丝氨酸/苏氨酸蛋白激酶突变体MEKK3~(KI)的构建及功能鉴定

有丝分裂原活化蛋白激酶激酶激酶MEKK3(mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase kinase3)是一种丝氨酸/苏氨酸蛋白激酶,属于MAP3K(mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase)家族,其在细胞增殖、凋亡、炎症反应、肿瘤的发生中发挥了重要的作用。利用分子克隆手段构建激酶功能失活(kinase inactive)型突变体MEKK3KI(391位赖氨酸突变为甲硫氨酸,K391→M391)的真核表达载体,并通过检测MEKK3KI蛋白对NudC的磷酸化作用及对细胞周期的影响以鉴定其生物活性。根据GenBank提供的人源MEKK3的cNA序列(NM_203351),扩增出野生型MEKK3(MEKK3~(WT))的目的基因,用重叠延伸PCR定点突变技术扩增激酶功能失活型MEKK3KI目的基因,并将其分别克隆至带有FLAG标签的真核表达载体p CMV-tag-2c和带有GFP标签的真核表达载体pEGFP-C1中。DNA序列分析结果显示,MEKK3KI基因序列成功将391位点的赖氨酸(K)突变为甲硫氨酸(M),表明突变体构建成功;免疫印迹分析显示,MEKK3~(WT)、MEKK3KI重组体均在He La细胞中高效表达;体外模拟磷酸化实验结果显示,野生型MEKK3~(WT)在体外可以磷酸化NudC,而激酶功能失活型突变体MEKK3KI无法将其磷酸化;激光共聚焦显微镜观察发现,野生型MEKK3在HeLa细胞中过表达,细胞核形态异常,与凋亡细胞核形态相似,而失活型MEKK3过表达不会导致细胞核明显变化。总之,本实验成功构建了野生型、失活型MEKK3的真核表达载体,同时发现其可以磷酸化NudC,促进细胞凋亡,为进一步揭示MEKK3生物学功能奠定了基础。     

MEKK3蛋白K391位点突变对其影响的生物信息学分析及活性鉴定

MEKK3是丝裂原活化蛋白激酶(mitogen-activated protein kinase,MAPK)家族的重要成员,主要参与激活c-Jun氨基末端激酶(c-Jun NH2-terminal kinases, JNK)和细胞外调节(extracellular regulated protein kinases, ERK)两条通路。利用生物信息学分析野生型MEKK3(MEKK3WT)及突变型MEKK3(MEKK3K391M)蛋白的理化性质、亲/疏水性、跨膜区、二/三级结构、相互作用蛋白等。结果表明,MEKK3K391M蛋白的稳定性增强,亲/疏水性最强位点未改变,α-螺旋、β-折叠及蛋白结合位点与MEKK3WT不同。三级结构分析显示,MEKK3K391M空间位阻增大。据GenBank提供的人源MEKK3的cDNA序列(NM_203351),扩增出野生型MEKK3WT目的基因,用重叠延伸PCR定点突变技术扩增突变型MEKK3K391M目的基因,并将其克隆至带有FLAG标签的真核表达载体pCMV-tag-2c中。DNA序列分析结果表明,MEKK3K391M基因序列成功将编码赖氨酸(Lys, K)的密码子AAG突变为编码甲硫氨酸(Met, M)的密码子ATG;免疫印迹分析显示,MEKK3WT、MEKK3K391M重组体均在PC12细胞中高效表达;MEKK3WT可以激活JNK,使JNK发生磷酸化反应,其条带灰度值明显高于对照组和MEKK3K391M组。MEKK3K391M组的P-JNK与对照组相差不大。总之,MEKK3中K391的氨基酸突变引起了蛋白结构和功能的改变,特别是三级结构的空间位阻加大,使MEKK3K391M与ATP结合能力减弱,从而无法呈递磷酸基团催化相应的底物,失去生物学活性。本研究对寻找神经系统疾病JNK通路中与MEKK3相互作用的蛋白分子、探索蛋白相互作用机制提供实验基础。     

