多聚唾液酸转移酶研究进展

多聚唾液酸(polysialic acid,PSA)是一类线性、均一多聚α2,8连接唾液酸的独特碳水化合物,它主要通过典型的N-连接糖苷键附着在脊椎动物神经系统神经黏附分子(neural cell adhesion molecule,NCAM)上。PSA通过改变NCAM的黏附性调节神经细胞发育、神经导向以及突触形成,从而在神经发育中起关键作用。PSA表达的调节具有时间和结构依赖性,NCAM的唾液酸化是由两种多聚唾液酸转移酶(polysialyltrans ferases)-ST8Sia II(STX)和ST8Sia IV(PST)所催化,它们都属于6个基因编码的α2,8唾液酸转移酶家族。STX和PST都可将多个唾液酸残基转移到含有NeuNAcα2-3(或6)Galβ1-4GlcNAcβ1-R结构的N糖链受体上;两种酶共同作用时远远大于一种酶形成的PSA量。总之,多聚唾液酸转移酶可调节PSA的合成并参与了脊椎动物的神经发育。     

毛细管电泳飞摩尔水平分析糖蛋白中唾液酸

利用毛细管电泳分析唾液酸2-氨基吖啶酮(AMAC)衍生物方法, 可在飞摩尔水平分析糖蛋白中唾液酸. 重组人促红细胞生成素(rhu-EPO)、人尿胰蛋白酶抑制剂(hu-UTI)中唾液酸分析结果与文献值符合较好; 而牛α₁-酸性糖蛋白(α₁-AGP)分析结果与早期文献值相比, 存在一定差异, 并发现该糖蛋白中除含有5-N-乙酰氨基唾液酸(Neu5Ac)外, 还含数量与Neu5Ac相当的5-N-乙醇酰氨基唾液酸(Neu5Gc).     

聚唾液酸,一种非GAGs、非免疫原性生物材料的应用研究进展

聚唾液酸是一种由N-乙酰神经氨酸连接、电负性的线性同聚物,存在于人体、动物细胞和少数致病菌中,主要以糖蛋白(神经细胞粘附分子)和糖脂形式存在,是一种非糖胺聚糖(GAGs)、非免疫原性、生物可降解的优良生物材料。聚唾液酸可用作组织工程和药物缓释材料,也可以与其它大分子复合形成功能材料。对聚唾液酸生物学功能、发酵生产及应用进行概述,以期为聚唾液酸的进一步应用研究提供参考。     

端基法测定聚唾液酸平均聚合度

建立了端基法测定聚唾液酸平均聚合度的方法.采用间苯二酚比色法和丙二腈荧光法分别测定聚唾液酸中唾液酸总量和还原端唾液酸残基含量,两者之比即为平均聚合度.研究表明,在pH 9.5的硼酸缓冲液中,80℃水浴下聚唾液酸还原端唾液酸残基与丙二腈反应25 min后生成荧光物质,其荧光强度与还原端唾液酸残基含量呈线性正相关关系,线性范围在1～ 20 mg/L之间,变异系数和检出限分别为3.7％和0.36 mg/L.端基法测定大肠杆菌发酵液中聚唾液酸的平均聚合度为45.76,与高效液相凝胶色谱法比较,误差为3.2％.该法可以简便快速地测定发酵液中聚唾液酸的平均聚合度,有利于聚唾液酸生产过程分析及产品性能评估.     

聚唾液酸的发酵动力学研究

对以大肠杆菌K235发酵法生产聚唾液酸的动力学特性进行了研究,提出了细胞生长动力学,基质消耗动力学,聚唾液酸生成动力学模型,通过对实验数据的计算,模型的模拟结果较好地和实验值吻合,正确地分析 聚唾液酸的发酵过程及其动力学机制。     

聚乙二醇-聚唾液酸嵌段聚合修饰尿酸酶

探索一种综合聚唾液酸(PSA)和聚乙二醇(PEG)优势的蛋白修饰方法。对纯化的聚唾液酸进行两步活化,先在非还原端氧化产生活性醛基,再加入胱胺形成活性巯基;活化的聚唾液酸(相对分子质量为3.4×104)和异基双功能的PEG(相对分子质量为3.5×103)形成嵌段聚合物,然后于4℃修饰尿酸酶。利用凝胶层析(Toyopearl HW-55F)对修饰后的尿酸酶进行纯化,收集相应峰进行化学法和SDS-PAGE电泳鉴定,经多角度激光光散射凝胶系统测定缀合物相对分子质量为5.214×105;相对于原始酶,修饰酶酶活保留率72.4%,体外热失活半衰期由115.5 h提高到231 h,对高温、酸碱、胰蛋白酶的耐受稳定性显著提高。     

