Inhibition of severe acute respiratory syndrome virus replication by small interfering RNAs in mammalian cells

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is an acute respiratory infectious disease that spread worldwide in early 2003. The cause was determined as a novel coronavirus (CoV), SARS-associated CoV (SARS-CoV), with a single-stranded, plus-sense RNA. To date, no effective specific treatment has been identified. To exploit the possibility of using RNA interference as a therapeutic approach to fight the disease, plasmid-mediated small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) were generated to target the SARS-CoV genome. The expression of siRNAs from two plasmids, which specifically target the viral RNA polymerase, effectively blocked the cytopathic effects of SARS-CoV on Vero cells. These two plasmids also inhibited viral replication as shown by titer assays and by an examination of viral RNA and protein levels. Thus, our results demonstrated the feasibility of developing siRNAs as effective anti-SARS drugs.     

Predicting protein structural classes with pseudo amino acid composition: an approach using geometric moments of cellular automaton image

A novel approach was developed for predicting the structural classes of proteins based on their sequences. It was assumed that proteins belonging to the same structural class must bear some sort of similar texture on the images generated by the cellular automaton evolving rule [Wolfram, S., 1984. Cellular automation as models of complexity. Nature 311, 419-424]. Based on this, two geometric invariant moment factors derived from the image functions were used as the pseudo amino acid components [Chou, K.C., 2001. Prediction of protein cellular attributes using pseudo amino acid composition. Proteins: Struct., Funct., Genet. (Erratum: ibid., 2001, vol. 44, 60) 43, 246-255] to formulate the protein samples for statistical prediction. The success rates thus obtained on a previously constructed benchmark dataset are quite promising, implying that the cellular automaton image can help to reveal some inherent and subtle features deeply hidden in a pile of long and complicated amino acid sequences.     

Inhibitory effect of monoclonal antibodies on the growth of Babesia caballi

Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) were produced against Babesia caballi (USDA strain) to define a species-specific antigen for use in diagnosis and vaccine development. Eight positive clones of B. caballi mAbs determined by indirect immunofluorescent antibody test were selected for purification and further characterisation. Confocal laser microscopy showed that the antigens recognised by the mAbs were located on the surface/cytoplasm, central part, and/or anterior end of B. caballi parasites, with five different reactive patterns. These mAbs seemed to be species-specific, since they did not cross-react with Babesia equi-infected erythrocytes or uninfected erythrocytes. In Western blotting analysis, 18, 20, 34, 36, 48, and 155 kDa proteins of B. caballi merozoites were recognised by six different mAbs. When added to in vitro cultures, four of the mAbs significantly inhibited the in vitro growth of B. caballi parasites. These results provide a rationale for evaluating antigens for the development of diagnostic methods or vaccines.     

白芨的组培快繁(简报)

本文扼要地阐述了以白芨种子为培养材料,经筛选的培养基诱导、分化、生长,最终可获得苗质好、性状均一的白芨;为进一步研究快速繁殖白芨提供参考.     

不同培养条件对猪卵母细胞IVM、IVF的影响

通过优化猪卵母细胞体外成熟、体外受精和胚胎体外发育体系,以进一步提高体外胚胎的生产效率和质量.研究了激素存在时间、不同激素和不同血清对猪卵母细胞体外成熟的影响;共培养体系、精卵作用时间、去除卵丘细胞的方法对猪体外受精及早期胚胎发育的影响.猪卵母细胞IVM培养48h,前24h内加入PMSG、hCG,后24h将其去除,卵母细胞总成熟率为79.54%;培养液添加15?S或15%NCS,卵母细胞成熟率分别为79.48%和74.81%;PMSG、HCG和E2配合使用后卵母细胞成熟率为81.42%.在IVF前用吹打法获得的卵裂率、桑椹胚率分别为37.89%和8.54%,精卵共孵育6h或8h的卵裂率(40.52%,37.24%)、桑椹胚率(8.42%,7.85%),以及用输卵管上皮细胞共培养所获得的卵裂率(40.84%)、桑椹胚率(9.53%)均显著高于其它各组.     

Spl基因RNA干扰载体的构建及鉴定

目的:构建干扰载体pSilencer 3.1-spl,并初步研究其对Spl基因的干扰作用.方法:根据Spl cDNA编码序列,设计并合成针对Spl基因的特异性RNA干扰片段,并将其克隆入pSilencer 3.1-Hl neo干扰载体中,构建Spl基因小干扰RNA(siRNA)真核表达载体pSilencer 3.1-Spl;分别将阴性对照载体pSilencer 3.1与重组载体pSilencer 3.1-Spl经脂质体LipofectAMINE2000介导转染HeLa细胞,采用RT-PCR、Western blot方法分别检测Spl基因的转录与表达水平.结果:构建了Spl基因siRNA真核表达载体pSilencer 3.1-Spl,经酶切、测序鉴定证实克隆正确,并在mRNA水平和蛋白水平证实了载体的干扰效果.结论:特异性siRNA能明显抑制Spl基因在HeLa细胞中的表达,为进一步研究Spl的生物学功能和作用机制奠定了实验基础.     

Establishment of La-tPA/G-CSF dual transgenic mice and expression in their mammary gland

Expression vectors of human granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSG) and long acting tissue plasminogen activator (La-tPA) in mammary gland were constructed using promoters of mouse whey acid protein gene (WAP) and sheep β-lactoglobulin gene (BLG) with sizes of 2.6 and 5 kb respectively. Two kinds of transgenic mice of G-CSF and La-tPA were produced with microinjection. The expression of G-CSF and La-tPA was achieved in mammary glands of transgenic mice, respectively. In order to establish dual transgenic mice of La-tPA /G-CSF, transgenic mice carrying G-CSF and La-tPA gene characterized with specific expression in mammary gland were mated. La-tPA/G-CSF dual transgenic mice were screened out from the hybrid offspring by Once-PCR. The co-expression of La-tPA and G-CSF in mammary gland of the dual transgenic mice was confirmed by the milk assayed and Northern blot analysis. Some parameters about the dual transgenic mice indicated that there were fewer litters than that of normal mice. The ratio of dual transgenes was 46.1% in F1 generation, and offspring’s sex ratio was normal. Hence a dual transgenic mouse model was established for the study of co-expression foreign proteins in mammary gland.