玉米蛋白质二硫键异构酶（PDI）基因的特征和表达

蛋白质二硫键异构酶（PDI）对蛋白的折叠和二硫键的形成起重要的作用.此外,PDI还执行许多其他的生物功能,是1个多功能酶. 本文通过研究玉米中1个PDI基因的特征和表达,探讨它的功能作用. 玉米中的PDI基因编码513个氨基酸.同源分析表明,该基因和水稻、小麦的PDI基因聚为一类,有很高的蛋白相似性.蛋白结构分析表明,该基因具有明显的PDI基因的结构特点,包括硫氧还蛋白活性位点(CGHC)以及内质网定位信号(KDEL).Northern杂交分析显示,该基因在发育种子的表达量高,同时受干旱、冷、ABA和盐等逆境胁迫诱导表达.PDI与GFP融合表达研究基因的亚细胞定位,表明该基因定位在除细胞膜外的细胞质和细胞器上.     

Gravity, a regulation factor in the differentiation of rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells

Background

Stem cell therapy has emerged as a potential therapeutic option for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, but many issues remain to be resolved, such as the amount of seed cells, committed differentiation and the efficiency. Several previous studies have focused on the study of chemical inducement microenvironments. In the present study, we investigated the effects of gravity on the differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) into force-sensitive or force-insensitive cells.

Methods and results

Rat BMSCs (rBMSCs) were cultured under hypergravity or simulated microgravity (SMG) conditions with or without inducement medium. The expression levels of the characteristic proteins were measured and analyzed using immunocytochemical, RT-PCR and Western-blot analyses. After treatment with 5-azacytidine and hypergravity, rBMSCs expressed more characteristic proteins of cardiomyocytes such as cTnT, GATA4 and β-MHC; however, fewer such proteins were seen with SMG. After treating rBMSCs with osteogenic inducer and hypergravity, there were marked increases in the expression levels of ColIA1, Cbfa1 and ALP. Reverse results were obtained with SMG. rBMSCs treated with adipogenic inducer and SMG expressed greater levels of PPARgamma. Greater levels of Cbfa1- or cTnT-positive cells were observed under hypergravity without inducer, as shown by FACS analysis. These results indicate that hypergravity induces differentiation of rBMSCs into force-sensitive cells (cardiomyocytes and osteoblasts), whereas SMG induces force-insensitive cells (adipocytes).

Conclusion

Taken together, we conclude that gravity is an important factor affecting the differentiation of rBMSCs; this provides a new avenue for mechanistic studies of stem cell differentiation and a new approach to obtain more committed differentiated or undifferentiated cells.     

大豆猝死综合症病菌枝状镰孢的活性检测研究

应用来源于美国、阿根廷的我国对外检疫性有害生物大豆猝死综合症病菌枝状镰孢Fusarium virguliforme共8个菌株,分别在43℃至47℃ 5个温度梯度下水浴处理1min至5min 5个时间梯度,荧光染色后,经单细胞微量分析系统进行活性检测分析,设置传统萌发试验作为对照,结果表明:该病菌在47℃水浴处理4min即全部失活,SPSS统计分析得出该病菌的活性检测值与处理温度呈极显著负相关,而与处理时间(除菌株2-1和22825呈显著负相关外)均呈极显著负相关;所设置的孢子萌发率与处理温度和处理时间之间也呈极显著负相关;活性检测值与萌发率两者之间具有极显著的正相关性.本研究表明活性检测可以替代传统的孢子萌发方法,从而大幅度缩短该病菌活性检测时间,明显提高检测效率.     

桃蚜诱捕色板的青-洋红-黄-黑四色模式优化

采用计算机模拟混色技术,结合正交设计,定量测定了有翅桃蚜Myzus persicae(Sulzer)对青(C)、洋红(M)、黄(Y)和黑(K)4色成分模式混合色的选择性反应。第1组L25(56)试验结果表明,因子效应顺序为:Y﹥M﹥K﹥C。最佳理论混合色参数为C=25%、Y=25%、M=100%、K=0,模拟色板的叶色竞争系数(LCC)达77.78%。第2组L16(45)正交试验结果表明,当C、M、Y、K分别在10%～40%、10%～40%、85%～100%和0～15%区间变化时,对所有处理的叶色竞争系数均无显著影响。模拟色板叶色竞争系数与黄色成分和黑色成分的回归方程分别为LCC=0.0390Y2-0.1875Y+0.5591(R2=0.9913)和LCC=0.0163K2-0.1237K+0.6176(R2=0.7926)。     

