一个被错误鉴定的苏铁名称—华南苏铁

Ｃｙｃａｓｒｕｍｐｈｉｉ长期被误认为是中国华南地区常见分布或广泛培栽的苏铁种类，中名称之“华南苏铁”。作研究表明，Ｃ．ｒｕｍｐｈｉｉ在我国大陆并不分布，而且栽培稀少，而所谓的“华南苏铁”属错误鉴定，实际是指台湾苏铁（Ｃ．ｔａｉｗａｎｉａｎａ）、仙湖苏铁（Ｃ．ｆａｉｒｙｌａｋｅａ）与四川苏铁（Ｃ．ｓｚｅｃｈｕａｎｅｎｓｉｓ）等一类苏铁。“华南苏铁”一名应予以废弃，而恢复Ｃ．ｒｕｍｐｈｉｉ的中名刺     

Social controls on cell survival and cell death.

Programmed cell death occurs in most animal tissues at some stage of their development, but the molecular mechanism by which it is executed is unknown. For some mammalian cells, programmed death seems to occur by default unless suppressed by signals from other cells. Such dependence on specific survival signals provides a simple way to eliminate misplaced cells, for regulating cell numbers and, perhaps, for selecting the fittest cells. But how general is this dependence on survival signals?     

The hard cell

Ethical quandaries aside, stem-cell science is attracting researchers worldwide. Ricki Lewis reports.     

MSH2 is required for cell proliferation, cell cycle control and cell invasiveness in colorectal cancer cells

We have investigated the role of MSH2,a mismatch repair gene in cell proliferation,cell cycle control and cell invasiveness in the SW480 human colorectal cancer cell line.RNAi-mediated inhibition of MSH2 expression was achieved using MSH2 shRNA lentiviral expression vectors.Effective knockdown of endogenous MSH2 expression was determined by real-time PCR analysis.The most efficient MSH2 knockdown vector was selected for subsequent studies using SW480 cells.Endogenous MSH2 mRNA levels decreased after lentiviral delivery of the MSH2-RNAi,indicating efficient silencing of MSH2 expression in SW480 cells.Cell proliferation,cell cycle progression and cell invasiveness were quantified by MTT assays,flow cytometry and transwell assays,respectively.RNAi-mediated inhibition of MSH2 expression in SW480 cells resulted in decreased cell proliferation,cell cycle arrest at the G0/G1 phase and decreased cell invasiveness.Taken together,these results provide evidence that MSH2 stimulates cell proliferation,promotes cell cycle progression and positively regulates cell invasiveness.     

RNA干扰Nucleostemin基因对人结肠癌细胞株HT-29细胞增殖及细胞周期的影响

将Nucleostemin(NS)siRNA利用脂质体2000转染人结肠癌细胞株HT 29,分别利用CCK-8试剂盒和流式细胞术检测NS siRNA对HT 29细胞增殖和细胞周期的影响,进一步利用Real-time PCR和Western blotting技术检测NS基因和细胞周期相关基因p21 mRNA和蛋白的表达.结果表明,NS siRNA的转入能有效下调NS mRNA和蛋白的表达(P0.05),并能明显抑制人结肠癌细胞株HT 29的细胞增殖(P0.05),并诱导细胞周期静止在G_0/G_1期,转染NS siRNA后,p21 mRNA和蛋白的表达均明显升高,提示细胞增殖抑制和细胞周期静止与p21基因表达的升高密切相关.     

Thrombin-stimulated cell division involves proteolysis of its cell surface receptor.

A cell-surface component of molecular weight 43,000 is cleaved by thrombin on cells that divide after thrombin treatment, but is not cleaved on cells that are unresponsive to its mitogenic action. Studies with a photoreactive derivative of thrombin showed that its cell surface receptor has a molecular weight of 43,000. This indicates that thrombin must cleave its receptor to stimulate cell division.     

