利用优化的反向PCR策略高效构建多位点突变体

蛋白质的突变体是研究其结构和功能的基础,文中旨在建立一种高效、快捷的多位点突变体构建方法。当要突变4个及以上相邻的氨基酸残基时,设计两长两短(长引物Ⅰ/Ⅰ、短引物Ⅱ/Ⅱ) 4条引物:长引物包含突变位点,且突变碱基数≤20 bp,短引物不包含突变位点;两条引物的GC含量≤80%、退火温度之差≤40℃,分别以Ⅰ/Ⅱ和Ⅰ/Ⅱ两对引物和模板进行两组反向PCR扩增。扩增后各体系均可得到含有突变位点的非甲基化线性质粒,且以Ⅰ/Ⅱ和Ⅰ/Ⅱ为引物扩增得到的两组线性质粒的断开位点分布在突变位点两侧。用DpnⅠ酶切回收后等摩尔比混合的PCR产物除去甲基化模板,再进行一轮变性和退火处理,两组线性质粒在95℃变性后互相以来自对方的单链DNA为模板退火形成开环质粒,转化大肠杆菌感受态细胞即可得到包含突变位点的转化子。结果表明,该方法可同时突变4–11个连续氨基酸残基(8–20 bp,将大幅简化多位点突变体的构建,从而进一步提高蛋白质结构和功能研究的效率。     

改进的多片段重叠延伸PCR制作基因多位点突变

为在研究工作中提高制作目标基因多位点突变体的效率,对常规重叠延伸PCR进行适当改进:对于相距较近的两个突变位点,只需设计一对突变引物各自涵盖其中一个位点即可一次突变;对于相距较远的两个位点,可以采用三片段重叠延伸PCR的办法解决;两者结合则可一次性突变多个位点。以制作RBCT的6位点突变体PSM6为例,利用上述策略,设计两对突变引物;采用OE-PCR法,第一轮PCR扩增出三个片段,第二轮PCR同时利用三片段重叠延伸产物作为模板扩增出目标基因突变体,再按常规分子克隆方法将其连入质粒载体。经测序检测,发现得到了预期的目标基因多位点突变体。因此,采用灵活的引物设计策略,结合多片段重叠延伸PCR即可一次性制作基因的多位点突变体,此方案可解决研究工作中大多数多位点突变问题。     

一种简便快速的单引物PCR定点突变方法

为了解决在一些特殊位点上利用Quick Change方法进行定点突变时会在突变位点处额外插入引物序列导致突变失败的问题,对Quick Change法进行了改良。改良方法为:合成在突变位点处点突变的一对反向互补引物,分别进行单引物PCR扩增,将两种扩增产物混合,变性复性后加入Dpn I进行酶切,酶切产物转化大肠杆菌DH5α,抗性筛选阳性克隆进行测序验证。利用此法成功突变紫穗槐二烯合酶(amorpha-4,11-diene synthase,ADS)基因中多个利用常规方法突变均因引入额外引物而无法成功的特殊位点,证明此方法实践上可行,而且也可以避免插入额外引物序列,这也从侧面证明额外引物插入的原因是双引物同时反应。     

优化重叠PCR法进行单链抗体基因扩增和点突变

利用重叠PCR技术扩增单链抗体基因或位点突变是抗体文库构建或稳定表达的关键和难点,国内外文献未见其方法学的系统报道.以不同VH、VL和Linker基因为拼接模板进行重叠PCR,针对影响重叠PCR扩增的拼接类型,引物设计,反应条件等进行优化.结果表明两段重叠连接比三段更容易实现,且扩增效果好;引物的互补序列长度一般应大于15 bp,且在18～24 bp 时扩增效果最好;退火温度在52～60℃,Mg2+浓度在1.5～2.5 mM时对拼接的效果影响较小;直接或间接使用拼接模板均可以实现重叠PCR的扩增.利用优化策略,首次构建了抗除虫菊酯的scFv基因文库并引入抗XAC糖蛋白scFv基因的点突变,为除虫菊酯抗体文库构建和抗XAC重组抗体的稳定表达奠定了基础.     

