绵羊肌肉生长抑制素MSTN原核表达及其纳米抗体文库的构建与鉴定

克隆绵羊肌肉生长抑制素（myostatin,MSTN）基因并在大肠杆菌中诱导表达,纯化重组蛋白免疫健康的双峰驼（Bactrian camel）,分离其外周血淋巴细胞提取总RNA,利用RT-PCR扩增骆驼重链抗体IgG2、IgG3的可变区（VHH）基因片段,将VHH片段与pCANTAB5E连接后电转入大肠杆菌TG1构建纳米抗体文库。结果显示,纳米抗体文库容量为9.5×10⁵,挑取部分克隆进行测序分析,所获得的纳米抗体文库具有良好的多态性,为进一步筛选绵羊MSTN的高特异性纳米抗体片段奠定了基础。     

Identification and quantification of the toxic dinoflagellate Gymnodinium sp. with competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (cELISA)

Polyclonal antibodies were raised against Gymnodinium sp. by immunizing rabbits with cells of the axenic strain. Based on the species-specific antiserum, an indirect competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (cELISA) was developed to identify and quantify Gymnodinium sp. A standard curve was established to correlate the cELISA signal to cell amount on a logit-log basis in the linear range between 24 and 6,250,000 cells, and the equation deducted was ln[A/(A₀ − A)]= 4.9193 − 1.1006 log[cell amount] (R² = 0.9948, n = 5). The detection limit was found to be 12 cells. The intra-assay and inter-assay coefficients of variation (CVs) were 5.8% and 9.7%, respectively. Field samples collected from Jiaozhou Bay, China were used to assess the robustness of the method. The results showed high agreement with that of cell-counting with a light microscope. The good reproducibility and precision of the cELISA implied that this new technique could be used for fast quantification of Gymnodinium sp.     

Global pattern of plant utilization across different organisms: Does plant apparency or plant phylogeny matter?

The present study is the first to consider human and nonhuman consumers together to reveal several general patterns of plant utilization. We provide evidence that at a global scale, plant apparency and phylogenetic isolation can be important predictors of plant utilization and consumer diversity. Using the number of species or genera or the distribution area of each plant family as the island “area” and the minimum phylogenetic distance to common plant families as the island “distance”, we fitted presence–area relationships and presence–distance relationships with a binomial GLM (generalized linear model) with a logit link. The presence–absence of consumers among each plant family strongly depended on plant apparency (family size and distribution area); the diversity of consumers increased with plant apparency but decreased with phylogenetic isolation. When consumers extended their host breadth, unapparent plants became more likely to be used. Common uses occurred more often on common plants and their relatives, showing higher host phylogenetic clustering than uncommon uses. On the contrary, highly specialized uses might be related to the rarity of plant chemicals and were therefore very species‐specific. In summary, our results provide a global illustration of plant–consumer combinations and reveal several general patterns of plant utilization across humans, insects and microbes. First, plant apparency and plant phylogenetic isolation generally govern plant utilization value, with uncommon and isolated plants suffering fewer parasites. Second, extension of the breadth of utilized hosts helps explain the presence of consumers on unapparent plants. Finally, the phylogenetic clustering structure of host plants is different between common uses and uncommon uses. The strength of such consistent plant utilization patterns across a diverse set of usage types suggests that the persistence and accumulation of consumer diversity and use value for plant species are determined by similar ecological and evolutionary processes.     

Effects of androgen receptor mutation on testicular histopathology of patient having complete androgen insensitivity

Androgens are required for normal male sex differentiation and development of male secondary sexual characteristics. Mutations in AR gene are known to cause defects in male sexual differentiation. In current study, we enrolled a 46,XY phenotypically female patient bearing testes in inguinal canal. DNA sequencing of the AR gene detected a missense mutation C.1715A?>?G (p. Y572C) in exon 2 which is already known to cause complete androgen insensitivity syndrome (CAIS). We focused on the effects of this mutation on the testicular histopathology of the patient. Surface spreading of testicular tissues showed an absence of spermatocytes while H&E staining showed that seminiferous tubules predominantly have only Sertoli cells. This meiotic failure is likely due to the effect of the AR mutation which ultimately leads to Sertoli cell only syndrome. Tubules were stained with SOX9 and AMH which revealed Sertoli cells maturation arrest. Western blot and realtime PCR data showed that patient had higher levels of AMH, SOX9 and inhibin-B in the testis. Therefore, we suggest that the dysfunctioning of AR by mutation enhances AMH expression which ultimately leads to the failure in maturation of Sertoli cells.     

