Immunomodulatory function of orally administered thymosin α1

INTRODUCTION The thymus is a vital immune organ and plays a very important role in the development and mainte- nance of the lymph system. The extract of animal thymus has been used in clinical practice as an ad- junct treatment in patients with carcinoma, viral in- fection and immunodeficiency, but the extract con- taining miscellaneous animal proteins may easily lead to allergy in patients. Thymosin α1 (Tα1) is the most potent ingredient in thymosin and the biological ac- tivity of pur…     

What we know about ST13, a co-factor of heat shock protein, or a tumor suppressor?

This article is to summarize the molecular and functional analysis of the gene “suppression of tumorigenicity 13” (ST13). ST13 is in fact the gene encoding Hsp70 interacting protein (Hip), a co-factor (co-chaperone) of the 70-kDa heat shock proteins (Hsc/Hsp70). By collaborating with other positive co-factors such as Hsp40 and the Hsp70-Hsp90 organizing protein (Hop), or competing with negative co-factors such as Bcl2-associated athanogen 1 (Bag1), Hip facilitates may facilitate the chaperone function of Hsc/Hsp70 in protein folding and repair, and in controlling the activity of regulatory proteins such as steroid receptors and regulators of proliferation or apoptosis. Although the nomenclature of ST13 implies a role in the suppression of tumorigenicity (ST), to date available experimental data are not sufficient to support its role in cancer development, except for the possible down-regulation of ST13 in gastric and colorectal cancers. Further investigation of this gene at the physiological level would benefit our understanding of diseases such as endocrinological disorders, cancer, and neurodegeneration commonly associated with protein misfolding.     

Mass spectrometry-based protein-protein interaction techniques and their applications in studies of DNA damage repair

Proteins are major functional units that are tightly connected to form complex and dynamic networks.These networks enable cells and organisms to operate properly and respond efficiently to environmental cues.Over the past decades,many biochemical methods have been developed to search for protein-binding partners in order to understand how protein networks are constructed and connected.At the same time,rapid development in proteomics and mass spectrometry(MS)techniques makes it possible to identify interacting proteins and build comprehensive protein-protein interaction networks.The resulting interactomes and networks have proven informative in the investigation of biological functions,such as in the field of DNA damage repair.In recent years,a number of proteins involved in DNA damage response and DNA repair pathways have been uncovered with MS-based protein-protein interaction studies.As the technologies for enriching associated proteins and MS become more sophisticated,the studies of protein-protein interactions are entering a new era.In this review,we summarize the strategies and recent developments for exploring protein-protein interaction.In addition,we discuss the application of these tools in the investigation of protein-protein interaction networks involved in DNA damage response and DNA repair.     

Science Letters： Proteomic analysis of the serum in patients with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension

Idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension （IPAH） is a rare disease of unknown etiology. The exact pathogenesis of pulmonary arterial hypertension is still not well known. In the past decades, many protein molecules have been found to be involved in the development of IPAH. With proteomic techniques, profiling of human plasma proteome becomes more feasible in searching for disease-related markers. In present study, we showed the protein expression profiles of the serum of IPAH and healthy controls after depleting a few high-abundant proteins in serum. Thirteen spots had changed significantly in IPAH compared with healthy controls and were identified by LC-MS/MS. Alpha- 1-antitrypsin and vitronectin were down-regulated in IPAH and may be valuable candidates for further explorations of their roles in the development of IPAH.     

Proteomic analysis of the serum in patients with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension

Idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension(IPAH) is a rare disease of unknown etiology.The exact pathogenesis of pulmonary arterial hypertension is still not well known.In the past decades,many protein molecules have been found to be in-volved in the development of IPAH.With proteomic techniques,profiling of human plasma proteome becomes more feasible in searching for disease-related markers.In present study,we showed the protein expression profiles of the serum of IPAH and healthy controls after depleting a few high-abundant proteins in serum.Thirteen spots had changed significantly in IPAH com-pared with healthy controls and were identified by LC-MS/MS.Alpha-1-antitrypsin and vitronectin were down-regulated in IPAH and may be valuable candidates for further explorations of their roles in the development of IPAH.     

