新型载体蛋白P64K在大肠杆菌中的可溶性表达与纯化

用常规PCR方法从脑膜炎球菌中克隆出P64K基因,构建重组质粒pET28a-P64K转化BL21(DE3)宿主菌,经眦诱导表达筛选P64K蛋白的高表达菌株。结果证实P64K蛋白为胞内可溶性表达,表达量约占胞内总蛋白的30％。重组P64K蛋白经Butyl疏水柱、G200分子筛柱和Q阴离子柱三步层析后纯度达到95％以上,为今后进一步的功能和应用研究打下了良好的基础。     

乙肝核心抗原作为免疫载体蛋白的研究进展

乙肝核心抗原由于其天然的颗粒组装能力和特异性激发针对外源表位的体液免疫和细胞免疫作用的特性,成为载体蛋白研究的热点.本简要综述乙肝核心抗原的结构特点、免疫学特性、作为免疫载体蛋白的研究进展及其应用研究.     

乙肝核心抗原（HBcAg）作为免疫载体蛋白的研究进展

基因工程疫苗是微生物学免疫研究的热点之一,本文从几方面综述乙肝核心抗原（HBcAg）作为基因工程肽苗免疫载体（Vaccine carrier moety)的研究进展：①HBcAg的结构特征;②HBcAg独特的免疫学性质;③HBcAg作为异源表位递呈系统（Epitope display system)的研究进展。     

乳酸乳球菌作为黏膜免疫活载体疫苗传递抗原的研究进展

乳酸菌是人和动物肠道内的常见细菌,被公认为安全级(generally recognized as safe,GRAS)微生物。近年来,对于乳酸菌作为宿主菌表达外源蛋白或抗原的研究取得了一定进展。乳酸乳球菌(Lactococcus lactis)是乳酸菌的代表菌种,以其生长迅速、易于操作等优点成为表达外源抗原,作为黏膜免疫活载体疫苗的理想菌株。随着对乳酸乳球菌基因工程的研究逐渐深入,已发展了一系列组成型和诱导型乳酸乳球菌表达系统以及蛋白定位系统。破伤风毒素片段C、布氏杆菌L7/L12蛋白等多种病原微生物抗原已成功在乳酸乳球菌中表达,并已证明部分重组乳酸乳球菌作为黏膜免疫疫苗可以同时刺激局部黏膜免疫应答和系统免疫应答。目前,如何使活载体乳酸乳球菌以最佳方式向黏膜免疫系统提呈抗原继而诱导有效免疫反应是该领域的研究热点,也是巨大挑战。实现外源抗原在乳酸乳球菌中的准确定位及与细胞因子的共表达是未来研究的重要方向之一。乳酸乳球菌作为黏膜免疫活载体疫苗传递外源抗原具有广阔的应用前景。     

C群脑膜炎球菌多糖-rP64K结合物的制备及免疫原性

用1-氰基-4-二甲基氨基吡啶·四氟化硼(CDAP)活化C群脑膜炎球菌多糖(GCMP),以己二酰肼(ADH)作为连接子,与重组B群脑膜炎球菌外膜蛋白64 KD(rP64K)在碳二亚胺的(EDAC)作用下结合,制备GCMP-P64K结合物。纯化后免疫NIH小鼠,用间接ELISA法检测小鼠血清中抗GCMPIgG抗体水平,并GCMP-TT结合物比较载体诱导的免疫抑制。所制备多糖-蛋白结合物(GCMP-P64K)保持了GCMP抗原特异活性,结合物免疫小鼠后可诱生比多糖单独免疫更高水平的GCMP血清IgG抗体,并能形成免疫记忆,为研究理想载体蛋白提供了新的思路。     

人工抗原合成研究进展

近年来,以小分子化合物为半抗原的免疫分析技术在食品药品、环境保护等领域已有诸多应用,并取得了较为理想的检测效果。小分子化合物只能与载体偶联形成人工抗原后,方能借助T细胞表位间接诱导B细胞进行增殖与分化,进而产生特异性抗体。高效的人工抗原的合成是保证免疫分析的前提和关键,就近年来国内外有关人工抗原合成过程中所涉及的小分子半抗原的设计与合成方法、载体的选择、半抗原与载体的偶联方法、人工抗原的纯化及鉴定方法等进行综述。     

