生物体中的氧化还原系统及其效应

生物体中的氧化还原系统主要是由一些富含半胱氨酸残基的蛋白质组成,通过巯基和二硫键的改变调节生物体中的氧化还原状态,从而实现对基因表达的调控。     

二硫键与蛋白质的结构

二硫键是肽链上2个半胱氨酸残基的巯基基团发生氧化反应形成的共价键．具有链内二硫键和链间二硫键2种形式。与氨基酸的氨基氮原子之间形成的稳定共价键不同．二硫键容易被还原而断裂,断裂后可再次氧化重新形成二硫键,因而是可以动态变化的化学键。二硫键是参与一级结构也是形成高级结构的重要化学键,对蛋白质折叠和高级结构的形成与维持十分重要。讨论了二硫键的形成和特征及其与蛋白质结构和功能之间的关系,并讨论了生物学教学中关于二硫键的一些疑问．     

蛋白质二硫键异构酶家族的结构与功能

蛋白质二硫键异构酶（protein disulfide isomerase,PDI）家族是一类在内质网中起作用的巯基-二硫键氧化还原酶.它们通常含有CXXC（Cys-Xaa-Xaa-Cys,CXXC）活性位点,活性位点的两个半胱氨酸残基可催化底物二硫键的形成、异构及还原.所有PDI家族成员包含至少一个约100个氨基酸残基的硫氧还蛋白同源结构域.PDI家族的主要职能是催化内质网中新生肽链的氧化折叠,另外在内质网相关的蛋白质降解途径（ERAD）、蛋白质转运、钙稳态、抗原提呈及病毒入侵等方面也起重要作用.     

硫氧还蛋白还原酶缺陷的大肠杆菌宿主促进含半胱氨酸残基的重组蛋白可溶性表达

以人工设计的,不含半胱氨氨酸残基的三元蛋白,六聚和八聚鲑鱼降钙素融合蛋白和人尿激酶原等不同半胱氨酸残基含量的外源蛋白质为例,利用大肠杆菌硫氧还蛋白还原酶基因缺陷菌GH980（DE3 trxB^-）,探索把以包涵体形式表达的外源蛋白质变为可溶性表达的可能性及其规律。研究表明：由于硫氧还蛋白还原酶基因的缺陷所引超的细胞质氧化还原态势的变化,使一些在普通大肠杆菌宿主中以包涵 形式表达,含有半胱氨酸残基的重组蛋白,在GJ980中能在一定程度上以可溶性蛋白质形式表达;不含有半胱氨酸残基的重组蛋白在GJ980中仍以包涵体形式表达,推测重组蛋白在GJ980细胞质中形成二硫键对其正确构象的形成具有一定的作用。     

单增李斯特菌氧化还原蛋白系统研究进展

单增李斯特菌是重要的食源性病原微生物,抗氧化应激是李斯特菌生存和致病的关键机制之一。活性氧(reactive oxygen species,ROS)浓度升高会破坏氧化还原平衡,使机体处于氧化胁迫的应激状态,进而导致生物大分子如蛋白质的损伤。蛋白质中半胱氨酸等含硫氨基酸对ROS尤其敏感,半胱氨酸残基脱氢氧化生成二硫键,可以稳定蛋白质空间构象,增加蛋白质的半衰期,进而使蛋白质免受损坏。抗氧化修复通常指的是对半胱氨酸残基的氧化还原过程,即二硫键的形成与打开。硫氧还蛋白家族包含硫氧还蛋白、谷氧还蛋白和Dsb-样蛋白系统,是生物体中常见的氧化还原修复系统。本文根据现有的文献报道,结合本课题组的研究进展,对单增李斯特菌硫氧还蛋白家族进行综述,以期为完善单增李斯特菌硫氧还蛋白调控系统提供参考。     

二硫键及其连接方式对防御素抗菌功能的影响研究进展

防御素是一类内源性、高度稳定、富含半胱氨酸的抗菌肽,对抗感染和宿主免疫调控具有重要作用。其序列内一般有6-8个保守半胱氨酸形成3-4对二硫键。二硫键对数和连接方式在维持防御素结构和抗菌功能方面具有重要作用,此外,高活性线型及低二硫键含量突变体在减少生产成本,简化生产流程方面具有重要作用。综述了防御素分子特征、结构和功能,在此基础上报道二硫键氧化还原状态、数量及其连接方式影响防御素抗菌活性的最新研究进展。     