X连锁凋亡抑制蛋白反义寡核苷酸逆转K562细胞及难治性癫痫大鼠对卡马西平和苯妥英钠耐药性

凋亡在癫痫发生机制中起重要作用,但其在难治性癫痫耐药机制中的作用尚不清楚．为研究X连锁凋亡抑制蛋白(X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein, XIAP)反义寡核苷酸对K562/Dox(阿霉素诱导)耐药细胞及难治性癫痫大鼠耐药性的影响,首先建立耐药的K562/Dox细胞株,比较XIAP在耐药细胞株和正常K562细胞株的表达情况,观察转染XIAP反义寡核苷酸后,线粒体膜电位变化以及对卡马西平和苯妥英钠耐药性的影响．另外,建立慢性杏仁核点燃癫痫模型,筛选出耐药组和药物敏感组,通过侧脑室注射XIAP反义寡核苷酸,对照组注射生理盐水．观察其对各组大鼠后放电阈值(after discharge threshold,ADT)、后放电时程(after discharge duration,ADD)等电生理指标的影响．结果发现,XIAP在K562/Dox耐药细胞上的表达明显高于正常K562细胞,XIAP反义寡核苷酸转染K562/Dox耐药细胞后,XIAP的表达明显下降．导致了K562/Dox细胞线粒体跨膜电位的下降,而且对苯妥英钠和卡马西平的耐药性明显下降,IC₅₀分别由(1 978.2 ± 90.3) mg/L和(1 875.6 ± 83.2) mg/L,降低到(1 123.5 ± 54.2) mg/L和(1 084.5 ± 60.6) mg/L,逆转倍数分别为1.76和1.73．同时动物实验发现,耐药组大鼠在给予XIAP反义寡核苷酸后,ADT明显高于对照组(P < 0.05), ADD时程也明显缩短．上述结果证明,XIAP在耐药的K562/Dox细胞株存在高表达,下调XIAP在K562/Dox细胞株表达可以改善K562/Dox对卡马西平和苯妥英钠的耐药性．而且下调XIAP表达可以协助AEDs改善耐药大鼠的电生理活动,提示XIAP参与了难治性癫痫的耐药．     

Defective potassium channel Kir2.1 trafficking underlies Andersen-Tawil syndrome

Andersen-Tawil syndrome is a skeletal and cardiac muscle disease with developmental features caused by mutations in the inward rectifier K+ channel gene KCNJ2. Patients harboring these mutations exhibit extremely variable expressivities. To explore whether these mutations can be correlated with a specific patient phenotype, we expressed both wild-type (WT) and mutant genes cloned into a bi-cistronic vector. Functional expression in human embryonic kidney 293 cells showed that none of the mutant channels express current when present alone. When co-expressed with WT channels, only construct V302M-WT yields inward current. Confocal microscopy fluorescence revealed three patterns of channel expression in the cell: 1) mutations D71V, N216H, R218Q, and pore mutations co-assemble and co-localize to the membrane with the WT and exert a dominant-negative effect on the WT channels; 2) mutation V302M leads to channels that lose their ability to co-assemble with WT and traffic to the cell surface; 3) deletions Delta 95-98 and Delta 314-315 lead to channels that do not traffic to the membrane but retain their ability to co-assemble with WT channels. These data show that the Andersen-Tawil syndrome phenotype may occur through a dominant-negative effect as well as through haplo-insufficiency and reveal amino acids critical in trafficking and conductance of the inward rectifier K+ channels.     

Time series canopy phenotyping enables the identification of genetic variants controlling dynamic phenotypes in soybean

Advances in plant phenotyping technologies are dramatically reducing the marginal costs of collecting multiple phenotypic measurements across several time points. Yet, most current approaches and best statistical practices implemented to link genetic and phenotypic variation in plants have been developed in an era of single-time-point data. Here, we used time-series phenotypic data collected with an unmanned aircraft system for a large panel of soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) varieties to identify previously uncharacterized loci. Specifically, we focused on the dissection of canopy coverage (CC) variation from this rich data set. We also inferred the speed of canopy closure, an additional dimension of CC, from the time-series data, as it may represent an important trait for weed control. Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) identified 35 loci exhibiting dynamic associations with CC across developmental stages. The time-series data enabled the identification of 10 known flowering time and plant height quantitative trait loci (QTLs) detected in previous studies of adult plants and the identification of novel QTLs influencing CC. These novel QTLs were disproportionately likely to act earlier in development, which may explain why they were missed in previous single-time-point studies. Moreover, this time-series data set contributed to the high accuracy of the GWASs, which we evaluated by permutation tests, as evidenced by the repeated identification of loci across multiple time points. Two novel loci showed evidence of adaptive selection during domestication, with different genotypes/haplotypes favored in different geographic regions. In summary, the time-series data, with soybean CC as an example, improved the accuracy and statistical power to dissect the genetic basis of traits and offered a promising opportunity for crop breeding with quantitative growth curves.     

Spike-Frequency Adaptation of a Generalized Leaky Integrate-and-Fire Model Neuron

Although spike-frequency adaptation is a commonly observed property of neurons, its functional implications are still poorly understood. In this work, using a leaky integrate-and-fire neural model that includes a Ca²⁺-activated K⁺ current (I _AHP), we develop a quantitative theory of adaptation temporal dynamics and compare our results with recent in vivo intracellular recordings from pyramidal cells in the cat visual cortex. Experimentally testable relations between the degree and the time constant of spike-frequency adaptation are predicted. We also contrast the I _AHP model with an alternative adaptation model based on a dynamical firing threshold. Possible roles of adaptation in temporal computation are explored, as a a time-delayed neuronal self-inhibition mechanism. Our results include the following: (1) given the same firing rate, the variability of interspike intervals (ISIs) is either reduced or enhanced by adaptation, depending on whether the I _AHP dynamics is fast or slow compared with the mean ISI in the output spike train; (2) when the inputs are Poisson-distributed (uncorrelated), adaptation generates temporal anticorrelation between ISIs, we suggest that measurement of this negative correlation provides a probe to assess the strength of I _AHP in vivo; (3) the forward masking effect produced by the slow dynamics of I _AHP is nonlinear and effective at selecting the strongest input among competing sources of input signals.