Mapping-by-Sequencing Identifies HvPHYTOCHROME C as a Candidate Gene for the early maturity 5 Locus Modulating the Circadian Clock and Photoperiodic Flowering in Barley

Phytochromes play an important role in light signaling and photoperiodic control of flowering time in plants. Here we propose that the red/far-red light photoreceptor HvPHYTOCHROME C (HvPHYC), carrying a mutation in a conserved region of the GAF domain, is a candidate underlying the early maturity 5 locus in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.). We fine mapped the gene using a mapping-by-sequencing approach applied on the whole-exome capture data from bulked early flowering segregants derived from a backcross of the Bowman(eam5) introgression line. We demonstrate that eam5 disrupts circadian expression of clock genes. Moreover, it interacts with the major photoperiod response gene Ppd-H1 to accelerate flowering under noninductive short days. Our results suggest that HvPHYC participates in transmission of light signals to the circadian clock and thus modulates light-dependent processes such as photoperiodic regulation of flowering.     

Determining the Precise Cerebral Response to Acupuncture: An Improved fMRI Study

Background

In acupuncture brain imaging trials, there are many non-acupuncture factors confounding the neuronal mapping. The modality of the placebo, subjects’ psychological attitude to acupuncture and their physical state are the three most confounding factors.

Objective

To obtain more precise and accurate cerebral fMRI mapping of acupuncture.

Design and Setting

A 2×2 randomized, controlled, participant-blinded cross-over factorial acupuncture trial was conducted at Xuanwu Hospital in Beijing, China.

Participants

Forty-one college students with myopia were recruited to participate in our study and were allocated randomly to four groups, Group A, Group B, Group C and Group D.

Interventions

Group A received real acupuncture (RA) and treatment instruction (TI); Group B received RA and non-treatment instruction (NI); Group C received sham acupuncture (SA) and TI; Group D received SA and NI.

Results

Stimulation at LR3 activated some areas of the visual cortex, and the cerebral response to non-acupuncture factors was complex and occurred in multiple areas.

Conclusions

The results provide more evidence regarding the credibility of acupuncture therapy and suggest that more precise experimental designs are needed to eliminate sources of bias in acupuncture controlled trials and to obtain sound results.     

Analysis of DYS19 and DYS287 polymorphisms in the Han population and three other ethnic groups of northeast China

The allelic distribution of the Y-chromosome specific microsatellite DYS19 in the Han population and in the Daur, Oroqen and Ewenki ethnic groups (Northeast China) was analyzed by PCR and denatured polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The allelic distribution in the Han population group is as follows: A = 2.90%, B = 26.09%, C = 26.09%, D = 29.98%, E = 15.94%. This allelic distribution differs statistically significant from that observed in the three other ethnic groups (p < 0.05). Furthermore the polymorphism of the Y-chromosome specific Alu insert sequence DYS287 was tested in these four groups. However, no Alu sequence insert was found.     

The role of dendritic cells regulated by HMGB1/TLR4 signalling pathway in myocardial ischaemia reperfusion injury

Inflammatory response plays an important role in ischaemia reperfusion injury (IRI) through a variety of inflammatory cells. Apart from neutrophils, macrophages and lymphocytes, the role of dendritic cells (DCs) in IRI has been noticed. The study was aimed at investigating whether the high‐mobility group protein box‐1/toll like receptor 4 (HMGB1/TLR4) signalling pathway regulate the migration, adhesion and aggregation of DCs to the myocardium, induce DCs activation and maturation, stimulate the expression of surface costimulatory molecules and participate in myocardial IRI. In vivo, migration, adhesion, and aggregation of DCs was enhanced; the expression of peripheral blood DCs CD80 and CD86, myocardial adhesion molecules were increased; and the infarct size was increased during myocardial ischaemia reperfusion injury myocardial ischemic/reperfusion injury (MI/RI). These responses induced by MI/RI were significantly inhibited by HMGB1 specific neutralizing antibody treatment. Cellular experiments confirmed that HMGB1 promoted the release of inflammatory cytokines through TLR4/MyD88/NF‐κB, upregulated CD80 and CD86 expression, mediated the damage of cardiomyocytes and accelerated the apoptosis. Our results indicate that DCs activation and maturation, stimulate the expression of surface costimulatory molecules by promoting the release of inflammatory factors through NF‐κB pathway and participate in myocardial IRI.     

云南48种木兰科野生植物资源遗传多样性研究

为了解云南省木兰科（Magnoliaceae）野生植物资源的遗传多样性,利用ISSR分子标记技术对48种木兰科野生植物资源进行研究。结果表明,10对引物共扩增出151条带,均为多态性条带,多态性条带百分率为100%。总的观测等位基因数（N_a）为2.000 0,有效等位基因数（N_e）为1.564 5,Nei’s基因多样性指数（H）0.337 9,Shannon’s信息指数（I）为0.510 1。总的基因多样性指数（H_t）为0.368 0,属间基因多样性指数（D_st）为0.251 9,占68.4%,基因分化系数（G_st）为0.684 0,基因流（N_m）为0.231 0。UPGMA聚类分析将48种木兰科植物划分为7个类群,各类群并非按照属聚在一起,而是不同属植物相间分布,长喙厚朴（Magnolia rostrata）、素黄含笑（Michelia flaviflora）和球花含笑（M.sphaerantha）可能为云南省木兰科植物中的原始种。48种木兰科野生植物总体具有较高的遗传多样性,但属间遗传变异较高,基因流较小,存在遗传漂变的风险,聚类结果与刘玉壶的分类系统存在分歧,这从分子水平为木兰科植物间的起源、进化与分类提供了重要依据。     

