Oligomer-mediated modulation of hTERT alternative splicing induces telomerase inhibition and cell growth decline in human prostate cancer cells

The expression of telomerase in human cells is strictly controlled by multiple mechanisms including transcription and alternative splicing of telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT). In this study, we demonstrated the possibility of modulating the hTERT splicing pattern in DU145 human prostate carcinoma cells through the use of 2'-O-methyl-RNA phosphorothioate oligonucleotides targeting the splicing site located between intron 5 and exon 6 in the hTERT pre-mRNA. An 18-h oligonucleotide exposure induced a decrease in the full-length hTERT transcript and a concomitant increase in the alternatively spliced transcripts, which resulted in significant inhibition of telomerase catalytic activity. Moreover, exposure to the R7 oligomer (which induced the most pronounced modulation of the hTERT splicing pattern and the greatest telomerase inhibition) caused a marked reduction in DU145 cell growth and the induction of apoptosis starting 2 days after treatment. Such data support the concept that down-regulation of hTERT expression can cause short-term effects on tumour cell growth, which are telomere-shortening independent.     

Apoptotic cell death in the lactating mammary gland is enhanced by a folding variant of α-lactalbumin

Apoptosis is essential to eliminate secretory epithelial cells during the involution of the mammary gland. The environmental regulation of this process is however, poorly understood. This study tested the effect of HAMLET (human p3fa8p2xw2e/xxlarge945.gif" alt="agr" align="BASELINE" BORDER="0">-lactalbumin made lethal to tumor cells) on mammary cells. Plastic pellets containing HAMLET were implanted into the fourth inguinal mammary gland of lactating mice for 3 days. Exposure of mammary tissue to HAMLET resulted in morphological changes typical for apoptosis and in a stimulation of caspase-3 activity in alveolar epithelial cells near the HAMLET pellets but not more distant to the pellet or in contralateral glands. The effect was specific for HAMLET and no effects were observed when mammary glands were exposed to native a-lactalbumin or fatty acid alone. HAMLET also induced cell death in vitro in a mouse mammary epithelial cell line. The results suggest that HAMLET can mediate apoptotic cell death in mammary gland tissue.Received 30 January 2004; received after revision 5 March 2004; accepted 16 March 2004     

Role of Akt/protein kinase B in the activity of transcriptional coactivator p300

Akt/protein kinase B is a downstream target of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) pathway and plays a critical role in promotion of cell survival. The function of transcriptional coactivator p300 is required by many transcription factors to either activate or repress gene expression. Here, we show that induction of PI3K enhances the metabolic stability of endogenous p300 protein. On the other hand, repression of PI3K by LY294002 induces p300 degradation through the 26S proteasome pathway and impedes the transcriptional activity of the coactivator. In addition, Akt interacts with the coactivator and the activity of Akt is required to maintain the steady-state level of p300. Our study provides a new insight into the molecular mechanisms by which the critical concentration of p300 protein is regulated and suggests a role for Akt in control of various cellular activities through the transcriptional coactivator p300.     

普及性音乐素质教育中的评估标准及强化措施

由探索“素质”的词义人手论述“音乐素质”的内涵,针对音乐学习与教育中的某些现实问题进行探讨,强调后天的教育和学习对于提高音乐素质的意义和作用;尝试提出适合于普通高校学生实际的音乐素质评估最低标准;提出强化学生音乐素质的若干措施。     

Expression of nerve growth factor-like polypeptides and immunoreactivity related to the two types of neurotrophin receptors in earthworm tissues

