钙-钙调素信号系统参与热激信号转导的研究

根据作者实验室的研究工作结合国内外的研究动态讨论热激信号转导的Ca2 -CaM途径。作者实验室的工作表明,钙一钙调素(Ca^2 -CaM)信号系统参与植物热激信号转导。激光共聚焦扫描显微镜的观察结果表明,37℃热激可引起小麦胞内自由Ca。’浓度迅速提高。在Ca^2 存在条件下,热激也引起小麦CaM基因CaM1-2表达及CaM蛋白含量增加。Ca^2 可促进小麦热激基因hsp26和mp70表达和热激蛋白合成,而Ca^2 螯合剂EGTA、Ca^2 通道阻断剂异搏定和LaCl3、CaM抑制剂W7、TFP和CPZ明显降低热激基因hsp26和mp70表达和热激蛋白合成。EGTA、异搏定、TFP或CPZ也阻止小麦耐热性的获得。小麦CaM基因与热激基因的表达动力学研究表明CaM位于热激信号转导的上游,而Ca^2 是启动热激反应的胞内关键因子。凝胶阻滞分析的结果表明,Ca^2 -CaM在热激信号转导中的作用是通过激活热激转录因子的DNA结合活性来实现的。根据大量实验证据,作者提出在植物细胞内存在一条新的热激信号转导途径——钙一钙调素途径。     

Intracellular delivery of HSP70 using HIV-1 Tat protein transduction domain

Heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) is an intracellular stress protein that confers cytoprotection to a variety of cellular stressors. Several lines of evidence have suggested that augmentation of the heat shock response by increasing the expression of HSP70 represents a potential therapeutic strategy for the treatment of critically ill patients. The Tat protein of human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1) has been used previously to deliver functional cargo proteins intracellularly when added exogenously to cultured cells. We generated a Tat-HSP70 fusion protein using recombinant methods and treated HSF -/- cells with either Tat-HSP70 or recombinant HSP70 prior to exposure to hyperoxia or lethal heat shock. We showed that biologically active, exogenous HSP70 can be delivered into cells using the HIV-1 Tat protein, and that the Tat-mediated delivery of HSP70 confers cytoprotection against thermal stress and hyperoxia and may represent a novel approach to augmenting intracellular HSP70 levels.     

Characteristic induction of 70 000 Da-heat shock protein and metallothionein by zinc in HeLa cells

The synthesis of a 70 000 dalton-heat shock protein (hsp70) is one of several heat shock proteins induced in HeLa cells during the incubation in medium containing zinc sulphate. The synthesis of hsp70 was increased in the presence of 200 M zinc sulphate and above, but not at 100 M zinc sulphate. On the other hand, the synthesis of metallothionein was activated in the presence of 100 M zinc sulphate and above. Uptake of zinc into the cells depended on the concentration of zinc sulphate in the medium. The separation of intracellular zinc into three fractions by gel filtration chromatography; high molecular, metallothionein, and low molecular fractions, showed that zinc in the low molecular weight and metallothionein fractions was elevated in the presence of 100 M zinc sulphate in the medium, whereas increase in the zinc content of the high molecular weight fraction occurred at 200 M zinc sulphate and above. Inhibition of cell growth and cellular protein synthesis was also observed at 200 M zinc sulphate and above, but not at 100 M. From these findings, since the induction of hsp70 synthesis and inhibition of cell growth occurred concomitantly with the increase of zinc in the high and low molecular weight fractions, hsp70 seemed not to function in the detoxification of zinc, but it may participate in the repair of zinc-induced damage.     

