Adaptation to Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress Enhances Resistance of Oral Cancer Cells to Cisplatin by Up-Regulating Polymerase η and Increasing DNA Repair Efficiency

Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress response is an adaptive program to cope with cellular stress that disturbs the function and homeostasis of ER, which commonly occurs during cancer progression to late stage. Late-stage cancers, mostly requiring chemotherapy, often develop treatment resistance. Chemoresistance has been linked to ER stress response; however, most of the evidence has come from studies that correlate the expression of stress markers with poor prognosis or demonstrate proapoptosis by the knockdown of stress-responsive genes. Since ER stress in cancers usually persists and is essentially not induced by genetic manipulations, we used low doses of ER stress inducers at levels that allowed cell adaptation to occur in order to investigate the effect of stress response on chemoresistance. We found that prolonged tolerable ER stress promotes mesenchymal–epithelial transition, slows cell-cycle progression, and delays the S-phase exit. Consequently, cisplatin-induced apoptosis was significantly decreased in stress-adapted cells, implying their acquisition of cisplatin resistance. Molecularly, we found that proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) ubiquitination and the expression of polymerase η, the main polymerase responsible for translesion synthesis across cisplatin-DNA damage, were up-regulated in ER stress-adaptive cells, and their enhanced cisplatin resistance was abrogated by the knockout of polymerase η. We also found that a fraction of p53 in stress-adapted cells was translocated to the nucleus, and that these cells exhibited a significant decline in the level of cisplatin-DNA damage. Consistently, we showed that the nuclear p53 coincided with strong positivity of glucose-related protein 78 (GRP78) on immunostaining of clinical biopsies, and the cisplatin-based chemotherapy was less effective for patients with high levels of ER stress. Taken together, this study uncovers that adaptation to ER stress enhances DNA repair and damage tolerance, with which stressed cells gain resistance to chemotherapeutics.     

一种5 重real-time PCR筛查转基因水稻方法的建立

以转基因水稻中最常用的CaMV35S启动子、NOS终止子、Cry1Ab/Ac基因、HPT基因及SPS水稻内标基因为研究对象，利用5 种不同的荧光信号（FAM、HEX、Taxas Red、Cy5、Cy5.5）进行多重实时聚合酶链式反应（real-time polymerase chain reaction，real-time PCR）检测方法的研究。通过引物组合筛选、反应体系优化、特异性测试、灵敏度测试、适用性测试等一系列实验，建立了5 重real-time PCR方法，灵敏度可达0.032%。此方法具有灵敏度高、结果准确、通量大等优点，可实现水稻中转基因成分的快速、高效检测。     

Multiplex PCR system to track authorized and unauthorized genetically modified soybean events in food and feed

A diverse range of genetic elements has been used to develop genetically modified organisms (GMOs) over the last 18 years. Screening methods that target few elements, such as the Cauliflower Mosaic Virus 35S promoter (P-35S) and Agrobacterium tumefaciens nopaline terminator (T-nos), are not sufficient to screen GMOs. In the present study, a multiplex PCR system for all globally commercialized GM soybean events was developed to easily trace the events. For this purpose, screening elements of 24 GM soybean events were investigated and 9 screening targets were selected and divided into three individual triplex PCR systems: P-35S, ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase small subunit promoter of Arabidopsis thaliana, T-nos, T-35S, pea E9 terminator, open reading frame 23 terminator of A. tumefaciens, proteinase inhibitor II terminator of potato, acetohydroxy acid synthase large subunit terminator of A. thaliana, and the revealed 3′ flanking sequences of DP-305423-1. The specificity of the assays was confirmed using thirteen GM soybean events as the respective positive/negative controls. The limit of detection of each multiplex set, as determined using certified reference materials of specific GM events, ranged from 0.03 to 0.5%, depending upon target. Furthermore, 26 food samples that contained soybean ingredients, which were purchased from the USA, China, Japan, and Korea, were analyzed, 17 of which contained one or more GM soybean events. These results suggest that the developed screening method can be used to efficiently track and identify 24 GM soybean events in food and feed.     

