Epirubicin induces apoptosis in osteoblasts through death-receptor and mitochondrial pathways

Epirubicin is an anthracycline and is widely used in tumor treatment, but has toxic and undesirable side effects on wide range of cells and hematopoietic stem cells (HSC). Osteoblasts play important roles in bone development and in supporting HSC differentiation and maturation. It remains unknown whether epirubicin-induced bone loss and hematological toxicity are associated with its effect on osteoblasts. In primary osteoblast cell cultures, epirubicin inhibited cell growth and decreased mineralization. Moreover, epirubicin arrested osteoblasts in the G2/M phase, and this arrest was followed by apoptosis in which both the extrinsic (death receptor-mediated) and intrinsic (mitochondrial-mediated) apoptotic pathways were evoked. The factors involved in the extrinsic apoptotic pathway were increased FasL and FADD as well as activated caspase-8. Those involved in the intrinsic apoptotic pathway were decreased Bcl-2; increased reactive oxygen species, Bax, cytochrome c; and activated caspase-9 and caspase-3. These results demonstrate that epirubicin induced osteoblast apoptosis through the extrinsic and intrinsic apoptotic pathways, leading to the destruction of osteoblasts and consequent lessening of their functions in maintaining bone density and supporting hematopoietic stem cell differentiation and maturation.     

单增李斯特菌InternalinA的表达、纯化及多克隆抗体的制备

【目的】克隆表达单增李斯特菌膜表面蛋白InternalinA(InlA),经免疫家兔获得多克隆抗体,为建立其免疫磁珠富集快速检测方法奠定基础。【方法】利用生物软件设计单增李斯特菌inlA基因的引物,通过PCR扩增出inlA基因,并将其克隆至pET28a()原核表达载体,转化大肠杆菌BL21进行优化表达。镍柱纯化表达产物,质谱鉴定重组蛋白,ELISA分析其免疫原性。免疫家兔,制备其多克隆抗体。间接ELISA检测多抗的效价及交叉性,免疫荧光分析多抗与单增李斯特菌菌体结合的特异性。【结果】成功表达了InlA蛋白,融合表达产物分子量约为92 kD,质谱鉴定其为InlA蛋白;免疫家兔获得的抗血清效价为1:100 000,除与金黄色葡萄球菌约20%的交叉外,与副溶血弧菌等其它病源菌均无交叉;免疫荧光证实该多抗特异性结合于单增李斯特菌膜表面,与同种属的威尔斯李斯特菌不结合。【结论】成功制备了单增李斯特菌特异性的兔多克隆抗体,为单增李斯特菌免疫磁珠富集快速检测方法的建立奠定了基础。     

Pentabromopseudilin: a myosin V inhibitor suppresses TGF-β activity by recruiting the type II TGF-β receptor to lysosomal degradation

Pentabromopseudilin (PBrP) is a marine antibiotic isolated from the marine bacteria Pseudomonas bromoutilis and Alteromonas luteoviolaceus. PBrP exhibits antimicrobial, anti-tumour, and phytotoxic activities. In mammalian cells, PBrP is known to act as a reversible and allosteric inhibitor of myosin Va (MyoVa). In this study, we report that PBrP is a potent inhibitor of transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) activity. PBrP inhibits TGF-β-stimulated Smad2/3 phosphorylation, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) protein production and blocks TGF-β-induced epithelial–mesenchymal transition in epithelial cells. PBrP inhibits TGF-β signalling by reducing the cell-surface expression of type II TGF-β receptor (TβRII) and promotes receptor degradation. Gene silencing approaches suggest that MyoVa plays a crucial role in PBrP-induced TβRII turnover and the subsequent reduction of TGF-β signalling. Because, TGF-β signalling is crucial in the regulation of diverse pathophysiological processes such as tissue fibrosis and cancer development, PBrP should be further explored for its therapeutic role in treating fibrotic diseases and cancer.     

Baculovirus as a gene delivery vector: recent understandings of molecular alterations in transduced cells and latest applications

Baculovirus infects insects in nature and is non-pathogenic to humans, but can transduce a broad range of mammalian and avian cells. Thanks to the biosafety, large cloning capacity, low cytotoxicity and non-replication nature in the transduced cells as well as the ease of manipulation and production, baculovirus has gained explosive popularity as a gene delivery vector for a wide variety of applications. This article extensively reviews the recent understandings of the molecular mechanisms pertinent to baculovirus entry and cellular responses, and covers the latest advances in the vector improvements and applications, with special emphasis on antiviral therapy, cancer therapy, regenerative medicine and vaccine.     

