Regulation of the Type II Hemidesmosomal Plaque Assembly in Intestinal Epithelial Cells

Hemidesmosomes (HDs) are cellular junctions that anchor epithelial cells to the extracellular matrix (ECM) and are associated morphologically with the cytoskeleton. Hemidesmosomal molecular components include two proteins involved in linking intermediate filaments, HD1/plectin and BP230, and two transmembrane proteins, BP180 and the alpha6beta4 integrin, a laminin receptor. In cells lacking BP230 and BP180, HD1/plectin still associates with alpha6beta4 integrin, forming HD-like structures, called type II HDs. In the present study, we used an intestinal epithelial cell line that expresses HD1/plectin and the alpha6beta4 integrin to investigate the regulation of assembly of these proteins in type II HDs. These compounds were found to be clustered at sites of cell-ECM contact and their polarized localization was influenced by either cell confluency or extracellular matrix deposition. Conventional and immunoelectron microscopy showed that HD1/plectin and the beta4 integrin subunit are colocalized in an adhesion structure. Using cytoskeleton-disrupting drugs and confocal microscopy, we demonstrated that type II HDs are made up of numerous individual plaques whose assembly into a cluster requires actin filaments, but not microtubules.     

重叠PCR合成HPV16E6、E7基因并构建植物表达双元载体

HPV16型为主的多种HPV病毒可诱发机体发生宫颈癌等疾病,以重叠PCR法人工合成HPV16 E6、E7致癌基因的融合基因,以之为目的基因构建了无选择标记基因(Marker-Free)双元载体,期望转化番茄开发新型宫颈癌治疗性疫苗-转基因植物口服疫苗.通过生物信息学分析HPV16 E6、E7基因,设计并合成密码子优化的靶基因E6-E7融合基因;并在目的基因的上游引入分子佐荆LTB基因,与Kozak序列等表达元件相偶联,以提高目的基因在植物表达系统的表达水平、增强其诱导黏膜免疫的免疫原性.目前已构建pX6-LTB-E7和pX6-LTB-E7-E6两个番茄转化双元载体.采用番茄Marker-Free系统转化和表达HPV16 E6、E7目的基因可以在转化后代中剔除标记基因,从而消除由标记基因可能引起的转基因植物口服疫苗的安全性问题,为HPV转基因植物口服疫苗应用奠定基础.     

Chaperone-Assisted Overexpression of an Active -Carbamoylase from Agrobacterium tumefaciens AM 10

The N-carbamoyl- -amino acid amidohydrolase ( -carbamoylase) gene (dcb) from Agrobacterium tumefaciens AM 10 was cloned by polymerase chain reaction in plasmid pET28a and was overexpressed in Escherichia coli JM109 (DE3). However, almost 80% of the enzyme remained trapped in inclusion bodies. To facilitate the expression of the properly folded active enzyme, the chaperones GroEL/ES were coexpressed in plasmid pKY206. This resulted in a 43-fold increase in active enzyme production compared to the wild-type strain. The histidyl-tagged -carbamoylase was purified by a single step nickel-affinity chromatography to a specific activity of 9.5 U/mg protein.     

硝苯地平联合硫酸镁对高龄孕妇妊娠高血压的临床疗效及机制研究

目的:探讨硝苯地平联合硫酸镁对高龄孕妇妊娠高血压的临床疗效及可能机制。方法:收集我院高龄孕妇妊娠高血压患者54例,随机分为A组和B组,各27例。A组给予100 m L 5%葡萄糖注射液加入20 m L 25%的硫酸镁注射液静脉滴注,30 min内滴完;再给予500 m L 5%葡萄糖注射液加入40 m L 25%硫酸镁注射液1~2 g/h,静脉滴注;B组在A组用药的基础上给予给予硝苯地平控释片30 mg/次口服,1次/日,2组患者均治疗7 d。治疗结束后,比较两组患者血压、C反应蛋白(CRP)、白细胞介素6(IL-6)、肿瘤坏死因子-α(TNF-α)及蛋白尿水平。结果:与治疗前相比,两组患者治疗后收缩压、舒张压、CRP、IL-6、TNF-α及蛋白尿水平均显著降低(P0.05);与A组比较,B组患者收缩压、舒张压、CRP、IL-6、TNF-α及蛋白尿水平较低(P0.05)。结论:硝苯地平联合硫酸镁对高龄孕妇妊娠高血压有较好的临床疗效,推测其机制与降低CRP、IL-6及TNF-α水平有关。     

mAtNOS1 regulates mitochondrial functions and apoptosis of human neuroblastoma cells

mAtNOS1 is a novel gene recently reported in mammalian cells with functions that are not fully understood. The present study generated human neuroblastoma SHSY cells over- and underexpressing mAtNOS1 and shows that mAtNOS1 is involved in regulating mitochondrial nitric oxide, mitochondrial transmembrane potential, protein tyrosine nitration, cytochrome c release, and apoptosis of those cells.     

