Excess cholesterol inhibits glucose‐stimulated fusion pore dynamics in insulin exocytosis

Type 2 diabetes is caused by defects in both insulin sensitivity and insulin secretion. Glucose triggers insulin secretion by causing exocytosis of insulin granules from pancreatic β‐cells. High circulating cholesterol levels and a diminished capacity of serum to remove cholesterol from β‐cells are observed in diabetic individuals. Both of these effects can lead to cholesterol accumulation in β‐cells and contribute to β‐cell dysfunction. However, the molecular mechanisms by which cholesterol accumulation impairs β‐cell function remain largely unknown. Here, we used total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy to address, at the single‐granule level, the role of cholesterol in regulating fusion pore dynamics during insulin exocytosis. We focused particularly on the effects of cholesterol overload, which is relevant to type 2 diabetes. We show that excess cholesterol reduced the number of glucose‐stimulated fusion events, and modulated the proportion of full fusion and kiss‐and‐run fusion events. Analysis of single exocytic events revealed distinct fusion kinetics, with more clustered and compound exocytosis observed in cholesterol‐overloaded β‐cells. We provide evidence for the involvement of the GTPase dynamin, which is regulated in part by cholesterol‐induced phosphatidylinositol 4,5‐bisphosphate enrichment in the plasma membrane, in the switch between full fusion and kiss‐and‐run fusion. Characterization of insulin exocytosis offers insights into the role that elevated cholesterol may play in the development of type 2 diabetes.     

Complete genome sequence and pathogenic genes analysis of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pectobacterium atroseptica</Emphasis> JG10-08

Pectobacterium atroseptica is known as a rod-shaped gram-negative bacterial pathogen associated with the blackleg of potato. P. atroseptica has been widely identified as the predominant agent causing tuber rot in temperate regions, a disease that leads to severe economic losses to potato industry. In this study, we provide the complete genome sequence of P. atroseptica JG10-08, which revealed that P. atroseptica strain JG10-08 carries a single 5,004,926 bp chromosome with 51.15% G+C content and harbors 4252 predicted coding genes. Phylogenetic analysis based on the genome sequences showed a close evolutionary relationship between P. atroseptica and Pectobacterium wasabiae. We discovered total 168 genes were potentially related to pathogenesis including 9 strain-specific genes encoding toxins on the genome of JG10-08. Further comparison with other species in Pectobacterium revealed a better understanding of pathogenic factors, especially secretion systems in P. atroseptica JG10-08. Collectively, the results of this research provide a solid foundation for discovering the underlying pathogenic mechanisms of P. atroseptica and offer the information to develop more effective strategies against blackleg of potatoes.     

A new unconventional HLA-A2-restricted epitope from HBV core protein elicits antiviral cytotoxic T lymphocytes

Cytotoxic T cells (CTLs) play a key role in the control of Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and viral clearance. However, most of identified CTL epitopes are derived from HBV of genotypes A and D, and few have been defined in virus of genotypes B and C which are more prevalent in Asia. As HBV core protein (HBc) is the most conservative and immunogenic component, in this study we used an overlapping 9-mer peptide pool covering HBc to screen and identify specific CTL epitopes. An unconventional HLA-A2-restricted epitope HBc141–149 was discovered and structurally characterized by crystallization analysis. The immunogenicity and anti-HBV activity were further determined in HBV and HLAA2 transgenic mice. Finally, we show that mutations in HBc141–149 epitope are associated with viral parameters and disease progression in HBV infected patients. Our data therefore provide insights into the structure characteristics of this unconventional epitope binding to MHC-I molecules, as well as epitope specific CTL activity that orchestrate T cell response and immune evasion in HBV infected patients.     

Metabonomic and metallomic profiling in the amniotic fluid of malnourished pregnant rats

Epidemiology and studies in animal models have revealed that prenatal malnutrition is highly correlated with abnormal fetal neurodevelopment. We present here a combined metabonomic and metallomic profiling technique to associate the metabolic and trace-elemental composition variations of rat amniotic fluid (AF) in malnourished pregnant rats with the retardation of fetal rat neurodevelopment. The AF samples from three groups of pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats, which were fed either a normal diet, a low-protein diet, or "a famine diet", were subjected to GC/MS and ICP/MS combined with multivariate data analysis (MVDA). PCA scores plot of both GC/MS and ICP/MS data showed similar and unique metabolic signatures of AF in response to the different diets. Rats in the famine group released increased amounts of glycine, inositol, putrescine, and rubidium and decreased amounts of methionine, dopa, tryptophan, glutamine, zinc, cobalt, and selenium in the AF. These discriminable variations in the AF may indicate the abnormality of a number of metabolic pathways in fetal rats including the folate cycle and methionine pathway, the monoamine pathway, and tri-iodothyronine (T3) metabolism. The abnormalities may be the result of metabolites or elemental differences or a combination of both. This study demonstrates the potential of combining profiling of small-molecule metabolites and trace elements to broaden the understanding of biological variations associated with fetal neurodevelopment induced by environmental perturbation.     

