异双聚体电泳及其在遗传学差异筛选中的应用

介绍了一种灵敏、简便、快速测定双链PCR产物或DNA片断单个碱基差异的方法。该法借助常规PAGE电泳,能区分出有单个碱基错配而发生构型改变的异双聚体与碱基互补配对的同源双聚体双链DNA分子;并判断出序列中碱基错配的百分率。     

异双聚体电泳及其在遗传学差异筛选中的应用

介绍了一种灵敏、简便、快速测定双链PCR产物或DNA片断单个碱基差异的方法。该法借助常规PAGE电泳,能区分出有单个碱基错配而发生构型改变的异双聚体与碱基互补配对的同源双聚体双链DNA分子;并判断出序列中碱基错配的百分率。     

苯丙酮尿症常用筛查方法的比较

苯丙酮尿症是一种由于体内缺乏苯丙氨酸羟化酶所引起的遗传性代谢异常疾病,如果能够做到早诊断、早发现、早预防和早治疗,就可以避免患儿以后出现智能发育障碍,因此开展新生儿的筛查工作十分重要。简要介绍了苯丙酮尿症的基本情况以及目前应用于临床的常用筛查方法,如细菌抑制法、荧光法等,并从筛查原理、主要优缺点等方面进行了简单的比较。     

A Two-Hybrid-Receptor Assay Demonstrates Heteromer Formation as Switch-On for Plant Immune Receptors

