Targeting of focal adhesion kinase by small interfering RNAs reduces chondrocyte redifferentiation capacity in alginate beads culture with type II collagen

Type II collagen is a major protein that maintains biological and mechanical characteristics in articular cartilage. Focal adhesion kinase (FAK) is known to play a central role in integrin signaling of cell–extracellular matrix (ECM) interactions, and chondrocyte–type II collagen interactions are very important for cartilage homeostasis. In this study, we focused on phosphorylation of FAK and MAP kinase in chondrocyte–type II collagen interaction and dedifferentiation, and the effects of FAK knockdown on chondrocyte‐specific gene expression and cell proliferation were determined. The addition of exogenous type II collagen to chondrocytes increased levels of tyrosine phosphorylation, p‐FAK_Y397, and p‐ERK1/2. In contrast, expression levels of p‐FAK_Y397 and p‐ERK1/2, but not p‐Smad2/3, were decreased in dedifferentiated chondrocytes with loss of type II collagen expression. Type II collagen expression was significantly increased when dedifferentiated chondrocytes were transferred to alginate beads with TGF‐β1 or type II collagen, but transfected cells with small interfering RNA for FAK (FAK‐siRNA) inhibited mRNA expression of type II collagen and SOX‐6 compared to the control. These FAK‐siRNA‐transfected cells could not recover type II collagen even in the presence of TGF‐β1 or type II collagen in alginate beads culture. We also found that FAK‐siRNA‐transfected cells decreased cell proliferation rate, but there was no effect on glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) secretion. We suggest that FAK is essentially required in chondrocyte communication with type II collagen by regulating type II collagen expression and cell proliferation. J. Cell. Physiol. 218: 623–630, 2009. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Angioarrestin(hARPl)C端FD区的克隆、表达及其免疫活性鉴定

 Angioarrestin是一种具有潜在应用价值的肿瘤血管形成抑制因子.利用DNA重组法构建了angioarrestin C端 hFD cDNA 和麦芽糖结合蛋白(MBP)重组原核表达质粒 pMAL-C2-hFD.将重组质粒转入大肠杆菌E.coli BL21（DE3）,经0.3 mmol/LIPTG 在37℃条件下诱导表达4h,SDS-PAGE 检测,融合蛋白表达量约占细菌总蛋白的20%.Western印迹证实,目的蛋白N端带有MBP标签.取表达上清纯化、透析、浓缩并冻干,以此为抗原免疫Balb/c小鼠制备多克隆抗体.此多抗可以与pET 22b（+）表达系统获得的 hFD重组蛋白发生良好的抗原抗体反应,ELISA检测多抗效价达1∶10240.实验证明：通过基因重组可获得angioarrestin C端hFD在大肠杆菌中的高效表达蛋白,且该蛋白具有较高的免疫活性.以此为抗原制备的抗angioarrestin多克隆抗体为深入研究angioarrestin提供了材料.     

四个鲫鱼品系线粒体DNA的限制性酶切分析

用差速离心和核酸酶消化法从红鲫 (C auratusredvar .)、湘鲫 [F1hybridsofredcruciancarp (♀ )×commoncarp (♂ ) ]、野鲫 (C auratusauratus)和白鲫 (C auratuscuvieri)的肝组织及白鲫的卵巢中提取和纯化线粒体DNA。用 9种内切酶 (EcoRⅠ、HindⅢ、PstⅠ、BglⅡ、BamHⅠ、XhoⅠ、XbaⅠ、SalⅠ和KpnⅠ )进行单酶酶解 ,经琼脂糖凝胶电泳分析 ,检测出PstⅠ、KpnⅠ和BglⅡ 3种酶在品系间存在限制性片段长度多态性 ,但并未检测出品系内的限制性片段长度多态性。计算出红鲫、湘鲫、白鲫和野鲫的mtDNA大小分别约为 16 19、 16 0 2、 16 6 0和 16 0 6kb。根据限制性酶切片段共享度 ,计算出 4个品系间的遗传距离 ,结果表明存在直接亲缘关系的红鲫与湘鲫之间的遗传差异最小 ,证实了红鲫与子代湘鲫之间mtDNA遵循母系遗传的特性。     

核苷酸转换因子的特性及其在植物中的研究现状

热激蛋白HSP70是一类细胞必需的具有ATPase活性的分子伴侣。ADP的脱离是HSP70分子伴侣体系能够完成其功能循环的限速步骤,该反应步骤由核苷酸交换因子（NEFs）加速,因此,NEFs是HSP70分子伴侣体系中的一类关键辅助因子。本文总结了有关NEFs的研究成果以及植物NEFs的最新研究进展。     