大肠杆菌DsbA蛋白的氧化还原性质和构象变化

DsbA蛋白是大肠杆菌周质空间内的巯基 /二硫键氧化酶 ,主要催化底物蛋白质二硫键的形成。利用定点突变结合色氨酸类似物标记技术 ,研究了DsbA蛋白的氧化还原性质和构象变化。结果显示 :(1 )DsbA蛋白的还原态比氧化态的结构更加稳定 ,说明DsbA的强氧化性来源于氧化态构象的紧张状态 ;(2 )DsbA氧化和还原态间特殊的荧光变化主要来源于Trp76在不同状态间微观环境的差异 ;(3 )色氨酸类似物标记不会对DsbA蛋白的结构和功能产生明显的影响 ,利用1 9F NMR进一步证实了DsbA氧化还原状态间的构象变化 ,而且这种变化主要影响Trp76的局部环境 ,而对Trp1 2 6的局部环境没有太大的影响     

氧化还原信号转导的分子机制

氧化还原调控参与多种生物学过程,包括细胞增殖、分化和凋亡等的细胞信号转导和基因表达调控,因而在细胞生命活动中扮演着非常重要的角色。细胞内各种氧化还原介质,如活性氧(reactive oxygen species,ROS)和活性氮(reactive nitrogen species,RNS)等,能对多种蛋白质在半胱氨酸残基上进行可逆性修饰。ROS或RNS对靶蛋白的氧化还原修饰方式主要有巯基／二硫键转换反应、S-亚硝基化及谷胱甘肽化等,这些修饰方式构成了胞内氧化还原信号转导的主要机制。     

氧化还原作用对热休克转录因子1结构和功能的调控

为了评价半胱氨酸巯基氧化还原介导剂对人热休克转录因子 1(hHSF1)的氧化还原、结构和功能的作用 ,在体外用浓度为 0 .3～ 0 .5mmol/L的巯基氧化型介导剂二酰胺 (diamideDM )处理hHSF1;在体内用浓度为0 .1mmol/L的γ 谷氨酰半胱氨酸合成酶抑制剂丁硫堇处理HeLa细胞 ,都可形成一种致密的、分子内二硫键交联的氧化型hHSF1(ox hHSF1) ,使hHSF1三体形成和活化被阻断。二酰胺的这种作用呈剂量依赖 ;在电泳前加入浓度为 0 .4～ 0 .5mmol/L的巯基还原剂二硫苏糖醇 (DTT)到DM处理过的标本中再培育 ,能迅速和完全逆转这种作用。HSF1单体和三体功能域α 螺旋卷曲结构的计算机模型显示 ,在hHSF1单体N端和C端的疏水重复区中 ,半胱氨酸C1(第 15 3位氨基酸 )与半胱氨酸C4(第 373位氨基酸 )、C5(第 378位氨基酸 )非常接近 ,在合适的氧化作用下很容易形成二硫键 ,使HSF1单体形式较为稳定 ,不能形成三体并活化。结果表明 ,hHSF1的结构和功能与半胱氨酸上巯基的氧化还原化学性能相关 ;氧化作用和转录因子分子内巯基二硫键交联形成ox HSF1单体 ,可能是衰老细胞热体克转录反应呈渐减性的原因。     

谷氧还蛋白的生物学活性及其与人类疾病的关系

谷氧还蛋白(glutaredoxin,Grx),又称巯基转移酶(thioltransferase,TTase),是巯基-二硫键氧化还原酶家族的重要组分。Grx最早由Holmgren发现,在生物界普遍存在,是一种依赖谷胱甘肽(GSH)催化氧化状态的蛋白质二硫键还原为巯基,修复蛋白质活性的小分子酶蛋白。它具有多种生物学活性,在调节机体的氧化还原反应和细胞生长、抑制凋亡方面起重要作用,与人类某些疾病,如心脑血管疾病、白内障、糖尿病、AIDS、自身免疫性疾病、肿瘤和感染等的发生、发展,以及干预治疗有关。     

