脊尾白虾组织蛋白酶L基因的克隆及其表达分析

根据本实验室构建的脊尾白虾(Exopalaemon carinicauda)血细胞全长cDNA文库获得的EST序列,利用RACE技术克隆获得脊尾白虾组织蛋白酶L基因的cDNA全长,命名为EcCatL基因.该序列全长1136 bp,包括5'非编码区24 bp,开放阅读框960 bp和3'非编码区152 bp,开放阅读框共编码319个氨基酸,预测相对分子量为35.30×103,理论等电点为5.27.同源性分析表明,脊尾白虾组织蛋白酶LEcCatL氨基酸序列与其它甲壳动物高度保守,与变色小长臂虾(Palaemonetes varians)及北极甜虾(Pandalus borealis) CatL的同源性分别为92％和76％.系统进化分析表明,EcCatL基因氨基酸序列与变色小长臂虾的CatL聚为一支.荧光定量PCR分析结果表明,EcCatL基因在血细胞、鳃、肝胰腺、肌肉、卵巢、肠、胃及眼柄中均有表达,其中肝胰腺中的相对表达量最高.感染鳗弧菌及WSSV后6h和12h,脊尾白虾血细胞和肝胰腺中EcCatL的表达量较对照组均极显著增加(P＜0.01),且具有明显的时间差异性,表明EcCatL基因在脊尾白虾免疫反应中具有重要作用.     

pH值对中国龙虾消化酶活力的影响

采用酶学分析方法研究了pH对中国龙虾胃蛋白酶、类胰蛋白酶、淀粉酶、纤维素酶和脂肪酶活力的影响。结果表明,在设定的pH范围内,中国龙虾各消化酶的活力均随着pH的升高呈现先升后降的变化趋势。其中,胃、肠、肝胰腺内胃蛋白酶最适pH均为2.2,类胰蛋白酶最适pH分别为8.8-9.2、8.4、8.8,淀粉酶最适pH分别为7.0、7.0、7.4,纤维素酶最适pH分别为4.2、4.2-4.6、5.4,脂肪酶最适pH分别为7.2-7.6、7.2、6.8-7.2。同时测得中国龙虾胃、肠、肝胰腺内的生理pH分别为5.33、6.93、6.60。中国龙虾的消化酶活力存在器官特异性。在最适pH下,胃蛋白酶活力顺序为胃>肠>肝胰腺,类胰蛋白酶、纤维素酶、脂肪酶的活力顺序均为肝胰腺>肠>胃,淀粉酶的活力顺序为肠>肝胰腺>胃。     

家蚕组织蛋白酶基因家族的鉴定及表达特征分析

家蚕是鳞翅目完全变态昆虫,在其变态过程中伴随着巨大的形态变化,包括旧组织的解离和新组织的形成,在这过程中有多种组织蛋白酶参与。组织蛋白酶是一类细胞内蛋白酶,广泛存在于各个物种中,包括组织蛋白酶B、H、L等几个亚家族。对家蚕组织蛋白酶的研究将有利于阐明家蚕变态发育的详细过程。通过对家蚕基因组数据库进行筛选,共在家蚕中鉴定到13种组织蛋白酶,并对这13种组织蛋白酶的基本信息和表达模式进行了分析。另外,利用家蚕基因芯片数据和荧光定量PCR分析,鉴定编号为BGIBMGA004622的基因为卵巢特异表达的组织蛋白酶L亚家族基因。该基因全长1 209 bp,编码402个氨基酸。经过序列分析,该酶与其他物种的组织蛋白酶L具有较高的同源性,其活性位点高度保守,且与鳞翅目的组织蛋白酶L在进化上聚为一支。同时,对该基因进行克隆并原核表达,结果显示重组蛋白以包涵体的形式表达。定量PCR结果显示,该酶在蛹发育初期表达量逐渐升高,至蛹3 d达到最高值,推测其可能参与卵巢与卵母细胞的发育过程。     

Food digestion by cathepsin L and digestion-related rapid cell differentiation in shrimp hepatopancreas