Receptor kinases sense extracellular signals and trigger intracellular signaling and physiological responses. However, how does signal binding to the extracellular domain activate the cytoplasmic kinase domain? Activation of the plant immunoreceptor Flagellin sensing2 (FLS2) by its bacterial ligand flagellin or the peptide-epitope flg22 coincides with rapid complex formation with a second receptor kinase termed brassinosteroid receptor1 associated kinase1 (BAK1). Here, we show that the receptor pair of FLS2 and BAK1 is also functional when the roles of the complex partners are reversed by swapping their cytosolic domains. This reciprocal constellation prevents interference by redundant partners that can partially substitute for BAK1 and demonstrates that formation of the heteromeric complex is the molecular switch for transmembrane signaling. A similar approach with swaps between the Elongation factor-Tu receptor and BAK1 also resulted in a functional receptor/coreceptor pair, suggesting that a “two-hybrid-receptor assay” is of more general use for studying heteromeric receptor complexes.Cell surface receptors are chemical sensors, often with an exquisite specificity and sensitivity, which detect extracellular signals and initiate corresponding intracellular response programs. Many of these receptors are transmembrane proteins with an extracellular ligand-binding domain and an intracellular protein kinase domain. Higher plants, such as Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), have several hundred genes encoding receptor like kinases (Shiu and Bleecker, 2001; Shiu and Li, 2004). How are these receptor like kinases activated by their ligands, and how do they initiate a subsequent intracellular signaling cascade? In our work, we used the leucine-rich repeat receptor kinase (LRR-RK) Flagellin sensing2 (FLS2), which specifically detects bacterial flagellin or its peptide epitope flg22 at subnanomolar concentrations (Gomez-Gomez and Boller, 2000; Gómez-Gómez et al., 2001; Chinchilla et al., 2006). FLS2 undergoes heteromeric complex formation with brassinosteroid receptor1 associated kinase1 (BAK1) within seconds after application of the flagellin-derived peptide ligand flg22 (Chinchilla et al., 2007; Heese et al., 2007; Schulze et al., 2010). Thus, BAK1 might act as a coreceptor of FLS2. However, as previously observed (Chinchilla et al., 2007; Roux et al., 2011), FLS2 is still functional in the absence of BAK1, although with a reduced efficiency. This raises the question whether the ligand-induced heteromeric complex has merely an enhancing effect or whether association with BAK1 or a functional substitute acts as the essential switch-on for transmembrane signaling of FLS2. BAK1 is one of the five members that form the somatic embryogenesis receptor kinase (SERK) family (Albrecht et al., 2008), and other members of this family might partially substitute for BAK1 (Roux et al., 2011). However, a rigorous genetic approach to delineate the role of these potential substitutes is not feasible because triple mutants (serk1 serk3 serk4) and quadruple mutants (serk1 serk2 serk3 serk4) exhibit severe general phenotypes of dwarfing or even lethality at the early embryo stage (He et al., 2007; Gou et al., 2012) that might be due to the important role of SERKs in plant developmental processes (Li et al., 2002; Nam and Li, 2002).To address the role of the heteromeric complex with BAK1 in the absence of other interfering SERKs, we took a two-hybrid-receptor approach based on the premise that the apoplastic and cytoplasmic domains of FLS2 and BAK1 function in a modular manner. A heteromeric complex might thus also form and function when the roles of FLS2 and BAK1 are reversed by reciprocal swapping of their cytoplasmic protein kinase domains (Fig. 1A, schematic view).Open in a separate windowFigure 1.Heteromeric complex formation of FLS with BAK1 switches on flagellin-dependent transmembrane signaling. A, Model for the flg22-dependent heteromeric receptor complex. Schematic representation of FLS2 (blue), BAK1 (red), and the chimeric receptor constructs Ftm-B and Btm-F. Ftm-B comprises the extracellular and the transmembrane domains of FLS2 (blue) and the cytoplasmic domain of BAK1 (red). The receptor chimera Btm-F represents the reciprocal construct with the cytoplasmic part of BAK1 replaced by that of FLS2. The cytoplasmic domain of FLS2 was C-terminally tagged with a GFP. B and C, Functional comparison of native FLS2 and BAK1 (B) with the two hybrid receptors Ftm-B and Btm-F (C). The experiments show luciferase activity in Arabidopsis fls2 bak1-4 double mutant protoplasts cotransformed with pFRK1::Luciferase as a reporter and the receptor constructs indicated. At 0 h (dashed line) protoplasts were treated with 100 nm of flg22 (black diamonds) or 100 nm of the inactive analog flg22^Atum (white circles). Light emission of the protoplasts was measured with a luminometer. Values represent averages and sds of three replicates. Data shown are representative for at least three independent repetitions of the experiments with all constructs. D and E, Dose-response relationship for flg22-dependent induction of pFRK1::Luciferase in protoplasts expressing the receptor constructs indicated. Values represent increase in luciferase activity after 5 h of treatment as percentage of the increase observed with FLS2 plus BAK1 treated with saturating doses of greater than or equal to 10 nm flg22. Comparison of (half-maximal stimulation values in D and E shows that cells coexpressing Ftm-B plus Btm-F responded at least as sensitive to flg22 as cells coexpressing FLS2 plus BAK1. A combination of Ftm-B with the kinase dead version Btm-F_KD was not functional, even when treated with 1,000 nm flg22. LU, Light units.     

