Role of ion flux in the control of c-fos expression

There has been much interest in the biochemical and biophysical processes that couple extracellular signals to alterations in gene expression. While many early events associated with the treatment of cells with growth factors have been described (for example, ion flux and protein phosphorylation), it has proved difficult to establish biochemical links to gene expression. Recently, the study of such genomic control signals has been facilitated by the demonstration that the c-fos proto-oncogene is rapidly and transiently induced by treatment of several cell types with polypeptide growth factors and other growth modulating substances. In one particular system it has been shown that nerve growth factor (NGF) causes a transient induction of c-fos in the phaeochromocytoma cell line PC12, within 15 min. Furthermore, the magnitude of this induction can be modulated with pharmacological agents such as peripheral-type benzodiazepines (BZDs). Thus, the study of c-fos expression in PC12 cells could yield valuable clues to the coupling mechanisms linking cell surface activation to genomic events. Here we demonstrate that c-fos is induced in PC12 cells either by receptor-ligand interaction or by agents or conditions that effect voltage-dependent calcium channels.     

A chemical switch for inhibitor-sensitive alleles of any protein kinase

Protein kinases have proved to be largely resistant to the design of highly specific inhibitors, even with the aid of combinatorial chemistry. The lack of these reagents has complicated efforts to assign specific signalling roles to individual kinases. Here we describe a chemical genetic strategy for sensitizing protein kinases to cell-permeable molecules that do not inhibit wild-type kinases. From two inhibitor scaffolds, we have identified potent and selective inhibitors for sensitized kinases from five distinct subfamilies. Tyrosine and serine/threonine kinases are equally amenable to this approach. We have analysed a budding yeast strain carrying an inhibitor-sensitive form of the cyclin-dependent kinase Cdc28 (CDK1) in place of the wild-type protein. Specific inhibition of Cdc28 in vivo caused a pre-mitotic cell-cycle arrest that is distinct from the G1 arrest typically observed in temperature-sensitive cdc28 mutants. The mutation that confers inhibitor-sensitivity is easily identifiable from primary sequence alignments. Thus, this approach can be used to systematically generate conditional alleles of protein kinases, allowing for rapid functional characterization of members of this important gene family.     

A beta peptide vaccination prevents memory loss in an animal model of Alzheimer's disease

Vaccinations with amyloid-beta peptide (A beta) can dramatically reduce amyloid deposition in a transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. To determine if the vaccinations had deleterious or beneficial functional consequences, we tested eight months of A beta vaccination in a different transgenic model for Alzheimer's disease in which mice develop learning deficits as amyloid accumulates. Here we show that vaccination with A beta protects transgenic mice from the learning and age-related memory deficits that normally occur in this mouse model for Alzheimer's disease. During testing for potential deleterious effects of the vaccine, all mice performed superbly on the radial-arm water-maze test of working memory. Later, at an age when untreated transgenic mice show memory deficits, the A beta-vaccinated transgenic mice showed cognitive performance superior to that of the control transgenic mice and, ultimately, performed as well as nontransgenic mice. The A beta-vaccinated mice also had a partial reduction in amyloid burden at the end of the study. This therapeutic approach may thus prevent and, possibly, treat Alzheimer's dementia.     

小鼠胚胎干细胞对病毒性心肌炎的影响

目的使用小鼠验证这样一个假设:外界病毒浸入诱发心肌炎时,机体的干细胞将进入心脏提高心肌的抗病毒能力。方法雄性BALB/c小鼠分为三组:小鼠胚胎干细胞对照组(ES),心肌炎病毒组(EM CV)及EM-CV加ES治疗组。通过尾静脉注射,令小鼠立即感染病毒。小鼠死亡率,炎性细胞浸润及心肌坏死等为观察指征。干细胞的游走及分化等通过免疫荧光法来验证。结果给予干细胞后的小鼠的存活率明显高于生理盐水对照组,炎性细胞侵润及心肌坏死亦明显低于生理盐水对照组。免疫荧光法表明,干细胞进入心肌并分化成新的心肌细胞。结论干细胞能明显提高心肌炎小鼠的存活率,减少心肌组织的坏死。同时,亦证明当心脏遭受病毒的侵入后,干细胞通过某种机理修复或再生心肌细胞,从而提高组织的抗病毒能力。