人胸腺素α原cDNA的克隆及在大肠杆菌中的表达

采用基因工程方法制取人胸腺素α原获得成功。用２０ｕｇ／ｍｌ植物血球凝集素（ＰＨＡ）和５００Ｕ／ｍｌ重组人白细胞介素２（ＩＬ－２）联合刺激人胎儿胸腺细胞,从中提取总ＲＮＡ,经反转录ＰＣＲ获得了人胸腺素α原ｃＤＮＡ;将之克隆入ｐＵＣ１９中,序列测定表明与已报道序列一致,进一步将之亚克隆入原核表达载体ｐＢＶ２２０,转化大肠杆菌ＤＨ５ａ．观察到在不改变氨基酸编码的前提下,增加胸腺素ａ原上游引物中Ａ、Ｔ含量,可以明显提高胸腺素α原的表达量,同时,不同培养基对它的表达也有影响。胸腺素α原在大肠杆菌中以可溶形式表达,不需复性。初步活性测定显示,它可明显刺激人外周血淋巴细胞Ｅ－玫瑰花结形成率。重组人胸腺素α原在大肠杆菌中表达,为其临床应用及基础研究奠定了基础。     

人胸腺素α原cDNA的克隆及在大肠杆菌中的表达

采用基因工程方法制取人胸腺素α原获得成功。用２０μｇ／ｍｌ植物血球凝集素（ＰＨＡ）和５００Ｕ／ｍｌ重组人白细胞介素２（ＩＬ－２）联合刺激人胎儿胸腺细胞,从中提取总ＲＮＳ,经反转录ＰＣＲ获得了人胸腺素α原ｃＤＮＡ;将之克隆入ｐＵＣ１９中,序列测定表明与已报道序列一致,进一步将之亚克隆入原核表达载体ｐＢＶ２２０,转化大肠杆菌ＤＨ５α,观察到在不改变氨基酸编码的前提下,增加胸腺素α原上游引物中Ａ、Ｔ含量     

胸腺素α原研究进展

胸腺素原（prothymosin alpha ProTα）是一种强酸性的蛋白,进化上高度保守,分布极其广泛。ProTα氨基酸序列的特征除前28个氨基酸与胸腺素α1完全相同外,ProTα有明显的中心酸性区和亲核序列。ProTα具有广泛的生物学活性,在细胞增殖、免疫调控和生殖活性等多方面起重要作用。     

表达红色荧光及转胸腺素β4基因绵羊胎儿成纤维细胞系的制备

旨在构建胸腺素β4(thymosin beta4,Tβ4)基因真核表达载体并转染绵羊胎儿成纤维细胞,获得稳定表达胸腺素β4及红色荧光蛋白的转基因细胞克隆。将克隆载体pMD19TT中的胸腺素β4基因亚克隆到表达载体pIRES2-DsRed2的多克隆位点,构建表达载体pIRES2-DsRed2-Tβ4,脂质体介导转染绵羊胎儿成纤维细胞,G418筛选获得稳定转染的细胞克隆。RT-PCR检测Tβ4基因在宿主细胞中的转录。测序结果显示,构建的表达载体pIRES2-DsRed2-Tβ4序列中,Tβ4基因正确连接在CMV启动子下游,顺序连接IRES2序列和红色荧光蛋白基因,载体构建正确。脂质体介导的稳定转染效率约为15%,经G418筛选得到转基因细胞克隆并高效表达红色荧光蛋白。RT-PCR检测显示外源Tβ4基因在绵羊胎儿成纤维细胞中得到转录。成功构建具有红色荧光蛋白和新霉素抗性双选择标记的胸腺素β4基因真核表达载体并稳定转染绵羊胎儿成纤维细胞,筛选得到的超表达胸腺素β4绵羊胎儿成纤维细胞系为下一步通过核移植和克隆技术获得转基因绵羊提供了条件。     

重组人胸腺素α原体外活性观察

以原核表达并纯化人胸腺素α原后,观察其体外活性,了解到胸腺素α原对胸腺细胞氢化考的松损伤有明显的保护作用,表现在它可明显提高氢化考的松损伤后细胞的数目和ＭＴＴ反应能力,氢化考的松引起胸腺细胞凋亡的发生,并显著降低ＣＤ４＋、ＣＤ８＋单阳性细胞和ＣＤ４－ＣＤ８－双阴性细胞的比例,胸腺素α原不能抑制胸腺细胞凋亡的发生,并可能对胸腺细胞凋亡有促进作用,与空白对照组比较,它也可明显降低ＣＤ４＋阳性细胞的比例,结果表明,胸腺素α原对胸腺细胞氢化考的松损伤的保护作用并非通过抑制凋亡而实现。     

