Lactose binding to heat-labile enterotoxin revealed by X-ray crystallography.

Recognition of the oligosaccharide portion of ganglioside GM1 in membranes of target cells by the heat-labile enterotoxin from Escherichia coli is the crucial first step in its pathogenesis, as it is for the closely related cholera toxin. These toxins have five B subunits, which are essential for GM1 binding, and a single A subunit, which needs to be nicked by proteolysis and reduced, yielding an A1-'enzyme' and an A2-'linker' peptide. A1 is translocated across the membrane of intestinal epithelial cells, possibly after endocytosis, upon which it ADP-ribosylates the G protein Gs alpha. The mechanism of binding and translocation of these toxins has been extensively investigated, but how the protein is orientated on binding is still not clear. Knowing the precise arrangement of the ganglioside binding sites of the toxins will be useful for designing drugs against the diarrhoeal diseases caused by organisms secreting these toxins and in the development of oral vaccines against them. We present here the three-dimensional structure of the E. coli heat-labile enterotoxin complexed with lactose. This reveals the location of the binding site of the terminal galactose of GM1, which is consistent with toxin binding to the target cell with its A1 fragment pointing away from the membrane. A small helix is identified at the carboxy terminus of A2 which emerges through the central pore of the B subunits and probably comes into contact with the membrane upon binding, whereas the A1 subunit is flexible with respect to the B pentamer.     

Structure and evolution of ricin B chain

Ricin is a dimeric toxin from the castor bean Ricinus communis, which is composed of a sugar-binding subunit (B) that attaches to receptors on the surfaces of target cells and a subunit (A) with enzymatic activity that attacks and inactivates ribosomes. We report here that comparison of amino-acid sequence data with high-resolution structure analysis of the ricin B subunit shows it to be the product of a series of gene duplications. The modern protein has two sugar-binding domains, each of which is composed of three copies of a more ancient galactose-binding peptide of about 40 residues.     

Shiga-like toxins are neutralized by tailored multivalent carbohydrate ligands

The diseases caused by Shiga and cholera toxins account for the loss of millions of lives each year. Both belong to the clinically significant subset of bacterial AB5 toxins consisting of an enzymatically active A subunit that gains entry to susceptible mammalian cells after oligosaccharide recognition by the B5 homopentamer. Therapies might target the obligatory oligosaccharide-toxin recognition event, but the low intrinsic affinity of carbohydrate-protein interactions hampers the development of low-molecular-weight inhibitors. The toxins circumvent low affinity by binding simultaneously to five or more cell-surface carbohydrates. Here we demonstrate the use of the crystal structure of the B5 subunit of Escherichia coli O157:H7 Shiga-like toxin I (SLT-I) in complex with an analogue of its carbohydrate receptor to design an oligovalent, water-soluble carbohydrate ligand (named STARFISH), with subnanomolar inhibitory activity. The in vitro inhibitory activity is 1-10-million-fold higher than that of univalent ligands and is by far the highest molar activity of any inhibitor yet reported for Shiga-like toxins I and II. Crystallography of the STARFISH/Shiga-like toxin I complex explains this activity. Two trisaccharide receptors at the tips of each of five spacer arms simultaneously engage all five B subunits of two toxin molecules.     

Protection against malaria by immunization with plasmid DNA encoding cholera toxin B subunit andPlasmodium falciparum epitopes

Cholera toxin B subunit is a good carrier protein and an effective adjuvant which can boost both cellular and humoral immunity. DNA fragments encoding B cell, Th cell and CTL epitopes of P. falciparum CS, MSA-1, MSA-2 and RESA antigens were cloned down-stream of cholera toxin B subunit gene in the same reading frame. Another modification using IL2 as adjuvant was also made. High titer of anti-malaria epitopes antibodies and strong cellular immunogenicity were elicited after Balb/c mice were immunized three times with 100 μg recombinant plasmid DNA dissolved in 100 μL PBS. 200 vaccinees were challenged with mouse Plasmodium yoelli to investigate if cross protection existed. The protective efficacy was about 50%. And it is found that the protective efficacy is correlated with CTL activity which was considered to be the primary effects of anti-sporozoite protective immunity. Better results might be expected when the DNA vaccine candidates were applied to primates.     

The crystal structure of diphtheria toxin.

