Inducing dopaminergic differentiation of expanded rat mesencephalic neural stem cells by ascorbic acid in vitro

Ascorbic acid (AA) induced differentiation of neural stem cells (NSCs) into dopaminergic (DAergic) neurons is reported.NSCs derived from rat mesencephalon were maintained and expanded in a defined medium containing mitogens of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and epidermal growth factor (EGF).Compared with the control, ascorbic acid treatment led to more DAergic neuronal differentiation as indicated by the expression of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and dopamine transporter (DAT), which are specific markers of dopamine neurons.AA induction also enhanced expression of Nurr1 and Shh.PD98059, an inhibitor of mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (MAPK/ERK) pathway, could block AA-induced Nurr1, TH and DAT mRNA expression.The results might suggest a new strategy to provide enough dopaminergic cells for the therapy of Parkinson's disease (PD), and Nurr1 and ERK signaling pathway might participate in the AA-induced DAergic differentiation.     

p38丝裂原活化蛋白激酶在小鼠T细胞增殖中的作用

目的:了解p38丝裂原活化蛋白激酶(MAPK)在ConA刺激下小鼠T细胞增殖中的作用。方法:以活体染料羧基荧光素乙酰乙酸琥珀酰亚胺酯染色,建立了在多克隆刺激剂刀豆蛋白A(ConA)刺激下评价小鼠T细胞增殖的模型,通过流式细胞术分析p38丝裂原活化蛋白激酶的特异性抑制剂SB203580在不同剂量、不同时间对T细胞增殖的作用,并应用CellQuest和SPSS10.0 forW indows软件分析增殖细胞各代所占比例和增殖指数(PI)。结果:羧基荧光素乙酰乙酸琥珀酰亚胺酯染色分析显示,随着SB203580浓度从0.5μmol/L逐渐增至15.0μmol/L,T细胞增殖逐渐减弱,以15.0μmol/L SB203580的抑制作用最为明显,呈剂量依赖关系(r=-0.97,P<0.01);SB203580浓度增加至20.0μmol/L时,细胞大量死亡。选用SB203580最佳浓度(15.0μmol/L),随时间从24 h至72 h递增,SB203580对T细胞增殖的抑制作用逐渐增强,以72 h抑制作用最为明显,84~96 h后,抑制作用逐渐减弱。结论:p38 MAPK在ConA刺激的T细胞增殖中起着重要的作用。     

Overinhibition of Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Inducing Tau Hyperphosphorylation

To reveal the relationship between mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and tau phosphorylation, we used different concentration of PD98059, an inhibitor of MEK (MAPK kinase), to treat mice neuroblastma (N2a) cell line for 6 h. It showed that the activity of MAPK decreased in a dose-dependent manner. But Western blot and immunofluorescence revealed that just when the cells were treated with 16μmol/L PD98059, tau was hyperphosphorylated at Ser396/404 and Ser199/202 sites. We obtained the conclusion that overinhibited MAPK induced tau hyperphosphorylation at Ser396/404 and Ser199/202 sites.     

卵巢自身胰岛素抵抗放大其颗粒细胞增殖功能

探讨在卵巢自身胰岛素抵抗情况下,颗粒细胞增殖能力、雌激素合成能力的改变。方法是以猪卵巢颗粒细胞作为体外研究对象,利用磷酯酰肌醇-3激酶(PI-3K)特异性抑制剂——渥曼青霉素(Wortamanni,WT)人工诱导胰岛素抵抗的细胞模型。结果显示:①处理组细胞的葡萄糖摄取能力明显低于正常组细胞的葡萄糖摄取能力(756.25±158.81cpm/2×104cellsvs1144.75±81.09cpm/2×104cells,p<0.05);②处理组细胞中有丝分裂激活蛋白激酶1(MAPK1)和MAPK2蛋白的表达水平高于对照组,而该蛋白磷酸化p-MAPK蛋白的表达低于对照组;③处理组卵巢细胞MAPK、增殖细胞核抗原(PCNA)、血管内皮生长因子(VEGF)mRNA的表达(相对灰度)升高;④在胰岛素抵抗的状态下,雌激素以及芳香化酶的表达显著上调。结论为卵巢颗粒细胞的自身胰岛素抵抗,明显提高其分裂增殖能力和雌激素合成效能,该机制可能是PCOS卵巢在超排过程中易发卵巢过度刺激综合的重要机制。     

MAPK信号转导通路与HCMV感染

MAPK信号转导通路参与了HCMV的感染过程.MAPK通路中的ERK和p38通路在HCMV复制周期中起重要作用,它通过磷酸化转录因子引起病毒及宿主相关基因的转录,从而调控HCMV的复制.HCMV的包膜糖蛋白及其他多种基因表达产物可通过不同的机制以一定时序激活MAPK通路,调节自身及宿主细胞相应基因表达,以利于病毒完成其生活周期,并参与病毒的致病过程.深入研究MAPK信号转导通路与HCMV感染的关系可为治疗HCMV感染引起的疾病提供新的治疗靶点.     

