奇异果甜蛋白及其基因工程

奇异果甜蛋白(thaumatin)是迄今为止最甜的物质之一,对其研究具有很重要的意义。奇异果甜蛋白的生化性质基本清楚,基因序列和氨基酸序列都已测定。它的甜味可能是由奇异果甜蛋白上特定基团和受体结合引起的。对奇异果甜蛋白的生理功能知之甚少。近二十年来,在奇异果甜蛋白的基因工程上取得了一定进展,但仍然存在许多困难。 Abstract:Thaumatin is one of the sweetest substances known to date,it is important to study the thaumatin.The biochemical properties of thaumatin have been clarified clearly.Thaumatin had been isolated and sequenced.The mechanism of the sweetness of thaumatin may be due to the combination of some special groups and the receptors.The exact function of thaumatin is still not clear.Although gene engineering of thaumatin has been carried out for 20 years,there are still some difficulties to be solved for using in the market.     

蛋白质甜化物

Ingene 在酵母遗传工程菌中生产出了一种比aspartame 甜600倍的蛋白质——thaumatin。这个正逐渐闻名的公司计划估算其今后18个月新的生产设备的成本。Beatrice公司(芝加哥,伊利诺州)支持这项工作。Thaumatin 自然存在于西非热带雨林一种灌木 katemfe 的果实里。在日本、英国、澳大利亚和瑞士,它作为一种低热量甜化物销售。Thaumatin 不同于只含两个氨基酸的 aspar-     

植物甜蛋白Thaumatin研究进展

甜蛋白自 2 0世纪 70年代发现以来 ,一直倍受人们关注 ,而源于自然的Thaumatin是植物甜蛋白中的一种 ,它具有低热量、高甜度、安全无毒 ,并可降解为人体所需的氨基酸等多种优点 ,是一种新型甜味剂。在物质文化生活日益丰富的今天 ,人们越来越重视饮食的科学性 ,吃饱的同时更加关注所摄入食品的品质 ,无疑具多功能的非糖类物质 Thaumatin就是人们所需求的理想食品。因此 ,Thaumatin成为热门研究领域之一也就不足为怪了。1 　植物甜蛋白研究概况迄今为止 ,人们从多种植物中发现并分离出 7种甜味蛋白 [1 ]。更确切地说 ,其中 5种( Thaumatin,…     

干扰素诱导的鱼类Mx蛋白

Mx蛋白是干扰素诱导表达的蛋白家族中的成员,当机体和细胞受病毒感染或诱生剂处理时产生.Mx蛋白和其它干扰素诱导蛋白一起构成宿主细胞的抗病毒状态,以达到抗病毒的目的.研究表明,Mx蛋白具有抗病毒活性,还可能与其它基本生命活动如发育或分化,蛋白质分送和生长有关.在鱼类也发现多种Mx蛋白,具有Mx蛋白家族的共有特征在肽链末端有一个三联ATP/GTP结合区和发动蛋白家族的结构特征序列;在蛋白C端存在使Mx蛋白形成三聚体的Leu拉链结构以及定位信号.但是迄今没有发现鱼类Mx蛋白的抗病毒活性.文章最后对目前鱼类病毒病的防治及利用抗病毒基因进行鱼类基因工程抗病毒育种进行了探讨.     

谷胱甘肽转移酶在植物抵抗非生物胁迫方面的角色

非生物胁迫因子如高盐、干旱、低温、重金属污染等严重影响植物的生长和繁殖。植物进化出一系列包括各种酶类物质的系统抵抗逆境所带来的氧化伤害。谷胱甘肽转移酶(glutathione S-transferase,GST,EC 2.5.1.18)是由多种功能的蛋白质组成的超家族,在植物遭受高盐、干旱、低温胁迫时,GSTs可清除活性氧,保护植物细胞膜结构和蛋白质活性。对谷胱甘肽转移酶在植物抵御非生物胁迫中的作用进行综述,为今后利用基因工程育种提供理论依据。     

蛋白质工程的现状和未来

七十年代末,随着基因操纵技术的建立,分离、合成目的基因,对其进行切割、拼接,从而使利用微生物--如大肠杆菌和酵母菌生产出其遗传产物蛋白质成为可能,结果,开发出了利用生物组织来大量生产激素及生理活性物质的方法。 在过去的五、六年间,已经利用基因工程产生了胰岛素、生长激素、干扰素等物质,并且进行了这些药物的商品化生产。以前很难获取的蛋白质,现在已经很容易地得到了。因此,人们很自然地产生出一个愿望,即生产活性更强,更加稳定,并且具有新的功能的蛋白质,这就是所谓的蛋白质工程。     

家蚕在干扰素基因工程中的贡献

干扰素(IFN)是人类有核细胞内固有的干扰素基因受到外源性因子刺激时所产生的具有抗病毒,抗肿瘤和急疫调节作用的蛋白质。干扰素基因工程的研究不仅对阐明干扰素基因结构表达原理有很大的理论意义,而且对大量生产这类有防病治病价值的蛋白质具有重大的社会效益和经济效益。目前人的IFN-α.β.γ基因工程均已获得成功(如表1)。     

植物花香基因工程研究进展

花香是一系列低分子量、挥发性物质的复杂混合物,由花朵释放来吸引和引导授粉的昆虫.花香在植物繁殖上具有重要作用,还能提高观赏植物和切花的审美价值.在过去的数十年里,随着生物技术的发展,有数种花香相关基因已经相继被克隆,花香物质的生物合成和代谢工程也得到了研究.本文综述了植物花香物质生物合成途径及其相关酶和基因的研究进展;探讨了基因工程调控及改良植物花香的策略;同时简要评述了花香基因工程研究的影响因素并展望了其应用前景.     

