Enhancement of transfection efficiency for HeLa cells via incorporating arginine moiety into chitosan

Arginine-rich peptides have attracted considerable attention due to their distinct internalization mechanism. It was reported that arginine and guanidino moieties were able to translocate through cell membranes and played a critical role in the process of membrane permeation. In this work, arginine was conjugated to the backbone of chitosan to form a novel chitosan derivative, arginine modified chitosan (Arg-CS). Arg-CS/DNA complexes were prepared according to the method of coacervation process. The physicochemical properties of Arg-CS and Arg-CS/DNA complexes were characterized and the transfection activity and efficiency mediated by Arg-CS/DNA complexes were investigated taking HeLa cells as target cells. Arg-CS was characterized by FTIR and 13C NMR. Arg-CS/DNA polye- lectrolyte complexes were investigated by agarose gel retardation, dynamic light scattering (DLS) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The results revealed that the Arg-CS/DNA complexes started to form at N/P ratio of 2:1, and the size of particles varied from 100 to 180 nm. The cytotoxicity of Arg-CS and their complexes with plasmid DNA were determined by MTT assay for HeLa cells, and the results suggested that Arg-CS/DNA complexes were slightly less toxic than Arg-CS. Moreover, the derivative alone and their complexes showed significantly lower toxicity than PEI and PEI/DNA complexes, respectively. Taking HeLa cells as target cells and using pGL3-control as reporter gene, the luciferase expression mediated by Arg-CS was greatly enhanced to about 100 folds compared with the luciferase expression mediated by chitosan at different pH media. These results suggest that Arg-CS is a promising candi- date as a safe and efficient vector for gene delivery and transfection.     

磷酸化壳聚糖-季铵化壳聚糖载体提高体内外基因转染功效

本研究通过磷酸化壳聚糖(PC)包被季铵化壳聚糖(TMC)/质粒(pDNA)纳米复合物,制备PC/TMC/pDNA三元复合物(PTC),用于提高体内外基因转染功效.PTC粒径为100~200nm,Zeta电势为-16~-34mV,可有效缩合pDNA,保护pDNA免遭核酶降解.PC降低PTC中pDNA结合力,增加体外释放量.表面荷负电的PTC抗非特异性蛋白吸附能力强,经小窝蛋白介导的细胞内吞途径入胞后逃避溶酶体降解,细胞核内分布比例高.HEK293细胞体外转染试验结果显示,PTC体外转染效率是TMC/pDNA纳米复合物(TC)的1.5~3.1倍;小鼠胫前肌注射给药试验结果表明,PTC可显著提高基因体内转染效率.因此,合适质量比的PTC有望作为功能性基因药物的递送载体,用于基因治疗.     

Study on cellular internalization of poly（vinyldiaminotriazine）-based hydrogen bonding type non-viral transgene vector

Previously we successfully prepared poly（vinyldiaminotriazine）（PVDT）-based non-viral vectors which complexed piasmid DNA via hydrogen bonding with adenine-thymine base pairs, in this report, surface charges and complex sizes of this system were further examined. The results showed that PVDT-based polymer could cover surface charges of DNA resulting in slightly negative or neutral complexes. It was also found that the complex sizes were governed by two events： the aggregation induced by the instability of neutral particles, and more compact complexes produced by PVDT-based polymers. In the study of cellular uptake, chlorpromazine and filipin III were used to inhibit clathrin-and caveolae-mediated endocytosis, respectively. We found that PVDT-based systems were transported into cells via a non-clathrin, non-caveolae mediated endocytosis. This special process was studied by temperature inhibition and kinetics assays. It was revealed that such a pathway was characterized by （i） a more en- ergy dependent process and （ii） a much slow transfection-effective internalization.     

Chitosan-pectin synergistic interaction and gelation

Mixed gels of chitosan-pectin were prepared by varying the ratio of constituents in the presence of NaCl. Mixed gel at 3% of total polysaccharide concentration with addtion of 12% NaCl showed a synergistic maximum when the ratio of chitosan to pectin was 60: 40. The effect of the polysaccharide concentration, the preparation temperature (T _p), the time of incubation, balk salt concentration, the molecular weight and the degree of deacetylation of chitosan on gelation have been studied. Interaction mechanism between molecules of both polysaccharides was investigated by FT-IR spectrometry. Foundation item: Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 29574173) Biography: He Dong-bao (1945-), male, Associate professor, research direction: natural polysaccharides.     

