从阿维菌素获得诺贝尔奖到中国创造

纵观世界历史,大国崛起无不伴随着科技的兴起和机制体制的突破。来自大自然的天然产物对于人类的健康起到非常重要的作用,从抗肿瘤明星分子紫杉醇到挽救了无数人生命的抗感染药物青霉素,从治疗代谢疾病到营养保健,都离不开天然产物。此外,还有大量天然产物资源没有被开发过。而随着阿维菌素的发现者Satoshiōmura教授和William C.Campbell博士,及青蒿素的发现者屠呦呦研究员因为这两种天然产物在治疗寄生虫感染病和疟疾上的应用而获得2015年诺贝尔生理与医学奖后,天然产物有望迎来其发展的第二个黄金时代。我国是世界工厂也是天然药物的资源大国,为了实现产业升级,弯道超车,实现大国崛起的中国梦,我国科学家在"十二五"期间围绕着天然产物的高产和创新两大主题开展了富有成效的合成生物学研究。阿维菌素是由阿维链霉菌产生的高效低毒生物杀虫剂,其原料产能占国际市场的100%。但我国原有生产菌株的单位发酵产量较低,高消耗、高污染、片面追求生产规模的粗放型发展模式已经成了阻碍低碳经济持续高速发展的瓶颈。如何从根本上解决问题,提高生产菌株的单位发酵产量和原料利用率,降低能耗和生产成本,减少环境污染,是促进我国从"发酵大国"向"发酵强国"转变的关键。本文以阿维菌素为例,综述其基础研究的技术发展,特别是中国科学院微生物研究所引入合成生物学技术,将阿维菌素的单位产量提高了1000倍,至9 g/L,在内蒙古新威远与阿维菌素产业联盟的公司应用,迫使默克公司全面退出阿维菌素历史舞台,从而引领产业迅速发展的过程,为我国其它天然产物生物制造品种的改良提供思路和方法。     

沙门菌致病岛2 Ⅲ型分泌系统研究进展

沙门菌(Salmonella)是革兰氏阴性的兼性胞内菌,可引起其广泛宿主的一系列疾病,严重时可导致全身性感染,威胁生命安全。沙门菌致病岛2(SPI2)是与沙门菌全身性感染密切相关的重要毒力基因簇,其编码的Ⅲ型分泌系统2(T3SS2)在沙门菌侵入宿主细胞后开始组装合成,经该装置分泌的多种效应蛋白对沙门菌在宿主细胞内的生存和增殖起着重要作用。近些年来,与沙门菌T3SS2相关的研究一直都是病原微生物领域关注的焦点之一。本文简要综述了SPI2的基因特征、SPI2基因表达的调控、T3SS2的结构和组成、T3SS2的效应蛋白及与T3SS2相关的疫苗研究等方面的主要研究进展。     

中华绒螯蟹蜕壳生长及其与相关基因表达的关联分析

蜕壳是甲壳动物常见的生长发育现象,但对调控蜕壳与生长的内在机制尚缺乏足够了解。本研究在室内条件下,对中华绒螯蟹(Eriocheir sinensis)一个蜕壳周期内的个体蜕壳与生长现象进行了连续观察,分析了2个蜕壳相关基因,即蜕皮激素受体基因(Ec R)和维甲类X受体基因(RXR),以及1个生长相关基因肌肉生长抑制素基因(MSTN)的表达及其与生长性状的相关性。结果发现,中华绒螯蟹在蜕壳后会出现一个跳跃式生长期,之后进入了一个缓慢持续上升过程,当营养物质积累到一定程度(肥满度达60%左右时)时启动下一次蜕壳;MSTN基因的表达与壳长(r=﹣0.450,P0.05)、壳宽(r=﹣0.410,P0.05)增长率呈显著负相关,而与肥满度呈显著正相关(r=0.450,P0.05),Ec R和RXR基因的表达与体重、壳长和壳宽的增长率均没有显著相关性;相对来说,MSTN在蜕壳后的表达量越高,则增重率越小;而Ec R和RXR在蜕壳后表达量越高,其增重率越大。本研究结果表明,中华绒螯蟹在蜕壳后其生长具有一定的规律性,肥满度可以作为衡量中华绒螯蟹体内营养积累启动蜕壳的指标,Ec R、RXR及MSTN基因表达与生长表型具有一定的相关性。     

AMPK activation protects cells from oxidative stress‐induced senescence via autophagic flux restoration and intracellular NAD+ elevation

AMPK activation is beneficial for cellular homeostasis and senescence prevention. However, the molecular events involved in AMPK activation are not well defined. In this study, we addressed the mechanism underlying the protective effect of AMPK on oxidative stress‐induced senescence. The results showed that AMPK was inactivated in senescent cells. However, pharmacological activation of AMPK by metformin and berberine significantly prevented the development of senescence and, accordingly, inhibition of AMPK by Compound C was accelerated. Importantly, AMPK activation prevented hydrogen peroxide‐induced impairment of the autophagic flux in senescent cells, evidenced by the decreased p62 degradation, GFP‐RFP‐LC3 cancellation, and activity of lysosomal hydrolases. We also found that AMPK activation restored the NAD⁺ levels in the senescent cells via a mechanism involving mostly the salvage pathway for NAD⁺ synthesis. In addition, the mechanistic relationship of autophagic flux and NAD⁺ synthesis and the involvement of mTOR and Sirt1 activities were assessed. In summary, our results suggest that AMPK prevents oxidative stress‐induced senescence by improving autophagic flux and NAD⁺ homeostasis. This study provides a new insight for exploring the mechanisms of aging, autophagy and NAD⁺ homeostasis, and it is also valuable in the development of innovative strategies to combat aging.     

Green synthesis of fluorescence carbon nanoparticles from yum and application in sensitive and selective detection of ATP

Fluorescent carbon nanoparticles (CPs), a fascinating class of recently discovered nanocarbons, have been widely known as some of the most promising sensing probes in biological or chemical analysis. In this study, we demonstrate a green synthetic methodology for generating water‐soluble CPs with a quantum yield of approximately 24% via a simple heating process using yum mucilage as a carbon source. The prepared carbon nanoparticles with an ~10 nm size possessed excellent fluorescence properties, and the fluorescence of the CPs was strongly quenched by Fe³⁺, and recovered by adenosine triphosphate (ATP), thus, an ‘off’ and ‘on’ system can be easily established. This ‘CPs‐Fe³⁺‐ATP’ strategy was sensitive and selective at detecting ATP with the linear range of 0.5 µmol L^?1 to 50 µmol L^?1 and with a detection limit of 0.48 µmol L^?1. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.