rhEPO-L-Fc融合蛋白的表达、生物活性和初步药动学分析

为了延长人促红细胞生成素(hEPO)体内半衰期以达到更好的药效,制备通过柔性接头相连接的重组人红细胞生成素-IgG1 Fc融合蛋白(rhEPO-L-Fc),并对其生物学活性和体内药动学进行初步研究.利用PCR技术构建rhEPO-L-Fc融合基因,克隆至表达载体pOptiVEC-TOPO ,在二氢叶酸还原酶缺陷型中国仓鼠卵巢细胞(CHO-dhfr-)表达.Protein A亲合层析柱纯化融合蛋白,SDS-PAGE、质谱、Western blotting鉴定表达产物,细胞增殖实验检测融合蛋白的体外活性,动物实验检测融合蛋白的体内活性和半衰期.成功构建pOptiVEC-TOPO -rhEPO-L-Fc重组子,实现了在CHO细胞表达,纯化后的rhEPO-L-Fc融合蛋白经鉴定,其分子量和特异性均与理论值相符,能刺激体外培养的EPO依赖型细胞生长,ED50为2 ng/mL,且明显增加大鼠外周血网织红细胞数,体内消除半衰期达到27 h.rhEPO-L-Fc融合蛋白能延长hEPO体内半衰期,为其临床研究奠定了基础.     

重组HSA-hG-CSF融合蛋白在毕赤酵母中的表达

为了延长G-CSF半衰期,我们利用甲醇酵母表达重组人血清白蛋白融合的集落细胞刺激因子（rHSA-G-CSF）。用PCR方法从人胎肝cDNA文库扩增出HSA cDNA序列,hG-CSFcDNA序列从大肠表达载体中酶切获取。将HSA和hG-CSF两片段连接后,克隆到酵母分泌型表达载体pGENYK中,酶切线性化后原生质体转化导入酵母细胞进行整合。工程菌经发酵灌培养表达,层析法分离纯化融合蛋白。纯化的融合蛋白经Western 印迹分析表明具有HSA和G-CSF的免役原性,体外生物学活性分析表明,同縻尔数的融合表达产物的活性为E.coli表达G-CSF单体的活性的50%以上。体内动物实验研究表明,经HSA融合的G-CSF的半衰期为G-CSF单体的15-20倍。甲醇酵母表达的融合HSA的G-CSF具有比G-CSF更长的半衰期,有良好的临床应用前景。     

免疫融合蛋白sFcεRIα/mIg(IgG2)的研制

哮喘、过敏性鼻炎、特应性皮炎及食物过敏等疾病为一类常见疾病,但存在治疗效果不佳,患者病程长等特点。IgE 分子是导致过敏性疾病的关键分子。抑制IgE分子与效应细胞膜表面FcεRI受体的结合可抑制过敏反应的发生。通过克隆FcεRI受体α亚基的cDNA与IgG2的稳定区铰链区、CH2和CH3的cDNA连接,以二聚化融合蛋白sFcεRIα/mIg(IgG2)的形式在CHO细胞中表达,达到提高sFcεRIα生物半衰期的目的。表达载体构建和初步的功能性试验等一系列研究证实,所表达的融合蛋白的分子量为170kDa,并与人IgE和鼠IgE有较好的结合活性。这些研究为该融合蛋白最终实现产业化打下良好基础。     

免疫融合蛋白sFcεRIα/mIg(IgG2)的研制

哮喘、过敏性鼻炎、特应性皮炎及食物过敏等疾病为一类常见疾病,但存在治疗效果不佳,患者病程长等特点.IgE分子是导致过敏性疾病的关键分子.抑制IgE分子与效应细胞膜表面FceRI受体的结合可抑制过敏反应的发生.通过克隆FcεRI受体α亚基的cDNA与IgG2的稳定区铰链区、CH2和CH3的cDNA连接,以二聚化融合蛋白sFcεRIα/mIg(IgG2)的形式在CHO细胞中表达,达到提高sFcεRIα生物半衰期的目的.表达载体构建和初步的功能性试验等一系列研究证实,所表达的融合蛋白的分子量为170kDa,并与人IgE和鼠IgE有较好的结合活性.这些研究为该融合蛋白最终实现产业化打下良好基础.     

