超嗜热酯酶EST2在不同宿主中的异源高效表达研究

来源于超嗜热古菌Alicyclobacillus acidocaldarius的酯酶EST2是目前报道的活性最高的超嗜热酯酶,具有极大的工业应用价值。为促进EST2的生产应用,将其分别在大肠杆菌及毕赤酵母中进行异源表达,并就不同宿主对表达情况和重组酶酶学性质的影响进行了分析。在大肠杆菌和毕赤酵母中重组表达的EST2酶学性质基本一致:最适温度分别为75℃和77.5℃,最适pH均为8.0,比活力分别为4656.6 U/mg和4078.3 U/mg,70℃水浴保温4.5 h,残余活力均在70%以上。在摇瓶发酵的基础上,于5 L发酵罐中进行了重组大肠杆菌及毕赤酵母的高密度发酵。毕赤酵母高密度发酵120 h菌体干重达68 g/L,最大表达酶活力为959.6 U/ml。大肠杆菌高密度发酵25 h菌体干重达60.8 g/L,最大酶活力14825.6 U/ml,表达量是毕赤酵母的15.4倍,单位时间产量是酵母的74.2倍。结果表明大肠杆菌发酵周期短、表达量高,更适合进行嗜热酯酶EST2的高效生产,这为促进嗜热酯酶在工业生物技术产业的应用奠定了基础。     

Genetic Screens Identify Host Factors for SARS-CoV-2 and Common Cold Coronaviruses

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黄芪皂苷Ⅳ对H2O2诱导的心肌细胞凋亡的保护作用

目的：探讨黄芪皂苷对H2O2诱导的心肌细胞凋亡的保护作用。方法：以H2O2诱导SD大鼠心肌损伤细胞模型为基础,用黄芪皂苷Ⅳ预处理进行干预。MTT法检测不同时段细胞凋亡情况,Western blot和RT-PCR检测24h时段Cyclin D1蛋白和mRNA表达水平。结果：H2O2对SD大鼠心肌细胞的损伤呈时间依赖性。H2O2可显著诱导SD大鼠心肌细胞凋亡,而这一作用可被黄芪皂苷Ⅳ显著抑制。结论：黄芪皂苷Ⅳ对H2O2诱导的SD大鼠心肌细胞损伤有明显保护作用。     

Spatial-temporal expression of pum1 and pum2 in medaka Oryzias latipes

Two pumilios, pum1 and pum2, were identified in medaka Oryzias latipes. Oryzias latipes pum1 and pum2 are ubiquitous in the adult tissues but with specific expression in the germ cells of gonads, ovary and testis. Pum1 is expressed in the spermatogonia to spermatocytes whilst pum2 presents in spermatocytes of testis only. Oryzias latipes pum1 and pum2 are maternally supplied RNA with ubiquitous expression in the early stages, and embryonic expression of pum1 and pum2 may begin from early gastrula. Both pum1 and pum2 are expressed in the tissues including brain, eye and trunk, and both are expressed in the gonads after hatching. Taken together, Pum1 and Pum2 may play important roles in embryonic and germ cell development of O. latipes.     

A chimeric gene encoding the methionine-rich 2S albumin of the Brazil nut (Bertlrolletia excelsa H.B.K.) is stably expressed and inherited in transgenic grain legumes

The coding region of the 2S albumin gene of Brazil nut (Bertholletia excelsa H.B.K.) was completely synthesized, placed under control of the cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) 35S promoter and inserted into the binary vector plasmid pGSGLUC1, thus giving rise to pGSGLUC1-2S. This was used for transformation of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L. cv. Petit Havanna) and of the grain legume Vicia narbonensis L., mediated by the supervirulent Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain EHA 101. Putative transformants were selected by screening for neomycin phosphotransferase (NPT II) and -glucuronidase (GUS) activities. Transgenic plants were grown until flowering and fruiting occurred. The presence of the foreign gene was confirmed by Southern analysis. GUS activity was found in all organs of the regenerated transgenic tobacco and legume plants, including the seeds. In the legume, the highest expression levels of the CaMV 35S promoter-controlled 2S albumin gene were observed in leaves and roots. 2S albumin was localized in the vacuoles of leaf mesophyll cells of transgenic tobacco. The Brazil nut protein was present in the 2S fraction after gel filtration chromatography of the legume seed proteins and could be clearly identified by immunoblotting. Analysis of seeds from the R₂ progenies of the legume and of transgenic tobacco plants revealed Mendelian inheritance of the foreign gene. Agrobacterium rhizogenes strain RifR 15834 harbouring the binary vector pGSGLUCl2S was also used to transform Pisum sativum L. and Vicia faba L. Hairy roots expressed the 2S albumin-specific gene. Several shoots were raised but they never completely rooted and no fertile plants were obtained from these transformants.     