Cooperativity of the oxidization of cysteines in globular proteins

Based on the 639 non-homologous proteins with 2910 cysteine-containing segments of well-resolved three-dimensional structures, a novel approach has been proposed to predict the disulfide-bonding state of cysteines in proteins by constructing a two-stage classifier combining a first global linear discriminator based on their amino acid composition and a second local support vector machine classifier. The overall prediction accuracy of this hybrid classifier for the disulfide-bonding state of cysteines in proteins has scored 84.1% and 80.1%, when measured on cysteine and protein basis using the rigorous jack-knife procedure, respectively. It shows that whether cysteines should form disulfide bonds depends not only on the global structural features of proteins but also on the local sequence environment of proteins. The result demonstrates the applicability of this novel method and provides comparable prediction performance compared with existing methods for the prediction of the oxidation states of cysteines in proteins.     

Reduction of the periplasmic disulfide bond isomerase, DsbC, occurs by passage of electrons from cytoplasmic thioredoxin.

The Escherichia coli periplasmic protein DsbC is active both in vivo and in vitro as a protein disulfide isomerase. For DsbC to attack incorrectly formed disulfide bonds in substrate proteins, its two active-site cysteines should be in the reduced form. Here we present evidence that, in wild-type cells, these two cysteines are reduced. Further, we show that a pathway involving the cytoplasmic proteins thioredoxin reductase and thioredoxin and the cytoplasmic membrane protein DsbD is responsible for the reduction of these cysteines. Thus, reducing potential is passed from cytoplasmic electron donors through the cytoplasmic membrane to DsbC. This pathway does not appear to utilize the cytoplasmic glutathione-glutaredoxin pathway. The redox state of the active-site cysteines of DsbC correlates quite closely with its ability to assist in the folding of proteins with multiple disulfide bonds. Analysis of the activity of mutant forms of DsbC in which either or both of these cysteines have been altered further supports the role of DsbC as a disulfide bond isomerase.     

Production of disulfide-bonded proteins in Escherichia coli

Disulfide bonds are covalent bonds formed post-translationally by the oxidation of a pair of cysteines. A disulfide bond can serve structural, catalytic, and signaling roles. However, there is an inherent problem to the process of disulfide bond formation: mis-pairing of cysteines can cause misfolding, aggregation and ultimately result in low yields during protein production. Recent developments in the understanding of the mechanisms involved in the formation of disulfide bonds have allowed the research community to engineer and develop methods to produce multi-disulfide-bonded proteins to high yields. This review attempts to highlight the mechanisms responsible for disulfide bond formation in Escherichia coli, both in its native periplasmic compartment in wild-type strains and in the genetically modified cytoplasm of engineered strains. The purpose of this review is to familiarize the researcher with the biological principles involved in the formation of disulfide-bonded proteins with the hope of guiding the scientist in choosing the optimum expression system.     

Nonnative interactions between cysteines direct productive assembly of P22 tailspike protein

Nonnative disulfide bond formation can play a critical role in the assembly of disulfide bonded proteins. During the folding and assembly of the P22 tailspike protein, nonnative disulfide bonds form both in vivo and in vitro. However, the mechanism and identity of cysteine disulfide pairs remains elusive, particularly for P22 tailspike, which contains no disulfide bonds in its native, functional form. Understanding the interactions between cysteine residues is important for developing a mechanistic model for the role of nonnative cysteines in P22 tailspike assembly. Prior in vivo studies have suggested that cysteines 496, 613, and 635 are the most likely site for sulfhydryl reactivity. Here we demonstrate that these three cysteines are critical for efficient assembly of tailspike trimers, and that interactions between cysteine pairs lead to productive assembly of native tailspike.     

Data mining techniques to study the disulfide-bonding state in proteins: signal peptide is a strong descriptor

In the eucaryotic cell, the formation of disulfide bonds takes place in general inside the endoplasmic reticulum which provides a unique folding environment. The DisulfideDB database gathers information about this biological process with structural, evolutionary and neighborhood information on cysteines in proteins. Mining this information with an association rule discovery program permits to extract some strong rules for the prediction of the disulfide-bonding state of cysteines.     

