酿酒酵母RAVE复合物的155kD亚基Rav1p的克隆及其在大肠杆菌中的表达纯化

以酿酒酵母基因组DNA为模板,根据CenBank上公布的酿酒酵母Ravlp基因(rav1)序列和表达裁体特性设计 特异性引物,PCR扩增得到4 074 bp的DNA片段,将PCR产物和原核表达栽体pET28a(+)同时进行双酶切;双酶切后的PCR产物和表达栽体进行连接,构建成重组质粒pET28a-ravl.再将pET28a-ravl转化到BL21( DE3)感受态细胞中.经IPTG 16℃低温诱导40h表达His-tag融合的Ravlp.诱导后的菌体进行超声波破碎,然后用GE healthcare公司的AKTA蛋白纯化仪和His Trap HP I mL亲和层析柱纯化目的蛋白.SDS-PAGE电泳分析和Western blot分析显示在155 kD有明显的条带,成功实现了Ravlp在大肠杆菌中的表达纯化.     

迁地麋鹿对野鸭湖植被的保护性生物控制

利用食草动物来管理自然保护地的植被平衡具有很大的应用潜力,一方面可提升动物的生态价值,另一方面通过控制取食规模,改变植被的生物多样性,达到对自然保护地生态平衡管理的目的。基于此于2021年6月5日引入4头麋鹿(2雄2雌),对野鸭湖自然保护区的“芦苇优势群落”采取保护性的生物控制研究,从项目的实施来看：1)单纯收割不能控制芦苇的生长扩张;对芦苇区系植物多样性的影响有限,未改变芦苇区系结构;2)麋鹿引入该区域后,通过取食、游泳、躺卧和踩踏等活动有效控制了芦苇和香蒲的过度扩张;1年后芦苇和香蒲面积下降了21.96%,为三棱水葱、水蓼等提供了生长空间,逐渐形成了仍以芦苇和香蒲为主且更多样的湿地环境;3)增加滩涂和开阔水面等景观,使多样性指数进一步提升,未改变周边区系湿地生态结构;4)麋鹿迁入可降低野鸭湖“脆弱物种”芦苇区系的丰富度,由引入前的(r=3.67)下降到引入后的(r=1.97);麋鹿迁入提升了野鸭湖植被区系物种多样性,芦苇区系的多样性指数由引进前的(r=0.90)上升到引进后的(r=2.11);麋鹿引入的第一年结果显示,整个引入区域的植被多样性指数由r=0.51上升到r=0.91。麋...     

休斯敦共识会议:关于美国幽门螺杆菌感染的检测

虽然,美国已有关于幽门螺杆菌(Helicobacter pylori,H.pylori)检测和治疗的指南,但对患者进行治疗前后H.pylori检测的建议通常没有得到遵循。来自美国不同地区研究成人和儿童H.pylori感染处理的11名专家参加了"休斯敦共识会议",并在会议中讨论诊断H.pylori感染的关键因素:确定目标人群进行H.pylori检测;抗生素药物敏感性对检测和治疗的影响;确认H.pylori感染和确认根除治疗结果的合适方法。专家被分为多组,采用改良的Delphi小组讨论法来评定需行H.pylori检测的目标人群,抗生素药物敏感性检测方法和治疗方法、根除治疗后的结果确认及相关检测方法。证据质量和建议强度均采用GRADE系统进行评估。各工作小组的结果将提交给所有小组成员进行最后的共识表决。在专家共识会议之后,这些结论将提交给一个独立的胃肠病学专家小组进行验证,并对会议中提出的29项声明进行认同程度评估。最后的建议是基于现有最佳证据提出,并提供带参考文献的共识声明,以便在全美各地的医疗保健体系中实施。     

Inducers of plant systemic acquired resistance regulate NPR1 function through redox changes

NPR1 is an essential regulator of plant systemic acquired resistance (SAR), which confers immunity to a broad-spectrum of pathogens. SAR induction results in accumulation of the signal molecule salicylic acid (SA), which induces defense gene expression via activation of NPR1. We found that in an uninduced state, NPR1 is present as an oligomer formed through intermolecular disulfide bonds. Upon SAR induction, a biphasic change in cellular reduction potential occurs, resulting in reduction of NPR1 to a monomeric form. Monomeric NPR1 accumulates in the nucleus and activates gene expression. Inhibition of NPR1 reduction prevents defense gene expression, whereas mutation of Cys82 or Cys216 in NPR1 leads to constitutive monomerization, nuclear localization of the mutant proteins, and defense gene expression. These data provide a missing link between accumulation of SA and activation of NPR1 in the SAR signaling pathway.     

