盐胁迫下大豆根组织定量PCR分析中内参基因的选择

实时荧光定量PCR已广泛用于基因表达的分析, 适当的内参基因选择是获得准确分析结果的关键。在大豆(Glycine max)分子生物学研究中, 逆境响应基因和microRNA (miRNA)表达的内参辅助检测基因均有哪些目前尚不清楚。该研究选用不同盐梯度和时间点组合处理的大豆根组织为材料, 对已报道的其它条件下表达相对稳定的内参基因(ACT、ACT2/7、CYP2、ELF1A、ELF1B、F-Box、TUA和UBC2)以及miRNA内参基因(U6、miR1515a、miR1520c、miR1520d、miR171a和miR171b)的表达情况进行了全面检测; 并采用Δ-Ct、Bestkeeper、NormFinder和Genorm四种方法对检测结果进行了综合分析, 发现ELF1B和CYP2适合作为大豆根系盐胁迫响应基因研究的内参基因, miR1515a和U6适合作为盐胁迫下大豆根组织miRNA研究的内参。上述研究结果为大豆盐胁迫响应基因和miRNA表达及其进一步的功能研究奠定了基础。     

一种快速、无损大豆种子DNA提取方法的建立和应用

基因分型是进行植物基因功能的遗传分析和分子标记辅助育种的重要环节。该研究以大豆(Glycine max)成熟种子为材料, 建立了通过钻孔采集样品、快速提取DNA进行基因型鉴定的方法。用此方法, 一个熟练的工作人员可以在1个小时内完成120个样品的采集和DNA提取; 同时种子钻孔取样后, 不会对大豆种子的萌发造成影响。利用该方法获得的DNA可满足PCR扩增的要求。实验重复性好, 成功率在98%以上。这种快速且无损的大豆种子基因型鉴定方法可以用于鉴定杂交种子、品种纯度以及遗传分析等研究工作。     

阿维链霉菌Streptomyces avermitilis碱性脂肪酶LpsA2的表达和酶学性质分析

【目的】本研究将推测的阿维链霉菌(Streptomyces avermitilis)脂肪酶基因lpsA2在大肠杆菌(Escherichia coli)中进行异源表达及系统的酶学性质分析。【方法】提取阿维链霉菌基因组,设计特异性引物,PCR扩增脂肪酶基因lpsA2,使其在大肠杆菌中异源表达,利用6个组氨酸标签纯化脂肪酶LpsA2,并进行酶学性质分析;对LpsA2进行序列比对和进化分析。【结果】氨基酸序列比对显示LpsA2具有脂肪酶典型的由Ser、His和Asp构成的活性部位,即Ser130-Asp221-His25,其中Ser位于保守的五肽结构(Gly128-His129-Ser130-Gln131-Gly132)中;分子系统学分析显示,LpsA2是脂肪酶第一家族亚家族成员(Subfamily I.7);实验测得纯化的重组脂肪酶LpsA2的最适反应pH为8.0,最适反应温度为50℃;最适底物为对硝基苯酚豆蔻酸酯;在10℃-50℃范围内该酶的激活自由能为6.3 kcal/mol;1 mmol/L Co2+、Hg2+、Zn2+可使酶活性提高至250%以上;15%的二甲基甲酰胺和二甲基亚砜使酶活分别提高至110.7%和138%;0.1%和1%的Span-20可使酶活性分别提高至352.7%和189.7%。【结论】本研究对推测的来源于S.avermitilis的脂肪酶基因lpsA2进行了异源表达和酶学功能鉴定,不仅为脂肪酶的研究积累了更多数据,也为具有优良性能的脂肪酶生物工程菌的筛选奠定了基础,更为其在食品加工、药物合成等工业生产中的应用提供了依据。     

Persistent Antibody Responses but Declining Cytotoxic T-Lymphocyte Responses to Multiple Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Antigens in a Long-Term Nonprogressing Individual with a Defective p17 Proviral Sequence and No Detectable Viral RNA Expression

Long-term nonprogressor AD-18 has been infected with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) for at least 16 years. During the past 5 years, he has had undetectable levels of plasma viremia, and HIV-1 cannot be isolated from him. Sequencing of proviral DNA indicates that the only HIV-1 sequences that can be identified in AD-18 have gross defects in the p17-encoding regions of the gag gene (Y. Huang, L. Zhang, and D. D. Ho, Virology 240:36–49, 1998). However, AD-18 has strong, sustained antibody responses to several HIV-1 antigens, including p17. Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte responses to Env and Gag antigens have gradually diminished over the past 4 years, at a time when the titers of antibodies to the same proteins have remained stable. We discuss what these observations might mean for the generation and maintenance of immunological memory.     

