化学切割重组融合蛋白制备人胸腺肽β_4

目的：在大肠杆菌中表达人胸腺肽β4（Tβ4）的融合蛋白,通过CDAP介导的化学切割将融合部分切除,获得人Tβ4。方法：分别以质粒pET-Tβ4和pET-L12为模板,扩增Tβ4和核糖体亚基蛋白L12的基因片段,再以这2段基因为模板进行重叠PCR,并在连接处引入一个半胱氨酸（Cys）密码子,将得到的融合蛋白Tβ4-Cys-L12基因片段与pET-22b载体连接,构建表达质粒,将其与N-末端乙酰转移酶质粒共转化至大肠杆菌BL21（DE3）并共表达,获得N端乙酰化修饰的融合蛋白Tβ4-Cys-L12;利用CDAP氰基化Cys的巯基,于pH10.0条件下在Cys残基N端完成切割,分离纯化获得Tβ4。结果：质谱分析目的产物相对分子质量为4962.70,与天然Tβ4一致,表明获得了Tβ4。结论：CDAP介导的化学法可以有效切割融合蛋白获得Tβ4,建立了一套Tβ4的生物制备方法。     

胸腺素α1的乙酰化修饰不依赖于乙酰转移酶RimL

目的：考察大肠杆菌乙酰转移酶RimL对胸腺素α1（Tα1）乙酰化修饰的影响。方法：构建含500bp同源臂的卡那抗性基因打靶片段,利用Red同源重组系统,使大肠杆菌B121（DE3）的rimL基因插入失活,随后导入质粒pCP20去除抗性基因,构建突变菌株rimL-BL21（DE3）;将重组质粒pET-Tα1-L12分别转入出发菌株和突变菌株中进行表达,经固定金属离子亲和层析和反向高效液相层析后,将所得纯品进行质谱分析,精确测定相对分子质量。结果：PCR鉴定结果证明成功敲除rimL基因;质谱结果表明,rimL基因敲除菌中所表达的Tα1-L12融合蛋白与出发菌株一样,均有部分乙酰化修饰。结论：Tα1的乙酰化修饰并不依赖于RimL。     

人胸腺素α1在大肠杆菌中的融合表达

利用基因工程表达的方法,在大肠杆菌中通过与GST蛋白融合的方式高效表达了胸腺素α1前体基因,随后经亲和层析和SP强阳离子树脂纯化相结合的方式,得到了胸腺素前体肽段31肽和N端未经乙酰化修饰的28肽。融合蛋白表达量达到菌体总蛋白的35%～40%,样品肽的产量也达到了约200mg/L（肽/发酵液）的产量。经质谱测定,分子量分别为3366和3066。BalB/C小鼠脾脏淋巴细胞体外测活表明,所构建的GSTTα1融合蛋白和纯化后的产物对于淋巴细胞具有比较明显的增殖作用,其中N端未经乙酰化的28肽产物与31肽产物活性相近,均对淋巴细胞具有明显的刺激增殖作用。     

组蛋白乙酰化／去乙酰化作用与真核基因转录调控

核小体组蛋白的翻译后修饰是真核基因转录调控中的关键步骤。对于组蛋白的这类修饰方式 ,近年来研究最为活跃的是组蛋白Ｎ末端区域保守的Ｌｙｓ上ε ＮＨ 3 的乙酰化作用。随着各种组蛋白乙酰化酶 /去乙酰化酶被克隆、鉴定 ,组蛋白乙酰化 /去乙酰化作用与真核基因转录调控之间的关系也开始逐步得以阐明。1 .真核转录相关的组蛋白乙酰化酶和组蛋白去乙酰化酶1 .1　组蛋白乙酰化酶 (ｈｉｓｔｏｎｅａｃｅｔｙｌｔｒａｎｓ ｆｅｒａｓｅ ,ＨＡＴ)　　核小体组蛋白中Ｎ末端区域上保守的Ｌｙｓ的乙酰化是染色质具有转录活性的标志之一。在组蛋白…     

乙酰化修饰降低Ku蛋白的DNA结合活性

【目的】研究乙酰化修饰对Ku蛋白活性的影响。【方法】利用耻垢分枝杆菌为表达菌株,转入Ku蛋白表达质粒,纯化具有乙酰化修饰的Ku蛋白和无乙酰化的Ku蛋白突变体,比较两类蛋白的生化活性;分析氧化压力和酸性环境下耻垢分枝杆菌细胞内Ku蛋白乙酰化水平的变化。【结果】Ku蛋白过量表达的耻垢分枝杆菌比转入空质粒的对照菌株生长缓慢;乙酰化Ku蛋白比未发生乙酰化Ku蛋白修复断裂DNA的活性降低、DNA结合活性降低;氧化压力和酸性压力环境下,耻垢分枝杆菌细胞内Ku蛋白数量降低,乙酰化Ku蛋白数量变化不大。【结论】乙酰化修饰能够调节Ku蛋白的DNA结合活性,从而调节非同源末端连接修复系统的活性;Ku蛋白乙酰化程度升高是耻垢分枝杆菌对不良生长环境的反应。     

