A potent novel anti-HIV protein from the cultured cyanobacterium Scytonema varium

A new anti-HIV protein, scytovirin, was isolated from aqueous extracts of the cultured cyanobacterium Scytonema varium. The protein displayed potent anticytopathic activity against laboratory strains and primary isolates of HIV-1 with EC50 values ranging from 0.3 to 22 nM. Scytovirin binds to viral coat proteins gp120, gp160, and gp41 but not to cellular receptor CD4 or other tested proteins. This unique protein consists of a single 95-amino acid chain with significant internal sequence duplication and 10 cysteines forming five intrachain disulfide bonds.     

Expression, purification, and characterization of recombinant cyanovirin-N for vaginal anti-HIV microbicide development

Cyanovirin-N (CV-N) is a prokaryotic protein under development as a topical anti-HIV microbicide, an urgent and necessary approach to prevent HIV transmission in at-risk populations worldwide. We have expressed recombinant CV-N as inclusion bodies in the cytoplasm of Escherichia coli. A purification scheme has been developed that exploits the physicochemical properties of this protein, in particular its stability in a harsh inclusion body purification scheme. Under the conditions developed, this system yields 140 mg of highly purified CV-N per liter of high-density cell culture, which represents a 14-fold increase over the best recombinant CV-N yield reported to date. This purification scheme results in monomeric CV-N as analyzed by SDS-PAGE, isoelectric focusing, and reverse phase- and size exclusion-HPLC. This recombinantly expressed and refolded CV-N binds to gp120 with nanomolar affinity and retains its potent anti-HIV activities in cell-based assays. The expression and purification system described herein provides a better means for the mass production of CV-N for further microbicide development.     

Griffithsin, a potent HIV entry inhibitor, is an excellent candidate for anti-HIV microbicide

BACKGROUND: The predominant mode of HIV-1 transmission is by heterosexual contact. The cervical/vaginal mucosa is the main port of HIV entry in women. A safe and effective topical microbicide against HIV is urgently needed to prevent sexual transmission. Hence, we evaluated griffithsin (GRFT), a 12.7 kDa carbohydrate-binding protein, both native and recombinant GRFT, potently inhibited both CXCR4-and CCR5-tropic HIV infection and transmission in vitro. METHODS: The antiviral efficacy of native and recombinant GRFT against CXCR4-and CCR5-tropic HIV and SHIV strains and SIVmac251 was evaluated by in vitro assays. We also evaluated the time course of antiviral activity and stability of GRFT in cervical/vaginal lavage as a function of pH 4-8. RESULTS: Griffithsin blocked CXCR4-and CCR5-tropic viruses at less than 1 nm concentrations and exhibited a high potency. GRFT was stable in cervical/vaginal lavage fluid and maintained a similar potency of anti-HIV activity. GRFT is not only a highly potent HIV entry inhibitor, but also prevents cell fusion and cell-to-cell transmission of HIV. CONCLUSIONS: The in vitro efficacy of GRFT revealed low cytotoxicity, high potency, rapid onset of antiviral activity and long-term stability in cervical/vaginal lavage. GRFT is an excellent candidate for anti-HIV microbicide development.     

Novel fold and carbohydrate specificity of the potent anti-HIV cyanobacterial lectin from Oscillatoria agardhii

Oscillatoria agardhii agglutinin (OAA) is a recently discovered cyanobacterial lectin that exhibits potent anti-HIV activity. Up to now, only its primary structure and carbohydrate binding data have been available. To elucidate the structural basis for the antiviral mechanism of OAA, we determined the structure of this lectin by x-ray crystallography at 1.2 Å resolution and mapped the specific carbohydrate recognition sites of OAA by NMR spectroscopy. The overall architecture of OAA comprises 10 β-strands that fold into a single, compact, β-barrel-like domain, creating a unique topology compared with all known protein structures in the Protein Data Bank. OAA sugar binding was tested against Man-9 and various disaccharide components of Man-9. Two symmetric carbohydrate-binding sites were located on the protein, and a preference for Manα(1–6)Man-linked sugars was found. Altogether, our structural results explain the antiviral activity OAA and add to the growing body of knowledge about antiviral lectins.     

