人体外周血中性粒细胞核突与环境污染的关系炼焦工人核突的检测

某炼焦厂工人外周血中性粒细胞核突有明显增高,与对照组比较有显著差异,表明中性粒细胞核突与环境污染有密切关系,可利用核突率作为一项新的生物学指标来检测机体对环境污染的反应.

Culture of Porcine Peripheral Blood Monocyte-derived Dendritic Cells in vitro

[Objective] This study aimed to establish an in vitro culture model for porcine peripheral blood monocyte-derived dendritic cells （MoDCs）. [Method] Fresh peripheral blood mononuclear cells （PBMCs） were separated from pig, and precursor dendritic cells were obtained by adherence method. The dendritic cells were treated by recombinant porcine granulocyte-monocyte colony stimulating factor （rpGM-CSF） and recombinant porcine interleukin-4 （rplL-4） together, and lipopolysaccharide （LPS） respectively. The cells in different time periods were collected. The morphology of the collected cells was observed by scanning electron microscopy; the expression of surface molecules and phagocytic ability to FITC-dextran were detected by flow cy- tometry; and the stimulating ability for allogeneic T cells was detected by mixed lymphocyte reaction. [Result] The DCs suffering maturation induction in vitro showed typical dendritic morphology; compared with those of DCs untreated by LPS, the cell surface expression of CDla, CD80, CD86, SLAII and CD172a of DCs treated by LPS was significantly increased, the phagocytic ability was reduced slightly, and the stimulating ability for allogeneic T cells was enhanced to some extent. [Conclusion] An in vitro culture method was successfully established for porcine MoDCs in this study, laying a foundation for further study on the role of porcine MoDCs in immunoregulation and anti-virus infection.

Heterozygous nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-2 mutations affect monocyte maturation in Crohn's disease

AIM： To investigate the function of monocytes in Crohn＇s disease （CD） patients and to correlate this with disease- associated nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-2 （NOD2） gene variants. METHODS： Monocytes from 47 consecutively referred CD patients and 9 healthy blood donors were cultured with interleukin （IL）-4 and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor （GM-CSF）, and stimulated with lipopolysaccharide （LPS） or muramyldipeptide （MDP）, the putative ligand of NOD2. RESULTS： We found that monocytes from CD patients differentiated in vitro to mature dendritic cells （DCs）, as determined by immunophenotype and morphology. IVOD2 genotype was assessed in all subjects, and we observed high CD86 expression on immature and LPS-stimulated DCs in IVOD2 mutated CD patients, as compared with wtlVOD2 CD patients and controls. By contrast, CD86 expression levels of DCs induced to maturity with MDP derived from IVOD2-mutated subjects were comparable to those of normal subjects. The amount of IL-12p70 in patient-cell cultures was larger than in controls aEer LPS treatment, but not aEer treatment with MDR CONCLUSION： Our results suggest that DCs obtained from patients with mutations in the IVOD2 gene display an activated phenotype characterized by high CD86 expression, but have a diminished response to MDP when compared to the terminal differentiation phase. We speculate that the altered differentiation of monocytes might lead to an imbalance between inflammation and the killing ability of monocytes, and may be relevant to the pathogenesis of CD.

Differential screening and characterization analysis of the egg envelope glycoprotein ZP3 cDNAs between gynogenetic and gonochoristic cruciancarp

Gynogenetic silver crucian carp, Carassius auratus gibelio, is an intriguing model system. In the present work, a systemic study has been initiated by introducing suppression subtractive hybridization technique into this model system to identify the differentially expressed genes in oocytes between gynogenetic silver crucian carp and its closely related gonochoristic color crucian carp. Five differential cDNA fragments were identified from the preliminary screening, and two of them are ZP3 homologues. Moreover, the full length ZP3 cDNAs were cloned from their oocyte cDNA libraries. The length of ZP3 cDNAs were 1378 bp for gyno-carp and 1367 bp for gono-carp, and they can be translated into proteins with 435 amino acids. Obvious differences are not only in the composition of amino acids, but also in the number of potential O-linked oligosaccharide sites. In addition, gyno-carp ZP3 amino acid sequence has an unexpected higher identity value with common carp (83.5%) than that with the closely related gono-carp (74.7%). The unique homology may be originated from the ancient hybridization. Northern blot analysis confirmed that expression of the ZP3 gene occurred exclusively in the oocytes. Because O-linked oligosaccharides on ZP3 have been demonstrated to play very important roles in fertilization, it is suggested that the extra O-linked glycosylation sites may be related to the unique sperm-egg recognition mechanism in gynogenesis.

Effects of CpG-ODNs on phenotype and function of monocyte-derived dendritic cells in chronic hepatitis B

AIM:To study the effects of synthetic nonmethylated CpG-containing oligodeoxynucleotides(CpG-ODNs) ,either alone or combined with recombinant Hepatitis B surface antigen(HBsAg) polypeptide,on the phenotype,function,and intracellular signaling pathways of monocyte-derived dendritic cells(DCs) in patients with chronic hepatitis B(CHB) .METHODS:Peripheral blood monocytes isolated from CHB patients and healthy volunteers were induced to be dendritic cells by recombinant human granulocyte-monocyte colony stimulating factor and interleukin-4.The DCs were then treated with CpG-ODNs,CpGODNs/HBsAg,or tumor necrosis factor(TNF)-αfor 18 h.The expression of surface molecules including HLA-DR,CD86,and CD1a in DCs were detected by flow cytometry,and the expression of signal transducers and activators of transcription(STAT1,3,4,5,6) and suppressors of cell signaling(SOCS1,3) were determined by Western blotting assay.In addition,the capacity of DCs to stimulate allogeneic T lymphocytes and the amount of IL-12p70 released from DCs were measured.RESULTS:In the DCs derived from patients with CHB,treatment with TNF-α,CpG-ODNs,or CpG-ODNs/HBsAg,as compared to the vector control,significantly increased the expression of HLA-DR,stimulated the release of IL-12p70,and enhanced the capacity of DCs to stimulate allogenic T lymphocytes.The expressions of STAT1/4/6 and SOCS1/3,but not STAT3/5,were upregulated by TNF-α,CpG-ODNs,and CpG-ODNs/HBsAg.In addition,the expression of CD1a was upregulated only in the presence of both CpG-ODNs and HBsAg.CONCLUSION:The treatment with CpG-ODNs,either alone or combined with HBsAg,has a remarkable stimulatory effect on the impaired phenotype and function of DCs in CHB,possibly by regulating the expression of STAT1,4,6 and SOCS1,3.

