蜕皮激素与丝蛋白合成:植源性蜕皮激素对家蚕丝腺蛋白质合成中3H标记甘氨酸参入活性的影响

用³H标记甘氨酸参人法证明:家蚕后部丝腺中丝心蛋白的大量合成, 是在五龄4日以后, 熟蚕时合成活性最高;中部丝腺中丝胶蛋白的大量合成, 是在五龄5日以后, 以熟前一日合成活性最高.五龄每日低剂量连续添食和前期一次添食植源性蜕皮激素(简称MH), 能促进后部丝腺对³H标记甘氨酸的吸收, 显著提高丝心蛋白的合成活性, 而抑制中部丝腺的吸收, 使丝胶蛋白的合成活性明显下降.本试验结果为阐明外源MH对丝蛋白合成的调节机理提供了直接的证据.     

蜕皮激素与丝蛋白合成:植源性蜕皮激素对家蚕后部丝腺核酸代谢的影响

给家蚕五龄幼虫添食植源性蜕皮激素(以下简称MH),对后部丝腺的核酸代谢都有直接影响,但由此引起的效应却是复杂的,与添食的时期和剂量以及蚕品种等因素有关。五龄每天低剂量(夏蚕0.5微克/头,春蚕2微克/头)连续添食和前期一次添食(2—4微克/头)对后丝腺RNA的合成都有明显的促进作用,并且RNA含量增长高峰是在五龄中期以后;每天较高剂量连续添食和中期一次添食,都表现为抑制作用。添食MH对后部丝腺DNA合成的影响与RNA的变化不尽一致;在每天0.5微克/头连续添食区表现出强烈的促进作用,而其余各处理区都出现明显的抑制。由此认为MH能直接作用于遗传物质DNA,通过调节有关基因的复制或者转录速度,从而对丝蛋白的生物合成产生某种影响。     

家蚕丝腺蛋白质组学研究方法的建立

通过高精度的双向电泳技术对家蚕中部丝腺组织的蛋白质进行分离,采用基质辅助激光解析电离飞行时间质谱(matrix-assistedlaserdesorption/ionizationtimeofflightmassspectrometry,MALDI-TOF-MS)对其中一些表达量较高的蛋白点进行鉴定,并利用GPMAW(GeneralProtein/MassAnalysisforWindows)软件结合家蚕基因组预测的蛋白质数据库构建本地的肽质量指纹图谱数据库,对所得到的肽质量指纹图谱进行分析。研究发现,经过双向凝胶电泳及其图象分析技术,硝酸银染色和考马斯亮蓝染色分别能分离出500个以上和100个以上的蛋白点。这些蛋白质点主要集中在分子量15~90kD区域,等电点pH3·5~7之间。MALDI-TOF-MS鉴定的25个考染蛋白点中有60%以上的PMF(PeptideMassFingerprint)的信号峰较强。在数据库检索过程中,利用家蚕肽质量指纹数据库所得检索结果与在Mascot的检索结果相比,前者不仅能够准确鉴定出一些已有研究报道的蛋白,从而验证检索方法的可行性,而且还能够对一些已经被家蚕基因组数据库所预测但未曾报道的新蛋白质进行鉴定,从而建立了一整套适合于家蚕蛋白质组研究的方法,并为其它绢丝昆虫蛋白质组研究提供了重要参考。     

家蚕前部丝腺特异表皮蛋白Bm11721的鉴定及表达

家蚕的丝腺是其丝蛋白合成和分泌的器官,根据其形态和功能的不同分为前部、中部和后部丝腺,前部丝腺不具有合成丝蛋白的能力,是丝蛋白构象发生转变的场所。剪切力在丝蛋白构象转变中起到重要的作用,其在家蚕前部丝腺主要由前部丝腺逐渐变细的管腔结构和富含几丁质及表皮蛋白的坚硬的内壁提供。鉴定家蚕前部丝腺新的几丁质结合蛋白,并调查其在家蚕幼虫不同组织的表达特征。通过几丁质亲和层析的方法在前部丝腺筛选并鉴定到一个新的具有几丁质结合功能的表皮蛋白Bm11721,其编码基因编号为BGIBMGA011721(Gen Bank Accession No.NM-001173285.1)。利用原核表达系统成功表达了该蛋白,通过Ni-NTA亲和层析的方法获得了Bm11721的重组蛋白并制备了多克隆抗体。组织表达分析发现无论是转录水平还是蛋白水平Bm11721均只在前部丝腺特异表达,且Bm11721蛋白在5龄期的前部丝腺中恒定表达。免疫荧光定位结果显示Bm11721蛋白定位在前部丝腺的内膜中,推测其可能与前部丝腺的机械硬度有关,为丝蛋白的构象转变提供剪切力。     