A Fluorescent Screening Assay for Identifying Modulators of GIRK Channels

G protein-gated inward rectifier K⁺ (GIRK) channels function as cellular mediators of a wide range of hormones and neurotransmitters and are expressed in the brain, heart, skeletal muscle and endocrine tissue^1,2. GIRK channels become activated following the binding of ligands (neurotransmitters, hormones, drugs, etc.) to their plasma membrane-bound, G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). This binding causes the stimulation of G proteins (G_i and G_o) which subsequently bind to and activate the GIRK channel. Once opened the GIRK channel allows the movement of K⁺ out of the cell causing the resting membrane potential to become more negative. As a consequence, GIRK channel activation in neurons decreases spontaneous action potential formation and inhibits the release of excitatory neurotransmitters. In the heart, activation of the GIRK channel inhibits pacemaker activity thereby slowing the heart rate.GIRK channels represent novel targets for the development of new therapeutic agents for the treatment neuropathic pain, drug addiction, cardiac arrhythmias and other disorders³. However, the pharmacology of these channels remains largely unexplored. Although a number of drugs including anti-arrhythmic agents, antipsychotic drugs and antidepressants block the GIRK channel, this inhibition is not selective and occurs at relatively high drug concentrations³.Here, we describe a real-time screening assay for identifying new modulators of GIRK channels. In this assay, neuronal AtT20 cells, expressing GIRK channels, are loaded with membrane potential-sensitive fluorescent dyes such as bis-(1,3-dibutylbarbituric acid) trimethine oxonol [DiBAC₄(3)] or HLB 021-152 (Figure 1). The dye molecules become strongly fluorescent following uptake into the cells (Figure 1). Treatment of the cells with GPCR ligands stimulates the GIRK channels to open. The resulting K⁺ efflux out of the cell causes the membrane potential to become more negative and the fluorescent signal to decrease (Figure 1). Thus, drugs that modulate K⁺ efflux through the GIRK channel can be assayed using a fluorescent plate reader. Unlike other ion channel screening assays, such atomic absorption spectrometry⁴ or radiotracer analysis⁵, the GIRK channel fluorescent assay provides a fast, real-time and inexpensive screening procedure.     

A Target-Specific Cellular Assay for Screening of Topoisomerase I Inhibitors

We have developed a cellular, target-specific high-throughput assay for the detection of topoisomerase I inhibitors. Topoisomerase I is a nonessential enzyme involved in controlling DNA topology. Topoisomerase I is the target of anticancer drugs such as camptothecin as well as a candidate target for new antifungal drugs. A wild-type Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain and its isogenic topoisomerase I deletion mutant (DeltatopI) were labeled with S65T and wild-type green fluorescent protein (GFP), respectively. We showed that the growth of such a pair of S. cerevisiae strains labeled with this GFP combination can be independently quantified after both strains were mixed. When growth of the mixture of wild-type and DeltatopI strain was monitored in the presence of compounds, only growth of the wild-type strain was inhibited by the topoisomerase I-specific drug camptothecin. In contrast, amphotericin B, a broad-spectrum antifungal drug, inhibited growth of both strains. The two strains were used to screen compound libraries. While 0.9% of all compounds inhibited growth of both strains, only 0.06% inhibited the wild-type but not the DeltatopI strain. Thus, by using a DeltatopI strain as internal control in the same assay mixture, the number of candidate topoisomerase I inhibitors to be retested could be reduced by more than 90%. Further applications of this type of S. cerevisiae-based cellular high-throughput assays will be discussed.     

绵羊肺腺瘤病特异性PCR及套式PCR诊断方法的建立

绵羊肺腺瘤是由外源性反转录病毒JSRV引起的接触性传染的肺肿瘤性疾病。感染羊没有针对JSRV的循环抗体,但在感染羊的肺肿瘤组织、淋巴网状系统及外周血单核细胞中可检测到外源性前病毒exJSRV及JSRV转录产物。健康羊基因组中存在15~20拷贝的内源性前病毒enJSRV,内外源性前病毒的结构基因高度相似,而在U3区存在差别,因而,设计了针对exJSRVU3区的特异性引物并在国内首次建立了一步法特异性PCR检测法及套式PCR检测法。以700ng健康羊基因组DNA为背景,梯度稀释阳性质粒pJSRV-LTR作为模板,比较两种方法的敏感性,结果表明套式法的敏感性是一步法的10倍以上,套式法也是目前可用于检测感染羊血液样品的唯一方法,可望在绵羊肺腺瘤病的流行病学调查及防控方面起重要作用。     

A High-Throughput Fluorescence-Based Assay System for Appetite-Regulating Gene and Drug Screening

