Molecular dissection of Rab11 binding from coiled-coil formation in the Rab11-FIP2 C-terminal domain

The Rab11-family interacting protein (Rab11-FIP) group of effector proteins contain a highly conserved region in their C-termini that bind the GTPase, Rab11. Rab11 belongs to the largest family of small GTPases and is believed to regulate vesicle docking with target membranes and vesicle fusion. The amino acid sequence of the Rab11-FIP proteins predicts coiled-coil formation in the conserved C-terminal domain. In this study on Rab11-FIP2, we found experimental evidence for the coiled-coil and then defined the minimal structured core using limited proteolysis. We also showed that the Rab11-FIP2 coiled-coil domain forms a parallel homodimer in solution using cross-linking and mutagenesis and sedimentation equilibrium experiments. Various constructs representing the C-terminal domain of Rab11-FIP2 were characterized by circular dichroism, and their affinity with Rab11 was measured using isothermal titration calorimetry. The longest construct was both well-structured and bound Rab11. A construct truncated at the N-terminus was poorly structured but retained the same affinity for binding to Rab11. Conformational changes were also demonstrated upon complex formation between Rab11 and Rab11-FIP2. A construct truncated at the C-terminus, which was the minimal coiled-coil domain defined by limited proteolysis, did not retain the ability to interact with Rab11, although it was as well-structured as the longer peptide. These data show that coiled-coil formation and Rab11 binding are separable functions of the C-terminal domain of Rab11-FIP2. The dissection of Rab11 binding from the formation of defined structure in a coiled-coil provides a potential mechanism for regulating Rab11-dependent endosomal trafficking.     

Cell signaling: life or death decisions of ras proteins

The discovery of a new downstream target for the Ras GTPases - a Nore1-Mst1 protein complex - reveals a mechanism by which Ras can promote apoptosis, and suggests that the influence of Ras on cell survival or death depends upon the relative level of activation of its various target proteins.     

Thermodynamic and kinetic analysis of an RNA kissing interaction and its resolution into an extended duplex

Kissing hairpin interactions form when the loop residues of two hairpins have Watson-Crick complementarity. In a unimolecular context, kissing interactions are important for tertiary folding and pseudoknot formation, whereas in a bimolecular context, they provide a basis for molecular recognition. In some cases, kissing complexes can be a prelude to strand displacement reactions where the two hairpins resolve to form a stable extended intermolecular duplex. The kinetics and thermodynamics of kissing-complex formation and their subsequent strand-displacement reactions are poorly understood. Here, biophysical techniques including isothermal titration calorimetry, surface plasmon resonance, and single-molecule fluorescence have been employed to probe the factors that govern the stability of kissing complexes and their subsequent structural rearrangements. We show that the general understanding of RNA duplex formation can be extended to kissing complexes but that kissing complexes display an unusual level of stability relative to simple duplexes of the same sequence. These interactions form and break many times at room temperature before becoming committed to a slow, irreversible forward transition to the strand-displaced form. Furthermore, using smFRET we show that the primary difference between stable and labile kissing complexes is based almost completely on their off rates. Both stable and labile complexes form at the same rate within error, but less stable species dissociate rapidly, allowing us to understand how these complexes can help generate specificity along a folding pathway or during a gene regulation event.     

Interspecific Infanticide and Infant‐Directed Aggression by Spider Monkeys (Ateles hybridus) in a Fragmented Forest in Colombia

Interspecific aggression amongst nonhuman primates is rarely observed and has been mostly related to scenarios of resource competition. Interspecific infanticide is even rarer, and both the ultimate and proximate socio‐ecological factors explaining this behavior are still unclear. We report two cases of interspecific infanticide and five cases of interspecific infant‐directed aggression occurring in a well‐habituated primate community living in a fragmented landscape in Colombia. All cases were initiated by male brown spider monkeys (Ateles hybridus) and were directed toward infants of either red howler monkeys (Alouatta seniculus: n = 6 cases) or white‐fronted capuchins (Cebus albifrons: n = 1 case). One individual, a subadult spider monkey male, was involved in all but one case of interspecific infanticide or aggression. Other adult spider monkeys participated in interspecific aggression that did not escalate into potentially lethal encounters. We suggest that competition for food resources and space in a primate community living in high population densities and restricted to a forest fragment of ca. 65 ha might partly be driving the observed patterns of interspecific aggression. On the other hand, the fact that all but one case of interspecific infanticide and aggression involved the only subadult male spider monkey suggests this behavior might either be pathological or constitute a particular case of redirected aggression. Even if the underlying principles behind interspecific aggression and infanticide are poorly understood, they represent an important factor influencing the demographic trends of the primate community at this study site. Am. J. Primatol. 74:990‐997, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

