评论：塑料结合模块促进聚对苯二甲酸乙二醇酯的酶法降解

塑料的大量生产和无节制的使用已造成严重的环境污染。为了减少塑料废物对环境的影响,近年来塑料酶法降解已成为国内外研究者关注的热点。例如,通过蛋白质工程策略提高塑料降解酶催化活性和热稳定性,进一步提高酶法降解的效率。另外,通过融合酶策略将塑料结合模块与塑料降解酶融合,也可以促进塑料降解。近期发表在期刊Chem Catalysis的一项研究表明,采用碳水化合物结合模块融合策略可以在低浓度(<10 wt%)的底物聚对苯二甲酸乙二醇酯[poly(ethylene terephthalate),PET]中提高塑料降解酶的活性。但是在高浓度底物(10 wt%−20 wt%)中,该策略无法提高PET的酶法降解。该项研究对于采用塑料结合模块促进酶法降解塑料具有重要的指导意义。     

Investigations of interaction mechanism and conformational variation of serum albumin affected by artemisinin and dihydroartemisinin

In this work, binding interactions of artemisinin (ART) and dihydroartemisinin (DHA) with human serum albumin (HSA) and bovine serum albumin (BSA) were investigated thoroughly to illustrate the conformational variation of serum albumin. Experimental results indicated that ART and DHA bound strongly with the site I of serum albumins via hydrogen bond (H-bond) and van der Waals force and subsequently statically quenched the intrinsic fluorescence of serum albumins through concentration-dependent manner. The quenching abilities of two drugs on the intrinsic fluorescence of HSA were much higher than the quenching abilities of two drugs on the intrinsic fluorescence of BSA. Both ART and DHA, especially DHA, caused the conformational variation of serum albumins and reduced the α-helix structure content of serum albumins. DHA with hydrophilic hydroxyl group bound with HSA more strongly, suggesting the important roles of the chemical polarity and the hydrophilicity during the binding interactions of two drugs with serum albumins. These results reveal the molecular understanding of binding interactions between ART derivatives and serum albumins, providing vital information for the future application of ART derivatives in biological and clinical areas.     

论Paracarinachitids

研究证明Paracarinachitids的外骨骼都不是由8个骨板组成,骨片具有清楚的微层构造,表明它们是由叠覆的生长层组成,每个生长节上有一个小刺,在顶端下侧面前端都有肾形缺凹。同一标本上存在顶端部的融合和远顶端部的分节彼此递交的现象表明这种表象上的差异是后期次生磷灰石包裹或腐蚀的结果;其下侧缘融合和下侧面无缝隙的现象说明将Paracarinachites spinus的骨片分成头板、中间板和尾板是没有根据的。骨片表面存在的针状体是成岩作用的产物,它是粘土矿物和磷酸盐针状结晶体而不是多板纲的骨针。凡此强有力地说明Yangtzechiton是Paracarinachites的晚出同义名。根据形态功能、组织结构,特别是叠覆状排列的骨片和孤立的生长节等特征,paracarinachitids 可能与zhijinitids有密切关系,但两者是否同源尚缺少进一步的证据、据此,笔者认为将paracarinachitids 暂置于分类位置未定的具骨片后生动物较妥。     

外显子与内含子序列分维的双碱基研究

引入碱基间的关联,研究了外显子和内含子序列以双碱基为单位的分维,我们发现在这种情况下,外显子和内显子序列在短程和中程存在自相似性并分别定义了这两个区域的分维。结果表明,短程的分维值Ｄｇ一般比中程的Ｄｍ大,外显子的两个分维值比内含子大。我们改变双联体的位相而分维却不变,这反映出在双联体基础上,外显子的不规则性大于内含子,短程的不规则性大于中程,外显子和内含子序列对以２为周期的结构没有位相的特异性。     

Cross-trait prediction accuracy of summary statistics in genome-wide association studies

In the era of big data, univariate models have widely been used as a workhorse tool for quickly producing marginal estimators; and this is true even when in a high-dimensional dense setting, in which many features are “true,” but weak signals. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) epitomize this type of setting. Although the GWAS marginal estimator is popular, it has long been criticized for ignoring the correlation structure of genetic variants (i.e., the linkage disequilibrium [LD] pattern). In this paper, we study the effects of LD pattern on the GWAS marginal estimator and investigate whether or not additionally accounting for the LD can improve the prediction accuracy of complex traits. We consider a general high-dimensional dense setting for GWAS and study a class of ridge-type estimators, including the popular marginal estimator and the best linear unbiased prediction (BLUP) estimator as two special cases. We show that the performance of GWAS marginal estimator depends on the LD pattern through the first three moments of its eigenvalue distribution. Furthermore, we uncover that the relative performance of GWAS marginal and BLUP estimators highly depends on the ratio of GWAS sample size over the number of genetic variants. Particularly, our finding reveals that the marginal estimator can easily become near-optimal within this class when the sample size is relatively small, even though it ignores the LD pattern. On the other hand, BLUP estimator has substantially better performance than the marginal estimator as the sample size increases toward the number of genetic variants, which is typically in millions. Therefore, adjusting for the LD (such as in the BLUP) is most needed when GWAS sample size is large. We illustrate the importance of our results by using the simulated data and real GWAS.     

