钙调素及钙调素相关蛋白在植物细胞中的研究进展

植物对一系列生物和非生物刺激所产生的反应都与细胞内Ca2+信号转导有关,而钙调素、钙调素相关蛋白则是Ca2+信号转导的下游靶蛋白。该文介绍了钙调素的结构及其在植物细胞中的分布,钙调素及钙调素相关蛋白在植物细胞中的表达等方面的最近研究进展。     

植物类钙调素生理功能的研究进展

钙调素(也称钙调蛋白)是一种广泛存在于真核生物中的钙感受器,参与各种生理活动的信号转导.植物除了含有钙调素以外,还含有一类与钙调素同源性很高,但在结构上又不同于钙调素的蛋白,称为类钙调素(也称类钙调蛋白).近年来,人们在植物特有的类钙调素的功能研究方面取得了一些重要的进展.研究表明,类钙调素与钙调素一样,也具有广泛的生物学功能,参与植物生长发育和对各种胁迫的响应.本文就植物类钙调素与钙调素之间的区别、类钙调素与钙离子及靶蛋白的结合,以及类钙调素的各种生理功能进行总结.     

植物及动物钙调素抗体免疫反应特性的比较研究

用酶联免疫吸附测定和胶体金免疫电镜定位技术对三种钙调素抗体与植物和动物钙调素的免疫反应特性进行了比较研究。结果表明,在与小麦钙调素的相对亲和力中,抗小麦钙调素抗体大于抗 DNP 修饰猪脑钙调素抗体,抗牛脑钙调素抗体则很弱。抗小麦钙调素抗体与小麦钙调素的 K_D(解离常数)值为2.50×10~(-9)mol/L;抗 DNP 修饰猪脑钙调素抗体与小麦钙调素的 K_D 值为2.82×10~(-8)mol/L,而它与牛脑钙调素的 K_D 值为1.90×10~(-)mol/L。定位玉米根尖细胞钙调素,抗小麦钙调素抗体比抗 DNP 修饰猪脑钙调素抗体有更高的标记密度.定量小麦钙调素,抗小麦钙调素抗体比抗 DNP 修饰猪脑钙调素抗体有较高的检测灵敏度。     

大鼠生殖周期下丘脑、卵巢、子宫钙调素含量变化及子宫钙调素的免疫组化定位

用ELISA法测定大鼠下丘脑、卵巢、子宫在动情周期中钙调素(Calmodulin)的含量变化,并用免疫组化法(Immunohistochemical technique)研究了大鼠动情周期中子宫内钙调素的分布。结果为:(1)处在动情期的大鼠,其子宫、卵巢、下丘脑中钙调素的含量明显高于间情期、动情前期及动情后期的含量。其顺序为动情期>动情前期>动情后期>间情期。其中以下丘脑、卵巢的含量变化较急骤。提出钙调素含量变化与雌激素的含量一致,由此推测钙调素对维持卵巢正常功能,子宫生长发育有密切关系。(2)经免疫组化定位,不论处在间情期或动情期的子宫,钙调素的分布在肌层与内膜层均有,以内膜层较多,特别是在动情期的分布更高。此与钙调素含量测定的结果一致。     

花柱和花粉胞外钙调素对花粉萌发和花粉管伸长的影响

以烟草为材料,通过半体内实验,就花柱和花粉胞外钙调素对花粉萌发和花粉管伸长的影响进行了观察。发现用EGTA及钙调素抗血清处理柱头或花粉均可抑制花粉在柱头上的萌发;向花柱引导组织中显微注射纯化钙调素可促进花粉管束伸长,而注射钙调素抗血清可抑制花粉管束伸长;同时证实玉米花柱和花粉细胞壁中均存在钙调素及钙调素结合蛋白,而且花粉和花柱细胞壁中钙调素结合蛋白的种类有差异。结果表明存在于花粉和花柱细胞外的钙调素对花粉萌发和花粉管伸长均有促进作用。     

钙不依赖性钙调素结合蛋白的研究进展

钙调素是普遍存在于真核生物细胞中、发挥多种生物学调控作用的信号组分.钙调素不仅在有Ca2 情况下通过与钙依赖性钙调素结合蛋白作用而传递信号,也能在相对无Ca2 条件下直接结合钙不依赖性钙调素结合蛋白而传递信号.综述了无钙离子结合钙调素及钙不依赖性钙调素结合蛋白的结构特性、钙不依赖性钙调素结合蛋白的种类及其可能的生物学作用,这将有助于我们深入认识钙调素介导信号途径的特异性、复杂性和多样性.     