细菌作为抗肿瘤载体的研究进展

细菌作为抗瘤剂的应用已历史悠久,早在100多年前,纽约医生COLEY就尝试用细菌来治疗肿瘤。现在人们往往采用分子生物学技术,通过基因改造的方法使细菌变得基本无毒并将外源基因导入细菌载体,实验证明这种方法具有很大的优越性,为肿瘤的治疗提供了新的思路,近来已成为肿瘤生物治疗研究的热点之一。     

热休克蛋白gp96作为抗原载体的研究进展

gp96是存在于真核生物细胞内质网中的分子量约为96kD的热休克蛋白(又称GRP94)。它属于HSP90家族,是胞质HSP90的旁系同源蛋白。研究证实从小鼠肿瘤组织中分离的gp96注射小鼠后,可使小鼠获得针对该肿瘤细胞的特异细胞免疫力。随后发现这种特异性免疫不是由gp96引起,而是由其结合的小肽诱发。gp96受体的发现给这种现象的解释提供了线索。人们提出了多种假说来解释这种现象,其中一些得到了广泛的支持。另外,gp96还参与免疫调节过程。完全了解gp96在免疫系统中的作用机制对开发新型药物如肿瘤和病毒感染治疗性疫苗具有重要意义 。     

带有K88与K99两种伞毛抗原基因的重组质粒的构建

产肠毒素大肠杆菌能引起仔猪、犊牛、羔羊等新生幼畜发生急性腹泻,K88与K99是这类产肠毒素大肠杆菌所产生的两种在免疫性质上不同的伞毛抗原。质粒pTK8899—6和pTK8899—8是由来自K99质粒DNA的4．5×10⁶道尔顿大小的BamHI片段与带有K88伞毛抗原基因的质粒pTK90DNA重组而构建成的;带有pTK889g一6或pTK8899—8的大肠杆菌c600菌株均能同时产生K88与K99两种伞毛抗原。限制性酶切图谱的研究表明,pTK88g9—6与pTK8899—8 DNA的分子量均为11．85×10⁶道尔顿,但这两种重组DNA中所带Kg9伞毛抗原基因的片段连接在载体DNA上的方向彼此相反,带有pTK8899—6或pTK8899—8的大肠杆菌c600菌株在产生K88或K99伞毛抗原的能力上没有明显的差别。带有K88与K99两种伞毛抗原基因重组质粒的大肠杆菌菌株有可能用作预防仔猪,犊牛和羔羊急性腹泻的菌苗。     

Immunologic memory response induced by a meningococcal serogroup C conjugate vaccine using the P64k recombinant protein as carrier

In this study, we used an adoptive lymphocyte transfer experiment to evaluate the ability of the P64k recombinant protein to recruit T-helper activity and induce immunologic memory response to the polysaccharide moiety in a meningococcal serogroup C conjugate vaccine. Adoptive transfer of splenocytes from mice immunized with the glycoconjugate conferred antipolysaccharide immunologic memory to naive recipient mice. The observed anamnestic immune response was characterized by more rapid kinetics, isotype switching from IgM to IgG and higher antipolysaccharide antibody titers compared with those reached in groups transferred with splenocytes from plain polysaccharide or phosphate-immunized mice. The memory response generated was also long lasting. Sera from mice transferred with cells from conjugate-immunized mice were the only protective in the infant rat passive protection assay, and also showed higher bactericidal titers. We demonstrated that priming the mice immune system with the glycoconjugate using the P64k protein as carrier induced a memory response to the polysaccharide, promoting a switch of the T-cell-independent response to a T-cell dependent one.     

