颗粒裂解肽G13结构域在大肠杆菌中的高效融合表达

为高效表达颗粒裂解肽G13结构域并避免G13对宿主菌的毒性, 将人工合成的编码G13的基因片段, PCR扩增后克隆于原核表达载体pThioHisA中, 构建了重组表达载体pThioHisA-G13, 将其转化于大肠杆菌BL21(DE3)中, 经IPTG诱导表达融合蛋白Trx-G13, 表达产物以包涵体的形式存在, 其表达量约占细菌总蛋白的58%。包涵体蛋白经 8 mol/L尿素溶解后, 再经CNBr切割, 阳离子交换层析, 得到纯化的重组G13结构域。琼脂糖扩散法检测表明重组G13结构域多肽具有抗菌活性。     

杂合抗菌肽牛乳铁蛋白素-天蚕素在大肠杆菌中的高效表达及其活性鉴定

【目的】菌株耐药性问题日益突出,研制新型安全高效的抗菌药物成为目前的研究热点之一。抗菌肽具有多种优良特性,高活性抗菌肽的开发及其重组表达对解决菌株耐药性问题具有重要意义。【方法】根据牛乳铁蛋白素与天蚕素的结构,设计一种新型的杂合抗菌肽牛乳铁蛋白素-天蚕素(LfcinB-Cecropin),根据Escherichia coli密码子偏爱性合成其编码基因,利用同尾酶法构建含有不同LfcinB-Cecropin基因片段拷贝数的重组表达载体,转化到E.coli BL21(DE3)进行重组表达。【结果】经IPTG诱导,LfcinB-Cecropin融合蛋白成功获得表达。经超声破碎、包涵体纯化、甲酸裂解后,获得具有明显抑菌活性的杂合肽LfcinB-Cecropin。【结论】获得一种高活性的新型抗菌肽LfcinB-Cecropin,并实现了在E.coli中的高效重组表达。     

东北林蛙皮肤中一类新抗菌肽cDNA的克隆及成熟肽的预测

为进一步研究和开发高效广谱天然抗生素的抗菌肽,本文克隆东北林蛙(Rana dybowskii)的抗菌肽基因,并预测其成熟肽的有关性质。根据蛙属抗菌肽信号肽末端序列设计简并引物,以RT-PCR技术扩增皮肤中抗菌肽的cDNA,并进行克隆测序。用生物信息学软件分析cDNA序列特点,预测成熟肽的理化性质。研究发现一种长度为28个氨基酸残基的新抗菌肽dybowsin-1,该肽具有Rana box结构;与已发现的抗菌肽仅有35%的同源性;理论等电点在9.70-10.01之间;均呈阳离子性;从第3或4个氨基酸开始到第16个氨基酸形成α-螺旋结构,极性氨基酸位于螺旋轮的一侧,非极性氨基酸位于螺旋轮的另一侧;具有N-端疏水、C-端亲水的两亲性。一个个体表达5条cDNA序列编码3种不同的dybowsin-1分子,显示出该抗菌肽表达的多样性。序列分析显示,该抗菌肽可能由多基因座位编码。     

抗菌肽及其功能研究

抗菌肽是近年来发现的广泛存在于自然界的一类阳离子抗菌活性肽,越来越多的证据表明它们在宿主先天性免疫和适应性免疫中有着重要的作用。对抗菌肽的研究正不断深入。本文先从抗菌肽研究的历史背景出发,简要介绍了抗菌肽的一般特性;然后从抗菌肽的直接抗菌活性和免疫调节功能这两个方面重点阐述其在宿主防御过程中的作用,最后对抗菌肽的临床应用及前景做了一个概述。     

可剪切多拷贝抗菌肽融合表达载体的构建

抗菌肽是生物体防御系统产生的一类对外源病菌具有高效杀灭活性的小分子多肽, 在植物抗病基因工程中具有重要的应用价值。Thanatin是刺肩蝽(Podisus maculiventris)成虫经诱导产生的一种抗菌肽, 由21个氨基酸残基组成, 该抗菌肽对革兰阳性、革兰阴性菌以及真菌都有很强的抗菌活性。为研究该抗菌肽转入油菜对菌核病抗性提高的效果, 采用同尾酶反复酶切连接的方法构建了分别含1~5拷贝的Thanatin串联融合表达载体, 并导入农杆菌用于油菜的遗传转化。研究采用引物重叠法扩增并克隆了抗菌肽基因, 并采用了一种在植物体内可被特异性切割的短肽作为连接肽, 使多拷贝融合表达的抗菌肽在植物体内可自动剪切为有功能活性的单个抗菌肽单元, 以增加抗菌肽表达丰度和抗菌肽的稳定性。研究还采用了大豆几丁质酶的信号肽作为引导肽引导多拷贝融合表达的抗菌肽分泌到细胞间隙, 以增强抗菌肽作用效果。     

