重组人血管内皮细胞生长因子的表达及活性研究

目的 :用基因工程的方法在大肠杆菌中诱导表达人血管内皮生长因子 (VEGF) ,分离纯化并检测其生物学活性 ,以研究其在药学领域潜在的药用价值。方法 :利用PCR技术扩增VEGF基因片段 ,克隆到pQE30表达载体中 ,转化E .coliM15菌株后用IPTG进行诱导表达。经裂解细胞、变性、复性和Ni-NTAagarose金属螯合柱层析等方法纯化得到VEGF。用鸡胚绒毛尿囊膜 (CAM)血管生成实验检测VEGF的生物活性。结果 :重组表达质粒在大肠杆菌中成功地表达了相对分子质量为 2 0 6 0 0的融合蛋白 ,它以不溶性的包涵体形式存在 ,占菌体总蛋白的 30 %左右。经分离纯化融合蛋白SDS -PAGE显示为单一区带。CAM结果表明给药组血管生成数 (2 1 7± 3 1、39 3± 2 8)与对照组 (15 4± 1 9、2 9 2± 4 2 )相比有明显增加 (P <0 0 5 )。结论 :利用原核表达系统得到血管内皮生长因子具有天然VEGF生物学活性 ,为进一步的应用研究奠定了基础。     

乙醇对小鼠全脑GABA及其受体的影响

本实验通过测定腹腔注射乙醇的 C-57小鼠全脑游离 GABA 浓度和~3HGABA 与脑膜受体的结合,来研究乙醇对小鼠全脑 GABA 递质系统的作用。乙醇腹腔注射30分钟后小鼠脑内游离 GABA 浓度没有显著变化,而~3H-GABA 和小鼠脑膜 GABA_A 受体的高亲和性结合位点的增加,低亲和性位点结合降低。     

Hypoxia and estrogen receptor profile influence the responsiveness of human breast cancer cells to estradiol and antiestrogens

Angiogenesis activation mediated by vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is one of the factors that can cause antiestrogen treatment failure in estrogen receptor (ER)?positive breast cancer patients. Since VEGF synthesis is modulated not only by hypoxia but also by steroid hormones, we investigated the relationship between hypoxic and estrogenic/antiestrogenic stimuli in two human breast cancer cell lines expressing both ER6α and ERβ (MCF7) or only ERβ (MDA-MB231). In both cell lines, the VEGF level was significantly influenced by hypoxic conditions and in antiestrogen-responsive MCF7 cells, this effect was not counteracted by tamoxifen or ICI 182,780, thus providing an experimental explanation for the resistance to endocrine treatment observed in patients with ER-positive tumors. In MDA-MB231 cells, estradiol significantly reduced the VEGF level, suggesting that through the ERβ isoform it may function as a negative modulator of VEGF synthesis under hypoxia, and providing evidence for a complex interplay of the estrogen-dependent and hypoxia-dependent pathways.     

血管内皮生长因子(VEGF)与肝再生

血管内皮生长因子(vascularendothelialgrowthfactor,VEGF)能特异地直接作用于血管内皮细胞,刺激血管内皮细胞的分裂、增殖并诱导血管的形成.它通过与血管内皮细胞的受体结合发挥作用.肝受到各种损伤包括部分肝切除后,肝再生就得以启动.在肝再生过程中,VEGF对内皮细胞的生长增殖起有效促进作用,并且能诱导组织胶原酶、血纤维蛋白酶原的激活,增加血管的通透性,这对血管再生起着极其重要的作用.而血管再生是肝再生的一个重要组成部分,它不仅能给肝细胞提供血液支持,而且能促进肝脏结构的重构.因此VEGF在肝再生过程中具有重要的作用.     

A VEGF-A splice variant defective for heparan sulfate and neuropilin-1 binding shows attenuated signaling through VEGFR-2

The development of functional blood and lymphatic vessels requires spatio-temporal coordination of the production and release of growth factors such as vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGFs). VEGF family proteins are produced in multiple isoforms with distinct biological properties and bind to three types of VEGF receptors. A VEGF-A splice variant, VEGF-A₁₆₅b, has recently been isolated from kidney epithelial cells. This variant is identical to VEGF-A₁₆₅ except for the last six amino acids encoded by an alternative exon. VEGF-A₁₆₅b and VEGF-A₁₆₅ bind VEGF receptors 1 and 2 with similar affinity. VEGF-A₁₆₅b elicits drastically reduced activity in angiogenesis assays and even counteracts signaling by VEGF-A₁₆₅. VEGF-A₁₆₅b weakly binds to heparan sulfate and does not interact with neuropilin-1, a coreceptor for VEGF receptor 2. To determine the molecular basis for altered signaling by VEGF-A₁₆₅b we measured VEGF receptor 2 and ERK kinase activity in endothelial cells in culture. VEGF-A₁₆₅ induced strong and sustained activation of VEGF receptor 2 and ERK-1 and −2, while activation by VEGF-A₁₆₅b was only weak and transient. Taken together these data show that VEGF-A₁₆₅b has attenuated signaling potential through VEGF receptor 2 defining this new member of the VEGF family as a partial receptor agonist. Received 31 May 2006; received after revision 26 June 2006; accepted 14 July 2006     

β-Adrenergic receptors and nitric oxide generation in the cardiovascular system

Nitric oxide plays a crucial role in cardiovascular homeostasis, with important vasodilatory, anti-thrombotic and anti-atherogenic properties. β-Adrenergic receptors (βARs), present on a wide variety of cardiovascular cells, including vascular endothelial cells, platelets, cardiac myocytes and leukocytes, have long been established as key players in maintaining cardiovascular homeostatic control. During the last few years a wealth of evidence has emerged which directly links stimulation of these cardiovascular βARs to nitric oxide (NO) generation, suggesting a new and important mechanism of adrenergic control of cardiovascular function. This review explores the cardiovascular cell systems in which this coupling of βARs and NO occurs, the intracellular signalling and regulatory mechanisms involved and the abnormalities in βAR-NO oxide coupling found in cardiovascular disease states. Received 30 September 2005; received after revision 24 November 2005; accepted 24 January 2006     

The role of VEGF receptors in angiogenesis; complex partnerships

Vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGFs) regulate blood and lymphatic vessel development and homeostasis but also have profound effects on neural cells. VEGFs are predominantly produced by endothelial, hematopoietic and stromal cells in response to hypoxia and upon stimulation with growth factors such as transforming growth factors, interleukins or platelet-derived growth factor. VEGFs bind to three variants of type III receptor tyrosine kinases, VEGF receptor 1, 2 and 3. Each VEGF isoform binds to a particular subset of these receptors giving rise to the formation of receptor homo- and heterodimers that activate discrete signaling pathways. Signal specificity of VEGF receptors is further modulated upon recruitment of coreceptors, such as neuropilins, heparan sulfate, integrins or cadherins. Here we summarize the knowledge accumulated since the discovery of these proteins more than 20 years ago with the emphasis on the signaling pathways activated by VEGF receptors in endothelial cells during cell migration, growth and differentiation. Received 15 September 2005; received after revision 11 November; accepted 24 November 2005     

Purinergic regulation of neutrophil chemotaxis

Chemotaxis allows polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) to rapidly reach infected and inflamed sites. However, excessive influx of PMN damages host tissues. Better knowledge of the mechanisms that control PMN chemotaxis may lead to improved treatments of inflammatory diseases. Recent findings suggest that ATP and adenosine are involved in PMN chemotaxis. Therefore, these purinergic signaling processes may be suitable targets for novel therapeutic approaches to ameliorate host tissue damage.