Overexpression of FNTB and the activation of Ras induce hypertrophy and promote apoptosis and autophagic cell death in cardiomyocytes

Farnesyltransferase (FTase) is an important enzyme that catalyses the modification of protein isoprene downstream of the mevalonate pathway. Previous studies have shown that the tissue of the heart in the suprarenal abdominal aortic coarctation (AAC) group showed overexpression of FTaseβ (FNTB) and the activation of the downstream protein Ras was enhanced. FTase inhibitor (FTI) can alleviate myocardial fibrosis and partly improve cardiac remodelling in spontaneously hypertensive rats. However, the exact role and mechanism of FTase in myocardial hypertrophy and remodelling are not fully understood. Here, we used recombinant adenovirus to transfect neonatal rat ventricular cardiomyocytes to study the effect of FNTB overexpression on myocardial remodelling and explore potential mechanisms. The results showed that overexpression of FNTB induces neonatal rat ventricular myocyte hypertrophy and reduces the survival rate of cardiomyocytes. FNTB overexpression induced a decrease in mitochondrial membrane potential and increased apoptosis in cardiomyocytes. FNTB overexpression also promotes autophagosome formation and the accumulation of autophagy substrate protein, LC3II. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and mCherry‐GFP tandem fluorescent‐tagged LC3 (tfLC3) showed that FNTB overexpression can activate autophagy flux by enhancing autophagosome conversion to autophagolysosome. Overactivated autophagy flux can be blocked by bafilomycin A1. In addition, salirasib (a Ras farnesylcysteine mimetic) can alleviate the hypertrophic phenotype of cardiomyocytes and inhibit the up‐regulation of apoptosis and autophagy flux induced by FNTB overexpression. These results suggest that FTase may have a potential role in future treatment strategies to limit the adverse consequences of cardiac hypertrophy, cardiac dysfunction and heart failure.     

ADAMTSL6β promotes fibrillin‐1 microfibril assembly,which is possibly mediated via binding through the third thrombospondin type I domain to fibrillin‐1

Fibrillin‐1 is the major component of extracellular matrix microfibrils. Microfibrils dysfunction is responsible for the onset of various connective tissue diseases, including Marfan syndrome. Although ADAMTSL (a disintegrin and metalloproteinase with thrombospondin motifs‐like) 6β is one of the fibrillin‐1 binding proteins, the detailed mechanism underlying the involvement of ADAMTSL6β in microfibril formation remains unclear. In this study, we created deletion mutants of ADAMTSL6β and examined their interactions with fibrillin‐1 assembly. Pull‐down assay of the ADAMTSL6β deletion mutants and fibrillin‐1 protein revealed that ADAMTSL6β binds to fibrillin‐1 through the third thrombospondin type I domain. Furthermore, we observed that formation of fibrillin‐1 matrix assembly was enhanced in MG63 cells, expressing full‐length ADAMTSL6β, when compared with that of wild type MG63 cells. While MG63 cells expressing Δ TSP3‐ADAMTSL6β form showed enhanced assembly formation, Δ TSP2‐ADAMTSL6β form did not enhance that, indicating the difference between Δ TSP2‐Δ TSP3 has a critical role for fibrillin‐1 assembly. As the difference of Δ TSP2‐Δ TSP3 is the third thrombospondin type I domain, we concluded that the third thrombospondin type I domain of ADAMTSL6β influence the microfibril formation. Our data are the functional presentation of the biological role of ADAMTSL6β in the process of microfibril formation.     

Optimization of parameters affecting on CHO cell culture producing recombinant erythropoietin

Abstract

Several factors may affect erythropoietin (EPO) sugar structures including designing cell culture procedure, pH, concentration of additives, dissolved oxygen, and other physicochemical parameters. In this study, we investigated the influence of changes in effective parameters and compounds on the growth rate of Chinese hamster ovary cell (CHO) cells producing recombinant EPO. Cell culture was performed at different temperature, buffering conditions, and varied concentrations of additives such as pyruvic acid, insulin, GlutaMAX, and sodium butyrate. Results indicated that the optimal temperature and pH were 37?°C and 7.2, respectively. Also, optimal concentrations for pyruvic acid, butyrate, glutamate, and insulin were obtained to be 20?mM, 1?mM, 2?mM, and 40?μg/mL, respectively. Then, cell culture was performed in microcarrier-coated spinner flasks under the optimized condition. The results showed recombinant human EPO (rhEPO) production with adequate purity. Optimization of physicochemical conditions and culture media are important factors to improve the quantity and quality of protein products. This study showed that cell growth and recombinant EPO protein production significantly increased under the optimized conditions. The results of this research can also be used in scale-up to increase the efficiency of EPO production.

Abbreviations: EPO: erythropoietin; CHO cell: Chinese hamster ovary cell; rhEPO: recombinant human EPO; DMEM: modified eagle’s medium; FBS: fetal bovine serum; SDS-PAGE: sodium dodecyl sulfate–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis; IGF-1: insulin-like growth factor 1     

