Differential display-PCR was used to clone the differential expressed genes between Mycobacterium tuberculosis virulence strain H37Rv and its avirulent mutant H37Ra. All of different genes were cloned, sequenced and some were analyzed by Northern-blotting. Two cDNAs that appeared to be expressed in H37Rv, but not in H37Ra, were cloned and sequenced. Rv0170, and Rv1894c, code for proteins with unknown functions. The two gene were present in H37Ra, but not expressed. These results show that mRNA DD methodology can represent a potential tool for investigation of M. tuberculosis gene expression.

The alpine plant Gentiana robusta is an endemic species to the Sino-Himalayan subregion. Also, it is one of the original plants used as traditional Tibetan medicine Jie-Ji. We sequence the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions, matK, rbcL, rpoC1, trnL (UAA), psbA-trnH, atpB-rbcL, trnS( GCU)-trnG(UCC), rpl20-rps12, trnL(UAA)-trnF( GAA) fragments of cp DNA in both G. robusta and such relative species as G. straminea, G. crassicaulis and G. waltonii. With Halenia elliptica as the outgroup, molecular systematic analysis reveals that G. robusta is a natural hybrid. G. straminea is the mother of hybrids, but the father is not very clear. In addition, the molecular markers for distinguishing G. robusta from the parental species or closely related species are identified, respectively. Our studies may provide valuable reference for the species identifications of medicinal plants with complex genetic backgrounds.
DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic ; DNA, Plant ; genetics ; Gentiana ; classification ; genetics ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Phylogeny ; Plant Proteins ; genetics ; Plants, Medicinal ; classification ; genetics

The genetic diversity of three Tibetan herbs, i. e., Sang-Di, E-Dewa and Ye-Xingba (Tibetan names), was studied based on the field collection, specimen identification and DNA sequence analysis. Swertia hispidicalyx, Gentiana lhassica and Scrophularia dentata, as the original plants of the three Tibetan herbs, were collected and identified. The regions of ITS, matK, rbcL, rpoC1, trnL(UAA), psbA-trnH, atpB-rbcL, trnS (GCU)-trnG(UCC), rpl20-rps12, trnL(UAA)-trnF(GAA) and nadl 2nd intron were amplified and sequenced. The ITS regions of S. hispidicalyx and S. dentata were cloned and sequenced, and the sequences were classified into different genotypes. All the sequences were analyzed and compared with those of closely related species. Our studies may provide reference for the genetic diversity analysis and molecular identification of the three Tibetan herbs.
Genetic Variation ; Gentiana ; classification ; genetics ; Phylogeny ; Plant Proteins ; genetics ; Plants, Medicinal ; classification ; genetics ; Scrophularia ; classification ; genetics ; Swertia ; classification ; genetics ; Tibet

A bacterium strain BFHM2002 is isolated from Lake Donghu, Wuhan. BFHM2002 has advantages that it can produce melanin with a high rate and high yield in the absence of tyrosine. Induced by tyrosine, melanin yield can be dramatically increased. BFHM2002 may be identified as a new strain in Bacillus firmus, for melanin-production.

?ig-h_3 was first identified as a transforming growth factor-beta1-inducible gene in human lung adenocarcinoma cell line. It encodes for a secreted extracellular matrix (ECM) protein, which is thought to act on cell attachment and ECM composition. Previous study showed that ?ig-h_3 were highly expressed in human hepatoma cell lines and lowly expressed in human normal hepatic cells. The present study aimed to transfect ?ig-h_3 into 7721 cells to investigate its effect on secretion of MMPs in the transfected human hepatoma cells. Full-length ?ig-h_3 gene,cloned by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was inserted into the eukaryotic expression vector pEGFP-C_2. The recombinant plasmid was transfected into 7721 cells with Lipofectamine2000 and Gelatin-Zymography were adopted to detect the production of MMPs in the transfected cells. Results showed that ?ig-h_3/pEGFP-C_2 recombinant expression plasmid was successfully constructed and achieved high transfection efficiency. MMPs expression of the transfected cells was promoted significantly. These results suggest that overexpression of ?ig-h_3 promoted the production of MMPs, indicating that ?ig-h_3 may play roles in the invasive and metastatic processes of hepatoma.

Alagille syndrome (AGS) is a multisystem disorder and caused by mutations in JAG1 or NOTCH2 gene.The diagnosis of AGS is hampered by its highly variable clinical manifestations.We performed a retrospective analysis on 16 children diagnosed as having AGS in recent five years in our hospital.Cholestasis was seen in 15 patients (93.8％),heart disease in 12 (75％),characteristic facies in 7 (43.8％),and butterfly vertebrae in 7 (43.8％).Ophthalmology examination was not performed on all the patients.Further,serum biochemical parameters were compared between AGS and 16 biliary atresia (BA) patients who were confirmed by surgery.Elevated liver enzymes were seen in all the patients.Serum total cholesterol (TC) (P=0.0007),alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (P=0.0056),aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (P=0.0114),gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) (P=0.035) and total bile acid (TBA) levels (P=0.042) were significantly elevated in AGS patients compared to those in BA cases.However,there were no significant differences in serum total bilirubin (TB),conjugated bilirubin (CB) and albumin (ALB) between the two groups.We identified 14 different JAG1 gene variations and 1 NOTCH2 gene mutation in 16 Chinese AGS patients.Our study suggested clinical features of AGS are highly variable and not all patients meet the classical diagnostic criteria.It was suggested that hypercholesterolaemia and significantly elevated GGT,TBA and ALT may be helpful to diagnose AGS.Genetic testing is integral in the diagnosis of AGS.