Multikink quantile regression for longitudinal data with application to progesterone data analysis

Motivated by investigating the relationship between progesterone and the days in a menstrual cycle in a longitudinal study, we propose a multikink quantile regression model for longitudinal data analysis. It relaxes the linearity condition and assumes different regression forms in different regions of the domain of the threshold covariate. In this paper, we first propose a multikink quantile regression for longitudinal data. Two estimation procedures are proposed to estimate the regression coefficients and the kink points locations: one is a computationally efficient profile estimator under the working independence framework while the other one considers the within-subject correlations by using the unbiased generalized estimation equation approach. The selection consistency of the number of kink points and the asymptotic normality of two proposed estimators are established. Second, we construct a rank score test based on partial subgradients for the existence of the kink effect in longitudinal studies. Both the null distribution and the local alternative distribution of the test statistic have been derived. Simulation studies show that the proposed methods have excellent finite sample performance. In the application to the longitudinal progesterone data, we identify two kink points in the progesterone curves over different quantiles and observe that the progesterone level remains stable before the day of ovulation, then increases quickly in 5 to 6 days after ovulation and then changes to stable again or drops slightly.     

TBC1D25 alleviates nonalcoholic steatohepatitis by inhibiting abnormal lipid accumulation and inflammation

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a strong stimulant of cardiovascular diseases, affecting one-quarter of the world's population. TBC1 domain family member 25 (TBC1D25) regulates the development of myocardial hypertrophy and cerebral ischemia–reperfusion injury; however, its effect on NAFLD/nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) has not been reported. In this study, we demonstrated that TBC1D25 expression is upregulated in NASH. TBC1D25 deficiency aggravated hepatic steatosis, inflammation, and fibrosis in NASH. In vitro tests revealed that TBC1D25 overexpression restrained NASH responses. Subsequent mechanistic validation experiments demonstrated that TBC1D25 interfered with NASH progression by inhibiting abnormal lipid accumulation and inflammation. TBC1D25 deficiency significantly promoted NASH occurrence and development. Therefore, TBC1D25 may potentially be used as a clinical therapeutic target for NASH treatment.     

Functional data analysis with covariate-dependent mean and covariance structures

Functional data analysis has emerged as a powerful tool in response to the ever-increasing resources and efforts devoted to collecting information about response curves or anything that varies over a continuum. However, limited progress has been made with regard to linking the covariance structures of response curves to external covariates, as most functional models assume a common covariance structure. We propose a new functional regression model with covariate-dependent mean and covariance structures. Particularly, by allowing variances of random scores to be covariate-dependent, we identify eigenfunctions for each individual from the set of eigenfunctions that govern the variation patterns across all individuals, resulting in high interpretability and prediction power. We further propose a new penalized quasi-likelihood procedure that combines regularization and B-spline smoothing for model selection and estimation and establish the convergence rate and asymptotic normality of the proposed estimators. The utility of the developed method is demonstrated via simulations, as well as an analysis of the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children concerning parental effects on the growth curves of their offspring, which yields biologically interesting results.     

Comparative bioinformatics analysis and abiotic stress responses of expansin proteins in Cucurbitaceae members: watermelon and melon

Protoplasma - Watermelon and melon are members of the Cucurbitaceae family including economically significant crops in the world. The expansin protein family, which is one of the members of the...     

我国巢鼠属分类和分子系统学分析

本研究对2018至2021年采集的9号巢鼠(Micromys minutus)标本、22号红耳巢鼠(M. erythrotis)标本和19号待厘定的巢鼠属标本,进行形态分类和分子系统学分析,进一步揭示我国巢鼠属的分类和系统分化问题。待厘定的巢鼠属标本形态特征为：标本体背毛黑棕,体腹毛基灰色,毛尖灰白,体侧毛色具明显区分,尾背部毛色黑棕,尾腹部毛色灰棕色;尾长长于头体长的120%;头骨背面观可见颧弓明显弯曲;颅全长[(18.59 ± 0.48)mm]和颅基长[(17.43 ± 0.48 mm)]较长,腭长[(9.35 ± 0.11)mm]较长,脑颅高[(7.43 ± 0.06)mm]较高。待厘定的巢鼠属标本形态特征与巢鼠和红耳巢鼠均存在差异。待厘定巢鼠属标本与巢鼠和红耳巢鼠之间的遗传距离分别为0.115和0.136,接近于巢鼠与红耳巢鼠之间的遗传距离(0.126)。利用Cyt b基因全序列和核基因IRBP1、RAG1和RAG2序列分别构建的巢鼠属系统发生树均以较高的置信度分化成3个进化支,即巢鼠、红耳巢鼠和待厘定的巢鼠属样本的进化支。形态学和分子系统学分析结果均支持待厘定的巢鼠属标本为独立物种分类单元,对应于文献记载的巢鼠川西亚种(M. m. pygmaeus)。根据产地、遗传距离和形态分化,建议将巢鼠川西亚种提升为种,命名为川西巢鼠(M. pygmaeus comb. nov.)。利用Cyt b基因全序列构建的巢鼠系统发生树分化成6个进化谱系：日韩谱系、欧洲谱系、俄罗斯新西伯利亚谱系、中国东北和俄罗斯远东谱系、中国安徽谱系和中国台湾谱系。