Guanidine Hydrochloride Denaturation of Glycosylated and Deglycosylated Stem Bromelain

Glycosylation is one of the major naturally occurring covalent modifications of proteins. We have used stem bromelain, a thiol protease with a single, N-glycosylated polypeptide chain as a model to investigate the role of glycosylation of proteins. Periodate oxidation was used to obtain the deglycosylated form of the enzyme. Denaturation studies in the presence of guanidine hydrochloride (Gn·HCl) were performed using fluorescence and circular dichroism spectroscopy. The glycosylated stem bromelain was found to be stabilized by 1.9 kcal/mol as compared to the deglycosylated one. At a given concentration of denaturant, the fraction of denatured protein was higher in the case of deglycosylated stem bromelain. In short, deglycosylated bromelain showed more susceptibility towards guanidine hydrochloride denaturation, indicating the contribution of the carbohydrate part of the glycoprotein to the stability of the enzyme.     

Bromelain effectively suppresses Kras-mutant colorectal cancer by stimulating ferroptosis

Here, we investigated the possible anti-cancer properties of bromelain in Kras mutant human colorectal carcinoma cell lines and a mouse model harboring a Kras mutation. Cell growth and proliferation were significantly reduced in the Kras mutant colorectal carcinoma cell lines following treatment with 50?μg/mL bromelain as assessed by crystal violet staining and a proliferation assay. To identify the molecules responsible for this action, the expression levels of genes involved in signaling pathways and miRNAs were analyzed by real-time PCR. Among the genes tested, down-regulation of ACSL-4 and up-regulation of miRNAs targeting ASCL-4 were observed in Caco₂ cells. Compared to the Kras wild-type colorectal carcinoma cell lines, Kras mutant colorectal carcinoma cell lines exhibited a remarkably up-regulated expression of ACSL-4, which is responsible for ferroptosis sensitivity. Moreover, the knockdown of ACSL-4 by a specific shRNA inhibited erastin-induced ferroptosis in Kras mutant DLD-1 cells as assessed by propidium iodide staining and lipid reactive oxygen species measurement. Our findings indicate that bromelain effectively exerts cytotoxic effects in Kras mutant colorectal cancer cells compared to in Kras wild-type colorectal cancer cells. Differential expression of ACSL-4 is responsible for the differential action of bromelain in regulating ferroptotic cell death.     

菠萝中蛋白酶及其他组份在品种间的差异分析

以湛江地区6个主要菠萝品种巴厘、卡因、台农17号、台农16号、粤脆、香水为对象,研究菠萝的组分在品种间的差异及其与菠萝蛋白酶的产率和酶活力之间的相关性,结果显示,不同的菠萝品种间,各组分的含量以及蛋白酶的得率及酶活有显著差异。菠萝果皮和果肉的不同生长部位的蛋白含量、酶活力及酶得率有显著差异。酶得率与蛋白及纤维素含量呈显著正相关;酶活力与糖酸比、得汁率、纤维素含量及Zn含量呈显著负相关,蛋白含量、纤维素含量、糖酸比、得汁率是衡量菠萝产酶品质的重要指标。     

毕赤酵母中海藻糖的积累

毕赤酵母是甲基营养型酵母属中较常见的酵母,可用甲醇作为唯一碳源,进行蛋白质的表达.在发酵过程中菌体内含有少量的海藻糖,在40℃高温下,海藻糖的含量与30℃下比较,可提高20%以上.该数据为毕赤酵母表达后再利用提供了一定的依据.     

一株非还原性二糖——海藻糖产生菌的筛选

报导了一株非还原性二糖———海藻糖产生菌的筛选过程。通过平板初筛和摇瓶产酶转化试验 ,经TLC及HPLC检测 ,确证得到一株海藻糖产生菌 ,转化率为 13.8% ,对该菌株形状的研究 ,初步可断定其为Micrococcus属的一个种     

Trehalose accumulation by tropical yeast strains submitted to stress conditions

Trehalose, a non-reducing disaccharide that accumulates in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, has been implicated in survival under various stress conditions by acting as membrane protectant, as a supplementary compatible solute or as a reserve carbohydrate which may be mobilized during stress. However, most of these studies have been done with strains isolated from European or Asian habitats of temperate climate. In this study, yeasts living in tropical environments, isolated from different microhabitats in Southeastern Brazil, were used to evaluate whether trehalose contributes to survival under osmotic, ethanol and heat stress. The survival under severe stress was compared to a well-characterized laboratorial wild-type strain (D273-10B). Most of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains isolated from Drosophila in Tropical Rain Forest were able to accumulate trehalose after a preconditioning treatment at 40 °C for 1 h. The amount of intracellular trehalose levels was better correlated with survival during a challenging heat shock at 50.5 °C for 8 min. Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Candida guilliermondii were observed to be thermotolerant as well as osmotolerant. No clear correlation between intracellular trehalose levels and survival could be derived during ethanol stress. In some cases, the amount of trehalose accumulated before the ethanol stress seemed to play an important role for the survival of these strains.     

