Influence of PrP 106―126 on expression of laminin and fibronectin in astrocyte

Astrogliosis is a hallmark of prion disease, but the metabolic alterations of astrocytes remain poorly documented. A synthetic peptide corresponding to amino acid 106-126 of the human prion protein （PrP） has been shown to be toxic to neurons. In this study, the effects of PrP 106-126 on astrocytes were investigated in vitro. The proliferation of astrocytes was significantly （P 〈 0.05） increased when grown in media conditioned with PrP 106-126 （80 μmol/L） from microglia. The expression of laminin （LN） and fibronectin （FN） was examined at both mRNA and protein levels. The results showed that exposure of astrocytes to PrP 106-126 enhanced the expression of LN and FN. The increase of FN in astrocyte cultures required cytokines previously released by activated microglia. This study reveals the expression of LN and FN affected by PrP106-126.     

Cloning, sequencing and phylogenic analysis of duck prion gene

Duck prion gene was cloned and sequenced. Similar to mammalian prion protein (PrP), duck prion is encoded by a single exon of a single copy in genome, which was confirmed by Southern blot analysis. All of the structural features of mammalian PrP were also identified in the duck PrP. Compared with mammalian PrP, it exhibited a 30 % of general similarity. When compared with chicken PrP, it showed a higher homology of 97%. A phylogenetic tree was constructed to trace evolution of prion gene in animals.     

Thymidine kinase gene mutation leads to reduced virulence of pseudorabies virus

To explore correlation between the tk gene structure of pseudorabies virus (PRV) and its virulence, to study the effect of the gene mutation on PRV biological properties, and to investigate mechinism of reduced virulence, thymidine kinase (TK)-deficient mutant of pseudorabies virus strain Hubei (PRV HB) was isolated by selection for resistance to 5-bromodeoxyuridine. The tk genes of PRV HB and its TK^― mutant were cloned and sequenced. 1587 base pairs of the tk gene and flanking regions of wild-type (wt) virus were sequenced, which included an open reading frame (ORF) of 1098 bp encoding a protein of 366 amino acids. The ORF contained two 137-bp repeated sequences, which were connected by an adenosine. 1458 bp of the tk and flanking regions of TK^― mutant were sequenced. Analysis of the tk gene sequence of TK^― mutant indicated that one of 137 bp repeated sequence and the connecting adenosine in the tk gene of the wt virus was deleted and a repeated sequence of 8 nucleotides (GCGCGCC) was inserted. All other nucleotides of TK^―mutant were identical to that of wt virus. Deletion and insertion of the nucleotide sequence resulted in a frameshift and a premature chain termination, and the resultant TK protein was not active. Analysis of the amino acid sequence revealed that TK protein of PRV HB contained the conserved consensus sequence of herpesviral TKs and an additional conserved-DHR-motif. The results of this work also indicated that TK^― mutant was genetically stable. Compared to PRV HB, virulence of TK^― mutant was greatly decreased. Mice vaccinated with TK^― mutant were completely protected against a lethal challenge with virulent PRV (HB).     

Effects of niacin on nitric oxide synthase expression in rat lungs exposed to silica

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of niacin in diet on the expression of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) in rat lungs of the animal model of silicosis established by direct tracheal instillation of silica particles into rat lungs surgically. The niacin concentration in serum was analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) protein in paraffin-embedded lung sections was determined by streptavidin/peroxidase (SP) staining. Quantitative analysis by Image-Pro Plus was also performed on the expression of iNOS. The results showed that niacin concentration in serum of the niacin-treated rats was significantly higher than that in the control and silica-treated rats. After 7 days of silica instillation, iNOS integrated optical density (IOD) in rat lungs and total NOS and iNOS activities in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) in silica-treated rats rose by 273420.75, 2.61 units/mL and 1.89 units/mL respectively, when compared with those in the control rats. Niacin treatment significantly reduced silica-induced iNOS IOD in rat lung tissues and total NOS and iNOS activities in BALF supernatant by 248292.35, 1.50 units/mL and 0.91 units/mL, respectively, as compared with those in silica-treated rats. Therefore, niacin can effectively attenuate the pathological expression of NOS in rat lung tissues induced by silica particles.     