保幼激素类似物对家蚕丝腺与脂肪体蛋白质合成的调节作用

应用示踪原子法,研究了家蚕Bombyx mori 5龄幼虫丝腺与脂肪体细胞内蛋白质合成的变化规律及保幼激素类似物(JHA738)的调节作用。从5龄初到龄末,家蚕丝腺细胞内蛋白质合成持续升高,5龄中期、后期的蛋白质合成活性分别是前期的1.60倍和2.86倍;全龄出现2个合成高峰,一个是在5龄72h,为细胞固有蛋白质合成高峰,另一个是在5龄192h,为丝蛋白合成高峰。脂肪体细胞内蛋白质合成作用呈现脉冲式的变化。在5龄前期和中期用JHA处理家蚕(剂量为4μg/条),对丝腺细胞固有蛋白质合成和脂肪体细胞蛋白质合成均表现出抑制作用,而对丝蛋白合成则表现出促进作用。本实验结果为进一步阐明JHA增丝机理提供了直接证据。     

利用同源重组改变家蚕丝心蛋白重链基因

在家蚕丝心蛋白重链基因5‘和3‘端序列之间插入以绿色荧光蛋白（green fluorescent protein,GFP）基因（gfp）与人工合成丝心蛋白样基因的融合基因,利用电穿孔方法导入蚕卵中,卵孵化、发育和结茧后,用紫外灯检查,在约5400个茧中有73个“亮茧”,茧蛋白在ELISA应中可以与GFP的多克隆抗体反应。“亮茧”对应的蚕蛾进行交配、制种。对其后代进行了基因鉴定,Southern杂交的结果表明,gfp基因和人工合成丝心蛋白样基因都存在于家蚕基因组DNA中且发生了预期的同源重组事件。上述结果说明“亮茧”这一表型能用于筛选转基因蚕,融合基因已通过同源重组进入家蚕基因组。     

家蚕丝素重链启动子驱动DsRed的瞬时分泌表达

根据家蚕丝蛋白基因的启动子活性高、丝蛋白具有高效分泌的特性,克隆了家蚕丝素重链基因(Fib-H)启动子及其下游的信号肽序列(FibHS),将DsRed基因与信号肽序列融合构建了分泌型瞬时表达载体;转染细胞实验显示,该载体能在家蚕BmN细胞中瞬时表达DsRed;家蚕注射载体后,可在丝腺腔中检测到红色荧光,表明瞬时表达的DsRed分泌到丝腺腔,推测所克隆的序列具有信号肽的功能。此外,本研究为家蚕丝腺生物反应器分泌表达外源基因的研究奠定了基础。     

蜘蛛大壶状腺丝蛋白基因的克隆和原核表达

以悦目金蛛(Argiope amoena)丝腺SMARTRACEcDNA文库为模板进行RT-PCR,克隆了1条大壶状腺丝蛋白(major ampullate spidroin,MaSp)基因cDNA序列。该条cDNA序列编码的氨基酸序列可区分为两部分(1)富含丙氨酸的片段和富含甘氨酸的片段相间排列构成的重复氨基酸序列区,并且富含甘氨酸的片段中有脯氨酸分布;(2)约100个氨基酸残基组成的C末端非重复氨基酸序列区。把MaSp基因cDNA序列亚克隆到质粒pET28b( )中,构建原核表达质粒pET28b( )-MaSp,表达质粒转化大肠杆菌BL21(DE3),用IPTG诱导表达。SDS-PAGE、氨基酸组成测定和N末端氨基酸序列测定的结果表明,表达产物为重组MaSp,表达量约为40mg/L。还对C末端非重复氨基酸序列对重组MaSp在水媒介中溶解性的影响进行了探讨。     

我国科学家利用新一代测序技术构建家蚕丝腺甲基化谱

由中国科学院昆明动物研究所、深圳华大基因研究院、西南大学、上海肿瘤所等合作的研究成果“家蚕基因组甲基化谱”，2010年5月2日在国际著名学术杂志《自然-生物技术》（Nature Biotechnology）上发表，这是中国科学家在家蚕基因组研究领域取得的又一项重要成果。     

Three vital RNA functions and interactions in the process of silk gland apoptosis in silkworm Bombyx mori

