Molecular Evidence for the Hybrid Origin of Bauhinia blakeana （Caesalpinioideae）

Bauhinia blakeana Dunn is the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region emblem and a popular horticultural species in many Asian countries. It was first described as a new species from Hong Kong almost a century ago. This plant is sterile and has long been considered a hybrid, possibly from two related species, B. purpurea and B. variegata. However, not much evidence based on molecular methods was available to support this hypothesis. In this study, sequences of internal transcribed spacer I （ITS1）, rbcL and atpB-rbcL intergenic spacer for five Bauhinia species and two varieties of one of the species were determined and compared. There were two types of ITS1 sequences in B. blakeana, one indistinguishable from that of B. purpurea and the other one identical to that of B. variegata. This confirmed that B. blakeana was a hybrid of these two species. Chloroplast atpB-rbcL intergenic spacer sequence of B. blakeana was identical to that of B. purpurea, indicating that B. purpurea was the female parent. The hybridization event seemed to occur only recently and was a rare incident. Its occurrence was likely facilitated by interspecific pollen competition. It appeared that human efforts played a crucial role in the preservation and ubiquity of B. blakeana.     

禽流感抗原基因NA,HA的克隆及其表达载体的构建

HA和NA是禽流感病毒重要的保护性抗原基因,为了得到禽流感植物疫苗,本试验采用高保真PCR扩增方法得到目的基因,分别克隆到pMD18-T载体.经测序证实核酸序列正确后,克隆到含有GUS基因的高效植物双元表达载体pB1121上,获得含有HA/NA基因的植物双元表达载体pB1121-HA和pB1121-NA,采用冻融法将含HA/NA基因的植物双元表达载体转入根癌农杆菌LBA4404,菌液浸染生菜子叶,共培48小时后进行GUS基因表达检测,x-glue染色显蓝色,说明带有HA/NA的植物双元表达载体构建成功,为下一步的生菜转HA/NA基因研究奠定基础.     

镉胁迫对不同品种小麦幼苗生长和生理特性的影响

以4个小麦品种(豫麦4、扬麦15、宝丰7228和宁麦13)为材料,研究了镉胁迫对水培条件下小麦幼苗生长和抗氧化酶系统的影响.结果表明:镉胁迫条件下植株的生长、叶绿素合成及硝酸还原酶活性明显受到抑制;植株体内与氧化胁迫有关的CAT和POD活性下降,H2O2和MDA含量上升;4个品种在镉处理后生长抑制和氧化胁迫程度上表现不同,显示出对镉耐性的差异,其中扬麦15对镉耐性高于其他3个品种.     

人参皂甙Rg1组合诱导人成骨肉瘤 MG-63细胞分化过程中Nucleophosmin的表达与定位变化

选择性抽提经中药有效成分人参皂甙Rg1组合(简称RCT)诱导处理前后的人成骨肉瘤MG-63细胞核基质,对nucleophosmin(NPM)在核基质中的存在、分布及其与相关基因产物在MG-63细胞中的共定位关系进行了观察研究.双向凝胶电泳和质谱鉴定结果显示NPM存在于MG- 63细胞核基质蛋白组分中,在RCT处理后细胞核基质蛋白中表达下调.蛋白质印迹杂交结果证实了NPM在RCT处理前后的MG-63细胞核基质蛋白中的存在及其表达下调变化.免疫荧光显微镜观察显示NPM定位于MG-63细胞核基质上,经RCT处理后出现分布位置与表达水平的变化.免疫荧光-激光扫描共聚焦显微镜的观察结果显示NPM在MG-63细胞中与c-fos、c-myc、RB、p53 等基因产物具有共定位关系,并在RCT处理后细胞核内其共定位区域发生了变化.研究结果证实了NPM存在于核基质上,是一种核基质蛋白,其在RCT诱导人成骨肉瘤MG-63分化过程中的表达与分布变化及其与相关癌基因、抑癌基因的关系显然对MG-63细胞分化具有重要影响,这为深入揭示中药有效成分诱导肿瘤细胞分化的机制提供了重要科学依据和深入探索的新方向.     

The Mitogen-activated protein kinase p38 links Shiga Toxin-dependent signaling and trafficking

Shiga toxin (Stx) binds to the cell, and it is transported via endosomes and the Golgi apparatus to the endoplasmic reticulum and cytosol, where it exerts its toxic effect. We have recently shown that Stx activates the tyrosine kinase Syk, which in turn induces clathrin phosphorylation and up-regulates Stx uptake. Here, we show that toxin-induced signaling can also regulate another step in intracellular Stx transport. We demonstrate that transport of Stx to the Golgi apparatus is dependent on the mitogen-activated protein kinase p38. Treatment of cells with chemical inhibitors or small interfering RNA targeting p38 inhibited Stx transport to the Golgi and reduced Stx toxicity. This p38 dependence is specific to Stx, because transport of the related toxin ricin was not affected by p38 inhibition. Stx rapidly activated p38, and recruited it to early endosomes in a Ca(2+)-dependent manner. Furthermore, agonist-induced oscillations in cytosolic Ca(2+) levels were inhibited upon Stx stimulation, possibly reflecting Stx-dependent local alterations in cytosolic Ca(2+) levels. Intracellular transport of Stx is Ca(2+) dependent, and we provide evidence that Stx activates a signaling cascade involving cross talk between Ca(2+) and p38, to regulate its trafficking to the Golgi apparatus.     

