新芋螺毒素SO3的合成优化与折叠关系

用Fmoc/But方法合成了从线纹芋螺中筛选的具有镇痛作用的螺多肽SO3,通过对合成中偶合方法及裂解条件的优化,提高了线性肽的合成效率,减少了副产物的形成,使合成的线性肽不仅纯度好,且无需纯化即可用于下一步折叠。     

重组芋螺毒素K41表达条件优化

目的:优化重组芋螺毒素K41 (CTX-K41)的表达条件.方法:以不同接种比例、不同浓度IPTG、不同诱导时间、不同诱导温度、不同培养基pH值对含有pCTX-K41的E coli工程菌进行诱导表达,用Tricine-SDS-PAGE对表达产物进行分析.结果接种比例为1∶200,诱导时间为4h,IPTG.浓度为0.4mmol·L-1,诱导温度为30℃时,培养基pH值为5.0时CTX-K41的表达量最高.结论:已成功优化了重组蛋白CTX-K41的表达条件.     

Design of a structural motif ‘dendroid’ to mimic protein: Protein interactions via intramolecular self-organisation

Summary The design and synthesis of a structural motif which can mimic protein-protein interactions is described. These moieties, termed asdendroids (Greekdendron, a tree), are low-molecular-weight structures which are based on self-organising dendritic polymers.     

Pseudo amino acid composition and multi-class support vector machines approach for conotoxin superfamily classification

Conotoxins are disulfide rich small peptides that target a broad spectrum of ion-channels and neuronal receptors. They offer promising avenues in the treatment of chronic pain, epilepsy and cardiovascular diseases. Assignment of newly sequenced mature conotoxins into appropriate superfamilies using a computational approach could provide valuable preliminary information on the biological and pharmacological functions of the toxins. However, creation of protein sequence patterns for the reliable identification and classification of new conotoxin sequences may not be effective due to the hypervariability of mature toxins. With the aim of formulating an in silico approach for the classification of conotoxins into superfamilies, we have incorporated the concept of pseudo-amino acid composition to represent a peptide in a mathematical framework that includes the sequence-order effect along with conventional amino acid composition. The polarity index attribute, which encodes information such as residue surface buriability, polarity, and hydropathy, was used to store the sequence-order effect. Several methods like BLAST, ISort (Intimate Sorting) predictor, least Hamming distance algorithm, least Euclidean distance algorithm and multi-class support vector machines (SVMs), were explored for superfamily identification. The SVMs outperform other methods providing an overall accuracy of 88.1% for all correct predictions with generalized squared correlation of 0.75 using jackknife cross-validation test for A, M, O and T superfamilies and a negative set consisting of short cysteine rich sequences from different eukaryotes having diverse functions. The computed sensitivity and specificity for the superfamilies were found to be in the range of 84.0-94.1% and 80.0-95.5%, respectively, attesting to the efficacy of multi-class SVMs for the successful in silico classification of the conotoxins into their superfamilies.     

Cosolvent-assisted oxidative folding of a bicyclic alpha-conotoxin ImI.

alpha-Conotoxin ImI is a 12-amino acid peptide, found in the venom of the marine snail Conus imperialis. This conotoxin is a selective antagonist of alpha7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. To produce biologically active alpha-ImI, disulfide bonds must be formed between Cys2-Cys8 and Cys3-Cys12. Oxidative folding of bicyclic conotoxins, such as alpha-ImI, has been traditionally achieved using two-step oxidation protocols with orthogonal protection on two native pairs of cysteines. In this work, two alternative oxidation protocols were explored: (1) the recently described one-pot oxidation of t-butyl/4-methylbenzyl protected Cys pairs and (2) direct oxidative folding. In contrast to the first method, the latter one resulted in high yields of correctly folded alpha-ImI. The addition of organic cosolvents, such as methanol, ethanol or isopropanol into the folding mixture significantly increased the accumulation of the native peptide. This effect was also observed for another conotoxin, alpha-PnIA. It is suggested that cosolvent-assisted direct oxidation might be of general use for other bicyclic alpha-conotoxins, but efficiency should be assessed on a case-by-case basis.     

新的J超家族芋螺毒素的克隆与进化分析

目的:从中国南海芋螺中克隆新的J超家族芋螺毒素,并进行序列和进化分析。方法:以芋螺毒腺管总RNA为模板,采用3′-RACE及巢式PCR的方法扩增J超家族芋螺毒素基因,并将得到的目的基因与pMD18-T载体连接并转化大肠杆菌DH5α,经测序比对后,获得新的J超家族毒素,利用软件BioEdit、ClustalX及Mega5.05进行进化分析。结果:获得12个新的J超家族芋螺毒素前体肽序列,其氨基酸组成具有新颖性,在进化树上与已报道的J超家族毒素处于不同的进化分支。结论:12个新的J超家族毒素与已报道的毒素序列之间的同源性较低,是J超家族新成员。     

ω-芋螺毒素MVIIC的N及C端修饰对折叠及活性影响

 合成了 ω-芋螺毒素 MVIIC的三种 N及 C端修饰肽 ,应用高压液相色谱、CD及生物体内活性实验 ,研究了其 N及 C端修饰对折叠及活性的影响 .结果表明 :MVIIC N端用 Phe及 Ser修饰后降低其线性肽形成正确折叠的比例及结构的稳定性 ,对小鼠的脑室给药活性也相应降低 ;C端酰胺转为电负性羧基端后活性降低 ,CD谱存在显著差异 .     

mr1e, a conotoxin from Conus marmoreus with a novel disulfide pattern

Conotoxins are well known for their highly variable structures and functions. Here we report the identification of a novel conotoxin named mr1e from Conus marmoreus . mr1e is composed of 11 amino acid residues cross-linked by two disulfide bonds (CCHSSWCKHLC). The spacing of intercysteine loops in mr1e is exactly the same as that in α4/3 conotoxins. However, the native mr1e peptide co-eluted on reverse-phase HPLC with the regioselectively synthesized ribbon disulfide linkage isomer (C¹-C⁴, C²-C³) but not the globular linkage isomer (C¹-C³, C²-C⁴). Although this peptide has the same disulfide connectivity as the χ-conotoxins, their sequences do not share significant homology. Thus, mr1e could be defined as a novel conotoxin family. By intracranial injection into mice, mr1e showed an excitatory effect. The characterization of mr1e certainly enriches our understanding of conotoxins, and also opens an avenue for further structural and functional investigation.     

Effect of O-superfamily conotoxin SO3 on synchronized spontaneous calcium spikes in cultured hippocampal networks

SO3 belongs to the O-superfamily of conotoxins and is known to have analgesic effects in experimental animals. In order to explore the mechanism of its potential pharmacological actions, the effect of SO3 on synchronized spontaneous calcium spikes was examined in cultured hippocampal networks by calcium imaging. Spontaneous oscillations of intracellular concentrations of calcium (Ca²⁺) in the form of waves and spikes are found in cultured hippocampal networks. Exposure to increasing concentrations of SO3 resulted in a progressive decrease in synchronized spontaneous calcium spikes. The higher concentrations (0.1 μmol/L and 1 μmol/L) of SO3 showed the strongest inhibition. The rank order of inhibition was 1 μmol/L > 0.1 μmol/L > 10 μmol/L > 0.01 μmol/L. This action of SO3 in reducing synchronized calcium spikes suggests a possible application for therapeutic treatment of epilepsy.