Fluorescent labeling for clonal selection of Marc 145 cells secreting high levels of recombinant protein PBD-1

Despite the powerful impact gene expression markers like the green fluorescent protein (GFP) or enhanced GFP (EGFP) exert on linking the expression of recombinant protein for selection of high producers in recent years, there is still a strong incentive to develop more economical and efficient methods for isolating mammalian cell clones secreting high levels of recombinant proteins. Here we present a new method based on the co-expression of EGFP that allows clonal selection in standard 96-well cell culture plates. The genes encoding the EGFP protein and the related protein are linked by an internal ribosome entry site and thus are transcribed into the same mRNA in an independent translation process. Since both proteins arise from a common mRNA, the EGFP expression level correlates with the expression level of the therapeutic protein in each clone. By expressing recombinant porcine β-defensin 1 in Marc 145 cells, we demonstrate the robustness and performance of this technique. The method can be served as an alternative to identify high-producer clones with various cell sorting methods.     

Effects of thymic polypeptides on the thymopoiesis of mouse embryonic stem cells

The thymus provides a unique cellular and hormonic microenvironment for the development of immunocompetent T cells. Thymic polypeptides have been widely used clinically for the treatment of tumors, infectious diseases and immune deficiency diseases. They have already shown the ability to stimulate the maturation of hematopoietic stem cells towards the CD3+CD4+ T cell lineage. However, their effects on the thymopoiesis of embryonic stem cells are still unexplored. In this paper, we compared the effects of three thymic polypeptides, thymopentin (TP5), thymosin alpha-1 (Talpha-1) and thymopeptides on the in vitro thymopoiesis of mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells. Using the embryoid body induction system, we found that both Talpha-1 and thymopeptides effectively induced ES cells to differentiate sequentially into the CD3+ and CD4+/CD8+ T cells. These T cells had T cell receptor (TCR) Vbeta gene rearrangement and most were TCRalphabeta T cells. We also found that the expression of the Notch receptor and its ligands Delta-like-1 and Delta-like-4 gradually increased during the induction. However, TP5 failed to induce the T cell differentiation of the ES cells. In summary, this is the first report to demonstrate that Talpha-1 can stimulate the T cell early stage differentiation from ES cells using the embryoid body protocol. These findings provide a powerful model for studying T cell development and may open new venues for the clinical application of Talpha-1.     

Serum miR-128-2 Serves as a Prognostic Marker for Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Circulating miRNAs are promising biomarkers for predicting the aggressiveness of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We aimed to identify differentially expressed miRNAs in the serum of HCC patients with different Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage, and to investigate the potential of serum miRNAs as biomarkers for patient outcomes. In the discovery stage, TaqMan Low-Density Array was used to test the difference in levels of serum miRNAs between 20 patients with portal vein tumor thrombosis (PVTT) and 20 patients without PVTT. The detected serum miRNAs then were validated in 182 patients. Fifteen serum miRNAs showed more than two-fold higher expression in patients with PVTT, and miR-128-2 was found to be significantly up-regulated and was selected for further validation. In the validation stage, patients were divided into two groups with low or high serum miR-128-2 using the median expression level of all 182 cases as the cut-off point. Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed that patients with low level of serum miR-128-2 had favorable trends of survival (log rank = 13.031, p < 0.001). The median survivals for patients with a low and high level of serum miR-128-2 were 625 (95% CI, 527–722) days and 426 (95% CI, 362–491) days, respectively. MiR-128-2 was also an independent factor of overall survival (p = 0.001, HR 2.793, 95%CI 1.550, 5.033). Serum levels of the ubiquitously expressed miR-128-2 showed no significant correlation with parameters of liver damage or liver function. In addition, expressions of miR-128-2 in HCC tissues were up-regulated in comparison with adjacent non-tumor tissues. In conclusion, serum level of miR-128-2 serves as a noninvasive biomarker for the overall survival of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.     

