用基因芯片技术分析干旱胁迫下生殖生长期大麦的基因表达

耐旱性是干旱地区稳定和增加大麦产量的一个关键因素。鉴定出与耐旱性相关的功能基因,一方面可了解大麦的耐旱机理,同时还可以促进利用生物技术来改良大麦的耐旱性。在研究中,2个在耐旱性上具有明显差异的大麦品种Tadmor(耐旱)和WI2291(干旱敏感)被选作材料,采用22000个ESTs(基因表达序列标签)的Affymetrix大麦基因芯片Barley1来分析生殖生长期干旱胁迫下2个大麦材料的差异表达基因。研究结果表明,干旱胁迫下2个大麦材料中有77个共调节基因,其中部分基因已被报道过可能与抗旱性相关。这些基因中已有功能注释的基因按其生物学功能被分为14组,猜测它们是干旱胁迫的响应基因,在抗旱性上可能不起重要作用,或者是必需的但单独不足以提高大麦的抗旱性。进一步比较2个材料差异表达的基因,发现二材料之间有372个受干旱调节基因的差异。这些基因中有功能注释基因的生物学功能中可分为15组,其中一些已被认为与抗旱性相关;而对那些未知功能的基因,推测可能亦在大麦的抗旱性上扮演一定的角色。研究所得结果可为阐述生殖生长期大麦的耐旱性机理提供新的认识。     

2,6-Dichlorobenzylidene amino guanidine acetate (Wy-8678). A new hypotensive agent

Zusammenfassung Bei unanästhesierten Ratten und Hunden wurden die antihypertensiven Eigenschaften von 2,6-Dichlorobenzyliden-Aminoguanidin-Azetat (WY 8678), welches zu einer neuen Reihe von aktiven Substanzen gehört, sowie noch einige andere klinisch wirksame Substanzen an zwei experimentellen Modellen für Hypertension geprüft und dabei eine wesentliche Blutdrucksenkung festgestellt.     

Variants conferring risk of atrial fibrillation on chromosome 4q25

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained cardiac arrhythmia in humans and is characterized by chaotic electrical activity of the atria. It affects one in ten individuals over the age of 80 years, causes significant morbidity and is an independent predictor of mortality. Recent studies have provided evidence of a genetic contribution to AF. Mutations in potassium-channel genes have been associated with familial AF but account for only a small fraction of all cases of AF. We have performed a genome-wide association scan, followed by replication studies in three populations of European descent and a Chinese population from Hong Kong and find a strong association between two sequence variants on chromosome 4q25 and AF. Here we show that about 35% of individuals of European descent have at least one of the variants and that the risk of AF increases by 1.72 and 1.39 per copy. The association with the stronger variant is replicated in the Chinese population, where it is carried by 75% of individuals and the risk of AF is increased by 1.42 per copy. A stronger association was observed in individuals with typical atrial flutter. Both variants are adjacent to PITX2, which is known to have a critical function in left-right asymmetry of the heart.     

Live-cell delamination counterbalances epithelial growth to limit tissue overcrowding

The development and maintenance of an epithelium requires finely balanced rates of growth and cell death. However, the mechanical and biochemical mechanisms that ensure proper feedback control of tissue growth, which when deregulated contribute to tumorigenesis, are poorly understood. Here we use the fly notum as a model system to identify a novel process of crowding-induced cell delamination that balances growth to ensure the development of well-ordered cell packing. In crowded regions of the tissue, a proportion of cells undergo a serial loss of cell-cell junctions and a progressive loss of apical area, before being squeezed out by their neighbours. This path of delamination is recapitulated by a simple computational model of epithelial mechanics, in which stochastic cell loss relieves overcrowding as the system tends towards equilibrium. We show that this process of delamination is mechanistically distinct from apoptosis-mediated cell extrusion and precedes the first signs of cell death. Overall, this analysis reveals a simple mechanism that buffers epithelia against variations in growth. Because live-cell delamination constitutes a mechanistic link between epithelial hyperplasia and cell invasion, this is likely to have important implications for our understanding of the early stages of cancer development.