重组蛋白AgrC的表达纯化及人工超分子体系的构建

目的:克隆表达金黄色葡萄球菌agr系统的受体蛋白AgrC,构建人工超分子体系。方法:构建基因工程菌E.coli TOP10-pBAD-AgrC,对诱导条件进行优化,对蛋白的提取方法进行分析优化。表达产物使用Western blot鉴定,His-tag镍柱亲和层析纯化。使用肽脂质N+C5Gly2C16为膜材料制备囊泡作为载体,将纯化后的蛋白在囊泡上镶嵌。结果:构建的基因工程菌在18℃,0.002%的阿拉伯糖浓度下具有最高的表达效率,以内膜形式存在的AgrC蛋白在表面活性剂BDH中溶解效率最佳。结论:成功诱导表达并纯化了重组蛋白AgrC,成功利用其构建了人工超分子体系。     

RF克隆结合巢式PCR构建金黄色葡萄球菌组氨酸蛋白激酶AgrC表达载体

AgrC蛋白是位于金黄色葡萄球菌细胞膜上的组氨酸激酶,能够感受细胞外的化学信号并将信号传递到细胞内,进而调控细胞内与致病性相关的一系列基因的表达.利用无限制克隆法(RF克隆),并结合巢式PCR成功构建了AgrC表达载体pET-28a-AgrC.将表达载体电转入大肠杆菌中,并利用IPTG进行诱导表达AgrC蛋白.再经过低温超高压破碎、超高速离心、金属螯合层析与尺寸排阻层析等过程,分离纯化得到AgrC蛋白.     

植物Rubisco活性中心的模拟分析

通过对与不同配基结合的植物Rubisco复合物结构的重叠比较分析 ,发现Rubisco的活性差异是由其中一段Loop6环序列所造成的 ;金属离子与活性中心的结合会造成活性中心巨大的构象变化 .进一步用SwissPDBViewer软件模拟不同配基的植物Rubisco活性中心与此Loop环的氢键相互作用 .结果表明 ,有 3个Lys残基Lys2 0 1、Lys334、Lys175与Rubisco是否处于活性状态密切相关 ,这些残基的结构变化对分子设计可能有重要的参考价值     

CD147相互作用蛋白及其细胞生物学功能

CD147（basigin、EMMPRIN、neurothelin、M6、HAb18G等）是一个跨膜糖蛋白家族,广泛表达于各种上皮细胞,但其表达在大鼠、小鼠、鸡和人等不同种属间存在很大差异性。CD147高表达于上皮来源的肿瘤细胞表面,如肺癌、乳腺癌和肝癌等。CD147抗原胞外段有2个IgSF结构域,跨膜区有一个带电谷氨酸（GIu）残基,胞内段含有40个氨基酸。CD147的结构特点提示其可能参与蛋白-蛋白相互作用。由于CD147分子的3D结构信息还没有获得,与其相互作用的分子还没有完全明确,但近来应用黏附、免疫共沉淀等实验方法,一些研究报道提示,CD147可与整合素（integrin）、环亲合素（cyclophilins）、单羧酸转运器（monocarboxylate transporter,MCT）等蛋白相互作用,而这些蛋白可能作为CD147分子的候选配体或受体,通过蛋白-蛋白相互作用,介导广泛的上皮细胞生物学功能。     

金黄色葡萄球菌agrC的克隆及序列分析

金黄色葡萄球菌agr系统能够调控多种毒力因子的表达,在该系统中,受体组氨酸蛋白激酶AgrC感受外部信号并传递给细胞内,在整个agr系统中起着重要的作用,成为药物发现的新靶点,该蛋白由agrC基因编码。通过分析发现,agrC基因的保守性非常差,这可能是由于它作为受体需要与信号分子结合的特异性所决定的。通过对已经公开的agrC基因序列进行比对分析,设计了多条引物,以金黄色葡萄球菌ATCC 6538的基因组DNA为模板,进行了PCR扩增并转化大肠埃希菌克隆该基因,获得了金黄色葡萄球菌ATCC 6538附属基因调节系统agrC基因的全序列。同时,通过对现有的提取金黄色葡萄球菌基因组的方法做了改进,得到了一种大量提取了金黄色葡萄球菌DNA的方法,获得的DNA纯度较高。     

