Management of disease resistance diversity of cultivars of a species in single fields: controlling epidemics

The use of a diversity of resistance genes limits the development of polycyclic epidemics caused by airborne pathogens and reduces the risk that resistance be overcome by virulent races. Diversity can be easily achieved by growing mixtures of cultivars with different resistance genes and homogeneous agronomic traits. The mechanisms by which disease is reduced in cultivar mixtures include the loss of inoculum due to the presence of resistant plants between susceptible ones and resistance induced by avirulent pathogens. The complementary effects of individual mixture components reacting to disease pressure and to abiotic stresses result in greater yield stability compared with pure stands. The quality of products from mixtures is at least equal to that obtained with pure stands. This type of resistance management is applicable to both annual and perennial crops.     

Multiplicative genetic effects in scrapie disease susceptibility

Despite experimental evidence that scrapie is an infectious disease of sheep, variations of the occurrence of the natural disease suggest an influence of host genetic factors. It has been established that the genetic polymorphism of the prion protein (PrP) gene is correlated to the incidence of scrapie and to the survival time: five polymorphisms have been described by variations at amino-acid codons 136, 154 and 171. In this paper we study the effect on scrapie susceptibility of the pairing of the five allelic variants known to exist: we show that scrapie susceptibility is given by the produce of the elementary allelic factors. This first well-documented evidence of a multiplicative property of genetic risk factors could give hints on the underlying mechanisms of prion-induced neurodegenerative diseases.     

The plague

The plague has been one of the most devastating diseases of human history. Despite major advances in diagnosis, prevention, and treatment, it has not been possible to eradicate this infection. Plague is still active in Africa, in Asia and in the Americas, and is classified as a currently re-emerging disease. The plague is mainly a disease of rodents, which is transmitted by fleabites. Humans develop two main clinical forms: bubonic plague (following bites of infected fleas, lethal in 50-70% of the cases in less than a week if an appropriate treatment is not started rapidly), and pneumonic plague (after inhalation of infected droplets, lethal in less than three days in 100% of cases without immediate treatment). Y. pestis, the causative agent of plague, is usually sensitive to most antibiotics, but the first multi-resistant strain was recently described. No efficient and safe vaccines are currently available. The plague bacillus is one of the few organisms that could be used for biological warfare.     

Radiothérapie interne vectorisée par 177Lu-PSMA-617 de l’adénocarcinome prostatique métastatique résistant à la castration : à propos d’un cas et revue de la littérature

The prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) is a type II glycoprotein which is over-expressed in prostate cancer tissue, especially in high grade tumours, metastatic disease, as an effect of androgen-deprivation therapies and in castrate-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). Recent studies about radioligand therapy using PSMA ligands labeled with lutetium-177 (¹⁷⁷Lu) in CRPC patients have suggested its interest as a third line of treatment after second generation anti-androgens and chemotherapy by taxane. We present the case of a CRPC patient who was treated by iterative radioligand therapy using PSMA-617 ligand labeled with ¹⁷⁷Lu. This case illustrates on the one hand the efficacy of the treatment, and on the other hand the fragility of the patients who are at an advanced stage of their disease. Then we present a short review of the literature on this topic, focusing on the published efficacy and tolerance of ¹⁷⁷Lu-PSMA radioligand therapy of CRPC patients.     

Mouse pre-B cells synthesize and secrete mu heavy chains but not light chains

The immunoglobulins produced by the earliest recognizable B cell precursors (pre-B cells) were characterized in the mouse and human. Immunofluorescent analysis revealed no evidence of surface IgM components, and only mu heavy chains could be detected intracytoplasmically in pre-B cells. Surface IgM components could not be isolated from intact fetal liver cells that lacked sIgM+ B lymphocytes but possessed pre-B cells. Pre-B cells were shown to synthesize and secrete mu heavy chains but not light chains by immunochemical analysis. These mu chains constituted less than 0.01% of TCA precipitable protein synthesized and secreted by fetal liver cells during an 8 hr labelling period. Migration of both intracellular and secreted mu chains on SDS-PAGE suggested that they were smaller than mu chains secreted by mouse and human plasmacytomas. These data indicate that mu chain synthesis precedes light chain expression during B cell ontogeny and suggest a new role for pre-B cells in the generation and expression of a diverse immunoglobulin repertoire.     

MiR-92a regulates brown adipocytes differentiation,mitochondrial oxidative respiration,and heat generation by targeting SMAD7