海藻糖载入血小板的研究

将不可渗透型的保护剂海藻糖有效地载入血小板内部是用冷冻干燥法保存血小板重要的第一步。研究血小板对海藻糖的载入量随外部海藻糖浓度、孵化时间、孵化温度改变的变化规律,发现在细胞外海藻糖浓度为50mmol/L、孵化温度37℃、孵化时间4h的条件下,血小板能有效地吸收海藻糖,细胞内海藻糖浓度达到15mmol/L以上。对孵化后的血小板进行形态观察、血液学分析和膜联蛋白(annexin)V结合活化分析,结果表明孵化后的血小板保持了正常血小板的形态和功能。     

Bioaffinity Based Oriented Immobilization of Stem Bromelain

Bromelain is a basic, 23.8 kDa thiol proteinase obtained from stem of the pineapple plant (Ananas comosus) and is unique in containing a single oligosaccharide chain attached to the polypeptide. This property allowed its affinity binding and favorable orientation on a Sepharose support pre-coupled with the lectin, concanavalin A (Con A). For comparison, bromelain was also immobilized by covalently coupling to the CNBr-activated Sepharose. The preparation obtained was more resistant to thermal inactivation as evident from the retention of over 50% activity after incubation at 60 for 100 min (as compared to 20% retained by the native enzyme and 30% retained by the covalently immobilized enzyme), exhibited a broader pH-activity profile with the enzyme retaining over 60% activity at pH 11 (as compared to over 25% retained by native and the enzyme immobilized covalently). The native, covalently-coupled and affinity-bound bromelains had apparent K _m values of 1.1, 2 and 0.54 mg/ml, respectively using casein as the substrate. The V _max values remained unaffected on immobilization.     

Trehalose Biosynthesis in Response to Abiotic Stresses

Trehalose is a non‐reducing disaccharide that is present in diverse organisms ranging from bacteria and fungi to invertebrates, in which it serves as an energy source, osmolyte or protein/membrane protectant. The occurrence of trehalose and trehalose biosynthesis pathway in plants has been discovered recently. Multiple studies have revealed regulatory roles of trehalose‐6‐phosphate, a precursor of trehalose, in sugar metabolism, growth and development in plants. Trehalose levels are generally quite low in plants but may alter in response to environmental stresses. Transgenic plants overexpressing microbial trehalose biosynthesis genes have been shown to contain increased levels of trehalose and display drought, salt and cold tolerance. In‐silico expression profiling of all Arabidopsis trehalose‐6‐phosphate synthases (TPSs) and trehalose‐6‐phosphate phosphatases (TPPs) revealed that certain classes of TPS and TPP genes are differentially regulated in response to a variety of abiotic stresses. These studies point to the importance of trehalose biosynthesis in stress responses.     

海藻糖产生菌的诱变育种

目的：从土壤中筛选得到高产海藻糖的酵母菌,并且进行物理诱变进一步提高海藻糖的产量。方法：从土壤中分离纯化获得10株酵母菌株,经初步菌种鉴定属瓶形酵母属;并从中筛选得到1株高产海藻糖的酵母菌株Y5,然后对其进行了紫外线诱变。结果：选育出性能优良菌株Y59,其生产性能比出发菌株提高了2．26倍,发酵液中海藻样含量达到2908．5μg/ml。结论：紫外线诱变可以有效地提高海藻糖的产量。     

菓菠萝蛋白酶的分子构象与活力变化的研究

发现CBZ-Lys·pNP能有效地被菓菠萝蛋白酶(Fruit Bromelain E.C.3.4.22.5)作用,测得Km为4.167×10~(-4)mol/L,k_(cat)为742min~(-1)。以荧光和紫外差示光谱为监测手段,对酶分子构象变化进行研究。酶的荧光强度随胍浓度增大而逐渐下降,4mol/L胍变性时,发射峰自332nm红移到353nm,并在310nm处出现新的发射峰。酶的荧光强度都因SDS存在而下降,SDS浓度大于3.47mmol/L有所回升,并出现红移,同时在315nm处出现新的发射肩;紫外差示光谱显示在236nm有一个较显著的员峰,此峰与β-螺旋结构变化有关,278、286和295nm出现三个负峰,260nm有较小正峰,说明酶分子中Tyr、Trp和Phe的微环境发生了明显的变化。测定酶在不同浓度胍和SDS中的变性和失活速度常数,对酶构象变化及催化活力的关系作了比较研究,酶的失活速度均大于变性速度。     

芦荟凝胶中海藻糖的提取与检测

从芦荟提取多糖后的“废液”——上清液经过浓缩、脱色后冷冻干燥,得到单糖和寡糖的混合物。经质谱检测证明,该混合糖含有二糖,可能有海藻糖成分;利用高效液相色谱证实其中含有海藻糖、葡萄糖和果糖,含量比为1：62：21。该结果为芦荟强保水能力提供理论依据,而且“废液”的再利用,可以提高芦荟叶片的利用率,充分利用资源,为综合开发利用芦荟开辟一条新路。     

Concentration of plant proteases by precipitation with polyacrylic acids

Sulphydryl plant proteases can be precipitated from dilute solutions by the addition of polyacrylic acid at low pH, provided an appropriate ratio of protein to polyacrylic acid is used. An interaction between negatively charged groups on polyacrylic acid and positively charged groups on protein molecules to form a large insoluble aggregate is proposed. Protease activity can be substantially recovered by resuspending the precipitate at pH 7.0 and polyacrylic acid removed by the addition of calcium chloride. This method is suitable for convenient large-scale preparation of these enzymes.     