Coexpression of EGFR and CXCR4 Predicts Poor Prognosis in Resected Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma

BackgroundEpidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is highly expressed in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) and is involved in tumorigenesis and development. However, EGFR expression alone has limited clinical and prognostic significance. Recently, the cross-talk between EGFR and G-protein-coupled chemokine receptor CXCR4 has become increasingly recognized.MethodsIn the present study, immunohistochemical staining of EGFR and CXCR4 was performed on paraffin-embedded specimens from 131 patients with surgically resected PDAC. Subsequently, the associations between EGFR expression, CXCR4 expression, EGFR/CXCR4 coexpression and clinicopathologic factors were assessed, and survival analyses were performed.ResultsIn total, 64 (48.9%) patients expressed EGFR, 68 (51.9%) expressed CXCR4, and 33 (25.2%) coexpressed EGFR and CXCR4. No significant association between EGFR and CXCR4 expression was observed (P = 0.938). EGFR expression significantly correlated with tumor differentiation (P = 0.031), whereas CXCR4 expression significantly correlated with lymph node metastasis (P = 0.001). EGFR/CXCR4 coexpression was significantly associated with lymph node metastasis (P = 0.026), TNM stage (P = 0.048), and poor tumor differentiation (P = 0.004). By univariate survival analysis, both CXCR4 expression and EGFR/CXCR4 coexpression were significant prognostic factors for poor disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). Moreover, EGFR/CXCR4 coexpression significantly increased the hazard ratio for both recurrence and death compared with EGFR or CXCR4 protein expression alone. Multivariate survival analysis demonstrated that EGFR/CXCR4 coexpression was an independent prognostic factor for DFS (HR = 2.33, P<0.001) and OS (HR = 2.48, P = 0.001).ConclusionsIn conclusion, our data indicate that although EGFR expression alone has limited clinical and prognostic significance, EGFR/CXCR4 coexpression identified a subset of PDAC patients with more aggressive tumor characteristics and a significantly worse prognosis. Our results suggest a potentially important "cross-talk" between CXCR4 and EGFR intracellular pathways and indicate that the simultaneous inhibition of these pathways might be an attractive therapeutic strategy for PDAC.     

CRISPR Primer Designer:Design primers for knockout and chromosome imaging CRISPR-Cas system

The clustered regularly interspaced short palin-dromic repeats (CRISPR)-associated system enables biologists to edit genomes precisely and provides a powerful tool for perturbing endogenous gene regula...     

三江平原沼泽湿地垦殖及自然恢复对土壤细菌群落多样性的影响

为量化垦殖对我国东北沼泽湿地的影响程度,于2015年6月基于Illumina Miseq PE300第二代高通量测序平台,对黑龙江省洪河国家级自然保护区的原始沼泽、耕地、退耕湿地的土壤细菌16S r RNA基因高变区域进行测序,并分析沼泽湿地土壤细菌群落多样性和结构组成与垦殖的关系。结果表明:共获得358737条修剪序列且被划分为36个已知的菌门,在11个主要的土壤细菌门类中(相对丰度1%),芽单胞菌门(P0.01)、拟杆菌门(P0.01)、厚壁菌门(P0.01)和绿菌门(P0.01)在不同生境类型样地差异显著,土壤细菌群落alpha多样性由高到低排序依次是:耕地、退耕湿地、原始沼泽。结合相关性分析和冗余分析可以证明,长期的耕作,特别是旱田耕作对沼泽湿地土壤细菌群落组成产生显著的影响,土壤p H、含水量、全碳、有机碳、可溶有机碳、碱解氮、微生物量碳、微生物量氮对土壤细菌的多样性和群落组成产生影响。总之,研究结果发现自然恢复可以显著促进土壤细菌群落多样性的恢复,但是沼泽湿地土壤细菌群落结构一旦被垦殖干扰改变将很难恢复到原始状态,强调了有效地利用土壤细菌群落对维护土壤生态系统平衡具有重要的意义。     

JSI-124 Suppresses Invasion and Angiogenesis of Glioblastoma Cells In Vitro

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is one of the utmost malignant tumors. Excessive angiogenesis and invasiveness are the major reasons for their uncontrolled growth and resistance toward conventional strategies resulting in poor prognosis. In this study, we found that low-dose JSI-124 reduced invasiveness and tumorigenicity of GBM cells. JSI-124 effectively inhibited VEGF expression in GBM cells. In a coculture study, JSI-124 completely prevented U87MG cell–mediated capillary formation of HUVECs and the migration of HUVECs when cultured alone or cocultured with U87MG cells. Furthermore, JSI-124 inhibited VEGF-induced cell proliferation, motility, invasion and the formation of capillary-like structures in HUVECs in a dose-dependent manner. JSI-124 suppressed VEGF-induced p-VEGFR2 activity through STAT3 signaling cascade in HUVECs. Immunohistochemistry analysis showed that the expression of CD34, Ki67, p-STAT3 and p-VEGFR2 protein in xenografts was remarkably decreased. Taken together, our findings provide the first evidence that JSI-124 effectively inhibits tumor angiogenesis and invasion, which might be a viable drug in anti-angiogenesis and anti-invasion therapies.