• Title/Summary/Keyword: Ministry of Science

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Molecular characterization and inhibition analysis of the acetylcholinesterase gene from the silkworm maggot, Exorista sorbillans

  • Lang, Guo-Jun;Zhang, Ming-Yan;Li, Bao-Ling;Yu, Lin-Lin;Lu, Xing-Meng;Zhang, Chuan-Xi
    • BMB Reports
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    • v.43 no.8
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    • pp.573-578
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    • 2010
  • Several organophosphorus (OP) insecticides can selectively kill the silkworm maggot, Exorista sorbillans (Es) (Diptera: Tachinidae), while not obviously affecting the host (Bombyx mori) larvae, but the mechanism is not yet clear. In this study, the cDNA encoding an acetylcholinesterase (AChE) from the field Es was isolated. One point mutation (Gly353Ala) was identified. The Es-353G AChE and Es-353A AChE were expressed in baculovirus-insect cell system, respectively. The inhibition results showed that for eserine and Chlorpyrifos, Es-353A AChE was significantly less sensitive than Es-353G AChE. Meanwhile, comparison of the I50 values of eserine, dichlorvos, Chlorpyrifos and omethoate of recombinant Es AChEs with its host (Bombyx mori) AChEs indicated that, both Es AChEs are more sensitive than B. mori AChEs. The results give an insight of the mechanism that some OP insecticides can selectively kills Es while without distinct effect on its host, B. mori.

Association between PCR-RFLP Polymorphism of the Fifth Intron in Lipoprotein Lipase Gene and Productive Traits in Pig Resource Family

  • Zhang, B.Z.;Lei, M.G.;Deng, C.Y.;Xiong, Y.H.;Zuo, B.;Li, F.E.
    • Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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    • v.18 no.4
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    • pp.458-462
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    • 2005
  • The study was aimed at detecting polymorphism of the fifth intron in lipoprotein lipase (LPL) gene and analyzing association between the polymorphism and productive traits. A pair of primers was designed for amplifying the fifth intron. Sequence analysis indicated that a G1171C substitution existed in Large White breed. The mutation was detected by PCR-AfaI-RFLP. Polymorphism analysis in a pig resource family showed that there existed significant effects on carcass and meat quality traits. Thoraxwaist fat thickness of BB genotype was significantly higher (14.2%, p<0.05) than that of AA on carcass traits, while BB genotype was significantly lower (3.6% p<0.01, 4.1% p<0.01; 2.3% p<0.01, 1.9% p<0.01; 1.8% p<0.01, 1.4% p<0.05) than AA and AB genotype in pH of m. Longissimus Dorsi (LD), m. Biceps Femoris (BF), m. Semipinali Capitis (SC). The allelic frequencies were also significantly different between indigenous Chinese breeds and exotic breeds. Data analyzed revealed that the mutation locus affected production traits mostly by additive effects. Based on these results, it is necessary to do more studies on LPL gene before making the LPL locus into the application of marker-assisted selection (MAS) programs.

Three New Oleanane-Type Triterpene Saponins from Gladiolus gandavensis

  • Tai, Zhi-Gang;Cai, Le;Yang, Ya-Bin;Liu, Chuan-Shui;Xia, Jian-Jun;Ding, Zhong-Tao
    • Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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    • v.31 no.10
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    • pp.2786-2790
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    • 2010
  • Three new oleanane-type triterpene saponins (1, 2 and 3) were isolated from aerial parts of Gladiolus gandavensis, along with two known compounds (4 and 5). Their structures were elucidated as 29-O-($\beta$-D-glucopyranosyl)-$2{\beta}$,$3{\beta}$-dihydroxyolean-12-en-28-oicacid(1), 3-O-($\beta$-D-xylopyranosyl)-29-O-($\beta$-D-glucopyranosyl)-12-en-28-oic acid (2), and $2{\beta}$,$3{\beta}$,29-trihydroxyolean-12-en-28-oic acid 28-O-[$\beta$-D-glucopyranosyl($1{\rightarrow}2$)-($\alpha$-L-rhamnopyranosyl($1{\rightarrow}6$))-$\beta$-D-glucopyranosyl] ester (3), by spectroscopic methods, and by comparison with known analogues. These oleanane-type triterpene saponins glycosidated at C-29 were not obtained frequently.

