肠炎沙门菌肽脯氨酰顺反异构酶SlyD的基因敲除、表达及酶学特征

【目的】以肠炎沙门菌肽脯氨酰顺反异构酶SlyD为对象,构建基因缺失株及表达纯化该蛋白,为研究其在肠炎沙门菌致病性与应激等方面的作用奠定基础。【方法】参考Gen Bank登录的肠炎沙门菌基因组序列设计用于slyD基因敲除及原核表达的特异引物,运用自杀质粒介导的同源重组技术对肠炎沙门菌C50041 slyD基因进行敲除,构建C50041ΔslyD缺失株;原核表达SlyD蛋白,通过α-糜蛋白酶耦联法对其PPIase活性进行测定;利用生物信息学相关软件,分析SlyD蛋白的氨基酸序列及功能域。【结果】PCR鉴定与测序结果证明成功构建了肠炎沙门菌C50041ΔslyD缺失株,其生长特性与野生株基本一致;SDS-PAGE及PPIase活性分析表明,获得了具有生物活性的可溶性SlyD蛋白;生物信息学分析显示SlyD蛋白由FKBP样肽脯氨酰顺反异构酶结构域、分子伴侣功能域和金属结合区域3个功能区域组成。【结论】成功获得了肠炎沙门菌C50041ΔslyD缺失株和具有PPIase活性的重组SlyD蛋白。     

柠檬醛顺反异构体对黄曲霉超微结构及膜功能的影响

研究柠檬醛顺反异构体（香叶醛和橙花醛）抗菌性是阐明该醛抗菌机理核心所在.用酶转化法合成香叶醛和橙花醛后,用液态或气态的异构单体分别对黄曲霉孢子及菌丝体进行毒化.采用透射电镜、多维显微及激光拉曼散射技术对毒化的黄曲霉孢子及菌丝体进行显微结构观察和膜相关参数的测定.结果表明,无论是液体还是气体毒化方式,柠檬醛顺反异构体单独存在时均有抗黄曲霉作用;二者混合物的抗菌总活性与单体相比表现出一定程度协同性;二个异构单体的抗菌作用不仅表现为破坏黄曲霉超微结构,而且还反映在损伤其细胞膜体积调节功能及变形能力.     

Enzyme-like effect of metmyoglobin on the thermal cis-trans isomerization of stilbazolium betaine

cis →trans isomerization. A study of the pH and ionic strength dependence of the isomerization reaction rate of the photochrome associated with metmyoglobin was perfomed. A comparative investigation of the reaction carried out in the presence of three proteins, metmyoglobin, apomyoglobin, and human albumin, indicates a specific influence of the heme pocket environment on the reaction. Possible mechanisms of the reaction acceleration are considered. Received: 8 December 1999 / Accepted: 15 February 2000     

FK506 binding protein 12 differentially accelerates fibril formation of wild type alpha-synuclein and its clinical mutants A30P or A53T

Aggregation of alpha-synuclein (α-SYN) plays a key role in Parkinson's disease. We have previously shown that aggregation of α-SYN in vitro is accelerated by addition of FK506 binding proteins (FKBP) and that this effect can be counteracted by FK506, a specific inhibitor of these enzymes. In this paper, we investigated in detail the effect of FKBP12 on early aggregation and on fibril formation of wild-type, A53T and A30P α-SYN. FKBP12 has a much smaller effect on the fibril formation of these two clinical mutants α-SYN. Using an inactive enzyme, we were able to discriminate between catalytic and non-catalytic effects that differentially influence the two processes. A model explaining non-linear concentration dependencies is proposed.     

