OSCA/TMEM63家族离子通道的研究进展

高渗促钙内流蛋白(hyperosmolality-induced [Ca2+]iincrease,OSCA)/跨膜蛋白63 (transmembrane protein 63,TMEM63)家族蛋白是一类多次跨膜蛋白质,它们在真核细胞中有广泛分布.研究表明拟南芥中OSCA1.1蛋白介导了高渗刺激的钙离子内流.进一步研究发现OSCA1.1及其同源蛋白质是机械力敏感的离子通道.高分辨率冷冻电镜结构显示OSCA蛋白是对称的二聚体,每个亚基含有一个离子可通透的孔道.本文将从OSCA通道的功能、结构以及结构与功能的关系几方面介绍该领域的研究进展.     

溶酶体膜上的离子通道

溶酶体是真核细胞中广泛存在的一种囊泡状细胞器,其内部含有多种酸性水解酶,是细胞降解生物大分子的主要位点.在溶酶体膜上也存在多种不同类型的蛋白质,包括离子通道、转运体、结构蛋白、酶等,其中离子通道蛋白由于他们在溶酶体离子动态平衡和跨膜转运、溶酶体膜电位和pH以及细胞营养代谢水平的调控中的重要作用,受到越来越多的关注,多种溶酶体离子通道也被相继鉴定出来.本文简要综述了近年来关于不同类型溶酶体膜离子通道蛋白的研究工作,阐述这些离子通道的特性、功能调控和在溶酶体生理活动中的作用.     

溶酶体离子通道蛋白在神经退行性疾病发生发展中的作用及机制研究

溶酶体离子通道蛋白异常引起溶酶体功能障碍是导致阿尔茨海默病(Alzheimer’s disease,AD)和帕金森病(Parkinson’s disease,PD)等神经退行性疾病的重要因素.溶酶体离子通道蛋白调节溶酶体内离子稳态、溶酶体膜电压以及溶酶体的酸度.溶酶体离子通道蛋白的结构或功能缺陷会引起溶酶体降解功能障碍,导致神经退行性疾病的发生发展.在这篇综述中,我们总结了各种离子通道蛋白调节溶酶体功能的过程及机制,以及离子通道蛋白异常参与神经退行性疾病的过程和机制.调节离子通道蛋白改善溶酶体的功能、促进异常聚集蛋白的清除,是神经退行性疾病治疗的潜在途径.     

植物细胞质膜离子通道研究进展

多种有机和无机离子作为重要的营养物质、渗透物质、辅酶和信号分子, 参与植物生殖、生长发育和逆境反应等多种生物学过程。离子通道是离子跨质膜和内膜运动的重要渠道和动态调控因子, 直接影响和调控细胞内离子浓度及亚细胞分布的动态变化。目前, 植物尤其是模式植物拟南芥(Arabidopsis thaliana)的多个离子通道家族被先后鉴定出来, 其中部分离子通道蛋白定位在细胞质膜上, 其基本生物学功能, 诸如蛋白结构、离子选择性和通透性、门控特点、活性调控机理以及不同离子通道之间的协同关系等均取得重要进展。该文概要介绍近年来植物细胞质膜离子通道方面的研究进展。     

冷冻电镜技术的突破导致结构生物学发生革命性变化

最近,冷冻电镜技术的突破引起结构生物学发生了革命。这一革命导致2017年诺贝尔化学奖授予对冷冻电镜技术发展做出开创性贡献的3位科学家Jacques Dubochet、Joachim Frank和Richard Henderson。本文将综述冷冻电镜的发展历程,导致结构生物学革命的冷冻电镜关键技术,包括电镜、图像记录装置和图像处理算法方面的突破,以及中国科学家应用冷冻电镜取得的重要科学成就,涵盖基因表达/调控、蛋白质合成/降解、膜蛋白、免疫、病毒等相关蛋白复合体。最后,对冷冻电镜的未来发展方向进行展望。     

