Mg<Superscript>2+</Superscript>-Triggered and pH-Tuned <Emphasis Type="Italic">in vitro</Emphasis> Assembly of Trehalose-6-Phosphate Synthase

The enzyme OtsA (trehalose-P synthase) plays a critical role in the biosynthesis of trehalose, which is a nonreducing disaccharide that plays important functions in many organisms. By using light scattering technique, we discovered that OtsA in Arthrobacter strain A3 polymerized in the presence of divalent metal ions (Mg²⁺ or Ca²⁺), and the kinetics of the assembly was dependent on their concentrations. We identified potential compounds that can affect the kinetics of the polymerization, particularly, heparin, which acts as a very promising inhibitor of the polymerization. The OtsA assembly turns out to be a very delicate process that is finely regulated by pH. OtsA may be in the polymerized form at physiological pH in vivo, suggesting a more complicated mechanism of the enzyme. These unique properties of OtsA provide novel insights into the molecular mechanism of the biosynthesis of trehalose.     

QS412透性化细胞产海藻糖特性研究

透性化细胞中在麦芽寡糖基海藻糖合成酶和麦芽寡糖基海藻糖水解酶作用下由淀粉生产海藻糖,其使用可省略酶的纯化和胞内酶的固定化。本文研究了金属离子对透性化细胞产海藻糖活性的影响,观察到Mg²⁺对其活性有提高作用,Zn²⁺、Mn²⁺、Cu²⁺、Fe²⁺、Hg²⁺5种2价离子对其活性有明显抑制作用。其中,Hg²⁺的抑制作用最为明显,而Mn²⁺的作用未见报道。Zn²⁺在40mmol/L浓度以上能完全抑制体系中MTHase的活性,并且这种抑制作用可以通过添加EDTA消除,这就提供了制备MTHase底物及在两种酶存在下单独测定MTSase活性的可能。本征动力学和宏观动力学分析表明透性化细胞合成海藻糖的过程中外扩散影响可忽略,内扩散影响显著。通过对该过程作用特性的研究,为透性化细胞的研究和使用打下进一步的基础。     

Actin dynamics in the contractile ring during cytokinesis in fission yeast

Cytokinesis in many eukaryotes requires a contractile ring of actin and myosin that cleaves the cell in two. Little is known about how actin filaments and other components assemble into this ring structure and generate force. Here we show that the contractile ring in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe is an active site of actin assembly. This actin polymerization activity requires Arp3, the formin Cdc12, profilin and WASP, but not myosin II or IQGAP proteins. Both newly polymerized actin filaments and pre-existing actin cables can contribute to the initial assembly of the ring. Once formed, the ring remains a dynamic structure in which actin and other ring components continuously assemble and disassemble from the ring every minute. The rate of actin polymerization can influence the rate of cleavage. Thus, actin polymerization driven by the Arp2/3 complex and formins is a central process in cytokinesis. Our studies show that cytokinesis is a more dynamic process than previously thought and provide a perspective on the mechanism of cell division.     

不同糖对纤维素酶保护的机理研究

旨在通过测量海藻糖、葡萄糖、蔗糖、葡聚糖、纤维素酶以及纤维素酶分别与这些糖的混合物的红外光谱和差示扫描量热谱图，研究糖和纤维素酶分子间的相互作用，推测海藻糖对纤维素酶保护的机理。结果表明，海藻糖的羟基同酶分子以氢键的形式结合提高了酶的热变性温度，增加了酶的热稳定性。另一方面，海藻糖分子包裹在酶分子周围，或填充在酶分子的空间结构内，特别是酶的活性部位附近，并形成玻璃态，将酶蛋白的空间结构固定住而避免酶的失活。     

烯丙基稀土茂化物对己内酯的催化聚合

本文研究了二茂基烯丙基稀土化合物Cp2LnC3H5 (Ln=Sm, Yb)对ε-己内酯的催化聚合反应.稀土化合物的催化聚合活性随温度提高而提高,钐化合物的催化活性要高于镱化合物.对聚合反应机理进行了推测.     

