Kinetic evidence is consistent with the rocker-switch mechanism of membrane transport by GlpT

Secondary active transport of substrate across the cell membrane is crucial to many cellular and physiological processes. The crystal structure of one member of the secondary active transporter family, the sn-glycerol-3-phosphate (G3P) transporter (GlpT) of the inner membrane of Escherichia coli, suggests a mechanism for substrate translocation across the membrane that involves a rocker-switch-type movement of the protein. This rocker-switch mechanism makes two specific predictions with respect to kinetic behavior: the transport rate increases with the temperature, whereas the binding affinity of the transporter to a substrate is temperature-independent. In this work, we directly tested these two predictions by transport kinetics and substrate-binding experiments, integrating the data on this single system into a coherent set of observations. The transport kinetics of the physiologically relevant G3P-phosphate antiport reaction were characterized at different temperatures using both E. coli whole cells and GlpT reconstituted into proteoliposomes. Substrate-binding affinity of the transporter was measured using tryptophan fluorescence quenching in detergent solution. Indeed, the substrate transport velocity of GlpT increased dramatically with temperature. In contrast, neither the apparent Michaelis constant (Km) nor the apparent substrate-binding dissociation constant (Kd) showed temperature dependence. Moreover, GlpT-catalyzed G3P translocation exhibited a completely linear Arrhenius function with an activation energy of 35.2 kJ mol-1 for the transporter reconstituted into proteoliposomes, suggesting that the substrate-loaded transporter is delicately poised between the inward- and outward-facing conformations. When these results are taken together, they are in agreement with a rocker-switch mechanism for GlpT.     

Endothelial senescence after high-cholesterol, high-fat diet challenge in baboons

Increasing evidence indicates that replicative senescence and premature endothelial senescence could contribute to endothelial dysfunction. This study aims at testing the hypothesis that a high-fat diet may lead to premature vascular endothelial senescence in a nonhuman primate model. We isolated endothelial cells from left and right femoral arteries in 10 baboons before and after a 7-wk high-fat dietary treatment. We compared the morphological alterations, replicative capacities, and senescence-associated beta-galactosidase activities (SA-beta-gal) at these two time points. We found that high-fat diet increased the prevalence of endothelial senescence. Endothelial replicative capacities declined dramatically, and SA-beta-gal activities increased significantly in postdietary challenge. There was no change in telomeric length using quantitative flow fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis, suggesting that some stressors lead to cell senescence independent of telomere dysfunction. Our findings that high-fat diet causes endothelial damage through the premature senescence suggest a novel mechanism for the diet-induced endothelial dysfunction.     

TRB3——信号通路中一个新的脚手架蛋白

TRB3是近年来发现的一个具有脚手架样调控功能的蛋白质,在P13K/Akt、NF-кB、MAPK和ATF4/CHOP通路的信号转导以及调控中发挥了重要的作用,此外它还参与了泛素-蛋白酶体途径.     

养殖乌鳢类立克次体感染的组织病理学研究

本文系统报道了养殖乌鳢类立克次体(Rickettsia-like organism,RLO)感染的各器官(脑、眼、鳃、心脏、头肾、肝、胰腺组织、脾、肾、肠和卵巢)的组织病理变化,探讨了炎症发展的基本规律。感染乌鳢病理解剖学特征和最具病理诊断意义的是体内各器官普遍出现的白色结节。这些结节的显微结构为肉芽肿炎症即一种慢性增生性炎症。在严重病变的肾脏,由于组织坏死区域较大和周围明显的细胞增生形成了境界较为清楚的巨大“肉瘤”状肿物。内脏器官的血管(特别是造血器官的血管)出现明显纤维素性血栓、混合血栓、弥散性血管内凝血(disseminated intravascu-lar coagulation,DIC)和组织细胞大范围的变性或坏死、溶解。大多数器官的组织细胞主要是上皮性细胞、吞噬性细胞,胞质内富含嗜酸性包涵体(eosinophilic intracytoplasmic inclusion),这种细胞多位于鳃上皮处、鳃部和体内器官血管内皮及血管周边结缔组织。血管内皮细胞及周边细胞内大量包涵体的出现导致血管内皮细胞的肿胀和破坏。     

蝴蝶果茎挥发油的化学成分

采用水蒸汽蒸馏法从大戟科蝴蝶果茎中提取挥发油,用气相色谱-质谱联用技术对挥发油化学成分进行分析。分离出36个峰,鉴定出35种化合物,占总油量的98.34%,并应用面积归一化法测定各成分的相对百分含量。其主要成分为十六烷酸乙酯(13.19%)、正十六烷酸(11.11%)、十八碳烯酸乙酯(6.18%)、正十八烷(4.98%)、(Z,Z)-9,12-十八碳二烯酸(4.90%)及十八碳二烯酸乙酯(4.21%)。     