两阶段搅拌转速控制策略发酵生产聚唾液酸

目的:优化聚唾液酸发酵过程的搅拌转速.方法:比较不同搅拌转速对大肠杆菌Escherichia coli K235分批发酵生产聚唾液酸过程的影响.结果:根据发酵前、后期菌体细胞比生长速率和聚唾液酸比合成速率达到最大值所需搅拌转速的不同,提出了两阶段搅拌转速控制策略:发酵前期(0～15h)控制搅拌转速500r/min,发酵中后期控制搅拌转速700r/min.结论:两阶段搅拌转速控制策略使聚唾液酸产量达到3 966mg/L,比恒定搅拌转速500r/min和700r/min分别提高了31.8%和49.3%.将两阶段搅拌转速控制策略与分批补料发酵技术结合,聚唾液酸产量提高到5 108mg/L,山梨醇的转化率达到0.12g/g.     

多聚唾液酸与多聚唾液酸转移酶

多聚唾液酸（PSA）是一种在神经细胞黏附分子（neural cell adhesion molecule,NCAM）上表达的唾液酸聚合物,在神经发育过程中起重要作用.PSA的聚合程度会影响PSA-NCAM的功能.多聚唾液酸酶主要用于合成PSA-NCAM,两种高度同源的多聚唾液酸转移酶ST8SiaⅡ和ST8SiaⅣ都属于唾液酸转移酶家族.多聚唾液酸转移酶中NCAM的识别域和多聚唾液酸化域是截然不同的,且一些异构酶在NCAM多聚唾液酸化中起明显的负作用.多聚唾液酸酶与很多疾病都有关系,以多聚唾液酸转移酶为标靶设计的药物也将成为神经系统及肿瘤治疗的新型药物.     

蕲蛇酶的中性己糖及唾液酸的含量测定

目的测定蕲蛇酶的中性己糖及唾液酸含量. 方法中性己糖采用苯酚-硫酸法(Dubois,1956)测定,唾液酸采用间苯二酚-盐酸法(Spiro,1966)测定.结果中性己糖平均含量为(3.45±0.81)%,唾液酸平均含量为(1.05±0.26)%.结论蕲蛇酶属于糖蛋白,已测定的中性己糖及唾液酸总量为(4.50±1.07)%.     

人胎肝唾液酸转移酶基因的克隆及测序*

根据已克隆的唾液酸转移酶的保守区的序列,以人胎肝mRNA为模板扩增出150bp的片段并测序。其中一个片段(s38)与已克隆的唾液酸转移酶的活性中心有57％～97％的同源性。根据s38的序列合成寡核苷酸并标记后用作探针筛选人胎肝cDNA文库。从文库中分离了一个编码α2,3－唾液酸转移酶的cDNA。该cDNA序列含一个编码340个氨基酸的开放读框,推导的氨基酸序列与人颌下腺(Galβ1,GalNAc。Α2,3－唾液酸转移酶相同,与猪颌下腺α2,3－唾液酸转移酶有83.2％的同源性。表明从人胎肝cDNA文库中分离的cDNA所编码的蛋白为Galβ1,3GalNAcα2,3－唾液酸转移酶。     

Production of polymalic acid and malic acid by Aureobasidium pullulans fermentation and acid hydrolysis

Malic acid is a dicarboxylic acid widely used in the food industry and also a potential C4 platform chemical that can be produced from biomass. However, microbial fermentation for direct malic acid production is limited by low product yield, titer, and productivity due to end‐product inhibition. In this work, a novel process for malic acid production from polymalic acid (PMA) fermentation followed by acid hydrolysis was developed. First, a PMA‐producing Aureobasidium pullulans strain ZX‐10 was screened and isolated. This microbe produced PMA as the major fermentation product at a high‐titer equivalent to 87.6 g/L of malic acid and high‐productivity of 0.61 g/L h in free‐cell fermentation in a stirred‐tank bioreactor. Fed‐batch fermentations with cells immobilized in a fibrous‐bed bioreactor (FBB) achieved the highest product titer of 144.2 g/L and productivity of 0.74 g/L h. The fermentation produced PMA was purified by adsorption with IRA‐900 anion‐exchange resins, achieving a ～100% purity and a high recovery rate of 84%. Pure malic acid was then produced from PMA by hydrolysis with 2 M sulfuric acid at 85°C, which followed the first‐order reaction kinetics. This process provides an efficient and economical way for PMA and malic acid production, and is promising for industrial application. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2013; 110: 2105–2113. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