The increasing number of people suffering from metabolic syndrome and obesity is becoming a serious problem not only in developed countries, but also in developing countries. However, there are few agents currently approved for the treatment of obesity. Those that are available are mainly appetite suppressants and gastrointestinal fat blockers. We have developed a simple and rapid method for the measurement of the feeding volume of Danio rerio (zebrafish). This assay can be used to screen appetite suppressants and enhancers. In this study, zebrafish were fed viable paramecia that were fluorescently-labeled, and feeding volume was measured using a 96-well microplate reader. Gene expression analysis of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (bdnf), knockdown of appetite-regulating genes (neuropeptide Y, preproinsulin, melanocortin 4 receptor, agouti related protein, and cannabinoid receptor 1), and the administration of clinical appetite suppressants (fluoxetine, sibutramine, mazindol, phentermine, and rimonabant) revealed the similarity among mechanisms regulating appetite in zebrafish and mammals. In combination with behavioral analysis, we were able to evaluate adverse effects on locomotor activities from gene knockdown and chemical treatments. In conclusion, we have developed an assay that uses zebrafish, which can be applied to high-throughput screening and target gene discovery for appetite suppressants and enhancers.     

Utility of Polycation-Treated Filters for the Assay of Receptors for VIP

Abstract

This study examined the utility of four polycationic agents for treating glass fibre filters used in the receptor binding assay for vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP). Polyethylenimine (PEI), polybrene, protamine and methylated bovine serum albumin proved satisfactory in terms of low filter binding of free radioligand and retention of membrane-bound radioligand. Their performance was superior or comparable to untreated Millipore EGWP cellulose acetate filters which we had previously utilized but which are no longer manufactured. The results with polycations indicate the importance of ionic interactions between filter, biological membranes and radioligand in determining the performance of a filtration assay for radioligand-receptor binding. At a practical level, PEI has the disadvantage of potential toxicity. The satisfactory performance of the other polycations indicates that they provide safer alternatives to PEI for filtration assay of the VIP receptor and possibly receptors for other basic ligands.     

A Fluorescent Reporter Assay for the Detection of Ligands Acting Through GI Protein-Coupled Receptors

Abstract

Accompanying the advances in basic biology of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) is the practical need among biopharmaceutical companies for sensitive assays to assess GPCR function, particularly formats that are compatible with high-throughput drug screening. Here we describe a novel cell-based assay format for the high-throughput detection of ligands for G, protein-coupled receptors. Two G_i-GPCRs, μ-opioid receptor (μ-OPR) and 5-hydroxytryptamine receptor la (5HTlaR) are employed as model receptor targets. The key feature of this assay system is the isolation of stable, clonal Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell lines that carry three separate expression plasmids: (1) a chimeric G_q/i5 protein (which re-directs a negative G_i-type signal to a positive Gq-type response), (2) a given G_i-GPCR, and (3) a β-lactamase (βla) reporter gene responsive to G_i-GPCR signaling. Cell-based assays built using this format show appropriate rank order of potency among a reference set of receptor agonist and antagonist compounds. Such assays are also robust, reliable, and can be used for industrial-scale applications such as high-throughput screening for drug leads.     

A Rapid Screening Assay to Search for Phosphorylated Proteins in Tissue Extracts

Reversible protein phosphorylation is an essential mechanism in the regulation of diverse biological processes, nonetheless is frequently altered in disease. As most phosphoproteome studies are based on optimized in-vitro cell culture studies new methods are in need to improve de novo identification and characterization of phosphoproteins in extracts from tissues. Here, we describe a rapid and reliable method for the detection of phosphoproteins in tissue extract based on an experimental strategy that employs 1D and 2D SDS PAGE, Western immunoblotting of phosphoproteins, in-gel protease digestion and enrichment of phosphorpeptides using metal oxide affinity chromatography (MOAC). Subsequently, phosphoproteins are identified by MALDI-TOF-MS/MS with the CHCA-TL or DHB ML sample matrix preparation method and further characterized by various bioinformatic software tools to search for candidate kinases and phosphorylation-dependent binding motifs. The method was applied to mouse lung tissue extracts and resulted in an identification of 160 unique phosphoproteins. Notably, TiO₂ enrichment of pulmonary protein extracts resulted in an identification of additional 17 phosphoproteins and 20 phosphorylation sites. By use of MOAC, new phosphorylation sites were identified as evidenced for the advanced glycosylation end product-specific receptor. So far this protein was unknown to be phosphorylated in lung tissue of mice. Overall the developed methodology allowed efficient and rapid screening of phosphorylated proteins and can be employed as a general experimental strategy for an identification of phosphoproteins in tissue extracts.     

