Neurofibrillary tangles, amyotrophy and progressive motor disturbance in mice expressing mutant (P301L) tau protein

Neurofibrillary tangles (NFT) composed of the microtubule-associated protein tau are prominent in Alzheimer disease (AD), Pick disease, progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and corticobasal degeneration (CBD). Mutations in the gene (Mtapt) encoding tau protein cause frontotemporal dementia and parkinsonism linked to chromosome 17 (FTDP-17), thereby proving that tau dysfunction can directly result in neurodegeneration. Expression of human tau containing the most common FTDP-17 mutation (P301L) results in motor and behavioural deficits in transgenic mice, with age- and gene-dose-dependent development of NFT. This phenotype occurred as early as 6.5 months in hemizygous and 4.5 months in homozygous animals. NFT and Pick-body-like neuronal lesions occurred in the amygdala, septal nuclei, pre-optic nuclei, hypothalamus, midbrain, pons, medulla, deep cerebellar nuclei and spinal cord, with tau-immunoreactive pre-tangles in the cortex, hippocampus and basal ganglia. Areas with the most NFT had reactive gliosis. Spinal cord had axonal spheroids, anterior horn cell loss and axonal degeneration in anterior spinal roots. We also saw peripheral neuropathy and skeletal muscle with neurogenic atrophy. Brain and spinal cord contained insoluble tau that co-migrated with insoluble tau from AD and FTDP-17 brains. The phenotype of mice expressing P301L mutant tau mimics features of human tauopathies and provides a model for investigating the pathogenesis of diseases with NFT.     

The influence of MuLV and SV40 viruses on senescence in mouse fibroblasts in vitro

Summary Mouse cells productively infected with Moloney leukaemia virus (MuLV) underwent senescence in a manner similar to control cells, although they recovered more readily as an established line. Rapidly growing cell lines were also obtained following simian virus 40 (SV40) infection of senescent cells. However, superinfection of senescent MuLV-producing cells by SV40 led to slower growing cells with a reduced output of infectious MuLV.     

Pten regulates neuronal soma size: a mouse model of Lhermitte-Duclos disease.

Somatic inactivation of PTEN occurs in different human tumors including glioblastoma, endometrial carcinoma and prostate carcinoma. Germline mutations in PTEN result in a range of phenotypic abnormalities that occur with variable penetrance, including neurological features such as macrocephaly, seizures, ataxia and Lhermitte-Duclos disease (also described as dysplastic gangliocytoma of the cerebellum). Homozygous deletion of Pten causes embryonic lethality in mice. To investigate function in the brain, we used Cre-loxP technology to selectively inactivate Pten in specific mouse neuronal populations. Loss of Pten resulted in progressive macrocephaly and seizures. Neurons lacking Pten expressed high levels of phosphorylated Akt and showed a progressive increase in soma size without evidence of abnormal proliferation. Cerebellar abnormalities closely resembled the histopathology of human Lhermitte-Duclos disease. These results indicate that Pten regulates neuronal size in vivo in a cell-autonomous manner and provide new insights into the etiology of Lhermitte-Duclos disease.     

Sympatric speciation in palms on an oceanic island

The origin of species diversity has challenged biologists for over two centuries. Allopatric speciation, the divergence of species resulting from geographical isolation, is well documented. However, sympatric speciation, divergence without geographical isolation, is highly controversial. Claims of sympatric speciation must demonstrate species sympatry, sister relationships, reproductive isolation, and that an earlier allopatric phase is highly unlikely. Here we provide clear support for sympatric speciation in a case study of two species of palm (Arecaceae) on an oceanic island. A large dated phylogenetic tree shows that the two species of Howea, endemic to the remote Lord Howe Island, are sister taxa and diverged from each other well after the island was formed 6.9 million years ago. During fieldwork, we found a substantial disjunction in flowering time that is correlated with soil preference. In addition, a genome scan indicates that few genetic loci are more divergent between the two species than expected under neutrality, a finding consistent with models of sympatric speciation involving disruptive/divergent selection. This case study of sympatric speciation in plants provides an opportunity for refining theoretical models on the origin of species, and new impetus for exploring putative plant and animal examples on oceanic islands.     

Kemp elimination catalysts by computational enzyme design

The design of new enzymes for reactions not catalysed by naturally occurring biocatalysts is a challenge for protein engineering and is a critical test of our understanding of enzyme catalysis. Here we describe the computational design of eight enzymes that use two different catalytic motifs to catalyse the Kemp elimination-a model reaction for proton transfer from carbon-with measured rate enhancements of up to 10(5) and multiple turnovers. Mutational analysis confirms that catalysis depends on the computationally designed active sites, and a high-resolution crystal structure suggests that the designs have close to atomic accuracy. Application of in vitro evolution to enhance the computational designs produced a >200-fold increase in k(cat)/K(m) (k(cat)/K(m) of 2,600 M(-1)s(-1) and k(cat)/k(uncat) of >10(6)). These results demonstrate the power of combining computational protein design with directed evolution for creating new enzymes, and we anticipate the creation of a wide range of useful new catalysts in the future.     

结核分枝杆菌H37Ra FadD3基因克隆与表达研究

为探索FadD3在结核分枝杆菌胆固醇分解代谢中的作用,从结核分枝杆菌H37Ra的全基因组中克隆了FadD3基因,并在大肠杆菌BL21中表达.根据NCBI公布的结核分枝杆菌全基因组序列设计一对引物,PCR扩增FadD3基因.PCR扩增产物与克隆载体pGEM3Zf(+)进行拼接,得到重组基因FadD3-pGEM3Zf(+),再转化到大肠杆菌DH5ɑ得到克隆.PCR检测阳性克隆,再与表达载体pYUB28b拼接,得到重组质粒FadD3-pYUB28b.阳性重组质粒亚克隆到大肠杆菌BL21宿主菌进行自体诱导表达.经过表型筛选及鉴定分析,已成功构建了重组表达质粒FadD3-pYUB28b.SDS-PAGE和Western blotting证实,重组基因FadD3-pYUB28b在大肠杆菌BL21中有表达产物.实验结果表明,以pYUB28b为表达载体,FadD3重组基因在大肠杆菌表达体系于温度分别为18,28 ℃有包涵体形式的表达蛋白,在37 ℃无表达产物.