The crystal structure of the diphtheria toxin dimer at 2.5 A resolution reveals a Y-shaped molecule of three domains. The catalytic domain, called fragment A, is of the alpha + beta type. Fragment B actually consists of two domains. The transmembrane domain consists of nine alpha-helices, two pairs of which are unusually apolar and may participate in pH-triggered membrane insertion and translocation. The receptor-binding domain is a flattened beta-barrel with a jelly-roll-like topology. Three distinct functions of the toxin, each carried out by a separate structural domain, can be useful in designing chimaeric proteins, such as immunotoxins, in which the receptor-binding domain is substituted with antibodies to target other cell types.     

拟南芥PP2A B′调节亚基β亚型抗体的制备及鉴定

拟南芥中,蛋白磷酸酶2A(PP2A)B′调节亚基有9个亚型,其中α亚型和β亚型是油菜素内酯(BR)信号通路的正调节子,它们能使转录因子BZR1脱磷酸化.选择β亚型特异的一段多肽P109,利用大肠杆菌表达系统表达并纯化了连有HIS标签和GST标签的融合蛋白HIS-P109和GST-P109.以HIS-P109作为抗原,免疫新西兰兔,获得抗体,然后用GST-P109对抗体进行了亲和纯化.利用此纯化的抗体在不同的拟南芥材料中免疫印迹检测β亚型蛋白的表达,证实制备的抗体能与拟南芥PP2AB′调节亚基β亚型特异性反应,为深入研究PP2A在BR信号转导途径中的功能提供了有力工具.     

褐飞虱NADH泛醌氧化还原酶51kDa亚基cDNA片段的克隆及表达分析

NADH泛醌氧化还原酶是动物体内呼吸链电子传递系统的第一个酶，克隆水稻害虫褐飞虱的NADH泛醌氧化还原酶基因，及研究其在褐飞虱与水稻互作中的表达变化，将为科学防治褐飞虱提供新的线索。利用反转录多聚酶链式反应（RT-PCR）技术克隆了褐飞虱NADH泛醌氧化还原酶51kDa亚基基因的cDNA片段，并进行了序列测定；使用NoRhem杂交技术检测了该基因对两种不同抗性水稻的分子反应。分子杂交结果表明，在取食抗性水稻品种B5后，褐飞虱的NADH泛醌氧化还原酶51kDa亚基基因表达水平明显升高，而取食感虫水稻TN1后，该基因的表达水平没有明显变化。     

AB5 subtilase cytotoxin inactivates the endoplasmic reticulum chaperone BiP

AB5 toxins are produced by pathogenic bacteria and consist of enzymatic A subunits that corrupt essential eukaryotic cell functions, and pentameric B subunits that mediate uptake into the target cell. AB5 toxins include the Shiga, cholera and pertussis toxins and a recently discovered fourth family, subtilase cytotoxin, which is produced by certain Shiga toxigenic strains of Escherichia coli. Here we show that the extreme cytotoxicity of this toxin for eukaryotic cells is due to a specific single-site cleavage of the essential endoplasmic reticulum chaperone BiP/GRP78. The A subunit is a subtilase-like serine protease; structural studies revealed an unusually deep active-site cleft, which accounts for its exquisite substrate specificity. A single amino-acid substitution in the BiP target site prevented cleavage, and co-expression of this resistant protein protected transfected cells against the toxin. BiP is a master regulator of endoplasmic reticulum function, and its cleavage by subtilase cytotoxin represents a previously unknown trigger for cell death.     

Endogenous ADP-ribosylation of Gs subunit and autonomous regulation of adenylate cyclase

Although cholera toxin induces a marked stimulation of adenylate cyclase activity in rat adipocyte plasma membranes, the holotoxin induces only a slight increase of cyclic AMP accumulation in intact cells. A similar apparent anomaly is seen with pertussis toxin, which has been shown to inhibit the Gi subunit of adenylate cyclase, and has a greater effect on cAMP accumulation and lipolysis than the activation by cholera toxin of the Gs subunit. To understand better the way in which these bacterial toxins are modifying the adipocyte cells, we prepared adipocyte plasma membranes and submitted them to ADP-ribosylation by cholera and pertussis toxins. During the incubation of control cells, we found endogenous ADP-ribosylation of Gs as a result of sustained stimulation of Gi by adenosine. Our results point to a possible homoeostatic system in which the autonomous adjustment of the basal activity of Gs as a function of that of Gi, under the control of feedback inhibitory ligands, ensures a steady production of cAMP within the cell.     

