Thellungiella salsuginea (halophila) is a close relative of Arabidopsis thaliana but, unlike A. thaliana, it grows well in extreme conditions of cold, salt, and drought as well as nitrogen limitation. Over the last ...Thellungiella salsuginea (halophila) is a close relative of Arabidopsis thaliana but, unlike A. thaliana, it grows well in extreme conditions of cold, salt, and drought as well as nitrogen limitation. Over the last decade, many laboratories have started to use Thellungiella to investigate the physiological, metabolic, and molecular mechanisms of abiotic stress tolerance in plants, and new knowledge has been gained in particular with respect to ion transport and gene expression. The advantage of Thellungiella over other extremophile model plants is that it can be directly compared with Arabidopsis, and therefore generate information on both essential and critical components of stress tolerance. Thellungiella research is supported by a growing body of technical resources comprising physiological and molecular protocols, ecotype collections, expressed sequence tags, cDNA-libraries, microarrays, and a pending genome sequence. This review summarizes the current state of knowledge on Thellungiella and re-evaluates its usefulness as a model for research into plant stress tolerance.展开更多
AIM: TO identify differentially expressed microRNAs (miRNAs) in human colon cancer stem cells (SW1116csc) and study their function in SW1116csc proliferation. METHODS: SW1116csc were isolated from the human colo...AIM: TO identify differentially expressed microRNAs (miRNAs) in human colon cancer stem cells (SW1116csc) and study their function in SW1116csc proliferation. METHODS: SW1116csc were isolated from the human colon cancer cell line, SW1116 and cultured in serum- free medium. A miRNA microarray was used to detect differential expression profiles of rniRNAs in SW1116csc and SW1116 cells. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed to verify the dif- ferential expression of candidate miRNAs obtained from the microarray. Target mRNAs of differentially expressed miRNAs were predicted with target predic- tion tools, miRNA expression plasmids were transfected into SW1116csc using Lipofectamine 2000 reagent. Cell proliferation curves were generated with trypan blue staining, and the colony formation rate of transfected cells was measured with the soft agar colony formation assay. Expression of target mRNAs and proteins from differentially expressed miRNAs were detected using reverse transcription (RT)-PCR and western blotting.RESULTS: Compared with expression in SW1116 cells, 35 miRNAs (including hsa-miR-192, hsa-miR-29b, hsa-miR-215, hsa-miR-194, hsa-miR-33a and hsa- miR-32) were upregulated more than 1.5-fold, and 11 miRNAs (including hsa-miR-93, hsa-miR-1231, hsa- miRPlus-F1080, hsa-miR-524-3p, hsa-miR-886-3p and hsa-miR-561) were downregulated in SW1116csc. The miRNA microarray results were further validated with quantitative RT-PCR. miR-93 was downregulated, and its predicted mRNA targets included BAMBI, CCND2, CDKNIA, HDACS, KIF23, MAP3K9, MAP3K11, MYCN, PPARD, TLE4 and ZDHHCl. Overexpressed miR-93 sig- nificantly inhibited cell proliferation and colony forma- tion by SW1116csc. Furthermore, miR-93 negatively regulated the mRNA and protein levels of HDAC8 and TLE4. CONCLUSION: Some miRNAs were differentially ex- pressed during differentiation of SW1116csc into SW1116 cells, miR-93 may inhibit SW1116csc proliferation and colony formation.展开更多
Preliminary basic research and clinical findings have demonstrated that electroacupuncture ther- apy exhibits positive effects in ameliorating depression. However, most studies of the underlying mechanism are at the s...Preliminary basic research and clinical findings have demonstrated that electroacupuncture ther- apy exhibits positive effects in ameliorating depression. However, most studies of the underlying mechanism are at the single gene level; there are few reports regarding the mechanism at the whole-genome level. Using a rat genomic gene-chip, we profiled hippocampal gene expression changes in rats after electroacupuncture therapy. Electroacupuncture therapy alleviated depres- sion-related manifestations in the model rats. Using gene-chip analysis, we demonstrated that electroacupuncture at Baihui (DU20) and Yintang (EX-HN3) regulates the expression of 21 genes. Real-time PCR showed that the genes Vgf, lgf2, Trnp32, Loc500373, Hifla, Folrl, Nrnb, and Rtn were upregulated or downregulated in depression and that their expression tended to nor- malize after electroacupuncture therapy. These results indicate that electroacupuncture at Baihui and Yintang modulates depression by regulating the expression of particular genes.展开更多
