Cloning and molecular characterization of a novel lectin gene from Pinellia ternata

The full-length cDNA of Pinellia ternata agglutinin (PTA) was cloned from inflorescences using RACE-PCR. Through comparative analysis of PTA gene (pta) and its deduced amino acid sequence with those of other Araceae species, pta was found to encode a precursor lectin with signal peptide and to have extensive homology with those of other Araceae species. PTA was a heterotetrameric mannose-binding lectin with three mannose-binding boxes like lectins from other Araceae and Amaryllidaceae species. Southern blot analysis of the genomic DNA revealed that pta belonged to a low-copy gene family. Northern blot analysis demonstrated that pta constitutively expressed in various plant tissues including root, leaf, stem and inflorescence. The pta cDNA sequence encoding for mature PTA protein was cloned into pET-32a plasmid and the resulting plasmid, pET-32a-PTA containing Trx-PTA fusion protein, was investigated for the expression in E. coli BL21. SDS-PAGE gel analysis showed that the Trx-PTA fusion protein was successfully expressed in E. coli BL21 when induced by IPTG. Artificial diet assay revealed that PTA fusion protein had significant levels of resistance against peach potato aphids when incorporated into artificial diet at 0.1% (w/v). The cloning of the pta gene will enable us to further test its effect in depth on aphids by transferring the gene into crop plants.     

Purification and characterization of a mannose-binding lectin from the rhizomes of Aspidistra elatior Blume with antiproliferative activity

A lectin with a novel N-terminal amino acid sequence was purified from the rhizomes of Aspidistra elatior Blume by ammonium sulphate precipitation, ion exchange chromatography on diethylaminoethyl-Sepharose and carboxymethyl-Sepharose and gel filtration chromatography on Sephacryl S-100. The A. elatior Blume lectin （AEL） is a heterotetramer with a molecular mass of 56 kDa and composed of two homodimers consisting of two different polypeptides of 13.5 kDa and 14.5 kDa held together by noncovalent interactions. Hapten inhibition assay indicated that hemagglutinating activity of AEL towards rabbit erythrocytes could be inhibited by D-mannose, mannan, thyroglobulin and ovomucoid. The lectin was stable up to 70 ℃ , and showed maximum activity in a narrow pH range of 7.0-8.0. Chemical modification and spectrum analysis indicated that tryptophan, arginine, cysteine and carboxyl group residues were essential for its hemagglutinating activity. However, they might not be present in the active center, except some carboxyl group residues. AEL also showed significant in vitro antiproliferative activity towards Bre-04 （66%）, Lu-04 （60%） and HepG2 （56%） of human cancer cell lines.     

Cloning and Functional Analysis of the Bifunctional Agglutinin/Trypsin Inhibitor from Helianthus tuberosus L.

In order to find new insect resistance genes, four homologous cDNAs, hta-a, hta-b, hta-c and hta-d with lengths of 775, 718, 784 and 752 bp, respectively （GenBank accession numbers AF477031-AF477034）, were isolated from a tuber cDNA expression library of Helianthus tuberosus L. Sequence analysis revealed that all four cDNAs contain an open reading frame of 444 bp, coding a polypeptide of 147 amino acid residues, and that the sequences of the cDNAs are very similar to those of the mannose-binding agglutinin genes of the jacalin-related family. In hemagglutination reactions and hapten inhibition assays, affinity-purified HTA （Helianthus tuberosus agglutinin） from induced Escherichia coli BL21（DE3） expressing GST-HTA shows hemagglutination ability and a higher carbohydrate-binding ability for mannose than other tested sugars. Trypsin inhibitory activity was detected in the crude extracts of induced E. coli BL21（DE3） expressing HTA, and was further verified by trypsin inhibitory activity staining on native polyacrylamide gel. The mechanism of interaction between HTA and trypsin was studied by molecular modeling. We found that plenty of hydrogen bonds and electrostatic interactions can be formed between the supposed binding sites of HTA-b and the active site of trypsin, and that a stable HTA/trypsin complex can be formed. The results above imply that HTA might be a bifunctional protein with carbohydrate-binding activity and trypsin inhibitory activity. Moreover, Northern blotting analysis demonstrated that hta is predominantly expressed in tubers of H. tuberosus, very weakly expressed in stems, but not expressed at all in other tissues. Southern blotting analysis indicated that hta is encoded by a multi-gene family. The insect resistance traits have been described in another paper.     