Unexpected discovery of 2 cases of hepatocyte nuclear factor 1α-mutated infracentimetic adenomatosis

We present 2 cases of hepatocyte nuclear factor 1α (HNF1α)-mutated adenomatosis, discovered for reasons unrelated to this disease, and identified using immunohistochemical methods. These new tools may further our understanding of the link between adenomas/adenomatosis subtypes and their complications, and their association with other abnormalities.

STUDY ON GMA-DNA ADDUCTS

Objective. DNA modification fixed as mutations in the cells may be an essential factor in the initiation step of chemical carcinogenesis. In order to explore the mechanism of gene mutation and cell transformation induced by glycidyl methacrylate (GMA), the current test studied the characteristics of GMA DNA adducts formation in vitro. Methods. In vitro test, dAMP, dCMP, dGMP, dTMP and calf thymus DNA were allowed to react with GMA (Glycidyl Methacrylate). After the reaction, the mixtures were detected by UV and subjected to reversed phase HPLC on ultrasphere ODS reversed phase column, the reaction products were eluted with a linear gradients of methanol (solvent A) and 10mmol/L ammonium formate, pH5 0 (solvent B). The synthesized adducts were then characterized by UV spectroscopy in acid (pH1 0), neutral (pH7 2), alkaline (pH11 0) and by mass spectroscopy. Results. The results showed that GMA could bind with dAMP, dCMP, dGMP and calf thymus DNA by covalent bond, and the binding sites were specific (N 6 of adenine, N 3 of cytosine). Meanwhile, a main GMA DNA adduct in the reaction of GMA with calf thymus DNA was confirmed as N 3 methacrylate 2 hydroxypropy1 dCMP. Conclusions. GMA can react with DNA and /or deoxynucleotide monophosphate and generate some adducts such as N 6 methacrylate 2 hydroxypropyl dAMP and N 3 methacrylate 2 hydroxypropyl dCMP, ets. Formation of GMA DNA adducts is an important molecular event in gene mutation and cell transformation induced by GMA.

TLR4 -2242 T→C variant increases transcriptional activity of its promoter

Objective:To investigate the effects of -2242,-1892 and -1837 single nucleotide polymorphisms(SNPs) on toll-like receptor 4(TLR4) promoter activity.Methods:Polymerase chain reaction(PCR) and site direct mutation technology were used to construct TLR4 basic promoter and -2242C,-1892A and -1837G mutate promoter plasmids.Dual-Luciferase Reporter assay system was used to detect the activity of constructed promoter following human embryonic kidney(HEK) 293 cells were transiently cotransfected with the constructed plasmids and the control plasmid pRL-CMV.Results:In HEK293 cells,the activity of -2242C mutate promoter was higher than -2242T promoter,and there was no significant difference when both -1892A and -1837G mutate promoter compared with -1892G and -1837A promoter,respectively.Conclusion:It is implied that -2242T→C base variation can enhance the activity of TLR4 promoter,while -1892 and -1837 SNPs have no effect on TLR4 promoter activity.

Generation of obese rat model by transcription activator-like effector nucleases targeting the leptin receptor gene

The laboratory rat is a valuable mammalian model organism for basic research and drug discovery. Here we demonstrate an efficient methodology by applying transcription activator-like effector nucleases(TALENs) technology to generate Leptin receptor(Lepr) knockout rats on the Sprague Dawley(SD) genetic background. Through direct injection of in vitro transcribed m RNA of TALEN pairs into SD rat zygotes, somatic mutations were induced in two of three resulting pups. One of the founders carrying bi-allelic mutation exhibited early onset of obesity and infertility. The other founder carried a chimeric mutation which was efficiently transmitted to the progenies. Through phenotyping of the resulting three lines of rats bearing distinct mutations in the Lepr locus, we found that the strains with a frame-shifted or premature stop codon mutation led to obesity and metabolic disorders. However, no obvious defect was observed in a strain with an in-frame 57 bp deletion in the extracellular domain of Lepr. This suggests the deleted amino acids do not significantly affect Lepr structure and function. This is the first report of generating the Lepr mutant obese rat model in SD strain through a reverse genetic approach. This suggests that TALEN is an efficient and powerful gene editing technology for the generation of disease models.

Histone modifications in DNA damage response

DNA damage is a relatively common event in eukaryotic cell and may lead to genetic mutation and even cancer. DNA damage induces cellular responses that enable the cell either to repair the damaged DNA or cope with the damage in an appropriate way. Histone proteins are also the fundamental building blocks of eukaryotic chromatin besides DNA, and many types of post-translational modifications often occur on tails of histones. Although the function of these modifications has remained elusive, there is ever-growing studies suggest that histone modifications play vital roles in several chromatin-based processes, such as DNA damage response. In this review, we will discuss the main histone modifications, and their functions in DNA damage response.