Aminoglycoside antibiotics: old drugs and new therapeutic approaches

Aminoglycoside antibiotics kill bacteria by binding to the ribosomal decoding site and reducing fidelity of protein synthesis. Since the discovery of these natural products over 50 years ago, aminoglycosides have provided a mainstay of antibacterial therapy of serious Gram-negative infections. In recent years, aminoglycosides have become important tools to study molecular recognition of ribonucleic acid (RNA). In an ingenious exploitation of the aminoglycosides’ mechanism of action, it has been speculated that drug-induced readthrough of premature stop codons in mutated messenger RNAs might be used to treat patients suffering from certain heritable genetic disorders. Received 23 January 2007; received after revision 25 February 2007; accepted 29 March 2007     

Targeted inhibition of Livin resensitizes renal cancer cells towards apoptosis

Cancer cells are typically characterized by apoptosis deficiency. In order to investigate a possible role for the anti-apoptotic livin gene in renal cell cancer (RCC), we analyzed its expression in tumor tissue samples and in RCC-derived cell lines. In addition, we studied the contribution of livin to the apoptotic resistance of RCC cells by RNA interference (RNAi). Livin gene expression was detected in a significant portion of RCC tumor tissue specimens (13/14, 92.9%) and tumor-derived cell lines (12/15, 80.0%). Moreover, targeted inhibition of livin by RNAi markedly sensitized RCC cells towards proapoptotic stimuli, such as UV irradiation or the chemotherapeutic drugs etoposide, 5-fluorouracil, and vinblastine. These effects were specific for livin expressing tumor cells. We conclude that livin can contribute significantly to the apoptosis resistance of RCC cells. Targeted inhibition of livin could represent a novel therapeutic strategy to increase the sensitivity of renal cancers towards pro-apoptotic agents. Received 30 November 2006; received after revision 22 February 2007; accepted 20 March 2007     

几种诱导昆虫细胞RNA干扰质粒的构建和效果比较

构建了四种可以在昆虫细胞中表达形成dsRNA的质粒,比较了其诱导RNA干扰,抑制目标基因———绿色荧光蛋白(GFP)基因表达的效果.四种质粒都不同程度地抑制了质粒介导的GFP表达,其中尤以单个果蝇hsp70启动子表达反向重复序列,并带有杆状病毒AcMNPV增强子hr5的质粒效果最佳,使GFP表达量下降到原来的3.9%.当用于抑制由杆状病毒介导的GFP表达时,以两个相向排列的AcMNPV ie1基因启动子的构造有明显的抑制效果.这些结果对于在昆虫细胞中有效地利用RNA i研究基因功能有参考意义.     

The roles of poly(ADP-ribose)-metabolizing enzymes in alkylation-induced cell death

Poly(ADP-ribose) (PAR) has been identified as a DNA damage-inducible cell death signal upstream of apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF). PAR causes the translocation of AIF from mitochondria to the nucleus and triggers cell death. In living cells, PAR molecules are subject to dynamic changes pending on internal and external stress factors. Using RNA interference (RNAi), we determined the roles of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerases-1 and -2 (PARP-1, PARP-2) and poly(ADP-ribose) glycohydrolase (PARG), the key enzymes configuring PAR molecules, in cell death induced by an alkylating agent. We found that PARP-1, but not PARP-2 and PARG, contributed to alkylation-induced cell death. Likewise, AIF translocation was only affected by PARP-1. PARP-1 seems to play a major role configuring PAR as a death signal involving AIF translocation regardless of the death pathway involved. Received 7 November 2007; received after revision 19 December 2007; accepted 21 December 2007 O. Cohausz, C. Blenn: These two authors contributed equally to this work.     

具有催化活性的RNA

本文简要介绍了具有催化活性ＲＮＡ的发现过程、作用机理及研究进展。这一发现对于人们重新认识生物催化剂的本质，追溯基因的演化，进一步研究ＲＮＡ的功能、深入理解生命的起源等重大理论问题，都具有十分重要的意义。     

模板甲基化水平对鼠肝RNA聚合酶体外转录活性的影响

利用３Ｈ－ＵＴＰ同位素参入法，研究了大鼠肝细胞ＲＮＡ聚合酶在核内外的转录活性，结果表明：在细胞核内的转录活性明显低于在无核抽提物中的转录活性。利用自身的ＤＮＡ模板，优于利用外加的ＤＮＡ模板。并比较了不同ＤＮＡ甲基化水平的模板对ＲＮＡ聚合酶体外转录活性的影响，发现模板的甲基化水平与其体外转录水平呈反相关。     

乙烯调控果实成熟的分子生物学研究进展

乙烯是一种可促进果实成熟的内原植物激素．随着分子生物学的发展，已克隆出几个与乙烯合成有关的果实成熟基因，并获得了反义基因转化植株。本文简要综述了用基因工程手段调控果实的成熟，基因工程技术对认识果实成熟机理的贡献，以及乙烯调控果实成熟的分子机理．     

RNAi-mediated knockingdown of rlpk2 gene retarded soybean leaf senescence

Leaf senescence that occurs in the last stage of leaf development is a genetically programmed process. It is very significant to elucidate the molecular mechanisms that control the initiation and progression of leaf senescence and the way the senescence signal is transduced. In a previous study on artificially induced soybean leaf senescence, we cloned a novel gene designated rlpk2 (Genbank Accession No. AY687391) that encodes a leucine-rich repeat (LRR) receptor like protein kinase. The expression level of rlpk2 gene was shown to be strongly up-regulated during both the natural leaf senescence process in this report and the artificially induced primary-leaf-senescence process in our previous work. The RNA interference (RNAi)-mediated knocking-down of rlpk2 dramatically retarded both the natural and nutrient deficiency-induced leaf senescence in transgenic soybean. The transgenic leaves showed more cell-aggregated surface structure and higher content of chlorophyll.     

Polarization of immunity induced by direct injection of naked sequence-stabilized mRNA vaccines

In the context of developing a safe genetic vaccination strategy we tested and studied globin-stabilized mRNA-based vaccination in mice. This vaccination strategy has the advantages of genetic vaccination (easy production, adaptability to any disease and inexpensive storage when lyophilized), but not the drawbacks of DNA vaccination (long-term uncontrolled expression of a transgene, possibility of integration into the host genome and possible induction of anti-DNA antibodies). We report here that injection of naked -globin untranslated region (UTR)-stabilized mRNA coding for -galactosidase is followed by detectable translation in vivo. In addition, we show that such a vaccination strategy primes a T helper 2 (Th2) type of response which can be enhanced and shifted to a Th1-type immune response by application of recombinant granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor 1 day after mRNA injection. Our data demonstrate that the administration of globin UTR-stabilized mRNA is a versatile vaccination strategy that can be manipulated to fit the requirement of antiviral, antibacterial or antitumor immunity.Received 14 June 2004; received after revision 19 July 2004; accepted 9 August 2004