Molecular basis of mechanosensory transduction

Mechanotransduction - a cell's conversion of a mechanical stimulus into an electrical signal - reveals vital features of an organism's environment. From hair cells and skin mechanoreceptors in vertebrates, to bristle receptors in flies and touch receptors in worms, mechanically sensitive cells are essential in the life of an organism. The scarcity of these cells and the uniqueness of their transduction mechanisms have conspired to slow molecular characterization of the ensembles that carry out mechanotransduction. But recent progress in both invertebrates and vertebrates is beginning to reveal the identities of proteins essential for transduction.     

Molecular basis of lipid transfer protein deficiency in a family with increased high-density lipoproteins

Plasma high density lipoproteins (HDL) are a negative risk factor for atherosclerosis. Increased HDL is sometimes clustered in families, but a genetic basis has never been clearly documented. The plasma cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) catalyses the transfer of cholesteryl ester from HDL to other lipoproteins and therefore might influence HDL levels. Using monoclonal antibodies, we show that CETP is absent in two Japanese siblings who have markedly increased and enlarged HDL. Furthermore, they are homozygous for a point mutation in the 5'-splice donor site of intron 14 of the gene for CETP, a change that is incompatible with normal splicing of pre-messenger RNA. The results indicate that the family has an inherited deficiency of CETP due to a gene splicing defect, and illustrate the key role that CETP has in human HDL metabolism.     

自适应径向基函数神经网络

文章根据隐节点对整个网络输出贡献的相对大小 ,提出删除策略 ,并结合资源分配网络的增长规则 ,使得径向基函数神经网络的隐节点在学习过程中可以自适应地增加或删除 ,从而形成一个网络资源较少、结构紧凑的自适应径向基函数神经网络。将该网络应用于函数拟合和非线性时间序列预测 ,取得较好的效果     

流感病毒致病的分子基础

自然感染，流感病毒感染的宿主范围有较强的特异性，各毒株所表现的毒力也所不同，决定流感病毒宿主特异性和毒力的因素很多，本文主要从流感病毒的分子水平上来揭示流感病毒的宿主特异性及其毒力差异。     

Molecular basis of photoprotection and control of photosynthetic light-harvesting

In order to maximize their use of light energy in photosynthesis, plants have molecules that act as light-harvesting antennae, which collect light quanta and deliver them to the reaction centres, where energy conversion into a chemical form takes place. The functioning of the antenna responds to the extreme changes in the intensity of sunlight encountered in nature. In shade, light is efficiently harvested in photosynthesis. However, in full sunlight, much of the energy absorbed is not needed and there are vitally important switches to specific antenna states, which safely dissipate the excess energy as heat. This is essential for plant survival, because it provides protection against the potential photo-damage of the photosynthetic membrane. But whereas the features that establish high photosynthetic efficiency have been highlighted, almost nothing is known about the molecular nature of the dissipative states. Recently, the atomic structure of the major plant light-harvesting antenna protein, LHCII, has been determined by X-ray crystallography. Here we demonstrate that this is the structure of a dissipative state of LHCII. We present a spectroscopic analysis of this crystal form, and identify the specific changes in configuration of its pigment population that give LHCII the intrinsic capability to regulate energy flow. This provides a molecular basis for understanding the control of photosynthetic light-harvesting.     

Structural basis of protein phosphatase 1 regulation

The coordinated and reciprocal action of serine/threonine (Ser/Thr) protein kinases and phosphatases produces transient phosphorylation, a fundamental regulatory mechanism for many biological processes. The human genome encodes a far greater number of Ser/Thr protein kinases than of phosphatases. Protein phosphatase 1 (PP1), in particular, is ubiquitously distributed and regulates a broad range of cellular functions, including glycogen metabolism, cell-cycle progression and muscle relaxation. PP1 has evolved effective catalytic machinery but lacks substrate specificity. Substrate specificity is conferred upon PP1 through interactions with a large number of regulatory subunits. The regulatory subunits are generally unrelated, but most possess the RVxF motif, a canonical PP1-binding sequence. Here we reveal the crystal structure at 2.7 A resolution of the complex between PP1 and a 34-kDa N-terminal domain of the myosin phosphatase targeting subunit MYPT1. MYPT1 is the protein that regulates PP1 function in smooth muscle relaxation. Structural elements amino- and carboxy-terminal to the RVxF motif of MYPT1 are positioned in a way that leads to a pronounced reshaping of the catalytic cleft of PP1, contributing to the increased myosin specificity of this complex. The structure has general implications for the control of PP1 activity by other regulatory subunits.     

Molecular genetic basis of the histo-blood group ABO system

The histo-blood group ABO, the major human alloantigen system, involves three carbohydrate antigens (ABH). A, B and AB individuals express glycosyltransferase activities converting the H antigen into A or B antigens, whereas O(H) individuals lack such activity. Here we present a molecular basis for the ABO genotypes. The A and B genes differ in a few single-base substitutions, changing four amino-acid residues that may cause differences in A and B transferase specificity. A critical single-base deletion was found in the O gene, which results in an entirely different, inactive protein incapable of modifying the H antigen.     

