人参皂苷-Rh2诱导肿瘤细胞凋亡信号转导通路研究进展

人参皂苷-Rh2诱导肿瘤细胞凋亡机制复杂,且不同机制间相互联系。它主要通过调节细胞周期蛋白依赖性激酶复合物特异性信号传递引发细胞周期阻滞诱导细胞凋亡,或通过调控细胞信号转导通路,如ROS、Ca2+、PKC、JNK介导的线粒体信号通路和TRAIL-R1(DR4)介导的死亡受体信号通路等诱导肿瘤细胞凋亡。     

北沙参中佛手柑内酯的分离鉴定及体外抗肿瘤活性的初步测定

北沙参为传统的中药材,来源于伞形科(Umbelliferae)植物珊瑚菜(Glehnia littoralis Fr. Schmidt ex Miq. )的干燥根,具有养阴清肺、益胃生津的功效[1],其道地产地为山东莱阳.     

1株产紫杉醇内生真菌LNUF014的鉴定及产物检测

从红豆杉的韧皮部组织中分离得到的360株内生真菌中,通过对发酵粗提的检测,共筛选到11株产紫杉醇的真菌。其中1株内生真菌LNUF014的发酵液采用有机试剂抽提紫杉醇,经薄层层析和高效液相色谱分析,初步表明该菌株的紫杉醇类物质含量为53.68μg/L。根据形态学研究和真核生物18S rDNA基因序列分析,将其鉴定为镰刀菌属(Fusarium)。产紫杉醇内生真菌的研究将对紫杉醇类抗肿瘤药物的研制具有重要意义。     

ΦC31位点特异性整合酶DNA结合功能域的鉴定

DNA结合功能域的确定是阐明位点特异性重组酶整合机制的关键,而对酶DNA结合功能域进行突变研究是提高酶整合效率和整合特异性的重要方法.为了鉴定ΦC31位点特异性整合酶的DNA结合功能域,依据对ΦC31整合酶序列的生物信息学分析结果,利用PCR和克隆技术在pET22b原核表达载体上构建ΦC31整合酶重组截短突变体表达质粒,将获得的表达质粒转化入大肠杆菌BL21(DE3)菌株扩大培养并用IPTG诱导融合蛋白的表达,经镍柱纯化获得了纯度达90%以上的重组蛋白,分子量也与预期大小一致,Western印迹确定了重组蛋白的特异性.凝胶迁移滞后实验显示野生型以及截短突变体蛋白ΦC311-528、ΦC311-472、ΦC311-413能与细菌附着位点DNAattB和噬菌体附着位点DNAattP结合的条带,而截短突变体ΦC311-353、ΦC311-279、ΦC311-120观察不到相应的结合条带.6个截短突变体质粒在体内重组活性蓝白斑实验中均表现为蓝斑,显示出皆丧失体内重组活性.研究证实,ΦC31整合酶半胱氨酸富集域(第353～413位氨基酸)具有DNA结合的功能,而C末端缬氨酸富集区(第528～613位氨基酸)也与其重组活性相关.这为进一步了解ΦC31整合酶的结构与功能,最终引导其结构进化,提高其特异性和整合效率奠定了基础.     

A simple, rapid and effective method for total RNA extraction from Lentinula edodes

A rapid, inexpensive and reliable method for total RNA extraction from fruiting bodies of Lentinula edodes containing large quantities of polysaccharides and secondary metabolites is described. An initial extraction step using saturated NaCl solution facilitates the separation of nucleic acids from contaminants and, after further extraction with organic solvents and precipitation with 2-propanol, total RNA of high purity and suitable for applications such as cDNA synthesis, RT-PCR and Northern blot hybridization was obtained. The procedure may also have wider applicability for total RNA extraction from the tissues of other mushrooms.     

