昆虫受精囊的结构与功能

昆虫受精囊是在雌雄交配之后,作为雌性贮存、释放精子和使卵受精的器官,其结构、功能及活动调节对保持精子活性和卵子受精有重要的影响。该文对昆虫受精囊结构、功能及其活动调节的研究进展做一介绍,以期为相关研究提供有益的资料。     

SmpB蛋白结构与功能研究进展

SmpB是一类普遍存在于细菌中的小RNA结合蛋白。研究表明SmpB除了在反式翻译中起着辅助tmRNA分子拯救滞留核糖体的作用,其也可以作为RNA分子伴侣调节体内RpoS的表达,以及具有直接调控RNase R及双组份系统的功能。SmpB参与的调控作用对于细菌蛋白质合成质量控制、致病菌中毒力系统调控、维持机体正常生长及发育等过程具有关键作用。本综述主要从SmpB蛋白结构及其对RNA、蛋白质调控功能等方面进行论述,以期对发掘细菌性疾病治疗靶点,研发新型抗生素,提供新的方向和思路。     

翻译调控肿瘤蛋白的结构、功能以及在肿瘤发展中的作用

翻译调控肿瘤蛋白(translational controlled tumor protein,TCTP),又称p23、组胺释放因子(histamine releasing factor,HRF)等,是一类在动植物中具有高度保守性和同源性的蛋白,主要介导细胞凋亡、细胞增殖与分化、细胞骨架重排、炎症反应等重要事件,与肿瘤的发生发展进程密切相关.针对TCTP的相关研究不仅有助于进一步了解各种肿瘤的生理病理周期,同时也提示其在寻找治愈肿瘤的方法中有望成为新的靶点.本文将对TCTP的结构、生物学功能以及在各种肿瘤中的作用进行综述.     

生肌蛋白的功能与调节

生肌蛋白（ｍｙｏｇｅｎｉｎ）是ＭｙｏＤ家族的成员之一。胚胎发育过程中生肌蛋白在肌肉形成区持续表达,决定骨骼肌的特异表型,在骨骼肌分化过程担当着独一无二的角色,是其它Ｍ蛋白不能替代的。同时,生肌蛋白还是控制烟碱样乙酰胆碱受体（ｎＡＣｈＲ）基因表达必不可少的转录调节因子。生肌蛋白的上述调节功能受蛋白激酶Ｃ（ＰＫＣ）催化的磷酸化反应调节,参与质膜－ＰＫＣ－受体基因级联反应。     

胰岛素样生长因子结构蛋白功能及其调节机制

胰岛素样生长因子结合蛋白 (ＩＧＦＢＰ)是ＩＧＦ家族的重要成员 ,ＩＧＦ及其生物活性的调节与ＩＧＦＢＰ密切相关。ＩＧＦＢＰ还具有独立于ＩＧＦ的生物活性 ,并拥有自己的调节机制。1 .ＩＧＦＢＰ简介目前 ,已确定了 6种与ＩＧＦ有高亲和力的ＩＧＦＢＰ(ＩＧＦＢＰ1～ 6 ) ,另有 4种与ＩＧＦ有较低亲和力的ＩＧＦＢＰ(ＩＧＦＢＰ相关肽 )也有报道[1] 。ＩＧＦＢＰ1～ 6有 35%的氨基酸序列同源 ,它们都有相同的Ｎ端和Ｃ端模式 ,只是中间区不同。其中 ,前 5种与ＩＧＦ Ｉ的结合优先于与ＩＧＦ ＩＩ的结合 ,而ＩＧＦＢＰ 6与ＩＧＦ ＩＩ的亲…     

肿瘤抑制蛋白APC的结构与功能

肿瘤抑制蛋白APC(adenomatous polyposis coli)是一种多功能蛋白,它不仅参与Wnt信号途径,调节β-链蛋白(β-catenin)的降解,同时也调节细胞骨架运动,影响细胞的迁移、黏合和分裂等。APC和其他相关因子之间的平衡对于肠上皮细胞的正常发育是十分重要的,这种平衡一旦被打破可能导致结肠功能的破坏及癌症的发生。该文着重介绍APC蛋白的结构及对细胞生长的影响。     