Leptinotarsa decemlineata adults exhibit a season-dependent activity. In spring, post-diapause beetles often fly a long distance from overwintering sites to potato fields. In summer and autumn, the flight ability is s...Leptinotarsa decemlineata adults exhibit a season-dependent activity. In spring, post-diapause beetles often fly a long distance from overwintering sites to potato fields. In summer and autumn, the flight ability is sharply reduced. Proline is the main energy substrate ofL. decemlineata during flight and proline dehydrogenase (ProDH) catalyzes the first step in proline catabolism. Here we identified a putative LdProDHgene; it had three cDNA isoforms which shared the same 5'UTR and coding region, but differed in the lengths of 3'UTRs (515, 1 092 and 1 242 bp for isoforms-1, -2 and -3, respectively). LdProDH encoded a 616 amino acid protein that showed high sequence similarity to ProDH-like proteins from other insect species. LdProDHwas expressed in the third and fourth instars larvae and adults, but not in pupae. Dietary ingestion of bacterially expressed LdProDH- dsRNA by adults significantly decreased its messenger RNA (mRNA) level, and caused an elevation of free proline content in the hemolymph. Further observation revealed that three canonical polyadenylation signals (AATAAA) were tandemly located in the 3'UTR of isoform-3. The first, second and third polyadenylation sites gave rise to isoforms-1, -2 and -3, respectively. Analysis of the genomic DNA uncovered that the three isoforms resulted from alternative polyadenylation. The mRNA level of isoform-1, which expressed at low levels in pre-diapause adults, became abundant in post-diapause beetles. It is indicated that the LdProDH expression is fine-tuned through 3'UTR to control proline catabolism for the season-dependent activity ofL. decemlineata adults.展开更多
A permanent lymphocyte cell line of a heterozygote with Yunnanese (Aγδβ)0-thalassemia deletion, associated with an increased production of Cry globin in adult, was founded using Epstein-Barr virus transformation. T...A permanent lymphocyte cell line of a heterozygote with Yunnanese (Aγδβ)0-thalassemia deletion, associated with an increased production of Cry globin in adult, was founded using Epstein-Barr virus transformation. The hybrids of the lymphocyte cell and mouse erythroleukemia cell (MEL) were achieved and the hybrids containing human chromosome 11 were selected with the monoclonal antibody 53/6. The subclones containing only either the normal or the abnormal human chromosome 11 were separated and the expression of the human globin genes was studied. Expression of the β-globin gene, but not the Cγ and Aγ, was observed in the hybrids containing only the normal human chromosome 11, while active expression of the Cγ globin gene was observed in the hybrids containing only the abnormal human chromosome 11. These results have confirmed that the DNA deletion in the β-globin gene cluster is the cause of persistent active expression of the Cγ globin gene in the Yunnanese mutant.展开更多
Facial and vocal expressions are essential modalities mediating the perception of emotion and social communication. Nonetheless, currently little is known about how emotion perception and its neural substrates differ ...Facial and vocal expressions are essential modalities mediating the perception of emotion and social communication. Nonetheless, currently little is known about how emotion perception and its neural substrates differ across facial expression and vocal prosody. To clarify this issue, functional MRI scans were acquired in Study 1, in which participants were asked to discriminate the valence of emotional expression (angry, happy or neutral) from facial, vocal, or bimodal stimuli. In Study 2, we used an affective priming task (unimodal materials as primers and bimodal materials as target) and participants were asked to rate the intensity, valence, and arousal of the targets. Study 1 showed higher accuracy and shorter response latencies in the facial than in the vocal modality for a happy expression. Whole-brain analysis showed enhanced activation during facial compared to vocal emotions in the inferior temporal-occipital regions. Region of interest analysis showed a higher percentage signal change for facial than for vocal anger in the superior temporal sulcus. Study 2 showed that facial relative to vocal priming of anger had a greater influence on perceived emotion for bimodal targets, irrespective of the target valence. These findings suggest that facial expression is associated with enhanced emotion perception compared to equivalent vocal prosodies.展开更多
