Identification and characterization of the novel LysM domain-containing surface protein Sep from Lactobacillus fermentum BR11 and its use as a peptide fusion partner in Lactobacillus and Lactococcus

Examination of supernatant fractions from broth cultures of Lactobacillus fermentum BR11 revealed the presence of a number of proteins, including a 27-kDa protein termed Sep. The amino-terminal sequence of Sep was determined, and the gene encoding it was cloned and sequenced. Sep is a 205-amino-acid protein and contains a 30-amino-acid secretion signal and has overall homology (between 39 and 92% identity) with similarly sized proteins of Lactobacillus reuteri, Enterococcus faecium, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Streptococcus agalactiae, and Lactobacillus plantarum. The carboxy-terminal 81 amino acids of Sep also have strong homology (86% identity) to the carboxy termini of the aggregation-promoting factor (APF) surface proteins of Lactobacillus gasseri and Lactobacillus johnsonii. The mature amino terminus of Sep contains a putative peptidoglycan-binding LysM domain, thereby making it distinct from APF proteins. We have identified a common motif within LysM domains that is shared with carbohydrate binding YG motifs which are found in streptococcal glucan-binding proteins and glucosyltransferases. Sep was investigated as a heterologous peptide expression vector in L. fermentum, Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG and Lactococcus lactis MG1363. Modified Sep containing an amino-terminal six-histidine epitope was found associated with the cells but was largely present in the supernatant in the L. fermentum, L. rhamnosus, and L. lactis hosts. Sep as well as the previously described surface protein BspA were used to express and secrete in L. fermentum or L. rhamnosus a fragment of human E-cadherin, which contains the receptor region for Listeria monocytogenes. This study demonstrates that Sep has potential for heterologous protein expression and export in lactic acid bacteria.     

Peptide Surface Display and Secretion Using Two LPXTG-Containing Surface Proteins from Lactobacillus fermentum BR11

A locus encoding two repetitive proteins that have LPXTG cell wall anchoring signals from Lactobacillus fermentum BR11 has been identified by using an antiserum raised against whole L. fermentum BR11 cells. The first protein, Rlp, is similar to the Rib surface protein from Streptococcus agalactiae, while the other protein, Mlp, is similar to the mucus binding protein Mub from Lactobacillus reuteri. It was shown that multiple copies of mlp exist in the genome of L. fermentum BR11. Regions of Rlp, Mlp, and the previously characterized surface protein BspA were used to surface display or secrete heterologous peptides in L. fermentum. The peptides tested were 10 amino acids of the human cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator protein and a six-histidine epitope (His₆). The BspA promoter and secretion signal were used in combination with the Rlp cell wall sorting signal to express, export, and covalently anchor the heterologous peptides to the cell wall. Detection of the cell surface protein fusions revealed that Rlp was a significantly better surface display vector than BspA despite having lower cellular levels (0.7 mg per liter for the Rlp fusion compared with 4 mg per liter for the BspA fusion). The mlp promoter and encoded secretion signal were used to express and export large (328-kDa at 10 mg per liter) and small (27-kDa at 0.06 mg per liter) amino-terminal fragments of the Mlp protein fused to the His₆ and CFTR peptides or His₆ peptide, respectively. Therefore, these newly described proteins from L. fermentum BR11 have potential as protein production and targeting vectors.     

Identification and characterization of a basic cell surface-located protein from Lactobacillus fermentum BR11.