The Silkworm Bombyx mori is an important insect in terms of economics and a model organism with a complete metamorphosis. The economic importance of silkworms is dependent on the functions of the silkgland, a specialized organ that synthesizes silk proteins. The silk gland undergoes massive degeneration during the larval to pupal stage, which involves in cell apoptosis. In this paper, high throughput sequencing was used to detect the expression of messenger RNA (mRNA), long noncoding RNA (lncRNA), and microRNA (miRNA) from silk glands of Day 3 in the fifth instar larvae (L5D3) and the spinning 36h (sp36h). We analyzed the Gene Ontology (GO) functions of target genes of the differentially expressed lncRNAs and miRNAs. We investigated the regulations of mRNA, lncRNA, and miRNA on silk gland apoptosis in L5D3 and sp36h. In total, 10,947 lncRNAs were detected in the silk gland and the index number TCONS‐00021360 lncRNA may be involved in the process of apoptosis. In addition, 344 miRNAs targeted 285 mRNAs were related to the death process under GO entry. The results indicated that miRNAs play an important role in the molecular regulation of the silk gland apoptosis compared with that of lncRNAs. Finally, we screened 746 lncRNAs and 20 miRNAs that might interact with BmDredd, and drew an interaction network among them.     

Effects of starvation and hormones on DNA synthesis in silk gland cells of the silkworm,Bombyx mori

Silk gland cells of silkworm larvae undergo multiple cycles of endomitosis for the synthesis of silk proteins during the spinning phase. In this paper, we analyzed the endomitotic DNA synthesis of silk gland cells during larval development, and found that it was a periodic fluctuation, increasing during the vigorous feeding phase and being gradually inhibited in the next molting phase. That means it might be activated by a self‐regulating process after molting. The expression levels of cyclin E, cdt1 and pcna were consistent with these developmental changes. Moreover, we further examined whether these changes in endomitotic DNA synthesis resulted from feeding or hormonal stimulation. The results showed that DNA synthesis could be inhibited by starvation and re‐activated by re‐feeding, and therefore appears to be dependent on nutrition. DNA synthesis was suppressed by in vivo treatment with 20‐hydroxyecdysone (20E). However, there was no effect on DNA synthesis by in vitro 20E treatment or by either in vivo or in vitro juvenile hormone treatment. The levels of Akt and 4E‐BP phosphorylation in the silk glands were also reduced by starvation and in vivo treatment with 20E. These results indicate that the activation of endomitotic DNA synthesis during the intermolt stages is related to feeding and DNA synthesis is inhibited indirectly by 20E.     

Analysis of ESTs and gene expression patterns of the posterior silkgland in the fifth instar larvae of silkworm, Bombyx mori L.

The fibroin gene expression pattern and regulation of the posterior silkgland were studied by means of expressed sequence tags (ESTs) using the first and fifth day larvae of the fifth instar of silkworm, Bombyx mori L (strain: C 108). The results showed that there were 911 repetitive ESTs and 1950 single sequences (Singlets) among total 2861 consentient sequences, which were spliced. 1335 sequences were identified and the other 1526 were unknown. 5560 sequences (55.89%) in the posterior silkgland cell of the silkworm were new ESTs without homology with EST data published by Mita et al. The number of repetitive ESTs and single sequences from the first day larvae of the fifth instar was double more than that of the fifth day of the same instar in the silkworms. The unigenes which were more than 50 in repetitive EST size (contig size) came to only about 0.5% in total consentient sequences. There were significant differences between gene expression frequencies, and expressed genes were related to fibroin synthesis and its secretion and fibroin composition. Comparing the fifth day with the first day of the fifth instar, the genes-expressed quantity of fibroin heavy-chain gene was 18 fold higher, fibroin light-chain gene 9 fold and fibroin P52 gene 8 fold. 508 genes functioned for cellular component and 315 for enzyme after function tracing. These results implied that the gene expression of the first day was mainly for preparation for fibroin synthesis except for the growth of silkgland cells, and the gene expression of the fifth day of the fifth instar was mainly for synthesizing and excreting fibroin. Because the ratio of heavy chain, light chain and p25 of fibroin was not 6:6:1 as theoretically expected, or its special H-chain structure, the H-chain gene was not easy to detect through EST technique. Most of genes among total 2861 consentient sequences functioned for fibroin synthesis and secretion. This suggested the fibroin synthesis and secretion procedure of the posterior silkgland was more complex than the knowledge we have.     

