Study of strategies for selecting quantitative trait locus mapping procedures by computer simulation

Along with the development and integration of molecular genetics and quantitative genetics, many quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping studies have been conducted using different mapping populations in various crop species. Existing QTLs can be used for marker-assisted breeding and map-based cloning, whereas the false-positive QTLs are no use. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the suitability of different mapping procedures for data from different genetic models. In this study, four types of recombinant inbred lines (RILs) with different genetic models, viz. additive QTLs (Model I), additive and epistatic QTLs (Model II), additive QTLs and QTL × environment interaction (Model III), additive, epistatic QTLs and QTL × environment interaction (Model IV), were simulated by computer. Six types of QTL mapping procedures, viz. CIM, MIMF, MIMR, ICIM, MQM and NWIM, on four kinds of QTL mapping software, viz. WinQTL Cartographer Version 2.5, IciMapping Version 2.0, MapQTL Version 5.0 and QTLnetwork Version 2.0, were used for screening QTLs of the simulated RILs. The results showed that different mapping procedures have different suitability for different genetic models. CIM and MQM can only screen Model I data. MIMR, MIMF and ICIM can only screen Model I and Model II data. NWIM can screen all four models’ data. It can be concluded that different genetic models’ data have different most suitable mapping procedures. In practical experiments where the genetic model of the data is unknown, a multiple model mapping strategy should be used, that is a full model scanning with complex model procedure followed by verification with other procedures corresponding to the scanning results.     

Sortase A介导的(S)-羰基还原酶Ⅱ寡聚体高效立体选择性转化(S)-苯基乙二醇

【目的】以金黄色葡萄球菌(Staphylococcus aureus)的sortase A为"分子订书机",用于(S)-羰基还原酶Ⅱ分子之间的连接,获得催化功能与稳定性增强的氧化还原酶寡聚体,高效催化2-羟基苯乙酮,合成(S)-苯基乙二醇。【方法】从S.aureus基因组中克隆sortase A基因,在大肠杆菌中表达,通过镍柱和凝胶层析纯化重组酶,获得纯酶sortase A。通过基因工程手段在(S)-羰基还原酶Ⅱ的C末端添加GGGGSLPETGG序列,蛋白纯化获得(S)-羰基还原酶Ⅱ-GGGGSLPETGG,摸索了sortase A催化(S)-羰基还原酶Ⅱ-GGGGSLPETGG的分子连接,形成(S)-羰基还原酶Ⅱ寡聚体的最佳条件,并研究了寡聚体酶学性质及生物转化(S)-苯基乙二醇的效率。【结果】(S)-羰基还原酶Ⅱ寡聚体比酶活力为38.5 U/mg,比原始型(S)-羰基还原酶Ⅱ提高了6倍,最适反应温度为50°C,最适pH为6.0,在50°C放置1 h后酶活仍旧保持90%以上;蛋白质变性实验结果显示,(S)-羰基还原酶Ⅱ寡聚体的变性温度为60.1°C,比原始酶提高了10°C;生物转化结果显示(S)-羰基还原酶Ⅱ寡聚体在3 h内完全转化5 g/L 2-羟基苯乙酮,产生光学纯度为100%的(S)-苯基乙二醇,相比于重组大肠杆菌(S)-羰基还原酶Ⅱ全细胞催化时间缩短了16倍。【结论】本研究首次将sortase A应用于氧化还原酶的分子连接,显著提高了酶的催化效率和热稳定性,表明sortase在手性催化中有很大的潜在应用价值。     

鹅细小病毒结构蛋白B细胞线性抗原表位的鉴定

为了对鹅细小病毒结构蛋白B细胞线性抗原表位进行进一步定位,设计了16个覆盖结构蛋白各抗原表位区的长约30个氨基酸残基的重叠短肽,并进行了融合表达。用攻毒10周龄鹅血清对这16个融合蛋白进行蛋白质印迹分析,检测结果表明,VP蛋白线性抗原表位位于35-81、111-161、423-453、462-491、531-577、616-669和678-732氨基酸区域。     

Suppression of FUT1/FUT4 expression by siRNA inhibits tumor growth

Lewis Y (LeY) antigen is highly expressed in a variety of human carcinomas of epithelial cell origin. Recent studies suggest functional blockade of LeY may provide a novel therapeutic approach for the treatment of cancers. However, suppressing LeY expression by genetic manipulation and its impact on neoplastic cell proliferation has not been investigated. We report here that different fucosyltransferases (FUTs) were expressed with the greatest expression of fucosyltransferase I or IV (FUT1/4), the two key enzymes for the synthesis of LeY in human epidermoid carcinoma A431 cells. Knocking down FUT1/4 expression by short interfering RNA technique dramatically reduced the expression of FUT1/4 and LeY and inhibited cell proliferation through decreasing epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signaling pathway. Treatment of A431 cells that were inoculated into the nude mice with FUT1 siRNA or FUT4 siRNA greatly impeded tumor growth. Suppressing FUT1/4 expression also blocked EGF-induced tyrosine phosphorylation of EGFR and mitogen-activated protein kinases. In conclusion, suppressing the expression of FUT1/4 by RNAi technology reduces the synthesis of LeY and inhibits cancer growth. It may serve as a potential methodology for the treatment of cancers that express LeY glycoconjugates.     

