杆状病毒凋亡抑制基因

杆状病毒(baculoviruses)感染昆虫细胞会引发细胞凋亡,然而病毒为了确保自身的复制和繁殖会抑制宿主细胞的凋亡.杆状病毒在长期进化过程中获得了凋亡抑制基因,如苜蓿银纹夜蛾核型多角体病毒(Autographa californica MNPV, AcMNPV)中的p35基因,棉铃虫核型多角体病毒(Helicoverpa armigera single nucleocapsid nucleopolyhedrovirus, HaSNPV)基因组中的IAP基因家族,以及莲纹夜蛾核形多角体病毒(Spodoptera littoralis multicapsid nucleopolyhedrovirus, SpliMNPV)的p49基因等.尽管这些基因都具有抑制细胞凋亡的功能,但是作用途径和方式却各有差异.对杆状病毒3种抗凋亡基因的结构和功能作一简单的介绍和评述.     

杆状病毒细胞凋亡抑制蛋白

杆状病毒是一类数量庞大且相异的DNA病毒.这些病毒通过许多复杂的机制操纵昆虫细胞,其中之一就是调节宿主细胞的凋亡.杆状病毒凋亡抑制蛋白(inhibitor of apoptosis protein,IAP)在调节宿主细胞凋亡的过程中发挥十分重要的作用,许多杆状病毒基因组中都含有IAP基因.本文介绍了杆状病毒IAP基因的生物学特征及最近发现的几种抗宿主细胞凋亡的作用机制.     

杆状病毒p35蛋白抗凋亡作用及机理

杆状病毒入侵可以诱导昆虫细胞凋亡,作为对抗宿主防御体系的一种策略,病毒自身编码具有抗细胞凋亡活性的蛋白,如p35蛋白和IAP。杆状病毒p35蛋白是一种广泛有效的凋亡抑制因子,能在哺乳纲、昆虫纲和线虫纲中抑制细胞凋亡作用,推测其与细胞凋亡途径上保守的成分Caspase起作用。研究表明,p35蛋白正是通过蛋白酶间的相互作用和p35蛋白的剪切而起作用的。就最近几年在p35蛋白抗凋亡作用机理方面的研究作一综述 。     

杆状病毒反式激活蛋白IE-1诱导昆虫细胞凋亡及几种抑制剂对AcNPV诱导细胞凋亡的影响

为了探讨杆状病毒诱导细胞凋亡的机制,用含AcNPV-ie-1基因的重组质粒pGAM-ie-1转染斜纹夜蛾细胞SL－1和粉纹夜蛾细胞Tn-5B1。转染后24h通过光镜观察、DAPI荧光染料染色、DNA琼脂糖凝胶电泳等发现,SL－1发生了典型的凋亡,而同样的现象并没有在Tn-5B1细胞中出现。利用放线菌酮（cycloheximide,CHX)、莫能菌素（Monensin)及蚜栖菌素（aphidicolin)处理AcNPV感染的SL－1细胞,发现细胞凋亡被莫能菌素及蚜栖菌素抑制,被放线菌酮推迟。此结果为进一步研究杆状病毒诱导昆虫细胞凋亡的机制等奠定了基础。     

调控细胞凋亡的主要基因与因子

细胞凋亡是生物界广泛存在的一种重要的生命过程,许多研究者已从不同角度对其发生机理,影响因子,应用等方面开展了卓有成效的研究,本文主要论述了与细胞凋亡调控有关的ced基因,bcl-2基因,ICE基因,p53基因,Fas基因等,以及与之有关的蛋白,如caspases家族,TRAIL等,随着对细胞凋亡机理研究的不断深入,衰老等生理现象和细胞凋亡相关的疾病和机理将逐步得以阐明,并以此为基础建立相应诊断方法。     

