Crystal structure analysis of amicyanin and apoamicyanin from Paracoccus denitrificans at 2.0 A and 1.8 A resolution.

The crystal structure of amicyanin, a cupredoxin isolated from Paracoccus denitrificans, has been determined by molecular replacement. The structure has been refined at 2.0 A resolution using energy-restrained least-squares procedures to a crystallographic residual of 15.7%. The copper-free protein, apoamicyanin, has also been refined to 1.8 A resolution with residual 15.5%. The protein is found to have a beta-sandwich topology with nine beta-strands forming two mixed beta-sheets. The secondary structure is very similar to that observed in the other classes of cupredoxins, such as plastocyanin and azurin. Amicyanin has approximately 20 residues at the N-terminus that have no equivalents in the other proteins; a portion of these residues forms the first beta-strand of the structure. The copper atom is located in a pocket between the beta-sheets and is found to have four coordinating ligands: two histidine nitrogens, one cysteine sulfur, and, at a longer distance, one methionine sulfur. The geometry of the copper coordination is very similar to that in the plant plastocyanins. Three of the four copper ligands are located in the loop between beta-strands eight and nine. This loop is shorter than that in the other cupredoxins, having only two residues each between the cysteine and histidine and the histidine and methionine ligands. The amicyanin and apoamicyanin structures are very similar; in particular, there is little difference in the positions of the coordinating ligands with or without copper. One of the copper ligands, a histidine, lies close to the protein surface and is surrounded on that surface by seven hydrophobic residues. This hydrophobic patch is thought to be important as an electron transfer site.     

非洲猪瘟病毒I226R蛋白抑制cGAS-STING通路介导的天然免疫应答

本研究旨在探究非洲猪瘟病毒(African swine fever virus, ASFV) I226R蛋白(I226R protein, pI226R)抑制cGAS-STING信号通路的作用机制。利用双荧光素酶报告系统和实时荧光定量PCR (real-time quantitative PCR, qPCR)证明pI226R显著抑制cGAS-STING通路介导的I型干扰素及干扰素刺激相关基因的产生。免疫共沉淀及激光共聚焦显微镜试验发现pI226R与cGAS蛋白相互作用。免疫印迹分析证明pI226R通过自噬-溶酶体途径促进cGAS蛋白的降解。同时,pI226R阻碍了cGAS与E3泛素连接酶三基序蛋白56 (tripartite motif protein 56, TRIM56)的结合,导致cGAS的单泛素化减弱,从而抑制了cGAS的活化和cGAS-STING通路的激活。总之,本研究证明ASFV pI226R通过拮抗cGAS进而抑制宿主的抗病毒天然免疫反应,进一步增加了对研究ASFV免疫逃逸机制的理解,为疫苗的研发提供了理论基础。     

IMMUNOCYTOCHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF THE INTRAPYRENOID THYLAKOIDS OF CRYPTOMONADS1

Thylakoid lamellae extend into the pyrenoids of only two genera of cryptomonad algae, Chroomonas and Hemiselmis, We used immunoelectron microscopy to assess the photosynthetic competency of cryptomonad intrapyrenoid thylakoids. Intrapyrenoid thylakoids possess phycobiliproteins and the chlorophyll a/c₂ light-harvesting complex, both of which are associated with photosystem (PS) II in a light-harvesting capacity. In addition, thylakoids that extend into the pyrenoid of Hemiselmis brunnescens were immunolabelled by anti-PSI. These results indicate that cryptomonad intrapyrenoid thylakoids likely function in a manner analogous to thylakoids of the chloroplast stroma. Moreover, our observation that the Calvin cycle enzyme ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) is pyrenoid-localized in these two cryptophytes indicates that the processes of photosynthetic O₂-evolution and ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate (RuBP) carboxylation/oxygenation are not spatially separated in these algae.     

Tissue distribution of antihypertensive dipeptide, Val-Tyr, after its single oral administration to spontaneously hypertensive rats.

