阿片对小白鼠组织大分子成分的影响研究进展

阿片系统是调节机体生理活动的系统之一。近年来,阿片被认为在控制家畜和其他种类动物生长中起着重要作用。阐述了阿片对小白鼠胚胎以及新生小白鼠组织DNA、RNA和蛋白质的影响。阿片亦能影响成年小白鼠组织大分子成分。虽然阿片是否影响组织功能尚不清楚,但是阿片抑制啮齿动物和人类的免疫功能。     

Human sarcomas contain RNA related to the RNA of a mouse leukemia virus

Labeled DNA complementary to the RNA of the Rauscher leukemia virus was hybridized with RNA from the polysome fraction of human sarcomas. Eighteen out of 25 specimens contained RNA possessing homology to the RNA of the mouse leukemia virus but not to that of the unrelated viruses causing mammary tumors in mice or myeloblastosis in chickens. Further, no normal adult or fetal tissues showed significant amounts of RNA specific to mouse leukemia virus. It appears that human sarcomas contain RNA sequences homologous to those found in an agent related to a virus known to cause sarcomas in mice.     

5TH International Ancient DNA Conference. Divining diet and disease from DNA

Some 110 scientists from a range of disciplines gathered in the overcast British midlands for the 5th International Ancient DNA Conference, held here from 12 to 14 July. Among the attractions were new insights into the diets of early Americans gleaned from ancient human coprolites and intriguing reports of nuclear DNA and ancient viral sequences extracted from mammoth bones.     

小鼠胚胎发育不同阶段肝脏差异蛋白质组分析

利用固相pH梯度双向凝胶电泳技术分离胎龄12,13,14,16,18d的胎鼠及成鼠肝脏总蛋白,考染显色．PDQuest2DE软件分析获得6个不同发育时期的蛋白质表达谱。从总体看,14,16,18d胎鼠与成鼠肝脏的蛋白质表达谱较为一致,而12d和13d的肝脏蛋白质表达谱则与它们有较明显的差异,其蛋白质表达量显著降低,许多蛋白甚至缺失。以18d的胎肝图谱为参考,14,16d与其匹配率分别为57％,61％,成鼠与其匹配率为69％。与18d胎肝图谱相比,14d表达上调3倍以上的点有27个,16d表达上调3倍以上的点有13个,成鼠表达上调3倍以上的点有15个。并应用基质辅助激光解吸电离飞行时间质谱对14个差异蛋白质进行分析鉴定,经数据库查询,其中6个蛋白点获得了有意义的结果,分别为细胞周期依赖激酶调节亚基1、凡科尼蛋白、酪氨酸蛋白激酶BLK、通用转录因子3C多肽4、TBC1家族因子13、巨噬细胞受体MARCO。研究结果表明,在小鼠胚胎发育过程中,肝脏合成蛋白的种类和数量均迅速增加,并且细胞的增殖和生长、免疫功能的发育和完善以及蛋白质与核酸的合成和运输在其胎肝发育过程中起着非常重要的作用。     

Lin28b reprograms adult bone marrow hematopoietic progenitors to mediate fetal-like lymphopoiesis

The immune system develops in waves during ontogeny; it is initially populated by cells generated from fetal hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and later by cells derived from adult HSCs. Remarkably, the genetic programs that control these two distinct stem cell fates remain poorly understood. We report that Lin28b is specifically expressed in mouse and human fetal liver and thymus, but not in adult bone marrow or thymus. We demonstrate that ectopic expression of Lin28 reprograms hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPCs) from adult bone marrow, which endows them with the ability to mediate multilineage reconstitution that resembles fetal lymphopoiesis, including increased development of B-1a, marginal zone B, gamma/delta (γδ) T cells, and natural killer T (NKT) cells.     

Deep-sea hydrocarbon seep communities: evidence for energy and nutritional carbon sources

Mussels, clams, and tube worms collected in the vicinity of hydrocarbon seeps on the Louisiana slope contain mostly "dead" carbon, indicating that dietary carbon is largely derived from seeping oil and gas. Enzyme assays, elemental sulfur analysis, and carbon dioxide fixation studies demonstrate that vestimentiferan tube worms and three clam species contain intracellular, autotrophic sulfur bacterial symbionts. Carbon isotopic ratios of 246 individual animal tissues were used to differentiate heterotrophic (8(13)C = -14 to -20 per mil), sulfur-based (8(13)C = -30 to -42 per mil), and methane-based (8(13)C = <-40 per mil) energy sources. Mussels with symbiotic methanotrophic bacteria reflect the carbon isotopic composition of the methane source. Isotopically light nitrogen and sulfur confirm the chemoautotrophic nature of the seep animals. Sulfur-based chemosynthetic animals contain isotopically light sulfur, whereas methane-based symbiotic mussels more closely reflect the heavier oceanic sulfate pool. The nitrogen requirement of some seep animals may be supported by nitrogen-fixing bacteria. Some grazing neogastropods have isotopic values characteristic of chemosynthetic animals, suggesting the transfer of carbon into the background deep-sea fauna.     