Extraction of Lactobacillus fermentum BR11 cells with 5 M LiCl yielded a preparation containing a single predominant polypeptide with an apparent molecular mass of 32 kDa. A clone encoding an immunoreactive 32-kDa polypeptide was isolated from a pUC18 library of L. fermentum BR11 DNA by screening with an antiserum raised against whole cells of L. fermentum BR11. Sequence determination of the insert in the clone revealed a complete 795-bp open reading frame (ORF) that defines a 28,625-Da polypeptide (BspA). N-terminal sequencing of the LiCl-extracted polypeptide from L. fermentum BR11 confirmed that it is the same as the cloned BspA. BspA was found to have a sequence similar to those of family III of the bacterial solute-binding proteins. The sequences of two ORFs upstream of bspA are consistent with bspA being located in an operon encoding an ATP-binding cassette-type uptake system. Unusually, BspA contains no lipoprotein cleavage and attachment motif (LXXC), despite its origin in a gram-positive bacterium. Biotin labelling and trypsin digestion of whole cells indicated that this polypeptide is exposed on the cell surface. The isoelectric point as predicted from the putative mature sequence is 10.59. It was consequently hypothesized that the positively charged BspA is anchored by electrostatic interaction with acidic groups on the cell surface. It was shown that BspA could be selectively removed from the surface by extraction with an acidic buffer, thus supporting this hypothesis.     

Peptide surface display and secretion using two LPXTG-containing surface proteins from Lactobacillus fermentum BR11

A locus encoding two repetitive proteins that have LPXTG cell wall anchoring signals from Lactobacillus fermentum BR11 has been identified by using an antiserum raised against whole L. fermentum BR11 cells. The first protein, Rlp, is similar to the Rib surface protein from Streptococcus agalactiae, while the other protein, Mlp, is similar to the mucus binding protein Mub from Lactobacillus reuteri. It was shown that multiple copies of mlp exist in the genome of L. fermentum BR11. Regions of Rlp, Mlp, and the previously characterized surface protein BspA were used to surface display or secrete heterologous peptides in L. fermentum. The peptides tested were 10 amino acids of the human cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator protein and a six-histidine epitope (His(6)). The BspA promoter and secretion signal were used in combination with the Rlp cell wall sorting signal to express, export, and covalently anchor the heterologous peptides to the cell wall. Detection of the cell surface protein fusions revealed that Rlp was a significantly better surface display vector than BspA despite having lower cellular levels (0.7 mg per liter for the Rlp fusion compared with 4 mg per liter for the BspA fusion). The mlp promoter and encoded secretion signal were used to express and export large (328-kDa at 10 mg per liter) and small (27-kDa at 0.06 mg per liter) amino-terminal fragments of the Mlp protein fused to the His(6) and CFTR peptides or His(6) peptide, respectively. Therefore, these newly described proteins from L. fermentum BR11 have potential as protein production and targeting vectors.     

Characterization of a Novel LysM Domain from Lactobacillus fermentum Bacteriophage Endolysin and Its Use as an Anchor To Display Heterologous Proteins on the Surfaces of Lactic Acid Bacteria