樟叶越桔细胞悬浮培养条件的优化

为了提高樟叶越桔(Vacciniumdunalianum)悬浮培养细胞的生物量,以樟叶越桔叶片愈伤组织为试材,通过单因素试验探究不同蔗糖浓度、培养基pH值、培养基体积、初始接种量和摇床转速对悬浮培养细胞生长的影响,并根据响应面法Box-Behnken试验设计原理进行组合试验以优化培养条件。结果显示,以改良WPM培养基为基础培养基,樟叶越桔细胞悬浮培养的最优条件为40 g·L^–1蔗糖、培养基pH5.2、培养基体积45 mL、初始接种量2.64 g和摇床转速为149 r·min^–1,其细胞生物量干重为0.184 4 g,与理论预测值0.184 5 g较为接近,且细胞的生长曲线呈S型。研究结果为樟叶越桔悬浮培养细胞次生代谢产物的生产调控奠定了技术基础。     

原生动物伪红色双轴虫细胞纤毛器微管胞器的直接荧光标记

应用荧光紫杉醇直接荧光标记法显示,原生动物纤毛虫伪红色双轴虫(Diaxonellapseudorubra)细胞纤毛器微管中,口围带基部含小膜托架及与托架相联系的肋壁微管;额腹横棘毛基部含前纵微管束、后纵微管束、横微管束和周围微管束,其微管在不同棘毛基部的定向和发达程度不一;缘棘毛基部含前纵微管束、后纵微管束。细胞形态发生过程中,前仔虫口纤毛器微管独立发生于老口围带内侧,在细胞形态发生末期新纤毛器微管形成时,尚有部分老额棘毛、横棘毛和缘棘毛残存,此后老结构逐渐被吸收。结果表明,伪红色双轴虫的纤毛器基部微管的分化很可能具有种属级的特异性,新纤毛器微管分化过程中老结构可能具有定位和物质贡献作用。     

Ungulate bocaparvovirus 4 and rodent bocavirus are different genotypes of the same species of virus

Bocaviruses are associated with many human infectious diseases, such as respiratory tract infections, gastroenteritis, and hepatitis. Rats are known to be reservoirs of bocaviruses, including rodent bocavirus and rat bocavirus. Recently, ungulate bocaparvovirus 4, a known porcine bocavirus, has also been found in rats. Thus, investigating bocaviruses in rats is important for determining the origin of the viruses and preventing and controlling their transmission. To the best of our knowledge, no study to date has investigated bocaviruses in the livers of rats. In this report, a total of 624 rats were trapped in southern China between 2014 and 2017. Liver and serum samples from rats were tested for the prevalence of bocaviruses using PCR. Sequences related to ungulate bocaparvovirus 4 and rodent bocavirus were detected in both liver and serum samples. Interestingly, the prevalence of ungulate bocaparvovirus 4 (reference strain:KJ622366.1) was higher than that of rodent bocavirus (reference strain:KY927868.1) in both liver (2.24% and 0.64%, respectively) and serum samples (2.19% and 0.44%, respectively). The NS1 regions of ungulate bocaparvovirus 4 and rodent bocavirus related sequences displayed over 84% and 88% identity at the nucleic acid and amino acid levels, respectively. Furthermore, these sequences had similar genomic structure, genomic features, and codon usage bias, and shared a common ancestor. These viruses also displayed greater adaptability to rats than pigs. Our results suggested that ungulate bocaparvovirus 4 and rodent bocavirus may originate from rats and may be different genotypes of the same bocavirus species.     

Efficient assembly of a large fragment of monkeypox virus genome as a qPCR template using dual-selection based transformation-associated recombination

Transformation-associated recombination (TAR) has been widely used to assemble large DNA constructs. One of the significant obstacles hindering assembly efficiency is the presence of error-prone DNA repair pathways in yeast, which results in vector backbone recircularization or illegitimate recombination products. To increase TAR assembly efficiency, we prepared a dual-selective TAR vector, pGFCS, by adding a P_ADH1-URA3 cassette to a previously described yeast-bacteria shuttle vector, pGF, harboring a P_HIS3-HIS3 cassette as a positive selection marker. This new cassette works as a negative selection marker to ensure that yeast harboring a recircularized vector cannot propagate in the presence of 5-fluoroorotic acid. To prevent pGFCS bearing ura3 from recombining with endogenous ura3-52 in the yeast genome, a highly transformable Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain, VL6-48B, was prepared by chromosomal substitution of ura3-52 with a transgene conferring resistance to blasticidin. A 55-kb genomic fragment of monkeypox virus encompassing primary detection targets for quantitative PCR was assembled by TAR using pGFCS in VL6-48B. The pGFCS-mediated TAR assembly showed a zero rate of vector recircularization and an average correct assembly yield of 79% indicating that the dual-selection strategy provides an efficient approach to optimizing TAR assembly.