Purification and partial characterization of megamodulin, a heat-stable protein factor from E. coli and its stimulatory effect on RNA polymerase holoenzyme

Megamodulin, a heat-stable protein from Escherichia coli was isolated and purified near homogeneity as determined by sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. It had a molecular weight of 71,000 and pl between 3.5 and 4.0. This factor stimulated E. coli RNA polymerase 71-fold in the presence of a synthetic template such as poly (rA).p(dT). When TATAAA sequence was used as template, the RNA polymerase activity was increased 68 times by this factor. The possible mechanism by which this protein factor may regulate the RNA polymerase activity has been described.     

Ⅰ型人免疫缺陷病毒(HIV-1)逆转录酶在大肠杆菌中的表达及其初步纯化

Ⅰ型人免疫缺陷病毒(HIV-1)逆转录酶(RT)在抗病毒感染及AIDS治疗药物的设计中是一个重要的靶分子,并且可作为工具酶应用于逆转录PCR等分子生物学研究中。本研究将HIV-1RT基因经PCR扩增并修饰后克隆入大肠杆菌表达载体pBV220,所获重组子所表达的HIV-1RT蛋白占菌体总蛋白的8％左右,且经[~3H]dTTP掺入法证实该重组HIV-1RT具有RT聚合酶活性。用Q-Sepharose层析柱对重组HIV-1RT蛋白进行了初步纯化,所获纯化样品的RT聚合酶比活性(1.7×10~4U/mg)比纯化前的裂解上清提高612倍。     

RapA, Escherichia coli RNA polymerase SWI/SNF subunit-dependent polyadenylation of RNA

In this work, we describe RapA-dependent polyadenylation of model RNA substrates and endogenous, RNA polymerase-associated nucleic acid fragments. We demonstrate that the Escherichia coli RNA polymerase obtained through the classic purification procedure carries endogenous RNA oligonucleotides, which, in the presence of ATP, are polyriboadenylated in a RapA-dependent manner by an accessory poly(rA) polymerase. RNA polymerase isolated from poly(A) polymerase- (PAP-) and polynucleotide phosphorylase- (PNP-) deficient E. coli strain lacks accessory (rA)(n)-synthetic activity. Experiments with reconstituted RNA polymerase-PAP and RNA polymerase-PNP mixtures suggest that RapA enables the polyadenylation by PAP of RNA polymerase-associated RNA. Mutations disrupting RapA's ATP-hydrolytic function disrupt RapA-dependent polyadenylation, and the rapA(-)E. coli strain displays a measurable reduction in RNA polyadenylation. RapA-dependent polyadenylation can also be modulated by mutations in the section of RapA's SWI/SNF domain linked to interaction with single-stranded nucleic acid. We have developed enzymatic assays in which model, synthetic RNAs are polyriboadenylated in a RapA-dependent manner. Taken together, our results are consistent with RapA acting as an RNA polymerase-associated, ATP-dependent RNA translocase. Our work further links RapA to RNA remodeling and provides new mechanistic insights into the functional interaction between RNA polymerase and RapA.