大肠埃希菌TA系统mazEF的研究进展

大部分细菌的遗传物质中含有毒素-抗毒素系统(TA)的遗传基因.mazEF是大肠埃希菌染色体上的一对毒素抗毒素基因,由毒素基因mazF和抗毒素基因mazE组成.其在细菌的生长调控和细胞程序性死亡中发挥了重要的作用.环境压力激活mazEF后,MazF可以通过对mRNA的剪切作用造成翻译停止.mazEF的存在可以增加细菌对环境压力的耐受性、保持细菌遗传物质的稳定、参与抗生素引起的细胞死亡、也在细菌的耐药性中发挥重要作用.     

鱼腥藻PCC7120染色体上的基因对asl3212/all3211构成mazEF家族的毒素-抗毒素系统

大肠杆菌染色体上毒素-抗毒素系统(TA,toxin-antitoxin system)mazEF介导多种胁迫诱导的细胞死亡或生长抑制。鱼腥藻PCC7120染色体上的基因对asl3212/all3211具有TA系统保守的遗传结构,其编码产物与大肠杆菌mazEF系统的毒素MazE和抗毒素MazE同源,可能构成mazEF家族的TA系统。利用构建的选择性表达系统分析asl3212和all3211表达产物对大肠杆菌细胞生长活性的影响,结果显示诱导all3211表达显著抑制细胞生长,同时诱导asl3212表达使all3211编码产物抑制的细胞恢复生长。提示all3211为毒素基因,asl3212为抗毒素基因,二者组成一个功能性的mazEF家族的TA系统。     

信号分子介导藻类细胞程序性死亡的研究进展

藻类是水生态系统中的重要初级生产者, 在物质转换和能量迁移过程中发挥重要作用。细胞程序性死亡(PCD)作为一种细胞自我调控的死亡模式, 受到多种信号分子的控制。研究发现藻类细胞在遭受环境胁迫的情况下, 在形态和生理上均表现出类PCD的特征, 同时伴随着活性氧/一氧化氮/钙离子(ROS/NO/Ca2+)水平的变化。研究认为, ROS/NO/Ca2+作为信号分子介导藻细胞内的caspase-like酶活性变化, 从而触发藻细胞的类程序性死亡。然而, 对信号分子是如何在环境胁迫下的藻类细胞中引发类PCD仍知之甚少。文章综述了信号分子ROS/NO/Ca2+介导藻类类PCD的研究进展以及信号分子间的级联关系, 并对今后类PCD在该领域待开展的研究进行了展望。     

植物细胞程序性死亡研究进展

植物细胞死亡分为坏死和程序性死亡。细胞程序性死亡是具有信号或一系列分子参与,并且由细胞内在的死亡程序介导的有序过程。它在植物生长发育和抵御外界胁迫中具有重要作用。简要介绍了植物PCD的特征,对植物PCD中的信号分子和类caspase的作用等进行了综述,并对植物PCD存在的问题进行分析和展望,为深入研究植物PCD提供参考。     

镉胁迫引起烟草悬浮细胞程序性死亡

镉胁迫会造成烟草悬浮细胞大规模死亡。通过TUNEL技术和琼脂糖凝胶电泳技术的检测发现,这种细胞死亡伴随有典型的DNA“梯形带”出现,表明这种由Cd胁迫引起的细胞死亡是一种程序性死亡。受胁迫细胞氧化性增强及细胞中丙二醛(MDA)水平升高,说明Cd胁迫时会在细胞中造成大量活性氧(ROS),暗示烟草细胞的程序性死亡可能与ROS有关。     

GSDMD介导的细胞焦亡在感染性疾病中的研究进展

细胞焦亡是细胞感染时由炎症小体介导,以裂解细胞为特点的程序性死亡形式。其激活途径分为依赖半胱氨酸蛋白酶-1或半胱氨酸蛋白酶-4/5/11活化的经典与非经典途径。目前的研究表明细胞焦亡过程中主要效应蛋白是具有膜成孔活性的gasdermin(也作GSDM)家族成员。因此,细胞焦亡也被称为gasdermin介导的程序性坏死。当宿主受到感染时,细胞焦亡与宿主自身其他免疫防御机制存在互相调节机制,保证宿主在清除感染的同时降低自身损伤程度。本文笔者将从研究最为广泛的GSDMD在细胞焦亡途径中的作用机制、细胞焦亡在感染性疾病中的研究进展以及细胞焦亡与其他程序性死亡在感染性疾病中的相互作用这三个方面作系统叙述,期望为今后研究如何通过细胞焦亡途径治疗感染性疾病提供理论基础。     

