microRNAs （miRNAs） play an important regulatory role in the self-renewal and differentiation of stem cells. In this study, we examined the effects of miRNA-124 （miR-124） overexpression in bone marrow-derived mesen...microRNAs （miRNAs） play an important regulatory role in the self-renewal and differentiation of stem cells. In this study, we examined the effects of miRNA-124 （miR-124） overexpression in bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells. In particular, we focused on the effect of overexpression on the differentiation of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells into neurons. First, we used GeneChip technology to analyze the expression of miRNAs in bone marrow-derived mesen- chymal stem cells, neural stem cells and neurons, miR-124 expression was substantially reduced in bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells compared with the other cell types. We con- structed a lentiviral vector overexpressing miR-124 and transfected it into bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells. Intracellular expression levels of the neuronal early markers [3-III tu- bulin and microtubule-associated protein-2 were significantly increased, and apoptosis induced by oxygen and glucose deprivation was reduced in transfected cells. After miR-124-transfected bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells were transplanted into the injured rat spinal cord, a large number of cells positive for the neuronal marker neurofilament-200 were observed in the transplanted region. The Basso-Beattie-Bresnahan locomotion scores showed that the motor function of the hind limb of rats with spinal cord injury was substantially improved. These re- sults suggest that miR-124 plays an important role in the differentiation of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells into neurons. Our findings should facilitate the development of novel strategies for enhancing the therapeutic efficacy of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cell transplantation for spinal cord injury.展开更多
Soybean cyst nematode （SCN） is one of the most devastating pathogen for soybean. Therefore, identiifcation of resistant germplasm resources and resistant genes is needed to improve SCN resistance for soybean. Soybea...Soybean cyst nematode （SCN） is one of the most devastating pathogen for soybean. Therefore, identiifcation of resistant germplasm resources and resistant genes is needed to improve SCN resistance for soybean. Soybean varieties Huipizhiheidou and Wuzhaiheidou were distributed in China and exhibited broad spectrums of resistance to various SCN races. In this study, these two resistant varieties, combined with standard susceptible varieties （Lee and Essex）, were utilized to identify the differentially expressed transcripts after infection with SCN race 4 between resistant and susceptible reactions by using the Affymetrix Soybean Genome GeneChip. Comparative analyses indicated that 21 common genes changed signiifcantly in the resistant group, of which 16 increased and 5 decreased. However, 12 common genes changed signiifcantly in the susceptible group, of which 9 increased and 3 decreased. Additionally, 27 genes were found in common between resistant and susceptible reactions. The 21 signiifcantly changed genes in resistant reaction were associated with disease and defense, cell structure, transcription, metabolism, and signal transduction. The fold induction of 4 from the 21 genes was conifrmed by quantitative RT-PCR （qRT-PCR） analysis. Moreover, the gene ontology （GO） enrichment analyses demonstrated the serine family amino acid metabolic process and arginine metabolic process may play important roles in SCN resistance. This study provided a new insight on the genetic basis of soybean resistance to SCN race 4, and the identiifed resistant or resistant-related genes are potentially useful for SCN-resistance breeding in soybean.展开更多
Environmental and genetic factors influence the occurrence of neural tube defects, such as spina bifida. Specific disease expression patterns will help to elucidate the pathogenesis of disease. However, results obtain...Environmental and genetic factors influence the occurrence of neural tube defects, such as spina bifida. Specific disease expression patterns will help to elucidate the pathogenesis of disease. However, results obtained from animal models, which often exhibit organism specificity, do not fully explain the mechanisms of human spina bifida onset. In the present study, three embryos with a gestational age of approximately 17 weeks and a confirmed diagnosis of spina bifida, as well as 3 age-matched normal embryos, were obtained from abortions. Fetal brain stem tissues were dissected for RNA isolation, and microarray analyses were conducted to examine profiles of gene expression in brain stems of spina bifida and normal embryos using Affymetrix HG-U133A 2.0 GeneChip arrays. Of the 14 500 gene transcripts examined, a total of 182 genes exhibited at least 2.5-fold change in expression, including 140 upregulated and 42 downregulated genes. These genes were placed into 19 main functional categories according to the Gene Ontology Consortium database for biological functions. Of the 182 altered genes, approximately 50% were involved in cellular apoptosis, growth, adhesion, cell cycle, stress, DNA replication and repair, signal transduction, nervous system development, oxidoreduction, immune responses, and regulation of gene transcription. Gene expression in multiple biological pathways was altered in the brain stem of human spina bifida embryos.展开更多