The endolysin Lyb5, from Lactobacillus fermentum temperate bacteriophage φPYB5, showed a broad lytic spectrum against Gram-positive as well as Gram-negative bacteria. Sequence analysis revealed that the C terminus of the endolysin Lyb5 (Ly5C) contained three putative lysin motif (LysM) repeat regions, implying that Ly5C was involved in bacterial cell wall binding. To investigate the potential of Ly5C for surface display, green fluorescent protein (GFP) was fused to Ly5C at its N or C terminus and the resulting fusion proteins were expressed in Escherichia coli. After being mixed with various cells in vitro, GFP was successfully displayed on the surfaces of Lactococcus lactis, Lactobacillus casei, Lb. brevis, Lb. plantarum, Lb. fermentum, Lb. delbrueckii, Lb. helveticus, and Streptococcus thermophilus cells. Increases in the fluorescence intensities of chemically pretreated L. lactis and Lb. casei cells compared to those of nonpretreated cells suggested that the peptidoglycan was the binding ligand for Ly5C. Moreover, the pH and concentration of sodium chloride were optimized to enhance the binding capacity of GFP-Ly5C, and high-intensity fluorescence of cells was observed under optimal conditions. All results suggested that Ly5C was a novel anchor for constructing a surface display system for lactic acid bacteria (LAB). To demonstrate the applicability of the Ly5C-mediated surface display system, β-galactosidase (β-Gal) from Paenibacillus sp. strain K1, replacing GFP, was functionally displayed on the surfaces of LAB cells via Ly5C. The success in surface display of GFP and β-Gal opened up the feasibility of employing the cell wall anchor of bacteriophage endolysin for surface display in LAB.Surface display of heterologous proteins or peptides on bacteria is potentially important in several areas of biotechnology, including development of live vaccine delivery systems, diagnostics, whole-cell absorbents, and novel biocatalysts (11). Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) have the status of being generally recognized as safe (GRAS), making them certainly more useful in food and medical applications than other bacterial species. The development of cell surface display systems for LAB has recently become one of the most active research areas. Most of the cell surface display systems for LAB reported thus far have made use of the C terminus of a cell wall-anchoring protein via an LPXTG motif (8, 12, 19, 24). This anchoring mechanism requires processing by a sortase for covalent anchoring of the protein to the cell wall peptidoglycan (15). Various anchoring proteins, such as membrane-spanning protein PgsA (16) and S-layer protein (3), have also been exploited for surface display. However, heterologous proteins have been anchored to the producer cells, and the use of genetically modified organisms is less desirable or at least still being debated. Surface display of heterologous proteins on genetically unmodified Gram-positive bacteria has been successfully carried out using the peptidoglycan binding lysin motif (LysM) domain of the major autolysin AcmA of Lactococcus lactis (1, 2, 4, 18, 28).LysM was first discovered in the lysozyme of Bacillus phage φ29 as a C-terminal repeat composed of 44 amino acids separated by 7 amino acids (6). LysM is a common module found in more than 4,000 proteins of both prokaryotes and eukaryotes (6). Many bacterial proteins containing LysM are peptidoglycan hydrolases, such as p60 (20), Sep (26), LytF (31), AcmA (5), and Mur (7). The best-characterized LysM-containing protein is the N-acetylglucosaminidase AcmA of L. lactis subsp. cremoris MG1363. AcmA is the major autolysin and is required for cell separation and cell lysis during the stationary phase of L. lactis (5). It contains three domains: the N-terminal signal peptide, an active domain, and a C-terminal peptidoglycan anchor (cA) which consists of three LysM repeats (22). Several functional proteins, including malaria parasite surface antigen, β-lactamase, α-amylase, and viral capsid proteins, have been noncovalently bound to cell walls of AcmA-producing and non-AcmA-producing L. lactis as well as several other Gram-positive bacteria via cA (4, 17, 18, 23, 25).Endolysins from bacteriophages are cell wall hydrolases involved in cell lysis to release the progeny particles from the host cells (9, 30). Most endolysins lack a signal peptide and are translocated across the membrane by the aid of the holin protein. This protein typically contains an N-terminal catalytic domain and a C-terminal cell wall binding domain (33). The endolysins Ply118 and Ply500 of a Listeria monocytogenes phage share a unique C-terminal cell wall binding domain which establishes specific recognition of and high-affinity binding to bacterial cell wall carbohydrates (13). The temperate bacteriophage φPYB5, isolated from the Lactobacillus fermentum YB5 strain, has a hexagonal head, noncontractile tails, and several fibers and belongs to Bradley''s group B as defined by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (32). The sequence of the endolysin gene lyb5 from the genome of φPYB5 has been deposited in GenBank under accession number {"type":"entrez-nucleotide","attrs":{"text":"EF531306","term_id":"145687952","term_text":"EF531306"}}EF531306, and the gene product has been successfully expressed in Escherichia coli and has shown a broad lytic spectrum (30).Here, we generated a fusion of green fluorescent protein (GFP) to the C terminus of Lyb5 (Ly5C) to construct a surface display system for LAB. The GFP was bound to the surfaces of various LAB cells by the aid of Ly5C. Moreover, by using the system constructed, β-galactosidase (β-Gal) was functionally displayed on the surfaces of LAB cells and retained its activity.     