银杏叶片三种酶活性变化与抗疫霉菌关系的研究

将疫霉菌离体接种于银杏叶片,发现不同龄期银杏叶片对疫霉菌的抗病性有差异,叶龄为100d的抗病性较强,叶龄为20d的抗病性较弱。不同银杏品种叶片对疫霉菌的抗性也有差异,潮田1号和大佛手2号较抗病,大佛手1号和桂G86-1较感病。不同龄期叶片接种后,其过氧化物酶(POD)和苯丙氨酸解氨酶(PAL)的酶活性变化与抗病性成正相关,而多酚氧化酶(PPOD)的酶活性变化与抗病性没有相关性;不同银杏品种叶片接种后,品种间的抗病性与PPOD酶活性变化成正相关,而POD和PAL的酶活性变化与品种间的抗病性没有相关性。可见,POD、PPOD和PAL的酶活性变化没有明显规律性,不能作为衡量银杏叶片抗病性的生化指标。     

黄瓜霜霉病抗病基因的RAPD及SCAR标记

以感霜霉病黄瓜L18-10-2和抗霜霉病黄瓜129为亲本构建F2代分离群体,以F3代植株霜霉病抗性鉴定表示F2代各单株抗病性并得以区分各单株杂合或纯合感病性,采用RAPD技术和转SCAR的方法筛选黄瓜抗霜霉病基因分子标记.结果显示,在318条RAPD引物中有18条引物表现出两亲本间多态性,其中引物P18的SB-SP18561扩增片段与霜霉病抗病基因之间紧密连锁,根据交换率和Kosambi函数公式计算其遗传距离为7.85 cM.回收SBSP18561片段并克隆和测序,其准确长度为561 bp.将该RAPD标记转换为SCAR标记,长度为494 bp,命名为SSBSP18494.     

含不同Anti-Waxy基因拷贝数的稻米直链淀粉含量分析

将含单拷贝Anti-Waxy基因的纯合植株分别作为父本或母本进行正反交,获得两组含双拷贝Anti-Waxy基因的杂交后代,分析了未转基因对照、转基因亲本及两组杂交后代糙米直链淀粉含量以揭示不同Anti-Waxy基因拷贝数对降低稻米直链淀粉含量程度的影响.结果显示,2个单拷贝转基因水稻糙米直链淀粉平均含量分别为10.72%和11.13%,比对照分别降低17.98%和14.84%;两组正交和反交杂交后代糙米直链淀粉平均含量分别为8.96%和8.23%,其平均值为8.60%,比2个转基因杂交亲本糙米直链淀粉含量分别降低19.78%和22.73%,比对照降低了34.20%.结果表明,增加转基因水稻基因组中Anti-Waxy基因拷贝数在一定程度上能够进一步降低稻米直链淀粉含量,通过将独立转化获得同品种转基因植株之间杂交可以成为获得高表达转基因植物的途径.     

南方红豆杉产紫杉醇内生真菌的分离鉴定

从南方红豆杉(Taxus chinensisvar.mairei)植株分离到内生真菌63株,其中24株经鉴定分属于19个种(属).真子囊菌纲的2个属2株,半知菌纲的14个属22株.真子囊菌纲的无毛毛壳属(Achaetomiumsp.)的1株为新发现种.半知菌纲的葡萄孢属(Botrytissp.)1株和无孢菌群(Mycelia sterlia)2株的培养液,经浓缩萃取,薄层层析检测,Rf值分别为0.404、0.404、0.401,与紫杉醇对照品Rf值一致,为南方红豆杉产紫杉醇内生真菌.     

团头鲂促性腺激素β亚基cDNA的克隆和序列分析

本研究利用RT-PCR和RACE克隆了团头鲂（Megalobrama amblycephala）脑下垂体中两种促性腺激素β亚基（GtHIβ和GtHIIβ）cDNA序列,并对其进行了结构和系统进化分析。团头鲂GtHIβ亚基cDNA全长567碱基对（bp）,5’端非翻译区26bp;3’端非翻译区148bp;开放阅读框（ORF）393bp,其编码含有130个氨基酸的蛋白质,包括由108个氨基酸组成的成熟肽以及22个氨基酸组成的信号肽。GtHII亚基cDNA全长564bp,5’端非翻译区43bp;3’端非翻译区95bp;ORF426bp,其编码含有141个氨基酸的蛋白质,包括由117个氨基酸组成的成熟肽以及24个氨基酸组成的信号肽。团头鲂GtHIβ亚基氨基酸序列与青鱼（Mylopharyngodon piceus）等15种鱼类相比较,相似性为90%—31%,与湖蛙（RanaRidibunda）等5种四足类的相似性为38%—21%;GtHII亚基与青鱼等15种鱼类相比较,其相似性为95%—41%,与湖蛙等5种四足类的相似性为49%—36%,团头鲂GtHIβ和GtHII亚基与鲤科鱼类的相似性最高,显示出较为亲近的进化关系。另外,团头鲂GtHIβ和GtHIIβ亚基含有12个保守的半胱氨酸残基和1个N糖基化位点。