精氨酸激酶研究进展

能量代谢是生物体重要的生命活动之一。精氨酸激酶广泛分布于低等与高等无脊椎动物中,现已经在直翅目、蜚蠊目、鞘翅目、鳞翅目、双翅目、膜翅目等多种昆虫中得到证实,是无脊椎动物中能量代谢的重要酶之一。随着研究的深入,精氨酸激酶的应用前景逐渐显现。对无脊椎动物体内精氨酸激酶的理化性质、表达规律及应用前景等方面的研究进展进行了综述,并提出了一些建议,以期为精氨酸激酶今后的研究做铺垫。     

精氨酸激酶蛋白及分子生物学的研究进展

在无脊椎动物体内,精氨酸激酶(arginine kinase)在能量代谢过程中发挥着重要的作用.随着研究的深入,越来越多的数据表明,精氨酸激酶的作用不仅限于提供和维持能量的平衡,而且对生命活动的调控起到重要作用.综述无脊椎动物体内精氨酸激酶的进化历程、蛋白特性、特异表达及生物学功能等方面的研究进展,为深入研究无脊椎动物的抗性调控机制提供必要的参考.此外,对无脊椎动物精氨酸激酶的重要性和研究中存在的问题进行讨论.     

昆虫精氨酸激酶研究进展

精氨酸激酶是磷酸原激酶的一种,广泛分布于无脊椎动物组织内。在长期的进化过程中,不同昆虫精氨酸激酶在空间结构上出现了一定的分化,同时其氨基酸序列又具有高度的保守性。在功能上,精氨酸激酶主要参与能量代谢,而且可以维持昆虫和其他无脊椎动物正常的生命活动。此外,随着研究的深入,发现精氨酸激酶还具有参与自身免疫和麻痹寄主昆虫的作用。本文主要对昆虫精氨酸激酶的分布、结构和功能三个方面的研究进展予以综述。     

昆虫精氨酸激酶的研究进展

精氨酸激酶(arginine kinase,AK)是广泛分布于无脊椎动物组织内的磷酸原激酶,在能量代谢方面起着关键性作用,与昆虫和其他无脊椎动物的一系列重要生命活动密切相关。本文从组织化学和结构特点、cDNA序列特征和表达、生理学和生物学功能3个方面概述了昆虫精氨酸激酶的研究进展,探讨了未来的主要研究领域。     

精氨酸激酶基因研究进展

磷酸原激酶(PKs)在细胞能量代谢过程中起着关键作用,其中在无脊椎动物、原生动物和细菌中普遍存在的精氨酸激酶(AKs)已成为开发新型高选择性杀虫剂的潜在靶标。本文从精氨酸激酶基因的表达及其调控、分子进化与功能以及精氨酸激酶基因在害虫防治中的应用等几个方面介绍了国内外有关精氨酸激酶基因的研究进展。     

甲壳动物免疫因子的研究进展

无脊椎动物缺乏后天获得的特异性免疫功能,不产生免疫球蛋白,但是它们有先天性的非特异性免疫系统,能够识别和有效清除入侵的微生物和寄生虫等异物,保持体内外平衡。甲壳动物是无脊椎动物中的一个类群,近40年来,国外广泛地开展甲壳动物免疫的研究,而国内有关报道则较少。       

家蚕精氨酸激酶原核表达纯化、结构与活性分析

精氨酸激酶(Arginine kinase,AK)是无脊椎动物体内能量代谢的关键酶,在生长发育、营养利用、免疫抗性、胁迫应答等生命活动过程中发挥着重要的调控作用。家蚕精氨酸激酶BmAK与能量平衡、抗NPV病毒过程相关,但目前关于其分子结构和酶学性质的研究不多。克隆了BmAK基因ORF序列,分析了其染色体定位、基因组结构、mRNA结构、二级结构和三级结构。进化分析表明AK在进化过程中高度保守。原核表达获得了可溶性的BmAK重组蛋白,通过Ni-NTA亲和层析纯化了BmAK。圆二色光谱分析显示BmAK包含α螺旋结构,其α螺旋结构在pH 5–10范围内相对稳定。酶活分析表明BmAK的最适温度为30℃,最适pH为7.5。25℃时BmAK的催化活性最大,在15–30℃范围内,BmAK的结构相对稳定,活性差别不大。BmAK的结构在pH 7.0左右相对稳定。这些研究为揭示BmAK的结构和功能提供了基础,有助于开发以AK为分子靶标的绿色安全环保的新型杀虫剂。     