蛋白酪氨酸磷酸酶LAR:潜在的治疗靶点

白细胞共同抗原相关蛋白(kukocyte antigen-related prolein,LAR)属于受体型蛋白酪氨酸磷酸酶(prolein tvrosine phosphatase,FTP),它具有广泛的组织分布。LAR前钵蛋白在翻译后水平由蛋白水解酶切割成为两个非共价连接的亚基,胞外亚基和磷酸酯酶亚基。胞外亚基的结构类似于细胞粘附分子,由3个免疫球蛋白样结构和8个Ⅲ型纤粘连蛋白样结构组成;磷酸酯酶亚基含有一个短的胞外结构域、一个转膜区域和两个连续的胞内酪氨酸磷酸酯酶摧化结构域、现有证据表明LAR可与钙粘着蛋白一连环蛋白复台物结合,使β-连环蛋白去磷酸化,稳定钙粘着蛋白-连环蛋白复合物,在细咆通讯中发挥重要作用。LAR也定位于粘着斑,每与细胞与胞外基质的粘着;有证据表明LAR通过与α-LIP相关蛋白(α-liprin)结合,每与神经系统发育过程中轴突的延坤。大量的证据表明,LAR能够负向调节胰岛素信号通路;从临床角度分析,抑制LAR可能台改善抗胰岛素作用,提高Ⅱ型糖尿病病人对胰岛素的敏感性。鉴于LAR参与多种信号通路,LAR特异性抑制剂对于研究LAR在体内的功能具有非常重要的作用。     

BAFF-R 胞内区与TRAF3 相结合关键分子结合域的确定

目的：研究BAFF-R 胞内区与TRAF3 相互作用的关键结合域。方法：分别钓取BAFF-R 胞内区和TRAF3 的cDNA 片段,克 隆到酵母双杂交系统中,验证两者之间的相互作用。利用缺失PCR和重叠PCR 的方法获取11 个TRAF3 的突变体,验证TRAF3 的11 个突变体和BAFF-R 胞内区的相互作用。结果：TRAF3 与BAFF-R胞内区发生相互作用时,有三个关键的分子结合域,分别 是N 端的螺旋结构382- 400 位氨基酸、中间的428－463 位氨基酸以及TRAF3 C端的543－560 位氨基酸。结论：在体内得到了 BAFF-R胞内区与TRAF3 相互作用的三个关键分子结合域,有助于展开对BAFF-R 胞内区与TRAF3 相互作用的进一步研究。     

FHL2通过相互作用抑制分化抑制蛋白家族成员的转录抑制活性

目的：探讨FHL2与Id（分化抑制蛋白）家族蛋白之间的相互作用及FHL2对Id蛋白功能的调控效应。方法：用GST-pulldown与免疫共沉淀（CoIP）方法检测FHL2与Id家族蛋白成员之间在体内外的相互作用;用共转染与报告基因驱动的萤光素酶方法检测FHL2对Id蛋白介导转录抑制效应的调控作用。结果：FHL2与Id家族的4个蛋白均存在直接的相互作用关系,表位分析结果显示FHL2蛋白中的第2个LIM结构域在FHL2/Id相互作用中是必需的,Id蛋白N端结构域在介导FHL2/Id相互作用中是必需的,FHL2/Id相互作用不依赖于Id蛋白中的螺旋-环-螺旋结构;通过相互作用,FHL2阻止了Id蛋白对碱性螺旋-环-螺旋转录因子E47转录活性的抑制作用。结论：FHL2是一个新识别的Id蛋白广谱的相互作用因子,通过对Id蛋白功能活性的抑制效应,FHL2可能参与Id介导的多种生物学效应以及肿瘤发生与进展。     