Identification, characterisation and specificity of a cell wall lytic enzyme from Lactobacillus fermentum BR11

Screening of a genomic library with an antiserum raised against whole Lactobacillus fermentum BR11 cells identified a clone expressing an immunoreactive 37-kDa protein. Analysis of the 3010-bp DNA insert contained within the clone revealed four open reading frames (ORFs). One ORF encodes LysA, a 303 amino acid protein which has up to 35% identity with putative endolysins from prophages Lj928 and Lj965 from Lactobacillus johnsonii and Lp1 and Lp2 from Lactobacillus plantarum as well as with the endolysin of Lactobacillus gasseri bacteriophage Phiadh. The immunoreactive protein was shown to be encoded by a truncated ORF downstream of lysA which has similarity to glutamyl-tRNA synthetases. The N-terminus of LysA has sequence similarity with N-acetylmuramidase catalytic domains while the C-terminus has sequence similarity with putative cell envelope binding bacterial SH3b domains. C-terminal bacterial SH3b domains were identified in the majority of Lactobacillus bacteriophage endolysins. LysA was expressed in Escherichia coli and unusually was found to have a broad bacteriolytic activity range with activity against a number of different Lactobacillus species and against Lactococcus lactis, streptococci and Staphylococcus aureus. It was found that LysA is 2 and 8000 times more active against L. fermentum than L. lactis and Streptococcus pyogenes, respectively.     

BspA (CyuC) in Lactobacillus fermentum BR11 Is a Highly Expressed High-Affinity L-Cystine-Binding Protein

The BspA protein of Lactobacillus fermentum BR11 (BR11) is a cell envelope constituent that is similar to known solute-binding proteins and putative adhesins. BspA is required for L-cystine uptake and oxidative defense and is likely to be an L-cystine-binding protein. The aim of this study was to directly measure L-cystine-BspA binding and BspA expression. De-energized BR11 cells bound radiolabelled L-cystine with a Kd of 0.2 M. A bspA mutant could not bind L-cystine. L-cystine-BR11 binding was unaffected by large excesses of L-glutamine, L-methionine, or collagen, indicating L-cystine specificity. BR11 and the bspA mutant were identical in their abilities to bind L-cysteine, indicating that L-cysteine is not a BspA ligand. BspA expression levels were deduced from radiolabelled L-cystine binding and it was found that there are 1–2 × 10⁵ BspA molecules per cell, and that expression is slightly higher under oxidizing conditions. It is proposed that BspA be renamed CyuC.     

F_(212-489)-3LysM融合蛋白与乳酸乳球菌的体外混合展示

探索C端融合有锚定序列3Lys M的呼吸道合胞病毒F截短蛋白(F212-489),能否通过体外混合展示于乳酸乳球菌MG1363表面。采用PCR方法扩增f212-489及3lys M基因,分别亚克隆至p MD18-T载体,在亚克隆载体中酶切回收上述两片段,插入p ET28a构成p ET28a-f212-489-3lys M,酶切鉴定并测序正确后转化BL21(DE3),经IPTG诱导获得的包涵体蛋白进行溶解、复性,将复性后的F212-489-3Lys M与乳酸乳球菌MG1363体外混合,通过全菌ELISA(enzyme linked immuno sorbent assay)检测融合蛋白吸附菌体的情况。成功构建重组菌p ET28-f212-489-3lys M/BL21(DE3),该菌诱导后F212-489-3Lys M主要以包涵体形式表达,F212-489-3Lys M与MG1363混合后,经全菌ELISA检测,F212-489-3Lys M组OD450远高于对照组,且差异非常显著(P0.01)。证明经大肠杆菌表达的重组蛋白F212-489-3Lys M经体外混合可展示于乳酸乳球菌MG1363表面。     

Purification and Characterization of a Surface Protein from Lactobacillus fermentum 104R That Binds to Porcine Small Intestinal Mucus and Gastric Mucin

