The tetrameric structure of Haemophilus influenza hybrid Prx5 reveals interactions between electron donor and acceptor proteins

Cellular redox control is often mediated by oxidation and reduction of cysteine residues in the redox-sensitive proteins, where thioredoxin and glutaredoxin (Grx) play as electron donors for the oxidized proteins. Despite the importance of protein-protein interactions between the electron donor and acceptor proteins, there has been no structural information for the interaction of thioredoxin or Grx with natural target proteins. Here, we present the crystal structure of a novel Haemophilus influenza peroxiredoxin (Prx) hybrid Prx5 determined at 2.8-A resolution. The structure reveals that hybrid Prx5 forms a tightly associated tetramer where active sites of Prx and Grx domains of different monomers interact with each other. The Prx-Grx interface comprises specific charge interactions surrounded by weak interactions, providing insight into the target recognition mechanism of Grx. The tetrameric structure also exhibits a flexible active site and alternative Prx-Grx interactions, which appear to facilitate the electron transfer from Grx to Prx domain. Differences of electron donor binding surfaces in Prx proteins revealed by an analysis based on the structural information explain the electron donor specificities of various Prx proteins.     

Synthesis of (Z)-(1-fluoro-2-hydroxymethylcyclopropylmethyl)purines

(Z)-(1-fluoro-2-hydroxymethylcyclopropylmethyl)purines were designed, synthesized and evaluated their antiviral activity against poliovirus, HSV, and HIV.     

Functional characterization of the interaction between human La and hepatitis B virus RNA

The La protein is a multifunctional RNA-binding protein and has also been suggested to be involved in the stabilization of hepatitis B virus (HBV) RNA. Here we demonstrate that antibodies against the human La protein specifically precipitate HBV RNA from HBV ribonucleoprotein-containing mammalian cell extracts, providing evidence for the association between human La and HBV RNA. Moreover, we report that the turnover of HBV RNA depends on structural features and less on the primary sequence of the La-binding site on the viral RNA. In addition we show that the interaction between human La and HBV RNA in vitro is modulated by accessory factor(s) in a phosphorylation-dependent manner. Taken together these data indicate that both structural features, the composition of La/HBV ribonucleoprotein particles as well as interacting cellular factors, are critical determinants in the regulation of the stability of the HBV RNA.     

Comparison of currents activated by noxious heat in rat and chicken primary sensory neurons

The vanilloid receptor 1 (VR1) gene is responsible for both capsaicin-, and low threshold (LT) noxious heat-sensitivity in mammalian primary sensory neurons. Although, birds lack capsaicin-sensitivity they express LT noxious heat-sensitivity. Here, we compared LT noxious heat-activated whole-cell currents produced by rat and chicken cultured dorsal root ganglion neurons in order to find out the similarities and differences in the LT noxious heat transduction mechanisms between the two species. No significant differences between rat and chicken neurons were found in the mean cell diameter of the LT noxious heat-sensitive cells (20.4+/-0.8 microm, n=19 and 20.6+/-0.6 microm, n=11, respectively) and the average threshold (45.7+/-0.5 degrees C, n=19 and 46.1+/-0.7 degrees C, n=11, respectively) and peak amplitude (-2.9+/-0.6 nA, n=19 and -2.1+/-0.6 nA, n=11, respectively) of the heat-evoked responses. The current-voltage curves of the responses both in rat and chicken cells reversed at the same range (-19.5+/-3.8 mV, n=4 and -15.5+/-1. 2 mV, n=3, respectively) and showed strong outward rectification at negative membrane potentials. While all LT noxious heat-sensitive rat cells responded to capsaicin, none of the chicken neurons produced detectable response to it. These findings suggest that a VR1 homologue which lacks to sequence for capsaicin-sensitivity is possibly the LT noxious heat transducer in chicken.     

Prenatal exposure of ethanol induces increased glutamatergic neuronal differentiation of neural progenitor cells

Background  

Prenatal ethanol exposure during pregnancy induces a spectrum of mental and physical disorders called fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). The central nervous system is the main organ influenced by FASD, and neurological symptoms include mental retardation, learning abnormalities, hyperactivity and seizure susceptibility in childhood along with the microcephaly. In this study, we examined whether ethanol exposure adversely affects the proliferation of NPC and de-regulates the normal ratio between glutamatergic and GABAergic neuronal differentiation using primary neural progenitor culture (NPC) and in vivo FASD models.     

烟曲霉TMS-26产紫杉醇补料分批发酵条件初步探索

内生真菌发酵法是解决紫杉醇药源短缺问题的有效途径之一。本研究以摇瓶分批发酵为基础,进行摇瓶补料分批发酵研究,探究了苯丙氨酸、甘氨酸、苯甲酸钠乙酸钠混合液、3,5-二硝基水杨酸、H₂O₂、CuSO₄在发酵周期（13d）中,不同添加时间点对TMS-26菌体量及紫杉醇产量的影响,发现在第8天添加苯丙氨酸、甘氨酸、3,5-二硝基水杨酸时,其产量分别达到了(664.80±40.34)µg/L、(628.72±30.44)µg/L、(641.36±19.62)µg/L;在第9天添加CuSO₄时,其产量达到了(697.46±15.76)µg/L;在第10天添加H₂O₂、苯甲酸钠乙酸钠混合液,其产量分别达到了(615.78±36.28)µg/L、(792.54±10.04)µg/L。在摇瓶补料分批发酵研究结果的基础上,进行了5L罐发酵工艺放大研究,探究了前体和诱导子通过进行一次补加和恒速补加的方式对Aspergillus fumigatus TMS-26菌体量及紫杉醇产量的影响,结果表明恒速补加苯丙氨酸乙酸钠混合液,紫杉醇产量达到了746.17µg/L。通过本次研究,优化了TMS-26产紫杉醇摇瓶补料分批发酵和5L罐发酵工艺,为后续实现紫杉醇工业化生产奠定基础。     

LRP1B mutation is associated with tumor HPV status and promotes poor disease outcomes with a higher mutation count in HPV-related cervical carcinoma and head & neck squamous cell carcinoma

Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and gene mutations were reputed as key factors in cervical carcinoma (CC) and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). However, the associations of HPV status and gene mutations remain to be determined. This study aims to identify molecular patterns of LRP1B mutation and HPV status via rewiring tumor samples of HNSCC (n=1478) and CC (n=178) from the TCGA dataset. Here, we found that LRP1B mutation was associated with HPV status in CC (P=0.040) and HNSCC (P=0.044), especially in HPV 16 integrated CC (P=0.036). Cancer survival analysis demonstrated that samples with LRP1B mutation showed poor disease outcomes in CC (P=0.013) and HNSCC (P=0.0124). In addition, the expression status of LPR1B was more favorable for prediction than TP53 or RB1 in CC and HNSCC. Mutation clustering analysis showed that samples with LRP1B mutation showed higher mutation count in CC (P=1.76e-67) and HNSCC (P<10e-10). Further analysis identified 289 co-occurrence genes in these two cancer types, which were enriched in PI3K signaling, cell division process, and chromosome segregation process, et al. The 289-co-occurrence gene signature identified a cluster of patients with a higher portion of copy number variation (CNV) lost in the genome, different tumor HPV status (P<10e-10), higher mutation count (P<10e-10), higher fraction genome altered value (P=2.078e-4), higher aneuploidy score (P=3.362e-4), and earlier started the smoking year (P=2.572e-4), which were associated with shorter overall survival (P=0.0103) in CC and HNSCC samples. Overall, LRP1B mutation was associated with tumor HPV status and was an unfavorable prognostic biomarker for CC and HNSCC.