山西省六个负蝗种群的遗传多样性

用等位酶电泳分析方法对短额负蝗(A tractom orpha sinensis)和奇异负蝗(A tractom orpha p ereg rina)各3个自然种群10种酶(AAT,CK,G 3PD,HEX,IDH,LDH,M DH,M E,PG I,PGM)进行检测。结果显示:两种负蝗在某些基因座上共享常见的等位基因,如A a t-1-b、A a t-2-b、G 3p d-a、Ck-1-b和Ldh-b;除个别基因座在部分种群符合H ardy-W e inberg平衡外,两种负蝗的大多数基因座的基因型频率显著偏离H ardy-W e inberg平衡。此外,奇异负蝗M e-c(0.318~0.740)、短额负蝗H ex-1-a(0.800~1.000)及Ldh-b(0.487~0.750)等位基因频率呈现出由北向南递增的趋势,表明M e和H ex、Ldh基因座上的等位基因频率与地理分布存在一定的相关关系。短额负蝗平均每个基因座的等位基因数(A)为1.9~2.3、多态基因座百分率(P)为56.3%~68.8%、平均观察杂合度(Ho)为0.072~0.096;而奇异负蝗的相应值依次为A=1.7~2.2,P=43.8~56.3%,Ho=0.070~0.107。从A、P和Ho3个参数可知,短额负蝗遗传多样性明显高于奇异负蝗。6个负蝗种群的平均观察杂合度均明显低于H ardy-W e inberg平衡预期值,表明6个负蝗种群均出现了杂合体缺乏现象。短额负蝗3种群I值为0.971~0.996,奇异负蝗3种群I值为0.982~0.995,短额负蝗与奇异负蝗I值为0.379~0.451,表明种内遗传相似度明显高于种间,从种间I值可知奇异负蝗和短额负蝗属于近缘种。根据R oger's遗传距离进行的聚类分析表明,两种负蝗可分为两支,且两种负蝗的遗传距离与地理距离均存在明显的相关趋势。两种负蝗的平均FST值都不显著偏离0值(奇异负蝗FST=0.087,p>0.05,短额负蝗FST=0.045,p>0.05),表明该两种负蝗种群间的分化不明显。     

miR-324-5p promotes adipocyte differentiation and lipid droplet accumulation by targeting Krueppel-like factor 3 (KLF3)

miRNAs, a kind of noncoding small RNA, play a significant role in adipose differentiation. In this study, we explored the effect of miR-324-5p in adipose differentiation, and found that miR-324-5p could promote adipocytes differentiation and increase body weight in mice. We overexpressed miR-324-5p during adipocytes differentiation, by oil red O and bodipy staining found that lipid accumulation was increased, and the expression level of adipogenic related genes were significantly increased. And the opposite experimental results were obtained after inhibiting miR-324-5p. In vivo, we injected miR-324-5p agomiR in obese mice and found that body weight, adipocyte area, and adipogenic-related gene expression level were significantly increased but lipolytic genes were decreased. To further explore the mechanism of miR-324-5p regulation in lipid accumulation, we constructed Krueppel-like factor 3 (KLF3) 3′-untranslated region luciferase reporter vector and KLF3 pcDNA 3.1 overexpression vector, and found that miR-324-5p was able to directly target KLF3. Overall, in this study we found that miR-324-5p could promote mice preadipoytes differentiation and increase mice fat accumulation by targeting KLF3.     

Tumor suppressor RASSF1A promoter: p53 binding and methylation

Oncogenes and tumor suppressors work in concert to regulate cell growth or death, which is a pair of antagonist factors for regulation of tumorigenesis. Here we show promoter characteristic of tumor suppressor RASSF1A, which revealed a p53 binding site in the distal and a GC-rich region in the proximal promoter region of RASSF1A, in despite of TATA box-less. The GC-rich region, which is ～300 bp upstream from the RASSF1A ATG, showed the strongest promoter activity in an assay of RASSF1A-driving GFP expression. Methylation analysis of the CpG island showed that 78.57% of the GC sties were methylated in testis tumor samples compared with methylation-less in normal testis. Hypermethylation of the GC-rich region is associated with RASSF1A silencing in human testis tumors. In addition, electrophoretic mobility shift assay indicated that p53 protein bound to the RASSF1A promoter. Further chromatin immunoprecipitation confirmed p53 binding to the RASSF1A. Moreover, p53 binding to the promoter down-regulated RASSF1A expression. These results suggest that p53 protein specifically binds to the RASSF1A promoter and inhibits its expression. Our results provide new insight into the mechanism of action of tumor suppressors and may be a starting point for development of new approaches to cancer treatment.     