靶向抗癌药格列卫与其治疗白血病疗效监测

Gleevec是抑制致癌的融合蛋白BCR-ABL的一种分子靶向治疗药物,BCR-ABL是一种与慢性髓细胞性白血病(CML)有关的酪氨酸激酶抑制剂。用Gleevec选择性地抑制BCR-ABL活性在治疗CML中显示出很好的效果,特别是在CML慢性期,因此,监测疗效非常重要。现就Gleevec的研究进展及如何监测其在CML中的疗效作一简单综述。     

APPLICATION OF THE POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION TO THE RAPID ANALYSIS OF BREWERY YEAST STRAINS

The rapid discrimination of closely-related Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains can pose a significant problem to breweries, in particular where closely related strains are being used simultaneously to manufacture different products. In this study, two PCR approaches have been examined to assess their usefulness for the discrimination of brewery ale and lager yeast strains. PCR using arbitrary primers (RAPD PCR) was found unsuitable for such an application since the DNA profiles generated from brewery strains were generally found to be identical, due presumably to the close genetic relatedness of these yeasts. In contrast, PCR using δ sequence primers could rapidly differentiate between many ale and lager strains and characteristic profiles for these were generated. This method could also be applied directly to yeasts isolated from brewery worts or from active dried yeast preparations. Results of such analyses were available within the working day.     

重组Thermus thermophilus DNA聚合酶表达纯化及其在RT-PCR中的应用

目的研究重组ThermusthermophilusDNA聚合酶的表达、纯化和应用。方法提取Thermusthermophilushb8基因组DNA作为模板,PCR扩增TthDNA聚合酶基因后,克隆至pET28a表达载体上,转化大肠杆菌BL21(DE3),经IPTG诱导表达,用His-BindQuickCartridge300纯化重组TthDNA聚合酶His-tag融合蛋白。提取Thermomonosporafusca总RNA,用一管法RT-PCR扩增E2cd基因,检测重组TthDNA聚合酶RT-PCR活性。结果大肠杆菌表达TthDNA聚合酶,分离出的电泳纯重组TthDNA聚合酶His-tag融合蛋白相对分子质量为94000,表达产量为200000U/L。一管法RT-PCR可扩增出850bp长度的E2cd基因。结论重组TthDNA聚合酶已成功地表达和纯化,并用于RT-PCR。     

Aerobic biodegradation of di-n-butyl phthalate by Xiangjiang River sediment and microflora analysis

Di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP), one of phthalate acid esters (PAEs), was investigated to determine its biodegradation rate using Xiangjiang River sediment and find potential DBP degraders in the enrichment culture of the sediment. The sediment sample was incubated with an initial concentration of DBP of 100 mg/L for 5 d. The biodegradation rate of DBP was detected using HPLC and the degraded products were analyzed by GC/MS. Subsequently, the microbial diversity of the enrichment culture was analyzed by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). The results reveal that almost 100% of DBP is degraded after merely 3 d, generating two main degraded products: mono-butyl phthalate (MBP) and 9-octadecenoic acid. After a six-month enrichment period under the pressure of DBP, the dominant family in the final enrichment culture is clustered with the Comamonas sp., the remaining are affiliated with Sphingomonas sp., Hydrogenophaga sp., Rhizobium sp., and Acidovorax sp. The results show the potential of these bacteria to be used in the bioremediation of DBP in the environment.     

集成型PCR芯片的研究

PCR芯片的温度控制部分的搭构是决定整个PCR芯片性能、尺寸、集成性的重要组成部分。利用薄膜技术与MEMS技术,将热电材料依照珀尔帖模型排列组合制作于微结构PCR芯片的反应室底部,可实现对反应室升温及降温的操作,并可通过改变电流方向,方便实现两者的切换,制作出集成了DNA反应室、温度传感器以及热电材料温控组件的集成型微结构PCR芯片。