包含体蛋白质的复性研究进展

包含体的形成是异源蛋白质在大肠杆菌中高效表达的必然结果,也是目前产生重组蛋白质最有效的方法之一。不可溶、无生物活性的包含体必须经过变性、复性才能获得天然结构,完整特定的生物学功能。聚集是造成重组蛋白质复性产率低下的主要因素,因此理解蛋白质聚集机制,减少和防止聚集的发生是建立高效、高产率复性方法的关键。分子伴侣、低分子量添加物等在复性过程中的应用及新的复性方法的建立都大大提高了重组蛋白质复性产率。     

利用大肠杆菌高效表达人载脂蛋白AI及其性质分析

载脂蛋白AI(apolipoproteinAI,apoAI)是高密度脂蛋白HDL的主要组成成分 ,流行病学研究表明apoAI的含量决定血浆中HDL的高低 ,而HDL具有胆固醇逆向转运的功能 ,起到降低冠心病发生概率的作用。通过大肠杆菌表达系统来生产apoAI的蛋白原proapoAI,蛋白的表达形式为包涵体 ,通过疏水柱进行柱上复性。同时在proapoAI和apoAI之间设计一个酸水解位点 ,通过将蛋白原proapoAI进行酸水解来得到成熟蛋白apoAI。最终得到的成熟蛋白apoAI在结构分析和脂结合特性上都与天然的apoAI相似 ,从而为该蛋白的工业生产上提供了一个良好的基础。     

生物信息学数据库调查分析及其利用研究

从生物信息学数据库利用的角度调查分析生物信息学数据库的现状,为我国科研人员利用网上生物信息学数据库以及生物信息中心的开发提供科学依据和参考价值。研究采用网上调查的方法,对法国生物信息中心Infobiogen建立维护的生物信息学数据库目录DBcat中收录的511个数据库进行调查统计,分析其类型分布、国家分布、更新频率和获取方式;在此基础上。进一步利用欧洲分子生物学信息网(EMBnet)中30个成员国节点对生物信息学数据库利用现状进行统计分析。     

生物信息学及其在菌物学研究上的应用

主要介绍生物信息学的基本概念、发展历程、特点、研究领域、面临的挑战以及生物信息学在菌物研究上的应用成果。分析了生物信息学在菌物研究方面的应用前景,并提出了研究和开发的建议。     

国内外生物信息学数据库服务新进展

生物信息学是生命科学中最活跃的领域之一. 各类生物信息学数据库在近年不断出现,其规模呈爆炸趋势增长,同时数据结构日趋复杂. 目前生物信息学数据库服务已实现了高度的计算机和网络化. 算法和软件的进步、数据库的一体化、服务器-客户模式的建立使之成为生物、医药、农业等学科的强有力工具. 在国内北京大学物理化学研究所于1996年建立了第一家生物信息学网络服务器. 现已为国内外科学家提供了7万余次服务,在国际上具有一定影响.     

NCBI的数据库资源及其应用

NCBI是美国的一个大型生物信息学系统,它主要通过NCBI网站为全世界的科学家服务,它拥有GenBank,RefSeq,UniGene,dbSNP等等多种大型生物学数据库,并且提供了多种数据库查询工具,如：Entrez,PubMed,LocusLink,TaxonomyBrowser等等,以及多种数据库分析资源,对于我们查询文献,人类基因组信息、基因表达、蛋白质结构、肿瘤遗传信息,以及不同种属遗传信息等等有非常大的帮助。是一个非常重要的生物医学资源。     

