30 April 2023, Volume 27 Issue 2
    

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  • LI Yunxuan, CHEN Yu, WU Jinqiu, YOU Shiqi, LI Yongqing, ZHU Ping, WU Xiushan, JIANG Zhigang, WANG Yuequn
    Life Science Research. 2023, 27(2): 95-103.
    Abstract ( 543 ) Download PDF ( 1604 )   Knowledge map   Save
    To investigate the role of the prkd1 gene, a typical member of the protein kinase D (PRKD) family, in early heart development, zebrafish was used as an animal model in this study. Through prkd1 knockdown with morpholino antisense oligo (MO), it was found that knockdown of prkd1 resulted in abnormal cardiac de-velopment, such as pericardial edema, cyclization disorder, cardiac tube linearization. Zebrafish heart rate analysis indicated that, compared with the wild type, prkd1 knockdown zebrafish exhibited early arrhythmia. High-throughput transcriptome sequencing was performed for zebrafish embryos at 3 days post fertilization (dpf) in control and prkd1 knockdown groups. Differential gene enrichment analysis revealed that prkd1 knockdown was significantly associated with heart-related signaling pathways, such as the adrenergic signaling pathway in cardiomyocytes. Additionally, the results of high-throughput sequencing were confirmed by qRT-PCR, which showed that some genes associated with the cardiovascular system were markedly down-regulated. Meanwhile, identification of the essential factors in early heart development revealed that key cardiac regu-latory genes like tbx5a and gata4 were significantly down-regulated. These findings suggest that the prkd1 gene may affect early cardiac development by regulating cardiac development-related signal pathways and key genes, and play an important role at the early stage of heart development.
  • LIU Xiang, ZHU Wu, YU Ping, LUO Qizhi, WANG Fuyan
    Life Science Research. 2023, 27(2): 104-113.
    Abstract ( 506 ) Download PDF ( 1591 )   Knowledge map   Save
    In order to explore the distribution characteristics of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) classⅠchain-related (MIC) genes MICA and MICB in the Miao population of Guizhou to establish a genetic database that can be used to study the genetic characteristics and evolutionary history of certain diseases, PCR-sequence-specific primer (PCR-SSP) and PCR-sequence-based typing (PCR-SBT) methods were used to analyse the distribution of MICA and MICB genes from 150 Miao people in Guizhou Province by detecting their peripheral blood DNA samples. The differences in the distribution frequencies of MICA and MICB genes were analyzed and evaluated by the chi-square test. The genotyping results showed that the frequencies of MICA*019, MICA*045, MICA*008:04, MICA*002:01, MICA-A9, MICA-A4, MICB*005:02 and MICB*002 alleles were significantly higher than those of other alleles in the Miao population. Analysis of MICA-MICB gene sequence haplotypes revealed that the distribution frequency of MICA*019-MICB*005:02 and MI-CA*008:04-MICB*005:02 was higher, which were 17.40% and 16.30%, respectively, but only MICA*010-MICB*005:02, MICA*002:01-MICB*005:02 and MICA*009:01-MICB*005:02 were the MICA-MICB hap-lotypes with significant linkage disequilibrium (P<0.01). These results indicate that the MICA and MICB genes of Miao people in Guizhou are polymorphic and have significant linkage disequilibrium. The study provides experimental data for improving the MIC gene sequence database of ethnic minorities in China. These results could serve as the basis for future studies on the potential role of MICA and MICB in allogeneic organ transplantation and disease susceptibility in related ethnic groups.
  • YANG Lu, WEI Cui, LI Honglan, XU Yan
    Life Science Research. 2023, 27(2): 114-127.
    Abstract ( 498 ) Download PDF ( 1488 )   Knowledge map   Save
    With the delay of female childbearing age, the need for treatment of premature ovarian insuffi-ciency (POI) in women aged 30~39 is increasing. Previous studies confirmed that different tissue-derived stem cells could restore ovarian function of POI mice. The purpose of this study was to explore the efficacy and underlying mechanisms of human placenta-derived mesenchymal stem cell (hpMSC) transplantation for incre-mental load training-induced POI. After establishment of a POI rat model by 9-week treadmill training with incremental load, the POI rats were administered with hpMSCs by tail vein injection. Ovarian function was evaluated by detection of hormone levels and histological analysis. hpMSC tracking, enzyme linked im-munosorbent assay (ELISA), Western-blot, immunohistochemistry staining, and real-time fluorescence quan-titative PCR were used to assess the molecular mechanisms of ovarian function injury and repair. The results showed that hpMSCs colonized the ovarian stroma. hpMSC transplantation increased oocyte telomere length, reduced oxidative stress, downregulated Bcl-2-associated X protein (Bax) and caspase-3 expression levels. In addition, after transplantation, the follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) levels and ratio of FSH to luteinizing hormone (FSH/LH) decreased, and the number of follicles at all stages increased. These results demonstrated that hpMSC transplantation could repair ovarian injury and improve ovarian function in incremental load training-induced POI rats.
