Identification and characterization of an ABA‐activated MAP kinase cascade in Arabidopsis thaliana

Abscisic acid (ABA) is a major phytohormone involved in important stress‐related and developmental plant processes. Recent phosphoproteomic analyses revealed a large set of ABA‐triggered phosphoproteins as putative mitogen‐activated protein kinase (MAPK) targets, although the evidence for MAPKs involved in ABA signalling is still scarce. Here, we identified and reconstituted in vivo a complete ABA‐activated MAPK cascade, composed of the MAP3Ks MAP3K17/18, the MAP2K MKK3 and the four C group MAPKs MPK1/2/7/14. In planta, we show that ABA activation of MPK7 is blocked in mkk3‐1 and map3k17mapk3k18 plants. Coherently, both mutants exhibit hypersensitivity to ABA and altered expression of a set of ABA‐dependent genes. A genetic analysis further reveals that this MAPK cascade is activated by the PYR/PYL/RCAR‐SnRK2‐PP2C ABA core signalling module through protein synthesis of the MAP3Ks, unveiling an atypical mechanism for MAPK activation in eukaryotes. Our work provides evidence for a role of an ABA‐induced MAPK pathway in plant stress signalling.     

Regulation of neuronal excitability by release of proteins from glial cells

Effects of glial cells on electrical isolation and shaping of synaptic transmission between neurons have been extensively studied. Here we present evidence that the release of proteins from astrocytes as well as microglia may regulate voltage-activated Na⁺ currents in neurons, thereby increasing excitability and speed of transmission in neurons kept at distance from each other by specialized glial cells. As a first example, we show that basic fibroblast growth factor and neurotrophin-3, which are released from astrocytes by exposure to thyroid hormone, influence each other to enhance Na⁺ current density in cultured hippocampal neurons. As a second example, we show that the presence of microglia in hippocampal cultures can upregulate Na⁺ current density. The effect can be boosted by lipopolysaccharides, bacterial membrane-derived stimulators of microglial activation. Comparable effects are induced by the exposure of neuron-enriched hippocampal cultures to tumour necrosis factor-α, which is released from stimulated microglia. Taken together, our findings suggest that release of proteins from various types of glial cells can alter neuronal excitability over a time course of several days. This explains changes in neuronal excitability occurring in states of thyroid hormone imbalance and possibly also in seizures triggered by infectious diseases.     

Identification of Bacillus thuringiensis Cry3Aa toxin domain II loop 1 as the binding site of Tenebrio molitor cadherin repeat CR12

Bacillus thuringiensis Cry toxins exert their toxic effect by specific recognition of larval midgut proteins leading to oligomerization of the toxin, membrane insertion and pore formation. The exposed domain II loop regions of Cry toxins have been shown to be involved in receptor binding. Insect cadherins have shown to be functionally involved in toxin binding facilitating toxin oligomerization. Here, we isolated a VHH (VHHA5) antibody by phage display that binds Cry3Aa loop 1 and competed with the binding of Cry3Aa to Tenebrio molitor brush border membranes. VHHA5 also competed with the binding of Cry3Aa to a cadherin fragment (CR12) that was previously shown to be involved in binding and toxicity of Cry3Aa, indicating that Cry3Aa binds CR12 through domain II loop 1. Moreover, we show that a loop 1 mutant, previously characterized to have increased toxicity to T. molitor, displayed a correlative enhanced binding affinity to T. molitor CR12 and to VHHA5. These results show that Cry3Aa domain II loop 1 is a binding site of CR12 T. molitor cadherin.     