Circadian misalignment promotes vascular smooth muscle cell apoptosis via defective autophagy

Journal of Molecular Histology - Defective autophagy in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) in response to oxidative stress can lead to cellular apoptosis and plaque instability. Previous studies...     

Intratumoral Hepatic Stellate Cells as a Poor Prognostic Marker and a New Treatment Target?for?Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Hepatic stellate cells (HSCs), a specialized stromal cytotype in the liver, have been demonstrated to actively contribute to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development. However, the previous studies were performed using HSC cell lines, and the prognostic value of intratumoral HSCs (tHSCs) was unclear. Here we isolated tHSCs from fresh human HCC tissues, and analyzed the abilities of tHSCs to promote HCC progression by using in vitro assays for cell viability, migration and invasion as well as epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) phenotype. 252 HCC patients who underwent hepatectomy were enrolled for analysis of tHSCs and E-cadherin expression in tumor tissues, and 55 HCC patients for analysis of tHSCs in tumor tissues and circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in blood. Prognostic factors were then identified. The results showed that coculture of tHSCs with HCC cells had a stronger effect on HCC cell viability, migration and invasion, accompanied with the acquisition of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) phenotype. In vivo cotransplantation of HCC cells with tHSCs into nude mice more efficiently promoted tumor formation and growth. Icaritin, a known apoptosis inducer of HSCs, was demonstrated to effectively inhibit tHSC proliferation in vitro and tHSC-induced HCC-promoting effects in vivo. Clinical evidence indicated that tHSCs were rich in 45% of the HCC specimens, tHSC-rich subtypes were negatively correlated either with E-cadherin expression in tumor tissues (r = -0.256, p < 0.001) or with preoperative CTCs in blood (r = -0.287, p = 0.033), and were significantly correlated with tumor size (p = 0.027), TNM staging (p = 0.018), and vascular invasion (p = 0.008). Overall and recurrence-free survival rates of tHSC-rich patients were significantly worse than those for tHSC-poor patients. Multivariate analysis revealed tHSC-rich as an independent factor for overall and recurrence-free survival. In conclusion, tHSCs provide a promising prognostic biomarker and a new treatment target for HCC.     

Identification and evaluation of reference genes for quantitative real-time PCR analysis in Passiflora edulis under stem rot condition

Molecular Biology Reports - Passion fruit (Passiflora edulis), an important tropical and subtropical fruit, has a high edible and medicinal value. Stem rot disease is one of the most important...     

Neurokinin-1 Receptor Directly Mediates Glioma Cell Migration by Up-regulation of Matrix Metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and Membrane Type 1-Matrix Metalloproteinase (MT1-MMP)

Neurokinin-1 receptor (NK1R) occurs naturally on human glioblastomas. Its activation mediates glioma cell proliferation. However, it is unknown whether NK1R is directly involved in tumor cell migration. In this study, we found human hemokinin-1 (hHK-1), via NK1R, dose-dependently promoted the migration of U-251 and U-87 cells. In addition, we showed that hHK-1 enhanced the activity of MMP-2 and the expression of MMP-2 and MT1-matrix metalloproteinase (MMP), which were responsible for cell migration, because neutralizing the MMPs with antibodies decreased cell migration. The involved mechanisms were then investigated. In U-251, hHK-1 induced significant calcium efflux; phospholipase C inhibitor U-73122 reduced the calcium mobilization, the up-regulation of MMP-2 and MT1-MMP, and the cell migration induced by hHK-1, which meant the migration effect of NK1R was mainly mediated through the G_q-PLC pathway. We further demonstrated that hHK-1 boosted rapid phosphorylation of ERK, JNK, and Akt; inhibition of ERK and Akt effectively reduced MMP-2 induction by hHK-1. Meanwhile, inhibition of ERK, JNK, and Akt reduced the MT1-MMP induction. hHK-1 stimulated significant phosphorylation of p65 and c-JUN in U-251. Reporter gene assays indicated hHK-1 enhanced both AP-1 and NF-κB activity; inhibition of ERK, JNK, and Akt dose-dependently suppressed the NF-κB activity; only the inhibition of ERK significantly suppressed the AP-1 activity. Treatment with specific inhibitors for AP-1 or NF-κB strongly blocked the MMP up-regulation by hHK-1. Taken together, our data suggested NK1R was a potential regulator of human glioma cell migration by the up-regulation of MMP-2 and MT1-MMP.