Improving the large scale purification of the HIV microbicide,griffithsin

Background

Griffithsin is a broad spectrum antiviral lectin that inhibits viral entry and maturation processes through binding clusters of oligomannose glycans on viral envelope glycoproteins. An efficient, scaleable manufacturing process for griffithsin active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) is essential for particularly cost-sensitive products such as griffithsin -based topical microbicides for HIV-1 prevention in resource poor settings. Our previously published purification method used ceramic filtration followed by two chromatography steps, resulting in a protein recovery of 30%. Our objective was to develop a scalable purification method for griffithsin expressed in Nicotiana benthamiana plants that would increase yield, reduce production costs, and simplify manufacturing techniques. Considering the future need to transfer griffithsin manufacturing technology to resource poor areas, we chose to focus modifying the purification process, paying particular attention to introducing simple, low-cost, and scalable procedures such as use of temperature, pH, ion concentration, and filtration to enhance product recovery.

Results

We achieved >99% pure griffithsin API by generating the initial green juice extract in pH 4 buffer, heating the extract to 55°C, incubating overnight with a bentonite MgCl₂ mixture, and final purification with Capto™ multimodal chromatography. Griffithsin extracted with this protocol maintains activity comparable to griffithsin purified by the previously published method and we are able to recover a substantially higher yield: 88 ± 5% of griffithsin from the initial extract. The method was scaled to produce gram quantities of griffithsin with high yields, low endotoxin levels, and low purification costs maintained.

Conclusions

The methodology developed to purify griffithsin introduces and develops multiple tools for purification of recombinant proteins from plants at an industrial scale. These tools allow for robust cost-effective production and purification of griffithsin. The methodology can be readily scaled to the bench top or industry and process components can be used for purification of additional proteins based on biophysical characteristics.     

SPC3, an anti-HIV peptide construct derived from the viral envelope,binds and enters HIV target cells

SPC₃ is a peptide construct (eight branches of the GPGRAF motif) derived from the consensus sequence present at the apex of the third variable domain of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) envelope (Env). It presents a potent anti-HIV activity and is currently tested in phase II clinical trials (FDA protocol 257A). Its mode of action remains unclear. It was thought that SPC₃ exerts its effect both during HIV interaction with CD4⁺ cells but also through interference either with a post-binding event or with Env processing. Accordingly, SPC₃ was supposed to be able to bind and to enter CD4⁺ cells. In this work, we addressed these points. SPC₃ was found to interact with CD4⁺ cell membrane with a K_0.5 value in the range of 500 nm . The binding of SPC₃ to CD4⁺ cells involves its interaction with a cell membrane associated protein which is pronase sensitive and different from CD4. This interaction was similar from 2 to 37°C. The maximum binding occurred at acidic pH whereas the interaction was inhibited in alkaline conditions. We observed also that SPC₃ was internalized rapidly into the cells—the maximal intracell amount was reached within 30 min—where it remained stable for at least 24 h. Altogether, these data suggest that SPC₃ can exert its antiviral activity via interference with events occurring at the cell surface but also into the target cell. © 1998 European Peptide Society and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

牛抗菌肽Bac7-Bac5融合基因在大肠杆菌中的过表达，纯化及抑菌活性

牛抗菌肽Bac7和Bac5是一种线性阳离子小分子多肽,在机体天然免疫和获得性免疫中都发挥着重要作用。本研究根据Gen bank中公布的牛抗菌肽bac7和bac5成熟肽基因序列,人工合成了融合基因Bac7-Bac5片段,克隆于原核表达载体pET32(a+)中构建了重组表达载体（pET-B7-B5）,将其转化于E coli BL21(DE3) 中实现了重组蛋白B7-B5（rB7-B5）的过表达,表达的rB7-B5以包涵体形式存在,rB7-B5表达量约占细菌总蛋白的36.6％,分子量大小为33kD,与预测大小相符。以经Ni亲和层析柱纯化和多步透析法复性的rB7-B5,对猪胸膜肺炎放线杆菌和耐药性大肠杆菌具有很好的抑菌活性,本研究为新型抗菌制剂的研制和开发奠定了基础。     

