柠条锦鸡儿CkLEA1基因克隆及表达分析

植物受到逆境胁迫后,大量逆境响应基因会被诱导表达,LEA蛋白编码基因就是与植物抗旱、抗冷等非生物胁迫密切相关的一类基因.从已构建的柠条锦鸡儿干旱胁迫抑制性削减杂交文库中筛选到了一条LEA蛋白编码基因并进行了克隆.序列比对与系统进化分析显示该基因属于LEA3基因家族成员,命名为CkLEA1(GenBank登录号是KC309408).克隆得到该基因gDNA长469bp,包含两个外显子和一个内含子;cDNA长357bp,包含300bp的开放阅读框,推导编码99个氨基酸的蛋白质.利用荧光定量PCR技术对CkLEA1基因在各种逆境胁迫条件的表达情况进行初步研究表明,CkLEA1受干旱、ABA、冷、热、盐和碱等处理不同程度地诱导,推测其与柠条锦鸡儿响应逆境胁迫的机制有关.     

重组人源性脂联素球状结构的表达、纯化与活性检测

目的:利用基因工程方法构建人源性脂联素球状结构(gAd)基因的高效原核表达体系,并对重组蛋白进行诱导表达、纯化、鉴定及活性检测.方法:从正常人脂肪组织里面提取总RNA,反转录合成cDNA,经PCR扩增、酶切后连入pET-22b(+)载体构建重组质粒pET-22b(+)-gAd,重组质粒转化大肠杆菌BL21(DE3)感受态细胞.经诱导剂诱导后目的蛋白以包涵体形式产生,采用强碱促溶包涵体并用丙酮沉淀蛋白的方法进行复性和纯化,得到高纯度的人源性gAd.运用SDS-PAGE、Western blotting对重组蛋白进行鉴定,通过对蛋白激酶(AMPK)的磷酸化水平和对小鼠的心肌缺血再灌注损伤的保护作用来检测纯化蛋白的生物学活性.结果:成功构建了原核表达载体pET-22b(+)-gAd,实现了人源性gAd在原核细胞中的表达,并对形成的包涵体变性、复性和纯化,纯化出的蛋白经过SDS-PAGE和Western分析证实为gAd;通过对AMPK的磷酸化水平的检测和对小鼠的心肌缺血再灌注损伤的保护作用证明纯化出的gAd具有高生物学活性.结论:成功构建、表达和纯化了无标签、高生物学活性的人源性脂联素球状结构(gAd),为其进一步的理论研究、生产开发奠定了基础.     

Cholesterol transport between red blood cells and lipoproteins contributes to cholesterol metabolism in blood

Lipoproteins play a key role in transport of cholesterol to and from tissues. Recent studies have also demonstrated that red blood cells (RBCs), which carry large quantities of free cholesterol in their membrane, play an important role in reverse cholesterol transport. However, the exact role of RBCs in systemic cholesterol metabolism is poorly understood. RBCs were incubated with autologous plasma or isolated lipoproteins resulting in a significant net amount of cholesterol moved from RBCs to HDL, while cholesterol from LDL moved in the opposite direction. Furthermore, the bi-directional cholesterol transport between RBCs and plasma lipoproteins was saturable and temperature-, energy-, and time-dependent, consistent with an active process. We did not find LDLR, ABCG1, or scavenger receptor class B type 1 in RBCs but found a substantial amount of ABCA1 mRNA and protein. However, specific cholesterol efflux from RBCs to isolated apoA-I was negligible, and ABCA1 silencing with siRNA or inhibition with vanadate and Probucol did not inhibit the efflux to apoA-I, HDL, or plasma. Cholesterol efflux from and cholesterol uptake by RBCs from Abca1^+/+ and Abca1^−/− mice were similar, arguing against the role of ABCA1 in cholesterol flux between RBCs and lipoproteins. Bioinformatics analysis identified ABCA7, ABCG5, lipoprotein lipase, and mitochondrial translocator protein as possible candidates that may mediate the cholesterol flux. Together, these results suggest that RBCs actively participate in cholesterol transport in the blood, but the role of cholesterol transporters in RBCs remains uncertain.     

Major vault protein (MVP) gene polymorphisms and drug resistance in mesial temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis

The human major vault protein (MVP) has been implicated in the development of drug resistance in cancer cells. Over expression of MVP has also been reported in brain tissue samples from antiepileptic drug (AED)-resistant human focal epilepsies. To investigate the relationship between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) involving the MVP gene and AED-resistance, we compared the distribution of three SNPs in the MVP gene, rs4788187, rs3815824 and rs3815823, among 220 patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis (MTLE-HS) (prototype of AED-resistant epilepsy syndrome), 201 patients with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME) (prototype of AED-responsive epilepsy syndrome) and 213 ethnically matched non-epilepsy controls. All the patients and controls were residents of the South Indian state of Kerala for more than three generations. We did not find any significant difference in allele and genotypic frequencies of the studied SNPs between AED-resistant and AED-responsive cohorts, and between AED-resistant and AED-responsive cohorts independently and pooled together when compared with the controls. We conclude that rs4788187, rs3815824, rs3815823 variants of the MVP gene are associated neither with predisposition for epilepsy nor with AED-resistance in the population that we have studied. Our results suggest the need for further research into the link between MVP and AED-resistance.     

