神经生长抑制因子相互作用蛋白的分子克隆、鉴定及其生物学特性

为了探讨神经生长抑制因子(Neuronal growth inhibitory factor,GIF)与Alzheimer’s病(Alzheimer’s disease,AD)的关系,将GIF的cDNA全基因克隆到载体pHyblex中,运用酵母双杂交系统从Alzheimer’s病人脑cDNA文库中筛选出与GIF相互作用蛋白的cDNA克隆。免疫共沉淀和蛋白质印迹实验进一步验证了该蛋白在体内与GIF相互作用的特异性。克隆并鉴定了其中1个与GIF特异性结合的蛋白,与人细胞核dUTP焦磷酸酶(DUT)同源。进一步构建了重组表达质粒pGEX-4T-1／DUT,转化大肠杆菌BL21,经谷胱甘肽-Sepharose 4B亲和层析、凝血酶酶切和Sephacryl S100纯化,得到纯度95％以上的dUTPase蛋白。体外生物学活性检测表明,表达的dUTPase蛋白可以与GIF共同作用嗜铬细胞瘤株(pheochromocytoma)PC12,对细胞的生长产生抑制作用。     

金属硫蛋白-3对dUTPase调节dUTP细胞毒性作用的影响

金属硫蛋白-3（MT-3）,又称神经生长抑制因子,是一种脑特异性金属硫蛋白。人细胞核dUTP焦磷酸酶（dUTP pyrophosphatase, dUTPase）是最近在脑中研究发现的能与人金属硫蛋白-3（human metallothionein-3,hMT-3）相互作用的一个蛋白,两者共同作用具有神经元生长抑制活性。为了探讨hMT-3对dUTPase调节dUTP引起的细胞毒性作用的影响,通过基因转染HEK293细胞观察细胞在dUTP中的生长情况,发现共转染hMT-3和dUTPase基因的细胞比单转染dUTPase或hMT-3基因的细胞具有更强的对dUTP细胞毒性的耐受能力;同时在大肠杆菌BL21中表达重组蛋白,测定hMT-3在dUTPase水解dUTP中的作用,结果显示重组蛋白hMT-3可以促进dUTPase对dUTP的水解。结果均初步证实了hMT-3对dUTPase抵抗dUTP引起的正常细胞死亡有一定的协同作用,为进一步研究dUTPase及其相互作用蛋白hMT-3在化疗中的应用提供理论依据。     

马传染性贫血病毒强、弱毒株dUTPase结构与酶活性比较

为研究尿嘧啶脱氧核糖核苷三磷酸酶(dUTPase)在马传染性贫血病毒(equine infectous anemia virus,EIAV)致弱过程中的作用,探索dUTPase结构与功能的关系,分别对EIAV强、弱毒株dUTPase的编码基因进行了结构分析,并在大肠杆菌中进行了表达.经镍-次氮基三乙酸(Ni-NTA)金属亲合层析方法对表达产物纯化后,用3H标记底物的方法测定了重组强、弱毒株dUTPase的活性.证明所表达的两种重组dUTPase均具有水解dUTP的功能,但重组弱毒株dUTPase的活性显著高于重组强毒株dUTPase的活性.结果提示,由于EIAV疫苗株在驴白细胞上连续传代培养,使病毒dUTPase的活性增强和复制能力提高,而决定酶活性改变的分子基础是dUTPase编码基因中的两个氨基酸发生了突变.此结果对其它慢病毒病的免疫预防具有重要参考价值.     

人GST-AWP1融合蛋白的原核表达及其抗体制备

为进一步研究人的一新蛋白———蛋白激酶C相关激酶 1相关蛋白 (AWP1)的结构、功能及与其相互作用的蛋白而进行GST AWP融合蛋白表达载体的构建、原核表达、纯化及其抗体的制备 .采用逆转录PCR(RT PCR)法从人ECV30 4内皮细胞中扩增AWP1cDNA编码区 ,并将其重组于谷胱甘肽硫转移酶 (GST)融合蛋白表达质粒pGEX KG中 .经酶切、序列鉴定分析后 ,用该重组质粒转化大肠杆菌BL2 1,并经异丙基 β D 硫代半乳糖苷 (IPTG)诱导产生GST AWP1融合蛋白 ,继而纯化获得了分子量约 5 6kD的融合蛋白 .将此融合蛋白免疫新西兰兔 ,经ELISA和Western印迹检测获得了效价高、免疫活性强的兔抗人多克隆抗体 .结果表明成功构建了GST AWP1融合蛋白表达载体 ,在大肠杆菌高效表达了GST AWP1融合蛋白 ,并获得高效多抗 ,为下阶段深入AWP1功能研究提供了重要的基础     