凝溶胶蛋白的结构与功能

凝溶胶蛋白（gelsolin）是凝溶胶蛋白超家族的成员之一,是一种重要的肌动蛋白结合蛋白,其通过切断、封端肌动蛋白丝,或使肌动蛋白聚集成核等方式来控制肌动蛋白的结构.凝溶胶蛋白除了在重组肌动蛋白丝中发挥作用以外,还在细胞运动、控制细胞程序性死亡等细胞活动中发挥重要的作用.此外,肿瘤细胞中凝溶胶蛋白的表达量也发生变化.凝溶胶蛋白的变异还是某些遗传疾病的基础.最近的研究发现,凝溶胶蛋白可以作为转录辅激活蛋白,促进雄激素受体的转录活性.本文对凝溶胶蛋白的结构特点、参与调节细胞的功能和机制及其研究现状进行概述.     

泡沫病毒基因组结构及其调节蛋白的功能

泡沫病毒（Ｓｐｕｍａｖｉｒｕｓｅｓ）传统上被分为反转录病毒科的泡沫病毒亚科,按１９９１年Ｃｕｌｅｎ的分类系统,泡沫病毒属复杂反转录病毒中的一个属。对泡沫病毒的研究远滞后于其它反转录病毒,这主要是由于至今未能确定其致病性。泡沫病毒可能与神经性病变相关的...     

Phylogenetic and Structural Analysis of Translationally Controlled Tumor Proteins

The translationally controlled tumor protein (TCTP) is conserved in all eukaryotes studied thus far. Recent evidence points to an important role for TCTP in the induction of cell proliferation in animals through an interaction with G proteins. TCTP may also constitute an intercellular secreted signal that modulates the immune response in the vertebrates. Because of its sequence conservation and ubiquity, the analysis of its amino acid sequence divergence between different taxa may provide insight into the structural constraints on the evolution of this protein. In the present study, we analyzed the phylogeny of TCTP sequences from a wide range of organisms and found that, with some exceptions, the groupings formed were consistent with the evolutionary history. Indeed, at the level of lower-order taxa, the groupings are in agreement with their established phylogeny, thus indicating that the substitution rates of the TCTP residues varied evenly between members of the same clade. Predicted three-dimensional structures of representative TCTPs, based on the reported 3D structure of Schizosaccharomyces pombe, indicated that these proteins are highly conserved among diverse taxonomic groups. However, analysis of the primary structure indicated subtle differences in the domain-forming pocket that potentially interacts with G proteins, particularly among Diplomonadidae, Apicomplexa, and other parasites of vertebrates. These differences support the notion that these specific TCTPs could block the normal immune response by acting as dominant negative mutants. Structural differences were also observed in a reported sequence of TCTP from Plasmodium knowlesi, in which the presence of an extra alpha-helix could also interfere in the interaction with G proteins.     

The C‐terminal cysteine of turbot Scophthalmus maximus translationally controlled tumour protein plays a key role in antioxidation and growth‐promoting functions

The translationally controlled tumour protein (TCTP) of turbot Scophthalmus maximus (SmTCTP) contains only one cysteine (Cys¹⁷⁰) at the C‐terminal end. The biological role of this C‐terminal Cys¹⁷⁰ in the antioxidation and growth‐promoting functions of SmTCTP was examined by site‐directed mutation of C170A (Cys¹⁷⁰→Ala¹⁷⁰). It was found that C170A mutation not only obviously decreased the antioxidation capacity of the mutant‐smtctp‐transformed bacteria exposed to 0·22 mM hydrogen peroxide, but also significantly interrupted the normal growth and survival of the mutant‐smtctp‐transformed bacteria and flounder Paralichthys olivaceus gill (FG) cells, indicating a key role played by Cys¹⁷⁰ in the antioxidation and growth‐promoting functions of SmTCTP. This study also suggested that the self‐dimerization or dimerization with other interacting proteins is critical to the growth‐promoting function of SmTCTP.     