6.24 mmol/L) and sixty healthy persons in the health center of our hospital were investigated as hyperhpidemia group (Hyperlipidemias) and control group (Controls) respectively.Hyperlipidemias were given simvastatin 20 mg?d~(-1) for twelve weeks (Statins).Blood samples of ulnar vein were extracted from Statins at the end of twelve weeks as well as Controls and Hyperhpidemias at the beginning of the experiment. Blood serum,plasma and mononuclearcell were extracted and stored at a refrigerator of-80℃.The level of plasma angiotensinⅡwas detected by the method of radioimmunity.While the expression of RANTES mRNA and protein on mononuclearcell were assessed by real time reverse transcription polymerse chain reaction and Western blot respectively.Results①The plasma angiotensinⅡof Hyperlipidemias was higher than that of Controls [(92.13?22.03) vs (50.85?12.12),P

OBJECTIVETo assess therapeutic effect of combined treatment of Chinese medicine and western medicine on optic atrophy complicated by cerebral palsy.

METHODSOne hundred and seventeen cases were divided into an observation group (n = 79) and a control group (n = 38). The control group were treated with routine western medicine treatment including neurotrophic drugs and high pressure oxygen, etc. and the observation group with acupuncture at Ganshu (BL 18), Pishu (BL 20), Chengqi (ST 1), etc. and injection of 0.2-0.3 mL Compound Danshen Injectio into Qiuhou (EX-HN 7), on the basis of the same treatment of western medicine as that in the control group. Fundus examination and the tracing body angle detection were conducted before and after treatment and the therapeutic effects were assessed in the two groups.

RESULTSThe total effective rate was 91.1% in the observation group and 60.5% in the control group with a significant difference between the two groups (P < 0.001); after treatment the angle of tracing body significantly increased in the two groups (P < 0.01) with the observation group better than the control group (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONThe combined treatment of Chinese medicine and western medicine is an effective therapy for optic atrophy complicated by cerebral palsy.

Acupuncture Therapy ; Cerebral Palsy ; complications ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Drug Therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Optic Atrophy ; therapy

It has long been thought that bioprocess, with their inherent measurement difficulties and complex dynamics, posed almost insurmountable problems to engineers. A novel software sensor is proposed to make more effective use of those measurements that are already available, which enable improvement in fermentation process control. The proposed method is based on mixtures of Gaussian processes (GP) with expectation maximization (EM) algorithm employed for parameter estimation of mixture of models. The mixture model can alleviate computational complexity of GP and also accord with changes of operating condition in fermentation processes, i.e., it would certainly be able to examine what types of process-knowledge would be most relevant for local models' specific operating points of the process and then combine them into a global one. Demonstrated by on-line estimate of yeast concentration in fermentation industry as an example, it is shown that soft sensor based state estimation is a powerful technique for both enhancing automatic control performance of biological systems and implementing on-line monitoring and optimization.
Algorithms ; Bioreactors ; microbiology ; Cell Culture Techniques ; methods ; Cell Proliferation ; Ethanol ; metabolism ; Fermentation ; physiology ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Models, Biological ; Models, Statistical ; Online Systems ; Oxygen ; metabolism ; Oxygen Consumption ; physiology ; Saccharomyces cerevisiae ; growth & development ; metabolism ; Software

Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is one of the most prevalent mental retardations. It is mainly caused by the loss of fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP). FMRP is an RNA binding protein and can regulate the translation of its binding RNA, thus regulate several signaling pathways. Many FXS patients show high susceptibility to epilepsy. Epilepsy is a chronic neurological disorder which is characterized by the recurrent appearance of spontaneous seizures due to neuronal hyperactivity in the brain. Both the abnormal activation of several signaling pathway and morphological abnormality that are caused by the loss of FMRP can lead to a high susceptibility to epilepsy. Combining with the research progresses on both FXS and epilepsy, we outlined the possible mechanisms of high susceptibility to epilepsy in FXS and tried to give a prospect on the future research on the mechanism of epilepsy that happened in other mental retardations.
Brain ; physiopathology ; Epilepsy ; etiology ; genetics ; pathology ; Fragile X Mental Retardation Protein ; genetics ; metabolism ; Fragile X Syndrome ; complications ; genetics ; Humans ; RNA-Binding Proteins ; metabolism