低氧提高肿瘤细胞反义VEGF165基因表达

为了探讨反义VEGF1 65基因对食管癌的抑制作用 ,并初步探讨利用肿瘤低氧微环境改善基因治疗的效果 ,采用PCR技术和DNA重组技术构建了含低氧反应元件的真核表达载体 ,并用此载体构建了含荧光素酶报告基因和反义VEGF1 65基因的重组载体。用脂质体将重组载体导入食管癌细胞 ,体外用化学发光光度计测定低氧对报告基因表达的调节和ELISA法间接测定低氧对反义VEGF基因表达的调节作用。体内利用裸鼠皮下移植实验研究低氧对反义VEGF1 65基因抑瘤作用的影响。体外实验表明 ,用带低氧反应元件的重组真核表达载体转染食管癌细胞 ,在低氧培养下可以使报告基因的表达提高 3 780 % ,并可以显著提高反义VEGF1 65基因的表达 ,体内用带低氧反应元件的载体将反义VEGF1 65基因导入食管癌细胞中 ,其抑瘤效果显著优于不含该元件的载体 ,抑瘤率分别为 71 .7%和 5 6 .1 %。反义VEGF1 65基因能显著抑制食管癌的生长 ;利用肿瘤低氧可以实现治疗基因的自主调节 ,改善基因治疗的效果     

Discovering disease-genes by topological features in human protein-protein interaction network

MOTIVATION: Mining the hereditary disease-genes from human genome is one of the most important tasks in bioinformatics research. A variety of sequence features and functional similarities between known human hereditary disease-genes and those not known to be involved in disease have been systematically examined and efficient classifiers have been constructed based on the identified common patterns. The availability of human genome-wide protein-protein interactions (PPIs) provides us with new opportunity for discovering hereditary disease-genes by topological features in PPIs network. RESULTS: This analysis reveals that the hereditary disease-genes ascertained from OMIM in the literature-curated (LC) PPIs network are characterized by a larger degree, tendency to interact with other disease-genes, more common neighbors and quick communication to each other whereas those properties could not be detected from the network identified from high-throughput yeast two-hybrid mapping approach (EXP) and predicted interactions (PDT) PPIs network. KNN classifier based on those features was created and on average gained overall prediction accuracy of 0.76 in cross-validation test. Then the classifier was applied to 5262 genes on human genome and predicted 178 novel disease-genes. Some of the predictions have been validated by biological experiments.     

Purification and properties of alkaline phosphatase of silkworm Bombyx mori

Alkaline phosphatase(AKP),from the succus entericus of silkworm,was purified using 10%-50% ammonium sulfate fractions,ion exchange chromatography Of DEAE-Sepharose,and size exclusion chromatography of Sephacryl S-200.The purification fold was 464 times and specified activity was 3936 U/mg.Optimum pH value of the phosphatase was 10.5,and was stable between pH 7.5 and 11.The optimum temperature of the phosphatase was 40℃ and it was unstable over 50℃.Km value of the phosphatase was 1.25 mmol/L.In a given condition,the phosphatase was selectively modified by PCMB,NBS,PMSE TNBS,SUAN,DTT,BrAc,and IAc,the results indicate that PMSF,SUA,BrAc,IAc,and TNBS could Obviously inhibit the activity of the phosphatase,and the degree of inhibition depended on the concentration of these reagents.There was little effect on the activity of phosphatase after treatment by PMSF,DTT,and NBT.We primarily conclude that mercapto and imidazole are essential for AKP from silkworm.Also,Lys residue and disulfide bands are necessary to protect the catalysis of the AKP.     

Heregulin targets gamma-catenin to the nucleolus by a mechanism dependent on the DF3/MUC1 oncoprotein

The DF3/MUC1 transmembrane oncoprotein is aberrantly overexpressed in most human breast carcinomas and interacts with the Wnt effector gamma-catenin. Here, we demonstrate that MUC1 associates constitutively with ErbB2 in human breast cancer cells and that treatment with heregulin/neuregulin-1 (HRG) increases the formation of MUC1-ErbB2 complexes. The importance of the MUC1-ErbB2 interaction is supported by the demonstration that HRG induces binding of MUC1 and gamma-catenin and targeting of the MUC1-gamma-catenin complex to the nucleolus. Significantly, nucleolar localization of gamma-catenin in response to HRG is dependent on MUC1 expression. Moreover, mutation of a RRK motif in the MUC1 cytoplasmic domain abrogates HRG-induced nucleolar localization of MUC1 and gamma-catenin. In concert with these results, we show nucleolar localization of MUC1 and gamma-catenin in human breast carcinomas but not in normal mammary ductal epithelium. These findings demonstrate that MUC1 functions in cross talk between ErbB2 and Wnt pathways by acting as a shuttle for HRG-induced nucleolar targeting of gamma-catenin.     

