理性设计盐桥构建伯克霍尔德菌脂肪酶热稳定突变体

【目的】借助蛋白质工程技术提高伯克霍尔德菌ZYB002脂肪酶LipA的热稳定性,以期更好地将其应用于工业生产中。【方法】利用YASARA、Fold X、Rosetta、Gromacs等生物信息学软件,构建1个脂肪酶Lip A的热稳定性提高的微型突变体电子文库;通过对突变体的结构信息和自由能变化进行评估,筛选出潜在的有价值的突变体。继而利用基因定点突变技术,构建上述候选突变体的突变基因文库,通过实验筛选出热稳定性提高的脂肪酶LipA突变体。【结果】利用上述方法,从构建的20个脂肪酶LipA突变体中,筛选到热稳定性有显著提高的3个突变体LipA-Asn~(125)Asp、LipA-Asn~(125)Glu和LipA-Gln~(262)Glu。经55°C处理12 min后,上述3个突变体的T1250值较野生型分别提高4.0°C、5.5°C和4.4°C;在55°C下的半衰期较野生型分别提高了2.2倍、3.8倍和2.6倍。【结论】利用生物信息学软件,构建脂肪酶LipA突变体电子文库,结合蛋白质的结构信息,可以快速筛选到热稳定性提高的脂肪酶LipA突变体。     

Studies on the effects of bone marrow stem cells on mitochondrial function and the alleviation of ARDS

Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry - Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can alleviate acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), but the mechanisms involved are unclear, especially about their...     

Simvastatin inhibits the additive activation of ERK1/2 and proliferation of rat vascular smooth muscle cells induced by combined mechanical stress and oxLDL through LOX-1 pathway

Vein grafts interposed into arteries are susceptible to the development of atherosclerosis due to rapid increases in blood pressure. This process is accelerated in patients with hyperlipidemia. The molecular mechanism underlying this process is unknown. In this study, quiescent rat vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) were treated in vitro with mechanical stretch stress (10% elongation) with and without oxLDL (25 μg/ml) in the presence and absence of simvastatin (2.5 μmol/L). The results demonstrate that stretch stress and oxLDL can each induce activation of ERK1/2 and Ki-67 expression in VSMCs, but the peak levels of ERK activation and Ki-67 expression were observed in groups subjected to both stretch stress and oxLDL. Simvastatin was found to inhibit increased ERK activation and Ki-67 expression in VSMCs subjected to stretch stress with or without oxLDL. Mechanically, simvastatin was also found to inhibit increased expression of LOX-1 (a receptor of oxLDL) in VSMCs subjected to stretch stress with or without oxLDL. Knockdown of LOX-1 via small interfering RNAs (siRNA-LOX-1) resulted in obvious inhibition of ERK activation in VSMCs subjected to stretch stress with and without oxLDL. These results suggest that combined stretch stress and oxLDL can additively promote the activation of ERK1/2 leading to accelerated proliferation of VSMCs (e.g. increased Ki-67 expression) via LOX-1 signal pathway. This was found to be partially inhibited by simvastatin. These results may provide important data for the treatment and prevention of hypertension with or without hyperlipidemia.     

Mycobacterium leprae-Infected Macrophages Preferentially Primed Regulatory T Cell Responses and Was Associated with Lepromatous Leprosy

Background

The persistence of Mycobacterium leprae (M. leprae) infection is largely dependent on the types of host immune responses being induced. Macrophage, a crucial modulator of innate and adaptive immune responses, could be directly infected by M. leprae. We therefore postulated that M. leprae-infected macrophages might have altered immune functions.

Methodology/Principal Findings

Here, we treated monocyte-derived macrophages with live or killed M. leprae, and examined their activation status and antigen presentation. We found that macrophages treated with live M. leprae showed committed M2-like function, with decreased interleukin 1 beta (IL-1beta), IL-6, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) and MHC class II molecule expression and elevated IL-10 and CD163 expression. When incubating with naive T cells, macrophages treated with live M. leprae preferentially primed regulatory T (Treg) cell responses with elevated FoxP3 and IL-10 expression, while interferon gamma (IFN-gamma) expression and CD8⁺ T cell cytotoxicity were reduced. Chromium release assay also found that live M. leprae-treated macrophages were more resistant to CD8⁺ T cell-mediated cytotoxicity than sonicated M. leprae-treated monocytes. Ex vivo studies showed that the phenotype and function of monocytes and macrophages had clear differences between L-lep and T-lep patients, consistent with the in vitro findings.