CH50真核表达载体pCH503的构建及小鼠体内表达的趋化与抗肿瘤活行

构建重组FN多肽CH50真核表达载体并在小鼠体内表达,研究其趋化与抗肿瘤作用.采用重组DNA技术构建表达质粒;体内进行基因转染,采用RT-PCR鉴定导入基因的表达;通过肝素亲和层析、SDS-PAGE和Western blot鉴定表达产物;腹腔细胞计数、Giemsa染色分析以及肌肉组织切片与染色观察体内基因转染后的趋化作用;小鼠黑色素瘤模型研究基因转染抑制肿瘤的作用.从CH50原核表达载体获得重组多肽的cDNA,5＇端加上小鼠IFN-γ5＇端非编码区和信号肽编码区的cDNA,3＇端加上人FN cDNA的3＇端非编码区;将重组cDNA插入pREP8质粒,即构建出pCH503质粒.巨噬细胞在体内经pCH503转染,然后在体外培养,能够产生CH50多肽.以pCH503分别进行腹腔基因转染和肌肉内基因转染,均可对免疫细胞产生趋化作用;pCH503体内转染可以使小鼠腹腔内黑色素肿瘤结节数降低50%～601.CH50真核表达载体pCH503可在小鼠体内表达,体内基因转染可趋化免疫细胞和抑制肿瘤结节形成,在肿瘤综合治疗中有重要意义.     

人干扰素α2b和IgG Fc片段融合蛋白显著延长体内半衰期

重组人干扰素α(rHuIFNα)已被广泛用于临床治疗多种人类病毒性疾病和肿瘤。但IFNα在体内半衰期较短从而导致IFNα在用药后数小时即从血浆中被清除。目前常用化学修饰和构建融合蛋白的方法来延长IFNα的半衰期。在本研究中, 构建了IFNα2b与人IgG免疫球蛋白Fc片段的融合基因(IFNα2b-Fcγ)并在毕赤酵母中以二聚体形式分泌表达, 并有部分糖基化。不同亚型Fcγ片段的融合蛋白对IFNα2b抗病毒活性均有一定影响。其中IFNα2b-Fcγ2所受影响最小, 较单纯的IFNα2b降低了2.3倍, 抗病毒活性可达4.29x107 IU/mg, 大鼠皮下注射后循环血液中半衰期达65 h, 血液中存留时间120 h以上, 比商品重组干扰素的体内半衰期延长约8倍, 血液存留时间延长10倍, 显示了其良好的临床应用 前景。     

氨基酸序列突变对TFPI生物半衰期和生物活性的影响

通过对个别氨基酸突变的研究,获得了保持良好生物活性的长半衰期组织因子途径抑制因子(tissue factor pathwayinhibitor,TFPI)重组蛋白的有效途径.采用定点诱变和基因重组技术,首先在TFPI cDNA特定位点形成一个位点的沉默突变,以提高TFPI在毕赤酵母细胞内的表达量,此cDNA称为mTFPI.在此基础上,通过系列位点突变,形成3个羧基端突变体:m0TFPI、m1TFPI和m2TFPI.将上述4种TFPI cDNA与表达质粒pPic9连接,转染大肠杆菌,通过PCR和DNA测序确认重组质粒,转染酵母细胞GS115,甲醇诱导表达重组蛋白.采用层析方法纯化TFPI重组蛋白,用125I标记重组蛋白,静脉注射给药,比较四者在SD大鼠体内血浆代谢清除速度.用底物显色法测定重组蛋白抑制凝血因子Xa(Fxa)的活性,比较各株TFPI重组蛋白突变体在体内、体外对FXa的抑制作用及肝素对各株TFPI重组蛋白功能的影响.结果显示,相比野生型TFPI重组蛋(mTFPI)而言,3株羧基端突变体m0TFPI、m1TFPI、m2TFPI在SD大鼠体内血浆代谢清除时间均有不同程度延长,其生物代谢半衰期分别是mTFPI的1.5倍、1.9倍和大于2倍,与m-TFPI相比,3个rTFPI突变体在体内、体外抑制FXa的作用无明显减弱,与肝素的结合能力及协同能力也无明显减弱.结果表明,m0TFPI、m1TFPI和m2TFPI在生物半衰期得到明显延长的同时,仍保持良好的抑制Fxa的生物活性.     

