Gene admixture in the Silk Road region of China: Evidence from mtDNA and melanocortin 1 receptor polymorphism

Mitochondrial DNA control region segment I sequences and melanocortin 1 receptor (MC1R) gene polymorphism were examined in ethnic populations in the silk road region of China. Both the frequencies of the MC1R variants and the results of mtDNA data in this region presented intermediate values between those of Europe and East and Southeast Asia, which suggested extensive gene admixture in this area and was in general agreement with previous studies. Phylogenetic analysis of the ethnic populations in the Silk Road region that based on mtDNA data didn't show expected cluster pattern according to their ethnogenesis. We suspect that a high migration rate in female among these closely related populations and other three demographic events might account for it.

滇蛙抗氧化肽及其基因和应用

本发明涉及一种滇蛙抗氧化肽及其基因和应用，属于生物医学技术领域。滇蛙抗氧化肽是中国两栖类动物滇蛙基因编码的一种单链多肽，分子量为1653.88 道尔顿，等电点8.22，滇蛙抗氧化肽全序列为：NH2-GIRPTYNRQCEIGF-COOH。编码的基因由316个核苷酸组成，其中编码成熟部分的为第130-171位核苷酸。人工合成的滇蛙抗氧化肽具有强烈的抗氧化活性，能作为制备皮肤抗氧化保护和体内自由基清除药物的应用，并且还具有序列简单、合成方便的优点。

Molecular and functional characterization of a c-type lysozyme from the Asian corn borer, Ostrinia furnacalis

Some lepidopteran lysozymes have been reported to display activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, in contrast to most lysozymes that are active only against Gram-positive bacteria. OstrinLysC, a c-type lysozyme, was purified from the As

Molecular systematics of pikas (genus Ochotona) inferred from mitochondrial DNA sequences

The phylogenetic relationships among worldwide species of genus Ochotona were investigated by sequencing mitochondrial cytochrome b and ND4 genes. Parsimony and neighbor-joining analyses of the sequence data yielded congruent results that strongly indicated three major clusters: the shrub-steppe group, the northern group, and the mountain group. The subgeneric classification of Ochotona species needs to be revised because each of the two subgenera in the present classification contains species from the mountain group. To solve this taxonomic problem so that each taxon is monophyletic, i.e., represents a natural clade, Ochotona could be divided into three subgenera, one for the shrub-steppe species, a second for the northern species, and a third for the mountain species. The inferred tree suggests that the differentiation of this genus in the Palearctic Region was closely related to the gradual uplifting of the Tibet (Qinghai-Xizang) Plateau, as hypothesized previously, and that vicariance might have played a major role in the differentiation of this genus on the Plateau, On the other hand, the North American species, O. princeps, is most likely a dispersal event, which might have happened during the Pliocene through the opening of the Bering Strait. The phylogenetic relationships within the shrub-steppe group are worth noting in that instead of a monophyletic shrub-dwelling group, shrub dwellers and steppe dwellers are intermingled with each other. Moreover, the sequence divergence within the sister tars of one steppe? dweller and one shrub dweller is very low. These findings support the hypothesis that pikes have entered the steppe environment several times and that morphological similarities within steppe dwellers were due to convergent evolution. (C) 2000 Academic Press.

一种蛇毒止血酶

本发明涉及一种蛇毒止血酶，属于生化医药技术领域。本发明的纯度为98％以上的蛇毒止血酶是从尖吻蝮(Dienagkistrodon acutus)蛇毒中得到。该酶分子量为31000 道尔顿，由两个亚基组成；其中α-链由135个氨基酸残基组成，β-链由126个氨基酸残基组成。本发明提供了一种新的蛇毒止血酶，它是从福建产尖吻蝮蛇毒中分离纯化得到的单体，具有见效快、作用强的特点，能应用于临床的各种出血疾病的预防和治疗。

Antioxidant Peptidomics Reveals Novel Skin Antioxidant System

It is generally agreed that reactive oxygen species (ROS) contribute to skin aging, skin disorders, and skin diseases. Skin possesses an extremely efficient antioxidant system. This antioxidant activity is conferred by two systems: antioxidant enzymes and

A new anti-HIV lupane acid from Gleditsia sinensis Lam.