抗菌肽与肠道健康研究新进展

抗菌肽是生物体内诱导产生的一类具有抗菌作用的生物活性肽,在机体抵抗病原入侵方面起着重要作用。近年来,肠道微生态研究炙手可热,抗菌肽与肠道健康的研究正广泛开展。相关研究结果表明,抗菌肽表达水平的高低可以用来评估机体肠道健康状态,从而监测抗菌肽表达水平来建立一种疾病预防和治疗过程中的辅助诊断手段。本文围绕抗菌肽对肠道菌群结构和免疫影响两方面的最新研究进展进行归纳与分析,旨在为临床诊断与治疗提供参考。     

细菌异源表达抗菌肽的研究进展

抗菌肽是一类从动植物、微生物体内分离得到的阳离子小分子量肽,具有天然的抗菌活性。它作用迅速,广谱,不易产生耐药性,具有重要的应用价值,近年来成为研究热点。普遍认为异源表达是生产大量抗菌肽的最有效方法。大肠杆菌作为经典的表达宿主,具有生长速度快、遗传背景清晰、有大量可利用的商业表达载体、易操作等优势,现已成为抗菌肽表达的首选宿主。乳酸菌作为世界公认安全的食品级微生物,近年来广泛用于抗菌肽的异源表达。着重阐述了抗菌肽在大肠杆菌、乳酸菌中重组表达的研究进展。     

肝脏表达的抗菌肽-2

抗菌肽是在多种生物体中表达的具有抗菌活性的肽类物质的总称.肝脏表达的抗菌肽-2(liver-expressed an-timicrobial peptide-2,LEAP-2)在肝脏中产生后分泌到血液中参与血液循环,从而发挥抗菌活性等作用.本文简要介绍LEAP-2的发现过程,对LEAP-2的基因组成、结构、诱导表达机理、抗菌活性以及基因调控等方面的研究进行综述,并展望LEAP-2可能的生理功能.     

抗菌肽的基因工程研究进展

近年来细菌耐药性问题日趋严峻,寻找新型抗生素已迫在眉睫。抗菌肽是生物体产生的一种阳离子短肽,具有天然的抗菌活性。由于抗菌肽具有与传统抗生素不同的作用机制,不产生耐药性,因而具有重要的临床应用价值。但实践表明,抗菌肽的开发并非易事。针对近年来抗菌肽开发的基因工程策略和实践,尤其是大肠杆菌表达系统和酵母表达系统,进行了简要综述。     

天然抗菌肽的结构改造研究进展

抗菌肽是一类小分子多肽类物质,由10~50个氨基酸组成,具有广谱的抗菌特性,由于其机制与一般抗生素不同,故不易使病原菌产生耐药性,因此抗菌肽有望被开发成为新一代肽类抗生素。但抗菌肽的稳定性差、溶血毒副作用强、治疗指数低等缺点限制了其进一步发展,所以,近年来对抗菌肽的结构改造已成为研究热点。该文主要从抗菌肽的二级结构、结构改造及抗菌肽机制研究三方面进行了综述,并对抗菌肽在结构改造中存在的问题加以分析,为更好地把握和设计新型抗菌肽奠定基础。     

Effects of chaperones on mRNA stability and gene expression in Escherichia coli

Effects of chaperones on mRNA stability and gene expression were studied in order to develop an efficient Escherichia coli expression system that can maximize gene expression. The stability of mRNA was modulated by introducing various secondary structures at the 5'-end of mRNA. Four vector systems providing different 5'-end structures were constructed, and genes encoding GFPuv and endoxylanase were cloned into the four vector systems. Primer extension assay revealed different mRNA half-lives depending on the 5'-end secondary structures of mRNA. In addition to the stem-loop structure at the 5'-end of mRNA, coexpression of dnaK-dnaJ-grpE or groEL-groES, representative heat-shock genes in E. coli, increased the mRNA stability and the level of gene expression further, even though the degree of stabilization was varied. Our work suggests that some of the heat-shock proteins can function as mRNA stabilizers as well as protein chaperones.     