HeLa细胞中与组织型转谷氨酰胺酶相互作用蛋白质的筛选

组织型转谷氨酰胺酶 (tissuetransglutaminase ,tTG ,TGII)是转谷氨酰胺酶家族成员之一 ,多数细胞凋亡过程中均有tTG表达水平的升高。为研究tTG在细胞凋亡过程中发挥作用的机制 ,利用Gal 4酵母双杂交系统筛选了HeLa细胞中与tTG相互作用的蛋白质 ,获得了 17个阳性酵母克隆。序列测定显示其中 1个克隆所含cDNA序列编码TIA 1相关蛋白 (TIA 1 relatedprotein ,TIAR )C端 12 9个氨基酸残基序列 ,GST下拉 (pull down)实验也证实tTG与TIAR能相互作用 ,而且这种相互作用需要Ca2 参与作用。这些结果提示tTG可能通过其Ca2 依赖的转谷氨酰胺活性对TIAR进行修饰从而影响TIAR的功能 ,可能在细胞凋亡中发挥着一定的作用。     

Superoxide anion burst and taxol production induced by Ce in suspension cultures of Taxus cuspidata

Generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) induced by Ce⁴⁺ in suspension cultures of Taxus cuspidata was investigated. The burst of superoxide anions (O₂√⁻) occurred rapidly after the addition of Ce⁴⁺ and reached maximum at 4.3 h, while the total level of the cellular reactive oxygen species maintained unchanged. The intracellular superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) were activated while the intra/extracellular peroxidases (PODs) were inhibited accompanying the O₂√⁻ burst. The pretreatment of the suspension cultures with diphenylene iodonium (DPI), a suicide inhibitor of the NADPH oxidase, blocked the O₂√⁻ burst, inhibiting the cell apoptosis and taxol production induced by Ce⁴⁺. These results show that NADPH oxidase played a key role in O₂√⁻ burst and O₂√⁻ served as a mediator of Ce⁴⁺ for cell apoptosis and taxol production. The pretreatments of the suspension cultures with anthracene-9-carboxylate, an ion-channel blocker, nifedipine, a Ca²⁺-channel blocker, neomycin, a phospholipase C (PLC) inhibitor, or suramin, a G-protein inhibitor, decreased O₂√⁻ burst induced by Ce⁴⁺. It is thus inferred that Ce⁴⁺-induced O₂√⁻ burst, which mediated cell apoptosis and taxol production by activating the ion-channels, PLC, G-proteins and NADPH oxidase.     

抗菌肽的研究进展

抗菌肽又称抗微生物肽(antimicrobial peptide)或肽抗生素(peptide antibiotics),在动植物体内分布广泛,是天然免疫防御系统的一部分。抗菌肽不仅有广谱抗细菌能力,而且对真菌、病毒及癌细胞也有作用。对抗菌肽作用机理的研究是近来的热点之一,本文综述了此方面近来的进展,并对微生物针对抗菌肽的耐药性进行了讨论。     

帕金森病丘脑底核神经元的电活动特点

本研究探讨了帕金森病(Parkinson′s disease, PD)患者丘脑底核(subthalamic nucleus, STN)神经元电活动的特点及其与PD症状的关系. 35例PD患者在接受手术治疗的同时, 应用微电极细胞记录和EMG记录技术, 记录手术靶点STN及其周围结构神经元的电活动以及手术对侧肢体的EMG. 应用分析软件甄别单细胞电活动, 分析其特点及其与肢体EMG的关系. 结果表明, STN及其周围结构具有特征性放电活动.在36个记录针道中, 共发现436个STN神经元, 平均放电频率44.0±20.5 Hz. 其中, 56%的神经元呈不规则簇状放电; 15%呈紧张性放电; 29%呈规则的簇状放电, 其放电节律与肢体震颤的EMG高度一致(r2=0.66, P<0.01), 称之为震颤细胞. 在PD震颤型患者的STN中发现大量震颤细胞, 且80%位于STN中上部, 而在PD僵直型患者的STN中均发现与运动相关的细胞电活动. 本研究提示, 通过微电极记录技术可准确地判断STN的位置和范围; 与震颤活动相关的细胞放电和与运动相关细胞的放电与PD症状有内在关系; STN参与PD运动障碍的病理生理过程.     

Enhanced production of (+)-terrein in fed-batch cultivation of Aspergillus terreus strain PF26 with sodium citrate

(+)-Terrein is a fungal metabolite with multiple biological activities, especially with great value in medicine. However, the mass production of single configuration terrein is still a big challenge. In this study, the effects of acetic acid, sodium acetate, citric acid and sodium citrate on the (+)-terrein production by Aspergillus terreus strain PF26 derived from marine sponge Phakellia fusca were investigated. Sodium citrate was selected for fed-batch cultivation because it showed the best effect on (+)-terrein production among the four regulators tested. As a result, 5.38 g/L (+)-terrein production was achieved by feeding 10 mM sodium citrate on the 3rd day in shake flask, which was 33.8 % higher than the control and represented the highest yield of (+)-terrein. In a 7.5-L stirred bioreactor, 2.58 g/L of (+)-terrein production was achieved by the feeding of 10 mM sodium citrate on the 8th day. The results from this study lay a basis for the high-yield production of (+)-terrein by fermentation.     

In vivo self-assembled small RNAs as a new generation of RNAi therapeutics

RNAi therapy has undergone two stages of development, direct injection of synthetic siRNAs and delivery with artificial vehicles or conjugated ligands; both have not solved the problem of efficient in vivo siRNA delivery. Here, we present a proof-of-principle strategy that reprogrammes host liver with genetic circuits to direct the synthesis and self-assembly of siRNAs into secretory exosomes and facilitate the in vivo delivery of siRNAs through circulating exosomes. By combination of different genetic circuit modules, in vivo assembled siRNAs are systematically distributed to multiple tissues or targeted to specific tissues (e.g., brain), inducing potent target gene silencing in these tissues. The therapeutic value of our strategy is demonstrated by programmed silencing of critical targets associated with various diseases, including EGFR/KRAS in lung cancer, EGFR/TNC in glioblastoma and PTP1B in obesity. Overall, our strategy represents a next generation RNAi therapeutics, which makes RNAi therapy feasible.Subject terms: RNAi, siRNAs