Myocilin蛋白在小梁网组织中的作用

Myocilin基因是与原发性开角型青光眼成因有关的基因。其蛋白产物myocilin蛋白是一种分泌型糖蛋白,具有特征性区域：N端亮氨酸拉链区,中央链接区,C端类嗅质蛋白（嗅素）区。眼组织中,小梁网myocilin蛋白表达水平最高且在细胞内外均可检测到。细胞内myocilin蛋白由小梁网细胞以外泌体样囊泡形式释放至胞外,突变时分泌受阻并异常聚集,使细胞致敏诱发凋亡。细胞外myocilin蛋白通过与一种或多种细胞外基质蛋白相互作用影响细胞的形态、粘接、迁移活动,调节细胞外基质的成分和结构,从而影响房水流出系统。     

利用酵母双杂交系统筛选水稻类受体激酶OsWAK50胞内域相互作用蛋白

细胞壁连接的类受体激酶(wall-associated kinase,WAK)是植物细胞中一类特有的类受体激酶基因亚家族,因其胞外域与细胞壁紧密相连而得名．水稻中共有125个OsWAK基因,OsWAK50编码的蛋白质具有胞外域、跨膜域和激酶域,呈现典型的WAK样受体激酶特征．首先通过对OsWAK50-GFP融合蛋白的观察发现OsWAK50定位于细胞膜并且与细胞壁偶联．进而通过酵母双杂交系统筛选到了20个可能与OsWAK50胞内域相互作用的候选蛋白,并通过一对一酵母转化验证了OsSK4、OsSWIB和OsSWI3C全长均可与OsWAK50胞内域相互作用．进一步分析显示,OsSWIB能够直接与OsWAK50激酶域互作,而OsSK4和OsSWI3C与OsWAK50胞内域的互作是依赖于OsWAK50 C端的．研究还表明,OsSK4和OsSWIB亦能与OsWAK50同源基因OsWAK53a结合,而OsSWI3C则不能与OsWAK53a结合．双分子荧光互补实验证明,OsSK4与OsWAK50和OsWAK53a能够在植物体内发生互作．以上结果为阐明OsWAK50发挥功能的分子机制提供了重要线索．     

Agonistic autoantibodies directed against the angiotensin II AT1 receptor in patients with preeclampsia

We showed that sera from patients with preeclampsia contain autoantibodies directed against the angiotensin II AT1 receptor. The antibodies recognize an epitope on the second extracellular loop of the receptor and are immunoglobulins of the IgG3 subclass. The antibodies accelerate the beating rate of neonatal rat cardiomyocytes. The agonistic effect can be blocked with the AT1 receptor blocker losartan and can be neutralized by a peptide corresponding to the AT1 receptor's second extracellular loop. In further studies we shown that the autoantibodies recognize a specific conformation of the AT1 receptor. Cleavage of the external disulfide bond with dithiothreitol caused an inactivation of the receptor when stimulated either with Ang II or the autoantibodies in a system of cultured neonatal rat cardiomyocytes. Long-term stimulation of the AT1 receptor with either agonists down-regulated the AT1 receptor-mediated response to a second Ang II stimulation. These observations show that the agonistic autoantibodies behave pharmacologically in a similar fashion to Ang II. We have found the autoantibodies in all women meeting the clinical criteria of preeclampsia and suggest that they may be important to the pathogenesis of the disease.     

Met174 side chain is the site of photoinsertion of a substance P competitive peptide antagonist photoreactive in position 8

Numerous photoaffinity studies of the NK-1 receptor have been carried out with peptide agonist analogues of substance P (SP). However, no information is available with regard to the domain interaction of peptide antagonists within this receptor. We describe herein the photoaffinity labelling of the SP receptor with a peptide antagonist analogue, Bapa(0)[(pBzl)Phe(8),DPro(9),MePhe(10),Trp(CHO)(11)]SP. Photolabelling, enzymatic or chemical cleavage of the covalent complex, purification via streptavidin-coated beads and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry analysis led us to show that the methyl of Met174 side chain, within the receptor's second extracellular loop, is covalently linked to the antagonist photoreactive at position 8.     