Occurrence and identification of UDP-N-acetylmuramyl-pentapeptide from the cyanobacterium Anabaena cylindrica

UDP-N-acetylmuramyl-pentapeptide (UDP-MurNAc-pentapeptide) is well known to be a key intermediate of bacterial peptidoglycan biosynthesis. We first detected the occurrence of UDP-MurNAc-pentapeptide in the cyanobacterium Anabaena cylindrica (NIES-19), and identified the structure of this pentapeptide by two-dimensional 1H-1H and 1H-13C NMR correlation experiments and mass spectra.     

Targeting to the HIV-1 RRE of the influenza virus NS1 protein effector domain as a potent, specific anti-HIV agent

The Rev axis of HIV autoregulation is one of two critical viral regulatory pathways required for expression of viral genomic and mRNA and for replication. Consequently it is an attractive therapeutic target. Previous studies have investigated the anti-HIV efficacy of targeting to the RRE (the viral RNA target sequence of the Rev axis) a trans-dominant negative inhibitor mutant Rev, M10. In this study we have fused a portion of the influenza virus NS1 protein (which normally inhibits polyA(+) mRNA transport and splicing) to the Rev M10 gene while deleting the NS1 poly(A) binding region. The resulting chimera demonstrates specific and enhanced inhibition of viral-RRE-containing RNA expression.     

Rapid, high-throughput purification of HIV-1 integrase using microtiter plate technology

The human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) integrase (IN) catalyzes the insertion of the retroviral genome into the chromosome of an infected host cell. HIV-1 IN was expressed as a N-terminal hexa-histidine fusion in Escherichia coli. A high-throughput purification strategy was developed using denaturing methods for the initial protein extraction, followed by a one-step nickel-chelating chromatography purification and step-wise refolding. IN was routinely greater than 90% pure with yields exceeding 14 microg of purified IN per ml of E. coli culture. In vitro 3' processing and strand transfer assays showed the enzyme preparations to be highly active. The specific activity of the purified IN was 2.65 pmol/h/microg IN, which is very similar to the activity of IN routinely produced by large-scale column chromatographic methods. This high-throughput platform should be of general utility to those interested in defining the structure-function relationship of proteins and enzymes.     

Primary structure and carbohydrate binding specificity of a potent anti-HIV lectin isolated from the filamentous cyanobacterium Oscillatoria agardhii

The primary structure of a lectin, designated Oscillatoria agardhii agglutinin (OAA), isolated from the freshwater cyanobacterium O. agardhii NIES-204 was determined by the combination of Edman degradation and electron spray ionization-mass spectrometry. OAA is a polypeptide (Mr 13,925) consisting of two tandem repeats. Interestingly, each repeat sequence of OAA showed a high degree of similarity to those of a myxobacterium, Myxococcus xanthus hemagglutinin, and a marine red alga Eucheuma serra lectin. A systematic binding assay with pyridylaminated oligosaccharides revealed that OAA exclusively binds to high mannose (HM)-type N-glycans but not to other N-glycans, including complex types, hybrid types, and the pentasaccharide core or oligosaccharides from glycolipids. OAA did not interact with any of free mono- and oligomannoses that are constituents of the branched oligomannosides. These results suggest that the core disaccharide, GlcNAc-GlcNAc, is also essential for binding to OAA. The binding activity of OAA to HM type N-glycans was dramatically decreased when alpha1-2 Man was attached to alpha1-3 Man branched from the alpha1-6 Man of the pentasaccharide core. This specificity of OAA for HM-type oligosaccharides is distinct from other HM-binding lectins. Kinetic analysis with an HM heptasaccharide revealed that OAA possesses two carbohydrate binding sites per molecule, with an association constant of 2.41x10(8) m-1. Furthermore, OAA potently inhibits human immunodeficiency virus replication in MT-4 cells (EC50=44.5 nm). Thus, we have found a novel lectin family sharing similar structure and carbohydrate binding specificity among bacteria, cyanobacteria, and marine algae.     