An adhesion-promoting protein involved in the binding of Lactobacillus fermentum strain 104R to small intestinal mucus from piglets and to partially purified gastric mucin was isolated and characterized. Spent culture supernatant fluid and bacterial cell wall extracts were fractionated by ammonium sulfate precipitation and gel filtration. The active fraction was purified by affinity chromatography. The adhesion-promoting protein was detected in the fractions by adhesion inhibition and dot blot assays and visualized by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE), sodium dodecyl sulfate-PAGE, and Western blotting with horseradish peroxidase-labeled mucus and mucin. The active fraction was characterized by estimating the relative molecular weight and by assessing the presence of carbohydrates in, and heat sensitivity of, the active region of the adhesion-promoting protein. The purified protein was digested with porcine trypsin, and the peptides were purified in a SMART system. The peptides were tested for adhesion to horseradish peroxidase-labeled mucin by using the dot blot adhesion assay. Peptides which bound mucin were sequenced. It was shown that the purified adhesion-promoting protein on the cell surface of L. fermentum 104R is extractable with 1 M LiCl and low concentrations of lysozyme but not with 0.2 M glycine. The protein could be released to the culture supernatant fluid after 24 h of growth and had affinity for both small intestinal mucus and gastric mucin. In the native state this protein was variable in size, and it had a molecular mass of 29 kDa when denatured. The denatured protein did not contain carbohydrate moieties and was not heat sensitive. Alignment of amino acids of the adhering peptides with sequences deposited in the EMBL data library showed poor homology with previously published sequences. The protein represents an important molecule for development of probiotics.     

Identification and Characterization of MT-1X as a Novel FHL3-Binding Partner

Four and a half LIM domain protein 3 (FHL3) is a member of the FHL protein family that plays roles in the regulation of cell survival, cell adhesion and signal transduction. However, the mechanism of action for FHL3 is not yet clear. The aim of present study was to identify novel binding partner of FHL3 and to explore the underlying mechanism. With the use of yeast two-hybrid screening system, FHL3 was used as the bait to screen human fetal hepatic cDNA library for interacting proteins. Methionine-1X was identified as a novel FHL3 binding partner. The interaction between FHL3 and the full length MT-1X was further confirmed by yeast two-hybrid assay, co-immunoprecipitation and GST pull-down assays. Furthermore,the result demonstrated that MT-1X knockdown promoted the FHL3-induced inhibitory effect on HepG2 cells by regulating FHL3-mediated Smad signaling and involving in the modulation the expression of G2/M phase-related proteins through interaction with FHL3. These findings suggest that functional interactions between FHL3 and MT-1X may provide some clues to the mechanisms of FHL3-regulated cell proliferation.     

Ssp dnaB蛋白质内含子介导的重组人脑钠素的制备

脑钠素(BNP)是临床治疗代偿失调性心衰竭的有效药物。将脑钠素与组氨酸标签(His-tag)以及具有自我剪切功能的Ssp dnaB微型蛋白质内含子进行融合表达。表达产物经Ni-Sepharose亲和层析及体外复性处理后,用CM_纤维素对复性产物进行了浓缩,并通过改变CM-纤维素柱内的pH及温度,诱导Ssp dnaB微型蛋白质内含子的剪切作用,使脑钠素从融合蛋白中释放并与载体蛋白(His-DnaB)分离,再经C4反相高效液相色谱法进一步纯化后,从每升培养液中获得了2.8mg纯度达97%的重组人脑钠素。体外活性测定结果表明,重组人脑钠素对兔胸主动脉条具有显著的血管舒张效应,其EC50为1.94×10-6mg/mL。     

重组融合蛋白EGF-E4orf4多聚体的鉴定及结构分析

目的:确认重组融合蛋白EGF-E4orf4为多聚体及其具有EGFR结合活性。方法:通过凝胶过滤层析、SDS-PAGE和免疫印迹分析重组融合蛋白EGF-E4orf4是否形成聚合物。利用动态光散射、静态光散射和圆二色谱测定EGF-E4orf4的分子半径、分子量和二级结构。应用流式细胞术分析EGF-E4orf4与细胞表面EGFR结合能力。结果:凝胶过滤等方法证实EGF-E4orf4形成了多聚体,光散射实验证明了EGF-E4orf4多聚体的分子量和分子半径分别为1.656×107Da、67.90nm,约为820聚体。圆二色谱表明该聚合体融合蛋白含有大量的β-折叠结构。受体结合实验证明该聚合物具有EGFR结合活性。结论:重组融合蛋白EGF-E4orf4以蛋白多聚体形式存在,可以与EGFR结合。因此,EGF-E4orf4作为一种新型靶向性抗肿瘤药物,具有潜在的临床应用前景。     