The Integrins Involved in Soybean Agglutinin-Induced Cell Cycle Alterations in IPEC-J2

  • Pan, Li;Zhao, Yuan;Yuan, Zhijie;Farouk, Mohammed Hamdy;Zhang, Shiyao;Bao, Nan;Qin, Guixin
    • Molecules and Cells
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    • v.40 no.2
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    • pp.109-116
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    • 2017
  • Soybean agglutinin (SBA) is an anti-nutritional factor of soybean, affecting cell proliferation and inducing cytotoxicity. Integrins are transmembrane receptors, mediating a variety of cell biological processes. This research aims to study the effects of SBA on cell proliferation and cell cycle progression of the intestinal epithelial cell line from piglets (IPEC-J2), to identify the integrin subunits especially expressed in IPEC-J2s, and to analyze the functions of these integrins on IPEC-J2 cell cycle progression and SBA-induced IPEC-J2 cell cycle alteration. The results showed that SBA lowered cell proliferation rate as the cell cycle progression from G0/G1 to S phase (P < 0.05) was inhibited. Moreover, SBA lowered mRNA expression of cell cycle-related gene CDK4, Cyclin E and Cyclin D1 (P < 0.05). We successfully identified integrins ${\alpha}2$, ${\alpha}3$, ${\alpha}6$, ${\beta}1$, and ${\beta}4$ in IPEC-J2s. These five subunits were crucial to maintain normal cell proliferation and cell cycle progression in IPEC-J2s. Restrain of either these five subunits by their inhibitors, lowered cell proliferation rate, and arrested the cells at G0/G1 phase of cell cycle (P < 0.05). Further analysis indicated that integrin ${\alpha}2$, ${\alpha}6$, and ${\beta}1$ were involved in the blocking of G0/G1 phase induced by SBA. In conclusion, these results suggested that SBA lowered the IPEC-J2 cell proliferation rate through the perturbation of cell cycle progression. Furthermore, integrins were important for IPEC-J2 cell cycle progression, and they were involved in the process of SBA-induced cell cycle progression alteration, which provide a basis for further revealing SBA anti-proliferation and anti-nutritional mechanism.

Synthesis and Properties of Arylacetylene Resins with Siloxane Units

  • Gao, Fei;Zhang, Lingling;Tang, Lemin;Zhang, Jian;Zhou, Yan;Huang, Farong;Du, Lei
    • Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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    • v.31 no.4
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    • pp.976-980
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    • 2010
  • A series of arylacetylene resins with siloxane units were synthesized by the condensation reactions of m-diethynylbenzene magnesium reagents with various $\alpha,\omega$-bis(chloro)dimethylsiloxanes. These resins are liquids and are miscible with common organic solvents at room temperature. The structures of the resins were characterized by FT-IR, $^1H$ NMR, $^{13}C$ NMR, $^{29}Si$ NMR, and gel permeation chromatography (GPC). The thermal behaviors of the resins were examined with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). These resins have good processability. They can be thermally cross-linked through the ethynyl groups to produce cured resins. The thermal and thermooxidative stabilities of the cured resins were studied by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The cured resins possess high thermal and thermooxidative stability. Their decomposition occurs at above $500^{\circ}C$ in both $N_2$ and air. With increasing the length of siloxane units in the resins, the thermal stability of the cured resins decreases in $N_2$. When the cured resins were sintered above $1450^{\circ}C$ under argon, hard and glassy SiOC ceramics were obtained. These SiOC ceramics have the decomposition temperatures at 5% weight loss above $800^{\circ}C$ in air.

