Structural characteristics and biological functions of the HIV-1 gp120 V3 region

Recent studies demonstrate that the V3 loop of HIV-1 gp120 plays an important role in the attachment of HIV-1 to the target cells. Several amino acids in this domain are involved in the interaction of gp120 with the co-receptors. The V3 loop elicits one of the earliest antiviral antibody responses in HIV-1 infection and has been identified as the principal neutralizing determinant (PND). A subset of antibodies to V3 loop show a broad range of neutralizing activity. Unfortunately, this loop undergoes broad mutation and is one of the hypervariable regions. Mutations of some amino acids in this PND could affect syncytium formation, virus infectivity and neutralization. Knowing the structural characteristics and biological functions of the V3 region could help us to understand mechanism of HIV infection and to develop new strategy against HIV-1. In this review, the structural characteristics, variation and biological functions of the V3 loop as well as immunological responses to the V3 loop are discussed.     

HLA-A2限制性CTL表位肽定量构效关系研究

基于SCORE打分函数，运用定量构效关系的理论和方法研究了HLA—A2限制性CTL表位九肽结构与亲和性间的定量关系，并建立了SCORE得分与亲和性的定量关系模型，并用外部样本（5个HLA—A2限制性CTL表位九肽）作为预测集用于检验模型的预测能力．基于SCORE打分函数建立的定量模型具有较好的相关性（r=0，9165，RMS=0．38）和对外部样本的预测能力（rpred=0．9847，RMS=0．135）．基于SCORE打分函数，运用定量构效关系研究的理论和方法建立了HLA—A2限制性CTL表位亲和性的定量预测方法，为实验鉴定高亲和性HLA—A2限制性CTL表位提供了理论依据．     

人ZP3B-细胞表位嵌合肽DNA的设计和合成

目的：设计和合成适合在昆虫细胞中表达的一个人ＺＰ３ Ｂ细胞表位的ＤＮＡ序列。方法：根据国外的研究基础，设计由人ＺＰ３的Ｂ细胞表位肽段和外源Ｔｈ细胞表位肽段串联而成的４５肽嵌合肽序列，并根据昆虫细胞对密码子的偏爱性设计出该嵌合肽的ＤＮＡ序列。然后人工合成该嵌合肽的ＤＮＡ链，并克隆到ＰＵＣ１８载体上。结果：通过酶切分析和测序证明，合成的ＤＮＡ与所设计的嵌合肽ＤＮＡ序列一致。结论：按设计合成了人ＺＰ３的     

北京鸭腔上囊的研究Ⅵ.无淋巴类细胞腔上囊上皮的的培养

本实验进行了北京鸭28天胚胎腔上囊的体外培养,对显微和超微结构进行系统观察,并结合培养材料的碱性磷酸酶(ALP)定位以及α-乙酸萘酯酶(ANAE)同功酶分析,讨论了与Eerola雏鸡腔上囊上皮培养实验的异同,不同上皮在培养时的异质性与起源的相关性。结果表明北京鸭28天胚胎腔上囊的体外培养是获取无淋巴类细胞腔上囊上皮的可用模型。     

亲环素A抗原表位在三维结构中的初步定位

以抗人亲环素A单克隆抗体D4作捕获抗体，用噬菌体展示库鉴定出亲环素A模拟抗原表位的氨基酸序列为WSLQSFL，在亲环素A的一级结构中没有相同的序列，提示亲环素A抗原表位为构象型的，亲环素A的三维空间结构已测定，利用RasMol等蛋白质三维结构观察软件，可以初步确定亲环素A的抗原表位的时间位置，此抗原表位与环孢素的结合位点有重叠。     

Cytosolic free Ca2+ in insulin secreting cells and its regulation by isolated organelles

Summary The role of Ca²⁺ in secretagogue-induced insulin release is documented not only by the measurements of⁴⁵Ca fluxes in pancreatic islets, but also, by direct monitoring of cytosolic free Ca²⁺, [Ca²⁺]_i. As demonstrated, using the fluorescent indicator quin 2, glyceraldehyde, carbamylcholine and alanine raise [Ca²⁺]_i in the insulin secreting cell line RINm5F, whereas glucose has a similar effect in pancreatic islet cells. The regulation of cellular Ca²⁺ homeostasis by organelles from a rat insulinoma, was investigated with a Ca²⁺ selective electrode. The results suggest that both the endoplasmic reticulum and the mitochondria participate in this regulation, albeit at different Ca²⁺ concentrations. By contrast, the secretory granules do not appear to be involved in the short-term regulation of [Ca²⁺]_i. Evidence is presented that inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate, which is shown to mobilize Ca²⁺ from the endoplasmic reticulum, is acting as an intracellular mediator in the stimulation of insulin release.     

Modeling the MHC class I pathway by combining predictions of proteasomal cleavage,TAP transport and MHC class I binding

Epitopes presented by major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I molecules are selected by a multi-step process. Here we present the first computational prediction of this process based on in vitro experiments characterizing proteasomal cleavage, transport by the transporter associated with antigen processing (TAP) and MHC class I binding. Our novel prediction method for proteasomal cleavages outperforms existing methods when tested on in vitro cleavage data. The analysis of our predictions for a new dataset consisting of 390 endogenously processed MHC class I ligands from cells with known proteasome composition shows that the immunological advantage of switching from constitutive to immunoproteasomes is mainly to suppress the creation of peptides in the cytosol that TAP cannot transport. Furthermore, we show that proteasomes are unlikely to generate MHC class I ligands with a C-terminal lysine residue, suggesting processing of these ligands by a different protease that may be tripeptidyl-peptidase II (TPPII).Received 26 November 2004; received after revision 4 February 2005; accepted 4 March 2005S. Tenzer and B. Peters contributed equally to this work.