氧化固醇结合蛋白结构、功能与应用

氧化固醇结合蛋白(oxysterol binding protein,OSBP)是存在于真核细胞内的一类参与脂质代谢的非囊泡运输蛋白质,在哺乳动物中被称为氧化固醇结合蛋白相关蛋白质(oxysterol binding protein-related proteins,ORPs),而在酵母中被称为氧化固醇结合蛋白同源物质(oxysterol-binding protein homologues,OSH）。近年来人们对氧化固醇结合蛋白的研究不断深入,特别是对其同源蛋白质（例如,ORP5/8、Osh3/4、ORP4L等）的结构功能差异和其在信号转导中的作用的相关研究,以及在生物医药方面的应用更成为了本领域的热点。本文综述了关于OSBP及其同源蛋白质结构和功能的相关研究,指出了该领域存在的一些关键问题。与此同时,对OSH和ORPs在细胞内的膜接触位点（membrane contact sites,MCS）进行对比,以及对今后OSBP的研究方向做了展望。     

Local Rather than Global Folding Enables the Lead-dependent Activity of the 8-17 Deoxyribozyme: Evidence from Contact Photo-crosslinking

The 8-17 deoxyribozyme is an in vitro selected enzyme capable of sequence-specific cleavage of RNA. While selected to be a magnesium and zinc-utilizing enzyme, the 8-17 DNAzyme has been shown to utilize lead for its catalysis. Fluorescence-based experiments have indicated that the magnesium- and zinc-utilizing versions of the DNAzyme-substrate complex need to form a defined tertiary structure to be active, but no such global folding is required for the lead-mediated activity. Here, we have investigated this phenomenon, including the use of contact photo-crosslinking to map the tertiary fold of the lead-dependent DNAzyme. While our results recapitulate that global folding is not required for the lead activity, they reveal strikingly distinct lead-mediated modes of activity under conditions of low versus moderate solution ionic strength. Even in very low salt buffers, where no global folding of the 8-17 DNAzyme occurs, the active site of the enzyme appears to form a distinct local fold, one that cannot be modelled easily by DNA/RNA constructs that preserve key sequence and secondary structure features of the active site.     

数据噪音构建基因布尔网络模型的方法

在分析基因数据时,往往有噪音出现,因此借用基因表达谱数据中的噪音来建立卡诺图,可以得到布尔网络逻辑函数。而且利用此方法确定蛋白质与蛋白质之间的逻辑关系,建立蛋白质的逻辑网络。通过该方法可以寻找直系同源簇蛋白质数据的逻辑关系。     

Improving ranking of models for protein complexes with side chain modeling and atomic potentials

An atomically detailed potential for docking pairs of proteins is derived using mathematical programming. A refinement algorithm that builds atomically detailed models of the complex and combines coarse grained and atomic scoring is introduced. The refinement step consists of remodeling the interface side chains of the top scoring decoys from rigid docking followed by a short energy minimization. The refined models are then re‐ranked using a combination of coarse grained and atomic potentials. The docking algorithm including the refinement and re‐ranking, is compared favorably to other leading docking packages like ZDOCK, Cluspro, and PATCHDOCK, on the ZLAB 3.0 Benchmark and a test set of 30 novel complexes. A detailed analysis shows that coarse grained potentials perform better than atomic potentials for realistic unbound docking (where the exact structures of the individual bound proteins are unknown), probably because atomic potentials are more sensitive to local errors. Nevertheless, the atomic potential captures a different signal from the residue potential and as a result a combination of the two scores provides a significantly better prediction than each of the approaches alone. Proteins 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Neurite Fasciculation Mediated by Complexes of Axonin-1 and Ng Cell Adhesion Molecule