藤黄微球菌海藻糖生物合成基因的克隆与鉴定

首次从一株能利用淀粉产生海藻糖的藤黄微球菌中克隆了海藻糖生物合成基因。采用PCR方法结合非随机鸟枪法得到藤黄微球菌中低聚麦芽糖苷基海藻糖合成酶(MTSase)基因(MtreY)的全序列及低聚麦芽糖苷基海藻糖水解酶(MTHase)基因(MtreZ)的部分序列,其中MtreY共有2,370个碱基,编码789个氨基酸,表达产物分子量为86·7kD。同源性分析表明,与已报道的MTSase和α-淀粉酶家族成员具有相同的保守模体。将MtreY基因在大肠杆菌JM83中表达,证明表达产物具有预期的酶活性。     

Isolation and Identification of a Thermophilic Strain Producing Trehalose Synthase from Geothermal Water in China

A slightly thermophilic strain, CBS-01, producing trehalose synthase (TreS), was isolated from geothermal water in this study. According to the phenotypic characteristics and phylogenetic analysis of the 16s rRNA gene sequence, it was identified as Meiothermus ruber. The trehalose synthase gene of Meiothermus ruber CBS-01 was cloned by polymerase chain reaction and sequenced. The TreS gene consisted of 2,895 nucleotides, which specified a 964-amino-acid protein. This novel TreS catalyzed reversible interconversion of maltose and trehalose.     

诱变选育高产海藻糖的酵母菌株

以酿酒酵母Saccharomyces cerevisiae HY01为出发菌株,分别对其进行化学诱变和紫外诱变。选用5-溴尿嘧啶和盐酸平阳霉素两种低毒性诱变剂联合使用,通过均匀设计确定了两种诱变剂的最佳配比即5-Bu浓度为300umol/L、平阳霉素浓度为5umol/L时,获得一定数量的正突变株,最高海藻糖含量是15．98％。在紫外诱变过程中经摇瓶初筛、复筛获得了高产海藻糖菌株,其海藻糖含量为19．52％,比出发菌株提高了35％。     

Trehalose protects the endothelium from cadmium-induced dysfunction

The objective of the present study is to identify the possible regulatory role of trehalose (Tre) against cadmium chloride (CdCl₂)-induced endothelial cell dysfunction. To screen the dose-dependent effect of both Tre and CdCl₂, a methylthiazolyldiphenyl-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay was performed. Interestingly, MTT assay results have shown that co-incubation of Tre (1 mM) with CdCl₂ significantly decreased the CdCl₂ (5 µM) cytotoxicity. Nitric oxide (NO) measurement using Griess assay and 4-amino-5-methylamino-2ʹ,7ʹ-difluorofluorescein fluorescence probe results have shown that CdCl₂ decreases NO production in endothelial cells. Western blotting analysis results showed that CdCl₂ decreases endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) and phospho endothelial nitric oxide synthase (peNOS) expression. The present study results have also observed that CdCl₂ treatment increases reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. However, combination treatment (Tre + CdCl₂) could restore the NO production in CdCl₂-treated cells. In addition, combination treatment could also restore eNOS and peNOS expression in endothelial cells. Moreover, Tre treatment was found to decrease CdCl₂-induced ROS production. Collectively, the present study results demonstrate that Tre possesses a significant protective action against CdCl₂-mediated endothelial dysfunction by increasing NO production, eNOS and peNOS expression, and by decreasing oxidative stress.     

外源海藻糖对小麦幼苗耐盐性的影响

以盐敏感小麦品种鲁麦15为材料,分别用完全Hoagland营养液、150mmol／L NaCl和150mmol／L NaCl 10mmol／L海藻糖处理小麦幼苗,测定小麦幼苗生长、离子含量、根系质膜H^ -ATPase、SOD活性、MDA含量等指标,旨在探讨外源海藻糖在抗盐性中的作用。结果表明：外源海藻糖可明显缓解盐胁迫对小麦幼苗生长的抑制作用;明显提高NaCl胁迫条件下小麦幼苗叶片中K^ 的含量,降低Na^ 的含量,降低其Na^ ／K^ ;提高NaCl胁迫条件下小麦幼苗SOD活性,降低MDA的含量,降低细胞质膜透性,缓解根系质膜H^ -ATPase活性抑制。以上结果表叫外源海藻糖可能通过增加活性氧清除能力、缓解质膜伤害、维持胞质离子稳态提高植物抗盐性。