Nanoscale mapping and organization analysis of target proteins on cancer cells from B-cell lymphoma patients

CD20, a membrane protein highly expressed on most B-cell lymphomas, is an effective target demonstrated in clinical practice for treating B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). Rituximab is a monoclonal antibody against CD20. In this work, we applied atomic force microscopy (AFM) to map the nanoscale distribution of CD20 molecules on the surface of cancer cells from clinical B-cell NHL patients under the assistance of ROR1 fluorescence recognition (ROR1 is a specific cell surface marker exclusively expressed on cancer cells). First, the ROR1 fluorescence labeling experiments showed that ROR1 was expressed on cancer cells from B-cell lymphoma patients, but not on normal cells from healthy volunteers. Next, under the guidance of ROR1 fluorescence, the rituximab-conjugated AFM tips were moved to cancer cells to image the cellular morphologies and detect the CD20-rituximab interactions on the cell surfaces. The distribution maps of CD20 on cancer cells were constructed by obtaining arrays of (16×16) force curves in local areas (500×500 nm²) on the cell surfaces. The experimental results provide a new approach to directly investigate the nanoscale distribution of target protein on single clinical cancer cells.     

Characterization of zebrafish mutants with defects in bone calcification during development

Using the fluorescent dyes calcein and alcian blue, we stained the F3 generation of chemically (ENU) mutagenized zebrafish embryos and larvae, and screened for mutants with defects in bone development. We identified a mutant line, bone calcification slow (bcs), which showed delayed axial vertebra calcification during development. Before 4–5 days post-fertilization (dpf), the bcs embryos did not display obvious abnormalities in bone development (i.e., normal number, size and shape of cartilage and vertebrae). At 5–6 dpf, when vertebrae calcification starts, bcs embryos began to show defects. At 7 dpf, for example, in most of the bcs embryos examined, calcein staining revealed no signals of vertebrae mineralization, whereas during the same developmental stages, 2–14 mineralized vertebrae were observed in wild-type animals. Decreases in the number of calcified vertebrae were also observed in bcs mutants when examined at 9 and 11 dpf, respectively. Interestingly, by 13 dpf the defects in bcs mutants were no longer evident. There were no significant differences in the number of calcified vertebrae between wild-type and mutant animals. We examined the expression of bone development marker genes (e.g., Sox9b, Bmp2b, and Cyp26b1, which play important roles in bone formation and calcification). In mutant fish, we observed slight increases in Sox9b expression, no alterations in Bmp2b expression, but significant increases in Cyp26b1 expression. Together, the data suggest that bcs delays axial skeletal calcification, but does not affect bone formation and maturation.     

Evidence for Tissue-Specific JAK/STAT Target Genes in Drosophila Optic Lobe Development

The evolutionarily conserved JAK/STAT pathway plays important roles in development and disease processes in humans. Although the signaling process has been well established, we know relatively little about what the relevant target genes are that mediate JAK/STAT activation during development. Here, we have used genome-wide microarrays to identify JAK/STAT targets in the optic lobes of the Drosophila brain and identified 47 genes that are positively regulated by JAK/STAT. About two-thirds of the genes encode proteins that have orthologs in humans. The STAT targets in the optic lobe appear to be different from the targets identified in other tissues, suggesting that JAK/STAT signaling may regulate different target genes in a tissue-specific manner. Functional analysis of Nop56, a cell-autonomous STAT target, revealed an essential role for this gene in the growth and proliferation of neuroepithelial stem cells in the optic lobe and an inhibitory role in lamina neurogenesis.     

Impact of GC content on gene expression pattern in chicken

Background

GC content varies greatly between different genomic regions in many eukaryotes. In order to determine whether this organization named isochore organization influences gene expression patterns, the relationship between GC content and gene expression has been investigated in man and mouse. However, to date, this question is still a matter for debate. Among the avian species, chicken (Gallus gallus) is the best studied representative with a complete genome sequence. The distinctive features and organization of its sequence make it a good model to explore important issues in genome structure and evolution.

Methods

Only nuclear genes with complete information on protein-coding sequence with no evidence of multiple-splicing forms were included in this study. Chicken protein coding sequences, complete mRNA sequences (or full length cDNA sequences), and 5^′ untranslated region sequences (5^′ UTR) were downloaded from Ensembl and chicken expression data originated from a previous work. Three indices i.e. expression level, expression breadth and maximum expression level were used to measure the expression pattern of a given gene. CpG islands were identified using hgTables of the UCSC Genome Browser. Correlation analysis between variables was performed by SAS Proprietary Software Release 8.1.

Results

In chicken, the GC content of 5^′ UTR is significantly and positively correlated with expression level, expression breadth, and maximum expression level, whereas that of coding sequences and introns and at the third coding position are negatively correlated with expression level and expression breadth, and not correlated with maximum expression level. These significant trends are independent of recombination rate, chromosome size and gene density. Furthermore, multiple linear regression analysis indicated that GC content in genes could explain approximately 10% of the variation in gene expression.

Conclusions

GC content is significantly associated with gene expression pattern and could be one of the important regulation factors in the chicken genome.     

青藏高原长花马先蒿的细胞地理学研究

对青藏高原长花马先蒿9个居群的核型及细胞地理学进行研究,所有居群的染色体数目均为2n=16,染色体基数为x=8。现有的细胞学资料表明:分布于云南中甸的居群可能为较原始的类群,而分布于西藏日土和青海门源的居群较为进化。长花马先蒿的9个居群均为二倍体,并未出现多倍化现象,可能是由于在末次冰期青藏高原存在广泛的避难所,二倍体得到很好的保存,冰期对它们的影响不是很大; 也可能是对环境的选择压力造成的。     

盐穗木过氧化氢酶基因的克隆与功能分析

利用同源基因克隆法,从新疆荒漠盐碱地多年生灌木盐穗木(Halostachys caspica)中克隆获得盐穗木过氧化氢酶基因(HcCAT1)。序列分析表明,HcCAT1基因开放阅读框为1 479 bp,编码492个氨基酸,推测编码蛋白质的分子量为56.7 kD,等电点为6.84。基因序列比对发现,HcCAT1与多种植物过氧化氢酶基因具有较高的同源性。半定量RT-PCR结果表明,HcCAT1基因受盐胁迫而上调表达。将构建的重组质粒pET32a-HcCAT1转化大肠杆菌BL21(DE3),以IPTG诱导重组蛋白His-HcCAT1的表达;SDS-PAGE和Western印迹检测显示,重组蛋白的分子量大小为77.7 kD,其大小与推测的大小一致;在低温诱导下以可溶性形式表达,且表现出一定的过氧化氢酶活性。盐胁迫实验结果显示,在添加400 mmol/L NaCl、400 mmol/L KCl以及300 mmol/L甘露醇的LB培养基中,重组质粒转化菌的生长情况和生长速率明显优于对照,表明HcCAT1可明显提高大肠杆菌的耐盐性。该研究结果将有助于从抗氧化角度认识盐生植物盐穗木的耐盐分子机理。     

汶川地震对两栖动物栖息地的影响

2008年5月汶川地震对两栖动物栖息地造成了巨大的影响。采用卫星遥感照片评估了汶川地震后3种两栖动物栖息地震损状况,结果表明:(1)15.2%的两栖动物的适宜栖息地遭到了地震的破坏;(2)震损栖息地纬向分布于31°～32°N之间,震区的南部和中部;(3)被破坏的栖息地垂直分布于2000m以下的中低海拔区段。汶川地震及次生灾害使两栖动物的生存和发展面临着极严重风险。