-strand conformational polymorphism (SSCP) analysis and we located mutated regions at different positions along the sequence of the Hairless gene.     

Heterotopic Renal Autotransplantation in a Porcine Model: A Step-by-Step Protocol

Kidney transplantation is the treatment of choice for patients suffering from end-stage renal disease. It offers better life expectancy and higher quality of life when compared to dialysis. Although the last few decades have seen major improvements in patient outcomes following kidney transplantation, the increasing shortage of available organs represents a severe problem worldwide. To expand the donor pool, marginal kidney grafts recovered from extended criteria donors (ECD) or donated after circulatory death (DCD) are now accepted for transplantation. To further improve the postoperative outcome of these marginal grafts, research must focus on new therapeutic approaches such as alternative preservation techniques, immunomodulation, gene transfer, and stem cell administration.Experimental studies in animal models are the final step before newly developed techniques can be translated into clinical practice. Porcine kidney transplantation is an excellent model of human transplantation and allows investigation of novel approaches. The major advantage of the porcine model is its anatomical and physiological similarity to the human body, which facilitates the rapid translation of new findings to clinical trials. This article offers a surgical step-by-step protocol for an autotransplantation model and highlights key factors to ensure experimental success. Adequate pre- and postoperative housing, attentive anesthesia, and consistent surgical techniques result in favorable postoperative outcomes. Resection of the contralateral native kidney provides the opportunity to assess post-transplant graft function. The placement of venous and urinary catheters and the use of metabolic cages allow further detailed evaluation. For long-term follow-up studies and investigation of alternative graft preservation techniques, autotransplantation models are superior to allotransplantation models, as they avoid the confounding bias posed by rejection and immunosuppressive medication.     

Effect of Inoculum Density on Verticillium Wilt Incidence in Commercial Olive Orchards

Verticillium wilt, caused by Verticillium dahliae Kleb., is presently the most destructive disease of olive, particularly in Andalucía (southern Spain). ‘Picual’ and ‘Arbequina’ are the dominant cultivars being planted in Spain. Both cultivars are highly susceptible to the defoliating pathotype of V. dahliae when artificially inoculated by root‐dipping or stem injection. Conversely, ‘Arbequina’ is considered more resistant than ‘Picual’ based on field observations and farmer's experience. In this study, the differential reaction between of cultivars was confirmed by surveys of naturally infested orchards with different inoculum densities of the pathogen. The average percentage of affected olive trees of ‘Picual’ was 60.2%, while only 13.1% of trees of ‘Arbequina’ showed disease symptoms. Overall, the pathogen caused extensive wilting of branches and defoliation on the trees of ‘Picual’, whereas ‘Arbequina’‐infected trees showed chlorotic symptoms and slight defoliation. The relationship between inoculum density and disease incidence fit a logarithmic function for both cultivars. The percentage of affected trees of ‘Arbequina’ per year increased linearly (y = 0.3559x, R² = 0.5652, and P = 0.0195) with the inoculum density in the soil, whereas this relationship was not observed for the ‘Picual’. Planting density had no effect on disease incidence for any of the two cultivars.     

Detection and Identification of Phytoplasmas in Pomegranate Trees with Yellows Symptoms

Symptoms resembling those associated with phytoplasma presence were observed in pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) trees in June 2012 in the Aegean Region of Turkey (Ayd?n province). The trees exhibiting yellowing, reduced vigour, deformations and reddening of the leaves and die‐back symptoms were analysed to verify phytoplasma presence. Total nucleic acids were extracted from fresh leaf midribs and phloem tissue from young branches of ten symptomatic and five asymptomatic plants. Nested polymerase chain reaction assays using universal phytoplasma‐specific 16S rRNA and tuf gene primers were performed. Amplicons were digested with Tru1I, Tsp509I and HhaI restriction enzymes, according to the primer pair employed. The phytoplasma profiles were identical to each other and to aster yellows (16SrI‐B) strain when digestion was carried out on 16Sr(I)F1/R1 amplicons. However, one of the samples showed mixed profiles indicating that 16SrI‐B and 16SrXII‐A phytoplasmas were present when M1/M2 amplicons were digested, the reamplification of this sample with tuf cocktail primers allowed to verify the presence of a 16SrXII‐A profile. One pomegranate aster yellows strain AY‐PG from 16S rRNA gene and the 16SrXII‐A amplicon from tuf gene designed strain STOL‐PG were directly sequenced and deposited in GenBank under the Accession Numbers KJ818293 and KP161063, respectively. To our knowledge, this is the first report of 16SrI‐B and 16SrXII‐A phytoplasmas in pomegranate trees.     

Annexin A8 Identifies a Subpopulation of Transiently Quiescent c-Kit Positive Luminal Progenitor Cells of the Ductal Mammary Epithelium

