Novel reporter system to monitor early stages of the hepatitis B virus life cycle

A recombinant hepatitis B virus (HBV) expressing NanoLuc (NL) (HBV/NL) was produced by cotransfecting a plasmid containing a 1.2‐fold HBV genome carrying the NL gene with a plasmid bearing a packaging‐defective 1.2‐fold HBV genome into a human hepatoma cell line, HepG2. We found that NL activity in HBV/NL‐infected primary hepatocytes or sodium taurocholate cotransporting polypeptide‐transduced human hepatocyte‐derived cell lines increased linearly for several days after infection and was concordant with HBV RNA levels in the cells. Treatment of the virus‐infected cells with HBV inhibitors reduced NL activity in a dose‐dependent manner. Detection of HBV/NL infection, monitored by NL activity, was highly sensitive and less expensive than detection using the conventional method to evaluate HBV infection. In addition, because we also studied host factors, this system is applicable not only for studying the HBV life cycle, but also for exploring agent(s) that regulate HBV proliferation.     

IDO启动序列GAS和ISRE荧光素酶报告基因载体构建及其活性检测

目的构建pGL3-Enhancer-ISRE4和pGL3-Enhancer-GAS两个荧光素酶报告基因载体,并对其进行生物活性鉴定。方法通过人工合成调控吲哚胺2,3-双加氧酶（IDO）表达的启动序列ISRE4（4个串联的ISRE序列）和GAS7（7个串联的GAS序列）,与pGL3-Enhancer连接成重组体pGL3-Enhancer-ISRE4和pGL3-Enhancer-GAS7,通过转化扩增,筛选出阳性克隆,并通过酶切、测序及生物学活性检测鉴定构建好的荧光素酶报告基因载体。结果成功地构建了pGL3-Enhancer-ISRE4和pGL3-Enhancer-GAS7两个荧光素酶报告基因载体,在IFN-γ的诱导下,能启动细胞内荧光素酶的表达。结论 pGL3-Enhancer-ISRE4和pGL3-Enhancer-GAS7的荧光素酶报告基因载体的成功构建为研究IDO蛋白的表达调控机制和以IDO为靶标的抗肿瘤免疫耐受药物快速高通量的筛选提供了重要的研究工具。     

生物发光快速测定尿标本中的病原菌

用生物发光技术检测２２２份细菌或菌尿的ＡＴＰ含量。结果：平均值＞１３０．９±１１．３８为细菌感染，平均＜３２．９６±２．２６为非细菌感染。革兰氏染色镜检和Ｌ型细菌培养及普通培养与生物发光法比较，结果一致；阳性标本的生物发光平均值高于阴性标本的平均值。提示生物发光技术的灵敏度高，可快速检测菌尿中Ｌ型细菌，对临床尽早诊断有参考意义。     

Interaction between the insulin receptor and Grb14: a dynamic study in living cells using BRET

Grb14 is a molecular adaptor that binds to the activated insulin receptor (IR) and negatively regulates insulin signaling. We have studied the dynamics of interaction of the IR with Grb14, in real time, in living HEK cells, using bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET). Insulin rapidly and dose-dependently stimulated this interaction. Removing insulin from the incubation medium only resulted in a modest decrease in BRET signal, indicating that the interaction between the IR and Grb14 can remain long after insulin stimulus has disappeared. BRET saturation experiments indicated that insulin markedly increases the affinity between IR and Grb14, resulting in recruitment of the adaptor to the activated IR. In addition, using both BRET and co-immunoprecipitation experiments, we demonstrated that insulin induced the dimerization of Grb14, most likely as a result of simultaneous binding of two Grb14 molecules on the activated IR. We also investigated the relationships between IR, Grb14 and the protein tyrosine phosphatase PTP1B. We observed that insulin-induced BRET between the IR and PTP1B was markedly reduced by Grb14, suggesting that Grb14 regulated this interaction in living cells. Using site-specific antibodies against phosphorylated tyrosines of the insulin receptor, we showed that Grb14 protected the three tyrosines of the kinase loop from dephosphorylation by PTP1B, while favouring dephosphorylation of tyrosine 972. This resulted in decreased IRS-1 binding to the IR and decreased activation of the ERK pathway. Our work suggests that Grb14 may regulate signalling through the insulin receptor by controlling its tyrosine-dephosphorylation in a site-specific manner.     

