β淀粉样蛋白来源的扩散性配体对胞外信号调节激酶活性的影响

β淀粉样蛋白来源的扩散性配体降低细胞外信号调节激酶的磷酸化水平,免疫印迹结果显示在培养的海马神经元上,给予500 nmol/L的可溶性β淀粉样蛋白寡聚体,作用不同时间均降低了胞外信号调节激酶的磷酸化水平;可溶性β淀粉样蛋白寡聚体对细胞不同部位胞外信号调节激酶磷酸化水平影响不同,并且对细胞质、细胞膜、细胞核中胞外信号调节激酶磷酸化水平的影响在时间上呈现明显的差异;β淀粉样蛋白来源的扩散性配体通过突触外N-甲基-D-天冬氨酸受体影响胞外信号调节激酶信号通路,单独激活突触外的N-甲基-D-天冬氨酸受体或给予β淀粉样蛋白来源的扩散性配体后再激活突触外的N-甲基-D-天冬氨酸受体,胞外信号调节激酶的磷酸化水平均明显降低;水迷宫实验显示,转入淀粉样前体蛋白基因的小鼠要花更多时间找到目标平台,其海马胞外信号调节激酶磷酸化水平显著降低.     

植物蛋白激酶MAPK及其在病原信号传导中的作用

植物蛋白激酶在信号传递过程中越来越受到关注。促细胞分裂剂激活性蛋白激酶(MAPK)是一类存在于各种真核生物体中的丝氨酸/苏氨酸型蛋白激酶。它被上游激活因子MAPKK磷酸化而激活,并通过将底物蛋白上的丝氨酸和苏氨酸残基磷酸化而传递信号。它与其他一些信号分子组成MAPK级联信号通路,接受外界刺激信号,将信号转入细胞内,影响特定基因的表达,它的作用受到不同因子的调节。文章主要介绍了植物体中的MAPK的结构特点、分类以及其在病原信号传导中的作用。     

LysM蛋白在植物免疫中的作用

溶解素基序（LysM）是在多种蛋白质中普遍存在的结构域.植物LysM蛋白能够感知几丁质及其寡糖等分子配体，从而启动植物对病原菌的免疫反应.在水稻、拟南芥等植物免疫应答过程中，LysM蛋白作为一种重要的模式识别受体，通过不同形式的寡聚化，激活多种类受体胞质激酶及其下游的MAPK（mitogen activated protein kinase）级联反应传递信号.同时，蛋白质可逆磷酸化和蛋白质降解途径可以负调节LysM蛋白介导的防御信号转导.文章综述了植物免疫过程中LysM蛋白介导的信号转导分子机制.     

肿瘤坏死因子受体相关因子2(TRAF2)在TNF信号传导中的作用

肿瘤坏死因子受体相关因子(TRAFs)是经TNF受体超家族和IL-1R/TLR超家族信号传导通路的重要成分.TNF信号传导中,TRAF2作为接头蛋白和调控因子在几乎所有分支通路中起作用,在调节TNF-R1介导的NF-κB和JNK激活过程中起重要作用.近来的研究提示,TRAF2是凋亡信号传导和抗凋亡信号传导的分支点.本文主要阐述TRAF2的分子结构及它的结构与功能的关系,TNF信号传导的分子机制及TRAF2在其中的作用,重点关注TRAF2作为凋亡途径和NF-κB介导的存活途径,即这2条相互拮抗的信号传导途径的分支点的重要性.     

植物LRR类受体蛋白激酶的研究进展

简要介绍了LRR-类受体蛋白激酶(LRR-RLKs)的胞外LRR基序和胞内丝/苏氨酸激酶区的结构特点;LRR-RLKs在调节植物生长发育和防卫反应方面的生理功能及其与配体互作的2种可能机制:LRR-RLKs受体磷酸化和LRR-RLKs受体去磷酸化.讨论发现,LRR-RLKs的结构特点和多样化的基因表达方式,是其具有多种生理功能的基础;植物信号传导途径的复杂性和不同蛋白的功能互补,则可能是导致LRR-RLKs的功能和作用方式至今尚未解释清楚的重要原因.利用日趋先进的生物技术,加强对配体和下游信号分子的搜寻、鉴定和识别,将是今后LRR-RLKs研究的有效途径.     