毕赤酵母高效分泌长效人生长激素的研究

目的:为了延长人生长激素(HGH)在血浆中的半衰期,构建了高效分泌表达人血清白蛋白(HSA)与HGH融合蛋白(HSA-HGH)的工程毕赤酵母菌株。方法:从人胎肝cDNA文库中扩增HSA基因,从HGH工程菌载体中扩增HGH基因,将其克隆至真核表达载体pHIL-D2,载体线性化后采用电击法转化毕赤酵母GS115。通过原位双层膜法筛选高效分泌表达菌株。分别采用SDS-PAGE和Western印迹鉴定融合蛋白。对工程酵母培养条件进行研究,发酵液经离子交换层析、亲和层析和分子筛层析纯化。纯化的蛋白经N端序列测定,分子量测定和等电聚焦电泳进行鉴定。冻干的蛋白制剂经食蟹猴试验进行药代动力学和药效动力学测试。结果:确立了工程酵母的最佳培养工艺,融合蛋白表达量达100mg/L。纯化后蛋白纯度达95%以上,得率达42%。融合蛋白与预期结果一致,经食蟹猴试验,显示有良好的生物活性,与等摩尔剂量的重组人生长激素相比,半衰期延长6.8倍,清除率慢44倍。结论:融合蛋白呈现明显的长效动力学特征,为开发重组长效人生长激素HSA-HGH融合蛋白药物(rHSA-HGH)奠定了基础。     

新型长效重组促卵泡素的纯化和性质及药代动力学研究

促卵泡素(Follicle-stimulating hormone,FSH)用于治疗男女不孕不育症,由于FSH的半衰期较短,需要频繁注射给药,因此制备长效FSH制剂一直是该类药物的研发方向。首次将来自绒促性素(human chorionic gonadotropin,HCG)中的羧基端肽(carboxy-terminal peptide,CTP)和人免疫球蛋白G2(immunoglobulin G2,IgG2)Fc片段变体(vFc)与单链FSH有序连接,通过基因工程和哺乳动物细胞培养技术实现了其在中国仓鼠卵巢细胞中的稳定表达,然后利用Protein A柱层析手段进行纯化,制备了新型重组FSH-CTP-vFc融合蛋白,同时分析了不同细胞培养时间表达的重组融合蛋白的理化性质和体内外活性。动物试验结果表明,纯化的FSH-CTP-vFc融合蛋白具有显著的体内生物活性,药代动力学分析显示该重组融合蛋白的半衰期是重组FSH的近10倍。这种新型长效重组FSH-CTP-vFc融合蛋白在临床上可大大减少注射次数和患者痛苦,提高患者用药依从性。     

hK-Fc融合蛋白的改良、表达及其生物活性的分析

为了延长人激肽释放酶(hK)的血清半衰期,提高分泌蛋白的产率,制备了重组激肽释放酶-IgG1 Fc融合蛋白(hK'-Fc)。采用PCR扩增hK基因和IgG1的Fc序列,用鼠源信号肽序列替换hK基因原有的信号肽序列,构建改良型融合蛋白hK'-Fc以及天然型融合蛋白hK-Fc的表达载体,转染中国仓鼠卵巢细胞(CHO)细胞,筛选稳定分泌融合蛋白的细胞株,通过Western blotting鉴定信号肽改造效果,利用Protein A+G亲合层析柱纯化融合蛋白,酶学实验检测融合蛋白的体外活性。结果表明:成功构建了pcDNA-hK'-Fc以及pcDNA-hK-Fc重组表达载体;获得了稳定表达融合蛋白的细胞株,产量达11mg/L以上;信号肽改造后融合蛋白的分泌效率提高约5～10倍;融合蛋白能水解其特异性的底物S-2266,具有生物学活性。本研究为进一步探讨融合蛋白的体内半衰期打下了坚实基础,也为研制治疗脑梗塞疗效更好的第二代hK蛋白和其他药用蛋白的改良提供新的线索。     

Symmetric primary and tertiary structure mutations within a symmetric superfold: a solution, not a constraint, to achieve a foldable polypeptide

