Optimum induction of recombinant thymidine phosphorylase and its application

Recombinant E. coli pDEOA was constructed and lactose can be used instead of IPTG to induce the expression of thymidine phosphorylase by pDEOA. The use of lactose at concentrations higher than 0.5 mmol/L had an induction effect similar to that of IPTG but resulted in a longer initial induction time and better cell growth. The thymidine phosphorylase induced by lactose was very stable at 50°C. Intact pDEOA cells induced by lactose can be used as a source of thymidine phosphorylase. Under standard reaction conditions, several deoxynucleosides were effectively produced from thymidine.     

IFN-α/β and autophagy: tug-of-war between HCV and the host

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infects approximately 130 million people worldwide. The clinical sequelae of this chronic disease include cirrhosis, functional failure and carcinoma of the liver. HCV induces autophagy, a fundamental cellular process for maintaining homeostasis and mediating innate immune response, and also inhibits autophagic protein degradation and suppresses antiviral immunity. In addition to this ploy, the HCV serine protease composed of the viral non-structural proteins 3/4A (NS3/4A) can enzymatically digest two cellular proteins, mitochondria-associated anti-viral signaling protein (MAVS) and Toll/interleukin-1 receptor domain containing adaptor inducing IFN-β (TRIF). Since these two proteins are the adaptor molecules in the retinoic acid-inducible gene I (RIG-I) and TLR3 pathways, respectively, their cleavage has been suggested as a pivotal mechanism by which HCV blunts the IFN-α/β signaling and antiviral responses. Thus far, how HCV perturbs autophagy and copes with IFN-α/β in the liver remains unclear.     

IL-1 polymorphisms in children with peptic symptoms in South China

Background: Polymorphisms of IL‐1 gene cluster are reported to be associated with histological changes and IL‐1β expression in the gastric mucosa in adults, especially in Helicobacter pylori–infected subjects. As H. pylori infecting adults and children own different virulence genotypes, the aim of this study was to investigate whether IL‐1 polymorphisms are risk factors in young children in South China. Materials and Methods: A total of 128 children with peptic symptoms were enrolled in this study. Polymorphisms of IL‐1B‐511 and IL‐1B‐31 were identified by dual fluorescence PCR. Variable number of tandem repeat region in IL‐1RN was detected by conventional PCR and IL‐1β mRNA expression by real‐time PCR ddCT assay. Results: IL‐1B‐31T and IL‐1B‐511C were completely linked in this study. Significant differences of IL‐1B‐511/‐31 genotypes were observed among different clinical outcomes (p = .001). The IL‐1B‐511TT/‐31CC was mostly found in the moderate gastritis and the above (severe gastritis or gastric ulcer) groups, with percentage of 60.7%. While no association was observed between IL‐1RN genotypes and the gastric mucosal histological changes (p = .128). Also no relationships were found between IL‐1 polymorphisms and H. pylori infection or gastric mucosal IL‐1β mRNA expression level. Conclusion: Children with IL‐1B‐511TT/‐31CC may have a risk to develop relatively severe gastric mucosal histological changes in South China.     

Continuous preparation of (S)-3-hydroxy-3-phenylpropionate by asymmetric reduction of 3-oxo-3-phenylpropionic acid ethyl ester with <Emphasis Type="Italic">Saccharomyces cerevisiae</Emphasis> CGMCC No.2266 in a membrane reactor

In this study, (S)-3-hydroxy-3-phenylpropionate was prepared continuously by coupling microbial transformation and membrane separation. The effect of several factors on membrane flux, reactor capacity, and reaction conversion were investigated. A kinetic model of the continuous reduction process was also developed. The appropriate molecular weight cut-off of the ultrafiltration membrane was 30 kDa. The reactor capacity reached a maximum of 0.136/h at a biomass concentration and membrane flux of 86 g/L (dry weight/reaction volume) and 20 mL/h, respectively. The (S)-3-hydroxy-3-phenylpropionate yield was 3.68 mmol/L/day after continuous reduction over seven days. The enantiometric excess of (S)-3-hydroxy-3-phenylpropionate reached above 99.5%. The kinetic constants of continuous reduction were as follows: r _m = 3.00 × 10⁻³ mol/L/h, k _cat = 3.49 × 10⁻⁴ mol/L/h, k ₁ = 3.09 × 10⁻² mol/L, and k ₂ = 5.00 × 10⁻⁷ mol/L. The kinetic model was in good agreement with the experimental data obtained during continuous reduction. Compared with batch reduction, continuous reduction can significantly improve the catalytic efficiency of microbial cells and increase the reactor capacity.     