棉铃虫核型多角体病毒凋亡抑制基因对p35基因失活病毒的功能拯救

野生型苜蓿银纹夜蛾核型多角体病毒（ＡｃＮＰＶ）能感染棉铃虫细胞,不引起细胞凋亡,用ＬａｃＺ基因使ＡｃＮＰＶ凋亡抑制基因ｐ３５插入失活,得到缺陷病毒Ａｃｐ３５Ｚ能迅速引起棉铃虫细胞凋亡,但缺陷病毒本身不能复制。用ＡｃＮＰＶ即早期基因ＩＥ１启动子带动棉铃虫杆状病毒（ＨａＮＰＶ）ｐ３５基因在棉铃虫细胞中瞬时表达,能拯救ｐ３５基因失活病毒Ａｃｐ３５Ｚ复制。通过Ｘ－ｇａｌ显色反应和ｄｏｔＥＬＩＳＡ分别检测到了半乳糖苷酶的活性和ｐ３５基因的表达,证明了所克隆的ＨａＮＰＶｐ３５基因不仅是一个凋亡抑制基因,也是一个与杆状病毒复制相关的基因,它的瞬时表达能支持Ａｃｐ３５Ｚ在棉铃虫细胞中复制。     

杆状病毒介导外源基因在哺乳动物细胞中表达的研究进展

杆状病毒(Baculovirus)是一种以昆虫为唯一宿主的病毒, 可用做生物杀虫剂或作为表达载体在昆虫细胞中大量表达外源蛋白, 制备疫苗。研究发现, 在哺乳动物细胞中携带哺乳动物启动子的重组杆状病毒能启动下游外源基因的表达但病毒不能在哺乳动物细胞中增值, 对细胞毒性小, 转导成功的细胞可以稳定传代并有效表达外源基因, 哺乳动物细胞比昆虫细胞对蛋白质具有更好的翻译后修饰, 表达出的蛋白结构更接近天然蛋白。因此, 杆状病毒可作为一种新型的哺乳动物细胞基因转移载体, 用于表达外源基因及作为一种基因治疗载体, 具有巨大潜力, 日益受到人们的关注。本文对杆状病毒作为一种表达载体在哺乳动物细胞中表达的研究进展进行了综述。     

中药诱导肿瘤细胞凋亡的基因调控机制研究进展

近年来,细胞凋亡已作为评估抗肿瘤药物疗效的一个重要指标,中药单体和中药复方制剂对恶性肿瘤细胞凋亡的研究是目前中药抗肿瘤作用的研究热点之一。通过对中药单体和中药复方制剂对恶性肿瘤细胞凋亡的基因调控机制研究进展的综述,探索凋亡诱导基因p53基因与凋亡抑制基因bel-2,c-myc等在细胞凋亡中的表达规律,为中药防治恶性肿瘤的研究提供思路。     