胸腺素α原融合蛋白基因表达、纯化与生物学活性

胸腺素α原及胸腺九肽在体内免疫方面有重要作用 .根据大肠杆菌遗传密码的偏爱性 ,设计并人工合成了胸腺素α原及胸腺九肽融合蛋白的特异引物 .以胸腺素α原cDNA为模板 ,应用PCR及分子克隆技术构建了该融合蛋白的编码基因 ,将其插入pBV2 2 0质粒 ,转化大肠杆菌 ,通过温度诱导使该融合蛋白高效表达 ,并对表达产物进行了高效特异性纯化 .运用MTT法初步测定了该融合蛋白的活性 .结果表明 ,该融合蛋白对氢化可的松诱导的胸腺细胞损伤有一定的保护作用 ,为今后进一步研究和应用该融合蛋白奠定了基础     

尼罗罗非鱼Ikaros基因的克隆及表达分析

为揭示尼罗罗非鱼Ikaros基因结构特征及其在抗病原感染中的免疫调控机制, 实验采用RT-PCR和RACE方法克隆了尼罗罗非鱼Ikaros的cDNA序列以及利用PCR和染色体步移技术克隆了Ikaros的基因组DNA序列, 通过荧光定量PCR分析了Ikaros mRNA的组织分布及其对无乳链球菌感染的响应。结果表明, 克隆的尼罗罗非鱼Ikaros基因组DNA为20454 bp, 包括7个内含子和8个外显子, 经可变剪接可形成6种不同的mRNA剪接异构体, 其编码的氨基酸序列均具有Ikaros家族典型的锌指结构域且与硬骨鱼类Ikaros氨基酸序列同源性较高(70.6%—93.7%)。Ikaros基因在尼罗罗非鱼各组织中均有表达, 在血液中的表达量最高, 其次为胸腺、脾脏和头肾。人工感染无乳链球菌后, 血液、胸腺、脾脏、头肾中Ikaros基因的相对表达量均显著上调, 并在48h达到峰值, 这表明Ikaros基因参与调控尼罗罗非鱼抵御无乳链球菌的免疫应答反应。研究可为进一步探索Ikaros基因在罗非鱼抗病原感染中的作用机制奠定理论基础。     

国内信息

番鸭IFN-α基因的克隆与序列分析广东华南农业大学兽医学院王春霞、王林川和黄爱芳等6位先生从经免疫的番鸭外周血分离淋巴细胞,经PHA刺激培养后提取总RNA,采用RT-PCR法,按照GenBank中序列号为X84764鸭I型IFN(DIFN1)基因设计引物,扩增出了番鸭IFN基因,命名为MDIFN-α,包含编码MDIFN-α成熟蛋白全部核苷酸序列。DIFN1开放阅读框架(ORF)有576个核苷酸,编码191个氨基酸,其中除去信号肽的IFN-α为成熟DIFN1,共有486个核苷酸组成,编码161个氨基酸,含有不完整信号肽的MDIFN-α与X84764的核苷酸同源性为97.7%。故他们6位先…     

人、猴、兔BPI活性部位基因的克隆和序列分析

为比较不同动物来源杀菌／通透性增加蛋白（BPI）的活性部位在基因组成上的差异,为今后对人BPI进行分子改构打下基础,分别从人、恒河猴和家兔外周血白细胞中克隆出BPI全长或活性部位基因,进行序列分析和比较,并进行蛋白二级结构预测。结果发现：猴、兔BPI活性部位序列与人序列在核苷酸水平的同源性分别为94％和77％,在氨基酸水平的同源性分别为88％和62％;人氨基酸序列中包含一个糖基化位点,而猴、兔序列没有;兔序列比人、猴序列少一个氨基酸;3种BPI活性部位有近似的二级结构。     