Theta-gamma coupling emerges from spatially heterogeneous cholinergic neuromodulation

Theta and gamma rhythms and their cross-frequency coupling play critical roles in perception, attention, learning, and memory. Available data suggest that forebrain acetylcholine (ACh) signaling promotes theta-gamma coupling, although the mechanism has not been identified. Recent evidence suggests that cholinergic signaling is both temporally and spatially constrained, in contrast to the traditional notion of slow, spatially homogeneous, and diffuse neuromodulation. Here, we find that spatially constrained cholinergic stimulation can generate theta-modulated gamma rhythms. Using biophysically-based excitatory-inhibitory (E-I) neural network models, we simulate the effects of ACh on neural excitability by varying the conductance of a muscarinic receptor-regulated K⁺ current. In E-I networks with local excitatory connectivity and global inhibitory connectivity, we demonstrate that theta-gamma-coupled firing patterns emerge in ACh modulated network regions. Stable gamma-modulated firing arises within regions with high ACh signaling, while theta or mixed theta-gamma activity occurs at the peripheries of these regions. High gamma activity also alternates between different high-ACh regions, at theta frequency. Our results are the first to indicate a causal role for spatially heterogenous ACh signaling in the emergence of localized theta-gamma rhythmicity. Our findings also provide novel insights into mechanisms by which ACh signaling supports the brain region-specific attentional processing of sensory information.     

定量蛋白质组学在急性高原病研究中的应用进展

急性高原病(acute mountain sickness,AMS)是人体急性暴露于高原低压低氧环境后出现多系统生理紊乱的临床综合征。定量蛋白质组学技术可以系统定量并描述机体蛋白质组成和动态变化规律,近年来在多种疾病的预防、诊断、治疗和发生机制等方面研究应用广泛。本文系统综述了定量蛋白质组学技术及其在AMS的预防、诊断、治疗和急进高原习服机制研究中的应用进展,以期为AMS的发病机制、提前干预、临床治疗和AMS的蛋白质组学研究提供参考。     

CoBRA: Containerized Bioinformatics Workflow for Reproducible ChIP/ATAC-seq Analysis

Chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-seq) and the Assay for Transposase-Accessible Chromatin with high-throughput sequencing (ATAC-seq) have become essential technologies to effectively measure protein–DNA interactions and chromatin accessibility. However, there is a need for a scalable and reproducible pipeline that incorporates proper normalization between samples, correction of copy number variations, and integration of new downstream analysis tools. Here we present Containerized Bioinformatics workflow for Reproducible ChIP/ATAC-seq Analysis (CoBRA), a modularized computational workflow which quantifies ChIP-seq and ATAC-seq peak regions and performs unsupervised and supervised analyses. CoBRA provides a comprehensive state-of-the-art ChIP-seq and ATAC-seq analysis pipeline that can be used by scientists with limited computational experience. This enables researchers to gain rapid insight into protein–DNA interactions and chromatin accessibility through sample clustering, differential peak calling, motif enrichment, comparison of sites to a reference database, and pathway analysis. CoBRA is publicly available online at https://bitbucket.org/cfce/cobra     

Long noncoding RNAs in the progression,metastasis, and prognosis of osteosarcoma

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are a class of non-protein-coding molecules longer than 200 nucleotides that are involved in the development and progression of many types of tumors. Numerous lncRNAs regulate cell proliferation, metastasis, and chemotherapeutic drug resistance. Osteosarcoma is one of the main bone tumor subtypes that poses a serious threat to adolescent health. We summarized how lncRNAs regulate osteosarcoma progression, invasion, and drug resistance, as well as how lncRNAs can function as biomarkers or independent prognostic indicators with respect to osteosarcoma therapy.     

植物多药和有毒化合物排出转运蛋白研究进展

植物在生长及适应环境的过程中会吸收很多有益或有害的物质,自身也会产生大量代谢物,植物对这些物质的转运是植物生长发育及适应环境的重要环节,有多种转运蛋白家族参与其中。多药和有毒化合物排出转运蛋白(MATEs)是生物体中重要的转运蛋白家族之一,而植物中MATE基因的丰富程度要远远高于其他生物。根据植物MATEs的蛋白结构,这些基因被分为4个主要的亚家族,即MATE I,MATEⅡ,MATEⅢ和MATE IV。同一亚家族或同一MATE基因簇的基因还具有相同或相似的功能。植物MATEs定位于细胞的各种生物膜上,如细胞质膜、液泡膜、高尔基膜及囊泡膜等。此外,一些MATEs的表达还具有组织特异性,它们转运的底物也具有多样性和特异性,使得MATEs呈现出多种生物学功能。它们在外源性物质的排出、次生代谢产物的转运和累积、铁转运、铝脱毒和植物激素信号传递及植物的抗病性等方面都起着重要作用。该文对MATEs的发现、基因分类、亚细胞定位及生理功能等方面进行了概述,对深入研究该基因家族提供了思路,对该基因家族的应用进行了展望。