林可链霉菌黑色素生物合成基因的克隆与表达

以pIJ702的melCl－C2基因为探针杂交林可链霉菌（Streptomyceslincolnensis）78－11染色体DNA,呈现出3．2kb的BamHI片段和2．6kb的SphI片段等一系列阳性条带。构建了含3．0～3．5kbBamHI片段的林可链霉菌78-11基因文库,从中分离克隆了黑色素生物合成基因melCl和melC2,并测定了含有mel基因的重组子pRSB336插入片段的全部DNA顺序。3152bpBamHI片段含有5个开放阅读框架,其中melCl和melC2与链霉菌属三个种的相应基因具有较高的同源性。此外,林可链霉菌78－11的melC2基因产物与人和鼠的酪氨酸酶轻微同源,分别为17．3％和24．5％。种种迹象表明,melCl、melC2和orf3组成黑色素生物合成操纵子结构。为了进一步鉴定上述克隆的林可链霉菌78-11黑色素生物合成基因,构建了分别含有新霉素抗性基因启动子和正反方向mel基因的重组质粒pPZ518和pPZ519,并转化变铅青链霉菌TK23。随机挑选的12个pPZ518转化子在R2YE培养基上均能分泌淡褐色色素,而所有的pPZ519和pES1转化子则都呈白色。     

水稻体细胞杂交研究进展

水稻是世界重要的粮食作物,全世界约有120个国家种植水稻。水稻的近缘或远缘种具有一些优良性状,如抗病、抗虫、抗逆等。将这些性状导入水稻,是科学家们所希望的,但因用普通杂交方法存在交配系统的不亲和性等难题而进展不大。随着组织培养技术的发展,特别是植物原生质体培养技术的日趋成熟,使得人类能够在细胞水平通过体细胞杂交方法实现遗传信息的重组。     

替硝唑体内抗厌氧菌感染作用的研究

本项研究观察了替硝唑对类杆菌,经腹腔感染小鼠的体内保护作用。结果显示替硝唑对脆弱类杆菌和产黑色素类杆菌感染的小鼠,均具有良好的保护作用,两株菌感染的半数有效剂量（ＥＤ５０）分别为１１．１５ｍｇ／ｋｇ和１３．０４ｍｇ／ｋｇ。与甲硝唑相比,两者无显著性差异。     

Homology modeling threedimensional structure of AnxB1 and reducing its immunogenicity by sequence-deleted mutagenesis

AnxB1,a novel annexin previously isolated from Cysticercus cellulose,shows high thrombi affinity and anticoagulant activity in vivo.In order to investigate the relationship between structure and biological function,a predicted three-dimensional(3D)model of AnxB1 was generated by homology modeling.This model contains four homologous internal-domains and the Cα trace of domain Ⅰ,Ⅱ and IV shows high similarity.Based on the structure characterization,four sequence-deleted mutants were constructed and expressed as GST fusion proteins in E.coli.Two of the mutants,GST-M3 and GST-M4 reserved high anticoagulant activity(p＜0.01 vs.GST).Furthermore,compared with the wild type GST-AnxB1,the immunogenicity of GST-M3 and GST-M4 was reduced significantly(p＜0.01)and the molecular weight was lowered to 27 kD and 34 kD,respectively.These observations laid a solid foundation for further study on developing new thrombolytic agents with higher efficiency and lower side effect.     

