脂质体重组和脂蛋白体在植物生物膜研究中的应用

脂质体是磷脂在一定条件下在水中形成的由脂质双分子层组成的内部为水相的闭合囊泡。在推动生物膜的研究进展中,它作为模式系统起着非常重要的作用,能用于研究膜蛋白的性质和功能;膜脂和膜蛋白的相互关系;膜的电化学性质等。近年来脂质体重组技术开始引入到植物学研究领域,用于对植物膜蛋白的研究。本文简要介绍了脂质体的制备和脂酶体重组的方法及其在植物生物膜研究中的应用。     

脂质体重组和脂蛋白体在植物生物膜研究中的应用

脂质体是磷脂在一定条件下在水中形成的由脂质双分子层组成的内部为水相的闭合囊泡。在推动生物膜的研究进展中,它作为模式系统起着非常重要的作用,能用于研究膜蛋白的性质和功能;膜脂和膜蛋白的相互关系;膜的电化学性质等。近年来脂质体重组技术开始引入到植物学研究领域,用于对植物膜蛋白的研究。本文简要介绍了脂质体的制备和脂酶体重组的方法及其在植物生物膜研究中的应用。     

细胞外囊泡研究进展

由细胞释放到细胞外环境中的来源于内体和细胞膜的多样化的膜性囊泡,统称为细胞外囊泡。这些细胞外囊泡作为细胞间转运膜和可溶性蛋白、脂质、RNA的载体,代表一种重要的细胞间通讯方式。虽然很多报道证明,多种细胞释放细胞外囊泡,并且具有一定的生理意义,但是我们目前缺乏对细胞外囊泡分子机制的深入理解,在细胞外囊泡研究的方法学以及人为调控细胞外囊泡的释放等方面也存在局限性,因此使得我们对它们在体内的生理学功能和细胞外囊泡作为疾病靶标的转化医学的研究进程缓慢。在这篇综述中,该文主要从细胞外囊泡的分类、分子细胞生物学研究、生理及病生理功能、细胞外囊泡的研究方法几个方面回顾当前细胞外囊泡领域的研究进展。     

受体介导式入胞的分子机理(2)

早期内体除了接受来自细胞膜的囊泡之外,还接受来自高尔基体和晚期内体的囊泡,并且将内体中的物质以囊泡的形式重新分配到细胞膜、高尔基体和晚期内体(如图1,见本刊第11期第13页),这种重新分配也称分选。例如,细胞膜上的脂质和膜蛋白能够被早期内体分选,一部分回到胞膜重新利用,另一部分被转运到溶酶体降解。     

迁移体的产生、功能及应用

迁移体是在细胞迁移过程中产生的一种直径为0.5～3.0μm的单层膜囊泡结构,其内部还有一些含有核酸、蛋白质、脂质等生物活性物质的微小囊泡。迁移体在细胞间通讯过程中发挥重要作用,参与并调控多种生理和病理过程。尿液中迁移体的增加可以作为足细胞早期损伤的标志物,从而为足细胞病的临床诊断和治疗提供辅助。本文从迁移体的发现、发生机制、研究手段、生物学功能和应用潜能,以及与其他细胞外囊泡的异同六个方面进行了综述,探讨了迁移体的研究进展及未来可能的研究方向。     

植物细胞外囊泡及其分析技术的进展

细胞外囊泡是细胞在生理和病理条件下通过胞吐作用释放的具有磷脂双分子层结构的纳米级囊泡。细胞外囊泡作为蛋白质、核酸、脂质和代谢物等物质的载体,能够在细胞与细胞之间穿梭,行使物质传递、信息交流的功能,是细胞间通讯的重要媒介。近年来,植物中细胞外囊泡的研究也不断深入,其研究和分析技术也取得了很大进展。本文介绍了细胞外囊泡的组成,综述了植物中细胞外囊泡的生物学功能,分析了细胞外囊泡分离与富集方法的优缺点,以及原位成像技术的应用,最后对植物细胞外囊泡研究技术发展的重点进行了展望。     

