A Thermostable Acid α-Glucosidase from Tetrahymena thermophila: Purification and Characterization

An acid α-glucosidase (EC 3.2.1.20) was purified to homogeneity from the culture medium of Tetrahymena thermophila CU 399. Its general molecular, catalytic and immunological properties were compared to those of the T. pyriformis W enzyme. The enzyme from T. thermophila was a 105-kD monomer and the N-terminus (25 amino acid residues) displayed some homology with that of T. pyriformis enzyme. The purified enzyme was most active at 56° C and showed resistance to thermal inactivation. The acid α-glucosidase appears to have α-1,6-glucosidase as well as α-1,4-glucosidase activity. The Km values determined with p-nitrophenyl-α-glucopyranoside, maltose, isomaltose and glycogen were 0.7 mM, 2.5 mM, 28.5 mM and 18.5 mg/ml, respectively. The enzyme was antigenically distinct from T. pyriformis acid α-glucosidase.     

Processing and Secretion of Lysosomal Acid α-Glucosidase In Tetrahymena Wild Type and Secretion-Deficient Mutant Cells

ABSTRACT. The proteolytic processing and secretion of a lysosomal enzyme, acid α-glucosidase, was studied by pulse-chase labeling with [³⁵S]methionine in Tetrahymena thermophila CU-399 cells treated with ammonium chloride. This cell secreted a large amount of acid α-glucosidase into the cultured medium during starvation. the secretion was found to be repressed by addition of ammonium chloride (NH₄Cl). Acid α-glucosidase was produced as a precursor form (108 kDa) and then processed to a mature polypeptide (105 kDa) within 60 min. This mature enzyme was secreted into the media within 2-3 h after chase, whereas the precursor form was not secreted by either control cells or NH₄Cl-treated cells. NH₄Cl did not affect the processing of the precursor acid α-glucosidase. Processing profile of this enzyme was apparently indistinguishable from that of the mutant MS-1 defective in lysosomal enzyme secretion. Furthermore, the purified extracellular (CU-399) and intracellular (MS-1) acid a-glucosidases were the same in molecular mass (105 kDa) and enzymatic properties. They contained no mannose 6-phosphate residues in N-linked oligosaccharides. These results suggested that unlike mammalian cells, Tetrahymena acid α-glucosidase may be transferred to lysosomes by a mannose 6-phosphate receptor-independent mechanism, and also that low pH was not essential for the proteolytic processing of precursor polypeptide.     

小麦丛矮病毒NS蛋白基因的克隆及序列分析

利用与Ｎ蛋白ｍＲＮＡ３＇末端顺序相同的２０寡聚核苷酸引物,通过点杂交、限制性内切酶分析从小麦丛矮病毒（ＷＲＳＶ）ｃＤＮＡ文库中筛选到编码Ｎ蛋白基因下游顺序的ｃＤＮＡ克隆。序列分析表明,该ｃＤＮＡ片段含有一编码的４０ｋＤ蛋白的开放读框。将该读框的全长ｃＤＮＡ经ＰＣＲ扩增后,克隆到ｐＧＥＸ－３Ｘ上,在大肠杆菌ＤＥ３中用ＩＰＴＧ诱导表达,经蛋白质印迹鉴定,该基因为小麦丛矮病毒ＮＳ蛋白基因。     

ncRNA候选基因spt1的克隆与初步分析

在用suc2信号肽捕获系统对小鼠胚胎cDNA文库筛选的过程中,反复获得一个相同的强阳性克隆,命名为spt1。对该克隆的序列分析表明：插入序列由697bp组成,6个开放阅读框中共有37个启始密码子(ATG)和80个终止密码子(TGA、TAG、TAA);没有较大的有意义开放读框存在。经BLAST分析,结果显示该序列定位于小鼠第17号染色体长臂,没有发现同源基因。NortherTl blot和RT-PCR分析表明,该序列仅表达于小鼠卵巢组织,全长约4．5～5．0kb。酵母转化和序列截短实验提示,该序列能够介导蔗糖转换酶向细胞外的分泌。因此,推测spt1很有可能是一个新的非编码RNA的一部分,参与蛋白质的分泌过程。     