几种药物抑制马传染性贫血病毒和人免疫缺陷病毒的实验研究

用马传染性贫血病毒—驴胚肺二倍体细胞(EIAV-DELDC)为实验体系,以细胞中病毒逆转录酶活性及病毒相关抗原的表达为观察指标,检测了叠氮胸苷(AZT)、三氮唑核苷(Ribavirin,病毒唑)、磷羧基甲酸钠(PFA)和苏拉明等4种已知抗人免疫缺陷病毒(HIV-1)药物对马传染性贫血病毒的抑制作用。结果表明,PFA、AZTTP(三磷酸AZT)和苏拉明均能抑制病毒相关抗原的表达,AZT虽无此作用,但能抑制细胞内逆转录酶活性。用~3H-TMP掺入法比较了PFA、AZTTP、苏拉明对体外无细胞系EIAV逆转录酶粗提物和HIV-1基因工程产物逆转录酶活性的抑制作用表明,两种逆转录酶对苏拉明的敏感性相近,而HIV-1逆转录酶对PFA和AZTTP的敏感性较EIAV者高约100倍。又以无细胞系中逆转录酶活性测定法,检测了12种中药提取物的抑制作用,其中小柴胡汤对EIAV和HIV-1逆转录酶活性都有抑制作用,IC_(50)为717μg/ml和700μg/ml(生药浓度)。小柴胡汤对两种病毒感染细胞中抗原的表达和HIV引起细胞病变都有抑制作用,对HIV-1的抑制比EIAV强。这些结果表明,EIAV-DELDC体系可考虑作为抗HIV-1药物筛选模型。     

缺失宿主Vta1蛋白的MIT结构域对杆状病毒AcMNPV复制的影响

【目的】克隆草地贪夜蛾(Spodoptera frugiperda)Vta1基因,检测Vta1在苜蓿银纹夜蛾核多角体病毒(Autographa californica multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus,AcMNPV)复制中的作用。【方法】利用反转录-PCR与PCR方法筛选草地贪夜蛾Vta1基因及缺失Vta1N-端MIT结构域的突变体并构建其瞬时表达质粒,通过转染Sf9细胞检测表达;构建Vta1及其突变体的双分子荧光互补表达质粒,并通过瞬时转染检测其与Vps4及ESCRT-III亚基Vps46与Vps60的相互作用;共转染gp64与Vta1及其突变体瞬时表达质粒,检测瞬时表达Vta1突变体对AcMNPV出芽型病毒产量及病毒基因启动子指导报告基因表达的影响。【结果】获得了草地贪夜蛾Vta1基因。氨基酸序列相似性分析表明,昆虫、酵母与人类Vta1同源蛋白的相似性分别约为20%与50%。Western blotting分析表明GFP标签的Vta1及其突变体均能在瞬时转染的Sf9细胞中表达。双分子荧光互补分析发现,缺失第1个或第2个MIT结构域显著降低Vta1突变体与Vps4、Vps46或Vps60的相互作用。此外,瞬时表达Vta1突变体显著降低了AcMNPV感染性出芽型病毒的产量,但并未影响AcMNPVie1基因早期启动子和p6.9基因晚期启动子指导的LacZ和GUS报告基因的表达。【结论】Vta1可能参与杆状病毒AcMNPV子代病毒粒子的组装和/或出芽释放过程。     

Marine actinobacteria associated with marine organisms and their potentials in producing pharmaceutical natural products

Actinobacteria are ubiquitous in the marine environment, playing an important ecological role in the recycling of refractory biomaterials and producing novel natural products with pharmic applications. Actinobacteria have been detected or isolated from the marine creatures such as sponges, corals, mollusks, ascidians, seaweeds, and seagrass. Marine organism-associated actinobacterial 16S rRNA gene sequences, i.e., 3,003 sequences, deposited in the NCBI database clearly revealed enormous numbers of actinobacteria associated with marine organisms. For example, RDP classification of these sequences showed that 112 and 62 actinobacterial genera were associated with the sponges and corals, respectively. In most cases, it is expected that these actinobacteria protect the host against pathogens by producing bioactive compounds. Natural products investigation and functional gene screening of the actinobacteria associated with the marine organisms revealed that they can synthesize numerous natural products including polyketides, isoprenoids, phenazines, peptides, indolocarbazoles, sterols, and others. These compounds showed anticancer, antimicrobial, antiparasitic, neurological, antioxidant, and anti-HIV activities. Therefore, marine organism-associated actinobacteria represent an important resource for marine drugs. It is an upcoming field of research to search for novel actinobacteria and pharmaceutical natural products from actinobacteria associated with the marine organisms. In this review, we attempt to summarize the present knowledge on the diversity and natural products production of actinobacteria associated with the marine organisms, based on the publications from 1991 to 2013.     

