翻译延伸因子1A的研究进展

翻译延伸因子1A(EF1α)是一个主要的翻译因子,EF1α.GTP催化氨酰tRNA结合到核糖体的A位点。EF1α不仅仅是翻译必须的蛋白,而且是一个重要的多功能蛋白。EF1α参与许多重要的细胞过程和疾病,包括信号传导、翻译控制、凋亡、细胞骨架组成、病毒复制及癌基因转化等。     

子囊菌延长因子1 alpha基因密码子偏好性分析(英文)

文中对子囊菌代表类群的延伸因子1 alpha基因密码子的使用模式进行了研究。结果表明:该基因的密码子使用偏好性不仅与核酸碱基组成密切相关,也受到其他选择性压力的影响。统计分析揭示了子囊菌各类群该基因的密码子组成和编码特点,在同义密码子的选择模式上,酵母纲(Saccharomycetes)的成员具有较独特的偏好性。基于密码子用法分歧度的聚类分析方法较合理地反映了大部分类群的分类学地位,但在各个纲的内部,密码子偏好性的变化程度存在差异。     

A Leader Intron of a Soybean Elongation Factor 1A (eEF1A) Gene Interacts with Proximal Promoter Elements to Regulate Gene Expression in Synthetic Promoters

Introns, especially the first intron in the 5’ untranslated region (5’UTR), can significantly impact gene expression via intron-mediated enhancement (IME). In this study, we demonstrate the leader intron of a soybean elongation factor 1A (eEF1A) gene (GmScreamM8) was essential for the high activity of the native promoter. Furthermore, the interaction of the GmScreamM8 leader intron with regulatory element sequences from several soybean eEF1A promoters was studied using synthetic promoters, which consisted of element tetramers upstream of a core promoter used to regulate a green fluorescent protein (gfp) reporter gene. Element tetramers, placed upstream of a GmScreamM8 core promoter, showed very high activity using both transient expression in lima bean cotyledons and stable expression in soybean hairy roots, only if the native leader intron was included, suggesting an interaction between intronic sequences and promoter elements. Partial deletions of the leader intron showed that a 222 bp intronic sequence significantly contributed to very high levels of GFP expression. Generation of synthetic intron variants with a monomeric or trimeric repeat of the 222 bp intronic sequence, yielded almost two-fold higher expression compared to the original intron, while partial deletion of the 222 bp intronic repeated sequence significantly decreased gene expression, indicating that this intronic sequence was essential for the intron-element interaction enhancement.     

Isolation and Characterization of Fruit-specific Promoters ACS4 and EXP1 from Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L)

Promoter engineering in plants holds a great promise for understanding complexity of genetic regulatory system in response to specific internal and external cues and for crop improvement. In the present investigation, we report characterization of two fruit-specific promoters SIACS4 and SIEXP1 that were isolated from tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L cv Pusa Ruby). In silico analysis of the cloned promoter sequences revealed the presence of a seed-specific cis-element in SIACS4 and several putative seed, embryo and endosperm-specific cis-elements in SIEXP1 in addition to fruit-specific ethylene responsive regulatory elements. The fruit- and seed-specific expression of both the promoters was analyzed in transgenic tomato lines expressing the promoter:: GUS fusion constructs. The SIACS4 promoter (?1 to ?373) showed GUS activity restricted specifically to flower buds and seeds in fruits. On the contrary, the SIEXP1 promoter (?1 to ?769) showed high level of expression in seeds as compared to fruit tissues at different stages of fruit ripening. No GUS expression was observed in leaves satisfying the fruit-specific nature of both the promoters. Based on deletion analysis, minimal promoters SIACS4DL2 (?1 to ?126) and SIEXP1DL1 (?1 to ?254) were identified which can be used to drive tissue-specific expression of transgenes for introducing traits of agronomic importance such as resistance to fruit borer and for enhancing both nutritional and keeping quality of tomato fruits.     

黄孢原毛平革菌基因启动子的分离与鉴定

利用启动子探针型载体pSUPV8直接在大肠杆菌(Escherichia coli)中分离黄孢原毛平革菌(Phanerochaete chrysosporium)基因启动子片段,获得6个潮霉素抗性(Hyg-r)重组子。对重组子CH2、CH6进行序列分析,结果发现它们都存在真核生物基因启动子的保守序列;用原生质体转化法将其转化黄孢原毛平革菌,仅pCH6获得了潮霉素抗性转化子;PCR和斑点杂交分析表明,pCH6已成功导入黄孢原毛平革菌,并启动潮霉素抗性基因的表达。     

Isolation and Characterization of Three New Promoters from Gossypium hirsutum that Show High Activity in Reproductive Tissues