Disulfide bridge engineering in the tachykinin NK1 receptor

As in most other seven-transmembrane receptors, the central disulfide bridge from the extracellular end of TM-III to the middle of the second extracellular loop was essential for ligand binding in the NK1 receptor. However, introduction of "extra", single Cys residues in the second extracellular loop, at positions where disease-associated Cys substitutions impair receptor function in the vasopressin V2 receptor and in rhodopsin, did not cause mispairing with the Cys residues involved in this central disulfide bridge. Cys residues were introduced in the N-terminal extension and in the third extracellular loop, respectively, in such a way that disulfide bridge formation could be monitored by loss of substance P binding and breakage of the bridge could be monitored by gain of ligand binding. This disulfide bridge formed spontaneously in the whole population of receptors and could be titrated with low concentrations of reducing agent, dithiothreitol. Another putative disulfide bridge "switch" was constructed at the extracellular ends of TM-V and -VI, i.e., at positions where a high-affinity zinc site previously had been constructed with His substitutions. Disulfide bridge formation at this position, monitored by loss of binding of the nonpeptide antagonist [3H]LY303.870, occurred spontaneously only in a small fraction of the receptors. It is concluded that disulfide bridges form readily between Cys residues introduced appropriately in the N-terminal extension and the third extracellular loop, whereas they form with more difficulty between Cys residues placed at the extracellular ends of the transmembrane segments even at positions where high-affinity metal ion sites can be constructed with His residues.     

The hydrophobic residues phenylalanine 184 and leucine 187 in the type-1 parathyroid hormone (PTH) receptor functionally interact with the amino-terminal portion of PTH-(1-34).

Recent mutagenesis and cross-linking studies suggest that three regions of the PTH-1 receptor play important roles in ligand interaction: (i) the extreme NH(2)-terminal region, (ii) the juxtamembrane base of the amino-terminal extracellular domain, and (iii) the third extracellular loop. In this report, we analyzed the second of these segments in the rat PTH-1 receptor (residues 182-190) and its role in functional interaction with short PTH fragment analogs. Twenty-eight singly substituted PTH-1 receptors were transiently transfected into COS-7 cells and shown to be fully expressed by surface antibody binding analysis. Alanine-scanning analysis identified Phe(184), Arg(186), Leu(187), and Ile(190) as important determinants of maximum binding of (125)I-labeled bovine PTH-(1-34) and (125)I-labeled bovine PTH-(3-34) and determinants of responsiveness to the NH(2)-terminal analog, PTH-(1-14) in cAMP stimulation assays. Alanine mutations at these four sites augmented the ability of the COOH-terminal peptide [Glu(22), Trp(23)]PTHrP-(15-36) to inhibit the cAMP response induced by PTH-(1-34). At Phe(184) and Leu(187), hydrophobic substitutions (e.g. Ile, Met, or Leu) preserved PTH-(1-34)-mediated cAMP signaling potency, whereas hydrophilic substitutions (e.g. Asp, Glu, Lys, or Arg) weakened this response by 20-fold or more, as compared with the unsubstituted receptor's response. The results suggest that hydrophobicity at positions occupied by Phe(184) and Leu(187) in the PTH-1 receptor plays an important role in determining functional interaction with the 3-14 portion of PTH.     

The Tetraspanin CD9 Influences the Adhesion, Spreading, and Pericellular Fibronectin Matrix Assembly of Chinese Hamster Ovary Cells on Human Plasma Fibronectin

