A novel method for thermodynamic study on binding of copper ion with Alzheimer’s amyliod β peptide

The interaction of Cu²⁺ with the first 16 residues of the Alzheimer's amyliod β peptide, Aβ (1-16), was studied by employing isothermal titration calorimetry at pH 7.2 and 37℃ in aqueous solution. The Gholamreza Rezaei Behbehani (GRB) solvation model was used to reproduce the enthalpies of Cu²⁺+ Aβ(1-16) interaction over the whole Cu²⁺ concentrations. The binding parameters recovered from the solvation model were attributed to the structural change of Aβ (1-16) due to the metal ion interaction. It was found that there is a set of two identical and non interacting binding sites for Cu²⁺ ions. The molar enthalpy of binding is ΔH=27.895 kJ/mol. The association binding constants are 1.895 μm^-1 and 1.891 μm^-1 for the first and second binding sites respectively.     

Cyclic AMP response element binding protein (CREB) participates in the heat-inducible expression of humanhsp90β gene

Human heat shock protein 90b gene ( hsp90b ) is a constitutively expressed heat shock gene existing in most of cell types tested that can be further induced by heat shock. Chloramphenical acetyl transferase (CAT) reporter plasmids driven by different regulatory fragments of hsp90b gene were constructed and transfected into Jurkat cells to explore the role of a cAMP response element (CRE) in the upstream of the gene. Results show that, in comparison with the wild type construct, a severe reduction (~2/3) in the increased folds of promoter activity induced by heat shock at 42℃ for 1 h was observed in a construct with CRE-containing fragment (-173/-91bp) deleted. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSA) showed that phosphorylated CRE-binding protein (CREB) in the nuclear extract of heat shocked Jurkat cells is specifically bound to the fragment. Additionally, both of the phosphorylation on CREB and the activity of protein kinase A (PKA) were found in Jurkat cells to be enhanced with extending time of heat shock treatment. Our results indicate that in addition to the intronic HSE/HSF pathway, phosphorylated CREB also participates in the heat shock induced expression of human hsp90b gene via its interaction with CRE which may be regulated by PKA-sig- naling pathway.     

JAK3 mediatesc-myc gene expression induced by interleukin-2

C myc gene expression can be rapidly induced by IL 2 through intracellular signal transduction which is triggered by the interaction between IL 2 and its receptor (IL 2R). JAK3 which associates to the intracellular domain of IL_2R γ may play a critical role in this process. To reveal the action of JAK3 in c myc induction, a chimeric receptor gene IL_2R α/γ/Δ NJAK3 is constructed which consists of extracellular domain derived from IL 2R α subunit (IL_2R α), the transmembrane sequence derived from IL_2R γ and the cytoplasmic domain derived from the catalytic domain of JAK3 (Δ NJAK3), and then transfected this chimeric gene into mouse fibroblast cell line L929 β which had been transfected with IL_2R β gene and stably expressed IL_2R β in high level. In the transfectants coexpressing IL_2R β and α/γ/Δ NJAK3, the stimulation of IL_2 could intensively induce c myc gene expression. Because the whole cytoplasmic domain of IL_2R γ which could recruit signaling molecules was replaced by JAK3 and the c myc could be still induced by IL_2 in this situation, the results here gave the direct evidence demonstrating that JAK3 plays an important role in c myc gene expression induced by IL_2.     

Identification of a novel DNA molecule associated with Tobacco leaf curl virus

A circular DNA molecule, designated as DNAβ, was identified in tobacco plants infected with Tobacco leaf curl virus (TLCV) isolates Y5 and Y8 by PCR using primers based on the conserved region of the two reported DNAβ sequences of whitefly-transmitted geminiviruses (WTGs). The complete nucleotide sequences of DNAβ of Y5 and Y8 (TLCV DNAβ) were determined. Y5 DNAβ comprises 1333 nucleotides encoding 8 predicted ORFs with 4 ORFs in virion-sense DNA and 4 ORFs in complementary-sense DNA; Y8 DNAβ consists of 1338 nucleotides encoding 7 predicted ORFs with 4 ORFs in virion-sense DNA and 3 ORFs in complementary-sense DNA. TLCV DNAβ has little sequence homology to DNA-A of TLCV., except that it shares conserved TAATATTAC loop sequence with TLCV DNA-A. Sequence comparison showed that Y5 DNAβ shared 85% sequence homology with Y8 DNAβ, and both Y5 DNAβ and Y8 DNAβ had relatively low sequence identity (51%–65%) with the reported DNAβ molecules associated with Ageratum yellow vein virus and Cotton leaf curl virus. The immunotrapping PCR and whitefly transmission tests showed that DNAβ molecule could be encapsidated in virus particle and transmitted by Bemisia tabaci. This is the first report of DNAβ associated with WTGs in China.     