High-level expression of porcine liver cytochrome P-450 reductase catalytic domain in Escherichia coli by modulating the predicted local secondary structure of mRNA

A direct expression system for the solubilized catalytic domains of NADPH-cytochrome P-450 reductase (sCPR) from rat (RsCPR) and porcine (PsCPR) in Escherichia coli cells was constructed using the expression plasmid pCWori(+). PsCPR was minimally expressed, whereas RsCPR was highly expressed. Replacement of the nucleotides encoding Thr(60)Ser(61)Ser(62) in PsCPR with those for Ala(60)Pro(61)Pro(62) in RsCPR markedly increased the expression level of the protein. The local secondary structures of the mRNAs, which were predicted with the prediction program GeneBee (http://www.genebee.msu.su), suggested that the intramolecular double strand between the ribosome binding site (RBS) and the Thr(60)Ser(61)Ser(62) codons in PsCPR, and/or the base-pairing at the initiation codon of the mRNAs significantly affected protein expression. Silent mutations were systematically introduced into the codons for Thr(58) and Thr(60)Ser(61) in PsCPR to modulate the local secondary structure of the mRNA. The expression level of the silently mutated PsCPR suggests that the expression level of PsCPR depends on the stability of the local structure at the RBS in the mRNA. A high-level expression system for wild-type PsCPR was constructed by introducing silent mutations at the codons for Thr(60)Ser(61) in PsCPR. The purified PsCPR showed the characteristic absorption spectral changes of sCPR after reduction with NADPH. The yield of purified PsCPR from 1 liter of culture fluid was 45.8 mg. These results substantiate that the introduction of silent mutations in the section of the gene encoding the N-terminal region of the protein based on the predicted local secondary structure of the mRNA at the RBS is a useful approach to control and increase the expression level of heterologous proteins in E. coli cells.     

High-temperature cultivation and 5' mRNA optimization are key factors for the efficient overexpression of thermostable Deinococcus geothermalis purine nucleoside phosphorylase in Escherichia coli

Overexpression of genes from thermophiles in Escherichia coli is an attractive approach towards the large-scale production of thermostable biocatalysts. However, various factors can challenge efficient heterologous protein expression--one example is the formation of stable 5' mRNA secondary structures that can impede an efficient translation initiation. In this work, we describe the expression optimization of purine nucleoside phosphorylase from the thermophilic microbe Deinococcus geothermalis in E. coli. Poor expression levels caused by stable secondary 5' mRNA structure formation were addressed by two different approaches: (i) increasing the cultivation temperature above the range used typically for recombinant protein expression and (ii) optimizing the 5' mRNA sequence for reduced secondary structures in the translation initiation region. The increase of the cultivation temperature from 30°C to 42°C allowed a more than 10-fold increase of activity per cell and optimizing the 5' mRNA gene sequence further increased the activity per cell 1.7-fold at 42°C. Thus, the combination of high-temperature cultivation and 5' sequence optimization is described as an effective approach to overcome poor expression levels resulting from stable secondary 5' mRNA structure formation. We suggest that this method is especially suitable for improving the expression of proteins derived from thermophiles in E. coli.     

The HSV-1 ICP27 RGG box specifically binds flexible,GC-rich sequences but not G-quartet structures

Herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) protein ICP27, an important regulator for viral gene expression, directly recognizes and exports viral RNA through an N-terminal RGG box RNA binding motif, which is necessary and sufficient for RNA binding. An ICP27 N-terminal peptide, including the RGG box RNA binding motif, was expressed and its binding specificity was analyzed using EMSA and SELEX. DNA oligonucleotides corresponding to HSV-1 glycoprotein C (gC) mRNA, identified in a yeast three-hybrid analysis, were screened for binding to the ICP27 N-terminal peptide in EMSA experiments. The ICP27 N-terminus was able to bind most gC substrates. Notably, the ICP27 RGG box was unable to bind G-quartet structures recognized by the RGG domains of other proteins. SELEX analysis identified GC-rich RNA sequences as a common feature of recognition. NMR analysis of SELEX and gC sequences revealed that sequences able to bind to ICP27 did not form secondary structures and conversely, sequences that were not able to bind to ICP27 gave spectra consistent with base-pairing. Therefore, the ICP27 RGG box is unique in its recognition of nucleic acid sequences compared to other RGG box proteins; it prefers flexible, GC-rich substrates that do not form stable secondary structures.     

Secondary structures and functional requirements for thiM riboswitches from Desulfovibrio vulgaris, Erwinia carotovora and Rhodobacter spheroides

Abstract Bacterial thiM riboswitches contain aptamer domains that bind the metabolite thiamine pyrophosphate (TPP). Binding of TPP to the aptamer domain induces structural rearrangements that are relayed to the expression domain, thereby interfering with gene expression. Here, we report identification of three putative thiM riboswitches from different bacteria and analysis of their secondary structures. Chemical probing revealed that the riboswitches share similar secondary structures in their aptamer domains that can communicate with the highly variant expression domains in a mechanism likely involving sequestration of the Shine-Dalgarno sequence. Remarkably, the aptamer domain of the thiM gene of Desulfovibrio vulgaris binds TPP with similar affinity and selectivity as that of Escherichia coli, although nucleotides previously shown to form direct contacts to the metabolite are mutated. We also designed small RNA hairpins for each riboswitch that bind the RNA only in the absence of the metabolite. Our study shows that aptamer domains in riboswitches with high similarity in their secondary structures can communicate with a broad variety of non-related expression domains by similar mechanisms.     