The role of CD9 in cell adhesion and spreading on adhesive proteins was investigated using a transfected Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell system. CD9 cell surface expression resulted in reduced adhesion and increased spreading on fibronectin (Fn). Whereas mock-transfected (mock CHO) and na?ve CHO cells assumed a typical fibroblast spindle shape morphology, CD9-transfected (CD9-CHO) cells were polygonal with many filipodial projections and exhibited a twofold greater surface area. The spread morphology of CD9-CHO cells, but not mock CHO cells, was inhibited by PB1 mAb blockade of alpha(5)beta(1), suggesting that the coexpression of alpha(5)beta(1) and CD9 influenced cell activity on Fn. The second extracellular loop of CD9 was implicated in regulation of adhesion since reduced CD9-CHO cell adhesion on Fn was reversed by either anti-CD9 antibody ligation to the second extracellular loop or with cells expressing a CD9 mutant lacking the second extracellular loop domain. Using cell adhesion assays and ELISA, we demonstrated CD9 binding to the HEP2/IIICS region of Fn. Finally, CD9 expression resulted in a twofold reduction in Fn-rich pericellular matrix assembly. Our observations show that CD9 dramatically influences CHO cell interactions with Fn and suggest that CD9 has an important role in modulating cell-extracellular matrix interactions.     

The fourth extracellular loop of the alpha subunit of Na,K-ATPase. Functional evidence for close proximity with the second extracellular loop

Na,K-ATPase is the main active transport system that maintains the large gradients of Na(+) and K(+) across the plasma membrane of animal cells. The crystal structure of a K(+)-occluding conformation of this protein has been recently published, but the movements of its different domains allowing for the cation pumping mechanism are not yet known. The structure of many more conformations is known for the related calcium ATPase SERCA, but the reliability of homology modeling is poor for several domains with low sequence identity, in particular the extracellular loops. To better define the structure of the large fourth extracellular loop between the seventh and eighth transmembrane segments of the alpha subunit, we have studied the formation of a disulfide bond between pairs of cysteine residues introduced by site-directed mutagenesis in the second and the fourth extracellular loop. We found a specific pair of cysteine positions (Y308C and D884C) for which extracellular treatment with an oxidizing agent inhibited the Na,K pump function, which could be rapidly restored by a reducing agent. The formation of the disulfide bond occurred preferentially under the E2-P conformation of Na,K-ATPase, in the absence of extracellular cations. Using recently published crystal structure and a distance constraint reproducing the existence of disulfide bond, we performed an extensive conformational space search using simulated annealing and showed that the Tyr(308) and Asp(884) residues can be in close proximity, and simultaneously, the SYGQ motif of the fourth extracellular loop, known to interact with the extracellular domain of the beta subunit, can be exposed to the exterior of the protein and can easily interact with the beta subunit.     

Mutating the four extracellular cysteines in the chemokine receptor CCR6 reveals their differing roles in receptor trafficking,ligand binding,and signaling

CCR6 is the receptor for the chemokine MIP-3 alpha/CCL20. Almost all chemokine receptors contain cysteine residues in the N-terminal domain and in the first, second, and third extracellular loops. In this report, we have studied the importance of all cysteine residues in the CCR6 sequence using site-directed mutagenesis and biochemical techniques. Like all G protein-coupled receptors, mutating disulfide bond-forming cysteines in the first (Cys118) and second (Cys197) extracellular loops in CCR6 led to complete elimination of receptor activity, which for CCR6 was also associated with the accumulation of the receptor intracellularly. Although two additional cysteines in the N-terminal region and the third extracellular loop, which are present in almost all chemokine receptors, are presumed to form a disulfide bond, this has not been demonstrated experimentally for any of these receptors. We found that mutating the cysteines in the N-terminal domain (Cys36) and the third extracellular loop (Cys288) neither significantly affected receptor surface expression nor completely abolished receptor function. Importantly, contrary to several previous reports, we demonstrated directly that instead of forming a disulfide bond, the N-terminal cysteine (Cys36) and the third extracellular loop cysteine (Cys288) contain free SH groups. The cysteine residues (Cys36 and Cys288), rather than forming a disulfide bond, may be important per se. We propose that CCR6 forms only a disulfide bond between the first (Cys118) and second (Cys197) extracellular loops, which confines a helical bundle together with the N-terminus adjacent to the third extracellular loop, creating the structural organization critical for ligand binding and therefore for receptor signaling.     

