抗菌肽VIP在毕赤酵母中的高效表达及鉴定

基于人抗菌肽VIP(Vasoactive intestinal peptide)基因序列,按照毕赤酵母密码子偏好性设计引物;用SOE-PCR法扩增目的基因;然后将目的基因克隆至毕赤酵母分泌型表达载体pPICZαA上,构建VIP分泌表达菌株GS115-p PICZαA-vip。用甲醇诱导96 h收集上清,用质谱进行鉴定,结果显示分泌表达产物与人抗菌肽VIP理论值(3 326.82 Da)完全一致,表明人抗菌肽VIP成功得到分泌表达。琼脂糖凝胶扩散法实验结果显示,重组VIP对大肠杆菌Escherichia coli ATCC25922和金黄色葡萄球菌Staphylococcus aureus ATCC25923都有很强的抗菌活性,MIC(Minimal inhibitory concentration)分别为8 mmol/L和16 mmol/L。进一步细胞毒性和溶血性实验结果显示,重组VIP对正常细胞NCM460和IPEC-J2没有毒性,其对SD大鼠红细胞不具有溶血活性。通过透射电镜观察了VIP的抗菌机制,结果显示VIP主要通过破坏细胞膜的方式抑杀细菌。本研究为人抗菌肽VIP的开发应用和大量生产奠定了基础。     

我国人轮状病毒不同基因型NSP4的致病性研究

对我国轮状病毒流行株NSP4基因变异特点的分析表明,NSP4基因主要可分为Wa组和Kun组,在Wa组内可形成三个亚组,形成了4种NSP4基因型.为了进一步阐明人轮状病毒流行株NSP4基因变异与其致病性变化是否存在联系,我们首先利用杆状病毒载体对NSP4蛋白进行表达,获得了对应4种不同NSP4基因型的重组杆状病毒rvBac97B6,rvBac97S34,rvBac97S36和rvBac97SZ8.用这些病毒感染Sf-9细胞后,检测细胞内Ca2+浓度的变化,发现与野生型杆状病毒感染细胞相比,重组病毒感染细胞内的Ca2+浓度显著升高,但各个重组病毒之间无显著性差异.在此基础上,我们进一步在E.coli中分别表达纯化了代表Wa和Kun基因分组的97S34和97SZ8流行株的NSP4.分别用纯化的重组NSP4蛋白攻击乳鼠后,发现不同基因型的NSP4蛋白的致腹泻活性没有明显差异,这种作用可被NSP4抗体拮抗,但这种拮抗作用存在基因型特异性.上述结果表明人轮状病毒流行株NSP4氨基酸序列间的变异并没有使其钙调节及致腹泻能力产生改变,在致腹泻作用中发挥关键作用(或决定性作用)的氨基酸位点在不同NSP4基因型间可能是相对保守的.针对NSP4抗体的有效性也为新型轮状病毒疫苗和药物研究提供了线索.     

上海市首例输入性甲型H1N1流行性感冒报道

甲型H1N1流行性感冒(简称流感)是由一种新型流感病毒引起的急性呼吸道传染性疾病。临床主要表现为流感样症状,包括发热、流涕、咽痛、咳嗽、头痛、腹泻等。奥司他韦和扎那米韦治疗甲型H1N1流感有效。本文报道上海市首例输入性甲型H1N1流感病例,以提高临床医生对这种新发流感的认识。     

生物素对地衣芽孢杆菌生长和乳酸形成的影响

生物素对地衣芽孢杆菌生长和乳酸形成的影响胡尚勤（重庆师范学院生物系重庆６３００４７）地衣芽孢杆菌（Ｂａｃｉｌｕｓｌｉｃｇｅｎｉｆｏｒｍｉｓ）是我国９０年代首次从正常待产妇阴道拭子分离出来的一个无毒新菌株。现在国内已经用它来生产“整肠生”活菌剂。它是一...     

芒果APl同源基因的克隆及其生物信息学分析

我们采用RT-PCR方法克隆了2个APl同源基因全长cDNA,分别命名为MAPl-1(GenBank accession No.FJ529206)和MAPl-2(GenBank accession No.FJ529207).MAPl-1编码247个氨基酸,开放阅读框长度为741 bp,蛋白质分子量为28.54kD,等电点为8.31;MAPl-2编码248个氨基酸,开放阅读框长度为744 bp,蛋白质分子量为28.78 kD,等电点为8.70.同源性分析表明,它们的核苷酸序列与其它木本植物APl同源基因的一致性为72%～81%.实验分析表明,MAPl-1和MAPl-2第1至第61个氨基酸含有一个MADS盒结构域,第88至第178个为K盒结构域;两个基因均定位于细胞核,且功能位点分布存在着不同,推测这两个基因在花器官发育过程中的功能存在差异.蛋白二级结构预测显示,MAPl-1蛋白有12个a-螺旋,4个β折叠区,14个β-转角;而MAPl-2蛋白有11个a-螺旋,5个β折叠区,15个β-转角:其大多数氨基酸具有亲水性.本研究有助于进一步了解芒果的开花分子机理及成花的生物学发育阶段.     