Secondary structure of the human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 rex-responsive element is essential for rex regulation of RNA processing and transport of unspliced RNAs.

Rex protein of human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) induces cytoplasmic expression of unspliced gag/pol mRNA and singly spliced env mRNA and thus is essential for replication of the virus. This regulation requires a cis-acting rex-responsive element (RXE), located in the 3' region of the viral RNA. By external deletion, we have identified RXE composed of 205 nucleotides. The secondary structure of RXE was confirmed by studies on its susceptibility to nuclease digestions to consist of four stem-loops and a long stretch of stem structure. Substitution and deletion mutations revealed that two regions of the stem-loops and their secondary structures are essential for rex regulation. Similar secondary structures were found in the corresponding regions of HTLV-2, bovine leukemia virus and human immunodeficiency virus. Furthermore, a sequence of 11 nucleotides in the RXE was found to be conserved in the secondary structures of HTLV-1, HTLV-2, and bovine leukemia virus. These observations suggest that the secondary structure as well as the conserved sequence may be important in expression of unspliced RNA even with diverged sequences as observed in these viruses.     

绵羊CAST基因2型和4型转录本的克隆及特性分析

钙蛋白酶抑制蛋白(Calpastatin, CAST)是一种内源性的需要Ca²⁺激活的钙蛋白酶抑制剂, 在肌肉组织的蛋白质降解过程中起重要的调节作用。文章利用牛^CAST基因的mRNA序列, 通过逆转录RT-PCR首次克隆获得绵羊CAST基因2型转录本和4型转录本的部分cDNA序列, 并对序列进行生物信息学分析。CAST基因2型转录本的扩增片段为4 385 bp, 完整的开放阅读框为2 361 bp, 编码786个氨基酸; CAST基因4型转录本的扩增片段为1 467 bp, 完整的开放阅读框为1 317 bp, 编码438个氨基酸。CASTⅡ型蛋白序列存在4个保守结构域, CASTⅣ型蛋白序列存在3个保守结构域; 两者的二级结构均以螺旋为主, 富含疏水区域, 其氨基酸序列存在多个磷酸化位点以及蛋白激酶C(Protein kinase C, PKC)的磷酸化位点。通过RT-PCR分析CAST基因2型转录本和4型转录本的组织表达谱, 结果表明CAST基因2型转录本在所检测的10个组织中均表达, CAST基因4型转录本仅在睾丸组织中表达。     

Predicted structures of apolipoprotein II mRNA constrained by nuclease and dimethyl sulfate reactivity: stable secondary structures occur predominantly in local domains via intraexonic base pairing

Analyses of apolipoprotein II mRNA with chemical and enzymatic probes showed that double- and single-stranded regions were distributed uniformly along the mRNA except for a large (72 nucleotides) single-stranded region containing the translation stop codon. Secondary structure models constrained by the experimental data were made by varying the distance (along the mRNA) over which base pairing was allowed. Four prominent secondary structures were seen with restrictions of 165, 330, or 659 nucleotides suggesting that such structures from via local interactions over distances of 50-120 nucleotides. Predicted long range interactions involve only 2-3 base pairs while local interactions involve helices of 4-10 base pairs. Predicted helices of greater than or equal to 4 base pairs occur primarily within exons, raising the possibility that prominent secondary structures in mRNAs may be largely due to intraexonic base pairing. Tests of single- and double-stranded domains by oligonucleotide-directed RNase H cleavage and primer extension were in accord with the structure model and with nuclease and chemical modification data. The model predicting base pairing between the coding and the 3' noncoding regions was tested by RNase H cleavage followed by oligo(dT)-cellulose chromatography to separate 5' and 3' mRNA fragments. Most (82%) of the 5' fragment remained associated with the 3' noncoding region in a structure with a tm = 50 degrees C in 0.2 M Na+ suggesting that this stem could be stable in vivo. This stem may be stable in the isolated mRNA, but would likely occur transiently in polyribosomal apolipoprotein II mRNA due to ribosome transit through the 5' side of the stem. Alternate structures may occur in this region during ribosome transit and play a role in translation termination or in determining the susceptibility of the mRNA to degradation.