细胞外钙调素——一种植物中的多肽信使?

钙调素历来被认为是细胞内钙信号的多功能受体蛋白,国内外10多年的研究已证实,它普遍存在于人、动物细胞外与植物质外体.我们的工作证明了钙调素不仅普遍存在于植物细胞外,而且在胞外位点具有促进悬浮培养细胞及其原生质体的增殖、调节花粉萌发与伸长和促进rbc小亚基基因的光不依赖性表达等多种重要生物学功能.在花粉体系中,还证明了胞外钙调素具有跨膜与胞外信号转导机制,其中包括异三聚体G蛋白、PLC/IP3/IP3R和胞内钙信号等组分的参与.因此,认为细胞外钙调素可能是植物中的一种多肽信使,这对传统上认为植物中不存在进行胞间通讯的多肽信使的观点,提出了新的质疑.     

植物胞外钙调素与信号转导

植物体需要构建复杂的信号转导体系以调节自身的生长发育过程并适应外界环境的变化,这种功能的实现需要胞内和胞外诸多信号分子的参与,胞外钙调素的发现使人们开始相信植物细胞外多肽信使的存在。胞外钙调素的生物学功能极其广泛,几乎涉及到植物生长发育的各个阶段,其信号转导途径是目前研究得最多也是最为清楚的方面,异三聚体G蛋白、磷脂酶C(PLC)-肌醇三磷酸(IP3)-肌醇三磷酸受体(IP3R)信号通路、活性氧和Ca2 通道之间直接或间接的相互作用是胞外钙调素信号转导的核心。     

植物体内的钙信使系绕

Ca对植物不仅仅是一种大量营养元素,更重要的是作为偶连胞外信号与胞内生理生化反应的第二信使,作为植物代谢和发育的主要调控者。本文介绍了Ca在植物细胞中的分布及其体内平衡机制,以及Ca2+信使系统调控的植物生理生化过程,讨论了外界信号通过Ca2+信使系统的传递和表达过程,Ca2+信使系统对基因表达的可能影响,以及Ca2+信使系统的作用机制,并提出了今后的研究方向。     

植物体内的钙信使系统

Ca对植物不仅仅是一种大量营养元素,更重要的是作为偶连胞外信号与胞内生理生化反应的第二信使,作为植物代谢和发育的主要调控者。本文介绍了Ca在植物细胞中的分布及其体内平衡机制,以及Ca~(2+)信使系统调控的植物生理生化过程,讨论了外界信号通过Ca~(2+)信使系统的传递和表达过程,Ca~(2+)信使系统对基因表达的可能影响,以及Ca~(2+)信使系统的作用机制,并提出了今后的研究方向。     

植物细胞中的抗寒物质及其与植物抗冷性的关系

论述存在于植物细胞中的抗寒物质,着重介绍植物细胞内的信使物质,并对胞内信使Ｃａ＾２＋与植物抗冷性的关系进行了讨论,指出Ｃａ＾２＋在抗冷力形成中的作用,以及研究胞内信使在调节植物抗冷性机理中尚存在的困难及必须解决的问题。     

植物多肽信号分子CLE家族

动物中存在众多多肽信号分子,它们在信号转导方面发挥重要作用。近几年,对植物中多肽信号分子的研究取得了重大突破,它们积极参与调控植物生长发育的众多过程,同时也表明多肽信号分子在细胞之间的"交流"过程中发挥作用在进化上是保守的。CLE(CLAVATA3/EMBRYO SURROUNDING REGION)家族是目前植物领域研究较热的多肽信号分子家族,通过对拟南芥CLV3和百日草TDIF等CLE多肽信号分子的研究发现,CLE蛋白在成为有功能活性的信号分子之前,存在翻译后蛋白剪切和修饰的过程,这方面与动物中多肽信使的成熟过程相似。对CLE家族成员的分子特征、生物学功能、翻译后的加工修饰和研究中出现的问题进行综述,并对本领域未来的发展方向作出展望。     