家蝇防御素在大肠杆菌中的表达、纯化与抗体制备

家蝇防御素是从家蝇中克隆得到的1种抗菌肽。为了进一步研究家蝇防御素的功能和制备特异性抗体,采用大肠杆菌表达外源蛋白的方法, 进行了家蝇防御素原核表达的研究。根据克隆到的家蝇防御素基因(Mdde) 的cDNA序列, 设计特异性引物, PCR 扩增成熟肽的cDNA片段, 将成熟肽序列重组到表达载体pGEX 4T 1中, 构建m Mdde/pGEX 4T 1重组表达载体, 在大肠杆菌BL21 中诱导表达, 重组表达的融合蛋白GST Mdde占菌体总蛋白的33 4%。纯化得到GST Mdde后, 再用凝血酶将其从特定位点切开, 得到表达的m Mdde。液体抑菌实验结果初步表明, 表达的融合蛋白GST Mdde对细菌生长有一定的抑制作用。利用纯化的GST Mdde融合蛋白, 制备了抗血清。     

鹦鹉热嗜衣原体蛋白酶样活性因子(CPAF)原核表达与纯化

应用分子生物学技术,选择鹦鹉热嗜衣原体(Chlamydophila psittaci,C.psittaci,Cps)6BC株的CPAF蛋白的免疫优势区基因,进行构建pGEX6p-2/CPAFm重组质粒与重组菌,使用IPTG诱导重组蛋白的表达并分析诱导温度、诱导剂剂量及诱导时间对蛋白表达的影响.重组蛋白以GST琼脂糖凝胶...     

Overexpression and reconstitution of a Rieske iron-sulfur protein from the cyanobacterium Synechocystis PCC 6803

Chloroplast cyt b6f complexes as well as mitochondrial and bacterial cyt bc1 complexes contain a high potential Rieske iron-sulfur protein which is essential for their function. To characterise the isolated Rieske protein from the mesophilic cyanobacterium Synechocystis PCC6803 we cloned the encoding gene into an expression vector and overexpressed the protein in E. coli. In cells overexpressing the protein no typical Rieske type EPR signal was detected neither in membranes nor in inclusion bodies where the majority of the protein was deposited. The inclusion bodies were isolated from the E. coli cells and denaturated with 8 M urea. With a single anion exchange chromatographic step a pure protein could be obtained which was used for further experiments. The NifS like protein IscS was recently reported to mediate the incorporation of iron-sulfur clusters into ferredoxin in vitro. We used the recombinant IscS protein for the incorporation of the cluster into the folded Rieske apoprotein. Spectroscopic characterisation of the resultant protein by CD and EPR spectroscopy showed the presence of a typical Rieske iron-sulfur centre.     

Molecular cloning and characterisation of a novel xanthine oxidase from Cellulosimicrobium cellulans ATCC21606

Xanthine oxidase (XOD) catalyses the oxidation of hypoxanthine into xanthine and xanthine into uric acid. The enzyme plays a key role in the purine metabolic pathway. Despite the presence of different XODs in prokaryotes, the functional and structural knowledge of prokaryotic XODs remain limited (compared with their well-known eukaryotic counterparts), thereby hindering their biochemical analysis and industrial application. Using genetic and biochemical analyses, we identified and characterised recombinant XOD (CcXOD_AB) from Cellulosimicrobium cellulans ATCC21606. Bioinformatics analysis suggests that CcXOD_AB shares low amino acid sequence identities with other XODs. The purified enzyme exhibits the maximum activity at 55 °C and pH 8.0. In addition, CcXOD_AB exhibits moderate thermostability and retains 80.65 % of the original activity after 30 min of incubation at 60 °C. Ca^{2 +} has a slight inhibitory effect, whereas Co^{2 +} and Mn^{2 +} have a strong inhibitory effect on XOD_AB activity. In particular, low Ba²⁺ and Mg^{2 +} concentrations have no effect, whereas high Mg^{2 +} (≥10 mM) and Ba²⁺ (≥2 mM) concentrations show an inhibitory effect on enzyme activity. The K_m and V_max values for xanthine are 131.29 ± 11.09 μmol•L⁻¹ and 15.23 ± 0.65 μmol•L^-1 min⁻¹, respectively. Results indicate that CcXOD_AB is a novel enzyme with potential industrial application.     