Intramolecular cyclization of the antimicrobial peptide Polybia‐MPI with triazole stapling: influence on stability and bioactivity

Cationic antimicrobial peptides have attracted increasing attention as a novel class of antibiotics to treat infectious diseases caused by pathogenic bacteria. However, susceptibility to protease is a shortcoming in their development. Cyclization is one approach to increase the proteolytic resistance of peptides. Therefore, to improve the proteolytic resistance of Polybia‐MPI, we have synthesized the MPI cyclic analogs C‐MPI‐1 (i‐to‐i+4) and C‐MPI‐2 (i‐to‐i+6) by copper(I)‐catalyzed azide–alkyne cycloaddition. Compared with MPI, C‐MPI‐1 displayed sustained antimicrobial activity and had enhanced anti‐trypsin resistance, while C‐MPI‐2 displayed no antimicrobial activity. The relationship between peptide structure and bioactivity was further investigated by probing the secondary structure of the peptides by circular dichroism. This showed that C‐MPI‐1 adopted an α‐helical structure in aqueous solution and, interestingly, had increased α‐helical conformation in 30 mM sodium dodecyl sulfate and 50% trifluoroethyl alcohol compared with MPI. C‐MPI‐2 that was not α‐helical in structure, suggesting that the propensity for α‐helix conformation may play an important role in cyclic peptide design. In addition, scanning electron microscopy, propidium iodide uptake, and membrane permeabilization assays indicated that MPI and the optimized analog C‐MPI‐1 had membrane‐active action modes, indicating that the peptides would not be susceptible to conventional resistance mechanisms. Our study provides additional insight into the influence of intramolecular cyclization at various positions on peptide structure and biological activity. In conclusion, the design and synthesis of cyclic analogs via click chemistry offer a new strategy for the development of stable antimicrobial agents. Copyright © 2017 European Peptide Society and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

异戊二烯合成酶研究进展

异戊二烯(Isoprene)的排放具有特殊的生物学功能,对大气环境具有重要影响,另外,异戊二烯也是一种具有广泛用途的化合物。在生物体内,异戊二烯是由异戊二烯合成酶(Isoprene synthase,Isps)催化烯丙基二磷酸(Dimethylallyl diphosphate,DMAPP)脱去焦磷酸(Pyrophosphate)而生成的。因此,作为异戊二烯合成过程中的关键酶,Isps在异戊二烯的自然排放和生物合成过程都发挥着重要的作用,对Isps的研究具有非常重要的意义。到目前为止,已经在多种植物中发现了该酶,研究表明,来源于不同生物的异戊二烯合成酶具有保守的结构特征和相似的生化性质。文中就Isps的最新研究进展进行综述,包括比较分析不同生物来源Isps的生化特征和结构特征,探讨催化机制,并对该酶在生物工程领域的应用进行展望。     

A snapshot of the Chinese SOL Project

In 2003, the International Solanaceae Project (SOL) was initiated by an international consortium of ten countries including Korea, China, the United Kingdom, India, the Netherlands, France, Japan, Spain, Italy and the United States. The first major effort of the SOL aimed to produce a DNA sequence map for euchromatin regions of 12 chromosomes of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) before 2010. Here we present an update on Chinese effort for sequencing the euchromatin region of chromosome 3.     

Statin-induced inhibition of HIV-1 release from latently infected U1 cells reveals a critical role for protein prenylation in HIV-1 replication.

Latent infection of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) represents a major hurdle in the treatment of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) patients. Statins were recently reported to suppress acute HIV-1 infection and reduce infectious virion production, but the precise mechanism of inhibition has remained elusive. Here we demonstrate that lypophilic statins suppress HIV-1 virion release from tumor necrosis factor alpha-stimulated latently infected U1 cells through inhibition of protein geranylgeranylation, but not by cholesterol depletion. Indeed, this suppression was reversed by the addition of geranylgeranylpyrophosphate, and a geranylgeranyltransferase-1 inhibitor reduced HIV-1 production. Notably, silencing of the endogenous Rab11a GTPase expression in U1 cells by RNA interference destabilized Gag and reduced virion production both in vitro and in NOD/SCID/gammac null mice. Our findings thus suggest that small GTPase proteins play an important role in HIV-1 replication, and therefore could be attractive molecular targets for anti-HIV-1 therapy.