Norepinephrine transporter (NET) is expressed in cardiac sympathetic ganglia of adult rat

The sympathetic nervous system plays a cardinal role in regulating cardiac function through releasing the neurotransmitter norepinephrine (NE). In comparison with central nervous system, the molecular mechanism of NE uptake in myocardium is not clear. In present study, we proved that in rat the CNS type of NE transporter (NET) was also expressed in middle cervical-stellate ganglion complex (MC-SG complex) which is considered to control the activity of heart, but not expressed in myocardium. The results also showed that NET expression level in right ganglion was significantly higher than in the left, rendering the greater capacity of NE uptake in right ventricle, a fact which may contribute to the maintenance of right ventricular function under pathologic state.

Bcl-2 over-expression and activation of protein kinase C suppress the Trail-induced apoptosis in Jurkat T cells

Trail, a tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand, is a novel potent endogenous activator of the cell death pathway through the activation of cell surface death receptors Trail-R1 and Trail-R2. Its role, like FasL in activation-induced cell death (AICD), has been demonstrated in immune system. However the mechanism of Trail induced apoptosis remains unclear. In this report, the recombinant Trail protein was expressed and purified. The apoptosis-inducing activity and the regulation mechanism of recombinant Trail on Jurkat T cells were explored in vitro. Trypan blue exclusion assay demonstrated that the recombinant Trail protein actively killed Jurkat T cells in a dose-dependent manner. Trail-induced apoptosis in Jurkat T cells were remarkably reduced by Bcl-2 over expression in Bcl-2 gene transfected cells. Treatment with PMA (phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate), a PKC activator, suppressed Trail-induced apoptosis in Jurkat T cells. The inhibition of apoptosis by PMA was abolished by pretreatment with Bis, a PKC inhibitor. Taken together, it was suggested that Bcl-2 over-expression and PMA activated PKC actively down-regulated the Trail-mediated apoptosis in Jurkat T cell.

The involvement of p38 MAPK in transforming growth factor β1-induced apoptosis in murine hepatocytes

We reported in this manuscript that TGF-beta1 induces apoptosis in AML12 murine hepatocytes, which is associated with the activation of p38 MAPK signaling pathway. SB202190, a specific inhibitor of p38 MAPK, strongly inhibited the TGF-beta1-induced apoptosis and PAI-1 promoter activity. Treatment of cells with TGF-beta1 activates p38. Furthermore, over-expression of dominant negative mutant p38 also reduced the TGF-beta1-induced apoptosis. The data indicate that the activation of p38 is involved in TGF-beta1-mediated gene expression and apoptosis.

An armed oncolytic adenovirus system,ZD55-gene,demonstrating potent antitumoral efficacy

ONYX-015 is an attractive therapeutic adenovirus for cancer because it can selectively replicate in tumor cells and kill them. To date, clinical trials of this adenovirus have demonstrated marked safety but not potent enough when it was used alone. In this paper, we put forward a novel concept of Gene-ViroTherapy strategy and in this way, we constructed an armed therapeutic oncolytic adenovirus system, ZD55-gene, which is not only deleted of ElB 55-kD gene similar to ONYX-015, but also armed with foreign antitumor gene. ZD55-gene exhibited similar cytopathic effects and replication kinetics to that of ONYX-015 in vitro. Importantly, the carried gene is expressed and the expression level can increase with the replication of virus. Consequently, a significant antitumoral efficacy was observed when ZD55-CD/5-FU was used as an example in nude mice with subcutaneous human SW620 colon cancer. Our data demonstrated that ZD55-gene, which utilizing the Gene-ViroTherapy strategy, is more efficacious than each individual component in vivo.