Studies of lysozyme binding to histamine as a ligand for hydrophobic charge induction chromatography

Histamine was immobilized on Sepharose CL‐6B (Sepharose) for use as a ligand of hydrophobic charge induction chromatography (HCIC) of proteins. Lysozyme adsorption onto Histamine‐Sepharose (HA‐S) was studied by adsorption equilibrium and calorimetry to uncover the thermodynamic mechanism of the protein binding. In both the experiments, the influence of salt (ammonium sulfate and sodium sulfate) was examined. Adsorption isotherms showed that HA‐S exhibited a high salt tolerance in lysozyme adsorption. This property was well explained by the combined contributions of hydrophobic interaction and aromatic stacking. The isotherms were well fitted to the Langmuir equation, and the equilibrium parameters for lysozyme adsorption were obtained. In addition, thermodynamic parameters (ΔH_ads, ΔS_ads, and ΔG_ads) for the adsorption were obtained by isothermal titration calorimetry by titrating lysozyme solutions into the adsorbent suspension. Furthermore, free histamine was titrated into lysozyme solution in the same salt‐buffers. Compared with the binding of lysozyme to free histamine, lysozyme adsorption onto HA‐S was characterized by a less favorable ΔG_ads and an unfavorable ΔS_ads because histamine was covalently attached to Sepharose via a three‐carbon‐chain spacer. Consequently, the immobilized histamine could only associate with the residues on the protein surface rather than those in the hydrophobic pocket, causing a less favorable orientation between histamine and lysozyme. Further comparison of thermodynamic parameters indicated that the unfavorable ΔS_ads was offset by a favorable ΔH_ads, thus exhibiting typical enthalpy‐entropy compensation. Moreover, thermodynamic analyses indicated the importance of the dehydration of lysozyme molecule and HA‐S during the adsorption and a substantial conformational change of the protein during adsorption. The results have provided clear insights into the adsorption mechanisms of lysozyme onto the new HCIC material. © 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 2010     

Corticofugal regulation of auditory sensitivity in the bat inferior colliculus

Under free-field stimulation conditions, corticofugal regulation of auditory sensitivity of neurons in the central nucleus of the inferior colliculus of the big brown bat, Eptesicus fuscus, was studied by blocking activities of auditory cortical neurons with Lidocaine or by electrical stimulation in auditory cortical neuron recording sites. The corticocollicular pathway regulated the number of impulses, the auditory spatial response areas and the frequency-tuning curves of inferior colliculus neurons through facilitation or inhibition. Corticofugal regulation was most effective at low sound intensity and was dependent upon the time interval between acoustic and electrical stimuli. At optimal interstimulus intervals, inferior colliculus neurons had the smallest number of impulses and the longest response latency during corticofugal inhibition. The opposite effects were observed during corticofugal facilitation. Corticofugal inhibitory latency was longer than corticofugal facilitatory latency. Iontophoretic application of γ-aminobutyric acid and bicuculline to inferior colliculus recording sites produced effects similar to what were observed during corticofugal inhibition and facilitation. We suggest that corticofugal regulation of central auditory sensitivity can provide an animal with a mechanism to regulate acoustic signal processing in the ascending auditory pathway. Accepted: 15 July 1998     

ROCK1 induces ERK nuclear translocation in PDGF-BB-stimulated migration of rat vascular smooth muscle cells

It has been known that Rho-associated protein kinase (ROCK) signaling regulates the migration of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). However, the isoform-specific roles of ROCK and its underlying mechanism in VSMC migration are not well understood. The current study thus aimed to investigate the roles of ROCK1/2 and their relationship to the MAPK signaling pathway in platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-induced rat aorta VSMC migration by manipulating ROCK gene expression. The results revealed that ROCK1 small interfering ribonucleic acid (siRNA) rather than ROCK2 siRNA decreased PDGF-BB-generated VSMC migration, and upregulation of ROCK1 expression via transfection of constructed pEGFP-C1/ROCK1 plasmid further increased the migration of PDGF-BB-treated VSMCs. In PDGF-treated VSMCs, ROCK1 siRNA did not affect the phosphorylation levels of ERK and p38 in the cytoplasm, but decreased the level of ERK phosphorylation in the nucleus. These findings demonstrate that activated ROCK1 can promote VSMC migration through facilitating phosphorylation and nuclear translocation of ERK protein.