磷脂酶D的细胞信号转导作用

磷脂酶D(PLD)是一类重要的跨膜信号转导酶类.分别由一个基因家族的不同成员编码.植物PLD的总体域结构相似,只是不同类型之间在某些单元上有重要差异.它们各具独特的生物化学特性.不同的PLD在不同的胁迫类型启动的特定的细胞过程中执行独特的细胞信号转导功能.PLD与其它磷脂酶及Ca2 信使之间有交互作用,形成复杂的信号转导网络.这一网络在不同植物种类、器官、组织和细胞类型中表现出特异性.文章最后讨论了PLD研究中有待揭示的问题并展望了今后的发展方向.     

分泌型磷脂酶PLA2G5的生物学功能及其抑制剂研究进展

分泌型磷脂酶PLA2G5属于磷脂酶A2超家族的一员,在免疫细胞和非免疫细胞中均有表达.研究表明,PLA2G5参与生物学事件的发生发展,在特定的病理条件下具有诱导作用.本文简要阐述了PLA2G5的来源、结构特征、生物学功能和在疾病中的作用,以及现有或潜在的PLA2G5抑制剂,以期探索基于PLA2G5的治疗新靶标.     

Substrate-bound Structures of Benzylsuccinate Synthase Reveal How Toluene Is Activated in Anaerobic Hydrocarbon Degradation

Various bacteria perform anaerobic degradation of small hydrocarbons as a source of energy and cellular carbon. To activate non-reactive hydrocarbons such as toluene, enzymes conjugate these molecules to fumarate in a radical-catalyzed, C—C bond-forming reaction. We have determined x-ray crystal structures of the glycyl radical enzyme that catalyzes the addition of toluene to fumarate, benzylsuccinate synthase (BSS), in two oligomeric states with fumarate alone or with both substrates. We find that fumarate is secured at the bottom of a long active site cavity with toluene bound directly above it. The two substrates adopt orientations that appear ideal for radical-mediated C—C bond formation; the methyl group of toluene is positioned between fumarate and a cysteine that forms a thiyl radical during catalysis, which is in turn adjacent to the glycine that serves as a radical storage residue. Toluene is held in place by fumarate on one face and tight packing by hydrophobic residues on the other face and sides. These hydrophobic residues appear to become ordered, thus encapsulating toluene, only in the presence of BSSβ, a small protein subunit that forms a tight complex with BSSα, the catalytic subunit. Enzymes related to BSS are able to metabolize a wide range of hydrocarbons through attachment to fumarate. Using our structures as a guide, we have constructed homology models of several of these “X-succinate synthases” and determined conservation patterns that will be useful in understanding the basis for catalysis and specificity in this family of enzymes.     

固醇调节元件结合蛋白与炎症的关系研究进展

固醇调节元件结合蛋白(SREBPs)是重要的核转录因子,其主要作用是通过激活胆固醇、脂肪酸和甘油三脂(TG)合成及摄取的相关基因,维持体内脂质代谢的平衡.近年来有研究表明,SREBPs与炎症关系紧密,一方面,SREBPs可以促进炎症的发生和发展,另一方面,炎症可以影响SREBPs的表达,造成脂质代谢紊乱.深入研究SREBPs与炎症的关系,有助于为炎症与脂质代谢紊乱所致相关疾病的防治提供新的方向.     

Lipid metabolism in Cryptococcus neoformans

In recent years, lipids have been shown to act as signalling molecules not only in mammalian cells but also in many other eukaryotes. Whereas in mammalian cells lipids regulate cellular functions that play crucial roles in the regulation of pathobiological processes, such as cancer, cardiovascular and neurodegenerative disorders, and inflammation, in the fungus Cryptococcus neoformans lipids play key roles in the regulation of pathogenic traits required for the development of cryptococcosis, an infectious disease particularly frequent in immunocompromised individuals. In this minireview we discuss recent advances in the understanding of lipid metabolism in this important human pathogen, highlighting the potential of fungal lipid enzymatic pathways as promising new drug targets.     

