Cloning and expression analysis of PRL and PRLR genes in black Muscovy duck

1. Prolactin hormone (governed by the PRL gene) is secreted by the anterior pituitary of animals, which combines with its receptor (prolactin receptor, PRLR) to act on target cells. Both PRL and PRLR are mainly associated with reproductive performance. The genetic mechanism of nesting in poultry is not yet clear, and so the aim of the current study was to determine expression patterns of PRL and PRLR at different times across the breeding stages of black Muscovy ducks.2. In this study, the CDS regions of PRL and PRLR were determined by RACE sequencing. The expression levels of PRL and PRLR in the pituitary, ovary and uterus from the black Muscovy duck were compared and analysed during the pre-laying, laying and nesting periods.3. The results showed that PRL and PRLR are highly homologous in a variety of poultry species. The expression of the PRL gene in the pituitary was the highest, which was significantly higher than seen in the ovary and uterus. This trend ran through the entire prenatal period, i.e. the laying period and the nesting period. The expression level of the PRLR gene in the pituitary and ovary was generally low, and expression in the uterus was the highest. There was no significant difference in expression of the PRLR gene between pituitary and ovary during different periods, but the expression level of the PRLR gene in the uterus reached its highest level during the nesting stage, which was significantly higher than seen in the early laying period.

[Prosthodontic specialty training in the United States: what can we learn]

Prosthodontics is one of the nine recognized specialties by American Dental Association. The postgraduate prosthodontic program used to train prosthodontic specialists in U S A started about 70 years ago. Compared to China which just launched the dental residency programs, the programs in U S A have more developed and relatively more mature education system. It is worthwhile for China to study and learn the U S A prosthodontic residency education program. Prosthodontics is a specialty to diagnose and treat complex dental problems, and is often considered as the 'orchestrator' directing and coordinating all the other dental specialists to manage complex situations. This specialty plays an important role in a nation's oral health system. The present article is aimed to introduce the history of US prosthodontic residency program, initial accreditation, curriculum, education standards and mechanisms of the residency program, and how the program is monitored and managed post initial accreditation, with the hope that this system can serve as a reference for China's developing its own residency program.

Analysis of the genetic diversity of Lonicera japonica Thumb. using inter-simple sequence repeat markers

Inter-simple sequence repeats (ISSRs) were used to analyze the genetic diversity of 21 accessions obtained from four provinces in China, Shandong, Henan, Hebei, and Sichuan. A total of 272 scored bands were generated using the eight primers previously screened across 21 accessions, of which 267 were polymorphic (98.16%). Genetic similarity coefficients varied from 0.4816 to 0.9118, with an average of 0.6337. The UPGMA dendrogram grouped 21 accessions into two main clusters. Cluster A comprised four Lonicera macranthoides Hand. Mazz. accessions, of which J10 was found to be from Sichuan, and J17, J18, and J19 were found to be from Shandong. Cluster B comprised 17 Lonicera japonica Thumb. accessions, divided into the wild accession J16 and the other 16 cultivars. The results of the principal component analysis were comparable to the cluster analysis. Therefore, the ISSR markers could be effectively used to distinguish interspecific and intraspecific variations, which may facilitate identification of Lonicera japonica cultivars for planting, medicinal use, and germplasm conservation.

Transcriptome analysis of glioma cells for the dynamic response to γ-irradiation and dual regulation of apoptosis genes: a new insight into radiotherapy for glioblastomas

Ionizing radiation (IR) is of clinical importance for glioblastoma therapy; however, the recurrence of glioma characterized by radiation resistance remains a therapeutic challenge. Research on irradiation-induced transcription in glioblastomas can contribute to the understanding of radioresistance mechanisms. In this study, by using the total mRNA sequencing (RNA-seq) analysis, we assayed the global gene expression in a human glioma cell line U251 MG at various time points after exposure to a growth arrest dose of γ-rays. We identified 1656 genes with obvious changes at the transcriptional level in response to irradiation, and these genes were dynamically enriched in various biological processes or pathways, including cell cycle arrest, DNA replication, DNA repair and apoptosis. Interestingly, the results showed that cell death was not induced even many proapoptotic molecules, including death receptor 5 (DR5) and caspases were activated after radiation. The RNA-seq data analysis further revealed that both proapoptosis and antiapoptosis genes were affected by irradiation. Namely, most proapoptosis genes were early continually responsive, whereas antiapoptosis genes were responsive at later stages. Moreover, HMGB1, HMGB2 and TOP2A involved in the positive regulation of DNA fragmentation during apoptosis showed early continual downregulation due to irradiation. Furthermore, targeting of the TRAIL/DR5 pathway after irradiation led to significant apoptotic cell death, accompanied by the recovered gene expression of HMGB1, HMGB2 and TOP2A. Taken together, these results revealed that inactivation of proapoptotic signaling molecules in the nucleus and late activation of antiapoptotic genes may contribute to the radioresistance of gliomas. Overall, this study provided novel insights into not only the underlying mechanisms of radioresistance in glioblastomas but also the screening of multiple targets for radiotherapy.

