Mapping the limits of the human pseudoautosomal region and a candidate sequence for the male-determining gene

The human Y chromosome is composed of two different parts: a pseudoautosomal region shared with the X chromosome which is responsible for sex chromosome pairing and a Y-specific part that encodes the sex determining gene. Previously we have shown that the pseudoautosomal gene MIC2 only rarely recombines between the sex chromosomes and, based on the elevated recombination rates in the pseudoautosomal region, we predicted that this gene would lie close to the Y-specific region. In this report we describe a test of this prediction using long-range restriction mapping techniques. We conclude that MIC2 is less than 200 kilobases (kb) away from Y-specific sequences. During these experiments we have identified an HTF island in a position consistent with the proposed location of the human sex determining gene.     

Insulin-like growth factor II precursor gene organization in relation to insulin gene family

The insulin gene family, comprised of insulin, relaxin, insulin-like growth factors I and II (IGF-I and IGF-II) and possibly the beta-subunit of 7S nerve growth factor, represents a group of structurally related polypeptides whose biological functions have diverged. The IGFs, or somatomedins, constitute a class of polypeptides that have a key role in pre-adolescent mammalian growth (see ref. 4 for review). IGF-I expression is regulated by growth hormone and mediates postnatal growth, while IGF-II appears to be induced by placental lactogen during prenatal development. The primary structures of both human IGFs have been determined and are closely related. A polypeptide highly homologous to human IGF-II is secreted by the rat liver cell line, BRL-3A. As this polypeptide, termed multiplication stimulating activity (MSA), differs from human IGF-II by only five amino acid residues, MSA probably represents the rat IGF-II protein. Using molecular cloning techniques, we have isolated cDNA and chromosomal genes coding for the MSA and human IGF-II precursors, respectively. Our data, presented here, indicate that both MSA and human IGF-II are synthesized initially as larger precursor molecules. The deduced preprohormones both have molecular weights (MWs) of 20,100 and contain C-terminal propeptides of 89 amino acid residues, which we have named E-peptides. The organization of the IGF-II precursor gene is discussed in relation to that of other insulin gene family members.     

In vivo somatic mutations in human lymphocytes frequently result from major gene alterations

Somatic mutations, either spontaneous or produced by identifiable mutagens, are thought to be important in the aetiology of cancer and in the ageing process. The study of somatic mutations in human cells in vivo has recently been made possible by the development of techniques for enumeration and clonal expansion of lymphocytes mutated at the chromosome X-linked hypoxanthine phosphoribosyl transferase (HPRT) locus. We have studied the molecular basis of in vivo hprt mutations in human lymphocytes and report here that a surprisingly high proportion (57%) involve substantial gene alterations which are not evident cytogenetically. These major gene alterations include deletions, exon amplifications and novel, sometimes amplified, bands on Southern analysis. Such changes emphasize the fluid nature of information in DNA and may be indicative of general mechanisms by which functional gene loss is involved in the aetiology of cancer and the homeostatic failure of ageing.     

Prevalence of ras gene mutations in human colorectal cancers

A combination of DNA hybridization analyses and tissue sectioning techniques demonstrate that ras gene mutations occur in over a third of human colorectal cancers, that most of the mutations are at codon 12 of the c-Ki-ras gene and that the mutations usually precede the development of malignancy.     

2021年生命科学热点回眸

全球科学家在新冠病毒疫情的巨大挑战中从未停止生命科学研究的步伐,2021年生命科学及相关学科仍然取得了长足的进展.概述了2021年生命科学领域最具代表性的若干项前沿研究,对蛋白质结构预测、膜蛋白结构解析、转录起始复合物的解析、人工合成淀粉、新冠病毒中和抗体、基因编辑与疾病治疗、体外胚胎培养、迷幻药与精神疾病治疗、新型干...     

