Adherence to Tuberculosis Treatment among Migrant Pulmonary Tuberculosis Patients in Shandong,China: A Quantitative Survey Study

Adherence to TB treatment is the most important requirement for efficient TB control. Migrant TB patients’ “migratory” nature affects the adherence negatively, which presents an important barrier for National TB Control Program in China. Therefore, TB control among migrants is of high importance.The aim of this study is to describe adherence to TB treatment among migrant TB patients and to identify factors associated with adherence. A total of 12 counties/districts of Shandong Province, China were selected as study sites. 314 confirmed smear positive TB patients were enrolled between August 2^nd 2008 and October 17^th 2008, 16% of whom were non-adherent to TB therapy. Risk factors for non-adherence were: the divorced or bereft of spouse, patients not receiving TB-related health education before chemotherapy, weak incentives for treatment adherence, and self supervision on treatment. Based on the risk factors identified, measures are recommended such as implementing health education for all migrant patients before chemotherapy and encouraging primary care workers to supervise patients.     

Involvement of GABAergic and glutamatergic systems in the anticonvulsant activity of 3-alkynyl selenophene in 21?day-old rats

In this study, we investigated the role of GABAergic and glutamatergic systems in the anticonvulsant action of 3-alkynyl selenophene (3-ASP) in a pilocarpine (PC) model of seizures. To this purpose, 21 day-old rats were administered with an anticonvulsant dose of 3-ASP (50 mg/kg, per oral, p.o.), and [(3)H]γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and [(3)H]glutamate uptakes were carried out in slices of cerebral cortex and hippocampus. [(3)H]GABA uptake was decreased in cerebral cortex (64%) and hippocampus (58%) slices of 21 day-old rats treated with 3-ASP. In contrast, no alteration was observed in [(3)H]glutamate uptake in cerebral cortex and hippocampus slices of 21 day-old rats that received 3-ASP. Considering the drugs that increase synaptic GABA levels, by inhibiting its uptake or catabolism, are effective anticonvulsants, we further investigated the possible interaction between sub-effective doses of 3-ASP and GABA uptake or GABA transaminase (GABA-T) inhibitors in PC-induced seizures in 21 day-old rats. For this end, sub-effective doses of 3-ASP (10 mg/kg, p.o.) and DL-2,4-diamino-n-butyric acid hydrochloride (DABA, an inhibitor of GABA uptake--2 mg/kg, intraperitoneally; i.p.) or aminooxyacetic acid hemihydrochloride (AOAA; a GABA-T inhibitor--10 mg/kg, i.p.) were co-administrated to 21 day-old rats before PC (400 mg/kg; i.p.) treatment, and the appearance of seizures was recorded. Results demonstrated that treatment with AOAA and 3-ASP or DABA and 3-ASP significantly abolished the number of convulsing animals induced by PC. The present study indicates that 3-ASP reduced [(3)H]GABA uptake, suggesting that its anticonvulsant action is related to an increase in inhibitory tonus.     

Characterization of NPR1 and NPR4 genes from mulberry (Morus multicaulis) and their roles in development and stress resistance

The quality and quantity of mulberry leaves are often affected by various environmental factors. The plant NPR1 and its homologous genes are important for plant systemic acquired resistance. Here, the full‐length cDNAs encoding the NPR1 and NPR4 genes (designated MuNPR1 and MuNPR4, respectively) were isolated from Morus multicaulis. Sequence analysis of the amino acids and protein modeling of the MuNPR1 and MuNPR4 proteins showed that MuNPR1 shares some conserved characteristics with its homolog MuNPR4. MuNPR1 was shown to have different expression patterns than MuNPR4 in mulberry plants. Interestingly, MuNPR1 or MuNPR4 transgenic Arabidopsis produced an early flowering phenotype, and the expression of the pathogenesis‐related 1a gene was promoted in MuNPR1 transgenic Arabidopsis. The MuNPR1 transgenic plants showed more resistance to Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000 (Pst. DC3000) than did the wild‐type Arabidopsis. Moreover, the ectopic expression of MuNPR1 might lead to enhanced scavenging ability and suppress collase accumulation. In contrast, the MuNPR4 transgenic Arabidopsis were hypersensitive to Pst. DC3000 infection. In addition, transgenic Arabidopsis with the ectopic expression of either MuNPR1 or MuNPR4 showed sensitivity to salt and drought stresses. Our data suggest that both the MuNPR1 and MuNPR4 genes play a role in the coordination between signaling pathways, and the information provided here enables the in‐depth functional analysis of the MuNPR1 and MuNPR4 genes and may promote mulberry resistance breeding in the future.     

