SARS病毒N蛋白、E蛋白在大肠杆菌中的表达与鉴定

本研究通过RT-PCR反应获得了SARS冠状病毒核衣壳蛋白(N)和膜蛋白(E)基因,将n基因和e基因克 隆到大肠杆菌表达载体pGEX-KG上,并在大肠杆菌中以可溶形式获得高效表达,表达产物经亲和层析纯化。重 组蛋白N与SARS病毒抗体呈现特异性的反应,为进一步研究SARS病毒感染免疫应答机制和早期诊断奠定基础     

SARS病毒核衣壳蛋白、膜蛋白在大肠杆菌中的高效表达和纯化

通过反转录PCR获得了SARS冠状病毒核衣壳蛋白(N)和膜蛋白(M)基因,其序列分析结果与加拿大多伦多株完全一致。将M基因和N基因克隆到大肠杆菌表达载体pET22b和pBV222上,并在大肠杆菌中以包涵体及可溶形式获得高效表达。通过离子交换、金属螯合层析纯化获得电泳纯制品。所获得的核衣壳蛋白具有良好的抗原性,可用于抗SARS抗体检测及亚单位疫苗研究。     

重组SARS病毒N蛋白可与SARS患者血清发生特异反应

N蛋白是SARS CoV病毒基因组编码病毒核衣壳蛋白 ,它不同于现已知的任何蛋白质 .对它的深入研究对揭示SARS -CoV的致病机理和疫苗及诊断试剂的研制有重要意义 .灭活的病毒经逆转录后 ,用根据已知的病毒的基因组序列所设计的引物PCR扩增N蛋白基因 .扩增出的基因经序列分析表明和已知的序列完全一致 ,共编码 4 2 2个氨基酸残基 .将N蛋白基因克隆入原核表达载体pET2 8a构建成表达质粒pET2 8a N .表达质粒转化大肠杆菌BL2 1 (DE3) ,并用IPTG诱导后 ,获得了高表达N蛋白的重组菌株 .目的蛋白经一步金属离子螯合层析纯化后获得了纯度超过 90 %的样品 .Western印迹及ELISA分析表明 ,SARS患者体内有特异性的针对N蛋白的抗体 ,并具有较高的特异性 .这为临床上诊断SARS患者提供了新方法 ,并为SARS疫苗的研制提供了研究思路     

SARS病毒N蛋白的原核重组载体的构建和表达

将SARS病毒N蛋白的基因克隆到原核表达载体 pGEX KG上 ,使其在大肠杆菌DH5α菌株中以与GST蛋白融合的形式表达。采用GluthathionSepharose 4B亲和层析柱对融合蛋白进行纯化 ,并用SDS PAGE和WesternBlot对表达的融合蛋白进行分析鉴定。结果表明 ,本实验成功地构建了高效表达SARS病毒N蛋白的重组表达载体 ,所获得的融合蛋白可以直接用于SARS抗体的检测 ,可用于SARS的早期诊断及SARS疫苗的研究。     

SARS-CoV核衣壳蛋白的表达与免疫研究

依据GenBank中SARS基因组序列,采用人工合成的方法合成编码SARS病毒N蛋白的全基因(1296bp)序 列,再与设计的CTL特异性表位基因(195bp)重组后,克隆到pET-28a( )质粒中,重组质粒转化到大肠杆菌BL21 (DE3)中诱导表达。利用SARS患者恢复期阳性血清,鉴定表达蛋白。进一步纯化后免疫马,并用ELISA方法检 测血清抗体效价。结果显示SDS-PAGE表明所表达的蛋白相对分子质量约为55000 Da,与预计大小相符;Western blot显示表达的蛋白具有良好的抗原性和特异性。对表达蛋白形成的包涵体进行洗涤,得到的蛋白纯度可达到 70．1％。切胶纯化免疫马后,获得的抗SARS抗体滴度达1:2560。为亚单位疫苗研制和精制抗SARS抗体免疫制 剂提供基础。     

SARS-CoV核衣壳蛋白的表达与免疫研究

依据GenBank中SARS基因组序列,采用人工合成的方法合成编码SARS病毒N蛋白的全基因(1296bp)序列,再与设计的CTL特异性表位基因(195bp)重组后,克隆到pET-28a(+)质粒中,重组质粒转化到大肠杆菌BL21(DE3)中诱导表达.利用SARS患者恢复期阳性血清,鉴定表达蛋白.进一步纯化后免疫马,并用ELISA方法检测血清抗体效价.结果显示SDS-PAGE表明所表达的蛋白相对分子质量约为55000 Da,与预计大小相符;Westernblot显示表达的蛋白具有良好的抗原性和特异性.对表达蛋白形成的包涵体进行洗涤,得到的蛋白纯度可达到70.1%.切胶纯化免疫马后,获得的抗SARS抗体滴度达12560.为亚单位疫苗研制和精制抗SARS抗体免疫制剂提供基础.     