Establishment of an animal model of biliary ischemic stenosis with clamping in mice

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study was to explore a method to establish biliary ischemic stenosis in mice.

METHODS

After the optimal time of biliary ischemia was determined, 20 Kunming mice were equally divided into 2 groups. In the experimental group a 0.4-cm length of common bile duct was clamped for 90 minutes with 2 micro-vessel clamps (width = 0.1 cm). The common bile duct was not clamped in the control group. Twenty-one days later, biliary tract visualization was performed in all mice. Blood samples were collected from the inferior vena cava to determine the serum levels of total bilirubin (TBIL) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT). Meanwhile, samples of the common bile duct and liver tissue were extracted for microscopic examination to observe morphological changes.

RESULTS

In the experimental group, obvious dilatation of the common bile duct appeared over the clamp site. There was no dilatation of the common bile duct in the control group. Twenty-one days later, serum levels of TBIL and ALT were significantly higher among the experimental compared with the control group. Microscopic examination showed that the part of common bile duct at the clamp site was significantly expanded, with a smaller or occluded bile duct lumen necrotic mucosa with determination, and tubular wall with fibrosis and excrustation. A few dead liver cells and many inflammatory cells were observed in liver tissue samples.

CONCLUSIONS

A biliary ischemic stenosis model was established using a clamping method in mice, which may provide a reliable technique for basic and clinical research into mechanisms of biliary ischemic stenosis after liver transplantation.

Oxidative stress potentiates BACE1 gene expression and Abeta generation

Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disorder leading to dementia and its prevalence increases with age. The pathological features of AD are characterized by the beta-amyloid protein (A(beta)) deposits in the core of neuritic plaques and abnormal neurofibrillary tangles in the brain of AD patients. BACE1 is the major beta-secretase to cleave the beta-amyloid precursor protein (APP) to generate A(beta). Oxidative stress has been shown to affect A(beta) generation in the AD pathogenesis and the mechanism of such effect is unknown. In this report we generated a novel promoterless enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) reporter gene cloning vector and cloned a 1.9-kb BACE1 gene promoter fragment in this vector. The BACE1 promoter fragment can efficiently activate EGFP or luciferase gene transcription. Oxidative stress induced by hydrogen peroxide resulted in significant increase in the BACE1 promoter activity. Furthermore, hydrogen peroxide treatment facilitated beta-secretase activity and A(beta) generation. Thus, upregulation of BACE1 transcription by oxidative stress may contribute to the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease.

[A new algorithm for displaying the cutting isosurface of structures]

The existing algorithms for displaying the cutting isosurface of the structure are not suitable for interactive display because they spend too much time on calculation when a fair amount of data is submitted to processing. This paper presents a new algorithm for accelerating the cutting of structure by using the area partition and the increment calculation to reduce the unnecessary calculation in cutting the structure. It is suitable for real time interactive displaying, especially in the case of a vast amount of data.

Regeneration of N, P and Si near the sediment/water interface of lakes from Southwestern China Plateau

Lake water, pore water, and sediments were sampled in both polluted and unpolluted lakes from Southwestern (SW) China Plateau. The results show that although the mechanisms of nutrient regeneration were similar in the polluted and unpolluted lakes, the processes, however, were much stronger in the polluted lakes. Nitrogen regeneration was mainly of organic process. Phosphorus regeneration was essentially controlled by iron redox cycling near sediment/water interface. Nutrient upward fluxes were in the order SiO2 > NH4+ > PO4(3-). This study has significance for further investigating the response of nutrient biogeochemistry to the increasing nutrient levels in aquatic environments.

[Multi-resolution blending rendering of the medical structure]

This paper presents a new medical data visualization method called multi-resolution blending rendering which has been developed for visualizing the large medical volume data sets. Different from those multi-resolution rendering methods which simplify the structures by polygon mesh optimization technique, the new method uses different resolution levels to represent different parts of a structure at the same time. So, it can preserve the integrality of the structure and emphasize the important part of the structure when simplifying the structure. The new method also takes advantage of the good qualities of the wavelet transform and constructs the multi-resolution blending model of the structure by orthogonal wavelet transform and transition operator. The experiment proves that our method can effectively simplify the model of the structure, enormously reduce the number of the triangle of the structure and speed up the structure rendering. It is especially suitable for interactive observations on a complex medical structure.

A deoxyinosine specific endonuclease from hyperthermophile, Archaeoglobus fulgidus: a homolog of Escherichia coli endonuclease V

Deoxyadenosine undergoes spontaneous deamination to deoxyinosine in DNA. Based on amino acids sequence homology, putative homologs of endonuclease V were identified in several organisms including archaebacteria, eubacteria as well as eukaryotes. The translated amino acid sequence of the Archaeoglobus fulgidus nfi gene shows 39% identity and 55% similarity to the E. coli nfi gene. A. fulgidus endonuclease V was cloned and expressed in E. coli as a C-terminal hexa-histidine fusion protein. The C-terminal fusion protein was purified to apparent homogeneity by a combination of Ni(++) affinity and MonoS cation exchange liquid chromatography. The purified C-terminal fusion protein has a molecular weight of about 25kDa and showed endonuclease activity towards DNA containing deoxyinosine. A. fulgidus endonuclease V has an absolute requirement for Mg(2+) and an optimum reaction temperature at 85 degrees C. However, in contrast to E. coli endonuclease V, which has a wide substrate spectrum, endonuclease V from A. fulgidus recognized only deoxyinosine. These data suggest that the deoxyinosine cleavage activity is a primordial activity of endonuclease V and that multiple enzymatic activities of E. coli endonuclease V were acquired later during evolution.