Understanding abiotic stress responses is one of the most important issues in plant research nowadays. Abiotic stress, including excess light, can promote the onset of oxidative stress through the accumulation of reac...Understanding abiotic stress responses is one of the most important issues in plant research nowadays. Abiotic stress, including excess light, can promote the onset of oxidative stress through the accumulation of reactive oxygen species. Oxidative stress also arises when in vitro propagated plants are exposed to high light upon transfer to ex vitro. To determine whether the underlying pathways activated at the transfer of in vitro grapevine to ex vitro conditions reflect the processes occurring upon light stress, we used Vitis vinifera Affymetrix GeneChip （VvGA） and a custom array of genes responsive to light stress （LSCA） detected by real-time reverse transcriptase PCR （qRT-PCR）. When gene-expression profiles were compared, ＇protein metabolism and modification＇, ＇signaling＇, and ＇anti-oxidative＂ genes were more represented in LSCA, while, in VvGA, ＇cell wall metabolism＇ and ＇secondary metabolism＇ were the categories in which gene expression varied more significantly. The above functional categories confirm previous studies involving other types of abiotic stresses, enhancing the common attributes of abiotic stress defense pathways. The LSCA analysis of our experimental system detected strong response of heat shock genes, particularly the protein rescuing mechanism involving the cooperation of two ATP-dependent chaperone systems, Hsp100 and Hsp70, which showed an unusually late response during the recovery period, of extreme relevance to remove non-functional, potentially harmful polypeptides arising from misfolding, denaturation, or aggregation brought about by stress. The success of LSCA also proves the feasibility of a custommade qRT-PCR approach, particularly for species for which no GeneChip is available and for researchers dealing with a specific and focused problem.展开更多
It is known that spermatogenic disorders are associated with genetic deficiency, although the primary mechanism is still unclear. It is difficult to demonstrate the molecular events occurring in testis, which contains...It is known that spermatogenic disorders are associated with genetic deficiency, although the primary mechanism is still unclear. It is difficult to demonstrate the molecular events occurring in testis, which contains germ cells at different developmental stages. However, transcriptomic methods can help us reveal the molecular drive of male gamete generation. Many transcriptomic studies have been performed on rodents by utilizing the timing of the first wave of spermatogenesis, which is not a suitable strategy for research in fertile men. With the development of separation methods for male germ cells, transcriptome research on the molecular drive of spermatogenesis in fertile men has seen great progress, and the results could be ultimately applied to improve the diagnosis and treatment for male infertility.展开更多
Sulfur dioxide(SO_(2))is a ubiquitous air pollutant,presents in low concentrations in urban air and in higher concentrations in working environment.Few data are avail-able on the effects of being exposed to this pollu...Sulfur dioxide(SO_(2))is a ubiquitous air pollutant,presents in low concentrations in urban air and in higher concentrations in working environment.Few data are avail-able on the effects of being exposed to this pollutant on the molecular mechanism,although some biochemical changes in lipid metabolism,intermediary metabolism and oxidative stress have been detected.The present investigation aimed at analyzing the gene expression profiles of the lungs of Wistar rats short-term(20 ppm,6 h/day,for seven days)and long-term(5 ppm,1 h/day,for 30 days)exposed to SO_(2)by Affymetrix GeneChip(RAE230A)analysis.It was found that 31 genes,containing 18 known genes and 13 novel genes,were up-regulated,and 31 genes,containing 20 known genes and 11 novel genes,were down-regulated in rats short-term exposed to SO_(2)compared with control rats.While there were 176 genes,containing 82 known genes and 94 novel genes,were up-regulated,and 85 genes,containing 46 known genes and 39 novel genes,were down-regulated in rats long-term exposed to SO_(2)compared with control rats.It is suggested that:(1)SO_(2)exerts its effects by different mechanisms in vivo at high-dose short-term inhalation and at low-dose long-term inhalation;(2)a notable feature of the gene expression profile was the decreased expression of genes related to oxidative phosphorylation in lungs of rats short-term exposed to SO_(2),which shows high-dose short-term exposed to SO_(2)may cause the deterioration of mitochondrial functions;(3)discriminating genes in lungs of rats long-term exposed to SO_(2)included those involved in fatty acid metabolism,immune,inflammatory,oxidative stress,oncogene,tumor suppresser and extracellular matrix.The mechanism of low-dose long-term exposed to SO_(2)is more complex.展开更多
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China,No.81070971