Engineering of plant protection requires well-characterized tissue-specific promoters for the targeted expression of insecticidal resistance genes. Herein, we describe the isolation of five different fragments of promoters of three distinct flower-specific cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) genes. Expression analyses of the three genes GhPME-like1, GhβGal-like1 and GhPL-like1 revealed that they are expressed highly in flowers buds ranging from 4 to 12 mm in size. Several putative regulatory cis-elements were identified in the promoter regions, including elements involved in the control of tissue-specific gene expression in pollen grains and fruits. In vivo analyses of these promoters were performed using the heterologous plant system Arabidopsis thaliana by fusing them with the gene uidA (GUS). GUS staining in Arabidopsis tissues revealed that their expression was restricted to anthers, with the majority of expression in pollen grains and in the upper portion of the carpels and siliques. A comparison between a CaMV35S::GUS constitutive promoter and the promoters isolated in this study revealed that the cotton promoters were more active and were specific to flowers and fruits, which are organs that are preferentially attacked by important pest insects such as the boll weevil (Anthonomus grandis). The activity of the promoters was also confirmed using transient expression assays in flower buds of G. hirsutum. The promoters of GhPME-like1, GhβGal-like1 and GhPL-like1 are specific to reproductive tissues and could represent important biotechnological tools for controlling insect pests, in particular the cotton boll weevil, which attacks floral and fruit tissues.     

Identification and Characterization of a Novel Evolutionarily Conserved Lysine-specific Methyltransferase Targeting Eukaryotic Translation Elongation Factor 2 (eEF2)

The components of the cellular protein translation machinery, such as ribosomal proteins and translation factors, are subject to numerous post-translational modifications. In particular, this group of proteins is frequently methylated. However, for the majority of these methylations, the responsible methyltransferases (MTases) remain unknown. The human FAM86A (family with sequence similarity 86) protein belongs to a recently identified family of protein MTases, and we here show that FAM86A catalyzes the trimethylation of eukaryotic elongation factor 2 (eEF2) on Lys-525. Moreover, we demonstrate that the Saccharomyces cerevisiae MTase Yjr129c, which displays sequence homology to FAM86A, is a functional FAM86A orthologue, modifying the corresponding residue (Lys-509) in yeast eEF2, both in vitro and in vivo. Finally, Yjr129c-deficient yeast cells displayed phenotypes related to eEF2 function (i.e. increased frameshifting during protein translation and hypersensitivity toward the eEF2-specific drug sordarin). In summary, the present study establishes the function of the previously uncharacterized MTases FAM86A and Yjr129c, demonstrating that these enzymes introduce a functionally important lysine methylation in eEF2. Based on the previous naming of similar enzymes, we have redubbed FAM86A and Yjr129c as eEF2-KMT and Efm3, respectively.     

LIM Kinase 1 (LIMK1) Interacts with Tropomyosin-related Kinase B (TrkB) and Mediates Brain-derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF)-induced Axonal Elongation

BDNF/TrkB signaling plays critical roles in axonal outgrowth of neurons, the process of which requires the remodeling of the cytoskeleton structure, including microtubules and filamentous actin. However, the mechanism by which BDNF/TrkB signaling regulates cytoskeleton reorganization is still unclear. Here, we identified a novel interaction between LIMK1 and TrkB, which is required for the BDNF-induced axonal elongation. We demonstrated that BDNF-induced TrkB dimerization led to LIMK1 dimerization and transphosphorylation independent of TrkB kinase activity, which could further enhance the activation and stabilization of LIMK1. Moreover, activated LIMK1 translocated to the membrane fraction and phosphorylated its substrate cofilin, thus promoting actin polymerization and axonal elongation. Our findings provided evidence of a novel mechanism for the BDNF-mediated signal transduction leading to axonal elongation.     

Isolation and Antigenic Characterization of Corn Mitochondrial F(1)-ATPase

Corn mitochondrial F₁-ATPase was purified from submitochondrial particles by chloroform extraction. Enzyme stored in ammonium sulfate at 4°C was substantially activated by ATP, while enzyme stored at −70°C in 25% glycerol was not. Enzyme in glycerol remained fully active (8-9 micromoles P_i released per minute per milligram), while the ammonium sulfate preparations steadily lost activity over a 2-month storage period. The enzyme was cold labile, and inactived by 4 minutes at 60°C. Treatment with octylglucoside resulted in complete loss of activity, while vanadate had no effect on activity. The apparent subunit molecular weights of corn mitochondrial F₁-ATPase were determined by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis to be 58,000 (α), 55,000 (β), 35,000 (γ), 22,000 (δ), and 12,000 (ε). Monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies used in competitive binding assays demonstrated that corn mitochondrial F₁-ATPase was antigenically distinct from the chloroplastic CF₁-ATPases of corn and spinach. Monoclonal antibodies against antigenic sites on spinach CF₁-ATPase β and γ subunits were used to demonstrate that those sites were either changed substantially or totally absent from the mitochondrial F₁-ATPase.     

Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor and Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha in Patients with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Type 1 Infection

Variations in cytokine production in patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection could be involved in the physiopathology and in the progression of the disease. Therefore we studied the level of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) produced in patients with HIV infection at stage II (asymptomatic seropositives) and stage IV (AIDS) of the CDC classification, by using an enzyme amplified sensitivity immunoassay. We measured the level of GM-CSF and TNFα in supernatant of phytohemagglutinin-activated peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients and healthy individuals. In one out of 10 stage II patients and 4 out of 14 stage IV patients, we obtained higher levels of GM-CSF than the mean + 2 S.D. of controls, but in 3 stage IV patients with very low CD4+ T lymphocyte counts (< 50/mm^–3) compared to other patients, the GM-CSF values were very low. High levels of TNFα were detected in 3 out of 10 stage II and 6 out of 11 stage IV patients. The high values of TNFα were associated with high values of GM-CSF in stage II and in most of AIDS patients except those with very low CD4⁺ T cell counts, who produced low levels of GM-CSF. Plasma levels of cytokines were evaluated in 10 stage II, 22 stage IV patients and 20 controls. Increased levels of GM-CSF (more than 9 pg/ml) were observed in the plasma from 8 out of 10 stage II patients and 17 out of 22 stage IV patients. The tendency that increased levels of GM-CSF were associated with increased levels of TNFα was observed in plasma from stage IV patients. We report a disarray of GM-CSF production in patients with HIV infection that could be involved in clinical manifestations and progression of the disease.     

Eukaryotic Translation Elongation Factor 1A (eEF1A) Domain I from S. cerevisiae Is Required but Not Sufficient for Inter-Species Complementation

Ethanolamine phosphoglycerol (EPG) is a protein modification attached exclusively to eukaryotic elongation factor 1A (eEF1A). In mammals and plants, EPG is linked to conserved glutamate residues located in eEF1A domains II and III, whereas in the unicellular eukaryote Trypanosoma brucei, only domain III is modified by a single EPG. A biosynthetic precursor of EPG and structural requirements for EPG attachment to T. brucei eEF1A have been reported, but nothing is known about the EPG modifying enzyme(s). By expressing human eEF1A in T. brucei, we now show that EPG attachment to eEF1A is evolutionarily conserved between T. brucei and Homo sapiens. In contrast, S. cerevisiae eEF1A, which has been shown to lack EPG is not modified in T. brucei. Furthermore, we show that eEF1A cannot functionally complement across species when using T. brucei and S. cerevisiae as model organisms. However, functional complementation in yeast can be obtained using eEF1A chimera containing domains II or III from other species. In contrast, yeast domain I is strictly required for functional complementation in S. cerevisiae.     

Isolation and Characterisation of Pitef1 Encoding the Translation Elongation Factor EF-1α of the Root Endophyte Piriformospora indica

Abstract: Piriformospora indica (Hymenomycetes, Basidiomycota) is a newly described endophyte which interacts with the roots of a great variety of plants, showing a positive effect on biomass production. In order to obtain a tool for molecular studies on P. indica, Pitef 1 encoding the translation elongation factor EF-1α in P. indica has been cloned and analysed. Comparison of the genomic and cDNA sequence revealed the presence of seven introns in the coding part of the gene and at least one in the 5'untranslated region. Pitef 1 is only present as one copy in the genome, as determined by Southern blot analysis. Interaction with roots of Zea mays in a time course experiment was analysed in relation to hyphal development and RNA accumulation, showing high expression of this gene. The Pitef 1 promoter should therefore be a good tool to construct vectors for the development of a transformation system for P. indica. The gene Pitef 1 might, in addition, be useful for estimating the amount of active mycelium during in planta development and for the calibration of RNA accumulation analyses of differentially expressed fungal genes.     

Characterization of Top Leader Elongation in Nordmann Fir (Abies nordmanniana)

Our understanding of the developmental changes that occur during top leader elongation in gymnosperms lags behind that in angiosperms. We developed a semiquantitative method for determining epidermal cell size, by measuring the Feret diameter after cell wall staining of stem epidermal peels. This method allowed a large number of cells to be measured at various locations in the top leader of the Christmas tree Abies nordmanniana. Further, we have identified the growth rate of individual sections of the top leader, and the relationship between cell length and needle arrangement throughout the top leader. At bud break, all stem units begin to elongate simultaneously, but growth ceases from the base upwards during top leader elongation. Long top leaders were characterized by having up to three times as long cells at the base compared to short top leaders, whereas the cell lengths were similar in the apical region independent of the given plant growth capacity. In the basal sector, the level of auxin was much higher, whereas the levels of cytokinins were lower than in the apical sector, causing the auxin/cytokinin ratio to change from about 3 in the apical sector to more than 20 in the basal part. The Fibonacci number changed in the apical sector due to an increased cell number in the stem units and therefore longer distance between the needles. We conclude that the general growth pattern during top leader elongation in A. nordmanniana is similar to angiosperms but differs at the cellular level.