Partitioning behavior and enrichment of proteins with reversed micellar extraction: I. forward extraction of proteins from aqueous to reversed micellar phase

Protein extractions using aerosol OT (AOT)-isooctane reverse micelle solutions have been studied to explore the potential for separating and enriching proteins with the reversed micellar extraction. The effects of pH, ionic strength, and different cations of chlorides in a bulk aqueous phase and of AOT concentration in an organic phase on the partitioning of lysozyme and myoglobin and the solubilization of water are presented in detail. The extraction of lysozyme was affected by the concentration of potassium or barium but was almost independent of that of sodium or calcium, whose ionic diameter is smaller than that of potassium and barium. For the extraction of myoglobin, however, the effect of barium concentration was not appreciable. Lysozyme could be enriched into the reversed micellar phase up to 30 times the aqueous feed concentration. (c) 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

长链非编码RNA KCNQ1OT1影响脂多糖诱导的血管内皮细胞凋亡及其炎性因子表达的机制

该研究探讨了长链非编码RNA KCNQ1OT1对脂多糖(LPS)诱导的血管内皮细胞(VEC)凋亡和炎性因子表达的影响以及其可能机制。通过体外培养VEC,分别转染KCNQ1OT1过表达载体、miR-223抑制剂或共转染KCNQ1OT1过表达载体与miR-223模拟物后,用1.0 mg/mL LPS干预24 h,然后采用RT-qPCR法检测细胞中KCNQ1OT1和miR-223的表达水平,流式细胞仪检测细胞凋亡,Western blot检测细胞中Bcl-2和Bax蛋白表达,ELISA试剂盒检测细胞培养上清中TNF-α、IL-1和IL-6水平。双荧光素酶报告基因实验验证KCNQ1OT1与miR-223的调控关系。结果显示,LPS可抑制VEC中KCNQ1OT1的表达,而促进miR-223表达;上调KCNQ1OT1或下调miR-223后均可降低LPS诱导的VEC凋亡率、Bax蛋白及TNF-α、IL-1和IL-6表达(P<0.05),而促进Bcl-2蛋白表达(P<0.05)。KCNQ1OT1靶向负调控miR-223表达,上调miR-223则逆转上调KCNQ1OT1对LPS诱导的VEC凋亡及炎性因子表达的抑制作用。这表明,上调KCNQ1OT1抑制LPS诱导的VEC凋亡及炎性因子表达,其作用机制可能与靶向负调控miR-223有关,KCNQ1OT1/miR-223轴可能为血管内皮细胞损伤的治疗提供了新靶点。     

Sex differences in oxytocin receptor binding in forebrain regions: Correlations with social interest in brain region- and sex- specific ways

Social interest reflects the motivation to approach a conspecific for the assessment of social cues and is measured in rats by the amount of time spent investigating conspecifics. Virgin female rats show lower social interest towards unfamiliar juvenile conspecifics than virgin male rats. We hypothesized that the neuropeptide oxytocin (OT) may modulate sex differences in social interest because of the involvement of OT in pro-social behaviors. We determined whether there are sex differences in OT system parameters in the brain and whether these parameters would correlate with social interest. We also determined whether estrus phase or maternal experience would alter low social interest and whether this would correlate with changes in OT system parameters. Our results show that regardless of estrus phase, females have significantly lower OT receptor (OTR) binding densities than males in the majority of forebrain regions analyzed, including the nucleus accumbens, caudate putamen, lateral septum, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, medial amygdala, and ventromedial hypothalamus. Interestingly, male social interest correlated positively with OTR binding densities in the medial amygdala, while female social interest correlated negatively with OTR binding densities in the central amygdala. Proestrus/estrus females showed similar social interest to non-estrus females despite increased OTR binding densities in several forebrain areas. Maternal experience had no immediate or long-lasting effects on social interest or OT brain parameters except for higher OTR binding in the medial amygdala in primiparous females. Together, these findings demonstrate that there are robust sex differences in OTR binding densities in multiple forebrain regions of rats and that OTR binding densities correlate with social interest in brain region- and sex-specific ways.     

Meltrin beta expressed in cardiac neural crest cells is required for ventricular septum formation of the heart

The heart is divided into four chambers by membranous septa and valves. Although evidence suggests that formation of the membranous septa requires migration of neural crest cells into the developing heart, the functional significance of these neural crest cells in the development of the endocardial cushion, an embryonic tissue that gives rise to the membranous appendages, is largely unknown. Mice defective in the protease region of Meltrin beta/ADAM19 show ventricular septal defects and defects in valve formation. In this study, by expressing Meltrin beta in either endothelial or neural crest cell lineages, we showed that Meltrin beta expressed in neural crest cells but not in endothelial cells was required for formation of the ventricular septum and valves. Although Meltrin beta-deficient neural crest cells migrated into the heart normally, they could not properly fuse the right and left ridges of the cushion tissues in the proximal outflow tract (OT), and this led to defects in the assembly of the OT and AV cushions forming the ventricular septum. These results genetically demonstrated a critical role of cardiac neural crest cells expressing Meltrin beta in triggering fusion of the proximal OT cushions and in formation of the ventricular septum.     