多聚谷氨酰胺延伸蛋白募集细胞内正常蛋白质或RNA的分子机制

多聚谷氨酰胺(PolyQ)疾病,是一类由编码蛋白质的基因中CAG三核苷酸重复序列的异常延伸所引发的神经退行性疾病.CAG三核苷酸重复序列导致所编码蛋白质的PolyQ序列的异常延伸,使蛋白质发生错误折叠和积聚,并在细胞内形成包涵体.包涵体的形成是神经退行性疾病的一个重要特征.PolyQ蛋白在积聚过程中,可以将细胞内与其特异相互作用的蛋白质或RNA募集到包涵体中.被募集的其他蛋白质或RNA不仅自身的可溶性组分减少,而且由于被\"挟持\"到包涵体中其在细胞内的有效组分也相应地减少,从而影响其正常的生物功能.根据特异相互作用的模式,我们将募集作用分为以下几种类型:蛋白质(含Poly Q蛋白)的共积聚;特定结构域或模体介导的募集作用(包括泛素等修饰介导的募集作用);RNA介导的募集作用;以及对分子伴侣蛋白的募集作用.PolyQ延伸蛋白的积聚和对其他组分的募集可能是引发细胞毒性和神经退行性病变的重要原因.     

通过N端引入芳香族氨基酸提高木聚糖酶的热稳定性

耐热的木聚糖酶具有用于造纸、麻类脱胶和饲料生产等工业领域的巨大潜力,为了提高11家族碱性木聚糖酶Xyn11A-LC的热稳定性,通过理性设计在N-末端引入了芳香族氨基酸(T9Y和D14F)。测定野生型和突变体的性质表明,突变体的最适反应温度和热稳定性均获得了提高。突变体的最适反应温度比野生型提高了5℃。野生型在65℃的Tris/HCl缓冲液(pH 8.0)中的半衰期为22 min,而突变体在此条件下的半衰期为106 min。圆二色光谱测定结果显示野生型和突变体的Tm分别为55.3℃和67.9℃。因此,通过在N-末端引入芳香族氨基酸可以提高11家族木聚糖酶的热稳定性和在高温下的活性。     

The DNA Barcode Linker

DNA barcoding is based on the use of short DNA sequences to provide taxonomic tags for rapid, efficient identification of biological specimens. Currently, reference databases are being compiled. In the future, it will be important to facilitate access to these databases, especially for nonspecialist users. The method described here provides a rapid, web-based, user-friendly link between the DNA sequence from an unidentified biological specimen and various types of biological information, including the species name. Specifically, we use a customized, Google-type search algorithm to quickly match an unknown DNA sequence to a list of verified DNA barcodes in the reference database. In addition to retrieving the species name, our web tool also provides automatic links to a range of other information about that species. As the DNA barcode database becomes more populated, it will become increasingly important for the broader user community to be able to exploit it for the rapid identification of unknown specimens and to easily obtain relevant biological information about these species. The application presented here meets that need.     

系统发育研究中多重序列比对常见问题分析

在简单介绍序列比对原理的基础上,结合自己的经验,对经常出现的问题进行总结分析,以期在将来的序列比对工作中避免此类问题的发生.     

Critical Roles of Two Hydrophobic Residues within Human Glucose Transporter 9 (hSLC2A9) in Substrate Selectivity and Urate Transport

High blood urate levels (hyperuricemia) have been found to be a significant risk factor for cardiovascular diseases and inflammatory arthritis, such as hypertension and gout. Human glucose transporter 9 (hSLC2A9) is an essential protein that mainly regulates urate/hexose homeostasis in human kidney and liver. hSLC2A9 is a high affinity-low capacity hexose transporter and a high capacity urate transporter. Our previous studies identified a single hydrophobic residue in trans-membrane domain 7 of class II glucose transporters as a determinant of fructose transport. A mutation of isoleucine 335 to valine (I355V) in hSLC2A9 can reduce fructose transport while not affecting glucose fluxes. This current study demonstrates that the I335V mutant transports urate similarly to the wild type hSLC2A9; however, Ile-335 is necessary for urate/fructose trans-acceleration exchange to occur. Furthermore, Trp-110 is a critical site for urate transport. Two structural models of the class II glucose transporters, hSLC2A9 and hSLC2A5, based on the crystal structure of hSLC2A1 (GLUT1), reveal that Ile-335 (or the homologous Ile-296 in hSLC2A5) is a key component for protein conformational changes when the protein translocates substrates. The hSLC2A9 model also predicted that Trp-110 is a crucial site that could directly interact with urate during transport. Together, these studies confirm that hSLC2A9 transports both urate and fructose, but it interacts with them in different ways. Therefore, this study advances our understanding of how hSLC2A9 mediates urate and fructose transport, providing further information for developing pharmacological agents to treat hyperuricemia and related diseases, such as gout, hypertension, and diabetes.     