A new lupane acid, 2 beta-carboxyl, 3 beta-hydroxyl-norlupA (1)-20 (29)-en-28-oic acid (1), together with five known lupane acid derivatives (2-6), were isolated from the stings of Gleditsia sinensis Lam.. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of

无指盘臭蛙臭蛙肽及其基因和在制药中的应用

本发明涉及一种无指盘臭蛙臭蛙肽及其基因和在制药中的应用，属于生物医学领域。无指盘臭蛙臭蛙肽是无指盘臭蛙臭蛙肽基因编码的一种单链多肽，分子量1814.11道尔顿，等电点8.08，多肽全序列一级结构为： Gly Cys Ser Arg Trp Ile Ile Gly Ile His Gly Gln Ile Cys Arg Asp。(GCSRWIIGIHGQICRD)。编码无指盘臭蛙臭蛙肽的基因由312个核苷酸组成，其中编码成熟无指盘臭蛙臭蛙肽为第141-189位核苷酸。人工合成的无指盘臭蛙臭蛙肽具有很强的抑制细菌和真菌生长的作用，可以作为制备病原微生物感染疾病的治疗药物被应用。本发明的无指盘臭蛙臭蛙肽具有结构简单、人工合成方便、抗菌谱系广、抗菌活性强的特点。

Proposal of Sinomonas flava gen. nov., sp nov., and description of Sinomonas atrocyanea comb. nov to accommodate Arthrobacter atrocyaneus

A novel actinomycete strain, designated CW 108(T), was isolated from a forest soil in Anhui Province, China. The cells were strictly aerobic, non-motile, bent rods. The strain grew optimally at 30-37 degrees C and pH 6.0-8.0. Chemotaxonomically, the pepti

Enriched environment treatment counteracts enhanced addictive and depressive-like behavior induced by prenatal chronic stress

Prenatal stress can cause many long-term behavior changes in offspring, but whether prenatal stress can alter addictive behavior in offspring and postnatal enriched environment treatment (EE) can restore these changes are unknown. We reported here that pr

无指盘臭蛙抑生肽、其基因和变异体及其在制药中的应用

本发明涉及无指盘臭蛙抑生肽、其基因和变异体及其在制药中的应用，属生物医学技术领域。无指盘臭蛙抑生肽是一种多肽，分子量2080.64道尔顿，等电点9.39，具有病原微生物抑制活性。无指盘臭蛙抑生肽全序列为：NH2-GIFGKILGVGKKVLCGLSGMC-COOH。编码的基因由304个核苷酸组成，其中编码成熟部分的为第136-198位核苷酸。改变无指盘臭蛙抑生肽原始序列中一个或几个氨基酸所产生的变异体，人工合成的无指盘臭蛙抑生肽及其变异体具有强烈的病原微生物抑制活性，以及肿瘤抑制活性。而变异体在这些抑制作用中表现出经改良的特性。无指盘臭蛙抑生肽及其变异体作为制备治疗肿瘤和病原微生物感染疾病的治疗药物的应用。并且还具有序列简单、合成方便活性强等优点。

Two Immunoregulatory Peptides with Antioxidant Activity from Tick Salivary Glands

Ticks are blood-feeding arthropods that may secrete immunosuppressant molecules, which inhibit host inflammatory and immune responses and provide survival advantages to pathogens at tick bleeding sites in hosts. In the current work, two families of immunoregulatory peptides, hyalomin-A and -B, were first identified from salivary glands of hard tick Hyalomma asiaticum asiaticum. Three copies of hyalomin-A are encoded by an identical gene and released from the same protein precursor. Both hyalomin-A and -B can exert significant anti-inflammatory functions, either by directly inhibiting host secretion of inflammatory factors such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha, monocyte chemotectic protein-1, and interferon-gamma or by indirectly increasing the secretion of immunosuppressant cytokine of interleukin-10. Hyalomin-A and -B were both found to potently scavenge free radical in vitro in a rapid manner and inhibited adjuvant-induced inflammation in mouse models in vivo. The JNK/SAPK subgroup of the MAPK signaling pathway was involved in such immunoregulatory functions of hyalomin-A and -B. These results showed that immunoregulatory peptides of tick salivary glands suppress host inflammatory response by modulating cytokine secretion and detoxifying reactive oxygen species.

