Inhibition of caspase-1 slows disease progression in a mouse model of Huntington's disease.

Huntington's disease is an autosomal-dominant progressive neurodegenerative disorder resulting in specific neuronal loss and dysfunction in the striatum and cortex. The disease is universally fatal, with a mean survival following onset of 15-20 years and, at present, there is no effective treatment. The mutation in patients with Huntington's disease is an expanded CAG/polyglutamine repeat in huntingtin, a protein of unknown function with a relative molecular mass of 350,000 (M(r) 350K). The length of the CAG/polyglutamine repeat is inversely correlated with the age of disease onset. The molecular pathways mediating the neuropathology of Huntington's disease are poorly understood. Transgenic mice expressing exon 1 of the human huntingtin gene with an expanded CAG/polyglutamine repeat develop a progressive syndrome with many of the characteristics of human Huntington's disease. Here we demonstrate evidence of caspase-1 activation in the brains of mice and humans with the disease. In this transgenic mouse model of Huntington's disease, expression of a dominant-negative caspase-1 mutant extends survival and delays the appearance of neuronal inclusions, neurotransmitter receptor alterations and onset of symptoms, indicating that caspase-1 is important in the pathogenesis of the disease. In addition, we demonstrate that intracerebroventricular administration of a caspase inhibitor delays disease progression and mortality in the mouse model of Huntington's disease.     

Bid-deficient mice are resistant to Fas-induced hepatocellular apoptosis.

The protein Bid is a participant in the pathway that leads to cell death (apoptosis), mediating the release of cytochrome c from mitochondria in response to signals from 'death' receptors known as TNFR1/Fas on the cell surface. It is a member of the proapoptotic Bcd-2 family and is activated as a result of its cleavage by caspase 8, one of a family of proteolytic cell-death proteins. To investigate the role of Bid in vivo, we have generated mice deficient for Bid. We find that when these mice are injected with an antibody directed against Fas, they nearly all survive, whereas wild-type mice die from hepatocellular apoptosis and haemorrhagic necrosis. About half of the Bid-deficient animals had no apparent liver injury and showed no evidence of activation of the effector caspases 3 and 7, although the initiator caspase 8 had been activated. Other Bid-deficient mice survived with only moderate damage: all three caspases (8 and 37) were activated but their cell nuclei were intact and no mitochondrial cytochrome c was released. We also investigated the effects of Bid deficiency in cultured cells treated with anti-Fas antibody (hepatocytes and thymocytes) or with TNFalpha. (fibroblasts). In these Bid-/- cells, mitochondrial dysfunction was delayed, cytochrome c was not released, effector caspase activity was reduced and the cleavage of apoptosis substrates was altered. This loss-of-function model indicates that Bid is a critical substrate in vivo for signalling by death-receptor agonists, which mediates a mitochondrial amplification loop that is essential for the apoptosis of selected cells.     

A Study of the Behaviour of Denim Cloth Made from Modified Rotor Spun Yarn

This paper described the physical behaviour of three types of denim cloths produced from rotor yarn, ring yarn and modified rotor yarn (prepared by adding conventional twist to rotor yarn) respectively. Experimental work showed that denim cloth produced from the modified rotor yarn has superior properties over conventional rotor yarn in terms of surface texture and appearance,tearing strength and resistance to abrasion.     

Genetic variation in the gene encoding calpain-10 is associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Type 2 or non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) is the most common form of diabetes worldwide, affecting approximately 4% of the world's adult population. It is multifactorial in origin with both genetic and environmental factors contributing to its development. A genome-wide screen for type 2 diabetes genes carried out in Mexican Americans localized a susceptibility gene, designated NIDDM1, to chromosome 2. Here we describe the positional cloning of a gene located in the NIDDM1 region that shows association with type 2 diabetes in Mexican Americans and a Northern European population from the Botnia region of Finland. This putative diabetes-susceptibility gene encodes a ubiquitously expressed member of the calpain-like cysteine protease family, calpain-10 (CAPN10). This finding suggests a novel pathway that may contribute to the development of type 2 diabetes.     

