Observer-based tracking control of abnormal oscillations in demyelination symptom

Fast axonal conduction of action potentials in mammals relies on myelin insulation. Demyelination can cause slowed, blocked, desynchronized, or paradoxically excessive spiking that underlies the symptoms observed in demyelination diseases. Feedback control via functional electrical stimulation (FES) seems to be a promising treatment modality in such diseases. However, there are challenges to implementing such method for neurons: high nonlinearity, biological tissue constrains and unobservable ion channel states. To address this problem, we propose an estimating and tracking control strategy for systems based on Kalman filter, in order to enhance the action potential propagation reliability of demyelinated neuron via FES. Unscented Kalman filter (UKF) is employed to estimate the unobservable states and parameters in the demyelination neuron model from membrane potential dynamics. Our method could promote the design of new closed-loop electrical stimulation systems for patients suffering from different nerve system dysfunctions.     

Genome‐wide analysis of Nilaparvata lugens nymphal responses to high‐density and low‐quality rice hosts

The brown planthopper (BPH) Nilaparvata lugens is an economically important pest on rice plants. In this study, the higher population density and yellow‐ripe stage of rice plants were used to construct adverse survival conditions (ASC) against BPH nymphs. Simultaneously, the low population density and tillering stage of rice plants were used to establish a suitable survival condition (SSC) as a control. Solexa/Illumina sequencing was used to identify genes of BPH nymphs responding to ASC. Significantly longer duration development of BPH nymphs and significantly lower brachypterous ratio of BPH adults were observed by ASC compared with SSC. A total of 2 544 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were obtained and analyzed by BLASTx, Gene Ontology and KEGG Orthology. Gene ontology analysis revealed that the DEGs were mainly involved in categories of cell, cell part, cellular process, binding, catalytic, organelle and metabolic processes. 1 138 DEGs having enzyme commission numbers were assigned to different metabolic pathways. The largest clusters were neurodegenerative diseases (137, 12.0%), followed by carbohydrate metabolism (113, 9.9%), amino acid metabolism (94, 8.3%), nucleotide metabolism (76, 6.7%), energy metabolism (64, 5.6%), translation (60, 5.3%), lipid metabolism (58, 5.1%), and folding, sorting and degradation (52, 4.6%). Expressing profile of 11 DEGs during eight nymphal developmental stages of BPH were analyzed by quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction. The 11 genes exhibited differential expression between ASC and SSC during at least one developmental stage. The DEGs identified in this study provide molecular proof of how BPH reconfigures its gene expression profile to adapt to overcrowding and low‐quality hosts.     

Association of human leukocyte antigen E polymorphism with human cytomegalovirus reactivation in Chinese burn patients

The seroprevalence of human cytomegalovirus （HCMV） in adults increased steadily from 55% in developed countries to over 90% in developing countries like China [1]. As all her- pesviruses, HCMV establishes lifelong latency after primary infection. In immunocompetent individuals, host immune responses prevent the development of overt HCMV diseases. However, in immunoeompromised people who suffer from burn injuries, HCMV reactivation has been shown to lead to significant diseases with considerable morbidity and mortal- ity [2-4]. Recently, increasing evidence has suggested that HCMV reactivation might have been considerably underesti- mated in burn patients [5,6]. Review of the available litera- ture identifies 〉50% of HCMV antibody-positive burn patients may reactivate this virus [5,6]. Although the exact mechanisms of HCMV reactivation are still not clearly under- stood, the immune system and host genetics are thought to be the non-behavioral factors determining the acquisition of a reactivation.     

Quantitative analysis of site-specific N-glycans on sera haptoglobin βchain in liver diseases

The site-specific characterization of N-glycans in glycopro- teins with the potential of clinical application is important. In our previous report, the overall N-glycans of sera haptoglobin （Hp） β chain were found to be different in liver diseases. Hp β chain contains four potential sites of N-glycosylation. In this study, we investigated the potential change of N-glycans on Hp β chain in a site-specific fashion. Sera Hp β chain in healthy individuals as well as patients with hepatitis B virus （HBV）, liver cirrhosis （LC） and hepatocellular carcinoma （HCC） were purified, digested and subjected to liquid chromatography-electro- spray ionization-higher energy collision dissociation mass spectrometry, which allowed identification and structure determination of the glycopeptide, as well as the relative quantification of glycans present on each glycopeptide. The quantitative results revealed that the sialylation of NLFLN207HSEN211 ATAK and the fucosylated structure at all glycopeptides increased significantly in LC and HCC patients compared with those in HBV patients and healthy individuals. A set of different N-glycan patterns of Hp β chain in various liver diseases has been determined. Thus, the sialylated and fucosylated glycoforms of Hp β chain might be related to early hepatocarcinogenesis and also might be useful as novel differential markers for LC and HCC patients.     

