鼠伤寒沙门菌VI型分泌系统效应因子Rhs生物学特性分析

【背景】细菌的Ⅵ型分泌系统作为杀死真核捕食者或原核竞争对手的“武器”,其杀伤作用是通过释放有毒物质即效应因子来实现。尽管已发现一些效应因子,但大多数效应因子的功能仍然未知。【目的】研究rhs基因编码的效应因子Rhs对鼠伤寒沙门菌生物学特性的影响。【方法】利用Red同源重组的方法构建鼠伤寒沙门菌rhs基因缺失株及相应的基因回补株。通过试验分析比较亲本株与缺失株、回补株在生化特性、生物被膜形成、耐药性、细菌间竞争、抗血清补体杀菌能力、组织载菌量及感染小鼠后炎症因子IL-18、IL-1β释放量上的差异。【结果】效应因子Rhs不影响鼠伤寒沙门菌的生化代谢、生物被膜形成、耐药性及抗血清补体杀菌能力。细菌种间竞争试验中,基因缺失株CVCC541Δrhs1、CVCC541Δrhs2和CVCC541Δrhs1-2的竞争指数(competition index,CI)值分别为0.85、0.77和0.87,毒力均被轻度致弱。体内组织载菌量试验中,CVCC541Δrhs1、CVCC541Δrhs2和CVCC541Δrhs1-2基因缺失株在小鼠肝脏和脾脏中的细菌数均较亲本株明显下降(P<0.05);机体...     

中国农田土壤动物长期监测样地科学调查监测的实施方法

我国农田土壤动物面临严峻的多样性丧失问题, 建设监测样地并开展长期监测是解决该问题的重要途径, 但至今国内外仍缺乏农田土壤动物长期监测样地科学调查监测的实施方法。依据BCI 50 ha大型固定样地建设规范, 参照我国已建成的森林和农田土壤动物大型固定样地监测经验, 本文提出了农田土壤动物长期监测样地科学调查监测的实施方法。首先, 需要明确科学问题, 确定科学调查监测应遵守的基本原则。其次, 需要规范长期调查监测涉及的专业术语, 依据研究目的和实际情况选择地点和样地, 参照建设规范和农田特征建立农田土壤动物大型固定样地。第三, 以研究农田土壤动物多样性为核心, 揭示土壤动物在农田生态系统健康和功能中的作用, 有选择性地开展4类27项科学指标的长期监测工作, 要求按照统一的、规范化的工作流程开展野外调查和室内实验。最后, 要科学规范地完成标本的鉴定描述和保存保管, 研发体现农田土壤动物特征的数据库和管理信息系统。希望本文的研究结果能推动我国乃至世界范围的规范化样地建设和标准化网络监测, 为我国农田土壤动物评估与保护提供长期可靠的数据支撑。     

β-Catenin Inactivation Is a Pre-Requisite for Chick Retina Regeneration

In the present study we explored the role of β-catenin in mediating chick retina regeneration. The chick can regenerate its retina by activating stem/progenitor cells present in the ciliary margin (CM) of the eye or via transdifferentiation of the retinal pigmented epithelium (RPE). Both modes require fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2). We observed, by immunohistochemistry, dynamic changes of nuclear β-catenin in the CM and RPE after injury (retinectomy). β-catenin nuclear accumulation was transiently lost in cells of the CM in response to injury alone, while the loss of nuclear β-catenin was maintained as long as FGF2 was present. However, nuclear β-catenin positive cells remained in the RPE in response to injury and were BrdU-/p27+, suggesting that nuclear β-catenin prevents those cells from entering the cell cycle. If FGF2 is present, the RPE undergoes dedifferentiation and proliferation concomitant with loss of nuclear β-catenin. Moreover, retinectomy followed by disruption of active β-catenin by using a signaling inhibitor (XAV939) or over-expressing a dominant negative form of Lef-1 induces regeneration from both the CM and RPE in the absence of FGF2. Our results imply that β-catenin protects cells of the CM and RPE from entering the cell cycle in the developing eye, and specifically for the RPE during injury. Thus inactivation of β-catenin is a pre-requisite for chick retina regeneration.     