Comparison study of chitosan/β-cyclodextrin and carboxymethyl chitosan/β-cyclodextrin microspheres

To compare two microspheres of chitosan/β-cyclodextrin and carboxymethyl chitosan/β-cyclodextrin loaded theophylline as pulmonary sustained drug delivery carriers, the characteristics and ciliotoxicity were studied. The drug loadings of chitosan/β-cyclodextrin and carboxymethyl chitosan/β-cyclodextrin microspheres were 21.09% and 21.42%, and the encapsulation efficiencies were 91.40% and 92.80%. The distributions of 50% (d _0.5) of chitosan/β-cyclodextrin and carboxymethyl chitosan/β-cyclodextrin microspheres were 4.89 and 5.83 μm, respectively. Both microspheres showed spherical shape with smooth or wrinkled surfaces. FT-IR of chitosan/β-cyclodextrin microspheres demonstrated that theophylline had formed hydrogen bonds with chitosan and β-cyclodextrin, while for the carboxymethyl chitosan/β-cyclodextrin microspheres theophylline had interaction with carboxymethyl chitosan. The moisture absorption showed that an equilibrium was reached within 24 h. The two microspheres possessed better adaptability. In vitro release of theophylline from chitosan/β-cyclodextrin microspheres was slower than that from carboxymethyl chitosan/β-cyclodextrin microspheres at pH 6.8. Biography: LI Ruobao(1968–), male, Associate professor, research direction: foundation research of respiratory system.     

NMR and IR investigations of ternary inclusion complexes among β-cyclodextrin, rare earth metal ions, and naphthalenediamines

Ternary inclusion complexes β-cyclodextrin (β-CD), rare earth metal ions (YbCl₃, YCl₃), and 1,8-naphthalene- diamine/1,5-naphthalenediamine are synthesized in basic aqueous media, which are characterized via ¹H NMR and IR spectroscopy. The stoichiometric proportion of β-CD:YbCl₃:1,5-naphthalenediamine is 2:1:2, that of β-CD:YCl₃:1,8-naphthalenediamine is 2:1:1, and that of β-CD:YbCl₃:1,8-naphthalenediamine is 2:1:1. The IR spectroscopy of the ternary inclusion complexes in the range of 935–1 000 cm⁻¹ reveals the existence of the coordinate bond M—O or M—N. The possible conformations of the ternary inclusion complexes are depicted. Biography: JIANG Huiming(1972–), male, Associate professor, research direction: molecular complex chemistry, supramolecular chemistry.     

Evaluation and characterization of an endosperm-specific sbeⅡa promoter in wheat

Starch,the main component of the wheat grain,is the product of a complex biochemical pathway. The sbeⅡα gene plays a key role in controlling the synthesis of starch, in particular, the biosynthesis of amylopectin,in maturing wheat grain.To investigate its regulatory mechanisms and endosperm-specific expression pattern, the sbeⅡα promoter (3094 bp in length) was cloned using APCR and sequenced.The effect of a series of deletions was studied using a GUS transient assay system. Results showed that the 3094 bp sequence (sbe.g construct) exhibited full stable promoting activity and that the activities of 5′ or 3′ deletions reduced levels of GUS expression. Some constructs with internal deletions showed only weak activity, however,sbe.e, with a deletion from -1579—--1210 bp resulted in higher levels of expression than the full-length promoter sequence, sbe.g. This indicates that motifs such as the -300 bp element, G-box and/or P-box act as positive elements and are necessary in determining the promoter‘s endosperm-specific pattern and that negative repressor elements or motifs may also be present within the -1579—-1210 bp sequence. The age of wheate ndosperm tissue used in the GUS-transient assay system is shown to be of significant importance.     