Comparative proteomics analysis of silkworm hemolymph during the stages of metamorphosis via liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry

The silkworm is a lepidopteran insect that has an open circulatory system with hemolymph consisting of blood and lymph fluid. Hemolymph is not only considered as a depository of nutrients and energy, but it also plays a key role in substance transportation, immunity response, and proteolysis. In this study, we used LC‐MS/MS to analyze the hemolymph proteins of four developmental stages during metamorphosis. A total of 728 proteins were identified from the hemolymph of the second day of wandering stage, first day of pupation, ninth day of pupation, and first day as an adult moth. GO annotations and categories showed that silkworm hemolymph proteins were enriched in carbohydrate metabolism, proteolysis, protein binding, and antibacterial humoral response. The levels of nutrient, immunity‐related, and structural proteins changed significantly during development and metamorphosis. Some, such as cuticle, odorant‐binding, and chemosensory proteins, showed stage‐specific expression in the hemolymph. In addition, the expression of several antimicrobial peptides exhibited their highest level of abundance in the hemolymph of the early pupal stage. These findings provide a comprehensive proteomic insight of the silkworm hemolymph and suggest additional molecular targets for studying insect metamorphosis.     

N-Acetylcysteine ameliorates lipopolysaccharide-induced organ damage in conscious rats

Lipopolysaccharide is strongly associated with septic shock, leading to multiple organ failure. It can activate monocytes and macrophages to release proinflammatory mediators such as tumor necrosis factor- (TNF-), interleukin-1 (IL-1), and nitric oxide (NO). The present experiments were designed to induce endotoxin shock by an intravenous injection ofKlebsiella pneumoniae lipopolysaccharide (LPS, 10 mg/kg) in conscious rats. Arterial pressure and heart rate (HR) were continuously monitored for 48 h after LPS administration. N-Acetyl-cysteine was used to study its effects on organ damage. Biochemical substances were measured to reflect organ functions. Biochemical factors included blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine (Cre), lactic dehydrogenase (LDH), creatine phosphokinase (CPK), aspartate transferase (GOT), alanine transferase (GPT), TNF-, IL-1, methyl guanidine (MG), and nitrites/nitrates. LPS caused significant increases in blood BUN, Cre, LDH, CPK, GOT, GPT, TNF-, IL-1, MG levels, and HR, as well as a decrease in mean arterial pressure and an elevation of nitrites/nitrates. N-Acetylcysteine suppressed the release of TNF-, IL-1, and MG, but enhanced NO production. These actions ameliorate LPS-induced organ damage in conscious rats. The beneficial effects may suggest a potential chemopreventive effect of this compound in sepsis prevention and treatment.     

Soluble expression, purification and functional identification of a disulfide-rich conotoxin derived from Conus litteratus

Conotoxins are a diverse array of small peptides mostly with multiple disulfide bridges. These peptides become an increasing significant source of neuro-pharmacological probes and drugs as a result of the high selectivity for ion channels and receptors. Usually, the analogue of natural conotoxins is produced by means of chemical synthesis. Here, we present a simple and fast strategy of producing disulfide-rich conotoxins via recombinant expression. By fused with thioredoxin and His tag, a novel O-superfamily conotoxin lt7a was successfully expressed in Escherichia coli and purified, resulting in a high yield of recombinant lt7a about 6 mg/l. The purity of target protein is up to 95% as identified by HPLC results. Whole cell patch-clamp recording revealed that the new conotoxin blocked voltage-sensitive sodium channels in rat dorsal root ganglion neurons, indicating it might be a novel microO-conotoxin.     

Functions of poly-gamma-glutamic acid (γ-PGA) degradation genes in γ-PGA synthesis and cell morphology maintenance

Poly-γ-glutamic acid (γ-PGA) is an important biopolymer with greatly potential in industrial and medical applications. In the present study, we constructed a metabolically engineered glutamate-independent Bacillus amyloliquefaciens LL3 strain with considerable γ-PGA production, which was carried out by single, double, and triple markerless deletions of three degradation genes pgdS, ggt, and cwlO. The highest γ-PGA production (7.12 g/L) was obtained from the pgdS and cwlO double-deletion strain NK-pc, which was 93 % higher than that of wild-type LL3 strain (3.69 g/L). The triple-gene-deletion strain NK-pgc showed a 28 % decrease in γ-PGA production, leading to a yield of 2.69 g/L. Furthermore, the cell morphologies of the mutant strains were also characterized. The cell length of cwlO deletion strains NK-c and NK-pc was shorter than that of the wild-type strain, while the ggt deletion strains NK-g, NK-pg, NK-gc, and NK-pgc showed longer cell lengths. This is the first report concerning the markerless deletion of γ-PGA degradation genes to improve γ-PGA production in a glutamate-independent strain and the first observation that γ-glutamyltranspeptidase (encoded by ggt) could be involved in the inhibition of cell elongation.     

