TNFα induced FOXP3–NFκB interaction dampens the tumor suppressor role of FOXP3 in gastric cancer cells

Controversial roles of FOXP3 in different cancers have been reported previously, while its role in gastric cancer is largely unknown. Here we found that FOXP3 is unexpectedly upregulated in some gastric cancer cells. To test whether increased FOXP3 remains the tumor suppressor role in gastric cancer as seen in other cancers, we test its function in cell proliferation both at basal and TNFα mimicked inflammatory condition. Compared with the proliferation inhibitory role observed in basal condition, FOXP3 is insufficient to inhibit the cell proliferation under TNFα treatment. Molecularly, we found that TNFα induced an interaction between FOXP3 and p65, which in turn drive the FOXP3 away from the promoter of the well known target p21. Our data here suggest that although FOXP3 is upregulated in gastric cancer, its tumor suppressor role has been dampened due to the inflammation environment.     

Seed hairs of poplar trees as natural airborne pollen trap for allergenic pollen grains

The present article deals with the efficacy of seed hairs of poplar trees (Populus spp.) as a potent natural airborne pollen trap. Different species of Populus are commonly found planted along the streets in the cities of North China. The seed hairs and pericarp of poplar trees were collected from the trees and on the ground in Beijing Botanical Garden of Chinese Academy of Sciences and around Miyun Reservoir during May 2005 for pollen analysis. Different pollen spectra are recorded from different samples and are characterised by dominant occurrence of pollen grains of arboreal and anemophilous plants. In addition, pollen grains of non‐arboreal plants including grasses are also found trapped. Among the 46 trapped pollen grains, 26 are known to be allergenic. This study suggests that poplar seed hairs possibly make people feel uncomfortable due to the presence of allergenic pollen trapped in the hairs.     

Discovery of a potent respiratory syncytial virus RNA polymerase inhibitor

Targeting viral polymerases has been a proven and attractive strategy for antiviral drug discovery. Herein we describe our effort in improving the antiviral activity and physical properties of a series of benzothienoazepine compounds as respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) RNA polymerase inhibitors. The antiviral activity and spectrum of this class was significantly improved by exploring the amino substitution of the pyridine ring, resulting in the discovery of the most potent RSV A polymerase inhibitors reported to date.     

Circadian Yin-Yang Regulation and Its Manipulation to Globally Reprogram Gene Expression

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Hexokinase from grape berries: its prokaryotic expression, polyclonal antibody preparation and biochemical property analyses

Two full-length hexokinase (HXK, EC 2.7.1.1) cDNAs, VvHXK1 with 1,413 bp and VvHXK2 with 1,458 bp were cloned from grape berries (Vitis vinifera L. Cabernet Sauvignon). VvHXK1 and VvHXK2 genes sequence from grape berries were deposited in GenBank under the accession number JN118544 and JN118545, respectively. The homology of the amino acid of VvHXK1 or VvHXK2 was very similar to ‘Pinot Noir’ grape HXK sequence, their similarties were 99.36 % and 98.97 %, respectively. More intuitive phylogenetic tree showed that the homology of amino acid sequence VvHXK1 with melon CmHXK1 was 86 %, and VvHXK2 homology with rice OsHXK3 was 83 %. The HXK proteins were successfully expressed in plasmid pET-30a (+) vectors in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) pLysS. The expressed proteins were purified using Ni-NTA agarose column and used to produce HXK1 antibody and conducted HXK protein blotting analysis. The results,suggested that one polypeptide band of about 51 kDa HXK protein can be detected in grape berries, HXK protein level was the highest during early grape berry development, but the lowest from 50d to 60d during development. Biochemical analysis of two hexokinase isozymes indicated that glucose was the optimal substrate of HXK, The isoelectric points of the two isozymes were 5.8 and 5.6, respectively. And the optimum pH was about 8.0. These results provide a substantial basis for the further studies of functions of grape HXKs to manipulate sugar content of grape berries.     

10种梅花品种及其3种近缘种的核型分析

采用压片法,对10种梅花品种及其3种近缘种杏、山杏和紫叶李进行了核型分析。结果表明:10种梅花品种及杏、山杏和紫叶李均为二倍体2n=2x=16,核不对称系数为55.17%~61.71%,核型类型有1A、1B、2B等3种类型,所有品种或种的核型都由其中部或近中部的着丝点染色体组成。‘丰后’和‘俏美人’等2个杂种品种染色体信息介于梅花与杏、山杏和紫叶李之间。     

不同土壤水分下山杏光合作用CO2响应过程及其模拟

在半干旱黄土丘陵区,以2年生盆栽山杏为材料,应用CIRAS-2型光合作用系统,测定了8个土壤水分梯度下山杏光合作用的CO₂响应过程,并采用直角双曲线模型、指数方程和直角双曲线修正模型对其CO₂响应数据进行拟合,分析了山杏光合作用与土壤水分的定量关系.结果表明: 山杏CO₂响应过程对土壤水分有明显的阈值响应特征.维持山杏叶片较高的光合速率(P_n)和羧化效率(CE)的土壤相对含水量(RWC)在46.3%～81.9%,在此水分范围内,光合作用没有发生明显的CO₂饱和抑制现象;当RWC超出此范围,土壤水分升高或降低均明显降低山杏叶片的光合能力(P_{n max})、CE和CO₂饱和点(CSP).在不同土壤水分条件下,3个模型对山杏CO₂响应数据的模拟效果有明显差别.在46.3%～81.9%土壤水分范围内,3个模型均能较好地拟合山杏CO₂响应过程及其特征参数CE、CO₂补偿点(Γ)和光呼吸速率(R_p),其拟合精度均表现为直角双曲线修正模型＞指数方程＞直角双曲线模型;当土壤水分含量过高(RWC＞81.9%)或过低(RWC＜46.3%)时,只有直角双曲线修正模型能较好地拟合山杏CO₂响应过程及其特征参数.RWC在46.3%～81.9%范围内,山杏具有较高的光合作用效率;与传统直角双曲线模型和指数方程相比,直角双曲线修正模型具有更好的适用性.     

No relation between ACEml/D polymorphism and high altitude pulmonary edema in the Han Chinese

Objectives To explore whether the angiotensin T -converting enzyme （ACE） I/D （insertion/ deletion） polymorphism is associated with the susceptibility to high altitude pulmonary edema （HAPE） in the Han Chinese. Methods One hundred and forty-seven HAPE-p （HAPE patients） and 193 HAPE-r （HAPE resistants） were enrolled from the Yushu earthquake reconstruction workers in Qinghai province where the altitude is over 3 500 m above sea level. Blood samples were collected from each of the HAPE-p and HAPE-r groups. Information about physiological phenotypes was obtained via fieldwork investigation. The ACE-I/D polymorphism in HAPE-p and HAPE-r was detected by polymerase chain reaction （PCR）. Results The SaO2 was significantly lower while HR was significantly higher in HAPE-p group than those in HAPE-r group. The genotype frequencies of ACE-I/D for II, ID, DD in HAPE-r and HAPE-p groups were 0.430, 0.446, 0.124 and 0.435, 0.469, 0.095, respectively, the allelic frequencies of I and D were 0.650, 0.350 and 0.670, 0.330, respectively. The OR of ID, DD and D alleles relative to II for HAPE was 0.961 （0.610-1.514）, 1.322 （0.634-2.758） and 1.080 （0.783-1.489）. There was no significant difference of the genotypic and the allelic frequencies in ACE-I/D polymorphism between HAPE-p and HAPE-r groups. Conclusions There is no relation between ACE-I/D polymorphism and HAPE in the Han Chinese.