新型冠状病毒相关TMPRSS2蛋白结构特征和抗原表位分析

采用生物信息学方法分析预测新型冠状病毒(Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, SARS-CoV-2)跨膜蛋白酶丝氨酸2(transmembrane protease serine 2, TMPRSS2)的理化特性、结构特征和抗原表位,为抗SARS-CoV-2药物研发提供参考。利用ProtParam、ProtScale分析预测TMPRSS2蛋白酶的理化特性;利用COILS Server、SignalP、TMPred、TargetP Server、NetPhos Server、NetNGlyc Server服务器对TMPRSS2蛋白酶结构进行功能结构的分析预测;利用SOPMA、Pfam、SWISS-MODEL分析预测TMPRSS2蛋白酶高级结构;利用IEBD分析预测TMPRSS2蛋白酶B细胞、T细胞表位。TMPRSS2蛋白酶氨基酸组成数为492个,其中丝氨酸占比最高;亲水性较高,含10个跨膜螺旋区;具有4个磷酸化位点,3个糖基化修饰点;二级结构中无规则卷曲占据主导地位,三级结构能与已知的5ce.1.1.A(SMTL ID)模型同源建模;存在13个潜在的B细胞表位,12个得分较高的T细胞表位。     

Mobility affects copulation and oviposition dynamics in Pieris brassicae in seminatural cages

When, how often and for how long organisms mate can have strong consequences for individual fitness and are crucial aspects of evolutionary ecology. Such determinants are likely to be of even greater importance in monandrous species and species with short adult life stages. Previous work suggests that mobility, a key dispersal? related trait, may affect the dynamics of copulations, but few studies have investigated the impact of individual mobility on mating latency, copulation duration and oviposition latency simultaneously. In this paper, we monitored the copulation dynamics of 40 males and 40 females, as well as the oviposition dynamics of the females of the Large White butterfly Pieris brassicae, a facultative long-distance disperser butterfly. Individuals from a breeding were selected to create a uniform distribution of mobility and we recorded the timing, number and duration of all copulations in a semiexperimental system. We showed that mobility, measured as the time spent in flight under stressful conditions (a proxy of dispersal tendency), correlates with all aspects of copulation dynamics: mobile males and females mated earlier and for shorter periods than less mobile individuals. In turn, late mating females increased the time between copulation and oviposition. These results feed the previously described mobility syndrome of R brassicae, involving morphological and physiological characters, with life-history traits. We suggest that the reduction of mating latency and copulation duration has an adaptive value in dispersing individuals, as their life expectancy might be shorter than that of sedentary individuals.     

Production and Characterization of Monoclonal Antibodies of Shrimp White Spot Syndrome Virus Envelope Protein VP28

BALB/c mice were immunized with purified White spot syndrome virus (WSSV). Six monoclonal antibody cell lines were selected by ELISA with VP28 protein expressed in E. coli. in vitro neutralization experiments showed that 4 of them could inhibit the virus infection in crayfish. Western-blot suggested that all these monoclonal antibodies were against the conformational structure of VP28. The monoclonal antibody 7B4 was labeled with colloidal gold particles and used to locate the VP28 on virus envelope by immunogold labeling. These monoclonal antibodies could be used to develop immun-ological diagnosis methods for WSSV infection.     

SARS冠状病毒S蛋白在昆虫细胞中的表达和纯化

导致严重急性呼吸综合征(sevcre acute rcspiratory syndrome,SARS)的元凶是一种新型的冠状病毒(SARS coronavirus,SARS-CoV)。SARS-CoV感染入侵宿主细胞关键的一环是病毒自身的棘突蛋白(spike protein,S-protein)与细胞受体的相互作用,故而S蛋白己成为SARS研究的主要热点。     

利用基因免疫进行日本血吸虫Sj22蛋白抗体制备的研究

应用基因免疫方法制备日本血吸虫Sj22蛋白的抗体,并研究CpG佐剂和蛋白加强策略在增强基因免疫效果中的作用。采用肌肉注射的方法免疫小鼠,实验动物分为四组：A组注射pVAX1-sj22质粒100μg /只;B组注射pVAX1-sj22质粒50μg /只,同时注射CpG佐剂20μg /只;C、D组注射pcDNA3.1-sj22质粒100μg /只。分别在0,3,6周进行免疫,第9周A、B、C组用30μg重组sj22蛋白加强免疫,D组则用pcDNA3.1-sj22质粒100μg加强免疫。第0,9,10周割尾采血,使用ELISA方法进行抗体效价测定,Western blot验证抗体的特异性。结果表明：使用基因免疫的方法获得了针对Sj22的特异性抗血清,CpG佐剂能够有效降低质粒用量,基因免疫-蛋白加强的策略使得抗体的滴度提高了40～1280倍。     

