Telomere and telomerase in oncology

Telomere and cell replicative senescenceTelomeres, which are located at the end of chro-mosome, are crucial to protect chromosome againstdegeneration, rearrangment and end to end fusion[1].Human telomeres are tandemly repeated units of thehexanucleotide TTAGGG. The estimated length oftelomeric DNA varies from 2 to 20 kilo base pairs,depending on factors such as tissue type and hu-man age. The buck of telomeric DNA is double-stranded, but the end of telomeric DNA consists of3' overhang of…     

Gut microbiota composition is associated with environmental landscape in honey bees

There is growing recognition that the gut microbial community regulates a wide variety of important functions in its animal hosts, including host health. However, the complex interactions between gut microbes and environment are still unclear. Honey bees are ecologically and economically important pollinators that host a core gut microbial community that is thought to be constant across populations. Here, we examined whether the composition of the gut microbial community of honey bees is affected by the environmental landscape the bees are exposed to. We placed honey bee colonies reared under identical conditions in two main landscape types for 6 weeks: either oilseed rape farmland or agricultural farmland distant to fields of flowering oilseed rape. The gut bacterial communities of adult bees from the colonies were then characterized and compared based on amplicon sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. While previous studies have delineated a characteristic core set of bacteria inhabiting the honey bee gut, our results suggest that the broad environment that bees are exposed to has some influence on the relative abundance of some members of that microbial community. This includes known dominant taxa thought to have functions in nutrition and health. Our results provide evidence for an influence of landscape exposure on honey bee microbial community and highlight the potential effect of exposure to different environmental parameters, such as forage type and neonicotinoid pesticides, on key honey bee gut bacteria. This work emphasizes the complexity of the relationship between the host, its gut bacteria, and the environment and identifies target microbial taxa for functional analyses.     

GC-MS法分析甘肃和青海蕨麻中的脂肪酸成分

为了研究蕨麻的化学成分以更好地利用蕨蔴资源,采用索氏提取法提取了青海和甘肃两个地区产的蕨麻中的脂溶性成分,利用气相色谱-质谱联用(GC-MS)对蕨麻中的脂肪酸成分进行分析。结果表明,来自甘肃产地的蕨麻含有11种脂肪酸,青海地区产的蕨麻含有7种脂肪酸,二者的共同成分有7种;甘肃产蕨麻中硬脂酸含量最高,辛烷含量最低;青海产蕨麻中邻苯二酚含量最高,棕榈酸含量最低。表明不同产地的蕨麻所含脂肪酸种类和脂肪酸含量均存在差异。     

Association of multiple drug resistance-1 gene polymorphism with multiple drug resistance in breast cancer patients from an ethnic Saudi Arabian population

Chemotherapy has been used widely to treat cancer, both as a systemic therapy and as a local treatment. Unfortunately, many types of cancer are still refractory to chemotherapy. The mechanisms of anticancer drug resistance have been extensively explored but have not been fully characterized. This study analyzed the occurrences of polymorphism (SNP) in the MDR1 gene in breast cancer patients and determined a possible association with chemotherapy. The study group included one hundred breast carcinoma patients who subsequently received chemotherapy (the regimen generally consisted of commonly used drugs such as cyclophosphamide, adriamycin, 5-fluorouracil, docetaxel and their combinations). Blood samples from 100 healthy individuals are used, as controls were also genotyped for the MDR1 gene. This investigation revealed a significant correlation with response to various regimens of chemotherapy showing a low response to therapy with the CT/TT genotype at (exon 12) 1236 codon (p < 0.001). These findings demonstrate, for the first time, that the polymorphisms in (exon 12) 1236 codon of the MDR1 gene greatly influence the drug response in patients from the Arab population of Saudi Arabia.     

Dimerization of an aptamer generated from Ligand-guided selection (LIGS) yields a high affinity scaffold against B-cells

Nucleic Acid Aptamers (NAAs) are a class of synthetic DNA or RNA molecules that bind specifically to their target. We recently introduced an aptamer termed R1.2 against membrane Immunoglobulin M (mIgM) expressing B-cell neoplasms using Ligand Guided Selection (LIGS). While LIGS-generated aptamers are highly specific, their lower affinity prevents aptamers from being used for translational applications. Highly specific aptamers with higher affinity can increase targetability, boosting the application of aptamers as diagnostic and therapeutic molecules. Herein, we report that dimerization of R1.2, an aptamer generated from LIGS, leads to high affinity variants without compromising the specificity. Three dimeric aptamer analogues with variable linker lengths were designed to evaluate the effect of linker length in affinity. The optimized dimeric R1.2 against cultured B-cell neoplasms, four donor B-cell samples and mIgM-positive Waldenström's Macroglobulinemia (WM) showed specificity. Furthermore, confocal imaging of dimeric aptamer and anti-IgM antibody in purified B-cells suggests co-localization. Binding assays against IgM knockout Burkitt's Lymphoma cells utilizing CRISPR/Cas9 further validated specificity of dimeric R1.2. Collectively, our findings show that LIGS-generated aptamers can be re-engineered into dimeric aptamers with high specificity and affinity, demonstrating wide-range of applicability of LIGS in developing clinically practical diagnostic and therapeutic aptamers.     

