Expression of PHGPx in mammalian cells and its antiviral effect against coxsackievirus group B

To express human phospholipid hydroperoxide glutathione peroxidase (PHGPx) in eukaryotic cells and to study its antiviral effect against Coxsackievirus B3m (CVB3m) in vitro, PHGPx cDNA was amplified from a human testis library using specific primers and cloned into expression vector pcDNA3. I/His. Expression of PHGPx was performed in COS-1 cells. The antiviral effect was studied by the treatment of HeLa cells with the recombinant PHGPx. Results showed that the activity of PHGPx expressed in COS-1 cells was 5-fold higher than that in control group, and it inhibited the cytopathic effect on HeLa cells caused by CVB3m. It can be concluded that recombinant PHGPx expressed in COS-1 cells has antiviral effect against CVB3m in vitro.     

Expression of PHGPx in mammalian cells and its antiviral effect against coxsackievirus group

To express human phospholipid hydroperoxide glutathione peroxidase (PHGPx) in eukaryotic cells and to study its antiviral effect against Coxsackievirus B3m (CVB3m) in vitro， PHGPx cDNA was amplified from a human testis library using specific primers and cloned into expression vector pcDNA3.1His. Expression of PHGPx was performed in COS-1 cells. The antiviral effect was studied by the treatment of HeLa cells with the recombinant PHGPx. Results showed that the activity of PHGPx expressed in COS-1 cells was 5-fold higher than that in control group, and it inhibited the cytopathic effect on HeLa cells caused by CVB3m. It can be concluded that recombinant PHGPx expressed in COS-1 cells has antiviral effect against CVB3m in vitro.     

Effects of STAT3 antisense RNA on IL-6-induced differentiation and growth arrest of Ml leukemia cells

To investigate the biological roles of STAT3 in the regulation of growth and differentiation of leukemia cells, we modified a murine myeloid leukemia cell line Ml with STAT3 antisense RNA. The effects of STAT3 antisense RNA on the growth arrest and terminal differentiation of Ml cells induced by interleukin 6 (IL-6) were determined. It was found that STAT3 antisense RNA blocked the activation of STAT3, and reduced the growth arrest and terminal differentiation of IL-6-induced Ml leukemia cells. These results indicate that STAT3 activation is a necessary process for IL-6-induced growth arrest of Ml cells and for the differentiation of Ml cells into macrophage.     

Non-viral gene carrier mediated short hairpin RNA interference for inhibition of tumor cells growth

A tumor-targeting gene vector G250mAb-PEI-PEG has been prepared by modification of polyethylenimine （PEI） with polyethyleneglycol （PEG） and G250, a monoclonal antibody against the G250 antigen on tumor cell surface. The transfection efficiency was as high as 70% in G250 positive HeLa cells, whereas the transfection efficiency was relatively low （30%） in normal NIH3T3 cells. A plasmid encoding the short hairpin RNA （shRNA） specific for nucleostemin gene （NS） was efficiently transfected into the HeLa cells with this nonviral gene vector. RNA interference down-regulated the expression of NS gene in HeLa cells, inhibited cells proliferation and induced apoptosis. However, the growth and activity of the NIH3T3 cells were not affected under the same treatment. These results indicate that the reported nonviral gene vector, G250mAb-PEI-PEG, can target and efficiently deliver genes into HeLa cells, and has the potential for the cervical cancer treatment.     

Effect of PKC pathway on G1/S progression control in HeLa cells

The effect of PKC activity on G₁/S progression in HeLa cells has been studied. The result shows that (ⅰ ) PKC activity alteration in G₁ phase affects G₁/S progression in HeLa cells. It has been observed that G₁/S progression is stimulated by PKC agonist TPA and inhibited by PKC inhibitor GF-109203X. ( ⅱ) The expression of c-myc and c-jun is stimulated by TPA and inhibited by GF-109203X treatment in early G₁ phase. (ⅲ ) During G₁/S progression, the expression of CyclinD₁ is stimulated by TPA treatment and inhibited by GF-109203X treatment. There is no effect on the expression of CDK4. It is likely that PKC pathway regulates G₁/S progression through regulating the expression of some early response genes and engine molecules in HeLa cells.     

