产碱杆菌Alcaligenes sp.KS-85来源肌酸酶活性中心的关键氨基酸功能研究

肌酸酶(Creatinase,EC 3.5.3.3)水解肌酸生成尿素和肌氨酸,是肌酐多酶级联检测中的关键酶。为进一步解析产碱杆菌来源肌酸酶的催化机理,利用蛋白质同源建模、分子对接、丙氨酸扫描技术分析了酶与底物的相互作用,并聚焦于酶活性中心4个功能未知的保守位点Phe64、Asp102、Phe252、Phe321,通过将氨基酸残基定点突变为6种具有代表性的氨基酸,结合生化实验对其功能进行解析。经研究,所有突变体的kcat值大幅度降低;除6个突变体:F252A、F252S、F252Y、F252W、F321A、F321Y的KM值降低,其余突变体的KM均提高。结构分析表明Phe252通过与Tyr259形成的π-π堆积稳定酶-底物复合体;Asp102通过与Arg66,Gly322的氢键相互作用稳定酶反应的过渡态;Phe321,Phe64位于底物两侧,通过疏水侧链的排斥作用及空间位阻影响底物的定位。本研究通过对活性中心氨基酸残基的功能解析,为肌酸酶的催化机制解析和分子改造奠定了基础。     

木犀草素通过调节凝血活性物质及凝血因子含量维持机体血液循环功能的稳定

目的探讨木犀草素通过调节凝血活性物质及凝血因子含量维持机体血液循环功能的作用机制。方法采用试剂盒和试管法测定木犀草素作用后的凝血酶原时间和血浆复钙时间;采用酶联免疫吸附法检测木犀草素对血液凝血活性物质血栓素(TXB2)、纤维酶原激活物抑制剂(PAI-1)、促红细胞生成素(EPO)和凝血因子Ⅶ(FⅦ)、凝血因子Ⅸ(FⅨ)含量的影响;采用PCR法测定木犀草素对凝血因子Ⅶ、Ⅸ的基因表达情况。结果木犀草素能缩短凝血酶原时间和血浆复钙时间,与对照组相比,40 mg/kg的木犀草素使凝血酶原时间和血浆复钙时间分别降低62.89%和64.05%(t=8.713 6、6.218 1,均P0.000 1),表明木犀草素能够促进机体的凝血功能,从而调节血液循环。酶联免疫结果显示,木犀草素能提高小鼠凝血活性物质TXB2、PAI-1和EPO的含量,与对照组相比,40 mg/kg木犀草素能使其含量分别提高11.94%(t=-7.638 0,P=0.000 3)、80.75%(t=-21.698 4,P0.000 1)和26.15%(t=-9.610 4,P=0.000 2),表明木犀草素可通过促进血小板的凝集、纤维酶原的活化以及增加血液的黏度来维持机体血液循环功能的稳定。木犀草素也能提高凝血因子Ⅶ和Ⅸ的含量及其基因表达量,与对照组相比,40 mg/kg的木犀草素能使凝血因子Ⅶ和Ⅸ的含量分别提高290.86%(t=-16.369 1,P=0.000 1)和374.52%(t=-8.104 2,P=0.001 2),基因表达量分别提高172.73%和224.63%(t=-22.007 5、-31.198 6,均P0.000 1),表明木犀草素可通过调节凝血因子Ⅶ和Ⅸ的表达量促进机体凝血,维持机体血液循环功能的稳定。结论木犀草素具有维持机体血液循环功能稳定的作用,其作用机制是通过提高凝血活性物质的含量,调节凝血因子的基因表达量,提高凝血因子的含量,以及抑制纤维酶原的激活和增加血液的黏度等多方面综合作用来实现的。     

Impacts of remotely sensed environmental drivers on coral outplant survival

Globally, coral reefs are degrading due to a variety of stressors including climate change and pollution. Active restoration is an important effort for sustaining coral reefs where, typically, coral fragments are outplanted onto degraded reefs. Coral outplants, however, can experience mortality in response to a range of stressors. We pair results of outplant monitoring observations with satellite‐based measurements of multiple oceanographic variables to estimate the relative importance of each driver to coral outplant survival. We find that when considering mean environmental conditions experienced by outplants during the monitoring period, particulate organic carbon (POC) levels are most important in determining outplant survival, with certain levels of POC beneficial for outplants. Sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTA) are also important determinants of outplant survival, where survival is greatest in regions with minimal or slightly negative anomalies. Survival also increases with increasing distance to land, likely due to a reduction in negative ridge‐to‐reef effects on coral outplants. When considering the range (min–max) of environmental conditions experienced during the monitoring period, large fluctuations in photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) and POC are most important in determining outplant survival. Increasing outplant depth can help to counter the negative impacts of large fluctuations in environmental variables. We find that a variety of remotely sensed oceanographic variables have significant impacts on survival and should be considered in coral restoration planning to help evaluate potential restoration sites and ultimately maximize coral outplant survival.     