Induction of corneal epithelial prosenitors from bone-marrow mesenchymal stem cells of rhesus monkeys in vitro

Bioengineered corneas are substitutes for human donor tissue that are designed to treat severe disease affecting ocular surfaces. However, a shortage of candidate seed cells for bioengineering corneas is still a problem. Bone-marrow mesenchymal stem cells （MSCs） are capable of multilineage differentiation. Therefore, we determined whether MSCs differentiate into corneal epithelial cells （ECs）. We applied three exoteric-microenvironmental systems to induce MSCs to become ECs. Induced MSC were identified by means of morphologic examination, immunocytochemical analysis, and flow cytometry. MSCs grown in one microenvironment had characteristics similar to those of corneal epithelial progenitors. Induced MSCs expressed markers for EC, including integrin 61, Cx43, Pax6, and P63. MSCs were successfully induced to become corneal epithelial progenitors. Therefore, the use of MSCs may hold substantial promise for reconstructing the ocular surface after corneal injury.[第一段]     

Study on elastic modulus of individual ferritin

The mechanical property of individual ferritin was measured with force-volume mapping (FV) under contact mode of atomic force microscopy (AFM) in this work. The elastic modulus of individual ferritin was estimated by the Hertz mode. The estimated value of the elastic modulus of individual ferritin was about 250－800 MPa under a small deformation. In addition, the elastic modulus of individual ferritin was compared with that of the colloid gold nanoparticle.     

Binding of Euplotes octocarinatus centrin with target peptide melittin

Interactions between model target peptide melittin (ME) and Euplotes octocarinatus centrin (EoCen) were investigated by fluorescence spectra, circular dichroism (CD) spectra and native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE). In 0.1 mol/L N-2-hydroxyethylpiperazine-N-2-ethanesulfonic acid (Hepes) and 150 mmol/L NaCl at pH 7.4, EoCen and isolated short C-terminal domain of EoCen (SC-EoCen) form 1:1 peptide:protein complexes. However, no detectable signal changes can be observed while isolated N-terminal domain of EoCen (N-EoCen) or isolated long C-terminal domain of EoCen (LC-EoCen) was added into solution of ME. The interaction between EoCen and ME is specified exclusively for the short C-terminal domain of EoCen. On the basis of fluorescence titration curves, the conditional binding constants of ME with EoCen and SC-EoCen were calculated to be logKME-EoCen = 6.81±0.33 and log- KME-SC-EoCen = 6.51±0.45, respectively.     

The Escherichia coli O157:H7 DNA detection on a gold nanoparticle-enhanced piezoelectric biosensor

This paper presents development of a quartz crystal microbalance （QCM） biosensor for real-time detection of E. coil O157：H7 DNA based on nanogold particles amplification. Many inner Au nanoparticles were immobilized onto the thioled surface of the Au electrode, then more specific thiolated sin- gle-stranded DNA （ssDNA） probes could be fixed through Au-SH bonding. The hybridization was induced by exposing the ssDNA probe to the complementary target DNA of E. coli O157：H7 gene eaeA, then resulted in a mass change and corresponding frequency shifts （ △f ） of the QCM. The outer avidin-coated Au nanoparticles could combine with the target DNA to increase the mass. The electrochemical techniques, cyclic voltammetry （CV） and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy （EIS） were adopted to manifest and character each step. The target DNA corresponding to 2.0×10^3 colony forming unit （CFU）/mL E. coil O157：H7 cells can be detected by this biosensor, so it is practical to develop a sensitive and effective QCM biosensor for pathogenic bacteria detection based on specific DNA analysis. The piezoelectric biosensing system has potential for further applications, such as food safety and environment monitoring, and this approach lays the groundwork for incorporating the method into an integrated system for in-field bacteria detection.     

Adhesive contact of a rigid sphere to finitely stretched substrates

Exemplified by adhesive contact of a rigid sphere with equiaxially stretched elastomeric substrates, the effect of finite pre-strain on adhesion behavior is studied based on the JKR model. The analysis indi- cates that the pre-strain reduces the contact area between the sphere and the substrate, but does not alter the adhesion strength.     