Differential regulation of survivin by p53 contributes to cell cycle dependent apoptosis

Recent studies indicate that cell-cycle checkpoints are tightly correlated with the regulation of apoptosis, in which p53 plays an important role. Our present works show that the expression of E6/E7 oncogenes of human papillomavirus in HeLa cells is inhibited in the presence of anti-tumor reagent tripchlorolide (TC), which results in the up-regulation of p53 in HeLa cells. Interestingly, under the same TC-treatment, the cells at the early S-phase are more susceptible to apoptosis than those at the middle S-phase although p53 protein is stabilized to the same level in both situations. Significant difference is exhibited between the two specified expression profiles. Further analysis demonstrates that anti-apoptotic gene survivin is up-regulated by p53 in the TC-treated middle-S cells, whereas it is down-regulated by p53 in the TC-treated early-S cells. Taken together, the present study indicates that the differential p53-regulated expres- sion of survivin at different stages of the cell cycle results in different cellular outputs under the same apoptosis-inducer.

Enhancement of human ACAT1 gene expression to promote the macrophage-derived foam cell formation by dexamethasone

In macrophages, the accumulation of cholesteryl esters synthesized by the activated acyl-coenzyme A:cholesterol acyltransferase-1 (ACAT1) results in the foam cell formation, a hallmark of early atherosclerotic lesions. In this study, with the treatment of a glucocorticoid hormone dexamethasone (Dex), lipid staining results clearly showed the large accumulation of lipid droplets containing cholesteryl esters in THP-1-derived macrophages exposed to lower concentration of the oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL). More notably, when treated together with specific anti-ACAT inhibitors, the abundant cholesteryl ester accumulation was markedly diminished in THP-1-derived macrophages, confirming that ACAT is the key enzyme responsible for intracellular cholesteryl ester synthesis. RT-PCR and Western blot results indicated that Dex caused up-regulation of human ACAT1 expression at both the mRNA and protein levels in THP-1 and THP-1-derived macrophages. The luciferase activity assay demonstrated that Dex could enhance the activity of human ACAT1 gene P1 promoter, a major factor leading to the ACAT1 activation, in a cell-specific manner. Further experimental evidences showed that a glucocorticoid response element (GRE) located within human ACAT1 gene P1 promoter to response to the elevation of human ACAT1 gene expression by Dex could be functionally bound with glucocorticoid receptor (GR) proteins. These data supported the hypothesis that the clinical treatment with Dex, which increased the incidence of atherosclerosis, may in part due to enhancing the ACAT1 expression to promote the accumulation of cholesteryl esters during the macrophage-derived foam cell formation, an early stage of atherosclerosis.

Maternal zinc deficiency impairs brain nestin expression in prenatal and postnatal mice

Effects of maternal dietary zinc deficiency on prenatal and postnatal brain development were investigated in ICR strain mice. From d 1 of pregnancy (E0) until postnatal d 20 (P20), maternal mice were fed experimental diets that contained 1 mg Zn/kg/day (severe zinc deficient, SZD), 5 mg Zn/kg/day (marginal zinc deficient, MZD), 30 mg Zn/kg/day (zinc adequately supplied, ZA) or 100 mg Zn/kg/day (zinc supplemented, ZS and pair-fed, PF). Brains of offspring from these dietary groups were examined at various developmental stages for expression of nestin, an intermediate filament protein found in neural stem cells and young neurons. Immunocytochemistry showed nestin expression in neural tube 10.5 d post citrus (dpc) as well as in the cerebral cortex and neural tube from 10.5 dpc to postnatal d 10 (P10). Nestin immunoreactivities in both brain and neural tube of those zinc-supplemented control groups (ZA, ZS, PF) were stronger than those in zinc-deficient groups (SZD and MZD). Western blot analysis confirmed that nestin levels in pooled brain extracts from each of the zinc-supplemented groups (ZA, ZS, PF) were much higher than those from the zinc-deficient groups (SZD and MZD) from 10.5 dpc to P10. Immunostaining and Western blots showed no detectable nestin in any of the experimental and control group brains after P20. These observations of an association between maternal zinc deficiency and decreased nestin protein levels in brains of offspring suggest that zinc deficiency suppresses development of neural stem cells, an effect which may lead to neuroanatomical and behavioral abnormalities in adults.