由细胞质雄性不育系（CMS）配制的小麦F1杂种优势形成机理的比较蛋白质组分析

分别以苗期（分蘖）、拔节期、抽穗期叶片和花粉母细胞减数分裂期、小孢子双—三核期、花粉粒时期的花药为材料,对由小麦CMS与恢复系杂交F1杂种优势形成机理作了比较蛋白质组分析。结果表明,F1杂种中有超亲、亲二型和低亲三种蛋白质表达类型出现,出现频率为亲二型＞低亲＞超亲。对这三种类型共17个蛋白质斑点作了质谱分析,其功能涉及DNA和蛋白质合成、能量代谢、环境防御,基因转座及光合作用等。苗期生长特性如叶鲜重、叶干重、叶片数,F1杂种倾向于双亲,没有观察到杂种优势现象,这与F1叶片中蛋白质表达多数呈亲二型相吻合。但F1中分蘖数多于双亲,因此其总鲜重、干重、总叶片数明显呈现出杂种优势,然而这种杂种优势现象与蛋白质组的变化是否有关需进一步研究。     

降解组测序技术在植物miRNA研究中的应用

目前, 利用芯片技术和miRNA测序可快速、准确地检测到物种中所含有的miRNA。随着越来越多的miRNA被发现, miRNA靶基因的确定已成为研究miRNA生物学功能的关键。传统的miRNA靶基因的寻找主要依赖生物信息学预测、AGO蛋白免疫共沉淀和荧光素酶法等。随着高通量测序技术的持续革新, 出现了一种新的miRNA靶基因的检测方法, 即降解组测序(degradome sequencing)法, 该方法拥有高通量测序技术、生物信息学分析和RACE验证三者的优势, 并已成功应用于拟南芥(Arabidopsis thaliana)、水稻(Oryza sativa)和小立碗藓(Physcomitrella patens)等模式植物miRNA靶基因的检测。基于已发表的相关文献和联川生物降解组测序平台, 该文对降解组测序技术应用于植物miRNA靶基因的研究进展及其实验原理进行了综述, 同时对运用该技术可进行的更深入研究进行了讨论。     

The stacked over-expression of FPS, CYP71AV1 and CPR genes leads to the increase of artemisinin level in Artemisia annua L.

Artemisinin is an endoperoxide sesquiterpene lactone isolated from the aerial parts of Artemisia annua L., and is presently the most potent anti-malarial drug. Owing to the low yield of artemisinin from A. annua as well as the widespread application of artemisinin-based combination therapy recommended by the World Health Organization, the global demand for artemisinin is substantially increasing and is therefore rendering artemisinin in short supply. An economical way to increase artemisinin production is to increase the content of artemisinin in A. annua. In this study, three key genes in the artemisinin biosynthesis pathway, encoding farnesyl diphosphate synthase, amorpha-4, 11-diene C-12 oxidase and its redox partner cytochrome P450 reductase, were over-expressed in A. annua through Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. The transgenic lines were confirmed by Southern blotting and the over-expressions of the genes were demonstrated by real-time PCR assays. The HPLC analysis showed that the artemisinin contents in transgenic lines were increased significantly, with the highest one found to be 3.6-fold higher (2.9 mg/g FW) than that of the control. These results demonstrate that multigene engineering is an effective way to enhance artemisinin content in A. annua.     

Determination of the Human Antibody Response to the Neutralization Epitopes Encompassing Amino Acids 313–327 and 432–443 of Hepatitis C Virus E1E2 Glycoproteins

It has been reported that monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) to the E1E2 glycoproteins may have the potential to prevent hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. The protective epitopes targeted by these MAbs have been mapped to the regionsencompassing amino acids 313–327 and 432–443. In this study, we synthesized these two peptides and tested the reactivity of serum samples from 336 patients, 210 of whichwere from Chronic Hepatitis C (CHC) patients infected with diverse HCV genotypes.The remaining 126 samples were isolated from patients who had spontaneously clearedHCV infection.In the chronic HCV-infected group (CHC group), the prevalence of human serum antibodies reactive to epitopes 313–327 and 432–443was 24.29%(51 of 210) and4.76%(10 of 210),respectively. In thespontaneousclearance group (SC group),the prevalence was 0.79%(1 of 126) and 12.70%(16 of 126), respectively.The positive serum samples that contained antibodies reactive to epitope 313–327 neutralizedHCV pseudoparticles (HCVpp) bearing the envelope glycoproteins of genotypes 1a or 1b and/or 4, but genotypes 2a, 3a, 5 and 6 were not neutralized. The neutralizing activity of these serum samples could not be inhibited by peptide 313–327. Six samples (SC17, SC38, SC86, SC92, CHC75 and CHC198) containing antibodies reactive to epitope 432–443 had cross-genotype neutralizing activities. Theneutralizing activityof SC38, SC86, SC92 and CHC75waspartiallyinhibited by peptide 432–443. However,the neutralizing activity of sample SC17 for genotype 4HCVpp and sample CHC198 for genotype 1b HCVppwere notinhibited by the peptide.This study identifies the neutralizing ability of endogenous anti-HCV antibodies and warrants the exploration of antibodies reactive to epitope432–443as sources for future antibody therapies.