病毒dUTPase研究进展

脱氧尿苷焦磷酸酶（dUTP pyrophosphatase,dUTPasc）广泛存在于真核、原核细胞和病毒等生物有机体中,通过催化水解脱氧尿苷三磷酸（dUTP）,减少尿嘧啶在DNA合成中的错误掺入,降低细胞中的dUTP／dTTP比例,保证DNA复制的正确性和顺利进行。病毒编码的dUTPasc具有种属特异性,且与病毒的毒力和高效复制密切相关。本文就dUTPase的生物学功能、分类特征、表达调控、分布定位及病毒dUTPase功能的研究进展进行了概述,为深入开展dUTPase功能研究提供理论基础。     

dUTP焦磷酸酶研究进展

dUTPase通过催化水解dUTP,降低尿嘧啶在DNA中的错误掺入,调节dUTP／dTTP的正常比例,保证了DNA复制的正确性和顺利进行。绝大多数dUTPase结构相似,活性中心由不同的亚基共同参与。dUTPase的活性已确定存在于真核及原核的多种组织中,其在细胞内的表达依赖细胞周期或细胞发育的调控。许多病毒也编码dUTPase,且与病毒的感染力有关。研究显示该酶的表达对由胸苷酸合成酶（TS）抑制剂产生的细胞毒性具有关键的拮抗作用,为dUTPase拮抗剂在癌症化疗和逆转录病毒治疗中的开发应用奠定了理论基础。     

基质金属蛋白酶2抑制剂的筛选及鉴定

以原核表达的具有明胶水解活性的人基质金属蛋白酶 2的催化区 (MCD)为靶标 ,筛选噬菌体随机环七肽库和十二肽库 .找到 6种与MCD特异结合的小肽 ,将 6种小肽基因分别与GST表达质粒重组 ,进行GST融合表达 ,制备融合蛋白 .采用Glutathione Sepharose 4B亲和层析法纯化融合蛋白 ,通过酶抑制实验、体外侵袭实验检测融合蛋白的活性 .结果表明 ,GST C71能够抑制MCD水解 β酪蛋白的活性 ,并且对人纤维肉瘤细胞HT10 80的体外侵袭有明显的抑制作用     

核糖核酸酶抑制因子(RI)的融合表达与复性

应用PCR技术从核糖核酸酶抑制因子 (ribonucleaseinhibitor ,RI)的克隆载体pT7 ri中扩增出ri片段 (1 5kb) ,亚克隆到融合表达载体pGEX 2T中 ,并转化感受态大肠杆菌BL2 1.异丙基半乳糖苷 (IPTG)诱导表达的GST RI经SDS PAGE证明分子量约 76kD ,表达量约占菌体蛋白总量 2 0 % .以包涵体形式表达的目的蛋白经尿素变性 ,透析复性得到的产物具有较高的抑制RNaseA的活性(15 0U ml) .复性的融合蛋白于 2 4℃经凝血酶作用 16h ,可被切割成 5 0kD的RI和 2 6kD的GST .     