Brown adipocytes are rich in mitochondria and linked to the body's blood fat levels and obesity. MiR-92a is negatively correlated with the activity of brown adipocytes. This study aimed to explore the mechanism of miR-92a on brown adipocytes. The expression of miR-92a in C2C12 cell was detected by a quantitative real-time-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). C2C12 cells were induced to brown adipocytes. The direct target gene of miR-92a was determined using the dual-luciferase reporter assay. Brown adipocytes were treated with isoprenaline (Iso) and transfected by miR-92a inhibitor and siSMAD7. The expression of heat-producing genes and adipose differentiation genes related to brown adipocytes were detected by qRT-PCR and Western blot analysis. The expression of SMAD7, p-SMAD2, and p-SMAD3 were detected using Western blot analysis. The mitochondrial content was measured by mitotracker fluorescent staining. MiR-92a inhibitor significantly decreased the expression of miR-92a in C2C12 cells. MiR-92a inhibitor could upregulate the expression of Ucp1, Cox7a1, Elovl3, Ppargc1α, PPARγ, and FABP4, and its effect on Ucp1 was increased after the treatment of isoprenaline. Moreover, miR-92a inhibitor increased mitochondrial content, oxygen consumption rate (OCR) and the expression of SMAD7 and suppressed the expressions of p-SMAD2 and p-SMAD3, whereas miR-92a directly targeted SMAD7 to exert its inhibitory effects. SiSMAD7 reversed the effects of the inhibitor on heat-producing genes, mitochondrial content, OCR and the expressions of SMAD7, p-SMAD2, and p-SMAD3 in brown adipocytes. Blocking miR-92a might promote brown adipocytes differentiation, mitochondrial oxidative respiration, and thermogenesis by targeting SMAD7 to inhibit the expressions of p-SMAD2 and p-SMAD3.     

miR-26a抑制转化生长因子beta诱导的韧带成纤维细胞增殖

目的:研究miR-26a对转化生长因子-β(Transforming growth factor-β,TGF-β)诱导的韧带成纤维细胞增殖的影响。方法:原代分离大鼠肩周韧带成纤维细胞,通过免疫荧光鉴定细胞纯度,应用脂质体细胞转染miRNA模拟物的方式过表达miR-26a,定量PCR的方法检测miR-26a模拟物的过表达效率,CCK8法检测细胞增殖能力的变化,生物信息学预测的方法分析miR-26a可能的作用靶基因。结果:免疫荧光检测发现原代分离细胞中,Vimentin阳性细胞在90%以上;转染miR-26a模拟物后,细胞内miR-26a水平显著高于阴性对照组(P<0.05);TGF-β刺激明显促进韧带成纤维细胞生长(P<0.01),而miR-26a则对TGF-β诱导的韧带成纤维细胞增殖具有显著的抑制作用(P<0.01);生物信息学预测显示SMAD1/4、EIF4G2、PTEN和MARK1可能是miR-26a影响细胞增殖的作用靶基因。结论:miR-26a可抑制TGF-β诱导的韧带成纤维细胞增殖。     

miRNA-105在胃癌组织中的表达情况

目的:分析胃癌组织与癌旁正常胃黏膜组织中miRNA的差异表达情况。方法:收集胃癌组织和其相应癌旁正常胃黏膜组织共33对,经抽提、纯化RNA后,反转录合成荧光分子Hy3的cDNA探针,将其与miRCURYTMLNA Array(v.16.0)(Exiqon公司)芯片进行杂交,应用Axon GenePix 4000B芯片扫描仪来扫描miRNA芯片的荧光强度,GenePix Pro 6.0软件(Axon)把图像转化为数字信号,以差异大于2倍的为标准来确定胃癌黏膜组织中差异表达的miRNA。再用实时荧光定量PCR方法验证芯片结果中表达异常增高的miR-105在33例胃癌组织中的表达情况。结果:miRNA表达谱芯片结果显示:胃癌组织共中有51种miRNA表达异常,其中miR-105、miR-548n、miR-214*、miR-4309等31种miRNA表达上调,miR-31、miR-1275、miR-26b*、miR-744等20种miRNA表达下调;实时荧光定量PCR证实与癌旁正常胃黏膜组织相比,胃癌组织中miR-105表达显著上调(P0.01)。结论:miR-105在胃癌组织的表达明显高于正常胃黏膜组织,可能与胃癌的发生、发展相关。我们的研究为胃癌的发病机制和诊断治疗提供了一个新的研究方向。     

肿瘤干细胞标记物CD133与miR-429在大肠癌组织中的表达及其相关性研究

目的：检测CD133不同亚群大肠癌细胞HT-29的miR-429表达情况,探讨miR-429及CD133的表达与肿瘤的发生发展之间的关系。方法：采用荧光活化细胞分选法（FACS）分选出CD133不同亚群细胞,实时荧光定量PCR分别检测两组细胞miR-429的表达,合成miR-429寡核苷酸和阴性对照miRNA并分别转染CD133＋和CD133＋两个亚群细胞。再将细胞种植于非肥胖糖尿病／严重联合免疫缺陷（NOD／SCID）小鼠体内构建移植瘤模型,不同时间测量肿瘤体积和重量,RT—PCR及蛋白质印迹检测CD133＋和CD133＋两组肿瘤CD133mRNA和蛋白质表达。结果：血清检出CD133＋细胞为67．9％,miR-429的表达量是CD133＋细胞的（1．83±0．91）倍（P〈0．05）,CD133＋比例与miR-429表达呈负相关（r=0．591,P〈0．05）;miR-429＋／CD133＋组的移植瘤体积及重量与对照组比较有统计学差异（P〈0．05）,且miR-429＋/CD133＋组成瘤时间较对照组晚约2周,但miR-429＋/CD133＋组的移植瘤CD133表达量低,与阴性对照组比较无明显差异（P〉0．05）。结论：miR-429可能作为CD133的负性调控因子,具有抑制肿瘤生长的作用,但miR-429与CD133在肿瘤发生、发展过程中的作用机制有待进一步研究阐明。