渗透胁迫诱导的小麦叶片细胞程序性死亡

用20％PEG6000（－0.63MPa）溶液对小麦（Triticum aestivum)根系进行渗透胁迫,在DNA琼脂糖凝胶电泳图谱上观察到明显的梯状DNA条带,表明PEG处理诱发了DNA核小体间的断裂,从而表现出典型的细胞程序性死亡的发生特征;末端脱氧核糖核酸转移酶介导的3′-OH末端标记法（terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase(TdT)-mediated dUTP nick end labeling,TUNEL)检测出现阳性结果。这些结果表明在PEG诱导小麦叶片死亡过程中,有一个阶段存在明显的细胞程序性死亡过程。结果同时表明,在小麦叶片处于程序性死亡时期,蛋白质含量、叶绿素含量的下降和电解质泄漏率的增加都比处于坏死时期的慢。     

植物细胞活性氧种类、代谢及其信号转导

越来越明显的证据表明,植物体十分活跃的产生着活性氧并将之作为信号分子、进而控制着诸如细胞程序性死亡、非生物胁迫响应、病原体防御和系统信号等生命过程,而不仅是传统意义上的活性氧是有氧代谢的附产物。日益增多的证据显示,由脱落酸、水杨酸、茉莉酸与乙烯以及活性氧所调节的激素信号途径,在生物和非生物胁迫信号的“交谈”中起重要作用。活性氧最初被认为是动物吞噬细胞在宿主防御反应时所释放的附产物,现在的研究清楚的表明,活性氧在动物和植物细胞信号途径中均起作用。活性氧可以诱导细胞程序性死亡或坏死、可以诱导或抑制许多基因的表达,也可以激活上述级联信号。近来生物化学与遗传学研究证实过氧化氢是介导植物生物胁迫与非生物胁迫的信号分子,过氧化氢的合成与作用似乎与一氧化氮有关系。过氧化氢所调节的下游信号包括钙“动员”、蛋白磷酸化和基因表达等。     

细菌II型毒素-抗毒素系统活性的调控

细菌毒素-抗毒素系统(Toxin-antitoxin system,TA)由稳定的毒素和不稳定的抗毒素构成,几乎存在于所有细菌中。已证明染色体编码的II型TA系统作为胁迫反应因子,通过毒素作用于不同的细胞靶点来调控重要的细胞活动过程,使细菌适应不同的环境胁迫。因此,毒素活性的调控是II型TA系统介导细菌适应性胁迫反应的关键。本文总结了II型TA系统毒素活性调控机制的研究进展,并介绍了作者近年来对模式蓝藻Synechocystis sp.PCC6803中II型TA毒素活性调控的研究结果。     

细菌应激反应中(p)ppGpp代谢的调控

(p)ppGpp是介导细菌细胞对环境胁迫产生应激反应的重要胞内信号,通过控制一系列重要的细胞活动使细菌得以生存。通过对蓝细菌中(p)ppGpp代谢的研究,对(p)ppGpp作用机制、控制(p)ppGpp代谢的酶系统、环境胁迫信号传递、细胞中(p)ppGpp水平的调控及其多样性进行了总结。     

What is the benefit to Escherichia coli of having multiple toxin-antitoxin systems in its genome?

The Escherichia coli K-12 chromosome encodes at least five proteic toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems. The mazEF and relBE systems have been extensively characterized and were proposed to be general stress response modules. On one hand, mazEF was proposed to act as a programmed cell death system that is triggered by a variety of stresses. On the other hand, relBE and mazEF were proposed to serve as growth modulators that induce a dormancy state during amino acid starvation. These conflicting hypotheses led us to test a possible synergetic effect of the five characterized E. coli TA systems on stress response. We compared the behavior of a wild-type strain and its derivative devoid of the five TA systems under various stress conditions. We were unable to detect TA-dependent programmed cell death under any of these conditions, even under conditions previously reported to induce it. Thus, our results rule out the programmed-cell-death hypothesis. Moreover, the presence of the five TA systems advantaged neither recovery from the different stresses nor cell growth under nutrient-limited conditions in competition experiments. This casts a doubt on whether TA systems significantly influence bacterial fitness and competitiveness during non-steady-state growth conditions.     

Induction of Escherichia coli chromosomal mazEF by stressful conditions causes an irreversible loss of viability

mazEF is a stress-induced toxin-antitoxin module located on the chromosomes of many bacteria. Here we induced Escherichia coli chromosomal mazEF by various stressful conditions. We found an irreversible loss of viability, which is the basic characteristic of cell death. These results further support our previous conclusion that E. coli mazEF mediation of cell death is not a passive process, but an active and genetically "programmed" death response.     

The Escherichia coli mazEF suicide module mediates thymineless death

In 1954, Cohen and Barner discovered that a thymine auxotrophic (thyA) mutant of Escherichia coli undergoes cell death in response to thymine starvation. This phenomenon, called thymineless death (TLD), has also been found in many other organisms, including prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Though TLD has been studied intensively, its molecular mechanism has not yet been explained. Previously we reported on the E. coli mazEF system, a regulatable chromosomal suicide module that can be triggered by various stress conditions. MazF is a stable toxin, and MazE is an unstable antitoxin. Here, we show that cell death that is mediated by the mazEF module can also be activated by thymine starvation. We found that TLD depends on E. coli mazEF and that under thymine starvation, the activity of the mazEF promoter P(2) is significantly reduced. Our results, which describe thymine starvation as a trigger for a built-in death program, have implications for programmed cell death in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes.     