不同食料植物对美国白蛾生长发育和繁殖的影响

2010年6月至7月,在室内研究了美国白蛾Hyphantria cunea(Drury)第1代幼虫对洋白蜡、欧美107号杨、法桐和白榆的取食量及不同的食料种类对美国白蛾生长发育和繁殖的影响。结果表明,美国白蛾对受试的各树种的取食量以洋白蜡为最多,完成一代平均每头可以取食2.21 g,其次为欧美107号杨1.95 g,再次为法桐和白榆,分别为1.85 g/头和1.68 g/头。3龄后幼虫对不同的寄主呈现出一定的偏好性,特别是5龄和6龄幼虫对不同的寄主的取食量表现出显著差异。不同的食料植物对美国白蛾幼虫和蛹的发育历期、存活率、蛹重、成虫寿命、产卵量等有显著影响。取食法桐对其生长发育和繁殖表现出明显的不利性,主要表现为幼虫期延长、蛹重减轻、单雌产卵量降低。     

A novel role for cyanide in the control of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) seedlings response to environmental stress

The effects of potassium cyanide (KCN) pretreatment on the response of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) plants to salt, polyethylene glycol (PEG) and cold stress were investigated in the present study. Here, we found that KCN pretreatment improved cucumber seedlings tolerance to stress conditions with maximum efficiency at a concentration of 20 µM. The results showed that pretreatment with 20 µM KCN alleviated stress‐induced oxidative damage in plant cells and clearly induced the activity of alternative oxidase (AOX) and the ethylene production. Furthermore, the structures of thylakoids and mitochondria in the KCN‐pretreated seedlings were less damaged by the stress conditions, which maintained higher total chlorophyll content, photosynthetic rate and photosystem II (PSII) proteins levels than the control. Importantly, the addition of the AOX inhibitor salicylhydroxamic acid (1 mm ; SHAM) decreased plant resistance to environmental stress and even compromised the cyanide (CN)‐enhanced stress tolerance. Therefore, our findings provide a novel role of CN in plant against environmental stress and indicate that the CN‐enhanced AOX might contribute to the reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging and the protection of photosystem by maintaining energy charge homoeostasis from chloroplast to mitochondria.     

Endoplasmic reticulum stress and its regulator XBP-1 contributes to dendritic cell maturation and activation induced by high mobility group box-1 protein

High mobility group box-1 protein (HMGB1) had been proved to induce maturation and activation of dendritic cell (DC), however, the endogenous changes and mechanisms underlying are unknown. Since endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) activates an adaptive unfolded protein response (UPR) that facilitates cellular survival and repair, we hypothesized that HMGB1 may regulate the function of DC by modulating ERS. In our study, HMGB1 stimulation induced significant ERS responses in DCs in a time- and dose-dependent manner, demonstrated by the up-regulation of a number of ERS markers. Gene silence of XBP-1 in splenic DCs decreased the levels of CD80, CD86 as well as major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-II expression and cytokine secretion after HMGB1 treatment, when compared with untransfected or nontargeting-transfected DCs (all P<0.05). Moreover, XBP-1 silenced DCs after treatment with HMGB1 failed to stimulate notable proliferation and differentiation of T cells, unlike normal DCs or nontargeting-transfected DCs (all P<0.05). Gene silence of XBP-1 resulted in down-regulation of the receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) expression on the surface of splenic DCs induced by HMGB1 stimulation (P<0.05). These findings demonstrate an important role for ERS and its regulator XBP-1 in HMGB1-induced maturation and activation of DCs.     

Up-regulation of mitofusin-2 protects CD4+ T cells from HMGB1-mediated immune dysfunction partly through Ca(2+)-NFAT signaling pathway

High mobility group box 1 protein (HMGB1) was recently discovered to be a critical late-acting cytokine and innate immune-modulating factor in sepsis, but the potential role and mechanism of HMGB1 in adaptive immunity remains elusive. The present study demonstrated that HMGB1 had a dual influence on immune function of CD4(+) T lymphocytes. Low dose of HMGB1 had no effect on the proliferation activity of CD4(+) T lymphocytes, but the Th1 cytokines production was increased. In contrast, treatment with high amount of HMGB1 suppressed the proliferative response and induced Th2 polarization of CD4(+) T lymphocytes. We found that the expression of mitofusin-2 (Mfn2; also named hyperplasia suppressor gene), a member of the mitofusin family, was decreased in CD4(+) T lymphocytes when stimulated with high dose of HMGB1. Up-regulation of Mfn2 attenuated the suppressive effect of HMGB1 on CD4(+) T lymphocytes, which was associated with profound elevation of intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca(2+)](i)) and nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT) activity. These results indicate that HMGB1 have a direct role on adaptive immunity, and the decrease of Mfn2 expression may be a major cause of HMGB1-mediated immune dysfunction and Ca(2+)-NFAT signaling defect of CD4(+) T lymphocytes.