植物多肽PA1b打开胰腺β 细胞L型钙通道

利用海藻酸在pH2.7的条件下对小分子多肽的吸附作用, 从豌豆种子中分离并纯化出含37个氨基酸的小分子肽PA1b (pea albumin 1b), 它的肽链内具有6个半胱氨酸并形成一个胱氨酸结构模体. 采用荧光显微技术和膜片钳技术, 发现胞外施加PA1b在胞外钙离子存在的情况下使胰腺β细胞内钙离浓度增加, 该效应被特异性的L型钙通道的阻断剂尼莫地平(nimodipine)阻断, 在零钙外液中PA1b对胞内钙离子浓度无影响; 此外, PA1b使β细胞膜去极化并使膜电容增加. 因此推断PA1b使原代β细胞上去极化细胞膜, 使L型钙离子通道开放, 细胞外钙离子内流并促发细胞分泌.     

植物多肽PA1b打开胰腺β细胞L型钙通道促使钙内流和细胞分泌

利用海藻酸在pH2.7的条件下对小分子多肽的吸附作用,从豌豆种子中分离并纯化出含37个氨基酸的小分子肽PA1b(pea albumin 1b),它的肽链内具有6个半胱氨酸并形成一个胱氨酸结构模体.采用荧光显微技术和膜片钳技术,发现胞外施加PA1b在胞外钙离子存在的情况下使胰腺β细胞内钙离浓度增加,该效应被特异性的L型钙通道的阻断剂尼莫地平(nimodipine)阻断,在零钙外液中PA1b对胞内钙离子浓度无影响;此外,PA1b使β细胞膜去极化并使膜电容增加.因此推断PA1b使原代β细胞上去极化细胞膜,使L型钙离子通道开放,细胞外钙离子内流并促发细胞分泌.     

诱导烟草细胞产生抗性反应的海洋真菌的筛选

植物细胞胞外碱化反应及氧爆发是植物免疫反应中的重要早期事件。通过这两个细胞反应特征来发现具有潜在的诱导植物抗性反应的真菌菌株。以分离自大连凌水桥附近海域潮间带繁茂膜海绵(Hymeniacidon perleve)的50株真菌为受试菌株,通过烟草植物细胞的胞外碱化反应筛选目标菌株,发现了菌株HMP-F96的粗代谢物能够显著诱导烟草细胞发生碱化反应并产生过氧化氢。通过形态学观察和分子生物学方法鉴定该菌株为布雷正青霉(Eupenicillium brefeldianum)。为进一步研究该菌株的活性代谢产物奠定了基础。     

快速碱化因子类基因在茄科植物中的研究进展

植物在调控生长发育、响应外界胁迫时,细胞内外的pH变化是及时、重要的反应之一。快速碱化因子类基因（RALF）属于植物多肽类信号分子,是一类大的家族基因,它的活动引起胞外pH值快速升高,有关RALF类基因的研究在几种茄科植物中开展的较多,包括RALF蛋白信号分子的结构及加工、基因表达、受体研究以及功能等方面。最近我们在白菜和紫菜薹中的研究发现有一些脚类基因与植物的育性有关,本文就茄科植物中的这些研究进展进行介绍,为RALF的进一步研究提供参考。     

Creation of thermostable polypeptide cassettes for amino acid balancing in farm animal rations

The study of the poultry needs in basic nutrients allowed the development of a scheme for obtaining feed polypeptides (“polypeptide cassettes”) enriched with L-amino acids, which are necessary for the metabolism of birds. The amino acid and nucleotide profiles of about 500 bioinformation sequences of thermostable plant proteins and archaea were studied, on the basis of which candidate sequences were selected. In silico, the amino acid and domain composition of the thermostable polypeptides has been optimized. A library of genetically engineered constructs encoding optimized polypeptides with the necessary composition of L-amino acids irreplaceable for poultry has been created. Primary E. coli producer strains were obtained, and the expression and thermostability of the target polypeptides were studied.     

