Two disulphide bridges are present in juvenile hormone binding protein from Galleria mellonella

The hemolymph juvenile hormone binding protein (JHBP) from Galleria mellonella contains two disulphide bridges/molecule and no free Cys residues. An alignment of primary structures of other Lepidopteran JHBPs indicates that Cys residues, equivalent to Cys10,17,151,195 in G. mellonella JHBP, maybe involved in -S-S- bridge formation.     

I-Ad-binding peptides derived from unrelated protein antigens share a common structural motif

Purified Ia molecules can specifically bind many unrelated peptide Ag, and such binding appears to be a necessary, albeit not sufficient, prerequisite for the immunogenicity of the proteins from which such peptides are derived. We have recently analyzed the affect of single amino acid substitutions on the I-Ad binding of the immunogenic peptide OVA 323-339. The results obtained demonstrated the very permissive nature of Ag-Ia interaction. We also showed that unrelated peptides that are good I-Ad binders share a common structural motif and speculated that recognition of such motifs could represent a mechanism to achieve a very permissive type of interaction that yet retained some degree of specificity. In the present set of experiments we analyzed the I-Ad binding pattern of a series of overlapping peptides derived from sperm whale myoglobin (residues 102-125) and influenza hemagglutinin (residues 121-146) to determine whether the peptide regions predicted on the basis of structural similarity to be involved in I-Ad binding were in fact involved. In both cases, the I-Ad-interacting determinants were found to contain the sequence motif postulated to be important for I-Ad binding. These data support the hypothesis that I-Ad molecules recognize a large library of Ag by virtue of common structural motifs present in peptides derived from phylogenetically unrelated proteins.     

Juvenile hormones and their titer regulation in Galleria mellonella

Juvenile hormones I, II and III occur in Galleria but JH II is dominant. Its concentration reaches a peak of 3 pmol/g body wt in the penultimate instar, drops to zero in the last larval instar and, except for a small peak in prepupae (0.2 pmol/g), remains undetectable until pharate adults. After emergence the titer reaches over 5 pmol/g in both sexes. Presence of JH II is associated with JH II acid; JH III acid occurs even more often, including stages lacking JH III. Brain implantation into freshly ecdysed last instar larvae effects a similar JH peak as in the penultimate instar and causes an extra larval molt. The opposite treatment, i.e. decerebration of fresh last instar larvae, elicits a continuous rise of JH II to 10 pmol/g and an increase of otherwise rare JH I to 3 pmol/g. Sham operations of these larvae or decerebration of old larvae elevate practically only JH II titer to 1–1.5 pmol/g. Implanted brain-corpora cardiaca-corpora allata complexes maintain in various hosts 0.14–1.6 pmol/g of JH II. The significance and regulation of these fluctuations in JH titer are discussed.     

Cloning and sequence analysis of Galleria mellonella juvenile hormone binding protein--a search for ancestors and relatives

Juvenile hormone binding proteins (JHBPs) serve as specific carriers of juvenile hormone (JH) in insect hemolymph. As shown in this report, Galleria mellonella JHBP is encoded by a cDNA of 1063 nucleotides. The pre-protein consists of 245 amino acids with a 20 amino acid leader sequence. The concentration of the JHBP mRNA reaches a maximum on the third day of the last larval instar, and decreases five-fold towards pupation. Comparison of amino acid sequences of JHBPs from Bombyx mori, Heliothis virescens, Manduca sexta and G. mellonella shows that 57 positions out of 226 are occupied by identical amino acids. A phylogeny tree was constructed from 32 proteins, which function could be associated to JH. It has three major branches: (i) ligand binding domains of nuclear receptors, (ii) JHBPs and JH esterases (JHEs), and (iii) hypothetical proteins found in Drosophila melanogaster genome. Despite the close positioning of JHEs and JHBPs on the tree, which probably arises from the presence of a common JH binding motif, these proteins are unlikely to belong to the same family. Detailed analysis of the secondary structure modeling shows that JHBPs may contain a beta-barrel motif flanked by alpha-helices and thus be evolutionary related to the same superfamily as calycins.     

Purification and characterization of a flavin-binding storage protein from the hemolymph of Galleria mellonella

The 85K storage protein that accumulates in the hemolymph of Galleria mellonella during the final larval instar was isolated and purified from newly molted pupae. The separation of fresh hemolymph proteins from larvae or pupae by different chromatographic and electrophoretic procedures indicated the native protein had a Mr of 170,000 and consisted of two identical 85K subunits. Crosslinking experiments using fresh hemolymph followed by Western blotting also indicated a dimeric structure for the native protein. Analyses of the dimer purified from pupal hemolymph indicated that 85K was a glycoprotein, containing approximately 6.5% neutral sugar and about 1.9% amino sugar. Like other insect flavin-binding proteins, 85K has a relatively high histidine content but an uncharacteristically high arginine content. The purified 85K dimer did not bind riboflavin, suggesting that the integrity of the molecule had been altered during purification. However, 85K purified in low yield by Affi-Gel Blue chromatography, did bind riboflavin, indicating that under certain, undefined conditions the functional integrity of the protein could be retained during purification. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