Disulfide bonds in a recombinant protein modeled after a core repeat in an aquatic insect's silk protein.

We constructed a gene encoding rCAS, recombinant constant and subrepeat protein, modeled after tandem repeats found in the major silk proteins synthesized by aquatic larvae of the midge, Chironomus tentans. Bacterially synthesized rCAS was purified to near homogeneity and characterized by several biochemical and biophysical methods including amino-terminal sequencing, amino acid compositional analysis, sedimentation equilibrium ultracentrifugation, and mass spectrometry. Complementing these techniques with quantitative sulfhydryl assays, we discovered that the four cysteines present in rCAS form two intramolecular disulfide bonds. Mapping studies revealed that the disulfide bonds are heterogeneous. When reduced and denatured rCAS was allowed to refold and its disulfide bonding state monitored, it again adopted a conformation with two intramolecular disulfide bonds. The inherent ability of rCAS to quantitatively form two intramolecular disulfide bonds may reflect a previously unknown feature of the in vivo silk proteins from which it is derived.     

A novel methodology for assignment of disulfide bond pairings in proteins.

A novel methodology is described for the assignment of disulfide bonds in proteins of known sequence. The denatured protein is subjected to limited reduction by tris(2-carboxyethyl)phosphine (TCEP) in pH 3.0 citrate buffer to produce a mixture of partially reduced protein isomers; the nascent sulfhydryls are immediately cyanylated by 1-cyano-4-dimethylamino-pyridinium tetrafluoroborate (CDAP) under the same buffered conditions. The cyanylated protein isomers, separated by and collected from reversed-phase HPLC, are subjected to cleavage of the peptide bonds on the N-terminal side of cyanylated cysteines in aqueous ammonia to form truncated peptides that are still linked by residual disulfide bonds. The remaining disulfide bonds are then completely reduced to give a mixture of peptides that can be mass mapped by MALDI-MS. The masses of the resulting peptide fragments are related to the location of the paired cysteines that had undergone reduction, cyanylation, and cleavage. A side reaction, beta-elimination, often accompanies cleavage and produces overlapped peptides that provide complementary confirmation for the assignment. This strategy minimizes disulfide bond scrambling and is simple, fast, and sensitive. The feasibility of the new approach is demonstrated in the analysis of model proteins that contain various disulfide bond linkages, including adjacent cysteines. Experimental conditions are optimized for protein partial reduction, sulfhydryl cyanylation, and chemical cleavage reactions.     

Membrane immunoglobulins are stabilized by interchain disulfide bonds occurring within the extracellular membrane-proximal domain

Membrane-bound immunoglobulins have, in addition to the transmembrane and cytoplasmic portions, an extracellular membrane-proximal domain (EMPD), absent in the secretory forms. EMPDs of immunoglobulin isotypes alpha, gamma, and epsilon contain cysteines whose role has so far not been elucidated. Using a genetic strategy, we investigated the ability of these cysteines to form disulfide bridges. Shortened versions of human membrane immunoglobulins, depleted of cysteines known to form intermolecular disulfide bonds, were constructed and expressed on the surface of a B-cell line. The resulting membrane proteins contain a single chain fragment of variable regions (scFv) linked to the dimerizing domain from the immunoglobulin heavy chains (CH3 for alpha and gamma or CH4 for epsilon isotypes), followed by the corresponding EMPD and the transmembrane and cytoplasmic domains. The two functional membrane versions of the epsilon chain, containing the short and long EMPD, were analyzed. Our results show that the single cysteine within alpha1L and gamma1 EMPD and the short version of epsilon EMPD form an interchain disulfide bond. Conversely, the cysteine resident in the epsilon transmembrane domain remains unreacted. epsilon-long EMPD contains four cysteines; two are involved in interchain bonds while the remaining two are likely forming an intrachain bridge. Expression of a full-length membrane epsilon heavy chain mutant, in which Cys(121) and Cys(209) within domain CH2 (involved in interchain bridges) were mutated to alanines, confirmed that, within the complete IgE, EMPD cysteines form interchain disulfide bonds. In conclusion, we unveil evidence for additional covalent stabilization of membrane-bound immunoglobulins.