Molecular characterization of a new lectin from the marine alga Ulva pertusa

A new lectin, named UPL1, was purified from a green alga Ulvapertusa by an affinitychromatography on the bovine-thyroglobulin-Sepharose 4B column. The molecular mass of the algal lectinwas about 23 kD by SDS-PAGE, and it specifically agglutinated rabbit erythrocytes. The hemagglutinatingactivity for rabbit erythrocytes could be inhibited by bovine thyroglobulin and N-acetyl-D-glucosamine. Thelectin UPL1 required divalent cations for maintenance of its biological activity, and was heat-stable, and hadhigher activity within pH 6-8. The N-terminal amino acid sequence of the purified lectin was determined(P83209) and a set of degenerate primers were designed. The full-length cDNA of the lectin was cloned byrapid amplification ofcDNA ends (RACE) method (AY433960). Sequence analysis of upll indicated it was! 084 bp long, and encoded a premature protein of 203 amino acids. The N-terminal sequence of the matureUPL1 polypeptide started at amino acid 54 of the deduced sequence from the cDNA, indicating 53 aminoacids lost due to posttranslational modification. The primary structure of the Ulva pertusa lectin did not showamino acid sequence similarity with known plant and animal lectins. Hence, this protein may be the paradigmof a novel lectin family.     

Conformational study reveals amino acid residues essential for hemagglutinating and anti-proliferative activities of Clematis montana lectin

Clematis montana lectin （CML）, a novel mannose-binding lectin purified from C. montana Buch.-Ham stem （Ranunculaceae）, has been proved to have hemagglutinat- ing activity in rabbit erythrocytes and apoptosis-inducing activity in tumor cells. However, the biochemical properties of CML have not revealed and its structural information still needs to be elucidated. In this study, it was found that CML possessed quite good thermostability and alkaline re- sistance, and its hemagglutinating activity was bivalent metal cation dependent. In addition, hemagglutination test and fluorescence spectroscopy proved that GuHCI, urea, and sodium dodecyl sulfate could change the conformation of CML and further caused the loss of hemagglutination activity. Moreover, the changes of fluorescence spectrum indicated that the tryptophan （Trp） microenvironment conversion might be related to the conformation and bioactivities of CML. In addition, it was also found that Trp residues, arginine （Arg） residues, and sulfhydryl were important for the hemagglutinating activity of CML, but only Trp was proved to be crucial for the CML con- formation. Furthermore, the Trp, Arg, and sulfhydryl- modified CML exhibited 97.17%, 76.99%, and 49.64% loss of its anti-proliferative activity, respectively, which was consistent with the alterations of its hemagglutinating activity. Given these findings, Trp residues on the surface of CML are essential for the active center to form sub- strate-accessible conformation and suitable environment for carbohydrate binding.     

Crystallization and preliminary x-ray diffraction analysis of a novel mannose-binding lectin with antiretroviral properties from Polygonatum cyrtonema hua

A novel antiretroviral protein Polygonatum cyrtonema lectin (PCL) belonging to the monocot mannose-binding lectin (MMBL) superfamily has been crystallized using hanging-drop vapor-diffusion method. The crystals diffract to 2.0 A resolution and belong to space group P2(1), with unit-cell parameters of a=39.308 A, b=48.317 A, c=112.221 A, and beta=90.12 degrees . Preliminary analysis indicates that the asymmetric unit contains four PCL molecules with a solvent content of about 45%. A set of X-ray data has been collected for the crystal structure determination.     