Acetoacetyl--coenzyme A thiolase in brain, liver, and kidney during maturation of the rat

The development of thiolase in various rat tissues from 7 days before birth to adulthood was studied. Enzyme activities in brain, liver, and kidney during the perinatal period reflect the nutritional environment, whereas those in the adult tissues do not.     

A human Y-linked DNA polymorphism and its potential for estimating genetic and evolutionary distance

A human DNA sequence (p12f2), derived from a partial Y-chromosome genomic library and showing homology with the X and Y chromosomes and with an undetermined number of autosomes, detected two Y-specific restriction fragment length variants on male DNA that had been digested with Taq I and Eco RI. These variants may have been generated through a deletion-insertion mechanism and their pattern of holoandric transmission indicates that they represent a two-allele Y-linked polymorphism (RFLP). By means of DNA from patients with inborn deletions in chromosome Y, this polymorphic DNA site was mapped to the interval Yq11.1-Yq11.22. The frequency of the rarest allele was about 35 percent in Algerian and Sardinian human males, whereas it was only 4 percent among Northern Europeans. The p12f2 probe also detected Y-specific DNA fragments in the gorilla and chimpanzee. In view of the monosomy of the Y chromosome in mammalian species, Y-linked RFLP's may prove to be more useful than autosomal or X-linked markers in estimating genetic distances within and between species.     

Oncogene-induced transformation of C3H 10T1/2 cells is enhanced by tumor promoters

The tumor promoters 12-O-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate and teleocidin markedly enhanced the transformation of C3H 10T1/2 mouse fibroblasts when these cells were transfected with the cloned human bladder cancer c-rasH oncogene. Transfection studies with the drug resistance marker gpt and time course studies indicate that this enhancement is not simply an effect on the process of DNA transfection. These findings, together with parallel studies with NIH 3T3 fibroblasts, also indicate that the competence of animal cells for DNA transfection is a function of the recipient cell line, the transfected marker, and the growth conditions. Our findings suggest that during multistage carcinogenesis tumor promoters may complement the function of activated cellular oncogenes.     

Soil carbon isotope evidence for holocene habitat change in the kenya rift valley

In eastern Africa the altitude of the boundary between montane forest and lowland savanna grassland changed substantially in response to climate change during the later Holocene, but this is not clearly reflected in regional pollen records. The carbon-13 to carbon-12 ratios of tropical grasses are higher than those of most other plants, and this difference is preserved in soil organic carbon stable isotope ratios. Soil organic matter (13)C/(12)C ratios in profiles along an altitude transect in the central Rift Valley of Kenya suggest that the forest-savanna boundary advanced more than 300 meters in altitude. This could have implications for understanding the effects of climate change on the configuration of floral zones, prehistoric hunter-gatherer land-use patterns, and the timing of the advent of Neolithic food production.     

A high-resolution record of holocene climate change in speleothem calcite from cold water cave, northeast iowa

High-precision uranium-thorium mass spectrometric chronology and (18)O-(13)C isotopic analysis of speleothem calcite from Cold Water Cave in northeast Iowa have been used to chart mid-Holocene climate change. Significant shifts in dagger(18)O and dagger(13)C isotopic values coincide with well-documented Holocene vegetation changes. Temperature estimates based on (18)O/(16)O ratios suggest that the climate warmed rapidly by about 3 degrees C at 5900 years before present and then cooled by 4 degrees C at 3600 years before present. Initiation of a gradual increase in dagger(13)C at 5900 years before present suggests that turnover of the forest soil biomass was slow and that equilibrium with prairie vegetation was not attained by 3600 years before present.     

Carbon isotopic evidence for different feeding patterns in two hyrax species occupying the same habitat

The carbon-13/carbon-12 ratios of the carbonate and collagen fractions of bone of the sympatric hyrax species Procavia johnstoni and Heterohyrax brucei indicate that the former obtains most of its diet by grazing while the latter is primarily a browser. The carbon-13/carbon-12 ratios of these fractions in fossil bone will record information about diet if they have not been altered during diagenesis.     

Hydrothermal Vent Clam and Tube Worm 13C/12C: Further Evidence of Nonphotosynthetic Food Sources

The stable carbon isotope ratios in clam mantle tissues taken from both Galápagos and 21 degrees N hydrothermal vent sites were similar to the unusually low ratios of carbon-13 to carbon-12 previously reported for a Galápagos hydrothermal vent mussel. In marked contrast to these bivalves, vestimentiferan worm tissues from a Galápagos vent had isotope ratios that were higher than those of open ocean biota. These observations suggest that more than one nonpelagic and nonphotosynthetic carbon fixation pathway is of nutritional importance to vent animals, and that at least one of these pathways is common to two geographically separated vent sites.     

