The C-terminal sequence from common bugle leaf galactan:galactan galactosyltransferase is a non-sequence-specific vacuolar sorting determinant

The Ajuga reptans L. galactan:galactan galactosyltransferase (ArGGT) is a vacuolar enzyme that synthesizes long-chain raffinose family oligosaccharides (RFOs), the major storage carbohydrates of this plant. ArGGT is structurally and functionally related to acid plant alpha-galactosidases (alpha-Gals) of the glycosylhydrolase family 27, present in the apoplast or the vacuole. Sequence comparison of acid alpha-Gals with ArGGT revealed that they all contain an N-terminal signal sequence and a highly similar core sequence. Additionally, ArGGT and some acid alpha-Gals contain C-terminal extensions with low sequence similarities to each other. Here, we show that the C-terminal pentapeptide, SLQMS, is a non-sequence-specific vacuolar sorting determinant. Analogously, we demonstrate that the C-terminal extensions of selected acid alpha-Gals from Arabidopsis, barley, and rice, are also non-sequence-specific vacuolar sorting determinants, suggesting the presence of at least one vacuolar form of acid alpha-Gal in every plant species.     

A serine involved in actin-dependent subcellular localization of a stress-induced tobacco BY-2 hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA reductase isoform

3-Hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase (HMGR) is unique in the first part of the cytoplasmic isoprenoid pathway, as it contains a membrane domain that includes ER-specific retention motifs. When fused to GFP, this domain targets two tobacco BY-2 HMGR isoforms differentially. While the first isoform is ER-localized, a second stress-induced one forms globular structures connected by tubular structures. A serine positioned upstream of the ER retention motif seems to be implicated in this specific subcellular localization. Surprisingly, these structures are closely connected to F-actin, and their intactness is dependent upon the integrity of the filaments or the action of a calmodulin antagonist.     

近视眼LASIK术后眼高阶像差变化

探讨近视眼LASIK术后眼波阵面像差高阶像差各项的变化。方法:采用NIDEK OPD-Scan ARK-1000型波前像差扫描系统对LASIK治疗近视的62只眼在术前术后眼的波前像差进行了评估。在术前、术后10天、术后一个月分别测量眼的波阵面像差。比较6mm瞳孔下高阶像差各项的变化。结果:在全部接受检查的病例中,总的高阶像差(RMSh)均有所增加。从Zernik各项绝对值来看,球差C12变化最大。术后10天比术前增加6．7742倍(P=0．0001)。其次是彗差C7 C8(X轴、Y轴上的彗差),分别增加了4．883倍(P=0．0001)、3．7523倍(P=0．0001)。结论:LASIK术后眼的总的高阶像差均方根值(RMSh)明显增加,尤其是球差和彗差;但在恢复过程中高阶像差有下降的趋势。用像差仪来指导和评估LASIK等屈光手术可以更全面、更准确。     

α-Crystallin Assisted Refolding of Enzyme Substrates: Optimization of External Parameters

α-Crystallin is known to act as a molecular chaperone by preventing the aggregation of partially unfolded substrate proteins. It is also known to assist the refolding of a number of denatured enzymes, but the activity yield is often less than 20%. In this paper, we have tried to tune the refolding ability of α-crystallin in vitro by optimizing various external parameters. We wanted to find out the best possible condition under which it can exhibit maximum refolding capacity. We found that under suitable condition in vitro α-crystallin can refold denatured malate dehydrogenase, carbonic anhydrase and lactate dehydrogenase to recover more than 40% activity. We also measured the effect of several external factors such as nucleotides, osmolytes, electrolytes, temperature etc. on the in vitro α-crystallin mediated reactivation of above stated enzymes. We found that nucleotides and electrolytes had little effect on the refolding ability of α-crystallin. However, in presence of different osmolytes, we found that its ability to reactivate denatured substrate proteins enhanced significantly. Refolding in presence of pre-incubated α-crystallin reveals that hydrophobicity had stronger influence on the refolding capacity of α-crystallin than its oligomeric size.     