PCR条件及程序改变对抗体库多样性的影响

用家族特异性免疫球蛋白可变区基因引物两两组合分别对轻、重链进行RT-PCR扩增. 在不同退火温度下得到了全部轻链及大部分重链（13/16）可变区基因. 当先用免疫球蛋白信号肽序列5′-端引物与未扩出基因3′-端引物组合进行一次PCR,再以该产物为模板进行二次PCR,则获得了未扩出三条重链的PCR产物. 这表明通过PCR反应条件的改变及程序调整,可增加所获得可变区基因的种类及数量,从而增加抗体库的多样性.     

一种改进后的重叠延伸PCR法对被孢霉重组载体的构建

为了提高DNA大片段的拼接效率,通过引入逐次退火的PCR的方法,改良了传统的重叠延伸PCR方法。逐次退火PCR法,一方面延长了重叠区的PCR引物长度;另一方面把原来在1个循环中1个退火温度改成若干个,逐次降低退火温度,适用于Tm值相差比较大的引物;相邻的退火温度之间相差3-6℃。结果显示,通过此种方法成功拼接了ω3(2)和HCT两个大片段;PCR产物电泳条带单一,克隆测序证实序列完全正确,可以直接应用于后续试验。这种改进后的方法可以有效减少非特异性扩增,提高灵敏度,把这种方法称之为逐次退火重叠延伸PCR。     

应用PCR扩增对分枝杆菌分类鉴定及标本检测的研究

用对结核分枝杆菌特异性很强的引物 b对 2 1种分枝杆菌和 13种非分枝杆菌进行 PCR扩增 ,并对扩增产物进行琼脂糖凝胶电泳。结果表明 :受试菌种用引物 b在退火温度 6 1℃时 ,扩增的敏感性为 50 fg,且只能扩出结核分枝杆菌、胃分枝杆菌 ,且他们扩增片段的分子量也不相同。可见 ,用引物 b,必要时辅以引物a,对分枝杆菌 16 S～ 2 3S r DNA间隔区序列进行扩增 ,可以快速有效地鉴定分枝杆菌临床分离株 ,是分枝杆菌鉴定的一种新方法。     

新型α-芋螺毒素基因克隆的引物筛选

目的:优化PCR条件,建立能特异扩增出α-芋螺毒素基因片段的最理想PCR条件.方法:根据α-芋螺毒素基因保守的信号肽或内含子序列和非翻译区保守核苷酸序列设计了多组特异引物,并对引物浓度和退火温度等影响因素进行优化.结果:根据α-芋螺毒素基因保守的内含子序列为引物、引物浓度为0.1 μmol/L、退火温度为50℃时,能特异的扩增出α-芋螺毒素基因片段,分子量大约分别为180bp和300bp.结论:采用优化的PCR条件,能筛选出克隆新型的α--芋螺毒素基因片段的最理想引物,为α-芋螺毒素的化学合成、活性研究和应用提供基础.     

巨型引物PCR法对抗CD3改型单链抗体

亲和力是影响改型单链抗体应用于临床的重要因素之一.利用巨型引物PCR定点诱变方法,设计并化学合成出两组含多个突变位点的简并引物,在第一轮PCR中使用简并引物分别扩增出含突变碱基的两条特异性的DNA片段,即巨型引物,将其经琼脂糖凝胶电泳分离纯化后,作为3′和5′的两端引物应用于第二轮PCR反应中.通过改变标准PCR反应条件,调整引物与模板的浓度,扩增出特异性较强的目的DNA条带.PCR产物经回收后,进行DNA测序.测序结果表明利用该方法扩增得到特异的抗CD3改型单链抗体的突变体库.     