Conclusions/Significance

Together, our data demonstrate that M. leprae could utilize infected macrophages by two mechanisms: firstly, M. leprae-infected macrophages preferentially primed Treg but not Th1 or cytotoxic T cell responses; secondly, M. leprae-infected macrophages were more effective at evading CD8⁺ T cell-mediated cytotoxicity.     

热稳定性伯克霍尔德菌脂肪酶A突变体的筛选

摘要:【目的】为更好地提高伯克霍尔德菌ZYB002脂肪酶LipA在TMP纸浆造纸工艺中的应用,有必要利用蛋白质工程技术,提高其热稳定性。【方法】基于B-factor值筛选LipA多肽链中潜在的突变位点,利用迭代饱和诱变技术,构建突变文库,筛选热稳定性提高的突变体。【结果】利用上述方法,从4个突变文库中分别筛选到在55℃下,半衰期较野生型脂肪酶LipA分别提高了1.8倍、3倍、2.2倍和1.7倍的脂肪酶突变体。【结论】基于B-factor值选择突变位点,利用迭代饱和突变技术,快速筛选到热稳定性有显著提高的突变体。     

Quantitative targeted absolute proteomics of rat blood–cerebrospinal fluid barrier transporters: comparison with a human specimen

The purpose of this study was to determine absolute protein expression levels of transporters in rat choroid plexus, that is, the blood–cerebrospinal fluid barrier, and to compare them with the levels in the human choroid plexus. Plasma membrane fractions were prepared from pooled, freshly isolated choroid plexuses of 30 male Wistar rats and from frozen choroid plexus of one male human donor. Protein expression levels of 54 rat and 121 human molecules were measured, using a quantitative targeted absolute proteomics technique. In rat, oatp1a5 showed the most abundant protein expression (30.3 fmol/μg protein), and its expression level was 3.1‐, 4.5‐, 5.5‐, 8.4‐, 9.0‐, 9.9‐, 22‐, 91‐, and 95‐fold greater than those of glut1, oatp1c1, mrp1, mct1, oat3, pept2, mrp4, bcrp, and mdr1a, respectively. OATP1A2 (a possible homolog of rat oatp1a5), OATP1C1 and PEPT2 were not detected in human choroid plexus. MRP1, OAT3, and MRP4 showed 4.0‐, 1.8‐, and 1.7‐fold smaller expression levels in human than rat, respectively. MATE1 was detected in human, but not rat, and its expression level (8.61 fmol/μg protein) was the highest among the xenobiotic transporters examined in human choroid plexus. These findings should be useful for understanding rat blood–cerebrospinal fluid barrier function and its differences from that in human.

     

利用ES细胞建立可诱导的白血病模型

胚胎干细胞（embryonic stem cells,ESCs）是从囊胚的内细胞团分离出来的多潜能干细胞,具有多向分化的能力。将外源基因导入ES细胞建立转基因动物,对于研究外源基因的功能和调控具有一定的价值。载有外源性基因的病毒在感染ES细胞后,可通过囊胚注射获得具有胚系遗传的该转基因动物,并且这一外源基因可以稳定遗传和表达。该研究主要是利用携带hPML-RARα基因的慢病毒感染小鼠ES细胞系（R1）,获得携带该基因的ES细胞,感染后的ES细胞核型正常。在此基础上,将感染后的ES细胞经囊胚注射,获得了携带有hPML-RARα基因的3只嵌合小鼠,其中,有1只具有遗传特性。对嵌合体小鼠与C57杂交的后代给予强力霉素（doxycycline）处理,3天以后骨髓细胞hPML-RARα基因开始表达,这证明了在小鼠体内该外源基因表达的可诱导性。以上证实,已经成功利用ES细胞建立了可诱导的白血病转基因小鼠模型。     

One‐pot synthesis of fluorescent nitrogen‐doped carbon dots with good biocompatibility for cell labeling

Here we report an easy and economical hydrothermal carbonization approach to synthesize the fluorescent nitrogen‐doped carbon dots (N‐CDs) that was developed using citric acid and triethanolamine as the precursors. The synthesis conditions were optimized to obtain the N‐CDs with superior fluorescence performances. The as‐prepared N‐CDs are monodispersed sphere nanoparticles with good water solubility, and exhibited strong fluorescence, favourable photostability and excitation wavelength‐dependent behavior. Furthermore, the in vitro cytotoxicity and cellular labeling of N‐CDs were investigated using the rat glomerular mesangial cells. The results showed the N‐CDs have more inconspicuous cytotoxicity and better biosafety in comparison with ZnSe quantum dots, although both targeted the cells successfully. Considering their admirable photostability, low toxicity and good compatibility, the as‐obtained N‐CDs could have potential applications in biosensors, cellular imaging, and other fields.