Establishment of a Tumor-bearing Mouse Model Stably Expressing EGFP Labeled Human MUC1 VNTRs

Two eukaryotic vectors expressing 9 tandem repeats of human MUCI（VNTR）, VR1012-VNTR, and pEGFP-VNTR, were constructed by cloning VNTR gene into VR1012 and pEGFP, respectively. VNTR stably expressing murine Lewis lung carcinoma（LLC） cell line（VNTR^＋ LLC） was established by Lipofectamine-mediated transfection of pEGFP-VNTR into LLC cells. The EGFP expression was observed under a fluorescent microscope and VNTR expression in VNTR^＋ LLC cells was confirmed by means of Western blotting. A syngenic graft tumor model was generated by subcutaneous injection of VNTR^＋ LLC cells into C57/BL6 mice and tumor size increased rapidly with time and in a cell qumber dependent manner. VNTR mRNA expression in the tumor formed was confirmed by RT-PCR. After the third immunization mice were challenged subcutaneously with 5×10^5 VNTR^＋ LLC cells, a significant reduction of subcutaneous tumor growth was observed in the groups immunized with VNTR plasmid DNA compared with that in the groups immunized with the vector DNA alone. Thus, the suppression of subcutaneous tumor was antigen-specific. This model is useful for the development of tumor vaccines targeting MUCI VNTRs.     

双酚A人工抗原的光谱表征及免疫鉴定研究

双酚A(bisphenol A,BPA)是一种酚类环境雌激素,即使极低剂量残留对人类健康也有危害。为了建立其简单快速并适应现场检测的免疫分析方法,必须先合成它的人工抗原并进行鉴定。通过对双酚A进行结构修饰,用碳二亚胺将结构修饰了的双酚A与牛血清蛋白相偶联,经透析得到纯的双酚A人工抗原并冷冻干燥备用。然后用紫外光谱、红外光谱和免疫方法对人工抗原进行鉴定。结果表明,合成的人工抗原紫外光谱图中具有蛋白质和双酚A的特征吸收峰;人工抗原红外光谱图中呈现双酚A和牛血清蛋白的红外特征吸收峰;通过竞争ELISA试验表明用合成的人工抗原免疫的Balb/c小鼠血清中产生了双酚A的抗体。三种方法综合鉴定结果表明双酚A人工抗原合成成功,该人工抗原可以进一步用于制备抗双酚A的单克隆抗体。     

水中硝基苯胺类化合物酶免疫化学分析技术研究

采用戊二醛法, 将4-硝基苯乙胺与牛血清蛋白(BSA)和卵清蛋白(OVA)共价偶联, 分别合成了免疫原4-硝基苯乙胺-BSA和包被原4-硝基苯乙胺-OVA, 经紫外分光光度计及飞行时间质谱扫描鉴定. 用合成的免疫抗原免疫新西兰大白兔, 并用合成的包被原进行间接竞争酶联免疫(ELISA)试验, 获得的抗血清效价达1∶32000. 方阵实验确定了包被抗原最佳浓度(0.5 mg/L)及抗血清最佳稀释度(1∶6000), 并建立了间接竞争ELISA方法. 工作曲线表明在1～1000 μg/L浓度范围内呈良好的线性关系, 该法IC₅₀值为(52.73±2.67) μg/L, 检测限为5.12 μg/L. 其它类似结构不干扰硝基苯胺的测定. 成功地建立了硝基苯胺类化合物的间接竞争酶免疫化学分析方法．     

Native agarose gel electrophoresis and electroelution: A fast and cost‐effective method to separate the small and large hepatitis B capsids

Hepatitis B core antigen (HBcAg) expressed in Escherichia coli is able to self‐assemble into large and small capsids comprising 240 (triangulation number T = 4) and 180 (triangulation number T = 3) subunits, respectively. Conventionally, sucrose density gradient ultracentrifugation and SEC have been used to separate these capsids. However, good separation of the large and small particles with these methods is never achieved. In the present study, we employed a simple, fast, and cost‐effective method to separate the T = 3 and T = 4 HBcAg capsids by using native agarose gel electrophoresis followed by an electroelution method (NAGE‐EE). This is a direct, fast, and economic method for isolating the large and small HBcAg particles homogenously based on the hydrodynamic radius of the spherical particles. Dynamic light scattering analysis demonstrated that the T = 3 and T = 4 HBcAg capsids prepared using the NAGE‐EE method are monodisperse with polydispersity values of ～15% and ～13%, respectively. ELISA proved that the antigenicity of the capsids was not affected in the purification process. Overall, NAGE‐EE produced T = 3 and T = 4 capsids with a purity above 90%, and the recovery was 34% and 50%, respectively (total recovery of HBcAg is ～84%), and the operation time is 15 and 4 times lesser than that of the sucrose density gradient ultracentrifugation and SEC, respectively.     

