Tumor-targeting Salmonella typhimurium, a natural tool for activation of prodrug 6MePdR and their combination therapy in murine melanoma model

The PNP/6-methylpurine 2′-deoxyriboside (6MePdR) system is an efficient gene-directed enzyme prodrug therapy system with significant antitumor activities. In this system, Escherichia coli purine nucleoside phosphorylase (ePNP) activates nontoxic 6MePdR into potent antitumor drug 6-methylpurine (6MeP). The Salmonella typhimurium PNP (sPNP) gene has a 96-% sequence homology in comparison with ePNP and also has the ability to convert 6MePdR to 6MeP. In this study, we used tumor-targeting S. typhimurium VNP20009 expressing endogenous PNP gene constitutively to activate 6MePdR and a combination treatment of bacteria and prodrug in B16F10 melanoma model. The conversion of 6MePdR to 6MeP by S. typhimurium was analyzed by HPLC and the enzyme activity of sPNP was confirmed by in vitro (tetrazolium-based colorimetric assay) MTT cytotoxicity assay. After systemic administration of VNP20009 to mice, the bacteria largely accumulated and specifically delivered endogenous sPNP in the tumor. In comparison with VNP20009 or 6MePdR treatment alone, combined administration of VNP20009 followed by 6MePdR treatment significantly delayed the growth of B16F10 tumor and increased the CD8⁺ T-cell infiltration. In summary, our results demonstrated that the combination therapy of S. typhimurium and prodrug 6MePdR is a promising strategy for cancer therapy.     

The autophagy pathway participates in resistance to tomato yellow leaf curl virus infection in whiteflies

Macroautophagy/autophagy plays an important role against pathogen infection in mammals and plants. However, little has been known about the role of autophagy in the interactions of insect vectors with the plant viruses, which they transmit. Begomoviruses are a group of single-stranded DNA viruses and are exclusively transmitted by the whitefly Bemisia tabaci in a circulative manner. In this study, we found that the infection of a begomovirus, tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) could activate the autophagy pathway in the Middle East Asia Minor 1 (MEAM1) species of the B. tabaci complex as evidenced by the formation of autophagosomes and ATG8-II. Interestingly, the activation of autophagy led to the subsequent degradation of TYLCV coat protein (CP) and genomic DNA. While feeding the whitefly with 2 autophagy inhibitors (3-methyladenine and bafilomycin A₁) and silencing the expression of Atg3 and Atg9 increased the viral load; autophagy activation via feeding of rapamycin notably decreased the amount of viral CP and DNA in the whitefly. Furthermore, we found that activation of whitefly autophagy could inhibit the efficiency of virus transmission; whereas inhibiting autophagy facilitated virus transmission. Taken together, these results indicate that TYLCV infection can activate the whitefly autophagy pathway, which leads to the subsequent degradation of virus. Furthermore, our report proves that an insect vector uses autophagy as an intrinsic antiviral program to repress the infection of a circulative-transmitted plant virus. Our data also demonstrate that TYLCV may replicate and trigger complex interactions with the insect vector.     

芜菁花叶病毒单克隆抗体的制备及检测应用

先以芜菁花叶病毒（TuMV）免疫BAL B/C小鼠,然后取其脾细胞使之与SP2/0鼠骨髓瘤细胞融合,经筛选、克隆,获得4株能稳定传代并分泌抗TuMV单克隆抗体（Mab）的杂交瘤细胞,并以之制备腹水单抗。4株单克隆抗体腹水ELISA效价在10-5～10-6之间,仅对TuMV起特异性反应。Western blot分析表明,4株单抗都能与TuMV 34kD的外壳蛋白亚基起特异反应。利用TuMV的多抗兔血清和单抗腹水建立了三抗体夹心ELISA检测TuMV的方法,检测病叶的灵敏度为1∶5120倍,检测提纯TuMV病毒绝对量为21.9 ng。利用三抗体夹心ELISA测定出7种作物上有TuMV侵染。      