Herbivory-induced glucose transporter gene expression in the brown planthopper,Nilaparvata lugens

Nilaparvata lugens, the brown planthopper (BPH) feeds on rice phloem sap, containing high amounts of sucrose as a carbon source. Nutrients such as sugars in the digestive tract are incorporated into the body cavity via transporters with substrate selectivity. Eighteen sugar transporter genes of BPH (Nlst) were reported and three transporters have been functionally characterized. However, individual characteristics of NlST members associated with sugar transport remain poorly understood. Comparative gene expression analyses using oligo-microarray and quantitative RT-PCR revealed that the sugar transporter gene Nlst16 was markedly up-regulated during BPH feeding. Expression of Nlst16 was induced 2 h after BPH feeding on rice plants. Nlst16, mainly expressed in the midgut, appears to be involved in carbohydrate incorporation from the gut cavity into the hemolymph. Nlst1 (NlHT1), the most highly expressed sugar transporter gene in the midgut was not up-regulated during BPH feeding. The biochemical function of NlST16 was shown as facilitative glucose transport along gradients. Glucose uptake activity by NlST16 was higher than that of NlST1 in the Xenopus oocyte expression system. At least two NlST members are responsible for glucose uptake in the BPH midgut, suggesting that the midgut of BPH is equipped with various types of transporters having diversified manner for sugar uptake.     

茉莉酸甲酯诱导大戟三萜类代谢的研究

京大戟是多年生草本药用植物,入药部分是其干燥根,但可入药的京大戟资源由于生长缓慢以及环境污染的加剧而越发匮乏,因此解决大戟资源日益紧张的问题是当今药用植物资源开发与利用方向的重要课题。京大戟含有三萜类、二萜类、黄酮类等丰富的活性成分,一些常见药用植物的有效成分是三萜类化合物,其在抗病毒、抗肿瘤、免疫调节等方面具有很好的活性。对植物萜类物质代谢起重要作用的关键酶,如3-羟基,3-甲基戊二酰辅酶A还原酶(hmgr)、鲨烯合酶(sqs)、法尼基焦磷酸合酶(fps)的基因克隆及活性研究取得了进展和突破,但通过调控萜类物质代谢途径中关键酶基因的表达来诱导终产物合成的研究鲜有报道。通过研究大戟萜类物质代谢途径进而利用基因工程手段提升目的物质的产量来解决京大戟药源短缺问题具有重要意义。该研究以大戟愈伤组织为材料,使用茉莉酸甲酯分别按时间梯度和浓度梯度进行诱导,将诱导后的愈伤组织分为两部分:一部分提取其总RNA,以actin为内参基因进行反转录,实时定量RT-PCR分析大戟三萜类代谢途径中hmgr、sqs与fps基因的相对表达差异;另一部分用于提取其总三萜并使用分光光度法进行含量测定。实时定量RT-PCR分析结果表明,茉莉酸甲酯可诱导3个基因的表达,但其表达模式不一样。相应的京大戟愈伤组织中总三萜的含量明显提高,最高可较未处理样品增加27%。研究结果可为茉莉酸甲酯促进药用植物大戟三萜类物质积累的分子机制研究提供参考。     

携带HIV-1抗原的单纯疱疹病毒载体疫苗的构建及鉴定

利用细菌人工染色体技术将串联的HIV-1 gp160、gag和protease基因以及表达元件插入1型单纯疱疹病毒(Herpes simplex virus type 1,HSV-1)内部反向重复序列区,以获得携带HIV-1抗原的单纯疱疹病毒载体疫苗。首先将HIV-1 gp160(B型和C型)、gag和protease基因串联克隆入pc DNA3获得重组质粒pc DNA/g Bgp和pc DNA/g Cgp,重组质粒转染293FT细胞,Western blotting检测HIV抗原表达。继而将pc DNA/g Bgp和pc DNA/g Cgp中包括HIV-1抗原基因和表达元件的表达框克隆入p KO5/BN获得重组穿梭质粒p KO5/BN/g Bgp和p KO5/BN/g Cgp,穿梭质粒电转含BAC-HSV的大肠杆菌,筛选重组菌,提取重组DNA并转染Vero细胞,挑取病毒蚀斑纯化重组病毒,Southern blotting鉴定重组病毒DNA,Western blotting检测重组病毒感染细胞中HIV抗原表达,并分析病毒的增殖特性。结果表明,Western blotting在pc DNA/g Bgp和pc DNA/g Cgp转染的293FT细胞中检测到表达的gp160和gag蛋白。p KO5/BN/g Bgp和p KO5/BN/g Cgp分别电转获得重组菌,并从重组DNA转染的Vero细胞中纯化获得重组HSV,Southern blotting检测表明重组HSV基因组发生特异性重组,重组病毒感染细胞中检测到gp120和gp41,且重组HSV保留了在哺乳动物细胞中的复制能力。本研究获得携载HIV-1 gp160、gag和protease基因的重组HSV,并保留了在哺乳动物细胞中的复制能力,可作为HIV-1复制型病毒载体疫苗。     

iDNA-Methyl: Identifying DNA methylation sites via pseudo trinucleotide composition