Cathepsin L (CatL) has been readily localized in the large vacuole and in the apical complex of the digestive B-cell of the shrimp hepatopancreas. Immunogold technique revealed the occurrence of CatL in zymogen granule, digestive body and digestive vacuole of the B-cell in the hepatopancreas of Metapenaeus ensis. Coalescences of zymogen granule with sub-apical vacuole, and of two small digestive bodies were observed. This progressive coalescence of CatL vesicles is direct evidence of involvement of CatL in intracellular digestion. Released CatL vesicles and free CatL were found in the lumen of hepatopancreatic tubule. CatL mRNA existed in F-cell, but not in the mature B-cell. This finding supports the previous suggestion that F-cell is the precursor of B-cell. F-cell is a transient form. Transition from F-cell to B-cell is fast. We define F-cell as the transcribing cell, F/B-cell as the enzyme-synthesizing cell and B-cell as the enzyme-secreting cell. For the first time, we suggest that R-cell is the replacing cell for the leaving B-cell. CatL degrades nutrient intracellularly and extracellularly. The most interesting finding is that CatL is transcribed in one type of cell, and the very cell evolves quickly to a morphologically different cell where the enzyme functions.     

石磺消化系统的组织学观察

对石磺消化系统各部分结构进行组织学观察.石磺的消化系统由消化道和消化腺两部分组成.消化道包括口、食道、贲门胃、幽门胃、中肠和后肠,不具吻;消化腺包括肝胰腺、唾液腺和肛门腺.在光学显微镜下,消化道由粘膜层、粘膜下层、肌层和外膜4层组成;肌层主要为环肌,粘膜层主要为柱状细胞.肝胰腺甚为发达,组织结构显示肝胰腺由很多分支的腺管组成,腺管由腺细胞、分泌细胞等组成.唾液腺和肛门腺发达.     

脊尾白虾血蓝蛋白大亚基基因的克隆及表达分析

应用RACE技术克隆脊尾白虾血蓝蛋白大亚基基因, 并通过攻毒实验揭示脊尾白虾血蓝蛋白基因的先天免疫防御作用, 为脊尾白虾(Exopalaemon carinicauda)的免疫防治研究提供依据和思路。研究成功克隆了脊尾白虾血蓝蛋白大亚基基因全长cDNA序列, 该大亚基cDNA全长 2192 bp, 开放式阅读框长 2034 bp, 5′非编码区长 21 bp, 3′非编码区长 137 bp, 将该基因命名为 EcHcL。EcHcL编码 667 个氨基酸, 前 21 个氨基酸组成信号肽, 推测成熟肽的分子量为 78.5 kD。Blast比对结果显示, 由脊尾白虾血蓝蛋白EcHcL序列推导的氨基酸序列与日本沼虾、凡纳滨对虾血蓝蛋白氨基酸序列的同源性分别达到 87%、73%, 其M结构域氨基酸序列与斑节对虾、日本对虾等物种同源性性高达 90% 左右, 由此推断该cDNA序列属于血蓝蛋白家族。组织表达分析结果显示, EcHcL基因在脊尾白虾鳃、卵巢、肝胰腺、心脏、肠、肌肉、胃、腹神经节、眼柄、血细胞中均有表达, 肝胰腺中相对表达量最高。Real-time PCR分析发现EcHcL基因在金黄色葡萄球菌、副溶血弧菌和对虾白斑综合征病毒(WSSV)感染后脊尾白虾肝胰腺和血细胞中的表达量显著增加, 并具有不同的时空表达模式, 推测脊尾白虾EcHcL基因在免疫防御中具有重要作用。     