  • LIU Cong, DENG Yuhong, LIU Xuanming, LIN Jianzhong
    Life Science Research. 2023, 27(2): 128-138.
    Abstract ( 777 ) Download PDF ( )   Knowledge map   Save
    Catalase (CAT) is a hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) scavenging enzyme and plays a central role in plant growth, development and stress response. Its function is strictly regulated to keep an appropriate concentra-tion of H2O2 as a signal molecule under normal conditions to ensure plant growth and development, and to maintain H2O2 homeostasis under stress conditions to enhance plant stress tolerance. This review summarized the recent research progress of CAT in plant growth, development and stress response, especially the regula-tion of CAT function by post-translational modification and subcellular localization. It also made suggestions for future research on the regulatory mechanism of CAT in plants.
  • FU Qingwen, YOU Haojun, LEI Jing
    Life Science Research. 2023, 27(2): 139-146.
    Abstract ( 427 ) Download PDF ( )   Knowledge map   Save
    Neuropathic pain (NP), as a common and refractory chronic pain, is caused by damage or diseases of the somatosensory system. The clinical manifestations are mainly spontaneous pain and induced pain, which bring great distress to patients. The mechanisms involved in NP have not been fully elucidated, and it has been widely accepted that peripheral and central sensitization after a nerve injury play critical roles in induction and maintenance of NP. Peripheral sensitization is mainly related to ectopic discharge induced by sympathetic sprouting associated with changes in related ion channels, peripheral inflammatory responses, transcriptional disorders of genes related to non-coding RNAs, and changes in pain signal transduction, while central sensitization is closely related to inflammatory responses, abnormal activation of glial cells and dysfunction of central nervous system. Herein, the mechanisms underlying peripheral and central sensitiza-tion resulted from nerve injuries were reviewed, hoping to provide new ideas for basic research on NP and its treatment.
  • MA Xiaoli, BAO Zhixian, YUAN Hao, YE Yuwei, ZHENG Ya, WANG Yuping, JI Rui
    Life Science Research. 2023, 27(2): 147-154.
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    Helicobacter pylori is a Gram-negative, microaerobic bacterium that colonizes the human gastric mucosa and is significantly associated with the development of chronic gastritis, peptic ulcer, gastric mu-cosa-associated lymphoma, gastric tumors, and gastric polyps. Infection of gastric mucosal cells with H. py-lori can activate nuclear factor-κB signaling pathway, induce interleukin-8 (IL-8) release, recruit antigen-presenting cells (APCs), and stimulate the host to produce innate and adaptive immune responses, resulting in anti-H. pylori effects in the host. However, the bacterium has the ability to manipulate and disrupt the host immune system, not only by modifying its own structure to avoid recognition by the host immune sys-tem, but also by inhibiting the proliferation and maturation of T and B lymphocytes, promoting T cell apop-tosis, affecting the balance of Th17/Treg differentiation, and inducing the formation of immune tolerance. Furthermore, H. pylori can inhibit Th1 cell-mediated immune responses and promote immune escape by taking up cholesterol, disrupting the cholesterol-rich microdomains of gastric mucosal epithelial cells, and blocking the assembly of interferon-γ (IFN-γ), IL-22 and IL-6 receptors. This paper summarized the H. py-lori-related immune response and immune escape in humans, in hopes of providing reference materials for clinical control and immunotherapy of H. pylori infection.
  • SHENG Yue, LU Guangqin, LIU Jishi, FAN Liangliang, LIU Lü
    Life Science Research. 2023, 27(2): 155-161.
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    Birt-Hogg-Dubé (BHD) syndrome is an autosomal dominant genetic disorder characterized by der-matofibroma, renal tumor, pulmonary cyst and spontaneous pneumothorax. At present, diagnosis of BHD syn-drome is based on clinical manifestations, imaging features and genetic evidence. Mutations in Folliculin (FLCN), a tumor suppressor gene, are the main genetic lesion that causes BDH syndrome. The FLCN protein can form a complex with FLCN-interacting protein 1 (FNIP1), FNIP2 and adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK), acting on occurrence and development of BDH syndrome by regulating mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway. Recent studies have found that obvious differences exist in BHD syn-drome-associated renal tumors, sporadic renal tumors and other genetically related renal tumors. Herein, the molecular mechanism and pathological characteristics of BHD syndrome-associated renal tumors were sum-marized, and the differences between BHD syndrome-associated renal tumors and other renal tumors were discussed, hoping to give some reference in clinical diagnosis of BHD syndrome-associated renal tumors and development of effective targeted therapies in addition to surgery.
  • HUANG Sipei, HUANG Deya, FU Lianguo, QIN Yu, TANG Jie, Lü Sihui, LIAO Hai, ZHOU Jiayu
    Life Science Research. 2023, 27(2): 162-169.
