Cloning of a representative genomic library of the human X chromosome after sorting by flow cytometry

A library of 50,000 recombinants representative of the human X chromosome has been constructed. Human X chromosomes were physically separated using a fluorescence-activated cell sorter. The DNA was purified from the chromosomes, digested to completion with the restriction enzyme EcoRI and cloned into the phage lambda gtWES.lambda B. The X-derived nature of the recombinants was confirmed by hybridization to rodent/human cell line DNA containing only the human X chromosome. Such libraries will be particularly useful for the investigation of genetic diseases such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy, where the basic defect has not been elucidated, and of neoplasia, where several specific chromosomal anomalies, particularly for the leukaemias, have been identified.     

基于J2EE构架的药物与靶点综合数据库及其查询系统（DTDB）的设计与实现

本文扼要介绍了作者收集、整理目前已发现的所有药物及其作用靶点的相关信息,并整合现代分子生物、药物、化学等的最新进展,采用业界领先的Java的j2ee框架,建立一个综合的数据库系统的过程。同时在该综合数据库系统的基础上,嵌入药物分子和靶点的对接技术,使得我们的系统除用于一般的药物分子和靶点查询之外,还能实现基于分子反向对接的虚拟筛选和通过药物分子寻找其作用的潜在蛋白靶点。本数据库暂时只能本机访问,对外访问地址尚在建设中。     

水平基因转移应用于污染治理的研究进展

随着经济的发展,有毒有害难降解污染物引起的环境问题变得越来越严重。对于这类污染物的处理多采用生化处理方法,其中生物强化技术是目前较好的方法,但是它也存在强化效果差、处理效率低等问题。国外研究人员发现：遗传物质可在不同的生物个体之间或单个细胞的内部细胞器之间自发进行交流,称为水平基因转移。在污染体系中,降解基因的转移能够使土著菌获得降解新功能,从而强化对难降解污染物的处理,这就为现有的生物强化技术提供了一种解决难降解污染问题的新思路。介绍了水平基因转移的概念以及将其应用于污染治理中的研究进展,并分析了技术发展前景。     

A role for mitochondria in NLRP3 inflammasome activation

An inflammatory response initiated by the NLRP3 inflammasome is triggered by a variety of situations of host 'danger', including infection and metabolic dysregulation. Previous studies suggested that NLRP3 inflammasome activity is negatively regulated by autophagy and positively regulated by reactive oxygen species (ROS) derived from an uncharacterized organelle. Here we show that mitophagy/autophagy blockade leads to the accumulation of damaged, ROS-generating mitochondria, and this in turn activates the NLRP3 inflammasome. Resting NLRP3 localizes to endoplasmic reticulum structures, whereas on inflammasome activation both NLRP3 and its adaptor ASC redistribute to the perinuclear space where they co-localize with endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria organelle clusters. Notably, both ROS generation and inflammasome activation are suppressed when mitochondrial activity is dysregulated by inhibition of the voltage-dependent anion channel. This indicates that NLRP3 inflammasome senses mitochondrial dysfunction and may explain the frequent association of mitochondrial damage with inflammatory diseases.     

A novel method for improving cerussite sulfidization

Evaluation of flotation behavior, solution measurements, and surface analyses were performed to investigate the effects of chloride ion addition on the sulfidization of cerussite in this study. Micro-flotation tests indicate that the addition of chloride ions prior to sulfidization can significantly increase the flotation recovery of cerussite, which is attributed to the formation of more lead sulfide species on the mineral surface. Solution measurement results suggest that the addition of chloride ions prior to sulfidization induces the transformation of more sulfide ions from pulp solution onto the mineral surface by the formation of more lead sulfide species. X-ray diffraction and energy-dispersive spectroscopy indicate that more lead sulfide species form on the mineral surface when chloride ions are added prior to sulfidization. These results demonstrate that the addition of chloride ions prior to sulfidization can significantly improve the sulfidization of cerussite, thereby enhancing the flotation performance.     

一株Kefir源乳酸菌MA2的鉴定及对大鼠肠道菌群的影响

对从西藏Kefir粒中分离出来的乳酸菌MA2进行了形态学、生理生化和16SrDNA分子生物学鉴定,确定其为植物乳杆菌．酸和胆盐耐受性实验显示,植物乳杆菌MA2在pH2．0、胆盐浓度为0．3％的情况下具有较好的耐受能力．动物实验证明,植物乳杆菌MA2显著促进了双歧杆菌和乳酸菌的生长,调节了肠道菌群的平衡,是一株潜在的、具有实际应用价值的益生菌．     

铜铁共催化烯烃串联加成/环化合成异喹啉二酮

发展了一种铜/铁协同催化的N-烯丙酰基苯甲酰胺串联加成/环化/偶联合成叔烷基化异喹啉二酮的反应.在廉价金属Cu/Fe协同催化作用下,烷基偶氮试剂介导N-丙烯酰基-N-烷基氯代苯甲酰胺发生串联加成/环化,区域选择性地切断C-Cl键而发生进一步交叉偶联,以41%~78%的产率合成了一系列远端双重α-官能团化叔烷基取代的异喹啉二酮骨架.该反应首次利用卤代苯甲酰胺去芳构化而形成的超共轭自由基为偶联体与偶氮试剂发生交叉偶联,选择性地在碳-卤键位置构建碳（叔）-碳键.此偶联策略将为深入拓展叔烷基-芳基交叉偶联提供新的思路.     