Neural cell adhesion molecules composed of immunoglobulin and fibronectin type III-like domains have been implicated in cell adhesion, neurite outgrowth, and fasciculation. Axonin-1 and Ng cell adhesion molecule (NgCAM), two molecules with predominantly axonal expression exhibit homophilic interactions across the extracellular space (axonin- 1/axonin-1 and NgCAM/NgCAM) and a heterophilic interaction (axonin-1–NgCAM) that occurs exclusively in the plane of the same membrane (cis-interaction). Using domain deletion mutants we localized the NgCAM homophilic binding in the Ig domains 1-4 whereas heterophilic binding to axonin-1 was localized in the Ig domains 2-4 and the third FnIII domain. The NgCAM–NgCAM interaction could be established simultaneously with the axonin-1–NgCAM interaction. In contrast, the axonin-1–NgCAM interaction excluded axonin-1/axonin-1 binding. These results and the examination of the coclustering of axonin-1 and NgCAM at cell contacts, suggest that intercellular contact is mediated by a symmetric axonin-1₂/NgCAM₂ tetramer, in which homophilic NgCAM binding across the extracellular space occurs simultaneously with a cis-heterophilic interaction of axonin-1 and NgCAM. The enhanced neurite fasciculation after overexpression of NgCAM by adenoviral vectors indicates that NgCAM is the limiting component for the formation of the axonin-1₂/NgCAM₂ complexes and, thus, neurite fasciculation in DRG neurons.     

Continuous requirement of cAMP for pre-spore differentiation in Dictyostelium discoideum

Abstract Using a shaking culture system, we have previously shown that both cell contact and cAMP are required for pre-spore differentiation in Dictyostelium discoideum [2]. In the present study, cAMP was removed from the medium by the use of a hydrolysing enzyme after cells had formed agglomerates. This treatment left the agglomerates unchanged, but caused a rapid decrease in the activity of UDP galactose transferase, a pre-spore-specific enzyme. This result indicates that cAMP is required even after agglomerate formation to maintain pre-spore differentiation.     

石菖蒲提取物对四种储粮害虫的生物活性研究

研究了石菖蒲4种溶剂无水乙醇、丙酮、乙酸乙酯、石油醚提取物对玉米象、谷蠹、长角扁谷盗和锯谷盗4种储粮害虫的驱避作用和触杀作用。结果表明：石菖蒲4种溶剂提取物对4种试虫均有明显的驱避作用和触杀作用,处理60 h的平均驱避等级均达到Ⅲ级以上,对4种试虫的触杀死亡率均达到41.11%以上。     

21种植物提取物对玉米象的生物活性

为了筛选对粮库安全的植物源杀虫剂,研究了21种植物的4种溶剂（无水乙醇、丙酮、乙酸乙酯和石油醚）提取物对玉米象Sitophilus zeamais Motschulsky的驱避和触杀作用。结果表明,高良姜Alpinia officinarum石油醚提取物、黄姜Curcuma longa丙酮提取物和山鸡椒Litsea cubeba石油醚提取物对玉米象成虫的驱避作用显著,处理60 h平均驱避等级均达到Ⅴ级,平均驱避率分别为80.02%、80.60%和81.70%。在21种植物中,石菖蒲Acorus gramineus和巴豆Croton tiglium的4种溶剂提取物均对玉米象成虫的触杀作用明显,7.86 mg/cm²的剂量处理4天后的校正死亡率均达到90%以上。     

植物根系吸水过程中根系水流阻力的变化特征

以植物根系吸水的人工模拟试验所测得的数据为依据,运用水流的电模拟原理,定理分析了不同土壤水分水平处理下植物根系吸水过程中根系水流阻力各主要分量的大小、变化规律及其相对重要性．结果表明,在同一水分水平处理中,植物根内木质部传导阻力（Ｒｃ）随生长时间的推移而减小,随土层深度的加深而增大,土根接触阻力（Ｒｓｒ）、植物根系吸收阻力（Ｒｒ）随生长时间表现出先下降后上升阶段的动态变化特征;在不同水分水平处理中,Ｒｃ、Ｒｓｒ、Ｒｒ均随土壤湿度减小而大幅度增大;在植物根系水流阻力各分量中,Ｒｒ占根系水流阻力的比例为５５％～９６％,Ｒｓｒ约占根系水流阻力的４％～４５％,而Ｒｃ仅占根系水流阻力的７×１０－６,故Ｒｒ是决定植物根系吸水速率的重要因素