仔猪BPI基因表达水平与大肠杆菌F18菌株感染的关系

文章利用已建立的苏太猪F18大肠杆菌病抗性和敏感性资源家系群体作为实验材料,分别选择8头35日龄左右生长性状基本一致的大肠杆菌F18菌株抗性和敏感性断奶仔猪,运用Real-time PCR方法检测BPI基因mRNA在断奶仔猪各个组织的分布情况,并比较其在大肠杆菌F18菌株抗性型和敏感型断奶仔猪个体间的差异表达水平,为探讨该基因在免疫和抗大肠杆菌F18菌株感染中的作用提供依据。结果表明,在对所有个体检测的11个组织中,BPI基因在心、肝、脾、肺、肾、胃、肌肉、胸腺、淋巴结中几乎不表达,或表达量很低,但在十二指肠和空肠中表达量很高。在十二指肠和空肠中,BPI基因在抗性组的表达量均显著高于敏感组的表达量(P<0.05)。由此表明,BPI基因对抗断奶仔猪肠道中大肠杆菌F18菌株的感染可能具有直接作用,并且个体对大肠杆菌F18菌株的抗性可能与BPI基因在肠道中表达量上调有关。     

构建LEF1基因毛囊特异表达载体并稳定转染胎儿成纤维细胞

旨在构建内蒙古白绒山羊(Capra hircus)淋巴样增强因子-1(Lymphoid enhancer factor,LEF1)基因真核表达载体并转染胎儿成纤维细胞,获得稳定表达红色荧光蛋白及毛囊特异性表达LEF1的转基因细胞克隆。以pCDsRed2载体为基本骨架将LEF1基因亚克隆到KAP6-1启动子下游,连接红色荧光蛋白表达元件,构建LEF1基因毛囊特异表达载体pCDsRed-KL。外源表达载体以lipofectamineTM2000介导转染胎儿成纤维细胞,通过G418筛选获得稳定转染的细胞克隆。PCR鉴定外源基因在细胞基因组中的整合。测序显示构建的表达载体pCDsRed-KL序列中,LEF1基因正确连接在KAP6-1启动子下游,顺序连接CMV启动子和红色荧光蛋白基因,载体构建正确。脂质体介导的稳定转染效率约为14.0%,经G418筛选得到高效表达红色荧光蛋白转基因细胞克隆。PCR检测显示外源KAP6-1启动子和LEF1基因整合到胎儿成纤维细胞基因组中。     

Tchebichef image moment approach to the prediction of protein secondary structures based on circular dichroism

Circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy is a widely used technique for the evaluation of protein secondary structures that has a significant impact for the understanding of molecular biology. However, the quantitative analysis of protein secondary structures based on CD spectra is still a hard work due to the serious overlap of the spectra corresponding to different structural motifs. Here, Tchebichef image moment (TM) approach is introduced for the first time, which can effectively extract the chemical features in CD spectra for the quantitative analysis of protein secondary structures. The proposed approach was applied to analyze reference set and the obtained results were evaluated by the strict statistical parameters such as correlation coefficient, cross‐validation correlation coefficient and root mean squared error. Compared with several specialized prediction methods, TM approach provided satisfactory results, especially for turns and unordered structures. Our study indicates that TM approach can be regarded as a feasible tool for the analysis of the secondary structures of proteins based on CD spectra. An available TMs package is provided and can be used directly for secondary structures prediction.     