高原鼢鼠肺组织细胞凋亡相关 基因的进化分析及其在不同 海拔条件下的表达模式

高原鼢鼠（Myospalax baileyi）是青藏高原特有的地下鼠,其地下洞道严重缺氧。一般来说,低氧会促进细胞凋亡。为了探讨高原鼢鼠适应低氧环境的分子机制,本文应用生物信息学方法对p53下游凋亡促进基因Pidd、Fas、Bax、Puma、Apaf-1、Scotin、Perp、Igfbp3和凋亡抑制基因Bcl-2的序列和编码的氨基酸序列进行了进化分析,并以SD大鼠（Rattus norvegicus）为对照,研究了这些基因在不同海拔环境条件下（3 300 m和2 260 m）的表达模式。结果表明：（1）高原鼢鼠细胞凋亡基因的序列与以色列鼹鼠（Nannospalax galili）同源性最高;预测的PIDD、PUMA、Apaf-1、IGFBP3和BCL-2编码蛋白结构域与以色列鼹鼠的存在明显的趋同进化位点;SIFT评估发现,高原鼢鼠和以色列鼹鼠与其他物种相比,p53、PIDD、PUMA、Apaf-1和IGFBP3氨基酸序列分别在78、853、157、320和285号位点的变异对其功能有显著影响;（2）在高海拔条件下（3 300 m）,高原鼢鼠肺组织中凋亡促进基因Pidd、Bax、Puma和Apaf-1表达水平显著下降,凋亡抑制基因Bcl-2表达水平显著升高,而在SD大鼠中凋亡促进基因和凋亡抑制基因的表达水平均没有变化;高原鼢鼠中Bcl-2/Bax比值随海拔的升高显著上升,而在SD大鼠中没有变化。以上结果提示,高原鼢鼠p53结构变异可能导致其下游基因表达模式与SD大鼠不同,其中凋亡促进基因Pidd、Bax、Puma和Apaf-1表达水平下降,凋亡抑制基因Bcl-2表达水平上升,从而抑制了细胞在低氧条件下的凋亡;在长期低氧的作用下,高原鼢鼠p53下游基因产物PIDD、PUMA、Apaf-1和IGFBP3产生了影响其功能的变异位点,这可能改变了它们与发挥功能的复合物的结合力,从而抑制了细胞凋亡。因此,通过长期的低氧适应,高原鼢鼠肺组织中与细胞凋亡相关的基因产物结构发生变异,导致其基因表达水平发生变化,从而抑制细胞凋亡,这是高原鼢鼠适应地下低氧洞道生境的分子机制之一。     

重组杆状病毒：一种新型哺乳动物细胞基因转移载体

昆虫杆状病毒表达载体系统已广泛应用于表达重组蛋白。近年来研究显示,含有哺乳动物细胞启动子元件的重组杆状病毒可有效地转导多种哺乳动物原代和传代细胞。借助于杆状病毒载体,已成功实现了外源基因在哺乳动物细胞内的瞬时或稳定表达;而在体内,杆状病毒可被血清中的补体成份所灭活,从而抑制了转导效率,但是通过对杆状病毒进行修饰（如伪型杆状病毒）,可以抵抗补体的灭活作用。研究人员对杆状病毒转导机制进行了探索,但是至今尚未完全弄清。杆状病毒基因转移系统最大特点是,杆状病毒能在昆虫细胞内大量繁殖,而不能在哺乳动物细胞内复制,因而具有很高的生物安全性;同时,此系统还具有操作简便、插入外源基因容量大等优点,使得杆状病毒作为哺乳动物细胞的基因传递载体,具有广泛的应用前景。     

Gene transfer of baculoviral p35 by adenoviral vector protects human cerebral neurons from apoptosis

Apoptosis plays an important role in neuronal cell death in both chronic and acute human neurological diseases, including ALS, Huntington's disease, cerebral ischemia, and HIV encephalopathy. We evaluated the ability of an extremely powerful antiapoptotic agent, baculoviral p35, to prevent apoptosis and cell death of human cerebral neurons that undergo severe neurotoxic changes in a culture system when treated with agents that are implicated in human neurological disorders, that is, tumor necrosis factor (TNFalpha) and the HIV proteins Tat and gp120. P35 is a potent broad-spectrum antiapoptotic protein derived from baculovirus, that inhibits nearly all caspases, and has other antiapoptotic actions as well. Adenoviral vectors expressing p35 (Ad. p35) or a control gene (lacZ) efficiently transduced human neurons. Treatment of control cultures with the toxic agents TNFalpha, TNFalpha plus Actinomycin D, or Tat and gp120, induced neurotoxicity and death of neurons. Transduction of neurons with Ad. p35 blocked apoptosis, and eliminated cell death due to TNFalpha, or Tat and gp120. Viral vector transfer of the p35 gene efficiently protects human neurons from TNFalpha, or Tat and gp120-induced apoptosis and cell death. These results suggest that p35 transduction of neurons by viral vectors could be therapeutically useful in the treatment of human neurodegenerative diseases.     

