Promotion of chondrogenesis of marrow stromal stem cells by TGF-β3 fusion protein in vitro

The purpose of this study was to investigate the repair of the osteoarthritis（OA）-induced car- tilage injury by transfecting the new TGF-β3 fusion protein （LAP-MMP-mTGF-β3） with targeted ther- apy function into the bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells （MSCs） in rats. The recombinant of plRES-EGFP-MMP was constructed by combination of DNA encoding MMP enzyme cutting site and eukaryotic expression vector plRES-EGFP. LAP and mTGF-β3 fragments were obtained from rat em- bryos by RT-PCR and inserted into the upstream and downstream of MMP from plRES-EGFP-MMP respectively, so as to construct the recombinant plasmid ofplRES-EGFP-LAP-MMP-mTGF-β3, plRES- EGFP-LAP-MMP-mTGF-β3 was transfected into rat MSCs. The genetically modified MSCs were cul- tured in medium with MMP-1 or not. The transfected MSCs were transplanted in the rat OA models. The OA animal models were surgically induced by anterior cruciate ligament transaction （ACLT）. The pathological changes were observed under a microscope by HE staining, Alcian blue, Safranin-fast Gre- en and graded by Mankin＇s scale, plRES-EGFP-LAP-MMP-mTGF-β3 was successfully constructed by means of enzyme cutting and sequencing, and the mTGF-β3 fusion protein （39 kD） was certified by Western blotting. Those genetically modified MSCs could differentiate into chondrocytes induced by MMP and secrete the relevant-matrix. The transfected MSCs could promote chondrogenesis and matrix production in rat OA models in vivo. It was concluded that a new fusion protein LAP-MMP-mTGF-β3 was constructed successfully by gene engineering, and could be used to repair the OA-induced cartilage injury.     

Influence of osteopontin short hairpin RNA on the proliferation and invasion of human renal cancer cells

The influence of short hairpin RNA(shRNA)-mediated osteopontin(OPN)gene silencing on the proliferation and invasion of human renal cancer ACHN cells was investigated.Four types of OPN shRNA recombinant plasmids were constructed and RT-PCR assays were used to screen the most highly functional shRNA recombinant plasmids,which were transferred into the cultured ACHN cells by LipofectamineTM 2000.The cells transfected by shRNA expression vectors(ACHN/OPN)were visualized under an inverted microscope and screened...     

Cell-specific expression of the diphtheria toxin A-chain coding sequence induces cancer cell suicide

Objective To test whether the diphtheria toxin A (DT-A) chain coding sequence linked to murine immunoglobulin κ-light chain (Ig κ) promoter and enhancer have selective cytocidal effects on Ig κ producing cells.Methods The diphtheria toxin A gene or β-galactosidase (β-gal) gene were linked to a murine Ig κ promoter and enhancer to construct pcDNA3Ig κDTA or pcDNA3Ig κLacZ plasmids.These plasmids were transfected into Ig κ producing or non-producing cells by the liposome-coated DNA method.Expression of β-gal activity and effects on cell growth of transfected cells were assessed.Results The β-gal gene, under the control of cytomegalovirus (CMV) promoter, can express in all cell lines.Expression of β-gal under the control of the Ig κ promoter was detected only in the Ig κ producing cell line, CA46.Expression of β-gal was greatly suppressed when cotransfected with pcDNA3Ig κDTA in CA46 cells.Cell growth of CA46 cells transfected with pcDNA3Ig κDTA plasmid was significantly inhibited compared with CA46 cells transfected with pcDNA3Ig κLacZ.Conclusion Selective killing of Ig κ producing cells can be attained by introducing the diphtheria toxin A gene under the control of Ig κ promoter and enhancer.     

Construction and identification of recombinant lentivirus-mediated gene transfer system for rat transducer of regulated CREB activity 1

Objective:To construct a recombinant lentivirus vector which carries SD rat transducer of regulated CREB activity-1(TORC1) gene and examine its ability to express the TORC1 gene in vitro.Methods:The coding sequence of SD rat TORC1 gene was amplified using PCR and cloned into pGC-FU vector.293T cells were transfected using Lipofectamine 2000 and packaged for the recombinant lentivirus particles.When the cloned sequence was identified to be right,the recombinant lentivirus particles were amplified in a large quantity.The titer of virus was determined by real-time PCR and the level of TORC1 expression was examined by Western blot. Results:The recombinant lentivirus vector carrying TORC1 was constructed successfully and could express TORC1 at a high level in 293T cells in vitro,and the titer determined by real-time PCR was 2×108 TU/ml.Conclusion:The recombinant lentivirus vector could express TORC1 gene at a high level,and was very helpful in the study of exploring the effect of TORC1 on spinal cord injury.     