Fullerenes from the geological environment

By means of high-resoluton transmission electron microscopy, both C(60) and C(70) fullerenes have been found in a, carbon-rich Precambrian rock from Russia The fullerenes were confirmed by Fourier transform mass spectrometry with both laser desorption and thermal desorption/electron-capture methods to verify that the fullerenes were indeed present in the geological sample and were not generated by the laser ionization event. The mass spectra were measured under conditions sufficient to resolve the (13)C/(12)C isotopic ratios for C(60) and C(70) and indicate that these ratios correspond to the normal range of isotopic values.     

Truncating neurotrypsin mutation in autosomal recessive nonsyndromic mental retardation

A 4-base pair deletion in the neuronal serine protease neurotrypsin gene was associated with autosomal recessive nonsyndromic mental retardation (MR). In situ hybridization experiments on human fetal brains showed that neurotrypsin was highly expressed in brain structures involved in learning and memory. Immuno-electron microscopy on adult human brain sections revealed that neurotrypsin is located in presynaptic nerve endings, particularly over the presynaptic membrane lining the synaptic cleft. These findings suggest that neurotrypsin-mediated proteolysis is required for normal synaptic function and suggest potential insights into the pathophysiological bases of mental retardation.     

Fetal hemoglobin variants in mice

Two strains of mice, DBA and C3H, have a fetal globin polypeptide chain which differs in electrophoretic mobility from the corresponding fetal chain of the C57B1 strain. Mice of the DBA and C3H strains also differ from those of the C57B1 in adult hemoglobin type. Results of backcrossing the (DBA x C57B1) hybrid to the C57B1 suggest that the fetal chain locus and the adult beta-chain locus are closely linked.     

塔克拉玛干沙漠北缘柽柳灌丛肥岛效应的变化规律及其生态学意义

为探索荒漠化过程中肥岛效应的变化规律,选择盐化草甸、灌丛及沙漠3种景观类型,测定了柽柳灌丛下和灌丛间空地土壤有机碳(SOC)、全氮(TN)、水分含量以及柽柳营养枝δ13C等指标,并用土壤养分的富集系数来表征肥岛效应的强弱。结果发现盐化草甸退化为灌丛时,柽柳肥岛效应增强,柽柳冠下土壤SOC和TN的富集系数分别由3.0和2.8增加至7.1和3.7;而随着灌丛向沙漠逐步过渡,肥岛效应逐渐削弱直至消失,柽柳冠下土壤SOC和TN的富集系数出现持续下降的趋势,分别由7.1和3.7下降到0.5。这种变化反映了荒漠化在该地区发展所处的不同阶段,而肥岛中SOC和TN的富集系数是反映这种变化的有效指标。同时,肥岛的存在也为该地区群落演化提供了必要的条件。      

mtDNA A3243G 点突变小鼠模型的建立及其致病机制探讨

    利用显微注射线粒体技术建立转人线粒体小鼠模型,研究外源突变mtDNA在不同组织的分布及遗传规律,探讨mtDNA A3243G点突变对线粒体功能的影响.从健康成人及2型糖尿病患者(携带mtDNA 3243A-G突变)血液标本中分离有活性的线粒体,将其显微注射至小鼠受精卵,胚胎移植,产出仔鼠后利用分子生物学方法检测人mtDNA及mtDNA A3243G点突变.获得嵌合体小鼠后,对其空腹血糖和全血乳酸进行测定,并使用荧光法和比色法分析A3243G点突变小鼠重要脏器组织细胞活性氧生成量(ROS)、线粒体复合酶Ⅰ和Ⅳ活力及线粒体ATP合成活力的变化.研究结果显示:在1只雌性(转健康人线粒体)和2只雄性小鼠(转患者线粒体)中检测到人mtDNA,其中2只雄性小鼠携带mtDNA 3243A-G突变;将嵌和体雌鼠与野生型C57BL/6J 雄鼠交配后,在1只后代仔鼠中检测到人mtDNA;人mtDNA仅在嵌合小鼠的部分组织中表达.在含有mtDNA A3243G突变的组织中发现,线粒体复合酶Ⅰ、Ⅳ活力降低,ATP合成速率下降,ROS水平升高,说明A3243G点突变能损伤线粒体正常功能从而导致疾病的发生.综上所述,本研究利用显微注射法成功建立了嵌和小鼠,引入了致病性的点突变,为线粒体疾病的研究提供了良好的思路.