Effect of molecular weight and structure on antitumor activity of oxidized chitosan

Various low molecular weight chitosans were prepared by oxidative degradation with H₂O₂, and characterized by IR,¹³C-NMR and gel permeation chromatography. Their carboxylic contents increased with decrease in molecular weight (M _w ). The antitumor test of the samples against sarcoma 180 tumors suggested that the water-soluble chitosan with higherM _w have higher inhibitory ratioin vivo. The introduction of carboxylic group is advantage to water-solubility of chitosan, but more acidic groups might decrease the function of amino groups of chitosan against sarcoma 180 tumor. Foundation item: Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 29977014) Biography: Qin Cai-qin (1965-), male, Ph. D candidate, Associate professor, research direction: biopolymers.     

Preparation and characterization of three-dimensionally ordered macroporous polystyrene <Emphasis Type="Italic">via</Emphasis> atom-transfer radical polymerization

Three-dimensionally ordered macroporous polystyrene （3DOM PS） with pore size of 350 nm was fab- ricated using Cp2Co/Ethyl 2-bromoisobutyrate （EBiB） catalytic system by ATRP. The resulting polymers were detected by FT-IR, 1H-NMR, SEM, and GPC. The microstructure of 3DOM PS was confirmed by FT-IR and 1H-NMR. SEM micrographs show that both silica spheres within the templates and pores in the 3DOM polystyrene are arranged in highly ordered fashion, and the shrinkage of the pores in the 3DOM PS is 24%. GPC curves show that the 3DOM PS possesses slightly lower Mn and narrow MWD compared with bulk one. This result indicats that living polymerization is different from non-living polymerizationin in the confined space.     

Crack spacing of unsaturated soils in the critical state

The cracking mechanism of unsaturated soils due to evaporation is poorly understood, and the magnitude of crack spacing is usually hard to estimate. In this work, cracks were postulated to occur succedently rather than simultaneously, that is, secondary cracks appear after primary cracks as evaporation continues. Formulae of the secondary crack spacing and secondary trend crack spacing were then derived after stress analysis. The calculated spacing values were consistent with the published experimental data. Meanwhile, the effect of the Poisson ratio on the crack spacing was analyzed, which showed that the magnitude of crack spacing was proportional to the Poisson ratio in the range of [0.30, 0.35].     

Three-dimensional observation of the phase structure of high density polyethylene （HDPE）/poly（ethyleneco-butene） （PEB） blend by laser scanning confocal microscopy

In this paper,high density polyethylene (HDPE)/poly(ethylene-co-butene) (PEB) blend (50/50 wt%) was prepared through solution blending and then compression molding,and subsequently examined by laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM). The PEB used in this experiment was labeled with a small quantity of a fluorescein derivative to render fluorescence. The initial films showed uniform dye dis-tribution and no indication of phase separation within the resolution of optical microscopy. Sample films annealing at 140℃ followed by rapid cooling to room temperature showed obvious phase sepa-ration and bicontinuous structure. The present work indicates that by labeling one component with fluorescein derivative,LSCM can efficiently perform in situ depth profiling of polymer blends.     

基于低分子量PEI的不同疏水链修饰的梳状低聚物基因载体

为了探究基于低分子量聚乙烯亚胺(polyethylenimine, PEI)基因载体的转染效率,通过Michael加成反应将PEI 600 Da接枝于含有疏水链的生物可降解聚酯上形成系列梳状聚合物,并将之应用于基因载体;利用核磁氢谱和凝胶渗透色谱对聚合物的化学结构与分子量进行了测定,此外,还利用凝胶电泳实验和绿色荧光蛋白实验研究了聚合物与DNA的结合能力及其复合物的转染性能。结果表明：本文方法成功合成了系列低聚物,并对DNA表现出较好的包裹能力;油酸修饰后的低聚物与DNA复合物在质量比为6.4时转染效果与PEI 25 kDa相当。可见,油酸修饰后的脂质体低聚物有作为非病毒基因载体的前景。     