钙调素激酶在玉米体内的免疫组织化学定位

应用免疫组织化学定位方法研究了玉米体内钙调素激酶(CaM kinase,CaMK)的表达模式。结果表明CaMK广泛分布于玉米体内,但表达水平存在着明显时空差异。在营养器官中钙调素激酶主要分布于叶的维管束鞘细胞、侧根原基和根尖等部位,而其它部位没有检测到明显的分布。在生殖器官中,有大量钙调素激酶分布于幼胚及花药小孢子母细胞、四分体及绒毡层细胞中;在成熟胚囊的卵细胞、中央细胞以及二者的分界面上也有少量分布。这些结果为进一步探索钙调素激酶在植物体内的生理功能提供了重要线索。     

钙与钙调素对柑橘原生质体抗冻性的影响

钙与钙调素对柑橘原生质体低温锻炼过程中抗冻力的获得有影响。加钙残余螯合剂或钙调素（ChM）拮抗剂TFP,能明显抑制柑橘原生质体抗冻性的表达。钙离子载体A23187可提高未经低温锻炼的原生质体抗冻力,但该作用在钙调素拮抗剂TFP参入下则减弱,表明原生质体抗冻力的表达受钙和钙调素的调节。     

钙调素拮抗剂的研究动态

从钙、钙调素的功能论及钙桔抗剂和钙调素拮抗剂的概念.并着重叙述了国内外钙调素拮抗剂研究中的问题和开发动态。     

长春花钙调素基因克隆及其假基因的识别

以长春花[Catharanthus roseus(L.)G.Don]叶片cDNA和基因组DNA为模板,利用PCR技术扩增得到了长春花钙调素基因447 bp的全长编码cDNA序列和2个大小不同的DNA片段.序列分析表明,DNA长片段全长1 551 bp,由2个外显子和1个内含子构成,为长春花钙调素基因编码区DNA片段;DNA小片段全长447 bp,与447 bp的长春花钙调素基因cDNA核苷酸一致性高达87%,有56个碱基的差异,其中位于226 bp处的碱基A突变为T,即由AAG突变为终止密码子TAG使翻译提前终止.推测此447 bp的DNA小片段可能为长春花钙调素基因的假基因,命名为CCaMP1.     

玉米秸秆栽培平菇技术的研究

利用玉米秸秆栽培平菇有着原料来源广、就地取材等优点,但由于玉米秸秆切成段后栽培平菇,保水性差,体积大,产量低,为了克服这些不足之处,在无棉区开辟代料栽培平菇的新途径,我们采用玉米秸秆粉碎后栽培平菇,取得了较好的效果。     

大熊猫子宫钙调素的分离纯化和性质的研究

以大熊猫子宫为材料分离纯化了钙调素(Calmodulin,CaM),经SDS-PAGE,PAGE和等电聚焦电泳鉴定,表现均一。分子量为18800道尔顿,等电点为3.6。该蛋白质分子的N-末端为封闭的。大熊猫子宫钙调素具有其它来源钙调素所特有的一些性质。对环核苷酸磷酸二酯酶有明显的激活作用,还发现对超氧化物歧化酶也有一定的激活作用。电泳行为受Ca~(2+)影响而出现特征性电泳改变,在含有Ca~(2+)的SDS凝胶电泳中,电泳速度比EGTA存在对略快,在PAGE中,有Ca~(2+)比无Ca~(2+)对电泳速度略慢。大熊猫子宫钙调素的氨基酸组成中,Phe/Tyr为8:2,可观察到钙调素特征性紫外吸收光谱。     