New highly toxic bile acids derived from deoxycholic acid,chenodeoxycholic acid and lithocholic acid

We have prepared a new panel of 23 BA derivatives of DCA, chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA) and lithocholic acid (LCA) in order to study the effect of dual substitution with 3-azido and 24-amidation, features individually associated with cytotoxicity in our previous work. The effect of the compounds on cell viability of HT-1080 and Caco-2 was studied using the 3-[4,5-dimethylthizol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Compounds with high potency towards reduction of cell viability were further studied using flow cytometry in order to understand the mechanism of cell death. Several compounds were identified with low micromolar IC₅₀ values for reducing cell viability in the Caco-2 and HT1080 cell lines, making them among the most potent BA apoptotic agents reported to date. There was no evidence of relationship between overall hydrophobicity and cytotoxicity supporting the idea that cell death induction by BAs may be structure–specific. Compounds derived from DCA caused cell death through apoptosis. There was some evidence of selectivity between the two cell lines studied which may be due to differing expression of CD95/FAS. The more toxic compounds increased ROS production in Caco-2 cells, and co-incubation with the antioxidant N-acetyl cysteine blunted pro-apoptotic effects. The properties these compounds suggest that there may be specific mechanism(s) mediating BA induced cell death. Compound 8 could be useful for investigating this phenomenon.     

Separation and simultaneous determination of nalidixic acid, hydroxynalidixic acid and carboxynalidixic acid in serum and urine by micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography

Separation in capillary electrophoresis is governed by various factors, including buffer type, buffer concentration, pH, temperature, voltage and micelles. Through proper adjustment of these parameters, nalidixic acid and its two major metabolites, 7-hydroxynalidixic and 7-carboxynalidixic, could be separated by micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography using an electrophoretic electrolyte consisting of 50 mM borate buffer (pH 9) containing 25 mM sodium dodecyl sulphate and 10% acetonitrile. A linear relationship between concentration and peak area for each compound was obtained in the concentration range 0.15–100 μg ml⁻¹, with a correlation coefficient greater than 0.999 and detection limits in the 0.2–0.7 ng ml⁻¹ range. Intra- and inter-day precision values of about 0.8–1.2% RSD (n=11) and 1.3–2.0% RSD (n=30), respectively, were obtained. The method has been applied to the analysis of nalidixic acid and its two major metabolites in serum and urine with limits of sensitivity lower than 0.8 ng ml⁻¹.     

Analysis of creatinine, vanilmandelic acid, homovanillic acid and uric acid in urine by micellar electrokinetic chromatography

A simultaneous determination of vanilmandelic acid, homovanillic acid, creatinine and uric acid using capillary electrophoresis was investigated. The optimum conditions of buffer concentration, pH and surfactant concentration were studied, and high resolution was obtained using a 30 mM phosphate buffer (pH 7.0) containing 150 mM sodium dodecyl sulfate. The detection was by UV absorbance at 245 nm and the column was a fused-silica capillary of 67 cm×75 μm I.D.. The determination of these metabolites in human urine was completed within 15 min without any interferences.     

Sempervirenic acid,a diterpene acid from Solidago sempervirens

Sempervirenic acid, a new diterpene has been isolated from Solidago sempervirens and its structure determined by spectroscopic methods and chemical conversions to be 3β-acetoxy-labda-7,13-diene-15-oic acid.     

Molecularly imprinted polymer using-p-hydroxybenzoic acid, p-hydroxyphenylacetic acid and p-hydroxyphenylpropionic acid as templates.

Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) using p-hydroxybenzoic acid (p-HB), p-hydroxyphenylacetic acid (p-HPA) and p-hydroxyphenylpropionic acid (p-HPPA) as templates were synthesized. The performance of the templates and their analogues on polymer-based high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) columns was studied. The imprinting effect of the MIP using p-HB as template is more obvious than that of MIP using either p-HPA or p-HPPA as template, and the mixture of p-HB and p-HPA can be well separated on the MIP using p-HB as template, but not on the blank. Interestingly, the recognition of MIP (p-HB as the template) to p-HB showed a synergistic effect. The retention factor of p-HB is not the sum of those of phenol and benzoic acid. We also found that the imprinting effect decreased when increasing the concentration of acetic acid in mobile phase. The possible reason is that acetic acid molecules occupied the binding sites of the polymer, thereby decreasing the concentration of binding sites. Furthermore, polymers, which showed specificity to 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid, can be prepared with p-HB as template. It is thus possible to synthesize a specific polymer for a compound that is either expensive or unstable by using a structurally similar compound as template.     

Alanyl turnover from lipoteichoic acid to teichoic acid in Staphylococcus aureus

Abstract The metabolism of d -alanyl substituents of lipoteichoic acid (LTA) and teichoic acid was studied in Staphylococcus aureus . Double labelling with [³H]glycerol and d -[¹⁴C]alanine revealed that during the chase LTA was stable whereas its ¹⁴C label rapidly decreased. Half-time comparison indicated an enzyme- rather than a base-catalyzed process. Correlated with the loss of [¹⁴C]alanine from LTA was an increase of the radioactivity in wall-linked alanine ester which, after hydrolysis with HF, proved to be linked to teichoic acid. These results suggest that LTA-alanine is the donor for alanine esterification of teichoic acid. In connection with previous data we hypothesize that the loss of alanine from LTA is compensated by de novo incorporation.     

Glucuronic acid conjugates

The methods of assay in body fluids of 1-β-alkyl, 1-β-phenyl and 1-β-acyl glucuronic acids (“glucuronide conjugates”) have been reviewed. Most of the 78 references cited (from the literature of the period 1990–1997) concern the glucuronide conjugates of drug metabolites, and these have been considered, for reasons of accessibility, within sections of individual drug classes such as analgesics, anti-cancer agents and opioids. Other glucuronide conjugates are considered under “miscellaneous compounds”. A few gas chromatography and capillary electrophoresis methods are described, but the major technique of assay (62 citations) is reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography.     

Peptidases and amino acid catabolism in lactic acid bacteria

The conversion of peptides to free amino acids and their subsequent utilization is a central metabolic activity in prokaryotes. At least 16 peptidases from lactic acid bacteria (LAB) have been characterized biochemically and/or genetically. Among LAB, the peptidase systems of Lactobacillus helveticus and Lactococcus lactis have been examined in greatest detail. While there are homologous enzymes common to both systems, significant differences exist in the peptidase complement of these organisms. The characterization of single and multiple peptidase mutants indicate that these strains generally exhibit reduced specific growth rates in milk compared to the parental strains. LAB can also catabolize amino acids produced by peptide hydrolysis. While the catabolism of amino acids such as Arg, Thr, and His is well understood, few other amino acid catabolic pathways from lactic acid bacteria have been characterized in significant detail. Increasing research attention is being directed toward elucidating these pathways as well as characterizing their physiological and industrial significance.     

Docosahexaenoic acid synthesis from n-3 fatty acid precursors in rat hippocampal neurons

Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), the most abundant n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid in the brain, has important functions in the hippocampus. To better understand essential fatty acid homeostasis in this region of the brain, we investigated the contributions of n-3 fatty acid precursors in supplying hippocampal neurons with DHA. Primary cultures of rat hippocampal neurons incorporated radiolabeled 18-, 20-, 22-, and 24-carbon n-3 fatty acid and converted some of the uptake to DHA, but the amounts produced from either [1-¹⁴C]α-linolenic or [1-¹⁴C]eicosapentaenoic acid were considerably less than the amounts incorporated when the cultures were incubated with [1-¹⁴C]22:6n-3. Most of the [1-¹⁴C]22:6n-3 uptake was incorporated into phospholipids, primarily ethanolamine phosphoglycerides. Additional studies demonstrated that the neurons converted [1-¹⁴C]linoleic acid to arachidonic acid, the main n-6 fatty acid in the brain. These findings differ from previous results indicating that cerebral and cerebellar neurons cannot convert polyunsaturated fatty acid precursors to DHA or arachidonic acid. Fatty acid compositional analysis demonstrated that the hippocampal neurons contained only 1.1–2.5 mol% DHA under the usual low-DHA culture conditions. The relatively low-DHA content suggests that some responses obtained with these cultures may not be representative of neuronal function in the brain.