HeLa细胞cDNA文库及酵母双杂交诱饵载体pGBKT7-CPn0308的构建

旨在利用酵母双杂交系统构建HeLa细胞的cDNA文库,并构建酵母双杂交诱饵载体pGBKT7-CPn0308。从HeLa细胞中提取总RNA,应用SMARTTM技术,构建以pGADT7-Rec为载体的HeLa细胞酵母GAL4 AD融合cDNA文库。应用PCR技术扩增目的片段CPn0308,并成功克隆该基因到诱饵载体pGBKT7中,将重组质粒转化酵母菌株AH109后,检测诱饵载体有无自激活和细胞毒性作用。结果显示,文库展现良好的多态性,重组诱饵载体pGBKT7-CPn0308不具有毒性且未自主激活报告基因,说明该文库和诱饵质粒可用于酵母双杂交系统。     

人端粒逆转录酶与Snapin蛋白相互作用的鉴定

目的:研究人端粒逆转录酶(hTERT)与Snapin蛋白的相互作用。方法:将hTERT基因和Snapin基因分别构建到pGBKT7和pGADT7载体中,用酵母双杂交方法在酵母中验证其相互作用;在293T细胞中,共转染带有Flag标签的hTERT及带有GFP标签的Snapin质粒,进行免疫共沉淀;将GST融合的Snapin纯化蛋白与hTERT进行GST-pull down,验证其相互作用。结果:3种方法都证明hTERT能够与Snapin相互作用。结论:Snapin蛋白能够与hTERT相互作用,为研究Snapin参与调控端粒酶的功能活动提供了一些线索。     

A subunit of the mammalian oligosaccharyltransferase, DAD1, interacts with Mcl-1, one of the bcl-2 protein family

DAD1 is a mammalian homologue of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Ost2p, a subunit of the oligosaccharyltransferase complex. Loss of its function induces apoptosis in hamster BHK21 cells. By means of a two-hybrid method involving DAD1 as bait, the C-terminal region of Mcl-1, one of the bcl-2 family, was isolated. Consistently, DAD1 binds well to Mcl-1 in COS cells when overexpressed. On deletion analysis, the C-terminal domain of Mcl-1 containing BH(2) (bcl-2 homologous domain) was found to be essential for the interaction with DAD1. On the other hand, the C-terminal half of DAD1 was concluded to be essential for the interaction with Mcl-1. Surprisingly, a DeltaC-DAD1 mutant lacking only 4 amino acid residues from the C-terminus did not complement the tsBN7 mutation, while it interacted well with Mcl-1. In contrast, DeltaN-DAD1 lacking 20 amino acid residues from the N-terminus still exhibited the ability to complement the tsBN7 mutation. Thus, the C-terminus of DAD1 was suggested to play an important role in N-linked glycosylation and to complement the tsBN7 mutation. Mcl-1 may be required for the inhibition of apoptotic cell death caused by a loss of DAD1.     

白桦开花抑制因子BpFLC与BpSVP蛋白互作的结构域筛选与互作验证

为深入研究白桦开花抑制因子FLC与SVP的相互作用的分子机理。从重组质粒pGBKT7-BpFLC、pGBKT7-BpSVP分别克隆出6个BpFLC截短体（BpFLC1~6）和6个BpSVP截短体（BpSVP1~6）,分别编码MI、MIK、K、IKC、KC和C域。在酵母Y2HGold菌中,分别共转诱饵质粒pGBKT7-BpFLC1~6×pGADT7-BpSVP及pGBKT7-BpFLC×pGADT7-BpSVP1~6。酵母转化子Y2HGold［pGBKT7-BpFLC2~5×pGADT7-BpSVP］,可在选择性固体培养基TDO、QTO/A上生长,并在QDO/A/X上长出蓝色菌落,表明BpSVP能与截短体蛋白BpFLC2~5异源结合。此外酵母Y2HGold［pGBKT7-BpFLC×pGADT7-BpSVP2~5］也能同时激活报告基因AUR1-C、HIS3、ADE2、MEL1。进一步研究发现：Y2HGold［pGBKT7-BpFLC3×pGADT7-BpSVP3］存在相互作用,表明BpFLC的K域与BpSVP的K域能够异源结合,是介导BpFLC与BpVP蛋白互作的关键结构域。     