Effect of anticancer drugs on the release of interleukin-6 in vitro

Summary This study investigates the effects of anticancer drugs and immunomodulating agents on the release of interleukin-6 (IL-6) from lipopolysaccharide-stimulated human peripheral blood mononuclear leucocytes in vitro. The addition of non-cytotoxic concentrations of Adriamycin (doxorubicin), vincristine and 4-OOH-cyclophosphamide (the in vitro active analogue of cyclophosphamide) resulted in suppression of IL-6 release. The drugs bleomycin, FK156 [d-lactoyl-l-alanyl--d-glutamyl-(l)-meso-diaminopimelyl-(l)-glycine], FK565 [heptanoyl--d-glutamyl-(l)-meso-diaminopimelyl-(d)-alanine] and the immunosuppressive agent cyclosporin A did not alter the release of IL-6 in the same experimental system.     

Identification and characterization of functional intermediates of stem bromelain during urea and guanidine hydrochloride unfolding

By comparing changes in enzyme activity with changes in spectral features for stem bromelain (EC.3.4.22.32) in the absence and presence of urea, Guanidine hydrochloride and ethanol; four intermediate states could be identified: two activity-enhanced state obtained in the presence of 5 M urea and 2 M GnHCl, termed X and X', respectively, and a third, similarly active state closely resembling the native protein in the presence of 8-9 M urea, termed Y. The enhanced activity of these states is due to local conformational changes accompanied by increased dynamics in the active site. Further, the enzyme does not lose its activity after substantial tertiary structure changes in 8-9 M urea (Y state), suggesting that active site containing domain is more resistant to chemical denaturation than the other structural domain. This makes stem bromelain and in general cysteine proteases an exception to the hypothesis that active site is the most labile part of enzyme.     

艾草和窃衣挥发物的提取鉴定及其对烟粉虱MED隐种成虫选择性的影响

[目的]在前期研究中,我们发现艾草Artemisia argyi和窃衣Torilis scabra都有吸引或驱避昆虫的作用.然而还未见有研究报道艾草和窃衣以及它们的挥发物对烟粉虱Bemisia tabaci MED隐种成虫的作用.本研究旨在检测能否利用艾草和窃衣及其挥发物对烟粉虱MED隐种成虫实施绿色防控.[方法]通过...     

黄檗的胚胎学研究

黄檗(PhellodendronamurenseRupr.)为雌雄异株植物,雌花中有退化的雄蕊原基,雄花中有退化的心皮。黄檗花药壁发育为基本型。腺质绒毡层,细胞双核或多核。小孢子母细胞减数分裂为同时型。小孢子四分体为四面体型排列,成熟花粉有2-细胞和3-细胞型2种。子房5室,中轴胎座、倒生胚珠、具珠柄珠孔塞、双珠被、厚珠心和多孢原细胞。大孢子四分体为直线型、少数为“T”型排列,合点端的一个为功能性大孢子。蓼型胚囊,双受精属于有丝分裂前配子融合类型。胚的发育为藜型,核型胚乳。后期胚乳组织外层形成“次生胚乳”,原胚乳细胞逐渐退化解体。     

邻苯二甲酸二丁酯(DBP)胁迫对三疣梭子蟹亚急性毒性

研究不同浓度邻苯二甲酸二丁酯(DBP)对三疣梭子蟹相关酶活的影响及组织损伤。设置了三个处理浓度(0.03 mg/L、0.2 mg/L和0.4 mg/L)分别在第0、5、10、15、20 d进行取样。结果表明,随着DBP浓度的增大,三疣梭子蟹死亡率升高。在0.03 mg/L浓度组胁迫下,血清超氧化物歧化酶(SOD)、过氧化氢酶(CAT)和碱性磷酸酶(AKP)活性呈现升高-下降交替波动,过氧化物酶(POD)活性在第10 d低于对照组(P<0.05),其余时间与对照组持平,酸性磷酸酶(ACP)活性在第5 d较对照组显著升高(P<0.05),此后一直保持对照组水平;在0.2 mg/L浓度组胁迫下,血清SOD活性呈现先升高后下降的趋势,POD活性变化不明显,CAT活性先下降后升高,此后恢复到对照组水平,ACP活性在第15 d出现最高值,其余时间与对照组持平,AKP活性呈现先升高后恢复的波动趋势;0.4 mg/L浓度组SOD、CAT和AKP活性呈现先升高后下降的趋势,POD活性和ACP活性在第20 d较对照组低(P<0.05),其余时间与对照组持平。组织切片观察可见,DBP胁迫损伤了三疣梭子蟹肝胰腺和鳃组织,DBP浓度越大,胁迫时间越长,损伤越明显。