Hypoxia Accelerate β-Actin Expression through Transcriptional Activation of ACTB by Nuclear Respiratory Factor-1

Molecular Biology - Cytoskeletal protein β-actin is abundant both in the cytoplasm and the nucleus, its mRNA is commonly utilized an internal control for gene expression analysis. Recent...     

African Swine Fever Virus Protein E199L Promotes Cell Autophagy through the Interaction of PYCR2

African swine fever virus(ASFV), as a member of the large DNA viruses, may regulate autophagy and apoptosis by inhibiting programmed cell death. However, the function of ASFV proteins has not been fully elucidated, especially the role of autophagy in ASFV infection. One of three Pyrroline-5-carboxylate reductases(PYCR), is primarily involved in conversion of glutamate to proline. Previous studies have shown that depletion of PYCR2 was related to the induction of autophagy. In the present study, we found for the first time that ASFV E199 L protein induced a complete autophagy process in Vero and HEK-293 T cells. Through co-immunoprecipitation coupled with mass spectrometry(CoIP-MS)analysis, we firstly identified that E199 L interact with PYCR2 in vitro. Importantly, our work provides evidence that E199 L down-regulated the expression of PYCR2, resulting in autophagy activation. Overall, our results demonstrate that ASFV E199 L protein induces complete autophagy through interaction with PYCR2 and down-regulate the expression level of PYCR2, which provide a valuable reference for the role of autophagy during ASFV infection and contribute to the functional clues of PYCR2.     

The Efficacy of a Live Attenuated TW I-Type Infectious Bronchitis Virus Vaccine Candidate

Virologica Sinica - Infectious bronchitis (IB) is a highly contagious avian disease caused by infection with infectious bronchitis virus (IBV), which seriously affects the development of the global...     

高通量转录组RNA-seq研究成年牛下丘脑-垂体-卵巢

肉牛的性成熟受下丘脑-垂体-卵巢(HPO)轴的调节,但其具体作用机制尚不清楚.为了探讨HPO轴繁殖相关基因和调控机制,采用高通量转录组RNA-seq技术,研究了成年安格斯牛(30个月大)的下丘脑、垂体和卵巢.结果表明,HPO共有18 179个基因在GO(基因本体论)中注释,37 158个基因在KEGG(京都基因百科全书和基因组)中注释,36 645个基因在KOG(KEGG同源数据库)中注释.GO分析表明,HPO富集了8种生殖相关功能,主要是受精、单个组织生殖过程、子宫胚胎发育和雌激素反应.KEGG分析发现,HPO富集300条信号通路(SP),主要是癌症SP和磷脂酰肌醇3激酶蛋白激酶(PI3K-Akt)SP.与生殖有关的SPs共有16条,主要是Notch SP、神经营养素SP、哺乳动物雷帕霉素(mTOR)SP和血管内皮生长因子(VEG F)SP.为今后肉牛繁殖性能的提高、分子育种和同行参考提供了科学依据.     

Thermococcus sp.B1001环糊精酶的重组表达及在麦芽七糖制备中的应用

成功构建pET-24a-tscd质粒,实现Thermococcus sp.Strain B1001来源的环糊精酶(TsCDase)在Es-cherichia coli BL21(DE3)中表达.通过热处理和镍柱分离对重组TsCDase进行纯化.酶学性质研究表明,重组TsCDase的比活为1 208.04 U/mg,最适温度为90℃、最适pH值为5.5.重组酶TsCDase在85℃、90℃、95℃条件下的半衰期分别为180、120、30min.酶转化研究表明,以80 g/L β-环糊精为底物,当酶转化温度为90℃、反应pH值为5.5～6.0,加酶量为25 U/g,反应时间为4 h时,麦芽七糖产率为81.19％和85.95％,七糖占产物麦芽寡糖的比例为95.24％和92.92％.本研究结果为工业化制备麦芽七糖奠定良好基础.     