The distribution of an antihypertensive dipeptide, Val-Tyr (VY), in the tissues of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) was investigated in this study. A single oral administration of VY (10 mg/kg) to 18-week-old SHR resulted in a prolonged reduction of systolic blood pressure (SBP) up to 9 h (SBP0h 198.0+/-3.6 mmHg; SBP9h 154.6+/-3.5 mmHg). As a result of VY determination, a roughly 10-fold higher increment of plasma VY level was observed at 1 h than that at 0 h, whereas thereafter the level declined rapidly. In tissues, VY was widely accumulated in the kidney, lung, heart, mesenteric artery and abdominal aorta with the area under the curve over 9 h of more than 40 pmol h/g tissue; of these a higher VY level was observed in the kidney and lung. In addition, a mean resident time (MRT) for each tissue (>5 h except for liver) revealed that VY preferably accumulated in the tissues rather than in the plasma (MRT 3.8 h). Significant reductions of tissue angiotensin I-converting enzyme activity and angiotensin II level were found in the abdominal aorta as well as in the kidney, suggesting that these organs could be a target site associated with the antihypertensive action of VY.     

First chemical synthesis of a scorpion alpha-toxin affecting sodium channels: the Aah I toxin of Androctonus australis hector.

Aah I is a 63-residue alpha-toxin isolated from the venom of the Buthidae scorpion Androctonus australis hector, which is considered to be the most dangerous species. We report here the first chemical synthesis of Aah I by the solid-phase method, using a Fmoc strategy. The synthetic toxin I (sAah I) was renatured in DMSO-Tris buffer, purified and subjected to thorough analysis and comparison with the natural toxin. The sAah I showed physico-chemical (CD spectrum, molecular mass, HPLC elution), biochemical (amino-acid composition, sequence), immunochemical and pharmacological properties similar to those of the natural toxin. The synthetic toxin was recognized by a conformation-dependent monoclonal anti-Aah I antibody, with an IC50 value close to that for the natural toxin. Following intracerebroventricular injection, the synthetic and the natural toxins were similarly lethal to mice. In voltage-clamp experiments, Na(v) 1.2 sodium channel inactivation was inhibited by the application of sAah I or of the natural toxin in a similar way. This work describes a simple protocol for the chemical synthesis of a scorpion alpha-toxin, making it possible to produce structural analogues in time.     

A model for the mechanism of precise integration of a microinjected transgene

A unique transgenic mouse line has undergone transgene integration in a very precise fashion. The phenotype displayed by mice of the line followed the predicted inheritance patterns for X-linked transgene insertion which has been confirmed. In order to investigate the mechanism of integration the DNA sequence of the transgene and cellular junctions have been determined. A comparison between wild type and transgenic mutant sequences at the site of insertion revealed that there was no loss or rearrangement of cellular DNA upon integration of the transgene. The cellular sequences at the transgene 5 and 3 joins are contiguous in the wild type. The integrant exists as a head to tail tandem dimer with minimal loss of sequence compared with the injected monomer. Analysis of the site of insertion has revealed a 5 bp homology between the 5 end of the transgene and the cellular sequences. In addition, adjacent to the site of insertion within the cellular sequences, there are several sequence motifs implicated in recombination events including a clustering of strong consensus sites for DNA topoisomerase type I and a region of homology to the human minisatellite consensus core sequence, theEscherichia coli Chi site and the meiotic recombination hotspot within the E gene of the murine major histocompatibility complex. This clustering of features is likely to have been factorial in the integrity of the insertion event. A model depicting the mechanism of this precise integration is proposed.     

Chemical synthesis of cellulose and cello-oligomers using a hydrolysis enzyme as a catalyst

Regio- and stereo-selective synthesis of polysaccharides and oligosaccharides has been achieved by using glycosyl fluorides as substrates for cellulases. This methodology has successfully been applied to the first synthesis of cellulose via a non-biosynthetic pathway as well as to a selective preparation of cello-oligosaccharides and unnatural oligosaccharides. Using the enzymatic polymerization, it is possible to control the relative direction (parallel or anti-parallel) of each glucan chain in the synthetic cellulose in vitro. Based on these results, a new concept of ‘allos-selectivity’ in polymer synthesis has been proposed.