单线态氧分子:生物学和医学（英文）

单线态氧分子(1 O2)是一个具有高度化学反应活性的内源性信号分子,可以在机体的正常细胞生理活动中产生.它与生物分子的双价键发生特定加合反应,在细胞水平主要氧化功能性和结构性蛋白质.1 O2永久性激活胆囊收缩素1型受体CCK1R,并对其他G蛋白偶联受体具有差别性调控作用.1 O2具有与其他活性氧明显不同的细胞反应.1 O2抑制多种类型的电压门控钠通道Nav和钾通道Kv,但是激活某些类型的TRP通道如TRPA1和TRPV1.1 O2也特异性调控信号转导过程中的多种信号蛋白,如激活钙离子钙调素依赖性激酶II.1 O2对细胞功能的这些特定调节,不但在肿瘤的光动力治疗中得到应用,也正在逐渐形成一门以细胞信号转导调控为基础的光控药理学学科.     

单线态氧分子：生物学和医学

单线态氧分子(1 O2)是一个具有高度化学反应活性的内源性信号分子,可以在机体的正常细胞生理活动中产生.它与生物分子的双价键发生特定加合反应,在细胞水平主要氧化功能性和结构性蛋白质.1 O2永久性激活胆囊收缩素1型受体CCK1R,并对其他G 蛋白偶联受体具有差别性调控作用.1 O2具有与其他活性氧明显不同的细胞反应.1 O2抑制多种类型的电压门控钠通道 Nav 和钾通道 Kv ,但是激活某些类型的 TRP 通道如TRPA1和TRPV1.1 O2也特异性调控信号转导过程中的多种信号蛋白,如激活钙离子钙调素依赖性激酶 II.1 O2对细胞功能的这些特定调节,不但在肿瘤的光动力治疗中得到应用,也正在逐渐形成一门以细胞信号转导调控为基础的光控药理学学科.     

异硫氰酸异丁酯抑制肝癌细胞HepG2生长的效应与机理

为了探究异硫氰酸异丁酯(isobutyl isothiocyanate)对肝癌细胞HepG2的生长抑制效应及其分子机制，该研究通过MTT实验检测化合物对细胞的生长抑制率，计算出IC50值为3.5 μg·mL－1；通过流式细胞技术检测发现0.437 μg·mL－1以上浓度的化合物能诱导HepG2细胞凋亡；通过划痕实验检测发现0.875 μg·mL－1以上浓度的化合物能抑制细胞迁移；进一步通过生物信息学分析表明异硫氰酸异丁酯的靶蛋白可能为巨噬细胞迁移抑制因子(MIF)，且HepG2细胞中MIF表达量高于低敏感株.免疫印迹实验也进一步发现化合物不仅能够抑制蛋白酪氨酸激酶2/信号转导子和转录激活子3(JAK2/STAT3)信号通路的激活，还能下调p53蛋白表达.研究结果表明，异硫氰酸异丁酯可能通过靶向HepG2细胞中的MIF蛋白，影响MIF与其受体CD74相互作用，从而下调p53蛋白表达，阻滞细胞周期的正常进行，诱导细胞凋亡，对肝癌具有特异性的抑癌潜力.     