Characterization of the apoptosis suppressor protein P49 from the Spodoptera littoralis nucleopolyhedrovirus

Two antiapoptotic types of genes, iap and p35, were found in baculoviruses. P35 is a 35-kDa protein that can suppress apoptosis induced by virus infection or by diverse stimuli in vertebrates or invertebrates. iap homologues were identified in insects and mammals. Recently, we have identified sl-p49, a novel apoptosis suppressor gene and the first homologue of p35, in the genome of the Spodoptera littoralis nucleopolyhedrovirus. Here we show that sl-p49 encodes a 49-kDa protein, confirmed its primary structure that displays 48.8% identity to P35, and performed computer-assisted modeling of P49 based on the structure of P35. We demonstrated that P49 is able to inhibit insect and human effector caspases, which requires P49 cleavage at Asp(94). Finally we identified domains important for P49's antiapoptotic function that include a reactive site loop (RSL) protruding from a beta-barrel domain. RSL begins at an amphipathic alpha1 helix, traverses the beta-sheet central region, exposing Asp(94) at the apex, and rejoins the beta-barrel. Our model predicted seven alpha-helical motifs, three of them unique to P49. alpha-Helical motifs alpha(1), alpha(2), and alpha(4') were required for P49 function. The high structural homology between P49 and P35 suggests that these molecules bear a scaffold common to baculovirus "apoptotic suppressor" proteins. P49 may serve as a novel tool to analyze the contribution of different components of the caspase chain in the apoptotic response in organisms not related phylogenetically.     

Differential subcellular sequestration of proapoptotic and antiapoptotic proteins and colocalization of Bcl-x(L) with the germ plasm, in Xenopus laevis oocytes

Apoptosis is an important element of normal embryonic development and gametogenesis in invertebrate and vertebrate species. Although the components of apoptotic machinery are present in Xenopus laevis fully grown stage VI oocytes and eggs, apoptosis in the developing Xenopus ovary is limited to the somatic cells with no indication of apoptosis in the germ cells. Considering the possibility that Xenopus previtellogenic oocytes might lack the components of the apoptotic pathway, we analyzed Xenopus Stage I oocytes for the presence of the proapoptotic factors Bax and tumor suppressor p53, and antiapoptotic factors Bcl-x(L) and mitochondrial heat shock protein 60 (Hsp60). We found that pro- and antiapoptotic proteins are present in Xenopus oocytes but, surprisingly, they are located in distinct subcellular compartments with proapoptotic proteins Bax and p53 being sequestered in the oocyte nucleus and antiapoptotic protein Bcl-x(L) sequestered in the cytoplasm and highly enriched in the METRO region of the mitochondrial cloud, where it colocalized with the germ plasm, and Hsp60 colocalizing with all mitochondria. The absence of apoptosis in Xenopus early oogenesis is maybe due to differential sequestration of pro- and antiapoptotic molecules.     

Virus multiplication and induction of apoptosis by Sendai virus: role of the C proteins

Sendai virus (SeV) P gene encodes a nested set of carboxyl-coterminal proteins (C', C, Y1 and Y2), which are referred to collectively as the C proteins. Characterization of the virus multiplication and cellular responses in HEp-2 cells infected with the recombinant SeV which lacks two (C' and C), three (C', C and Y1) or all the four C proteins revealed that all the recombinant viruses can grow in the cells to various extents, depending, apparently, on the number of species expressing C protein. In reverse proportion to the viral growth ability, these viruses induced apoptosis in the infected cells. These results indicate that Y2 protein has an antiapoptotic activity, and suggest that this activity works in an additive manner with the longer C protein(s) (C' and/or C) of SeV in order to suppress virus-induced apoptosis in the SeV-infected cells. Apparently, the antiapoptotic activity of the C proteins supports virus multiplication in the infected cells.     

