甜味蛋白研究进展

甜味蛋白是一类具有高甜度,低热卡,多功能的天然甜味剂,但要从几种古老的植物中提取甜味蛋白较为困难,且难以开发利用,随着生物技术的发展,尤其是利用基因工程技术将甜味蛋白基因克隆到微生物细胞中,构建产甜味蛋白的基因工程菌,为商品化生长甜味蛋白开辟了一条快速而有效的新途径。     

甜味蛋白thaumatin基因转入烟草的研究

利用基因工程技术,将分别克隆在两个不同载体上的甜味蛋白thaumatin cDNA基因片段连接成一个完整的cDNA基因,并将该基因克隆进pBI121,构建成表达载体pBI121-tha。通过冻融法导入农杆菌,农杆菌介导叶盘法转入烟草,经过组培,得到转基因的植株。提取转基因烟草总DNA,经PCR,PCR—Southern和Southern杂交证实,甜味蛋白基因已整合到烟草基因组中。RT—PCR结果证明,thaumatin基因已在转基因烟草中转录成mRNA,但SDS—PAGE和甜味尝试都表明thaumatin基因在转基因烟草中没有表达出甜味蛋白。     

甜味蛋白thaumatin基因转入烟草的研究

利用基因工程技术 ,将分别克隆在两个不同载体上的甜味蛋白 thaum atin c DNA基因片段连接成一个完整的 c DNA基因 ,并将该基因克隆进 p BI12 1,构建成表达载体 p BI12 1- tha.通过冻融法导入农杆菌 ,农杆菌介导叶盘法转入烟草 ,经过组培 ,得到转基因的植株 .提取转基因烟草总 DNA,经 PCR,PCR- Southern和 Southern杂交证实 ,甜味蛋白基因已整合到烟草基因组中 .RT- PCR结果证明 ,thaumatin基因已在转基因烟草中转录成 m RNA,但SDS- PAGE和甜味尝试都表明 thaumatin基因在转基因烟草中没有表达出甜味蛋白     

马槟榔甜蛋白基因（MBL11）的剪切重组和结构分析

马槟榔甜蛋白（mabinlin II）是我国所特有且唯一的植物甜蛋白,在体外至今没有得到具有甜味的基因表达产物。本文采用基因工程手段对基因进行剪切重组,将重组基因构建成植物表达载体转入拟南芥中,通过RT-．PCR检测导入基因的表达,同时采用生物信息学方法对MBL II基因及其重组基因进行分析和甜味检测显示,转基因拟南芥不具有明显的甜味,但RT-PCR的结果显示,MBL II基因及其重组基因可在转基因的拟南芥中表达。根据生物信息学方法分析结果推测,导入拟南芥中的重组马槟榔甜蛋白可能是具有甜味的蛋白。     

甜味机制的研究进展

甜味的感受细胞是味觉细胞,味觉细胞是个双极细胞,味觉受体是一类G蛋白偶联受体,根据甜味物质性质的不同,通过两种途径－－cAMP途径与IP3和DAG途径进行甜味转导。PKA,PKC,味素和转导素在甜味转导中发挥了不同的功能。     

甜味蛋白和矫味蛋白的研究进展

迄今为止,已发现了六种甜味蛋白和一种矫味蛋白,它们具有无毒、安全、热量低等优点,因此有可能取代蔗糖成为一类新型甜味剂。这些蛋白结构虽然都能诱发甜味,但他们结构却不一样。许多生物技术被应用到这类蛋白的研究中,但廉价而安全地把这类蛋白推向市场还需进一步研究。     

应乐果甜蛋白及其基因工程

应乐果甜蛋白（monellin)是一种分子量为10.7kD的超甜蛋白。由A,B两条链组成,其中A链44个氨基酸,B链50个氨基酸。分子内有5个反向平行的β折叠链和一个α螺旋。实验表明,Asp^B7可能是应乐果甜蛋白的甜味活性中心。此外,Cys^41,Ca^2 等对应乐果甜蛋白的甜味也会产生影响。研究人员把应乐果甜蛋白的单链类似物相断转入大肠杆菌,土豆,莴苣和酵母中,得到了具甜味,稳定性和耐受力强的表达产物。     

味觉信号的通用编码途径

味觉对于辨别甜味、苦味、酸味、咸味和鲜味 (氨基酸味 )有重要的作用。最近 ,利用遗传学、生物信息学、表达克隆等手段克隆了哺乳动物的味觉受体。甜味和鲜味是由Ｔ1Ｒ家族的三个Ｇ蛋白偶联受体介导的。苦味主要由Ｔ2Ｒ家族约 30个Ｇ蛋白偶联受体所介导。ＴＲＰＭ5是一种新近从味觉细胞中克隆的基因 ,属于ＴＲＰ钙离子通道家族。形态学研究结果表明 ,ＴＲＰＭ5与Ｔ1Ｒ或Ｔ2Ｒ受体共存 ,并且证明ＴＲＰＭ5可以被味觉受体通过磷脂酶Ｃ(ＰＬＣ)所激活。ＴＲＰＭ5或者ＰＬＣβ2基因敲除的小鼠表现出甜味、苦味和鲜味味觉缺失 ,但不影响其酸味和…     

