The paleoAP3-type gene CpAP3, an ancestral B-class gene from the basal angiosperm Chimonanthus praecox, can affect stamen and petal development in higher eudicots.

Wintersweet (Chimonanthus praecox), a basal angiosperm endemic to China, has high ornamental value for developing beautiful flowers with strong fragrance. The molecular mechanism regulating flower development in wintersweet remains largely elusive. In this project, we seek to determine the molecular features and expression patterns of the C.

Preliminary results for the treatment of a pain-causing osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture with a Sky Bone Expander.

Objective: Vertebral compression fractures (VCFs) are common complications of osteoporosis. The expansion of VCFs with a Sky Bone Expander is a new procedure which improves kyphotic deformities and decreases pain associated with VCFs. The purpose of this study was to investigate the preliminary results for the treatment of painful osteoporotic VCFs with a Sky Bone Expander.

[Construction of novel recombinant Escherichia coli capable of producing 1,3-propanediol].

The 1,3-propanediol oxidoreductase isoenzyme encoding gene (yqhD) from E. coli was amplified by PCR. yqhD was inserted in pEtac to yield the recombinant expression vector pEtac-yqhD.

Functional analysis of the Zygosaccharomyces rouxii Fps1p homologue.

The osmotolerant yeast Zygosaccharomyces rouxii accumulates the polyols glycerol and D-arabitol intracellularly in response to hyperosmotic stress, but the membrane transport proteins regulating polyol accumulation have not been studied. We have cloned and characterized a FPS1 homologue in Z. rouxii NRRL Y2547, and its sequence revealed a 2709 bp open reading frame encoding a peptide of 692 deduced amino acids with 56.

Purification and characterisation of an alkaline protease used in tannery industry from Bacillus licheniformis.

An extracellular alkaline protease produced by Bacillus licheniformis AP-1 was purified 76-fold, yielding a single 28 kDa band on SDS-PAGE. It was optimally active at pH 11 and at 60 degrees C (assayed over 10 min). The protease was completely inhibited by phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride and diodopropyl fluorophosphate, with little increase upon Ca2+ and Mg2+ addition.

Anthraquinones sensitize tumor cells to arsenic cytotoxicity in vitro and in vivo via reactive oxygen species-mediated dual regulation of apoptosis.

Cellular oxidation/reduction state affects the cytotoxicity of a number of chemotherapeutic agents, including arsenic trioxide. Reactive oxygen species (ROS), the major intracellular oxidants, may be a determinant of cellular susceptibility to arsenic. Our previous studies showed that a naphthoquinone and an anthraquinone (emodin) displayed the capability of producing ROS and facilitating arsenic cytotoxicity in both leukemia and solid tumor cell lines.

Cloning and over-expression of an alkaline protease from Bacillus licheniformis.

The alkaline protease gene, apr, from Bacillus licheniformis 2709 was cloned into a Bacillus shuttle expression vector, pHL, to yield the recombinant plasmid pHL-apr. The pHL-apr was expressed in Bacillus subtilis WB600, yielding a high expression strain BW-016. The amount of alkaline protease produced in the recombinant increased by 65% relative to the original strain.

Dicoumarol alters cellular redox state and inhibits nuclear factor kappa B to enhance arsenic trioxide-induced apoptosis.

The effects of a number of cytotoxic drugs are influenced by cellular reduction/oxidation (redox) state. In the present study, we attempt to explore if dicoumarol, an inhibitor of NADPH: quinone oxidoreductase (NQO1), alters the cellular redox state and how this alteration affects the redox-related apoptosis. Flow cytometry was used to assess the reactive oxygen species (ROS) level and apoptotic rates of HeLa cells treated with arsenic trioxide (As2O3) alone or in combination with natural anthraquinone emodin and dicoumarol or plus N-acetyl-cysteine.

The cell cycle related apoptotic susceptibility to arsenic trioxide is associated with the level of reactive oxygen species.