Lipid synthesis in macrophages during inflammation in vivo: Effect of agonists of peroxisome proliferator activated receptors α and γ and of retinoid X receptors

The effects of peroxisome proliferator activated receptors α and γ (PPAR-α and PPAR-γ) and retinoid X receptor (RXR) agonists upon synthesis and accumulation of lipids in murine C57B1 macrophages during inflammation induced by injection of zymosan and Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS) have been studied. It is significant that intraperitoneal injection of zymosan (50 mg/kg) or LPS (0.1 mg/kg) in mice led to a dramatic increase of [¹⁴C]oleate incorporation into cholesteryl esters and triglycerides and [¹⁴C]acetate incorporation into cholesterol and fatty acids in peritoneal macrophages. Lipid synthesis reached its maximum rate 18–24 h after injection and was decreased 5–7 days later to control level after LPS injection or was still heightened after zymosan injection. In macrophages obtained in acute phase of inflammation (24 h), degradation of ¹²⁵I-labeled native low density lipoprotein (NLDL) was 4-fold increased and degradation of ¹²⁵I-labeled acetylated LDL (AcLDL) was 2–3-fold decreased. Addition of NLDL (50 μg/ml) or AcLDL (25 μg/ml) into the incubation medium of activated macrophages induced 9–14-and 1.25-fold increase of cholesteryl ester synthesis, respectively, compared with control. Addition of NLDL and AcLDL into the incubation medium completely inhibited cholesterol synthesis in control macrophages but had only slightly effect on cholesterol synthesis in activated macrophages. Injection of RXR, PPAR-α, or PPAR-γ agonists—9-cis-retinoic acid (5 mg/kg), bezafibrate (10 mg/kg), or rosiglitazone (10 mg/kg), respectively—30 min before zymosan or LPS injection led to significant decrease of lipid synthesis. Ten hour preincubation of activated in vivo macrophages with the abovementioned agonists (5 μM) decreased cholesteryl ester synthesis induced by NLDL and AcLDL addition into the cell cultivation medium. The data suggest that RXR, PPAR-α, or PPAR-γ agonists inhibited lipid synthesis and induction of cholesteryl ester synthesis in inflammatory macrophages caused by capture of native or modified LDL. Published in Russian in Biokhimiya, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 3, pp. 364–374.     

Functional importance of calcium binding sites in outer membrane phospholipase A

Outer membrane phospholipase A (OMPLA) is an integral membrane enzyme that hydrolyses phospholipids requiring Ca²⁺ as cofactor. In vitro studies have shown that OMPLA is only active as a dimer. The structures of monomeric and dimeric OMPLA provided possible clues to the activation process. In the inhibited dimeric species calcium ions are located at the dimer interface ideally suited to stabilise the oxyanion intermediates formed during catalysis. The side chain hydroxyl function of Ser152 is one of the ligands of this interfacial calcium. In the crystal structure of monomeric OMPLA the interfacial calcium site is lacking, but calcium was found to bind at a site involving the carboxylates of Asp149 and Asp184. In the current study the relevance of the identified calcium sites has been studied by site-directed mutagenesis. The Ser152Asn variant confirmed the importance of the interfacial calcium site for catalysis, and also demonstrated that this site is essentially involved in the dimerisation process. Replacements of the ligands in monomeric OMPLA, i.e. Asp149Asn, Asp149Ala and Asp184Asn, only showed minor effects on catalytic activity and dimerisation. A stronger effect observed for the variant Asp184Ala was explained by the proximity of Asp184 to the catalytically important Ser152 residue. We propose that Asp149 and Asp184 provide an electronegative funnel that may facilitate Ca²⁺ transfer to the interfacial calcium site.     

Do annexins participate in lipid messenger mediated intracellular signaling? A question revisited

Abstract

Annexins are physiologically important proteins that play a role in calcium buffering but also influence membrane structure, participate in Ca²⁺-dependent membrane repair events and in remodelling of the cytoskeleton. Thirty years ago several peptides isolated from lung perfusates, peritoneal leukocytes, neutrophiles and renal cells were proven inhibitory to the activity of phospholipase A₂. Those peptides were found to derive from structurally related proteins: annexins AnxA1 and AnxA2. These findings raised the question whether annexins may participate in regulation of the production of lipid second messengers and, therefore, modulate numerous lipid mediated signaling pathways in the cell. Recent advances in the field of annexins made also with the use of knock-out animal models revealed that these proteins are indeed important constituents of specific signaling pathways. In this review we provide evidence supporting the hypothesis that annexins, as membrane-binding proteins and organizers of the membrane lateral heterogeneity, may participate in lipid mediated signaling pathways by affecting the distribution and activity of lipid metabolizing enzymes (most of the reports point to phospholipase A₂) and of protein kinases regulating activity of these enzymes. Moreover, some experimental data suggest that annexins may directly interact with lipid metabolizing enzymes and, in a calcium-dependent or independent manner, with some of their substrates and products. On the basis of these observations, many investigators suggest that annexins are capable of linking Ca²⁺, redox and lipid signaling to coordinate vital cellular responses to the environmental stimuli.     