The role of CopG mediated DNA bending on the regulation of the σ^54-dependent promoters in E. coli

In prokaryotic cells, although the σ54 RNA poly- merase can stably bind to the σ54-dependent promoter without the enhancer-binding proteins (EBPs), it re- mains as a closed complex which is silent for transcrip- tion[1]. When binding to the enhancer-lik…     

Effect of MTEC1 on the functional expression of TCRaβ+ 3G11− 6C10− CD4+ CD8− thymocyte subset

A murine CD4⁺ thymocyte subset with phenotype of TCRαβ⁺ 3G11⁻ 6C10⁻ CD4⁺ CD8⁻ CD69^+/- HSA^med/lo contains the cells in relatively functional matured status. The functional property of the cells in this subset is characterized by the unique pattern of cytokine production at transitional stage from Th0 to Th2 type with the latter being the dominant type. After being co-cultured with murine thymic medullary epithelial cell line (MTEC1) cells, a murine thymic medullary type epithelial cell line, the TCRαβ⁺ 3G11⁻ 6C10⁻ CD4⁺ CD8⁻ CD69^+/- HSA^med/lo thymocytes, has exhibited significantly higher levels of proliferation capability and IL-6 production, whereas the production of IL-4 and IL-10 is suppressed after co-culturing with MTECl. By contrast, MTECl could not induce thymocytes to secrete Thl type of cytokines. The results suggest that MTECl can regulate functional status of this thymocyte subset and induce them to develop into a specialized Th2 subset.     

Expression of human β-subunit nerve growth factor (hNGFB) in yeast Pichia pastoris and E. coli

The gene hNGFB encoding the β subunit of human nerve growth factor (hNGF) was cloned intoP. pastoris secretive expression vector pHIL-S1 andE. coli expression vector pET-15b. The recombinant hNGFB vectors pSNGF and pET15b-NGF were transformed intoP. pastoris host cell GS115 (Mut⁺, His⁻) andE. coli strain BL21 (DE3) respectively. Expression and secretion of hNGFB inP. pastoris was attempted under the direction of the AOX1 promoter and PHO1 signal sequence. The positive colonies growing on medium without histidine were further selected by PCR. The yield of rehNGFB in GS115 was about 14.4% of total cellular secretive protein. The secreted protein was immunological active on Western blotting with rabbit anti-mNGFB antibodies. The fusion protein yield of rehNGFB inE. coli BL21 (DE3) was about 10.3% of total cellular protein after IPTG induction. Western blot detection showed its immunological activity.     

Molecular characterization of a K+ channel blocker in the scorpionButhus martensii Karsch

K⁺ channel blockers of scorpion venoms are of important value in studying pharmacology and physiology of specific K⁺ channel of cells. Based on the amino acid sequences of BmP01 previously characterized as a small-conductance Ca²⁺-activated K⁺ channel blocker, two “back to back” degenarate primers have been designed and synthesized for inverse PCR strategy, its full-length cDNA has been cloned from the venom gland of the Chinese scorpionButhus martensii. The cDNA is composed of 3 parts: 5′ UTR, ORF and 3′ UTR. The flanking sequence of translation initiation codon ATG is AAAATGA, which is highly conserved in scorpion Na⁺ channel toxin and protozoan genes, suggesting that these genes may have followed a common mechanism for translation initiation. The 3′ UTR contains poly(A) signal AATAAA. The open reading frame encodes a precursor of 57 residues with a signal peptide of 28 residues and a mature peptide of 29 residues. The signal peptide is rich in hydrophobic amino acid residues and its length is significantly different from that of the determined scorpion Na⁺ channel toxin. The deduced amino acid sequence of mature peptide is completely consistent with BmP01 previously determined by primary structure analysis.     

IL-1β regulates the mouse Fas ligand expression in corneal endothelial cells

Constitutively expressed Fas ligand (FasL) in several distinct epithelial cell types appears to protect tissues by inducing apoptosis of Fas immune cells during inflammatory reactions. To study the rela-tionship of FasL and inflammation process in cornea,we examined the effects of inflammatory cytokine IL-1β on the FasL production,expression and cytotoxic function in corneal endothelial cells. In this paper,we demonstrate that IL-1β inhibits the FasL production and expression in corneal endothelial cells. The promoter activities of FasL in these cells are reduced by IL-1β in a dose-dependent manner. Finally,we also find that IL-1β block the cytotoxic effects of FasL derived from corneal endothelial cells to the Fas target cells. These data support the view that FasL derived from corneal endothelial cells modulate inflammation within cornea.     