昆虫包涵体衍生病毒囊膜蛋白的分子生物学

了解杆状病毒的囊膜蛋白对揭示病毒入侵、 囊膜蛋白核定向转运机制以及研究控制昆虫新策略等方面具有重要意义。 目前研究表明,包涵体衍生病毒(occlusion-derived virus, ODV)的囊膜蛋白包括ODV-E25, ODV-E66, ODV-E56, ODV-E18, ODV-E28, P74, PIF1, PIF2, PIF3, GP41, ODV-EC27, ODV-E35, ODV-EC43,BV/ODV-E26,P91和ORF150。 本文结合国内外的研究成果系统的综述了囊膜蛋白的结构和功能,其在经口感染、调节细胞周期和囊膜蛋白的传送等方面起作用。 囊膜蛋白的核定向转运机制,ODV与昆虫中肠之间和包涵体基质之间相互作用以及ODV结构蛋白之间的相互作用等将是今后的研究重点。     

幽门螺杆菌外膜囊泡研究进展

幽门螺杆菌(Helicobacter pylori)被认为是引起人类胃部疾病的元凶之一。外膜囊泡(Outer Membrane Vesicles,OMVs)是由细菌外膜自发脱落而形成的囊泡状结构,其具有细菌外膜多数成分,包括外膜蛋白、多糖、脂质以及其他蛋白组分。越来越多的研究正在关注外膜囊泡在幽门螺杆菌感染、发生、发展过程中的作用。同时,研究表明幽门螺杆菌外膜囊泡作为疫苗,在防治幽门螺杆菌感染中也展现了良好的应用潜力。因此,本综述总结了目前关于幽门螺杆菌外膜囊泡组成成分的研究,并讨论了外膜囊泡在幽门螺杆菌存活和致病机制中的作用,以及外膜囊泡在幽门螺杆菌感染治疗中发挥的作用。     

高分子囊泡在药物释放体系的应用

高分子囊泡作为一种新型的纳米药物载体,具有生物可降解性、稳定性、生物相容性及可修饰的多功能化等特点。改变聚合物种类和亲水-疏水嵌段的比例,可以制备具有不同形态和膜特性的高分子囊泡。经过修饰后的高分子囊泡,可赋予其更多的功能,从而实现药物的控释和药物靶向的能力。对高分子囊泡的结构、组成和制备方法以及在药物释放体系的应用等方面进行了较为详细的综述,目的是了解高分子囊泡最新研究进展以及未来科学家们亟须解决的重要问题。     

细胞外囊泡检测分析方法研究进展

细胞外囊泡是真核细胞和原核细胞共有的细胞间信号传递的重要媒介。细胞外囊泡可以传递蛋白质、脂质和核酸,影响供体细胞和受体细胞的生理学、病生理学功能。细胞外囊泡存在于多种体液中,当前已在血液、尿液、唾液、母乳、羊水、脑脊液、胆汁等体液中鉴定到细胞外囊泡的存在。这些体液很多是临床检测的样本,因此体液中含有的细胞外囊泡可能成为鉴定临床疾病的标志物,这引起了科研人员的极大兴趣。该综述重点关注了不同体液样品中细胞外囊泡的功能,并且针对临床样本和细胞外囊泡结构的特殊性,综述了样品收集、储存、检测等标准流程研究,为临床医生和科学家在细胞外囊泡研究中提供指引。     

Taming membranes: functional immobilization of biological membranes in hydrogels

Single molecule studies on membrane proteins embedded in their native environment are hampered by the intrinsic difficulty of immobilizing elastic and sensitive biological membranes without interfering with protein activity. Here, we present hydrogels composed of nano-scaled fibers as a generally applicable tool to immobilize biological membrane vesicles of various size and lipid composition. Importantly, membrane proteins immobilized in the hydrogel as well as soluble proteins are fully active. The triggered opening of the mechanosensitive channel of large conductance (MscL) reconstituted in giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) was followed in time on single GUVs. Thus, kinetic studies of vectorial transport processes across biological membranes can be assessed on single, hydrogel immobilized, GUVs. Furthermore, protein translocation activity by the membrane embedded protein conducting channel of bacteria, SecYEG, in association with the soluble motor protein SecA was quantitatively assessed in bulk and at the single vesicle level in the hydrogel. This technique provides a new way to investigate membrane proteins in their native environment at the single molecule level by means of fluorescence microscopy.     