甲羟戊酸通路对细胞生长调控作用的研究进展

甲羟戊酸(MVA)通路对细胞生长具有重要的调节作用,MVA及其衍生物通过对蛋白质异戊烯化和N糖基化修饰而影响Ras蛋白、生长因子及受体的功能、细胞内信号转导和细胞的生长。MVA通路参与血管活性物质生成的调节是其调节细胞生长的另一机制。MVA生成的限速酶羟甲基戊二酸单酰辅酶A(HMGCoA)则受MVA通路衍生物的反馈抑制。HMGCoA还原酶抑制剂通过抑制MVA及其衍生物的生成而抑制细胞的生长和增殖。     

Blockade of L-type voltage-gated Ca channel inhibits ischemia-induced neurogenesis by down-regulating iNOS expression in adult mouse

Neurogenesis in the adult mammalian hippocampus may contribute to repairing the brain after injury. The signals that regulate neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus following ischemic stroke insult are not well known. We have previously reported that inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression is necessary for ischemia-stimulated neurogenesis in the adult dentate gyrus. Here, we show that mice subjected to 90 min of middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) significantly increased the number of new neurons and up-regulated iNOS expression in the dentate gyrus. Blockade of the L-type voltage-gated Ca(2+) channel (L-VGCC) prevented neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus and subventricular zone (SVZ), and down-regulated iNOS expression in the dentate gyrus after cerebral ischemia. This study suggests that Ca(2+) influx through L-VGCC is involved in ischemia-induced neurogenesis by up-regulating iNOS expression.     

The polysaccharides from Ganoderma lucidum: Are they always inhibitors on human hepatocarcinoma cells?

The antitumor activity of intracellular polysaccharides from submerged fermentation of Ganoderma lucidum was investigated focusing on the inhibition on human liver cancer cells. The polysaccharides inhibited human hepatocarcinoma cell HepG2 during earlier phase with lower dosage but obviously became less functional in later phase regardless of the dosage applied. However, apoptosis of the drugged HepG2 cells appeared in later incubation phase with high dosage, and the apoptosis could be enhanced by supplemental dose of the intracellular polysaccharides. Nevertheless, the intracellular polysaccharides inhibited other human hepatocarcinoma cells such as BEL-7402 and Huh-7 but luckily stimulated human normal liver cell L02 only in a positive dose- and time-dependent manner; so did the sulfated extracellular polysaccharides when it inhibited HepG2 and L02 cells. However, the toxicity of sulfated extracellular polysaccharides to L02 cells can be eliminated by the intracellular polysaccharides.     

Biochemical characterization of indole prenyltransferases: filling the last gap of prenylation positions by a 5-dimethylallyltryptophan synthase from Aspergillus clavatus

The putative prenyltransferase gene ACLA_031240 belonging to the dimethylallyltryptophan synthase superfamily was identified in the genome sequence of Aspergillus clavatus and overexpressed in Escherichia coli. The soluble His-tagged protein EAW08391 was purified to near homogeneity and used for biochemical investigation with diverse aromatic substrates in the presence of different prenyl diphosphates. It has shown that in the presence of dimethylallyl diphosphate (DMAPP), the recombinant enzyme accepted very well simple indole derivatives with L-tryptophan as the best substrate. Product formation was also observed for tryptophan-containing cyclic dipeptides but with much lower conversion yields. In contrast, no product formation was detected in the reaction mixtures of L-tryptophan with geranyl or farnesyl diphosphate. Structure elucidation of the enzyme products by NMR and MS analyses proved unequivocally the highly regiospecific regular prenylation at C-5 of the indole nucleus of the simple indole derivatives. EAW08391 was therefore termed 5-dimethylallyltryptophan synthase, and it filled the last gap in the toolbox of indole prenyltransferases regarding their prenylation positions. K(m) values of 5-dimethylallyltryptophan synthase were determined for L-tryptophan and DMAPP at 34 and 76 μM, respectively. Average turnover number (k(cat)) at 1.1 s(-1) was calculated from kinetic data of L-tryptophan and DMAPP. Catalytic efficiencies of 5-dimethylallyltryptophan synthase for L-tryptophan at 25,588 s(-1)·M(-1) and for other 11 simple indole derivatives up to 1538 s(-1)·M(-1) provided evidence for its potential usage as a catalyst for chemoenzymatic synthesis.     

Prioritizing human cancer microRNAs based on genes' functional consistency between microRNA and cancer

The identification of human cancer-related microRNAs (miRNAs) is important for cancer biology research. Although several identification methods have achieved remarkable success, they have overlooked the functional information associated with miRNAs. We present a computational framework that can be used to prioritize human cancer miRNAs by measuring the association between cancer and miRNAs based on the functional consistency score (FCS) of the miRNA target genes and the cancer-related genes. This approach proved successful in identifying the validated cancer miRNAs for 11 common human cancers with area under ROC curve (AUC) ranging from 71.15% to 96.36%. The FCS method had a significant advantage over miRNA differential expression analysis when identifying cancer-related miRNAs with a fine regulatory mechanism, such as miR-27a in colorectal cancer. Furthermore, a case study examining thyroid cancer showed that the FCS method can uncover novel cancer-related miRNAs such as miR-27a/b, which were showed significantly upregulated in thyroid cancer samples by qRT-PCR analysis. Our method can be used on a web-based server, CMP (cancer miRNA prioritization) and is freely accessible at http://bioinfo.hrbmu.edu.cn/CMP. This time- and cost-effective computational framework can be a valuable complement to experimental studies and can assist with future studies of miRNA involvement in the pathogenesis of cancers.