结合单酶切位点的融合PCR技术对SCN1A基因的定点诱变

目的:利用结合单酶切位点的融合PCR技术对癫痫相关基因SCN1A进行定点突变。方法:首先设计两对引物PF1/PR1和PF2/PR2,PF1和PR2均位于突变位点最近的单酶切位点处,而突变位点设计在第一对反向引物(PR1)和第二对正向引物上(PF2)。通过重叠延伸法两次PCR扩增:第一次用PF1/PR1和PF2/PR2分开扩增,以扩增产物作模板,PF1/PR2作引物进行融合PCR,得到的扩增产物即含有所需要的突变位点,最后将扩增片段克隆入pMD18-T载体,经测序筛选阳性克隆。结果:DNA测序表明SCN1A基因所编码的第946位密码子由精氨酸(Arg)突变为组氨酸(His),再通过酶切和连接反应将重组质粒上的突变片段替换SCN1A表达质粒上的对应片段,成功构建了SCN1A突变载体。结论:与现在常用的长距离PCR定点诱导突变相比较,结合单酶切位点的融合PCR定点突变技术具备扩增距离短的优点,大大降低了自发突变的概率,适合于大肠杆菌中易自发突变的较大载体的定点诱变。     

快捷的定点突变效率近100%的大引物PCR方法

报道了一种新的PCR突变方法,它不需要纯化大引物或设计特别的旁侧引物．利用一个诱变引物和两个测序引物(T_m≤58℃)作为旁侧引物．第一轮PCR产物12.5 μl直接加入到50 μl的第二轮PCR反应体系作为模板和大引物,在开始第二轮PCR反应时,增加在68℃退火温度下进行10个循环的不对称PCR,这一步骤大大提高了通过600 bp或800 bp大引物所导致的突变效率．结果表明,该方法的产物能够达到高保真、97%～98%的突变效率和高产率．     

Improved PCR method for the creation of saturation mutagenesis libraries in directed evolution: application to difficult-to-amplify templates

Saturation mutagenesis constitutes a powerful method in the directed evolution of enzymes. Traditional protocols of whole plasmid amplification such as Stratagene’s QuikChange™ sometimes fail when the templates are difficult to amplify. In order to overcome such restrictions, we have devised a simple two-primer, two-stage polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method which constitutes an improvement over existing protocols. In the first stage of the PCR, both the mutagenic primer and the antiprimer that are not complementary anneal to the template. In the second stage, the amplified sequence is used as a megaprimer. Sites composed of one or more residues can be randomized in a single PCR reaction, irrespective of their location in the gene sequence.The method has been applied to several enzymes successfully, including P450-BM3 from Bacillus megaterium, the lipases from Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Candida antarctica and the epoxide hydrolase from Aspergillus niger. Here, we show that megaprimer size as well as the direction and design of the antiprimer are determining factors in the amplification of the plasmid. Comparison of the results with the performances of previous protocols reveals the efficiency of the improved method. Joaquin Sanchis, Layla Fernández, and J. Daniel Carballeira contributed equally.     

Rapid and efficient site-directed mutagenesis by single-tube 'megaprimer' PCR method.

We describe a rapid and efficient megaprimer PCR procedure for site-directed mutagenesis that does not require any intermediate purification of DNA between the two rounds of PCR. This protocol is based on the design of forward and reverse flanking primers with significantly different melting temperatures ( T m). A megaprimer is synthesized in the first PCR reaction using a mutagenic primer, the low T m flanking primer and a low annealing temperature. The second PCR reaction is performed in the same tube as the first PCR and utilizes the high T m flanking primer, the megaprimer product of the first PCR and a high annealing temperature, which prevents priming by the low T m primer from the first PCR reaction. We have used this protocol with two different plasmids to produce cDNAs encoding seven distinct mutated proteins. We have observed an average mutagenesis efficiency of 82% in these experiments.     