Role of large hydrophobic residues in proteins

Large Hydrophobic Residues (LHR) such as phenylalanine, isoleucine, leucine, methionine and valine play an important rolein protein structure and activity. We describe the role of LHR in complete set of protein sequences in 15 different species.That is the distribution of LHR in different proteins of different species is reported. It is observed that the proteins prefer tohave 27% of large hydrophobic residues in total and all along the sequence. It is also observed that proteins accumulate moreLHR in its active sites. A window analysis on these protein sequences shows that the 27% of LHR is more frequent atwindow length of 45 amino acids. The influenza virus and P. falciparum show a random distribution of LHR in its proteinscompared to other model organisms.     

Synthesizing and databasing fossil calibrations: divergence dating and beyond

Divergence dating studies, which combine temporal data from the fossil record with branch length data from molecular phylogenetic trees, represent a rapidly expanding approach to understanding the history of life. National Evolutionary Synthesis Center hosted the first Fossil Calibrations Working Group (3-6 March, 2011, Durham, NC, USA), bringing together palaeontologists, molecular evolutionists and bioinformatics experts to present perspectives from disciplines that generate, model and use fossil calibration data. Presentations and discussions focused on channels for interdisciplinary collaboration, best practices for justifying, reporting and using fossil calibrations and roadblocks to synthesis of palaeontological and molecular data. Bioinformatics solutions were proposed, with the primary objective being a new database for vetted fossil calibrations with linkages to existing resources, targeted for a 2012 launch.     

蛋白质亚细胞定位的生物信息学研究

细胞中蛋白质合成后被转运到特定的细胞器中,只有转运到正确的部位才能参与细胞的各种生命活动,如果定位发生偏差,将会对细胞功能甚至生命产生重大影响.蛋白质的亚细胞定位是蛋白质功能研究的重要方面,也是生物信息学中的热点问题,数据库的构建和亚细胞定位分析及预测加速了蛋白质结构和功能的研究.     

生物信息学数据库研究进展

介绍了生物信息学数据库的研究进展,及几种主要的数据库,并总结了生物信息学,数据库的发展特点及面临的主要问题。     

Mutational analysis of the BPTI folding pathway: I. Effects of aromatic-->leucine substitutions on the distribution of folding intermediates.

The roles of aromatic residues in determining the folding pathway of bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor (BPTI) were analyzed mutationally by examining the distribution of disulfide-bonded intermediates that accumulated during the refolding of protein variants in which tyrosine or phenylalanine residues were individually replaced with leucine. The eight substitutions examined all caused significant changes in the intermediate distribution. In some cases, the major effect was to decrease the accumulation of intermediates containing two of the three disulfides found in the native protein, without affecting the distribution of earlier intermediates. Other substitutions, however, led to much more random distributions of the intermediates containing only one disulfide. These results indicate that the individual residues making up the hydrophobic core of the native protein make clearly distinguishable contributions to conformation and stability early in folding: The early distribution of intermediates does not appear to be determined by a general hydrophobic collapse. The effects of the substitutions were generally consistent with the structures of the major intermediates determined by NMR studies of analogs, confirming that the distribution of disulfide-bonded species is determined by stabilizing interactions within the ordered regions of the intermediates. The plasticity of the BPTI folding pathway implied by these results can be described using conformational funnels to illustrate the degree to which conformational entropy is lost at different stages in the folding of the wild-type and mutant proteins.