Applicability of the fluorescein diacetate assay for metabolic activity measurement of Microcystis aeruginosa (Chroococcales,Cyanobacteria)

The fluorescein diacetate (FDA) assay has been widely used to measure metabolic activity in phytoplankton. It was found that FDA fluorescence values did not decrease in some stressed cells, demonstrating that the applicability of the method needs to be assessed further in the context of growth‐influencing conditions. In the present study, changes of FDA fluorescence values were studied in bloom‐forming cyanobacterial Microcystis aeruginosa Kütz cells under stress conditions such as nitrogen (N) or phosphorus (P) deficiency, or darkness and low temperature (10°C), respectively. The results demonstrated that esterase activity decreased immediately in dark‐stressed cells, which correlated with the decline of biomass and photosynthetic activity. Under the other three stress conditions, however, especially at low temperature, the cells lost photosynthetic activity but had the highest esterase activity, which was five times higher than the control group. These findings contrast with the assay criteria that the expression of a stain should reflect the change of photosynthetic activity and that stressed cells should have a lower staining intensity than the control cells. According to these results, the esterase activity response was dependent on environmental factors. Furthermore, higher fluorescence intensity did not mean higher metabolic activity, but a discrepant value indicated a severe stress.     

Mixed Magnetism for Refrigeration and Energy Conversion

The efficient coupling between lattice degrees of freedom and spin degrees of freedom in magnetic materials can be used for refrigeration and energy conversion. This coupling is enhanced in materials exhibiting the giant magnetocaloric effect. First principle electronic structure calculations on hexagonal MnFe(P, Si) reveal a new form of magnetism: the coexistence of strong and weak magnetism in alternate atomic layers. The weak magnetism of Fe layers (disappearance of local magnetic moments at the Curie temperature) is responsible for a strong coupling with the crystal lattice while the strong magnetism in adjacent Mn‐layers ensures Curie temperatures high enough to enable operation at and above room temperature. Varying the composition on these magnetic sublattices gives a handle to tune the working temperature and to achieve a strong reduction of the undesired thermal hysteresis. In this way we design novel materials based on abundantly available elements with properties matched to the requirements of an efficient refrigeration or energy‐conversion cycle.     

Glycoengineered Pichia produced anti-HER2 is comparable to trastuzumab in preclinical study

Mammalian cell culture systems are used predominantly for the production of therapeutic monoclonal antibody (mAb) products. A number of alternative platforms, such as Pichia engineered with a humanized N-linked glycosylation pathway, have recently been developed for the production of mAbs. The glycosylation profiles of mAbs produced in glycoengineered Pichia are similar to those of mAbs produced in mammalian systems. This report presents for the first time the comprehensive characterization of an anti-human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) mAb produced in glycoengineered Pichia, and a study comparing the anti-HER2 from Pichia, which had an amino acid sequence identical to trastuzumab, with trastuzumab. The comparative study covered a full spectrum of preclinical evaluation, including bioanalytical characterization, in vitro biological functions, in vivo anti-tumor efficacy and pharmacokinetics in both mice and non-human primates. Cell signaling and proliferation assays showed that anti-HER2 from Pichia had antagonist activities comparable to trastuzumab. However, Pichia-produced material showed a 5-fold increase in binding affinity to FcγIIIA and significantly enhanced antibody dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) activity, presumably due to the lack of fucose on N-glycans. In a breast cancer xenograft mouse model, anti-HER2 was comparable to trastuzumab in tumor growth inhibition. Furthermore, comparable pharmacokinetic profiles were observed for anti-HER2 and trastuzumab in both mice and cynomolgus monkeys. We conclude that glycoengineered Pichia provides an alternative production platform for therapeutic mAbs and may be of particular interest for production of antibodies for which ADCC is part of the clinical mechanism of action.Key words: glycoengineered Pichia, anti-HER2, trastuzumab, xenograft, PK, ADCC     