Time series multistep‐ahead predictability estimation and ranking

A predictability index was defined as the ratio of the variance of the optimal prediction to the variance of the original time series by Granger and Anderson (1976) and Bhansali (1989). A new simplified algorithm for estimating the predictability index is introduced and the new estimator is shown to be a simple and effective tool in applications of predictability ranking and as an aid in the preliminary analysis of time series. The relationship between the predictability index and the position of the poles and lag p of a time series which can be modelled as an AR(p) model are also investigated. The effectiveness of the algorithm is demonstrated using numerical examples including an application to stock prices. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

具有时滞和常数收获率种群模型的稳定性

在生态系统中,种群的稳定性一直是研究的重点内容之一,在已有结果的基础上,考虑了一个同时具有时滞和常数收获率的捕食-被捕食模型,通过对特征方程的研究,给出了正平衡点稳定的充分条件.利用Matlab软件给出了种群模型的数值模拟结果,描述出了相平面的相轨线和种群数量随时间变化的曲线,进而更加直观地预测种群的发展趋势.     

墨西哥湾北陆坡区冷泉碳酸盐岩脂肪酸及碳同位素特征

对墨西哥湾北部水深约540m的上陆坡GC185区(GC-F样品)和水深约2200m的下陆坡AC645区(AC-E样品)冷泉碳酸盐岩中的脂肪酸及其单体化合物的δ13C进行了分析.在AC-E和GC-F冷泉碳酸盐岩样品中检测到了30多种脂肪酸化合物,均以主峰碳为C16的低碳数(C20)脂肪酸为主,具偶碳优势,主要包括正构脂肪酸、异构(i-)/反异构(ai-)脂肪酸以及带支链的(iso/anteiso)奇碳数脂肪酸.其中n-C12:0,n-C13:0,i-C14:0和n-C14:0具有明显偏低的δ13C值(-39.99‰~-32.36‰),可能来源于冷泉生物.n-C18:2和C18:1△9具有相同的碳同位素值,可能来源于冷泉渗漏区贝氏硫细菌属/辫硫菌属.支链奇碳数脂肪酸(iso/anteiso-C13~C17)具有特别负的δ13C值(-63.95‰~-44.17‰),明显不同于其他类别脂肪酸的碳同位素值,推断这类化合物是海底渗漏区甲烷厌氧氧化过程中的硫酸盐还原细菌生命活动的产物.     

Hidden magnetic excitation in the pseudogap phase of a high-T(c) superconductor

The elucidation of the pseudogap phenomenon of the high-transition-temperature (high-T(c)) copper oxides-a set of anomalous physical properties below the characteristic temperature T* and above T(c)-has been a major challenge in condensed matter physics for the past two decades. Following initial indications of broken time-reversal symmetry in photoemission experiments, recent polarized neutron diffraction work demonstrated the universal existence of an unusual magnetic order below T* (refs 3, 4). These findings have the profound implication that the pseudogap regime constitutes a genuine new phase of matter rather than a mere crossover phenomenon. They are furthermore consistent with a particular type of order involving circulating orbital currents, and with the notion that the phase diagram is controlled by a quantum critical point. Here we report inelastic neutron scattering results for HgBa(2)CuO(4+δ) that reveal a fundamental collective magnetic mode associated with the unusual order, and which further support this picture. The mode's intensity rises below the same temperature T* and its dispersion is weak, as expected for an Ising-like order parameter. Its energy of 52-56?meV renders it a new candidate for the hitherto unexplained ubiquitous electron-boson coupling features observed in spectroscopic studies.     

Impaired hydroxylation of 5-methylcytosine in myeloid cancers with mutant TET2

TET2 is a close relative of TET1, an enzyme that converts 5-methylcytosine (5mC) to 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) in DNA. The gene encoding TET2 resides at chromosome 4q24, in a region showing recurrent microdeletions and copy-neutral loss of heterozygosity (CN-LOH) in patients with diverse myeloid malignancies. Somatic TET2 mutations are frequently observed in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN), MDS/MPN overlap syndromes including chronic myelomonocytic leukaemia (CMML), acute myeloid leukaemias (AML) and secondary AML (sAML). We show here that TET2 mutations associated with myeloid malignancies compromise catalytic activity. Bone marrow samples from patients with TET2 mutations displayed uniformly low levels of 5hmC in genomic DNA compared to bone marrow samples from healthy controls. Moreover, small hairpin RNA (shRNA)-mediated depletion of Tet2 in mouse haematopoietic precursors skewed their differentiation towards monocyte/macrophage lineages in culture. There was no significant difference in DNA methylation between bone marrow samples from patients with high 5hmC versus healthy controls, but samples from patients with low 5hmC showed hypomethylation relative to controls at the majority of differentially methylated CpG sites. Our results demonstrate that Tet2 is important for normal myelopoiesis, and suggest that disruption of TET2 enzymatic activity favours myeloid tumorigenesis. Measurement of 5hmC levels in myeloid malignancies may prove valuable as a diagnostic and prognostic tool, to tailor therapies and assess responses to anticancer drugs.