In vitro assembly of plant tubulin in the absence of microtubule-stabilizing reagents

The assembly of microtubules is essential for physiological functions of microtubules. Addition of microtubule-stabilizing reagents or microtubule "seeds" is usually necessary for plant tubulin assembly in vitro, which hinders the investigation of plant microtubule dynamics. In the present note, highly purified plant tubulins have been obtained from lily pollen, a non-microtubule-stabilizing reagent or microtubule "seed" system for plant tubulin assembly has been established and the analysis of plant tubulin assembly performed. Experiment results showed that purified tubulin polymerized in vitro, and a typical microtubule structure was observed with electron microscopy. The kinetics curve of tubulin assembly exhibited typical "parabola". The presence of taxol significantly altered the character of plant tubulin assembly, including that abnormal microtubules were assembled and the critical concentration for plant tubulin assembly was decreased exceedingly from 3 mg/mL in the absence of taxol to 0.043 mg/mL in the presence of taxol.     

Polymerization kinetics and stabilization mechanism of the monodisperse PMMA microspheres

The effects of the concentration of monomer, crosslinking agent, initiator, stabilizer, and the polarity of medium on the polymerization kinetics were investigated. The results show that the rate of polymerization (Rp) and conversion increased with the increase of monomer concentration from 8% to 15% (total mass); the water content in dispersion medium and the initiator 2, 2′ -azobis (isobutyronitrile) (AIBN) concentration increased as well. Rp and conversion decreases with the increase of PVP when it is low, while it increases when it is high. Moreover, PVP plays an important role in microsphere stabilization. The stabilization mechanism was investigated primarily, which involves both adsorbing mechanism and graft mechanism. Within a certain range of crosslinking degree, Rp and conversion increased with the increase of the crosslinker concentration. The effect can be ignored when crosslinker concentration is above 0.3 % (total mass), and the reason was that the monomer can hardly be diffused into the microsphere phase with a certain degree of crosslinking.     

Gel time of calcium acrylate grouting material

Calcium acrylate is a polymerized grout, and can polymerize in an aqueous solution. The polymerization reaction utilizes ammonium persulfate as a catalyst and sodium thiosulfate as the activator. Based on the theory of reaction kinetics, this study on the relation between gel time and concentration of activator and catalyst showed that gel time of calcium acrylate is inversely proportional to activator and catalyst concentration. A formula of gel time is proposed, and an example is provided to verify the proposed formula.     

海藻糖研究进展

海藻糖是自然界中广泛分布的一种双糖。它在生物体内既可以作为结构成分,又可以用于提供能量,而且,它是许多生物的抗逆代谢物。研究发现海藻糖对干燥的酶,抗体,生物组织及食物等都有保护作用。本文对海藻糖的性质、分布,生物学功能和应用研究进行综述。     

几种糖对纤维素酶热稳定性影响的研究

研究了几种糖对纤维素酶热稳定性的影响。研究发现，20℃下海藻糖和葡萄糖都能较好地保护酶的活性，蔗糖次之，而葡聚糖则不起作用。高温下葡萄糖和蔗糖不但不能保护酶的活性，反而起到破坏作用，而海藻糖和葡聚糖则对酶有较强的保护作用。初步分析，海藻糖作用机理是羟基能替代水分子同酶结合，并且能在酶分子空隙中和酶分子周围形成玻璃态，将酶分子支撑和包裹起来。因此海藻糖能在较宽的温度范围内阻止酶分子空间结构发生变化，从而提高了酶的热稳定性。     

适冷菌Pseudomonas extremaustralis PF中海藻糖的合成途径及TreS基因的克隆

通过对一株高寒冰缘植物内生适冷假单胞菌Pseudomonas extremaustralis PF的研究,发现该菌中同时存在TPS/TPP,TreY/TreZ和neS三种海藻糖合成途径,其中TreS途径的合成酶活性最高.对该菌的海藻糖合成酶TreS的基因进行克隆,得到一个新的TreS基因PFTreS,该基因与已报道的细菌TreS基因在核酸序列上表现出较高的同源性(最高达80.2%).根据基因序列预测的PFTreS氨基酸序列具有TreS酶的催化功能保守区,与假单胞菌P.fluorescens Pf-5的TreS有很高的同源性.这些结果表明了Pseudomonas extremaustralis中海藻糖的合成特性,为进一步揭示海藻糖的合成与Pseudomonas extremaustralis PF的低温响应机制的关系奠定了基础.     