大熊猫脑钙调素的纯化及性质研究

以大熊猫脑为材料,经提取、热处理、Phenyl-Sepharose CL-4B疏水柱和快速液相分子筛层析,分离纯化得到CaM.经SDS-PAGE、 PAGE和IEF鉴定,得到的CaM为一条带.经测定,大熊猫脑CaM的分子质量为19 ku,等电点为3.8.酶活性实验表明大熊猫脑CaM对牛心磷酸二酯酶有激活作用.氨基酸组成分析结果与其他来源CaM相近.     

果蝇TRP离子通道C端一个新钙调蛋白结合位点的鉴定和分析

瞬时受体电位(TRP)通道是一类钙离子透过性的阳离子通道蛋白家族,参与了视觉、味觉、温度感受等重要的生物学过程。之前的研究表明,钙离子既能够正反馈也能够负反馈地调节瞬时受体电位通道的活性,而这种调节可能是通过钙调蛋白（calmodulin,CaM）与TRP通道的相互作用来进行的。为了阐明这一调控机制,我们首先需要对钙调蛋白与瞬时受体电位通道之间的相互作用进行详细的生化研究。在此项研究中,通过大肠杆菌表达系统,表达和纯化了果蝇瞬时受体电位通道羧基末端不同长短的蛋白片段,并发现了一个新的钙调蛋白结合位点。通过快速蛋白液相色谱、静态光散射以及等温量热滴定技术,鉴定了这一钙调蛋白结合位点与果蝇瞬时受体电位通道之间的相互作用,发现它们在钙离子依赖的条件下,可以形成亲和力非常强的稳定的蛋白复合物（解离常数在01～1微摩尔范围）。此外,通过合成多肽的方法,鉴定了果蝇瞬时受体电位通道913～939片段为该钙调蛋白结合位点的核心区域。最后,通过突变实验,进一步明确了果蝇瞬时受体电位通道922位的酪氨酸以及923位的缬氨酸为其钙调蛋白结合位点的关键氨基酸。总而言之,本研究发现和鉴定了果蝇瞬时受体电位通道上一个新的钙依赖的钙调蛋白结合位点,这一发现将为研究瞬时受体电位通道的体内功能提供生化基础,为阐明钙离子通过钙调蛋白调节瞬时受体电位通道的分子机制做出贡献。     

Pull-down of Calmodulin-binding Proteins

Calcium (Ca²⁺) is an ion vital in regulating cellular function through a variety of mechanisms. Much of Ca²⁺ signaling is mediated through the calcium-binding protein known as calmodulin (CaM)^1,2. CaM is involved at multiple levels in almost all cellular processes, including apoptosis, metabolism, smooth muscle contraction, synaptic plasticity, nerve growth, inflammation and the immune response. A number of proteins help regulate these pathways through their interaction with CaM. Many of these interactions depend on the conformation of CaM, which is distinctly different when bound to Ca²⁺ (Ca²⁺-CaM) as opposed to its Ca²⁺-free state (ApoCaM)³.While most target proteins bind Ca²⁺-CaM, certain proteins only bind to ApoCaM. Some bind CaM through their IQ-domain, including neuromodulin⁴, neurogranin (Ng)⁵, and certain myosins⁶. These proteins have been shown to play important roles in presynaptic function⁷, postsynaptic function⁸, and muscle contraction⁹, respectively. Their ability to bind and release CaM in the absence or presence of Ca²⁺ is pivotal in their function. In contrast, many proteins only bind Ca²⁺-CaM and require this binding for their activation. Examples include myosin light chain kinase¹⁰, Ca²⁺/CaM-dependent kinases (CaMKs)¹¹ and phosphatases (e.g. calcineurin)¹², and spectrin kinase¹³, which have a variety of direct and downstream effects¹⁴.The effects of these proteins on cellular function are often dependent on their ability to bind to CaM in a Ca²⁺-dependent manner. For example, we tested the relevance of Ng-CaM binding in synaptic function and how different mutations affect this binding. We generated a GFP-tagged Ng construct with specific mutations in the IQ-domain that would change the ability of Ng to bind CaM in a Ca²⁺-dependent manner. The study of these different mutations gave us great insight into important processes involved in synaptic function^8,15. However, in such studies, it is essential to demonstrate that the mutated proteins have the expected altered binding to CaM.Here, we present a method for testing the ability of proteins to bind to CaM in the presence or absence of Ca²⁺, using CaMKII and Ng as examples. This method is a form of affinity chromatography referred to as a CaM pull-down assay. It uses CaM-Sepharose beads to test proteins that bind to CaM and the influence of Ca²⁺ on this binding. It is considerably more time efficient and requires less protein relative to column chromatography and other assays. Altogether, this provides a valuable tool to explore Ca²⁺/CaM signaling and proteins that interact with CaM.     