植物翻译控制肿瘤蛋白的分子结构特征与功能预测分析

翻译控制肿瘤蛋白(The translationally controlled tumor protein,TCTP)是一类广泛存在于动物、植物及酵母中的,在进化上高度保守、与其它任何蛋白家族均未显示出明显的序列同源性的蛋白.采用生物信息学的方法和工具对已在GenBank上注册的拟南芥(Arabidopsis thaliana)、牵牛(Ipomoea nil)、草莓(Fragaria x ananassa)、橡胶树(Heveabrasiliensis)、南瓜(Cucurbita maxima)、卷心菜(Brassica oleracea)的翻译控制肿瘤蛋白的核苷酸及氨基酸序列进行分析,并对其组成成分、转运肽、跨膜结构域、疏水性/亲水性、蛋白质的二级及三级结构、分子系统进化关系等进行预测和分析.结果 表明,该基因的全长包括5'、3'非翻译区和一个开放读码框,其编码的蛋白是一个无跨膜结构域,不具转运肽的亲水性蛋白,包括一个β-折叠核心区和一个主要的α-螺旋区,不规则卷曲散布于整个蛋白质中,具有TCTP-1和TCTP-2两个特征结构域.     

Translationally controlled tumor protein is a novel heat shock protein with chaperone-like activity

Translationally controlled tumor protein (TCTP) is often designated as a stress-related protein because of its highly regulated expression in stress conditions. Following a thermal shock, TCTP expression is highly upregulated in a variety of cells. However, at present it is not known whether this upregulation has any cell protective function similar to other heat shock proteins. In this study human TCTP (HuTCTP) and a TCTP homolog (SmTCTP) from Schistosoma mansoni were evaluated for heat shock protein-like function and molecular chaperone activity. Our results show that similar to other molecular chaperones, both human and parasite TCTPs can bind to a variety of denatured proteins and protect them from the harmful effects of thermal shock. An important observation was the ability of both HuTCTP and SmTCTP to bind to native protein and protect them from thermal denaturation. Over expression of TCTP in bacterial cells protected them from heat shock-induced death. These findings suggest that TCTP may belong to a novel small molecular weight heat shock protein.     

Translationally controlled tumour protein (TCTP) from tomato and Nicotiana benthamiana is necessary for successful infection by a potyvirus

Translationally controlled tumour protein (TCTP) is a ubiquitously distributed protein in eukaryotes, involved in the regulation of several processes, including cell cycle progression, cell growth, stress protection, apoptosis and maintenance of genomic integrity. Its expression is induced during the early stages of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) infection by the potyvirus Pepper yellow mosaic virus (PepYMV, a close relative of Potato virus Y). Tomato TCTP is a protein of 168 amino acids, which contains all the conserved domains of the TCTP family. To study the effects of TCTP silencing in PepYMV infection, Nicotiana benthamiana plants were silenced by virus‐induced gene silencing (VIGS) and transgenic tomato plants silenced for TCTP were obtained. In the early stages of infection, both tomato and N. benthamiana silenced plants accumulated less virus than control plants. Transgenic tomato plants showed a drastic reduction in symptoms and no viral accumulation at 14 days post‐inoculation. Subcellular localization of TCTP was determined in healthy and systemically infected N. benthamiana leaves. TCTP was observed in both the nuclei and cytoplasm of non‐infected cells, but only in the cytoplasm of infected cells. Our results indicate that TCTP is a growth regulator necessary for successful PepYMV infection and that its localization is altered by the virus, probably to favour the establishment of virus infection. A network with putative interactions that may occur between TCTP and Arabidopsis thaliana proteins was built. This network brings together experimental data of interactions that occur in other eukaryotes and helps us to discuss the possibilities of TCTP involvement in viral infection.     

Dimerization of Translationally Controlled Tumor Protein Is Essential For Its Cytokine-Like Activity

Background

Translationally Controlled Tumor Protein (TCTP) found in nasal lavage fluids of allergic patients was named IgE-dependent histamine-releasing factor (HRF). Human recombinant HRF (HrHRF) has been recently reported to be much less effective than HRF produced from activated mononuclear cells (HRFmn).