MicroRNA-21 (miR-21) Regulates Cellular Proliferation,Invasion, Migration,and Apoptosis by Targeting PTEN,RECK and Bcl-2 in Lung Squamous Carcinoma,Gejiu City,China

Background

In South China (Gejiu City, Yunnan Province), lung cancer incidence and associated mortality rate is the most prevalent and observed forms of cancer. Lung cancer in this area is called Gejiu squamous cell lung carcinoma (GSQCLC). Research has demonstrated that overexpression of miR-21 occurs in many cancers. However, the unique relationship between miR-21 and its target genes in GSQCLC has never been investigated. The molecular mechanism involved in GSQCLC must be compared to other non-small cell lung cancers in order to establish a relation and identify potential therapeutic targets.

Methodology/Principal Findings

In the current study, we initially found overexpression of miR-21 occurring in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell lines when compared to the immortalized lung epithelial cell line BEAS-2B. We also demonstrated that high expression of miR-21 could increase tumor cell proliferation, invasion, viability, and migration in GSQCLC cell line (YTMLC-90) and NSCLC cell line (NCI-H157). Additionally, our results revealed that miR-21 could suppress YTMLC-90 and NCI-H157 cell apoptosis through arresting cell-cycle at G₂/M phase. Furthermore, we demonstrated that PTEN, RECK and Bcl-2 are common target genes of miR-21 in NSCLC. Finally, our studies showed that down-regulation of miR-21 could lead to a significant increase in PTEN and RECK and decrease in Bcl-2 at the mRNA and protein level in YTMLC-90 and NCI-H157 cell lines. However, we have not observed any remarkable difference in the levels of miR-21 and its targets in YTMLC-90 cells when compared with NCI-H157 cells.

Conclusions/Significance

miR-21 simultaneously regulates multiple programs that enhance cell proliferation, apoptosis and tumor invasiveness by targeting PTEN, RECK and Bcl-2 in GSQCLC. Our results demonstrated that miR-21 may play a vital role in tumorigenesis and progression of lung squamous cell carcinoma and suppression of miR-21 may be a novel approach for the treatment of lung squamous cell carcinoma.     

Insulin Receptor Substrates Are Essential for the Bioenergetic and Hypertrophic Response of the Heart to Exercise Training

Insulin and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) receptor signaling pathways differentially modulate cardiac growth under resting conditions and following exercise training. These effects are mediated by insulin receptor substrate 1 (IRS1) and IRS2, which also differentially regulate resting cardiac mass. To determine the role of IRS isoforms in mediating the hypertrophic and metabolic adaptations of the heart to exercise training, we subjected mice with cardiomyocyte-specific deletion of either IRS1 (CIRS1 knockout [CIRS1KO] mice) or IRS2 (CIRS2KO mice) to swim training. CIRS1KO hearts were reduced in size under basal conditions, whereas CIRS2KO hearts exhibited hypertrophy. Following exercise swim training in CIRS1KO and CIRS2KO hearts, the hypertrophic response was equivalently attenuated, phosphoinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) activation was blunted, and prohypertrophic signaling intermediates, such as Akt and glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK3β), were dephosphorylated potentially on the basis of reduced Janus kinase-mediated inhibition of protein phosphatase 2a (PP2A). Exercise training increased peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1-alpha (PGC-1α) protein content, mitochondrial capacity, fatty acid oxidation, and glycogen synthesis in wild-type (WT) controls but not in IRS1- and IRS2-deficient hearts. PGC-1α protein content remained unchanged in CIRS1KO but decreased in CIRS2KO hearts. These results indicate that although IRS isoforms play divergent roles in the developmental regulation of cardiac size, these isoforms exhibit nonredundant roles in mediating the hypertrophic and metabolic response of the heart to exercise.     

TBK1 Facilitates GLUT1-Dependent Glucose Consumption by suppressing mTORC1 Signaling in Colorectal Cancer Progression

