Mouse oocytes derived from fetal germ cells are competent to support the development of embryos by in vitro fertilization

Mouse oocyte development in vitro has been studied in the past several years, but no evidence showed that the fertilizable oocytes could be obtained from the fetal mouse germ cells before the formation of the primordial follicles. In this study, an efficient and simple method has been established to obtain the mature oocytes from the fetal mouse germ cells at 16.5 days post-coitum (dpc). For the initial of follicular formation, fetal mouse 16.5 dpc ovaries were transplanted to the recipient under the kidney capsule, and the ovaries were recovered after 14 days. Subsequently, the growing preantral follicles in the ovarian grafts were isolated and cultured in vitro for 12 days. Practically, the mature oocytes ovulated from the antral follicles were able to be fertilized in vitro and support the embryonic development. The results demonstrate that the fetal mouse 16.5 dpc germ cells are able to form primordial follicles with the ovarian pregranulosa cells during the period of transplantation in the ectopic site, and the oocytes within the growing follicles are able to mature in vitro, then are able to support the embryonic development.     

A novel bacterium associated with lymphadenitis in a patient with chronic granulomatous disease

Chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) is a rare inherited disease of the phagocyte NADPH oxidase system causing defective production of toxic oxygen metabolites, impaired bacterial and fungal killing, and recurrent life-threatening infections. We identified a novel gram-negative rod in excised lymph nodes from a patient with CGD. Gram-negative rods grew on charcoal-yeast extract, but conventional tests could not identify it. The best 50 matches of the 16S rRNA (using BLAST) were all members of the family Acetobacteraceae, with the closest match being Gluconobacter sacchari. Patient serum showed specific band recognition in whole lysate immunoblot. We used mouse models of CGD to determine whether this organism was a genuine CGD pathogen. Intraperitoneal injection of gp91(phox -/-) (X-linked) and p47 (phox -/-) (autosomal recessive) mice with this bacterium led to larger burdens of organism recovered from knockout compared with wild-type mice. Knockout mouse lymph nodes had histopathology that was similar to that seen in our patient. We recovered organisms with 16S rRNA sequence identical to the patient's original isolate from the infected mice. We identified a novel gram-negative rod from a patient with CGD. To confirm its pathogenicity, we demonstrated specific immune reaction by high titer antibody, showed that it was able to cause similar disease when introduced into CGD, but not wild-type mice, and we recovered the same organism from pathologic lesions in these mice. Therefore, we have fulfilled Koch's postulates for a new pathogen. This is the first reported case of invasive human disease caused by any of the Acetobacteraceae. Polyphasic taxonomic analysis shows this organism to be a new genus and species for which we propose the name Granulobacter bethesdensis.     

Allosteric inhibitors of Bcr-abl-dependent cell proliferation

Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) is a myeloproliferative disorder characterized at the molecular level by the expression of Bcr-abl, a 210-kDa fusion protein with deregulated tyrosine kinase activity. Encouraged by the clinical validation of Bcr-abl as the target for the treatment of CML by imatinib, we sought to identify pharmacological agents that could target this kinase by a distinct mechanism. We report the discovery of a new class of Bcr-abl inhibitors using an unbiased differential cytotoxicity screen of a combinatorial kinase-directed heterocycle library. Compounds in this class (exemplified by GNF-2) show exclusive antiproliferative activity toward Bcr-abl-transformed cells, with potencies similar to imatinib, while showing no inhibition of the kinase activity of full-length or catalytic domain of c-abl. We propose that this new class of compounds inhibits Bcr-abl kinase activity through an allosteric non-ATP competitive mechanism.     

