Structural and dynamic studies of two antigenic loops from haemagglutinin: A relaxation matrix approach

Summary We have investigated the dynamics and structural behaviour of two antigenic peptides using ¹H NMR. The two cyclic peptides mimic the antigenic site A of influenza haemagglutinin protein; they only differ in the way they were cyclized and in the size of their respective linkers. Homonuclear relaxation parameters extracted from a complete NOE matrix were interpreted in terms of local dynamics. A set of distance constraints was deduced from these parameters which allowed 3D models to be constructed using distance geometry. NOE back-calculation was used to check the validity of the final models. Strong variations of internal motion amplitude have been found in both peptides along their backbone. Motions with high amplitudes have been localized in the Gly-Pro-Gly sequence which forms a -turn in both structures.Abbreviations DSS 3-(trimethylsilyl)-1-propanesulfonic acid - D-loop aspartic acid loop - ELISA enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assay - f.i.d free induction decay - HOHAHA homonuclear Hartmann-Hahn spectroscopy - HPLC high pressure liquid chromatography - K-loop lysine loop - NMR nuclear magnetic resonance - NOE nuclear Overhauser enhancement - NOESY nuclear Overhauser enhancement spectroscopy - r.m.s.d. root-mean-square deviation of atomic positions     

两栖类皮肤抗菌多肽及其应用

抗菌多肽广泛分布于动物、植物,用于抵御细菌、真菌、病毒和原虫,在进化上是一类非常古老而有效的天然防御物质。两栖动物的后天获得性免疫系统与哺乳动物相比极为脆弱,它们在长期的进化历程中演化形成了一套非常有效的抵御微生物侵袭的防御系统,这套系统主要就是其裸露皮肤表面的抗菌多肽(又称初级免疫或者先天免疫系统)。本文结合本实验室近年的研究工作,对两栖类皮肤抗菌多肽的结构、功能及应用作一简要综述。     

Structural variation in human apolipoprotein E3 and E4: secondary structure, tertiary structure, and size distribution

Human apolipoprotein E (apoE) is a 299-amino-acid protein with a molecular weight of 34 kDa. The difference between the apoE3 and apoE4 isoforms is a single residue substitution involving a Cys-Arg replacement at residue 112. ApoE4 is positively associated with atherosclerosis and late-onset and sporadic Alzheimer's disease (AD). ApoE4 and its C-terminal truncated fragments have been found in the senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in the brain of AD patients. However, detail structural information regarding isoform and domain interaction remains poorly understood. We prepared full-length, N-, and C-terminal truncated apoE3 and apoE4 proteins and studied their structural variation. Sedimentation velocity and continuous size distribution analysis using analytical ultracentrifugation revealed apoE3(72-299) as consisting of a major species with a sedimentation coefficient of 5.9. ApoE4(72-299) showed a wider and more complicated species distribution. Both apoE3 and E4 N-terminal domain (1-191) existed with monomers as the major component together with some tetramer. The oligomerization and aggregation of apoE protein increased when the C-terminal domain (192-271) was incorporated. The structural influence of the C-terminal domain on apoE is to assist self-association with no significant isoform preference. Circular dichroism and fluorescence studies demonstrated that apoE4(72-299) possessed a more alpha-helical structure with more hydrophobic residue exposure. The structural variation of the N-terminal truncated apoE3 and apoE4 protein provides useful information that helps to explain the greater aggregation of the apoE4 isoform and thus has implication for the involvement of apoE4 in AD.     

淋巴细胞存在有δ阿片肽受体的分子证据

以小鼠的成神经细胞瘤和大鼠神经胶质瘤的杂交细胞δ阿片肽受体的基因外显子Ⅲ序列为依据合成引物,应用ＲＴ－ＰＣＲ方法扩增人外周血淋巴细胞ｍＲＮＡ的一片段ｃＤＮＡ,扩增产物经纯化后进行核苷酸序列测定．测序结果表明该片段与杂交瘤细胞的δ阿片肽受体基因序列相比有５个同源区,其中碱基的同源性达６３％．实验结果从分子水平表明了人淋巴细胞表面存在有阿片肽受体的可能性．     

Cell-penetrating peptide-conjugated lipid nanoparticles for siRNA delivery

Lipid nanoparticles (LNP) modified with cell-penetrating peptides (CPP) were prepared for the delivery of small interfering RNA (siRNA) into cells. Lipid derivatives of CPP derived from protamine were newly synthesized and used to prepare CPP-decorated LNP (CPP-LNP). Encapsulation of siRNA into CPP-LNP improved the stability of the siRNA in serum. Fluorescence-labeled siRNA formulated in CPP-LNP was efficiently internalized into B16F10 murine melanoma cells in a time-dependent manner, although that in LNP without CPP was hardly internalized into these cells. In cells transfected with siRNA in CPP-LNP, most of the siRNA was distributed in the cytoplasm of these cells and did not localize in the lysosomes. Analysis of the endocytotic pathway indicated that CPP-LNP were mainly internalized via macropinocytosis and heparan sulfate-mediated endocytosis. CPP-LNP encapsulating siRNA effectively induced RNA interference-mediated silencing of reporter genes in B16F10 cells expressing luciferase and in HT1080 human fibrosarcoma cells expressing enhanced green fluorescent protein. These data suggest that modification of LNP with the protamine-derived CPP was effective to facilitate internalization of siRNA in the cytoplasm and thereby to enhance gene silencing.     