纳米谷氨酸壳聚糖制备及其体外质粒转染研究

采用表面修饰方法制备出谷氨酸修饰的壳聚糖纳米基因载体。对样品进行红外分析、粒度分析、zeta电位分析、生物相容性、凝胶阻滞分析、DNA保护性试验、体外细胞转染研究。结果显示所制得的谷氨酸修饰的壳聚糖纳米颗粒平均粒径为170nm,其zeta电位为 4.7mV。红外分析显示谷氨酸已通过酰胺键结合在壳聚糖上。MTT实验结果显示纳米颗粒与细胞有良好的生物相容性。凝胶阻滞分析和DNA保护试验结果表明纳米载体可与DNA通过电性结合作用而结合,并可以有效保护DNA,防止核酸酶对其的降解作用。而体外细胞转染的结果表明,谷氨酸修饰的纳米粒能介导pEGFP-N1质粒转染HepG2细胞并在细胞中表达绿色荧光蛋白。因此,谷氨酸修饰的壳聚糖纳米颗粒可作为一种新型非病毒基因载体介导核酸类生物大分子进入细胞内。     

Solid-phase preparation and characterization of Chitosan

0　IntroductionChitosanhasbeenwidelyusedinpharmaceu tical,agriculturalandindustrialfieldbe causeofitsintriguing properties[1 ] .Chemicalmethodstopreparechitosanfromchitinhavebeenbroadlystudiedincludingsolutionmethod ,meltedalkalinemethod,microwavesemi drymethod ,improvedLinelbergmethod ,dissolution precipita tionmethodandsoon ,inwhichalkalinewasallusedasthecatalyst[2 ] .Biologicalmethodwasapromisingwayinthatitproducedlittleenviron mentalpollutionanditsreactionconditionsweremild .However,thism…     

Self-assembly of insulated molecular wires of a watersoluble cationic PPV and anionic dendrons

Insulated molecular wires of poly（phenylenevinylene） （PPV） were prepared by wrapping the conjugated backbones with dendrons through a noncovalent approach. It was found that electrostatic interaction between the quaternary ammonium groups of PPV-1 and the carboxylate moieties in dendrons induced the packing of dendrons along PPV-1 conjugated backbones. Absorption and emission spectroscopic examinations in solution and solid film indicated that the PPV-1 backbones adopted a more planar and isolated conformation in the complexes. Furthermore, interchain interactions in the complexes could be greatly reduced, improving the quantum yield of PPV-1.     

Preparation of pH-responsive ceramic composite membranes by grafting acrylic acid onto α-alumina membranes

A pH-responsive ceramic composite membrane was prepared by chemical graft polymerization of acrylic acid （AA） onto the KH-570 modified （x-alumina membrane. The influence of monomer concentration on the gating characteristics of the pH-responsive membrane was investigated. The FT-IR spectrum, contact angle and water filtration rate of the membrane were measured. The monomer concentration was found to have a remarkable effect on the pH-response coefficient and the water filtration rate. In addition, the grafted membrane exhibited fast and reversible response to the pH change in the external solution.     

Pulping performance of transgenic poplar with depressed Caffeoyl-CoA O-methyltransferase

This paper evaluated pulping performance of 3-year-old field-grown transgenic poplar （Populus tremula × Populus alba）. The transgenic poplar with anti-sense CCoAOMT had an about 13% decreased lignin content, in which a slight increment was found in S/G ratio. Chemical analysis showed that the transgenic poplar had significantly less benezene-ethanol extractive than that of control wood, but no significant differences were found in contents of ash, cold water extractive, hot water extractive, 1% NaOH extractive, holocellulose, pentosans and cellulose. Fiber assay demonstrated that down-regulation of CCoAOMT expression improved the fiber quality in transgenic poplar. Kraft pulping showed that lower lignin in transgenic poplar led to remarkable improved pulp quality and increased pulp yield.     

Visible light-induced degradation of organic pollutants using Fe（ll） supported on silica gel as an effective catalyst

Silica gel-supported Fe（ll） （SiOFe） was prepared and used for heterogeneous degradation of sulforhodamine B （SRB） and 2,4-dichlorophenol （DCP） under visible irradiation （λ 〉 420 nm） as an effective catalyst. UV-visible spectra, and infrared Spectrophotometry （IR）, fluorescence, total organic carbon （TOC） and electron spin resonance （ESR） measurements were employed to analyze the photoreaction products. The results showed that SRB could be efficiently degraded by SiOFe/H2O2 system under visible irradiation with 100% decolorization and 72.3% TOC removal after 180 min illumination. The results of ESR and fluorescence measurements indicated that the oxidative process was predominated mainly by the hydroxyl radical （.OH） generated in the system.