Novel cathelicidin-derived antimicrobial peptides from Equus asinus

In the present study, EA-CATH1 and EA-CATH2 were identified from a constructed lung cDNA library of donkey (Equus asinus) as members of cathelicidin-derived antimicrobial peptides, using a nested PCR-based cloning strategy. Composed of 25 and 26 residues, respectively, EA-CATH1 and EA-CATH2 are smaller than most other cathelicidins and have no sequence homology to other cathelicidins identified to date. Chemically synthesized EA-CATH1 exerted potent antimicrobial activity against most of the 32 strains of bacteria and fungi tested, especially the clinically isolated drug-resistant strains, and minimal inhibitory concentration values against Gram-positive bacteria were mostly in the range of 0.3-2.4 mu g center dot mL-1. EA-CATH1 showed an extraordinary serum stability and no haemolytic activity against human erythrocytes in a dose up to 20 mu g center dot mL-1. CD spectra showed that EA-CATH1 mainly adopts an alpha-helical conformation in a 50% trifluoroethanol/water solution, but a random coil in aqueous solution. Scanning electron microscope observations of Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC2592) treated with EA-CATH1 demonstrated that EA-CATH could cause rapid disruption of the bacterial membrane, and in turn lead to cell lysis. This might explain the much faster killing kinetics of EA-CATH1 than conventional antibiotics revealed by killing kinetics data. In the presence of CaCl2, EA-CATH1 exerted haemagglutination activity, which might potentiate an inhibition against the bacterial polyprotein interaction with the host erythrocyte surface, thereby possibly restricting bacterial colonization and spread.

Frog skins keep redox homeostasis by antioxidant peptides with rapid radical scavenging ability

The question of how amphibians can protect themselves from reactive oxygen species when exposed to the sun in an oxygen-rich atmosphere is important and interesting, not only from an evolutionary viewpoint, but also as a primer for researchers interested in mammalian skin biology, in which such peptide systems for antioxidant defense are not well studied. The identification of an antioxidant peptide named antioxidin-RL from frog (Odorrana livida) skin in this report supports the idea that a peptide antioxidant system may be a widespread antioxidant strategy among amphibian skins. Its ability to eliminate most of the 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) radical tested within 2 s, which is much faster than the commercial antioxidant factor butylated hydroxytoluene, suggests that it has a potentially large impact on redox homeostasis in amphibian skins. Cys10 is proven to be responsible for its rapid radical scavenging function and tyrosines take part in the binding of antioxidin-RL to radicals according to our nuclear magnetic resonance assay. (C) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Cloning and characterization of the first amphibian bradykinin gene

More than ten bradykinin-related peptides and their cDNAs; have been identified from amphibians, but their genes are unknown. In present study, four cDNAs encoding one, two, four and six copies of bradykinin-related peptides were cloned from the frog (Odorrana grahami) skin cDNA library, respectively. Three bradykinin-related peptides (bradykinin, Thr6-bradykinin, Leu5Thr6-bradykinin) were deduced from these four cDNA sequences. Based on the cDNA sequence, the gene sequence encoding an amphibian bradykinin-related peptide from O. grahami was determined. It is composed of 7481 base pairs including two exons and two introns. The first exon codes signal peptide and the second exon codes acidic spacer peptide and Thr6-bradykinin. The promoter region of the bradykinin gene contains several putative recognition sites for nuclear factors, such as SRY, GATA-1, LYF-1, DeltaE, CDXA, NKX-2.5, MIF1 and S8. The current work may facilitate to understand the regulation and possible functions of amphibian skin bradykinin-related peptides. (C) 2009 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.