Cadmium-induced postaxial forelimb ectrodactyly: association with altered sonic hedgehog signaling

Administration of CdSO₄ to C57BL/6 mice at day 9.5 of gestation induces a high incidence of postaxial forelimb ectrodactyly in the offspring. We propose that Cd²⁺ exposure impairs the process of anterior/posterior formation in the limb bud, a process that is directed by Sonic hedgehog (Shh) signaling. We show that exposure of the mouse embryo to Cd²⁺ disrupts Shh signaling as measured by polarizing activity of mouse limb bud ZPA grafted to a host chick wing, and activity of a Gli:luciferase reporter exposed to limb bud lysates. Yet the expression of Shh and its translation are not affected by Cd²⁺ exposure. We propose that teratogen exposure affects the processing of Shh in the cells in which it is made.     

miR-570对胃癌细胞B7-H1蛋白表达的抑制作用

B7-H1是一种重要的负性共刺激分子,在肿瘤免疫逃逸中发挥重要作用,而微小RNA具有直接的转录后调控作用。本文研究miR-570对B7-H1表达的调控作用。首先将miR-570及其抑制剂anti-miR-570分别转染B7-H1表达阳性的人胃癌细胞SGC-7901和B7-H1表达阴性的人乳腺癌细胞MDA-MB-435,以流式细胞术检测B7-H1分子表达情况;然后构建pcDNA/B7-H1表达质粒与miR-570共转染CHO细胞,以流式细胞术检测CHO细胞上B7-H1分子的表达情况;最后分别构建含B7-H1基因3-UTR片段和含miR-570作用靶点序列的荧光素酶表达载体与miR-570共转染CHO细胞,用双荧光素酶报告系统检测荧光素酶活性。结果显示miR-570能显著抑制SGC-7901细胞和B7-H1基因转染细胞膜上B7-H1蛋白的表达,并能显著抑制荧光素酶表达载体表达的荧光素酶蛋白,而且anti-miR-570能上调MDA-MB-435细胞上B7-H1表达。本研究证明miR-570能显著抑制B7-H1蛋白表达,为通过抑制B7-H1信号通路以增强机体抗肿瘤免疫力的治疗途径奠定了基础。     

Intrinsic,nondeterministic circadian rhythm generation in identified mammalian neurons

Circadian rhythms are modeled as reliable and self-sustained oscillations generated by single cells. The mammalian suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) keeps near 24-h time in vivo and in vitro, but the identity of the individual cellular pacemakers is unknown. We tested the hypothesis that circadian cycling is intrinsic to a unique class of SCN neurons by measuring firing rate or Period2 gene expression in single neurons. We found that fully isolated SCN neurons can sustain circadian cycling for at least 1 week. Plating SCN neurons at <100 cells/mm² eliminated synaptic inputs and revealed circadian neurons that contained arginine vasopressin (AVP) or vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) or neither. Surprisingly, arrhythmic neurons (nearly 80% of recorded neurons) also expressed these neuropeptides. Furthermore, neurons were observed to lose or gain circadian rhythmicity in these dispersed cell cultures, both spontaneously and in response to forskolin stimulation. In SCN explants treated with tetrodotoxin to block spike-dependent signaling, neurons gained or lost circadian cycling over many days. The rate of PERIOD2 protein accumulation on the previous cycle reliably predicted the spontaneous onset of arrhythmicity. We conclude that individual SCN neurons can generate circadian oscillations; however, there is no evidence for a specialized or anatomically localized class of cell-autonomous pacemakers. Instead, these results indicate that AVP, VIP, and other SCN neurons are intrinsic but unstable circadian oscillators that rely on network interactions to stabilize their otherwise noisy cycling.