气候变化影响下大兴安岭地区21世纪森林火险等级变化预测

基于HadCM3模式输出的A2a和B2a情景下气候基准时段(1961-1990年)与未来不同时段(2010-2039年,2040-2069年,2070-2099年)的气候情景数据,结合Delta、WGEN降尺度方法和加拿大火险天气指标系统,划分了黑龙江大兴安岭地区森林火险等级,预估了研究区2010-2099年森林火险等级相对于基准年的变化,分析了森林火险等级长期预测的不确定性.结果表明:气候变化影响下,研究区21世纪平均极高、很高、中等火险的年均日数呈上升趋势,高、低火险的年均日数呈降低趋势.与基准年相比,A2a和B2a情景下研究区2040-2069年极高和很高火险的年均日数分别增加了43和36 d,2070-2099年分别增加了62和61 d.     

妊娠足月前妇女阴道微生态失衡分析

目的 分析妊娠足月前妇女阴道微生态失衡状况.方法 选择孕12 ～ 37周健康无症状单胎妊娠期妇女1 900例,取其阴道分泌物,选用阴道pH、阴道清洁度、过氧化氢浓度(H2O2)、白细胞酯酶(LE)和唾液酸苷酶(SnaSe)等指标对阴道微生态失衡进行评价.结果 妊娠足月前妇女阴道pH为3.80±0.23,阴道微生态失衡发生率为50％,阴道分泌物检查清洁度Ⅲ～ Ⅳ不正常者980例,乳酸菌均阴性,H2O2阳性为53％,H2O2+LE均阳性为14％,H2O2+LE+ SnaSe均阳性+显微镜检出线索细胞妇女为10％,H2O2+LE均阳性+涂片镜检出酵母样真菌孢子妇女为19％,H2O2+LE均阳性+涂片镜检出滴虫妇女为2％.结论 妊娠足月前妇女阴道微生态失衡发生率50％.     

剑花蟹蛛的雄性新发现(蜘蛛目:蟹蛛科)

描述了采自中国四川的剑花蟹蛛Xysticus sicus Fox,1937,其雄性系首次发现。标本保存于河北大学博物馆。     

Evidence that the Bacillus subtilis SpoIIGA protein is a novel type of signal-transducing aspartic protease

The bacterium Bacillus subtilis undergoes endospore formation in response to starvation. sigma factors play a key role in spatiotemporal regulation of gene expression during development. Activation of sigma factors is coordinated by signal transduction between the forespore and the mother cell. sigma(E) is produced as pro-sigma(E), which is activated in the mother cell by cleavage in response to a signal from the forespore. We report that expression of SpoIIR, a putative signaling protein normally made in the forespore, and SpoIIGA, a putative protease, is necessary and sufficient for accurate, rapid, and abundant processing of pro-sigma(E) to sigma(E) in Escherichia coli. Modeling and mutational analyses provide evidence that SpoIIGA is a novel type of aspartic protease whose C-terminal half forms a dimer similar to the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 protease. Previous studies suggest that the N-terminal half of SpoIIGA is membrane-embedded. We found that SpoIIGA expressed in E. coli is membrane-associated and that after detergent treatment SpoIIGA was self-associated. Also, SpoIIGA interacts with SpoIIR. The results support a model in which SpoIIGA forms inactive dimers or oligomers, and interaction of SpoIIR with the N-terminal domain of SpoIIGA on one side of a membrane causes a conformational change that allows formation of active aspartic protease dimer in the C-terminal domain on the other side of the membrane, where it cleaves pro-sigma(E).     

植物大环寡肽研究进展

本文综述了植物大环寡肽(cycbtides)的研究进展,列举出迄今已报道的40多个植物大环寡肽,着重介绍了这类活性物质的生源、生物活性和结构特征。