Nerve growth factor (NGF) belongs by sequence homology to the neurotrophins, a family of proteins binding the same p75 receptor and closely related members of the Trk family of receptor tyrosine kinases. Fundamental in the vertebrate nervous system, neurotrophin signals have also been suggested as essential for relatively complex nervous systems occurring in invertebrate species that live longer than Caenorhabditis elegans and Drosophila melanogaster. Mammalian neurotrophins have been found to influence invertebrate neuronal growth. However, there are only a few data on the presence of molecules related to neurotrophin signalling components in invertebrates. Our studies provide evidence that analogues of neurotrophins and neurotrophin receptors are expressed in Eisenia foetida earthworms. In particular, NGF-like and Trk-like immunoreactive proteins are both expressed in the nervous system, whereas p75-like positivity identifies tubular structures associated with dorsal pores that are involved in the earthworm response to mechanical irritation or stress. Received 12 November 2001; received after revision 8 January 2002; accepted 8 January 2002     

Recombinant expression of perchloric acid-soluble protein reduces cell proliferation

Perchloric acid-soluble protein (PSP) may play an important role in the regulation of cellular physiological functions because it has been highly conserved throughout evolution; however, this role has not been well elucidated. In previous reports, we suggested that PSP regulates cell proliferation. In this study, we examined the effect of PSP expression on proliferation of the normal rat kidney cell line NRK-52E, the rat hepatocyte cell line RLN-10, and the rat hepatoma cell line dRLh-84. Cells transfected with pcDNA-sense-PSP (pcDNA-S-PSP) over-expressed PSP mRNA and protein, and cell proliferation of the transfected cells was suppressed compared with that of cells transfected with pcDNA-empty (pcDNA-E). Cell viability of pcDNA-S-PSP-transfected cells was similar to that of pcDNA-E-transfected cells. Thus, over-expression of PSP suppresses cell proliferation without any influence on cell viability. These findings are the first to report an inhibitory activity of PSP on cell proliferation. Received 27 April 2001; received after revision 8 June 2001; accepted 8 June 2001     

Cell cycle regulation by the B-Myb transcription factor

The expression of genes required for progression through the cell cycle is highly modulated through a regulatory axis containing the E2F transcription factor and retinoblastoma tumour suppressor protein families. One of the genes regulated through this mechanism encodes the B-Myb transcription factor, which has been shown to be critically required for early embryonal development in the mouse. Transcriptional activity of B-Myb is substantially enhanced in S phase through modification by cyclin A/cdk2, and the evidence points squarely to the major role being played by B-Myb during this phase of the cell cycle. We discuss in this review recent findings suggesting that B-Myb is a multifunctional protein that has, in addition to its transcriptional properties, the ability to interact directly with other regulators of the cell cycle.     

半(p,r)-预不变凸函数及其规划的最优性条件

首先在半预不变凸函数和(p,r)-预不变凸函数的基础上,定义了一类新的广义凸函数半(p,r)-预不变凸函数,它既是半预不变凸函数又是(p,r)-预不变凸函数的推广形式,从而是熟知的凸函数和不变凸函数的推广形式.接着,讨论了半(p,r)-预不变凸函数的一些有用性质.最后利用半(p,r)-预不变凸(凹)函数讨论了目标函数和约束函数均不可微的多目标规划问题,从而获得两个最优性条件.     

CyclinE反义RNA抑制乳腺癌细胞增殖及P21wafl转录水平

利用反义RNA抑制基因表达的技术,发现cyclinE基因在表达受到抑制后,乳腺癌细胞增殖速率和致瘤性明显下降,结果还表明cyclinE基因的抑制,可使p21wafl的转录水平上升,由此说明cyclinE的异常与乳腺癌的发生有着密切的关系,在细胞周期调控上p21wafl的转录受到cyclinE表达水平的明显影响.     

正交试验优化基因工程菌(E.Coli/p WSY)产黑色素培养基的组成

用正交试验优化了基因工程菌（Ｅ．ｃｏｌｉ／ｐ ＷＳＹ）产黑色素培养基的组成。配方为：蛋白胨１％、葡萄糖０．２％、硫酸铵０．５％、磷酸氢二钾０．７％、磷酸二氢钾０．３％、氯化钠０．５％，硫酸镁０．０１％，为实现微生物发酵法大规模生产黑色素提供了重要数据。