Production of reagents and optimization of methods for studying calmodulin-binding proteins

Owing to subtle but potentially crucial structural and functional differences between calmodulin (CaM) of different species, the biochemical study of low-affinity CaM-binding proteins from Dictyostelium discoideum likely necessitates the use of CaM from the same organism. In addition, most of the methods used for identification and purification of CaM-binding proteins require native CaM in nonlimiting biochemical quantities. The gene encoding D. discoideum CaM has previously been cloned allowing production of recombinant protein. The present study describes the expression of D. discoideum CaM in Escherichia coli and its straightforward and rapid purification. Furthermore, we describe the optimization of a complete palette of assays to detect as little as nanogram quantities of proteins binding CaM with middle to low affinities. Purified CaM was used to raise high-affinity polyclonal antibodies suitable for immunoblotting, immunofluorescence, and immunoprecipitation experiments. The purified CaM was also used to optimize a specific and sensitive nonradioactive CaM overlay assay as well as to produce a high-capacity CaM affinity chromatography matrix. The effectiveness of this methods is illustrated by the detection of potentially novel D. discoideum CaM-binding proteins and the preparatory purification of one of these proteins, a short tail myosin I.     

Purification and characterization of bovine lung calmodulin-dependent cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase. An enzyme containing calmodulin as a subunit

A rabbit lung cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase (PDE) prepared by successive chromatography on DEAE-cellulose and G-200 Sephadex columns in the presence of EGTA was activated by Ca2+ and contained calmodulin (CaM), suggesting that the enzyme exists as a stable CaM X PDE complex (Sharma, R. K., and Wirch, E. (1979) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 91, 338-344). An enzyme with similar properties was demonstrated to exist in bovine lung extract. C1, a monoclonal antibody previously shown to react with the 60-kDa subunit of bovine brain PDE isozymes (Sharma, R. K., Adachi, A.-M., Adachi, K., and Wang, J. H.) (1984) J. Biol. Chem. 259, 9248-9254), cross-reacted with the lung enzyme. Purification of the lung enzyme by C1 antibody immunoaffinity chromatography rendered the enzyme dependent on exogenous CaM for Ca2+ stimulation. Further purification was achieved by CaM affinity chromatography. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analysis of the purified enzyme showed a predominant polypeptide of Mr 58,000 and a minor band of about 50,000. The purified enzyme could be reconstituted into a PDE X CaM complex upon incubation with CaM in the presence of either Ca2+ or EGTA. The reconstituted protein complex did not dissociate in buffers containing 0.1 mM EGTA. Analysis of the purified and reconstituted lung phosphodiesterase by Sephacryl S-300 gel filtration indicated that the lung enzyme is a dimeric protein and that the reconstituted enzyme contained two molecules of calmodulin. Analysis of the reconstituted phosphodiesterase by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis also showed it to contain equimolar calmodulin and the enzyme subunit. The CaM antagonists, fluphenazine, compound 48/80, and calcineurin at concentrations abolishing CaM stimulation of bovine brain PDE had little effect on the activity of reconstituted bovine lung phosphodiesterase.