MLKL mediates apoptosis via a mutual regulation with PERK/eIF2α pathway in response to reactive oxygen species generation

The pseudokinase mixed lineage kinase domain-like protein (MLKL) is a core effector of necroptosis, and its function in necroptosis is widely studied. However, the function of MLKL in apoptosis remains unclear. In the present study, the role of MLKL in chelerythrine (CHE)-promoted apoptosis was studied. A special band of MLKL (i.e., *MLKL) was observed after treatment with CHE. MLKL and *MLKL were accumulated in the nucleus upon treatment with CHE and MLKL silencing reversed the CHE-induced apoptosis. Blockade of CHE-triggered reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation or inhibition of CHE-activated protein kinase-like endoplasmic reticulum kinase (PERK)-eukaryotic initiation factor 2 α subunit (eIF2α) pathway reversed the apoptosis. A decreased ROS level inhibited CHE-mediated nuclear translocation of MLKL and *MLKL and the activation of eIF2α, whereas MLKL or eIF2α silencing did not affect the CHE-triggered ROS generation. Furthermore, MLKL silencing prevented the CHE-activated eIF2α signal, and eIF2α silencing blocked the CHE-induced nuclear translocation of MLKL and *MLKL. Our studies suggested that CHE possibly induces apoptosis through the nuclear translocation of MLKL and *MLKL, which is promoted by a mutual regulation between MLKL and PERK–eIF2α pathway in response to ROS formation. The present study clarified the new function of MLKL in apoptosis.     

Five New Guaiane Sesquiterpenes from the Endophytic Fungus Xylaria sp. YM 311647 of Azadirachta indica

Five new guaiane sesquiterpenes, 1 – 5 , were isolated from the culture broth of the endophytic fungus Xylaria sp. YM 311647, isolated from Azadirachta indica A. Juss . The structures of these compounds were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic analyses, and their inhibitory activities against five pathogenic fungi were evaluated. All guaiane sesquiterpenes showed moderate or weak antifungal activities in a broth microdilution assay.     

白背飞虱中的Wolbachia和Cardinium双重感染特性

为了明确自然种群白背飞虱Sogatella furcifera中Wolbachia和Cardinium的感染情况以及Wolbachia与其特有的WO噬菌体之间的关系, 以采自中国7个省区9个地点的白背飞虱为研究材料, 运用PCR检测的方法调查了Wolbachia, Cardinium以及WO噬菌体在各飞虱种群中的感染率和组织分布特点。结果表明： 白背飞虱广泛双重感染Wolbachia和Cardinium, 并且都表现出很高的感染率。白背飞虱各种群Cardinium的感染率几乎均为100%; Wolbachia的感染率也较高, 但雌雄虫感染率差异较大, 雌虫的感染率几乎均为100％, 而雄虫的感染率从22.2%~95.0%不等。另外, 通过不同DNA聚合酶、 不同提取方法的对比, 揭示了DNA粗提样品在基于PCR技术的胞内共生菌检测中的不足之处。对白背飞虱头部、 胸部、 腹部、 足和翅5个不同部位组织的检测结果表明, 不仅在含有生殖组织的腹部有这两类共生菌的感染, 在其他非生殖组织中同样也感染了这两类共生菌; 虽然Wolbachia和Cardinium在寄主的各个组织中均有分布, 但是两者在白背飞虱成虫（尤其是雄虫）阶段的动态变化有明显的差异。进一步对Wolbachia宿主特异性WO噬菌体的检测结果表明, 自然种群雄虫中Wolbachia的感染率与不感染个体中WO噬菌体的比率呈明显的负相关。因此推测, 雄虫中Wolbachia感染率相对较低的原因可能是由于Wolbachia基因组中溶原性的WO噬菌体受到某种因素的诱导已转化为裂解性噬菌体。研究结果为进一步揭示Wolbachia和Cardinium双重感染条件下对寄主的生殖调控作用及其机制、 垂直传播规律、 两者之间的相互关系以及进一步的应用研究等方面提供了重要的理论基础。     

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。     

植物激素相关核酸和蛋白质二级数据库的构建与应用

以NCBI维护的一级数据库为数据源建立植物激素相关核酸和蛋白质二级数据库。将该二级数据库设计为基因、蛋白质和文献三部分, 编写软件从上述数据源中采集数据, 并以XML作为中间格式保存, 通过解析提交到二级数据库中并集成部分生物信息学工具软件, 初步实现了数据检索、统计分析、基于Web的本地化BLAST同源序列检索、序列的自动拼接以及蛋白质结构和功能位点的分析等功能。该二级数据库的构建为植物激素作用分子机理研究提供了高针对性的植物激素数据源和生物信息学辅助工具。     

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。     

人IL17-RD胞外区真核表达及其单克隆抗体的制备

为了进一步研究白介素17受体D (IL-17RD) 在IL-17信号的调节作用,探索是否可以通过单克隆抗体阻断IL-17RD介导的IL-17信号通路而缓解自身免疫疾病,利用昆虫表达载体从Sf9细胞中表达纯化人IL-17RD-ECD蛋白,免疫Balb/C小鼠30 d,取小鼠脾脏细胞并与小鼠骨髓瘤细胞SP2/0进行融合,应用有限稀释法进行筛选,经过克隆化后筛选到一株能稳定分泌抗IL-17RD-ECD的杂交瘤细胞株1F8。经过初步鉴定,该细胞株分泌的抗体类型为IgG1+kappa类,经过Western blot     

USP31 acetylation at Lys1264 is essential for its activity and cervical cancer cell growth

Ubiquitin-specific protease 31 (USP31) is a member of deubiquitinase family that is involved in nuclear factor-κB activation and sarcomagenesis.However,little i...     

Global patterns and climatic drivers of above-and belowground net primary productivity in grasslands

Understanding patterns and determinants of net primary productivity(NPP) in global grasslands is ongoing challenges, especially for belowground NPP(BNPP) and its fraction(fBNPP). By developing a comprehensive field-based dataset, we revealed that, along with gradients of mean annual precipitation, actual evapotranspiration, and aridity, aboveground NPP(ANPP), BNPP,and total NPP(TNPP) exhibited hump-shaped patterns, whereas fBNPPshowed an opposite trend. ANPP and TNPP showed positive correlations with mean annual temperature, but fBNPPwas negatively correlated with it. The relationship between BNPP and climatic factors was considerably weak, indicating that BNPP was relatively stable regardless of the climate conditions. We also observed that the sensitivities of ANPP and BNPP to interannual temperature variability and those of BNPP to interannual precipitation fluctuations exhibited large variations among different study sites, and differed from those at the spatial scale. In contrast, the temporal sensitivities of ANPP to interannual precipitation variability were highly similar across all the individual sites and much smaller than those at the spatial scale. Overall, these results highlight that precipitation, temperature and evapotranspiration all play vital roles in shaping ANPP pattern and its partitioning to belowground and that the patterns of BNPP along climatic gradients do not mirror those of the ANPP.