北京棒杆菌天冬氨酸激酶突变体P184Q的酶学性质表征

通过分析谷氨酸棒杆菌天冬氨酸激酶(AK)的结构,筛选可能影响别构抑制剂结合的Pro184位点,对其进行饱和定点突变,成功筛选出突变菌株P184Q.酶学性质研究表明:突变体P184Q的V_(max)比野生型(WT)提高了3倍;n=1.39,低于WT的值(2.6),正协同性下降,同时Km值减小,对底物的亲和力增大;P184Q最适pH=6.5,最适反应温度为25℃,半衰期为2.8h;P184Q对金属离子和有机溶剂均表现出良好的抗性,解除抑制剂苏氨酸和甲硫氨酸、赖氨酸和甲硫氨酸、苏氨酸和赖氨酸、赖氨酸对酶活力的抑制作用.     

北京棒杆菌天冬氨酸激酶突变体A380H的酶学性质

同源序列比对和蛋白质结构分析表明,A380为天冬氨酸激酶(aspartate kinase,AK)的绝对保守位点,对该位点进行定点突变、分离纯化和性质表征.结果表明:与野生型(WT)相比,突变体A380H的V_(max)提高4.28倍;突变体A380H的最适温度由28℃提高至35℃,最适pH值仍为7.5,半衰期由4.5h缩短至3.5h;底物抑制剂对WT和突变体均有抑制作用,苏氨酸和赖氨酸呈协同抑制作用,苏氨酸单独存在时对A380H具有激活或抑制减弱作用;Mg~(2+),Ni ~(2+)对WT有激活作用,1,5mmol/L的Cu~(2+)对A380H有激活作用;与WT相比,甲醇和异丙醇对A380H的抑制作用增强,正丁醇和乙腈对A380H的抑制作用减弱且表现出激活作用.     

rPA(K)的定点突变及其真核表达载体在COS-7细胞中的瞬时表达

采用定点突变技术,对真核表达载体pCSRK上的目的片段rPA(K)进行突变,获得了含有突变体rPA(KN)(N184→Q)的真核表达载体pCSRKN.酶切和测序结果证明,成功去除了184位的糖基化位点.用LipofectamineTM2000 Reagent将pCSRKN转染至COS-7细胞,取转染后不同培养时间上清,以FAPA法进行检测.结果表明,表达产物具有良好的溶圈活性,从而验证了pCSRKN在真核系统表达的可行性.     

扩展青霉FS1884脂肪酶基因的定点诱变及其活性分析

为提高扩展青霉FS1884脂肪酶活性,采用一步突变法对脂肪酶(PEL)的基因进行体外M220V定点诱变,然后将其连接到表达载体pPIC3.5K中, 构建重组表达载体pPIC3.5K-M220V-PEL,电转化毕赤酵母GS115中,经甲醇诱导后脂肪酶成功分泌表达.重组脂肪酶的活性分析表明:突变体在毕赤酵母中得到活性表达,获得脂肪酶表达产物PEL-M220V-GS,在35 ℃下具有最高酶活为3 099 U/mg, 比野生型提高了5%.     

用点突变方法研究海参精氨酸激酶的活性位点

为研究动物能量代谢,用点突变的方法从双亚基海参(Stichopusjaponicus)精氨酸激酶中得到了3个突变体:C274A、R283G和H287A,并通过大肠杆菌E.coli表达。大部分精氨酸激酶都以包涵体的形式存在。经过纯化之后对3种突变体的催化活性和一些结构特征进行了分析。这3种突变体丧失了绝大部分催化活力,特别是突变体C274A,与野生型相比除了活性完全丧失之外,结构却几乎没有变化。这3个残基对海参精氨酸激酶结构或功能的保持有着重要作用,Cys274残基可能是海参精氨酸激酶的活性位点。     