Soluble Jagged 1/Fc chimera protein induces the differentiation and maturation of bone marrow-derived dendritic cells

A soluble Jagged 1/Fc chimera protein （Jagged 1/Fc） was directly used to induce differentiation and maturation of bone marrow-derived dendritic cells （DCs） in mice in vitro. A model of inducing and amplifying DCs in vitrowas established. The effect of Jagged 1/Fc on morphology of DCs induced by both rmGM-CSF and rmlL-4 was observed under a confocal microscope. A fluorescein-labeled monoclonal antibody staining combined with flow cytometry was applied to detect the effect of Jagged 1/Fc on the expression of CD11c, MHC-Ⅱ, CD86, CD80 and CD40 molecules on the surface of DCs. The results showed that Jagged 1/Fc did not affect the morphological properties of DC differentiation induced by both rmGM-CSF and rmlL-4. But it could promote the differentiation and maturation of DCs induced by both. The effect of it was strikingly different in the expression profile of co-stimulating molecules and the morphologic properties of DCs from lipopolysaccharide （LPS）. The levels of MHC-Ⅱ and CD40 molecule expression on the surface of DCs stimulated by Jagged 1/Fc were significantly lower than those stimulated by LPS, and the level of CD80 expression on the surface of DCs induced by Jagged 1/Fc was near to that induced by LPS. Jagged 1/Fc had no influence on the expression of CD86 molecule on the surface of DCs. Jagged 1/Fc when used alone could not maintain the growth, differentiation and maturation of DCs. All the findings indicate that Jagged 1/Fc influences the differentiation and maturation of DCs, which is not markedly similar to LPS, providing important evidence for its development and application as a novel immunosuppressant.     

Increase in electron transfer activity in photosystem Ⅱ of spinach thylakoids caused by conversion of phosphatidyl- glycerol to phosphatidic acid molecules

The techniques of oxygen electrode polarography, sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacryamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and thin layer chromatography (TLC) were employed to investigate the effect of phospholipase D treatment on physiological function of spinach thylakoids. It was shown that the phospholipase D treatment on thylakoid resuited in the degradation of phosphatidylglycerol (PG) and occurrence of phosphatidic acid (PA). The changes of PG to PA molecules caused an increase in oxygen evolution in photosystem Ⅱ (PS Ⅱ), which was accompanied by an uncoupling effect on thylakoid membrane. It was revealed that the head-groups of PG molecules play an important role in themaintenance of the appropriate physiological activity of thylakoid membrane.     

Symmetrical directional cloning: An efficient method to prepare hairpin RNA interference constructs

RNA interference (RNAi) is a loss-of-function approach by which double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) initiates degradation of homologous mRNAs in a sequence specific manner. The dsRNA molecules can be produced in vitro or in vivo, and can be introduced to cells in a number of ways. Here we report a more efficient method for the cloning of inverted repeat DNA fragments into expression vectors that can be transcribed into effective dsRNA molecules in vivo or in vitro. This method, named Symmetrical Directional Cloning (SDC), takes the advantage of compatible non-palindromic restriction enezyme sites, which allow one to directionally clone a single PCR product in both the sense and antisense orientations together into a vector. SDC allows for the directional cloning of inverted repeats using a single PCR product; it requires only one cut site on each side of the loop. Hence this method is more cost effective and less time-consuming. At least 21 commercially available restriction endonucleases can be used as cloning sites for the SDC method. The efficacy of dsRNA expression vectors prepared by SDC has been demonstrated by targeting a negative regulator of the signaling pathway mediating the response of cells to phytohormone, gibberellins (GA), in the aleurone cells.     

Regulation of mouse blastocyst adhesion,outgrowth and matrix metalloproteinase—2 by focal adhesion kinase

The interaction of extracellular matrix-integrin markedly influences the adhesion,outgrowth,differentiation and expression of serine proteinases by the blastocyst,so it is regarded as a vital factor in blastocyst implantation.Although the mechanism of extracellular interactions between extracellular matrix and integrins has been well elucidated,the roles of the signaling molecules in the extracellular matrix-integrin signal transduction pathway in blastocyst implantation are unknown.This limits the understanding of blastocyst implantation and ECM-integrin signal transduction pathway.In the present study,in vitro blastocyst culture and indirect immunocytochemistry,matrix metalloproteinases(MMPs) zymography and antisense oligodeoxynucleotide(ODN) were used to investigate the expression of a fundamental molecule of integrin-dependent signal transduction pathways,focal adhesion kinase(FAK),in mouse blastocysts and its influence on mouse blastocyst adhesion,outgrowth and MMP-2.The results showed that mouse blastocysts expressed FAK.FAK protein was clustered in the peripheral migrating trophoblast cells and dispersed in the central area of blastocyst outgrowth.Fibronectin triggered pro-MMP-2 and 64kD MMP-2 activities.The antisense ODN to FAK attnuated pro-MMP-2 and 64kD MMP-2 activites which decreased abruptly and tended to disappear with increasting concentrations of the antisense ODN.Both mouse blastocyst adhesion and outgrowth on fibronectin were also influenced by the antisense ODN.Up to 20μg/mL of the antisense ODN concentration,the adhesion and out-growth rates were decreased in a dose-dependent manner.The results indicated that FAK influenced mouse blastocyst adhesion,outgrowth and MMP-2 activity by intracellular signal transduction.In other words,FAK regulates mouse implantation in terms of blastocyst adhesive and invasive abilities.     

