Pierisformotoxins A – D,Polyesterified Grayanane Diterpenoids from Pieris formosa and Their cAMP‐Decreasing Activities

Four highly acylated diterpenoids, designated as pierisformotoxins A–D ( 1 – 4 , resp.), along with 26 known compounds, were isolated from the flowers of Pieris formosa. Among them, pierisformotoxins A and B ( 1 and 2 , resp.) were new highly acylated grayanane diterpenoids, of which the five‐membered ring A has undergone an oxidative cleavage between C(3) and C(4), followed by lactonization, to give rise to a five‐membered lactone ring between C(3) and C(5), differing from the previously reported grayanane diterpenoids with a 5/7/6/5 ring system. Results of the cAMP‐regulation‐activity assay showed that pierisformotoxin C ( 3 ) at 10 μM (inhibitory ratio (IR): 10.1%) or 2 μM (9.8%), and pierisformotoxin B ( 2 ) at 50 μM (13.9%) significantly decreased the cAMP level in N1E‐115 neuroblastoma cells (p<0.05).     

Theoretical evaluation of flotation performance of carboxyl hydroxamic acids with different number of polar groups on the surfaces of diaspore (010) and kaolinite (001)

The adsorption behaviors of three carboxyl hydroxamic acids on diaspore (010) and kaolinite (001) have been studied by density functional theory (DFT) and molecular dynamics (MD) method. The results indicated that carboxyl hydroxamic acids could adsorb on diaspore surface by ionic bonds and hydrogen bonds, and adsorb on kaolinite surface by hydrogen bonds. The models of carboxyl hydroxamic acids adsorbed on diaspore and kaolinite surfaces are proposed.

Chemotaxis with directional sensing during Dictyostelium aggregation

We show that the chemotactic movements of colonies of the starving amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum are driven by a force that depends on both the direction of propagation (directional sensing) of reaction-diffusion chemotactic waves and on the gradient of the concentration of the chemoattractant, solving the chemotactic wave paradox. It is shown that the directional sensing of amoebae is due to the sensitivity of the cells to the time variation of the concentration of the chemoattractant combined with its spatial gradient. It is also shown that chemotaxis exclusively driven by local concentration gradient leads to unstable local motion, preventing cells from aggregation. These findings show that the formation of mounds, which initiate multicellularity in Dictyostelium discoideum, is caused by the sensitivity of the amoebae due to three factors, namely, to the direction of propagation of the chemoattractant, to its spatial gradient, and to the emergence of cAMP “emitting centres”, responsible for the local accumulation of the amoebae.     

一条新的柱层析纯化路径对HBsAg免疫原性的影响

摘要目的：建立一条新的毕赤酵母表达乙肝表面抗原（HepatitisBantigen,HBsAg）柱层析纯化方法,保持HBsAg结构完整性和提高免疫原性。方法：毕赤酵母发酵料液经过菌体破碎、聚乙二醇沉淀、疏水层析、超滤和凝胶分子筛精纯,收集HBsAg合格样品液适当稀释后加入铝佐荆吸附,制成乙肝疫苗半成品免疫BALB／c小鼠。结果：纯化产物经SDS-PAGE银染鉴定得单一条带,分子量在23kD左右,凝胶成像软件分析纯度超过95％;该纯化方法得到的HBsAg颗粒电镜观察得平均直径为22nm病毒样颗粒,结构较均一完整;自制疫苗免疫小鼠后,其血清抗体水平高于葛兰素史克生产的Engerix—B（安在时）,存在显著性差异（P〈0．05）。结论：通过该方法纯化的HBsAg结构完整性良好,疫苗免疫效果优于酵母表达的Engerix—B,纯化路径简单高效,易于放大用于工业化生产。     

乙醛脱氢酶2基因在毕赤酵母中的表达和分离纯化

将乙醛脱氢酶2（ALDH2）基因整合到质粒pPIC9K上,构建重组表达载体pPIC9K-coALDH2,用电转导将表达质粒pPIC9K-coALDH2转化至毕赤酵母GS115中,在毕赤酵母中表达经密码子改造的ALDH2。结果表明：重组基因工程菌GS115（pPIC9K-coALDH2）发酵液中蛋白质量浓度为8.40 mg/L,1 mL发酵液中酶活为11.35 mU。     