Effect of volatiles emitted from wilted Populus nigra L. leaves on the mating and oviposition of Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner)

Wilted black poplar, Populus nigra ‘Italica’ L., leaves are very attractive to a vast number of noctuid moth species. This provides an opportunity for the development of effective trapping methods for the integrated management of pest species, such as Helicoverpa armigera, a major global and economically important insect pest.In the present study, we investigated the (1) nocturnal attraction patterns of H. armigera males and females to wilted P. nigra leaves; (2) effects of P. nigra volatiles on the mate-searching behavior of males through laboratory serial-chamber bioassays and field trapping; and (3) effects of P. nigra volatiles on the ovipositional choice and reproductive performance of females. Females and males, when tested alone, could be attracted by wilted P. nigra leaves, and the time periods of the first two attraction peaks were largely overlapped between sexes. Streams consisting of wilted P. nigra leaves and virgin females were not more attractive than virgin females alone, regardless of the stream sequence in a serial chamber. However, a stream of virgin females passed through wilted P. nigra leaves was more attractive than wilted P. nigra leaves alone. The addition of P. nigra extracts and its major aromatic components to the sex lure of H. armigera did not attract more moths than the sex lure alone. The volatiles from wilted P. nigra leaves were significantly more attractive to ovipositing females than those from cotton, tomato, and corn leaves, but equally attractive to tobacco leaves. Females exposed to volatiles from different leaves (P. nigra, cotton, and tobacco) showed similar fecundities. In summary, the attraction of moths to wilted P. nigra leaves may be attributable to multiple mechanisms, including the adsorption of sex pheromones, ovipostional attraction, and possible feeding attraction.     

Critical considerations for the development of potency tests for therapeutic applications of mesenchymal stromal cell-derived small extracellular vesicles

Mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (MSCs) have been widely tested against many diseases, with more than 1000 registered clinical trials worldwide. Despite many setbacks, MSCs have been approved for the treatment of graft-versus-host disease and Crohn disease. However, it is increasingly clear that MSCs exert their therapeutic functions in a paracrine manner through the secretion of small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) of 50–200 nm in diameter. Unlike living cells that can persist long-term, sEVs are non-living and non-replicative and have a transient presence in the body. Their small size also renders sEV preparations highly amenable to sterilization by filtration. Together, acellular MSC-sEV preparations are potentially safer and easier to translate into the clinic than cellular MSC products. Nevertheless, there are inherent challenges in the development of MSC-sEV drug products. MSC-sEVs are products of living cells, and living cells are sensitive to changes in the external microenvironment. Consequently, quality control metrics to measure key identity and potency features of MSC-sEV preparations have to be specified during development of MSC-sEV therapeutics. The authors have previously described quantifiable assays to define the identity of MSC-sEVs. Here the authors discuss requirements for prospective potency assays to predict the therapeutic effectiveness of the drug substance in accordance with International Council for Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use guidelines. Although potency assays should ideally reflect the mechanism of action (MoA), this is challenging because the MoA for the reported efficacy of MSC-sEV preparations against multiple diseases of diverse underlying pathology is likely to be complex and different for each disease and difficult to fully elucidate. Nevertheless, robust potency assays could be developed by identifying the EV attribute most relevant to the intended biological activity in EV-mediated therapy and quantifying the EV attribute. Specifically, the authors highlight challenges and mitigation measures to enhance the manufacture of consistent and reproducibly potent sEV preparations, to identify and select the appropriate EV attribute for potency assays despite a complex “work-in-progress” MoA and to develop assays likely to be compliant with regulatory guidance for assay validation.     

Effect of Non-Volatile Constituents of Elsholtzia ciliata (Thunb.) Hyl. from Southern Vietnam on Reactive Oxygen Species and Nitric Oxide Release in Macrophages

The extract of Elsholtzia ciliata aerial parts was subjected to bio-guided isolation using the intercellular ROS reduction in J774A.1 macrophages to monitor the anti-oxidative activity. Fifteen compounds were isolated from the active fractions including eleven flavonoids (vitexin, pedalin, luteolin-7-O-β-d -glucopyranoside, apigenin-5-O-β-d -glucopyranoside, apigenin-7-O-β-d -glucopyranoside, chrysoeriol-7-O-β-d -glucopyranoside, 7,3′-dimethoxyluteolin-6-O-β-d -glucopyranoside, luteolin, 5,6,4′-trihydroxy-7,3′-dimethoxyflavone, 5-hydroxy-6,7-dimethoxyflavone (compound 13 ), 5-hydroxy-7,8-dimethoxyflavone); three hydroxycinnamic acid derivatives (caffeic acid, 4-(E)-caffeoyl-l -threonic acid, 4-O-(E)-p-coumaroyl-l -threonic acid) and one fatty acid (α-linolenic acid). The biological evaluation of these compounds (10–2.5 μm ) indicated that all of them exerted good antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities, in particular compound 13 .