SARS冠状病毒N蛋白基因的克隆、表达及活性测定

利用PCR基因扩增法,以SARS冠状病毒全基因质粒为模板,获得N蛋白相应抗原基因,构建了表达载体pBV220／SARS-N,并在E．coli中获得高效表达。用纯化后的N蛋白抗原包被测定板,通过间接ELISA法对阴阳性血清进行活性测定,结果表明,在46份阳性血中有41份被测出,检出率为89．13％。本研究克隆并表达了SARS冠状病毒N蛋白,为进一步研制SARS病人抗体检测试剂和SARS疫苗奠定了基础。     

SARS病毒S和N蛋白抗原表位的基因合成、融合表达及纯化鉴定

通过计算机分析SARS病毒N蛋白和S蛋白的氨基酸序列 ,初步确定含强抗原表位的N蛋白片段和S蛋白片段 ,共 5 6 0个氨基酸。选择真核和原核生物均偏爱的密码子 ,化学合成全新的SARS病毒N蛋白片段和S蛋白片段的基因序列 ,利用基因工程技术将两个基因片段串联 ,克隆至质粒Pet2 8a(+)内的NcoⅠ/EcoRⅠ位点 ,表达S蛋白片段和N蛋白片段的融合蛋白。将重组质粒转化大肠杆菌BL21(DE3) ,筛选获得了高效表达SARS病毒S蛋白片段和N蛋白片段融合蛋白的工程菌 ,表达的SARS病毒的融合蛋白约占菌体蛋白总量的 30 %左右 ,部分以可溶性形式存在。经离子交换柱和反相高压液相纯化获得了表达的融合蛋白 ,经初步鉴定 ,显示该融合蛋白有较好的抗原性和特异性.     

SARS冠状病毒结构蛋白在血清学诊断中潜在应用价值的比较

为了确定特异的SARS抗体检测抗原,比较了SARS冠状病毒(SARS-CoV)主要结构蛋白与SARS患者血清的反应性。从SARS死亡患者的肺组织提取的总RNA为模板,用RT-PCR技术分别扩增S、N、M和E4种结构蛋白基因,对3种S截短突变体和N、M、E的重组蛋白在大肠杆菌中进行表达。以表达的蛋白为抗原,应用Western blot跟踪检测11例SARS患者血清54份。结果显示：SARS—CoV的重组N蛋白和s蛋白有很强的抗原性,s蛋白的3个区段的抗原性强弱存在差异,S3抗原性强于S1和s2;在患病第1周、2周、3周及3周以上,N蛋白和s3蛋白抗体检出率分别为40％、65。2％、100％、100％和40％、61％、76.2％、100％;提示SARS-CoV重组N蛋白和S3蛋白在SARS的血清学诊断中有一定的应用价值。     

SARS-CoV N蛋白与病毒mRNA相互作用的初步研究

SARS冠状病毒(SARS-CoV)是一种新型的冠状病毒,其基因组大小约为30,000 nt,为单股正链RNA.病毒基因中的1-72个核甘酸为前导序列.核衣壳(Nucleocapsid,N)蛋白是冠状病毒的主要结构蛋白,它在病毒基因转录,翻译以及病毒颗粒包装中起重要作用.在本研究中,我们通过PCR的方法从SARS-CoV cDNA中克隆N基因,将基因克隆到大肠杆菌表达载体中,经表达纯化获得大量重组蛋白,通过亲和层析和凝胶过滤层析获得高纯度的N蛋白.同时构建前导RNA的转录模板,经体外转录得到地高辛标记的RNA.使用Northwestern分析技术,我们证实纯化的N蛋白在体外可以与RNA发生特异性的结合.N蛋白与病毒RNA的结合特性及其在病毒生活周期中的所起作用的初步研究,为下一步设计出有效的阻断病毒周期从而达到抗病毒目的的药物或疫苗奠定了基础.     