抗纤维结合素单克隆抗体与自身抗原组蛋白免疫交叉反应的分子基础研究

应用免疫扩散和ＷｅｓｔｅｒｎＢｌｏｔ分析证实了抗纤维结合素（Ｆｉｂｒｏｎｅｃｔｉｎ，ＦＮ）单克隆抗体与自身抗原组蛋白（Ｈｉｓｔｏｎｅｓ）发生免疫学交叉反应。通过计算机技术进一步分析了交叉反应的分子基础。在组蛋白和ＦＮ之间有５个氨基酸序列同源性区域被发现。同源性区域与Ｐｏｌｌａｒｄ所预测的组蛋白抗原决定簇相一致（Ｐｏｌｌａｒｄ，１９９０，Ａｕｔｏｉｍｍｕｎｉｔｙ）。根据抗原抗体反应的物理学，化学和免疫学特性，讨论了单克隆抗体与不相关抗原发生交叉反应的可能原因。包括：１．分子模拟－－－氨基酸序列同源性；２．不相关抗原共享的构型表位；３．抗原抗体反应时空间电荷分布；４．反应介质的诱导。组蛋白与某些单克隆抗体发生的交叉反应性揭示了在自身免疫性疾病中抗组蛋白自身抗体产生的可能致病原因。     

Molecular basis of base substitution hotspots in Escherichia coli.

In the lacI gene of Escherichia coli spontaneous base substituion hotspots occur at 5-methylcytosine residues. The hotspots disappear when the respective cytosines are not methylated. We suggest that the hotspots may result from the spontaneous deamination of 5-methylcytosine to thymine, which is not excised by the enzyme DNA-uracil glycosidase.     

Molecular basis of the copulatory plug polymorphism in Caenorhabditis elegans

Heritable variation is the raw material for evolutionary change, and understanding its genetic basis is one of the central problems in modern biology. We investigated the genetic basis of a classic phenotypic dimorphism in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Males from many natural isolates deposit a copulatory plug after mating, whereas males from other natural isolates?including the standard wild-type strain (N2 Bristol) that is used in most research laboratories?do not deposit plugs. The copulatory plug is a gelatinous mass that covers the hermaphrodite vulva, and its deposition decreases the mating success of subsequent males. We show that the plugging polymorphism results from the insertion of a retrotransposon into an exon of a novel mucin-like gene, plg-1, whose product is a major structural component of the copulatory plug. The gene is expressed in a subset of secretory cells of the male somatic gonad, and its loss has no evident effects beyond the loss of male mate-guarding. Although C. elegans descends from an obligate-outcrossing, male?female ancestor, it occurs primarily as self-fertilizing hermaphrodites. The reduced selection on male?male competition associated with the origin of hermaphroditism may have permitted the global spread of a loss-of-function mutation with restricted pleiotropy.     

Molecular basis of transmembrane signalling by sensory rhodopsin II-transducer complex

Microbial rhodopsins, which constitute a family of seven-helix membrane proteins with retinal as a prosthetic group, are distributed throughout the Bacteria, Archaea and Eukaryota. This family of photoactive proteins uses a common structural design for two distinct functions: light-driven ion transport and phototaxis. The sensors activate a signal transduction chain similar to that of the two-component system of eubacterial chemotaxis. The link between the photoreceptor and the following cytoplasmic signal cascade is formed by a transducer molecule that binds tightly and specifically to its cognate receptor by means of two transmembrane helices (TM1 and TM2). It is thought that light excitation of sensory rhodopsin II from Natronobacterium pharaonis (SRII) in complex with its transducer (HtrII) induces an outward movement of its helix F (ref. 6), which in turn triggers a rotation of TM2 (ref. 7). It is unclear how this TM2 transition is converted into a cellular signal. Here we present the X-ray structure of the complex between N. pharaonis SRII and the receptor-binding domain of HtrII at 1.94 A resolution, which provides an atomic picture of the first signal transduction step. Our results provide evidence for a common mechanism for this process in phototaxis and chemotaxis.     

用分子动力学方法对Cystatin蛋白的研究

通过动力学模拟研究野生型和I66Q突变型cC的动力学特性,为设计和筛选治疗Cystatin C引起的脑淀粉样血管病药物提供重要的理论依据.通过分子动力学模拟的方法,选择可引起脑淀粉样血管病的Cystatin蛋白为模型,探讨了在形成致病状纤维过程中起到关键作用的蛋白质结构位点.研究分子动力学模拟显示,突变型cC较野生型更易形成淀粉样纤维,突变型蛋白的L1部位较野生型具有更高的柔性,更易通过结构域交换形成二聚体进而引发淀粉样纤维沉淀.该研究结果对于设计治疗相关疾病如疯牛病等的药物也有一定的借鉴意义.     

平面压电结构的径向基函数无网格法

利用压电材料的正、逆压电效应制成的传感器和驱动器在很多领域有广泛的应用．压电结构的机电耦合效应,给问题的求解带来了一定的困难．本文利用无网格法对压电平面问题的控制方程进行求解．利用径向基函数进行插值近似,直接配点法对控制方程进行离散,得到无网格离散的线性控制方程组,最后通过数值计算与分析,验证了方法的可行性以及不同径向基函数对结果的影响．