斜纹夜蛾GST基因的原核表达载体构建、融合蛋白表达及Northern印迹分析

谷胱甘肽-S-转移酶(GST)是生物体内重要的解毒酶系之一。根据斜纹夜蛾(Spodoptera litura)GST基因设计特异引物,从cDNA文库中扩增GST基因并克隆至pGEM-T载体,经鉴定后经SpeⅠ和EcoRⅠ双酶切后,与表达载体pPROEX HTb连接,转化感受态细胞E.coliDH5α,经PCR鉴定和双酶切鉴定得到阳性重组质粒pPROEX HTb-GST,在IPTG诱导下,获得融合蛋白的表达。经SDS-PAGE蛋白电泳鉴定,表达产物为25KD的GST融合蛋白。Northern杂交结果表明,2龄期斜纹夜蛾GST基因在mRNA水平上的表达量最大,3龄期次之,5龄期时的表达量最小。     

GST-SOD1-R9融合蛋白的表达、纯化、稳定性与跨膜效应

穿膜肽TAT介导的双效抗氧化酶GST(谷胱甘肽巯基转移酶)-TAT-SOD1(Cu,Zn超氧化物歧化酶),可有效清除胞内自由基,其预防氧化损伤的效果强于SOD1-TAT,但前者的跨膜能力不如后者。为增强双效抗氧化酶的跨膜效率,本研究融合了SOD1和穿膜肽R9,合成SOD1-R9全基因序列,并将其插入带有GST的原核表达载体pGEX-4T-1中,成功构建了GST-SOD1-R9融合蛋白表达质粒。然后,将重组质粒pGEX-4T-1-SOD1-R9转化大肠杆菌BL21(DE3),用IPTG诱导表达融合蛋白,通过改变诱导温度和诱导时间,确定了融合蛋白在25℃下表达11 h,可得到高表达量的可溶性GST-SOD1-R9融合蛋白。利用80%硫酸铵沉淀和GST琼脂糖树脂纯化得到纯蛋白,应用SDS-PAGE和酶活性鉴定纯化的蛋白为正确表达的目标蛋白。GST-SOD1-R9融合蛋白的温度和pH稳定性实验结果证实,该蛋白在生理条件下具有良好的SOD和GST活性。细胞跨膜实验结果证明其跨膜能力与GST-TAT-SOD1融合蛋白相比显著增强(P0.05)。这些工作为深入研究GST-SOD1-R9的抗氧化损伤效应建立了基础。     

Cloning, expression, purification, and characterisation of the dUTPase encoded by the integrated Bacillus subtilis temperate bacteriophage SPbeta

The cDNA encoding dUTPase, an enzyme catalysing the hydrolysis of dUTP to dUMP and pyrophosphate, from the integrated Bacillus subtilis temperate bacteriophage SPbeta has been cloned and over-expressed at high levels in Escherichia coli. The resulting recombinant dUTPase was purified to homogeneity in one step by phosphocellulose chromatography with a final yield of 700 mg pure crystallisable protein per litre of bacterial culture. The molecular mass of the 142 amino acid polypeptide was 16 kDa as judged by electrophoretic analysis and gel filtration chromatography revealed the enzyme to exist as a homotrimer in solution. Isoelectric focusing indicated the isoelectric point to be 7. Functionality of the purified recombinant dUTPase was proven by demonstrating catalytic activity towards the substrate dUTP. The optimal activity of SPbeta dUTPase proved to be dependent on the presence of divalent metal ions, with Mg(2+) conferring the highest activity.     

Structure/function analysis of a dUTPase: catalytic mechanism of a potential chemotherapeutic target.