禽流感病毒H5N1亚型RNA聚合酶蛋白表达纯化及晶体生长

通过使用原核表达载体大量表达H5N1病毒RNA聚合酶亚基PA-C257,PB1_N25,再经过GST亲和层析和Sephadex G-200层析柱纯化,获得了高纯度的蛋白复合体.采用悬滴气相扩散法筛选蛋白晶体,在1～1.5mol/L乙酸钠和pH7.9条件下获得了理想的晶体,为解析禽流感病毒RNA聚合酶三维结构并进一步认识其生物功能奠定了基础.     

Degradation of a cohesin subunit by the N-end rule pathway is essential for chromosome stability

Cohesion between sister chromatids is established during DNA replication and depends on a protein complex called cohesin. At the metaphase-anaphase transition in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the ESP1-encoded protease separin cleaves SCC1, a subunit of cohesin with a relative molecular mass of 63,000 (Mr 63K). The resulting 33K carboxy-terminal fragment of SCC1 bears an amino-terminal arginine-a destabilizing residue in the N-end rule. Here we show that the SCC1 fragment is short-lived (t1/2 approximately 2 min), being degraded by the ubiquitin/proteasome-dependent N-end rule pathway. Overexpression of a long-lived derivative of the SCC1 fragment is lethal. In ubr1Delta cells, which lack the N-end rule pathway, we found a highly increased frequency of chromosome loss. The bulk of increased chromosome loss in ubr1Delta cells is caused by metabolic stabilization of the ESP1-produced SCC1 fragment. This fragment is the first physiological substrate of the N-end rule pathway that is targeted through its N-terminal residue. A number of yeast proteins bear putative cleavage sites for the ESP1 separin, suggesting other physiological substrates and functions of the N-end rule pathway.     

Autocatalytic cleavage of Clostridium difficile toxin B

Clostridium difficile, the causative agent of nosocomial antibiotic-associated diarrhoea and pseudomembranous colitis, possesses two main virulence factors: the large clostridial cytotoxins A and B. It has been proposed that toxin B is cleaved by a cytosolic factor of the eukaryotic target cell during its cellular uptake. Here we report that cleavage of not only toxin B, but also all other large clostridial cytotoxins, is an autocatalytic process dependent on host cytosolic inositolphosphate cofactors. A covalent inhibitor of aspartate proteases, 1,2-epoxy-3-(p-nitrophenoxy)propane, completely blocked toxin B function on cultured cells and was used to identify its catalytically active protease site. To our knowledge this is the first report on a bacterial toxin that uses eukaryotic signals for induced autoproteolysis to deliver its toxic domain into the cytosol of target cells. On the basis of our data, we present an integrated model for the uptake and inositolphosphate-induced activation of toxin B.     

青岛文昌鱼NADH脱氢酶亚基I基因片段的克隆

NADH脱氢酶亚基I是细胞电子传递链的主要成员之一，采用简并引物PCR方法获得青岛文昌鱼NADH脱氢酶亚基I基因片段，将基氨基酸序列与其他生物如佛罗里达文昌鱼，斑马鱼，爪蟾等无脊椎和脊椎动物NADH脱氢酶亚基I基因相应片段进行了同源性分析，均显示较高的同源性，研究结果证实青岛文昌鱼作为脊索动物的代表之一，与脊椎动物有着较近的亲缘关系，是从无脊椎动物到脊椎动物的过渡类型。     

钙调神经磷酸酶

钙调神经磷酸酶是一种依赖Ca^2 －CaM的磷蛋白磷酸酶。主要存在于脑组织神经元中，由催化亚基A和调节亚基B1：1组成。钙调神经磷酸酶是一个侈底物的磷蛋白磷酸酶。它的活性还受到Ni^2 和Mn^2 等金属离子的调节。     

Intracellularly injected tetanus toxin inhibits exocytosis in bovine adrenal chromaffin cells

The clostridial neurotoxins tetanus and botulinum toxin type A are known to block transmitter release from nerve terminals, probably by interfering with some essential process controlling exocytosis after the entry of Ca2+ ions. Although exocytosis occurs in many secretory cells, these toxins show a high specificity for neurones and the secretory response of cultured bovine adrenal medullary cells is not inhibited by exposure to medium containing tetanus or botulinum toxin type A (although it is by botulinum toxin type D). Here we report that when tetanus toxin and botulinum neurotoxin type A are injected intracellularly into chromaffin cells they strongly inhibit secretion, as revealed by the measurement of cell capacitance. These results indicate that these toxins are normally ineffective in chromaffin cells because they are not bound and internalized, so do not reach their site of action. Furthermore, we have localized the secretion-blocking effects of the toxin to a fragment comprising the light chain covalently linked to part of the heavy chain, suggesting that this part of the molecule contains the active site.     