Differential analysis of Bacillus anthracis after pX01 plasmid curing and comprehensive data on Bacillus anthracis infection in macrophages and glial cells

Bacillus anthracis is a gram-positive bacterial organism responsible for anthrax. This organism has two pathogenic plasmids: pX01 and pX02. The genetic function of pX01, which comprises about 198 kb, is not known, except for a region called the pathogenic island, which contains three genes-pag, lef, and cya-that code for three toxic proteins. A 2-D difference gel electrophoresis (2-D DIGE) system was used to verify the existence of proteins controlled by the pX01 plasmid, and protein regulation data were obtained using DeCyder software. A total of 1728 proteins were identified in the wild-type strain of this organism and 1684 in the pX01 plasmid. Twenty-seven of these proteins disappeared and eight appeared when the pX01 plasmid was removed. An additional 52 proteins were downregulated and 15 were upregulated when this plasmid was removed. A total of 102 proteins have been identified using the MALDI-TOF method of analysis, including 49 whose functions are unknown. Among these, 31 participate in metabolic processes, two in cellular processes, 15 in the processing of genetic information, and five in the processing of extracellular information. Another seven proteins participate in bacterial virulence and pathogenesis. We investigated the functions of these proteins in other bacteria, particularly the B. anthracis derivative H9041. Bacterial growth differed between pX01+/pX02+ B. anthracis and its pX01-/pX02+ derivative as did the cytotoxicity of macrophages infected by pX01+/pX02+ B. anthracis and the pX01-pX02+ derivative. We also found that S100B protein levels increased in the host infected with pX01+/pX02+ B. anthracis or its pX01-/pX02+ derivative. These data suggest that the pX01 plasmid plays a key role in the regulation of protein functions in B. anthracis.     

用DREAM技术纠正人工合成基因中的突变

目的：介绍一种简便、有效的定点突变技术。方法：根据突变位点附近的DNA序列推导出氨基酸序列,再以此氨基酸序列进行逆翻译,这样在不改变氨基酸序列的前提下可以得到数目巨大的隐性突变体（silent mutants）,这些突变体中包含大量的限制性内切酶位点,选择合适的酶切位点设计引物用PCR技术扩增两侧DNA片段,然后以相应酶切融合这两个片段即可完成定点突变。结果：用该方法成功地在人工合成的含有缺失的可溶性组织因子基因的472位插入C,T两个碱基,校正了阅读框架,获得了预期的目的基因。结论：该方法简便、有效, 避免了多轮PCR和合成长引物导致突变的可能性,这种改进的PCR 定点诱变技术我们称之为“设计限制酶辅助突变”（Designed Restriction Enzyme Assisted Mutagenesis, DREAM）。此技术简单方便, 诱变的成功率高, 适于实验室常规应用。     