小鼠基因敲除的研究进展

随着人类基因组计划(HGP)的顺利完成,后基因时代的生物学研究迫切需要一种有效的基因功能分析方法。基因敲除小鼠模型的应用,为研究基因的功能和寻找新的治疗人类疾病的干预措施提供了有力支持。基因打靶和基因捕获是两种不同的通过胚胎干细胞(ES细胞)制作基因敲除小鼠的技术。基因捕获具有高通量、随机性、序列标记等特点,而基因打靶则是针对特定基因的敲除。自基因打靶和基因捕获小鼠首次亮相距今已有近20年的时间。近年来,针对基因打靶和基因捕获的新工具不断涌现,并且相应的组织也已经成立。这些组织能够利用这两种方法敲除小鼠基因组中的基因。国际基因捕获协会(The International Gene Trap Consortium,IGTC)和基因敲除小鼠计划(The Knockout Mouse Project,KOMP)已着手创建世界范围内用于科研的便利资源,并且计划敲除所有小鼠的基因。KOMP的组织者认为这与HGP一样具有重要意义。从传统的基因打靶到现在的高通量的条件基因打靶,基因打靶的方法已经发生了很大的变化。捕获和打靶两者的组合优势大大提升了基因捕获的范围和基因打靶的效率。作为一种新开发的插入式突变系统,转座子在捕获基因方面比逆转录病毒更具有优势。国际基因敲除小鼠协会(The International Knockout Mouse Consortium,IKMC)的出现标志着全球性合作的开始。该组织致力于系统地敲除小鼠基因组中所有基因,进而开展功能基因组的研究。     

工业微生物育种技术研究进展

工业微生物育种是运用遗传学原理和技术对某种具有特定生产目的的菌株进行政造，去除不良性质，增加有益新性状，以提高产品的产量和质量的一种育种方法．工业微生物的育种技术已从常规的突变和筛选技术发展到基因诱变、基因重组和基因工程等，育种技术的不断成熟，大大提高了微生物的育种效果．     

Active gamma-carboxylated human factor IX expressed using recombinant DNA techniques

Factor IX (Christmas factor), a vitamin K-dependent plasma protein made in the liver, functions in the middle phase of the intrinsic pathway of blood coagulation. A functional deficiency of factor IX underlies haemophilia B, a chromosome X-linked recessive disease for which the major therapeutic approach is replacement treatment using factor IX concentrates. The cloning and characterization of the gene for human factor IX would mean that human factor IX could be produced in greater yield and purity through using recombinant DNA techniques. We have now used a human factor IX cDNA clone, inserted into a vaccinia virus-derived vector, to infect human hepatoma cells which normally produce no factor IX, and mouse fibroblasts. Fully active factor IX was produced by the hepatoma cells, whereas the fibroblasts produced a protein less active than natural factor IX, even in the presence of high levels of vitamin K. Human factor IX is extensively post-translationally modified, and thus represents probably the most complex protein produced in active form by recombinant DNA techniques to date. Our study also illustrates the potential of vaccinia virus-based vectors for expressing significant amounts of complex, clinically useful proteins in eukaryotic cells, in addition to its already demonstrated usefulness for producing live recombinant vaccines.     

A new era in mammalian gene mapping: somatic cell genetics and recombinant DNA methodologies

Mammalian gene mapping techniques are now sufficiently advanced to contribute significantly to prenatal diagnosis and to human molecular genetics. Restriction fragment mapping can be used to place polymorphic genetic markers at random sites within the genome, and these sites used to assign genes responsible for disease conditions to a chromosomal region. Somatic cell genetic techniques can then be applied to saturate that region with additional restriction fragment markers, some of which will be closely linked to the disease gene. Closely linked restriction fragment markers, especially flanking pairs of markers, can act as predictors for the transmission of defective genes to offspring. A series of tightly linked flanking restriction markers might in addition contribute to the eventual isolation and cloning of the disease gene itself.     

Out of Africa again and again

The publication of a haplotype tree of human mitochondrial DNA variation in 1987 provoked a controversy about the details of recent human evolution that continues to this day. Now many haplotype trees are available, and new analytical techniques exist for testing hypotheses about recent evolutionary history using haplotype trees. Here I present formal statistical analysis of human haplotype trees for mitochondrial DNA, Y-chromosomal DNA, two X-linked regions and six autosomal regions. A coherent picture of recent human evolution emerges with two major themes. First is the dominant role that Africa has played in shaping the modern human gene pool through at least two--not one--major expansions after the original range extension of Homo erectus out of Africa. Second is the ubiquity of genetic interchange between human populations, both in terms of recurrent gene flow constrained by geographical distance and of major population expansion events resulting in interbreeding, not replacement.     