可溶性耐药相关钙结合蛋白

可溶性耐药相关钙结合蛋白(sorcin)是一个21.6 kD的胞浆蛋白,具有典型的EF手臂(EF-hand)钙结合位点, 广泛存在于多种组织中,在心肌细胞中含量最丰富.Sorcin可与肌浆网钙离子通道RyR相互作用影响心肌细胞兴奋——收缩偶联.另一方面,sorcin在肿瘤耐药细胞中大量表达,它可以与细胞中钙离子结合,引起细胞内游离钙离子浓度下降,然后导致钙离子所介导的磷酸酶活性降低,使得具有排药功能的P-gp糖蛋白磷酸化水平下降,最终导致耐药.一旦明确引发和维持细胞耐药的作用机制,就可为克服肿瘤耐药提供新的靶点.同时随着RyR活性抑制作用研究的深入,有望通过sorcin转基因技术治疗心力衰竭.本文主要对sorcin的结构特点和生物学特性进行综述,并初步分析其耐药机制.     

神经元烟碱受体在全身麻醉机制中的作用

作为配体－门控离子通道超家族成员的神经元烟碱受体分布于中枢和外周神经系统,包括多种亚型,具有广泛的生理作用,可以成为多种疾病的药物治疗靶点。它在全身麻醉原理中的作用也被日益重视。部分全身麻醉药物（挥发性吸入、气体吸入麻醉药、硫喷妥钠、氯胺酮等）在低于临床麻醉剂量时能够明显抑制该受体功能,神经元烟碱受体可能参与了这些药物的临床作用机制。     

细胞外调控分子对酸敏感离子通道的功能调控及其机制

酸敏感离子通道(acid-Sensing ion channels,ASlCs)是一类由细胞外质子(H )激活的配体门控阳离子通道.迄今为止,人们在哺乳动物体内已经发现了6种ASICs亚基蛋白,它们分布在多种组织器官中.越来越多的研究表明:ASICs参与了机体的生理、病理过程,如:学习、记忆、痛觉、脑中风和肿瘤.在过去的10年中,人们发现多种内源性或外源性分子可以调控ASICs通道活性.由于这些细胞外调控分子与多种生理和病理功能有关,因此研究细胞外调控分子对ASICs的调控及其分子机制,可以帮助我们更多地了解ASICs功能以及结构信息,也为人们设计ASICs靶点特异性药物提供了理论依据.文章将系统地介绍细胞外调控分子对ASICs的功能调控及其作用机制,特别是该研究领域的最新进展.     

靶向膜蛋白的抗体制备策略

包括G蛋白偶联受体（GPCRs）和离子通道在内的膜蛋白是目前最为重要的一类治疗靶点。基于治疗,诊断或者研究上的目的,人们一直在寻找针对这些靶点的特异性抗体。尽管如此,用传统的方法制备高质量的靶向膜蛋白的抗体仍旧是一个挑战。     

离子通道与肿瘤相关性的研究进展

离子通道是一类对离子具有选择通透性跨膜的生物大分子。一些离子通道在肿瘤细胞中表达异常,并在细胞癌变、侵袭和转移等方面起着重要作用;另外,作用于离子通道的药物被发现可以逆转多药耐药,因而离子通道可作为潜在的抗肿瘤靶点。就离子通道与肿瘤相关性研究予以综述。     

A Unique Protease Cleavage Site Predicted in the Spike Protein of the Novel Pneumonia Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Potentially Related to Viral Transmissibility

正Dear Editor,In December 2019, a novel human coronavirus caused an epidemic of severe pneumonia(Coronavirus Disease 2019,COVID-19) in Wuhan, Hubei, China(Wu et al. 2020; Zhu et al. 2020). So far, this virus has spread to all areas of China and even to other countries. The epidemic has caused 67,102 confirmed infections with 1526 fatal cases     

Curcuminoids as inhibitors of thioredoxin reductase: A receptor based pharmacophore study with distance mapping of the active site

Curcumin is the yellow pigment of turmeric that interacts irreversibly forming an adduct with thioredoxin reductase (TrxR), an enzyme responsible for redox control of cell and defence against oxidative stress. Docking at both the active sites of TrxR was performed to compare the potency of three naturally occurring curcuminoids, namely curcumin, demethoxy curcumin and bis-demethoxy curcumin. Results show that active sites of TrxR occur at the junction of E and F chains. Volume and area of both cavities is predicted. It has been concluded by distance mapping of the most active conformations that Se atom of catalytic residue SeCYS498, is at a distance of 3.56 from C13 of demethoxy curcumin at the E chain active site, whereas C13 carbon atom forms adduct with Se atom of SeCys 498. We report that at least one methoxy group in curcuminoids is necessary for interation with catalytic residues of thioredoxin. Pharmacophore of both active sites of the TrxR receptor for curcumin and demethoxy curcumin molecules has been drawn and proposed for design and synthesis of most probable potent antiproliferative synthetic drugs.     