Double staining flow cytometry was performed using 7-amino actinomycin D and 6-carboxy-2', 7'-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate, to detect the level fluctuation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) during the cell cycle of normal NB4 cells. Our results showed that NB4 cells possessed higher level of ROS in G2/M phase than in G1 and S phases. Double staining flow cytometry, with TdT mediated dUTP nick end labeling (Tunel) and propidium iodide (PI), indicated that As2O3 (2 microM) could induce apoptosis in NB4 cells prevailingly from G2/M phase, and this efficacy was enhanced upon co-administration of 2, 3-dimethoxy-1, 4-naphthoquinone (DMNQ) (2.

[Emodin sensitizes HeLa cell to arsenic trioxide induced apoptosis via the reactive oxygen species-mediated signaling pathways].

Since reactive oxygen species(ROS) has been known to play an important role in apoptosis induced by arsenic trioxide, we attempt to elevate the cellular ROS level on HeLa cell by an natural anthraquinone-emodin, then to study its effect on apoptotic sensitivity to arsenic, and finally to investigate the mechanisms of the involved signaling pathway. The results showed that emodin 10 micromol/L could enhance arsenic induced apoptosis via generation of ROS, whereas rendered no detectable effect on normal fibroblast. Increased ROS promoted mitochondrial transmembrane potential collapse; inhibited the activation of transcription factors NF-kappa B.

[Allogenic transplantation studies on human fetal pancreatic nestin positive cells].

Human fetal pancreatic nestin positive cells cultured in vitro could self assemble to form islet-like cell clusters(ICC). They are multipotential and are capable of generating insulin-producing cells. To investigate their biological character and physiological function in vivo, ICCs were implanted into NOD-Scid mice subcapsularly.

[Isolation, culture and biological character studies on human fetal pancreatic nestin positive cells].

Pancreatic nestin positive cells are multipotential stem cells which may play an important role in the development of pancreas. Here we isolated nestin positive cells from human fetal pancreases and then examined its biological characters in vitro. The results showed that: (1) Nestin positive cells expressed high level transcript of ABCG2/BCRP1 which was the molecular determination of stem cells, and they differed from pancreatic ductal epithelium cells both in morphology and in growth behavior.

The Susceptibility of Leukemia Cells to Arsenic Trioxide-induced Apoptosis is Determined by Cellular Reactive Oxygen Species Level.

To explore the relationship between the susceptibility to arsenic trioxide (As(2)O(3))-induced apoptosis of leukemia cells and the level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) of cells, flow cytometry and electron microscopy were applied to identify apoptosis, and dihydrorhodamine123 was used to display the ROS level of cells. As(2)O(3) alone or in combination with 2,3-dimethoxy-1,4-naphthoquinone (DMNQ, 2.5 &mgr;mol/L for NB4 cells, 10 &mgr;mol/L for U937 cells) were used to induce cell apoptosis.

Down-regulation of the retinoblastoma protein (rb) is associated with rat oligodendrocyte differentiation.

Terminal differentiation of oligodendrocytes is associated with permanent withdrawal from the cell cycle. We studied the expression of the retinoblastoma protein, expression and activity of G1 cyclins and kinases in oligodendrocyte progenitor cells cultured in vitro. We found that Rb stopped to be expressed concomitantly with the activation of CNPase in oligodendrocytes differentiated with thyroid hormone.

The sensitivity of digestive tract tumor cells to As2O3 is associated with the inherent cellular level of reactive oxygen species.

Aim: To explore the correlation of the inherent cellular ROS level with the susceptibility of the digestive tract tumor cells to apoptosis inducted by As2O3.

Methods: Two gastric carcinoma cell lines, SGC7901 and MKN45, and two esophageal carcinoma cell lines, EC/CUHK1(alternatively named EC1.71) and EC1867 with low concentration(2 micromol x L(-1))of As2O3 were cultured espectly, which confirmed the difference in apoptosis susceptibility between SGC7901 and MKN45, and between EC/CUHK1 and EC1867.

[The expression of laminin in the intermingled skin transplantation of allograft and autograft].

Objective: To explore the healing mechanism of full-thickness wound treating by the intermingled skin transplantation of large sheet allograft with autograft through studying the expression of laminin (LN).

Methods: Thirty-six SD rats with 10% to 15% of total body surface area (TBSA) full-thickness were made. After 3 days, the devitalized tissue were excised and transplanted a large sheet of allograft from Wistar rats and islets of autografts were implanted 3 days later.