Functional analysis of the cytoplasmic domains of the human thyrotropin receptor by site-directed mutagenesis

The thyrotropin (TSH) receptor belongs to a family of guanine nucleotide protein-coupled receptors with seven transmembrane-spanning regions joined regulatory together by extracellular and intracellular loops. The cytoplasmic domain comprises three cytoplasmic loops and a cytoplasmic tail that are likely to be important in coupling of the receptor to the guanine nucleotide proteins. To address the question of which portions of the cytoplasmic domain of the TSH receptor are important in this process, we have altered groups of amino acids in the region of the TSH receptor by site-directed mutagenesis. Because of the low affinity of TSH binding to the TSH receptor mutated in the amino terminus of the second cytoplasmic loop and the amino terminus of the cytoplasmic tail, definitive conclusions cannot be made regarding the roles of these regions in signal transduction. However, our data indicate that the first cytoplasmic loop (residues 441-450), the carboxyl-terminal region of the second cytoplasmic loop (residues 528-537), and the carboxyl-terminal (but not the amino-terminal) region of the third cytoplasmic loop (residues 617-625) are important in the ability of the TSH receptor to mediate an increase in intracellular cAMP production. Furthermore, two-thirds of the carboxyl-terminal end of the cytoplasmic tail (residues 709-764; corresponding to the region not conserved between the TSH and lutropin/chorionic gonadotropin receptors) can be removed without functional impairment of the TSH receptor.     

Analysis of Local Structure in the D2/S1–S2 Region of the Rat Skeletal Muscle Type 1 Sodium Channel Using Insertional Mutagenesis

Abstract: A reporter epitope was inserted at 11 positions in a region encompassing proposed transmembrane segments S1 and S2 in the second repeat domain (D2) of the rat skeletal muscle type 1 sodium channel. All mutations produced full-length membrane-associated protein following transfection into cultured cells, although the level of expression varied with insertion position. Characterization of cognate cRNAs for each mutation in Xenopus oocytes by two-electrode voltage clamp defined a permissive region between the proposed transmembrane regions in which these large insertions did not interfere with channel function. Two of the mutations, in which the point of insertion was within the proposed S1–S2 loop, demonstrated extracellular membrane labeling when studied either by antibody binding in oocytes or by confocal analysis following transfection into primary muscle cells. Our results define the likely boundaries of an extramembrane region linking the S1 and S2 transmembrane segments in D2 and confirm the extracellular location of this S1–S2 loop predicted by current models of channel tertiary structure.     

Role of lysine187 within the second extracellular loop of the type A cholecystokinin receptor in agonist-induced activation. Use of complementary charge-reversal mutagenesis to define a functionally important interdomain interaction

Activation of guanine nucleotide-binding protein (G protein)-coupled receptors is believed to involve conformational change that exposes a domain for G protein coupling at the cytosolic surface of the helical confluence, although the mechanisms for achieving this are not well understood. This conformational change can be achieved by docking a diverse variety of agonist ligands, known to occur by interacting with different regions of these receptors. In this study, we focus on the importance of a specific basic residue (Lys187) within the second extracellular loop of the receptor for the peptide hormone, cholecystokinin. Alanine-replacement and charge-reversal mutagenesis of this residue showed that it had no effect on the binding of natural peptide and nonpeptidyl ligands of this receptor but markedly interfered with agonist-stimulated signaling. It was demonstrated that this negative effect on biological activity could be eliminated with the truncation of the first 30 residues of the amino-terminal tail of this receptor. Complementary charge-reversal mutagenesis of each of the five conserved acidic residues within this region of the receptor in the presence of the charge-reversed Lys187 revealed that only the Asp5 mutant fully reversed the negative functional impact of the Lys187 charge reversal. Thus, we have demonstrated that a basic residue within the second extracellular loop of the cholecystokinin receptor interacts with a specific acidic residue within the amino terminus of this receptor. This residue-residue interaction is nicely accommodated within a new molecular model of the agonist-occupied cholecystokinin receptor.