两种跨膜蛋白携带myc于细胞表面的能力比较

在细胞表面表达具有某种功能的蛋白后,这些细胞就具备了某些新功能,可以对其进行功能研究和应用.将功能蛋白连接到某些跨膜蛋白的胞外区是实现目的蛋白表达于细胞表面的手段之一.本研究比较了2种跨膜蛋白A2TM和△LNGFR携带外源蛋白-myc于细胞表面的能力.利用重叠PCR法合成的A2TM和△LNGFR基因片段与载体pEF/myc/ER和载体LL3.7进行酶切、连接、转化、鉴定,成功构建了pEF-A2TM、pL-A2TM和pL-LN真核表达载体.利用磷酸钙沉淀法转染293FT细胞,荧光显微镜下观察EGFP的表达、流式细胞术检测myc在细胞表面的表达情况,Western blotting检测myc目的蛋白的表达.pL-A2TM和pL-LN转染293FT细胞36 h后的荧光强度基本相同,表明A2TM和△LNGFR在细胞内表达的强度相似.流式细胞术分析显示,△LNGFR和A2TM均可在细胞表面表达,但A2TM只有在指示蛋白EGFP表达非常高的情况下才能在细胞表面被检测到.Western blotting显示△LNGFR表达量很高,而A2TM没有达到检测水平.结果表明,以糖基化形式存在的△LNGFR比没有糖基化的内源A2TM的表达更稳定,A2TM在表达量低时可能易被细胞内的蛋白酶降解,因而△LNGFR是一种能携带外源蛋白于细胞表面的比较理想的跨膜蛋白.     

Identification and Characterization of Sulfated Carbohydrate-Binding Protein from Lactobacillus reuteri

We previously purified a putative sulfated-galactosylceramide (sulfatide)-binding protein with a molecular weight of 47 kDa from the cell surface of Lactobacillus reuteri JCM1081. The aim of this study was to identify the 47-kDa protein, examine its binding to sulfated glycolipids and mucins, and evaluate its role in bacterial adhesion to mucosal surfaces. By cloning and sequencing analysis, the 47-kDa protein was identified as elongation factor-Tu (EF-Tu). Adhesion properties were examined using 6×Histidine-fused EF-Tu (His₆-EF-Tu). Surface plasmon resonance analysis demonstrated pH-dependent binding of His₆-EF-Tu to sulfated glycolipids, but not to neutral or sialylated glycolipids, suggesting that a sulfated galactose residue was responsible for EF-Tu binding. Furthermore, His₆-EF-Tu was found to bind to porcine gastric mucin (PGM) by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Binding was markedly reduced by sulfatase treatment of PGM and in the presence of acidic and desialylated oligosaccharide fractions containing sulfated carbohydrate residues prepared from PGM, demonstrating that sulfated carbohydrate moieties mediated binding. Histochemical staining revealed similar localization of His₆-EF-Tu and high iron diamine staining in porcine mucosa. These results indicated that EF-Tu bound PGM via sulfated carbohydrate moieties. To characterize the contribution of EF-Tu to the interaction between bacterial cells and PGM, we tested whether anti-EF-Tu antibodies could inhibit the interaction. Binding of L. reuteri JCM1081 to PGM was significantly blocked in a concentration-dependent matter, demonstrating the involvement of EF-Tu in bacterial adhesion. In conclusion, the present results demonstrated, for the first time, that EF-Tu bound sulfated carbohydrate moieties of sulfated glycolipids and sulfomucin, thereby promoting adhesion of L. reuteri to mucosal surfaces.     

Purification,Identification and Functional Analysis of a Novel Immunomodulatory Peptide from Silkworm Pupa Protein

International Journal of Peptide Research and Therapeutics - In this study, we isolated and characterized an immunomodulatory peptide from silkworm (Bombyx mori) pupa protein hydrolysates....     

