Cyclic AMP response element binding protein (CREB) participates in the heat-inducible expression of humanhsp90β gene

Human heat shock protein 90b gene ( hsp90b ) is a constitutively expressed heat shock gene existing in most of cell types tested that can be further induced by heat shock. Chloramphenical acetyl transferase (CAT) reporter plasmids driven by different regulatory fragments of hsp90b gene were constructed and transfected into Jurkat cells to explore the role of a cAMP response element (CRE) in the upstream of the gene. Results show that, in comparison with the wild type construct, a severe reduction (~2/3) in the increased folds of promoter activity induced by heat shock at 42℃ for 1 h was observed in a construct with CRE-containing fragment (-173/-91bp) deleted. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSA) showed that phosphorylated CRE-binding protein (CREB) in the nuclear extract of heat shocked Jurkat cells is specifically bound to the fragment. Additionally, both of the phosphorylation on CREB and the activity of protein kinase A (PKA) were found in Jurkat cells to be enhanced with extending time of heat shock treatment. Our results indicate that in addition to the intronic HSE/HSF pathway, phosphorylated CREB also participates in the heat shock induced expression of human hsp90b gene via its interaction with CRE which may be regulated by PKA-sig- naling pathway.     

Active compounds-based discoveries about the differentiation and apoptosis of leukemic cells

Acute myeloid leukemia （AML） is a heterogeneous group of hematopoietic malignancies which are characterized by the blockage of hematopoietic cell differentiation with uncontrolled proliferation and/or impaired apoptosis. Over the past 20 years, there has been tremendous progress in the biological, molecular, and cytogenetic aspects of the disease, accompanied by significant advancements in the treatment of AML patients. For example, all-trans retinoic acid （ATRA） and arsenic trioxide （As2O3） have been used clinically for effective treatments of patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia （APL, a unique subtype of AML） through differentiation and/or apoptosis induction. More intriguingly, these active compounds-based chemical biological studies greatly accelerated our understanding on leukemogenesis and targeted therapy of AML patients. Based on some recent findings mainly from our group, this review attempts to summarize the related advances from Chinese researchers.     

Cloning and sequencing of cDNA fragment of gene of wheat (Triticum aestivum. L) induced by dehydration

cDNA fragment of the gene (dehydration induced,di1) of wheat (Triticum aestivum. L) induced by 30% PEG-6000 (−1.13 MPa) treatment was isolated with mRNA differential display technique. Northern blot analysis showed that the expression ofdi1 gene improved at 10 h reached the highest at 48 h under 30% PEG-6000 treatment. cDNA fragment ofdi1 gene has been cloned and sequenced (211 bp). DNA sequence analysis shows that there is no homologue in GenBank todi1 cDNA.     

Effect of 5′-deletion ofArabidopsis profilin2 promoter on its vascular specific expression

Based on the published sequence of profilin2 promoter ofArabidopsis thaliana, a full-length promoter (1667 bp) was amplified by PCR. The 5′-end deletion fragments with length of 1380, 1153, 969 and 597 bp were then fused withgus (uidA) gene respectively. Constructed plant expression vectors were individually transferred intoKalanchoe laciniata and transgenic plants regenerated. GUS histochemical assay confirmed that the full-length promoter Pfn1.7 was vascular-specific. Deletion assays showed that profilin2 promoter could be divided into three parts. Deletion of fragment 1 (−1667—−1380 bp) resulted in constitutive expression, suggesting that element(s) responsible for vascular-specific expression might exist in this region. Fragment 2 located at −1153—−597 bp strongly inhibitedgus gene expression. Fragment 3 (−597—−1 bp) is considered as a basic domain of profilin2.     

