Structural features and molecular evolution of Bowman-Birk protease inhibitors and their potential application

The Bowman-Birk inhibitors (BBIs) are well-studied serine protease inhibitors that are abundant in dicotyledonous and monocotyledonous plants. BBIs from dicots usually have a molecular weight of 8k and are double-headed with two reactive sites, whereas those from monocots can be divided into two classes, one approximately 8 kDa in size with one reactive site (another reactive site was lost) and the other approximately 16 kDa in size with two reactive sites. The reactive site is located at unique exposed surfaces formed by a disulfide-linked β-sheet loop that is highly conserved, rigid and mostly composed of nine residues. The structural features and molecular evolution of inhibitors are described, focusing on the conserved disulfide bridges. The sunflower trypsin inhibitor-1 (SFTI-1), with 14 amino acid residues, is a recently discovered bicyclic inhibitor, and is the most small and potent naturally occurring Bowman-Birk inhibitor.Recently, BBIs have become a hot topic because of their potential applications. BBIs are now used for defense against pathogens and insects in transgenic plants, which has advantages over using toxic and polluting insecticides. BBIs could also be applied in the prevention of cancer, Dengue fever, and inflammatory and allergic disorders, because of their inhibitory activity with respect to the serine proteases that play apivotal role in the development and pathogenesis of these diseases. The canonical nine-residue loop of BBIs/STH-1 provides an ideal template for drug design of specific inhibitors to target their respective proteases.     

半胱氨酸蛋白酶拟肽抑制剂设计新进展

半胱氨酸蛋白酶包括多种酶,这些酶在广泛的生命过程中发挥作用。人类正常的半胱氨酸蛋白酶表达失调,寄生虫、病毒的半胱氨酸蛋白酶表达与多种病理情况相关。对于这类疾病,抑制半胱氨酸蛋白酶是一个可行的药物治疗策略。当前这类药物设计的目标是3种结构不同的半胱氨酸蛋白酶,即木瓜蛋白酶家族、半胱氨酸-天冬氨基特异性蛋白酶家族(caspases)和小核糖核酸病毒科半胱氨酸蛋白酶抑制剂家族。本文综述了近年来有关半胱氨酸蛋白酶抑制剂的设计思路。     

基质金属蛋白酶与脑血管急性损伤

基质金属蛋白酶是一组金属依赖性的蛋白内切酶家族,可对细胞外基质进行特异的降解,在生理和璃理过程中都发挥着重要作用。已有许多有关基质金属蛋白酶在中枢神经系统的作用的研究报道,本文对基质金属蛋白酶在脑缺血和脑出血等脑血管的急性损伤作用进行了综述,并对进一步研究方向作出展望。     

Disruption effect of Microplitis bicoloratus polydnavirus EGF-like protein, MbCRP, on actin cytoskeleton in lepidopteran insect hemocytes

Microplitis bicoloratus is a braconid endoparasitic wasp associated with the polydnavirus named Microplitis bicoloratus bracovirus （MbBV）. Parasitism of Spodoptera litura larvae leads to an impaired cellular immune response and to the disappearance of the 42 kDa actin in host hemocytes. In this work, we investigated if the absence of actin in blood cells was related to MbBV infection. An MbBV gene similar to egf-like genes identified in another bracovirus was partially cloned and named Mbcrp1. The full-length gene, named Mbcrp, is transcribed throughout the course of parasitism in host hemocytes and the 30 kDa MbCRP protein was detected in hemocytes 6-7 d post-parasitization. The Mbcrp1 gene contains the cysteine-rich trypsin inhibitor-like （TIL） domain coding sequence and the expression of recombinant MbCRP1 inhibited the expression of the 42 kDa actin in Hi5 cells. The 34.1 kDa MbCRPl-green fluorescent protein fusion protein locate specifically in the cytoplasm. These results suggest that expression of MbCRP in lepidopteran insect cells is related to the disruption of the actin cytoskeleton.     