HIV-1整合酶链转移反应抑制剂的荧光筛选方法

整合酶被认为是抗HIV-1药物研究的理想靶点之一。为了建立便捷高效的整合酶链转移反应抑制剂筛选方法,首先将HIV-1整合酶原核表达载体pNL-IN转化入大肠杆菌感受态细胞BL21(DE3)进行原核表达,并用镍琼脂糖凝胶进行亲和纯化,获得了纯度和活性均较高的整合酶重组蛋白;然后设计了生物素标记的供体DNA和FITC标记的靶DNA,用链霉亲和素磁珠捕获反应体系中的DNA产物;最后用荧光分析仪检测DNA产物的荧光信号,并计算待测样品的抑制率。用已知整合酶抑制剂S-1360和MK-0518对筛选方法进行了验证,测定结果与已有实验数据相当,表明本筛选方法能够有效应用于HIV-1整合酶链转移反应抑制剂的筛选。与现有的整合酶链转移反应抑制剂筛选方法相比,本筛选方法步骤更为简化、耗时更短、成本更低。     

A Developmental Toxicology Assay Platform for Screening Teratogenic Liability of Pharmaceutical Compounds

Increasing need for proactive safety optimization of pharmaceutical compounds has led to generation and/or refinement of in vitro developmental toxicology assays. Our laboratory has developed three in vitro developmental toxicology assays to assess teratogenic liability of pharmaceutical compounds. These assays included a mouse molecular embryonic stem cell assay (MESCA), a dechorionated zebrafish embryo culture (ZEC) assay, and a streamlined rat whole embryo culture (rWEC) assay. Individually, the assays presented good (73–82%) predictivity. However, it remains to be determined whether combining or tiering the assays could enhance performance. Seventy‐three compounds representing a broad spectrum of pharmaceutical targets and chemistry were evaluated across the assays to generate testing strategies that optimized performance. The MESCA and ZEC assays were found to have two limitations: compound solubility and frequent misclassification of compounds with H1 receptor or GABAnergic activity. The streamlined rWEC assay was found to be a cost‐effective stand‐alone assay for supporting poorly soluble compounds and/or ones with H1 or GABAnergic activity. For all other compounds, a tiering strategy using the MESCA and ZEC assays additionally optimized throughput, cost, and minimized animal use. The tiered strategy resulted in improved performance achieving 88% overall predictivity and was comparable with 89% overall predictivity achieved with frequency analysis (final teratogenic classification made from most frequent teratogenic classification from each individual assay). Furthermore there were 21 compounds in the test set characterized as definitive or suspect human teratogens and the multiassay approach achieved 95 and 91% correct classification using the tiered or frequency screening approach, respectively     

A Microtiter Plate Assay for Screening Antioxidant Activity in Extracts of Marine Organisms

A novel microtiter plate assay was developed to determine the total peroxyl radical-trapping activity of antioxidants extracted from marine organisms by measuring the inhibition rate of dye-substrate oxidation. We compared use of dihydrorhodamine-123, dihydrofluorescein, and dichlorodihydrofluorescein as reduced substrates for oxidation by peroxyl radicals generated from 2,2-azobis(2-amidinopropane) dihydrochloride. The oxidation products of these highly reactive substrates are intensely colored dyes that absorb maximally in the wavelength region, _max = 489 to 512 nm, and their concentrations were determined photometrically using a 96-well, microtiter plate reader. The microtiter plate method provides for concurrent multisample analysis with automated data storage, regression analyses, and calculation of oxidation inhibition rates. Dihydrorhodamine was selected as the preferred substrate for screening crude extracts, and typical assay results are presented. Novel lead antioxidants are selected from active extracts by chromatographic analysis with electrochemical detection.     