在单个PCR管内快捷完成定点突变

采用大引物方法,利用质粒多克隆位点两侧的普通测序引物作为旁侧引物,在单个PCR管内,经2个步骤共34个循环进行定点突变. 该方法通过优化模板和引物的量达到降低PCR循环次数, 通过加入10个在68℃复性条件下的PCR循环达到增加突变效率而无需胶纯化.本方法达到平均62%的突变效率,而且全长扩增产物的产率很高.     

Rapid and Efficient Gene Splicing Using Megaprimer-Based Protocol

Megaprimer-based methodology has been widely applied in site-directed mutagenesis, but rarely used in gene splicing. In this article, we describe a modification of the megaprimer PCR method, which can efficiently create and amplify a specific ligated chimeric gene segment in a PCR reaction and under a common PCR program that is widely used by researchers. More importantly, this modified method for splicing two or more gene fragments together revealed the mechanism of the megaprimer PCR method, by elucidating the key factor in the megaprimer-based protocol. In this method, the denatured megaprimer divided into two strands. One strand was used as template DNA to regenerate megaprimer and the other strand was used as an oligonucleotide primer to create a ligated chimeric gene product. In this article, we detail the modified megaprimer protocol for creating and amplifying these chimeric gene products, including a specific protocol for large chimeric gene products. We also provide additional tips to increase specificity and efficiency of the protocols. In conclusion, the improved megaprimer PCR protocol is a simple, broadly applicable protocol for splicing two different gene fragments together without relying on restriction sites. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Megaprimer-based methodology for deletion of a large fragment within a repetitive polypyrimidine-rich DNA

Site-directed mutagenesis is often a prerequisite for elucidation of the functional significance of cis- and trans-factors involved in gene regulation. The aim of this study was to delete the primary binding site for heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein I (hnRNPI) within the inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) 3′ untranslated region mRNA. The binding site consists of a 53-nucleotide CU-rich region within a long stretch of polypyrimidines. As a result of primer pair annealing, the repetitive sequence limited the use of several deletion methods based on polymerase chain reaction. Therefore, a megaprimer approach was chosen. The megaprimer was produced by a forward primer outside the polypyrimidine-rich region, and a mutagenic reverse primer annealing to flanking regions of the desired deletion, thereby looping out the target sequence. Subsequently, this megaprimer was used to create the final deletion recombinant. The deletion was verified by sequencing and by ultraviolet cross-linking mouse liver protein extracts with radiolabeled mutant and wild-type RNAs. In conclusion, the megaprimer method offers a solution for generating large internal deletions in repetitive sequences, which facilitates investigations on large repetitive DNA or RNA regions interacting with trans-factors.     

A novel PCR strategy for high-efficiency, automated site-directed mutagenesis

We have developed a novel three-primer, one-step PCR-based method for site-directed mutagenesis. This method takes advantage of the fact that template plasmid DNA cannot be efficiently denatured at its reannealing temperature (T_ra), which is otherwise a troublesome problem in regular PCR. Two flanking primers and one mutagenic primer with different melting temperatures (T_m) are used together in a single PCR tube continuously without any intervention. A single-stranded mutagenic DNA (smDNA) is synthesized utilizing the high T_m mutagenic primer at a high annealing temperature, which prevents the priming of the low T_m primers (i.e. the two flanking primers). A megaprimer is then produced using this smDNA as the template at a denaturing temperature that prevents wild-type template DNA activity. The desired mutant DNA is then obtained by cycling again through these first two steps, resulting in a mutagenic efficiency of 100% in all tested cases. This highly automated method not only eliminates the necessity of any intermediate manipulation and accomplishes the mutagenesis process in a single round of PCR but, most notably, enables complete success of mutagenesis. This novel method is also both cost and time efficient and fully automated.     

Evaluation of mass spectrometric techniques for charaterization of engineered proteins

A simple and versatile method of in vitro site-specific mutagenesis based on polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is described. The complete method required the use of three oligonucleotide primers and two PCRs. The product of the first PCR was used as one of the primers (megaprimer) in the second PCR. Essentially 100% of the final product incorporated the desired mutation. The various aspects of the procedure and its application is described in detail.