小立碗藓冷驯化相关基因Pp-LIM only A的克隆与表达

植物经历冷驯化后抗冻能力会有所提高.利用cDNA-AFLP方法从经过0℃冷驯化处理的小立碗藓中筛选到差异表达的Pp-LIM only A基因片段.cDNA和基因序列比较分析表明此基因含有7个内含子和8个外显子,编码由345个氨基酸残基组成的蛋白质,其中只含有一个LIM结构域,与动物蛋白质PDZ/LIM家族有很高的同源性,推测是一种新的植物LIM蛋白.实时定量PCR分析显示其在冷驯化6 h后表达量即开始明显增加,并随着冷驯化时间的延长表达量大幅度提高.Pp-LIM only A蛋白可能通过LIM结构域对细胞骨架的作用而影响了细胞膜的稳定性,本研究对其在抗冻中的作用作了进一步讨论.     

APETALA1启动子驱动AtIPT4在转基因拟南芥中表达导致花和花器官发育异常

细胞分裂素对拟南芥（Arabidopsis thaliana）花分生组织细胞的分裂和分化具有重要作用。本研究利用APETALA1（AP1）特异启动子在花分生组织和第1、2轮花器官中表达细胞分裂素合成酶（isopentyl transferase,IPT）基因IPT4,研究细胞分裂素对花和花器官发育的影响。在pAP1∷IPT4转基因植株中出现了花密集和花器官数目增多等现象。原位杂交和GUS组织染色结果发现,在pAP1∷IPT4转基因植株中,花分生组织特征决定基因LEAFY（LFY）与花器官特征决定基因AP1、PISTILLATA（PI）和AGAMOUS（AG）的表达量均有不同程度的提高。研究结果表明在拟南芥中表达pAP1∷IPT4影响其花和花器官的正常发育。     

Assessment of the Quality of Reporting in Abstracts of Randomized Controlled Trials Published in Five Leading Chinese Medical Journals

Background

Clear, transparent and sufficiently detailed abstracts of randomized trials (RCTs), published in journal articles are important because readers will often base their initial assessment of a trial on such information. However, little is known about the quality of reporting in abstracts of RCTs published in medical journals in China.

Methods

We identified RCTs abstracts from 5 five leading Chinese medical journals published between 1998 and 2007 and indexed in MEDLINE. We assessed the quality of reporting of these abstracts based on the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) abstract checklist. We also sought to identify whether any differences exist in reporting between the Chinese and English language version of the same abstract.

Results

We identified 332 RCT abstracts eligible for examination. Overall, the abstracts we examined reported 0–8 items as designated in the CONSORT checklist. On average, three items were reported per abstract. Details of the interventions (288/332; 87%), the number of participants randomized (216/332; 65%) and study objectives (109/332; 33%) were the top three items reported. Only two RCT abstracts reported details of trial registration, no abstracts reported the method of allocation concealment and only one mentioned specifically who was blinded. In terms of the proportion of RCT abstracts fulfilling a criterion, the absolute difference (percentage points) between the Chinese and English abstracts was 10% (ranging from 0 to 25%) on average, per item.

Conclusions

The quality of reporting in abstracts of RCTs published in Chinese medical journals needs to be improved. We hope that the introduction and endorsement of the CONSORT for Abstracts guidelines by journals reporting RCTs will lead to improvements in the quality of reporting.     

Novel polymorphisms of goat growth hormone and growth hormone receptor genes and their effects on growth traits

In this study, the polymorphisms of growth hormone (GH) gene 5' promoter region and intron 8, exons 4 and 10 of growth hormone receptor (GHR) gene were analyzed in Xinong Saanen goats (SG) and Boer goats (BG). Two alleles (A and B) and three genotypes (AA, AB and BB) were detected at P1 locus of GH gene, and two alleles (G and T) and two genotypes (GG and GT) were detected at P4 locus of GHR gene by PCR-SSCP analysis. In addition, two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)-A73C (P1 locus) and G114T (P4 locus), were identified by DNA sequencing. The frequencies of alleles A and B in the two goat breeds were 0.61-0.62, and 0.39-0.38, respectively, and the frequencies of alleles G and T in the two goat breeds were 0.82-0.86, and 0.18-0.14, respectively. The SNP loci were in Hardy-Weinberg disequilibrium in both goat breeds (P<0.05). Polymorphisms of GH and GHR genes were shown to be associated with growth traits in BG breed. AA and GG genotypes were associated with superior growth traits in 1-, 2- and 3-month old individuals. Hence, AA and GG genotypes are suggested to be a molecular marker for superior growth traits in BG breed.     

毕赤酵母表达gp96-scFv抗体及生物活性测定

旨在利用毕赤酵母分泌表达gp96-scFv抗体,纯化后得到能特异性结合gp96抗原的小分子抗体片段(scFv)。根据gp96-scFv抗体基因序列,合成gp96-scFv抗体基因序列,将gp96-scFv抗体序列克隆到毕赤酵母表达质粒pPICZα-A,线性化的重组表达载体电转化到毕赤酵母X33,甲醇诱导目的蛋白表达,通过亲和层析法纯化目的蛋白,并以SDS-PAGE和Western blotting进行鉴定。通过Western blotting、Immunofluorescence、ELISA、FACS方法对gp96-scFv抗体的生物活性进行了检测。结果成功地构建了分泌表达抗gp96蛋白scFv抗体的毕赤酵母菌,每升毕赤酵母菌培养上清经纯化可获约50 mg gp96-scFv抗体,所获抗体其分子量大约为15 kDa,具有与gp96抗原特异性结合的活性。本研究通过毕赤酵母菌成功表达了gp96-scFv抗体,生物活性Western blotting、Immunofluorescence、ELISA、FACS分析表明该抗体能特异性结合gp96。