Comparing the structural dynamics of the human KCNE3 in reconstituted micelle and lipid bilayered vesicle environments

KCNE3 is a single transmembrane protein of the KCNE family that modulates the function and trafficking of several voltage-gated potassium channels, including KCNQ1. Structural studies of KCNE3 have been previously conducted in a wide range of model membrane mimics. However, it is important to assess the impact of the membrane mimics used on the observed conformation and dynamics. In this study, we have optimized a method for the reconstitution of the KCNE3 into POPC/POPG lipid bilayer vesicles for electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. Our CD spectroscopic data suggested that the degree of regular secondary structure for KCNE3 protein reconstituted into lipid bilayered vesicle is significantly higher than in DPC detergent micelles. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy in combination with site-directed spin labeling (SDSL) was used to probe the structural dynamics of S49C, M59C, L67C, V85C, and S101C mutations of KCNE3 in both DPC micelles and in POPC/POPG lipid bilayered vesicles. Our CW-EPR power saturation data suggested that the site S74C is buried inside the lipid bilayered membrane while the site V85C is located outside the membrane, in contrast to DPC micelle results. These results suggest that the KCNE3 micelle structures need to be refined using data obtained in the lipid bilayered vesicles in order to ascertain the native structure of KCNE3. This work will provide guidelines for detailed structural studies of KCNE3 in a more native membrane environment and comparing the lipid bilayer results to the isotropic bicelle structure and to the KCNQ1-bound cryo-EM structure.     

The synaptic vesicle proteome: a comparative study in membrane protein identification

A proteomic analysis of the synaptic vesicle was undertaken to obtain a better understanding of vesicle regulation. Synaptic vesicles primarily consist of integral membrane proteins that are not well resolved on traditional isoelectric focusing/two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (IEF/2-DE) gels and are resistant to in-gel digestion with trypsin thereby reducing the number of peptides available for mass spectrometric analysis. To address these limitations, two complementary 2-DE methods were investigated in the proteome analysis: (a) IEF/sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (IEF/SDS-PAGE) for resolution of soluble proteins and, (b) Benzyl hexadecyl ammonium chloride/SDS-PAGE (16-BAC/SDS-PAGE) for resolution of integral membrane proteins. The IEF/SDS-PAGE method provided superior resolution of soluble proteins, but could only resolve membrane proteins with a single transmembrane domain. The 16-BAC/SDS-PAGE method improved separation, resolution and identification of integral membrane proteins with up to 12 transmembrane domains. Trypsin digestion of the integral membrane proteins was poor and fewer peptides were identified from these proteins. Analysis of both the peptide mass fingerprint and the tandem mass spectra using electrospray ionization quadrupole-time of flight mass spectrometry led to the positive identification of integral membrane proteins. Using both 2-DE separation methods, a total of 36 proteins were identified including seven integral membrane proteins, 17 vesicle regulatory proteins and four proteins whose function in vesicles is not yet known.     

Synaptophysin binds to physophilin, a putative synaptic plasma membrane protein

We have developed procedures for detecting synaptic vesicle-binding proteins by using glutaraldehyde-fixed or native vesicle fractions as absorbent matrices. Both adsorbents identify a prominent synaptic vesicle-binding protein of 36 kD in rat brain synaptosomes and mouse brain primary cultures. The binding of this protein to synaptic vesicles is competed by synaptophysin, a major integral membrane protein of synaptic vesicles, with half-maximal inhibition seen between 10(-8) and 10(-7) M synaptophysin. Because of its affinity for synaptophysin, we named the 36-kD synaptic vesicle-binding protein physophilin (psi nu sigma alpha, greek = bubble, vesicle; psi iota lambda os, greek = friend). Physophilin exhibits an isoelectric point of approximately 7.8, a Stokes radius of 6.6 nm, and an apparent sedimentation coefficient of 5.6 S, pointing to an oligomeric structure of this protein. It is present in synaptic plasma membranes prepared from synaptosomes but not in synaptic vesicles. In solubilization experiments, physophilin behaves as an integral membrane protein. Thus, a putative synaptic plasma membrane protein exhibits a specific interaction with one of the major membrane proteins of synaptic vesicles. This interaction may play a role in docking and/or fusion of synaptic vesicles to the presynaptic plasma membrane.     

Lymphoma-vesicle interactions: vesicle adsorption, membrane fragmentation, and intermembrane protein transfer

Sonicated dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine vesicles interact with cultured murine lymphoma (BL/VL3) to generate complexes of vesicle and cell membrane components. Cell-free supernatants harvested after cell-vesicle incubations contain three distinct lipid species that can be separated by density gradient centrifugation. Analysis of protein and lipid composition and assays for cell and vesicle lumen contents reveal that the densest of the three lipid species comprises sealed plasma membrane fragments complexed with vesicles, while the least dense species is indistinguishable from pure phospholipid vesicles. The third, intermediate density species consists of topologically intact vesicles with associated plasma membrane proteins but without detectable cell lipids or cytoplasmic components. The membrane fragmentation and cell-to-vesicle protein transfer observed during lymphoma-vesicle incubations are examined as functions of cell and vesicle concentrations and incubation time.     