1 This article is a US Government work and, as such, is in the public domain in the United States of America.

     

Juvenile hormone counteracts the action of ecdysterone on silk glands of Galleria mellonella L. (Lepidoptera : Pyralidae)

Morphological and physiological evidence is presented to show that ecdysterone (20E) and juvenile hormone (JH) directly affect the silk glands of Galleria mellonella (Lepidoptera : Pyralidae). Within 1 hr in a culture medium, 20E at 5 or 50 ng/ml stimulates, and at 5 μg/ml inhibits, RNA synthesis. Both these effects are obliterated with physiological (1 ng/ml) and higher doses of JH II or a juvenoid. Dipping of isolated larval abdomens in 0.32% 20E suppresses the rate of RNA synthesis in freshly dissected silk glands incubated in a hormone-free medium. The ultrastructure of silk glands shows functional regression, followed by histolysis within 72 hr after dipping. Both the reduction of RNA synthesis and the cytological changes are prevented when the abdomens receive JH II or a juvenoid simultaneously with 20E. Presence of JH II in the culture medium also enhances RNA synthesis in silk glands dissected from abdomens that had been treated with 20E. The results reveal that the effect of 20E is dose-dependent and may be prevented, and up to a certain point reversed, with JH.     

Lipopolysaccharide binding of an exchangeable apolipoprotein, apolipophorin III, from Galleria mellonella

A new role of apolipophorin III (apoLp-III) as an immune activator has emerged recently. To gain insight into this novel function, the interaction of apoLp-III with lipopoly-saccharide (LPS) was investigated. ApoLp-III from Galleria mellonella was incubated with LPS from Escherichia coli O55:B5, and analyzed by non-denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE). Protein staining showed that apoLp-III mobility was significantly reduced. In addition, silver and LPS fluorescent staining demonstrated that LPS mobility was increased upon incubation with apoLp-III. This result suggests association of apoLp-III with LPS. Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) PAGE analysis showed decreased apoLp-III mobility upon LPS addition, indicative of LPS apoLp-III interaction in the presence of SDS. The unique tyrosine residue that resides in apoLp-III was used to provide additional evidence for LPS binding interaction. In the absence of LPS, apoLp-III tyrosine fluorescence was relatively low. However, LPS addition resulted in a progressive increase in the fluorescence intensity, indicating tertiary rearrangement in the environment of tyrosine 142 upon LPS interaction. Other well-characterized apoLp-IIIs were also examined for LPS binding. Manduca sexta , Bombyx mori and Locusta migratoria apoLp-III were all able to interact with LPS. The ability of apoLp-III to form complexes with LPS supports the proposed role of apoLp-III in innate immunity.     

Purification and characterization of epidermis-origin hemolymph protein in Galleria mellonella

Epidermis-origin hemolymph protein (EOHP) was identified and purified from the last instar larval hemolymph of Galleria mellonella by anion exchange chromatography, chromatofocusing chromatography, and Sephadex G-100. The EOHP has a native molecular mass of 47 kDa and is composed of one subunit. The isoelectric point of the EOHP was determined to be 5.3. The amino acid composition of the EOHP was rich in aspartic acid, glutamic acid and lysine, but poor in tyrosine, methionine, and tryptophan. EOHP is present in hemolymph over the period from the 4th instar larvae to the adult stage examined. Concentration of EOHP is high during the larval stage but gradually decreased during the developmental stage from pupal to adult stage. EOHP is present in the cuticle, fat bodies and trachea but not in hemocytes, fore gut, mid gut and hind gut.     

Juvenile-hormone-binding protein from the hemolymph of Galleria mellonella (L). Isolation and characterization

A juvenile-hormone-binding protein (JHBP) has been isolated from Galleria mellonella hemolymph by gel filtration, phosphocellulose chromatography, and by chromatofocusing. The isolated protein is homogeneous as judged by column chromatography and gel electrophoresis in the presence and absence of denaturing agent. It has a relative molecular mass of 32,000, Stokes radius 2.4 nm, sedimentation coefficient of 2.3 S, molar absorption coefficient at 280 nm epsilon = 2.34 X 10(4) M-1 cm-1, and is composed of a single polypeptide chain. Chromatofocusing analysis (pI 8.6) and isoelectric focusing (pI 8.1) indicate that the JHBP is an alkaline protein. Its amino acid composition and fluorescence absorption spectra indicate that the protein does not contain tryptophan residues. The protein exhibits one class of binding sites for juvenile hormone (JH), 0.8 per molecule, with the following dissociation constants: JH I, 8.5 X 10(-8) M; JH II, 7.2 X 10(-8) M; JH III, 47 X 10(-8) M. The JHBP binds (10R, 11S)-JH II enantiomer with 2.3-times higher affinity then (10S, 11R)-JH II enantiomer. The pH optimum of binding is 7.0.     