文摘microRNAs （miRNAs） play an important regulatory role in the self-renewal and differentiation of stem cells. In this study, we examined the effects of miRNA-124 （miR-124） overexpression in bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells. In particular, we focused on the effect of overexpression on the differentiation of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells into neurons. First, we used GeneChip technology to analyze the expression of miRNAs in bone marrow-derived mesen- chymal stem cells, neural stem cells and neurons, miR-124 expression was substantially reduced in bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells compared with the other cell types. We con- structed a lentiviral vector overexpressing miR-124 and transfected it into bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells. Intracellular expression levels of the neuronal early markers [3-III tu- bulin and microtubule-associated protein-2 were significantly increased, and apoptosis induced by oxygen and glucose deprivation was reduced in transfected cells. After miR-124-transfected bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells were transplanted into the injured rat spinal cord, a large number of cells positive for the neuronal marker neurofilament-200 were observed in the transplanted region. The Basso-Beattie-Bresnahan locomotion scores showed that the motor function of the hind limb of rats with spinal cord injury was substantially improved. These re- sults suggest that miR-124 plays an important role in the differentiation of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells into neurons. Our findings should facilitate the development of novel strategies for enhancing the therapeutic efficacy of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cell transplantation for spinal cord injury.
基金supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China (31301345 and 31171576)the CAAS Innovation Project, the Genetically Modified Organisms Breeding Major Projects, China (2009ZX08004-003B and 2011ZX08004-003)the Key Technologies R&D Program of China during the 12th Five-Year Plan period (2011BAD35B06-3)
文摘Soybean cyst nematode （SCN） is one of the most devastating pathogen for soybean. Therefore, identiifcation of resistant germplasm resources and resistant genes is needed to improve SCN resistance for soybean. Soybean varieties Huipizhiheidou and Wuzhaiheidou were distributed in China and exhibited broad spectrums of resistance to various SCN races. In this study, these two resistant varieties, combined with standard susceptible varieties （Lee and Essex）, were utilized to identify the differentially expressed transcripts after infection with SCN race 4 between resistant and susceptible reactions by using the Affymetrix Soybean Genome GeneChip. Comparative analyses indicated that 21 common genes changed signiifcantly in the resistant group, of which 16 increased and 5 decreased. However, 12 common genes changed signiifcantly in the susceptible group, of which 9 increased and 3 decreased. Additionally, 27 genes were found in common between resistant and susceptible reactions. The 21 signiifcantly changed genes in resistant reaction were associated with disease and defense, cell structure, transcription, metabolism, and signal transduction. The fold induction of 4 from the 21 genes was conifrmed by quantitative RT-PCR （qRT-PCR） analysis. Moreover, the gene ontology （GO） enrichment analyses demonstrated the serine family amino acid metabolic process and arginine metabolic process may play important roles in SCN resistance. This study provided a new insight on the genetic basis of soybean resistance to SCN race 4, and the identiifed resistant or resistant-related genes are potentially useful for SCN-resistance breeding in soybean.
基金Supported by the National Key Project of Scientific and Technical Supporting Programs funded by the Ministry of Science & Technology of China, No. 2007BA107A02the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program), No. 2007CB511902+2 种基金the Shanxi Scholarship Council of China, No. 2008-48the Shanxi Natural Science Foundation, No. 2010011049-2the National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 31040056
文摘Environmental and genetic factors influence the occurrence of neural tube defects, such as spina bifida. Specific disease expression patterns will help to elucidate the pathogenesis of disease. However, results obtained from animal models, which often exhibit organism specificity, do not fully explain the mechanisms of human spina bifida onset. In the present study, three embryos with a gestational age of approximately 17 weeks and a confirmed diagnosis of spina bifida, as well as 3 age-matched normal embryos, were obtained from abortions. Fetal brain stem tissues were dissected for RNA isolation, and microarray analyses were conducted to examine profiles of gene expression in brain stems of spina bifida and normal embryos using Affymetrix HG-U133A 2.0 GeneChip arrays. Of the 14 500 gene transcripts examined, a total of 182 genes exhibited at least 2.5-fold change in expression, including 140 upregulated and 42 downregulated genes. These genes were placed into 19 main functional categories according to the Gene Ontology Consortium database for biological functions. Of the 182 altered genes, approximately 50% were involved in cellular apoptosis, growth, adhesion, cell cycle, stress, DNA replication and repair, signal transduction, nervous system development, oxidoreduction, immune responses, and regulation of gene transcription. Gene expression in multiple biological pathways was altered in the brain stem of human spina bifida embryos.