High expression of human serum albumin in milk of transgenic mice directed by the goat β-casein gene promoter region

We have constructed a mammary gland expression vector that contained the goat β-casein gene promoter, 5′upstream regulatory region, exons 1,2, intron 1 as well as the human serum albumin (hALB) mini-gene (including the full-long sequences of hALB cDNA and its intron 1). Injection of the vector into mouse tail veins showed that the recombinant construct was expressed only in mammary glands. The vector was microinjected into the mouse fertilized eggs, followed by transferring the eggs into the foster mice. 33 F₀ mice were obtained. Of the 33, 8 mice (5♀, 3 ♂) were transgenic with hALB gene integration identified by PCR as well as Southern blot hybridization. The integration rate was 24.2% (8/33). Western blot analysis showed that 3 female transgenic mice had hALB expression in their milk. The hALB contents in milk reached 3.54, 0.21 and 3.03 g/L, respectively.     

Separation and analysis of the soluble trimer of Aβ1-40 and its effects on the rise in intracellular calcium

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is one of the progressive neurodegenerative diseases associated with protein conformational transition, generally known as protein conformational disorders[1]. The general characteriza- tions of AD are the intracellular fibrillar…     

Electronic structures and nonlinear optical properties of XAuPH<Subscript>3</Subscript>

The studies on model systems XAuPH3(X-H,F,Cl,Br,I,CN,CH3)have been carried out by using ab intiol HF and DFT B3LYP methods at pseudopotential and double-zeta LANL2DZ level.The results are compared with those of MP2,The properties of the models.i.e.the atomic net charge populations.the frontier molecular orbitals and nonlinear optical(NLO)properties have been investigated under an applied electric field on the basis of optimized structures.The computational results show that for these models characterized as electron acceptor-metal-electron donor(A-M-D)system,the NLO properties are due to intramolecular charge-transfer interaction between the acceptor and the donor.The more charges transfer gives,the better NLO properties.In the selected model systems,IAuPH3 has the biggest βvec and γof 1184.1942 a.u.and 17341.9214 a.u.,whereas IC6H4PH3^ ,A TYPICAL a-π-D organic conjugated system,has βvec and γof 710.7697 and 11664.1405 a.u.respectively.In comparison.IAuPH3 has significant NLO properties.     

Construction of chimeric inducible promoters by elicitors of rice fungal blast pathogen and their expression in transgenic rice

The promoter fragments of wheatGstA1 and potatoGst1 have been amplified by PCR, cloned and fused respectively to the minimal promoter sequence of rice actin gene (Act1)) and its 5′ untranslated leader sequence together withGUS. The constructs with 2 chimeric promoters (WGA and PGA) have been transferred into rice in order to analyze their inducibility patterns in transgenic rice plants. The results show that: WGA and PGA are both inducible by elicitors ofPyricularia oryzae in transgenic rice cells; the intron I of riceAct1 gene is important for the heterogenic expression of monocot and dicot promoter elements in rice; and theAct1 minimal promoter and its 5′ untranslated leader sequence produced low level background expression in rice.     

Expression analysis ofgdcsP promoter from C3-C4 intermediate plantFlaveria anomala in transgenic rice

ThegdcsP promoter isolated from C₃-C₄ intermediate plantFlaveria anomala was fused to the β-glucuronidase (GUS) gene. The chimeric gene was inserted into the binary vector pBin19 and introduced into the rice (Oryza sativa L.) cv. 8706 byAgrobacteriummediated gene transfer. GUS activity can be detected in leaf, leaf sheath, stem and root tissues via fluorometric GUS assay. However, no GUS activity was found in mature endosperm. Histochemical localization revealed that GUS expression was exclusively restricted to vascular tissues in transgenic plants. This promoter also showed spatial-temporal expression patterns that GUS expression declined significantly with the maturity of plants. These expression patterns make thegdcsP promoter extremely valuable in the applied biotechnology that needs target gene expression restricted to vascular tissues.