Consortium for the Human Information and Neurocognitive Endophenotype （CHINE） in mainland China： An example from neurological soft signs for neuropsychiatric disorders

Increasing efforts to identify alternate expressions of neuropsychiatric disorders that are broader than the DSM or ICD diagnostic criteria needed to diagnose them reflects a growing consensus that multidimensional expressions of neuropsychiatric disorders may advance the search for underlying etiological or modulatory factors. Endophenotypic research can be considered to be one of the most promising strategies to bridge the gap between genomic complexity and the phenotypic heterogeneity observed in neuropsychiatric disorders. However, the majority of endophenotype studies were limited to our western counterparts, very little has been done and initiated by scholars in mainland China. In this paper, we urge the need to establish a potential central consortium for endophenotypes to study neuropsychiatric disorders in mainland China. In particular, we illustrate a potential example of neurological soft signs in following the steps for building the consortium.     

精氨酸等物质对紫色红曲菌产Monacolin K及红曲色素的影响

基于前期的非靶向代谢组学研究结果,在红曲菌发酵液原有营养成分的基础上添加精氨酸、L-苹果酸、D-葡萄糖、烟酰胺、α-酮戊二酸、苯丙氨酸、赖氨酸、焦磷酸硫胺素、黄素单核苷酸、L-乳酸等差异代谢物,对发酵第8天和第15天的红曲色素以及Monacolin K的产量进行了分析。结果表明:精氨酸、苯丙氨酸、赖氨酸以及黄素单核苷酸的添加对Monacolin K产量的提高效果较好,推测氨基酸类物质的添加对Monacolin K产量有促进效果;其中精氨酸添加后效果最为显著,Monacolin K产量约为对照组的2.2～3.7倍。不同含量的烟酰胺对Monacolin K有不同的影响,低含量具有促进作用;而高含量则表现为抑制作用。赖氨酸、苯丙氨酸以及黄素单核苷酸对红曲色素提升效果较好,其中黄素单核苷酸可使红曲色素产量约提高至对照组的1.5～3.0倍。     

cAMP initiates early phase neuron-like morphology changes and late phase neural differentiation in mesenchymal stem cells

The intracellular second messenger cAMP is frequently used in induction media to induce mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) into neural lineage cells. To date, an understanding of the role cAMP exerts on MSCs and whether cAMP can induce MSCs into functional neurons is still lacking. We found cAMP initiated neuron-like morphology changes early and neural differentiation much later. The early phase changes in morphology were due to cell shrinkage, which subsequently rendered some cells apoptotic. While the morphology changes occurred prior to the expression of neural markers, it is not required for neural marker expression and the two processes are differentially regulated downstream of cAMP-activated protein kinase A. cAMP enabled MSCs to gain neural marker expressions with neuronal function, such as, calcium rise in response to neuronal activators, dopamine, glutamate, and potassium chloride. However, only some of the cells induced by cAMP responded to the three neuronal activators and further lack the neuronal morphology, suggesting that although cAMP is able to direct MSCs towards neural differentiation, they do not achieve terminal differentiation.     

On network-based kernel methods for protein-protein interactions with applications in protein functions prediction

Predicting protein functions is an important issue in the post-genomic era. This paper studies several network-based kernels including local linear embedding (LLE) kernel method, diffusion kernel and laplacian kernel to uncover the relationship between proteins functions and protein-protein interactions (PPI). The author first construct kernels based on PPI networks, then apply support vector machine (SVM) techniques to classify proteins into different functional groups. The 5-fold cross validation is then applied to the selected 359 GO terms to compare the performance of different kernels and guilt-by-association methods including neighbor counting methods and Chi-square methods. Finally, the authors conduct predictions of functions of some unknown genes and verify the preciseness of our prediction in part by the information of other data source.     