Optimisation of over-expression in E. coli and biophysical characterisation of human membrane protein synaptogyrin 1

Progress in functional and structural studies of integral membrane proteins (IMPs) is lacking behind their soluble counterparts due to the great challenge in producing stable and homogeneous IMPs. Low natural abundance, toxicity when over-expressed and potential lipid requirements of IMPs are only a few reasons for the limited progress. Here, we describe an optimised workflow for the recombinant over-expression of the human tetraspan vesicle protein (TVP) synaptogyrin in Escherichia coli and its biophysical characterisation. TVPs are ubiquitous and abundant components of vesicles. They are believed to be involved in various aspects of the synaptic vesicle cycle, including vesicle biogenesis, exocytosis and endocytotic recycling. Even though TVPs are found in most cell types, high-resolution structural information for this class of membrane proteins is still missing. The optimisation of the N-terminal sequence of the gene together with the usage of the recently developed Lemo21(DE3) strain which allows the balancing of the translation with the membrane insertion rate led to a 50-fold increased expression rate compared to the classical BL21(DE3) strain. The protein was soluble and stable in a variety of mild detergents and multiple biophysical methods confirmed the folded state of the protein. Crosslinking experiments suggest an oligomeric architecture of at least four subunits. The protein stability is significantly improved in the presence of cholesteryl hemisuccinate as judged by differential light scattering. The approach described here can easily be adapted to other eukaryotic IMPs.     

Lipid rafts and the regulation of exocytosis

Exocytosis is the process whereby intracellular fluid-filled vesicles fuse with the plasma membrane, incorporating vesicle proteins and lipids into the plasma membrane and releasing vesicle contents into the extracellular milieu. Exocytosis can occur constitutively or can be tightly regulated, for example, neurotransmitter release from nerve endings. The last two decades have witnessed the identification of a vast array of proteins and protein complexes essential for exocytosis. SNARE proteins fill the spotlight as probable mediators of membrane fusion, whereas proteins such as munc18/nsec1, NSF and SNAPs function as essential SNARE regulators. A central question that remains unanswered is how exocytic proteins and protein complexes are spatially regulated. Recent studies suggest that lipid rafts, cholesterol and sphingolipid-rich microdomains, enriched in the plasma membrane, play an essential role in regulated exocytosis pathways. The association of SNAREs with lipid rafts acts to concentrate these proteins at defined sites of the plasma membrane. Furthermore, cholesterol depletion inhibits regulated exocytosis, suggesting that lipid raft domains play a key role in the regulation of exocytosis. This review examines the role of lipid rafts in regulated exocytosis, from a passive role as spatial coordinator of exocytic proteins to a direct role in the membrane fusion reaction.     

Improved Characterization of EV Preparations Based on Protein to Lipid Ratio and Lipid Properties

In recent years the study of extracellular vesicles has gathered much scientific and clinical interest. As the field is expanding, it is becoming clear that better methods for characterization and quantification of extracellular vesicles as well as better standards to compare studies are warranted. The goal of the present work was to find improved parameters to characterize extracellular vesicle preparations. Here we introduce a simple 96 well plate-based total lipid assay for determination of lipid content and protein to lipid ratios of extracellular vesicle preparations from various myeloid and lymphoid cell lines as well as blood plasma. These preparations included apoptotic bodies, microvesicles/microparticles, and exosomes isolated by size-based fractionation. We also investigated lipid bilayer order of extracellular vesicle subpopulations using Di-4-ANEPPDHQ lipid probe, and lipid composition using affinity reagents to clustered cholesterol (monoclonal anti-cholesterol antibody) and ganglioside GM1 (cholera toxin subunit B). We have consistently found different protein to lipid ratios characteristic for the investigated extracellular vesicle subpopulations which were substantially altered in the case of vesicular damage or protein contamination. Spectral ratiometric imaging and flow cytometric analysis also revealed marked differences between the various vesicle populations in their lipid order and their clustered membrane cholesterol and GM1 content. Our study introduces for the first time a simple and readily available lipid assay to complement the widely used protein assays in order to better characterize extracellular vesicle preparations. Besides differentiating extracellular vesicle subpopulations, the novel parameters introduced in this work (protein to lipid ratio, lipid bilayer order, and lipid composition), may prove useful for quality control of extracellular vesicle related basic and clinical studies.