利用mRNA差异显示技术分离甜菜M14品系特异表达基因的cDNA片段

二倍体栽培甜菜与白花甜菜杂交、进一步回交而获得的单体附加系M₁₄,其染色体组成中除了含有18条栽培甜菜染色体外,还附加有一条野生白花甜菜第9号染色体,该附加染色体通过母本的传递率为96.5%;单体附加系传递率如此高的原因是因为M₁₄中有无融合生殖基因的存在。本实验采用mRNA差异展示技术对甜菜无融合生殖品系M₁₄和正常有性生殖的二倍体栽培甜菜A_2Y花蕾减数分裂时期的基因表达进行了差异分析。采用GT₁₅A,GT₁₅G,GT₁₅C 3种锚定引物,共筛选了20个随机引物,通过RT-PCR检测,获得了6个阳性差异表达的cDNA片段,应用NCBI的BLASTx软件对测序结果进行同源序列、相似序列检索,为进一步克隆无融合生殖基因提供侯选cDNA片段。     

Curcumin induces apoptosis through mitochondrial hyperpolarization and mtDNA damage in human hepatoma G2 cells

Curcumin, a major pigment of turmeric, is a natural antioxidant possessing a variety of pharmacological activities and therapeutic properties. But its mechanisms are unknown. In our previous study, we found that a 2-h exposure to curcumin induced DNA damage to both the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and the nuclear DNA (nDNA) in HepG2 cells and that mtDNA damage was more extensive than nDNA damage. Therefore, experiments were initiated to evaluate the role of mtDNA damage in curcumin-induced apoptosis. The results demonstrated that HepG2 cells challenged with curcumin for 1 h showed a transient elevation of the mitochondrial membrane potential (DeltaPsim), followed by cytochrome c release into the cytosol and disruption of DeltaPsim after 6 h exposure to curcumin. Apoptosis was detected by Hoechst 33342 and annexin V/PI assay after 10 h treatment. Interestingly, the expression of Bcl-2 remained unchanged. A resistance to apoptosis for the corresponding rho0 counterparts confirmed a critical dependency for mitochondria during the induction of apoptosis in HepG2 cells mediated by curcumin. The effects of PEG-SOD in protecting against curcumin-induced cytotoxicity suggest that curcumin-induced cytotoxicity is directly dependent on superoxide anion O2- production. These data suggest that mitochondrial hyperpolarization is a prerequisite for curcumin-induced apoptosis and that mtDNA damage is the initial event triggering a chain of events leading to apoptosis in HepG2 cells.     

Generation of chimeric HBc proteins with epitopes in E.coli: formation of virus-like particles and a potent inducer of antigen-specific cytotoxic immune response and anti-tumor effect in vivo

The major aim of the project was to develop the virus-like particles (VLPs) displaying single or multi-epitope of hepatocellular carcinomas (HCC) in Escherichia coli and to evaluate the effect on inducing Ag-specific CD8(+) T cell response and antitumor efficacy as candidate vaccines. To this end, hepatitis B virus core (HBc) particles were used as a carrier of HCC epitopes. Four HCC epitopes MAGE-1(278-286aa), MAGE-3(271-279aa), AFP1 (158-166aa) or AFP2 (542-550aa) were fused to the 3' terminus of the truncated HBV core gene, respectively, or conjunctively. Not all recombinant plasmids led to expression of chimeric proteins in expression strain E. coli BL21 (DE3), but chimeric proteins which are expressed in inclusion bodies resulted in the formation of complete "mature" VLPs. E. coli-derived truncated HBc(1-144) chimeric protein self-assembled into VLPs that both morphologically and physically are similar to the wild-type ones and they still remained activity after purification and refolding from 6M urea solution. We also showed that they could be internalized and presented by DCs in vitro. Additionally, DCs pulsed with the chimeric HBc-VLPs could induce stronger CTL activity and greater IFN-gamma secretion by responding T cells compared with peptid-pulsed DCs. In the B16-pIR-HH tumor therapy model, the growth of established tumors was significantly inhibited by immunization using VLP-pulsed DCs, resulting in significantly higher survival rate of immunized animals. Thus, the results of the current study have demonstrated the principal possibility of using VLP on the basis of HBcAg for creation of a new type of HCC-specific immunogen.     

Molecular characterization of a transient expression gene encoding for 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate synthase in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.)

Ethylene performs an important function in plant growth and development. 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) synthase (ACS), the key enzyme involved in ethylene biosynthesis, has been the focus of most ethylene studies. Here, a cotton ACS gene referred to as Gossypium hirsutum ACS1 (GhACS1), was isolated. The full-length cDNA of GhACS1 encodes for a 476-amino acid protein which harbors seven conserved regions, 11 invariant amino acid residues, and the PLP binding active site, all of which characterize ACC synthases. Alignment analysis showed that GhACS1 shared a high degree of identity with other known ACC synthases from different species. Two introns were detected in the genomic DNA sequence, and the results of Southern blot analysis suggested that there might be a multi-gene family encoding for ACC synthase in cotton. From the phylogenetic tree constructed with 24 different kinds of ACC synthases, we determined that GhACS1 falls into group II, and was closely associated with the wound-inducible ACS of citrus. The analysis of the 5' flanking region of GhACS1 revealed a group of putative cis-acting elements. The results of expression analysis showed that GhACS1 displayed its transient expression nature after wounding, abscisic acid (ABA), and CuCl(2) treatments. These results indicate that GhACS1, which was transiently expressed in response to certain stimuli, may be involved in the production of ethylene for the transmission of stress signals.