HIV-1 Vpu蛋白的原核表达、鉴定和纯化

目的：克隆、表达、纯化人免疫缺陷病毒Ⅰ型（HIV-1）Vpu蛋白,为其功能及免疫学研究奠定基础。方法：PCR扩增Vpu基因,纯化、酶切后克隆到原核表达载体pET32a中,转化大肠杆菌BL21（DE3）菌株获得表达工程菌株,IPTG诱导蛋白表达,免疫印迹鉴定目的蛋白,亲和层析纯化蛋白。结果：构建了HIV-1Vpu蛋白的原核表达载体Vpu-pET32a,并在大肠杆菌中高效表达,目的蛋白呈可溶性形式存在,免疫印迹检测显示为目的蛋白,经Ni—NTAAgarose纯化获得了高纯度的目的蛋白。结论：在原核表达系统中表达了可溶性HIV-1Vpu蛋白,为进一步进行HIV-1Vpu蛋白的免疫原性和功能研究奠定了基础。     

脐带血造血干/祖细胞体外分化为不同阶段红系祖细胞的动力学观察

目的:探讨体外培养脐带血单个核细胞定向诱导分化为不同阶段红系祖细胞的动力学变化情况。方法:用0.5%甲基纤维素沉降脐带血红细胞及人淋巴细胞分离液密度梯度离心法得到单个核细胞,在含EPO、SCF、IGF-1等细胞因子的无血清培养体系中诱导其定向分化为红系祖细胞,观察细胞增殖、存活率、细胞集落形成情况,并检测不同阶段细胞红系特异性表面标志CD71和CD235a的表达。结果:随着培养时间的延长,细胞数逐渐增多,14 d细胞可扩增140倍左右,收集诱导后的细胞进行瑞氏吉姆萨染色,可见大量红系祖细胞,诱导后的细胞集落形成能力强,形成的克隆大部分为红系集落。诱导过程中,14 d前CD71、CD235a的表达逐渐增高。按细胞表面标志表达的不同可将诱导的细胞分为4群,分别对应红系祖细胞的不同阶段;随着诱导天数的增加,各时间点细胞对应的早期红系祖细胞群(P2、P3)比例逐渐下降,中晚期红系祖细胞群(P4、P5)的比例逐渐上升。结论:无血清培养基添加细胞因子组合的红系诱导培养体系可较好地诱导扩增红系祖细胞,流式分选可获得相对均一而处于不同分化阶段的红系祖细胞群体。获得了红系祖细胞体外分化的动力学数据,为今后进一步优化红系诱导分化体系获得均一的红系祖细胞奠定了基础,并对未来利用干细胞制备均一的红系祖细胞应用于临床治疗有一定的指导作用。     

Concurrent exposure to a dectin-1 agonist suppresses the Th2 response to epicutaneously introduced antigen in mice

Background

Epicutaneous sensitization with protein allergen that induces predominant Th2 responses is an important sensitization route in atopic dermatitis. Fungal components have been shown to modulate Th cell differentiation. However, the effects of fungal components on epicutaneous sensitization are unclear.

Results

In this study, we showed that co-administration of curdlan, a dectin-1 agonist, during epicutaneous ovalbumin sensitization of BALB/c mice decreased the IL-5 and IL-13 levels in supernatants of lymph node cell ovalbumin reactivation cultures. Mechanistically, curdlan co-administration decreased IL-4 and IL-1β expressions in draining lymph nodes. Curdlan co-administration also lower the migration of langerin⁺ CD103^- epidermal Langerhans cells into draining lymph nodes at 96 hours post-sensitization which might be attributed to decreased expressions of IL-18 and IL-1β in patched skin. Moreover, adoptive transfer of CFSE-labeled transgenic CD4 T cells confirmed that curdlan co-administration decreased the proliferation and IL-4-production of ovalbumin -specific T cells primed by epidermal Langerhans cells.

Conclusions

These results indicated that concurrent exposure to a dectin-1 agonist suppresses the epicutaneously induced Th2 response by modulating the cytokine expression profiles in draining LNs and the migration of epidermal Langerhans cells. These results highlight the effects of fungal components on epicutaneous allergen sensitization in atopic diseases.     

Temperature-related effects of treatments with jasmonic and salicylic acids on Arabidopsis infected with cucumber mosaic virus

Plant-virus interactions are affected by environmental factors, including temperature. Plant defenses are often inhibited by high or low temperature. In this study, oxidative damage and gene expression were detected in Arabidopsis thaliana infected with cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) at different temperatures. Before virus inoculation, plants were treated with jasmonic acid (JA) and salicylic acid (SA), both of which are important signaling molecules in plant defense responses. The levels of MDA and hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), and electrolyte leakage were significantly higher in CMV-infected leaves at 15 and 37°C. The accumulation of H₂O₂ and superoxide radical (O ₂ ^·? ) was obviously suppressed by spraying with JA followed by SA (JA → SA) at different temperatures. The CMV-CP expression analysis showed that virus replication was inhibited efficiently in the (JA → SA) treatment. Therefore, many JA- and SA-responsible resistance genes were quantified; MPK4 was expressed highly and steadily in the (JA → SA) treatment. To further confirm the role of MPK4, the CMV-CP gene expression was evaluated in wild-type Arabidopsis and its mpk4 mutant infected with CMV. The results suggested that MPK4 might play an important role in the antagonism between JA and SA at temperature fluctuation.     

