基因结构:更加惊人的发展

有关基因表达的知识大多来自诸如细菌之类简单的原核生物的研究。这些细胞的基因表达过程比较简单。首先一只基因的DNA拷贝成一种对应的信使RNA分子(mRNA);然后,mRNA决定蛋白质的合成,这种蛋白质作为细菌的一种酶或结构组份行使它的功能。但是,高等生物的真核细胞远比细菌复杂,因此,对于那些从事研究真核细胞遗传信使表达的人员来说是事倍功半。现在情况正在起变化。研究人员从揭示真核细胞基因表达的奥秘所作出的努力中开始看到了一些进展。他们发现的情况,显然不同于已了解的细菌基因的表达过程。一些研究人员最近发现,真核细胞的许多基因     

阳痿的根源──一氧化氮起着主要作用吗？

阳痿的根源──一氧化氮起着主要作用吗？ＭｉｃｈａｅｌＳｔｒｏｈ著张随楷译１０年前，一氧化氮几乎被认为在生物学上毫无作用．那时人们仅认识到只是一些低等细菌的能源．但是，如今那些观点都发生了改变．在过去的几年中，科学家们发现一氧化氮（ＮＯ）遍布人的全身，...     

基因“突变”的新方法

希望能研究较高等有机体:如青蛙、老鼠和人的细胞中的基因活动的分子,生物学家们由于无能为力产生基因突变,常常妨碍他们的工作。对于用细菌分析基因功能方面,他们不可能使用标准的遗传工作方法。然而现在研究已经开始用新的方法来弥补这种不足。而且可能很快地在较高等有机体的细胞中析     

Fc receptor but not complement binding is important in antibody protection against HIV

Most successful vaccines elicit neutralizing antibodies and this property is a high priority when developing an HIV vaccine. Indeed, passively administered neutralizing antibodies have been shown to protect against HIV challenge in some of the best available animal models. For example, antibodies given intravenously can protect macaques against intravenous or mucosal SHIV (an HIV/SIV chimaera) challenge and topically applied antibodies can protect macaques against vaginal SHIV challenge. However, the mechanism(s) by which neutralizing antibodies afford protection against HIV is not understood and, in particular, the role of antibody Fc-mediated effector functions is unclear. Here we report that there is a dramatic decrease in the ability of a broadly neutralizing antibody to protect macaques against SHIV challenge when Fc receptor and complement-binding activities are engineered out of the antibody. No loss of antibody protective activity is associated with the elimination of complement binding alone. Our in vivo results are consistent with in vitro assays indicating that interaction of Fc-receptor-bearing effector cells with antibody-complexed infected cells is important in reducing virus yield from infected cells. Overall, the data suggest the potential importance of activity against both infected cells and free virus for effective protection against HIV.     

The Penicillium chrysogenum antifungal protein PAF, a promising tool for the development of new antifungal therapies and fungal cell biology studies

In recent years the interest in antimicrobial proteins and peptides and their mode of action has been rapidly increasing due to their potential to prevent and combat microbial infections in all areas of life. A detailed knowledge about the function of such proteins is the most important requirement to consider them for future application. Our research in recent years has been focused on the low molecular weight, cysteine-rich and cationic antifungal protein PAF from Penicillium chrysogenum, which inhibits the growth of opportunistic zoo-pathogens including Aspergillus fumigatus, numerous plant-pathogenic fungi and the model organism Aspergillus nidulans. So far, the experimental results indicate that PAF elicits hyperpolarization of the plasma membrane and the activation of ion channels, followed by an increase in reactive oxygen species in the cell and the induction of an apoptosis-like phenotype. Detailed knowledge about the molecular mechanism of action of antifungal proteins such as PAF contributes to the development of new antimicrobial strategies that are urgently needed. Received 09 August 2007; received after revision 17 September 2007; accepted 19 September 2007     

制服致病的免疫反应

有益还是有害?这不是一个复杂的问题,但在医学上,并不总能简单地回答.例如,免疫系统既有益又有害.当它识别并杀死外来致病菌和病毒而保护机体免生疾病时,它是有益的;当它排斥移置的心脏及肾脏或攻击机体自身组织而导致多发性硬化,风湿性关节炎等自身免疫疾病时,它是有害的. 仅仅在10年前,免疫学家还不明白正常的免疫反     

克隆化的人类疟疾基因

对编码恶性疟原虫子孢子的主要表面蛋白基因的克隆化打开了疟疾疫苗的道路。由于蚊虫媒介对灭虫的抵抗力及寄生虫本身对药物的抵抗力的增长,伴随而来疟疾的威胁性也在上升,迫切需要制造出一种抗疟疾疫苗,在本期Science(225卷,4662期,1984年)杂志上,有两组研究人员报告了向这一目标迈进的可能一步。他们已     

HRPT2, encoding parafibromin,is mutated in hyperparathyroidism-jaw tumor syndrome

We report here the identification of a gene associated with the hyperparathyroidism-jaw tumor (HPT-JT) syndrome. A single locus associated with HPT-JT (HRPT2) was previously mapped to chromosomal region 1q25-q32. We refined this region to a critical interval of 12 cM by genotyping in 26 affected kindreds. Using a positional candidate approach, we identified thirteen different heterozygous, germline, inactivating mutations in a single gene in fourteen families with HPT-JT. The proposed role of HRPT2 as a tumor suppressor was supported by mutation screening in 48 parathyroid adenomas with cystic features, which identified three somatic inactivating mutations, all located in exon 1. None of these mutations were detected in normal controls, and all were predicted to cause deficient or impaired protein function. HRPT2 is a ubiquitously expressed, evolutionarily conserved gene encoding a predicted protein of 531 amino acids, for which we propose the name parafibromin. Our findings suggest that HRPT2 is a tumor-suppressor gene, the inactivation of which is directly involved in predisposition to HPT-JT and in development of some sporadic parathyroid tumors.