基于天然低共熔溶剂的甜叶菊中甜菊糖绿色提取方法及优化

尝试利用天然低共熔溶剂(NADES)提取甜叶菊(Stevia rebaudiana)中的甜菊糖, 探索一种高效、绿色和环保的甜菊糖提取新方法。以甜叶菊干叶为原料, 对照传统提取溶剂水, 以甜菊糖中甜菊苷和莱鲍迪苷A的提取浓度作为指标, 筛选出最优的NADES提取配方, 然后通过Box-Behnken响应面法对NADES提取甜叶菊中甜菊糖的工艺条件进行筛选优化。结果表明, 提取效率最高的NADES配方为1,2-丙二醇:甘油:水=8:1:1 (v/v/v), 提取的甜菊苷浓度为2.59 mg∙mL^-1, 比水提取高16.40%, 提取的莱鲍迪苷A浓度为1.06 mg∙mL^-1, 比水提取高12.62%; 通过响应面法得到最优提取条件: 提取时间90分钟, 提取温度60°C, 超声功率为80 J∙s^-1, 预测甜菊苷提取浓度为3.49 mg∙mL^-1, 莱鲍迪苷A提取浓度为1.43 mg∙mL^-1, 与实验验证值(甜菊苷浓度为3.48 mg∙mL^-1, 莱鲍迪苷A浓度为1.42 mg∙mL^-1)接近。在最优条件下, 甜菊苷提取浓度比初始条件提高了34.36%, 莱鲍迪甘A提取浓度比初始条件提高了33.96%。NADES绿色环保, 且提取效率高于传统溶剂, 可用于甜叶菊中甜菊糖的绿色提取; 同时, 该提取方法可为后续推广至其它大宗经济植物类天然产物的绿色工业生产提供参考。     

Extracellular vesicles released from the filarial parasite Brugia malayi downregulate the host mTOR pathway

We have previously shown that the microfilarial (mf) stage of Brugia malayi can inhibit the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR; a conserved serine/threonine kinase critical for immune regulation and cellular growth) in human dendritic cells (DC) and we have proposed that this mTOR inhibition is associated with the DC dysfunction seen in filarial infections. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) contain many proteins and nucleic acids including microRNAs (miRNAs) that might affect a variety of intracellular pathways. Thus, EVs secreted from mf may elucidate the mechanism by which the parasite is able to modulate the host immune response during infection. EVs, purified from mf of Brugia malayi and confirmed by size through nanoparticle tracking analysis, were assessed by miRNA microarrays (accession number {"type":"entrez-geo","attrs":{"text":"GSE157226","term_id":"157226"}}GSE157226) and shown to be enriched (>2-fold, p-value<0.05, FDR = 0.05) for miR100, miR71, miR34, and miR7. The microarray analysis compared mf-derived EVs and mf supernatant. After confirming their presence in EVs using qPCR for these miRNA targets, web-based target predictions (using MIRPathv3, TarBAse and MicroT-CD) predicted that miR100 targeted mTOR and its downstream regulatory protein 4E-BP1. Our previous data with live parasites demonstrated that mf downregulate the phosphorylation of mTOR and its downstream effectors. Additionally, our proteomic analysis of the mf-derived EVs revealed the presence of proteins commonly found in these vesicles (data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD021844). We confirmed internalization of mf-derived EVs by human DCs and monocytes using confocal microscopy and flow cytometry, and further demonstrated through flow cytometry, that mf-derived EVs downregulate the phosphorylation of mTOR in human monocytes (THP-1 cells) to the same degree that rapamycin (a known mTOR inhibitor) does. Our data collectively suggest that mf release EVs that interact with host cells, such as DC, to modulate host responses.     

Effect of deletion of a plant like pentapeptide insert on kinetic, structural and immunological properties of enolase from Plasmodium falciparum

Plasmodium falciparum enolase (Pfen) is of photosynthetic lineage as evident from the presence of a plant like pentapeptide insert ¹⁰⁴EWGWS¹⁰⁸ in a highly conserved surface loop of the protein. Such a unique region which is absent in human enolase, constitutes an excellent target for inhibitor design, provided its essentiality for function could be demonstrated. A deletion Pfen lacking this insert was made and the effect of this deletion on activity and structure was assessed. Deletion of insert resulted in ∼100-fold decrease in k_cat/K_m and caused dissociation of dimeric form into monomers. Since the parasite enolase localizes on the merozoite surface and confers partial protection against malaria [I. Pal-Bhowmick, M. Mehta, I. Coppens, S. Sharma, G.K. Jarori, Infect. Immun. 75 (11) (2007) 5500-5008], the possibility of the insert being involved in protective response was examined. Serum from Pfen vaccinated mouse which showed prolonged survival to parasite challenge had negligible reactivity against deletion protein as compared to wild type enolase. These results indicate that the insert sequence is required for the full enolase activity and may constitute the protective antigenic epitope in parasite enolase.     

Molecular modelling and dynamics of CA2 missense mutations causative to carbonic anhydrase 2 deficiency syndrome

Abstract

Carbonic anhydrase 2 (CA2) enzyme deficiency caused by CA2 gene mutations is an inherited disorder characterized by symptoms like osteopetrosis, renal tubular acidosis, and cerebral calcification. This study has collected the CA2 deficiency causal missense mutations and assessed their pathogenicity using diverse computational programs. The 3D protein models for all missense mutations were built, and analyzed for structural divergence, protein stability, and molecular dynamics properties. We found M-CAP as the most sensitive prediction method to measure the deleterious potential of CA2 missense mutations. Free energy dynamics of tertiary structure models of CA2 mutants with DUET, mCSM, and SDM based consensus methods predicted only 50% of the variants as destabilizing. Superimposition of native and mutant CA2 models revealed the minor structural fluctuations at the amino acid residue level but not at the whole protein structure level. Near native molecular dynamic simulation analysis indicated that CA2 causative missense variants result in residue level fluctuation pattern in the protein structure. This study expands the understanding of genotype-protein phenotype correlations underlying CA2 variant pathogenicity and presents a potential avenue for modifying the CA2 deficiency by targeting biophysical structural features of CA2 protein.

Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma     

Proteomic profiling of L-cysteine induced selenite resistance in Enterobacter sp. YSU

Background  

Enterobacter sp. YSU is resistant to several different heavy metal salts, including selenite. A previous study using M-9 minimal medium showed that when the selenite concentration was 100,000 times higher than the sulfate concentration, selenite entered Escherichia coli cells using two pathways: a specific and a non-specific pathway. In the specific pathway, selenite entered the cells through a yet to be characterized channel dedicated for selenite. In the non-specific pathway, selenite entered the cells through a sulfate permease channel. Addition of L-cystine, an L-cysteine dimer, appeared to indirectly decrease selenite import into the cell through the non-specific pathway. However, it did not affect the level of selenite transport into the cell through the specific pathway.