Predominantly occurring on cytosine, DNA methylation is a process by which cells can modify their DNAs to change the expression of gene products. It plays very important roles in life development but also in forming nearly all types of cancer. Therefore, knowledge of DNA methylation sites is significant for both basic research and drug development. Given an uncharacterized DNA sequence containing many cytosine residues, which one can be methylated and which one cannot? With the avalanche of DNA sequences generated during the postgenomic age, it is highly desired to develop computational methods for accurately identifying the methylation sites in DNA. Using the trinucleotide composition, pseudo amino acid components, and a dataset-optimizing technique, we have developed a new predictor called “iDNA-Methyl” that has achieved remarkably higher success rates in identifying the DNA methylation sites than the existing predictors. A user-friendly web-server for the new predictor has been established at http://www.jci-bioinfo.cn/iDNA-Methyl, where users can easily get their desired results. We anticipate that the web-server predictor will become a very useful high-throughput tool for basic research and drug development and that the novel approach and technique can also be used to investigate many other DNA-related problems and genome analysis.     

Development of in vitro PIK3C3/VPS34 complex protein assay for autophagy-specific inhibitor screening

Autophagy is an important catabolic program to respond to a variety of cellular stresses by forming a double membrane vesicle, autophagosome. Autophagy plays key roles in various cellular functions. Accordingly, dysregulation of autophagy is closely associated with diseases such as diabetes, neurodegenerative diseases, cardiomyopathy, and cancer. In this sense, autophagy is emerging as an important therapeutic target for disease control. Among the autophagy machineries, PIK3C3/VPS34 complex functions as an autophagy-triggering kinase to recruit the subsequent autophagy protein machineries on the phagophore membrane. Accumulating evidence showing that inhibition of PIK3C3/VPS34 complex successfully inhibits autophagy makes the complex an attractive target for developing autophagy inhibitors. However, one concern about PIK3C3/VPS34 complex is that many different PIK3C3/VPS34 complexes have distinct cellular functions. In this study, we have developed an in vitro PIK3C3/VPS34 complex monitoring assay for autophagy inhibitor screening in a high-throughput assay format instead of targeting the catalytic activity of the PIK3C3/VPS34 complex, which shuts down all PIK3C3/VPS34 complexes. We performed in vitro reconstitution of an essential autophagy-promoting PIK3C3/VPS34 complex, Vps34–Beclin1–ATG14L complex, in a microwell plate (96-well format) and successfully monitored the complex formation in many different conditions. This PIK3C3/VPS34 complex protein assay would provide a reliable tool for the screening of autophagy-specific inhibitors.     

Design and validation of a homogeneous time-resolved fluorescence cell-based assay targeting the ligand-gated ion channel 5-HT3A

Ligand-gated ion channels (LGICs) are considered as attractive protein targets in the search for new therapeutic agents. Nowadays, this strategy involves the capability to screen large chemical libraries. We present a new Tag-lite ligand binding assay targeting LGICs on living cells. This technology combines the use of suicide enzyme tags fused to channels of interest with homogeneous time-resolved fluorescence (HTRF) as the detection readout. Using the 5-HT3 receptor as system model, we showed that the pharmacology of the HALO-5HT3 receptor was identical to that of the native receptor. After validation of the assay by using 5-HT3 agonists and antagonists of reference, a pilot screen enabled us to identify azelastine, a well-known histamine H1 antagonist, as a potent 5-HT3 antagonist. This interesting result was confirmed with electrophysiological experiments. The method described here is easy to implement and could be applicable for other LGICs, opening new ways for the screening of chemical libraries.