Utilization of a receptor reserve for effective amplification of mitogenic signaling by an epidermal growth factor mutant deficient in receptor activation

The idea of a receptor reserve in mediating cellular function is well known but direct biochemical evidence has not been easy to obtain. This study stems from our results showing that L15 of epidermal growth factor (EGF) is important in both EGF receptor (EGFR) binding and activation, and the L15A analog of human EGF (hEGF) partially uncouples EGFR binding from EGFR activation (Nandagopal et al., [1996] Protein Engng 9:781-788). We address the cellular mechanism of mitogenic signal amplification by EGFR tyrosine kinase in response to L15A hEGF. L15A is partially impaired in receptor dimerization, shown by chemical cross-linking and allosteric activation of EGFR in a substrate phosphorylation assay. Immunoprecipitation experiments reveal, however, that L15A can induce EGFR autophosphorylation in intact murine keratinocytes by utilizing spare receptors, the ratio of total phosphotyrosine content per receptor being significantly lower than that elicited by wild-type. This direct biochemical evidence, based on function, of utilization of a receptor reserve for kinase stimulation suggests that an EGF variant can activate varying receptor numbers to generate the same effective response. L15A-activated receptors can stimulate mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) that is important for mitogenesis. The lack of linear correlation between levels of receptor dimerization, autophosphorylation, and MAPK activation suggests that signal amplification is mediated by cooperative effects. Flow cytometric analyses show that the percentages of cells which proliferate in response to 1 nM L15A and their rate of entry into S-phase are both decreased relative to 1 nM wild-type, indicating that MAPK activation alone is insufficient for maximal stimulation of mitogenesis. Higher concentrations of L15A reverse this effect, indicating that L15A and wild-type differ in the number of receptors each activates to induce the threshold response, which may be attained by cooperative activation of receptor dimers/oligomers by van der Waal's weak forces of attraction. The maintenance of a receptor reserve underscores an effective strategy in cell survival.     

集胞藻的随机插入诱变和光激活异养突变株的筛选

以4－碱基限制性内切酶部分酶切集胞藻PCC6803基因文库总质粒DNA,并插入卡那霉素抗性基因标记,构建了二级随机插入诱变文库。以该诱变文库总DNA转化集胞藻PCC6803,得到大量有抗性标记基因随机插入的转化子,利用这一方法获得了不能进行光激活异养生长的突变株,并克隆了抗性标记基因插入部位DNA片段,在持续光照但加DCMU抑制光合作用的情况下,这些突变株仍然能够利用葡萄糖异养生长,推测突变基因与短时光信号的感应有关。     

化学修饰--提高酶催化性能的重要工具

讨论了化学修饰对酶的稳定性、有机溶剂溶解性、特殊条件下的活性和选择性的影响。对常见的和近期出现的酶修饰技术,包括交联酶晶体、酶蛋白侧链功能基共价修饰、酶蛋白表面修饰、结合定点突变的化学修饰、通过酶活性位点氨基酸原子置换进行化学突变等方法作了重点阐述。     

Expression, purification, and characterization of His-tagged Staphylococcus xylosus lipase wild-type and its mutant Asp 290 Ala

The gene encoding the extracellular lipase of Staphylococcus xylosus (SXL) was cloned using PCR technique. The sequence corresponding to the mature lipase was subcloned in the pET-14b expression vector, with a strong T7 promoter, to construct a recombinant lipase protein containing six histidine residues at the N-terminal. High level expression of the lipase by Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) cells harbouring the lipase gene containing expression vector was observed upon induction with 0.4 mM IPTG at 37 degrees C. One-step purification of the recombinant lipase was achieved with Ni-NTA resin. The specific activity of the purified His-tagged SXL was 1500 or 850 U/mg using tributyrin or olive oil emulsion as substrate, respectively. It has been proposed that the region near the residue Asp290 could be involved in the selection of the substrate. Therefore, we also mutated the residue Asp 290 by Ala using site-directed mutagenesis. The mutant SXL-D290A was overexpressed in E. coli BL21 (DE3) and purified with the same nickel metal affinity column. The specific activity of the purified His-tagged SXL-D290A mutant was 1000 U/mg using either tributyrin or olive oil emulsion as substrate. A comparative study of the wild type (His(6)-SXL) and the mutant (His(6)-SXL-D290A) proteins was carried out. Our results confirmed that Asp290 is important for the chain length specificity and catalytic efficiency of the enzyme.     

中性植酸酶产生菌的激光复合诱变筛选

采用激光复合诱变方式筛选产中性植酸酶的大肠杆菌(Escherichia coli)、枯草杆菌(Bacillus subtilis),混合波长λ=1.06 0.53μm,辐照时间1 m in,辐照功率15 W;酶的细胞定位实验表明,所产中性植酸酶是胞外酶;酶学特性测定表明,大肠杆菌所产植酸酶酶反应最适pH为7.4,最适温度为37℃,枯草杆菌所产植酸酶反应最适pH为7.4,最适温度为37℃;酶学性质分析表明,大肠杆菌所产植酸酶具有一定的pH适性和一定的温度耐受性。     

Gene Discovery and Functional Analyses in the Model Plant Arabidopsis

The present mini-review describes newer methods and strategies, including transposon and T-DNA insertions, TILLING, Deleteagene, and RNA interference, to functionally analyze genes of interest in the model plant Arabidopsis. The relative advantages and disadvantages of the systems are also discussed.     