不同转移潜能肿瘤细胞肝素酶的表达

目的研究肝素酶(Heparanase,Hpa)表达水平与人类肿瘤转移的相关性。方法利用半定量RT-PCR、免疫组织化学(S-P法)和Westernblot检测2组4种不同转移潜能的人类肿瘤细胞系中HpamRNA和蛋白的表达水平。结果HpamRNA和蛋白相对表达量在高转移潜能人类肺癌细胞(0·757±0·033,0·670±0·020)、乳腺癌细胞(0·617±0·024,0·661±0·013)中明显高于相应的低转移潜能肺癌细胞(0·518±0·012,0·406±0·012)、乳腺癌细胞(0·170±0·016,0·227±0·011)。结论在所研究的人类肿瘤中,HpamRNA和蛋白的表达水平与肿瘤的转移能力呈正相关。     

Histone acetylation and reactive oxygen species are involved in the preprophase arrest induced by sodium butyrate in maize roots

Histone acetylation plays a critical role in controlling chromatin structure, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) are involved in cell cycle progression. To study the relationship between histone acetylation and cell cycle progression in plants, sodium butyrate (NaB), a histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor that can cause a significant increase in histone acetylation in both mammal and plant genomes, was applied to treat maize seedlings. The results showed that NaB had significant inhibition effects on different root zones at the tissue level and caused cell cycle arrest at preprophase in the root meristem zones. This effect was accompanied by a dramatic increase in the total level of acetylated lysine 9 on histone H3 (H3K9ac) and acetylated lysine 5 on histone H4 (H4K5ac). The exposure of maize roots in NaB led to a continuous rise of intracellular ROS concentration, accompanied by a higher electrolyte leakage ratio and malondialdehyde (MDA) relative value. The NaB-treated group displayed negative results in both TdT-mediated dUTP nick end labelling (TUNEL) and γ-H2AX immunostaining assays. The expression of topoisomerase genes was reduced after treatment with NaB. These results suggested that NaB increased the levels of H3K9ac and H4K5ac and could cause preprophase arrest accompanied with ROS formation leading to the inhibition of DNA topoisomerase.     

Overexpression of Zostera japonica heat shock protein gene ZjHsp70 enhances the thermotolerance of transgenic Arabidopsis

Molecular Biology Reports - Heat shock protein 70s (Hsp70s) are major members of the heat shock protein family and play a variety of roles to protect plants against stress. Plant Hsp70s are a...     

Does cytochrome P450 1A1 MspI polymorphism increase acute lymphoblastic leukemia risk? Evidence from 2013 cases and 2903 controls

Previous studies indicated that cytochrome P450 1A1 (CYP1A1) MspI polymorphism might be a possible risk factor for several malignancies. Increasing investigations have been conducted on the association of CYP1A1 MspI polymorphisms with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). However, the results were controversial. The goal of the present study was to address this controversy by pooling and analyzing the published data. Therefore, quantitative meta-analyses evaluating the association of CYP1A1 MspI variation with ALL were performed and subgroup analyses on ethnicity, age groups and source of controls were further carried out. After a rigorous search in the Medline, EMBASE, OVID, ScienceDirect, and CNKI databases, all eligible studies for the period up to May 2012 were identified and screened according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Consequently, a total of fourteen case–control studies including 2013 cases and 2903 controls were selected for analysis. The overall data indicated a significant association of CYP1A1 MspI polymorphism with ALL risk (CC + TC vs TT: OR = 1.33; 95%CI = 1.05–1.69). In a subgroup analysis according to ethnicity, no associations were shown among Asians, Caucasians and Mixed ethnicity subgroups. In the subgroup analysis regarding age groups, increased risk was observed in the childhood ALL subgroup (C vs T: OR = 1.23; 95%CI = 1.04–1.45; CC + TC vs TT: OR = 1.31; 95%CI = 1.08–1.59). In the subgroup analysis stratified by source of controls, significant associations were observed in the population-based subgroup (CC + TC vs TT: OR = 1.33; 95%CI = 1.03–1.71). In conclusion, the results of the present study suggest that CYP1A1 MspI polymorphism might be a risk factor for ALL, particularly childhood ALL. Future well-designed high quality investigations with large sample sizes are required to elucidate the gene polymorphism–ALL relationship and gene–environment interactions.