Cis phosphorylated tau as the earliest detectable pathogenic conformation in Alzheimer disease,offering novel diagnostic and therapeutic strategies

After protein phosphorylation on certain serine or threonine residues preceding a proline (pSer/Thr-Pro), the function of certain phosphorylated protein is further regulated by cis-trans conformational change. Due to the lack of any tool to detect such two conformations in cells, however, it is not even known whether any cis or trans conformation exists in vivo, not to mention their conformation-specific functions or regulation. We developed a novel peptide chemistry technology to generate the first pair of antibodies that can distinguish cis from trans pThr231-Pro tau. Cis, but not trans, pThr231-tau appears early in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) neurons and further accumulates in only degenerating neurons as Alzheimer disease (AD) progresses, localizing to dystrophic neurites, which are known to correlate well with memory loss. Unlike trans p-tau, the cis cannot promote microtubule assembly, and is more resistant to dephosphorylation and degradation and more prone to aggregation. Pin1 accelerates cis to trans isomerization to prevent tau pathology in AD. Thus, during MCI and AD development, cis pThr231-Pro tau is the earliest detectable pathogenic tau conformation and antibodies and vaccines against the pathogenic cis p-tau may be used for the early diagnosis and treatment of AD. These findings offer in vivo approach to study conformational regulation of Pro-directed phosphorylation signaling.     

Conformational impurity of disulfide proteins: detection, quantification, and properties

The conformations of native proteins are in principle, and in most cases, dictated by the law of thermodynamics. Accordingly, a native protein must always exist in equilibrium with a minor concentration of nonnative (denatured) conformational isomers even at nondenaturing conditions. The presence of an infinitesimal quantity of nonnative conformational isomers at physiological conditions is biologically relevant due to their propensity to aggregate, which is an underlying cause of many neurodegenerative diseases. However, their detection and quantification are inherently difficult. In this article, we describe a simple strategy using the technique of disulfide scrambling to identify and quantify such minute concentrations of nonnative isomers. It is demonstrated that even for small stable proteins such as epidermal growth factor and hirudin, approximately 1% of heterogeneous nonnative isomers coexist with the native proteins under physiological conditions.     

Influence of water activity on the synthesis of triolein catalyzed by immobilized Mucor miehei lipase

The influence of the thermodynamic activity of water (a(w))on the synthesis of triolein catalyzed by Mucor miehei lipase was investigated. Its effect on the equilibrium and on the rates of the different reactions present, esteification and mono- and diglyceride isomerization, was evaluated through measurements made in controlled water activity atmosphere. The apparent equilibrium constants were measured from the concentration of the different species as a function of the intial glycerol-to oleic-acid ratio using all the values at once with a multi-response nonlinear regression technique. Rate constants were determined from kinetic measurements and non-linear regression uning the variation of the concentration of all significant species in the system. Except for the synthesis of diolein from monoolein, which shows a maximum for a(w) approximately 0.5, the apparent rate constants of the various reactions are not significantly affected by the value of the water activity. The equilibrium is shifted to-ward the synthesis of triolein for low values of a(w), indicating that in the design of a process for triglyceride synthesis, using M. miehei lipase as a catalyst, the water activity can be lowered to extreme values to favor the synthesis, without any sacrifice on the productivity of the process. (c) 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The Folding Pathway of the Antibody VL Domain

Antibodies are modular proteins consisting of domains that exhibit a β-sandwich structure, the so-called immunoglobulin fold. Despite structural similarity, differences in folding and stability exist between different domains. In particular, the variable domain of the light chain V_L is unusual as it is associated with misfolding diseases, including the pathologic assembly of the protein into fibrillar structures. Here, we have analysed the folding pathway of a V_L domain with a view to determine features that may influence the relationship between productive folding and fibril formation. The V_L domain from MAK33 (murine monoclonal antibody of the subtype κ/IgG1) has not previously been associated with fibrillisation but is shown here to be capable of forming fibrils. The folding pathway of this V_L domain is complex, involving two intermediates in different pathways. An obligatory early molten globule-like intermediate with secondary structure but only loose tertiary interactions is inferred. The native state can then be formed directly from this intermediate in a phase that can be accelerated by the addition of prolyl isomerases. However, an alternative pathway involving a second, more native-like intermediate is also significantly populated. Thus, the protein can reach the native state via two distinct folding pathways. Comparisons to the folding pathways of other antibody domains reveal similarities in the folding pathways; however, in detail, the folding of the V_L domain is striking, with two intermediates populated on different branches of the folding pathway, one of which could provide an entry point for molecules diverted into the amyloid pathway.