Reactive Site of API-2c,an Alkaline Protease Inhibitor,for Subtilisin BPN′

Differences between α- and β-lipovitellin were examined, especially in regard to the polypeptide and carbohydrate composition of apolipoprotein. Both lipoproteins were composed of at least eight polypeptides with similar molecular weights ranging from 35,000 to 140,000 daltons. Polypeptides with 110,000 daltons were common major constituents. The close similarity of component polypeptides in the two lipoproteins was also assumed from similar amino acid compositions and the identical immunological properties of the two lipoproteins. However, some notable differences were found in the composition of the polypeptides. α-Lipovitellin contained much more polypeptide with 85,000 daltons than β-lipovitellin. Both apolipovitellins were found to be glycoprotein containing mannose, galactose, glucosamine and sialic acid. The sialic acid in α-lipovitellin exceeded that in β-lipovitellin by six times, though only slight differences were found in the content of neutral and amino sugars. The relatively acidic nature of a-lipovitellin compared with β-lipovitellin is attributed not only to the relative predominance in protein phosphorus but also to the predominance in the sialic acid.     

Human alpha-crystallin: characterization of the protein isolated from the periphery of cataractous lenses.

alpha-Crystallin has been isolated from the peripheral region of old cataractous lenses. It was found to be closely related to bovine alpha-crystallin and to human newly synthesized alpha-crystallin in terms of its amino acid composition, the size of its polypeptide chains and the lack of free NH2-terminal groups. However, in contrast to the simple urea gel electrophoretic polypeptide patterns obtained with the reference proteins, 11 polypeptides were detected in the preparation. Ten of the polypeptides were isolated and shown to be either A or B chains on the basis of their amino acid compositions and comparison of the peptide maps of their tryptic hydrolysates. The four B chains as well as the six A chains were closely related, with most of the tryptic peptides being common to all members of their respective group. A nomenclature based upon the urea gel electrophoretic mobilites of the polypeptides has been proposed to define each chain. It was found that this alpha-crystallin preparation is composed of at least two populations of macromolecules, one of which contains macromolecules greater than 5 X 10(6) daltons on the basis of gel filtration with Bio-Gel A-5m. The compositions of the two fractions were found to be essentially identical.     

The polypeptide composition of bovine epidermal alpha-keratin.

1. The polypedtide chains that comprise the subunits of the tonofilaments, or th alpha-keratin component, of bovine epidermis were fractionated by combination of chromatography on DEAE-cellulose and preparative polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis. 2. The seve polypeptide chains investigated had generalyy similar properties; all contained two residues per molecule of tryptophan and N-acetylserine was the common N-terminal amino acid residue. 3. On the basis of close similarities in alpha-helix content and amino acid composition, the polypeptide chains were classified into three distinct groups. Each group contained approximately one-third of the total polypeptides on a molar basis. The groups and designated polypeptides chain numbers were: group one, polypeptides 1a and 1b, which had moleculae weights of 58,000, contained about 25% alpha-helix, 86 glutamic acid and 8 cysteine residues per molecule, but which differed in net charge, extinction coefficients and tyrosine contents; group two, polypeptides 2, 3, and 4, which hadmolecular weights within thewithin the range of 52,00-56,000, contained about 48% alpha-helix, 54 glutamic acid and 6 cysteine residues per molecule, but which differed in extinction coefficients and tryosine contents; and group, polypeptides 5 and 6, which had molecular weights of 47000-48000, contained about 56% alpha-helix, 64 glutamic acid and 4 cysteine residues per molecule, but which differed in extinction coefficients and tyrosine contents...     

Cloning and expression of the Clostridium thermohydrosulfuricum alpha-amylase-pullulanase gene in Escherichia coli

An alpha-amylase-pullulanase gene from Clostridium thermohydrosulfuricum DSM 3783 was cloned in Escherichia coli on a 7.0 kb EcoRI fragment using a lambda vector. The gene produced, from an indigenous promoter, active thermostable alpha-amylase-pullulanase, seemingly mostly a soluble intracellular enzyme in E. coli. Gel filtration separated the active enzyme produced into three peaks, each having both alpha-amylase and pullulanase activities. Immunoblotting after SDS-PAGE revealed more than ten alpha-amylase-pullulanase specific polypeptides; the biggest of these had an Mr of about 165,000, whereas the smallest enzymically active polypeptide had an Mr of about 100,000. Despite the marked degeneration of its constituent polypeptides, the apparent temperature optimum of the enzyme (80-85 degrees C) was only some 5 degrees C lower and the heat stability the same as that of the extracellular alpha-amylase-pullulanase produced by the native host. Oligonucleotide probes prepared according to the NH2-terminal amino acid sequences of the enzyme and its satellite polypeptide (a polypeptide associated with the extracellular enzyme of the native host) hybridized to different regions of the 7.0 kb DNA insert.     