GCC box in<Emphasis Type="Italic">Arabidopsis PDF1.2</Emphasis> promoter is an essential and sufficient cis-acting element in response to MeJA treatment

The expression of Arabidopsis PDF1.2 gene isregulated by jasmonic acid (JA) and ethylene (ET). It also has been well documented that GCC box is an element responsive to ET, however, the responsive mechanism of JA in such plant defense gene expression is unclear. In this paper, the authors define the essential cis-acting element in PDF1.2 promoter responsive to methyl jasmonate (MeJA) through fragment deletions and site-directed mutageneses combiningAgrobacterium-mediated transient reporter gene expression in tobacco leaves. Firstly, the MeJA inducible expression o fPDF1.2 was confirmed by using the upstream -1.86 kb fragment of PDFI.2 gene. Secondly, the upstream -300— -243 bp fragment of the promoter was evidenced to respond to MeJA. To further characterize this promoter region, three point mutations were introduced into the -300— -243 bp fragment of the promoter. This result showed that the mutation of GCC box abolished MeJA induction, whereas the mutations of the G box-like and the imperfect palindrome sequence did not significantly decrease MeJA inducible effect, indicating that GCC box in PDFI.2 is essential for MeJA induction. The sufficient responsiveness to MeJA of this GCC box was further investigated by 4xGCC fused upstream to the CaMV 35S minimal promoter. This result suggested that the fused promoter was able to activate reporter gene expression in response to MeJA. Thus these results indicate that the GCC box in PDFI.2 is an essential and sufficient element to confer MeJA induction.     

Structural analysis of the promoter of tomato 1-aminocyclopropane-l-carboxylate synthase 6 gene （Le-ACS6）

Ethylene plays an important role in the regulation of many growth and developmental processes of higher plants. In tomato, Le-ACS6, a member of the ACC synthase multigene family involved in system 1 ethylene biosynthesis during fruit ripening, is subject to negative feedback regulation by ethylene. To identify the cis-elements that are responsible for the negative feedback control, we established an in vitro transient assay system employing particle bombardment on mature-green tomato fruit pericarp to examine the expression of a luciferase （LUC） reporter gene driven by a 5＇-serially deleted Le-ACS6 promoter. The results localized putative cis-elements required for negative ethylene-response between -347 and -266 upstream from the translational start site ATG Several lines of stable transformation of the Le-ACS6 promoter and GUS reporter fusion gene containing internal deletion from -347 to -266 were generated. The expression pattern of the GUS reporter showed that removal of the nucleotides from -347 to -266 completely eliminated the response of the Le-ACS6 promoter to exogenous ethylene.     

Promoter activities of genes cpcT2 and cpcS2 in Nostoc PCC 7120

To study the promoter activities of genes cpcT 2 and cpcS 2,several upstream DNA fragments of these two genes with different lengths were selected.These fragments were fused with promoterless gfp(reporter gene) for constructing five recombinant plasmids.Then,these recombinant plasmids were transferred into Nostoc PCC 7120 by conjugation.The promoter activities of genes cpcT 2 and cpcS 2 were determined by observing the fluorescence of green fluorescent protein(GFP) with a fluorescence microscope.The result showed that the 1 300 bp(-1 300 to 0 bp) and 2 600 bp(-2 600 to 0 bp) upstream fragments of cpcT 2 had strong promoter activity and the promoter activity of the 680 bp(-680 to 0 bp) fragment was weaker than that of two above fragments of cpcT 2.The 2 000 bp(-2 000 to 0 bp) upstream fragment of cpcS 2 revealed weak promoter activity.This showed that a strong promoter of cpcT 2 was located in the upstream fragment between-680 and-1 300 bp.     