Activation of Exogenous Fatty Acids to Acyl-Acyl Carrier Protein Cannot Bypass FabI Inhibition in Neisseria

Neisseria is a Gram-negative pathogen with phospholipids composed of straight chain saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids, the ability to incorporate exogenous fatty acids, and lipopolysaccharides that are not essential. The FabI inhibitor, AFN-1252, was deployed as a chemical biology tool to determine whether Neisseria can bypass the inhibition of fatty acid synthesis by incorporating exogenous fatty acids. Neisseria encodes a functional FabI that was potently inhibited by AFN-1252. AFN-1252 caused a dose-dependent inhibition of fatty acid synthesis in growing Neisseria, a delayed inhibition of growth phenotype, and minimal inhibition of DNA, RNA, and protein synthesis, showing that its mode of action is through inhibiting fatty acid synthesis. Isotopic fatty acid labeling experiments showed that Neisseria encodes the ability to incorporate exogenous fatty acids into its phospholipids by an acyl-acyl carrier protein-dependent pathway. However, AFN-1252 remained an effective antibacterial when Neisseria were supplemented with exogenous fatty acids. These results demonstrate that extracellular fatty acids are activated by an acyl-acyl carrier protein synthetase (AasN) and validate type II fatty acid synthesis (FabI) as a therapeutic target against Neisseria.     

Multiple tachykinins (neurokinin A, neuropeptide K and substance P) in capsaicin-sensitive sensory neurons in the guinea-pig

The occurrence of tachykinins in sensory neurons of the guinea-pig was studied by means of radioimmunoassay combined with ion-exchange and high-performance liquid chromatography as well as by immunohistochemistry. Antisera raised against kassinin (antiserum K12), neurokinin A (NKA) (antiserum NKA2) and substance P (SP) (antisera SP25 and SP2) were used. Antiserum K12 detected NKA, neuropeptide K (NPK) and a component eluting in the position of eledoisin (ELE) in extracts of the lung and ureter. Neurokinin B (NKB) was, however, not found. Neutral water extraction favored recovery of NKA and of the ELE-like component, while NPK was found only in acid extracts. The SP antisera detected two immunoreactive components of which the major form coeluted with synthetic SP. Capsaicin pretreatment depleted all these various forms of immunoreactivity in several peripheral organs including the ureter and lung. The immunoreactivity detected by antisera K12 or SP25 in radioimmunoassay had a similar regional distribution pattern in peripheral tissues. Immunohistochemical examination revealed that antiserum NKA2 stained the same spinal ganglion cells as the SP2 antiserum. The distribution of capsaicin-sensitive nerve fibers stained by these two antisera was also identical in peripheral organs such as the ureter, inferior mesenteric ganglion, heart and lung. It is concluded that multiple tachykinins, including SP, NKA, NPK and an ELE-like peptide, are present in capsaicin-sensitive sensory nerves in the guinea-pig. This finding can most likely be related to the origin of SP, NKA and NPK from the same precursor molecule, subsequent posttranslational tissue processing and axonal transport to terminal regions.     

Cysteine mediated multimerization of a recombinant dengue E fragment fused to the P64k protein following immobilized metal ion affinity chromatography

A fragment of the Envelope protein of Dengue 2 virus encoding the amino acid (aa) 286-426 was fused to the P64k protein from Neisseria meningitidis. The hybrid gene (PD5) was expressed in Escherichia coli. The influence of using immobilized metal ion affinity chromatography (IMAC) in the purification process of PD5 was examined. After the elution, PD5 protein formed aggregates of high molecular weight depending on disulfide-bonds. The study of different conditions affecting the redox potential in the system revealed the influence of the copper ions on the multimerization of the protein, whereas metals with minor redox potential-for instance, zinc or nickel ions-did not cause this effect. It was also demonstrated that cysteines involved in this process belonged to the P64k protein. Finally, a PD5 purification process was established reaching a 85% of purity using the Zn(2+) as metal ion in the IMAC. This is a very useful finding due to the wide use of P64k as a carrier protein and the advantages of the IMAC as a chromatographic process.     