Construction of Recombinant Adenovirus Carrying GRIM19 and Its Effect on SW480 Cells

In order to examine the effect of GRIM19 on colon cancer cell SW480, the recombinant adenovirus carrying GRIM19 gene was constructed and transfected into SW480 cells. GRIM19 cDNA was amplified by PCR with the template pcxn2-GRIM19 and cloned into the shuttle plasmid pAdTrack-CMV. The plasmid pAdTrack-CMV-GRIM19 was linearized by PmeⅠ and homologously recombined with bone plasmid pAdEasy-1 in BJ5183, followed by identification by enzyme digestion. After transfection of linearized pAd-GRIM19 with PacⅠ into HEK293 cells, Ad-GRIM19 was obtained and amplified by 3 circles. SW480 cells were infected with Ad-GRIM19. The apoptosis rate was detected by flow cytometry. Agarose electrophoresis revealed the bands of recombinant plasmids identified by enzyme digestion were in the right range corresponding with expectation. Under the fluorescent microscopy, the package of Ad-GRIM19 in HEK293 cells and the expression of Ad-GRIM19 in SW480 cells were observed. The transfection of Ad-GRIM19 into SW480 cells increased the apoptosis rate of SW480 cells as compared with controls, It was concluded that Ad-GRIM19 was successfully constructed and the overexpression of GRIM19 in colon cancer cell lines could promote the apoptotic cell death.     

Effects of Livin gene RNA interference on apoptosis of cervical cancer Hela cells and enhanced sensitivity to cisplatin

The recombinant plasmids pGenesil-1-BIRC71 and pGenesil-1-BIRC72 were transfected into Hela cells and cisplatin was added with different concentrations in order to study the inhibitory effects of Livin gene, increase the apoptosis induced by cisplatin, and detect the expression ofBcl-2, Bax, caspase-3, and survivin genes. The pGenesil-1-BIRC71 and pGenesil-1-BIRC72 were transfected into Hela cells, and the expression levels of Livin, Bcl-2, Bax, caspase-3, and survivin genes were detected by using fluorescence quantitative real-time PCR. Then cisplatin at different concentrations （3.0, 6.0 and 9.9 μg/mL） was added into the transfected Hela cells, and 24, and 48 h later, the apoptosis rate was measured by flow cytometry. After transfection of pGenesil-l-BIRC71 and pGenesil-1-BIRC72 into Hela cells, the expression level of Livin gene was obviously reduced, and the apoptosis rate was significantly increased in transfection group as compared with control group （P〈0.05）. Cisplatin could increase the apoptosis rate in a dose- and time-dependent manner. After cisplatin was added, the expression levels of Bcl-2 mRNA were reduced, and those of Bax, caspase-3, and survivin mRNA were increased in transfection group as compared with those in control group （P〈0.05）. It was concluded that shRNA expression vector targeting Livin gene could inhibit the expression of Livin gene in Hela cells and enhance the apoptosis induced by cisplatin, which was related to the decreased expression of Bcl-2 and activation of Bax and caspase-3. Survivin might play an important role as an antagonist in the process of apoptosis induction.     

Effect of hammerhead ribozyme that specifically cleaves c—myc mRNA on proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells

Ojective:To investigate the effect of hammerhead ribozyme that specifically cleaves c-myc mRNA on the proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs).Methods:Based on the computer analysis of the secondary structure of c-myc mRNA,nt 2029 in rat c-myc oncogene was selected as a cleaving site for hammerhead ribozyme and the ribozyme was designed.With automatic DNA synthesizer,the two complementary DNA strands of the ribozyme were synthesized.The ribozyme gene was cloned into pGEM3Zf( ) vector and subcloned into eukaryotic expression pcDNA3 vector.The recombinant pcDNA-Rz was transfected into the cultured rat VSMCs by lipofectAMINE mediated DNA transfection protocol and individual cell clones were selected by G418.Results:The sequence of ribozyme gene inserted in pGEM3Zf( ) vector was proved to the perfectly correct.In VSMCs transfected with recombinant pcDNA-Rz, flow cytometry analysis showed that the Sphase and G2/M fractions were decreased significantly and cell proliferation stagnated in the G0/G1 phase.Conclusion:The results suggest that hammerhead ribozyme the specifically cleaves cmyc mRNA can significantly inhibit the proliferation of VSMCs.     