角膜激光共聚焦显微镜在单眼感染性角膜炎疾病诊断中的应用

摘要 目的：探讨角膜激光共聚焦显微镜在单眼感染性角膜炎疾病诊断中的应用价值。方法：回顾性研究2020年6月到2021年6月选择在本院诊治的单眼感染性角膜炎疾病患者62例,所有患者都给予角膜激光共聚焦显微镜检查,记录影像学特征并判断诊断价值（以病原学诊断为金标准）。结果：真菌性角膜炎在角膜激光共焦显微镜下的病变区纵横交错的高反射的真菌菌丝或高反光细长颗粒状的孢子,细菌性角膜炎的病变处会聚集活化的树突状细胞及大量的炎症细胞,病毒性角膜炎的基底膜下神经纤维密度、神经主干的分支数减少,棘阿米巴性角膜炎的包囊表现为圆形高反光厚壁结构。角膜激光共聚焦显微镜判断为病毒性角膜炎17例,诊断病毒性角膜炎的敏感性与特异性为94.4 %和100.0 %;角膜激光共聚焦显微镜判断为棘阿米巴性角膜炎4例,诊断棘阿米巴性角膜炎的敏感性与特异性为94.4 %和100.0 %;角膜激光共聚焦显微镜判断为细菌性角膜炎21例,诊断细菌性角膜炎的敏感性与特异性为95.5 %和97.5 %;角膜激光共聚焦显微镜判断为真菌性角膜炎20例,诊断真菌性角膜炎的敏感性与特异性为94.4 %和93.2 %。ROC曲线分析显示角膜激光共聚焦显微镜诊断细菌性角膜炎、真菌性角膜炎、病毒性角膜炎、棘阿米巴性角膜炎的曲线下面积分别为0.525、0.579、0.777、0.731。结论：角膜激光共聚焦显微镜在单眼感染性角膜炎疾病诊断中的应用能较好的区分细菌性角膜炎、真菌性角膜炎、病毒性角膜炎、棘阿米巴性角膜炎,具有良好的诊断敏感性与特异性。     

Identification of human plasma C1 inhibitor as a target protein for staphylococcal superantigen-like protein 5 (SSL5)

The family of staphylococcal superantigen-like proteins (SSLs) have a structure similar to bacterial superantigens but exhibit no superantigenic activity. These exoproteins have recently been shown to disturb the host immune defense system. One family member, SSL5, was reported to bind to human leukocyte P-selectin glycoprotein ligand-1 (PSGL-1) and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) and to interfere with leukocyte trafficking. In the present study, we explored human plasma proteins bound by glutathione S-transferase (GST)-tagged recombinant SSL5 (GST-SSL5) and identified plasma protease C1 inhibitor (C1Inh) as a major SSL5-binding protein based on the results of peptide mass fingerprinting analysis with MALDI-TOFMS. GST-SSL5 was found to attenuate the inhibitory activity of recombinant histidine-tagged C1Inh (C1Inh-His) toward complement C1s. We also observed that the treatment of C1Inh-His with neuraminidase markedly decreased its binding to GST-SSL5. Moreover, C1Inh-His produced by Lec2 mutant cells (deficient in sialic acid biosynthesis) showed much lower binding affinity for SSL5 than that produced by the wild-type CHO-K1 cells, as assessed by pull-down assay. These results suggest that SSL5 binds to C1Inh in a sialic acid-dependent fashion and modulates the host immune defense through perturbation of the complement system in association with S. aureus infection.     

α-bisabolol β-D-fucopyranoside as a potential modulator of β-amyloid peptide induced neurotoxicity: An in vitro & in silico study

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a multifaceted neurodegenerative disorder affecting the elderly people. For the AD treatment, there is inefficiency in the existing medication, as these drugs reduce only the symptoms of the disease. Since multiple pathological proteins are involved in the development of AD, searching for a single molecule targeting multiple AD proteins will be a new strategy for the management of AD. In view of this, the present study was designed to synthesize and evaluate the multifunctional neuroprotective ability of the sesquiterpene glycoside α-bisabolol β-D-fucopyranoside (ABFP) against multiple targets like acetylcholinesterase, oxidative stress and β-amyloid peptide aggregation induced cytotoxicity. In silico computational docking and simulation studies of ABFP with acetylcholinesterase (AChE) showed that it can interact with Asp74 and Thr75 residues of the enzyme. The in vitro studies showed that the compound possess significant ability to inhibit the AChE enzyme apart from exhibiting antioxidant, anti-aggregation and disaggregation properties. In addition, molecular dynamics simulation studies proved that the interacting residue between Aβ peptide and ABFP was found to be involved in Leu34 and Ile31. Furthermore, the compound was able to protect the Neuro2 a cells against Aβ_25-35 peptide induced toxicity. Overall, the present study evidently proved ABFP as a neuroprotective agent, which might act as a multi-target compound for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.