Isolation and characterization of a seed-specific isoform of microsomal omega-6 fatty acid desaturase gene (FAD2-1B) from soybean.

In plants, the endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-associated oleate desaturase (FAD2) is the key enzyme responsible for the production of linoleic acid in non-photosynthetic tissues. In this study, we report the characterization of a seed-specific isoform of microsomal omega-6 fatty acid desaturase gene (FAD2-1B) sharing high sequence similarity with FAD2-1 from soybean. Several potential promoter elements including seed-specific motifs are found in the 5'-flanking region of FAD2-1B gene. The ORF of FAD2-1B is 1161 bp long and encodes a protein of 387 amino acids. This deduced protein holds three histidine boxes and four putative membrane-spanning helices, and possesses a signal for endoplasmic reticulum retention at C-terminal. Yeast cells transformed with the plasmid construct containing soybean FAD2-1B accumulate an appreciable amount of linoleic acid (18:2), normally not present in wild-type yeast cells, indicating that the cloned gene encodes a functional FAD2 enzyme. Both semi-quantitative RT-PCR and in silico analysis show that FAD2-1B gene is specifically expressed in developing seeds of soybean.     

Transmission of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Methylobacterium mesophilicum</Emphasis> by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Bucephalogonia xanthophis</Emphasis> for paratransgenic control strategy of Citrus variegated chlorosis

Methylobacterium mesophilicum, originally isolated as an endophytic bacterium from citrus plants, was genetically transformed to express green fluorescent protein (GFP). The GFP-labeled strain of M. mesophilicum was inoculated into Catharanthus roseus (model plant) seedlings and further observed colonizing its xylem vessels. The transmission of this endophyte by Bucephalogonia xanthophis, one of the insect vectors that transmit Xylella fastidiosa subsp. pauca, was verified by insects feeding from fluids containing the GFP bacterium followed by transmission to plants and isolating the endophyte from C. roseus plants. Forty-five days after inoculation, the plants exhibited endophytic colonization by M. mesophilicum, confirming this bacterium as a nonpathogenic, xylem-associated endophyte. Our data demonstrate that M. mesophilicum not only occupy the same niche of X. fastidiosa subsp. pauca inside plants but also may be transmitted by B. xanthophis. The transmission, colonization, and genetic manipulation of M. mesophilicum is a prerequisite to examining the potential use of symbiotic control to interrupt the transmission of X. fastidiosa subsp. pauca, the bacterial pathogen causing Citrus variegated chlorosis by insect vectors.     

Insights of section-wide pan-genome into hybrid potato breeding

Science China Life Sciences -     

Klotho coreceptors inhibit signaling by paracrine fibroblast growth factor 8 subfamily ligands

It has been recently established that Klotho coreceptors associate with fibroblast growth factor (FGF) receptor tyrosine kinases (FGFRs) to enable signaling by endocrine-acting FGFs. However, the molecular interactions leading to FGF-FGFR-Klotho ternary complex formation remain incompletely understood. Here, we show that in contrast to αKlotho, βKlotho binds its cognate endocrine FGF ligand (FGF19 or FGF21) and FGFR independently through two distinct binding sites. FGF19 and FGF21 use their respective C-terminal tails to bind to a common binding site on βKlotho. Importantly, we also show that Klotho coreceptors engage a conserved hydrophobic groove in the immunoglobulin-like domain III (D3) of the "c" splice isoform of FGFR. Intriguingly, this hydrophobic groove is also used by ligands of the paracrine-acting FGF8 subfamily for receptor binding. Based on this binding site overlap, we conclude that while Klotho coreceptors enhance binding affinity of FGFR for endocrine FGFs, they actively suppress binding of FGF8 subfamily ligands to FGFR.     

DNA损伤与细胞周期调控

DNA损伤和损伤后修复可引起细胞周期阻滞,这一事件由三个阶段组成：损伤的识别,损伤信号的传递以及细胞周期阻滞.在某些情况,这种细胞周期阻滞会失效.