Role of paired basic residues of protein C-termini in phospholipid binding

It is a well known phenomenon that the occurrence of several distinct amino acids at the C-terminus of proteins is non-random. We have analysed all Saccharomyces cerevisiae proteins predicted by computer databases and found lysine to be the most frequent residue both at the last (-1) and at the penultimate amino acid (-2) positions. To test the hypothesis that C-terminal basic residues efficiently bind to phospholipids we randomly expressed GST-fusion proteins from a yeast genomic library. Fifty-four different peptide fragments were found to bind phospholipids and 40% of them contained lysine/arginine residues at the (-1) or (-2) positions. One peptide showed high sequence similarity with the yeast protein Sip18p. Mutational analysis revealed that both C-terminal lysine residues of Sip18p are essential for phospholipid-binding in vitro. We assume that basic amino acid residues at the (-1) and (-2) positions in C-termini are suitable to attach the C-terminus of a given protein to membrane components such as phospholipids, thereby stabilizing the spatial structure of the protein or contributing to its subcellular localization. This mechanism could be an additional explanation for the C-terminal amino acid bias observed in proteins of several species.     

Distinct regions of human glycophorin A enhance human red cell anion exchanger (band 3; AE1) transport function and surface trafficking

Human red cell glycophorin A (GPA) enhances the expression of band 3 anion transport activity at the cell surface of Xenopus oocytes. This effect of GPA could occur in two ways, enhancement of band 3 anion transport function or enhancement of band 3 trafficking to the cell surface. We have examined the GPA effect using GPA mutants. We compared the sequences of GPA and its homolog glycophorin B (GPB; which does not facilitate band 3 cell-surface activity or trafficking) to identify candidate regions of GPA for study. We constructed several GPA or GPB mutants, including naturally occurring GPA/GPB hybrid molecules and insertion, deletion, and substitution mutants. We analyzed the effects of the mutant proteins on band 3-specific chloride transport and surface presentation using co-expression in Xenopus oocytes. We find that the C-terminal cytoplasmic tail of GPA enhances trafficking of band 3 to the cell surface, whereas the extracellular residues 68-70 increase the specific anion transport activity of band 3. In addition, examination of the oligomerization of GPA mutants showed that single amino acid substitutions N-terminal to the transmembrane domain greatly reduce SDS-stable GPA dimer formation, implying that regions outside the transmembrane domain of GPA are important for GPA dimer formation.     

Identification and structure-activity relationship of an antimicrobial peptide of the palustrin-2 family isolated from the skin of the endangered frog Odorrana ishikawae

Recently, we identified nine novel antimicrobial peptides from the skin of the endangered anuran species, Odorrana ishikawae, to assess its innate immune system. In this study an additional antimicrobial peptide was initially isolated based on antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli. The new antimicrobial peptide belonging to the palustrin-2 family was named palustrin-2ISb. It consists of 36 amino acid residues including 7 amino acids C-terminal to the cyclic heptapeptide Rana box domain. The peptide's primary structure suggests a close relationship with the Chinese odorous frog, Odorrana grahami. The cloned cDNA encoding the precursor protein contained a signal peptide, an N-terminal acidic spacer domain, a Lys-Arg processing site and the C-terminal precursor antimicrobial peptide. It also contained 3 amino acid residues at the C-terminus not found in the mature peptide. Finally, the antimicrobial activities against four microorganisms (E. coli, Staphylococcus aureus, methicillin-resistant S. aureus and Candida albicans) were investigated using several synthetic peptides. A 29 amino acid truncated form of the peptide, lacking the 7 amino acids C-terminal to the Rana box, possessed greater antimicrobial activities than the native structure.     

The FAXWXXT motif in the carboxyl terminus of Vibrio mimicus metalloprotease is involved in binding to collagen

We have shown previously that the C-terminal region of the extracellular metalloprotease of Vibrio mimicus (VMC) is essential for collagenase activity. Here, we demonstrate that deletion of 100 amino acids, but not 67 amino acids, from the C-terminus of the intact VMC protein (VMC61) abolished the collagenase activity. The intervening 33-amino acid region contains a repeated FAXWXXT motif that is essential for insoluble type I collagen binding; the isolated 33-amino acid peptide bound to insoluble type I collagen, while a peptide containing only the first FAXWXXT motif did not. Compared to the VMC61, the 33-amino acid peptide corresponding to the C-terminus exhibited a similar binding affinity and a lower binding capacity.     