Nucleotide-dependent bending flexibility of tubulin regulates microtubule assembly

The atomic structure of tubulin in a polymerized, straight protofilament is clearly distinct from that in a curved conformation bound to a cellular depolymerizer. The nucleotide contents are identical, and in both cases the conformation of the GTP-containing, intra-dimer interface is indistinguishable from the GDP-containing, inter-dimer contact. Here we present two structures corresponding to the start and end points in the microtubule polymerization and hydrolysis cycles that illustrate the consequences of nucleotide state on longitudinal and lateral assembly. In the absence of depolymerizers, GDP-bound tubulin shows distinctive intra-dimer and inter-dimer interactions and thus distinguishes the GTP and GDP interfaces. A cold-stable tubulin polymer with the non-hydrolysable GTP analogue GMPCPP, containing semi-conserved lateral interactions, supports a model in which the straightening of longitudinal interfaces happens sequentially, starting with a conformational change after GTP binding that straightens the dimer enough for the formation of lateral contacts into a non-tubular intermediate. Closure into a microtubule does not require GTP hydrolysis.     

通过S-柠檬烯合酶突变体的动力学分析揭示萜烯合酶进化的机制

使用孔雀绿比色法分析了S-柠檬烯合酶(S-limonene synthase,S-LS)野生型和突变体的动力学特性.研究表明,萜烯合酶经过引入少数残基突变合成新型萜烯化合物仍然可以保持酶的催化活性.该特性可以解释植物中是如何进化出新的萜烯合酶,从而解释了自然界中萜烯化合物的多样性.本研究提出了萜烯合酶的进化模型.同时针对生物合成中萜烯化合物产量不高的难题,为定向改造萜烯合酶提供了解决方法.     

聚苯胺掺杂土霉素修饰铂电极的电位响应

通过电化学聚合制备的聚苯胺掺杂土霉素修饰铂电极可以作为一种广谱响应的电位传感器,对近二十种无机及有机阴离子,其电位－浓度对数值呈一定的线性关系。该全固态电极制备方便,响应速度快,稳定性及重现性好,内阻小。结合有关伏安曲线研究,表明掺杂的可能机理是土霉素参与苯胺的电化学聚合成为聚合物膜的一部分,并对电极的响应机理进行了初步探讨。     

Insight into a natural Diels-Alder reaction from the structure of macrophomate synthase

The Diels-Alder reaction, which forms a six-membered ring from an alkene (dienophile) and a 1,3-diene, is synthetically very useful for construction of cyclic products with high regio- and stereoselectivity under mild conditions. It has been applied to the synthesis of complex pharmaceutical and biologically active compounds. Although evidence on natural Diels-Alderases has been accumulated in the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, there has been no report on the structural details of the natural Diels-Alderases. The function and catalytic mechanism of the natural Diels-Alderase are of great interest owing to the diversity of molecular skeletons in natural Diels-Alder adducts. Here we present the 1.70 A resolution crystal structure of the natural Diels-Alderase, fungal macrophomate synthase (MPS), in complex with pyruvate. The active site of the enzyme is large and hydrophobic, contributing amino acid residues that can hydrogen-bond to the substrate 2-pyrone. These data provide information on the catalytic mechanism of MPS, and suggest that the reaction proceeds via a large-scale structural reorganization of the product.     

A transglutaminase homologue as a condensation catalyst in antibiotic assembly lines

The unrelenting emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacterial pathogens demands the investigation of antibiotics with new modes of action. The pseudopeptide antibiotic andrimid is a nanomolar inhibitor of the bacterial acetyl-CoA carboxylase that catalyses the first committed step in prokaryotic fatty acid biosynthesis. Recently, the andrimid (adm) biosynthetic gene cluster was isolated and heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli. This establishes a heterologous biological host in which to rapidly probe features of andrimid formation and to use biosynthetic engineering to make unnatural variants of this important and promising new class of antibiotics. Bioinformatic analysis of the adm cluster revealed a dissociated biosynthetic assembly system lacking canonical amide synthases between the first three carrier protein domains. Here we report that AdmF, a transglutaminase (TGase) homologue, catalyses the formation of the first amide bond, an N-acyl-beta-peptide link, in andrimid biosynthesis. Hence, AdmF is a newly discovered biosynthetic enzyme that acts as a stand-alone amide synthase between protein-bound, thiotemplated substrates in an antibiotic enzymatic assembly line. TGases (enzyme class (EC) 2.3.2.13) normally catalyse the cross-linking of (poly)peptides by creating isopeptidic bonds between the gamma-carboxamide group of a glutamine side chain of one protein and various amine donors, including lysine side chains. To the best of our knowledge, the present study constitutes the first report of a TGase-like enzyme recruited for the assembly of an antibiotic. Moreover, genome mining using the AdmF sequence yielded additional TGases in unassigned natural product biosynthetic pathways. With many more microbial genomes being sequenced, such a strategy could potentially unearth biosynthetic pathways producing new classes of antibiotics.     