Production and characterization of a cold-active and n-hexane activated lipase from a newly isolated Serratia grimesii RB06-22

Abstract

A lipase-producing bacterium isolated from raw milk was identified as Serratia grimesii based on 16S rRNA sequence analysis. The extracellular lipase was partially purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation and ultrafiltration. Maximal activity was observed at 10°C, the optimum pH was 8.0 and the enzyme was stable at 5–30°C for 1 h. The K_m and V_max values were 1.7 mM and 0.3 mM/min respectively. It was found that the lipase had the highest hydrolytic activity towards sunflower oil and soybean oil. CaCl₂ had a stimulatory effect on lipase activity, while EDTA and iodoacetic acid slightly inhibited the lipase activity and the enzyme was strongly inhibited by PMSF. The enzyme was compatible with various non-ionic surfactants as well as sodium cholate and saponin. In addition, the enzyme was relatively stable towards oxidizing agents. This lipase exhibited maximum activity in 35% n-hexane retaining about 2191% activity for 1 h.     

Influence of environmental factors on content and composition of essential oil from common juniper ripe berry cones (Juniperus communis L.)

Abstract

The present study evaluated the influence of some environmental factors on the quantity and composition of essential oil (EO) in ripe berry cones of Juniperus communis L. The berry cones were collected from juniper shrubs growing wild at five localities of north-east Slovakia during the years 2012–2014. The EO yield ranged from 0.4 to 1.9%, depending on the locality and year. In the EO, eight monoterpenes (α-pinene, β-pinene, β-myrcene, sabinene, limonene, terpinene-4-ol, borneol, bornylacetate) and one sesquiterpene (β-caryophyllene) were identified. The dominant component was the monoterpene α-pinene, ranging from 31.0 to 49.0%. The amount and composition of the EO was affected by soil composition (content of humus and pH) and topographic environmental factors, including air temperature and precipitation. According to the composition of the EO, the studied juniper shrubs belong to the α-pinene chemotype.     

The Active and the Inactive Form of the hAT1 Receptor Have an Identical Ligand-Binding Environment: An MPA Study on a Constitutively Active Angiotensin II Receptor Mutant

Several models of activation mechanisms were proposed for G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), yet no direct methods exist for their elucidation. The availability of constitutively active mutants has given an opportunity to study active receptor conformations within acceptable limits using models such as the angiotensin II type 1 (AT₁)¹ receptor mutant N111G-hAT₁ which displays an important constitutive activity. Recently, by using methionine proximity assay, we showed for the hAT₁ receptor that TMD III, VI, and VII form the ligand-binding pocket of the C-terminal amino acid of an antagonistic AngII analogue. In the present contribution, we investigated whether the same residues would also constitute the ligand-binding contacts in constitutively activated mutant (CAM) receptors. For this purpose, the same Met mutagenesis strategy was carried out on the N111G double mutants. Analysis of 43 receptors mutants in the N111G-hAT₁ series, photolabeled and CNBr digested, showed that there were only subtle structural changes between the wt-receptor and its constitutively active form.     

Developing a diagnostic model for estimating terrestrial vegetation gross primary productivity using the photosynthetic quantum yield and Earth Observation data

This article develops a new carbon exchange diagnostic model [i.e. Southampton CARbon Flux (SCARF) model] for estimating daily gross primary productivity (GPP). The model exploits the maximum quantum yields of two key photosynthetic pathways (i.e. C₃ and C₄) to estimate the conversion of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation into GPP. Furthermore, this is the first model to use only the fraction of photosynthetically active radiation absorbed by photosynthetic elements of the canopy (i.e. FAPAR_ps) rather than total canopy, to predict GPP. The GPP predicted by the SCARF model was comparable to in situ GPP measurements (R² > 0.7) in most of the evaluated biomes. Overall, the SCARF model predicted high GPP in regions dominated by forests and croplands, and low GPP in shrublands and dry‐grasslands across USA and Europe. The spatial distribution of GPP from the SCARF model over Europe and conterminous USA was comparable to those from the MOD17 GPP product except in regions dominated by croplands. The SCARF model GPP predictions were positively correlated (R² > 0.5) to climatic and biophysical input variables indicating its sensitivity to factors controlling vegetation productivity. The new model has three advantages, first, it prescribes only two quantum yield terms rather than species specific light use efficiency terms; second, it uses only the fraction of PAR absorbed by photosynthetic elements of the canopy (FAPAR_ps) hence capturing the actual PAR used in photosynthesis; and third, it does not need a detailed land cover map that is a major source of uncertainty in most remote sensing based GPP models. The Sentinel satellites planned for launch in 2014 by the European Space Agency have adequate spectral channels to derive FAPAR_ps at relatively high spatial resolution (20 m). This provides a unique opportunity to produce global GPP operationally using the Southampton CARbon Flux (SCARF) model at high spatial resolution.     