Differential regulation of collagen types I and III expression in cardiac fibroblasts by AGEs through TRB3/MAPK signaling pathway

Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) play an important role in collagen deposition in diabetic cardiomyopathy. TRB3, a mammalian homolog of Drosophila tribbles, functions to increase glucose intolerance and regulates cell proliferation. We demonstrated that AGEs induce collagen type I expression but inhibit collagen type III expression, accompanied by increased TRB3 expression. Furthermore, the collagen type I induced byAGEs was down-regulated after inhibition of ERK and p38-MAPK, the collagen type III reduced by AGEs was up-regulated after inhibition of ERK. The expression of collagen types I and III regulated by AGEs through MAPK was partly reversed after treatment with TRB3 siRNA. It suggests that the TRB3/MAPK signaling pathway participates in the regulation of collagen types I and III by AGEs and may provide new therapeutic strategies for diabetic cardiomyopathy. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. Received 08 May 2008; received after revision 25 June 2008; accepted 22 July 2008 M. Tang, M. Zhong: These two authors contributed equally to this work.     

Anthrax toxins

Though its lethal effects were ascribed to an exotoxin almost half a century ago, the pathogenesis of anthrax has yet to be satisfactorily explained. Subsequent work has led to the molecular identification and enzymatic characterization of three proteins that constitute two anthrax toxins. Protective antigen binds an as yet unknown cell receptor and mediates the entry of the other two components to the cytoplasm via the endosomal pathway. Edema factor, so named for its ability to induce edema, is a Ca²⁺/calmodulin-dependent adenylate cyclase. Lethal factor, the dominant virulence factor associated with the toxin, proteolytically inactivates mitogen-activated protein kinase kinases, key players in signal transduction. We describe the fascinating work that has led to these discoveries and discuss their relevance to our understanding of the pathogenesis of anthrax. Received 6 January 1999; received after revision 8 March 1999; accepted 9 March 1999     

丹参酮ⅡA对UVA诱导的HaCaT细胞凋亡的影响

以人自发性永生化角质形成细胞系(HaCaT)细胞为材料, 通过CCK8和蛋白印迹法分别测定不同剂量长波紫外线(ultraviolet A, UVA)、不同浓度丹参酮ⅡA(tanshinone ⅡA,TSⅡA), 以及UVA和TSⅡA共同作用下的细胞活力和促分裂素原活化蛋白激酶(mitogenactivatedprotein kinase, MAPK)信号通路蛋白(p38, JNK和Erk)磷酸化水平. 结果表明:在10 J/cm2的UVA照射下, 细胞活力为对照组的70%左右, 在20 J/cm²的UVA照射下, 细胞活力仅为对照组的55%左右; 低浓度的TSⅡA在正常情况下对细胞活力无影响, 高浓度(85 μmol/L) TSⅡA处理组的细胞活力约为对照组的70%左右. 与TSⅡA或UVA单独处理相比, 二者共同作用下细胞活力大大降低且差异极其显著. UVA照射提高了MAPK信号通路中的p38和JNK磷酸化水平, 但是对Erk磷酸化水平没有影响; 而TSⅡA可以显著提高低辐射剂量(2 J/cm²)UVA诱导下的p38和JNK的磷酸化水平. 这说明UVA促进HaCaT细胞凋亡是通过提高p38和JNK磷酸化水平来实现的; 而TSⅡA可以提高p38和JNK磷酸化水平,进一步加速UVA诱导的HaCaT细胞凋亡.     

Cloning and molecular characterization of a gene encoding MAP kinase from maize and its expression in E. coli

A new MAPK gene, ZmSIMK1 （Zea mays L. salt-induced mitogen-activated protein kinase 1）, is isolatod from a maize eDNA library. The full-length ZmSIMK1 gene contains 1636 bp and an open reading frame of 1122 nucleotides capable of eneoding 373 amino acid polypeptides with a predicted molecular mass of 42.3 kda and pI of 6.01. The putative ZmSIMK1 protein contains all 11 conserved subdomains that are characteristics of serine/threonine protein kinases and the TEY motif, which is the putative phosphorylation site. Northern blot analysis shows that ZmSIMK1 is ubiquitously expressed in roots, stems, and leaves of maize seedlings and its mRNA accumulation is observed in maize seedlings treated with 30 mmol/L PEG-6000 and 137 mmol/L NaCl, but the expression of ZmSIMK1 is not significantly affected by 4℃ treatment. The expression vector pET-ZmSIMK1 is constructed by inserting the coding region of ZmSIMK1 eDNA into pET-42a（＋）, and transformed into E. coli strain BL21（DE3）. A 77kda fusion protein is induced by the further culture at 37℃ after addition of 1 mmol/L IPTG.     

Separate functional features of proinsulin C-peptide

Proinsulin C-peptide influences a number of physiological parameters in addition to its well-established role in the parent proinsulin molecule. It is of interest as a candidate for future co-replacement therapy with insulin for patients with diabetes mellitus type 1, but specific receptors have not been identified and additional correlation with functional effects is desirable. Based on comparisons of 22 mammalian proinsulin variants, we have constructed analogues for activity studies, choosing phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) in Swiss 3T3 fibroblasts for functional measurements. In this manner, we find that effective phosphorylation of MAPKs is promoted by the presence of conserved glutamic acid residues at positions 3, 11 and 27 of C-peptide and by the presence of helix-promoting residues in the N-terminal segment. Previous findings have ascribed functional roles to the C-terminal pentapeptide segment, and all results combined therefore now show the importance of different segments, suggesting that C-peptide interactions are complex or multiple.Received 2 May 2005; received after revision 9 June 2005; accepted 13 June 2005