Comparative morphology of the carpel in the Liliaceae: Hewardieae, Petrosavieae, and Tricyrteae

The young pistils in the melanthioid tribes, Hewardieae, Petrosavieae and Tricyrteae, are uniformly tricarpellate and syncarpous. They lack raphide idioblasts. All are multiovulate, with bitegmic ovules. The Petrosavieae are marked by the presence of septal glands and incomplete syncarpy. Tepals and stamens adhere to the ovary in the Hewardieae and the Petrosavieae but not in the Tricyrteae. Two vascular bundles occur in the stamens of the Hewartlieae and Tricyrtis latifolia. Ventral bundles in the upper part of the ovary of the Hewardieae are continuous with compound septal bundles and placental bundles in the lower part. Putative ventral bundles occur in the alternate position in the Tricyrteae and putative placental bundles in the opposite. position in the Petrosavieae. The dichtomously branched stigma in each carpel of the Tricyrteae is supplied by a bifurcated dorsal bundle.     

Enterovirus 71 3C proteolytically processes the histone H3 N-terminal tail during infection

Highlights
1. The N-terminal tail of histone H3 is specifically cleaved during EV71 infection.
2. Viral protease 3C is identified as a protease responsible for proteolytically processing the N-terminal H3 tail.
3. Our finding reveals a new epigenetic regulatory mechanism for Enterovirus 71 in virus-host interactions.     

Detection of EBV and HHV6 in the Brain Tissue of Patients with Rasmussen’s Encephalitis

Rasmussen’s encephalitis (RE) is a rare pediatric neurological disorder, and the exact etiology is not clear. Viral infection may be involved in the pathogenesis of RE, but conflicting results have reported. In this study, we evaluated the expression of both Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and human herpes virus (HHV) 6 antigens in brain sections from 30 patients with RE and 16 control individuals by immunohistochemistry. In the RE group, EBV and HHV6 antigens were detected in 56.7% (17/30) and 50% (15/30) of individuals, respectively. In contrast, no detectable EBV and HHV6 antigen expression was found in brain tissues of the control group. The co-expression of EBV and HHV6 was detected in 20.0% (6/30) of individuals. In particular, a 4-year-old boy had a typical clinical course, including a medical history of viral encephalitis, intractable epilepsy, and hemispheric atrophy. The co-expression of EBV and HHV6 was detected in neurons and astrocytes in the brain tissue, accompanied by a high frequency of CD8⁺ T cells. Our results suggest that EBV and HHV6 infection and the activation of CD8⁺ T cells are involved in the pathogenesis of RE.     

Perinatal Vertical Transmission of Chikungunya Virus in Ruili,a Town on the Border between China and Myanmar

正Dear Editor,Chikungunya virus (CHIKV), an arbovirus in the family of Togaviridae, genus Alphavirus, is transmitted by the A.aegyptii or A. albopictus mosquito, and causes disease in humans characterized by fever, rash, and arthralgia (Silva and Dermody 2017; Suhrbier 2019). It was first reported in 1953 in Tanzania, and caused only a few outbreaks and sporadic cases in Africa and Asia in last century. However, in the epidemic in 2004, CHIKV acquired mutations that conferred enhanced transmission by the A. albopictus mosquito(Schuffenecker et al. 2006). Since then, it has successively caused outbreaks in Africa, the Indian Ocean, South East Asia, the South America, and Europe (Zeller et al. 2016).     

Development of a Novel Reverse Transcription Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification Method for Rapid Detection of SARS-CoV-2

In conclusion, the novel visual RT-LAMP assay is a simple, rapid, and sensitive approach for detection of SARS-CoV-2, and it is ready for application in primary care and community hospitals or health care centers, and even patients' own houses in response to the current SARS-CoV-2 epidemic because the assay does not require sophisticated equipment and skilled personnel. Furthermore, it is also ready to be used in fields for screening samples from wild animals and environments to facilitate the identification of potential intermediate hosts that mediate the cross-species transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from bats to humans.