Chemical fingerprint analysis of rhizomes of Gymnadenia conopsea by HPLC-DAD-MSn

A high-performance liquid chromatography-diode array detection-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-DAD-MS(n)) method has been firstly developed for chemical fingerprint analysis of rhizomes of Gymnadenia conopsea R. Br. and rapid identification of major compounds in the fingerprints. Comparing the UV and MS spectra with those of reference compounds, seven main peaks in the fingerprints were identified as adenosine (1), 4-hydroxybenzyl alcohol (2), 4-hydroxybenzyl aldehyde (3), dactylorhin B (4), loroglossin (5), dactylorhin A (6) and militarine (7). Compounds 4-7 were succinate derivative esters and firstly discovered from this species. The Computer Aided Similarity Evaluation System (CASES) for chromatographic fingerprint of traditional Chinese medicine was employed to evaluate the similarities of 10 samples of the rhizomes of G. conopsea collected from Sichuan, Qinghai and Hebei provinces, Tibet autonomous region of China, and Nepal. These samples from different sources had similar chemical fingerprints. This method is specific and may serve for quality identification and comprehensive evaluation of this traditional Tibetan remedy.     

Sensitive HPLC-APCI-MS method for the determination of cyclovirobuxine D in human plasma

A sensitive high performance liquid chromatography-atmospheric pressure chemical ionisation-mass spectrometry (HPLC-APCI-MS) assay for determination of cyclovirobuxine D (CVB-D) in human plasma using mirtazapine as internal standard (I.S.) was established. After adjustment to a basic pH with sodium hydroxide, plasma was extracted by ethyl acetate and separated by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) on a reversed-phase C(18) column with a mobile phase of 30 mM ammonium acetate buffer solution containing 1% formic acid-methanol (48:52, v/v). CVB-D was determined with atmospheric pressure chemical ionisation-mass spectrometry (APCI-MS). HPLC-APCI-MS was performed in the selected-ion monitoring (SIM) mode using target ions at [M+H](+)m/z 403.4 for CVB-D and [M+H](+)m/z 266.2 for I.S. Calibration curves were linear over the range 10.11-4044 pg/ml. The lower limit of quantification was 10.11 pg/ml. The intra- and inter-run variability values were less than 9.5 and 12.4%, respectively. The mean plasma extraction recovery of CVB-D was in the range of 85.3-92.8%. The method was successfully applied to determine the plasma concentrations of CVB-D in Chinese volunteers.     

Proteome analysis of up-regulated proteins in the rat spinal cord induced by transection injury

The inability of the CNS to regenerate in adult mammals propels us to reveal associated proteins involved in the injured CNS. In this paper, either thoracic laminectomy (as sham control) or thoracic spinal cord transection was performed on male adult rats. Five days after surgery, the whole spinal cord tissue was dissected and fractionated into water-soluble (dissolved in Tris buffer) and water-insoluble (dissolved in a solution containing chaotropes and surfactants) portions for 2-DE. Protein identification was performed by MS and further confirmed by Western blot. As a result, over 30 protein spots in the injured spinal cord were shown to be up-regulated no less than 1.5-fold. These identified proteins possibly play various roles during the injury and repair process and may be functionally categorized as several different groups, such as stress-responsive and metabolic changes, lipid and protein degeneration, neural survival and regeneration. In particular, over-expression of 11-zinc finger protein and glypican may be responsible for the inhibition of axonal growth and regeneration. Moreover, three unknown proteins with novel sequences were found to be up-regulated by spinal cord injury. Further characterization of these molecules may help us come closer to understanding the mechanisms that underlie the inability of the adult CNS to regenerate.     

High cell density and high expression of recombinant human ApoA-IMilano in Escherichia coli by twice temperature-shifted induction

The effect of temperature on the formation of recombinant protein, apolipoprotein A-I_Milano was investigated in the present study. The temperature of the initial growth phase was set at 30°C, while temperature variation in induction phase was arranged in three modes. High cell-density culture of Escherichia coli and high expression of recombinant human by twice temperature-shifted induction were carried out. Experimental results showed that ApoA-I_Milano reached 4.8 g/L with the final cell density of OD₆₀₀, 150. It was found that twice temperature-shifted induction could successfully avoid the effect of acetic acid on cell density and the expression of the product. The present study provides a basic procedure for the production of recombinant ApoA-I_Milano.     

类风湿关节炎与白细胞介素-18 的研究进展

类风湿关节炎发病机制不明,许多细胞因子参与了RA的发病机制。近年发现,白细胞介素-18可作用于RA发病的多个参与因素,成为研究RA的新热点。