孕激素不是形成人子宫内膜核仁管道系统的必备条件

核仁管道系统(Nucleolar Channel System.NCS)是人子宫内膜腺上皮细胞的一种特殊结构。它通常出现于分泌早期,偶尔见于分泌中期的人子宫内膜腺上皮细胞的细胞核,增殖期及分泌晚期的人子宫内膜则未见有 NCS 出     

SET domain protein lysine methyltransferases: Structure, specificity and catalysis

Site- and state-specific lysine methylation of histones is catalyzed by a family of proteins that contain the evolutionarily conserved SET domain and plays a fundamental role in epigenetic regulation of gene activation and silencing in all eukaryotes. The recently determined three-dimensional structures of the SET domains from chromosomal proteins reveal that the core SET domain structure contains a two-domain architecture, consisting of a conserved anti-parallel β-barrel and a structurally variable insert that surround a unusual knot-like structure that comprises the enzyme active site. These structures of the SET domains, either in the free state or when bound to cofactor S-adenosyl-L-homocysteine and/or histone peptide, mimicking an enzyme/cofactor/substrate complex, further yield the structural insights into the molecular basis of the substrate specificity, methylation multiplicity and the catalytic mechanism of histone lysine methylation. Received 10 June 2006; accepted 22 August 2006     

依赖ATP酶的染色体改构复合物与基因转录

阐述了依赖ATP的染色体改构复合物的分类及对基因转录的影响和作用,并介绍了复合物的参与的转录活动.     

Distribution of sister chromatid exchanges in different types of chromatin in the X chromosome ofMicrotus cabrerae

We used the X chromosomes ofMicrotus cabrerae as a model to analyze the distribution of sister chromatid exchanges (SCEs) on different types of chromatin, because of the marked heterogeneity of the heterochromatin in the entire short arm and a portion of the long arm of this chromosome. Computer-simulated distributions, according to an algorithm that makes it possible to modify the distribution on the basis of any possible hypothesis, were compared with real distributions by log-linear models. We found that the frequency of SCEs in different types of heterochromatin was higher than that expected for a random distribution, and located an SCE hot-spot at the junction between euchromatin and heterochromatin. The possible relationship between the distribution of SCEs and base composition or chromatin accessibility are discussed.     

小麦染色质骨架的研究

应用电镜、细胞化学、图像分析和电泳等实验技术，我们发现小麦间期集缩染色质中存在着骨架结构，并称之为染色质骨架．它是有丝分裂末期染色体骨架上的一部分非组蛋白脱离染色体参与核基质的形成后，残留的非组蛋白仍然存在于集缩染色质中的结果；其结构特点是颗粒与纤维网络并存；由二十来种非组蛋白组成，其中包括队动蛋白和ＡＴＰａｓｅ。它与间期核基质和中期染色体骨架保持着非常密切的联系。本文对其发现过程和三者之间的相互关系进行了概述。     

人间充质干细胞成骨分化早期HOX家族基因转录的表观遗传调控

人间充质干细胞(human mesenchymal stem cells,hMSCs)是一类具有多分化潜能的成体干细胞,在体内外可以被人工定向诱导分化成多种不同的细胞.有报道表明,在干细胞分化的过程中,细胞核内染色质发生重塑.HOX家族基因作为一类转录因子,在胚胎发育以及细胞分化过程中发挥着十分重要作用.通过体外定向诱导骨髓间充质干细胞向成骨细胞分化,对比分化前后细胞中HOX家族基因的表达状况,发现HOX家族基因的表达水平在hMSCs早期成骨分化过程中显著下降.进一步的研究发现,HOX家族基因的这种表达变化是由其启动子区的组蛋白H3-Lys9乙酰化和二甲基化水平发生变化而导致的.一系列实验证据表明,在间充质干细胞的成骨分化过程中,HOX家族基因表达受到抑制,而这种抑制作用是与其分化过程中发生的染色质重塑事件密切相关的.