A neuropeptide of the blowfly Calliphora vomitoria with an amino acid composition homologous with vertebrae pancreatic polypeptide.

A neuropeptide purified from the brain of the blowfly (Calliphora vomitoria) that cross-reacts in a bovine pancreatic polypeptide radioimmunoassay has been subjected to amino acid analysis. The amino acid composition of the peptide shows homology with vertebrate pancreatic polypeptide species. Amounts of the neuropeptide calculated from amino acid analysis record with those measured by the pancreatic polypeptide radioimmunoassay. These results suggest that the primary structure of the Calliphora neuropeptide is very similar to that of mammalian pancreatic polypeptides.     

Arabidopsis thaliana RNA polymerase II subunits related to yeast and human RPB5

Arabidopsis thaliana contains at least four genes that are predicted to encode polypeptides related to the RPB5 subunit found in yeast and human RNA polymerase II. This subunit has been shown to be the largest subunit common to yeast RNA polymerases I, II, and III (RPABC27). More than one of these genes is expressed in Arabidopsis suspension culture cells, but only one of the encoded polypeptides is found in purified RNA polymerases II and III. This polypeptide has a predicted pI of 9.6, matches 14 of 16 amino acids in the amino terminus of cauliflower RPB5 that was microsequenced, and shows 42 and 53% amino acid sequence identity with the yeast and human RPB5 subunits, respectively.     

Partial amino acid sequence of human pancreatic stone protein, a novel pancreatic secretory protein.

Pancreatic stone protein (PSP) is the major organic component of human pancreatic stones. With the use of monoclonal antibody immunoadsorbents, five immunoreactive forms (PSP-S) with close Mr values (14,000-19,000) were isolated from normal pancreatic juice. By CM-Trisacryl M chromatography the lowest-Mr form (PSP-S1) was separated from the others and some of its molecular characteristics were investigated. The Mr of the PSP-S1 polypeptide chain calculated from the amino acid composition was about 16,100. The N-terminal sequences (40 residues) of PSP and PSP-S1 are identical, which suggests that the peptide backbone is the same for both of these polypeptides. The PSP-S1 sequence was determined up to residue 65 and was found to be different from all other known protein sequences.     

The polypeptide composition of ubiquinone-cytochrome c reductase (complex III) from beef heart mitochondria.

The subunit structure of ubiquinone-cytochrome c reductase (complex III) has been examined and eight different polypeptides have been identified. Apparent molecular weights for each have been obtained by one or more methods including polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in sodium doecyl sulfate and in sodium dodecyl sulfate-8 M urea and by gel filtration in sodium dodecyl sulfate and in 6 M guanidine hydrochloride. Values obtained are as follows: I, 47 500; II, 45 500; III, 29 500; IV, 27 800; V, 24 800; VI, 13 900; VII, 10 700; VIII, 4 800-9 00. Individual polypeptides have been purified and the amino acid composition of several of these have been determined. At least one polypeptide, the apoprotein of cytochrome b, is hydrophobic in character and this is a mitochondrially synthesized component (B. Lorenz, W. Kleinow, and H. Weiss (1974), Hoppe-Seyler's Z. Physiol. Chem. 355, 300). Other polypeptides including the hemoprotein of cytochrome c1 are more hydrophilic in amino acid composition.     

Amelogenins. Sequence homologies in enamel-matrix proteins from three mammalian species.

Partial amino acid sequences for selected amelogenin polypeptides isolated from the developing enamel of cow, pig and human foetuses are reported. It was found that there was an identity of sequence for the initial 28 residues of the polypeptides analysed, irrespective of their origin or size. A tyrosine-rich polypeptide was shown to be the N-terminal fragment of the principal higher-molecular-weight amelogenins, although a leucine-rich polypeptide of similar size was not identified in any other amelogenin structure. The findings demonstrate a striking degree of sequence conservation for the amelogenin proteins of the extracellular enamel matrix and support the concept of a discrete fragmentation of an initial 30 000 Da amelogenin molecule during the mineralization of the enamel.