[Objective] This study aimed to investigate the functions and related mechanisms of xyloglucan Endotransglycosylase/hydrolases (XTHs) during the growth and development of dahlia. [Method] Using /3-actin as the refer...[Objective] This study aimed to investigate the functions and related mechanisms of xyloglucan Endotransglycosylase/hydrolases (XTHs) during the growth and development of dahlia. [Method] Using /3-actin as the reference gene, the rela- tive transcription levels of DpXTH1 and DpXTH2 genes in roots, stems, leaves and petals of dahlia were analyzed by real-time RT-PCR. [Result] The DpXTH1 and DpXTH2 were not expressed in the roots, but expressed abundantly in the petals of dahlia. There were little expressions in the stems and leaves of dahlia. [Conclusion] The DpXTH1 and DpXTH2 were petal-specific genes and closely related to the growth and development of petals in dahlia.展开更多
Most of the robots are nowadays evolving and imitating huiron social skills to achieve sociable interaction with humanas. Socially interactive robots require different characteristics than conventional robots. Likewis...Most of the robots are nowadays evolving and imitating huiron social skills to achieve sociable interaction with humanas. Socially interactive robots require different characteristics than conventional robots. Likewise human-human interaction, human-robot interaction is also accompanied with emotional interaction. Therefore, the robot's emotional expression is very important for human, especially facial expressions play an important role among the whole part of the human body. In this paper, we introduce a facial robot expression simulator FRESi.展开更多
Ulva prolifera is a typical green alga in subtidal areas and can grow tremendously fast. A highly efficient Rubisco enzyme which is encoded by Up Rbc L gene may contribute to the rapid growth. In this study, the full-...Ulva prolifera is a typical green alga in subtidal areas and can grow tremendously fast. A highly efficient Rubisco enzyme which is encoded by Up Rbc L gene may contribute to the rapid growth. In this study, the full-length Up Rbc L open reading frame(ORF) was identified, which encoded a protein of 474 amino acids. Phylogenetic analysis of Up Rbc L sequences revealed that Chlorophyta had a closer genetic relationship with higher plants than with Rhodophyta and Phaeophyta. The two distinct residues(aa11 and aa91) were presumed to be unique for Rubisco catalytic activity. The predicted three-dimensional structure showed that one α/β-barrel existed in the C-terminal region, and the sites for Mg^(2+)coordination and CO_2 fixation were also located in this region. Gene expression profile indicated that Up Rbc L was expressed at a higher level under light exposure than in darkness. When the culture temperature reached 35℃, the expression level of Up Rbc L was 2.5-fold lower than at 15℃, and the carboxylase activity exhibited 13.8-fold decrease. Up Rbc L was heterologously expressed in E. coli and was purified by Ni^(2+) affinity chromatography. The physiological and biochemical characterization of recombinant Rubisco will be explored in the future.展开更多
文摘Thellungiella salsuginea (halophila) is a close relative of Arabidopsis thaliana but, unlike A. thaliana, it grows well in extreme conditions of cold, salt, and drought as well as nitrogen limitation. Over the last decade, many laboratories have started to use Thellungiella to investigate the physiological, metabolic, and molecular mechanisms of abiotic stress tolerance in plants, and new knowledge has been gained in particular with respect to ion transport and gene expression. The advantage of Thellungiella over other extremophile model plants is that it can be directly compared with Arabidopsis, and therefore generate information on both essential and critical components of stress tolerance. Thellungiella research is supported by a growing body of technical resources comprising physiological and molecular protocols, ecotype collections, expressed sequence tags, cDNA-libraries, microarrays, and a pending genome sequence. This review summarizes the current state of knowledge on Thellungiella and re-evaluates its usefulness as a model for research into plant stress tolerance.