过氧化体增殖剂激活的受体及其功能

过氧化体增殖剂激活的受体(PPARs)是1990年发现的核激素受体家族的一个新成员.其三种亚型α、β、γ具有配体特异性和组织分布的特异性.PPARs在控制炎症反应、脂质代谢、细胞增生和分化等方面发挥重要作用,研究表明PPARs与一些慢性疾病如癌症、动脉粥样硬化等有密切关系.     

Metabolic products of soluble epoxide hydrolase are essential for monocyte chemotaxis to MCP-1 in vitro and in vivo

Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1)-induced monocyte chemotaxis is a major event in inflammatory disease. Our prior studies have demonstrated that MCP-1-dependent chemotaxis requires release of arachidonic acid (AA) by activated cytosolic phospholipase A₂ (cPLA₂). Here we investigated the involvement of AA metabolites in chemotaxis. Neither cyclooxygenase nor lipoxygenase pathways were required, whereas pharmacologic inhibitors of both the cytochrome-P450 (CYP) and the soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) pathways blocked monocyte chemotaxis to MCP-1. To verify specificity, we demonstrated that the CYP and sEH products epoxyeiscosatrienoic acids (EETs) and dihydroxyeicosatrienoic acids (DHETs), respectively, restored chemotaxis in the presence of the inhibitors, indicating that sEH-derived products are essential for MCP-1-driven chemotaxis. Importantly, DHETs also rescued chemotaxis in cPLA₂-deficient monocytes and monocytes with blocked Erk1/2 activity, because Erk controls cPLA₂ activation. The in vitro findings regarding the involvement of CYP/sEH pathways were further validated in vivo using two complementary approaches measuring MCP-1-dependent chemotaxis in mice. These observations reveal the importance of sEH in MCP-1-regulated monocyte chemotaxis and may explain the observed therapeutic value of sEH inhibitors in treatment of inflammatory diseases, cardiovascular diseases, pain, and even carcinogenesis. Their effectiveness, often attributed to increasing EET levels, is probably influenced by the impairment of DHET formation and inhibition of chemotaxis.     

高温对黄瓜幼苗膜脂过氧化作用的影响

经高温处理后,黄瓜幼苗ＭＤＡ含量显著增加,随着处理时间延长,ＭＤＡ含量不断增加,这说明幼苗的膜系统受到明显伤害。高温处理后,ＰＯＤ活性增强;其中对高温敏感的自交系Ｑ１０增加量较大,耐高温的自交系Ｔ９７增加较少。而高温处理有前后Ｔ９７的ＰＯＤ活性明显比Ｑ１０高。高温处理ｄ后,ＣＡＴ活性降低。同时ＳＯＤ活性逐渐降低,对高温敏感的自交系Ｑ１０降低低较严重。试验表明,保持较高膜保护酶的活性可以降低高温的危     