Adenoviral transfer of human intedeukin-10 gene in lethal pancreatitis

AIM: To evaluate the therapeutic effect of adenoviral-vector-delivered human interleukin-10 (hIL-10) gene on severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) rats. METHODS: Healthy Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were intraperitoneally injected with adenoviral IL-10 gene (AdvhIL-10), empty vector (Adv0) or PBS solution. Blood, liver, pancreas and lung were harvested on the second day to examine hIL-10 level by ELISA and serum amylase by enzymatic assay. A SAP model was induced by retrograde injection of sodium taurocholate through pancreatic duct. SAP rats were then administered with AdvhIL-10, Adv0and PBS solution by a single intraperitoneal injection 20 min after SAP induction. In addition to serum amylase assay, levels of hIL-10 and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) were detected by RT-PCR, ELISA and histological study. The mortality rate was studied and analyzed by Kaplan-Meier and log rank analysis.RESULTS: The levels of hIL-10 in the pancreas, liver and lung of healthy rats increased significantly after AdvhIL-10 injection (1.42 ng/g in liver, 0.91 ng/g in pancreas); while there was no significant change of hIL-10 in the other two control groups. The concentration of hIL-10 was increased significantly in the SAP rats after AdvhIL-10 injection (1.68 ng/g in liver, 1.12 ng/g in pancreas) compared to the other two SAP groups with blank vector or PBS treatment (P<0.05). The serum amylase levels remained normal in the AdvhIL-10 transfected healthy rats. However, the serum amylase level was significantly elevated in the other two control SAP rats. In contrast, serum amylase was down-regulated in the AdvhIL-10 treated SAP groups.The TNF-α expression in the AdvhIL-10 treated SAP rats was significantly lower compared to the other two control SAP groups. The pathohistological changes in the AdvhIL-10 treated group were better than those in the other two control groups. Furthermore, the mortality of the AdvhIL-10 treated group was significantly reduced compared to the other two control groups (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Adenoviral hIL-10 gene can significantly attenuate the severity of SAP rats, and can be used in the treatment of acute inflammation process.

Mutation analysis of novel human liver-related putative tumor suppressor gene in hepatocellular carcinoma

AIM: To find the point mutations meaningful for inactivationof liver-related putative tumor suppressor gene (LPTS) gene,a human novel liver-related putative tumor suppressor geneand telomerase inhibitor in hepatocellular carcinoma.METHODS: The entire coding sequence of LPTS genewas examined for mutations by single strand conformationpolymorphism (SSCP) assay and PCR products directsequencing in 56 liver cancer cell lines, 7 ovarian cancerand 7 head & neck tumor cell lines and 70 pairs of HCCtissues samples. The cDNA fragment coding for the mostfrequent mutant protein was subcloned into GST fusionexpression vector. The product was expressed in E. coliand purified by glutathione-agarose column. Telomericrepeat amplification protocol (TRAP) assays wereperformed to study the effect of point mutation totelomerase inhibitory activity.RESULTS: SSCP gels showed the abnormal shifting bandsand DNA sequencing found that there were 5 differentmutations and/or polymorphisms in 12 tumor cell lineslocated at exon2, exon5 and exon7. The main alterationswere A(778)A/G and A(880)T in exon7. The change in siteof 778 could not be found in HCC tissue samples, while themutation in position 880 was seen in 7 (10 %) cases. Themutation in the site of 880 had no effect on telomeraseinhibitory activity.CONCLUSION: Alterations identified in this study arepolymorphisms of LPTS gene. LPTS mutations occur in HCCbut are infrequent and of little effect on the telomeraseinhibitory function of the protein. Epigenetics, such asmethylation, acetylation, may play the key role in inactivationof LPTS.