基金Supported by Medical guidance projects of Shanghai Science Committee,No.10411961800Youth Science Foundation of Fudan University,No.08FQ49
文摘AIM: TO identify differentially expressed microRNAs (miRNAs) in human colon cancer stem cells (SW1116csc) and study their function in SW1116csc proliferation. METHODS: SW1116csc were isolated from the human colon cancer cell line, SW1116 and cultured in serum- free medium. A miRNA microarray was used to detect differential expression profiles of rniRNAs in SW1116csc and SW1116 cells. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed to verify the dif- ferential expression of candidate miRNAs obtained from the microarray. Target mRNAs of differentially expressed miRNAs were predicted with target predic- tion tools, miRNA expression plasmids were transfected into SW1116csc using Lipofectamine 2000 reagent. Cell proliferation curves were generated with trypan blue staining, and the colony formation rate of transfected cells was measured with the soft agar colony formation assay. Expression of target mRNAs and proteins from differentially expressed miRNAs were detected using reverse transcription (RT)-PCR and western blotting.RESULTS: Compared with expression in SW1116 cells, 35 miRNAs (including hsa-miR-192, hsa-miR-29b, hsa-miR-215, hsa-miR-194, hsa-miR-33a and hsa- miR-32) were upregulated more than 1.5-fold, and 11 miRNAs (including hsa-miR-93, hsa-miR-1231, hsa- miRPlus-F1080, hsa-miR-524-3p, hsa-miR-886-3p and hsa-miR-561) were downregulated in SW1116csc. The miRNA microarray results were further validated with quantitative RT-PCR. miR-93 was downregulated, and its predicted mRNA targets included BAMBI, CCND2, CDKNIA, HDACS, KIF23, MAP3K9, MAP3K11, MYCN, PPARD, TLE4 and ZDHHCl. Overexpressed miR-93 sig- nificantly inhibited cell proliferation and colony forma- tion by SW1116csc. Furthermore, miR-93 negatively regulated the mRNA and protein levels of HDAC8 and TLE4. CONCLUSION: Some miRNAs were differentially ex- pressed during differentiation of SW1116csc into SW1116 cells, miR-93 may inhibit SW1116csc proliferation and colony formation.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China,No.81273847
文摘Preliminary basic research and clinical findings have demonstrated that electroacupuncture ther- apy exhibits positive effects in ameliorating depression. However, most studies of the underlying mechanism are at the single gene level; there are few reports regarding the mechanism at the whole-genome level. Using a rat genomic gene-chip, we profiled hippocampal gene expression changes in rats after electroacupuncture therapy. Electroacupuncture therapy alleviated depres- sion-related manifestations in the model rats. Using gene-chip analysis, we demonstrated that electroacupuncture at Baihui (DU20) and Yintang (EX-HN3) regulates the expression of 21 genes. Real-time PCR showed that the genes Vgf, lgf2, Trnp32, Loc500373, Hifla, Folrl, Nrnb, and Rtn were upregulated or downregulated in depression and that their expression tended to nor- malize after electroacupuncture therapy. These results indicate that electroacupuncture at Baihui and Yintang modulates depression by regulating the expression of particular genes.
文摘Leptinotarsa decemlineata adults exhibit a season-dependent activity. In spring, post-diapause beetles often fly a long distance from overwintering sites to potato fields. In summer and autumn, the flight ability is sharply reduced. Proline is the main energy substrate ofL. decemlineata during flight and proline dehydrogenase (ProDH) catalyzes the first step in proline catabolism. Here we identified a putative LdProDHgene; it had three cDNA isoforms which shared the same 5'UTR and coding region, but differed in the lengths of 3'UTRs (515, 1 092 and 1 242 bp for isoforms-1, -2 and -3, respectively). LdProDH encoded a 616 amino acid protein that showed high sequence similarity to ProDH-like proteins from other insect species. LdProDHwas expressed in the third and fourth instars larvae and adults, but not in pupae. Dietary ingestion of bacterially expressed LdProDH- dsRNA by adults significantly decreased its messenger RNA (mRNA) level, and caused an elevation of free proline content in the hemolymph. Further observation revealed that three canonical polyadenylation signals (AATAAA) were tandemly located in the 3'UTR of isoform-3. The first, second and third polyadenylation sites gave rise to isoforms-1, -2 and -3, respectively. Analysis of the genomic DNA uncovered that the three isoforms resulted from alternative polyadenylation. The mRNA level of isoform-1, which expressed at low levels in pre-diapause adults, became abundant in post-diapause beetles. It is indicated that the LdProDH expression is fine-tuned through 3'UTR to control proline catabolism for the season-dependent activity ofL. decemlineata adults.
基金Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China.