Characterization of cDNA and genomic clones encoding the precursor to rat hypothalamic growth hormone-releasing factor

Growth hormone-releasing factor (GHRF) is a hypothalamic peptide which positively regulates the synthesis and secretion of growth hormone in the anterior pituitary. The amino-acid sequence of a 43-residue GHRF peptide isolated from rat hypothalamus was recently determined. Immunocytochemical techniques have been used to localize GHRF-containing cell bodies and nerve fibres largely to the medial-basal region of the rat hypothalamus. The rat has also been used extensively as an animal model to study the effects of GHRF on growth hormone synthesis and secretion and on somatic growth. To pursue questions concerning the biosynthesis of GHRF, the expression of the ghrf gene, and its regulation in the hypothalamus by neural and hormonal influences, we have now isolated and characterized both complementary DNA and genomic clones encoding rat hypothalamic GHRF. The rat ghrf gene spans nearly 10 kilobases (kb) of rat genomic DNA, contains 5 exons and encodes a 104-amino-acid precursor to the rat GHRF peptide. Comparison with previously characterized human ghrf cDNA and genomic clones has allowed patterns of conservation of amino-acid and nucleotide sequences between the human and rat GHRFs to be determined.     

植物基因差异表达的研究方法及进展

对目前在植物基因差异表达研究领域主要采用的消减杂交,DDRT-PCR,cDNA-RDA,cDNA-AFLP,SSH,基因芯片和SAGE等研究方法的原理、特点、研究进展以及发展趋势进行了综述.这些方法各有特点,可根据研究工作的需要选择合适的研究方法.     

A structural model for the retroviral proteases

In many retroviruses the 5' end of the pol gene codes for a protease vital for the processing of the gag polyprotein into the separate core proteins. In some viruses this protease is encoded at the 3' end of the gag gene, or between the gag and pol genes in a different reading frame to either. A sequence, Asp-Thr-Gly, which is conserved in retroviral proteases is also conserved in the active sites of aspartic proteases, an observation which has led to the suggestion that the retroviral proteases could belong to this family. We have examined the sequences of the aspartic and retroviral protease families, using pattern-recognition, structure prediction and molecular modelling techniques, and conclude that the viral protease sequences probably correspond to a single domain of an aspartic protease and may function in a dimeric form. We have constructed a model of the pol-protease of human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1) to test this hypothesis.     

新型分子生物学技术在花卉定向育种中的应用进展

分子生物学技术可以提高花卉定向育种的效率和精准度,其中转基因技术是目前应用最广泛的花卉定向育种技术,基因编辑和高通量测序技术是近年来发展迅速的分子生物学技术。基于国内外研究现状,阐述了转基因和基因编辑技术在花色、花香、株型和抗性育种中的应用,以及高通量测序技术在花卉目标性状调控的分子机制研究、基因定位、分子标记开发方面助力花卉育种的研究进展。提出了利用新型分子生物学技术加快花卉定向育种进程的研究方向与建议,以期为定向培育出具有新奇花色、花香、花型、抗性的观赏植物新品种提供参考。     

扬子鳄Sox基因的PCR-SSCP分析

参照人SRY基因HMG－box保守区的序列,设计一对引物,扩增了扬子鳄的Sox基因,并进行了SSCP分析,结果显示扬子鳄Sox基因的扩增片段与人SRY基因扩增片断大小相同,为220bp左右;且雌雄个体间该基因片段的单链迁移率无差异,而与人的有较大差异,本研究为扬子鳄的性别决定机制的探讨及Sox基因的进化保守性分析提供分子资料。     

Localization of gene for human p53 tumour antigen to band 17p13

Recently the gene for the cellular tumour antigen p53, a phosphoprotein found in increased concentration in a variety of human cells, had been mapped to region 17q22 by in situ hybridization techniques and has been shown to translocate to the chromosome carrying the translocation [t(15; 17)] associated with acute promyelocytic leukaemia (APL). Based on this finding it has been postulated that this gene has a role in the pathogenesis of APL. Here we present evidence that the gene for p53 is not located on the long arm of chromosome 17, but maps to band 17p13. We therefore suggest that this gene is not directly involved in the chromosome translocation observed in APL.     