Morphological relationships among populations in the Sorex caecutiens/shinto group (Eulipotyphla, Soricidae) in East Asia, with a description of a new subspecies from Cheju Island, Korea

We investigated the morphological relationships among eight populations of Sorex caecutiens/shinto group in East Asia using 11 cranial and dental characters and four external characters. Univariate and multivariate analyses of these characters failed to distinguish S. caecutiens and S. shinto. Morphological characters were, in fact, continuous between populations. Sorex shinto from Honshu was similar to S. caecutiens from the Korean peninsula and Primorye in skull dimensions and to S. caecutiens from Hokkaido-Sakhalin in external dimensions. Sorex caecutiens from Cheju Island is morphologically similar to S. shinto from Sado and Shikoku islands. These three insular populations were characterized by having large body sizes. Sorex caecutiens from Cheju was the largest of the S. caecutiens/shinto group in East Asia. This shrew from Cheju was classified definitively as S. caecutiens on DNA data, but has a unique morphology among S. caecutiens populations in East Asia. We therefore regard this Sorex shrew on Cheju Island as a new subspecies of S. caecutiens and designate it S. c. hallamontanus Abe and Oh.     

Generation of stable cell clones expressing mixtures of human antibodies

Therapeutic monoclonal antibodies, a highly successful class of biological drugs, are conventionally manufactured in mammalian cell lines. A recent approach to increase the therapeutic effectiveness of monoclonal antibodies has been to combine two or more of them; however this increases the complexity of development and manufacture. To address this issue a method to efficiently express multiple monoclonal antibodies from a single cell has been developed and we describe here the generation of stable cell clones that express high levels of a human monoclonal antibody mixture. PER.C6® cells were transfected with a combination of plasmids containing genes encoding three different antibodies. Clones that express the three corresponding antibody specificities were identified, subcloned, and passaged in the absence of antibiotic selection pressure. At several time points, batch production runs were analyzed for stable growth and IgG production characteristics. The majority (11/12) of subclones analyzed expressed all three antibody specificities in constant ratios with total IgG productivity ranging between 15 and 20 pg/cell/day under suboptimal culture conditions after up to 67 population doublings. The growth and IgG production characteristics of the stable clones reported here resemble those of single monoclonal antibody cell lines from conventional clone generation programs. We conclude that the methodology described here is applicable to the generation of stable PER.C6® clones for industrial scale production of mixtures of antibodies. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2010;106: 741–750. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Lens morphogenesis is dependent on Pax6‐mediated inhibition of the canonical Wnt/beta‐catenin signaling in the lens surface ectoderm

Lens formation in mouse is critically dependent on proper development of the retinal neuroectoderm that is located close beneath the head surface ectoderm. Signaling from the prospective retina triggers lens‐specific gene expression in the surface‐ectoderm. Supression of canonical Wnt/β‐catenin signaling in the surface ectoderm is one of the prerequisites for lens development because, as we show here, ectopic Wnt activation in the retina and lens abrogates lens formation. Wnt inhibiton is mediated by signals coming from the retina but its exact mechanism is unknown. We show that Pax6 directly controls expression of several Wnt inhibitors such as Sfrp1, Sfrp2, and Dkk1 in the presumptive lens. In accordance, absence of Pax6 function leads to aberrant canonical Wnt activity in the presumptive lens that subsequently impairs lens development. Thus Pax6 is required for down‐regulation of canonical Wnt signaling in the presumptive lens ectoderm. genesis 48:86–95, 2010. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

亚砷酸钠对胰岛β细胞的Nrf2及其调控的抗氧化酶表达的影响

目的检测亚砷酸钠对小鼠胰岛B细胞的核转录因子Nrf2及其调控的抗氧化酶硫氧还蛋白（Srx）,y-谷氨酰半胱氨酸连接酶催化亚基（Gele）表达的影响。方法应用2、4、6、8、10t2mol／L亚砷酸钠（NaAs02）作用MIN6细胞6h,通过WesternBlot检测Nrf2蛋白表达;利用Real—timePCR检测抗氧化酶Srx、Oclc的mRNA表达。结果4／μmol／L亚砷酸钠染毒6h后,Nrf2的蛋白表达显著增高,并随着亚砷酸钠剂量的增大,Nrf2蛋白表达也随之增多。抗氧化酶Srx、GelcmRNA在2μmol／L亚砷酸钠染毒6h后开始出现明显的诱导表达,并随亚砷酸钠剂量的增加而表达增强。结论亚砷酸钠能诱导小鼠胰岛B细胞Nrf2蛋白及其调控的抗氧化酶Srx和Gclc基因的表达,并存在显著地剂量依赖性。