分子伴侣的功能和应用

本文综述了分子伴侣的分类、功能、作用机理、研究现状及应用前景。分子伴侣是在生物大分子的折叠、组装、转运及降解等过程中起协助作用,参与协助抗原的呈递和遗传物质的复制、转录及构象的确立,但自身并不发生任何变化的一大类广泛存在于生物体内的蛋白质分子。随着对分子伴侣的进一步研究和相关知识的不断深入,分子伴侣在生物产品开发、物种改良、抗衰老,疾病预防、诊断和治疗以及环境监测方面具有广阔的前景。     

Selective postmortem degradation of inducible heat shock protein 70 (hsp70) mRNAs in rat Brain

Summary 1. Altered mRNA levels in postmortem brain tissue from persons with Alzheimer's disease (AD) or other neurological diseases are usually presumed to be characteristic of the disease state, even though both agonal state (the physiological state immediately premortem) and postmortem interval (PMI) (the time between death and harvesting the tissue) have the potential to affect levels of mRNAs measured in postmortem tissue. Although the possible effect of postmortem interval on mRNA levels has been more carefully evaluated than that of agonal state, many studies assume that all mRNAs have similar rates of degradation postmortem.2. To determine the postmortem stability of inducible heat shock protein 70 (hsp70) mRNAs, themselves unstablein vivo at normal body temperature, rats were heat shocked in order to induce synthesis of the hsp70 mRNAs. hsp70 mRNA levels in cerebellum and cortex were then compared to those of their heat shock cognate 70 (hsc70) mRNAs, as well as to levels of 18S rRNAs, at 0 and at 24 hr postmortem.3. Quantiation of northern blots after hybridization with an hsp70 mRNA-specific oligo probe indicated a massive loss of hsp70 mRNA signal in RNAs isolated from 24-hr postmortem brains; quantitation by slot-blot hybridization was 5- to 15-fold more efficient. Even using the latter technique, hsp70 mRNA levels were reduced by 59% in 24-hr-postmortem cerebellum and by 78% in cortex compared to mRNA levels in the same region of 0-hr-postmortem brain. There was little reduction postmortem in levels of the hsp70 mRNAs or of 18S rRNAs in either brain region.4.In situ hybridization analysis indicated that hsp70 mRNAs were less abundant in all major classes of cerebellar cells after 24 hr postmortem and mRNAs had degraded severalfold more rapidly in neurons than in glia. There was no corresponding loss of intracellular 18S rRNA in any cell type.5. We conclude from these results that the effect of postmortem interval on mRNA degradation must be carefully evaluated when analyzing levels of inducible hsp70 mRNAs, and perhaps other short-lived mRNAs, in human brain.     

CtsR, the Gram-positive master regulator of protein quality control, feels the heat

Protein quality networks are required for the maintenance of proper protein homeostasis and essential for viability and growth of all living organisms. Hence, regulation and coordination of these networks are critical for survival during stress as well as for virulence of pathogenic species. In low GC, Gram‐positive bacteria central protein quality networks are under the control of the global repressor CtsR. Here, we provide evidence that CtsR activity during heat stress is mediated by intrinsic heat sensing through a glycine‐rich loop, probably in all Gram‐positive species. Moreover, a function for the recently identified arginine kinase McsB is confirmed, however, not for initial inactivation and dissociation of CtsR from the DNA, but for heat‐dependent auto‐activation of McsB as an adaptor for ClpCP‐mediated degradation of CtsR.     

Application of magnetic field–induced heat shock protein 70 for presurgical cytoprotection

To develop an alternative to hyperthermia for the induction of hsp70 for presurgical cytoprotection, we investigated the optimal exposure conditions for magnetic field induction of hsp70. Normal human breast cells (HTB124) were exposed to 60-Hz magnetic fields and hsp70 levels were measured following three different exposure conditions: continuous exposure up to 3 h, a single 20-min exposure, and a single 20-min exposure followed by repeated 20-min exposures at different field strengths. In cells exposed continuously for 3 h, hsp70 levels peaked (46%) within 20 min and returned to control levels by 2 h. Following a single 20-min exposure, the return of hsp70 levels to control values extended to more than 3 h. When cells underwent a 20-min exposure followed by repeated 20-min exposures (restimulation) with different field strengths, additional increases in hsp70 levels were induced: 31% at 1 h, 41% at 2 h, and 30% at 3 h. J. Cell. Biochem. 71:577–583, 1998. © 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.