基因工程制药的研究现状与发展前景

简要叙述了近年来基因工程技术在医药工业中的应用进展,主要包括基因工程技术在药物生产、新药开发及药物生产工艺改进的应用.随着基因组和蛋白质组研究的深入,基因工程药物将有更多的机会获得突破性进展.     

脂类物质抗菌的研究进展

研究发现人体内存在多种体内合成的抗菌物质,其中蛋白质类与糖类物质的研究报道较多。最近的研究发现脂类物质,包括饱和脂肪酸(月桂酸、棕榈酸)、单不饱和脂肪酸(棕榈烯酸、油酸)、多不饱和脂肪酸(二十碳五烯酸、二十二碳六烯酸、花生四烯酸)以及类固醇(维生素D、性类固醇)等也具有抗菌作用。脂类物质一方面可以通过调节多种炎性细胞和免疫细胞调动自身免疫系统发挥间接抗菌作用,另一方面也可以通过直接插入细菌细胞膜,影响其完整性发挥直接抗菌作用。本研究对各种脂类物质抗菌作用及其相关机制的进展作一综述。     

Cloning of the thaumatin I cDNA and characterization of recombinant thaumatin I secreted by Pichia pastoris

Thaumatin is a sweet-tasting protein comprising a mixture of some variants. The major variants are thaumatins I and II. Although the amino acid sequence of thaumatin I was known and the nucleotide sequence of cDNA of thaumatin II was elucidated, the nucleotide sequence of thaumatin I has been controversial. We have cloned two thaumatin cDNAs from the fruit of Thaumatococcus daniellii Benth. One is the same nucleotide sequence as that of thaumatin II already reported, and the other is a novel nucleotide sequence. The amino acid sequence deduced from the novel cDNA was the same amino acid sequence as that of thaumatin I, the only exception being the residue at position 113 (Asp instead of Asn), indicating that the novel thaumatin cDNA is that for thaumatin I. This thaumatin I cDNA was transformed into Pichia pastoris X-33, and the recombinant thaumatin I expressed was purified and characterized. The threshold value of sweetness of the recombinant thaumatin I was the same as that of the plant thaumatin I, although several unexpected amino acid residues were attached to the N-terminal of the recombinant thaumatin I. These indicate that the N-terminal portion of thaumatin is not critical for the elicitation of sweetness.     

Effects of pre- and pro-sequence of thaumatin on the secretion by Pichia pastoris

Thaumatin is a 22-kDa sweet-tasting protein containing eight disulfide bonds. When thaumatin is expressed in Pichia pastoris using the thaumatin cDNA fused with both the alpha-factor signal sequence and the Kex2 protease cleavage site from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the N-terminal sequence of the secreted thaumatin molecule is not processed correctly. To examine the role of the thaumatin cDNA-encoded N-terminal pre-sequence and C-terminal pro-sequence on the processing of thaumatin and efficiency of thaumatin production in P. pastoris, four expression plasmids with different pre-sequence and pro-sequence were constructed and transformed into P. pastoris. The transformants containing pre-thaumatin gene that has the native plant signal, secreted thaumatin molecules in the medium. The N-terminal amino acid sequence of the secreted thaumatin molecule was processed correctly. The production yield of thaumatin was not affected by the C-terminal pro-sequence, and the pro-sequence was not processed in P. pastoris, indicating that pro-sequence is not necessary for thaumatin synthesis.     

Expression of synthetic thaumatin genes in yeast

Thaumatin is a plant protein that contains 8 disulfides and 207 amino acids in the mature form. The protein is of potential commercial interest since microgram quantities elicit an intense sweetness sensation. Two major variants of thaumatin have been identified in our laboratory by using sequence data obtained from thaumatin tryptic peptides. These differ by one amino acid at position 46 (asparagine or lysine), and both proteins differ from previously published sequences. We have synthesized DNA-coding sequences for three of these thaumatin variants using yeast preferred codons. The genes were inserted into an expression vector that contained a yeast 3-phosphoglycerate kinase promoter and terminator, and the vectors were transformed into yeast for expression of the recombinant protein. Upon lysis of the yeast cells, all thaumatin was localized in the insoluble cell fraction. Analysis of the sodium dodecyl sulfate solubilized yeast extracts by gel electrophoresis and Western blotting showed that thaumatin represented about 20% of the insoluble yeast protein. Although expressed at high levels, none of the thaumatins was biologically active (sweet). Preliminary protein folding experiments showed that two of three thaumatin variants could be folded to the sweet conformation.     