重组葡激酶对小型猪冠脉血栓的溶栓作用研究*

目的: 评价重组葡激酶的溶栓效力,并与相同作用方式的重组链激酶进行比较。方法: 30只中国实验小型猪分成5组,分别为溶剂对照组、阳性药对照组和三个重组葡激酶组,每组6只,采用麻醉动物、手术开胸、直流电刺激形成冠脉血栓;在冠脉血栓形成30 min后开始静脉给药,采用先推注、再蠕动泵恒速输注的方式给药;溶剂对照组静脉推注对照液,阳性药对照组静脉给予重组链激酶4 mg·kg^-1,三个重组葡激酶组分别静脉给予4 mg·kg^-1、2 mg·kg^-1、1 mg·kg^-1重组葡激酶,静脉推注体积为5 ml,1 min内注毕,输注速度为0.5 ml·min^-1,60 min内输毕,120 min后放血处死动物。于给药前及给药后30、60、120 min取静脉血,实验结束后取血栓形成部位的冠脉血管段,分别检测优球蛋白溶解时间(ELT)、血纤维蛋白原含量(Fbg)、纤维蛋白(原)降解产物(FDP)和伤口出血量,检测冠脉血栓溶解率、心肌缺血程度及缺血范围。结果: 与溶剂对照组相比,试验组ELT明显缩短(P＜0.05或P＜0.01),FDP 明显升高(P＜0.05或P＜0.01),较少量实验动物Fbg降解超过20%,对小型猪血压及心率无明显影响。与对照组相比,试验组高、中2个剂量组,最大血栓面积分别减少34.3%、15.4%(P＜0.05)。与等剂量的重组链激酶相比,重组葡激酶对电刺激引起的冠脉血栓具有更强的溶栓作用(P＜0.05或P＜0.01),引起的出血副反应少。结论: 重组葡激酶对小型猪冠脉血栓有较好的溶栓作用,相比重组链激酶,溶栓速度快、具有更高的纤维蛋白专一性,出血副反应较少。综合比较, 2 mg·kg^-1重组葡激酶具有较好的临床疗效和安全性保障。     

Komagataeibacter rhaeticus 3-15全基因组及葡萄糖脱氢酶基因缺失体的构建

细菌纤维素(BC)是一种新型的可再生、可降解的生物高分子材料。为了最大程度的发挥BC生产菌株K.rhaeticus 315的生产能力,本文首先对K.rhaeticus 315进行全基因组测序,通过功能基因的注释、分析碳源代谢流向。结果显示,该菌株碳代谢特征之一是缺乏磷酸果糖激酶的编码基因,不能通过EMP途径代谢糖类碳源,而是主要通过PPP途径和TCA途径代谢碳源,维持菌体生长和BC合成。由于葡萄糖脱氢酶的存在,该菌株在合成BC的同时生成大量副产物—葡萄糖酸。为此,本文通过敲除葡萄糖酸合成酶相关基因,即葡萄糖脱氢酶基因gcd,构建葡萄糖脱氢酶基因缺失重组株(gcd^-),将葡萄糖酸的生成量降低了77%。     

Reduction of medium consumption in perfusion mammalian cell cultures using a perfusion rate equivalent concentrated nutrient feed

Media preparation for perfusion cell culture processes contributes significantly to operational costs and the footprint of continuous operations for therapeutic protein manufacturing. In this study, definitions are given for the use of a perfusion equivalent nutrient feed stream which, when used in combination with basal perfusion medium, supplements the culture with targeted compounds and increases the medium depth. Definitions to compare medium and feed depth are given in this article. Using a concentrated nutrient feed, a 1.8-fold medium consumption (MC) decrease and a 1.67-fold increase in volumetric productivity (PR) were achieved compared to the initial condition. Later, this strategy was used to push cell densities above 100 × 10⁶ cells/ml while using a perfusion rate below 2 RV/day. In this example, MC was also decreased 1.8-fold compared to the initial condition, but due to the higher cell density, PR was increased 3.1-fold and to an average PR value of 1.36 g L⁻¹ day⁻¹ during a short stable phase, and versus 0.46 g L⁻¹ day⁻¹ in the initial condition. Overall, the performance improvements were aligned with the given definitions. This multiple feeding strategy can be applied to gain some flexibility during process development and also in a manufacturing set-up to enable better control on nutrient addition.     

乳酸菌作为药物分子粘膜投递载体的研究进展

乳酸菌是被公认为安全的食品级微生物,广泛地应用于食品生产、保存以及作为益生菌促进人类健康。鉴于发展有效的投递药物分子策略的需要,乳酸菌成为了极有吸引力的用于口服、鼻饲及阴道进行粘膜投递药物分子的活载体。用乳酸菌作为药物分子的投递载体,安全性好,且可直接合成并投递目标蛋白,显著降低药物生产成本。到目前为止,乳酸菌作为粘膜投递载体,已成功地向粘膜组织投递了一系列功能蛋白用以治疗多种疾病。文中综述了近20年的数据,重点聚焦乳酸菌作为药物分子投递载体的发展和应用,为今后乳酸菌作为活载体的临床研究提供一定参考。     

引入非天然氨基酸胶原蛋白表达及交联成键的优化

微生物重组表达胶原蛋白来源清洁,同时具有序列设计灵活和高产量高纯度等优点,作为生物材料在组织工程等领域具有广泛的应用前景。然而如何促进重组胶原分子交联,使其形成更加稳定的空间结构是设计重组胶原纳米材料需要克服的难点。文中通过双质粒系统将非天然氨基酸O-(2-溴乙基)-酪氨酸引入细菌胶原蛋白序列中,并对其发酵条件进行优化,结果表明在25 ℃下,以终浓度为0.5 mmol/L的IPTG和0.06%的阿拉伯糖诱导24 h可以获得高纯度含非天然氨基酸的胶原蛋白。将含非天然氨基酸的胶原蛋白与含半胱氨酸的胶原蛋白在pH为9.0的NH4HCO3缓冲液中进行交联,形成了最大分子粒径可达1 μm的聚集体,为重组胶原蛋白生物材料的设计提供了新思路。