Intestinal inflammation is a vital precipitating factor of colorectal cancer (CRC), but the underlying mechanisms are still elusive. TANK-binding kinase 1 (TBK1) is a core enzyme downstream of several inflammatory signals. Recent studies brought the impacts of TBK1 in malignant disease to the forefront, we found aberrant TBK1 expression in CRC is correlated with CRC progression. TBK1 inhibition impaired CRC cell proliferation, migration, drug resistance and tumor growth. Bioinformatic analysis and experiments in vitro showed overexpressed TBK1 inhibited mTORC1 signaling activation in CRC along with elevated GLUT1 expression without inducing GLUT1 translation. TBK1 mediated mTORC1 inhibition induces intracellular autophagy, which in turn decreasing GLUT1 degradation. As a rescue, blocking of autophagosome and retromer respectively via autophagy-related gene 7 (ATG7) or TBC1 Domain Family Member 5 (TBC1D5) silence diminished the regulation of TBK1 to GLUT1. GLUT1 staining presented that TBK1 facilitated GLUT1 membrane translocation which subsequently enhanced glucose consumption. Inhibitor of TBK1 also decreased GLUT1 expression which potentiated drug-sensitivity of CRC cell. Collectively, TBK1 facilitates glucose consumption for supporting CRC progression via initiating mTORC1 inhibition induced autophagy which decreases GLUT1 degradation and increases GLUT1 membrane location. The adaptive signaling cascade between TBK1 and GLUT1 proposes a new strategy for CRC therapy.     

The progress of multimodal imaging combination and subregion based radiomics research of cancers

In recent years, with the standardization of radiomics methods; development of tools; and popularization of the concept, radiomics has been widely used in all aspects of tumor diagnosis; treatment; and prognosis. As the study of radiomics in cancer has become more advanced, the currently used methods have revealed their shortcomings. The performance of cancer radiomics based on single-modality medical images, which based on their imaging principles, only partially reflects tumor information, has been necessarily compromised. Using the whole tumor as a region of interest to extract radiomic features inevitably leads to the loss of intra-tumoral heterogeneity of, which also affects the performance of radiomics. Radiomics of multimodal images extracts various aspects of information from images of each modality and then integrates them together for model construction; thus, avoiding missing information. Subregional segmentation based on multimodal medical image combinations allows radiomics features acquired from subregions to retain tumor heterogeneity, further improving the performance of radiomics. In this review, we provide a detailed summary of the current research on the radiomics of multimodal images of cancer and tumor subregion-based radiomics, and then raised some of the research problems and also provide a thorough discussion on these issues.     

CDK5RAP3, an essential regulator of checkpoint,interacts with RPL26 and maintains the stability of cell growth

Purpose and MaterialsCDK5RAP3 (CDK5 regulatory subunit associated protein 3) was originally identified as a binding protein of CDK5. It is a crucial gene controlling biological functions, such as cell proliferation, apoptosis, invasion, and metastasis. Although previous studies have also shown that CDK5RAP3 is involved in a variety of signalling pathways, however, the mechanism of CDK5RAP3 remains largely undefined. This study utilized MEFs from conditional knockout mice to inhibit CDK5RAP3 and knockdown CDK5RAP3 in MCF7 to explore the role of CDK5RAP3 in cell growth, mitosis, and cell death.ResultsCDK5RAP3 was found to be widely distributed throughout the centrosome, spindle, and endoplasmic reticulum, indicating that it is involved in regulating a variety of cellular activities. CDK5RAP3 deficiency resulted in instability of cell growth. CDK5RAP3 deficiency partly blocks the cell cycle in G₂/M by downregulating CDK1 (Cyclin‐dependent kinase 1) and CCNB1 (Cyclin B1) expression levels. The cell proliferation rate was decreased, thereby slowing down the cell growth rate. Furthermore, the results showed that CDK5RAP3 interacts with RPL26 (ribosome protein L26) to regulate the mTOR pathway. CDK5RAP3 and RPL26 deficiency inhibited mTOR/p‐mTOR protein and induce autophagy, resulting in an upregulation of the percentage of apoptosis, and the upregulated percentage of apoptosis also slowed cell growth.ConclusionsOur experiments show that CDK5RAP3 interacts with RPL26 and maintains the stability of cell growth. It shows that CDK5RAP3 plays an important role in cell growth and can be used as the target of gene medicine.

In normal, CDK5RAP3 is distributed in the centrosome, spindle and endoplasmic reticulum, the cells undergoes the growth and proliferation. However, when CDK5RAP3 is deficient, the cell cycle is blocked in G₂/M and cell proliferation slows down, and the partial cycle block does not cause apoptosis. Additionally, CDK5RAP3 distributed in the endoplasmic reticulum combined with the deficiency of RPL26 will inhibit the mTOR pathway, aggravate autophagy and trigger apoptosis.