Inhibitory effect of the adenovirus type 5 E1A protein expressed in the yeast system of the human tumor cell growth

Adenovirus 5 type E1A as a tumor suppressor gene can inhibit tumor growth and enhance the censitivity of chemotherapy and radiotherapy.E1A have the ability to integrate into the host genome,resulting in long-time expres-sion that induces Rb gene inactivation and animal cells im-mortalization.This prompted us to select the E1A protein for treatment of cancer in order to overcome the limitations of E1A gene therapy.Thus,we firstly comstructed E1A eu-caryotic expression vector (pPIC9/E1A),transformated the pichia pastoris yeast cells(GS115) and screened the high-expressing recombinant strains.The positive yeast strains were cultured in the shake flask,and induced for 3d.The crude E1A protein was purified using two steps of col-umu chromatography on HiTrap Q and HiTrap SP.The pu-rified E1A protein was identified by SDS-PAGE and Western blot.E1A protein was mostly located at cellular unclear when Cheriot delivered E1A protein into cells.The analysis in vitro indicated that the E1A protein arrested LN686 cell cycle at G2/M phase,and significantly inhibited the growth of LN686 tumor cells.The current studies firstly provided an experimental basis to further develop E1A protein for tumor treatment.     

Effect of Thrombin on the Apoptosis of Hippocampal Neurons in vitro

Hippocampal neurons were treated by thrombin and thrombin receptor activating peptides (TRAP). Cell survival rate was decreased in a dose-dependent manner by MTT assay. The numbers of apoptotic cell and apoptotic rate of hippocampal neurons treated by different concentrations of thrombin were increased in a dose-dependent manner by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT) mediated dUTP-biotin nick end-labeling (TUNEL) method and Flow Cytometry. When the concentration of thrombin is 40 U/mL, TUNEL positive cells and apoptotic rate of hippocampal neurons reached peak value, were 27. 3 4.0 and (29.333 4.633 ) %, respectively. Immunocytochemistry assay show that Bcl-2 protein expression was down- regulated and Bax protein expression was up-regulated with the concentration of thrombin increased. TRAP can mimic the effect of thrombin to induce apoptosis on hippocampal neurons. These data demonstrated that thrombin induced hippocampal neuron apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner through activating protease-activated protein-1 (PAR-1). The change in expression of Bcl-2 and Bax was related with the effect of high concentration thrombin induced apoptosis on hippocampal neurons.     

Overexpression of PITPNM3 promotes hepatocellular carcinoma cell metastasis

A previous study indicated that C–C chemokine(C–C motif)ligand 18(CCL18)is capable of inducing tumor cell invasion and metastasis by interacting with receptor membrane-associated phosphatidylinositol transfer protein 3(PITPNM3)in breast cancer cells.The present study aims to investigate the correlation between the PITPNM3 expression and metastasis in hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC).Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction and Western blot were performed to detect the expression pattern of PITPNM3 in patient samples and HCC cell lines.Wound-healing and transwell chamber assays were performed to assess the migration and invasiveness of HCC cells,and the activation of the signaling protein downstream of PITPNM3 was also detected by Western blot and immunofluorescence.The results revealed that PITPNM3 was upregulated in HCC tissue compared to matched normal liver tissue.Silencing the expression of PITPNM3 by specific siRNAs markedly attenuated the invasive and metastatic abilities of HCC cells,whereas the upregulation of PITPNM3 significantly increased HCC cell mobility.Furthermore,inhibiting the expression of PITPNM3 suppressed the activation of Pyk2,FAK,and Src,while overexpression of PITPNM3enhanced the phosphorylation of FAK and Src in HCC cells.Besides,suppression of Pyk2 can also impair the clustering of integrin.These results imply that PITPNM3 is a vital determinant of HCC migration and invasion.     

Interaction of hepatitis B virus with tumor suppressor gene p53: its significance and biological function

The mechanism of the interaction of hepatitis B virus (HBV) with tumor suppressor p53 and its role in the hepatocar-cinogenesis have been studied by PCR-directed sequencing, gel shift assays and in situ ultraviolet cross-linking assay. The biological function of the interaction of HBV with p53 gene was investigated by co-transfection of chloramphenicol acetyltransferase ( CAT) reporter gene. p53 and HBV DNA. and quantitative PCR. Among the 16 primary hepatocellular carcinoma (PHC) samples. 13 were HBV-DNA positive. 10 HBxAg positive and 9 p53 protein positive. The p53 gene point mutation was found in 5 samples, one of which had a G to T substitution located at codon 249. After analyzing the HBV genome by a computer program, a p53 response element binding sequence was found in HBV genome at upstream of enhancer I. from 1047 to 1059 nucleotides. This sequence could specifically bind to p53 protein, increase p53 protein accumulation in the PHC cells and stimulate the transactivating activity of p53 and HBV replication . The results also revealed that HBxAg could combine with p53 protein to form a complex in the cells and enhance CAT expression. Immunocytochemical staining showed that p53 protein complex was located in the cytoplasm and the process of p53 entry to nuclei was. in part, blocked. From our results, we conclude that the mutation of p53 gene at codon 249 is infrequent in HBV-associated PHC. the DNA-protein binding between HBV and p53. and the protein-protein binding between HBxAg and p53 might lead to the reduction or inactivation of p53 protein, which in turn resulting in HBV-associated hepatocarcinogenesis.     