We have previously shown that Annexin A8 (ANXA8) is strongly associated with the basal-like subgroup of breast cancers, including BRCA1-associated breast cancers, and poor prognosis; while in the mouse mammary gland AnxA8 mRNA is expressed in low-proliferative isolated pubertal mouse mammary ductal epithelium and after enforced involution, but not in isolated highly proliferative terminal end buds (TEB) or during pregnancy. To better understand ANXA8’s association with this breast cancer subgroup we established ANXA8’s cellular distribution in the mammary gland and ANXA8’s effect on cell proliferation. We show that ANXA8 expression in the mouse mammary gland was strong during pre-puberty before the expansion of the rudimentary ductal network and was limited to a distinct subpopulation of ductal luminal epithelial cells but was not detected in TEB or in alveoli during pregnancy. Similarly, during late involution its expression was found in the surviving ductal epithelium, but not in the apoptotic alveoli. Double-immunofluorescence (IF) showed that ANXA8 positive (+ve) cells were ER-alpha negative (−ve) and mostly quiescent, as defined by lack of Ki67 expression during puberty and mid-pregnancy, but not terminally differentiated with ∼15% of ANXA8 +ve cells re-entering the cell cycle at the start of pregnancy (day 4.5). RT-PCR on RNA from FACS-sorted cells and double-IF showed that ANXA8+ve cells were a subpopulation of c-kit +ve luminal progenitor cells, which have recently been identified as the cells of origin of basal-like breast cancers. Over expression of ANXA8 in the mammary epithelial cell line Kim-2 led to a G₀/G₁ arrest and suppressed Ki67 expression, indicating cell cycle exit. Our data therefore identify ANXA8 as a potential mediator of quiescence in the normal mouse mammary ductal epithelium, while its expression in basal-like breast cancers may be linked to ANXA8’s association with their specific cells of origin.     

肠绒毛消化法所得仔猪小肠上皮细胞的培养与鉴定

小肠上皮细胞作为肠道的主要功能细胞,在多种肠道疾病和上皮间质转化的研究中发挥着重要的作用。采取组织块消化和肠绒毛消化两种方法对新生仔猪小肠上皮细胞进行分离培养,传代后通过细胞形态学及免疫荧光等方法对其进行鉴定,结果表明:肠绒毛消化法所获得的小肠上皮细胞要远好于组织块消化法所得细胞,细胞在24～48h贴壁,呈现出典型的三角形或多角形样,10～12d细胞汇合成片、单层生长、互不重叠;细胞角蛋白18(cytokeratin-18)和尾型同源盒基因2(Cdx2)阳性,碱性磷酸酶检测阴性,扫描电镜下可以清楚地看到均匀分布的肠绒毛。以上结果表明,该实验成功建立出可连续传代并符合小肠上皮细胞鉴定标准的仔猪小肠上皮细胞。     

Characterization of the effectors required for stable inheritance of Streptococcus pyogenes pSM19035-derived plasmids in Bacillus subtilis

The low-copy-number and broad-host-range pSM19035-derived plasmid pBT233 is stably inherited in Bacillus subtilis cells. Two distinct regions, segA and segB, enhance the segregational stability of the plasmid. Both regions function in a replicon-independent manner. The maximization of random plasmid segregation is accomplished by the recombination proficiency of the host or the presence of the pBT233 segA region. The segA region contains two open reading frames (or) [ and ]. Inactivation or deletion of or results in SegA^– plasmids. Better than random segregation requires an active segB region. The segB region contains two ors (or and or). Inactivation of either of the orfs does not lead to an increase in cell death, but or^– plasmids are randomly segregated. These results suggest that pBT233 stabilization relies on a complex system involving resolution of plasmid oligomers (segA) and on the function(s) encoded by the segB region.     

Characterization and expression in Streptomyces lividans of cefD and cefE genes from Nocardia lactamdurans: the organization of the cephamycin gene cluster differs from that in Streptomyces clavuligerus

Summary The cefD and cefE genes of Nocardia lactamdurans, which encode isopenicillin N epimerase and deacetoxycephalosporin C synthase respectively, have been located 0.63 kb upstream from the lysine-6-amino-transferase (lat) gene. cefD contains an open reading frame (ORF) of 1197 nucleotides (nt) encoding a protein of 398 amino acids with a M_r of 43 622. The deduced amino acid sequence exhibits 62.2% identity to the cefD gene product of Streptomyces clavuligerus. The sequence SXHKXL in isopenicillin N epimerase resembles the consensus sequence for pyridoxal phosphate binding found in several amino acid decarboxylases from Enterobacteria. cefE contains an ORF of 945 nt encoding a protein of 314 amino acids with a M_r of 34532, which is similar to the deacetoxycephalosporin C synthase of S. clavuligerus. Expression of both genes, cefD and cefE, in S. lividans transformants, results in deacetoxycephalosporin C synthase and isopenicillin N epimerase activities that are 10–12 times higher than those in N. lactamdurans. The cefD and cefE genes of N. lactamdurans are closely linked but the overall organization of the cephamycin gene cluster differs in N. lactamdurans and S. clavuligerus.     

1998-2013年新疆艾比湖湖面时空动态变化及其驱动机制

采用1998年9月,2002年9月,2007年9月,2011年9月以及2013年9月多期Landsat数据,利用归一化水体指数模型(NDWI)和修正归一化水体指数模型(MNDWI)提取新疆艾比湖水域面积,研究近年来艾比湖湖面的动态变化。以最大似然分类结果作为标准,验证了用NDWI和MNDWI模型提取面积的精度,得出NDWI模型所提取的湖泊面积更符合实际情况,湖泊总面积从1998年的519.26km²减少到2013年的422.73km²,缩小了18.59%,表明目前艾比湖正在退化,从而促使生态环境受到影响。对5期影像中的艾比湖湖面进行了边界的提取和叠加,利用湖泊面积动态模型研究艾比湖湖面积的动态变化,在此基础上分析了影响艾比湖湖面积变化的驱动机制,近年来随着温度的逐渐升高,降水量呈下降的趋势,加上大量的蒸发作用、径流量变化及沙尘日数等综合作用的结果,导致了艾比湖面积的缩小。多年来艾比湖流域内随着人口数量的增加、耕地面积的不断扩张、牲畜的大量增长,导致需水量逐渐增大,因此也是导致湖面面积减少的主要原因之一。开展艾比湖湖面时空动态变化及其驱动机制研究,对于干旱区湖泊来说具有重要的理论和实际意义。