Apoptosis-inducing effect and structural basis of Polygonatum cyrtonema lectin and chemical modification properties on its mannose-binding sites

Polygonatum cyrtonema Lectin (PCL), which is classified as a monocot mannose-binding lectin, has received great regards for its uniquely biological activities and potentially medical applications in cancer cells. This paper was initially aimed to study apoptosis of PCL on Hela cells. Thus, 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) method was carried out. Through observation of cell morphologic changes and Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity-based cytotoxicity assays, PCL induced HeLa cell apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner. To further gain structural basis, multiple alignments, homology modeling and docking experiments were performed to analyze the correlation between its biological activities and mannose-binding sites. Eventually, considering docking data, chemical modification properties on the three mannose-binding sites were analyzed by a series of biological experiments (e.g., hemagglutinating and mitogenic activity assays, fluorescence and Circular Dichrosim (CD) spectroscopy) to profoundly identify the role of some key amino acids in the structure-function relationship of PCL.     

cDNA cloning and characterization of a mannose-binding lectin fromZingiber officinaleRoscoe (ginger) rhizomes

Using RNA extracted fromZingiber officinale rhizomes and primers designed according to the conservative regions of monocot mannose-binding lectins, the full-length cDNA ofZ. officinale agglutinin (ZOA) was cloned by rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE). The full-length cDNA ofzoa was 746 bp and contained a 510 bp open reading frame (ORF) encoding a lectin precursor of 169 amino acids with a signal peptide. ZOA was a mannose-binding lectin with three typical mannose-binding sites (QDNY). Semi-quantitative RT-PCR analysis revealed thatzoa expressed in all the tested tissues ofZ. officinale including leaf, root and rhizome, suggesting it to be a constitutively expressing form. ZOA protein was successfully expressed inEscherichia coli with the molecular weight expected. To our knowledge, this is the first mannose-binding lectin cDNA cloned from the family Zingiberaceae. Our results demonstrate that monocot mannose-binding lectins also occur within the family Zingiberaceae     

黄精凝集素Ⅱ的纯化及部分性质研究

囊丝黄精（ＰｏｌｙｇｏｎａｔｕｍｃｙｒｔｏｎｅｍａＨｕａ．）的根状茎,经浸取、用硫酸铵分级沉淀、猪甲状腺球蛋白－Ｓｅｐｈａｒｏｓｅ４Ｂ柱亲和层析、ＣＭ－Ｓｅｐｈａｒｏｓｅ柱离子交换层析和ＳｅｐｈａｄｅｘＧ－１００凝胶过滤,可以分离纯化出黄精凝集素Ⅱ（ＰＣＬⅡ）．纯化的ＰＣＬⅡ在聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳中显示单一蛋白染色带;在快速高效液相色谱中亦为单一蛋白峰,经分子筛层析测得分子量为１５．９ｋＤ,最大紫外吸收值在２７８ｎｍ,ＰＣＬⅡ只凝集兔红细胞,当浓度为０．２５μｇ／ｍｌ时,即可发生凝集反应,此凝集兔红细胞的能力可被Ｄ－甘露糖和猪甲状腺球蛋白所抑制．氨基酸组成分析表明ＰＣＬⅡ分子中富含酸性氨基酸,Ｎ末端为丙氨酸．经测定ＰＣＬⅡ分子中含有３个色氨酸和２．４％的中性糖．原子发射光谱分析表明,该凝集素分子中含有Ｍｇ和Ｃａ两种金属元素．     

Molecular cloning of the lectin and a lectin-related protein from common Solomon's seal (Polygonatum multiflorum)

The most prominent protein ofPolygonatum multiflorum (common Solomon's seal) rhizomes has been identified as a mannose-binding lectin. Analysis of the purified lectin demonstrated that it is a tetramer of four identical subunits of 14 kDa. Molecular cloning further revealed that the lectin from this typical Liliaceae species belongs to the superfamily of monocot mannose-binding proteins. Screening of cDNA libraries constructed with RNA isolated from buds, leaves and flowers ofP. multiflorum also yielded cDNA clones encoding a protein, which contains two tandemly arranged domains with an obvious sequence homology to the mannose-binding lectins. Molecular modelling of thePolygonatum lectin and lectin-related protein indicated that the three-dimensional structure of both proteins strongly resembles that of the snowdrop lectin. In addition, this approach suggested that the presumed carbohydrate-binding sites of the lectin can accommodate a mannose residue whereas most of the carbohydratebinding sites of the lectin-related protein cannot.Abbreviations GNA Galanthus nivalis agglutinin - HCA hydrophobic cluster analysis - LECPMA cDNA clone encoding PMA - PM30 30 kDa protein isolated fromPolygonatum multiforum - PMA Polygonatum multiflorum agglutinin - PMLRP Polygonatum multiflorum lectin-related protein     

