A novel method to screen genomic libraries that combines genomic immunization with the prime-boost strategy

We employed a prime-boost regimen in combination with the expression library immunization protocol to improve the protective effectiveness of a genomic library used as immunogen. To demonstrate the feasibility of this novel strategy, we used as a prime a serogroup B Neisseria meningitidis random genomic library constructed in a eukaryotic expression vector. Mice immunized with different fractions of this library and boosted with a single dose of meningococcal outer membrane vesicles elicited higher bactericidal antibody titers compared with mice primed with the empty vector. After the boost, passive administration of sera from mice primed with two of these fractions significantly reduced the number of viable bacteria in the blood of infant rats challenged with live N. meningitidis. The method proposed could be applied to the identification of subimmunogenic antigens during vaccine candidate screening by employing expression library immunization.     

一株紫罗兰蓝色素产生菌的分离、鉴定及其活性产物的特性分析

[目的]调查秦巴山地区微生物物种的多样性,建立用于活性产物筛选的微生物代谢产物库和菌种资源库,通过数据库平台进行资源共享.[方法]采用不同的分离方法,分离存在于不同生境的微生物类群,通过形态、生理生化及分子生物手段鉴定菌种,发酵并通过甲醇提取代谢产物.[结果]从本地区土壤样本中分离获得一株产水溶性紫罗兰蓝色素的放线菌Str-4331,在高氏培养基上其气生菌丝为白色,产生水溶性紫罗兰色素,镜检观察孢子丝螺旋形,孢子椭圆形至长圆形,通过形态、生理生化特征初步确定为链霉菌.利用ClustalX对其16S rRNA进行序列比对,用Neighbor-Joining (NJ)构建系统发育树,并用Bootstraping法对其评价.实验结果表明,该菌基因序列与砖红链霉菌(Streptomyces lateritius) LMG 19372基因序列有99％的最高相似性.抑菌试验表明,活性产物具有较强的抗革兰氏阳性细菌活性.色素在水溶液中颜色随着pH的变化而变化.质谱分析显示3个主要化合物,分子量分别为557.68、588.43、485.18 kD,其中分子量为557.68 kD化合物与榴菌素B分子量一致.[结论]根据菌株的16S rRNA序列分析结果,结合菌株的培养特性和生理生化特性,将菌株Str-4331归属为砖红链霉菌(S.lateritius).该菌种首次在本地区分离到,具有进一步研究开发的价值.     

Molecular engineering of a thermostable carbohydrate-binding module

Structure–function studies are frequently practiced on the very diverse group of natural carbohydrate-binding modules in order to understand the target recognition of these proteins. We have taken a step further in the study of carbohydrate-binding modules and created variants with novel binding properties by molecular engineering of one such molecule of known 3D-structure. A combinatorial library was created from the sequence encoding a thermostable carbohydrate-binding module, CBM4-2 from a Rhodothermus marinus xylanase, and the phage-display technology was successfully used for selection of variants with specificity towards different carbohydrate polymers (birchwood xylan, Avicel?, ivory nut mannan and recently also xyloglucan), as well as towards a glycoprotein (human IgG4). Our work not only generated a number of binders with properties that would suite a range of biotechnological applications, but analysis the selected binders also helped us to identify residues important for their specificities.     

Design,construction, and characterization of a second‐generation DARPin library with reduced hydrophobicity

Designed ankyrin repeat proteins (DARPins) are well‐established binding molecules based on a highly stable nonantibody scaffold. Building on 13 crystal structures of DARPin‐target complexes and stability measurements of DARPin mutants, we have generated a new DARPin library containing an extended randomized surface. To counteract the enrichment of unspecific hydrophobic binders during selections against difficult targets containing hydrophobic surfaces such as membrane proteins, the frequency of apolar residues at diversified positions was drastically reduced and substituted by an increased number of tyrosines. Ribosome display selections against two human caspases and membrane transporter AcrB yielded highly enriched pools of unique and strong DARPin binders which were mainly monomeric. We noted a prominent enrichment of tryptophan residues during binder selections. A crystal structure of a representative of this library in complex with caspase‐7 visualizes the key roles of both tryptophans and tyrosines in providing target contacts. These aromatic and polar side chains thus substitute the apolar residues valine, leucine, isoleucine, methionine, and phenylalanine of the original DARPins. Our work describes biophysical and structural analyses required to extend existing binder scaffolds and simplifies an existing protocol for the assembly of highly diverse synthetic binder libraries.     