软体动物和甲壳动物酚氧化酶的研究进展

软体动物和甲壳动物的很多品种都是重要的经济养殖品种.随着养殖业集约化程度的提高,各种病害频繁发生,造成了巨大的经济损失.于是越来越多的人开始关注软体动物和甲壳动物的免疫防御系统,并对其进行研究.酚氧化酶(phenoloxidase,PO)是一种含铜的氧化酶,广泛存在于微生物、动物和植物体内.作为酚氧化酶原激活系统的重要一员,PO在无脊椎动物的先天免疫机制中起着重要的作用,有关其生物化学、免疫学和分子生物学特性的研究一直以来受到广泛关注,尤其在节肢动物中进展很快.作者对酚氧化酶在软体和甲壳动物中的功能、组织定位及表达、基因克隆和序列分析及其系统演化等几个方面的研究进展进行了综述.基因序列分析和系统进化树证据均表明,催化功能相同的软体动物酪氨酸酶与节肢动物PO的基因有较大差异.该结果对目前被广泛接受并使用的酪氨酸酶专门用于哺乳类,酚氧化酶专门用于无脊椎动物的分类法提出了挑战.因此作者建议,将酚氧化酶专门用于节肢动物,酪氨酸酶用于软体动物等非节肢动物和脊椎动物.     

蛋白质精氨酸甲基化修饰在糖代谢调节中的作用

蛋白质精氨酸甲基化是重要的细胞翻译后修饰方式,参与众多生命过程. 精氨酸的甲基化修饰与糖代谢相关疾病如糖尿病、糖耐量异常密切相关. 蛋白质精氨酸甲基化转移酶(protein arginine methyltransferases, PRMTs)活性下降及表达异常是糖代谢疾病的重要发病基础. 目前研究表明,PRMT1、PRMT4、PRMT5在糖代谢调节中均扮演重要角色,与糖代谢关键酶如磷酸烯醇式丙酮酸羧基激酶、葡萄糖6磷酸酶,胰岛素受体 胰岛素受体配体1 磷脂酰肌醇3激酶通道及其它通路密切相关. 给予甲基化抑制剂MTA及siRNA干扰甲基化则可引发糖代谢紊乱,进而诱发糖代谢疾病. 糖尿病药物罗格列酮、氨基胍与蛋白质精氨酸甲基化也有一定联系. 深入研究蛋白质精氨酸甲基化与糖代谢调节之间的联系及机制,可为防治糖代谢疾病及相关并发症提供更多的理论依据.     

管氏肿腿蜂毒液精氨酸激酶基因的克隆与表达分析

为了解精氨酸激酶作为寄生蜂毒液蛋白的功能,本研究克隆了管氏肿腿蜂毒液精氨酸激酶基因的开放阅读框,分析其表达特征,并测定了该毒液蛋白在毒液中的酶活性。克隆获得的毒液精氨酸激酶基因的开放阅读框长1 068 bp,编码了355个氨基酸,其理论分子量为39.71 kDa,等电点为5.86,并具有精氨酸激酶典型的N端和C端结构域,以及精氨酸和ADP结合位点、ATP-胍基磷酸转移酶活性位点和高度保守的天冬氨酸和精氨酸残基。系统进化分析表明,膜翅目精氨酸激酶分为两个亚家族,管氏肿腿蜂精氨酸激酶属于亚家族1。荧光定量PCR分析结果显示,该毒液蛋白基因在卵、幼虫、蛹、雌成虫中的表达量逐渐上升,至羽化10 d时达最高。在不同组织中,该基因在头部和毒液器官中的表达量较高。通过酶活测定发现,管氏肿腿蜂毒液中精氨酸激酶的酶活性为5.18 U/g蛋白。该研究有助于今后揭示寄生蜂毒液精氨酸激酶的功能与作用机制。     

Studies on phosphagen synthesis by mitochondrial preparations

Mitochondrial preparations from muscles of a crab (Cancer pagurus), two fish (Trachurus trachurus and Scyliorhinus canicula) and a bird (Columba livia) are able to synthesise, through ATP, the phosphagen related to that species. This indicates the presence of a bound phosphagen kinase. Addition of creatine kinase and creatine to crab mitochondria results in the synthesis of phosphocreatine. Similarly, the addition of arginine kinase and arginine to mitochondrial preparations from the fish and bird results in the synthesis of phosphoarginine. In the crab, the mitochondrial form of arginine kinase released by sonication had the same kinetic affinity constants and electrophoretic mobility and could not be distinguished immunologically from the cytosolic form. The close similarity of bound and cytosolic forms of arginine kinase in this crustacean suggests that the two forms have not evolved separately as has creatine kinase in the mammal.     