Non-Fusion and Fusion Expression of β-Galactosidase from Lactobacillus bulgaricus in Lactococcus lactis

Objective To construct four recombinant Lactococcus lactis strains exhibiting high β-galactosidase activity in fusion or non-fusion ways, and to study the influence factors for their protein expression and secretion. Methods The gene fragments encoding β-galactosidase from two strains of Loctobacillus bulgaricus, wch9901 isolated from yogurt and 1.1480 purchased from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, were amplified and inserted into lactococcal expression vector pMG36e. For fusion expression, the open reading frame of the β-galactosidase gene was amplified, while for non-fusion expression, the open reading frame of the β-galactosidase gene was amplified with its native Shine-Dalgarno sequence upstream. The start codon of the β-galactosidase gene partially overlapped with the stop codon of vector origin open reading frame. Then, the recombinant plasmids were transformed into Escherichia coli DH5α and Lactococcus lactis subsp, lactis MG1363 and confirmed by determining β-galactosidase activities. Results The non-fusion expression plasmids showed a significantly higher β-galactosidase activity in transformed strains than the fusion expression plasmids. The highest enzyme activity was observed in Lactococcus lactis transformed with the non-fusion expression plasmids which were inserted into the β-galactosidase gene from Lactobacillus bulgaricus wch9901. The β-galactosidase activity was 2.75 times as high as that of the native counterpart. In addition, β-galactosidase expressed by recombinant plasmids in Lactococcus lactis could be secreted into the culture medium. The highest secretion rate （27.1%） was observed when the culture medium contained 20 g/L of lactose. Conclusion Different properties of the native bacteria may have some effects on the protein expression of recombinant plasmids. Non-fusion expression shows a higher enzyme activity in host bacteria. There may be a host-related weak secretion signal peptide gene within the structure gene of Lb. bulgaricus β-galactosidase, and its translation pr     

Construction and identification of a vector expressing TRAM siRNA in mammalian cells

Objective：To construct and identify a vector expressing TRAM siRNA in mammalian cells.Methods :It was constructed that the vector named R-pSUPER-EGFP used to transcribe functional TRAM siRNA. Two of pair 64 nt TRAM gene specific target sequences were inserted into the downstream of the H1 promoter. The recombinants were transformed into E. coli JM109, and finally their veracity was confirmed by double cutting with the enzymes and sequencing. R-pSUPER-EGFP was transfected into RAW264. 7 cell by using LipofectamineTM2000, and the expression of TRAM was detected by Western blotting. Results .. Two different recombinant plasmids containing corresponding TRAM gene specific target sequences were constructed, transfected into RAW264.7 cell line successively, which can specifically restrain expression of TRAM protein. Conclusion :The optimizing method in constructing the recombinant vector serves other plasmid-based RNA interference research. Therefore, the recombinant vectors establish the basis for research on the function of TRAM gene.     

Construction of Eukaryotic Expression Plasmid of Human PRX3 and Its Expression in HEK-293FT Cells

To construct the eukaryotic expression plasmid of human PRX3 and measure its expression in the HEK-293FT cells, the full-length coding region of human PRX3 was cloned by PCR and inserted into the eukaryotic expression vector pcDNA4-Xpress (A). HEK-293FT cells were transiently transfected with the recombinant plasmid. Western blot and immuofluorescence were used to detect the expression of the fusion protein. In the experiment, restriction analysis identified the construction of the recombinant plasmid and the inserted sequence was identical with that published on GenBank. Western blot and immunofluorescence confirmed the expression of the recombinant protein in transfected HEK-293FT cells. It was concluded that the eukaryotic expression plasmid of human PRX3 was constructed successfully and the recombinant could he expressed efficiently in HEK-293FT cells, which provides a sound basis for the further study on human PRX3.     

Optimization of the construction of recombinant plasmids PPARγ- pSUPER-EGFP for RNA interference

Objective：To construct and identify the recombinant plasmids PPARγ-pSUPER-EGFP for RNA interference. Methods： The pSUPER-EGFP vectors were used to transcribe functional short interfering RNA （siRNA）. Four pairs of 64 nt PPARγ siRNA encoding sequences were inserted into the downstream of the H1 promoter. The recombinant plasmids were confirmed by double digestion with the enzymes and sequencing. Western blotting was used to examine the silencing effect of PPARγ gene in RAW264.7 cells. Following procedures were used to optimize the experiments： the oligonucleotides were incubated 5 min at 95 C and cooled automatically in boiled water bath to anneal, and then phosphorylated oligonucleotides, pSUPER-EGFP plasmids was digested with Bgl Ⅱ and Hind Ⅲ , and the product was ligated into digested pSUPER-EGFP plasmids, and transforming the ligation products followed by screening and identifying positive clones. Results ：Four kinds of positive clones producing 285 bp fragments were selected. Sequencing further proved their correctness. Four recombinant plasmids containing corresponding PPARγ gene-specific target sequences induced the silencing of its target gene more or less. Conclusion： The optimizing method in constructing these recombinant plasmids serves other plasmid-based RNA interference research. The final plasmids PPARγ-pSUPER-EGFP established the basis for research on the function of PPARγ gene.     