dUTP pyrophosphatase catalyses hydrolysis of deoxyuridine triphosphate (dUTP) to deoxyuridine monophosphate (dUMP) and inorganic pyrophosphate (PPi). Elimination of dUTP is vital since its misincorporation into DNA by DNA polymerases can initiate a damaging iterative repair and misincorporation cycle, resulting in DNA fragmentation and cell death. The anti-tumour activity of folate agonists and thymidylate synthase inhibitors is thought to rely on dUTP misincorporation. Furthermore, retroviral cDNA production may be particularly susceptible to the effects of dUTP misincorporation by virtue of the error-prone nature of reverse trans criptase. Consequently, dUTPase activity is an ideal point of intervention in both chemotherapy and anti-retroviral therapy. In particular, the dUTPase encoded by a human endogenous retrovirus (HERV-K) has been suggested to complement HIV infection and so is an attractive target for specific inhibition. Hence, we used site photoaffinity labelling, site-directed mutagenesis and molecular modelling to assign catalytic roles to the conserved amino acid residues in the active site of the HERV-K dUTPase and to identify structural differences with other dUTPase enzymes. We found that dUTP photoaffinity labelling was specific for a beta-hairpin motif in HERV-K dUTPase. Mutagenesis of aspartate residues Asp84 and 86 to asparagine within this beta-hairpin showed the carboxylate moiety of both residues was required for catalysis but not for dUTP binding. An increase in the pKa of both aspartate residues brought about by substitution of a serine residue with a glutamate residue adjacent to the aspartate residues increased activity by a factor of 1.67 at pH 8.0, implicating general base catalysis as the enzyme's catalytic mechanism. Conservative mutagenesis of Tyr87 to Phe resulted in a sevenfold reduction of dUTPase activity and a 3.3-fold reduction in binding activity, whilst substitution with an isoleucine residue totally abolished both catalytic activity and dUTP binding, suggesting that binding/activity is dependent on an aromatic side-chain at the base of the hairpin. Comparison of a homology-based three-dimensional model structure of HERV-K dUTPase with a crystallographic structure of the human dUTPase revealed displacement of a conserved alpha-helix in the HERV-K enzyme causing expansion of the HERV-K active site. This expansion may be responsible for the ability of the HERV-K enzyme to hydrolyse dTTP and bind the bulkier dNTPs in contrast to the majority of dUTPases which are highly specific for dUTP. Knowledge of the dUTPase catalytic mechanism and the distinctive topography of the HERV-K active site provides a molecular basis for the design of HERV-K dUTPase-specific inhibitors.     

Cell cycle- and differentiation stage-dependent variation of dUTPase activity in higher plant cells

Deoxyuridine triphosphate nucleotidohydrolase (dUTPase), a key enzyme in pyrimidine nucleotide metabolism, specifically hydrolyzes deoxyuridine triphosphate (dUTP) to deoxyuridine monophosphate and inorganic pyrophosphate. This enzyme activity has been studied in cellular extracts from Allium cepa root meristem cells with two specific aims: (i) to determine how the properties of the plant enzyme compare with those of dUTPase purified from other sources, and (ii) to analyze the relationship between dUTPase activity and cell proliferation and cell differentiation. Plant dUTPase is highly specific for dUTP, with an apparent Km of 6 microM, is highly sensitive to EDTA and it is probably a metalloenzyme. Our results demonstrate the presence of high levels of dUTPase in both resting and proliferating root meristem cells. The enzyme activity appears to be tightly regulated during the cell cycle. dUTPase activity increases at the G1/S boundary, remains high throughout S phase, and shows almost undetectable levels during G1 and G2. We have also found that dUTPase activity in differentiated cells, located in the mature portion of the root, is barely detectable. Altogether our results indicate that dUTPase activity is modulated by the proliferation rate and that this activity progressively decreases as cells initiate their differentiation program.     

Identification and partial characterization of rabbit brain deoxyuridine 5′-triphosphatase

Adult rabbit brain contains the enzymatic machinery to convert deoxyuridine to deoxyuridine triphosphate (dUTP). Although dUTP as dUMP can be readily incorporated into DNA in place of thymidine monophosphate, we detected no (3H)dUMP in newly synthesized (3H)DNA in adult rabbit brain after the intraventricular injection of (3H)deoxyuridine. Only (3H)thymidine was detected. The probable explanation for the lack of incorporation of uracil into adult rabbit brain DNA is the presence of a specific, high affinity dUTPase which converts dUTP to dUMP and PP. After homogenization and ammonium sulfate fractionation of adult rabbit brain (35 to 75% saturation), a high affinity, specific dUTPase was detected in the dialyzed enzyme preparation. The Km and Vmax of the dUTPase were 0.2 microM and 36 pmol/mg protein/min, respectively. No high affinity dUTPase activity was detectable in liver. In brain, another enzyme hydrolyzed dUTP and dTTP (NTPase( to their respective diphosphates. NTPase, unlike dUTPase, was not sensitive to heating at 65 degrees C for five minutes. Thus, brain, like other tissues, contains a high affinity, specific dUTPase presumably to "sanitize" the cells of dUTP and, thus, protect the integrity of newly synthesized DNA.     