DNA-damage response network at the crossroads of cell-cycle checkpoints,cellular senescence and apoptosis

Tissue homeostasis requires a carefully-orchestrated balance between cell proliferation, cellular senescence and cell death. Cells proliferate through a cell cycle that is tightly regulated by cyclin-dependent kinase activities. Cellular senescence is a safeguard program limiting the proliferative competence of cells in living organisms. Apoptosis eliminates unwanted cells by the coordinated activity of gene products that regulate and effect cell death. The intimate link between the cell cycle, cellular senescence, apoptosis regulation, cancer development and tumor responses to cancer treatment has become eminently apparent. Extensive research on tumor suppressor genes, oncogenes, the cell cycle and apoptosis regulatory genes has revealed how the DNA damage-sensing and -signaling pathways, referred to as the DNA-damage response network, are tied to cell proliferation, cell-cycle arrest, cellular senescence and apoptosis. DNA-damage responses are complex, involving ＂sensor＂ proteins that sense the damage, and transmit signals to ＂transducer＂ proteins, which, in turn, convey the signals to numerous ＂effector＂ proteins implicated in specific cellular pathways, including DNA repair mechanisms, cell-cycle checkpoints, cellular senescence and apoptosis. The Bcl-2 family of proteins stands among ＂the mos＂t crucial regula＂tors of apop＂tosis and performs vi＂tal func＂tions in deciding whether a cell will live or die after cancer chemotherapy and irradiation. In addition, several studies have now revealed that members of the Bcl-2 family also interface with the cell cycle, DNA repair/recombination and cellular senescence, effects that are generally distinct from their function in apoptosis. In this review, we report progress in understanding the molecular networks that regulate cell-cycle checkpoints, cellular senescence and apoptosis after DNA damage, and discuss the influence of some Bcl-2 family members on cell-cycle checkpoint regulation.     

A Practical Method of Car License Plate Character Segmentation Based on Morphology and Labeling

1 IntroductionThe car license plate recoghtion system is animpohallt pat on illtelliged traffic management system['1.It is imPO~ in a nUmber of aPPlications, such asfreeway tolling, parldng management and vehiclethecingl"'].The main tasks of a car license plate recognitionsystem are the location of the license plate in a complexbackground, the seglnedation of oh~ters and theirrecognition['l. These taSks are strongly inter-related,where the lOcation and the segmentation are the key pods,for …     

Review:DNA-damage response network at the crossroads of cell-cycle checkpoints, cellular senescence and apoptosis

Tissue homeostasis requires a carefully-orchestrated balance between cell proliferation, cellular senescence and cell death. Cells proliferate through a cell cycle that is tightly regulated by cyclin-dependent kinase activities. Cellular senescence is a safeguard program limiting the proliferative competence of cells in living organisms. Apoptosis eliminates unwanted cells by the coordinated activity of gene products that regulate and effect cell death. The intimate link between the cell cycle, cellular senes- cence, apoptosis regulation, cancer development and tumor responses to cancer treatment has become eminently apparent. Extensive research on tumor suppressor genes, oncogenes, the cell cycle and apoptosis regulatory genes has revealed how the DNA damage-sensing and -signaling pathways, referred to as the DNA-damage response network, are tied to cell proliferation, cell-cycle arrest, cellular senescence and apoptosis. DNA-damage responses are complex, involving “sensor” proteins that sense the damage, and transmit signals to “transducer” proteins, which, in turn, convey the signals to numerous “effector” proteins implicated in specific cellular pathways, including DNA repair mechanisms, cell-cycle checkpoints, cellular senescence and apoptosis. The Bcl-2 family of proteins stands among the most crucial regulators of apoptosis and performs vital functions in deciding whether a cell will live or die after cancer chemotherapy and irradiation. In addition, several studies have now revealed that members of the Bcl-2 family also interface with the cell cycle, DNA repair/recombination and cellular senescence, effects that are generally distinct from their function in apoptosis. In this review, we report progress in understanding the molecular networks that regulate cell-cycle checkpoints, cellular senescence and apoptosis after DNA damage, and discuss the influence of some Bcl-2 family members on cell-cycle checkpoint regulation.     