Evolution of arginine kinase within the genus Drosophila

The rate of evolution and extant levels of polymorphism for arginine kinase were examined in species of the genus Drosophila. Surveys of 11 species for electrophoretic variation revealed an average heterozygosity of 0.003. Using antisera prepared against arginine kinase purified from a representative of each of three major subdivisions of the genus, immunological distances were measured by microcomplement fixation (MC'F) assay for 20 species of Drosophila. These data are consistent with the broad outline of the phylogenetic relationships within the genus suggested by other kinds of data. The unit evolutionary period for Drosophila arginine kinase was estimated to be 59 million years (MY). This contrasts with an estimate of 30 MY as the unit evolutionary period for vertebrate creatine kinase. It is suggested that this difference in evolutionary rate arises because a single gene encodes Drosophila arginine kinase, whereas at least three different genes encode the various forms of vertebrate creatine kinase.     

Mechanism of Coagulation in Gecarcinus lateralis

Agglutination of cells, degranulation, and loss of cellularmembranes compose the major form of coagulation in the hemolymphof Gecarcinus lateralis. It is only after agglutination of theformed elements of the hemolymph that fibrin-like strands appear.Sodium citrate, in a concentration of 10% or more to preventcoagulation, is always inadequate to prevent cell agglutination. Multiple studies by protein electrophoresis failed to revealany differences between plasma and serum, nor did they allowus to identify a soluble protein in plasma that did not appearin serum. Crab hemolymph changes in its capacity for clottingduring the molt cycle, with the most rapid clotting occurringin the premolt period. A new protein appears in the premoltperiod, but its relation to the whole clotting mechanism isunknown. In contradistinction to vertebrate systems, citrated hemolymphdoes not clot when calcium is added. There is no relationshipthat can be demonstrated between activating systems in vertebrateplasma and clotting in the crab. It would seem that, ratherthan the vertebrate coagulating system evolving from the crustaceantype of clotting system, the development of these clotting systemshas run in parallel. The crustacean cell, in addition, appearsto be more potent than vertebrate cells in clotting systems.The comparison of human lymph to crustacean hemolymph wouldindicate that, for a given amount of cells, crustacean hemolymphclots 2 to 20 times faster than human lymph. On the other hand,agglutination of cells is a fundamental initiating step in coagulationof both human blood and crustacean hemolymph.     

Food control by applied biochemistry of marine organisms: Comparison of proteins and metabolites from fish and invertebrate muscle

Most fishery products consist of muscle tissue from fish and invertebrates. Differences in the molecular structure and in metabolism of muscles can be utilized to characterize and identify various seafood. Creatine and arginine were found to be useful for the differentiation between imitation crab/shrimp meat and real crustacean meat. Octopine served as an indicator for the meat of cephalopods and mussels. In order to identify the animal species of a fishery product, several electrophoretic methods were used. It depended on the type of product, whether sarcoplasmic or myofibrillar proteins were better suited. Raw products were best analysed by isoelectric focusing of sarcoplasmic proteins. Two types of sarcoplasmic calcium-binding proteins, parvalbumins of fish and soluble calcium-binding proteins of invertebrates, were especially useful for species identification. Due to their thermal stability, these proteins gave species-specific patterns for cooked products, too. Two other techniques were also investigated: urea gel isoelectric focusing, and sodium dodecyl sulphate — polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. These methods were applied in the analysis of products where the sarcoplasmic proteins had been removed by washing steps, i.e. imitation crab meat made from surimi, and of other raw and cooked products. The myosin light chains gave protein patterns that were characteristic for many species. Paramyosin, which is absent from vertebrate muscle, indicated the presence of mollusc muscle. It was shown that the determination, of arginine kinase activity enabled differentiation between raw fish muscle and invertebrate muscles.     

甲壳动物横纹肌的收缩蛋白质与调节机制

甲壳动物横纹肌肌原纤维的肌丝陈列,收缩蛋白质和收缩的Ca²⁺依赖性调节机制与脊椎动物横纹肌有不少差异.脊椎动物横纹肌、甲壳动物快肌与慢肌的粗丝与细丝的数量比依次为1:2,1:3和1:6,肌丝阵列各异.甲壳动物粗肌丝由肌球蛋白和副肌球蛋白组成,其分子装配与脊椎动物不同.细肌丝含有肌动蛋白、原肌球蛋白和肌钙蛋白,肌钙蛋白-T分子量较高,肌钙蛋白-C仅1个Ca²⁺结合位点.甲壳动物横纹肌兼有细肌丝调节与粗肌丝调节.     