双碱性氨基酸内肽酶末端剪切修饰显著提高酶活及其高效水解大豆蛋白

【目的】将酿酒酵母(Saccharomyces cerevisiae)和毕赤亚库德里亚夫泽维(Pichia kudriavzevii)来源的双碱性氨基酸内肽酶基因sckex2和pkkex2克隆到大肠杆菌(Escherichia coli)BL21中,实现双碱性氨基酸内肽酶的异源表达,研究重组酶的酶学性质及其与碱性蛋白酶的协同高效水解大豆蛋白释放出小分子活性肽的作用。【方法】按照大肠杆菌的密码子偏好性,对S.cerevisiae和P.kudriavzevii的kex2基因进行优化,分析KEX2蛋白的非功能区域,对其C-末端、N-末端氨基酸进行剪切修饰获得4种突变酶基因sckex2?3、sckex2?4、pkkex2?3和pkkex2?4,构建在载体pGEX-6P-1上,转入E.coli BL21感受态细胞中,经DNA测序验证,获得重组菌株E.coli BL21/pGEX-ScKEX2?3、E.coli BL21/pGEX-ScKEX2?4、E.coli BL21/pGEX-PkKEX2?3和E.coli BL21/pGEX-PkKEX2?4。利用GST亲和层析柱和PreScission蛋...     

乙酰化修饰调控结核杆菌异柠檬酸裂合酶的研究

目的:探索结核杆菌异柠檬酸裂合酶(ICL)蛋白322位点赖氨酸(Lys322)的乙酰化修饰对蛋白功能的调控作用。方法:构建结核杆菌ICL蛋白原核表达载体p ET28a-icl,并对Lys322位点进行定点突变为精氨酸(Arg,R)和谷氨酰胺(Glu,Q),体外表达纯化获得重组蛋白ICLWT、ICL322R和ICL322Q。通过Western blotting和酶活性测定来揭示Lys322位点突变前后对蛋白的乙酰化修饰水平及蛋白功能的影响。结果:Western blotting检测发现大肠杆菌表达体系获得的ICLWT、ICL322R和ICL322Q蛋白均有较高水平的蛋白赖氨酸乙酰化修饰信号,较ICLWT,ICL322R和ICL322Q突变蛋白的酶活性分别下降了大约50%和70%。结论:在大肠杆菌的表达体系中,ICL蛋白可以获得乙酰化修饰。ICL322Q突变蛋白酶活性的显著下降,揭示Lys322位点乙酰化修饰对ICL蛋白的功能存在负向调控。为未来深入探索赖氨酸乙酰化修饰对结核杆菌代谢,潜伏感染的调控作用奠定了基础。     

组蛋白去乙酰化酶抑制剂诱导肿瘤细胞凋亡的机制

组蛋白去乙酰化酶抑制剂（HDACi）是一类新的化疗药物,能够有效抑制组蛋白去乙酰化酶的活性,促进组蛋白及非组蛋白的乙酰化修饰,在转录和翻译后修饰水平调控肿瘤靶蛋白及凋亡相关蛋白的表达和降解,活化凋亡信号通路,诱导肿瘤细胞凋亡。HDACi抑制抗氧化蛋白的表达,提高细胞内活性氧的水平,引起细胞的氧化损伤。因此,氧化损伤诱导的细胞凋亡也是HDACi杀伤肿瘤细胞的重要机制。HDACi诱导细胞凋亡机制的发现将进一步促进HDACi在临床治疗中的应用。     

重组环状胸腺五肽结构类似物Cyclo-（Cys- Arg-Lys –Asp-Val-Tyr）的制备、鉴定和活性检测

为了实现蛋白内含肽(Intein)介导的重组环状胸腺五肽结构类似物［cyclo-（Cys -Arg-Lys –Asp-Val-Tyr）,cTP］的高效制备,设计并合成编码6个氨基酸的cTP基因,克隆到表达载体pTWIN1,重组表达质粒pTW-cTp转化E.coli ER2566构建工程菌,IPTG诱导由几丁质结合域纯化标签（chitin binding domain,CBD）、2个蛋白内含肽和目的多肽组成的“多元”融合蛋白(CBD-intein1-cTP-intein2-CBD)的高效表达.几丁质柱亲合层析纯化融合蛋白后,改变pH值和温度诱导intein1 C端切割,硫醇MESNA诱导intein2 N端切割,释放N端为Cys,C端为硫酯的重组cTP线性前体,通过非保护多肽硫酯环合法实现环肽生成.激光飞行质谱结果显示,纯化产物的分子量为764.4,与环肽的理论值相符.免疫活性检测结果显示,环肽cTP较线性多肽TP-5具有更显著的促进巨噬细胞吞噬能力的活性（P<0.01）和促进B细胞抗体生成的活性（P<0.01）.     

