In silico Cloning and Bioinformatics Analysis of OsARAB-1 Gene from Rice

[ Objective] This study aimed to perform in silico cloning and bioinformatics analysis of OsARAB-1 gene from rice. [Method] Using NP 174188.1 as a query probe, the full-length cDNA sequence of OsARAB-1 gene was obtained by in silico cloning. The nucleotide sequence and protein sequence were analyzed by bioinformatics software. [Result] The full-length cDNA of OsARAB-1 gene was obtained. The coding sequence （CDS） of OsARAB-1 gene is 1 086 bp in length, encoding a protein of 361 amino acid residues. OsARAB-1 gene was located in the genome sequence NC 008398.2 （6 769 813 -6 773 213 bp segment） of rice chro- mosome 5 by in silico mapping. OsARAB-1 protein is an extracellular hydrophilic protein, which is relatively stable, slightly alkaline. The secondary structure of OsARAB-1 protein is mainly composed of or-helices and random coils. OsARAB-1 protein has two functional domains ： SGNH hydrolase-type esterase and GDSL li- pase. There are 21 phosphorylation sites and seven O-[3-GlcNAc glycosylation sites. The putative active-site amino acid residues are Ser34, Glyl07, Asn167, Asp333 and His336, respectively. OsARAB-1 protein has the closest genetic relationship with esterase subtype B4FM12 from maize. The expression of OsARAB-1 gene plays an important role in the development and morphogenesis of rice and is related with rice blast resistance. [ Conclusion] This study laid a solid foundation for cloning and functional identification of OsARAB-1 gene with experimental methods.

Bioinformatics Analysis of the Human TCF7L2 Gene Promoter Region

[Objectives]This study was conducted to investigate characteristics of the human TCF7 L2 gene promoter.[Methods]The 2000 bp sequence of the 5’regulatory region of the human TCF7 L2 gene was obtained from the UCSC genome database.The promoter,transcription factor binding sites,CpG islands,SNPs and so on were analyzed by a variety of online softwares.[Results]The bioinformatics analysis results showed there were at least 5 potential promoters in the positive-sense strand of the 2000 bp sequence,among which-242--192 bp,-853--803 bp might contain core promoters.A TATA box and a CpG island with a length of 499 bp were found.241,944 and 1035(positive-sense strand)transcription factor binding sites were predicted by the AliBaba2.1,PROMO and JASPAR softwares,respectively.207 common transcription factor binding sites in the conserved region of human and mouse homologous TCF7 L2 gene promoter were identified with CONREAL program,involving 66 kinds of transcription factors.Two SNPs were found in the promoter region.[Conclusions]The promoter of the human TCF7 L2 gene was analyzed by bioinformatics,and the promoter characteristics were obtained.

Magneto-mechanical effect of magnetic microhydrogel for improvement of magnetic neuro-stimulation

Superparamagnetic iron oxide(SPIO)nanoparticles play an important role in mediating precise and effective magnetic neurostimulation and can help overcome limitations related to penetration depth and spatial resolution.However,nanoparticles readily diffuse in vivo,decreasing the spatial resolution and activation efficiency.In this study,we employed a microfluidic means to fabricate injectable microhydrogels encapsulated with SPIO nanoparticles,which significantly improved the stability of nanoparticles,increased the magnetic properties,reinforced the stimulation effectivity.The fabricated magnetic microhydrogels were highly uniform in size and sphericity,enabling minimally invasive injection into brain tissue.The long-term residency in the cortex up to 22 weeks and the safety of brain tissue were shown using a mouse model.In addition,we quantitatively determined the magneto-mechanical force yielded by only one magnetic microhydrogel using a video-based method.The force was found to be within 7–8 pN under 10 Hz magnetic stimulation by both theoretical simulation and experimental measurement.Lastly,electrophysiological measurement of brain slices showed that the magnetic microhydrogels offer significant advantages in terms of neural activation relative to dissociative SPIO nanoparticles.A universal strategy is thus offered for performing magnetic neuro-stimulation with an improved prospect for biomedical translation.

Buckling analysis in stretchable electronics

In the last decade,stretchable electronics evolved as a class of novel systems that have electronic performances equal to established semiconductor technologies,but can be stretched,compressed,and twisted like a rubber band.The compliance and stretchability of these electronics allow them to conform and mount to soft,elastic biological organs and tissues,thereby providing attractive opportunities in health care and bio-sensing.Majority of stretchable electronic systems use an elastomeric substrate to carry an ultrathin circuit mesh that consists of sparsely distributed stiff,thin-film electronic components interconnected by various forms of stretchable metal strips or low-dimension materials.During the fabrication processes and application of stretchable electronics,the thin-film components or nanomaterials undergo different kinds of in-plane deformation that often leads to out-ofplane or lateral buckling,in-surface buckling,or a combination of all.A lot of creative concepts and ideas have been developed to control and harness buckling behaviors,commonly regarded as pervasive occurrences in structural designs,to facilitate fabrication of stretchable structures,or to enhance stretchability.This paper provides a brief review of recent progresses on buckling analysis in stretchable electronics.Detailed buckling mechanics reveals important correlations between the geometric/material properties and system performance(e.g.,mechanical robustness,deformability,structural architecture,and control).These mechanics models and analysis provide insights to design and optimize stretchable electronics for a wide range of important applications.