In previous studies designed to increase the primary structure symmetry within the hydrophobic core of human acidic fibroblast growth factor (FGF-1) a combination of five mutations were accommodated, resulting in structure, stability and folding kinetic properties similar to wild-type (despite the symmetric constraint upon the set of core residues). A sixth mutation in the core, involving a highly conserved Met residue at position 67, appeared intolerant to substitution. Structural analysis suggested that the local packing environment of position 67 involved two regions of apparent insertions that distorted the tertiary structure symmetry inherent in the beta-trefoil architecture. It was postulated that a symmetric constraint upon the primary structure within the core could only be achieved after these insertions had been deleted (concomitantly increasing the tertiary structure symmetry). The deletion of these insertions is now shown to permit mutation of position 67, thereby increasing the primary structure symmetry relationship within the core. Furthermore, despite the imposed symmetric constraint upon both the primary and tertiary structure, the resulting mutant form of FGF-1 is substantially more stable. The apparent inserted regions are shown to be associated with heparin-binding functionality; however, despite a marked reduction in heparin-binding affinity the mutant form of FGF-1 is surprisingly approximately 70 times more potent in 3T3 fibroblast mitogenic assays. The results support the hypothesis that primary structure symmetry within a symmetric protein superfold represents a possible solution, rather than a constraint, to achieving a foldable polypeptide.     

Integrating statistical pair potentials into protein complex prediction

The biophysical study of protein-protein interactions and docking has important implications in our understanding of most complex cellular signaling processes. Most computational approaches to protein docking involve a tradeoff between the level of detail incorporated into the model and computational power required to properly handle that level of detail. In this work, we seek to optimize that balance by showing that we can reduce the complexity of model representation and thus make the computation tractable with minimal loss of predictive performance. We also introduce a pair-wise statistical potential suitable for docking that builds on previous work and show that this potential can be incorporated into our fast fourier transform-based docking algorithm ZDOCK. We use the Protein Docking Benchmark to illustrate the improved performance of this potential compared with less detailed other scoring functions. Furthermore, we show that the new potential performs well on antibody-antigen complexes, with most predictions clustering around the Complementarity Determining Regions of antibodies without any manual intervention.     

Protein microarrays as a discovery tool for studying protein–protein interactions

Exploring the function of the genome and the encoded proteins has emerged as a new and exciting challenge in the postgenomic era. Novel technologies come into view that promise to be valuable for the investigation not only of single proteins, but of entire protein networks. Protein microarrays are the innovative assay platform for highly parallel in vitro studies of protein–protein interactions. Due to their flexibility and multiplexing capacity, protein microarrays benefit basic research, diagnosis and biomedicine. This review provides an overview on the basic principles of protein microarrays and their potential to multiplex protein–protein interaction studies.     

A solubility-enhancement tag (SET) for NMR studies of poorly behaving proteins

Protein-fusion constructs have been used with great success for enhancing expression of soluble recombinant protein and as tags for affinity purification. Unfortunately the most popular tags, such as GST and MBP, are large, which hinders direct NMR studies of the fusion proteins. Cleavage of the fusion proteins often re-introduces problems with solubility and stability. Here we describe the use of N-terminally fused protein G (B1 domain) as a non-cleavable solubility-enhancement tag (SET) for structure determination of a dimeric protein complex. The SET enhances the solubility and stability of the fusion product dramatically while not interacting directly with the protein of interest. This approach can be used for structural characterization of poorly behaving protein systems, and would be especially useful for structural genomics studies.     

Improvement of protein stability in protein microarrays

Protein stability in microarrays was improved using protein stabilizers. PEG 200 at 30% (w/v) was the most efficient stabilizer giving over 4-fold improvement in protein stability compared to without the stabilizer. PEG 200 above 10% (w/v) in the array solution prevented the evaporation of water in the sample and thereby improved protein stability in the microarray. When the streptavidin-biotin binding reaction was performed under optimized conditions, biotin-BSA-fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) was detected from 1 ng ml^–1 to 5 g ml^–1 by fluorescence analysis.     