重组纤溶酶原激活剂及其突变体的表达研究

利用PCR技术 ,获得了人体组织型纤溶酶原激活剂tPAcDNA的缺失突变体———rPA ;在此基础上 ,运用定点突变技术 ,得到rPA的定点突变体———rPA(KHRR2 96～ 2 99AAAA) ,rPA(A473S)和二者的复合突变体rPA(KHRR2 96～2 99AAAA A473S) ;将rPA及其 3个突变体分别亚克隆至原核表达载体pET 2 8a( )中 ,获得表达载体pErA ,pErA(K) ,pErA(A)和pErA(KA) .酶切鉴定和序列分析结果均表明实现了实验设计的氨基酸突变 .表达载体转化大肠杆菌 ,经IPTG诱导、菌体裂解及SDS PAGE电泳分析发现 ,只缺失而无突变的pErA和突变的pErA(A)都未表达目的蛋白 ,突变体pErA(K)与pErA(KA)则获高水平表达 ;蛋白产量分别占菌体总蛋白的 35 .97%与 37.71% ,分子量均为 39.6kD .Westernblotting显示 ,表达产物与抗tPA抗体呈特异性阳性反应 .该产物经初步纯化后进行复性与活性 (mFAPA)测定 ,结果表明其复性产物具有明显的体外纤溶活性 .以上结果为rPA突变体的进一步纯化、体内活性研究以及规模化制备提供了基础     

北京棒杆菌天冬氨酸激酶M372I-T379S双突变体的构建及其酶学性质

为构建高酶活力天冬氨酸激酶(aspartokinase, AK), 并削弱或解除Lys(lysine)反馈抑制作用突变体, 通过定点突变和高通量筛选技术构建突变体M372I,T379S和M372I-T379S, 对野生型（WT）和突变体分别进行诱导表达、 纯化及酶学性质表征. 结果表明： 突变体M372I,T379S和M372I-T379S AK与WTAK相比, V_max分别提高了13.77,15.02,15.60倍, K_m和n值均降低； 最适pH值分别升高为8.0,8.5,8.5, 且半衰期分别延长了1.0,0.9,2.3 h； M372I-T379S AK最适温度为30 ℃, 比WT AK高2 ℃； 当浓度为1~10 mmol/L时, 突变体均削弱或部分解除了抑制剂Lys的反馈抑制作用.     

分泌型Survivin真核表达载体的构建及其在HeLa细胞中的表达

目的:构建含6个组氨酸标签(His6)的小鼠存活素(Survivin)融合蛋白的真核表达载体,及其在真核细胞中的表达。方法:根据小鼠Survivin序列设计引物,经过RT-PCR克隆Survivin的cDNA并进一步构建分泌型Sur-vivin的真核表达载体,经测序鉴定后在大肠杆菌中扩增在HeLa细胞中表达;以金属离子螯合层析富集,再用免疫印迹法鉴定。结果:克隆到Survivin编码区全长序列,经DNA测序后证明与已报道序列相同。构建氨基端融合小鼠IL-2信号肽,羧基端带有His6标签的Survivin融合蛋白的真核表达载体,在HeLa细胞中转染成功并且表达;细胞上清经HisTrap HP柱层析富集后,进行免疫印迹分析,表明该融合蛋白以分泌型方式在HeLa细胞中表达。结论:成功克隆Survivin的cDNA,并构建其分泌型真核表达载体。     