Molecular Cloning and Characterization of a Leishmania donovaniα-Tubulin Gene

ABSTRACT. We have isolated a cDNA for an α-tubulin mRNA from L. donovani promastigotes and determined its complete nucleotide sequence. Both nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequence analysis of this cDNA showed significant similarity with a previously reported, partial sequence of an L. enriettii α-tubulin and the complete sequence of human α-tubulin. Further, the in vitro translated L. donovania α-tubulin gene product was specifically immunoprecipitated with a monoclonal antibody against human α-tubulin. Northern blot analysis revealed that there was little change in the expression of the L. donovani α-tubulin RNA during parasite differentiation from promastigote to the in vitro grown "amastigote" form. Southern blot analysis revealed a simple genomic organization for the L. donovani α-tubulin gene with more than one copy of the α-tubulin gene in the parasite genome. To our knowledge, this is the first complete sequence of an α-tubulin for Leishmania to be reported in the literature.     

长白山白眉蝮蛇乌苏里亚种类凝血酶（TLE）基因克隆及分析

目的为了获得长白山白眉蝮蛇乌苏里亚种类凝血酶基因。方法根据GeneBank自眉类凝血酶eDNA5．和3保守序列设计了引物,通过RT-PCR从白眉蝮蛇乌苏里亚种毒腺TotalRNA中扩增得到1条长714bp的特异cDNA片段,将该cDNA片段重组到SimpleTvector,转化进E．coliJM109competentcell,阳性克隆委托生物公司测序,利用生物信息学方法对测序结果进行分析。结果该特异性片段与蛇毒类凝血酶同源性为95％,它为一个开发阅读框架,其编码的蛋白质序列与其他蛇毒类凝血酶序列同源性为94％,与其他蛇毒类凝血亲缘关系非常近。结论本实验获得了一种新型白眉蝮蛇乌苏里亚种类凝血酶基因。     

Cloning and Nucleotide Sequence of the Gene Encoding a Serine Proteinase Inhibitor Named Marinostatin from a Marine Bacterium,Alteromonas sp. Strain B-10-31

The gene (mstI) encoding a serine proteinase inhibitor named marinostatin from marine Alteromonas sp. strain B-10-31 was cloned and its nucleotide sequence was analyzed. A short open reading frame of 192 bp encoded 63 amino acids with a molecular weight of 6,985. Furthermore, the initial product of marinostatin (marinostatin L) was purified and its amino acid sequence was analyzed. These results indicate that marinostatin is produced as a unique precursor consisting of the mature peptide and the leader peptide for an ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter, and furthermore the initial product of marinostatin is dehydrated and processed by proteolysis to give homologous forms of marinostatin.     

枳壳CBF转录激活因子基因片段的克隆

根据不同植物CBF同源基因的保守区设计合成简并引物,采用PCR技术首次从枳壳基因组中分离出一个DNA片段并克隆到pMD18-T载体中.序列测定和分析表明,该片段长464bp,与拟南芥3个CBF基因的核酸序列及其推导的氨基酸序列分别具有79%和67%～69%的同源性,而且推导的氨基酸序列含有同源性更高的AP2DNA结合域和CBF蛋白的两段特征序列PKK/RPAGRxKFxETRHP和DSAWR.结果 表明,本研究克隆的片段为枳壳CBF基因片段.     