Chromosomal localization of a novel retinoic acid induced geneRA28 and protein distribution of its encoded protein

GeneRA28 is a retinoic acid induced novel gene isolated in our laboratory previously. All-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) was used to induce lung adenocarcinoma cell line GLC-82, andRA28 was obtained by subtractive hybridization. Green fluorescent protein (GFP) has emerged as a unique tool for examining introcellular phenomena in living cells. GFP possesses an intrinsic fluorescence at 488 nm that does not require other co-factors. In this report, an eukaryotic expression plasmid pEGFP-C1-RA28 was constructed and transfected with parental cell line GLC-82 to analyze protein expression and its distribution in living cells. Moreover, radiation hybrid (RH) technique was used to localizeRA28 to the chromosome. The results show that geneRA28 is mapped to the chromosome 19q13.1 region, its encoded protein is distributed on cell membrane. All the results further demonstrate that GFP and RH techniques are accurate, fast, repetitive, and will be powerful methods for investigating the gene and protein localization.     

Aberrant activity of Wnt/Frizzled signaling pathway in renal cancer cell lines

The expression ofWnt, Wntreceptor-Frizzled, and several other key components in Wnt pathway in renal cancer cell lines was studied. The result of semi-quantitative RT-PCR has shown that the expression level ofWnt5A andhFz5 mRNA were higher in renal cancer cell line (GRC-1) than in normal renal cell line (HK-2). This result has been confirmed byin situ hybridization. The expression of β-catenin protein was obviously higher in GRC-1 than in HK-2 (P< 0.01), but there were no different expressions of its mRNA between 3 lines. The reasons of the overexpression of β-catenin has been investigated by means of immunocytochemistry, SSCP and so on, no mutation ofβ-catenin gene and APC were found. That means that the overexpression ofWnt5A/hFz5 might be the reason of overexpression of β-catenin. It was concluded that the aberrant activity of Wnt pathway might play an important role in renal cell carcinoma.     

A novel element (NIRS) participates in the regulation of interleukin 2 receptor α gene 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-2Rα gene, 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.     

Gene product expression of cyclin D<Subscript>2</Subscript> and p16 during the transition from cardiac myocyte hyperplasia to hypertrophy

The current study was to investigate mRNA expression of cyclin D₂ and p16 during the transition from cardiac myocyte hyperplasia to hypertrophy. Cultured cardiac myocytes (CM) and fibroblasts (FC) obtained from 1-day-old Sparague-Dawley rats were used in this study. We have determined (1) hyperplasia by cell growth curve and fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS); and (2) ultrastructure by electron microscope observation; and (3) expresions of cyclin D₂ mRNA and p16 mRNA by using in situ hybridization and image analysis. The results were shown (1) Results of cell growth curve and FACS analysis showed CM could proliferate in the first 3 cultured days (4 days in postnatal development). But the ability decreased quickly, concomitant with the differentiation. (2) The ultrastructure of CM showed the large amount of myofilaments and mitochondrion and FC showed moderate amount of rough endoplasmic reticulum. (3) The expression of cyclin D₂ mRNA in 3−, 4−, 5−day CM group was 0.89 times (p<0.05), 0.80 times (p<0.05) and 0.56 times (p<0.01) of that in 1-day group respectively. P16 mRNA in 2−, 3−, 4−, 5−day CM group were 1.63 times (p<0.01), 1.72 times (p<0.01), 1.99 times (p<0.01) and 2.84 times (p<0.01) of that in 1−day group respectively. It can be concluded that cultured neonatal rat cardiac myocytes could proliferate during the first 3 cultured days, but the ability of proliferation decreased, from the fourth day, concomitant with differentiation. Cyclin D₂ and p16 have the key roles during the transition from myocyte hyperplasia to hypertrophy. Biography: Zhang Yu-xia (1974-), female, Master, research direction: cardiovascular pathology.     