The Effect of Temperature and Standings Can Cause Deviations in Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) Assays

Abstract

Blood samples were assayed for PSA values immediately after sampled or by standing for an assigned period. Variation of the free‐ (f), total‐ (t) values, and the free to total (f/t) ratios were determined. Mathematical models were used to interpret the phenomena of deviation. Smaller values of PSA values changed randomly with time and temperature of standings, resulting in varying f/t ratios, while larger initial PSA values were relatively unaffected to any significant extent.

Model interpreted that the changes of PSA values might be caused by higher temperature and time of standings, and conformational participation was also possible.     

Synthesis and Inhibitory Activity Against Epstein-Barr Virus of Some New 1,2,3,4-Tetrahydropyrimidine-2-thiones

1,2,3,4-Tetrahydropyrimidine-2-thiones 4a–n were synthesized through the reaction of aromatic aldehydes 1a–n , ethyl acetoacetate (2) and thiourea ( 3) . The structures of all newly synthesized heterocyclic compounds elucidated by the use of IR, ¹H NMR, mass spectra, and elemental analyses. The inhibitory activity against the Epstein-Barr Virus early antigen (EBA-VA) of all newly synthesized heterocyclic compounds were evaluated.     

Synthesis of benzaldehyde-functionalized LewisX trisaccharide analogs for glyco-SAM formation

LewisX (Le^x) antigen based carbohydrate–carbohydrate interactions are mediated by complexation of metal ions. Although theoretical studies about the influence of participating hydroxyl groups in the Le^x trisaccharide head group (Galβ(1-4)[Fucα(1-3)]GlcNAc) could gave same rudimental information about the basic mechanism behind this interaction, a little is known about orientation and configuration of the hydroxyl groups required for the specific interaction mediated by Ca²⁺ complexation. Therefore, there is a need of non-natural derivatives to provide detailed information about the requirements for hydroxyl group arrangement in Le^x head group surface plasmon resonance and gold nanoparticle techniques have shown to be powerful tools to investigate carbohydrate–carbohydrate interactions. Benzaldehyde-functionalized glycans can be used for attachment to both gold nanoparticles and surface plasmon resonance sensor surfaces. Therefore, seven benzaldehyde equipped Le^x analogs including the natural trisaccharide were synthesized utilizing convergent approach. The derivatives were applied in ongoing carbohydrate–carbohydrate interaction studies by surface plasmon resonance experiments to prove theoretical postulate about the structural requirements of hydroxyl group arrangements in Le^x trisaccharides.     

A Novel Label-free Chronoamperometric Immunosensor Based on a Biocomposite Material for Rapid Detection of Carcinoembryonic Antigen

In this research, poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride)-capped gold nanoparticles, nickel ferrite particles, and carbon nanotubes were combined to form a PANC metal composite. The prepared metal composite modified onto a glassy carbon electrode was electropolymerized with poly(o-phenylenediamine) and immobilized with horseradish peroxidase, anti-carcinoembryonic antigen antibody, and bovine serum albumin to create the label-free immunosensors for rapid detection of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) using chronoamperometry. This developed biocomposite material modified onto a glassy carbon electrode presented an excellent electrocatalytic response to the redox reaction of hydrogen peroxide as a sensing probe, from which the kinetic parameters including of a charge transfer rate constant, a diffusion coefficient value, an electroactive surface area, and a surface concentration were calculated to be 1.85 s⁻¹, 4.28×10⁻⁶ cm² s⁻¹, 0.14 cm² and 1.87×10⁻⁸ mol cm⁻², respectively. The developed immunosensors also exhibited a wide linear range of CEA concentration from 0.01 to 25 ng mL⁻¹ with high sensitivity (96.21 μA cm⁻² ng⁻¹ mL) and low detection limit (0.72 pg mL⁻¹), excellent selectivity without interfering effects from possible species (amoxicillin, ascorbic acid, aspirin, caffeine, cholesterol, dopamine, glucose, and uric acid), outstanding stability (n=100, %I>50 %), repeatability (%RSD=0.34, n=10), reproducibility (%RSD=4.06, n=10), and rapid analysis (25 s each operation time). This proposed method was successfully applied for CEA detection in whole blood samples with satisfactory results, suggesting that this developed sensing platform may be considered to be exploited for fabrication of other label-free electrochemical immunosensors for the real sample analysis.     

Reversible Re‐programing of Cell–Cell Interactions

The ability to engineer and re‐program the surfaces of cells would provide an enabling synthetic biological method for the design of cell‐ and tissue‐based therapies. A new cell surface‐engineering strategy is described that uses lipid‐chemically self‐assembled nanorings (lipid‐CSANs) that can be used for the stable and reversible modification of any cell surface with a molecular reporter or targeting ligand. In the presence of a non‐toxic FDA‐approved drug, the nanorings were quickly disassembled and the cell–cell interactions reversed. Similar to T‐cells genetically engineered to express chimeric antigen receptors (CARS), when activated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were functionalized with the anti‐EpCAM‐lipid‐CSANs, they were shown to selectively kill antigen‐positive cancer cells. Taken together, these results demonstrate that lipid‐CSANs have the potential to be a rapid, stable, and general method for the reversible engineering of cell surfaces and cell–cell interactions.