DNA immunization with fusion genes encoding different regions of hepatitis C virus E2 fused to the gene for hepatitis B surface antigen elicits immune responses to both HCV and HBV

AIM: Both Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and Hepatitis C virus(HCV) are major causative agents of transfusion-associatedand community-acquired hepatitis worldwide. Developmentof a HCV vaccine as well as more effective HBV vaccines isan urgent task. DNA immunization provides a promisingapproach to elicit protective humoral and cellular immuneresponses against viral infection. The aim of this study is toachieve immune responses against both HCV and HBV by DNAimmunization with fusion constructs comprising various HCVE2 gene fragments fused to HBsAg gane of HBV.METHODS: C57BL/6 mice were immunized with plasmid DNAexpressing five fragments of HCV E2 fused to the gene forHBsAg respectively. After one primary and one boostingimmunizations, antibodies against HCV E2 and HBsAg weretested and subtyped in ELISA. Splenic cytokine expressionof IFN-γ and IL-10 was analyzed using an RT-PCR assay.Post-immune mouse antisera also were tested for theirability to capture HCV viruses in the serum of a hepatitis Cpatient in vitro.RESUTLTS: After immunization, antibodies against bothHBsAg and HCV E2 were detected in mouse sera, withIgG2a being the dominant immunoglobulin sub-class. High-level expression of INF-γ was deuetected in cultured splenic cells.Mouse antisera against three of the five fusion constructs wereable to capture HCV viruses in an in vitro assay.CONCLUSION: The results indicate that these fusionconstructs could efficiently elicit humoral and Th1 dominantcellular immune responses against both HBV S and HCV E2antigens in DNA-immunized mice. They thus could serve ascandidates for a bivalent vaccine against HBV and HCVinfection. In addition, the capacity of mouse antisera againstthree of the five fusion constnucts to capture HCV virusses invitro suggested that neutralizing epitopes may be present inother regions of E2 besides the hypervariable region 1.

Identification of an epitope of SARS-coronavirus nucleocapsid protein

The nueleocapsid (N) protein of severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus (SARS-CoV) is a major virion structural protein. In this study, two epitopes (Nl and N2) of the N protein of SARS-CoV were predicted by bioinformatics analysis. After immunization with two peptides, the peptides-specific antibodies were isolated from the immunized rabbits. The further experiments demonstrated that N1 peptide-induced polyclonal antibodies had a high affinity to bind to E. coli expressed N protein of SAR,S-CoV. Furthermore, it was confirmed that Nl peptide-specific IgG antibodies were detectable in the sera of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) patients. The results indicated that an epitope of the N protein has been identified and N protein specific Abs were produced by peptide immunization, which will be useful for the study of SARS-CoV.

A candidate DNA vaccine elicits HCV specific humoral and cellular immune responses

AIM: TO investigate the immunogenicity of candidate DNA vaccine against hepatitis C virus (HCV) delivered by two plasmids expressing HCV envelope protein 1 (El) and envelope protein 2 (E2) antigens respectively and to study the effect of CpG adjuvant on this candidate vaccine.METHODS: Recombinant plasmJds expressing HCV EI and E2 antigens respectively were used to simultaneously inoculate mice with or without CpG adjuvant. Antisera were then collected and tJters of antJ-HCV antibodies were analyzed by ELISA. One month after the last injection, animals were sacrificed to prepare single-cell suspension of splenocytes.These cells were subjected to HCV antigen specific proliferaion assays and cytokine secretion assays to evaluate the cellular immune responses of the vaccinated animals.RESULTS: Antibody responses to HCV EI and E2 antigens were detected in vaccinated animals. Animals receiving CpG adjuvant had slightly lower titers of anti-HCV antibodies in the sera, while the splenocytes from these animals showed higher HCV-antigen specific proliferation. Analysis of cytokine secretion from the splenocytes was consistent with the above results. While no antigen-specific IL-4 secretion was detected for all vaccinated animals, HCV antigen-specific INF-γ, secretion was detected for the splenocytes of vaccinated animals. CpG adjuvant enhanced the secretion of INF-γ, but did not change the profile of IL-4 secretion.CONCLUSION: Vaccination of mice with plasmids encoding HCV E1 and E2 antigens induces humoral and cellular immune responses. CpG adjuvant significantly enhances the cellular immune response.