Flexible Solar Thermal Fuel Devices: Composites of Fabric and a Photoliquefiable Azobenzene Derivative

Controllable storage and release of solar energy has always been a highlighted scientific issue for its benefit of mankind. Solar thermal fuels (STFs) supply a closed cycle and renewable energy‐storage strategy by transforming solar energy into chemical energy stored in the conformation of molecular isomers, such as cis/trans‐azobenzene, and releasing it as heat under various stimuli. Although the potential high energy density of the STFs which are based on the hybrids of azobenzene derivatives and carbon nanomaterials has been reported the solvent‐assistant charging hinders their practicability. In this study, a solid‐state STF device is designed and fabricated by compositing one photoliquefiable azobenzene (PLAZ) derivative with a flexible fabric template. The photoinduced phase transition of the PLAZ derivative enables the charging of the flexible STFs to be totally solvent‐free. Interestingly, the energy‐storage capacity (energy density ≈201 J g^?1) of flexible PLAZ STFs has been improved by the soft fabric template. The exothermic situation is monitored with one infrared camera, which shows 4 °C temperature difference between charged and discharged samples under blue light stimulus. The flexible STFs are may be used in practice as heating equipment.     

Screening of binding proteins that interact with human Salvador 1 in a human fetal liver cDNA library by the yeast two-hybrid system

Salvador promotes both cell cycle exit and apoptosis through the modulation of both cyclin E and Drosophila inhibitor of apoptosis protein in Drosophila. However, the cellular function of human Salvador (hSav1) is rarely reported. To screen for novel binding proteins that interact with hSav1, the cDNA of hSav1 was cloned into a bait protein plasmid, and positive clones were screened from a human fetal liver cDNA library by the yeast two-hybrid system. hSav1 mRNA was expressed in yeast and there was no self-activation and toxicity in the yeast strain AH109. Twenty proteins were found to interact with hSav1, including HS1 (haematopoietic cell specific protein1)-associated protein X-1 (HAX-1); neural precursor cell expressed, developmentally down-regulated 9, pyruvate kinase, liver and RBC, cytochrome c oxidase subunit Vb, enoyl coenzyme A hydratase short chain 1, and NADH dehydrogenase (ubiquinone) 1 beta subcomplex, demonstrating that the yeast two-hybrid system is an efficient method for investigating protein interactions. Among the identified proteins, there were many mitochondrial proteins, indicating that hSav1 may play a role in mitochondrial function. We also confirmed the interaction of HAX-1 and hSav1 in mammalian cells. This investigation provides functional clues for further exploration of potential apoptosis-related proteins in disease biotherapy.     

Diallyl trisulfide induces apoptosis and inhibits proliferation of A549 cells in vitro and in vivo

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality all over the world. In recent years, pulmonary adenocarcinoma has surpassed squamous cell carcinoma in frequency and is the predominant form of lung cancer in many countries. Epidemiological investigations have shown an inverse relationship between garlic (Allium sativum) consumption and death rate from many cancers. Diallyl trisulfide (DATS) is one of the garlic-derived compounds (also known as: organosulfer compounds, OSC). DATS can induce apoptosis and inhibit the growth of many cancer cell lines. Our study demonstrated that the apoptotic incidents induced by DATS were a mitochondria-dependent caspase cascade through a significant decrease of the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 that resulted in up-regulation of the ratio of Bax/Bcl-2 and the activity of caspase-3, -8, and -9. Eventually, DATS induced the apoptosis and inhibited the proliferation in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. Furthermore, by establishing an animal model of female BALB/c nude mice with A549 xenografts, we found that oral gavage of DATS significantly retarded growth of A549 xenografts in nude mice without causing weight loss or any other side effects compared with the control group. All the evidence both in vitro and in vivo suggested that DATS could be an ideal anti-cancer drug.     

Isolation and characterization of a mesophilic Arthrospira maxima strain capable of producing docosahexaenoic acid

A strain of the cyanobacterium Arthrospira was isolated from Lake Chahannaoer in northern China and was characterized according to microscopic morphology, photosynthetic oxygen-evolving activity, growth rate, and nutritional profile. Compared with thermophilic Arthrospira species occurring naturally in tropical and subtropical lakes, this isolate is mesophilic and grows optimally at ~20 degreesC. The total protein, fatty acid, phycocyanin, carotenoid, and chlorophyll a contents were 67.6, 6.1, 4.32, 0.29, and 0.76 grams per 100 grams of dry weight, respectively. The strain is rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). An essential omega-3 fatty acid, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), was detected, and gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) and DHA accounted for 28.3% of the total fatty acid content. These features of this newly isolated strain make it potentially useful in commercial mass culture in local areas or as a biofuel feedstock. It is also an alternative resource for studying the metabolic PUFA pathways and mechanisms of cold stress tolerance in cyanobacteria.