Cloning and Characterization of Ginsenoside-Hydrolyzing β-Glucosidase from Lactobacillus brevis That Transforms Ginsenosides Rb1 and F2 into Ginsenoside Rd and Compound K

  • Zhong, Fei-Liang;Ma, Rui;Jiang, Mingliang;Dong, Wei-Wei;Jiang, Jun;Wu, Songquan;Li, Donghao;Quan, Lin-Hu
    • Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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    • v.26 no.10
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    • pp.1661-1667
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    • 2016
  • The ginsenoside-hydrolyzing β-glucosidase gene (bgy2) was cloned from Lactobacillus brevis. We expressed this gene in Escherichia coli BL21(DE3), isolated the resulting protein, and then utilized the enzyme for the biotransformation of ginsenosides. The bgy2 gene contains 2,223 bp, and encodes a protein of 741 amino acids that is a member of glycosyl hydrolase family 3. β-Glucosidase (Bgy2) cleaved the outer glucose moieties of ginsenosides at the C-20 position, and the inner glucose at the C-3 position. Under optimal conditions (pH 7.0, 30℃), we used 0.1 mg/ml Bgy2 in 20 mM sodium phosphate buffer (PBS) for enzymatic studies. In these conditions, 1.0 mg/ml ginsenoside Rb1 and ginsenoside F2 were converted into 0.59 mg/ml ginsenoside Rd and 0.72mg/ml compound K, with molar conversion productivities of 69% and 91%, respectively. In pharmaceutical and commercial industries, this recombinant Bgy2 would be suitable for producting ginsenoside Rd and compound K.

Surface-Displayed Porcine IFN-λ3 in Lactobacillus plantarum Inhibits Porcine Enteric Coronavirus Infection of Porcine Intestinal Epithelial Cells

  • Liu, Yong-Shi;Liu, Qiong;Jiang, Yan-Long;Yang, Wen-Tao;Huang, Hai-Bin;Shi, Chun-Wei;Yang, Gui-Lian;Wang, Chun-Feng
    • Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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    • v.30 no.4
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    • pp.515-525
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    • 2020
  • Interferon (IFN)-λ plays an essential role in mucosal cells which exhibit strong antiviral activity. Lactobacillus plantarum (L. plantarum) has substantial application potential in the food and medical industries because of its probiotic properties. Alphacoronaviruses, especially porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) and transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV), cause high morbidity and mortality in piglets resulting in economic loss. Co-infection by these two viruses is becoming increasingly frequent. Therefore, it is particularly important to develop a new drug to prevent diarrhea infected with mixed viruses in piglets. In this study, we first constructed an anchored expression vector with CWA (C-terminal cell wall anchor) on L. plantarum. Second, we constructed two recombinant L. plantarum strains that anchored IFN-λ3 via pgsA (N-terminal transmembrane anchor) and CWA. Third, we demonstrated that both recombinant strains possess strong antiviral effects against coronavirus infection in the intestinal porcine epithelial cell line J2 (IPEC-J2). However, recombinant L. plantarum with the CWA anchor exhibited a more powerful antiviral effect than recombinant L. plantarum with pgsA. Consistent with this finding, Lb.plantarum-pSIP-409-IFN-λ3-CWA enhanced the expression levels of IFN-stimulated genes (ISGs) (ISG15, OASL, and Mx1) in IPEC-J2 cells more than did recombinant Lb.plantarum-pSIP-409-pgsA'-IFN-λ3. Our study verifies that recombinant L. plantarum inhibits PEDV and TGEV infection in IPEC-J2 cells, which may offer great potential for use as a novel oral antiviral agent in therapeutic applications for combating porcine epidemic diarrhea and transmissible gastroenteritis. This study is the first to show that recombinant L. plantarum suppresses PEDV and TGEV infection of IPEC-J2 cells.