Fibronectin and VLA-4 in haematopoietic stem cell-microenvironment interactions

The self-renewal and differentiation of haematopoietic stem cells occurs in vivo and in vitro in direct contact with cells making up the haematopoietic microenvironment. In this study we used adhesive ligands and blocking antibodies to identify stromal cell-derived extracellular matrix proteins involved in promoting attachment of murine haematopoietic stem cells. Here we report that day-12 colony-forming-unit spleen (CFU-S12)5 cells and reconstituting haematopoietic stem cells attach to the C-terminal, heparin-binding fragment of fibronectin by recognizing the CS-1 peptide of the alternatively spliced non-type III connecting segment (IIICS) of human plasma fibronectin. Furthermore, CFU-S12 stem cells express the alpha 4 subunit of the VLA-4 integrin receptor, which is known to be a receptor for the CS-1 sequence, and monoclonal antibodies against the integrin alpha 4 subunit of VLA-4 block adhesion of CFU-S12 stem cells to plates coated with the C-terminal fibronectin fragment. Finally, polyclonal antibodies against the integrin beta 1 subunit of VLA-4 inhibit the formation of CFU-S12-derived spleen colonies and medullary haematopoiesis in vivo following intravenous infusion of antibody-treated bone marrow cells.     

Purification and Partial Characterization of a Collagenolytic Enzyme Produced by Pseudomonas aeraginosa SCU Screened from Rotten Hides

Strain Pseudomonas Aeraginosa SCU isolated from rotten hides is shown to produce various gelatinolytic enzymes with molecular masses ranging from - 50 to - 200 kD. A gelatinolytic enzyme called PAC exhibiting collagenolytic activity is purified by SP sepharose fast flow, Sephadex G-200 gel filtration and native PAGE cutting method. The purified enzyme has an apparent molecular weight of about 110 kD by SDS PAGE without β-mercaptoethanol. Treatment withtβ-Me suggests that PAC is dissociated into three subunits approximately 33 kD, 25 kD and 20 kD with a ratio of 2:1:1, named sub A, sub B and sub C repectively. EDFA and EGTA display a significant inhibitory effect on the enzyme activity while PMSF, leupeptin and pepstain do not appreciably inhibit it. The first 15 amino acid residues of the major subunit (subA) are determined and the sequence is Ala-Glu-Ala-Gly-Gly-Pro-Gly-Gly-Asn-Gln-Lys-Ile-Gly -Lys-Tyr. This sequence is identical to that of elastase of P. aeruginosa. The fragment of encoding mature sub A is cloned and its sequence is determined, which has a high homology with the gene of elastase. These results indicate that PAC is a novel collagenolytic metalloprotease composed of three kinds of subunits, of which elastase is the major one.     

Xenorhabdus nematophila BP品系xptB1基因的克隆和序列分析

采用PCR方法,从该室构建的Xenorhabdus nematophila BP品系粘粒文库的一个对棉铃虫有强口服杀虫活性的粘粒cos83中扩增出全长的xptB1基因,将扩增片段回收纯化后,连接到pMD-18T载体,转化大肠杆菌TG1后进行序列测定和分析。结果显示,该基因全长为3051bp,编码1016个氨基酸,其编码的毒素BP XptB1与X.nematophila PMF1296品系的XptB1的氨基酸序列同源性平均为95.8%,两侧高度一致,中间第607—738位差异明显。结构分析显示,两者在跨膜区,α螺旋等方面也有差异。BP XptB1与Photorhabdus luminescens的TccC毒素,Serratia entomophila的SepC,以及Yersinia pseudotubercusis和Y.pestis等的杀虫毒素均有58%以上的同源性。分析结果预示了XptB1可能是一个杀虫毒素。