Rac1突变重组体的构建及对JAK/STAT信号通路的影响

通过构建Rac1突变体，研究Rac1激活对肾小球系膜细胞(MES)JAK2/STAT3信号通路的影响.以Rac1目的基因为模板，在引物中设计突变，扩增突变体Rac1(G12V)的目的基因，与PiggyBac(PB-FLAG)载体质粒连接，构建突变重组体PB-Rac1(G12V),并运用脂质体核酸试剂转染系膜细胞.比较正常组、Rac1(G12V)突变组中系膜细胞的ROS含量及NADPH氧化酶活性；Elisa法检测细胞因子TGF-β表达水平；Western blot法检测系膜细胞中JAK2/STAT3信号及FN蛋白的表达.结果表明，成功构建了Rac1(G12V)持续磷酸化突变体并在MES细胞中表达，与正常组相比，Rac1(G12V)激活突变MES细胞NADPH氧化酶的活性和ROS含量明显增加；JAK2/STAT3信号通路激活，TGF-β和FN表达明显增加.Rac1能激活系膜细胞氧化应激和JAK2/STAT3信号通路，并促进TGF-β及FN的表达.     

磷酸化在NLRP3炎症小体活化中的调控作用（英文）

NLRP3是位于细胞质中的模式识别受体,属于NOD样受体家族.在多种危险相关分子模式和病原体相关分子模式的激活下,NLRP3受体通过招募接头蛋白ASC和半胱氨酸蛋白酶原caspase-1形成一个多聚蛋白复合物,称之为NLRP3炎症小体.NLRP3炎症小体的主要功能是通过促进免疫应答清除病原微生物和危险信号,维持体内平衡.但是,NLRP3炎症小体异常活化又会引发多种炎症性疾病.因此,其活化必须受到严格调控.近期,多种激酶和磷酸酶被报道调控NLRP3炎性小体活化,这表明磷酸化在调控炎症小体活化中起着至关重要的作用.在本文中,我们概述了多种激酶和磷酸酶如何调控NLRP3炎症小体活化,并概述了磷酸化在NLRP3炎症小体活化中的调控作用.此外,我们还总结了靶向NLRP3相关激酶或磷酸酶治疗炎症小体相关疾病的潜在药用化合物.     

运动与瘦素的研究进展

瘦素（ leptin）是脂肪组织分泌的一种蛋白质类激素,主要作用在下丘脑,具有调节体脂代谢、能量平衡等功能,瘦素水平的高低对肥胖、2-型糖尿病等疾病起到调节作用。血清瘦素可通过血脑屏障与下丘脑的瘦素受体结合,激活 JAK2-STAT3等信号转导通路,进而改变中枢神经系统中一系列神经肽的表达。通过收集大量近年来关于不同运动形式、运动强度、运动时间等情况对血浆瘦素水平影响的文献,总结分析出一次性运动、非一次性运动对血浆瘦素水平和能量代谢的影响,以及目前研究存在的问题,加深对瘦素功能和机理的分子水平认知,并展望了今后的研究前景。     

Stimulation of specific GTP binding and hydrolysis activities in lymphocyte membrane by interleukin-2

Interleukin-2 (IL-2) is a polypeptide growth factor which stimulates the proliferation and differentiation of T lymphocytes. The receptor for IL-2 is expressed on activated T lymphocytes, cloned IL-2 dependent cells and several other cell types. Analysis of the primary structure and of immune-precipitated receptor suggests that this molecule has no intrinsic signal transduction function, unlike other growth factors. IL-2 interaction with a high affinity receptor has been shown, however, to activate the calcium/phospholipid-dependent protein kinase C (PK-C) presumably via phosphoinositide hydrolysis. Members of a family of closely related guanine nucleotide binding proteins (G proteins) regulate a diverse group of metabolic events. Two of them, Gs and Gi, stimulate and inhibit adenylate cyclase activity respectively, and other G proteins are involved in diverse signal transduction system. Another member, Go, has no known function and activation of phospholipase C has been attributed to the action of an unidentified G protein, Gp. Since it has been observed that IL-2 inhibits the catalytic activity of adenylate cyclase and that agents such as PGE2 which stimulate adenylate cyclase activity inhibit the lymphoproliferative response to IL-2, association of GTP binding proteins with IL-2 signal transduction was investigated. In this report we describe for the first time the participation of a GTP binding protein in the action of a polypeptide growth factor, interleukin-2.     