A transformer architecture for retention time prediction in liquid chromatography mass spectrometry-based proteomics

Accurate retention time (RT) prediction is important for spectral library-based analysis in data-independent acquisition mass spectrometry-based proteomics. The deep learning approach has demonstrated superior performance over traditional machine learning methods for this purpose. The transformer architecture is a recent development in deep learning that delivers state-of-the-art performance in many fields such as natural language processing, computer vision, and biology. We assess the performance of the transformer architecture for RT prediction using datasets from five deep learning models Prosit, DeepDIA, AutoRT, DeepPhospho, and AlphaPeptDeep. The experimental results on holdout datasets and independent datasets exhibit state-of-the-art performance of the transformer architecture. The software and evaluation datasets are publicly available for future development in the field.     

YPED:An Integrated Bioinformatics Suite and Database for Mass Spectrometry-based Proteomics Research

We report a significantly-enhanced bioinformatics suite and database for proteomics research called Yale Protein Expression Database(YPED) that is used by investigators at more than 300 institutions worldwide. YPED meets the data management, archival, and analysis needs of a high-throughput mass spectrometry-based proteomics research ranging from a singlelaboratory, group of laboratories within and beyond an institution, to the entire proteomics community. The current version is a significant improvement over the first version in that it contains new modules for liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry(LC–MS/MS) database search results, label and label-free quantitative proteomic analysis, and several scoring outputs for phosphopeptide site localization. In addition, we have added both peptide and protein comparative analysis tools to enable pairwise analysis of distinct peptides/proteins in each sample and of overlapping peptides/proteins between all samples in multiple datasets. We have also implemented a targeted proteomics module for automated multiple reaction monitoring(MRM)/selective reaction monitoring(SRM) assay development. We have linked YPED's database search results and both label-based and label-free fold-change analysis to the Skyline Panorama repository for online spectra visualization. In addition, we have built enhanced functionality to curate peptide identifications into an MS/MS peptide spectral library for all of our protein database search identification results.     

凡纳滨对虾ANT2 基因的克隆及低温表达谱分析

为研究凡纳滨对虾适应低温的分子机理, 实验对从低温处理凡纳滨对虾抑制性消减文库中筛选出的一个360 bp EST 序列进行了研究。首先, 同源比对显示该EST 片段与其他物种的ANT2 基因高度同源, 命名为凡纳滨对虾ANT2 基因(LVANT2); 其次, 通过构建凡纳滨对虾肝胰腺全长cDNA 文库, PCR 扩增获得LVANT2 基因的全长cDNA1540 bp, 其中包括1011 bp 的完整开放阅读框, 编码336 个氨基酸残基。然后, 对基因进行了不同组织和低温处理的表达谱分析: (1)组织表达谱的结果显示, 该基因在凡纳滨对虾肌肉组织中表达量最高; (2)在不同低温处理下的表达结果显示, 该基因在15℃处理下基因表达量发生显著变化, 13℃开始呈下调表达, 11℃时表达量又升高; 13℃低温处理不同时间发现该基因在12h 内表达量发生显著变化,48h 后表达量最高。LVANT2 基因的低温诱导表达模式说明其可能在凡纳滨对虾低温适应中发挥作用       

河北承德地区两个温泉中细菌的多样性分析

通过构建16S rDNA克隆文库,对承德地区两温泉中的细菌多样性水平及系统发育关系进行了初步研究。研究表明:68°C的A11文库中阳性克隆的16S rDNA序列分属5个细菌类群,分别为Firmicutes(6.25%)、Deinococcus-Thermus(25.0%)、Gammaproteobacteria(12.5%)、Betaproteobacteria(50.0%)、Alphaproteobacteria(6.25%);而74.5°C的A12文库仅属于一个细菌类群:厚壁菌门(Firmicutes)。两温泉中细菌多样性的差异表明,温度是影响温泉中细菌多样性水平的重要因素。此外,A11文库中克隆的16S rDNA序列与许多已知的可产色素的好氧菌相似性很高,而A12文库中的细菌多数为专性厌氧或兼性厌氧型,其中厌氧芽孢杆菌属(Anoxybacillus)中的Anoxybacillus flavithermus可以作为研究泉华形成的理想材料。     

拟南芥耐盐突变体stg2的筛选

采取在高盐平板上萌发的方法,对一个雌激素诱导激活型拟南芥突变体库进行了耐盐突变体的筛选,最终得到了2株稳定的耐盐突变体。本文中对其中的一株耐盐突变体,命名为stg2(salt tolerance during germination 2),进行了研究。遗传实验表明它的耐盐特性是受雌激素诱导的,是功能获得型的耐盐突变体。本实验中还探讨了stg2突变体的筛选过程及耐盐生理特点。