Non-invasive prenatal molecular detection of a fetal point mutation for congenital adrenal hyperplasia using co-amplification at lower denaturation temperature PCR

Conventional prenatal diagnosis relies on invasive chorionic biopsy or amniocentesis, which increases the risk of miscarriage, and is undertaken at 11-20 weeks gestation.1 The discovery of cell-free fetal DNA in maternal plasma has, however, offered a new strategy for non-invasive prenatal diagnosis.2 Cell-free fetal DNA in maternal plasma has been used for the determination of fetal gender3 and RHD status4 as well as testing certain monogenic diseases such as 13-thalassemia5 and cystic fibrosis.6 However,

Signal Peptide and Denaturing Temperature are Critical Factors for Efficient Mammalian Expression and Immunoblotting of Cannabinoid Receptors

Many researchers employed mammalian expression system to artificially express cannabinoid receptors, but immunoblot data that directly prove efficient protein expression can hardly be seen in related research reports. In present study, we demonstrated cannabinoid receptor protein was not able to be properly expressed with routine mammalian expression system. This inefficient expression was rescued by endowing an exogenous signal peptide ahead of cannabinoid receptor peptide. In addition, the artificially synthesized cannabinoid receptor was found to aggregate under routine sample denaturing temperatures (i.e.,≥95°C), forming a large molecular weight band when analyzed by immuno-blotting. Only denaturing temperatures ≤75°C yielded a clear band at the predicted molecular weight. Collectively, we showed that efficient mammalian expression of cannabinoid receptors need a signal peptide sequence, and described the requirement for a low sample denaturing temperature in immuno-blot analysis. These findings provide very useful information for efficient mammalian expression and immuno-blotting of membrane receptors.

The characterization of acid and pepsin soluble collagen from ovine bones (Ujumuqin sheep)

Ovine bones are the major by-products after slaughtered. The present study was conducted to extract and characterize acid soluble collagens （ASC） and pepsin soluble collagens （PSC） from ovine bones （Ujumuqin sheep）. Ovine bones collagen were identified by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis （SDS-PAGE） and liquid chromatography-tan- dem mass spectrometry （LC-MS/MS） as type I collagen. The results of Fourier transform infrared （FTIR） spectra analysis testified the existence of triple superhelical structure in both ASC and PSC, showing pepsin did not disrupt the triple helical structure of ovine bones collagen. Glycine, accounting for one-third of total amino acids, was the major amino acid for ovine bones collagen. Higher imino acid content was responsible for higher thermal denaturation temperature of ovine bones collagen compared to fish collagens. The isoelectric point of ASC was lower than PSC due to the higher content of acidic amino acids. Therefore, this study provides the potential reference for collagen extraction and application of ovine bones by-procduct.

A New Kind of Biomaterials—Bullfrog Skin Collagen

Pepsin-soluble collagen was prepared from bullfrog skin and partially characterized. This study revealed interesting differences, such as molecular weight, amino acid composition, denaturation temperature (Td), in the frog skin collagen when compared to the known vertebrate collagens. This study gives hints that bullfrog skin can be a potential, safe alternative source of collagen from cattle for use in various fields.