Generation and Characterization of a Nanobody Against SARS-CoV

Virologica Sinica - The sudden emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) has caused global panic in 2003, and the risk of SARS-CoV outbreak still exists. However, no...     

西瓜含有JmjC结构域的组蛋白去甲基化酶家族的生物信息学分析

利用生物信息学方法,对西瓜（Citrullus lanatus（Thunb.）Matsum.&Nakai）JmjC基因家族的成员进行鉴定,对该基因家族的染色体定位、基因结构、蛋白结构域、选择压力和酶活位点进行分析,并对该基因家族与其它物种的系统进化及共线性关系进行研究。结果显示：西瓜全基因组含有17个JmjC候选基因,核苷酸序列长度为1209~5541 bp;这些基因均含有JmjC结构域,分别位于9条染色体上,归属8个亚族。系统进化、选择压力以及共线性分析结果表明,西瓜与黄瓜（Cucumis sativus L.）亲缘关系较近,JmjC家族基因数量相同,其中14个成员呈现一对一的共线性关系;而西瓜与拟南芥（Arabidopsis thaliana（L.）Heynh）亲缘关系较远,但西瓜和拟南芥同一亚族中JmjC基因间K_a/K_s的比值均小于1,推测西瓜各个亚族成员的编码蛋白功能与同一亚族的拟南芥成员功能极为相似。酶活位点分析结果表明西瓜JmjC基因家族中有10个成员具有潜在的组蛋白去甲基化酶活性。     

Structure and Nucleotide Polymorphisms in Pig Uncoupling Protein 2 and 3 Genes

Uncoupling proteins (UCPs) are mitochondrial membrane transporters, acting as an uncoupler in oxidative phosphorylation. In this study, we designed 11 primer sets based on the human and mouse UCP2, UCP3 sequences and successfully amplified full regions of porcine UCP2 and UCP3 by polymerase chain reactions (PCR). Comparison of the UCP2 and UCP3 genic structures revealed a highly conservative region was putatively presented, showing the second transmembrane domain may be the UCPs' cardinal function region. Altogether 23 nucleotide polymorphisms of UCP2 and UCP3 genes were discovered in Yorkshire, Wuzhishan, and Lepinghua pigs. These polymorphisms included 3 missense mutations, 16 intronic substitutions, and 4 intronic deletions. The substitution of Ala-55-Val in UCP2 is actually the most common mutation in human. We also calculated genotypic frequencies of five polymorphisms in three pig breeds.     

一种展示SARS冠状病毒受体结合区的重组枯草杆菌芽孢的制备及免疫原性分析

目的：利用枯草杆菌芽孢呈递技术制备表达SARS冠状病毒S蛋白受体结合区（RBD）的重组芽孢。方法：将枯草杆菌 CotB 基因构建到基因组整合质粒pDG1664中,再将 RBD 基因连接到 CotB 基因的下游,构建成重组质粒pDG1664-CotB-RBD,通过同源重组整合到PY-79枯草杆菌基因组中;利用红霉素抗性筛选重组菌并进行PCR和DNA测序鉴定,Western印迹鉴定重组菌芽孢表面RBD蛋白的表达情况;用表达RBD的重组芽孢以口服方式免疫小鼠,通过ELISA和流式细胞术检测重组芽孢的免疫原性。结果：制备出枯草杆菌基因组整合了RBD抗原基因的重组菌株RS1931,形成的重组芽孢表达相对分子质量约62×103的CotB-RBD融合蛋白;重组芽孢免疫的小鼠血清RBD抗原特异性IgG抗体滴度在末次免疫后2周可达1∶10880,重组芽孢初免后18周的小鼠脾细胞中IFN-γ＋CD4^＋、IL-4＋CD4^＋和IFN-γ＋CD8^＋T细胞比例上调,表明重组芽孢经口服免疫产生良好的体液免疫和细胞免疫应答。结论：针对SARS冠状病毒S蛋白RBD建立了枯草杆菌芽孢呈递技术方法,制备出在枯草杆菌芽孢表面稳定表达外源RBD蛋白的重组株,获得的重组芽孢具有良好的免疫原性,为开发芽孢呈递型SARS疫苗奠定了基础。     

