Peptide aptamers: exchange of the thioredoxin-A scaffold by alternative platform proteins and its influence on target protein binding

Peptide aptamers have emerged as powerful new tools for molecular medicine. They can specifically bind to and functionally inactivate a given target molecule under intracellular conditions. Typically, peptide aptamers are generated by screening a randomized peptide expression library, displayed from the Escherichia coli thioredoxin A (TrxA) protein. Here, we transferred peptide moieties from defined TrxA-based peptide aptamers to alternative scaffold proteins, such as the green fluorescent protein and staphylococcal nuclease. Yeast and mammalian two-hybrid assays as well as in vitro binding analyses show that the TrxA scaffold can be a major determinant for the binding of peptide aptamers. In addition, we demonstrate that TrxA can correctly display peptide sequences that correspond to the binding domains of natural interaction partners. Therefore, sequence analyses of TrxA-based peptide aptamers, isolated by two-hybrid screening from randomized expression libraries, should also be useful to find cellular binding partners for a given target protein, by homology. Received 1 August 2002; received after revision 17 September 2002; accepted 19 September 2002 RID="*" ID="*"Corresponding author.     

Protein kinases mediate nitric oxide-induced apoptosis in the insect cell line IPLB-LdFB

The involvement of protein kinases (PKA, PKC and PKB) in nitric oxide (NO)-induced apoptosis with sodium nitroprusside plus N-acetyl-L-cysteine in the IPLB-LdFB cell line from the insect Lymantria dispar was investigated. The presence of protein kinase-like molecules was demonstrated by western blot analysis. The role of the kinases in programmed cell death was analysed in cytofluorimetric experiments by incubating the insect cells with H-89 (a specific inhibitor of PKA), calphostin C (an inhibitor of PKC) or wortmannin (an inhibitor of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase). The results show that PKA is correlated with the induction and PKC and PKB with the prevention of NO-induced insect cell death. Moreover, NO-induced apoptosis involves the release of cytochrome c. Received 15 March 2002; accepted 25 March 2002     

Myelin sheaths: glycoproteins involved in their formation,maintenance and degeneration

Myelin sheaths are formed around axons by extending, biochemically modifying and spiraling plasma membranes of Schwann cells in the peripheral nervous system (PNS) and oligodendrocytes in the central nervous system (CNS). Because glycoproteins are prominent components of plasma membranes, it is not surprising that they have important roles in the formation, maintenance and degeneration of myelin sheaths. The emphasis in this review is on four integral membrane glycoproteins. Two of them, protein zero (P0) and peripheral myelin protein-22 (PMP-22), are components of compact PNS myelin. The other two are preferentially localized in membranes of sheaths that are distinct from compact myelin. One is the myelin-associated glycoprotein, which is localized at the inside of sheaths where it functions in glia-axon interactions in both the PNS and CNS. The other is the myelin-oligodendrocyte glycoprotein, which is preferentially localized on the outside of CNS myelin sheaths and appears to be an important target antigen in autoimmune demyelinating diseases such as multiple sclerosis. Received 8 April 2002; received after revision 13 May 2002; accepted 22 May 2002     

sHsps and their role in the chaperone network

Small Hsps (sHsps) encompass a widespread but diverse class of proteins. These low molecular mass proteins (15—42 kDa) form dynamic oligomeric structures ranging from 9 to 50 subunits. sHsps display chaperone function in vitro, and in addition they have been suggested to be involved in the inhibition of apoptosis, organisation of the cytoskeleton and establishing the refractive properties of the eye lens in the case of α-crystallin. How these different functions can be explained by a common mechanism is unclear at present. However, as most of the observed phenomena involve nonnative protein, the repeatedly reported chaperone properties of sHsps seem to be of key importance for understanding their function. In contrast to other chaperone families, sHsps bind several nonnative proteins per oligomeric complex, thus representing the most efficient chaperone family in terms of the quantity of substrate binding. In some cases, the release of substrate proteins from the sHsp complex is achieved in cooperation with Hsp70 in an ATP-dependent reaction, suggesting that the role of sHsps in the network of chaperones is to create a reservoir of nonnative refoldable protein.     

微流控芯片在生物化学分析中的应用

在介绍微流控芯片基本特征的基础上，阐述了微流控芯片的独特优势，并从5个方面探讨了微流控芯片在生物化学分析中的应用。     

Overinhibition of Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Inducing Tau Hyperphosphorylation

To reveal the relationship between mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and tau phosphorylation, we used different concentration of PD98059, an inhibitor of MEK (MAPK kinase), to treat mice neuroblastma (N2a) cell line for 6 h. It showed that the activity of MAPK decreased in a dose-dependent manner. But Western blot and immunofluorescence revealed that just when the cells were treated with 16μmol/L PD98059, tau was hyperphosphorylated at Ser396/404 and Ser199/202 sites. We obtained the conclusion that overinhibited MAPK induced tau hyperphosphorylation at Ser396/404 and Ser199/202 sites.     

Inhibition of Alkaline Phosphatase from Pearl Oyster Pinctada fucata by o-Phthalaldehyde： Involvement of Lysine and Histidine Residues at the Active Site

Alkaline phosphatase from Pinctada fucata was inactivated by o-phthalaldehyde （OPA）. The inactivation followed pseudo first-order kinetics with a second rate constant of 0.167 （mmol/L）^-1·min^-1 at pH 7.5 and 25℃. A Tsou＇s plot analysis showed that inactivation occurred upon formation of one isoindole group. The OPA-modified enzyme lost the ability to bind with the specific affinity column and the presence of substrates or competitive inhibitors protected the enzyme from inactivation. The results revealed that the OPA-reaction site was at the enzyme substrate binding site. Prior modification of the enzyme by lysine or histidine specific reagent abolished formation of the isoindole derivatives, suggesting that lysine and histidine residues were involved in the OPA-induced inactivation. Taken together, OPA inactivated the alkaline phosphatase from Pinctada fucata by cross-linking lysine and histidine residues at the active site and formed an isoindole group at the substrate binding site of the enzyme.     

重组SARS冠状病毒S蛋白的原核表达研究

目的克隆表达SARS冠状病毒的主要结构蛋白(S蛋白)。方法合成SARS冠状病毒S蛋白特异性基因片断并克隆入pET32a原核表达载体,转化BL21菌,经IPTG诱导高效表达得到重组S蛋白,并通过W estern印迹对重组蛋白质进行鉴定。结果重组蛋白质经镍柱亲和层析得到了部分纯化,免疫动物后得到SARS病毒的多克隆抗体。结论经E lisa检测,表达的重组S蛋白基本具备检测病人血清中抗SARS病毒IgG和IgM的能力,可进一步用于S蛋白功能研究与SARS诊断试剂盒的研制。     

富铬酵母蛋白质的制备及红外光谱特征

目的研究金属铬与酵母细胞的结合方式。方法利用红外光谱法对啤酒酵母生物富集金属铬前、后蛋白质的变化进行分析。结果得到生物富集金属铬前、后的IR谱图。发现酰胺Ⅰ带的吸收峰发生位移,从1 657.78 cm移动至1 646.02 cm,且峰形发生变化。结论蛋白质肽链上的羰基氧与铬形成配位键。