Conformational change of the haemolymph juvenile-hormone-binding protein from Galleria mellonella (L)

A juvenile-hormone-binding protein (juvenile-hormone carrier), isolated from Galleria mellonella haemolymph, was treated with trypsin, chymotrypsin, carboxypeptidase A and subtilisin. Among these enzymes, only subtilisin was able to affect juvenile-hormone-binding activity of this protein. With SDS/PAGE it was shown that juvenile-hormone-binding protein, a 32-kDa peptide, is first slowly converted into a 30-kDa molecule, then into two or three smaller-molecular-mass species (20-25 kDa), which in turn were further digested to small peptides undetectable in PAGE. The 30-kDa peptide has a 2.4-times-higher dissociation constant for juvenile hormone than the native protein. No binding activity was detected for 20-25-kDa peptides. The rate of proteolysis of juvenile-hormone-binding protein was decreased by more than twofold in the presence of hormone, however, the overall cleavage pattern was unchanged. Under non-denaturing conditions, free binding-protein molecules could be separated from juvenile-hormone-binding-protein complex due to a slower electrophoretic mobility of the complex. As judged from ultracentrifugation and cross-linking experiments, binding of the hormone to its haemolymph carrier does not induce formation of oligomers, but shifts the sedimentation coefficient from 2.30S to 2.71S. It is concluded that juvenile-hormone binding induces a conformational transition of its carrier protein. This hormone-induced change might have a physiological significance for signal transmission.     

Characterization and immunological analysis of ferritin from the hemolymph of Galleria mellonella.

Ferritin, an iron-binding protein, was purified from the larval hemolymph of the wax moth, Galleria mellonella by KBr density ultracentrifugation and FPLC (Superose 6). The iron content of ferritin was determined by atomic emission spectroscopy and Ferene S stain. Native molecular mass of ferritin was estimated as 630 kDa. SDS-PAGE revealed that the ferritin consists of two major polypeptides of 26 and 32 kDa and one minor polypeptide of 30 kDa. An isoelectric point of ferritin was measured to be approximately 7.3 and only the 32-kDa subunit is glycosylated. The ferritin contains large amounts of lysine, glutamine, glutamic acid and leucine but tryptophan was not detected. Electron microscopic examination of negatively stained preparations showed an 11-nm particle in external diameter and 7-nm iron core. Ferritin is present in both the ovary and testis. Localization of ferritin by immunoelectron microscopy in ovary and testis revealed that the gold particles were located in vitelline membrane and yolk granules but not in follicular epithelium of ovary. In the testis, the gold particles were located in testicular fluid and lumen of vas deferens.     

伯氏致病杆菌IDP16 蛋白抑制大蜡螟的免疫反应

[目的]从伯氏致病杆菌(Xenorhabdus bovienii)胞外组分中分离纯化出能够抑制大蜡螟(Galleria mellonella)免疫反应的一种蛋白,研究其在昆虫病原线虫及其共生菌致病过程中的作用.[方法]采用硫酸铵沉淀和柱层析的方法对活性蛋白进行分离和纯化,通过体内注射并观察血淋巴黑化进行活性蛋白的筛选;采用荧光微球和琼脂糖小球评价活性蛋白对血细胞吞噬、包被作用的影响;采用双向电泳结合质谱分析对活性蛋白进行鉴定,设计引物用PCR的方法克隆其编码基因,利用pET 30a载体进行原核表达,以亲和层析纯化重组蛋白.[结果]纯化得到一个昆虫免疫抑制蛋白,命名为IDP16,该蛋白可显著抑制大蜡螟血淋巴中的多酚氧化酶活性,降低血细胞的吞噬和包被作用.克隆得到其编码基因并进行了原核表达,重组蛋白仍具有免疫抑制活性.[结论]伯氏致病杆菌产生的IDP16蛋白能够抑制昆虫的免疫反应,在共生菌和宿主昆虫互作过程中起着重要的作用.     

Cloning and expression of 32 kDa ferritin from Galleria mellonella

We have sequenced a cDNA clone encoding 32-kDa ferritin subunit in the Wax Moth, Galleria mellonella. The 32-kDa ferritin subunit cDNA was obtained from PCR using identical primer designed from highly conserved regions of insect ferritins. RACE PCR was used to obtain the complete protein coding sequence. The 32-kDa ferritin subunit encoded a 232 amino acid polypeptide, containing a 19 leader peptide. The iron-responsive element (IRE) sequence with a predicted stem-loop structure was present in the 5'-untranslated region of the wax moth 32-kDa ferritin subunit mRNA. The 32-kDa sequence alignment had 78 and 69% identity with Manduca sexta and Calpodes ethlius (G), respectively. The G. mellonella ferritin subunits showed minimal identity with each other (19%). The glycosylation site (Asn-X-Ser/Thr) was found in the 32-kDa subunit but not in the 26-kDa subunit. Northern blot analysis showed that the mRNA expression of the 32-kDa ferritin was detected in the fat body and midgut. The fat body expression increased after 6 h and the mRNA in midgut dramatically increased about 3-fold the expression level at 12 h after iron feeding. Western blot revealed that a protein level of the 32-kDa subunit is abundant in midgut after 12 and 24 h iron feeding.