覆膜方式对一膜两年覆盖旱地玉米籽粒产量、水分利用效率和土壤水分平衡的影响

以挖掘黄土高原半干旱区全膜双垄沟播玉米节本增效技术,探讨一膜两年覆盖系统土壤水分平衡为目标,通过大田定位试验,量化研究了一膜两年覆盖条件下,全膜沟垄作(F₁M)、全膜平作(F₂M)、半膜平作(F₃M)和不覆膜平作(F₄M,对照)玉米的产量、经济收益、水分利用效率和土壤水分平衡.结果表明: 2年全膜沟垄作、平作的生物产量较对照平均增加32.8%和32.9%,籽粒产量增加60.8%和51.7%,水分利用效率和降水利用效率平均增加59.8%、35.9%和87.6%、64.4%.新覆膜全膜沟垄作、平作属于高产高投模式,其总产值较对照增加51.0%、41.2%,产投比较对照降低15.1%和16.2%;一膜两年覆盖全膜沟垄作、平作属于节本增效型生产模式,其总产值较对照增加40.8%和42.2%,产投比增加40.3%和42.2%.在606.5 mm的低降水条件下,一膜两年覆盖全膜沟垄作、平作的总耗水量分别达731.3和746.8 mm,土壤水分亏缺分别达124.8和140.3 mm,较对照增加22.7%和38.0%.一膜两年覆盖使全膜沟垄作、平作休闲期土壤水耗水量较对照降低了28.6%和30.0%,休闲效率较对照增加178.9%、148.3%.这说明全膜沟垄作、平作具有明显的增产和提高水分利用效率的作用,该技术结合一膜两年覆盖技术能实现节本增效,但在推广应用时需考虑低降水条件下的土壤水分亏缺问题.     

初次卵裂时间是猪克隆胚胎发育潜能的重要标识

初次卵裂时间与哺乳动物胚胎发育潜能有关．比较了不同初次卵裂时间(20～24 h,早期;25～36 h,中期;37～48 h,晚期;20～48 h,对照)的猪孤雌(parthenogenetic,PA)、体细胞核移植(somatic cell nuclear transfer,SCNT)胚胎的囊胚发育率、扩张囊胚发育率和囊胚细胞数,评价其体外发育能力．发现早期卵裂的PA胚胎发育到第6天的囊胚发育率显著高于中期、晚期以及对照组(P < 0.05;54.0% vs. 19.6%,5.4%,18.7%)．扩张囊胚发育率,早裂胚胎同样优于其他组．早期卵裂的SCNT胚胎发育到第6天的囊胚比率高于中期卵裂胚胎(32.2% vs. 23.5%),而晚期卵裂胚胎发育到囊胚的比率最低(6.3%)．早期卵裂的SCNT胚胎发育到第6天的扩张囊胚比率显著高于其余各组 (P < 0.05;18.9% vs. 5.9%、3.1%、7.4%)．囊胚细胞数在早期、中期、晚期三组之间表现出下降趋势．将早期卵裂的SCNT胚胎与未经挑选的对照组胚胎分别进行移植,观察其体内发育能力．移植早裂SCNT胚胎的受体在产仔数和克隆效率上均明显高于未经挑选胚胎的受体(4.7 vs. 2.1;3.9% vs. 0.9%),说明早裂胚胎着床后具有更强的发育能力．以上结果表明：初次卵裂时间可以作为猪克隆胚胎发育潜能的重要标识,选择早裂的胚胎进行移植,有助于提高克隆效率．