CK2 phosphorylates AP-2α and increases its transcriptional activity

  • Ren, Kaiqun;Xiang, Shuanglin;He, Fangli;Zhang, Wenfeng;Ding, Xiaofeng;Wu, Yanyang;Yang, Liping;Zhou, Jianlin;Gao, Xiang;Zhang, Jian
    • BMB Reports
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    • v.44 no.7
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    • pp.490-495
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    • 2011
  • Transcription factor AP-$2{\alpha}$ involves in the process of mammalian embryonic development and tumorigenesis. Many studies have shown that AP-$2{\alpha}$ functions in association with other interacting proteins. In a two-hybrid screening, the regulatory subunit ${\beta}$ of protein casein kinase 2 ($CK2{\beta}$) was identified as an interacting protein of AP-$2{\alpha}$; we confirmed this interaction using in-vitro GST pull-down and in-vivo co-immunoprecipitation assays; in an endogenous co-immunoprecipitation experiment, we further found the catalytic subunit ${\alpha}$ of protein casein kinase 2 ($CK2{\alpha}$) also exists in the complex. Phosphorylation analysis revealed that AP-$2{\alpha}$ was phosphorylated by CK2 kinase majorly at the site of Ser429, and such phosphorylation could be blocked by CK2 specific inhibitor 4,5,6,7-tetrabromobenzotriazole (TBB) in a dose-dependent manner. Luciferase assays demonstrated that both $CK2{\alpha}$ and $CK2{\beta}$ enhanced the transcription activity of AP-$2{\alpha}$; moreover, $CK2{\beta}$ increased the stability of AP-$2{\alpha}$. Our data suggest a novel cellular function of CK-2 as a transcriptional co-activator of AP-$2{\alpha}$.

Association of the A-G Polymorphism in Porcine Adiponectin Gene with Fat Deposition and Carcass Traits

  • Dai, L.H.;Xiong, Y.Z.;Deng, C.Y.;Jiang, S.W.;Zuo, B.;Zheng, R.;Li, F.E.;Lei, M.G.
    • Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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    • v.19 no.6
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    • pp.779-783
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    • 2006
  • The adiponectin gene is known to be involved in the regulation of energy homeostasis involving food intake, carbohydrate and lipid metabolism. Human adiponectin gene polymorphisms have been recently reported to be associated with obesity, insulin sensitivity and the risk of type 2 diabetes. The present study was carried out to investigate the porcine adiponectin gene as a candidate gene for fat deposition and carcass traits. A mutation of A178G of the porcine adiponectin gene that resulted in substitution of the amino acid Isoleucine to Valine was identified. AcyI PCR-RFLP was used to detect the polymorphism of the genotypes in five different pig populations (Large White, Landrace, Duroc, Chinese breeds Meishan and Qingping). The A allele frequency was significantly higher among subjects from Chinsese lard type breeds, while the G allele was the only one present in those from Western lean type breeds. To determine if there was an association of the polymorphism with phenotypic variation, the mutation was tested in 267 pigs of the "Large $White{\times}Meishan$" F2 resource population. The results of association analyses showed significant associations of the genotypes with fat deposition and carcass traits. Allele G was significantly associated with increase in loin eye height, loin eye area and lean meat percentage and bone percentage, and decrease in fat mean percentage, ratio of lean to fat, shoulder fat thickness, 6-7 rib fat thickness, thorax-waist fat thickness and buttock fat thickness. The substitution of A178G (Ile60Val) happened to be located at amino acid 60 in the collagenous domain of porcine adiponectin which might affect the association into higher-order structures, and accordingly affect the posttranslational modifications and optimal biological activity of the multimeric forms. The identified functional polymorphism provides new evidence of adiponectin as an important candidate gene affecting fat deposition and carcass traits in pigs.

Characterization of SiC/C Nanocomposite Powders Synthesized by Arc-Discharge

  • Zhou, Lei;Yu, Jie Yi;Gao, Jian;Wang, Dong Xing;Gan, Xiao Rong;Xue, Fang Hong;Huang, Hao;Dong, Xing Long
    • Applied Microscopy
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    • v.45 no.4
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    • pp.242-248
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    • 2015
  • In this paper, three carbon sources, i.e., solid graphite, gaseous CH4 and liquid ethanol, and one solid silicon source were employed to synthesize SiC/C nanocomposite powders by arc-discharge plasma. The processing conditions such as the component ratios of raw materials, atmospheric gases, etc. were adjusted for controllable synthesis of the nanopowders. It is indicated that both of solid graphite and silicon can be co-evaporated and reacted to form nanophases of cubic ${\beta}$-SiC with ~50 nm in mean size and a little free graphite; the carbon atoms decomposed from gaseous $CH_4$ favor to combine with the evaporated silicon atoms to form the dominant SiC nanophase; liquid carbon source of ethanol can also be used to harvest the main ${\beta}$-SiC and minor 6H-SiC phases in the assembly of nanoparticles. The as-prepared SiC/C nanocomposite powders were further purified by a heat-treatment in air and their photocatalytic performances were then greatly improved.