Functionally important conserved length of C-terminal regions of yeast and bovine ADP/ATP carriers, identified by deletion mutants studies, and water accessibility of the amino acids at the C-terminal region of the yeast carrier

Comparison of the amino acid sequence of yeast type 2 ADP/ATP carrier (yAAC2) with that of bovine type 1 AAC (bAAC1) revealed that the N- and C-terminus of yAAC2 are 15- and 6-amino acids longer, respectively, than those of bAAC1. In the present study, we focused on the difference in the C-terminal region between yAAC2 and bAAC1. Deletion of first six residues of C-terminus of yAAC did not markedly affect the function of yAAC2; however, further deletion of 1 amino acid (7th amino acid from the C-terminus) destroyed its function. On the contrary, deletion of the first amino acid residue of the C-terminus of bAAC1 caused failure of its functional expression in yeast mitochondria. Based on these results, we concluded that the 6-amino acid residue extension of the C-terminus of yAAC2 was not necessary for the function of this carrier and that the remainder of the C-terminal region of yAAC2, having a length conserved with that of bAAC1, is important for the transport function of AACs. We next prepared various single-Cys mutants in which each of 32 residues in the C-terminus of yAAC2 was replaced by a Cys residue. Since all mutants were successfully expressed in yeast mitochondria, we examined the reactivity of these cysteine residues with the membrane-impermeable sulfhydryl reagent eosin 5-maleimide (EMA). As a result, all cysteine residues that replaced the 9 continuous amino acids in Met310-Lys318 showed high reactivity with EMA regardless of the presence of carboxyatractyloside or bongkrekic acid; and so this region was concluded to be exposed to the water-accessible environment. Furthermore, based on the reactivities of cysteine residues that replaced amino acids in the sixth transmembrane segment, the probable structural features of the C-terminal region of this carrier in the presence of bongkrekic acid were discussed.     

酵母双杂交筛选与蛋白激酶CK2α′相互作用蛋白——泛素-52氨基酸融合蛋白的鉴定

蛋白激酶CK2是一种真核细胞中普遍存在的信使非依赖性丝/苏氨酸蛋白激酶. 为研究CK2α′亚基在精子发生中的作用机制,将构建于pACT2质粒的人睾丸cDNA文库和人蛋白激酶CK2α′为诱饵蛋白进行酵母双杂交实验. 以初步筛选与人蛋白激酶CK2α′相互作用蛋白的阳性候选克隆,筛选获得8个阳性克隆,其中1个与人泛素-52氨基酸融合蛋白基因（UBA52）的cDNA序列有高度同源性（100％）. GST pull-down实验在细胞外进一步证实了CK2α′与UBA52之间存在相互作用. 本实验证明,人泛素-52氨基酸（UBA52）融合蛋白是人CK2α′亚基的相互作用蛋白, 它们之间的相互作用对精子发生机制的影响尚不清楚,进一步分子机制研究正在进行中.     

Precise elimination of the N-terminal domain of histone H1.

The proteinase from mouse submaxillary gland was used to cleave total calf thymus histone H1 between residues 32 and 33. The C-terminal peptide, comprising residues 33 to the C-terminus, was purified and identified by amino acids analysis and Edman degradation. Spectroscopic characterization by n.m.r. for tertiary structure and by c.d. for secondary structure shows the globular domain of the parent histone H1 to be preserved intact in the peptide. It has therefore lost only the N-terminal domain and is a fragment of histone H1 comprising the globular plus C-terminal domains only. Precise elimination of only the N-terminal domain makes the fragment suitable for testing domain function in histone H1.     

Molecular evidence for two vitellogenin genes and processing of vitellogenins in the American cockroach, Periplaneta americana

The American cockroach, Periplaneta americana has two vitellins (Vn1 and Vn2) and corresponding vitellogenins (Vg1 and Vg2). Vns/Vgs were separated on the SDS-PAGE as three major polypeptide bands [170, 100 (multisubunits), and 50 kD] and a minor polypeptide band (150 kD) both in the egg (mature terminal oocyte) extract and in the female hemolymph. We previously cloned one Vg (Vg1) cDNA and showed that the 170-kD polypeptide originated from the C-terminus of the Vg1. In the present study, we cloned the other Vg (Vg2) cDNA. It is 5,826 bp long encoding 1,876 amino acid residues (including 16 residues for putative signal peptide) in a single ORF. The deduced amino acid sequences of both Vgs (Vg1 and Vg2) of P. americana showed 30% identity. The GL/ICG motif is followed by eight cysteine residues at conserved locations near the C-terminal and the DGXR motif starts 18 residues upstream of the GL/ICG motif. The chemically determined N-terminal amino acid sequences of the 150-kD and of the 50-kD polypeptides matched exactly with each other and with the deduced N-terminal amino acid sequence of the Vg2 cDNA. The pattern of processing in P. americana Vns/Vgs is discussed.     