植物钾营养高效与膜转运系统的关系(英)

HKT1和HAK1等转运子介导钾离子的高亲和吸收以及K+/Na+共运转,从而可能增强Na+替代K+的能力;KAT1和KST1等离子通道介导钾离子的累积和转运,从而调节气孔细胞的渗透压,控制气孔运动。阐述了植物生物膜上离子转运机制和钾营养高效机理的某种可能的关系。这些转运子和通道的高效表达可能与植物钾营养高效有很大的相关性。     

植物生长抽梢期和气候因子对株高生长影响

利用西双版纳热带植物园的热带植物物候观测资料和气候资料,通过对热带植物株高生长偏差、生长抽梢期和气候因子的分析,探讨了三者的关系。结果表明,热带植物生长抽梢期变长不一定影响株高生长,而且与株高生长偏差的关系也小于气候因子与株高生长偏差的关系。同时,热带植物生长抽梢期对气候因子和株高生长偏差之间关系的贡献很小。因此,可以认为热带植物的生长期对植被生产力的促进作用较弱。     

凝血因子Ⅷ与中国人血友病甲研究进展

血友病甲为最常见的遗传性出血性疾病,是由于血浆凝血因子Ⅷ（FⅧ）缺陷所致．FⅧ基因位于Ⅹ染色体,所以患者绝大多数为男性,女性杂合子为携带者,而女性患者极少见。重型患者自幼即有反复自发性出血,不经治疗者往往造成关节畸形和致残．严重者可因颅内出血死亡。目前仍以替代疗法为主[1]。随着FⅧ基因的克隆和基因突变检测技术的发展,血友病甲的直接基因诊断和遗传咨询等方面已经取得突破性进展．基因治疗的实验研究也正开展得如火如茶．我国近年不仅对血友病甲进行了大规模的流行病学调查,也从分子水平进行了多方面的研究。1F见Ⅷ…     

大鼠视交叉上核与松果体中Clock基因转录的昼夜节律性及不同光反应性

本研究旨在观察和比较视交叉上核（suprachiasmatic nucleus,SCN）与松果体（pineal gland,pG）中Clock基因内源性昼夜转录变化规律以及光照对其的影响。Sprague-Dawley大鼠在持续黑暗（constant darkness,DD）和12h光照：12h黑暗交替（12hourlight：12hour-darkcycle,LD）光制下分别被饲养8周（n=36）和4周n=36）后,在一昼夜内每隔4h采集一组SCN和PG组织（n=6）,提取总RNA,用竞争性定量RT-PCR测定不同昼夜时点（circadian times．CT or zeitgeber times．ZT）各样品中Clock基因的mRNA相对表达量,通过余弦法和ClockLab软件获取节律参数,并经振幅检验是否存在昼夜节律性转录变化。结果如下：（1）SCN中Clock基因mRNA的转录在DD光制下呈现昼低夜高节律性振荡变化（P〈0．05）,PG中Clock基因的转录也显示相似的内源性节律外观,即峰值出现于主观夜晚（SCN为CTl5,PG为CT18）,谷值位于主观白天（SCN为CT3,PG为CT6）（P〉0．05）。（2）LD光制下SCN中Clock基因的转录也具有昼夜节律性振荡（P〈0．05）,但与其DD光制下节律外观相比,呈现反时相节律变化（P〈0．05）,且其表达的振幅及峰值的mRNA水平均增加（P〈0．05）,而PG中Clock基因在LD光制下转录的相应节律参数变化却恰恰相反（P〈0．05）。（3）在LD光制下,光照使PG中Clock基因转录的节律外观反时相于SCN（P〈0．05）,即在SCN和PG的峰值分别出现于光照期ZT10和黑暗期ZT17,谷值分别位于黑暗期ZT22和光照期ZT5。结果表明,Clock基因的昼夜转录在SCN和PG中存在同步的内源性节律本质,而光导引在这两个中枢核团调节Clock基因昼夜节律性转录方面有着不同的作用。