EPI64B Acts as a GTPase-activating Protein for Rab27B in Pancreatic Acinar Cells

The small GTPase Rab27B localizes to the zymogen granule membranes and plays an important role in regulating protein secretion by pancreatic acinar cells, as does Rab3D. A common guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) for Rab3 and Rab27 has been reported; however, the GTPase-activating protein (GAP) specific for Rab27B has not been identified. In this study, the expression in mouse pancreatic acini of two candidate Tre-2/Bub2/Cdc16 (TBC) domain-containing proteins, EPI64 (TBC1D10A) and EPI64B (TBC1D10B), was first demonstrated. Their GAP activity on digestive enzyme secretion was examined by adenovirus-mediated overexpression of EPI64 and EPI64B in isolated pancreatic acini. EPI64B almost completely abolished the GTP-bound form of Rab27B, without affecting GTP-Rab3D. Overexpression of EPI64B also enhanced amylase release. This enhanced release was independent of Rab27A, but dependent on Rab27B, as shown using acini from genetically modified mice. EPI64 had a mild effect on both GTP-Rab27B and amylase release. Co-overexpression of EPI64B with Rab27B can reverse the inhibitory effect of Rab27B on amylase release. Mutations that block the GAP activity decreased the inhibitory effect of EPI64B on the GTP-bound state of Rab27B and abolished the enhancing effect of EPI64B on the amylase release. These data suggest that EPI64B can serve as a potential physiological GAP for Rab27B and thereby participate in the regulation of exocytosis in pancreatic acinar cells.     

Conversion of Neuropeptide K to Neurokinin A and Vesicular Colocalization of Neurokinin A and Substance P in Neurons of the Guinea Pig Small Intestine

The highest concentration of neurokinin A-like immunoreactivity and substance P-like immunoreactivity in the guinea pig small intestine was associated with the myenteric plexus-containing longitudinal muscle layer. Chromatographic analysis of extracts of this tissue demonstrated the presence of neurokinin A and neuropeptide K but the probable absence of neurokinin B. A fraction of synaptic vesicles of density 1.133 +/- 0.003 g/ml was prepared from the myenteric plexus-containing tissue by density gradient centrifugation in a zonal rotor and was enriched 29 +/- 12-fold in the concentration of neurokinin A-like immunoreactivity and 43 +/- 13-fold in the concentration of substance P-like immunoreactivity. This fraction was separated from the fraction of vasoactive intestinal peptide-containing vesicles (density, 1.154 +/- 0.009 g/ml). Chromatographic analysis of lysates of the vesicles indicated the presence of neurokinin A but not neuropeptide K. It is postulated that beta-pre-protachykinin is processed to substance P, neurokinin A, and neuropeptide K in the cell bodies of myenteric plexus neurons but that conversion of neuropeptide K to neurokinin A takes place during packaging into storage vesicles for axonal transport. The data are consistent with the proposal that neurokinin A and substance P are stored in the same synaptic vesicle, but the possibility of cosedimentation of different vesicles of very similar density cannot be excluded.     

The fusion site of envelope fragments from each serotype of Dengue virus in the P64k protein,influence some parameters of the resulting chimeric constructs

To characterize the effect of the envelope fragment fusion site in the P64k protein from Neisseria meningitidis several chimeric constructs were obtained. One variant consisted in the insertion of the E fragment from each Dengue serotype within the lipoil binding domain of the P64k, whereas the other was based on the fusion of the envelope fragment at the C-terminus of the same meningoccocal protein. The results of the expression study revealed the majoritary levels with the C-terminus fusion variants of each serotype. In contrast, the highest proportion of soluble protein was reached with the insertion variants independently of the viral serotype. On the other hand, a significant level of degradation was detected for the semipurified forms of the insertion variants being remarkable in the Dengue 2 construct. Finally, the recognition by Dengue murine antibodies was similar independently of the fusion site. Regarding these results, we can affirm the suitability of the C-terminus fusion variants for further vaccine development as well as for a diagnostic system.