Suppression of polyglutamine-mediated neurodegeneration in Drosophila by the molecular chaperone HSP70

At least eight inherited human neurodegenerative diseases are caused by expansion of a polyglutamine domain within the respective proteins. This confers dominant toxicity on the proteins, leading to dysfunction and loss of neurons. Expanded polyglutamine proteins form aggregates, including nuclear inclusions (NI), within neurons, possibly due to misfolding of the proteins. NI are ubiquitinated and sequester molecular chaperone proteins and proteasome components, suggesting that disease pathogenesis includes activation of cellular stress pathways to help refold, disaggregate or degrade the mutant disease proteins. Overexpression of specific chaperone proteins reduces polyglutamine aggregation in transfected cells, but whether this alters toxicity is unknown. Using a Drosophila melanogaster model of polyglutamine disease, we show that directed expression of the molecular chaperone HSP70 suppresses polyglutamine-induced neurodegeneration in vivo. Suppression by HSP70 occurred without a visible effect on NI formation, indicating that polyglutamine toxicity can be dissociated from formation of large aggregates. Our studies indicate that HSP70 or related molecular chaperones may provide a means of treating these and other neurodegenerative diseases associated with abnormal protein conformation and toxicity.     

藏药抗肝癌活性研究

本实验采用快速溶剂萃取法制备收集100种常用藏药的环己烷、乙酸乙酯和甲醇提取物,并运用MTT法对两个肝癌细胞株HepG2和SMMC-7721进行各提取物的抗肝癌活性测试,同时选用L-02细胞来评价其体外毒性.抗肝癌活性结果显示100种常用藏药中17种藏药材有良好的抗肝癌活性,其IC50值均小于150 μg/mL,其中马兜铃、蓝翠雀花、甘青青兰、掌叶橐吾的乙酸乙酯提取物显示出显著的抗肝癌活性,其IC50值均小于50 μg/mL,但马兜铃乙酸乙酯提取物对正常肝细胞L-02显示出一定的毒性.在进一步的抗HepG2肝癌活性验证中,结果显示蓝翠雀花乙酸乙酯提取物和甘青青兰乙酸乙酯提取物具有显著的抗肝癌活性,两者在抗HepG2肝癌细胞株活性中皆显示出显著的时效和量效关系.运用倒置显微镜以及Hoechst 33258荧光染色法对经过蓝翠雀花乙酸乙酯提取物或甘青青兰乙酸乙酯提取物作用的HepG2细胞形态进行观察,结果提示蓝翠雀花和甘青青兰乙酸乙酯提取物可能是通过诱导HepG2细胞凋亡而显示抗癌活性.     

A novel abl protein expressed in Philadelphia chromosome positive acute lymphoblastic leukaemia

The Philadelphia (Ph) chromosome breakpoints in chronic myelocytic leukaemia are clustered on chromosome 22 band q11 in a 5.8-kilobase (kb) region designated bcr. The c-abl protooncogene is translocated from chromosome 9 band q34 into bcr and the biochemical consequence of this molecular rearrangement is the production of an abnormal fusion protein bcr-abl p210 with enhanced protein-tyrosine kinase activity compared to the normal p145 c-abl protein. The Ph chromosome translocation is also seen in some acute lymphoblastic leukaemias with B-cell precursor phenotypes some of which have bcr rearrangement (bcr+) and some do not (bcr-). We present evidence that the Ph+, bcr- leukaemias are associated with a novel p190 abl kinase. We propose that acute lymphoblastic leukaemias that are bcr+, p210+ are probably lymphoid blast crises following a clinically silent chronic phase of chronic myelocytic leukaemia arising in multipotential stem cells whereas bcr-, p190+ cases are de novo acute lymphoblastic leukaemias arising in more restricted precursors.     

Altered DNA ligase I activity in Bloom's syndrome cells

Cells from patients with Bloom's syndrome, a rare disease associated with increased cancer frequency, exhibit cytological abnormalities. These include increased numbers of homologous chromatid interchange figures and sister-chromatid exchanges, together with abnormally slow replicon-fork progression and retarded rate of DNA-chain maturation, and suggest that the primary defect in this recessive disorder affects S-phase DNA replication. DNA ligases and DNA polymerases have long been prime candidates for abnormality in Bloom's syndrome, but various studies of DNA polymerases in Bloom's syndrome cells have disclosed no abnormalities. Evidence is presented here, as in the accompanying paper from a different laboratory, for the existence in Bloom's syndrome of an abnormality of the DNA ligase involved in semi-conservative DNA replication.