HIV抗体检测技术研究进展

获得性免疫缺陷综合征,简称艾滋病(acquired immun-odeficiency syndrome,AIDS),是由免疫缺陷病毒(human im-munodeficiency virus,HIV)感染所引起的一种严重的传染性疾病。HIV/AIDS的流行已成为人类、社会和经济发展的灾难,全球活着的HIV感染者已超过4 300万人,每天约有14 000     

Dewlap size in male water anoles associates with consistent inter-individual variation in boldness

Male sexually selected signals can indicate competitive ability by honestly signaling fitnessrelevant traits such as condition or performance. However, behavior can also influence contest outcomes;in particular, boldness often predicts dominance rank and mating success. Here, we sought to determi ne whether male ornament size is associated with consiste nt in dividual differences in boldness in water anoles Anol is aquaticus. We measured the relative size of the dewlap, a flap of skin under the chin that is a sexually selected ornament in Anolis lizards, and tested for associations with responses to a novel and potentially risky environment: time to emerge from a refuge into an arena and number of head sea ns post-emergence. We found that in dividuals con siste ntly differed in both time to emerge and head sea nning (i.e., in dividual resp on ses were repeatable), and that dewlap size was negatively related to nu mber of head sea ns. This suggests that orname nt size could indicate male boldness if seanning represents antipredator vigilance. We found that males that had larger relative dewlaps were also in better body condition, but boldness (i.e., head scann ing) was not related to condition. Lastly, we found con siste nt d iff ere nces in behavior betwee n trials, showing that anoles were becoming habituated or sensitized to the testing arena. Overall, our study shows that in additi on to indicating con dition and perform a nee, dewlap size could also honestly indicate male boldness in Anolis lizards.     

风疹病毒包膜糖蛋白分子生物学研究进展

风疹病毒（rubella virus,RV）是披膜病毒科风疹病毒属的唯一成员,是最常见、最重要的TORCH综合征病原体之一。其感染的危害主要在于先天性感染,孕妇在妊娠期、特别是妊娠前3个月感染RV,可引起胎儿宫内感染,产生先天性风疹综合征（congenital rubella syndrome,CRS）,造成婴儿全身多种器官发育畸形或功能异常,如白内障、耳聋、先天性心脏病等,严重时可出现死胎或流产。因此,许多国家把风疹疫苗纳入计划免疫。但目前临床应用的风疹疫苗均为减毒活疫苗,其中的RV能通过胎盘感染胎儿,仍有致畸的危险性,故妊娠早期的妇女无法使用该疫苗预防风疹感染。     

FunMod: A Cytoscape Plugin for Identifying Functional Modules in Undirected Protein–Protein Networks

The characterization of the interacting behaviors of complex biological systems is a primary objective in protein–protein network analysis and computational biology. In this paper we present FunMod, an innovative Cytoscape version 2.8 plugin that is able to mine undirected protein–protein networks and to infer sub-networks of interacting proteins intimately correlated with relevant biological pathways. This plugin may enable the discovery of new pathways involved in diseases. In order to describe the role of each protein within the relevant biological pathways, FunMod computes and scores three topological features of the identified sub-networks. By integrating the results from biological pathway clustering and topological network analysis, FunMod proved to be useful for the data interpretation and the generation of new hypotheses in two case studies.     

Identification of Immunodominant Th1-type T cell Epitopes from Schistosoma japonicum 28 kDa Glutathione-S-transferase,a Vaccine Candidate

Th1-type cytokines produced by the stimulation of Th1-type epitopes derived from definedschistosome-associated antigens are correlated with the development of resistance to the parasite infection.Schistosoma mansoni 28 kDa glutathione-S-transferase(Sm28GST),a major detoxification enzyme,hasbeen recognized as a vaccine candidate and a phase Ⅱ clinical trial has been carried out.Sheep immunizedwith recombinant Schistosoma japonicum 28GST(Sj28GST)have shown immune protection against theparasite infection.In the present study,six candidate peptides(P1,P2,P3,P4,P7 and P8)from Sj28GSTwere predicted,using software,to be T cell epitopes,and peptides P5 and P6 were designed by extendingfive amino acids at the N-terminal and C-terminal of P1,respectively.The peptide 190-211 aa in Sj28GSTcorresponding to the Th1-type epitope(190-211 aa)identified from Sm28GST was selected and named P9.The nine candidate peptides were synthesized or produced as the fusion protein with thioredoxin in thepET32c(+)/BL21(DE3)system.Their capacity to induce a Th1-type response in vitro was measured usinglymphocyte proliferation,cytokine detection experiments and flow cytometry.The results showed that P6(73-86 aa)generated the strongest stimulation effect on T cells among the nine candidate peptides,and drovethe highest level of IFN-γ and IL-2.Therefore,P6 is a functional Th1-type T cell epitope that is differentfrom that in Sm28GST,and will be useful for the development of effective vaccines which can triggeracquired immunity against S.japonicum.Moreover,our strategy of identifying the Th1-type epitope by acombination of software prediction and experimental confirmation provides a convenient and cost-savingalternative approach to previous methods.