人工锌指核酸酶突变EGFP基因的功能分析

锌指核酸酶技术在基因定点修饰中具有效率高和特异性好等特点,并成功应用于数十种生物。目前,该技术是否能应用羊上尚未报道。为了敲除转基因山羊标记基因 (EGFP),构建了一对针对EGFP外显子上的锌指核酸酶表达载体,将其电转染至转EGFP基因胎儿成纤维细胞中,研究了锌指核酸酶突变EGFP基因的效率和方式,利用基因显微注射单细胞获得获得的转基因 (EGFP) 细胞系作为锌指核酸酶的靶细胞。结果显示,通过锌指核酸酶的突变作用,转染后的细胞发绿色荧光比例下降,测序结果显示在EGFP外显子中插入1个碱基G,导致编码EGFP基因的阅读框改变,从而起到基因突变的作用。结果表明,文中构建的锌指核酸酶对EGFP基因有突变作用,可以为以后获得无标记基因供核细胞进行体细胞核移植生产克隆羊奠定基础。     

Specific bovine antibody response against a new recombinant Cryptosporidium parvum antigen containing 4 zinc-finger motifs

A Cryptosporidium parvum sporozoite and oocyst lambda gt11 cDNA library was screened with a hyperimmune rabbit serum that was developed against insoluble fragments of ultrasonicated oocysts. A clone named Cp22.4.1 encoding a protein of 231 amino acids with 4 zinc-finger domains characterized by a Cys-X2-Cys-X4-His-X4-Cys motif was isolated and characterized. There was a complete match between the sequencing data of the coding region of Cp22.4.1 and the corresponding gene at chromosomal level. Cloning in a pBAD-TOPO-TA expression vector permitted to evaluate the antigenicity of the recombinant His-tagged antigen. This antigen was recognized by 2 out of 5 sera from Cryptosporidium immune calves and not by sera from parasite naive animals.     

AtZFP1, encoding Arabidopsis thaliana C2H2 zinc-finger protein 1, is expressed downstream of photomorphogenic activation

C₂H₂ zinc-finger proteins play important roles in plant development including floral organogenesis, leaf initiation, lateral shoot initiation, gametogenesis and seed development. The gene for one such protein from Arabidopsis, AtZFP1 (Arabidopsis thalianazinc-finger protein 1), is expressed at high levels in the shoot apex, including the apical meristem, developing leaves and the developing vascular system. In light-grown seedlings, AtZFP1 expression is induced about three days after germination, before the expansion of the true leaves. Dark-grown plants, in which photomorphogenesis is repressed, have no detectable AtZFP1 expression in the shoot apex. Under conditions which induce or mimic photomorphogenic development including growth in the light, shifting dark-grown plants to continuous light or growth on cytokinin in the dark, high levels of AtZFP1 expression are detected. Furthermore, AtZFP1 expression does not depend on active photosynthesis as shown by analysis of plants grown on the carotenoid biosynthetic inhibitor norflurazon. These results are discussed in relation to a possible role for AtZFP1 in shoot development, downstream of photomorphogenic activation.     

Crystal structure of cyclic Lys48-linked tetraubiquitin

Lys48-linked polyubiquitin chains serve as a signal for protein degradation by 26S proteasomes through its Ile44 hydrophobic patches interactions. The individual ubiquitin units of each chain are conjugated through an isopeptide bond between Lys48 and the C-terminal Gly76 of the preceding units. The conformation of Lys48-linked tetraubiquitin has been shown to change dynamically depending on solution pH. Here we enzymatically synthesized a wild-type Lys48-linked tetraubiquitin for structural study. In the synthesis, cyclic and non-cyclic species were obtained as major and minor fractions, respectively. This enabled us to solve the crystal structure of tetraubiquitin exclusively with native Lys48-linkages at 1.85 Å resolution in low pH 4.6. The crystallographic data clearly showed that the C-terminus of the first ubiquitin is conjugated to the Lys48 residue of the fourth ubiquitin. The overall structure is quite similar to the closed form of engineered tetraubiquitin at near-neutral pH 6.7, previously reported, in which the Ile44 hydrophobic patches face each other. The structure of the second and the third ubiquitin units [Ub(2)-Ub(3)] connected through a native isopeptide bond is significantly different from the conformations of the corresponding linkage of the engineered tetraubiquitins, whereas the structures of Ub(1)-Ub(2) and Ub(3)-Ub(4) isopeptide bonds are almost identical to those of the previously reported structures. From these observations, we suggest that the flexible nature of the isopeptide linkage thus observed contributes to the structural arrangements of ubiquitin chains exemplified by the pH-dependent closed-to-open conformational transition of tetraubiquitin.     