大鼠SR-BI胞外域与ApoA-Ⅰ蛋白相互作用的确认

先以含全长SR-BI cDNA序列的重组质粒pMD18-T-rS为摸板进行PCR反应扩增SR-BI得到胞外域cDNA片段,经测序证明正确后,定向克隆到酵母双杂交表达载体,然后与pGBKT7-ApoA-Ⅰ质粒共转化酵母细胞,通过报告基因及酵母交配试验确认了SR-BI的胞外域部分和ApoA-Ⅰ之间的确存,观察到ApoA-Ⅰ与SR-BI胞外域间的相互作用力比与全长的SR-BI问的相互作用力提高了10％。     

Characteristics of serine acetyltransferase from Escherichia coli deleting different lengths of amino acid residues from the C-terminus

Some properties of serine acetyltransferases (SATs) from Escherichia coli, deleting 10-25 amino acid residues from the C-terminus (SATdeltaC10-deltaC25) were investigated. The specific activity depended only slightly on the length of the C-terminal region deleted. Although the sensitivity of SATdeltaC10 to inhibition by L-cysteine was similar to that for the wild-type SAT, it became less with further increases in the length of the amino acid residues deleted. SATdeltaC10 was inactivated on cooling to 0 degrees C and dissociated into dimers or trimers in the same manner as the wild-type SAT, but Met-256-le mutant SAT as well as SATdeltaC14, SATdeltaC20, and SATdeltaC25 were stable. Since SATdeltaC10, SATdeltaC14, and SATdeltaC25 did not form a complex with O-acetylserine sulfhydrylase-A (OASS-A) in a way similar to SATdeltaC20, it was indicated that 10 amino acid residues or fewer from the C-terminus of the wild-type SAT are responsible for the complex formation with OASS-A. The C-terminal peptide of the 10 amino acid residues interacted competitively with OASS-A with respect to OAS although its affinity was much lower than that for the wild-type SAT.     

Functional consequences of N- or C-terminal deletions of the delta subunit of chloroplast ATP synthase

Mutagenesis was used to generate seven truncation mutants of the spinach (Spinacia oleracea) chloroplast ATP synthase delta subunit lacking 5, 11, 17, or 35 amino acid residues from the N-terminus or 3, 9, or 15 residues from the C-terminus. Interactions between these mutants and all other subunits of the chloroplast ATPase were investigated by a yeast two-hybrid system. The results indicate that the N-terminal deletions mainly affected interactions between the delta subunit and the other part of CF(1), but did not significantly affect interactions with the CF(0) sector. In contrast, C-terminal truncations of the delta subunit mainly affected its interaction with the CF(0) sector and caused little impairment in interactions with the other part of CF(1). The conformation of the delta subunit C-terminal domain seems to be more sensitive to the truncations, as shown by minimal expression driven by C-terminal deleted (nine residues) mutants. Further studies showed C-terminal truncations of the delta subunit greatly impaired its ability to restore cyclic photophosphorylation in NaBr vesicles, whereas N-terminal truncations had little effect on the ability of delta to plug the CF(0) channel. None of the mutants impaired ATP hydrolysis by CF(1).     

A cDNA homologue of Schizosaccharomyces pombe cdc5(+) from the mushroom Lentinula edodes: characterization of the cDNA and its expressed product

A cDNA homologue of Schizosaccharomyces pombe cdc5(+) was isolated from the basidiomycete mushroom Lentinula edodes and it was named Le.cdc5 cDNA. The deduced Le.CDC5 (842 amino acid residues) possessed N-terminal amino acid sequence highly homologous to those of S. pombe cdc5(+) gene product (Sp.cdc5p) and Sp.cdc5p-related proteins (SPCDC5RPs). The N-terminal 185 amino acid peptide of Le.CDC5 (Le.CDC5(1-185) peptide) produced in Escherichia coli was subjected to random binding-site selection analysis, revealing that Le.CDC5(1-185) peptide binds to a 7-bp sequence with the consensus sequence of 5'GCAATGT3' (complementary; 5'ACATTGC3'). Genomic binding-site (GBS) cloning by using Le.CDC5(1-185) peptide resulted in an isolation of the DNA fragment that contained three sets of 7-bp consensus-like sequence and TATA box. The Le.CDC5 protein contained two putative phosphorylation sites of cAMP-dependent protein kinase (A kinase) in its C-terminus. There exists a possible leucine zipper between the two phosphorylation sites. The Le.CDC5 fragment containing the two phosphorylation sites was actually phosphorylated by commercially available A kinase. Yeast two-hybrid analysis suggested the homodimerization of Le.CDC5 protein probably through the leucine zipper. Northern blot analysis showed that Le.cdc5 gene is most actively transcribed in primordia and small immature fruiting bodies of L. edodes, implying that Le.cdc5 may play a role in the beginning and early stage of fruiting-body formation.     