Effects of sense and antisense centromere/kinetochore complex protein-B （CENP-B） in cell cycle regulation

This paper investigates the effects of sense and antisense centromere/kinetochore complex protein-B （CENP-B） in cell cycle regulation. Full-length cenpb cDNA was subcloned into pBI-EGFP eukaryotic expression vector in both sense and antisense orientation. HeLa-Tet-Off cells were transfected with sense or antisense cenpb vectors. Sense transfection of HeLa-Tet-Off cells resulted in the formation of a large centromere/kinetochore complex, and apoptosis of cells following several times of cell division. A stable antisense cenpb transfected cell line, named HACPB, was ob- tained. The centromere/kinetochore complex of HACPB cells became smaller than control HeLa-Tet-Off cells and scattered, and the expression of CENP-B was down-regulated. In addition, delayed cell cycle progression, inhibited malignant phenotype, restrained ability of tumor formation in nude mice, and delayed entry from G2fM phase into next G1 phase were observed in HACPB cells. Furthermore, the expression of cyclin-dependent kinases （CDKs）, cyclins, and CDK inhibitors （CKIs） were modulated during different phases of the cell cycle. CENP-B is an essential protein for the maintenance of the structure and function of centromere/kinetochore complex, and plays important roles in cell cycle regulation.     

Effect of Thrombin on the Apoptosis of Hippocampal Neurons in vitro

Hippocampal neurons were treated by thrombin and thrombin receptor activating peptides (TRAP). Cell survival rate was decreased in a dose-dependent manner by MTT assay. The numbers of apoptotic cell and apoptotic rate of hippocampal neurons treated by different concentrations of thrombin were increased in a dose-dependent manner by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT) mediated dUTP-biotin nick end-labeling (TUNEL) method and Flow Cytometry. When the concentration of thrombin is 40 U/mL, TUNEL positive cells and apoptotic rate of hippocampal neurons reached peak value, were 27. 3 4.0 and (29.333 4.633 ) %, respectively. Immunocytochemistry assay show that Bcl-2 protein expression was down- regulated and Bax protein expression was up-regulated with the concentration of thrombin increased. TRAP can mimic the effect of thrombin to induce apoptosis on hippocampal neurons. These data demonstrated that thrombin induced hippocampal neuron apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner through activating protease-activated protein-1 (PAR-1). The change in expression of Bcl-2 and Bax was related with the effect of high concentration thrombin induced apoptosis on hippocampal neurons.     

Genistein inhibits human TNF-α-induced porcine endothelial cell adhesiveness for human monocytes and natural killer cells

Cellular immune response is a major barrier to xenotransplantation. Human tumor necrosis factor-α (hTNF-α) possesses cross-species activity and directly amplifies the immune rejection via the upregulation of adhesion molecules on porcine endothelium. We investigated the role of protein tyrosine phosphorylation in the induction of expression of E-sclectin and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1), and the augmentation of adhesion of human peripheral blood monocytes (PBMo) and natural killer cells (PBNK), after rhTNF-α-stimulation of porcine aortic endothelial cells (PAEC) in vitro, rhTNF-α-increased adhesiveness of PAEC for both PBMo and PBNK was dose-dependently reduced by pretreatment of PAEC with the selective protein tyrosine kinase (PTK) inhibitor genistein. The inhibitory effect occurred at the early time of PAEC activation triggered by rhTNF-α, and was completely reversible. PTK activity assay indicated that genistein also suppressed rhTNF-α stimulated activation of protein tyrosine kinases (PTKs) in PAEC in a dose-dependent manner. Flow cytometric analysis showed that genistein inhibited the upregulation of E-selectin and VCAM-1 by rhTNF-α. These results suggest that PTKs may regulate the expression of E-selectin and VCAM-1 on PAEC and the adherence of PBMo and PBNK induced by rhTNF-α. Moreover, dietary genistein, used as an adhesion antagonist, may contribute to managing the cell-mediated rejection in the clinical application.     

Construction and characterization of partially ntrC-deleted mutants in Alcaligenes faecalis