Advances in research on Shadoo,shadow of prion protein

Prion plays a central role in the pathogenesis of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, also known as prion diseases. However, the biology of the protein and the pathophysiology of these diseases remain largely unknown. It has been speculated that additional factor or factors may be involved in the pathogenesis of prion diseases. Recently, a PrP-like protein, recognized as shadow of prion protein （Shadoo, Sho）, is thought to be an interesting candidate factor because both the prion protein and Sho have been shown to have overlapping expression patterns and shared functions. Therefore, extensive study of Sho may advance our understanding of the enigmatical biology of prion and prion diseases. In this review, recent studies on Sho asso- ciated with prion diseases and functions are summarized. These studies have demonstrated the functional importance of Sho, and they further need to investigate its biological roles in prion diseases.     

Cloning, sequencing and expression of the coat protein gene of Cocksfoot mottle virus

The coat protein (CP) gene of Cocksfoot mottle virus (CfMV) was amplified by RT-PCR and inserted into expression vector pGEX-4T-1, and the resulting plasmid was designated as pGEXCfMV-JANCP. The fusion protein GST-CP was expressed in BL21 (DE3) pLysS after IPTG induction. The results of SDS-PAGE and Western blot analysis showed that the CfMV-CP gene was efficiently expressed in E.coli BL21 (DE3) pLysS through IPTG induction and the 56.0 kD protein was obtained.     

Cloning and Expression of Recombinant Human Thymosin in Yeast Pichia pastoris

The gene of human thyrnosin alpha 1 (hT(1)was synthesised according to favorite eodons of Pichia pastoris by PCR. N-terminal 28 amino acid residues of 40S ribosomal protein (RP), S24Ethat is N-aeetylserine were replaced by hT( 1 for the constitution of hT(1-RP fusion gene in order to express acetyllated thyrnosin α1. And also, the Asn-Gly bond was designed to faeiliate isolation of the target protein. The fusion gene was cloned into the expression vector, pPIC/gK. The constructs were transformed into HIS4 mutant strain GS115 by eleetroporation. Both SDS-PAGE analysis and Western blot analysis indicated that the fusion protein was expressed successfully.     

Cloning, sequencing and expression of the coat protein gene of Cocksfoot mottle virus

The coat protein (CP) gene of Cocksfoot mottle virus (CfMV) was amplified by RT-PCR and inserted into expression vector pGEX-4T-1, and the resulting plasmid was designated as pGEXCfMV-JANCP. The fusion protein GST-CP was expressed in BL21 (DE3) pLysS after IPTG induction. The results of SDS-PAGE and Western blot analysis showed that the CfMV-CP gene was efficiently expressed in E. coli BL21 (DE3) pLysS through IPTG induction and the 56.0 kD protein was obtained.     

Knockdown of <Emphasis Type="Italic">MRP4</Emphasis> by lentivirus-mediated siRNA improves sensitivity to adriamycin in adriamycin-resistant acute myeloid leukemia cells