Raf-1 protein kinase is required for growth of induced NIH/3T3 cells

Many growth factors regulate the cytoplasmic Raf-1 protein kinase, consistent with its having a central role in transduction of growth signals. The kinase is ubiquitously expressed and can promote proliferation, presumably in a manner dependent on growth-factor receptors and membrane-associated oncogenes. We have now examined the dependence of serum- and TPA (12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate)-regulated NIH/3T3 cell growth on RAF-1 kinase to determine whether Raf-1 is essential for receptor signalling. We inhibited Raf-1 function by expressing c-raf-1 antisense RNA or kinase-defective c-raf-1 mutants. Antisense RNA for c-raf-1 interferes with proliferation of normal NIH/3T3 cells and reverts raf-transformed cells. In revertant cells, DNA replication induced by serum or TPA was eliminated or reduced proportionately to the reduction in Raf protein levels. Expression of a kinase-defective Raf-1 mutant (craf301) or a regulatory domain fragment (HCR) inhibited serum-induced NIH/3T3-cell proliferation and raf transformation even more efficiently. Inhibition by antisense RNA or craf301 blocked proliferation and transformation by Ki- and Ha-ras oncogenes. We conclude that raf functions as an essential signal transducer downstream of serum growth factor receptors, protein kinase C and ras.     

Corticosterone activates Erk1/2 mitogen-activated protein kinase in primary hippocampal cells through rapid nongenomic mechanism

Nongenomic effects of glucocorticoids (GC) in various cell types have been well documented, but it still remains unknown whether the mechanism also works in hippocampus which is a crucial target of glucocorticoids in neural system during physiological and/or pathophysiological processes. We present here that corticosterone (B) could rapidly activate Erk1/2 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) in primarily cultured hippocampal cells within minutes, with a bell-shaped time dependent curve which peaked at 15min and then went down to normal level in 30 min. This activation was blocked by protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitor (Go6976), G protein inhibitor (GDPβs), and MEK(MAPK/extracellular signal-regulated kinase kinase) inhibitor(PD98059), but not by protein kinase A (PKA) inbibitor (H89), tyrosine kinase inhibitor (genistein), and glucocorticoid receptor ( GR ) antagonist (RU38486). Thus, the rapid activation of Erk1/2 MAPK in primary hippocampal cells induced by B was likely mediated by a G protein coupled receptor (GPCR) pathway with involvement of PKC, which belonged to the nongenomic rather than genomic mechanism of GC' s effects.     

SGK and 14-3-3 protein are involved in the serine/ threonine phosphorylation mechanism for TPO/MPL signal transduction

Thrombopioetin (TPO), the critical regulator of platelet production, acts by binding to its cell surface receptor, c-Mpl. Yeast two-hybrid screening was performed to isolate the proteins interacting with the cytoplasmic domain of c-Mpl. 48 positive clones were isolated from 5 × 10⁶ independent transformants. The results of sequence analysis demonstrate that they represent 13 different protein encoding sequences. Among them there are a partial coding sequence of serine/threonine protein kinase SGK (serum and glucocorticoid-inducible kinase) and 14-3-3 theta protein partial coding sequence. GST-pull-down assay and co-immunoprecipitation in mammal cells have confirmed the interaction between these two proteins and c-Mpl. By constructing a series of deleted c-Mpl cytoplasmic domain, the interaction region in c-Mpl cytoplasmic tail was localized in amino acids 523–554. At the same time, the directed interaction between SGK and 14-3-3 proteins also has been verified by yeast two-hybrid assay. The present note is the first time to report that two proteins act with c-Mpl at the same time and put forward that SGK and 14-3-3 protein may be involved in the serine/threonine phosphorylation mechanism for signal transduction.     

Shaggy/GSK3 antagonizes Hedgehog signalling by regulating Cubitus interruptus

The Drosophila protein Shaggy (Sgg, also known as Zeste-white3, Zw3) and its vertebrate orthologue glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK3) are inhibitory components of the Wingless (Wg) and Wnt pathways. Here we show that Sgg is also a negative regulator in the Hedgehog (Hh) pathway. In Drosophila, Hh acts both by blocking the proteolytic processing of full-length Cubitus interruptus, Ci (Ci155), to generate a truncated repressor form (Ci75), and by stimulating the activity of accumulated Ci155 (refs 2-6). Loss of sgg gene function results in a cell-autonomous accumulation of high levels of Ci155 and the ectopic expression of Hh-responsive genes including decapentaplegic (dpp) and wg. Simultaneous removal of sgg and Suppressor of fused, Su(fu), results in wing duplications similar to those caused by ectopic Hh signalling. Ci is phosphorylated by GSK3 after a primed phosphorylation by protein kinase A (PKA), and mutating GSK3-phosphorylation sites in Ci blocks its processing and prevents the production of the repressor form. We propose that Sgg/GSK3 acts in conjunction with PKA to cause hyperphosphorylation of Ci, which targets it for proteolytic processing, and that Hh opposes Ci proteolysis by promoting its dephosphorylation.     