大豆β-1,3-葡聚糖酶基因转化烟草及抗病性的研究

构建了大豆β－１，３－葡聚糖酶（β－１，３－ｇｌｕｃａｎａｓｅ）基因的植物表达载体ｐＢＩ１２１－ｇｌｕ，并通过直接转化方法将其导入根癌农杆菌（Ａ．ｔｕｍｅｆａｃｉｅｎｓ）ＬＢＡ４４０４受体菌中，构建了用于植物遗传转化的工程菌株ＬＢＡ４４０４（ｐＢＩ１２１－ｇｌｕ），并以烟草为转化对象进行了遗传转儿，获得了大量再生的转基因烟草．ＰＣＲ，ＰＣＲ－Ｓｏｕｔｈｅｍ以及Ｓｏｕｔｈｅｍ杂交检测结果表明目的基因已整合到烟草基因组中．转基因植株苗期抗立枯病实验表明，部分转化β－１，３－葡聚糖酶基因的工程烟草对立枯丝核菌（Ｒｈｉｚｏｃｔｏｎｉａ　ｓｏｌａｎｉ．）表明出不同程度的抗性提高．     

农杆菌介导的TaLEA1 基因对拟南芥的遗传转化

将含有TaLEA1基因的表达载体pBI121-TaLEA1经根癌农杆菌介导,利用花粉管通道法转入拟南芥,得T0代种子,抗Kan筛选得转基因植株.经PCR检测,初步证明外源TaLEA1基因已整合到拟南芥基因组中.     

安全环保的烟草质体多顺反子定点整合表达载体的构建

根据已发表的序列，通过PCR技术克隆了一系列构建烟草叶绿体多顺反子表达载体所需的元件：质体核搪体（16S）RNA操纵元启动子（Prrn）、质体面A基因3’端（psbA3’）、山菠菜甜菜碱醛脱氢酶基因（BADH）、烟草叶绿体高频同源重组片段（psaA／psbC，大小3463bp）、甘露聚糖酶基因（man）、绿荧光蛋白基因（gfp）。构建了烟草质体多顺反子定点整合表达载体pLM7（-psaA-Prrn-SD-man-SD-gfp-SD-BADH-PSBA3’-PSBC-）。并在大肠杆菌中通过平板定性分析等方法对所构建载体上的表达盒进行了功能鉴定。     

Construction of recombinant industrial Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain with bglS gene insertion into PEP4 locus by homologous recombination

The bglS gene encoding endo-1,3-1,4-β-glucanase from Bacillus subtilis was cloned and sequenced in this study. The bglS expression cassette, including PGK1 promoter, bglS gene fused to the signal sequence of the yeast mating pheromone α-factor (MFals), and ADH1 terminator with G418-resistance as the selected marker, was constructed. Then one of the PEP4 allele of Saccharomyces cerevisiae WZ65 strain was replaced by bglS expression cassette using chromosomal integration of polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-mediated homologous recombination, and the bglS gene was expressed simultaneously. The recombinant strain S. cerevisiae (SC-βG) was preliminarily screened by the clearing hydrolysis zone formed after the barley β-glucan was hydrolyzed in the plate and no proteinase A (PrA) activity was measured in fermenting liquor. The results of PCR analysis ofgenome DNA showed that one of the PEP4 allele had been replaced and bglS gene had been inserted into the locus of PEP4 gene in recombinant strains. Different endo-1,3-1,4-β-glucanase assay methods showed that the recombinant strain SC-βG had high endo-1,3-1,4-β-glucanase expression level with the maximum of 69.3 U/(h-ml) after 60 h of incubation. Meanwhile, the Congo Red method was suitable for the determination of endo-1,3-1,4-β-glucanase activity during the actual brewing process. The current research implies that the constructed yeast strain could be utilized to improve the industrial brewing property of beer.     

以β-淀粉样蛋白为靶的表达载体的构建及鉴定

饱和苯酚氯仿法提取Tg2576转基因鼠基因组DNA,PCR法扩增编码β-淀粉样蛋白的目的基因,利用基因克隆技术构建以β-淀粉样蛋白为靶的表达载体pcDNA3.1-Aβ42×2,应用酶切及测序鉴定表达载体.相应的双酶酶切能够获得插入的目的基因片段(为269bp),测序未发现突变,表达载体构建成功.     