纤维蛋白肽与低分子量尿激酶原融合蛋白的构建及性质

将人工合成的寡核苷酸片段进行定向连接后, 得到编码纤维蛋白β链N端(β 15～42)多肽的基因片段及连接区片段(linker), 再与低分子量尿激酶原(scuPA-32k) cDNA分子进一步连接后, 得到了Fβ(15～42)/scuPA-32k的融合基因.在大肠杆菌中经过IPTG诱导表达, 经过变性及复性, Zn²⁺螯合层析及Sephacryl S200凝胶层析后, 目的蛋白被纯化.SDS-聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳(PAGE)显示为一条蛋白质纯化条带, 分子质量为35 ku. 经纤维蛋白平板法测定比活为87 000 U/mg.经纤溶酶活化后的融合蛋白与低分子量尿激酶相比,对显色底物S2444酶促动力学性质相似.同时Fβ(15～42)/scuPA-32k具有较高的纤维蛋白的亲和性并能抑制纤维蛋白凝块的形成.     

血纤蛋白粘附肽与低分子量单链尿激酶融合产物活性分析

人工合成了血纤蛋白粘附肽基因,构建了粘附肽与低分子量单链尿激酶ｃＤＮＡ的融合基因,在大肠杆菌中表达了融合基因。融合基因表达产物的抗原性和天然尿激酶相同,并具有尿激酶的溶纤活性和粘附肽的抗纤维蛋白单体聚合的功能。     

Characterization of a Cdc42 Protein Inhibitor and Its Use as a Molecular Probe

Cdc42 plays important roles in cytoskeleton organization, cell cycle progression, signal transduction, and vesicle trafficking. Overactive Cdc42 has been implicated in the pathology of cancers, immune diseases, and neuronal disorders. Therefore, Cdc42 inhibitors would be useful in probing molecular pathways and could have therapeutic potential. Previous inhibitors have lacked selectivity and trended toward toxicity. We report here the characterization of a Cdc42-selective guanine nucleotide binding lead inhibitor that was identified by high throughput screening. A second active analog was identified via structure-activity relationship studies. The compounds demonstrated excellent selectivity with no inhibition toward Rho and Rac in the same GTPase family. Biochemical characterization showed that the compounds act as noncompetitive allosteric inhibitors. When tested in cellular assays, the lead compound inhibited Cdc42-related filopodia formation and cell migration. The lead compound was also used to clarify the involvement of Cdc42 in the Sin Nombre virus internalization and the signaling pathway of integrin VLA-4. Together, these data present the characterization of a novel Cdc42-selective allosteric inhibitor and a related analog, the use of which will facilitate drug development targeting Cdc42-related diseases and molecular pathway studies that involve GTPases.     

Characterization of a cryptic plasmid from Lactobacillus fermentum KC5b and its use for constructing a stable Lactobacillus cloning vector

Lactobacillus fermentum KC5b, a strain originally isolated from the human vagina, contains a cryptic plasmid pKC5b. The sequence and genetic organization of the 4392-bp plasmid were determined. It contains two convergently oriented replicons, which are homologous to each other and to the stable replicon of the Enterococcus faecium plasmid pMBB1. The two replicons of pKC5b were used either individually or together to construct Lactobacillus-Escherichia coli shuttle plasmids. Only the plasmid pSP1 that carried both replicons transformed lactobacilli, suggesting a complementary function between the two replicons. Since the replicons had a high homology to those of other plasmids that replicate via a theta-like mechanism and no detectable single-stranded intermediates were found for the plasmid, it is possible that pKC5b may replicate via a theta-like mechanism. The new shuttle plasmid pSP1 has been transformed and stably maintained in several Lactobacillus strains. As an initial application, pSP1 was used to clone the S-layer protein gene (slpA) of Lactobacillus acidophilus ATCC 4356 into a heterologous vaginal Lactobacillus strain and achieved surface-bound expression of the protein.