Induction of autophagy and inhibition of tumorigenesis by beclin 1

The process of autophagy, or bulk degradation of cellular proteins through an autophagosomic-lysosomal pathway, is important in normal growth control and may be defective in tumour cells. However, little is known about the genetic mediators of autophagy in mammalian cells or their role in tumour development. The mammalian gene encoding Beclin 1, a novel Bcl-2-interacting, coiled-coil protein, has structural similarity to the yeast autophagy gene, apg6/vps30, and is mono-allelically deleted in 40-75% of sporadic human breast cancers and ovarian cancers. Here we show, using gene-transfer techniques, that beclin 1 promotes autophagy in autophagy-defective yeast with a targeted disruption of agp6/vps30, and in human MCF7 breast carcinoma cells. The autophagy-promoting activity of beclin 1 in MCF7 cells is associated with inhibition of MCF7 cellular proliferation, in vitro clonigenicity and tumorigenesis in nude mice. Furthermore, endogenous Beclin 1 protein expression is frequently low in human breast epithelial carcinoma cell lines and tissue, but is expressed ubiquitously at high levels in normal breast epithelia. Thus, beclin 1 is a mammalian autophagy gene that can inhibit tumorigenesis and is expressed at decreased levels in human breast carcinoma. These findings suggest that decreased expression of autophagy proteins may contribute to the development or progression of breast and other human malignancies.     

Expression of human adenosine deaminase in murine haematopoietic progenitor cells following retroviral transfer

Adenosine deaminase (ADA) deficiency, an autosomal recessive inborn error of metabolism, leads to severe combined immune deficiency in man. This enzyme, although constitutively expressed in most tissues, is expressed at high level in immature T cells, and study of the pathophysiology of the disorder indicates that increased deoxyadenosine or altered methylation capacity have toxic effects on T-cell maturation. Although bone marrow transplantation can correct the immune deficiency, this therapy is associated with graft-versus-host disease and incomplete immune restoration, and so our laboratory and others have sought to develop a method of gene replacement as a possible treatment for the disease. Moreover, characterization of the complementary DNA of the human ADA gene and some of its mutants makes it possible to design gene transfer strategies. We have now subcloned a human adenosine deaminase cDNA into the retrovirus shuttle vector pZIP-SV(B), and in this way have isolated a cell line, 4.2T, which produces high titres of replication-defective retrovirus which have been used to transfer the gene for human ADA to mouse bone marrow cells. Transfer and expression of the neomycin-resistance gene (neo) and the ADA gene in murine bone marrow colony-forming units (CFU) was demonstrated by in vitro colony formation in the presence of the antibiotic G418 or 9-xylofuranosyladenine plus deoxycoformycin, respectively. Isoenzyme analysis also showed human ADA expression in the cultured mouse bone marrow.     

Molecular evolution of FOXP2, a gene involved in speech and language

Language is a uniquely human trait likely to have been a prerequisite for the development of human culture. The ability to develop articulate speech relies on capabilities, such as fine control of the larynx and mouth, that are absent in chimpanzees and other great apes. FOXP2 is the first gene relevant to the human ability to develop language. A point mutation in FOXP2 co-segregates with a disorder in a family in which half of the members have severe articulation difficulties accompanied by linguistic and grammatical impairment. This gene is disrupted by translocation in an unrelated individual who has a similar disorder. Thus, two functional copies of FOXP2 seem to be required for acquisition of normal spoken language. We sequenced the complementary DNAs that encode the FOXP2 protein in the chimpanzee, gorilla, orang-utan, rhesus macaque and mouse, and compared them with the human cDNA. We also investigated intraspecific variation of the human FOXP2 gene. Here we show that human FOXP2 contains changes in amino-acid coding and a pattern of nucleotide polymorphism, which strongly suggest that this gene has been the target of selection during recent human evolution.