乳酸乳球菌表面表达Brazzein甜味蛋白系统的建立

参照甜味蛋白Brazzein基因序列,结合乳酸乳球菌的密码子偏嗜性的相关分析,对甜味蛋白Brazzein基因进行改造,将第29位天冬氨酸、31位的组氨酸和第41位的谷氨酸分别突变为赖氨酸、丙氨酸和赖氨酸,以期提高目的蛋白的甜度。采用重叠PCR的方法合成目的基因,目的片段亚克隆到pMD18-T载体上。经序列测定分析后,目的片段克隆入分泌表达载体pNZ8112,电转化乳酸乳球菌中,构建成表面展示表达甜味蛋白Brazzein的乳酸乳球菌表达系统。     

乳酸乳球菌表面表达Brazzein甜味蛋白系统的建立北大核心CSCD

参照甜味蛋白Brazzein基因序列,结合乳酸乳球菌的密码子偏嗜性的相关分析,对甜味蛋白Brazzein基因进行改造,将第29位天冬氨酸、31位的组氨酸和第41位的谷氨酸分别突变为赖氨酸、丙氨酸和赖氨酸,以期提高目的蛋白的甜度。采用重叠PCR的方法合成目的基因,目的片段亚克隆到pMD18-T载体上。经序列测定分析后,目的片段克隆入分泌表达载体pNZ8112,电转化乳酸乳球菌中,构建成表面展示表达甜味蛋白Brazzein的乳酸乳球菌表达系统。     

Hypothesis/review: The structural basis of sweetness perception of sweet-tasting plant proteins can be deduced from sequence analysis

Human perception of sweetness, behind the felt pleasure, is thought to play a role as an indicator of energy density of foods. For humans, only a small number of plant proteins taste sweet. As non-caloric sweeteners, these plant proteins have attracted attention as candidates for the control of obesity, oral health and diabetic management. Significant advances have been made in the characterization of the sweet-tasting plant proteins, as well as their binding interactions with the appropriate receptors. The elucidation of sweet-taste receptor gene sequences represents an important step towards the understanding of sweet taste perception. However, many questions on the molecular basis of sweet-taste elicitation by plant proteins remain unanswered. In particular, why homologues of these proteins do not elicit similar responses? This question is discussed in this report, on the basis of available sequences and structures of sweet-tasting proteins, as well as of sweetness-sensing receptors. A simple procedure based on sequence comparisons between sweet-tasting protein and its homologous counterparts was proposed to identify critical residues for sweetness elicitation. The open question on the physiological function of sweet-tasting plant proteins is also considered. In particular, this review leads us to suggest that sweet-tasting proteins may interact with taste receptor in a serendipity manner.     

Cloning of the natural gene for the sweet-tasting plant protein thaumatin

Five different clones, homologous to the structural gene for the sweet-tasting plant protein thaumatin, have been isolated from leaf DNA of Thaumatococcus daniellii Benth. Restriction maps, hybridization studies, S1-nuclease mapping and R-loop formation revealed that the thaumatin genes isolated belong to one multigene family, and have two very small introns situated at different positions in the various structural genes. A similar situation prevails in a number of seed storage genes. This suggests a similarity between the sweet-tasting protein thaumatin and seed storage proteins.     

High yield secretion of the sweet-tasting protein lysozyme from the yeast Pichia pastoris

Hen egg lysozyme (HEL) is one of the sweet-tasting proteins. To understand why lysozyme is sweet, the enzyme was synthesized at high yields by a recombinant method. The mature HEL gene was cloned from a Taq polymerase-amplified PCR product into the Pichia pastoris expression and secretion vector pPIC6alpha. This expression vector contains both the Saccharomyces cerevisiae pre-pro alpha-mating factor secretion signal and the blasticidin resistance gene (bsd) for selection of transformants in bacteria and yeast. Expression of HEL was carried out in fermenter cultures. Culture supernatants were concentrated by ultrafiltration and purified by CM-ion exchange chromatography. Approximately 400 mgL-1 of recombinant HEL was obtained. The high yield of recombinant lysozyme enabled us to perform a sensory analysis in humans. The purified recombinant lysozyme elicited as a sweet taste sensation as does the lysozyme purified directly from egg white, and showed full lytic activity against cells of Micrococcus luteus. These results demonstrate that the P. pastoris expression system with the blasticidin S selection system is useful in producing recombinant sweet-tasting protein in active form at a high yield.     