研究: 载脂蛋白E拟肽EpK对apoE-/-小鼠动脉粥样硬化的影响

前期设计合成了一种模拟人载脂蛋白E(apoE)结构域的小分子多肽EpK,体外实验证实该拟肽具有抑制巨噬细胞炎症及增强高密度脂蛋白(HDL)介导细胞胆固醇外流的作用．本文拟借助慢病毒体系分泌性表达EpK,研究EpK在体对apoE基因敲除(apoE^-/-)小鼠动脉粥样硬化斑块的影响．将11月龄雌性apoE^-/-小鼠18只,随机分两组,分别经眼球后静脉丛注射pWPI慢病毒(Lv-GFP对照组)和含EpK的重组慢病毒(Lv-EpK组)．小鼠普食喂养,间隔采血监测血脂状态,检测血浆对氧磷酯酶(PON1)活性,病毒注射18周后小鼠安乐死,从主动脉根部连续冰冻切片及主动脉胸腹段纵剖面(en face)进行油红O染色分析斑块面积,采用实时荧光定量PCR检测小鼠肝脏相关基因的mRNA表达水平,蛋白质印迹检测血浆中apoA-Ⅰ、PON1及血清淀粉样蛋白A(SAA)水平．结果显示：慢病毒感染小鼠可成功在血循环中检测到EpK,与Lv-GFP对照组比较,Lv-EpK组apoE^-/-小鼠的血脂及脂蛋白分布、apoA-Ⅰ水平、PON1活性无明显改变,但EpK组小鼠的主动脉斑块面积较对照组显著减少(主动脉根部斑块面积(0.87±0.07) mm² vs (1.03±0.08) mm²,P < 0.05;主动脉胸腹段斑块占管腔比42.0% vs 55.8%,P < 0.01)．EpK可显著降低血中SAA水平,并抑制肝脏炎症因子TNF?琢和IL-6的表达．结果说明,EpK拟肽具有减退apoE^-/-小鼠动脉粥样硬化斑块的作用,其机制可能与其发挥的抗炎作用有关．     

Replacement of vertebrate serum with lipids and other factors in the culture of invertebrate cells,tissues, parasites,and pathogens

Summary Culture medium supplementation with vertebrate serum results in the selection of fibroblastoid insect cell lines and a general decline during continuous subculturing of both morphologic and functional differentiation of the surviving cells. Essential lipid mixtures can substitute for vertebrate serum in the culture of insect and some vertebrate cells, tissues, parasites, and pathogens. The provision of sterols and essential (with nonessential) polyunsaturated fatty acids as phospholipids in oxidation-protected peptoliposomes or proteoliposomes allows cells in culture to duplicate in vivo specific membranes more accurately. Such lipid-corrected membranes allow cultured cells to communicate with neighboring cells through the extracellular matrix, effectively transmit hormonal signals directly and via receptor control, and respond with various tissue-specific functions and differentiation states as directed.     

The Kinetic Reaction Mechanism of the Vibrio cholerae Sodium-dependent NADH Dehydrogenase

The sodium-dependent NADH dehydrogenase (Na⁺-NQR) is the main ion transporter in Vibrio cholerae. Its activity is linked to the operation of the respiratory chain and is essential for the development of the pathogenic phenotype. Previous studies have described different aspects of the enzyme, including the electron transfer pathways, sodium pumping structures, cofactor and subunit composition, among others. However, the mechanism of the enzyme remains to be completely elucidated. In this work, we have studied the kinetic mechanism of Na⁺-NQR with the use of steady state kinetics and stopped flow analysis. Na⁺-NQR follows a hexa-uni ping-pong mechanism, in which NADH acts as the first substrate, reacts with the enzyme, and the oxidized NAD leaves the catalytic site. In this conformation, the enzyme is able to capture two sodium ions and transport them to the external side of the membrane. In the last step, ubiquinone is bound and reduced, and ubiquinol is released. Our data also demonstrate that the catalytic cycle involves two redox states, the three- and five-electron reduced forms. A model that gathers all available information is proposed to explain the kinetic mechanism of Na⁺-NQR. This model provides a background to understand the current structural and functional information.     

铝胁迫对黑大豆膜脂过氧化及抗氧化酶活性的影响

以耐酸型黑大豆(丹波黑大豆,简称RB)和酸敏感型黑大豆(简称SB)为材料,在水培条件下分析不同浓度的铝胁迫对这两种黑大豆叶和根膜脂过氧化和抗氧化酶活性的影响。结果显示:RB的铝耐受能力比SB强;在不同浓度铝胁迫下RB叶和根中的H2O2和MDA上升幅度低于SB,SB的叶和根中膜脂过氧化程度大于RB。在不同浓度铝胁迫下,RB叶和根中的SOD活性与SB差异不大,而CAT活性在RB和SB的叶和根中均被诱导显著升高,POD活性在RB叶和根中有下降趋势但仍然显著高于SB。因此,与酸敏感型的黑大豆相比,耐酸型黑大豆在铝胁迫下具有较强的保护酶活性,使其膜脂受氧化损伤的程度较低,从而表现出更强的耐铝胁迫能力。