Dual role of BRUCE as an antiapoptotic IAP and a chimeric E2/E3 ubiquitin ligase

Apoptotic cell death and survival is controlled by pro- and antiapoptotic proteins. Because these proteins act on each other, cell fate is dictated by the relative activity of pro- versus antiapoptotic proteins. Here we report that BRUCE, a conserved 528 kDa peripheral membrane protein of the trans-Golgi network, protects cells against apoptosis and functions as an inhibitor of apoptosis (IAP). By using wild-type and mutant forms we show that BRUCE inhibits caspase activity and apoptosis depending on its BIR domain. Upon apoptosis induction, BRUCE is antagonized by three mechanisms: first, through binding to Smac; second, by the protease HtrA2; and third, by caspase-mediated cleavage. In addition to its IAP activity BRUCE has the distinctive property of functioning as a chimeric E2/E3 ubiquitin ligase with Smac being a substrate. Our work suggests that, owing to its two activities and its localization, BRUCE may function as a specialized regulator of cell death pathways.     

Nitric oxide as a bioregulator of apoptosis

Nitric oxide (NO), synthesized from l-arginine by NO synthases, is a small, diffusible, highly reactive molecule with dichotomous regulatory roles under physiological and pathological conditions. NO can promote apoptosis (proapoptosis) in some cells, whereas it inhibits apoptosis (antiapoptosis) in other cells. This complexity is a consequence of the rate of NO production and the interaction with biological molecules such as iron, thiols, proteins, and reactive oxygen species. Long-lasting production of NO acts as a proapoptotic modulator by activating caspase family proteases through the release of mitochondrial cytochrome c into the cytosol, upregulation of p53 expression, activation of JNK/SAPK, and altering the expression of apoptosis-associated proteins including Bcl-2 family proteins. However, low or physiological concentrations of NO prevent cells from apoptosis induced by trophic factor withdrawal, Fas, TNFalpha, and lipopolysaccharide. The antiapoptotic mechanism can be understood via expression of protective genes such as heat shock proteins, Bcl-2 as well as direct inhibition of the apoptotic caspase family proteases by S-nitrosylation of the cysteine thiol. Our current understanding of the mechanisms by which NO exerts both pro- and antiapoptotic actions is discussed in this review article.     

IAP suppression of apoptosis involves distinct mechanisms: the TAK1/JNK1 signaling cascade and caspase inhibition

The antiapoptotic properties of the inhibitor of apoptosis (IAP) family of proteins have been linked to caspase inhibition. We have previously described an alternative mechanism of XIAP inhibition of apoptosis that depends on the selective activation of JNK1. Here we report that two other members of the IAP family, NAIP and ML-IAP, both activate JNK1. Expression of catalytically inactive JNK1 blocks NAIP and ML-IAP protection against ICE- and TNF-alpha-induced apoptosis, indicating that JNK1 activation is necessary for the antiapoptotic effect of these proteins. The MAP3 kinase, TAK1, appears to be an essential component of this antiapoptotic pathway since IAP-mediated activation of JNK1, as well as protection against TNF-alpha- and ICE-induced apoptosis, is inhibited when catalytically inactive TAK1 is expressed. In addition, XIAP, NAIP, and JNK1 bind to TAK1. Importantly, expression of catalytically inactive TAK1 did not affect XIAP inhibition of caspase activity. These data suggest that XIAP's antiapoptotic activity is achieved by two separate mechanisms: one requiring TAK1-dependent JNK1 activation and the second involving caspase inhibition.     

杆状病毒IAP基因的结构、功能及其进化

杆状病毒的IAP(inh ib itor of apoptosis prote in)基因是最早鉴定的IAP家族基因,具有B IR和R ING结构域特征,与杆状病毒P35基因有相似抗细胞凋亡功能,但在结构和作用机制上存在差异。系统分析表明,杆状病毒IAP基因可能是病毒与鳞翅目昆虫在长期的进化过程中从宿主基因组中获得的。