Purification and properties of the deoxyuridine triphosphate nucleotidohydrolase enzyme derived from HeLa S3 cells. Comparison to a distinct dUTP nucleotidohydrolase induced in herpes simplex virus-infected HeLa S3 cells

Deoxyuridine triphosphate nucleotidohydrolase (dUTPase) (EC 3.6.1.23) derived from HeLa S3 cells has been purified to near homogeneity as judged by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The purified enzyme has a specific activity of about 16,000 nmol of dUMP hydrolyzed per min/mg of protein. The dUTPase enzyme derived from HeLa S3 cells appears to be composed to two equal molecular mass subunits, each being about 22,500 daltons. Association of these subunits to produce a 45,000-dalton protein is promoted by MgCl2. In the presence of EDTA enzyme activity is abolished and the enzyme dissociates into its monomeric form. MgCl2 will completely reverse the inhibition caused by EDTA and promote subunit association. MnCl2 will also promote association of the dUTPase subunits. However, MnCl2 will not completely reverse inhibition by EDTA. In addition, purified dUTPase, extensively dialyzed to remove contaminating ions, is activated almost 2-fold by the addition of 5 mM MgCl2. In contrast, addition of 5 mM MnCl2 to the dialyzed enzyme preparation will cause more than a 50% decrease in enzyme activity. This data indicates that Mg2+ is the natural prosthetic group for this enzyme. The Km value of dUTP for the purified enzyme is 3 X 10(-6) M in the presence of MgCl2. The turnover number for this enzyme has been calculated to be 550 molecules of dUTP hydrolyzed per min under standard assay conditions. Infection of HeLa S3 cells with herpes simplex type 1 virus induces a distinct species of dUTPase. This new species of dUTPase has an isoelectric point of 8.0, compared to an isoelectric point in the range of 5.7 to 6.5 for the HeLa S3 dUTPase. Molecular weight determinations of this new species of dUTPase indicate that the native enzyme is monomeric with a molecular weight of about 35,000. The virally induced dUTPase is inhibited by EDTA and this inhibition is reversed by MgCl2. Unlike the HeLa S3 dUTPase, the virally induced enzyme does not appear to be composed of subunits.     

Purification and characterization of a dUTPase from Acholeplasma laidlawii B-PG9

dUTP was purified 120-fold from extracts of Acholeplasma laidlawii B-PG9 by Blue-Sepharose, Phenyl-Sepharose, hydroxyapatite, and DEAE-Sephacel chromatography techniques. The only substrate for the enzyme was dUTP with an apparent Km of 4.5 microM. The only reaction products were dUMP and PPi. The dUTPase did not exhibit any specific divalent cation requirement, but it was inhibited by EDTA. The enzyme was not inhibited by Pi or p-hydroxymercuribenzoate. The molecular weight of the enzyme was estimated by gel filtration chromatography to be 48,000, and its isoelectric point was 5.3. The enzyme was thermostable at 55 degrees C for 1 h. A. laidlawii dUTPase was distinguishable from KB (human epidermoid carcinoma) dUTPase by differences in electrophoretic migration, isoelectric point, and thermostability. The enzyme is important in preventing dUTP from being incorporated into DNA and may have a significant role in both the synthesis of thymidine- and PPi-dependent phosphorylations.     

Enhanced activity of deoxyuridine 5′-triphosphatase in regenerating rat liver

An enzyme, dUTPase, that catalyzes the conversion of dUTP to dUMP and PPi, was partially purified from regenerating rat livers. The molecular weight was estimated by gel filtration to be 60,000. The apparent Km for dUTP was 12 μM. No other deoxyribonucleoside triphosphates served as a substrate. This enzyme is active in the absence of added divalent cations or sulfhydryl reagents; the activity could be inhibited by EDTA and shows a broad pH optimum with no decrease in activity from pH 7 to 11. The specific activity of dUTPase in rat liver begins to rise 16 h after partial hepatectomy and reaches a maximum about 24 h after the operation, rising to at least 5 to 6 times the normal level.