The Yeast Checkpoint Kinase Dun1 Downregulates DIN7 in the Absence of DNA Damage

Yeast DIN7 is a DNA damage-inducible gene. Its expression is increased in the absence of Dun1, a DNA damage checkpoint kinase. We identified a DIN7 promoter region responsible for Dun1-mediated downregulation and found that DIN7 expression was not further increased in response to hydroxyurea in Δdun1 cells. Thus DIN7 repression by Dun1 can be released upon DNA damage.     

Circadian Phase Dependent Thermal Stimulation of Ovarian Recrudescence in Indian Catfish,Clarias batrachus

Female Clarias batrachus acclimated to long photoperiod (13L:11D), were subjected to 30º ± 1ºC thermopulses of either 6-hour or 12-hour duration at different phases of the LD cycle during the late resting phase (first week of January) of their annual reproductive cycle. Six-hour pulses were given either at 0600 or 1200 or 1800 or 0000. Twelve-hour thermopulses were given at 0600 or 1800. The long photoperiods were started at 0530 and that of ambient at 0630 coinciding with the average timing of sunrise that prevailed during the period of the study. The results indicate that exposure to long photoperiod or constant high temperature induced gonadal growth (GSI) and elevated testosterone and oestradiol levels in plasma. The high temperature was significantly more effective in its action. Further, combination of long photoperiod and high temperature produced the strongest gonadal stimulation as gauged from GSI and the levels of steroid hormones. Interestingly, 30ºC thermopulses of 12-h duration when given at 0600 to fish held under long photoperiod induced gonadal development of comparable magnitude as observed in response to constant high temperature under long photoperiod. Thermopulses (30ºC) of 6-h duration given at 0600 or 1200 also induced significant gonadal recrudescence but of much lesser magnitude. Thermopulses either of 6-h or 12-h duration at 1800 failed to elicit any change in the variables under study. The results of cosinor analysis performed on the responses to 6-h thermopulses also substantiate that there is a rhythm in the sensitivity of C. batrachus to thermopulses. Thus it appears that in this species temperature-induced gonadal recrudescence would occur only following coincidence of high temperature with the thermoinducible phase. The underlying mechanism of this phenomenon might be circadian in nature.     

核酸药物及其给药系统用于炎症性肠病治疗的研究进展

炎症性肠病是一种常见的免疫功能紊乱所致慢性顽固性胃肠道炎性疾病,现有的治疗手段难以根治。随着炎症性肠病分子机制研究的不断深入,在基因水平上应用核酸药物及其给药系统,对炎症性肠病发挥的独特治疗作用,已受到越来越多的关注, 并取得一定进展。本文简介炎症性肠病的发病机制,综述近年来核酸药物及其给药系统用于炎症性肠病治疗的研究进展。     

糖原合酶激酶-3，一个信号通路的重要调控因子

糖原合酶激酶-3 (glycogen synthase kinase-3,GSK-3) 是一种多功能的丝氨酸／苏氨酸蛋白激酶,在蛋白质合成、信号传递、细胞增殖、细胞分化、神经功能、肿瘤形成及胚胎发育等众多细胞进程中均扮演重要的角色.GSK-3 能够使多种底物发生磷酸化,并参与胰岛素、Wnt及Hedgehog 等多个信号通路的调控. GSK-3抑制剂在信号通路中能有效地抑制病理情况下GSK-3活性的异常增高,达到治疗的目的.GSK-3的抑制剂将作为一种潜在的药物对治疗糖尿病、阿尔海默茨症、肿瘤等疾病发挥效用.     

Promoters maintain their relative activity levels under different growth conditions

Most genes change expression levels across conditions, but it is unclear which of these changes represents specific regulation and what determines their quantitative degree. Here, we accurately measured activities of ～900 S. cerevisiae and ～1800 E. coli promoters using fluorescent reporters. We show that in both organisms 60–90% of promoters change their expression between conditions by a constant global scaling factor that depends only on the conditions and not on the promoter's identity. Quantifying such global effects allows precise characterization of specific regulation—promoters deviating from the global scale line. These are organized into few functionally related groups that also adhere to scale lines and preserve their relative activities across conditions. Thus, only several scaling factors suffice to accurately describe genome‐wide expression profiles across conditions. We present a parameter‐free passive resource allocation model that quantitatively accounts for the global scaling factors. It suggests that many changes in expression across conditions result from global effects and not specific regulation, and provides means for quantitative interpretation of expression profiles.     

Indirect and suboptimal control of gene expression is widespread in bacteria

Gene regulation in bacteria is usually described as an adaptive response to an environmental change so that genes are expressed when they are required. We instead propose that most genes are under indirect control: their expression responds to signal(s) that are not directly related to the genes’ function. Indirect control should perform poorly in artificial conditions, and we show that gene regulation is often maladaptive in the laboratory. In Shewanella oneidensis MR‐1, 24% of genes are detrimental to fitness in some conditions, and detrimental genes tend to be highly expressed instead of being repressed when not needed. In diverse bacteria, there is little correlation between when genes are important for optimal growth or fitness and when those genes are upregulated. Two common types of indirect control are constitutive expression and regulation by growth rate; these occur for genes with diverse functions and often seem to be suboptimal. Because genes that have closely related functions can have dissimilar expression patterns, regulation may be suboptimal in the wild as well as in the laboratory.     

肺癌早期诊断的研究进展

大多数肺癌患者在确诊时已属中晚期,5年生存率极低,早期诊断是改善其预后和提高生存率的关键。目前常用的肺癌早期诊断方法包括影像学、内镜和分子生物学技术等。除传统的X线胸片、磁共振（Magnetic Resonance Imaging,MRI）、正电子发射断层显像（Positron Emission Tomography-Computed Tomography,PET-CT）等方法外,近年来逐步应用的高分辨CT（High-ResolutionComputed Tomography,HRCT）、低剂量CT（Low Dose Computed Tomography,LDCT）、自荧光纤维支气管镜（AutomaticFluorescence Bronchoscopy,AFB）、超声支气管内镜（Endo-Bronchial Ultra-Sound,EBUS）、荧光共聚焦显微镜支气管镜（FiberedConfocal Fluorescence Microscopy,FCFM）、细胞内镜（Endocytoscopy,EC）、电磁导航支气管镜（Electromagnetic NavigationBronchoscopy,ENB）、经支气管针吸活检术（Transbronchial Needle Aspiration,TBNA）、呼出气体分析和肿瘤标记物联合检测等,对于肺癌的早期诊断起到了重要作用,明显改善预后。本文就肺癌早期诊断的研究进展进行综述。