鼻咽癌中与已知基因同源的差异表达cDNA序列

采用新近发展的ｃＤＮＡ代表性差异分析法筛选鼻咽癌中不表达的或表达降低的ｃＤＮＡ序列。结果显示：有９个与已知基因高度同源的ｃＤＮＡ序列。通过对这些已知基因的结构和功能分析,发现有与细胞骨架成分相关的基因：αａｃｔｉｎｉｎ,ｅｚｒｉｎ和细胞角蛋白１３;直接与瘤基因和抑瘤基因相互作用的基因：鲨烯合成酶和ＴＲＩＰ１基因;直接参与ＤＮＡ合成以及调控基因转录和翻译的基因：ＴＡＦⅡ６８和组蛋白Ｈ１０;另外还有人类补体因子Ｂ及类转运ＲＮＡ合成酶的基因。这些基因大多具有相当于抑瘤基因的功能。从而进一步说明鼻咽癌的发生是多基因相互作用的结果。     

Reduction of tumorigenicity by an interferon-γ-gene-transduced tumor on another syngeneic tumor in a murine model

To evaluate the effect of interferon-γ-genetransduced cells, DS mice were inoculated into their footpads with syngeneic mammary adenocarcinoma SC42 admixed with interferon-γ producing mammary adenocarcinoma SC115Kγ, which had been established by an interferon-γ-gene transduction in another syngeneic mammary adenocarcinoma SC115 using retroviral vectors. These mice rejected both tumor cells and developed resistance to subsequent challenges with either SC115 or SC42 cells inoculated into their opposite posterior footpads. These results thus indicate that systemic immunological memory to each of the independent tumor cell lines developed in these mice. Although the SC42 cells admixed with irradiated SC115Kγ cells were rejected by these mice, the SC42 cells admixed with irradiated SC115neoR, in which the neo-gene had been transduced, were observed to proliferate. Tumor rejection was reversed by an in vivo administration of anti-interferon-γ antibody, thus suggesting that locally produced interferon-γ plays an important role in tumor elimination and immunological memory induction. In conclusion, interferon-γ-gene-transduced tumor cells are therefore considered to have a therapeutic potential for other types of malignant tumor cell lines.     

Unilateral dopamine depletion paradoxically enhances amphetamine-induced Fos expression in basal ganglia output structures

The ability of amphetamine to induce expression of the immediate early gene protein, Fos, was examined by immunocytochemistry in animals with unilateral 6-hydroxydopamine lesions of the nigrostriatal bundle. Amphetamine induced Fos expression in the globus pallidus (GP) on the intact side of the brain, but this response was greatly attenuated on the dopamine-depleted side. In contrast, amphetamine induced little Fos expression in the entopeduncular nucleus (EPN) and the substantia nigra pars reticulata (SNpr) on the intact side of the brain, but resulted in pronounced expression in these structures on the lesioned side. These findings demonstrate that unilateral dopamine depletion results in a pathophysiological state in which some responses to amphetamine are attenuated while others are paradoxically potentiated. One explanation of these effects is that amphetamine may indirectly activate excitatory inputs to the SNpr and the EPN on both sides of the brain. On the intact side, these effects would be opposed by the simultaneous activation of inhibitory pathways arising in the striatum and the GP, with the result that little Fos expression would be seen. On the dopamine-depleted side, however, engagement of these inhibitory pathways would be attenuated and the unopposed effects of the excitatory inputs mobilized by amphetamine would result in exaggerated Fos synthesis.     

c-Fos expression in the auditory pathways related to the significance of acoustic signals in rats performing a sensory-motor task

Neuronal activity was established in the auditory pathways in relation to behavioural response and cognitive information processing during a sensory-motor acoustic learning. Rats were trained in three consecutive phases. The first phase was an association between an auditory stimulus and a food reward; the second phase a simple discrimination between two sounds of different frequency components, and the third phase a more complex discrimination involving both spectral and spatial sound dimensions. Auditory stimuli were bursts of complex sounds lasting 500 ms. Neuronal activity related to the behaviourally relevant stimuli was established in 20 "learning" rats undergoing this protocol, which were progressively sacrificed at the beginning, middle and end of each phase. For comparison, activity was also established in four "control" rats exposed to the same stimuli delivered pseudo-randomly, thus carrying no behavioural meaning. Neuronal activity was assessed immunocytochemically using the functional marker Fos. To establish a baseline, two rats were unexposed to controlled acoustic stimulation ("unstimulated" rats). In the superior olivary complex (SOC), inferior colliculus (IC) and medial geniculate body (MGB), the number of Fos-like immunopositive cells was comparable in "learning" and "control" animals, but higher than in the "unstimulated" rats. In the auditory cortex (AC), most prominently in the secondary area Te2, the number of Fos-like positive cells differed between "learning" and "control" rats, suggesting that the auditory cortical areas may be involved in the encoding of the behavioural significance of the acoustic stimuli.     

Overexpression and purification of enzymatically active recombinant integrase protein of rous sarcoma virus

The carboxy-terminal domain of polymerase gene of Rous sarcoma virus was cloned into an expression vector under the control oflac regulatory elements, resulting in the plasmid pMF1413. Upon isopropyl--D-thiogalactopyranoside induction, viral integration (IN) protein was expressed in large quantity inEscherichia coli. The expressed recombinant protein was prepurified by successive washing of the bacterial pellet with 0.1 M NaCl and detergents. Further purification was performed in high yield by standard chromatography methods. The purified enzyme revealed selective DNA cleaving activity on supercoiled plasmid with the LTR-LTR junction fragment. The reaction was metal ion dependent, with a preference for Mn²⁺ over Mg²⁺, and showed substrate specificity at 1 mM MnCl₂.