Methods and Findings

We found that only NH₂-terminal truncated, but not C-terminal truncated, TCTP shows cytokine releasing activity compared to full-length TCTP. Interestingly, only NH₂-terminal truncated TCTP, unlike full-length TCTP, forms dimers through intermolecular disulfide bonds. We tested the activity of dimerized full-length TCTP generated by fusing it to rabbit Fc region. The untruncated-full length protein (Fc-HrTCTP) was more active than HrTCTP in BEAS-2B cells, suggesting that dimerization of TCTP, rather than truncation, is essential for the activation of TCTP in allergic responses. We used confocal microscopy to evaluate the affinity of TCTPs to its putative receptor. We detected stronger fluorescence in the plasma membrane of BEAS-2B cells incubated with Del-N11TCTP than those incubated with rat recombinant TCTP (RrTCTP). Allergenic activity of Del-N11TCTP prompted us to see whether the NH₂-terminal truncated TCTP can induce allergic airway inflammation in vivo. While RrTCTP had no influence on airway inflammation, Del-N11TCTP increased goblet cell hyperplasia in both lung and rhinal cavity. The dimerized protein was found in sera from allergic patients, and bronchoalveolar lavage fluids from airway inflamed mice.

Conclusions

Dimerization of TCTP seems to be essential for its cytokine-like activity. Our study has potential to enhance the understanding of pathogenesis of allergic disease and provide a target for allergic drug development.     

恶性疟原虫海南株(FCC1)翻译控制肿瘤蛋白(TCTP)基因的克隆及序列测定

为了获得翻译控制肿瘤蛋白 (TCTP)基因 ,提取恶性疟原虫海南株 (FCC1)总RNA ,直接用总RNA反转录成单链DNA ,再用长距PCR方法扩增出双链cDNA .根据小鼠约氏疟原虫TCTP基因序列设计引物 ,以cDNA为模板合成了恶性疟原虫海南株TCTP基因 .以pMD18 T为载体 ,用大肠杆菌XL1 blue对基因克隆 .测序结果表明 ,此基因序列与小鼠约氏疟原虫TCTP基因序列有 85 %同源性 .由此基因序列推导出的TCTP氨基酸序列 ,与小鼠约氏疟原虫TCTP氨基酸序列有 88%同源性 .进入GenBank国际基因库 (美国 )检索 ,所克隆的基因与基因库中恶性疟原虫基因同源性为 97% ;由所克隆的基因序列推导的TCTP氨基酸序列 ,与国际基因库恶性疟原虫TCTP基因推导的TCTP氨基酸序列仅有 1个氨基酸差异 .恶性疟原虫海南株TCTP基因克隆为进一步研究奠定了基础     

Characterization of TCTP, the Translationally Controlled Tumor Protein, from Arabidopsis thaliana

The translationally controlled tumor protein (TCTP) is an important component of the TOR (target of rapamycin) signaling pathway, the major regulator of cell growth in animals and fungi. TCTP acts as the guanine nucleotide exchange factor of the Ras GTPase Rheb that controls TOR activity in Drosophila melanogaster. We therefore examined the role of Arabidopsis thaliana TCTP in planta. Plant TCTPs exhibit distinct sequence differences from nonplant homologs but share the key GTPase binding surface. Green fluorescent protein reporter lines show that Arabidopsis TCTP is expressed throughout plant tissues and developmental stages with increased expression in meristematic and expanding cells. Knockout of TCTP leads to a male gametophytic phenotype with normal pollen formation and germination but impaired pollen tube growth. Silencing of TCTP by RNA interference slows vegetative growth; leaf expansion is reduced because of smaller cell size, lateral root formation is reduced, and root hair development is impaired. Furthermore, these lines show decreased sensitivity to an exogenously applied auxin analog and have elevated levels of endogenous auxin. These results identify TCTP as an important regulator of growth in plants and imply a function of plant TCTP as a mediator of TOR activity similar to that known in nonplant systems.