单链莫内甜蛋白基因的合成及其植物表达载体的构建

目的:合成单链莫内甜蛋白基因,构建其植物表达载体。方法与结果:根据已报道的单链莫内甜蛋白的氨基酸序列及甜味机理,重新设计合成了全长294bp的莫内甜蛋白基因,其中单链莫内甜蛋白氨基酸序列中的Asp69(原AspA16)突变为Asn。利用DNA重组技术,将莫内甜蛋白基因克隆到植物表达载体pBl221中,构建了莫内甜蛋白基因的植物表达载体pBI221-monellin。结论:构建了莫内甜蛋白基因的植物表达载体,为转化园艺植物以改善其口感奠定了基础。     

Recent developments in the characterization and biotechnological production of sweet-tasting proteins

 The state of the art regarding the six known sweet-tasting proteins (thaumatin, monellin, mabinlin, pentadin, brazzein and curculin) and the taste-modifying protein miraculin is reviewed. Their biochemical properties, molecular genetics and biotechnological production are assessed. All of these proteins have been isolated from plants that grow in tropical rainforests. They share no sequence homology or structural similarities. Nonetheless, one of them, thaumatin, shares extensive homology with certain non-sweet proteins found in other plants. The potential industrial applications of the sweet-tasting proteins are also discussed, placing special emphasis on the barriers that a recombinant product of these characteristics will have to overcome before it reaches the market. Received: 14 June 1999 / Received revision: 30 August 1999 / Accepted: 3 September 1999     

Expression of the sweet-tasting plant protein brazzein in Escherichia coli and Lactococcus lactis: a path toward sweet lactic acid bacteria

Brazzein is an intensely sweet-tasting plant protein with good stability, which makes it an attractive alternative to sucrose. A brazzein gene has been designed, synthesized, and expressed in Escherichia coli at 30 °C to yield brazzein in a soluble form and in considerable quantity. Antibodies have been produced using brazzein fused to His-tag. Brazzein without the tag was sweet and resembled closely the taste of its native counterpart. The brazzein gene was also expressed in Lactococcus lactis, using a nisin-controlled expression system, to produce sweet-tasting lactic acid bacteria. The low level of expression was detected with anti-brazzein antibodies. Secretion of brazzein into the medium has not led to significant yield increase. Surprisingly, optimizing the codon usage for Lactococcus lactis led to a decrease in the yield of brazzein.     

Expression of a synthetic gene encoding the sweet-tasting protein thaumatin in the filamentous fungus Penicillium roquefortii

A synthetic gene encoding the amino acid sequence of the sweet-tasting protein thaumatin II has been expressed in Penicillium roquefortii. Using several different expression cassettes thaumatin was expressed either intracellularly or extracellularly, at concentrations of 1–2 mg thaumatin/l.     

Complete amino Acid sequence of soybean leaf p21 : similarity to the thaumatin-like polypeptides

A polypeptide structurally related to the thaumatin family of proteins has been purified from soybean (Glycine max) leaves and the complete amino acid sequence has been determined. The mature protein, which we have termed P21, has a calculated molecular weight of 21,461 and an isoelectric point of 4.6. The soybean protein shows 64% amino acid identity with thaumatin, a sweet-tasting protein found in the West African shrub Thaumatococcus danielli, and as much as 71% identity with thaumatin-like polypeptides present in tobacco and maize.     

Structure-sweetness relationship in egg white lysozyme: role of lysine and arginine residues on the elicitation of lysozyme sweetness

Lysozyme is one of the sweet-tasting proteins. To clarify the structure-sweetness relationship and the basicity-sweetness relationship in lysozyme, we have generated lysozyme mutants with Pichia systems. Alanine substitution of lysine residues demonstrated that two out of six lysine residues, Lys13 and Lys96, are required for lysozyme sweetness, while the remaining four lysine residues do not play a significant role in the perception of sweetness. Arginine substitution of lysine residues revealed that the basicity, but not the shape, of the side chain plays a significant role in sweetness. Single alanine substitutions of arginine residues showed that three arginine residues, Arg14, Arg21, and Arg73, play significant roles in lysozyme sweetness, whereas Arg45, Arg68, Arg125 and chemical modification by 1,2-cyclohexanedione did not affect sweetness. From investigation of the charge-specific mutations, we found that the basicity of a broad surface region formed by five positively charged residues, Lys13, Lys96, Arg14, Arg21, and Arg73, is required for lysozyme sweetness. Differences in the threshold values among sweet-tasting proteins might be caused by the broadness and/or the density of charged residues on the protein surface.