Adenoviral vector mediated-expression of caspase-3 siRNA on apoptosis induced by lipopolysaccharide

Objective： To construct the recombinant adenovirus expressing small RNA of rats caspase-3 and observe the down-regulation effect of caspase-3 in neurons induced by lipopolysaccharide（LPS） in vitro. Methods： pShuttleHl-siCas3 containing Oligo DNA of the targeting sequences and pEGFPC1-Cas3 containing caspase-3 and EGFP sequences were constructed respectively, pShuttleH 1-siCas3 and pEGFPC 1-Cas3 were co-transfected to the 293 cells by liposomes to determine interfering efficacy by flow cytometry, pShuttleHl-siCas3 was linearized and transformed into E. coli B J5183 cells containing backbone plasmid pAdEasy-1. The recombinant plasmid was transfected into 293 cells to package the adenovirus Ad-siCas3. The titers of adenovirus were determined by the specific 50% tissue culture infection dosage method. After virus infected the cultured hippocampus neurons, LPS-induced apoptosis and caspase-3 mRNA expression were observed. Results： It was identified that the sequence of target gene was correctly inserted into the genome of virus. The expression of green fluorescence protein was reduced by pShuttleHl-siCas3 in 293 cells. The titer of recombinant adenovirus was 1.06×10^10pfu/ml. After virus infection, caspase-3 mRNA was greatly reduced and neurons apoptosis was suppressed. Conclusion： The recombinant adenovirus expressing rats caspase-3 siRNA were successfully constructed, which may probably be further used in pain therapy by its anti-apoptosis effect.     

Function and Significance of Very Low Density Lipoprotein Receptor Subtype Ⅱ

To explore the functions of very low density lipoprotein receptor (VLDL-R) subtype Ⅱ in lipoprotein metabolism and foam cells formation, the recombinant plasmid with the two subtypes cDNA was constructed respectively, the ldl A7 cell lines were transfected and two cell lines expressing VLDL-R were obtained: one stably expressing the VLDLR with the O-linked sugar region (type Ⅰ VLDLR) and the other without the O-linked sugar region (type Ⅱ VLDLR). In the study on binding of VLDLR to their nuclein labeled natural ligands (VLDL and β-VLDL), it was found that surface binding of^125I-VLDL or ^125I-β-VLDL of ldl-A7 cells transfected with type Ⅰ VLDLR recombinant (ldl-A7-VRI) was more higher than that of ldl-A7 cells transfected with type Ⅱ VLDLR recombinant (ldl-A7 VRⅡ). After being incubated with VLDL for different time, the contents of triglyceride and total cholesterol in cells were mensurated, and the formation of foam cells and accumulation of lipid in cells was observed by oil-red O staining. The results showed that the contents of triglyceride and total cholesterol in IdI-A7-VR Ⅰ were much higher than those in ldl-A7-VR Ⅱ, and IdI-A7-VR Ⅰ could transform into foam cells notably. It was suggested that type Ⅰ VLDLR binds with relative higher affinity to VLDL and β-VLDL, and internalizes much more lipoprotein into cells. As a result, we can conclude that type Ⅰ VLDLR plays a more important role in lipoprotein metabolism and foam cells formation than type Ⅱ VLDLR。     

Cloning of the Eukaryotic Expression Vector with Nerve Growth Factor in Rats and Its Effects on Proliferation and Differentiation of Mesencephal Neural Stem Cells of Fetal Rats

The eukaryotic expression vector containing full-length cDNA sequence of rate nerve growth factor （NGF） β subunit was constructed and its effects on proliferation and differentiation of neural stem cells were observed. By using PCR, full-length cDNA sequence of NGF β subunit in rats was cloned and ligated into the eukaryotic expression vector pEGFP-N1-NGF. The recombinant plasmid pEGFP-N1-NGF was transfected into the mesencephal neural stem cells of embryonic rats by Lipofectamin and transiently expressed. MTT method was used to determine the effects of NGF on proliferation of neural stem cells, and under phase-contrast microscopy, the effects of NGF on growth of nervous processes following differentiation of neural stem cells were observed. Sequence analysis indicated that the cloned full-length cDNA sequence of rat NGF β was identical to that of published sequence encoding NGF in gene GeneBank. The transfection of recombinant plasmid pEGFP-N1-NGF into mesencephal neural stem cells of embryonic rats could obviously promote proliferation of neural stem cells and faciliate the growth of neural stem cells-derived nerve cells. It was suggested that neural stem cells could be used as a vehicle of gene transfer, and the expression of NGF β subunit in the neural stem cells could promote the growth of nerve cells derived from neural stem cells.