Structural characterisation of the native fetuin-binding protein Scilla campanulata agglutinin: a novel two-domain lectin

The three-dimensional structure of a 244-residue, multivalent, fetuin-binding lectin, SCAfet, isolated from bluebell (Scilla campanulata) bulbs, has been solved at 3.3 A resolution by molecular replacement using the coordinates of the 119-residue, mannose-binding lectin, SCAman, also from bluebell bulbs. Unlike most monocot mannose-binding lectins, such as Galanthus nivalis agglutinin from snowdrop bulbs, which fold into a single domain, SCAfet contains two domains with approximately 55% sequence identity, joined by a linker peptide. Both domains are made up of a 12-stranded beta-prism II fold, with three putative carbohydrate-binding sites, one on each subdomain. SCAfet binds to the complex saccharides of various animal glycoproteins but not to simple sugars.     

Bioinformatics analyses of the mannose-binding lectins from Polygonatum cyrtonema,Ophiopogon japonicus and Liparis noversa with antiproliferative and apoptosis-inducing activities

In the present study, three typical monocot mannose-binding lectins (e.g., Polygonatum cyrtonema lectin [PCL], Ophiopogon japonicus lectin [OJL] and Liparis noversa lectin [LNL]), were reported to possess a similar tertiary structure with three mannose-binding sites and a close phylogenetic relationship. Subsequently, these lectins were found to bear remarkable inhibitory effects on the growth of MCF-7 cells. Further experiments confirmed that there is a link among the hemagglutinating activity, antiproliferative activity and mannose-binding activity. In addition, these lectins were shown to induce MCF-7 cell apoptosis and caspase was found to be involved in this apoptotic pathway. In conclusion, these findings demonstrate that the different antiproliferative effects may be due to the conserved motifs of mannose-binding sites. Furthermore, our results demonstrate that these lectins induce apoptosis in MCF-7 cells via a caspase-dependent pathway.     

Molecular cloning and characterization of a mannose-binding lectin gene from <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pinellia cordata</Emphasis>

Using RNA extracted from Pinellia cordata young leaves and primers designed according to the conserved regions of Araceae lectins, the full-length cDNA of Pinellia cordata agglutinin (PCL) was cloned by rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE). The full-length cDNA of pcl was 1,182 bp and contained a 768 bp open reading frame (ORF) encoding a lectin precursor of 256 amino acids. Through comparative analysis of pcl gene and its deduced amino acid sequence with those of other Araceae species, it was found that pcl encoded a precursor lectin with signal peptide. PCL is a mannose-binding lectin with three mannose-binding sites. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR analysis revealed that pcl is expressed in all tested tissues including leaf, stem and bulbil, but with the highest expression in bulbil. PCL protein was successfully expressed in Escherichia coli with the molecular weight expected.     

酪氨酸的不同化学修饰对黄精凝集素生物学活性的影响

凝集素作为一类非免疫原的糖结合蛋白,在与细胞的识别和结合中介导了一系列事件的发生,如促淋巴细胞有丝分裂、对肿瘤细胞的特异凝集、抑制病原微生物的生长等[1].凝集素的特性主要归因于其特异的糖结合活性,而特殊氨基酸对它保持这种结合活性是必需的.故确定这些特异的氨基酸是研究凝集素结构与功能关系的基础.化学修饰可以鉴别哪些氨基酸位于功能区[2].黄精凝集素(Polyg-onatumcyrtonemaHua.lectin,PCL)是具有多种生物学活性的糖蛋白,二硫键、巯基、色氨酸、金属离子并不影响其兔红细胞凝集活性[3].本文报道用不同试剂修饰酪氨酸,以研究…     

多菌灵在黄精根茎无菌培养中的应用

本研究中比较了几种杀菌剂对黄精根茎的灭菌效果。结果表明,采用乙醇、饱和漂白粉、HgCI2等杀菌剂对黄精根茎杀菌时,微生物的污染率很高;先用3%多菌灵溶液对黄精根茎进行内吸杀菌处理45h以上,然后再用0·2%HgCI2进行灭菌10min,则黄精根茎的污染率可得到有效控制。多菌灵的处理效果与黄精根茎的大小、类型和年龄等因素有关。