Bidirectional control of cytosolic free calcium by thyrotropin-releasing hormone in pituitary cells

It is now established that a key step in the action of calcium-mobilizing agonists is stimulation of the hydrolysis of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PtdIns(4,5)P2) to 1,2-diacylglycerol and inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (InsP3). The latter substance acts as a second messenger, controlling the release of calcium from intracellular stores (see ref. 3 for review). The bifurcating nature of the signalling system is exemplified by the fact that the other product of PtdIns(4,5)P2 hydrolysis, 1,2-diacylglycerol, can alter cellular function by activating protein kinase C, the cellular target for several tumour-promoting agents such as the phorbol esters. In various tissues, including GH3 pituitary tumour cells, a synergistic interaction between calcium ions and protein kinase C underlies agonist-induced changes in cell activity. The data presented here suggest that when GH3 cells are stimulated by thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH), an agonist inducing PtdIns(4,5)P2 hydrolysis, the two limbs of the inositol lipid signalling system interact to control free cytosolic calcium levels [( Ca2+]i). At low levels of TRH receptor occupancy, [Ca2+]i increases rapidly, then declines relatively slowly. As receptor occupancy increases, the calcium signal becomes more short-lived due to the appearance of a second, inhibitory, component. This latter component, which is enhanced when [Ca2+]i is elevated by high potassium depolarization, is mimicked by active phorbol esters and by bacterial phospholipase C. It seems likely that protein kinase C subserves a negative feedback role in agonist-induced calcium mobilization.     

Bile acids induce energy expenditure by promoting intracellular thyroid hormone activation

While bile acids (BAs) have long been known to be essential in dietary lipid absorption and cholesterol catabolism, in recent years an important role for BAs as signalling molecules has emerged. BAs activate mitogen-activated protein kinase pathways, are ligands for the G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) TGR5 and activate nuclear hormone receptors such as farnesoid X receptor alpha (FXR-alpha; NR1H4). FXR-alpha regulates the enterohepatic recycling and biosynthesis of BAs by controlling the expression of genes such as the short heterodimer partner (SHP; NR0B2) that inhibits the activity of other nuclear receptors. The FXR-alpha-mediated SHP induction also underlies the downregulation of the hepatic fatty acid and triglyceride biosynthesis and very-low-density lipoprotein production mediated by sterol-regulatory-element-binding protein 1c. This indicates that BAs might be able to function beyond the control of BA homeostasis as general metabolic integrators. Here we show that the administration of BAs to mice increases energy expenditure in brown adipose tissue, preventing obesity and resistance to insulin. This novel metabolic effect of BAs is critically dependent on induction of the cyclic-AMP-dependent thyroid hormone activating enzyme type 2 iodothyronine deiodinase (D2) because it is lost in D2-/- mice. Treatment of brown adipocytes and human skeletal myocytes with BA increases D2 activity and oxygen consumption. These effects are independent of FXR-alpha, and instead are mediated by increased cAMP production that stems from the binding of BAs with the G-protein-coupled receptor TGR5. In both rodents and humans, the most thermogenically important tissues are specifically targeted by this mechanism because they coexpress D2 and TGR5. The BA-TGR5-cAMP-D2 signalling pathway is therefore a crucial mechanism for fine-tuning energy homeostasis that can be targeted to improve metabolic control.     

A chimaeric receptor allows insulin to stimulate tyrosine kinase activity of epidermal growth factor receptor

The cell surface receptors for insulin and epidermal growth factor (EGF) appear to share a common evolutionary origin, as suggested by structural similarity of cysteine-rich regions in their extracellular domains and a highly conserved tyrosine-specific protein kinase domain. Only minor similarity is found outside this catalytic domain, as expected for receptors that have different ligand specificities and generate different biological signals. The EGF receptor is a single polypeptide chain but the insulin receptor consists of distinct alpha and beta subunits that function as an alpha 2 beta 2 heterotetrameric receptor complex. Provoked by this major structural difference in two receptors that carry out parallel functions, we have designed a chimaeric receptor molecule comprising the extracellular portion of the insulin receptor joined to the transmembrane and intracellular domains of the EGF receptor to investigate whether one ligand will activate the tyrosine kinase domain of the receptor for the other ligand. We show here that the EGF receptor kinase domain of the chimaeric protein, expressed transiently in simian cells, is activated by insulin binding. This strongly suggests that insulin and EGF receptors employ closely related or identical mechanisms for signal transduction across the plasma membrane.     