人谷胱甘肽S-转移酶pi(GSTp)中半胱氨酸对其在细胞氧化应激下功能的影响

利用PCR定点突变技术构建人GSTp三种半胱氨酸突变体C~(47/101)、C~(14/47/101)和C~(14/47/101/169)。将CSTp 野生型和突变体表达质粒转染293细胞,以CDNB 为底物测定胞内GST 的转移酶活性,结果显示各类突变体均明显抑制了细胞内源性CST 的催化活性,具有显著的负显性(dominant nega-tive)突变体的功能;将CSTp 野生型和突变体与c-Jun、NF-kB 和p53的报告基因载体共转染,通过萤光素酶活性测定发现突变体C~(14/47/101)和C~(14/47/101/169)能明显激活c-Jun 和p21的转录活性;Western印迹分析显示突变体均能上调细胞内p21蛋白的水平,细胞存活率的测定表明GSTp 突变体能增强293细胞对H_2O_2刺激的敏感性;实验结果表明半胱氨酸残基对于维持GSTp 在对抗细胞氧化应激过程中的保护作用至关重要。     

The role of polar interactions in the molecular recognition of CD40L with its receptor CD40.

CD40 Ligand (CD40L) is transiently expressed on the surface of T-cells and binds to CD40, which is expressed on the surface of B-cells. This binding event leads to the differentiation, proliferation, and isotype switching of the B-cells. The physiological importance of CD40L has been demonstrated by the fact that expression of defective CD40L protein causes an immunodeficiency state characterized by high IgM and low IgG serum levels, indicating faulty T-cell dependent B-cell activation. To understand the structural basis for CD40L/CD40 association, we have used a combination of molecular modeling, mutagenesis, and X-ray crystallography. The structure of the extracellular region of CD40L was determined by protein crystallography, while the CD40 receptor was built using homology modeling based upon a novel alignment of the TNF receptor superfamily, and using the X-ray structure of the TNF receptor as a template. The model shows that the interface of the complex is composed of charged residues, with CD40L presenting basic side chains (K143, R203, R207), and CD40 presenting acidic side chains (D84, E114, E117). These residues were studied experimentally through site-directed mutagenesis, and also theoretically using electrostatic calculations with the program Delphi. The mutagenesis data explored the role of the charged residues in both CD40L and CD40 by switching to Ala (K143A, R203A, R207A of CD40L, and E74A, D84A, E114A, E117A of CD40), charge reversal (K143E, R203E, R207E of CD40L, and D84R, E114R, E117R of CD40), mutation to a polar residue (K143N, R207N, R207Q of CD40L, and D84N, E117N of CD40), and for the basic side chains in CD40L, isosteric substitution to a hydrophobic side chain (R203M, R207M). All the charge-reversal mutants and the majority of the Met and Ala substitutions led to loss of binding, suggesting that charged interactions stabilize the complex. This was supported by the Delphi calculations which confirmed that the CD40/CD40L residue pairs E74-R203, D84-R207, and E117-R207 had a net stabilizing effect on the complex. However, the substitution of hydrophilic side chains at several of the positions was tolerated, which suggests that although charged interactions stabilize the complex, charge per se is not crucial at all positions. Finally, we compared the electrostatic surface of TNF/TNFR with CD40L/CD40 and have identified a set of polar interactions surrounded by a wall of hydrophobic residues that appear to be similar but inverted between the two complexes.     

转座子相关技术在微生物功能基因组研究中的应用

转座子是DNA插入因子的一种,是指能在基因组间或组内跳跃的DNA片段。转座子作为插入突变剂或分子标签已被广泛地应用于基因的分离和克隆,且因其独特的性质已成为发现新基因和基因功能分析的有效工具。这使得转座子无论是在单基因水平还是全基因组水平,都成为细菌、酵母和其他微生物研究的有力工具。简单而有效的体外转座反应可以对一些以往难以进行分析的顽固微生物进行转座诱变分析。而建立在转座子基础上的信号标签诱变技术和遗传足迹法的应用则发现了一些新的病原微生物毒力因子,从而可以更好地对这些病原微生物的致病机理进行阐述。这些再次说明转座子是微生物功能基因组研究中的有力工具。本文综述了转座子及其衍生载体介导的一些技术,并讨论其在微生物功能基因组研究中的应用。     

E83V对扩展青霉脂肪酶最适作用温度的影响

利用重叠延伸PCR法对扩展青霉碱性脂肪酶(PEL)基因作了体外定点突变,获得了最适作用温度有所提高的突变体。含突变基因的重组质粒pPIC3．5K-lip-E83V在Pichia pastoris GS115中表达。对突变体表达产物PEL-E83V-GS与野生型表达产物PEL-GS作了比较：前者最适作用温度为45℃,比野生型提高了5℃;其热稳定性基本不变;突变体在37℃下的表达量为188U／mL,约为野生型的80％。最适作用温度的提高可能是由于83位亲水性的Glu用疏水性的Val取代,增加了脂肪酶表面的疏水作用,使其在高温下更适于与底物的结合。