Genetic and developmental basis of evolutionary pelvic reduction in threespine sticklebacks

Hindlimb loss has evolved repeatedly in many different animals by means of molecular mechanisms that are still unknown. To determine the number and type of genetic changes underlying pelvic reduction in natural populations, we carried out genetic crosses between threespine stickleback fish with complete or missing pelvic structures. Genome-wide linkage mapping shows that pelvic reduction is controlled by one major and four minor chromosome regions. Pitx1 maps to the major chromosome region controlling most of the variation in pelvic size. Pelvic-reduced fish show the same left-right asymmetry seen in Pitx1 knockout mice, but do not show changes in Pitx1 protein sequence. Instead, pelvic-reduced sticklebacks show site-specific regulatory changes in Pitx1 expression, with reduced or absent expression in pelvic and caudal fin precursors. Regulatory mutations in major developmental control genes may provide a mechanism for generating rapid skeletal changes in natural populations, while preserving the essential roles of these genes in other processes.     

Function of Rieger syndrome gene in left-right asymmetry and craniofacial development.

Rieger syndrome, an autosomal dominant disorder, includes ocular, craniofacial and umbilical abnormalities. The pitx2 homeobox gene, which is mutated in Rieger syndrome, has been proposed to be the effector molecule interpreting left-right axial information from the early embryonic trunk to each organ. Here we have used gene targeting in mice to generate a loss-of-function allele that would be predicted to result in organ randomization or isomerization. Although pitx2-/- embryos had abnormal cardiac morphogenesis, mutant hearts looped in the normal direction. Pitx2-/- embryos had correctly oriented, but arrested, embryonic rotation and right pulmonary isomerism. They also had defective development of the mandibular and maxillary facial prominences, regression of the stomodeum and arrested tooth development. Fgf8 expression was absent, and Bmp4 expression was expanded in the branchial-arch ectoderm. These data reveal a critical role for pitx2 in left-right asymmetry but indicate that pitx2 may function at an intermediate step in cardiac morphogenesis and embryonic rotation.     

T-box gene tbx5 is essential for formation of the pectoral limb bud

The T-box genes Tbx4 and Tbx5 have been shown to have key functions in the specification of the identity of the vertebrate forelimb (Tbx5) and hindlimb (Tbx4). Here we show that in zebrafish, Tbx5 has an additional early function that precedes the formation of the limb bud itself. Functional knockdown of zebrafish tbx5 through the use of an antisense oligonucleotide resulted in a failure to initiate fin bud formation, leading to the complete loss of pectoral fins. The function of the tbx5 gene in the development of zebrafish forelimbs seems to involve the directed migration of individual lateral-plate mesodermal cells into the future limb-bud-producing region. The primary defect seen in the tbx5-knockdown phenotype is similar to the primary defects described in known T-box-gene mutants such as the spadetail mutant of zebrafish and the Brachyury mutant of the mouse, which both similarly exhibit an altered migration of mesodermal cells. A common function for many of the T-box genes might therefore be in mediating the proper migration and/or changes in adhesive properties of early embryonic cells.     

细小病毒H-1NS1基因在荷人肝癌裸小鼠几种组织及移植瘤中的转录和表达

为了解细小病毒H－1 NS1基因在移植瘤与荷瘤裸小鼠部分正常组织中转录和表达的差异性，采用RT－PCR和免疫组织化学的方法，对细小病毒H－1的NS1基因在NB－324K和QGY－7703细胞以及荷人肝癌裸小鼠的移植瘤及部分正常组织中的转录和表达进行了检测，NS1选择性地在人肝癌移植瘤中的高表达结果与细小病毒H－1的复制情况一致，这为细小病毒在活体内抑瘤作用提供了证据。     

Novel primitive lymphoid tumours induced in transgenic mice by cooperation between myc and bcl-2

The putative oncogene bcl-2 is juxtaposed to the immunoglobulin heavy chain (Igh) locus by the t(14;18) chromosomal translocation typical of human follicular B-cell lymphomas. The bcl-2 gene product is not altered by the translocation, but its expression is deregulated, presumably by the Igh enhancer E mu. Constitutive bcl-2 expression seems to augment cell survival, as infection with a bcl-2 retrovirus enables certain growth factor-dependent mouse cell lines to maintain viability when deprived of factor. Furthermore, high levels of the bcl-2 product can protect human B and T lymphoblasts under stress and thereby confer a growth advantage. Mice expressing a bcl-2 transgene controlled by the Igh enhancer accumulate small non-cycling B cells which survive unusually well in vitro but do not show a propensity for spontaneous tumorigenesis. In contrast, an analogous myc transgene, designed to mimic the myc-Igh translocation product typical of Burkitt's lymphoma and rodent plasmacytoma, promotes B lymphoid cell proliferation and predisposes mice to malignancy in pre-B and B lymphoid cells. Previous experiments have suggested that bcl-2 can cooperate with deregulated myc to improve in vitro growth of pre-B and B cells. Here we describe a marked synergy between bcl-2 and myc in doubly transgenic mice. E mu-bcl-2/myc mice show hyperproliferation of pre-B and B cells and develop tumours much faster than E mu-myc mice. Suprisingly, the tumours derive from a cell with the hallmarks of a primitive haemopoietic cell, perhaps a lymphoid-committed stem cell.     

大豆黄酮在D半乳糖致衰老小鼠肝组织氧化损伤中的保护作用

探讨大豆黄酮在D半乳糖致衰老小鼠肝组织氧化损伤中的保护机制．将昆明系小鼠随机分成D半乳糖致衰老对照组、生理盐水对照组、大豆黄酮大剂量组、大豆黄酮小剂量组．检测肝脏中MDA的含量,SOD和GSH—Px的活性,Bcl-2和Bax的转录水平,以及Caspase-3的表达水平．实验显示,大豆黄酮可减少D半乳糖致衰老小鼠肝脏中MDA的含量,并可提高肝组织中SOD,GSH-Px的活性;能明显增加Bcl-2的转录水平,降低Bax的转录水平和Caspase-3的表达水平;且大豆黄酮大剂量组和小剂量组在Bcl-2的转录水平上表现出一定的剂量效应．结果表明,大豆黄酮能清除肝组织内过多的氧自由基,进而抑制过氧化反应后的细胞凋亡损伤,对衰老小鼠的肝组织具有一定的保护作用．