Potentiation of ribonuclease cytotoxicity by a poly(amidoamine) dendrimer

Variants of bovine pancreatic ribonuclease (RNase A) engineered to evade the endogenous ribonuclease inhibitor protein (RI) are toxic to human cancer cells. Increasing the basicity of these variants facilitates their entry into the cytosol and thus increases their cytotoxicity. The installation of additional positive charge also has the deleterious consequence of decreasing ribonucleolytic activity or conformational stability. Here, we report that the same benefit can be availed by co-treating cells with a cationic dendrimer. We find that adding the generation 2 poly(amidoamine) dendrimer in trans increases the cytotoxicity of RI-evasive RNase A variants without decreasing their activity or stability. The increased cytotoxicity is not due to increased RI-evasion or cellular internalization, but likely results from improved translocation into the cytosol after endocytosis. These data indicate that co-treatment with highly cationic molecules could enhance the efficacy of ribonucleases as chemotherapeutic agents.     

Interference elimination of an amperometric glucose biosensor using poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate) membrane

A permselective membrane fabricated from photo‐cross‐linked poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (pHEMA) was studied as a potential selective membrane that can eliminate electrochemical interferences commonly faced by a hydrogen peroxide‐based biosensor. The quantitative selection of the permselective membrane was based on the permeabilities of hydrogen peroxide and acetaminophen (AC). AC was used as a model of the interfering substance due to its neutral nature. pHEMA membrane with the cross‐linking ratio of 0.043 was found to achieve a selectivity of hydrogen peroxide over AC of 10, while maintaining an acceptable degree of hydrogen peroxide response. A two‐layer glucose biosensor model consisting of glucose oxidase entrapped within a freeze‐thawed poly(vinyl alcohol) matrix and the cross‐linked pHEMA membrane was challenged with AC, ascorbic acid and uric acid. 0.2 mM AC and 0.2 mM ascorbic acid were completely eliminated. However, 0.2 mM uric acid could not be completely eliminated and still gave a bias of approximately 6.6% relative to 5 mM glucose. The results showed that cross‐linked pHEMA was quite promising as an interference eliminating inner membrane.     

双抗体免疫沉淀法纯化牛生长激素poly(A)~+RNA的研究

我们用双抗体免疫沉淀法,从牛垂体多聚核糖体中分离出牛生长激素特异多聚核糖体,由此多聚核糖体纯化的牛生长激素Poly(A)~+RNA,可以在麦胚体外翻译系统中和兔网织红细胞体外翻译系统中促进~(14)C-亮氨酸的参入。合成的含~(14)-亮氨酸的翻译产物中有91％可以被牛生长激素抗体沉淀。用SDS-11％PAGE对翻译产物进行鉴定表明,翻译产物在25KD处呈一条放射自显影带,与报导的牛生长激素前体分子量相吻合。     

Biodiesel production from rubber seed oil using poly (sodium acrylate) supporting NaOH as a water-resistant catalyst

Poly (sodium acrylate) supporting NaOH (NaOH/NaPAA) was prepared by in situ polymerization of aqueous solution of acrylic acid with an over-neutralization by adding excess of NaOH. NaOH/NaPAA presented a promising selectivity for water absorbency and good water retention with negligible swelling capacity in the organic solvents of methanol, glycerol, rubber seed oil methyl esters, and rubber seed oil. NaOH/NaPAA catalysts showed a basic strength of 15.0 < H_ < 18.4 and their basicity increased with the increase of the NaOH loading amount. NaOH/NaPAA catalysts exhibited almost the same catalytic activity in the transesterification of rubber seed oil with methanol under the optimized reaction conditions compared to conventional homogeneous NaOH catalyst. Furthermore, the functional absorbent/catalyst system presented a good water resistance in the transesterification which retained high catalytic activity when a water concentration in the reaction system was less than 2 wt.%.     

条锈菌侵染初期小麦初生叶内可翻译mRNA的变化

小麦条锈菌毒性小种及其无毒性突变型侵染初期,是不亲和反应的小麦叶片内可翻译ｍＲＮＡ水平迅速增加,而呈亲和反应叶片的增加幅度小且滞后。同时前者的Ｐｏｌｙ（Ａ＋）－ＲＮＡ水平高于未接种对照,后者低于对照。３２Ｐ标记实验证实不亲和反应叶片Ｐｏｌｙ（Ａ＋）－ＲＮＡ的合成增加早于亲和反应叶片。Ｐｏｌｙ（Ａ＋）－ＲＮＡ体外翻译产物经ＳＤＳ－ＰＡＧＥ分离后,放射自显影图谱显示一些多肽条带的３５Ｓ－Ｍｅｔ相对掺入量有定量差异。     

The potential of methane‐oxidizing bacteria for applications in environmental biotechnology