An unusually large multifunctional polypeptide in the erythromycin-producing polyketide synthase of Saccharopolyspora erythraea

Erythromycin A, a clinically important polyketide antibiotic, is produced by the Gram-positive bacterium Saccharopolyspora erythraea. In an arrangement that seems to be generally true of antibiotic biosynthetic genes in Streptomyces and related bacteria like S. erythraea, the ery genes encoding the biosynthetic pathway to erythromycin are clustered around the gene (ermE) that confers self-resistance on S. erythraea. The aglycone core of erythromycin A is derived from one propionyl-CoA and six methylmalonyl-CoA units, which are incorporated head-to-tail into the growing polyketide chain, in a process similar to that of fatty-acid biosynthesis, to generate a macrolide intermediate, 6-deoxyerythronolide B. 6-Deoxyerythronolide B is converted into erythromycin A through the action of specific hydroxylases, glycosyltransferases and a methyltransferase. We report here the analysis of about 10 kilobases of DNA from S. erythraea, cloned by chromosome 'walking' outwards from the erythromycin-resistance determinant ermE, and previously shown to be essential for erythromycin biosynthesis. Partial sequencing of this region indicates that it encodes the synthase. Our results confirm this, and reveal a novel organization of the erythromycin-producing polyketide synthase, which provides further insight into the mechanism of chain assembly.     

非水介质中辣根过氧化物酶失活过程

以辣根过氧化物酶催化酚类氧化反应为研究对象,考察了温度,含水量等因素对酶储存稳定性的影响以及反应过程中酶的失活动力学。结果表明,在低水环境的有机相中,酶的热稳定性显著提高;催化酚和过氧化物的氧化反应中,反应物和产物参与酶的失活过程,使失活速率增加;选择合理的反应条件,有助于减少失活,增加酶的使用周期。     

Characterization of Cu(Ⅱ) Ion Adsorption Behavior of the Polyacrylic Acid-Polyvinylidene Fluoride Blended Polymer

A blended polymer adsorbent prepared using acrylic acid and polyvinylidene fluoride was used to remove copper from aqueous solutions. The polymer was prepared using thermally induced polymerization and phase inversion. The blended polymer was characterized by X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), environ- mental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and N2 adsorp- tion/desorption experiments. The sorption data was fit to linearized adsorption isotherms of the Langmuir, Freundlich, and Dubinin-Radushkevich (D-R) isotherms models. The batch sorption kinetics was evaluated using pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order, and intraparticle diffusion kinetic reaction models. △H0 is greater than O, △G0 is lower than O, and △S0 is greater than O, which shows that the adsorption of Cu (Ⅱ) by the blended polymer is a spontaneous, endothermic process. The adsorption isotherm fits better to the Freundlich isotherm model and the pseudo-second-order kinetics model gives a better fit to the batch sorp- tion kinetics. The adsorption mechanism is assumed to be ion exchange between the cupric ion and the cerboxylic acid functional group of the blended polymer.     

植物4CL基因家族结构功能与表达特性研究进展

4-香豆酸：辅酶A连接酶（4CL）是植物苯丙烷衍生物,如类黄酮和木质素等,生物合成途径的一种关键酶,在大多数维管植物中4CL基因以基因家族的形式出现.4CL基因家族成员在植物组织中存在差异表达,并参与不同的苯丙烷类衍生物的生物合成.从4CL酶的基因结构、基因家族组成与表达特性等方面详细论述了当前最新研究进展,这将有助于更好地理解植物4CL基因参与苯丙烷类衍生物途径的合成与代谢机制.