MicroRNA-409-3p inhibits migration and invasion of bladder cancer cells via targeting c-Met

There is increasing evidence suggesting that dysregulation of certain microRNAs (miRNAs) may contribute to tumor progression and metastasis. Previous studies have shown that miR-409-3p is dysregulated in some malignancies, but its role in bladder cancer is still unknown. Here, we find that miR-409-3p is down-regulated in human bladder cancer tissues and cell lines. Enforced expression of miR-409-3p in bladder cancer cells significantly reduced their migration and invasion without affecting cell viability. Bioinformatics analysis identified the pro-metastatic gene c-Met as a potential miR-409-3p target. Further studies indicated that miR-409-3p suppressed the expression of c-Met by binding to its 3′-untranslated region. Silencing of c-Met by small interfering RNAs phenocopied the effects of miR-409-3p overexpression, whereas restoration of c-Met in bladder cancer cells bladder cancer cells overexpressing miR-409-3p, partially reversed the suppressive effects of miR-409-3p. We further showed that MMP2 and MMP9 may be downstream effector proteins of miR-409-3p. These findings indicate that miR-409-3p could be a potential tumor suppressor in bladder cancer.     

Amygdala opioid receptors mediate the electroacupuncture-induced deterioration of sleep disruptions in epilepsy rats

Background

Clinical and experimental evidence demonstrates that sleep and epilepsy reciprocally affect each other. Previous studies indicated that epilepsy alters sleep homeostasis; in contrast, sleep disturbance deteriorates epilepsy. If a therapy possesses both epilepsy suppression and sleep improvement, it would be the priority choice for seizure control. Effects of acupuncture of Feng-Chi (GB20) acupoints on epilepsy suppression and insomnia treatment have been documented in the ancient Chinese literature, Lingshu Jing (Classic of the Miraculous Pivot). Therefore, this study was designed to investigate the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) stimulation of bilateral Feng-Chi acupoints on sleep disruptions in rats with focal epilepsy.

Results

Our result indicates that administration of pilocarpine into the left central nucleus of amygdala (CeA) induced focal epilepsy and decreased both rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and non-REM (NREM) sleep. High-frequency (100 Hz) EA stimulation of bilateral Feng-Chi acupoints, in which a 30-min EA stimulation was performed before the dark period of the light:dark cycle in three consecutive days, further deteriorated pilocarpine-induced sleep disruptions. The EA-induced exacerbation of sleep disruption was blocked by microinjection of naloxone, μ- (naloxonazine), κ- (nor-binaltorphimine) or δ-receptor antagonists (natrindole) into the CeA, suggesting the involvement of amygdaloid opioid receptors.

Conclusion

The present study suggests that high-frequency (100 Hz) EA stimulation of bilateral Feng-Chi acupoints exhibits no benefit in improving pilocarpine-induced sleep disruptions; in contrast, EA further deteriorated sleep disturbances. Opioid receptors in the CeA mediated EA-induced exacerbation of sleep disruptions in epileptic rats.     

Determination of material parameters of the two-dimensional Holzapfel–Weizsäcker type model based on uniaxial extension data of arterial walls

Soft tissues are anisotropic materials yet a majority of mechanical property tests have been uniaxial, which often failed to recapitulate the tensile response in other directions. This paper aims to study the feasibility of determining material parameters of anisotropic tissues by uniaxial extension with a minimal loss of anisotropic information. We assumed that by preselecting a certain constitutive model, we could give the constitutive parameters based on uniaxial extension data from orthogonal strip samples. In our study, the Holzapfel–Weizsäcker type strain energy density function (H–W model) was used to determine the material parameters of arterial walls from two fresh donation bodies. The key points we applied were the relationships between strain components in uniaxial tensile tests and the methods of stochastic optimisation. Further numerical experiments were taken. The estimate–effect ratio, defined by the number of data with the precision of estimation less than 0.5% over whole size of data, was calculated to demonstrate the feasibility of our method. The material parameters for Chinese aorta and pulmonary artery were given with the maximum root mean square (RMS) errors 0.042, and the minimal estimate–effect ratio in numerical experiments was 90.79%. Our results suggest that the constitutive parameters of arterial walls can be determined from uniaxial extension data, given the passive mechanical behaviour governed by H–W model. This method may apply to other tissues using different constitutive models.