Five amino acid residues in cysteine-rich domain of human T1R3 were involved in the response for sweet-tasting protein,thaumatin

Thaumatin, a sweet-tasting plant protein, elicits a sweet taste sensation at 50 nM in humans but not rodents. Although it was shown that the cysteine-rich domain (CRD) of human T1R3 (hT1R3) is important for the response to thaumatin, the amino acid residues within CRD critical for response are still unknown. A comparison of the amino acid sequence (69 amino acid residues) of CRD between hT1R3 and mouse T1R3 (mT1R3) revealed sixteen amino acids that differ.     

Characterization of osmotin : a thaumatin-like protein associated with osmotic adaptation in plant cells

Cultured tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum var Wisconsin 38) cells adapted to grow under osmotic stress synthesize and accumulate a 26 kilodalton protein (osmotin) which can constitute as much as 12% of total cellular protein. In cells adapted to NaCl, osmotin occurs in two forms: an aqueous soluble form (osmotin-I) and a detergent soluble form (osmotin II) in the approximate ratio of 2:3. Osmotin-I has been purified to electrophoretic homogeneity, and osmotin-II has been purified to 90% electrophoretic homogeneity. The N-terminal amino acid sequences of osmotins I and II are identical through position 22. Osmotin-II appears to be much more resistant to proteolysis than osmotin-I. However, it cross-reacts with polyclonal antibodies raised in rabbits against osmotin-I. Osmotin strongly resembles the sweet protein thaumatin in its molecular weight, amino acid composition, N-terminal sequence, and the presence of a signal peptide on the precursor protein. Thaumatin does not cross-react with antiosmotin. An osmotin solution could not be detected as sweet at a concentration at least 100 times that of thaumatin which could be detected as sweet. Immunocytochemical detection of osmotin revealed that osmotin is concentrated in dense inclusion bodies within the vacuole. Although antiosmotin did not label organelles, cell walls, or membranes, osmotin appeared sparsely distributed in the cytoplasm.     

Cloning, expression and characterization of recombinant sweet-protein thaumatin II using the methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris

Thaumatin, an intensely sweet-tasting protein, was secreted by the methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris. The mature thaumatin II gene was directly cloned from Taq polymerase-amplified PCR products by using TA cloning methods and fused the pPIC9K expression vector that contains Saccharomyces cerevisiae prepro alpha-mating factor secretion signal. Several additional amino acid residues were introduced at both the N- and C-terminal ends by genetic modification to investigate the role of the terminal end region for elicitation of sweetness in the thaumatin molecule. The secondary and tertiary structures of purified recombinant thaumatin were almost identical to those of the plant thaumatin molecule. Recombinant thaumatin II elicited a sweet taste as native plant thaumatin II; its threshold value of sweetness to humans was around 50 nM, which is the same as that of plant thaumatin II. These results demonstrate that the functional expression of thaumatin II was attained by Pichia pastoris systems and that the N- and C-terminal regions of the thaumatin II molecule do not -play an important role in eliciting the sweet taste of thaumatin.     

奇甜蛋白基因在园艺作物中的表达

奇甜蛋白（thaumatin）是从非洲西部植物katemfe（Thaumatococcus daniellii Benth）中提取得到的几种关系相近的甜味蛋白的统称,其中最主要的为奇甜蛋白Ⅰ和奇甜蛋白Ⅱ。奇甜蛋白不仅甜度高,而且具有低热量、安全无毒以及不易诱发糖尿病等优点。因此,将奇甜蛋白基因转入园艺作物中并使之表达,用以提高可食部分的甜味,有其特别的研究意义。奇甜蛋白基因已先后在马铃薯、梨树、黄瓜、番茄等园艺作物得到表达,但仍有一些问题需要解决。现从奇甜蛋白基因的克隆、测序与表达,转基因果实的安全性检测,甜度的感官评价,甜味遗传特点以及奇甜蛋白抗真菌病害检验等几个方面综述了国内外研究进展,并对今后的研究提出了建议。     

Critical molecular regions for elicitation of the sweetness of the sweet-tasting protein, thaumatin I

Thaumatin is an intensely sweet-tasting protein. To identify the critical amino acid residue(s) responsible for elicitation of the sweetness of thaumatin, we prepared mutant thaumatin proteins, using Pichia pastoris, in which alanine residues were substituted for lysine or arginine residues, and the sweetness of each mutant protein was evaluated by sensory analysis in humans. Four lysine residues (K49, K67, K106 and K163) and three arginine residues (R76, R79 and R82) played significant roles in thaumatin sweetness. Of these residues, K67 and R82 were particularly important for eliciting the sweetness. We also prepared two further mutant thaumatin I proteins: one in which an arginine residue was substituted for a lysine residue, R82K, and one in which a lysine residue was substituted for an arginine residue, K67R. The threshold value for sweetness was higher for R82K than for thaumatin I, indicating that not only the positive charge but also the structure of the side chain of the arginine residue at position 82 influences the sweetness of thaumatin, whereas only the positive charge of the K67 side chain affects sweetness.