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    Heat shock protein 20 (Hsp20) family contains a kind of functional proteins that are widely syn-thesized in plants in response to abiotic stresses. Herein, the Hsp20 gene family was analyzed by bioinfor-matics using Arabidopsis thaliana genome database. HMMER search and protein physicochemical property analysis showed that there are at least 30 Hsp20 genes in A. thaliana, encoding 14.6~41.4 kD molecular weight proteins, all of which contain an α-crystallin domain (ACD). Phylogenetic analysis showed that 22 of the 30 A. thaliana Hsp20 members belong to 12 different subfamilies, and the remaining 8 belong to un-known taxa, which may be Hsp20-like proteins. Collinearity analysis showed that fragment replication and tandem replication are the main amplification events of Hsp20 members, and most Hsp20 members contain no or only one intron. Analysis using MEME showed that motifs 1, 2, and 9 are common conserved motifs in Hsp20 family. Transcriptome analysis indicated that the expression levels of 15 Hsp20 genes were up-regu-lated after drought and (or) salt stress, which was verified by qRT-PCR assay. These results provide theoreti-cal basis for further investigation of the biological functions of Hsp20 genes.
  • YUAN Meili, LI Yan, ZHAO Liang
    Life Science Research. 2023, 27(2): 170-178.
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    To investigate the expression, clinical significance and functional mechanism of tektin 2 (TEKT2) in ovarian cancer (OV), and provide new ideas in early diagnosis and treatment of OV, multiple databases were combined to explore the functions of TEKT2 in OV. Firstly, the expression of TEKT2 in the OV tissue was analyzed using GEPIA2 database. The prognostic value of TEKT2 in patients with OV was explored by GEPIA2 and TIMER databases and Kaplan-Meier plotter. Secondly, the correlation between TEKT2 and tumor protein 53 (TP53) in OV was explored by Pearson correlation analysis, and the relation between TEKT2 prognostic value and TP53 mutation type was analyzed using Kaplan-Meier plotter. Thirdly, the correlation between TEKT2 and immune cells was analyzed by TIMER database. Finally, the expression of TEKT2 in OV cells was verified by real time-PCR, and the effect of TEKT2 on the proliferation of OV cells was evalua-ted using Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8). The results showed that TEKT2 was highly expressed in OV tissue, which was related to a good prognosis of OV patients, and TEKT2 was an independent prognostic factor. In OV patients, TEKT2 was positively correlated with the expression of TP53, and in wild-type TP53 patients, TEKT2 had prognostic value. High expression of TEKT2 was closely related to macrophages and neutrophils, in which obvious correlation existed between arm-level deletion of TEKT2 and neutrophil infiltration. More importantly, CCK-8 assay showed that TEKT2 could inhibit the proliferation of OV cells. In conclusion, this study found that TEKT2 may affect the prognosis of OV patients by regulating immune cell infiltration and inhibiting OV cell proliferation.
  • FENG Hui, LIU Tianyi, SALSABEEL Yousuf, MIAO Xiangyang
    Life Science Research. 2023, 27(2): 179-188.
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    In order to explore the hub genes for the difference of adipogenesis and lipid metabolism in dif-ferent tissues of Laiwu pigs, Laiwu pigs with similar body weight at 180 days of age were used to identify the mRNA expression profiles of intramuscular fat (IMF) and subcutaneous fat (SCF). The functions of diffe-rentially expressed mRNAs were analyzed through Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG). A protein-protein interaction (PPI) network of the top 300 mRNAs with a high average ex-pression level was constructed, key regulatory mRNAs were screened, and sequence features and protein structures of the key mRNAs were analyzed. Meantime, the reliability of the sequencing data was verified by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR) for 6 randomly selected mRNAs. A total of 1 665 differen-tially expressed mRNAs were identified from IMF and SCF mRNA expression profiles, of which 888 were up-regulated and 777 were down-regulated. The GO results showed that the differentially expressed mRNAs were mainly involved in regulating signal pathways in biological process (BP); composing biological membranes in cellular component (CC); affecting the enzyme activity in the cell metabolism process in molecular function (MF). The KEGG enrichment results showed that the differentially expressed mRNAs were mainly involved in adipocyte production, lipid metabolism, inflammation and cancer-related signaling pathways. Through analysis of the PPI network, gene sequence and protein structure characteristics, it was found that C-X-C motif chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4), platelet and endothelial cell adhesion molecule 1 (PECAM1), urokinase-type plasminogen activator (PLAU), angiotensinogen (AGT), AKT serine/threonine kinase 2 (AKT2), heat shock cognate 70-kD protein, tandem duplicate 2 (HSP70.2), galectin 3 (LGALS3), and periostin (POSTN) were in the center of the regulatory network. The qRT-PCR verification results were consistent with the sequencing results, proving the reliability of sequencing results. By comparing the difference between IMF and SCF tran-scriptomes, it was found that AGT, CXCR4, HSP70.2 and PLAU genes play critical roles in the lipid me-tabolism process of IMF deposition and can be used as candidate genes in IMF regulation.