To study the effect of ntrC gene product on the expression and regulation of other important nitrogen-fixing genes in Alcaligenes faecalis, partially ntrC-deleted mutants of A. faecalis have been generated. To start with, the ntrC gene of A. faecalis was cloned into a suicide plasmid pSUP202 to create a recombinant plasmid pSUM1. The ntrC gene in pSUM1 was then replaced by a lacZ-Kmr fragment resulted in the generation of a plasmid pSUM2. The lacZ fragment in pSUM2 was further removed and a plasmid pSUM3 produced. As a second step, the plasmid pSUM2 or pSUM3 was introduced into the wild type of A. faecalis A1501 by conjugation and two partially ntrC-deleted mutants A15CM1 (ntrC∷lacZ) and A15CM2 (ntrC-) were obtained. To understand the regulatory effect of the NtrC on the expression of nifH and nifA, a nifH-lacZ gene or a nifA-lacZ gene was introduced into the ntrC- mutant by conjugation. The results indicated that: (ⅰ) although the ntrC- mutant was nif + , its nitrogen fixation activity was only 20% that of the wild type; (ⅱ) the ntrC- mutant failed to grow on the medium containing nitrate as a sole nitrogen source; (ⅲ) the regulation of ntrC gene expression did not require its own product; (ⅳ) the expression of nifH in A . faecalis was positively regulated by the ntrC. Deletion of the ntrC resulted in the reduction of nifH expression or even totally inactivated nitrogen fixation; (ⅴ) there was no obvious influence on the expression of nifA in A. faecalis if the ntrC gene was deleted.     

A novel element (NIRS) participates in the regulation ofinterleukin 2 receptorαgene expression

A novel element at -153/- 143 bp in the interleukin 2 receptor α(IL-2Rα) gene has been coined as NRE-inverse repeat sequence (NIRS) due to its inversely repeated to the known negative regulatory element (NRE) further upstream of the gene. In order to explore the role of NIRS in the expression of IL-2Rαgene,luciferase reporter plasmids driven by 4 individually deleted IL-2Rα genes promoter regions were constructed. Transfection of the reporter plasmids into Jurkat cells and HeLa cells respectively, we found that both NIRS and NRE were critical for repressing the constitutive expression of IL-2Rα gene and were also necessary for promoter activity induced by PHA. EMSA results showed that double-stranded NRE- and NIRS-binding proteins existed in both HeLa cells and Jurkat cells. However, single-stranded NIRS- and NRE-binding protein was only found in HeLa cells. Interestingly, the supershift band showed up in EMSA system with Jurkat cells (no matter whether activated or not) adding to the cell lysate of HeLa cells. UV-crosslinking showed a double stranded NRE- and NIRS-binding protein p83 in both Jurkat cells and HeLa cells. Our results suggest that trans-acting factors play a key role in regulating promoter activity of IL-2Rα gene by interacting with double or single stranded NRE and/or NIRS selectively in different cells.     

Inducible nitric oxide synthase expression is related to angiogenesis,bcl—2 and cell proliferation in hepatocellular carcinoma

In this study,we examined the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase(iNOS) and vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF) by immunohistochemical staining in 76 tissue sections collected from bepa-tocellular carcinoma(HCC) patients undergoing hepatectomy.Microvascular density (MVD) was determined by counting endothelial cells immunostained using anti-CD34 antibody.We performed DNA-flow cytometric analyses to elucidate the impact of iNOS and VEGF expression on the cell cycle of HCC.Most of the HCC cells that invaded stroma were markedly immunostained by iNOS antibody.The iNOS stain intensity of the liv-er tissue close to the tumor edge was stronger than that of HCC tissue,and the strongest was the hepatocytes colser to the tumor tissue.However,iNOS expression in 10 normal hepatic samples was undetectable.VEGF positive expression ratio was 84.8% in iNOS positive expression cases,and the ratio was 35.3% in negative cases.There was significant correlation(P=0.000) between iNOS and VEGF expression.Moreover,iNOS expression was significantly associated with bcl-2 and MVD,but without p53 expression.DNA-flow cytometric analyses showed that combined expression of iNOS and VEGF had significant impact on the cell cycle in HCC.PI(Proliferating Index) and SPF(S-phase fraction)in the combined positive expression of iNOS and VEGF group was significantly higher than that in the combined negative group.The present findings suggested that iNOS expression was significantly associated with angiogenesis,bcl-2 and cell proliferation of HCC.     

Depletion of phosphatidyl-glycerol head-group induces changes in oxygen evolution and protein secondary struc-tures of photosystem Ⅱ

The techniques of oxygen electrode polarogra-phy and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy were employed to explore the roles of polar head-group of phosphatidylglycerol (PG) molecules in the functional and structural aspects of photosystem Ⅱ (PS Ⅱ) through enzymatic approach. It was shown that the depletion of PG by treatment of phospholipase C (PLC) on PS Ⅱ particles caused the inhibition of oxygen evolving activity in PS Ⅱ. This effect also gave rise to changes in the protein secondary structures of PS Ⅱ, that is, an increase in a-helical conformation which is compensated by the loss of p-strand structures. It revealed that the head-group of PG molecules plays an important structural role in the maintenance of normal structure of PS Ⅱ proteins, which is required to maintain the appropriate physiological activity of the PS Ⅱ complex such as the oxygen evolving activity. It is suggested that there most probably exist hydrogen-bonding interactions between PG molecules and PS Ⅱ proteins.