小鼠单个GV期卵母细胞中ATP8基因的表达分析

目的:探讨小鼠GV期卵母细胞线粒体中ATP8(ATP合酶亚基8)基因的表达情况。方法:应用挤压法从卵巢中分离获得生发泡期(germinal vesicle,GV)卵母细胞;用RT-PCR检测GV期单个卵母细胞中ATP8基因的表达:其中cDNA的合成分两种方法进行:一是将GV期单个卵母细胞直接进行RT合成cDNA,二是先用DNA酶加EcoRⅠ酶祛除mtDNA和核DNA后再进行RT;回收产物构建克隆质粒并测序。结果:1.5%琼脂糖电泳显示、测序结果均表明ATP8基因在GV期卵母细胞中有表达。结论:小鼠GV期卵母细胞特异表达的ATP8基因可能与卵母细胞的正常发育成熟相关。     

Cathepsin <Emphasis Type="Italic">G</Emphasis> in the immune defense of the human duodenum: New sources for biosynthesis

Proteases play a key role in the physiological processes of the small intestine, supporting its normal physiological functions as a part of the digestive system, in which hydrolysis and assimilation of nutrients are implemented. A high concentration of antigens in the intestinal lumen activates immunity and stimulates a chronic weakly expressed inflammatory response in a normal gastrointestinal tract (GIT). Cathepsin G, a serine protease controlling the functional state of immune cells, directly participates in the complicated system for the regulation of balance between physiological and pathological inflammations. To determine the role of cathepsin G in the small intestine, an immunofluorescent investigation of biopsies from the human duodenal mucosa were investigated using the confocal immunofluorescence microscopy method and human antibodies to cathepsin G. It has been shown for the first time that cathepsin G, which was regarded conventionally as one of the effectors of the inflammatory process, is a constitutive enzyme of the human duodenum and is constantly present in its normal mucosa. The new cell sources for the cathepsin G biosynthesis identified: intraepithelial lymphocytes (IELs), lamina propria lymphocytes, ^CD14-positive intestinal macrophages, and Paneth cells, which are specialized epitheliocytes of intestinal glands. Our data on the cathepsin G expression by immunocytes and Paneth cells in the duodenum allow us to attribute cathepsin G to the main proteases of intestinal immunity, which indicates the important role of this enzyme in the regulation of human GIT functions.     

Molecular cloning, characterization and expression analysis of thrombospondin gene from Penaeus monodon

In present study, a thrombospondin gene was obtained from the ovary and neurosecretory organ in eyestalk cDNA library of black tiger prawn (Penaeus monodon). The full-length P. monodon thrombospondin (PmTSP) cDNA contained a 5' untranslated region (UTR) of 9 bp, an open reading frame (ORF) of 2778 bp encoding a polypeptide of 925 amino acids with molecular mass 100.57 kDa, and a 3'UTR of 99 bp. ScanProsite analysis indicated that PmTSP contained four chitin-binding type-II domains, an EGF-like domain, eight thrombospondin type-III repeats and one thrombospondin C-terminal domain. Homology analysis of the deduced amino acid sequence of the PmTSP with other known TSP sequences by MatGAT software revealed that the PmTSP shows very high homology with the sequences of Fennerpenaeus chinensis (89.9% similarity, 83.8% identity). Analysis of the tissue expression pattern of the PmTSP gene showed that the PmTSP mRNA was expressed in all tested tissues, including hepatopancreas, ovary, muscle, intestine, neurosecretory organ in eyestalk, neurosecretory organ in brain, stomach, and heart, with highest level in the ovary. Furthermore, the PmTSP expression was found to be of high level in six development stages of the ovary. The results indicated that PmTSP might play an important role in ovarian development.     

Aspartic proteinases in fishes and aquatic invertebrates

1. The literature on molecular properties and physiological role of aspartic proteinases in fishes and aquatic invertebrates has been reviewed. 2. Pepsins have not been detected in invertebrates, and apparently cathepsin D, as well as other cathepsins, act both as digestive and lysosomal enzymes in many of these animals. The molecular properties of invertebrate cathepsin D correspond with cathepsin D in fishes and mammalians. 3. Fishes with a true stomach have pepsinogen secretion. Fish pepsins have higher pH optimum and are less stable in strong acid conditions than mammalian pepsins. They are very efficient at low temperatures, but less thermostable than mammalian pepsins. 4. Many fishes have two significantly different pepsins: Pepsin I and Pepsin II, which digest haemoglobin at a maximal rate in the pH ranges 3-4 and 2-3 respectively. Usually the pI of Pepsin I is in the range 6.5-7, whereas pI of Pepsin II is about 4. 5. Fish Pepsin I and cathepsin D have very similar molecular properties, and a hypothesis proposing that cathepsin D is the ancestor enzyme of aspartic proteinases in higher animals is presented.     