文摘A permanent lymphocyte cell line of a heterozygote with Yunnanese (Aγδβ)0-thalassemia deletion, associated with an increased production of Cry globin in adult, was founded using Epstein-Barr virus transformation. The hybrids of the lymphocyte cell and mouse erythroleukemia cell (MEL) were achieved and the hybrids containing human chromosome 11 were selected with the monoclonal antibody 53/6. The subclones containing only either the normal or the abnormal human chromosome 11 were separated and the expression of the human globin genes was studied. Expression of the β-globin gene, but not the Cγ and Aγ, was observed in the hybrids containing only the normal human chromosome 11, while active expression of the Cγ globin gene was observed in the hybrids containing only the abnormal human chromosome 11. These results have confirmed that the DNA deletion in the β-globin gene cluster is the cause of persistent active expression of the Cγ globin gene in the Yunnanese mutant.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(31371042 and 31671164)
文摘Facial and vocal expressions are essential modalities mediating the perception of emotion and social communication. Nonetheless, currently little is known about how emotion perception and its neural substrates differ across facial expression and vocal prosody. To clarify this issue, functional MRI scans were acquired in Study 1, in which participants were asked to discriminate the valence of emotional expression (angry, happy or neutral) from facial, vocal, or bimodal stimuli. In Study 2, we used an affective priming task (unimodal materials as primers and bimodal materials as target) and participants were asked to rate the intensity, valence, and arousal of the targets. Study 1 showed higher accuracy and shorter response latencies in the facial than in the vocal modality for a happy expression. Whole-brain analysis showed enhanced activation during facial compared to vocal emotions in the inferior temporal-occipital regions. Region of interest analysis showed a higher percentage signal change for facial than for vocal anger in the superior temporal sulcus. Study 2 showed that facial relative to vocal priming of anger had a greater influence on perceived emotion for bimodal targets, irrespective of the target valence. These findings suggest that facial expression is associated with enhanced emotion perception compared to equivalent vocal prosodies.
基金Supported by Applied Basic Research Project of Suzhou City(SYN201405)National College Students’Innovative Entrepreneurial Training Program(201410285049Z)~~
文摘[Objective] This study aimed to investigate the functions and related mechanisms of xyloglucan Endotransglycosylase/hydrolases (XTHs) during the growth and development of dahlia. [Method] Using /3-actin as the reference gene, the rela- tive transcription levels of DpXTH1 and DpXTH2 genes in roots, stems, leaves and petals of dahlia were analyzed by real-time RT-PCR. [Result] The DpXTH1 and DpXTH2 were not expressed in the roots, but expressed abundantly in the petals of dahlia. There were little expressions in the stems and leaves of dahlia. [Conclusion] The DpXTH1 and DpXTH2 were petal-specific genes and closely related to the growth and development of petals in dahlia.
基金supported by the MKE(The Ministry of Knowledge Economy,Korea)the ITRC(Information Technology Research Center)support program(ⅡTA-2008-C1090-0803-0006)
文摘Most of the robots are nowadays evolving and imitating huiron social skills to achieve sociable interaction with humanas. Socially interactive robots require different characteristics than conventional robots. Likewise human-human interaction, human-robot interaction is also accompanied with emotional interaction. Therefore, the robot's emotional expression is very important for human, especially facial expressions play an important role among the whole part of the human body. In this paper, we introduce a facial robot expression simulator FRESi.
基金financially supported by the Scientific and Technical Supporting Programs of China(2008 BAC49B01)State Ocean Administration Project(200805069)
文摘Ulva prolifera is a typical green alga in subtidal areas and can grow tremendously fast. A highly efficient Rubisco enzyme which is encoded by Up Rbc L gene may contribute to the rapid growth. In this study, the full-length Up Rbc L open reading frame(ORF) was identified, which encoded a protein of 474 amino acids. Phylogenetic analysis of Up Rbc L sequences revealed that Chlorophyta had a closer genetic relationship with higher plants than with Rhodophyta and Phaeophyta. The two distinct residues(aa11 and aa91) were presumed to be unique for Rubisco catalytic activity. The predicted three-dimensional structure showed that one α/β-barrel existed in the C-terminal region, and the sites for Mg^(2+)coordination and CO_2 fixation were also located in this region. Gene expression profile indicated that Up Rbc L was expressed at a higher level under light exposure than in darkness. When the culture temperature reached 35℃, the expression level of Up Rbc L was 2.5-fold lower than at 15℃, and the carboxylase activity exhibited 13.8-fold decrease. Up Rbc L was heterologously expressed in E. coli and was purified by Ni^(2+) affinity chromatography. The physiological and biochemical characterization of recombinant Rubisco will be explored in the future.