The roles of transmembrane domain helix-III during rhodopsin photoactivation

Background

Rhodopsin, the prototypic member of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), undergoes isomerization of 11-cis-retinal to all-trans-retinal upon photoactivation. Although the basic mechanism by which rhodopsin is activated is well understood, the roles of whole transmembrane (TM) helix-III during rhodopsin photoactivation in detail are not completely clear.

Principal Findings

We herein use single-cysteine mutagenesis technique to investigate conformational changes in TM helices of rhodopsin upon photoactivation. Specifically, we study changes in accessibility and reactivity of cysteine residues introduced into the TM helix-III of rhodopsin. Twenty-eight single-cysteine mutants of rhodopsin (P107C-R135C) were prepared after substitution of all natural cysteine residues (C140/C167/C185/C222/C264/C316) by alanine. The cysteine mutants were expressed in COS-1 cells and rhodopsin was purified after regeneration with 11-cis-retinal. Cysteine accessibility in these mutants was monitored by reaction with 4, 4′-dithiodipyridine (4-PDS) in the dark and after illumination. Most of the mutants except for T108C, G109C, E113C, I133C, and R135C showed no reaction in the dark. Wide variation in reactivity was observed among cysteines at different positions in the sequence 108–135 after photoactivation. In particular, cysteines at position 115, 119, 121, 129, 131, 132, and 135, facing 11-cis-retinal, reacted with 4-PDS faster than neighboring amino acids. The different reaction rates of mutants with 4-PDS after photoactivation suggest that the amino acids in different positions in helix-III are exposed to aqueous environment to varying degrees.

Significance

Accessibility data indicate that an aqueous/hydrophobic boundary in helix-III is near G109 and I133. The lack of reactivity in the dark and the accessibility of cysteine after photoactivation indicate an increase of water/4-PDS accessibility for certain cysteine-mutants at Helix-III during formation of Meta II. We conclude that photoactivation resulted in water-accessible at the chromophore-facing residues of Helix-III.     

Novel nucleotide and amino acid covariation between the 5'UTR and the NS2/NS3 proteins of hepatitis C virus: bioinformatic and functional analyses

Molecular covariation of highly polymorphic viruses is thought to have crucial effects on viral replication and fitness. This study employs association rule data mining of hepatitis C virus (HCV) sequences to search for specific evolutionary covariation and then tests functional relevance on HCV replication. Data mining is performed between nucleotides in the untranslated regions 5' and 3'UTR, and the amino acid residues in the non-structural proteins NS2, NS3 and NS5B. Results indicate covariance of the 243(rd) nucleotide of the 5'UTR with the 14(th), 41(st), 76(th), 110(th), 211(th) and 212(th) residues of NS2 and with the 71(st), 175(th) and 621(st) residues of NS3. Real-time experiments using an HCV subgenomic system to quantify viral replication confirm replication regulation for each covariant pair between 5'UTR??? and NS2-41, -76, -110, -211, and NS3-71, -175. The HCV subgenomic system with/without the NS2 region shows that regulatory effects vanish without NS2, so replicative modulation mediated by HCV 5'UTR??? depends on NS2. Strong binding of the NS2 variants to HCV RNA correlates with reduced HCV replication whereas weak binding correlates with restoration of HCV replication efficiency, as determined by RNA-protein immunoprecipitation assay band intensity. The dominant haplotype 5'UTR???-NS2-41-76-110-211-NS3-71-175 differs according to the HCV genotype: G-Ile-Ile-Ile-Gly-Ile-Met for genotype 1b and A-Leu-Val-Leu-Ser-Val-Leu for genotypes 1a, 2a and 2b. In conclusion, 5'UTR??? co-varies with specific NS2/3 protein amino acid residues, which may have significant structural and functional consequences for HCV replication. This unreported mechanism involving HCV replication possibly can be exploited in the development of advanced anti-HCV medication.