Two programmed cell death systems in Escherichia coli: an apoptotic-like death is inhibited by the mazEF-mediated death pathway

In eukaryotes, the classical form of programmed cell death (PCD) is apoptosis, which has as its specific characteristics DNA fragmentation and membrane depolarization. In Escherichia coli a different PCD system has been reported. It is mediated by the toxin-antitoxin system module mazEF. The E. coli mazEF module is one of the most thoroughly studied toxin-antitoxin systems. mazF encodes a stable toxin, MazF, and mazE encodes a labile antitoxin, MazE, which prevents the lethal effect of MazF. mazEF-mediated cell death is a population phenomenon requiring the quorum-sensing pentapeptide NNWNN designated Extracellular Death Factor (EDF). mazEF is triggered by several stressful conditions, including severe damage to the DNA. Here, using confocal microscopy and FACS analysis, we show that under conditions of severe DNA damage, the triggered mazEF-mediated cell death pathway leads to the inhibition of a second cell death pathway. The latter is an apoptotic-like death (ALD); ALD is mediated by recA and lexA. The mazEF-mediated pathway reduces recA mRNA levels. Based on these results, we offer a molecular model for the maintenance of an altruistic characteristic in cell populations. In our model, the ALD pathway is inhibited by the altruistic EDF-mazEF-mediated death pathway.     

Bacterial programmed cell death and multicellular behavior in bacteria

Traditionally, programmed cell death (PCD) is associated with eukaryotic multicellular organisms. However, recently, PCD systems have also been observed in bacteria. Here we review recent research on two kinds of genetic programs that promote bacterial cell death. The first is mediated by mazEF, a toxin–antitoxin module found in the chromosomes of many kinds of bacteria, and mainly studied in Escherichia coli. The second program is found in Bacillus subtilis, in which the skf and sdp operons mediate the death of a subpopulation of sporulating bacterial cells. We relate these two bacterial PCD systems to the ways in which bacterial populations resemble multicellular organisms.     

Postsegregational killing mediated by the P1 phage "addiction module" phd-doc requires the Escherichia coli programmed cell death system mazEF

"Addiction modules" consist of two genes; the product of the second is long lived and toxic, while the product of the first is short lived and antagonizes the lethal action of the toxin. The extrachromosomal addiction module phd-doc, located on the P1 prophage, is responsible for the postsegregational killing effect (death of plasmid-free cells). The Escherichia coli chromosomal addiction module analogue, mazEF, is responsible for the induction of programmed cell death. Here we show that the postsegregational killing mediated by the P1 phd-doc module depends on the presence of the E. coli mazEF system. In addition, we demonstrate that under conditions of postsegregational killing, mediated by phd-doc, protein synthesis of E. coli is inhibited. Based on our findings, we suggest the existence of a coupling between the phd-doc and mazEF systems.     

MazF-mediated cell death in Escherichia coli: a point of no return

mazEF is a stress-induced toxin-antitoxin module, located on the chromosome of Escherichia coli, that we have previously described to be responsible for programmed cell death in E. coli. mazF specifies a stable toxin, and mazE specifies a labile antitoxin. Recently, it was reported that inhibition of translation and cell growth by ectopic overexpression of the toxin MazF can be reversed by the action of the antitoxin MazE ectopically overexpressed at a later time. Based on these results, it was suggested that rather than inducing cell death, mazF induces a state of reversible bacteriostasis (K. Pederson, S. K. Christensen, and K. Gerdes, Mol. Microbiol. 45:501-510, 2002). Using a similar ectopic overexpression system, we show here that overexpression of MazE could reverse MazF lethality only over a short window of time. The size of that window depended on the nature of the medium in which MazF was overexpressed. Thus, we found "a point of no return," which occurred sooner in minimal M9 medium than it did in the rich Luria-Bertani medium. We also describe a state in which the effect of MazF on translation could be separated from its effect on cell death: MazE overproduction could completely reverse the inhibitory effect of MazF on translation, while not affecting the bacteriocidic effect of MazF at all. Our results reported here support our view that the mazEF module mediates cell death and is part of a programmed cell death network.     

Prokaryotic toxin-antitoxin stress response loci

Although toxin-antitoxin gene cassettes were first found in plasmids, recent database mining has shown that these loci are abundant in free-living prokaryotes, including many pathogenic bacteria. For example, Mycobacterium tuberculosis has 38 chromosomal toxin-antitoxin loci, including 3 relBE and 9 mazEF loci. RelE and MazF are toxins that cleave mRNA in response to nutritional stress. RelE cleaves mRNAs that are positioned at the ribosomal A-site, between the second and third nucleotides of the A-site codon. It has been proposed that toxin-antitoxin loci function in bacterial programmed cell death, but evidence now indicates that these loci provide a control mechanism that helps free-living prokaryotes cope with nutritional stress.