Expression, purification, and activities of full-length and truncated versions of the integral membrane protein Vpu from HIV-1

Vpu is an 81-residue accessory protein of HIV-1. Because it is a membrane protein, it presents substantial technical challenges for the characterization of its structure and function, which are of considerable interest because the protein enhances the release of new virus particles from cells infected with HIV-1 and induces the intracellular degradation of the CD4 receptor protein. The Vpu-mediated enhancement of the virus release rate from HIV-1-infected cells is correlated with the expression of an ion channel activity associated with the transmembrane hydrophobic helical domain. Vpu-induced CD4 degradation and, to a lesser extent, enhancement of particle release are both dependent on the phosphorylation of two highly conserved serine residues in the cytoplasmic domain of Vpu. To define the minimal folding units of Vpu and to identify their activities, we prepared three truncated forms of Vpu and compared their structural and functional properties to those of full-length Vpu (residues 2-81). Vpu(2-37) encompasses the N-terminal transmembrane alpha-helix; Vpu(2-51) spans the N-terminal transmembrane helix and the first cytoplasmic alpha-helix; Vpu(28-81) includes the entire cytoplasmic domain containing the two C-terminal amphipathic alpha-helices without the transmembrane helix. Uniformly isotopically labeled samples of the polypeptides derived from Vpu were prepared by expression of fusion proteins in E. coli and were studied in the model membrane environments of lipid micelles by solution NMR spectroscopy and oriented lipid bilayers by solid-state NMR spectroscopy. The assignment of backbone resonances enabled the secondary structure of the constructs corresponding to the transmembrane and the cytoplasmic domains of Vpu to be defined in micelle samples by solution NMR spectroscopy. Solid-state NMR spectra of the polypeptides in oriented lipid bilayers demonstrated that the topology of the domains is retained in the truncated polypeptides. The biological activities of the constructs of Vpu were evaluated. The ion channel activity is confined to the transmembrane alpha-helix. The C-terminal alpha-helices modulate or promote the oligomerization of Vpu in the membrane and stabilize the conductive state of the channel, in addition to their involvement in CD4 degradation.     

Overexpression,purification, and characterization of recombinant Ca-ATPase regulators for high-resolution solution and solid-state NMR studies

Phospholamban (PLB) and Sarcolipin (SLN) are integral membrane proteins that regulate muscle contractility via direct interaction with the Ca-ATPase in cardiac and skeletal muscle, respectively. The molecular details of these protein-protein interactions are as yet undetermined. Solution and solid-state NMR spectroscopies have proven to be effective tools for deciphering such regulatory mechanisms to a high degree of resolution; however, large quantities of pure recombinant protein are required for these studies. Thus, recombinant PLB and SLN production in Escherichia coli was optimized for use in NMR experiments. Fusions of PLB and SLN to maltose binding protein (MBP) were constructed and optimal conditions for protein expression and purification were screened. This facilitated the large-scale production of highly pure protein. To confirm their functionality, the biological activities of recombinant PLB and SLN were compared to those of their synthetic counterparts. The regulation of Ca-ATPase activity by recombinant PLB and SLN was indistinguishable from the regulation by synthetic proteins, demonstrating the functional integrity of the recombinant constructs and ensuring the biological relevance of our future structural studies. Finally, NMR spectroscopic conditions were established and optimized for use in investigations of the mechanism of Ca-ATPase regulation by PLB and SLN.