SDS-PAGE-Based Quantitative Assay for Screening of Kidney Stone Disease

Kidney stone disease is a common health problem in industrialised nations. We developed a SDS-PAGE-based method to quantify Tamm Horsfall glycoprotein (THP) for screening of kidney stone disease. Urinary proteins were extracted by using ammonium sulphate precipitation at 0.27 g salt/mL urine. The resulted pellet was dissolved in TSE buffer. Ten microliters of the urinary proteins extract was loaded and separated on 10% SDS-PAGE under reducing condition. THP migrated as single band in SDS-PAGE. The assay reproducibility and repeatability were 4.8% CV and 2.6% CV, respectively. A total of 117 healthy subjects and 58 stone patients were tested using this assay, and a distinct cut-off (P < 0.05) at 5.6 μg/mL THP concentration was used to distinguish stone patients from healthy subjects. The sensitivity and specificity of the method were 92.3% and 83.3%, respectively.     

A Cellular Screening Assay Using Analysis of Metal-Modified Fluorescence Lifetime

Current methods for screening cell receptor internalization often require complex image analysis with limited sensitivity. Here we describe a novel bioassay based on detection of changes in global fluorescence lifetime above a gold substrate, with superresolution axial sensitivity and no need for image analysis. We show that the lifetime of enhanced green fluorescent protein expressed in a cellular membrane is greatly reduced in close proximity to the gold, resulting in a distance-dependent lifetime distribution throughout the cell. We demonstrate the application of this phenomenon in a screening assay by comparing the efficacies of two small molecule inhibitors interfering with the internalization process of a G protein-coupled receptor.     

高通量筛选技术及其应用

主要介绍了高通量筛选技术(HTS,HighThroughputScreening)的原理,包括非细胞相筛选、细胞相筛选和生物表型筛选及其在生命科学和药学领域中的应用以及高通量筛选技术的发展趋势。     

PhosphoFlowSeq – A High-throughput Kinase Activity Assay for Screening Drug Resistance Mutations in EGFR

Drug resistance poses a major challenge for targeted cancer therapy. To be able to functionally screen large randomly mutated target gene libraries for drug resistance mutations, we developed a biochemically defined high-throughput assay termed PhosphoFlowSeq. Instead of selecting for proliferation or resistance to apoptosis, PhosphoFlowSeq directly analyzes the enzymatic activities of randomly mutated kinases, thereby reducing the dependency on the signaling network in the host cell. Moreover, simultaneous analysis of expression levels enables compensation for expression-based biases on a single cell level. Using EGFR and its kinase inhibitor erlotinib as a model system, we demonstrate that the clinically most relevant resistance mutation T790M is reproducibly detected at high frequencies after four independent PhosphoFlowSeq selection experiments. Moreover, upon decreasing the selection pressure, also mutations which only confer weak resistance were identified, including T854A and L792H. We expect that PhosphoFlowSeq will be a valuable tool for the prediction and functional screening of drug resistance mutations in kinases.     

An Assay Suitable for High Throughput Screening of Anti-Influenza Drugs

We developed a novel drug screening system for anti-influenza A virus by targeting the M2 proton channel. In the SPP (Single Protein Production) system, E. coli cell growth occurs only in the presence of effective M2 channel inhibitors, and thus simple measurement of cell growth was used as readouts for drug screening. Two potential inhibitors for M2 (V27A) mutant were verified using this method, which inhibit both the mutant and wild-type M2 channels.