细胞穿膜肽研究应用的新进展

细胞穿膜肽(Cell-penetrating peptides,CPPs)是一类能够穿过细胞膜或组织屏障的短肽。CPPs可通过内吞和直接穿透等机制运载蛋白质、RNA、DNA等生物大分子进入细胞内发挥其效应功能。相比于其他非天然的化学分子,CPPs具有生物相容性佳、对细胞造成的毒性小、完成入胞转运后可降解、并能与生物活性蛋白直接融合重组表达等优点,因此成为以胞内分子为靶标的药物递送技术发展的重要工具,并在生物医学研究领域具有良好的应用前景。文中针对CPPs的分类特点、入胞转运机制及其治疗应用的新近研究进展进行综述和讨论。     

抗菌肽及其工业应用前景

抗菌肽是生物体内经诱导产生的一种对抗外源性致病菌作用的防御性小分子多肽,广泛存在于动植物和微生物体内。其分子量一般在4000Da左右,带正电荷,由30～40个氨基酸组成。抗菌肽一般都具有耐热性,100℃温度下活性最长可保持30min以上。抗菌肽具广谱抗菌活性,通过破坏细胞膜等作用,可以抑制革兰氏阴性菌、革兰氏阳性菌、真菌,有些抗菌肽还具有抗原虫、病毒及抗癌功能。抗菌肽在工业应用中展示出了广阔的前景。     

Sequence determinants in the cathelicidin LL-37 that promote inflammation via presentation of RNA to scavenger receptors

Cathelicidins such as the human 37-amino acid peptide (LL-37) are peptides that not only potently kill microbes but also trigger inflammation by enabling immune recognition of endogenous nucleic acids. Here, a detailed structure–function analysis of LL-37 was performed to understand the details of this process. Alanine scanning of 34-amino acid peptide (LL-34) showed that some variants displayed increased antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and group A Streptococcus. In contrast, different substitutions clustered on the hydrophobic face of the LL-34 alpha helix inhibited the ability of those variants to promote type 1 interferon expression in response to U1 RNA or to present U1 to the scavenger receptor (SR) B1 on the keratinocyte cell surface. Small-angle X-ray scattering experiments of the LL-34 variants LL-34, F5A, I24A, and L31A demonstrated that these peptides form cognate supramolecular structures with U1 characterized by inter-dsRNA spacings of approximately 3.5 nm, a range that has been previously shown to activate toll-like receptor 3 by the parent peptide LL-37. Therefore, while alanine substitutions on the hydrophobic face of LL-34 led to loss of binding to SRs and the complete loss of autoinflammatory responses in epithelial and endothelial cells, they did not inhibit the ability to organize with U1 RNA in solution to associate with toll-like receptor 3. These observations advance our understanding of how cathelicidin mediates the process of innate immune self-recognition to enable inert nucleic acids to trigger inflammation. We introduce the term “innate immune vetting” to describe the capacity of peptides such as LL-37 to enable certain nucleic acids to become an inflammatory stimulus through SR binding prior to cell internalization.     

天蚕素A-马盖宁杂合肽对耐甲氧西林金黄色葡萄球菌抑菌机制的研究

【目的】研究天蚕素A-马盖宁杂合肽对耐甲氧西林金黄色葡萄球菌(MRSA)DNA作用的抑菌机制。【方法】利用激光扫描共聚焦显微镜(CLSM)、凝胶阻滞分析、紫外光谱分析、荧光光谱分析的方法。【结果】天蚕素A-马盖宁杂合肽对MRSA的最小抑菌浓度(MIC)为64 mg/L,杂合肽可以在细菌胞内形成累积,并能与体外基因组DNA发生结合作用。同时杂合肽可以引起DNA构象的改变,荧光光谱分析结果表明杂合肽能与溴化乙锭(EB)竞争性地嵌入基因组DNA中,作用方式类似于EB与DNA的结合方式,杂合肽与DNA的结合表现为混合式作用方式。【结论】天蚕素A-马盖宁进入细菌胞内,与MRSA基因组DNA结合,并以混合式作用方式与DNA发生了结合,通过胞内靶向机制发挥抑菌作用。     

抗菌肽的结构分析、抗菌机制及改造应用的研究进展

细菌感染已成为威胁人类健康的重要公共卫生问题之一,而抗生素的滥用又加快了细菌耐药性的进程。抗菌肽因其广谱抗菌活性、快速杀菌作用、低毒性和不易产生耐药性等特点受到了广泛关注。然而,抗菌肽的天然结构也预示了其应用存在一些限制,如易降解、不稳定、低渗透和高成本等。如何改良抗菌肽仍是需要解决的难题。本文从抗菌肽的来源和结构特征出发,分析了与抗菌相关的空间结构及其所对应的抗菌机制,总结了现有抗菌肽的改良策略,为寻求新型改良方案奠定基础。希望为今后抗菌肽的改造与临床应用提供新的思路和方向。