MicroRNAs: Genomics, Biogenesis, Mechanism, and Function

The human genome holds an extraordinary trove of information about human development, physiology, medicine and evolution. Here we report the results of an international collaboration to produce and make freely available a draft sequence of the human genome. We also present an initial analysis of the data, describing some of the insights that can be gleaned from the sequence.

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Initial sequencing and analysis of the human genome.

抗原变异可使得多种致病微生物易于逃避宿主免疫应答。表达在感染红细胞表面的恶性疟原虫红细胞表面蛋白1（PfPMP1）与感染红细胞、内皮细胞、树突状细胞以及胎盘的单个或多个受体作用，在黏附及免疫逃避中起关键的作用。每个单倍体基因组var基因家族编码约60种成员，通过启动转录不同的var基因变异体为抗原变异提供了分子基础。

疟原虫var基因转换速率变化导致抗原变异[英]／Paul H, Robert P, Christodoulou Z, et al//Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A

http://bartellab.wi.mit.edu/publication_reprints/Bartel_Cell09.pdf

MicroRNAs: Target Recognition and Regulatory Functions

A procedure for extracting plasmid DNA from bacterial cells is described. The method is simple enough to permit the analysis by gel electrophoresis of 100 or more clones per day yet yields plasmid DNA which is pure enough to be digestible by restriction enzymes. The principle of the method is selective alkaline denaturation of high molecular weight chromosomal DNA while covalently closed circular DNA remains double-stranded. Adequate pH control is accomplished without using a pH meter. Upon neutralization, chromosomal DNA renatures to form an insoluble clot, leaving plasmid DNA in the supernatant. Large and small plasmid DNAs have been extracted by this method.

A rapid alkaline extraction procedure for screening recombinant plasmid DNA

Phenotypes of adenovirus-5 host-range mutants for early-mRNA synthesis.

Monkey kidney cells (CV-C) infected with adenovirus type 2 displayed an aberrant distribution of 100K, 100K-hexon complex, hexon monomers, hexon trimers, penton base, and fiber proteins, relative to the patterns observed in adenovirus type 2-infected human cells. Human cell patterns were observed in CV-C cells when mutants selected for growth on monkey cells were used.

Aberrant Distribution of Human Adenovirus Type 2 Late Proteins in Monkey Kidney Cells

Iron is essential for a number of biochemical functions in the body including the transport of oxygen in the blood and energy production in the mitochondria. Therefore, humans require an abundant and regular source of dietary iron to maintain normal health. This is amply demonstrated by data indicating that as many as a third of the world’s population suffer from iron deficiency, making it the most common nutrient deficiency disorder. In addition to pathologies associated with iron deficiency, excess iron is highly toxic and can lead to cell and organ damage. Interestingly, while the body levels of other dietary metals can be regulated by excretion in the feces and urine, humans do not possess the capacity to remove excess iron from the body. As a consequence, a number of proteins have evolved which tightly regulate mammalian iron homeostasis. The actions of these proteins control the rate of duodenal iron absorption, its delivery, utilization and storage by metabolically active tissues, and its recycling by reticuloendothelial macrophages.

Phillip A. Sharp

Papers

Phenotypes of adenovirus-5 host-range mutants for early-mRNA synthesis.

Aberrant Distribution of Human Adenovirus Type 2 Late Proteins in Monkey Kidney Cells

Proteins of Iron Homeostasis

Fifty years after Jacob and Monod: what are the unanswered questions in molecular biology?

Zinc induces iron egress from intestinal Caco-2 cells via induction of Hephaestin: A role for PI3K in intestinal iron absorption