Anthropogenic ocean acidification over the twenty-first century and its impact on calcifying organisms

Today's surface ocean is saturated with respect to calcium carbonate, but increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations are reducing ocean pH and carbonate ion concentrations, and thus the level of calcium carbonate saturation. Experimental evidence suggests that if these trends continue, key marine organisms--such as corals and some plankton--will have difficulty maintaining their external calcium carbonate skeletons. Here we use 13 models of the ocean-carbon cycle to assess calcium carbonate saturation under the IS92a 'business-as-usual' scenario for future emissions of anthropogenic carbon dioxide. In our projections, Southern Ocean surface waters will begin to become undersaturated with respect to aragonite, a metastable form of calcium carbonate, by the year 2050. By 2100, this undersaturation could extend throughout the entire Southern Ocean and into the subarctic Pacific Ocean. When live pteropods were exposed to our predicted level of undersaturation during a two-day shipboard experiment, their aragonite shells showed notable dissolution. Our findings indicate that conditions detrimental to high-latitude ecosystems could develop within decades, not centuries as suggested previously.     

Prion-like behaviour and tau-dependent cytotoxicity of pyroglutamylated amyloid-β

Extracellular plaques of amyloid-β and intraneuronal neurofibrillary tangles made from tau are the histopathological signatures of Alzheimer's disease. Plaques comprise amyloid-β fibrils that assemble from monomeric and oligomeric intermediates, and are prognostic indicators of Alzheimer's disease. Despite the importance of plaques to Alzheimer's disease, oligomers are considered to be the principal toxic forms of amyloid-β. Interestingly, many adverse responses to amyloid-β, such as cytotoxicity, microtubule loss, impaired memory and learning, and neuritic degeneration, are greatly amplified by tau expression. Amino-terminally truncated, pyroglutamylated (pE) forms of amyloid-β are strongly associated with Alzheimer's disease, are more toxic than amyloid-β, residues 1-42 (Aβ(1-42)) and Aβ(1-40), and have been proposed as initiators of Alzheimer's disease pathogenesis. Here we report a mechanism by which pE-Aβ may trigger Alzheimer's disease. Aβ(3(pE)-42) co-oligomerizes with excess Aβ(1-42) to form metastable low-n oligomers (LNOs) that are structurally distinct and far more cytotoxic to cultured neurons than comparable LNOs made from Aβ(1-42) alone. Tau is required for cytotoxicity, and LNOs comprising 5% Aβ(3(pE)-42) plus 95% Aβ(1-42) (5% pE-Aβ) seed new cytotoxic LNOs through multiple serial dilutions into Aβ(1-42) monomers in the absence of additional Aβ(3(pE)-42). LNOs isolated from human Alzheimer's disease brain contained Aβ(3(pE)-42), and enhanced Aβ(3(pE)-42) formation in mice triggered neuron loss and gliosis at 3 months, but not in a tau-null background. We conclude that Aβ(3(pE)-42) confers tau-dependent neuronal death and causes template-induced misfolding of Aβ(1-42) into structurally distinct LNOs that propagate by a prion-like mechanism. Our results raise the possibility that Aβ(3(pE)-42) acts similarly at a primary step in Alzheimer's disease pathogenesis.     

Human gamma-chain genes are rearranged in leukaemic T cells and map to the short arm of chromosome 7

Three gene families that rearrange during the somatic development of T cells have been identified in the murine genome. Two of these gene families (alpha and beta) encode subunits of the antigen-specific T-cell receptor and are also present in the human genome. The third gene family, designated here as the gamma-chain gene family, is rearranged in murine cytolytic T cells but not in most helper T cells. Here we present evidence that the human genome also contains gamma-chain genes that undergo somatic rearrangement in leukaemia-derived T cells. Murine gamma-chain genes appear to be encoded in gene segments that are analogous to the immunoglobulin gene variable, constant and joining segments. There are two closely related constant-region gene segments in the human genome. One of the constant-region genes is deleted in all three T-cell leukaemias that we have studied. The two constant-region gamma-chain genes reside on the short arm of chromosome 7 (7p15); this region is involved in chromosomal rearrangements identified in T cells from individuals with the immunodeficiency syndrome ataxia telangiectasia and observed only rarely in routine cytogenetic analyses of normal individuals. This region is also a secondary site of beta-chain gene hybridization.