An unusual form of purifying selection in a sperm protein

Protamines are small, highly basic DNA-binding proteins found in the sperm of animals. Interestingly, the proportion of arginine residues in one type of protamine, protamine P1, is about 50% in mammals. Upon closer examination, it was found that both the total number of amino acids and the positions of arginine residues have changed considerably during the course of mammalian evolution. This evolutionary pattern suggests that protamine P1 is under an unusual form of purifying selection, in which the high proportion of arginine residues is maintained but the positions may vary. In this case, we would expect that the rate of nonsynonymous substitution is not particularly low compared with that of synonymous substitution, despite purifying selection. We would also expect that the selection for a high arginine content results in a high frequency of the nucleotide G in the coding region of this gene, because all six arginine codons contain at least one G. These expectations were confirmed in our study of mammalian protamine genes. Analysis of nonmammalian vertebrate genes also showed essentially the same patterns of evolutionary changes, suggesting that this unusual form of purifying selection has been active since the origin of bony vertebrates. The protamine gene of an insect species shows similar patterns, although its purifying selection is less intense. These observations suggest that arginine-rich selection is a general feature of protamine evolution. The driving force for arginine-rich selection appears to be the DNA-binding function of protamine P1 and an interaction with a protein kinase in the fertilized egg.     

The role of creatine kinase and arginine kinase in muscle.

Arginine and creatine kinase activities in different muscles are compared with calculated maximum rates of ATP turnover. The magnitude of the kinase activities decreases in the following order: anaerobic muscles and vertebrate skeletal muscles greater than heart muscle greater than insect flight muscle. The maximum activity of phosphagen kinases (i.e. creatine kinase and arginine kinase), in the direction of phosphagen formation, is lower than the calculated maximum rate of ATP turnover in insect flight muscle or rat heart.     

An approach to the antigenic structure of arginine kinase and creatine kinase. Physical, chemical and immunological study of some modified derivatives.

The antigenic structure of arginine kinase and creatine kinase has been approached using chemical modifications and enzymatic cleavage. Mild performic oxidation that, with a restricted number of oxidized amino acid residues, results for both enzymes in a severe decrease of the helical structure and in a large increase of the protein-solvent interactions, affects differently their antigenic reactivity: when compared with antisera to the homologous native enzymes, arginine kinase and its oxidized derivative cross-react fully, while creatine kinase and its oxidized derivative cross-react only about 30%. The persistence of the antigenic reactivity of arginine kinase through drastic structural alterations is confirmed by the high inhibitory capacity (about 80%) of crude tryptic hydrolyzates towards the combination of argining kinase with its specific antibodies. Tryptic peptides of creatine kinase, obtained in the same conditions, inhibit weakly (about 12%) the homologous antigen-antibody interaction. The participation of the lysines in the antigenicity of arginine kinase and creatine kinase is suggested by the enhanced inhibitory capacity of the tryptic hydrolyzates when the cleavage is restricted to the arginyl peptide bounds, and was verified for arginine kinase through assays with lysine-modified derivatives.     

Overall study of the in vitro plasma clotting system in an invertebrate, Liocarcinus puber (Crustacea Decapoda): considerations on the structure of the Crustacea plasma fibrinogen in relation to evolution

An overall study of the in vitro plasma coagulation system in the crab Liocarcinus puber has been carried out using various analytical methods, namely thromboelastography, spectrophotometrical examination, and a new one based on changes of the mechanical impedance of the developing clot. From the results reported here the clotting pattern in this species appears surprisingly complex for an invertebrate and unexpectedly closer to that of the vertebrates. Indirect evidences suggest that the fibrinogen polypeptide chains in this species and very likely in the other crustacean, are very different from those of the vertebrates. This would imply that crustacean and vertebrate fibrinogen would have diverged from one another in a far remote past, far beyond the individualization of the vertebrate alpha chain, that is, over 1.5 million years ago.     

Autoproteolytic stability of a trypsin from the marine crab Cancer pagurus

Autoproteolytic stability is a crucial factor for the application of proteases in biotechnology. In contrast to vertebrate enzymes, trypsins from shrimp and crayfish are known to be resistant against autolysis. We show by characterisation of a novel trypsin from the gastric fluid of the marine crab Cancer pagurus that this property might be assigned to the entire class of crustaceans. The isolated and cloned crab trypsin (C.p.TryIII) exhibits all characteristic properties of crustacean trypsins. However, its overall sequence identity to other trypsins of this systematic class is comparatively low. The high resistance against autoproteolysis was determined by mass spectrometry, which revealed a low susceptibility of the N-terminal domain towards autolysis. By homology modelling of the tertiary structure, the elevated stability was attributed to the distinctly different pattern of autolytic cleavage sites, which is conserved in all known crustacean trypsin sequences.