人血小板生成素全长分子在酵母系统中的分泌表达及活性分析

外源基因可通过整合型载体被整合到毕赤酵母（Ｐｉｃｈｉａｐａｓｔｏｒｉｓ）染色体上,获得遗传性稳定分泌表达株．利用酵母信号肽ＭＦα,对该信号肽蛋白酶识别位点的相关序列进行重新设计,使天然人ＴＰＯ成熟肽在毕赤酵母系统中分泌表达成功．表达产物经Ｗｅｓｔｅｒｎ－ｂｌｏｔ进行分析,分子量约为６６ｋＤ处蛋白条带可被ＴＰＯ抗体识别;表达量约为０．１ｇ／Ｌ;Ｎ端氨基酸序列分析结果与设计的一致;表达产物对小鼠骨髓细胞形成巨核细胞集落形成单位（ｍｅｇａｋａｒｙ－ｏｃｙｔｅｃｏｌｏｎｙｆｏｒｍｉｎｇｕｎｉｔ,ＣＦＵ－Ｍｅｇ）具有明显的刺激作用．     

植物胚乳发育的表观遗传学调控

被子植物的种子发育从双受精开始, 产生二倍体的胚和三倍体的胚乳。在种子发育和萌发过程中, 胚乳向胚组织提供营养物质, 因此胚乳对胚和种子的正常生长发育至关重要。开花植物发生基因组印迹的主要器官是胚乳。印迹基因的表达受表观遗传学机制的调控, 包括DNA甲基化和组蛋白H3K27甲基化修饰以及依赖于PolIV的siRNAs (p4-siRNAs)调控。基因组印迹的表观遗传学调控对胚乳的正常发育和种子育性具有不可或缺的重要作用。最新研究显示, 胚乳的整个基因组DNA甲基化水平降低, 而且去甲基化作用可能源于雌配子体的中央细胞。该文综述了种子发育的表观遗传学调控机制, 包括基因组印迹机制以及胚乳基因组DNA甲基化变化研究的最新进展。     

Nuclear translocation of PKM2 modulates astrocyte proliferation via p27 and β-catenin pathway after spinal cord injury

Aberrant functionality of the cell cycle has been implicated in the pathology of traumatic SCI. Although it has been reported that the expressions of various cell cycle related proteins were altered significantly following SCI, detailed information on the subject remains largely unclear. The embryonic pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2) is an important metabolic kinase in aerobic glycolysis or the warburg effect, however, its functions in central nervous system (CNS) injury remains elusive. Here we demonstrate that PKM2 was not only significantly upregulated by western blot and immunohistochemistry but certain traumatic stimuli also induced translocation of PKM2 into the nucleus in astrocytes following spinal cord injury (SCI). Furthermore, the expression levels and localization of p-β-catenin, p27, cyclin D1 and PCNA were correlated with PKM2 after SCI. In vitro, we also found that PKM2 co-immunoprecipitation with p-β-catenin and p27 respectively. Knockdown of PKM2 apparently decreased the level of PCNA, cyclinD1, p27 in primary astrocyte cells. Taken together, our findings indicate that nuclear translocation of PKM2 promotes astrocytes proliferation after SCI through modulating cell cycle signaling. These discoveries firstly uncovered the role of PKM2 in spinal cord injury and provided a potential therapeutic target for CNS injury and repair.     

Potent Kv1.3 inhibitors from correolide-modification of the C18 position

Kv1.3, the voltage-gated potassium channel in human T cells, represents a new target for treating immunosuppression and autoimmune diseases. Correolide (1), a pentacyclic natural product, is a potent and selective Kv1.3 channel blocker. Simplification of correolide via removal of its E-ring generates enone 4, whose modification produced a new series of tetracyclic Kv1.3 blockers. The structure-activity relationship for this class of compounds in two functional assays, Rb_Kv and human T cell proliferation, is presented herein. The most potent analog 43 is 15-fold more potent than correolide as inhibitor of human T cell proliferation.     

Benzamide derivatives as blockers of Kv1.3 ion channel

The voltage-gated potassium channel, Kv1.3, is present in human T-lymphocytes. Blockade of Kv1.3 results in T-cell depolarization, inhibition of T-cell activation, and attenuation of immune responses in vivo. A class of benzamide Kv1.3 channel inhibitors has been identified. The structure-activity relationship within this class of compounds in two functional assays, Rb_Kv and T-cell proliferation, is presented. In in vitro assays, trans isomers display moderate selectivity for binding to Kv1.3 over other Kv1.x channels present in human brain.