Isolation and characterization of the murine Nanog gene promoter

Nanog protein is expressed in the interior cells of compacted morulae and maintained till epiblasts but downregulated by implantation stage. It is also expressed in embryonic stem cells, embryonic carcinoma cells and embryonic germ cells but disappeared in differentiated ES cells. In this study, we have isolated, sequenced, and performed the first characterization of the Nanog promoter. The transcription start sites were mapped by primer extension analysis. Two promoter regions were found upstream the transcription start sites and the expression of major Nanog promoter/ reporter gene construct is abolished in differentiated F9 EC cells as compared to the undifferentiated counterpart. We also showed that a putative octamer motif (ATGCAAAA) is necessary for the major promoter activity. Gel shift and supershift assays showed that Oct-1, Oct-4 and Oct-6 protein selectively bind to the octamer motif.

Overexpression of γ-aminobutyric acid transporter subtype I leads to susceptibility to Kainic acid-induced seizure in transgenic mice

γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is the principal inhibitory neurotransmitter, and the GABAergic synaptic transmission is normally terminated by the rapid uptake through GABA transporters. With transgenic mice ubiquitously overexpressing GABA transporter subtype I (GAT1), the present study explored the pathophysiological role of GAT1 in epileptogenesis. Though displaying no spontaneous seizure activity, these mice exhibit altered electroencephalographic patterns and increased susceptibility to seizure induced by kainic acid. In addition, the GABAA receptor and glutamate transporters are up-regulated in transgenic mice, which perhaps reflects a compensatory or corrective change to the elevated level of GAT1. These preliminary findings support the hypothesis that excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmission, and seizure susceptibility can be altered by neurotransmitter transporters.

Genes encoding Pir51,Beclin 1,RbAp48 and aldolase b are up or down-regulated in human primary hepatocellular carcinoma

AIM:To reveal new tumor markers and target genes from differentially expressed genes of primary tumor samples using cDNA microarray.METHODS: The ^33p labeled cDNAs were synthesized by reverse transcription of message RNA from the liver cancerous tissue and adjacent non-cancerous liver tissue from the same patient and used to hybridize to LifeGrid 1.0 cDNA microarray blot containing 8400 known and unique human cDNA gene targets, and an expression profile of genes was produced in one paired human liver tumor tissue.After a global analysis of gene expression of 8400 genes,we selected some genes to confirm the differential expression using Northern blot and RT-PCR.RESULTS:Parallel analysis of the hybridized signals enabled us to get an expression profile of genes in which about 500genes were differentially expressed in the paired liver tumor tissues. We identified 4 genes, the expression of three-(Beclin 1, RbAp48 and Pir51) were increased and one (aldolase b) was decreased in liver tumor tissues. In addition,the expression of these genes in 6 hepatoma cell lines was also showed by RT-PCR analysis.CONCLUSION:cDNA microarray permits a high throughput identification of changes in gene expression. The genes encoding Beclin 1, RbAp48, Pir51 and aldolase b are first reported that may be related with hepatocarcinoma.

Enhancement of germ cell apoptosis induced by ethanol in transgenic mice overexpressing Fas Ligand

It was suggested that chronic ethanol exposure could result in testicular germ cell apoptosis, but the mechanism is still unclear. In the present study, we use a model of transgenic mice ubiquitously overexpressing human FasL to investigate whether Fas ligand plays a role in ethanol-induced testicular germ cell apoptosis. Both wild-type (WT)mice and transgenic (TG) mice were treated with acute ethanol (20% v/v) by introperitoneal injection for five times.After ethanol injection, WT mice displayed up-regulation of Fas ligand in the testes, which was shown by FITCconjugated flow cytometry and western blotting. Moreover, TG mice exhibited significantly more apoptotic germ cells than WT mice did after ethanol injection, which was demonstrated by DNA fragmentation, PI staining flow cytometry and TUNEL staining. In addition, histopathological examination revealed that degenerative changes of epithelial component of the tubules occurred in FasL overexpressing transgenic mice while testicular morphology was normal in wild-type mice after acute ethanol exposure, suggesting FasL expression determines the sensitivity of testes to ethanol in mice. In summary, we provide the direct evidences that Fas ligand mediates the apoptosis of testicular germ cells induced by acute ethanol using FasL transgenic mice.