Deoxyxanthosine in DNA is repaired by Escherichia coli endonuclease V

Deoxycytidine, deoxyadenosine and deoxyguanosine undergo spontaneous deamination to form deoxyuridine, deoxyinosine and deoxyxanthosine, respectively. In this manuscript, we show that in addition to its known ability to recognize deoxyuridine and deoxyinosine in DNA, Escherichia coli endonuclease V cleaves DNA containing deoxyxanthosine. However, Alk A protein and human methylpurine glycosylase are unable to recognize deoxyxanthosine. Endonuclease V cleaves DNA containing deoxyxanthosine at the second phosphodiester bond 3' to deoxyxanthosine, generating a 3'-hydroxyl and a 5'-phosphoryl group at the nick site. This endonucleolytic activity requires Mg(2+) or Mn(2+), and is highly specific for double stranded DNA. Endonuclease V-catalyzed cleavage of DNA containing deoxyxanthosine is a result of its ability to recognize the altered base and not due to its mismatch-specific endonuclease activity. The ability of endonuclease V to recognize both deoxyinosine and deoxyxanthosine suggests that endonuclease V is important for preventing mutations that might arise as a result of deamination of purines.

[Influence of functional groups of huatanyuxin decoction on Ca2+ transmembrane influx in rat aorta]

OBJECTIVE

To study the Ca2+ antagonistic effect of functional groups of Huatanyuxin decoction.

METHOD

The 45Ca transmembrane influx technique was used to measure the Ca2+ blocking effect of leak, receptor-operated Ca2+ channel (ROC) and potential-dependent Ca2+ channel (PDC) in rat aorta.

RESULT

ROC and PDC could be blocked when the complex prescription was used at concentrations of 0.5-5 mg/ml. Among the functional groups, Huoxue group (activating blood) and Xinqi group (promoting and normalizing flow of vital energy) showed better Ca2+ antagonistic effect.

CONCLUSION

The mechanism of therapeutic effect of Huatanyuxin decoction may be related to its Ca2+ blocking effect similar to verapamil.

Chu Cheng and Chu's bequeathed book

Chu Cheng, a native of Yangzhai county in Henan Province, was born in the Nanqi Dynasty. His "Chu's Bequeathed Book" has more than 2200 Chinese characters, was divided into ten verses, reflecting the secrets of Qi-Blood-Yin-Yang. This author tries to introduce and study Chu Cheng's life, his story and his academic views, not only on embryogensis, pulse taking and Five Ti, but also on Yin-Ying-Jing-Xue, obstetrical hygiene and infectious disease and the usage of medicine, etc.

Structural study on hen egg-white lysozyme crystals grown in gravity and microgravity

Microgravity in space offers an ideal environment for growing protein crystals, where there is an absence of density-driven convection and sedimentation. Using domestic apparatus of protein crystalizetion, two space experiments of protein crystal growth have been carried out on the Chinese re-entry satellite, and good-quality hen egg-white lysozyme crystals were obtained. To study the effect of microgravity on the prorein crystal structure, three structures of lysozyme crystals grown in gravity and microgravity were determined at high resolution.

Biodistribution of [64Cu]Cu2+ and variance of metallothionein during tumor treatment by copper

The kinetic distribution patterns of [64Cu]Cu2+ in normal mice and in mice bearing tumors (HepA, ascitic tumor) after i.v. injection were similar. The i.v. injected [64Cu]Cu2+ concentrated into mouse liver first and then went to other organs and tissues, such as kidney and tumor. Most of the [64Cu]Cu2+ injected concentrated into the liver within 4 h, and about 8% of the total [64Cu]Cu2+ injected concentrated into the tumor cells at 24 h after i.v. injection. About 80% and 90% of the soluble [64Cu]Cu in the livers of tumor-bearing mice and normal mice, respectively, existed as [64Cu]CuMT (metallothionein [MT] is a small protein with many cysteine residues) at 4 h after i.v. injection, while about 43% of the soluble [64Cu]Cu2+ in tumor cells combined with MT at 6 h after i.v. injection. After 10 days oral administration of 150 microg/g body weight copper acetate, the concentration of MT in tumor cells reduced sharply, from 316 microg/g tissue to 152 microg/g tissue, while it increased slightly, from 375 microg/g tissue to 439 microg/g tissue, in the livers of tumor-bearing mice (HepA, solid tumor). The results suggest that MT contributes to the metabolism of copper that is localized mainly in the liver after copper administration and that copper can concentrate into mouse tumor cells followed by the reduction of MT in tumor cells.