Chemotherapy remains the standard treatment for acute myeloid leukemia;however,the emergence of drug resistance is a major hurdle in the successful treatment of leukemia.The expression of multidrug resistance-associated protein 4(MRP4)induces re- sistance in the adriamycin-resistant acute myeloid leukemia cell line,K562/ADR.The aim of this study was to investigate whether knockdown of MRP4 by lentivirus-mediated siRNA could improve the sensitivity of K562/ADR cells to adriamycin.Five lenti- virus-mediated short hairpin RNAs(lv-shRNAs-MRP4)were designed to trigger the gene silencing RNA interference(RNAi) pathway.The efficiency of lentivirus-mediated siRNA infection into K562/ADR cells was determined using fluorescence mi- croscopy to observe lentivirus-mediated GFP expression.MRP4 expression in infected K562/ADR cells was evaluated by real- time PCR and Western blot analysis.The MTS assay was used to measure cell viability and flow cytometry was used to measure apoptosis.The transfection efficiency of K562/ADR cells was over 80 percent.The gene silencing efficacy of lv-shRNA1-MRP4 was superior to the other constructs.Infection of K562/ADR cells with lv-shRNA1-MRP4 led to strong inhibition of MRP4 mRNA and protein expression.Combined treatment with lv-shRNA1-MRP4 and adriamycin decreased cell growth and increased apoptosis compared to treatment with lv-shRNA1-MRP4 or adriamycin alone.These data indicate that in K562/ADR cells MRP4 is involved in drug resistance mechanisms and that lentivirus-mediated knockdown of MRP4 may enhance sensitivity to adriamycin.     

Homoharringtonine induces apoptosis of endothelium and down－regulates VEGF expression of K562 cells

Homoharringtonine (HHT) has currently been used successfully in the treatment of acute and chronic myeloid leukemias and has been shown to induce apoptosis of different types of leukemic cells in vitro. Emerging evidence suggests that angiogenesis may play an important role in hematological malignancies, such as leukemia. However, whether HHT can relieve leukemia by anti-angiogenesis is still unknown. We investigated the anti-angiogenesis potential of HHT with the human umbilical vein endothelial cell line (ECV304) and leukemic cell line (K562) in vitro. Cellular proliferation was determined by MTT assay and apoptosis was analyzed by flow cytometry, The mRNA expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) was assessed by RT-PCR and VEGF protein production was detected by Western blot. Inhibition of cell proliferation and induction of apoptosis by HHT were discovered in ECV304 cells, and appeared in a dose- and time-dependent manner, Also, treatment with HHT caused down-regulation of VEGF mRNA expression in K562 cells in similar dose- and time-dependent manner and inhibition of VEGF protein production in K562 cells in response to the enhancing concentration of HHT. The results demonstrated that HHT could also induce apoptosis in endothelium and down-regulate VEGF expression in K562 cells. In conclusion, we believe HHT has anti-angiogenesis potential and speculate that HHT might exert its anti-leukemia effects via reduction of angiogenesis.     

Expression and self-assembly of Heterocapsa circularisquama RNA virus-like particles synthesized in Pichia pastoris

Heterocapsa circularisquama RNA virus(HcRNAV) is the first single-stranded RNA virus to be characterized that infects dinoflagellates.The ability of HcRNAV coat protein(HcRNAV CP) to self-assemble into virus-like particles(VLPs) in vitro suggested that heterologous expression was possible,and that the VLPs might be ideal nanocontainers for the targeted delivery of genes and chemicals.In this paper,we report the expression of a codon-optimized HcRNAV 109 CP gene in Pichia pastoris and the production of self-assembled HcRNAV VLPs using large-scale fermentation.The HcRNAV 109 CP gene was synthesized according to the codon preference of P.pastoris and cloned into a pPICZA vector.The recombinant plasmid pPICZA-CPsyns was transformed into P.pastoris by electroporation.The resulting yeast colonies were screened by PCR and analyzed for protein expression by SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis.After large-scale fermentation,the yield of HcRNAV CPsyns reached approximately 2.5 g L 1 within 4 d.The HcRNAV VLPs were purified using PEG precipitation followed by cesium chloride density gradient ultracentrifugation,and were subsequently analyzed using UV spectrophotometry and transmission electron microscopy.Fluorescence dye-labeled myoglobin was loaded into the cages of the HcRNAV VLPs and the encapsulation was confirmed by fluorescence spectroscopy.The results point to the possible utilization in pharmacology or nanotechnology of HcRNAV VLPs produced by P.pastoris fermentation.     