Methanotrophic bacteria possess a unique set of enzymes enabling them to oxidize, degrade and transform organic molecules and synthesize new compounds. Therefore, they have great potential in environmental biotechnology. The application of these unique properties was demonstrated in three case studies: (i) Methane escaping from leaky gas pipes may lead to massive mortality of trees in urban areas. Lack of oxygen within the soil surrounding tree roots caused by methanotrophic activity was identified as one of the reasons for this phenomenon. The similarity between metabolic reactions performed by the key enzymes of methanotrophs (methane monooxygenase) and ammonium oxidizers (ammonium monooxygenase) might offer a solution to this problem by applying commercially available nitrification and urease inhibitors. (ii) Methanotrophs are able to co‐metabolically degrade contaminants such as low‐molecular‐weight‐chlorinated hydrocarbons in soil and water in the presence of methane. Batch and continuous trichloroethylene degradation experiments in laboratory‐scale reactors using Methylocystis sp. GB 14 were performed, partly with cells entrapped in a polymer matrix. (iii) Using a short, two‐stage pilot‐scale process, the intracellular polymer accumulation of poly‐β‐hydroxybutyrate (PHB) in methanotrophs reached a maximum of 52%. Interestingly, an ultra‐high‐molecular‐weight PHB of 3.1 MDa was accumulated under potassium deficiency. Under strictly controlled conditions (temperature, pH and methane supply) this process can be nonsterile because of the establishment of a stable microbial community (dominant species Methylocystis sp. GB 25 ≥86% by biomass). The possibility to substitute methane with biogas from renewable sources facilitates the development of a methane‐based PHB production process that yields a high‐quality biopolymer at competitive costs.     

Formation of an αCP1-KH3 complex with UC-rich RNA

The CP family of proteins [also known as poly(C)-binding or heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein E proteins] are involved in the regulation of messenger RNA (mRNA) stability and translational efficiency. They bind via their triple heterologous nuclear ribonucleoprotein K homology (KH) domain structures to C-rich mRNA, and are thought to interact with other mRNA-binding proteins as well as provide direct nuclease protection. In particular, CP1 and CP2 have been shown to bind to a specific region of androgen receptor (AR) mRNA, resulting in its increased stability. The roles of each of the KH motifs in the binding affinity and the specificity is not yet understood. We report the beginning of a systematic study of each of the CP KH domains, with the cloning and expression of CP1-KH2 and CP1-KH3. We report the ability of CP1-KH3, but not CP1-KH2, to bind the target AR mRNA sequence using an RNA electrophoretic mobility gel shift assay. We also report the preparation of an CP1-KH3/AR mRNA complex for structural studies. ¹H–¹⁵N heteronuclear single quantum correlation NMR spectra of ¹⁵N-labelled CP1-KH3 verified the integrity and good solution behaviour of the purified domain. The titration of the 11-nucleotide RNA target sequence from AR mRNA resulted in a rearrangement of the ¹H–¹⁵N correlations, demonstrating the complete binding of the protein to form a homogeneous protein/RNA complex suitable for future structural studies.     

Structural changes in a binary mixed phospholipid bilayer of DOPG and DOPS upon saposin C interaction at acidic pH utilizing P and H solid-state NMR spectroscopy

Saposin C (Sap C) is known to stimulate the catalytic activity of the lysosomal enzyme glucosylceramidase (GCase) that facilitates the hydrolysis of glucosylceramide to ceramide and glucose. Both Sap C and acidic phospholipids are required for full activity of GCase. In order to better understand this interaction, mixed bilayer samples prepared from dioleoylphosphatidylglycerol (DOPG) and dioleoylphosphatidylserine (DOPS) (5:3 ratio) and Sap C were investigated using ²H and ³¹P solid-state NMR spectroscopy at temperatures ranging from 25 to 50 °C at pH 4.7. The Sap C concentrations used to carry out these experiments were 0 mol%, 1 mol% and 3 mol% with respect to the phospholipids. The molecular order parameters (S_CD) were calculated from the dePaked ²H solid-state NMR spectra of Distearoyl-d70-phosphatidylglycerol (DSPG-d70) incorporated with DOPG and DOPS binary mixed bilayers. The S_CD profiles indicate that the addition of Sap C to the negatively charged phospholipids is concentration dependent. S_CD profiles of 1 mol% of the Sap C protein show only a very slight decrease in the acyl chain order. However, the S_CD profiles of the 3 mol% of Sap C protein indicate that the interaction is predominantly increasing the disorder in the first half of the acyl chain near the head group (C1-C8) indicating that the amino and the carboxyl termini of Sap C are not inserting deep into the DOPG and DOPS mixed bilayers. The ³¹P solid-state NMR spectra show that the chemical shift anisotropy (CSA) for both phospholipids decrease and the spectral broadening increases upon addition of Sap C to the mixed bilayers. The data indicate that Sap C interacts similarly with the head groups of both acidic phospholipids and that Sap C has no preference to DOPS over DOPG. Moreover, our solid-state NMR spectroscopic data agree with the structural model previously proposed in the literature [X. Qi, G.A. Grabowski, Differential membrane interactions of saposins A and C. Implication for the functional specificity, J. Biol. Chem. 276 (2001) 27010-27017] [1].     

Langerhans cells exhibit low responsiveness to double-stranded RNA

Double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) is a viral product recognized by Toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3), and it is a potent activator of dendritic cells (DC). We compared Langerhans cells (LC) and splenic CD11c(+) DC and investigated the responsiveness to dsRNA. We prepared highly purified LC (> 95%) using the panning method. TLR3 mRNA was expressed in LC, splenic DC, and keratinocytes (KC). The expression of IFN-beta mRNA was enhanced in LC and splenic DC by Poly(I:C) stimulation. However, cytokine/chemokine production in response to Poly(I:C) by LC was much lower than that by splenic DC. In addition, Poly(I:C) induced further maturation in splenic DC, but not in LC. Finally, we found that the mouse KC cell line, PAM212, produced a great amount of IL-1alpha by Poly(I:C) stimulation, and that IL-1alpha promoted the maturation of LC. These data altogether indicate that LC exhibit low responsiveness to dsRNA. It is possible that KC may primarily trigger anti-viral immune responses in the skin via cytokine production such as IL-1alpha.