A review of visualisations of protein fold networks and their relationship with sequence and function

Proteins form arguably the most significant link between genotype and phenotype. Understanding the relationship between protein sequence and structure, and applying this knowledge to predict function, is difficult. One way to investigate these relationships is by considering the space of protein folds and how one might move from fold to fold through similarity, or potential evolutionary relationships. The many individual characterisations of fold space presented in the literature can tell us a lot about how well the current Protein Data Bank represents protein fold space, how convergence and divergence may affect protein evolution, how proteins affect the whole of which they are part, and how proteins themselves function. A synthesis of these different approaches and viewpoints seems the most likely way to further our knowledge of protein structure evolution and thus, facilitate improved protein structure design and prediction.     

Weak protein interactions and pH- and temperature-dependent aggregation of human Fc1

The Fc (fragment crystallizable) is a common structural region in immunoglobulin gamma (IgG) proteins, IgG-based multi-specific platforms, and Fc-fusion platform technologies. Changes in conformational stability, protein-protein interactions, and aggregation of NS0-produced human Fc1 were quantified experimentally as a function of pH (4 to 6) and temperature (30 to 77°C), using a combination of differential scanning calorimetry, laser light scattering, size-exclusion chromatography, and capillary electrophoresis. The Fc1 was O-glycosylated at position 3 (threonine), and confirmed to correspond to the intact IgG1 by comparison with Fc1 produced by cleavage of the parent IgG1. Changing the pH caused large effects for thermal unfolding transitions, but it caused surprisingly smaller effects for electrostatic protein-protein interactions. The aggregation behavior was qualitatively similar across different solution conditions, with soluble dimers and larger oligomers formed in most cases. Aggregation rates spanned approximately 5 orders of magnitude and could be divided into 2 regimes: (i) Arrhenius, unfolding-limited aggregation at temperatures near or above the midpoint-unfolding temperature of the C_H2 domain; (ii) a non-Arrhenius regime at lower temperatures, presumably as a result of the temperature dependence of the unfolding enthalpy for the C_H2 domain. The non-Arrhenius regime was most pronounced for lower temperatures. Together with the weak protein-protein repulsions, these highlight challenges that are expected for maintaining long-term stability of biotechnology products that are based on human Fc constructs.     

蛋白质二硫键异构酶相关蛋白A的表达及性质的研究

克隆了Aspergillus niger T21中的蛋白质二硫键异构酶相关蛋白A（PRPA）基因,并将它插入pET23b表达载体。在E. coli中表达时,PRPA占菌体总蛋白的34%。经过超声破细胞、硫酸铵分级沉淀和离子交换层析获得了纯度大于90%的重组蛋白。PRPA有二硫键异构酶活性。在PRPA存在下,变性和还原的溶菌酶复性率和复性速度降低,电泳结果表明溶菌酶聚集增多。荧光结果表明PRPA表面有较多的疏水基团。     

A large scale test of computational protein design: folding and stability of nine completely redesigned globular proteins

A previously developed computer program for protein design, RosettaDesign, was used to predict low free energy sequences for nine naturally occurring protein backbones. RosettaDesign had no knowledge of the naturally occurring sequences and on average 65% of the residues in the designed sequences differ from wild-type. Synthetic genes for ten completely redesigned proteins were generated, and the proteins were expressed, purified, and then characterized using circular dichroism, chemical and temperature denaturation and NMR experiments. Although high-resolution structures have not yet been determined, eight of these proteins appear to be folded and their circular dichroism spectra are similar to those of their wild-type counterparts. Six of the proteins have stabilities equal to or up to 7kcal/mol greater than their wild-type counterparts, and four of the proteins have NMR spectra consistent with a well-packed, rigid structure. These encouraging results indicate that the computational protein design methods can, with significant reliability, identify amino acid sequences compatible with a target protein backbone.     