Complete, precise, and innocuous loss of multiple introns in the currently intronless, active cathepsin L-like genes, and inference from this event

Retrotransposition typically generates pseudogenes. Here we demonstrate a different fate of the retro-processed genes through a novel mechanism in which the retro-processed genes still maintain their sequence intactness and the original functions. We show that the shrimp cathepsin L (CatL) gene MeCatL has lost all of its five introns. Also, ProEPB, the ancestor of the CatL-like barley EPBs and rice REP1, has lost all of its three introns. The multiple introns in a gene might have been eliminated simultaneously and precisely at the original locus for the CatL-like genes of shrimp, barley, rice, Drosophila, and Theileria. We reason that retrotransposition is not responsible for the generation of a processed active intronless (PAI) gene when the gene product retains its sequence intactness and its original function. We propose that double-strand-break repair (DSBR) machinery might play a role in cDNA-mediated homologous recombination (cDMHR) that causes the loss of introns. The cDMHR/DSBR pathway is probably a fundamental mechanism for intron loss in PAI genes and in some asymmetric-intron genes.     

Molecular characterization of cathepsin L from hepatopancreas of the carp Cyprinus carpio

Purified cathepsin L from carp, Cyprinus carpio, consists of a 28 kDa single-chain form that is different from the 24 and 5 kDa mammalian two-chain form. We cloned cathepsin L from carp hepatopancreas. The sequence consisted of a 1490 bp cDNA and a 1014 bp open reading frame, encoding a deduced protein of 337 amino acids that is likely processed to an active enzyme (single-chain form) with 222 amino acids. Its similarity to other types of vertebrate cathepsin L is less than 69%. Mammalian cathepsin L is further processed to a two-chain form, but possibly this is not the case with carp cathepsin L: the P1 site where cleavage occurred in the two-chain form of mammalian cathepsin L contains a serine, while carp cathepsin L processes a valine. Therefore, carp cathepsin L may have a different mechanism of action from mammalian cathepsin L.     

Ovarian cysteine proteinases in the teleost Fundulus heteroclitus: molecular cloning and gene expression during vitellogenesis and oocyte maturation

The cysteine proteinases cathepsins B and L are members of the multigene family of lysosomal proteases that have been implicated in the processing of yolk proteins (YPs) in teleost oocytes. However, the full identification of the type of cathepsins expressed in fish ovarian follicles and embryos, as well as their regulatory mechanisms and specific function(s), are not yet elucidated. In this study, cDNAs encoding cathepsins B, L, F, K, S, Z, C, and H have been isolated from the teleost Fundulus heteroclitus, and the analysis of their deduced amino acid sequences revealed highly similar structural features to vertebrate orthologs, and confirmed in this species the existence of cathepsin L-like, cathepsin B-like, and cathepsin F-like subfamilies of cysteine proteinases. While all identified cathepsins were expressed in ovarian follicles, the corresponding mRNAs showed different temporal expression patterns. Thus, similar mRNA levels of cathepsins L, F, S, B, C, and Z were found throughout the oocyte growth or vitellogenesis period, whereas those for cathepsin H and K appeared to decrease as vitellogenesis advanced. During oocyte maturation, a transient accumulation of cathepsins L, S, H, and F mRNAs, approximately a 3-, 1.5-, 1.6-, and 6-fold increase, respectively, was detected in ovarian follicles within the 20-25 hr after hormone stimulation, coincident with the maximum proteolysis of the oocyte major YPs. The specific temporal pattern of expression of these genes may indicate a potential role of cathepsin L-like and cathepsin F proteases in the YP processing events occurring during fish oocyte maturation and/or early embryogenesis.