基于位点特异性打分矩阵的卷积神经网络预测SARS-CoV-2核衣壳蛋白的蛋白质二级结构

新型冠状病毒(SARS-CoV-2)有4种关键的结构蛋白,而核衣壳蛋白就是其中的1种.本实验从公开数据库NCBI上选取的SARS-CoV-2核衣壳蛋白质序列数据,分析SARS-CoV-2核衣壳蛋白与SARS-CoV核衣壳蛋白的序列相似性,对SARS-CoV-2核衣壳蛋白的理化性质和疏水性进行分析;在此基础上提出基于位点特异性打分矩阵的卷积神经网络,预测SARS-CoV-2核衣壳蛋白的8类蛋白质二级结构.研究结果表明,核衣壳蛋白的二级结构主要为无规卷曲,此结果可为抗病毒药物的研发与新型冠状病毒肺炎的诊断提供参考.     

PEMFC电催化剂利用率研究方法的探讨

提高电催化剂的利用率以降低质子交换膜燃料电池(PEMFC)的成本，是加速其商业化的一个重要途径。文中讨论了现有的CV法在研究PEMFC电催化剂利用率时存在的一些问题，如CV法扫描速度的影响及Pt理论比表面积难于准确确定等，为了较好地解决这一问题，提出了一种以单位质量电催化剂产生电池功率或电能来表示膜电极中电催化剂利用率的方法。     

Phytanic acid impairs mitochondrial respiration through protonophoric action

Refsum disease is a rare, inherited neurodegenerative disorder characterized by accumulation of the dietary branched-chain fatty acid phytanic acid in plasma and tissues caused by a defect in the alphaoxidation pathway. The accumulation of phytanic acid is believed to be the main pathophysiological cause of the disease. However, the exact mechanism(s) by which phytanic acid exerts its toxicity have not been resolved. In this study, the effect of phytanic acid on mitochondrial respiration was investigated. The results show that in digitonin-permeabilized fibroblasts, phytanic acid decreases ATP synthesis, whereas substrate oxidation per se is not affected. Importantly, studies in intact fibroblasts revealed that phytanic acid decreases both the mitochondrial membrane potential and NAD(P)H autofluorescence. Taken together, the results described here show that unesterified phytanic acid exerts its toxic effect mainly through its protonophoric action, at least in human skin fibroblasts. Received 4 August 2007; received after revision 26 September 2007; accepted 10 October 2007 J. C. Komen, F. Distelmaier: These authors contributed equally to this work.     

Modulation of protein biophysical properties by chemical glycosylation: biochemical insights and biomedical implications

Glycosylation constitutes one of the most important posttranslational modifications employed by biological systems to modulate protein biophysical properties. Due to the direct biochemical and biomedical implications of achieving control over protein stability and function by chemical means, there has been great interest in recent years towards the development of chemical strategies for protein glycosylation. Since current knowledge about glycoprotein biophysics has been mainly derived from the study of naturally glycosylated proteins, chemical glycosylation provides novel insights into its mechanistic understanding by affording control over glycosylation parameters. This review presents a survey of the effects that natural and chemical glycosylation have on the fundamental biophysical properties of proteins (structure, dynamics, stability, and function). This is complemented by a mechanistic discussion of how glycans achieve such effects and discussion of the implications of employing chemical glycosylation as a tool to exert control over protein biophysical properties within biochemical and biomedical applications. Received 15 December 2006; received after revision 28 March 2007; accepted 25 April 2007     

Regulation of insulin receptor function

Resistance to the biological actions of insulin contributes to the development of type 2 diabetes and risk of cardiovascular disease. A reduced biological response to insulin by tissues results from an impairment in the cascade of phosphorylation events within cells that regulate the activity of enzymes comprising the insulin signaling pathway. In most models of insulin resistance, there is evidence that this decrement in insulin signaling begins with either the activation or substrate kinase activity of the insulin receptor (IR), which is the only component of the pathway that is unique to insulin action. Activation of the IR can be impaired by post-translational modifications of the protein involving serine phosphorylation, or by binding to inhibiting proteins such as PC-1 or members of the SOCS or Grb protein families. The impact of these processes on the conformational changes and phosphorylation events required for full signaling activity, as well as the role of these mechanisms in human disease, is reviewed in this article. Received 3 August 2006; received after revision 1 December 2006; accepted 8 January 2007     

新型纳米纤维膜对地下水中重金属的过滤去除研究

采用扫描电镜表征了氯化聚氯乙烯静电纺丝纳米纤维膜的微观结构特征,并进行了去除地下水中铜、铅、镉等重金属阳离子的过滤试验,包括直接过滤、加土壤过滤、加硅藻土过滤和胶束强化过滤。结果表明,最佳的过滤工艺是胶束强化过滤,其最佳试验条件是10层膜过滤和5mmol/L的SDBS浓度,对铜、铅、镉的去除率分别超过73%,82%和91%。     

用N-(3-P)NEM标记毛发角蛋白研究毛发中低硫蛋白和高硫蛋白的状态

本文用一种特异性标记蛋白质巯基的N-(3-P)NEM为荧光探针标记毛发角蛋白,经SDS-PAGE后,通过荧光薄层扫描确定N-(3-P)NEM与含巯基蛋白结合的部位。结果表明,毛发角蛋白中的低硫蛋白分子量在45,000～63,000范围,约占总蛋白量的49.6％～68.2％;高硫蛋白分子量在4,000～20,000范围,约占总蛋白量的18.9％～36.2％。除低硫和高硫蛋白以外,毛发角蛋白中还可能存在一种极低硫蛋白,分子量位于22,000～32,000范围。对人与5种动物的毛发角蛋白组分进行比较,证实人与动物的毛发角蛋白的主要差异在高硫蛋白,不同种属的动物毛发角蛋白中低硫蛋白和高硫蛋白的含量也不相同。作者认为毛发角蛋白中含巯基蛋白的差异可为动物分类学和法医学在进行毛发比较鉴别方面提供新的重要信息。     

用超滤法处理回用生活污水

研究了用超滤法处理山西铝厂生活污水站出水的阻力特性及清洗可恢复性,通过试验对比了颗粒活性炭、微滤 颗粒活性炭和混凝进行处理污水后的超滤效果.试验结果表明,污水经微滤 颗粒活性炭预处理后,可以得到较好的过滤效果,过滤阻力低;用质量浓度为500mg/L的NaClO溶液反洗浸泡后可以得到较好的清洗效果;混凝可以去除悬浮物、胶体及污水中的部分有机物,明显降低了膜过滤阻力;超滤的产水水质符合生活杂用水标准GB JXX—2001的要求.