基于生物信息学分析KCNQ1OT1在胃癌中的作用

长非编码RNA KCNQ1OT1在多种肿瘤中高表达,但是在胃癌中的研究较少并且研究结果不一致,其在胃癌中具体的作用机制也缺乏相关研究。通过癌症基因组图谱(The Cancer Genome Atlas, TCGA)公共数据库分析发现:KCNQ1OT1在胃癌中普遍高表达,且高表达KCNQ1OT1的胃癌病人预后不良,它与胃癌多种临床因素密切相关,尤其是与TP53的突变有明显的相关性,而且其表达与免疫细胞浸润明显相关;KCNQ1OT1在胃癌肿瘤细胞系中普遍高表达,敲低后可抑制胃癌肿瘤细胞的增殖能力,共表达网络分析发现,其表达与肿瘤代谢有密切的相关性;谷氨酰胺酶1(glutaminase 1, GLS1)在胃癌中普遍高表达,与预后不良密切相关,KCNQ1OT1与GLS1的表达具有明显的相关性,敲低KCNQ1OT1的表达可抑制GLS1 mRNA的表达,而过表达GLS1可以部分逆转敲低KCNQ1OT1造成的胃癌细胞增殖能力的下降,因此推测KCNQ1OT1可能通过GLS1调控胃癌肿瘤细胞的生长。本研究通过大数据及实验验证了KCNQ1OT1在胃癌中的表达及功能,提示KCNQ1OT1有可能通过调控谷氨酰胺代谢来促进了胃癌的发生发展,这为分子靶向治疗胃癌的临床研究提供了新的靶点和思路。     

Unusual Behavior of Membrane Somatic Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme in a Reversed Micelle System

Properties of the membrane and soluble forms of somatic angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) were studied in the system of hydrated reversed micelles of aerosol OT (AOT) in octane. The membrane enzyme with a hydrophobic peptide anchor was more sensitive to anions and to changes in pH and composition of the medium than the soluble enzyme without anchor. The activity of both forms of the enzyme in the reversed micelles significantly depended on the molarity of the buffer added to the medium (Mes-Tris-buffer, 50 mM NaCl). The maximum activity of the soluble ACE was recorded at buffer concentration of 20-50 mM, whereas the membrane enzyme was most active at 2-10 mM buffer. At buffer concentrations above 20 mM, the rate of hydrolysis of the substrate furylacryloyl-L-phenylalanyl-glycylglycine by both ACE forms was maximal at pH 7.5 both in the reversed micelles and in aqueous solutions. However, at lower concentrations of the buffer (2-10 mM), the membrane enzyme had activity optimum at pH 5.5. Therefore, it is suggested that two conformers of the membrane ACE with differing pH optima for activity and limiting values of catalytic constants should exist in the reversed micelle system with various medium compositions. The data suggest that the activity of the membrane-bound somatic ACE can be regulated by changes in the microenvironment.     

Nanosecond dynamics of a mimicked membrane-water interface observed by time-resolved stokes shift of LAURDAN

We studied the dipolar relaxation of the surfactant-water interface in reverse micelles of AOT-water in isooctane in the nanosecond and subnanosecond time ranges by incorporating the amphipathic solvatochromic fluorescent probes LAURDAN and TOE. A negative component was observed in the fluorescence decays in the red edge of the emission spectrum-the signature of an excited state reaction-with LAURDAN but not for TOE. The deconvolution of the transient reconstructed spectra of LAURDAN based on a model constructed by adding together three log-normal Gaussian equations made it possible to separate the specific dynamic solvent response from the intramolecular excited state reactions of the probe. The deconvoluted spectrum of lowest energy displayed the largest Stokes shift. This spectral shift was described by unimodal kinetics on the nanosecond timescale, whereas the relaxation kinetics of water-soluble probes have been reported to be biphasic (on the subnanosecond and nanosecond timescales) due to the heterogeneous distribution of these probes in the water pool. Most of this spectral shift probably resulted from water relaxation as it was highly sensitive to the water to surfactant molar ratio (w(0)) (60-65 nm at w(0) = 20-30). A small part of this spectral shift (9 nm at w(0) = 0) probably resulted from dipolar interaction with the AOT polar headgroup. The measured relaxation time values were in the range of the rotational motion of the AOT polar headgroup region as assessed by LAURDAN and TOE fluorescence anisotropy decays.