冠突散囊菌转录因子stf1基因的克隆及其表达分析

利用RACE技术获得了冠突散囊菌stf1基因的全长DNA序列。该序列全长3 029bp,开放阅读框长度为2 664bp,从114–2 908bp,在253bp处含有一个131bp的内含子,预测编码887个氨基酸。同源分析结果表明该基因与Snd1/p100转录因子同源。应用相对定量SYBR Green I荧光定量PCR技术对stf1基因在不同发育时期的表达量的差异进行了检测。结果表明,这个基因在子囊孢子时期的表达量最高,在分生孢子时期的表达量最低,相比子囊孢子时期下降了1倍。为深入研究冠突散囊菌的产孢调控机制奠定了一定的基础。     

NADPH氧化酶可能参与了ABA诱导蚕豆气孔保卫细胞运动

研究了NADPH氧化酶在ABA（abscisic acid)诱导蚕豆气孔关闭信号转导网络中的作用,荧光光谱实验表明,在嗜中性白血球NADPH氧化酶抑制剂DPI(diphenyleneio-donium)存在的条件下,与对照相比,大大逆转了由ABA引起HPTS（8-hydroxypyrene-1,3,6-trisulfonic acid,trisodium salt)的荧光强度下降。表皮生物分析法显示,10^-6mol/L的DPI和10^3unit/mL的过氧化氢酶（catalase,CAT)在一定程度上也逆转了ABA诱导张开气孔的关闭。因此推测：在ABA诱导蚕豆气孔保卫细胞过程中,质膜上的NADPH气体酶可能催化形成超氧自由基O^-2,再经歧化反应形成H2O2,而形成的H2O2参与了气孔运动调节。     

Determination of the baculovirus transducing titer in mammalian cells

Baculovirus has emerged as a promising vector for in vivo or ex vivo gene therapy. To date, the infectious titer and multiplicity of infection (MOI) based on the ability of baculovirus to infect insect cells are commonly adopted to indicate the virus dosage. However, the infectious titer and MOI do not reliably represent the baculovirus transducing ability, making the comparison of baculovirus-mediated gene transfer difficult. To determine the baculovirus transducing ability more rapidly and reliably, we developed a protocol to evaluate the transducing titers of baculovirus stocks. The virus was diluted twofold serially and used to transduce HeLa cells. The resultant transduction efficiencies were measured by flow cytometry for the calculation of transducing titers. Compared to the infectious titer, the determination of transducing titer is more reproducible as the standard deviations among measurements are smaller. Also, the transducing titers can be obtained in 24 h, which is significantly faster as opposed to 4-7 days to obtain the infectious titer. More importantly, we demonstrated that baculoviruses with higher transducing titers could transduce cells at higher efficiency and yield stronger and longer transgene expression, confirming that the transducing titer was representative of the baculovirus transducing ability. This finding is particularly significant for ex vivo gene delivery whereby unconcentrated viruses are used for transduction and long-term transgene expression is desired. In this regard, our titration protocol provides a simple, fast, and reliable measure to evaluate the quality of virus stocks during virus production and purification, and is helpful to predict the performance of vector supernatants and ensure reproducible gene delivery experiments.     

柑橘木虱成虫趋光行为反应

柑橘木虱Diaphorina citri Kuwayama是柑橘黄龙病(huanglongbing,HLB)的重要传播媒介。为了利用灯光诱控技术防治柑橘木虱,本实验于室内条件下研究柑橘木虱对波长为360 nm、400 nm、440 nm、480 nm、520 nm、560 nm和600 nm的LED光源和不同光照强度趋光行为反应。结果表明:柑橘木虱对7种单色光都有正趋向性。其中雌雄混合存在时对400 nm的紫光趋向性最强,其次是560 nm的绿光;单独处理时,雌成虫对400 nm的紫光趋性最强,其次是520 nm的绿光,雄成虫则是对520 nm的绿光趋性最强,其次是400 nm的紫光。在200μw/cm 2到1000μw/cm 2的光照强度范围内,随着光照强度的增大,柑橘木虱雄成虫趋光行为逐渐增强,在光照强度为1000μw/cm 2时趋光行为最强,但雌成虫趋光行为变化不明显。该研究表明:柑橘木虱雌雄成虫具有明显的正趋光性,且对光谱和光强的反应存在差异。这一结果可为柑橘木虱田间的灯光诱控提供实验依据。     

Neurovascular abnormalities in brain disorders: highlights with angiogenesis and magnetic resonance imaging studies

The coupling between neuronal activity and vascular responses is controlled by the neurovascular unit (NVU), which comprises multiple cell types. Many different types of dysfunction in these cells may impair the proper control of vascular responses by the NVU. Magnetic resonance imaging, which is the most powerful tool available to investigate neurovascular structures or functions, will be discussed in the present article in relation to its applications and discoveries. Because aberrant angiogenesis and vascular remodeling have been increasingly reported as being implicated in brain pathogenesis, this review article will refer to this hallmark event when suitable.     

A novel prenylated C6–C3 compound with estrogen-like activity from the fruits of Illicium arborescens

A novel C₆–C₃ prenylated compound, illicarborene A (1), together with illioliganfunone D (2), 1-allyl-3,5-dimethoxy-4-(3-methylbut-2-enyloxy)benzene (3), (?)-illicinone A (4), (?)-illicinone B (5) and (?)-illicinone A derivative (6) was isolated and characterized from the fruits of Illicium arborescens Hayata. Compound 1 possesses a new class of tricyclic 6/6/5 ring system. The structure of 1 was determined by spectroscopic analysis such as ¹H–¹H COSY, HMQC, HMBC, and NOESY, and confirmed by chemical reaction to yield 7. Compounds 1–5 were found to increase proliferative activity in primary cell culture of osteoblast cells.