蛋白激酶C单克隆抗体的制备

应用杂交瘤技术制备了蛋白激酶C(PKC)的单克隆抗体,用蛋白A-Sepharose-CL4B协同沉淀复合物分析单抗识别的蛋白,分子质量与PKC相同。采用该抗体对正常和转化的C_3H_(10) T_(1/2)细胞进行免疫荧光观察,发现它们的PKC含量明显不同。但荧光分布都主要集中在细胞质和细胞膜部分。     

嗜热真菌Thermomyces langinosus编码丝/苏氨酸蛋白激酶部分cDNA的克隆及序列分析

根据几种丝状真菌保守的氨基酸序列,设计了一组简并性的引物,从嗜热真菌Thermomyceslanginosus中提取总RNA,利用RT-PCR的方法,我们得到了一个1243bp的cDNA的片段。片段回收纯化后连接到pGEM-Teasy载体上,PCR扩增重组质粒证实这个长约1200bp片段已经插到载体上。序列分析发现和裂殖酵母的蛋白激酶dis1非常相似,比较两者3'氨基酸序列发现同源性达28%以上。其推断的氨基酸序列上包含有6个丝/苏氨酸蛋白激酶的保守亚区。这些都表明它编码的基因可能是一个新的丝/苏氨酸蛋白激酶。     

Oncogenic kinase signalling

Protein-tyrosine kinases (PTKs) are important regulators of intracellular signal-transduction pathways mediating development and multicellular communication in metazoans. Their activity is normally tightly controlled and regulated. Perturbation of PTK signalling by mutations and other genetic alterations results in deregulated kinase activity and malignant transformation. The lipid kinase phosphoinositide 3-OH kinase (PI(3)K) and some of its downstream targets, such as the protein-serine/threonine kinases Akt and p70 S6 kinase (p70S6K), are crucial effectors in oncogenic PTK signalling. This review emphasizes how oncogenic conversion of protein kinases results from perturbation of the normal autoinhibitory constraints on kinase activity and provides an update on our knowledge about the role of deregulated PI(3)K/Akt and mammalian target of rapamycin/p70S6K signalling in human malignancies.     

MAP2 kinase and 70K S6 kinase lie on distinct signalling pathways.

Activation of protein synthesis is required for quiescent cells to transit the cell cycle, and seems to be mediated in part by phosphorylation of the 40S ribosomal protein, S6. A mitogen-activated S6 kinase of relative molecular mass 70,000 (70K) has been isolated from mouse fibroblasts as well as from avian, rat and rabbit tissues. Comparison of complementary DNA sequences shows that this enzyme is distinct from S6 kinase II (92K) found in Xenopus eggs and fibroblasts. Both kinases are activated by serine/threonine phosphorylation, suggesting that at least one serine/threonine kinase links receptor tyrosine kinases with S6 kinases. A candidate for this link is MAP2 kinase, which is rapidly activated by tyrosine/threonine phosphorylation following mitogenic stimulation. Incubation of MAP2 kinase from insulin-treated 3T3-L1 adipocytes with phosphatase-inactivated S6 kinase II from Xenopus leads to partial reactivation and phosphorylation of the enzyme. These and other findings have led to the suggestion that MAP2 kinase also activates the 70K S6 kinase. Here we refute this idea by showing that the two kinases lie on distinct signalling pathways.