选择性co x 一2 抑制剂在胶质瘤放疗中的研究进展

环氧合酶（cyclooxygenase,COX）又名前列腺素内过氧化物合成酶,是前列腺素类似物合成的限速酶。COX-2是其诱导型酶。胶质瘤中COX-2的高表达被认为与肿瘤的侵袭性、预后相关。COX-2在胶质瘤的发生发展过程中发挥重要作用。选择性COX-2抑制剂通过直接和间接的作用机制而成为放射增敏剂。它们通过直接作用肿瘤细胞增强放射反应性,同时间接通过前列腺素影响肿瘤的血管形成抑制肿瘤生长。在体内和体外的研究表明选择性COX-2抑制剂可以增强胶质瘤对放射的反应性．降低恶性胶质瘤患者术后放射的必需照射剂量。而且在提高肿瘤放射敏感性的同时不增加对正常组织的放射损伤,甚至对正常组织有放射保护作用。因此,放疗联合选择性COX-2抑制剂可能成为胶质瘤治疗的新的有效途径。     

阻碍植物生长素合成的抑制剂

植物生长素能够促进植物根系和果实生长,在植物成长控制中具有重要作用,但由于其生物合成路径复杂,化学性质不稳定,人们对它的研究相对滞后。最近,日本科学家公布,他们在世界上首次发现了阻碍植物“生长素”生物合成的抑制剂存在。     

一种云芝发酵所产胃蛋白酶抑制剂的纯化及部分性质研究

云芝发酵液经超声波细胞破碎,离心和大孔树脂脱色得上清液.上清液再经DEAE-52、Mono Q离子交换层析和UltroGel ACA-54凝胶过滤分离得到一种胃蛋白酶抑制剂.它的成分是蛋白质,经UltroGel ACA-54凝胶过滤和SDS-PAGE鉴定为单亚基,相对分子量为22.31 kDa.该抑制剂热稳定性良好,对胃酶有很强的抑制作用,半抑制浓度IC50值为29.26 μg/mL,抑制类型属于非竞争和反竞争混合型抑制模式,其Ki值为0.996 μmol/L.     

代谢途径抑制剂及前体对海洋红树林内生真菌No.1403产抗肿瘤化合物1403C的影响

采用酶抑制剂法和前体喂养试验法初步研究了结构新颖的活性蒽醌化合物1403C的合成途径.研究表明,甲羟戊酸合成途径的关键酶抑制剂邻氨基苯甲酸、柠檬酸三钠对单位菌体1403C产量影响比较小;莽草酸途径关键酶氨基苯甲酸合成酶的抑制剂三甲胺在低浓度时(3、6 mmol/L)对单位菌体1403C产量没有影响,而高浓度(12 mmol/L)时由于较大程度改变发酵液pH而降低了单位菌体1403C产量;莽草酸途径中间产物莽草酸的添加对单位菌体1403C产量没有明显的影响;添加聚酮合成途径聚酮合酶的专一性抑制剂碘乙酰胺对1403C的合成产生强烈的抑制,抑制程度达94.2%;添加丙二酸对1403C的合成有较大的促进作用,单位菌体1403C产量最大增加了59.2%.乙酸钠和丙二酸混合比例为1∶ 4时对单位菌体1403C产量具有最大促进作用,最大提高量为102.7%.由此推断Halorosellinia sp.(No.1403)可能通过聚酮途径合成1403C.     

碳酸酐酶Ⅱ及其抑制剂研究进展

碳酸酐酶Ⅱ是一种活性中心含有Zn^2＋、能催化CO＋H2O-HCO3-＋H^＋反应的金属酶。它广泛分布于人体多种组织、器官中,与人体酸碱平衡、青光眼、骨质疏松症、癌症等多种生理或病理过程密切相关,多年来一直备受关注。自从1992年高分辨率的碳酸酐酶Ⅱ晶体结构测定以来,其抑制剂研究发展较快,已有活性好、选择性强的抑制剂作为新药应用于临床。本文以碳酸酐酶Ⅱ结构、功能和抑制剂研究为重点,主要介绍近15年来该领域研究的一些重要进展。