细菌体内乙酰化修饰研究进展

翻译后修饰是指前体蛋白经过一系列加工修饰形成具有多种功能的蛋白质,其可以发生在不同的氨基酸侧链或肽键上,通常是由酶活性介导的.5％的蛋白质组组成的酶介导了超过200多种的翻译后修饰类型,其中乙酰化修饰是一种重要的翻译后修饰途径.乙酰化修饰在真核细胞中被广泛研究,其几乎参与细胞的所有生理活动并且高度保守.最近的很多研究表...     

Production of <Emphasis Type="Italic">N</Emphasis><Superscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">α</Emphasis></Superscript>-acetylated thymosin α1 in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Escherichia coli</Emphasis>

Background  

Thymosin α1 (Tα1), a 28-amino acid N ^α -acetylated peptide, has a powerful general immunostimulating activity. Although biosynthesis is an attractive means of large-scale manufacture, to date, Tα1 can only be chemosynthesized because of two obstacles to its biosynthesis: the difficulties in expressing small peptides and obtaining N ^α -acetylation. In this study, we describe a novel production process for N ^α -acetylated Tα1 in Escherichia coli.     

Identification and Analysis of the Acetylated Status of Poplar Proteins Reveals Analogous N-Terminal Protein Processing Mechanisms with Other Eukaryotes

Background

The N-terminal protein processing mechanism (NPM) including N-terminal Met excision (NME) and N-terminal acetylation (N^α-acetylation) represents a common protein co-translational process of some eukaryotes. However, this NPM occurred in woody plants yet remains unknown.

Methodology/Principal Findings

To reveal the NPM in poplar, we investigated the N^α-acetylation status of poplar proteins during dormancy by combining tandem mass spectrometry with TiO₂ enrichment of acetylated peptides. We identified 58 N-terminally acetylated (N^α-acetylated) proteins. Most proteins (47, >81%) are subjected to N^α-acetylation following the N-terminal removal of Met, indicating that N^α-acetylation and NME represent a common NPM of poplar proteins. Furthermore, we confirm that poplar shares the analogous NME and N^α-acetylation (NPM) to other eukaryotes according to analysis of N-terminal features of these acetylated proteins combined with genome-wide identification of the involving methionine aminopeptidases (MAPs) and N-terminal acetyltransferase (Nat) enzymes in poplar. The N^α-acetylated reactions and the involving enzymes of these poplar proteins are also identified based on those of yeast and human, as well as the subcellular location information of these poplar proteins.

Conclusions/Significance

This study represents the first extensive investigation of N^α-acetylation events in woody plants, the results of which will provide useful resources for future unraveling the regulatory mechanisms of N^α-acetylation of proteins in poplar.     

Identification and quantification of N alpha-acetylated Y. pestis fusion protein F1-V expressed in Escherichia coli using LCMS E

N-terminal acetylation in E coli is a rare event catalyzed by three known N-acetyl-transferases (NATs), each having a specific ribosomal protein substrate. Multiple, gram-scale lots of recombinant F1-V, a fusion protein constructed from Y. Pestis antigens, were expressed and purified from a single stably transformed E. coli cell bank. A variant form of F1-V with mass increased by 42-43 Da was detected in all purified lots by electrospray orthogonal acceleration time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MS). Peptide mapping LCMS localized the increased mass to an N-terminal Lys-C peptide, residues 1-24, and defined it as +42.0308+/-0.0231 Da using a LockSpray exact mass feature and a leucine enkaphalin mass standard. Sequencing of the variant 1-24 peptide by LCMS and high-energy collision induced dissociation (LCMS(E)) further localized the modification to the amino terminal tri-peptide ADL and identified the modification as N(alpha)-acetylation. The average content of N(alpha)-acetylated F1-V in five lots was 24.7+/-2.6% indicating that a stable acetylation activity for F1-V was established in the E. coli expression system. Alignment of the F1-V N-terminal sequence with those of other known N(alpha)-acetylated ectopic proteins expressed in E. coli reveals a substrate motif analogous to the eukaryote NatA' acetylation pathway and distinct from endogenous E. coli NAT substrates.     