小拟南芥Chitinase基因的克隆与核苷酸序列分析

采用RT-PCR扩增方法,从野生资源小拟南芥（Arabidopsis pumila)的总RNA中,克隆获得了985bp的cDNA片段,经过测序和序列分析,发现该cDNA基因包含一个完整的963bp的开放阅读框（ORF）,含有17个限制性内切酶酶切位点,核苷酸序列同源性分析表明,该基因与与Arabidopsis thaliana glycosyl hydrolase family 19(chitinase)(Atlg 05850) mRNA,complete cds(登录号NM-100466.3),Arubidopsis thaliana putative class I chitinase(Atlg05850)mRNA,complete cds(登录号AY034935）,Arabidopsi8s thaliana chitinase-like protein 1(CTL1) mRNA,CTL1-ELPlallele,complete eds(登录号）AF422178）均有94%序列同源性,Chitinase可抑制病原真菌的生长,所编码的功能蛋白在提高农作物抗病性方面具有重要意义。     

Analysis of cDNA Clones Encoding the Entire Ferredoxin I Precursor Polypeptide from Spinach

We report the isolation and characterization of a recombinant cDNA phage from a lambda gt11 expression library made from polyadenylated spinach RNA that encodes the entire precursor polypeptide of ferredoxin I. The deduced sequence predicts a molecular mass of 10.5 kDa (97 amino acid residues) for the mature protein and a transit peptide of 50 residues (5.2 kDa). In vitro synthesized ferredoxin precursor was used for import experiments with isolated unbroken spinach chloroplasts. The polypeptide was correctly directed to the organelle stroma and processed to the size of the mature protein. Northern analysis indicates a mRNA size of ca. 850 nucleotides which is close to the size of the cDNA insert (ca. 700 bp).     

Complete amino acid sequence of Bombyx egg-specific protein deduced from cDNA clone

Complementary (c)DNA coding for an insect yolk protein, the egg-specific protein of the silkworm Bombyx mori was cloned and the nucleotide sequence determined. The sequence covers the entire coding region of 1,677 base pairs with 5′ and 3′ noncoding regions (21 and 115 base pairs, respectively). The deduced amino acid sequence of the egg-specific protein consists of 559 amino acid residues. The NH₂-terminal 18 amino acid sequence is enriched in hydrophobic amino acids and assumed to be a signal peptide. A sequence, Asn-X-Thr, a potential N-linked glycosylation site, is found at positions 191 to 193. A serine-rich domain is localized in the region from 63 to 90, in which phosphorylation takes place. Cys His motif in 405 to 415 is analogous to a proposed metal binding sequence. Lys¹³²-Asn¹³³ and Arg²²⁸-Asp²²⁹ are probably the sites cleaved by the egg-specific protein protease that appears during embryogenesis. The derived amino acid sequence has no appreciable homology to other sequenced proteins.     

Molecular Determinants of the Interaction Between the C-Terminal Domain of Alzheimer's β-Amyloid Peptide and Apolipoprotein E α-Helices

In a previous work, we predicted and demonstrated that the 29-42-residue fragment of beta-amyloid peptide (Abeta peptide) has in vitro capacities close to those of the tilted fragment of viral fusion proteins. We further demonstrated that apolipoprotein E2 and E3 but not apolipoprotein E4 can decrease the fusogenic activity of Abeta(29-42) via a direct interaction. Therefore, we suggested that this fragment is implicated in the neurotoxicity of Abeta and in the protective effects of apolipoprotein E in Alzheimer's disease. Because structurally related apolipoproteins do not interact with the Abeta C-terminal domain but inhibit viral fusion, we suggested that interactions existing between fusogenic peptides and apolipoproteins are selective and responsible for the inhibition of fusion. In this study, we simulated interactions of all amphipathic helices of apolipoproteins E and A-I with Abeta and simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) fusogenic fragments by molecular modeling. We further calculated cross-interactions that do not inhibit fusion in vitro. The results suggest that interactions of hydrophobic residues are the major event to inhibit the fusogenic capacities of Abeta(29-42) and SIV peptides. Selectivity of those interactions is due to the steric complementarity between bulky hydrophobic residues in the fusogenic fragments and hydrophobic residues in the apolipoprotein C-terminal amphipathic helices.     

