Silica microbeads capture fetal nucleated red blood cells for noninvasive prenatal testing of fetal ABO genotype

ABO hemolytic disease of the newborn (ABO-HDN), which may cause neonatal jaundice and polycythemia, or even stillbirth or neonatal death, is widespread in China. Prenatal testing for the fetal ABO blood group can reduce unnecessary concerns or ensure prompt treatment. Herein, we presented a method to employ high-density silica microbeads (SiO₂ MBs) for capturing fetal nucleated red blood cells (fnRBCs) in maternal peripheral blood, and we detected the ABO genotype of the fetus using these captured cells. We evaluated 52 patients using the SiO₂ MBs. Among 26 pregnant women with type O blood, 8 (30.8%) of the fetuses had type A blood, 5 (19.2%) had type B blood, and 13 (50%) had type O blood. SRY genes were detected in all 27 male fetuses. This study represents a simple and effective method for noninvasive prenatal detection of the fetal ABO genotype. We believe that this method has great potential for noninvasive prenatal testing of the fetal Rh blood group and other fetal diseases as well.     

Cloning, expression, and characterization of thermostable region of amylopullulanase gene from Thermoanaerobacter ethanolicus 39E

The bifunctional activities of α-amylase and pullulanase are found in the cloned recombinant amylopullulanase. It was encoded in a 2.9-kb DNA fragment that was amplified using polymerase chain reaction from the chromosomal DNA of Thermoanaerobacter ethanolicus 39E. An estimated 109-kDa recombinant protein was obtained from the cloned gene under the prokaryotic expression system. The optimum pH of the recombinant amylopullulanase was 6.0. The most stable pH for the α-amylase and pullulanase activity was 5.5 and 5.0, respectively. The optimum temperature for the α-amylase activity was 90°C, while its most stable temperature was 80°C. Regarding pullulanase activity, the optimum temperature and its most stable temperature were found to be 80 and 75°C, respectively. Pullulan was found to be the best substrate for the enzyme. The enzyme was activated and stabilized by the presence of Ca²⁺, whereas EDTA, N-bromosuccinimide, and α-cyclodextrin inhibited its bifunctional activities. A malto-2–4-oligosac-charide was the major product obtained from the enzymatic reaction on soluble starch, amylose, amylopectin, and glycogen. A single maltotriose product was found in the pullulan hydrolysis reaction using this recombinant amylopullulanase. Kinetic analysis of the enzyme indicated that the K _m values of α-amylase and pullulanase were 1.38 and 3.79 mg/mL, respectively, while the V _max values were 39 and 98 μmol/(min · mg of protein), respectively.     

Retrovirus-mediated transduction of a cytosine deaminase gene preserves the stemness of mesenchymal stem cells

Human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have emerged as attractive cellular vehicles to deliver therapeutic genes for ex-vivo therapy of diverse diseases; this is, in part, because they have the capability to migrate into tumor or lesion sites. Previously, we showed that MSCs could be utilized to deliver a bacterial cytosine deaminase (CD) suicide gene to brain tumors. Here we assessed whether transduction with a retroviral vector encoding CD gene altered the stem cell property of MSCs. MSCs were transduced at passage 1 and cultivated up to passage 11. We found that proliferation and differentiation potentials, chromosomal stability and surface antigenicity of MSCs were not altered by retroviral transduction. The results indicate that retroviral vectors can be safely utilized for delivery of suicide genes to MSCs for ex-vivo therapy. We also found that a single retroviral transduction was sufficient for sustainable expression up to passage 10. The persistent expression of the transduced gene indicates that transduced MSCs provide a tractable and manageable approach for potential use in allogeneic transplantation.     

混合胺体系中 MCM-49/ZSM-35 复合分子筛的晶化过程

 采用 X 射线衍射、N2 吸附-脱附、扫描电镜和傅里叶变换红外光谱等技术, 研究了 MCM-49/ZSM-35 复合分子筛在 Na2O-SiO2-Al2O3-CHA (环己胺)-HMI (六亚甲基亚胺)-H2O 合成体系中, 先在低温 80 ?C 老化 4 h, 再经 160 ?C 晶化不同时间的演变过程. 结果表明, 在该混合胺体系中, 首先生成 MCM-49 分子筛, 随着晶化时间的延长, 形成 ZSM-35 含量逐渐增加的 MCM-49/ZSM-35 复合分子筛, 最后生成纯 ZSM-35 分子筛; ZSM-35 的生成是以 MCM-49 分子筛的消耗为代价的.     

糖类相关基因芯片的设计与制备

随着糖组学的发展,研究表明某些疾病如肿瘤等的发生伴随着体内糖蛋白表面糖链结构的变化,而糖链结构的形成与修饰经过糖基转移酶、糖苷酶和磺基转移酶的参与.本研究从Genebank等数据库中选取人类糖基转移酶基因127条、糖苷酶基因34条和磺基转移酶34条以及管家基因10条.通过对每个基因的mRNA序列进行探针设计,制备出一款糖类相关基因芯片,用于研究糖类相关基因的表达谱,旨在揭示疾病发生与糖类相关基因表达变化的关联性.制备的芯片应用于人肝癌细胞系SMMC-7721与正常肝细胞系Chang’s liver的研究,筛选出差异表达的基因34个,其中上调基因19个、下调基因15个.通过对2个上调基因和2个下调基因进行Realtime-PCR验证,得到了一致的实验结果.     

Production of recombinant bleaching enzymes from thermophilic microorganisms in fungal hosts

Cost-effective production of enzymes for industrial processes makes the appropriate selection of the host-vector expression system critical. We have developed two systems for the bulk production of bleaching enzymes from thermophiles. Kluyveromyces lactis has been developed as a secretion host employing expression vectors based on the 2μ-like plasmid pKD1 of Kluyveromyces drosophilarium. Our second system involves the filamentous fungus Trichoderma reesei. Fusion and nonfusion vectors have been constructed using the strong cellobiohydrolase 1 (cbh1) promoter. The KEX2 protease cleavage site and a 6 × HIS-tag have been incorporated to facilitate both cleavage and purification of the mature foreign proteins.     

双子表面活性剂研究进展和应用

双子表面活性剂是一类新型的表面活性剂,它是由联结基团通过化学键将两个或多个单体表面活性剂连接在一起,由此产生优异的表面活性等一系列的性质,从而获得了广泛的应用.本文就它的合成进展及在生物技术、抗病毒、环境保护、新材料制备等方面的应用作一介绍。