Recombinase-mediated cassette exchange (RMCE) — A rapidly-expanding toolbox for targeted genomic modifications

Starting in 1991, the advance of Tyr-recombinases Flp and Cre enabled superior strategies for the predictable insertion of transgenes into compatible target sites of mammalian cells. Early approaches suffered from the reversibility of integration routes and the fact that co-introduction of prokaryotic vector parts triggered uncontrolled heterochromatization. Shortcomings of this kind were overcome when Flp-Recombinase Mediated Cassette Exchange entered the field in 1994. RMCE enables enhanced tag-and-exchange strategies by precisely replacing a genomic target cassette by a compatible donor construct. After “gene swapping” the donor cassette is safely locked in, but can nevertheless be re-mobilized in case other compatible donor cassettes are provided (“serial RMCE”). These features considerably expand the options for systematic, stepwise genome modifications. The first decade was dominated by the systematic generation of cell lines for biotechnological purposes. Based on the reproducible expression capacity of the resulting strains, a comprehensive toolbox emerged to serve a multitude of purposes, which constitute the first part of this review. The concept per se did not, however, provide access to high-producer strains able to outcompete industrial multiple-copy cell lines. This fact gave rise to systematic improvements, among these certain accumulative site-specific integration pathways. The exceptional value of RMCE emerged after its entry into the stem cell field, where it started to contribute to the generation of induced pluripotent stem (iPS-) cells and their subsequent differentiation yielding a variety of cell types for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. This topic firmly relies on the strategies developed in the first decade and can be seen as the major ambition of the present article. In this context an unanticipated, potent property of serial Flp-RMCE setups concerns the potential to re-open loci that have served to establish the iPS status before the site underwent the obligatory silencing process. Other relevant options relate to the introduction of composite Flp-recognition target sites (“heterospecific FRT-doublets”), into the LTRs of lentiviral vectors. These “twin sites” enhance the safety of iPS re-programming and -differentiation as they enable the subsequent quantitative excision of a transgene, leaving behind a single “FRT-twin”. Such a strategy combines the established expression potential of the common retro- and lentiviral systems with options to terminate the process at will. The remaining genomic tag serves to identify and characterize the insertion site with the goal to identify genomic “safe harbors” (GOIs) for re-use. This is enabled by the capacity of “FRT-twins” to accommodate any incoming RMCE-donor cassette with a compatible design.     

Influence of MDR1 C1236T polymorphism on lopinavir plasma concentration and virological response in HIV-1-infected children

Background

Variability in MDR1 and PXR has been associated with differences in drug plasma levels and response to antiretroviral therapy. We investigated whether polymorphisms in MDR1 (T-129C, C1236T and C3435T) and PXR (C63396T) affect lopinavir plasma concentration and the virological or immunological response to HAART in HIV-1-infected children.

Methods

Genotypes were identified in 100 blood donors and 38 HIV-1-infected children. All children received HAART with lopinavir boosted with ritonavir (LPV/r) at the time of LPV plasma level quantification, before (C_trough) and between 1 and 2 h after (C_post-dose) the administration of the next dose of drug. CD4⁺ T-cell counts and plasma viral load were analyzed before and after the initiation of LPV/r.

Results

MDR1 1236T, MDR1 3435T and PXR 63396T alleles showed a frequency of ~ 50% while the MDR1 -129C allele only reached 5%. Children heterozygotes 1236CT showed a significantly lower LPV C_post-dose than homozygotes 1236TT (median C_post-dose = 3.04 μg/ml and 6.50 μg/ml, respectively; p = 0.016). Children heterozygotes 1236CT also had a lower decrease of viral load after 36 weeks of LPV/r exposure compared with homozygotes 1236CC (median viral load changes = − 0.50 log₁₀ copies/ml and − 2.08 log₁₀ copies/ml, respectively; p = 0.047). No effect on the immunological response was observed for polymorphisms of MDR1 or PXR.

Conclusions

Our results suggest that the MDR1 C1236T SNP significantly reduces LPV plasma concentration affecting the virological response to HAART. Heterozygotes 1236CT might have an altered level of P-gp expression/activity in enterocytes and CD4⁺ T lymphocytes that limits the absorption of LPV leading to an impaired virological suppression.     

The identification of dysfunctional crosstalk of pathways in Parkinson disease

Parkinson disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder after Alzheimer's disease, affecting 1–2% of the population over the age of 65. Both genetic and environmental factors trigger risks of and protection from PD. However, the molecular mechanism of PD is far from being clear. In this study, we downloaded the gene expression profile of PD from Gene Expression Omnibus and identified differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and dysfunctional pathways in PD patients compared with controls. To further understand how these pathways act together to account for the initiation of PD, we constructed a pathway crosstalk network by calculating the Jaccard index among pathways. A total of 873 DEGs and 16 dysfunctional pathways between PD patients and controls were identified. Through constructing a network of pathways, the relationships among PD pathways were visually presented by their interactions. Our results demonstrate the existence of crosstalk between different pathways in PD pathogenesis. These results not only may explain the causes of PD, but could also open the door to new therapeutic approaches for this disease.     

Functional Proteomics: A Promising Approach to Find Novel Components of the Circadian System

In the postgenome era, the analysis of entire subproteomes in correlation with their function has emerged due to high throughput technologies. Early approaches have been initiated to identify novel components of the circadian system. For example, in the marine dinoflagellate Lingulodinium polyedra, a chronobiological proteome assay was performed, which resulted in the identification of already known circadian expressed proteins as well as novel temporal controlled proteins involved in metabolic pathways. In the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, two circadian expressed proteins (a protein disulfide isomerase and a tetratricopeptide repeat protein) were identified by functional proteomics. Also, the first hints of temporal control within chloroplast proteins of Arabidopsis thaliana were identified by proteome analysis.