HYPERSENSITIVE TO RED AND BLUE 1 and its C-terminal regulatory function control FLOWERING LOCUS T expression

The red and far-red light-absorbing phytochromes and UV-A/blue light-absorbing cryptochromes regulate seedling de-etiolation and flowering responses. The signaling steps that mediate the photoreceptor regulation on key flowering genes remain largely unknown. We report that a previously identified photomorphogenic mutant, hypersensitive to red and blue 1 (hrb1), flowered late and showed attenuated expression of FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) over both long days and short days. Transgenic plants that overexpress the full-length HRB1, or its C-terminal half, flowered early and accumulated more FT messages under short-day conditions. The transgenic plants also displayed hyposensitive de-etiolation phenotypes, and the expression of these phenotypes requires the action of PIF4. The double mutant of hrb1/cry2 showed a flowering phenotype and an FT expression pattern similar to hrb1 under long-day conditions, suggesting that HRB1 may function downstream of cry2 under long-day conditions. In contrast, hrb1/phyB-9 showed a flowering phenotype and an FT expression pattern similar to phyB-9 over both long days and short days, indicating a modulatory role of HRB1 in the flowering pathway mediated by phyB. Overexpression of HRB1 did not affect the expression of the central clock oscillators, TOC1 and CCA1. HRB1 therefore represents a signaling step that regulates FT expression downstream of red and blue light perception.     

转录因子Snail的作用机制及其生理功能

Snail为起负调节作用的锌指转录因子,其序列和功能在不同种属动物中十分保守。Snail超家族成员在胚胎着床、胚胎发生、肿瘤发生、细胞命运决定、细胞周期调控、左右不对称发育及创伤愈合等生理或病理过程发挥重要作用。对Snail的进一步研究,不仅可以阐明Snail超家族的作用机制,而且可以为探究Snail相关的肿瘤治疗策略提供重要的理论基础。     

序列特异的三锌指多肽的构建及其在大肠杆菌中的表达

在获得单一锌指突变体的基础上,以小鼠转录因子Zif268的三锌指DNA结合区为模板,利用重叠(Over-lap)PCR技术,获得了关键氨基酸位点同时突变的三锌指突变体ZF123、2ZF123。ZF123、2ZF123分别克隆进pUC-18质粒,序列测定正确后,以pGEX-2T为表达质粒,在大肠杆菌JM109中实现了功能性的表达。经SDS-PAGE分析,表达出了分子量34.0kD的融合蛋白,扫描分析其含量在20%左右。菌体经超声波破碎后,对可溶性融合蛋白进行了纯化得到了游离的目的蛋白,为进一步的DNA结合特性分析、杂交转录因子的构建等奠定了基础。     

基因组编辑脱靶研究进展

近年各种基因组编辑技术的成功研发为人类疾病的治疗与预防谱写了新的篇章,这些技术对应的基因组编辑工具主要包括锌指核酸酶(ZFNs)、转录激活子样效应因子核酸酶(TALENs)和最近发现的规律成簇间隔短回文重复(CRISPR)/Cas系统。这些工具相应的脱靶问题目前是制约基因组编辑技术介导人类疾病治疗的重要瓶颈。本文将分别从基因组编辑工具的介绍、脱靶的现状、解决优化的方案和检测方法进行总结与探讨,通过比较,进一步了解基因组编辑工具的优缺点及相关脱靶检测方法的适用性。