Inhibition of genes expression of SARS coronavirus by synthetic small interfering RNAs

RNA interference (RNAi) is triggered by the presence of a double-stranded RNA (dsRNA), and results in the silencing of homologous gene expression through the specific degradation of an mRNA containing the same sequence. dsRNAmediated RNAi can be used in a wide variety of eucaryotes to induce the sequence-specific inhibition of gene expression.Synthetic 21-23 nucleotide (nt) small interfering RNA (siRNA) with 2 nt 3' overhangs was recently found to mediate efficient sequence-specific mRNA degradation in mammalian cells. Here, we studied the effects of synthetic siRNA duplexes targeted to SARS coronavirus structural proteins E, M, and N in a cell culture system. Among total 26 siRNA duplexes, we obtained 3 siRNA duplexes which could sequence-specifically reduce target genes expression over 80％ at the concentration of 60 nM in Vero E6 cells. The downregulation effect was in correlation with the concentrations of the siRNA duplexes in a range of 0～60 nM. Our results also showed that many inactive siRNA duplexes may be brought to life simply by unpairing the 5' end of the antisense strands. Results suggest that siRNA is capable of inhibiting SARS coronavirus genes expression and thus may be a new therapeutic strategy for treatment of SARS.

The culture and establishment of embryonic germ(EG)cell lines from Chinese mini swine

As a part of a basic research project on Xeno-transplantion. we have been engaged in the derivation of embryonic stein cell lines from Chinese mini swine. Here, we reported for the first time the establishment of two porcine EG cell lines (BPEG1 and BPEG2) from primordial germ cells of genital ridges of a 28 and a 27 d embryos respectively. Their pluripotent nature has been identified by colony morphology, marker characterization as well as by in vitro and in vivo differentiation. These porcine EG cells are potentially useful for further basic studies.

Preparation and identification of anti-transforming growth factor β1 U1 small nuclear RNA chimeric ribozyme in vitro

AIM: To study the preparation and cleavage activity of antitransforming growth factor (TGF)β1 U1 small nuclear (sn)RNA chimeric hammerhead ribozymesin vitro.METHODS: TGFβ1 partial gene fragment was cloned into T-vector at the downstream of T7 promoter. 32p-labeled TGFβ1 partial transcripts as target RNA were transcribed in vitro and purified by denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE). Anti-TGFβ1 ribozymes were designed by computer, then synthetic ribozyme fragments were cloned into the U1 ribozyme vector pZeoU1EcoSpe containing U1 snRNA promoter/enhancer and terminator.32p-labeled U1 snRNA chimeric ribozyme transcripts were gel-purified, incubated with target-RNAs at different conditions and autoradiographed after running denaturing PAGE.RESULTS: Active UlsnRNA chimeric ribozyme (U1Rz803)had the best cleavage activity at 50 °C; at 37 °C, it was active, Km=34.48 nmol/L, Kcat=0.14 min-1; while the point mutant ribozyme U1Rz803m had no cleavage activity, so these indicated the design of U1Rz803 was correct.CONCLUSION: U1Rz803 prepared in this study possessed the perfect specific catalytic cleavage activity. These results indicate U1 snRNA chimeric ribozyme U1Rz803 may suppress the expression of TGFβ1in vivo, therefore it may provide a new avenue for the treatment of liver fibrosis in the future.

GABA transporter 1 transcriptional starting site exhibiting tissue specific difference

GABA transporter 1(GAT1) takes important roles in multiple physiological processes through the uptake and release of GABA, but the regulation of GAT1 gene expression in different tissues is rarely known. To address the question, first, 5’ Rapid amplification of cDNA end (RACE) was used to determine GAT1 transcriptional starting sites in neonatal mouse cerebral cortex and intestine, adult mouse brain and adult rat testis. The products of 5’RACE were confirmed by DNA sequencing. We found that the transcript of GAT1 in neonatal mouse cerebral cortex and adult mouse brain starts at the same site (inside of exon 1), while in mouse intestine, GAT1 starts transcription in intron 1, and in rat testis, the transcript of GAT1 has an additional untranslation exon to the 5’ direction.