Titanium nanoparticles influence the Akt/Tor signal pathway in the silkworm,Bombyx mori,silk gland

Various nanoparticles, such as silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and titanium nanoparticles (TiO₂NPs) are increasingly used in industrial processes. Because they are released into the environment, research into their influence on the biosphere is necessary. Among its other effects, dietary TiO₂NPs promotes silk protein synthesis in silkworms, which prompted our hypothesis that TiO₂NPs influence protein kinase B (Akt)/Target of rapamycin (Tor) signaling pathway (Akt/Tor) signaling in their silk glands. The Akt/Tor signaling pathway is a principle connector integrating cellular reactions to growth factors, metabolites, nutrients, protein synthesis, and stress. We tested our hypothesis by determining the influence of dietary TiO₂NPs (for 72 h) and, separately, of two Akt/Tor pathway inhibitors (LY294002 and rapamycin) on expression of Akt/Tor signaling pathway genes and proteins in the silk glands. TiO₂NPs treatments led to increased accumulation of mRNAs for Akt, Tor1 and Tor2 by 1.6‐, 12.1‐, and 4.8‐fold. Dietary inhibitors led to 2.6‐ to 4‐fold increases in mRNAs encoding Akt and substantial decreases in mRNAs encoding Tor1 and Tor2. Western blot analysis showed that dietary TiO₂NPs increased the phosphorylation of Akt and its downstream proteins. LY294002 treatments led to inhibition of Akt phosphorylation and its downstream proteins and rapamycin treatments similarly inhibited the phosphorylation of Tor‐linked downstream proteins. These findings support our hypothesis that TiO₂NPs influence Akt/Tor signaling in silk glands. The significance of this work is identification of specific sites of TiO₂NPs actions.     

Proteome analysis of silk gland proteins from the silkworm, Bombyx mori

The silk gland of Bombyx mori is an organ specialized for the synthesis and secretion of silk proteins. We report here the resolution of silk gland proteins by 2-DE and the identification of many of those proteins. This was accomplished by dissecting the glands into several sections, with each exhibiting more than 400 protein spots by 2-DE, of which 100 spots were excised and characterized by in-gel digestion followed by PMF. Ninety-three proteins were tentatively identified. These were then categorized into groups involved in silk protein secretion, transport, lipid metabolism, defense, etc. Western blotting of a 2-DE gel using an antibody of the carotenoid binding protein confirmed the presence of this protein in the silk gland. Proteins including fibroin L-chain and P25 were found as multiple isoforms, some of which contained differential amounts of phosphate residues as analyzed by on-probe dephosphorylation. The current analysis contributes to our understanding of proteins expressed by the silk gland not only of the model lepidopteran B. mori, but also to proteins from other silk-producing insects such as Philosamia cynthia ricini.     

Expression of the Japanese oak silkworm Antheraea yamamai fibroin gene in the domesticated silkworm Bombyx mori

Abstract To understand the evolutionary conservation of the gene expression mechanism and secretion machinery between Antheraea and Bombyx fibroins, we introduced the genomic A. yamamai fibroin gene into the domesticated silkworm, B. mori. The spliced A. yamamai fibroin mRNA appeared only in the posterior region of the silk gland of the transgenic silkworm, suggesting that the functions of the fibroin promoter region and the splicing machinery are conserved between these two species. The A. yamamai fibroin protein was detected in the lumen of the silk gland of the transgenic silkworm, albeit at lower levels compared with the B. mori‐type fibroin. We found a strong degeneration of the posterior region of the silk gland of the transgenic silkworm. As a result, the cocoon shell weight was much lower in the transgenic silkworm than in the non‐transgenic line. These results indicate that the promoter function and splicing machinery are well conserved between A. yamamai and B. mori but that the secretion mechanism of fibroin is diversified between the two.     

Effect of polyamines on mechanical and structural properties of Bombyx mori silk

Silkworm, Bombyx mori (B. mori) belongs to the Lepidoptera family. The silk produced from this insect, mulberry silk, gained lot of importance as a fabric. Silk is being exploited as a biomaterial due to its surprising strength and biocompatibility. Polyamines (PA) are important cell growth regulators. In the present work the effect of treatment of polyamines, putrescine (Put), spermidine (Spd), and spermine (Spm) on the quantity and quality of silk produced was assessed. Results showed that exogenous feeding of Spd at a concentration of 50 µM increased fiber length significantly. Analysis by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) on the properties of silk obtained from Spd treated silkworms revealed an increase in percentage of absorption with no difference in peak positions of amide I and amide III groups. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed an increase in diameter of silk. Further, analysis at molecular level showed an increase in fibroin expression in Spd treated silk glands. However, the Spd treatment showed no significant difference with respect to fibroin to sericin ratio per unit weight of cocoon, silk tenacity, and percent elongation. Thus, the present results show that polyamine treatment would influence silk quality at structural, mechanical, and molecular level in the Bombyx mori, which can be exploited in silk biomaterial production.