河南HIV感染者的HIV-1B型株tat基因的克隆及序列分析

克隆河南人免疫缺陷病毒(HIV)感染HIV-1B型株tat基因完整编码框序列,并分析比较其编码产物的序列结构特点。使用重叠PCR技术,从河南省1名HIV-1感染外周血标本中扩增出to／基因第一和第二外显子并重组为完整的tat基因序列。获得的HIV-1B病毒株tat基因,第一外显子为263bp,第二外显子为214bp。将该基因编码产物与其他HW-1株Tat蛋白经DNA软件编辑并翻译成蛋白质,使用Clustal X1．81进行多序列对比分析发现,第一外显子编码产物的3个保守区域的氨基酸组成大致相同,只有少数氨基酸存在差异。由于Tat蛋白不同病毒株间有高度保守的Cys富集区、核心区和碱性氨基酸富集区,tat基因的克隆为研究其功能并以其为靶点设计和筛选抗艾滋病的药物奠定了基础。     

Gene expression profiling in porcine fetal thymus

To obtain an initial overview of gene diversity and expression pattern in porcine thymus, 11,712 ESTs (Expressed Sequence Tags) from 100-day-old porcine thymus (FTY) were sequenced and 7,071 cleaned ESTs were used for gene expression analysis. Clustered by the PHRAP program, 959 contigs and 3,074 singlets were obtained. Blast search showed that 806 contigs and 1,669 singlets (totally 5,442 ESTs) had homologues in GenBank and 1,629 ESTs were novel. According to the Gene Ontology classification, 36.99% ESTs were cataloged into the gene expression group, indicating that although the functional gene (18.78% in defense group) of thymus is expressed in a certain degree, the 100-day-old porcine thymus still exists in a developmental stage. Comparative analysis showed that the gene expression pattern of the 100-day-old porcine thymus is similar to that of the human infant thymus.     

WDR55 is a nucleolar modulator of ribosomal RNA synthesis, cell cycle progression, and teleost organ development

The thymus is a vertebrate-specific organ where T lymphocytes are generated. Genetic programs that lead to thymus development are incompletely understood. We previously screened ethylnitrosourea-induced medaka mutants for recessive defects in thymus development. Here we report that one of those mutants is caused by a missense mutation in a gene encoding the previously uncharacterized protein WDR55 carrying the tryptophan-aspartate-repeat motif. We find that WDR55 is a novel nucleolar protein involved in the production of ribosomal RNA (rRNA). Defects in WDR55 cause aberrant accumulation of rRNA intermediates and cell cycle arrest. A mutation in WDR55 in zebrafish also leads to analogous defects in thymus development, whereas WDR55-null mice are lethal before implantation. These results indicate that WDR55 is a nuclear modulator of rRNA synthesis, cell cycle progression, and embryonic organogenesis including teleost thymus development.     

Cell growth and gene rearrangement signals during the development of T lymphocytes within the thymus

The thymus provides signals that control the proliferation and differentiation of T lymphocytes and select the repertoire of T-cell specificities. Antibodies to CD3 molecules inhibit full rearrangement of T-cell receptor beta chain genes in organ cultures of early embryo mouse thymus. Whether this effect is mediated through gamma delta CD3 expressing cells, which are present in small numbers at this stage, or through low amounts of CD3 on alpha beta precursor cells is unclear. A requirement for special gene rearrangement signals within the thymus is supported also by the observations that growth factors such as IL-2 and IL-4, although stimulating proliferation of precursor cells removed from the thymus, do not induce full T-cell receptor gene rearrangements. Recent studies show that newly formed thymic lymphocytes expressing alpha beta CD3 receptors are targets for negative selection (deletion) as a means of removing autoreactive cells. Signalling to immature thymocytes via the alpha beta CD3 complex induces the activation of endogenous endonucleases that cleave DNA into oligonucleosomal fragments. We suggest that the activation of this mechanism is the means by which autoreactive cells are removed.     

Localised inhibition of FGF signalling in the third pharyngeal pouch is required for normal thymus and parathyroid organogenesis

The thymus and parathyroid glands are derived from the third pharyngeal pouch endoderm. The mechanisms that establish distinct molecular domains in the third pouch and control the subsequent separation of these organ primordia from the pharynx are poorly understood. Here, we report that mouse embryos that lack two FGF feedback antagonists, Spry1 and Spry2, display parathyroid and thymus hypoplasia and a failure of these organ primordia to completely separate from the pharynx. We show that FGF ligands and downstream reporter genes are expressed in highly regionalised patterns in the third pouch and that sprouty gene deletion results in upregulated FGF signalling throughout the pouch endoderm. As a consequence, the initiation of markers of parathyroid and thymus fate is altered. In addition, a normal apoptotic programme that is associated with the separation of the primordia from the pharynx is disrupted, resulting in the maintenance of a thymus-pharynx attachment and a subsequent inability of the thymus to migrate to its appropriate position above the heart. We demonstrate that the sprouty genes function in the pharyngeal endoderm itself to control these processes and that the defects in sprouty-deficient mutants are, at least in part, due to hyper-responsiveness to Fgf8. Finally, we provide evidence to suggest that parathyroid hypoplasia in these mutants is due to early gene expression defects in the third pouch, whereas thymus hypoplasia is caused by reduced proliferation of thymic epithelial cells in the thymus primordium.     