乳腺癌MiR-34a启动子荧光素酶载体构建及活性测定

提取人乳腺癌细胞（MCF7）基因组DNA,应用PCR扩增miR-34a启动子序列,将其克隆连接到荧光素酶报告质粒p GL3-Basic中;瞬时转染人肾上皮细胞（293T）,检测荧光素酶活性。成功构建了p GL3-miR34a-promoter报告基因载体并对其测序验证,结果表明启动子序列正确,载体具有较高的启动子活性。     

水稻多顺反子质体表达载体的构建

根据发表的水稻叶绿体基因组序列，对比烟草高频同源重组目标区(NCBI编号：X15901)设计引物，用PCR的方法克隆到一段3．939kb叶绿体DNA片段，命名为crDNA．以其作为外源基因定点整合的同源重组片段，以来自烟草叶绿体的强启动子Prm、甘露聚糖酶man、绿荧光蛋白gfp、氨基糖苷3’-腺苷酰基转移酶基因aadA和终止子psbA3’，构建水稻质体多顺反子表达载体pLM3(-psbCPrm—SD-man—SD-gfp-SD-aa-dA—psbA3’-tmm-)．并在大肠杆菌中通过平板定性对所构建载体上的表达盒进行了功能鉴定，结果表明：在大肠杆菌中，多顺反子盒式表达结构中的三个基因(man，gfp，aadA)均得到了表达．     

水稻幼苗SAGE文库的构建和测序

基因表达系列分析(Serial analysis of gene expression,SAGE)是功能基因组学研究中的一项功能强大的工具.对水稻幼苗SAGE文库的构建进行了探索试验,其主要操作步骤为:以磁珠法提取PolyA mRNA用于合成双链cDNA,再经过一系列的酶切、加接头序列、连接、PCR扩增,获得到26-bp的水稻双标签体,再将26-bp Ditag连接成标签链接体,并将其克隆进pZero-1载体中用于测序.DNA测序结果证明获得了水稻的SAGE标签.试验的各个中间步骤的结果均经过PCR验证.yh     

双歧杆菌介导的福氏志贺菌Bb-ipaB疫苗的构建

目的：构建福氏志贺菌重组双歧杆菌Bb-ipaB疫苗。方法：以福氏志贺菌DNA为模板扩增福氏志贺菌ipaB基因,双酶切后克隆到pGEX-1λT质粒上,构建重组质粒pGEX-ipaB,电穿孔法将该质粒转化入Bb,构建福氏志贺菌重组Bb-ipaB疫苗。结果：成功扩增出分子量约为1 711 bp的ipaB基因,双酶切证实基因成功插入pGEX-1λT中,并成功转化入双歧杆菌,构建rBb-ipaB疫苗。结论：成功构建福氏志贺菌重组rBb-ipaB疫苗,为该疫苗的进一步研究奠定了基础。     

假单胞茵产弹性蛋白酶基因的克隆与表达

从假单胞菌（Pseudomonassp．）XZG36中克隆弹性蛋白酶基因,构建原核表达载体,实现其在大肠杆菌（Escherichiacoli）中的高效表达,并对表达产物进行酶学性质分析,为微生物发酵生产弹性蛋白酶奠定基础．以假单胞菌基因组DNA为模板,PCR扩增弹性蛋白酶基因,并将其开放阅读框（0RF）克隆至融合表达载体pET30a（＋）进一步IPTG诱导表达;表达产物经His·Bind亲和层析纯化后对弹性蛋白酶进行酶学性质分析．实验成功克隆了弹性蛋白酶基因,DNA基因片段为1672bp、编码497个氨基酸残基的多肽,与预计长度相符合;实现了其在E．coli中的高效表达,表达量约占菌体总蛋白的20％;经SDS-PAGE分析,相对分子质量为48000,与预期的一致;提纯后的表达蛋白SDS-PAGE分析可见单一条带,纯度可达92％以上．表达蛋白具有良好活性．