Pituitary hyperplasia and gigantism in mice caused by a cholera toxin transgene.

Cyclic AMP is thought to act as an intracellular second messenger, mediating the physiological response of many cell types to extracellular signals. In the pituitary, growth hormone (GH)-producing cells (somatotrophs) proliferate and produce GH in response to hypothalamic GH-releasing factor, which binds a receptor that stimulates Gs protein activation of adenylyl cyclase. We have now determined whether somatotroph proliferation and GH production are stimulated by cAMP alone, or require concurrent, non-Gs-mediated induction of other regulatory molecules by designing a transgene to induce chronic supraphysiological concentrations of cAMP in somatotrophs. The rat GH promoter was used to express an intracellular form of cholera toxin, a non-cytotoxic and irreversible activator of Gs. Introduction of this transgene into mice caused gigantism, elevated serum GH levels, somatotroph proliferation and pituitary hyperplasia. These results support the direct triggering of these events by cAMP, and illustrate the utility of cholera toxin transgenes as a tool for physiological engineering.     

Ghrelin is a growth-hormone-releasing acylated peptide from stomach

Small synthetic molecules called growth-hormone secretagogues (GHSs) stimulate the release of growth hormone (GH) from the pituitary. They act through GHS-R, a G-protein-coupled receptor for which the ligand is unknown. Recent cloning of GHS-R strongly suggests that an endogenous ligand for the receptor does exist and that there is a mechanism for regulating GH release that is distinct from its regulation by hypothalamic growth-hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH). We now report the purification and identification in rat stomach of an endogenous ligand specific for GHS-R. The purified ligand is a peptide of 28 amino acids, in which the serine 3 residue is n-octanoylated. The acylated peptide specifically releases GH both in vivo and in vitro, and O-n-octanoylation at serine 3 is essential for the activity. We designate the GH-releasing peptide 'ghrelin' (ghre is the Proto-Indo-European root of the word 'grow'). Human ghrelin is homologous to rat ghrelin apart from two amino acids. The occurrence of ghrelin in both rat and human indicates that GH release from the pituitary may be regulated not only by hypothalamic GHRH, but also by ghrelin.     

Heterodimeric JAK-STAT activation as a mechanism of persistence to JAK2 inhibitor therapy

The identification of somatic activating mutations in JAK2 (refs?1–4) and in the thrombopoietin receptor gene (MPL) in most patients with myeloproliferative neoplasm (MPN) led to the clinical development of JAK2 kinase inhibitors. JAK2 inhibitor therapy improves MPN-associated splenomegaly and systemic symptoms but does not significantly decrease or eliminate the MPN clone in most patients with MPN. We therefore sought to characterize mechanisms by which MPN cells persist despite chronic inhibition of JAK2. Here we show that JAK2 inhibitor persistence is associated with reactivation of JAK–STAT signalling and with heterodimerization between activated JAK2 and JAK1 or TYK2, consistent with activation of JAK2 in trans by other JAK kinases. Further, this phenomenon is reversible: JAK2 inhibitor withdrawal is associated with resensitization to JAK2 kinase inhibitors and with reversible changes in JAK2 expression. We saw increased JAK2 heterodimerization and sustained JAK2 activation in cell lines, in murine models and in patients treated with JAK2 inhibitors. RNA interference and pharmacological studies show that JAK2-inhibitor-persistent cells remain dependent on JAK2 protein expression. Consequently, therapies that result in JAK2 degradation retain efficacy in persistent cells and may provide additional benefit to patients with JAK2-dependent malignancies treated with JAK2 inhibitors.