Molecular analysis of glycophorin A and B gene structure and expression in homozygous Miltenberger class V (Mi. V) human erythrocytes

In the Miltenberger class V (Mi. V) condition, red cells lack glycophorin A (GPA) and glycophorin B (GPB) but carry instead an unusual glycoprotein thought to be a hybrid molecule produced by the unequal crossing-over between the closely linked genes encoding for GPA and GPB. By Western blot analysis with rabbit anti-GPA antibodies specific for discrete domains of GPA, it was found that the Mi. V glycoprotein (donor F. M.) contains approximately 60 amino acid residues of GPA at its N-terminus. As a preliminary approach to the molecular analysis of this variant the restriction maps of the GPA and GPB genes were established by Southern blot analysis of genomic DNA and from genomic clones isolated from a human leukocyte library constructed in lambda EMBL4. The GPA and GPB genes cover about 30 kb of DNA and are organized into seven exons (A-1-A-7) and five exons (B-1-B-5), respectively. In addition to the normal genes, a third gene (named inv), closely resembling the GPA and GPB genes, was also identified. In the homozygous Mi. V individual the normal GPA and GPB genes were absent, but an unusual form of gene structure was detected by Southern blot analysis. The Mi. V glycoprotein gene was composed of exon B-1 of the GPB gene followed by exons A-2 and A-3 of the GPA gene and the exons B-3, B-4 and B-5 of the GPB gene. Exon B-1 can be distinguished from exon A-1 of GPA since it is located within a different restriction fragment, but both encode the same amino acid sequence (N-terminal region of the signal peptides). Using the polymerase chain reaction, the junction between exon A-3 and exon B-3 was confirmed by amplification of the DNA region where the putative crossing-over has occurred and it was deduced that the Mi. V glycoprotein is a hybrid molecule composed of amino acid residues 1-58 from GPA fused to amino acid residues 27-72 of GPB. In addition, the finding that part of the signal peptide and the 5'-untranslated region are derived from GPB suggests that the genetic background of the Mi. V variant is rather complex and may involve a cascade of recombination or gene conversion events.     

Inhibition of nuclear import by backbone cyclic peptidomimetics derived from the HIV-1 MA NLS sequence

In the present work we have constructed a series of backbone cyclic peptides, which differed in the amino acid residues located at the C-terminal position of the previously described BCvir peptide (A. Friedler, N. Zakai, O. Karni, Y.C. Broder, L. Baraz, M. Kotler, A. Loyter, C. Gilon, Biochemistry 37 (1998)). BCvir is a cyclic peptide, derived from the nuclear localization signal (NLS) of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 matrix protein. The majority of the cyclic peptides described here inhibited nuclear import in vitro. The most potent inhibitors were those bearing bulky hydrophobic amino acids such as Leu, Phe or Nal (naphthyl Ala) at the C-terminus. On the other hand, peptides bearing polar amino acid residues such as Asn, Cys or a reduced amide bond were not inhibitory. The present studies demonstrate the importance of a bulky hydrophobic C-terminal side chain and an exocyclic amide bond preceding it, to the inhibitory activity of the NLS-derived BC peptides. Being only inhibitory, these BC peptides resemble classic receptor antagonists.     

Peptide analogues of angiotensinogen. Effect of peptide chain length on renin inhibition

Renin inhibition was evaluated for a series of peptide analogues of angiotensinogen with different chain lengths. Systematic deletion of amino acid residues from the hexapeptide BocPheHisLeuR-ValIleHisOCH3 showed that the presence of residues at the N-terminal Phe and His positions was essential for efficient enzyme-inhibitor binding whereas the C-terminal Ile and His residues were much less important. Synthesis of a tetrapeptide analogue shortened at the C-terminus and containing modified side chains produced a potent inhibitor of renin which demonstrated hypotensive activity in a salt depleted monkey.