5-Hydroxymethylcytosine is an essential intermediate of active DNA demethylation processes in primary human monocytes

Background

Cytosine methylation is a frequent epigenetic modification restricting the activity of gene regulatory elements. Whereas DNA methylation patterns are generally inherited during replication, both embryonic and somatic differentiation processes require the removal of cytosine methylation at specific gene loci to activate lineage-restricted elements. However, the exact mechanisms facilitating the erasure of DNA methylation remain unclear in many cases.

Results

We previously established human post-proliferative monocytes as a model to study active DNA demethylation. We now show, for several previously identified genomic sites, that the loss of DNA methylation during the differentiation of primary, post-proliferative human monocytes into dendritic cells is preceded by the local appearance of 5-hydroxymethylcytosine. Monocytes were found to express the methylcytosine dioxygenase Ten-Eleven Translocation (TET) 2, which is frequently mutated in myeloid malignancies. The siRNA-mediated knockdown of this enzyme in primary monocytes prevented active DNA demethylation, suggesting that TET2 is essential for the proper execution of this process in human monocytes.

Conclusions

The work described here provides definite evidence that TET2-mediated conversion of 5-methylcytosine to 5-hydroxymethylcytosine initiates targeted, active DNA demethylation in a mature postmitotic myeloid cell type.     

Steady-state,Pre-steady-state,and Single-turnover Kinetic Measurement for DNA Glycosylase Activity

Human 8-oxoguanine DNA glycosylase (OGG1) excises the mutagenic oxidative DNA lesion 8-oxo-7,8-dihydroguanine (8-oxoG) from DNA. Kinetic characterization of OGG1 is undertaken to measure the rates of 8-oxoG excision and product release. When the OGG1 concentration is lower than substrate DNA, time courses of product formation are biphasic; a rapid exponential phase (i.e. burst) of product formation is followed by a linear steady-state phase. The initial burst of product formation corresponds to the concentration of enzyme properly engaged on the substrate, and the burst amplitude depends on the concentration of enzyme. The first-order rate constant of the burst corresponds to the intrinsic rate of 8-oxoG excision and the slower steady-state rate measures the rate of product release (product DNA dissociation rate constant, k_off). Here, we describe steady-state, pre-steady-state, and single-turnover approaches to isolate and measure specific steps during OGG1 catalytic cycling. A fluorescent labeled lesion-containing oligonucleotide and purified OGG1 are used to facilitate precise kinetic measurements. Since low enzyme concentrations are used to make steady-state measurements, manual mixing of reagents and quenching of the reaction can be performed to ascertain the steady-state rate (k_off). Additionally, extrapolation of the steady-state rate to a point on the ordinate at zero time indicates that a burst of product formation occurred during the first turnover (i.e. y-intercept is positive). The first-order rate constant of the exponential burst phase can be measured using a rapid mixing and quenching technique that examines the amount of product formed at short time intervals (<1 sec) before the steady-state phase and corresponds to the rate of 8-oxoG excision (i.e. chemistry). The chemical step can also be measured using a single-turnover approach where catalytic cycling is prevented by saturating substrate DNA with enzyme (E>S). These approaches can measure elementary rate constants that influence the efficiency of removal of a DNA lesion.     

虎耳草不同光温条件下光合特性及有效成分含量的相关性分析

对盆栽的虎耳草进行不同光照和温度处理,测定其叶片光合特性及重要有效成分,分析虎耳草有效成分与光合速率的相关性。结果表明：虎耳草光合速率在透光率50%的条件下最高,透光率100%下最低;100%光照下的岩白菜素和没食子酸的含量最高。光合速率在20℃/16℃（12 h昼/12 h夜）适温下最高,此时岩白菜素和没食子酸的含量也最高。相关性分析表明,温度处理条件下的岩白菜素和没食子酸含量与光合速率、气孔张开面积等呈正相关,其中没食子酸含量与光合速率及蒸腾速率的正相关达极显著;不同光照条件下,没食子酸含量与光合有效辐射呈显著正相关。