Direct numerical simulation of a 2D-stented aortic heart valve at physiological flow rates

We study the nonlinear interaction of an aortic heart valve, composed of hyperelastic corrugated leaflets of finite density attached to a stented vessel under physiological flow conditions. In our numerical simulations, we use a 2D idealised representation of this arrangement. Blood flow is caused by a time-varying pressure gradient that mimics that of the aortic valve and corresponds to a peak Reynolds number equal to 4050. Here, we fully account for the shear-thinning behaviour of the blood and large deformations and contact between the leaflets by solving the momentum and mass balances for blood and leaflets. The mixed finite element/Galerkin method along with linear discontinuous Lagrange multipliers for coupling the fluid and elastic domains is adopted. Moreover, a series of challenging numerical issues such as the finite length of the computational domain and the conditions that should be imposed on its inflow/outflow boundaries, the accurate time integration of the parabolic and hyperbolic momentum equations, the contact between the leaflets and the non-conforming mesh refinement in part of the domain are successfully resolved. Calculations for the velocity and the shear stress fields of the blood reveal that boundary layers appear on both sides of a leaflet. The one along the ventricular side transfers blood with high momentum from the core region of the vessel to the annulus or the sinusoidal expansion, causing the continuous development of flow instabilities. At peak systole, vortices are convected in the flow direction along the annulus of the vessel, whereas during the closure stage of the valve, an extremely large vortex develops in each half of the flow domain.     

New head models extracted from thermal infrared (IR) images for dosimetry computations

In electromagnetic dosimetry, anatomical human models are commonly obtained by segmentation of magnetic resonance imaging or computed tomography scans. In this paper, a human head model extracted from thermal infrared images is examined in terms of its applicability to specific absorption rate (SAR) calculations. Since thermal scans are two-dimensional (2D) representation of surface temperature, this allows researchers to overcome the extensive computational demand associated with 3D simulation. The numerical calculations are performed using the finite-difference time-domain method with mesh sizes of 2 mm at 900 MHz plane wave irradiation. The power density of the incident plane wave is assumed to be 10 W/m². Computations were compared with a realistic anatomical head model. The results show that although there were marked differences in the local SAR distribution in the various tissues in the two models, the 1 g peak SAR values are approximately similar in the two models.     

The Synthesis and Biology of Fluorinated Prostacyclins

Abstract

Clostridium thermocellum produces a highly active cellulase system that consists of a high-M_r multienzyme complex termed cellulosome. Hydrolytic components of the cellulosome are organized around a large, noncatalytic glycoprotein termed CipA that acts both as a scaffolding component and a cellulose-binding factor. Catalytic subunits of the cellulosome bear conserved, noncatalytic subdomains, termed dockerin domains, which bind to receptor domains of CipA, termed cohesin domains. CipA includes nine cohesin domains, a cellulose-binding domain, and a specialized dockerin domain. Proteins of the cell envelope carrying cohesin domains that specifically bind the dockerin domain of CipA have been identified. These proteins may mediate anchoring of the cellulosomes to the cell surface. Cellulase complexes similar to the cellulosome of C. thermocellum are produced by several cellulolytic clostridia. High-Mr multienzyme complexes have also been identified in anaerobic rumen fungi. The architecture of the fungal complexes also seems to rely on the interaction of conserved, noncatalytic docking domains with a scaffolding component. However, the sequence of the fungal docking domains bears no resemblance to the clostridial dockerin domains, suggesting that the fungal and clostridial complexes arose independently.     

Structural coupling of the EF hand and C‐terminal GTPase domains in the mitochondrial protein Miro

Miro is a highly conserved calcium‐binding GTPase at the regulatory nexus of mitochondrial transport and autophagy. Here we present crystal structures comprising the tandem EF hand and carboxy terminal GTPase (cGTPase) domains of Drosophila Miro. The structures reveal two previously unidentified ‘hidden’ EF hands, each paired with a canonical EF hand. Each EF hand pair is bound to a helix that structurally mimics an EF hand ligand. A key nucleotide‐sensing element and a Pink1 phosphorylation site both lie within an extensive EF hand–cGTPase interface. Our results indicate structural mechanisms for calcium, nucleotide and phosphorylation‐dependent regulation of mitochondrial function by Miro.