Stepwise prediction and statistical screening:B-cell epitopes on neuraminidase of human avian H_5N_1 virus

The B-cell epitopes of virus are associated with the antiviral drug and the vaccine screening. As the nucleotide sequences of neuraminidase (NA) of stain GD-01-06 were sequenced, we predicted the α-helix and β-fold structure and the indexes of the flexible regions of secondary structure of NA with methods of the Hydrophilicity plot by Kyte-Doolittle, the Surface probability plot by Emini and the Antigenic index by Jameson-Wolf, and then screened statistically the parameters to predict B-cell epitopes by the Hierarchical cluster and the Bivariate correlation and the quartiles with SPSS 13.0. The impact of variation of amino acids in NA on its epitopes was analyzed. The predictive results were evaluated by Wu’s Antigenic Index and SWISS-MODEL. We found that the most possible epitopes on NA were located within or nearby its N-terminal Nos. 120―137, 81―84, 408―415, 273―282, 429―432, 356―368, 46―55, 146―155, 341―350 and 198―209, which were the dominant regions of NA epitopes. Peptide 120―137 including the glycoprotein domain (NGT126―128) was first chosen as the B-cell epitopes on NA. NA in H5N1 strain isolated after 2003 lacked in No. 53 amino acid (I), resulting in an increase in the surface flexible region of NA in GD-01-06 and an enlargement to their epitope regions (VEP46―48→ VEPISNTNFL46―55). Conclusively, prediction of the B-cell epitopes on the NA based on multiple parameters is useful for researches on the molecular immunology and drug screening and immuno-prophylaxis. A deletion of No. 53 amino acid (I) in NA in strain GD-01-06 might increase its antigenicity.     

Cloning and Expression of BTB/POZ-Domain from Zebrafish gcl （Germ Cell-Less）, and Appraisement of Its Polyclonal-Antibody

In this study, a recombinant pET28c-gBTB/POZ was constructed by cloning the sequence of the BTB/POZ domain of the zebrafish gcl （germ cell-less） into the expression vector pET28c, and pET28c-gBTB/POZ was transformed into BL21（DE3） pLysS strain to express the fusion protein for the preparation of antibody. Polyclonal-antibody against the GCL-BTB/POZ domain was prepared by immunizing rabbit with the fusion protein, and the Western Blot and immuno-histochemical analysis were performed to detect the quantity of the polyclonal-antibody. The result indicates that the polyclonal-antibodies were of good quantity and specification. Further studies will be performed to demonstrate the function and expression pattern of the GCL protein during the development process of zebrafish with the polyclonal-antibody.     

Conformational change of glutathione-S-transferase by its co-expression with prion domain of yeast Ure2p

Ure2 protein from Saccharomyces cerevisisae has a changeable structure similar to that ofrnammalian prion protein. Its N-terminal is the prion domain (PrD) consisting of 65 amino acids which plays a critical role in yeast prion development. In this study, PrD gene was recombinated with glutathione-S-transferase(GST) gene, and a soluble GST-PrD(sGST-PrD) fusion protein was expressed in E. coli. sGST-PrD could spontaneously polymerize into amyloid fibrils in vitro, displaying typical β-sheet-type structure; it had increased resistance to proteinase K and exhibited amvloid-like optical properties. Moreover, the aggregated GST-PrD(aGST-PrD) could induce sGST-PrD to aggregate into fibrils. These results indicate that PrD could change the conformation of GST moiety in a recombinant protein with PrD to form a prion-like chimeric protein, which proves that PrD has the ability to mediate a prion-like conversion of other proteins fused with it.     

Inducible nitric oxide synthase expression is related to angiogenesis,bcl—2 and cell proliferation in hepatocellular carcinoma

In this study,we examined the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase(iNOS) and vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF) by immunohistochemical staining in 76 tissue sections collected from bepa-tocellular carcinoma(HCC) patients undergoing hepatectomy.Microvascular density (MVD) was determined by counting endothelial cells immunostained using anti-CD34 antibody.We performed DNA-flow cytometric analyses to elucidate the impact of iNOS and VEGF expression on the cell cycle of HCC.Most of the HCC cells that invaded stroma were markedly immunostained by iNOS antibody.The iNOS stain intensity of the liv-er tissue close to the tumor edge was stronger than that of HCC tissue,and the strongest was the hepatocytes colser to the tumor tissue.However,iNOS expression in 10 normal hepatic samples was undetectable.VEGF positive expression ratio was 84.8% in iNOS positive expression cases,and the ratio was 35.3% in negative cases.There was significant correlation(P=0.000) between iNOS and VEGF expression.Moreover,iNOS expression was significantly associated with bcl-2 and MVD,but without p53 expression.DNA-flow cytometric analyses showed that combined expression of iNOS and VEGF had significant impact on the cell cycle in HCC.PI(Proliferating Index) and SPF(S-phase fraction)in the combined positive expression of iNOS and VEGF group was significantly higher than that in the combined negative group.The present findings suggested that iNOS expression was significantly associated with angiogenesis,bcl-2 and cell proliferation of HCC.