Planar cell polarity signalling controls cell division orientation during zebrafish gastrulation

Oriented cell division is an integral part of pattern development in processes ranging from asymmetric segregation of cell-fate determinants to the shaping of tissues. Despite proposals that it has an important function in tissue elongation, the mechanisms regulating division orientation have been little studied outside of the invertebrates Caenorhabditis elegans and Drosophila melanogaster. Here, we have analysed mitotic divisions during zebrafish gastrulation using in vivo confocal imaging and found that cells in dorsal tissues preferentially divide along the animal-vegetal axis of the embryo. Establishment of this animal-vegetal polarity requires the Wnt pathway components Silberblick/Wnt11, Dishevelled and Strabismus. Our findings demonstrate an important role for non-canonical Wnt signalling in oriented cell division during zebrafish gastrulation, and indicate that oriented cell division is a driving force for axis elongation. Furthermore, we propose that non-canonical Wnt signalling has a conserved role in vertebrate axis elongation, orienting both cell intercalation and mitotic division.     

Planar cell polarity signalling couples cell division and morphogenesis during neurulation

Environmental and genetic aberrations lead to neural tube closure defects (NTDs) in 1 out of every 1,000 births. Mouse and frog models for these birth defects have indicated that Van Gogh-like 2 (Vangl2, also known as Strabismus) and other components of planar cell polarity (PCP) signalling might control neurulation by promoting the convergence of neural progenitors to the midline. Here we show a novel role for PCP signalling during neurulation in zebrafish. We demonstrate that non-canonical Wnt/PCP signalling polarizes neural progenitors along the anteroposterior axis. This polarity is transiently lost during cell division in the neural keel but is re-established as daughter cells reintegrate into the neuroepithelium. Loss of zebrafish Vangl2 (in trilobite mutants) abolishes the polarization of neural keel cells, disrupts re-intercalation of daughter cells into the neuroepithelium, and results in ectopic neural progenitor accumulations and NTDs. Remarkably, blocking cell division leads to rescue of trilobite neural tube morphogenesis despite persistent defects in convergence and extension. These results reveal a function for PCP signalling in coupling cell division and morphogenesis at neurulation and indicate a previously unrecognized mechanism that might underlie NTDs.     

Somatic cell bovine cloning: Effect of donor cell and recipients

Nuclear transfer (NT) is an efficient technique for assessing the developmental potential of a nucleus and for analyzing the interactions between the donor nucleus and the recipient cytoplasm. In amphibians, thought nuclei of adult kerationocytes support development to the juvenile, tadpole stage, no development to the adult stage was re- ported[1], leaving open the question of whether a different- tiated adult nucleus can be fully reprogrammed. The first cloned offspring developed from differ…     

Crowding induces live cell extrusion to maintain homeostatic cell numbers in epithelia

For an epithelium to provide a protective barrier, it must maintain homeostatic cell numbers by matching the number of dividing cells with the number of dying cells. Although compensatory cell division can be triggered by dying cells, it is unknown how cell death might relieve overcrowding due to proliferation. When we trigger apoptosis in epithelia, dying cells are extruded to preserve a functional barrier. Extrusion occurs by cells destined to die signalling to surrounding epithelial cells to contract an actomyosin ring that squeezes the dying cell out. However, it is not clear what drives cell death during normal homeostasis. Here we show in human, canine and zebrafish cells that overcrowding due to proliferation and migration induces extrusion of live cells to control epithelial cell numbers. Extrusion of live cells occurs at sites where the highest crowding occurs in vivo and can be induced by experimentally overcrowding monolayers in vitro. Like apoptotic cell extrusion, live cell extrusion resulting from overcrowding also requires sphingosine 1-phosphate signalling and Rho-kinase-dependent myosin contraction, but is distinguished by signalling through stretch-activated channels. Moreover, disruption of a stretch-activated channel, Piezo1, in zebrafish prevents extrusion and leads to the formation of epithelial cell masses. Our findings reveal that during homeostatic turnover, growth and division of epithelial cells on a confined substratum cause overcrowding that leads to their extrusion and consequent death owing to the loss of survival factors. These results suggest that live cell extrusion could be a tumour-suppressive mechanism that prevents the accumulation of excess epithelial cells.