The heat capacity of proteins

The heat capacity plays a major role in the determination of the energetics of protein folding and molecular recognition. As such, a better understanding of this thermodynamic parameter and its structural origin will provide new insights for the development of better molecular design strategies. In this paper we have analyzed the absolute heat capacity of proteins in different conformations. The results of these studies indicate that three major terms account for the absolute heat capacity of a protein: (1) one term that depends only on the primary or covalent structure of a protein and contains contributions from vibrational frequencies arising from the stretching and bending modes of each valence bond and internal rotations; (2) a term that contains the contributions of noncovalent interactions arising from secondary and tertiary structure; and (3) a term that contains the contributions of hydration. For a typical globular protein in solution the bulk of the heat capacity at 25°C is given by the covalent structure term (close to 85% of the total). The hydration term contributes about 15 and 40% to the total heat capacity of the native and unfolded states, respectively. The contribution of non-covalent structure to the total heat capacity of the native state is positive but very small and does not amount to more than 3% at 25°C. The change in heat capacity upon unfolding is primarily given by the increase in the hydration term (about 95%) and to a much lesser extent by the loss of noncovalent interactions (up to ～5%). It is demonstrated that a single universal mathematical function can be used to represent the partial molar heat capacity of the native and unfolded states of proteins in solution. This function can be experimentally written in terms of the molecular weight, the polar and apolar solvent accessible surface areas, and the total area buried from the solvent. This unique function accurately predicts the different magnitude and temperature dependences of the heat capacity of both the native and unfolded states, and therefore of the heat capacity changes associated with folding/unfolding transitions. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

A large scale test of computational protein design: folding and stability of nine completely redesigned globular proteins

A previously developed computer program for protein design, RosettaDesign, was used to predict low free energy sequences for nine naturally occurring protein backbones. RosettaDesign had no knowledge of the naturally occurring sequences and on average 65% of the residues in the designed sequences differ from wild-type. Synthetic genes for ten completely redesigned proteins were generated, and the proteins were expressed, purified, and then characterized using circular dichroism, chemical and temperature denaturation and NMR experiments. Although high-resolution structures have not yet been determined, eight of these proteins appear to be folded and their circular dichroism spectra are similar to those of their wild-type counterparts. Six of the proteins have stabilities equal to or up to 7kcal/mol greater than their wild-type counterparts, and four of the proteins have NMR spectra consistent with a well-packed, rigid structure. These encouraging results indicate that the computational protein design methods can, with significant reliability, identify amino acid sequences compatible with a target protein backbone.     

Lethal mutations in the major homology region and their suppressors act by modulating the dimerization of the rous sarcoma virus capsid protein C‐terminal domain

An infective retrovirus requires a mature capsid shell around the viral replication complex. This shell is formed by about 1500 capsid protein monomers, organized into hexamer and pentamer rings that are linked to each other by the dimerization of the C‐terminal domain (CTD). The major homology region (MHR), the most highly conserved protein sequence across retroviral genomes, is part of the CTD. Several mutations in the MHR appear to block infectivity by preventing capsid formation. Suppressor mutations have been identified that are distant in sequence and structure from the MHR and restore capsid formation. The effects of two lethal and two suppressor mutations on the stability and function of the CTD were examined. No correlation with infectivity was found for the stability of the lethal mutations (D155Y‐CTD, F167Y‐CTD) and suppressor mutations (R185W‐CTD, I190V‐CTD). The stabilities of three double mutant proteins (D155Y/R185W‐CTD, F167Y/R185W‐CTD, and F167Y/I190V‐CTD) were additive. However, the dimerization affinity of the mutant proteins correlated strongly with biological function. The CTD proteins with lethal mutations did not dimerize, while those with suppressor mutations had greater dimerization affinity than WT‐CTD. The suppressor mutations were able to partially correct the dimerization defect caused by the lethal MHR mutations in double mutant proteins. Despite their dramatic effects on dimerization, none of these residues participate directly in the proposed dimerization interface in a mature capsid. These findings suggest that the conserved sequence of the MHR has critical roles in the conformation(s) of the CTD that are required for dimerization and correct capsid maturation. Proteins 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

蛋白质相互作用研究的新技术与新方法

目前,蛋白质相互作用已成为蛋白质组学研究的热点. 新方法的建立及对已有技术的改进标志着蛋白质相互作用研究的不断发展和完善．在技术改进方面,本文介绍了弥补酵母双杂交的蛋白定位受限等缺陷的细菌双杂交系统;根据目标蛋白特性设计和修饰TAP标签来满足复合体研究要求的串联亲和纯化技术,以及在双分子荧光互补基础上发展的动态检测多个蛋白质间瞬时、弱相互作用的多分子荧光互补技术．还综述了近两年建立的新方法：与免疫共沉淀相比,寡沉淀技术直接研究具有活性的蛋白质复合体;减量式定量免疫沉淀方法排除了蛋白质复合体中非特异性相互作用的干扰;原位操作的多表位－配基绘图法避免了样品间差异的影响,以及利用多点吸附和交联加固研究弱蛋白质相互作用的固相蛋白质组学方法.