N-terminal acetylation of ectopic recombinant proteins in Escherichia coli

N-terminal acetylation is a protein modification common in eukaryotes, but rare in prokaryotes. Here, we characterized five mammalian stathmin-like subdomains expressed in Escherichia coli by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry and nanoESI Q-TOF tandem mass spectrometry. We revealed that RB3(SLD) and RB3'(SLD) are N(alpha)-acetylated, whereas SCG10(SLD) and SCLIP(SLD), although identical up to residue 6, are not, as well as stathmin. To assess the influence of the N-terminal sequences on N(alpha)-acetylation, we exchanged residues 7 and 8 between acetylated RB3(SLD) and unacetylated SCG10(SLD), and showed that it reversed the acetylation pattern. Our results demonstrate that ectopic recombinant proteins can be extensively N(alpha)-acetylated in E. coli, and that the rules governing N(alpha)-acetylation are complex and involve the N-terminal region, as in eukaryotes.     

Enantiopure β<Superscript>3</Superscript>-amino acids-2,2-d<Subscript>2</Subscript> via homologation of proteinogenic α-amino acids

Summary. A procedure for the synthesis of enantiopure β³-amino acids from proteinogenic α-amino acids, developed by our group a few years ago, has been modified to enable the production of C-2 fully deuterated, C-protected β³-amino acids and, even more important, the synthesis of valuable deuterium labelled N(Boc)-protected chiral synthons, such as 2-aminoalcohols, 2-aminoiodides, and β³-amino nitriles.     

Impact of peptidoglycan O-acetylation on autolytic activities of the Enterococcus faecalis N-acetylglucosaminidase AtlA and N-acetylmuramidase AtlB

Autolysins are potentially lethal enzymes that partially hydrolyze peptidoglycan for incorporation of new precursors and septum cleavage after cell division. Here, we explored the impact of peptidoglycan O-acetylation on the enzymatic activities of Enterococcus faecalis major autolysins, the N-acetylglucosaminidase AtlA and the N-acetylmuramidase AtlB. We constructed isogenic strains with various O-acetylation levels and used them as substrates to assay E. faecalis autolysin activities. Peptidoglycan O-acetylation had a marginal inhibitory impact on the activities of these enzymes. In contrast, removal of cell wall glycopolymers increased the AtlB activity (37-fold), suggesting that these polymers negatively control the activity of this enzyme.     

Inhibition of murine N1-acetylated polyamine oxidase by an acetylenic amine and the allenic amine, MDL 72527

Murine N¹-acetylated polyamine oxidase (mPAO) was treated with N,N′-bis-(prop-2-ynyl)-1,4-diaminobutane, a poor substrate and inhibitor for the enzyme, with K_m and K_i values in the millimolar range. Apparently, its oxidation produces prop-2-ynal, which reacts with amino acyl nucleophiles. Using a steady-state kinetic assay, four phases were identified, the first being the oxidation of the compound via Michealis-Menten-type kinetics. As prop-2-ynal accumulates, there is a biphasic reduction in the rate. This process leads to an mPAO form that is nearly inactive (fourth phase), but displays classical Michealis-Menten-type kinetics. The enzyme-bound flavin is not modified in this process. In contrast, micromolar concentrations of the MDL 72527 (N,N′-bis-[buta-2,3-dienyl]-1,4-diaminobutane) inhibited mPAO rapidly and completely. It inhibits by first binding tightly and apparently irreversibly, and then slowly converts to a species where the inhibitor is covalently bound to the N5-position of the flavin’s isoalloxazine ring. The covalent adduct was identified as a flavocyanine.     

N(alpha)-acetylation and proteolytic activity of the yeast 20 S proteasome

N(alpha)-acetylation, catalyzed co-translationally with N(alpha)-acetyltransferase (NAT), is the most common modifications of eukaryotic proteins. In yeast, there are at least three NATs: NAT1, MAK3, and NAT3. The 20 S proteasome subunits were purified from the normal strain and each of the deletion mutants, nat1, mak3, and nat3. The electrophoretic mobility of these subunits was compared by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Shifts toward the alkaline side of the gel and unblocking of the N terminus of certain of the subunits in one or another of the mutants indicated that the alpha1, alpha2, alpha3, alpha4, alpha7, and beta3 subunits were acetylated with NAT1, the alpha5 and alpha6 subunits were acetylated with MAK3, and the beta4 subunit was acetylated with NAT3. Furthermore, the Ac-Met-Phe-Leu and Ac-Met-Phe-Arg termini of the alpha5 and alpha6 subunits, respectively, extended the known types of MAK3 substrates. Thus, nine subunits were N (alpha)-acetylated, whereas the remaining five were processed, resulting in the loss of the N-terminal region. The 20 S proteasomes derived from either the nat1 mutant or the normal strain were similar in respect to chymotrypsin-like, trypsin-like, and peptidylglutamyl peptide hydrolyzing activities in vitro, suggesting that N(alpha)-acetylation does not play a major functional role in these activities. However, the chymotrypsin-like activity in the absence of sodium dodecyl sulfate was slightly higher in the nat1 mutant than in the normal strain.