河套蜜瓜ACC合成酶cDNA片段的克隆和序列分析

1-氨基环丙烷-1-羧酸（ACC）合成酶是高等植物中乙烯生物合成的关键酶。以成熟河套蜜瓜（CucumismeloL．cvHetau）果实的RNA为模板,经反转录和PCR扩增得到预期大小的DNA片段,插入到pUC19的SmaⅠ位点后转化E.coliJM109,筛选出重组子pHMAS1。序列分析表明获得了长627bp的ACC合成酶cDNA片段。与已报道的ACC合成酶基因相应序列比较有很高的同源性．     

青钱柳法呢基焦磷酸合成酶基因的克隆及功能研究

青钱柳是集药用、材用和观赏等多种价值于一身的珍贵树种。法呢基焦磷酸合成酶(FPS)催化=牛儿基焦磷酸(GPP)与异戊烯基焦磷酸(IPP)缩合成法呢基焦磷酸(FPP),FPP是植物次生代谢产物倍半萜,三萜,甾醇等的前体。本研究通过RACE方法首次从青钱柳中扩增了法呢基焦磷酸合成酶的全长cDNA序列,序列命名为CpF-PS(Genbank登录号为GU121224),序列长度为1 420 bp,包含1 029 bp的开放阅读框,编码342个氨基酸残基,预测蛋白分子量为39.60 kDa。通过BlASTP分析,推断的青钱柳FPS蛋白序列与木本棉(Gossypium arboreum)(CAA72793.1)、橡胶树(Hevea brasiliensis)(BAF98301)等的FPS蛋白相似度较高。蛋白质保守区、特征区以及进化树分析初步证实扩增到的全长cDNA序列为青钱柳的FPS基因。将该基因连入酵母表达载体并转入麦角甾醇缺陷型酵母菌株CC25(MATa/MATalpha,deltaERG20/+),发现该基因可弥补营养缺陷使得CC25菌株在高温中正常生长,证明所得到的青钱柳CpFPS基因编码的蛋白是有功能的蛋白。     

Molecular Cloning and Sequence Analysis of a Gene Encoding Rice Proteinase Inhibitor

With the primers designed basing on the terminal amino acid sequences of rice proteinase inhibitors and the preferred codons of rice genes, a new gene coding for a rice proteinase inhibitor has been amplified and cloned from Oryza sativa var. japonica (cv. Zhonghua 8) using PCR technique. The gene contains 408 basepairs and encodes 133 amino acid residues. The deduced amino acid sequence with duplicated Bowman-Birk type structure and active sites specific to trypsin has relatively high homology with that of proteinase inhibitors from wheats, beans etc. As for rice, the new gene shares 74.8% homology with a rice bran trypsin inhibitor reported previously. The evolutionary characteristics of the proteinase inhibitor family has also been discussed.     

Biochemical and immunological characterization of α-amylase isoenzymes of Araucaria araucana

Seven α-amylase isoenzymes present in quiescent seeds of the South American conifer Araucaria araucana were purified by affinity chromatography and partially characterized. The molecular masses of these isoenzymes were 45.7, 47.0, 50.2, 51.2, 52.0, 53.5 and 55.2 kDa. The two main isoforms were separated from each other and from the rest of the isoenzymes by anion-exchange chromatography using a linear gradient of 0 to 0.6 M NaCl and slightly different CaCl₂ concentrations. All isoenzyme bands stained with periodic acid/dansylhydrazine, suggesting that they are glycoproteins. Electroblotting of the isoenzymes onto polyvinylidene difluoride membranes allowed determination of the amino acid composition and NH₂-terminal sequence of the 53.5-, 50.2-and 47.0-kDa isoenzymes. Amino acid compositional analysis demonstrated that these enzymes are rich in glycine, aspartic acid/asparagine, alanine, serine, proline and glutamic acid/glutamine. The NH₂-terminal sequences of the three isoenzymes are identical. Comparison of the amino acid compositions and the NH₂-terminal sequence of these isoenzymes with the cereal and Vigna radiata α-amylases demonstrated that there is no relation between them. However, polyclonal antibodies generated against barley α-amylase cross-reacted with all the A . araucana α-amylases. Peptide mapping analysis of the isoenzymes using cyanogen bromide suggests that there are genetic differences between them.