Human dihydrofolate reductase and thymidylate synthase form a complex in vitro and co-localize in normal and cancer cells

Enzymes involved in thymidylate biosynthesis, thymidylate synthase (TS), and dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) are well-known targets in cancer chemotherapy. In this study, we demonstrated for the first time, that human TS and DHFR form a strong complex in vitro and co-localize in human normal and colon cancer cell cytoplasm and nucleus. Treatment of cancer cells with methotrexate or 5-fluorouracil did not affect the distribution of either enzyme within the cells. However, 5-FU, but not MTX, lowered the presence of DHFR-TS complex in the nucleus by 2.5-fold. The results may suggest the sequestering of TS by FdUMP in the cytoplasm and thereby affecting the translocation of DHFR-TS complex to the nucleus. Providing a strong likelihood of DHFR-TS complex formation in vivo, the latter complex is a potential new drug target in cancer therapy. In this paper, known 3D structures of human TS and human DHFR, and some protozoan bifunctional DHFR-TS structures as templates, are used to build an in silico model of human DHFR–TS complex structure, consisting of one TS dimer and two DHFR monomers. This complex structure may serve as an initial 3D drug target model for prospective inhibitors targeting interfaces between the DHFR and TS enzymes.     

Weak protein interactions and pH- and temperature-dependent aggregation of human Fc1

The Fc (fragment crystallizable) is a common structural region in immunoglobulin gamma (IgG) proteins, IgG-based multi-specific platforms, and Fc-fusion platform technologies. Changes in conformational stability, protein-protein interactions, and aggregation of NS0-produced human Fc1 were quantified experimentally as a function of pH (4 to 6) and temperature (30 to 77°C), using a combination of differential scanning calorimetry, laser light scattering, size-exclusion chromatography, and capillary electrophoresis. The Fc1 was O-glycosylated at position 3 (threonine), and confirmed to correspond to the intact IgG1 by comparison with Fc1 produced by cleavage of the parent IgG1. Changing the pH caused large effects for thermal unfolding transitions, but it caused surprisingly smaller effects for electrostatic protein-protein interactions. The aggregation behavior was qualitatively similar across different solution conditions, with soluble dimers and larger oligomers formed in most cases. Aggregation rates spanned approximately 5 orders of magnitude and could be divided into 2 regimes: (i) Arrhenius, unfolding-limited aggregation at temperatures near or above the midpoint-unfolding temperature of the C_H2 domain; (ii) a non-Arrhenius regime at lower temperatures, presumably as a result of the temperature dependence of the unfolding enthalpy for the C_H2 domain. The non-Arrhenius regime was most pronounced for lower temperatures. Together with the weak protein-protein repulsions, these highlight challenges that are expected for maintaining long-term stability of biotechnology products that are based on human Fc constructs.     

Characterization of the impact of alternative splicing on protein dynamics: the cases of glutathione S-transferase and ectodysplasin-A isoforms

Recent studies have shown how alternative splicing (AS), the process by which eukaryotic genes express more than one product, affects protein sequence and structure. However, little information is available on the impact of AS on protein dynamics, a property fundamental for protein function. In this work, we have addressed this issue using molecular dynamics simulations of the isoforms of two model proteins: glutathione S-transferase and ectodysplasin-A. We have found that AS does not have a noticeable impact on global or local structure fluctuations. We have also found that, quite interestingly, AS has a significant effect on the coupling between key structural elements such as surface cavities. Our results provide the first atom-level view of the impact of AS on protein dynamics, as far as we know. They can contribute to refine our present view of the relationship between AS and protein disorder and, more importantly, they reveal how AS may modify structural dynamic couplings in proteins.     

Cell surface and metabolic labelling of the proteins of normal and transformed chicken cells

We have studied the surface proteins of normal and transformed chick cells using four-labelling techniques with different specificities, (a) lactoperoxidase catalysed iodination (b) galactose oxidase/B³H₄ (c) pyridoxal phosphate/B³H₄ and (d) periodate/B³H₄. All methods labelled a large external transformation-sensitive (LETS) protein, in agreement with previous studies. In addition, using galactose oxidase and periodate labelling techniques, we present evidence which suggests that the transformed cell surface glycoproteins are more sialylated.The LETS protein was also labelled with [¹⁴C]glucosamine and after trypsinization a small band of identical molecular weight to LETS remained, possibly representing an internal pool of the protein. In contrast LETS protein labelled with [³H]fucose was completely removed by trypsin, suggesting that the internal pool of the protein is incompletely glycosylated. Evidence is also presented to show that although the level of the protein is drastically reduced at the transformed cell surface, it is still synthesised and shed into the medium.