ScFKBP12 bridges rapamycin and AtTOR in Arabidopsis

FKBP12 encodes a prolyl isomerase and highly conserved in eukaryotic species. In yeasts and animals, FKBP12 can interact with rapamycin and FK506 to form rapamycin-FKBP12 and FK506-FKBP12 complex, respectively. In higher plants, FKBP12 protein lost its function to bind rapamycin and FK506. Early studies showed that yeast and human FKBP12 protein can restore the rapamycin sensitivity in Arabidopsis, but the used concentration is 100–1000 folds higher than that in yeast and animals. High concentration of drugs would increase the cost and cause the potential secondary effects on plant growth and development. Here we further discovered that BP12 plants generated in our previous study are hypersensitive to rapamycin at the concentration as low as that is effective in yeast and animals. It is surprising to observe that WT and BP12 plants are not sensitive to FK506 in normal growth condition. These findings advance the current understanding of rapamycin-TOR signaling in plants.     

Patterns of Proliferative Activity in the Colonic Crypt Determine Crypt Stability and Rates of Somatic Evolution

Epithelial cells in the colon are arranged in cylindrical structures called crypts in which cellular proliferation and migration are tightly regulated. We hypothesized that the proliferation patterns of cells may determine the stability of crypts as well as the rates of somatic evolution towards colorectal tumorigenesis. Here, we propose a linear process model of colonic epithelial cells that explicitly takes into account the proliferation kinetics of cells as a function of cell position within the crypt. Our results indicate that proliferation kinetics has significant influence on the speed of cell movement, kinetics of mutation propagation, and sensitivity of the system to selective effects of mutated cells. We found that, of all proliferation curves tested, those with mitotic activities concentrated near the stem cell, including the actual proliferation kinetics determined in in vivo labeling experiments, have a greater ability of delaying the rate of mutation accumulation in colonic stem cells compared to hypothetical proliferation curves with mitotic activities focused near the top of the crypt column. Our model can be used to investigate the dynamics of proliferation and mutation accumulation in spatially arranged tissues.     

Genetic Recombination Is Targeted towards Gene Promoter Regions in Dogs

The identification of the H3K4 trimethylase, PRDM9, as the gene responsible for recombination hotspot localization has provided considerable insight into the mechanisms by which recombination is initiated in mammals. However, uniquely amongst mammals, canids appear to lack a functional version of PRDM9 and may therefore provide a model for understanding recombination that occurs in the absence of PRDM9, and thus how PRDM9 functions to shape the recombination landscape. We have constructed a fine-scale genetic map from patterns of linkage disequilibrium assessed using high-throughput sequence data from 51 free-ranging dogs, Canis lupus familiaris. While broad-scale properties of recombination appear similar to other mammalian species, our fine-scale estimates indicate that canine highly elevated recombination rates are observed in the vicinity of CpG rich regions including gene promoter regions, but show little association with H3K4 trimethylation marks identified in spermatocytes. By comparison to genomic data from the Andean fox, Lycalopex culpaeus, we show that biased gene conversion is a plausible mechanism by which the high CpG content of the dog genome could have occurred.     

hOGG1 Ser326Cys Polymorphism and Risk of Hepatocellular Carcinoma among East Asians: A Meta-Analysis

Background

The hOGG1 gene encodes a DNA glycosylase enzyme responsible for DNA repair. The Ser326Cys polymorphism in this gene may influence its repair ability and thus plays a role in carcinogenesis. Several case-control studies have been conducted on this polymorphism and its relationship with the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) among East Asians. However, their results are inconsistent.

Methods

We performed a meta-analysis of published case-control studies assessing the association of the hOGG1 Ser326Cys polymorphism with HCC risk among East Asians. PubMed, EMBASE, SCI, BIOSIS, CNKI and WanFang databases were searched. A random-effect model was used to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs). Analyses were conducted for additive, dominant and recessive genetic models.

Results

Eight studies were identified involving 2369 cases and 2442 controls assessing the association of the hOGG1 Ser326Cys polymorphism with HCC risk among East Asians. Applying a dominant genetic model, only in the Chinese population, the Cys allele was significantly associated with increased risk of HCC (OR 1.56, 95% CI 1.12–2.17). However, two studies influenced this finding according to sensitivity analysis. Furthermore, considerable heterogeneity and bias existed among Chinese studies.

Conclusion

There is limited evidence to support that the hOGG1 Ser326Cys polymorphism is associated with HCC risk among East Asians. Well-designed and large-sized studies are required to determine this relationship.