人类磷酸泛酰巯基乙胺结合蛋白新基因的分离和鉴定

在对AD293和HEK293进行差减杂交以探索两者在吸附和凋亡特性上的差异时,从AD293的高表达文库中分离得到一段新的cDNA片段.从人类胎脑文库克隆得到该基因,全长2 745 bp,编码的蛋白含518个氨基酸,被预测为磷酸泛酰巯基乙胺结合蛋白.该基因在染色体上定位于2p22.3,包含8个外显子.该cDNA编码的蛋白序列含有一个凋亡抑制蛋白5结构域,外皮蛋白重复片段和铜结合辛肽重复片段.RT-PCR分析显示该基因在人类正常组织和癌组织中广泛表达,但在癌组织中表达量相对较低,提示其可能对细胞凋亡有抑制作用.该基因在进化过程中高度保守.     

A pseudo-exon in the functional human alpha A-crystallin gene

The frequent correspondence of exons to structural or functional domains in proteins has suggested that many proteins have evolved by modular assembly. This idea is supported by examples of apparent exon duplication and by shared domains among both alternatively spliced and completely separate genes. During this process it is probable that some combinations of exons would not prove advantageous and would therefore be lost. Here we report that within the active single-copy human gene for alpha A-crystallin there is a 'pseudo-exon' in the early stages of being extinguished, perhaps the result of a failed experiment in the evolution of this specialized, lens-specific protein.     

Localization of dystrophin to postsynaptic regions of central nervous system cortical neurons

Moderate non-progressive cognitive impairment is a consistent feature of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), although no central nervous system (CNS) abnormality has been identified. Recent studies have elucidated the molecular defect in DMD, including the absence of the protein dystrophin in affected individuals. Normal brain tissue contains dystrophin messenger RNA and dystrophin is present in low abundance in the brain and seems to be regulated in this tissue, at least in part, by a promoter that differs from that in muscle. Until now, antibodies and immunocytochemical methods used to demonstrate dystrophin at the plasma membrane of mouse and human muscle have proven inadequate to localize precisely dystrophin in the mammalian CNS. We have now made an antibody (anti 6-10) which is much more sensitive than those previously available to immunolabel dystrophin in the CNS. Using this antibody, we found that in the mouse, dystrophin is particularly abundant in the neurons of the cerebral and cerebellar cortices, and that it is localized at postsynaptic membrane specializations. Dystrophin may have a different role in neurons than in muscle, and an alteration at the synaptic level may be the basis of the cognitive impairment in DMD.     

Immunoelectron microscopic localization of dystrophin in myofibres

Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a common X-linked recessive human disease, has recently been shown to be caused by the deficiency of a large, low abundance protein called 'dystrophin'. Biochemical techniques have shown dystrophin to be membrane-associated in skeletal muscle, with enrichment of dystrophin in the t-tubules of 'triads'. Other studies using immunohistochemistry on thick (10 micron) sections have shown dystrophin to be located at the periphery of muscle fibres, possibly at the plasma membrane. These results have been interpreted as being either consistent and complementary, or contradictory. To localize dystrophin more precisely relative to these membrane systems we have employed highly sensitive and spatially accurate immuno-gold electron microscopy of ultra-thin (70-100 nm) cryosections. The major distribution of dystrophin was on the cytoplasmic face of the plasma membrane of muscle fibres, and possibly on the contiguous t-tubule membranes. The presented data, taken together with recently accumulated information regarding the primary structure of dystrophin, suggests that dystrophin is a component of the membrane cytoskeleton in myogenic cells. Thus, myofibre necrosis in patients affected with Duchenne muscular dystrophy is likely the result of plasma membrane instability.     

人类新基因SEC15L3 cDNA的鉴定

从人胎脑cDNA文库中克隆到1条新的Sec15基因SEC15L3 cDNA,比已报道的SEC15L1(NM_019053)少4个外显子,并已提交GenBank,登录号为EF571007.RT-PCR和荧光定量PCR实验显示该基因在胰腺、脾脏、胸腺、前列腺和睾丸几个组织中表达量较高,而且与SEC15L1的组织表达谱有明显差异.生物信息学方法模拟SEC15L3蛋白,并与SEC15L1比较,结果显示两者有不同的高级结构,已推测出两者可能是不同exocyst的成分,并且在不同组织中行使不同功能.     

Human dystrophin expression in mdx mice after intramuscular injection of DNA constructs

Duchenne's muscular dystrophy (DMD), which affects one in 3,500 males, causes progressive myopathy of skeletal and cardiac muscles and premature death. One approach to treatment would be to introduce the normal dystrophin gene into diseased muscle cells. When pure plasmid DNA is injected into rodent skeletal or cardiac muscle, the cells express reporter genes. We now show that a 12-kilobase full-length human dystrophin complementary DNA gene and a 6.3-kilobase Becker-like gene can be expressed in cultured cells and in vivo. When the human dystrophin expression plasmids are injected intramuscularly into dystrophin-deficient mdx mice, the human dystrophin proteins are present in the cytoplasm and sarcolemma of approximately 1% of the myofibres. Myofibres expressing human dystrophin contain an increased proportion of peripheral nuclei. The results indicate that transfer of the dystrophin gene into the myofibres of DMD patients could be beneficial, but a larger number of genetically modified myofibres will be necessary for clinical efficacy.     

Conversion of mdx myofibres from dystrophin-negative to -positive by injection of normal myoblasts

An important corollary to the recent advances in our understanding of the primary cause of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, is the validation of genuine genetic homologues as animal models of the disease in which potential therapies can be tested. The persistent skeletal muscle necrosis that characterizes human Duchenne muscular dystrophy is also seen in the mdx mouse and is, in both, a consequence of a deficiency of dystrophin, probably within the muscle fibres themselves. As injected muscle precursor cells of one genotype can fuse with host muscle fibres of a different genotype and express the donor genes, we decided to test grafts of normal muscle precursor cells to see if they could induce synthesis of dystrophin in innately dystrophin-deficient mdx muscle fibres. We show that injected normal muscle precursor cells can fuse with pre-existing or regenerating mdx muscle fibres to render many of these fibres dystrophin-positive and so to partially or wholly rescue them from their biochemical defect.     

Decreased osmotic stability of dystrophin-less muscle cells from the mdx mouse

Human X-linked Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophies are due to defects in dystrophin, the product of an exceptionally large gene. Although dystrophin has been characterized as a spectrin-like submembranous cytoskeletal protein, there is no experimental evidence for its function in the structural maintenance of muscle. Current hypotheses attribute necrosis of dystrophin-less fibres in situ to mechanical weakening of the outer membrane, to an excessive influx of Ca2+ ions, or to a combination of these two mechanism, possibly mediated by stretch-sensitive ion channels. Using hypo-osmotic shock to determine stress resistance and a mouse model (mdx) for the human disease, we show that functional dystrophin contributes to the stability of both cultured myotubes and isolated mature muscle fibres.