文摘Understanding abiotic stress responses is one of the most important issues in plant research nowadays. Abiotic stress, including excess light, can promote the onset of oxidative stress through the accumulation of reactive oxygen species. Oxidative stress also arises when in vitro propagated plants are exposed to high light upon transfer to ex vitro. To determine whether the underlying pathways activated at the transfer of in vitro grapevine to ex vitro conditions reflect the processes occurring upon light stress, we used Vitis vinifera Affymetrix GeneChip （VvGA） and a custom array of genes responsive to light stress （LSCA） detected by real-time reverse transcriptase PCR （qRT-PCR）. When gene-expression profiles were compared, ＇protein metabolism and modification＇, ＇signaling＇, and ＇anti-oxidative＂ genes were more represented in LSCA, while, in VvGA, ＇cell wall metabolism＇ and ＇secondary metabolism＇ were the categories in which gene expression varied more significantly. The above functional categories confirm previous studies involving other types of abiotic stresses, enhancing the common attributes of abiotic stress defense pathways. The LSCA analysis of our experimental system detected strong response of heat shock genes, particularly the protein rescuing mechanism involving the cooperation of two ATP-dependent chaperone systems, Hsp100 and Hsp70, which showed an unusually late response during the recovery period, of extreme relevance to remove non-functional, potentially harmful polypeptides arising from misfolding, denaturation, or aggregation brought about by stress. The success of LSCA also proves the feasibility of a custommade qRT-PCR approach, particularly for species for which no GeneChip is available and for researchers dealing with a specific and focused problem.
文摘It is known that spermatogenic disorders are associated with genetic deficiency, although the primary mechanism is still unclear. It is difficult to demonstrate the molecular events occurring in testis, which contains germ cells at different developmental stages. However, transcriptomic methods can help us reveal the molecular drive of male gamete generation. Many transcriptomic studies have been performed on rodents by utilizing the timing of the first wave of spermatogenesis, which is not a suitable strategy for research in fertile men. With the development of separation methods for male germ cells, transcriptome research on the molecular drive of spermatogenesis in fertile men has seen great progress, and the results could be ultimately applied to improve the diagnosis and treatment for male infertility.
基金This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.20677035,20477023)the Natural Science Foundation of Shanxi Province(No.20031092).
文摘Sulfur dioxide(SO_(2))is a ubiquitous air pollutant,presents in low concentrations in urban air and in higher concentrations in working environment.Few data are avail-able on the effects of being exposed to this pollutant on the molecular mechanism,although some biochemical changes in lipid metabolism,intermediary metabolism and oxidative stress have been detected.The present investigation aimed at analyzing the gene expression profiles of the lungs of Wistar rats short-term(20 ppm,6 h/day,for seven days)and long-term(5 ppm,1 h/day,for 30 days)exposed to SO_(2)by Affymetrix GeneChip(RAE230A)analysis.It was found that 31 genes,containing 18 known genes and 13 novel genes,were up-regulated,and 31 genes,containing 20 known genes and 11 novel genes,were down-regulated in rats short-term exposed to SO_(2)compared with control rats.While there were 176 genes,containing 82 known genes and 94 novel genes,were up-regulated,and 85 genes,containing 46 known genes and 39 novel genes,were down-regulated in rats long-term exposed to SO_(2)compared with control rats.It is suggested that:(1)SO_(2)exerts its effects by different mechanisms in vivo at high-dose short-term inhalation and at low-dose long-term inhalation;(2)a notable feature of the gene expression profile was the decreased expression of genes related to oxidative phosphorylation in lungs of rats short-term exposed to SO_(2),which shows high-dose short-term exposed to SO_(2)may cause the deterioration of mitochondrial functions;(3)discriminating genes in lungs of rats long-term exposed to SO_(2)included those involved in fatty acid metabolism,immune,inflammatory,oxidative stress,oncogene,tumor suppresser and extracellular matrix.The mechanism of low-dose long-term exposed to SO_(2)is more complex.