Characterization of an alternative exon of the murine T cell receptor beta-chain. Pattern of expression and evolutionary conservation

In this report, we characterize an alternate gene element of the murine TCR beta-chain. First, we have looked at the expression of the alternate exon, C beta 0, in normal T cell clones, as well as in fetal vs adult whole thymus. The C beta 0 exon is expressed in only 1% or less of TCR-beta messages in four of four mature T cell clones examined. C beta 0 is found at 10-fold higher levels in both fetal and adult thymus mRNA. Thus C beta 0 is developmentally regulated by T cells, although expression of the alternate exon is relatively constant from the fetal thymus to the adult thymus. Second, evolutionary conservation of the C beta 0 gene element was studied in both the rat and the human. The rat beta-locus contains a gene element highly homologous to the mouse C beta 0 gene, but the rat C beta 0 gene contains mutations in both splice sites that probably prevent the gene element from being spliced into mRNA. We have also sequenced the first exon of rat C beta 1, and find that the C beta 0 exon and the intron around C beta 0 are conserved between rat and mouse to the same level as the C beta 1 coding region. The intron around C beta 1, in contrast, shows the decrease in conservation between the two species that is expected for a noncoding region. Analysis of the putative C beta 0-containing region in the human reveals no sequences homologous to the C beta 0 gene element. Because the mouse is the only species that has conserved a functional C beta 0 gene, we conclude that the C beta 0 exon does not play a general role in T cell development.     

Mutations affecting thymus organogenesis in Medaka, Oryzias latipes

The thymus is an organ for T lymphocyte maturation and is indispensable for the establishment of a highly developed immune system in vertebrates. In order to genetically dissect thymus organogenesis, we carried out a large-scale mutagenesis screening for Medaka mutations affecting recombination activating gene 1 (rag1) expression in the developing thymus. We identified 24 mutations, defining at least 13 genes, which led to a marked reduction of rag1 expression in the thymus. As thymus development depends on pharyngeal arches, we classified those mutations into three classes according to the defects in the pharyngeal arches. Class 1 mutants had no or slight morphological abnormalities in the pharyngeal arches, implying that the mutations may include defects in such thymus-specific events as lymphocyte development and thymic epithelial cell maturation. Class 2 mutants had abnormally shaped pharyngeal arches. Class 3 mutants showed severely attenuated pharyngeal arch development. In Class 2 and Class 3 mutants, the defects in thymus development may be due to abnormal pharyngeal arch development. Those mutations are expected to be useful for identifying the molecular mechanisms underlying thymus organogenesis.     

Identification and characterization of thymus LIM protein: targeted disruption reduces thymus cellularity.

We have identified a novel LIM gene encoding the thymus LIM protein (TLP), expressed specifically in the thymus in a subset of cortical epithelial cells. TLP was identified as a gene product which is upregulated in a thymus in which selection of T cells is occurring (Rag(-/-) OT-1) compared to its expression in a thymus in which selection is blocked at the CD4+ CD8+ stage of T-cell development (Rag(-/-) Tap(-/-) OT-1). TLP has an apparent molecular mass of 23 kDa and exists as two isomers (TLP-A and TLP-B), which are generated by alternative splicing of the message. The sequences of TLP-A and TLP-B are identical except for the C-terminal 19 or 20 amino acids. Based on protein sequence alignment, TLP is most closely related to the cysteine-rich proteins, a subclass of the family of LIM-only proteins. In both medullary and cortical thymic epithelial cell lines transduced with TLP, the protein localizes to the cytoplasm but does not appear to be strongly associated with actin. In immunohistochemical studies, TLP seems to be localized in a subset of epithelial cells in the cortex and is most abundant near the corticomedullary junction. We generated mice with a targeted disruption of the Tlp locus. In the absence of TLP, thymocyte development and thymus architecture appear to be normal but thymocyte cellularity is reduced by approximately 30%, with a proportional reduction in each subpopulation.