The locations of the three cysteine residues in the primary structure of the intrinsic segments of band 3 protein,and implications concerning the arrangement of band 3 protein in the bilayer

The intrinsic domains of band 3 protein contain three cysteine residues, one in a 17 kDa middle segment and two in a 35 kDa C-terminal segment. The latter are retained in an 8 kDa fragment produced by chymotrypsin treatment of ghosts. Cleavage of cysteine residues by 2-nitro-5-thiocyanobenzoic acid (NTCB) allows localization of this amino acid in the primary structure of the 8, 17, 35 and 52 (17 plus 35) kDa segments of band 3 protein. The mapping of these residues taken with other information concerning accessibility of various sites at the two sides of the membrane leads to the conclusion that band 3 protein crosses the membrane at least five times, or ten times in a dimer structure. The implications of this conclusion in terms of band 3 protein structure and function are briefly discussed.     

中国人群中肿瘤坏死因子α-308 A/G基因多态和α2-巨球蛋白基因缺失多态与晚发性阿尔茨海默病无相关性

晚发性阿尔茨海默病 (LOAD)是老年痴呆中最常见的一种 ,它是一种病因复杂、由遗传因素和环境等其他因素共同作用引起的老年期疾病。服用非甾类抗炎类药物能延缓或防止LOAD的发病说明炎症反应可能参与LOAD病理 ,肿瘤坏死因子 (TNF)是炎症反应中主要的细胞因子 ,并且能增加 β 淀粉样肽 (Aβ)的产生说明其可能是LOAD的易感基因。α2 巨球蛋白 (A2M)是一种血清蛋白酶抑制剂 ,它是低密度脂蛋白受体相关蛋白 (LRP)主要的配体 ,并且能与Aβ结合并介导其降解和清除 ,说明它可能是另一个LOAD的易感基因。在 6 7名晚发性阿尔茨海默病人和 14 2名正常对照中比较了载脂蛋白E基因 (APOE)、TNF启动子区 (- 30 8A G)多态和A2M一 5bp核苷酸缺失 (I D)多态 (A2M 2 )与LOAD发病风险的关系。结果显示 ,APOEε4等位基因在AD病人组中显著高于对照组 (χ2=11 6 6 ,P <0 0 1) ,而TNF(- 30 8A G)多态和A2M缺失多态的基因型和等位基因在LOAD病人组和对照组中都无显著差别 (P >0 1)。按年龄和APOEε4等位基因分组同样无相关性 ,说明TNF 30 8A G位点的多态与A2M缺失不是中国人群的晚发性老年痴呆的风险因子     

Structural and functional characterization of Streptococcus pyogenes Cas2 protein under different pH conditions

Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPRs) and CRISPR-associated (Cas) proteins constitute an RNA-guided microbial defense system against invading foreign genetic materials. Cas2 is one of the core Cas proteins found universally in all the subtypes of CRISPR-Cas systems and is required for incorporating new spacers into CRISPR loci. Cas2 homologues from different CRISPR-Cas subtypes were characterized previously as metal-dependent nucleases with different substrate preferences, and it was proposed that a pH-dependent conformational change mediates metal binding and catalysis. Here, we report the crystal structures of Streptococcus pyogenes Cas2 at three different pHs (5.6, 6.5, and 7.5), as well as the results of its nuclease activity assay against double-stranded DNAs at varying pHs (6.0–9.0). Although S. pyogenes Cas2 exhibited strongly pH-dependent catalytic activity, there was no significant conformational difference among the three crystal structures. However, structural comparisons with other Cas2 homologues revealed structural variability and the flexible nature of its putative hinge regions, supporting the hypothesis that conformational switching is important for catalysis. Taken together, our results confirm that Cas2 proteins have pH-dependent nuclease activity against double-stranded DNAs, and provide indirect structural evidence for their conformational changes.