刺果甘草全基因组Survey及叶绿体基因组特征分析＊

目的 基于基因组Survey分析对刺果甘草Glycyrrhiza pallidiflora Maxim.基因组大小和杂合率进行估计，并通过叶绿体基因组序列特征对其在甘草属Glycyrrhiza L.中的系统发育位置进行研究。方法 使用二代测序技术对刺果甘草进行测序，采用K-mer方法对测序reads进行分析，估算刺果甘草基因组大小和杂合率，使用生物信息学方法进行叶绿体基因组组装、注释和系统发育分析。结果 Survey分析结果显示其基因组大小约为577.82 Mb，杂合度约为0.31%，重复序列比例约为53.72%。叶绿体基因组长度为127，267 bp，不具有典型的四分体结构，总GC含量为34.32%，包含110个基因，其中76个蛋白质编码基因，30个tRNA基因和4个rRNA基因。系统发育分析表明，刺果甘草与圆果甘草G. squamulosa Franch.亲缘较接近。结论 刺果甘草存在低杂合和重复序列较多的特点，为了更好地对全基因组进行序列拼接和组装，可尝试采用三代测序结合二代测序的分析策略进行基因组组装；刺果甘草叶绿体全基因组比对和系统发育分析，为后续开展甘草属遗传多样性研究和分子鉴定标记筛选提供了重要依据。     

The potential of anti‐infectives and immunomodulators as therapies for asthma and asthma exacerbations

Asthma is responsible for approximately 25,000 deaths annually in Europe despite available medicines that maintain asthma control and reduce asthma exacerbations. Better treatments are urgently needed for the control of chronic asthma and reduction in asthma exacerbations, the major cause of asthma mortality. Much research spanning >20 years shows a strong association between microorganisms including pathogens in asthma onset, severity and exacerbation, yet with the exception of antibiotics, few treatments are available that specifically target the offending pathogens. Recent insights into the microbiome suggest that modulating commensal organisms within the gut or lung may also be a possible way to treat/prevent asthma. The European Academy of Allergy & Clinical Immunology Task Force on Anti‐infectives in Asthma was initiated to investigate the potential of anti‐infectives and immunomodulators in asthma. This review provides a concise summary of the current literature and aimed to identify and address key questions that concern the use of anti‐infectives and both microbe‐ and host‐based immunomodulators and their feasibility for use in asthma.     

AN EXPERIMENTAL SYSTEM FOR THE SIMULTANEOUS ESTIMATION OF MITOSTATIC AND LYMPHOTOXIC EFFECTS OF IMMUNOSUPPRESSANTS AND CYTOSTATICS

Sublethally (600 R) irradiated (CBA x C57BL)F₁ mice were grafted intravenously with parental lymph node cells in doses ranging from 0.2 x 10⁶ to 12 x 10⁶. The transplantation of these lymphoid cells leads to inactivation of the recipient's endogenous CFU (as measured by the diminution of the number of colonies registered on the 10th day after irradiation). A 50% inactivation was observed when the graft size of the CBA cells was 0.52 x 10⁶. This figure for C57BL cells was 10 times more. This experimental system evaluates two simultaneously developing processes: the multiplication of endogenous CFU and the homograft reaction of transplanted lymphocytes against them. Both processes can be quantitatively estimated simultaneously in the same experiment by the determination of the number of colonies in corresponding experimental groups. Thus it was possible in a single experiment to compare quantitatively the effect of immunosuppressants on two points: (a) mitostatic action (suppression of CFU) and (b) lymphotoxic action. The latter, a true immunosuppressive effect, represents suppression of GVH activity of lymphoid cells and is demonstrated by abolition of the inhibition of endogenous colony formation. In the present system we have tested 6-MP, ALS, cyclophosphamide, hydrocortisone, and other drugs. The definite mitostatic and lymphotoxic doses of drugs are ascertained. Cyclophosphamide and ALS proved to be drugs with high dose ranges of selective lymphotoxic action. Hydrocortisone acetate had a more narrow range of selective lymphotoxic effect. 6-MP and Imuran (azathioprine) failed to exert any selective action on lymphoid elements. They possessed pronounced mitostatic efficiency, however.     

Immunogenetic achievements for medicine]

The paper presents the results of recent studies of human major histocompatibility complex. They are due to the progress made at the serological and molecular genetic levels of research and are applied in practical medicine, including in endocrinological and transplantological care. The main prospects of using these achievements in immunogenetics in the treatment of cancer and infectious diseases, including AIDS are defined.     

Suppressive effect of bone marrow cells of normal and leukemic mice on antibody production by spleen cell cultures in vitro

The suppressive activity of bone marrow cells from AKR and (CBA×C57BL)F₁ mice aged 2 and 10 months in relation to the primary immune response of spleen cells to sheep's red blood cells in vitro was investigated. In leukemic AKR mice the suppressive activity of the bone marrow was shown to rise considerably until the 9th–10th month compared with that at the age of 2 months. In (CBA×C57BL)F₁ mice the suppressive activity of bone marrow at these same times was unchanged.Institute of Biophysics, Ministry of Health of the USSR, Moscow. (Presented by Academician of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR R. V. Petrov.) Translated from Byulleten' Éksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 89, No. 1, pp. 36–38, January, 1980.     

Migration and differentiation of hematopoietic stem cells in autoimmune mice of different ages

Migration and differentiation of hematopoietic stem cells were studied in autoimmune (NZB×NZW)F₁ mice of different ages. Migration of stem cells was shown to be reduced in old (NZB×NZW)F₁ mice. Irrespective of age, inhibition of differentiation of stem cells along the granuloid path of development was observed in (NZB×NZW)F₁ mice. It is suggested that in (NZB×NZW)F₁ mice there is either a defect of development of the T-lymphocyte subpopulation influencing differentiation of stem cells along the granuloid pathway or a genetic defect at the level of precursors of the granulocyte series (CFU_C).Translated from Byulleten' Éksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 89, No. 2, pp. 224–226, February, 1980.     

The development of vector constructions for respiratory syncitial virus (RSV) P-gene silencing

Interfering RNA (RNAi) is a powerful tool to silence gene expression on the level of mRNA. To knock-down gene expression by using RNAi two major methods of mRNA silencing exist. First method utilizes siRNA (small interfering RNA), a readily processed dsRNA, that enters RISC complex and destroy target mRNA after transfection into the cells. The second method based on the construction of plasmid DNA that expresses shRNA (short harpin RNA) from U6 or CMV promoter. shRNA gets processed by Drosha and Dicer RNAses inside the cell before it translocates to the cell cytoplasm and affects the level of target RNA. In this study we modified lentiviral vector pGIPZ expressing tFP-IRES-Puro-shRNA(mir30) cassette by introducing BamH I restriction site downstream of this cassette. This modification makes possible to clone specific shRNA sequences in pGIPZ vector using XhoI/BamHI restriction sites instead of the original recombination. Three shRNAs against phosphoprotein P of respiratory sinthitial virus (RSV) and shRNA against human CD43 as a control were generated and cloned into modified so-called pCIPD vector. Monkey kidney cells MA-104 were stably transduced with four shRNA constructs. In conclusion, the generated lentiviral vector pCIPD can be successfully used for efficient gene silencing and virus replication in a broad variety of cells.