Two-photon absorption and frequency-upconversion properties of a new organic dye HMASPS

Two-photon absorption (TPA) and frequencyupconversion properties of a new upconversion laser dyetrans-4-[p-(N-hydroxyethyl-N-methyl-amino)styryl]-N-methylpyridinium toluene-p-sulfonate (abbreviated to HMASPS) were reported in this note. The linear absorption, TPA, single-photon induced fluorescence, TPA induced fluorescence and TPA induced upconverted lasing spectra of HMASPS solution in dimethyl formamide (abbreviated to DMF) were measured at room temperature. The red shift for the central wavelength of TPA induced fluorescence peak, which was compared with that of the single-photon induced fluorescence peak, and the blue shift for that of TPA induced upconverted lasing compared with that of TPA induced fluorescence, were explained by using re-absorption effect. TPA peak was at 930 nm. There is an 11 nm blue shift for two-photon energy of TPA peak compared with the linear absorption peak. The molecular TPA cross-section σ₂ ^9′ at 1064 nm was measured to be 6.0×10⁻⁴⁸ cm⁴ · s/photon by using the open aperture Z-scanning system. The highest upconversion efficiency was measured to be 8.4% at 1064 nm.     

An explanation to the high efficiency ofm-THPC (temporfin) used in photodynamic therapy

Meso-tetrahydroxylphenyl chlorin (m-THPC) is one of the most efficient prospective sensitizers used in photodynamic therapy (PDT). ESR spectroscopy, fluorescence quenching experiments and cyclic voltammogram measurement were used to study its redox properties. The results showed that the ability of m-THPC generating superoxide radical anions was very strong, and the rate constant of m-THPC fluorescence quenching by oxygen k_q (O₂)=1.46×10¹⁰ mol^-1·s^-1. The values of fluorescence quen- ching rate constant of m-THPC by some other electron acceptors, such as methyl viologen (MV²⁺) and anthraquinone (An), were also measured. And they were k_q (MV²⁺)=5.51×10⁹ mol^-1·s^-1, k_q (An)=7.81×10⁹ mol^-1·s^-1. The oxidation potential of m-THPC was examined to be +0.62 V (vs. NHE) in acetonitrile. All these suggested that m-THPC should be a much stronger electron donor than photofrin, the currently used in clinical photodrug, and may react easily through electron transfer with biological matter to yield various radicals. So it seemed reasonable that the type Ⅰ reaction may play an important role in the high activity of m-THPC-PDT.     

Microcalorimetric study on the antibiotic activity of clarithromycin and erythromycin

By using LKB-2277 Bioactivity Monitoring System, the heat effect changes in the process of inhibitory action of clarithromycin and erythromycin onEscherichia coli at 37°C were determined. Quantitative analysis showed that relationship between antibiotic concentrationc and rate contantk ofEscherichia coli growth, and half inhibitory ratio concentration IC₅₀: clarithromycin:k=0. 030 03–1. 1736×10⁻³ c, 8. 45 mg ·L⁻¹; erythromycin:k=0.031 08–8.4657×10⁻⁴ c, 14. 45 mg·L⁻¹. As a result of the microcalorimetry experiments, it not only indicated that antibacterial activity of clarithromycin was stronger than that of erythromycin, but also reported the changeable features of thermodynamics of the bacterial cell in biological, biochemical and metabolic process under different drug action. Foundation item: Supported by Natinal Natural Science Fundation of China (29973030), Natural Science Fundation of Hubei Province (98J052) and Post-doctoral Science Fundation of China Biography, SHEN Xue-song (1956-), Associate professor Research direction: biothermochemistry.     

Cloning and expression analysis ofMBLL cDNA

Thembl (muscleblind) gene ofDrosophila encodes a nuclear protein which contains two Cys₃His motifs. The mutation ofmbl gene will disturb the differentiation of all theDrosophila’s photoreceptors. Primers have been designed according to human EST086139, which is highly homologous tombl gene. Human fetal brain cDNA library has been screened and a novel cDNA clone has been obtained. The 2595 bp cDNA, designatedMBLL (muscleblind-like), contains an open reading frame which encodes 255 amino acids and has 4 Cys₃His motifs (GenBank Acc. AF061261). The amino acids sequence shares high homology toDrosophila’s mbl. The Northern blot and RNA dot blot hybridization of 43 human adult tissues and 7 fetal tissues show thatMBLL is a widely expressed gene, but the expression amounts differ in these tissues.