Lipid transport in microorganisms

Summary Microorganisms are useful model systems for the study of intracellular transport of lipids. Eukaryotic microorganisms, such as the yeastSaccharomyces cerevisiae, are similar to higher eukaryotes with respect to organelle structure and membrane assembly. Experiments in vivo showed that transport of phosphatidylcholine between yeast microsomes and mitochondria is energy independent; transfer of phosphatidylinositol to the plasma membrane and the flux of secretory vesicles take place by different mechanisms. Linkage of transfer and biosynthesis of phospholipids was demonstrated in the case of intramitochondrial phospholipid transfer. A yeast phosphatidylinositol/phosphatidylcholine transfer protein, which is essential for cell viability, was isolated and characterized. Another phospholipid transfer protein present in yeast cytosol, which has a different specificity, is currently under investigation. Transfer of phospholipids between cellular membranes was also demonstrated with prokaryotes. The cytoplasm and the periplasma of the gram-negative facultative photosynthetic bacteriumRhodopseudomonas sphaeroides contain phospholipid transfer proteins; these seem to be involved in the biosynthesis of prokaryotic membranes.     

Antimicrobial skin peptides and proteins

Human skin is permanently exposed to microorganisms, but rarely infected. One reason for this natural resistance might be the existence of a ‘chemical barrier’ consisting in constitutively and inducibly produced antimicrobial peptides and proteins (AMPs). Many of these AMPs can be induced in vitro by proinflammatory cytokines or bacteria. Apart from being expressed in vivo in inflammatory lesions, some AMPs are also focally expressed in skin in the absence of inflammation. This suggests that non-inflammatory stimuli of endogenous and/or exogenous origin can also stimulate AMP synthesis without inflammation. Such mediators might be ideal ‘immune stimulants’ to induce only the innate antimicrobial skin effector molecules without causing inflammation. Received 9 August 2005; received after revision 21 October 2005; accepted 16 November 2005     

极端嗜热微生物分子伴侣蛋白研究与嗜热功能蛋白质的规模化制备技术研究

极端微生物是丰富的资源宝库,有着巨大的生物技术开发前景。本文从特殊功能蛋白质的发现与表征、结构与功能及潜在性应用．以及特殊功能蛋白质的规模化制备技术两个方面,对极端微生物的资源开发与利用进行了探讨。重点介绍了极端嗜热古菌Pyrococcus furiosus分子伴侣蛋白系统的一些研究,并以P．furiosus胞外α-淀粉酶PFA为例,对工业生物技术领域重组蛋白质的规模化制备技术进行了讨论。     

兰州市健康人血清蛋白电泳参考值及2种电泳介质的结果评价

采用琼脂糖凝胶法和醋纤膜法分别对216例健康成人血清进行蛋白电泳,其中琼脂糖凝胶法兰州市正常成人血清蛋白电泳参考值为ALB(62.9±5.3)%、α1(2.5±1.0)%、α2(8.4±2.8)%、β(10.3±3.3)%、γ(15.9±5.1)%,与醋纤膜法电泳结果比较,各组分均相差显著(P<0.01).其结果老年组与中青年组相比较,各蛋白组分值均相差显著(P<0.05).成年男女ALB、γ带相差显著(P<0.05),α1、α2、β带相差均不显著;电泳介质性质的不同使得2种电泳结果各组分差异显著.     

甘蓝型油菜G蛋白β亚基基因的克隆和表达分析

根据拟南芥等G蛋白β亚基基因的DNA序列,采用RT-PCR技术从甘蓝型油菜中克隆了一个编码G蛋白β亚基基因的全长cDNA,命名为BnAGB1.BnAGB1含有1134 bp的完整开放阅读框,编码378个氨基酸,与其它植物的Gβ亚基氨基酸序列有很高的同源性,且具有保守的Gα、Gγ结合区域及WD-40结构域.对甘蓝型油菜矮化突变体及其野生型中不同组织和不同发育时期的BnAGB1表达进行实时定量PCR分析表明:BnAGB1在矮化突变体和野生型的各个组织中均有表达;在生长旺盛期的子叶期、抽薹期和荚果期有较高的表达,而在两片真叶期、四片真叶期和花期表达较低;而且,在所有分析的不同时期和组织中,矮化突变体中的表达均显著或极显著高于野生型.以上结果表明,BnAGB1参与了甘蓝型油菜的生长发育进程的调控,与油菜矮化突变性状表现可能相关.     

Targeted inhibition of Livin resensitizes renal cancer cells towards apoptosis

Cancer cells are typically characterized by apoptosis deficiency. In order to investigate a possible role for the anti-apoptotic livin gene in renal cell cancer (RCC), we analyzed its expression in tumor tissue samples and in RCC-derived cell lines. In addition, we studied the contribution of livin to the apoptotic resistance of RCC cells by RNA interference (RNAi). Livin gene expression was detected in a significant portion of RCC tumor tissue specimens (13/14, 92.9%) and tumor-derived cell lines (12/15, 80.0%). Moreover, targeted inhibition of livin by RNAi markedly sensitized RCC cells towards proapoptotic stimuli, such as UV irradiation or the chemotherapeutic drugs etoposide, 5-fluorouracil, and vinblastine. These effects were specific for livin expressing tumor cells. We conclude that livin can contribute significantly to the apoptosis resistance of RCC cells. Targeted inhibition of livin could represent a novel therapeutic strategy to increase the sensitivity of renal cancers towards pro-apoptotic agents. Received 30 November 2006; received after revision 22 February 2007; accepted 20 March 2007     

Age-related changes of the pattern of non-histone proteins in active and condensed fractions of mouse liver chromatin and hepatocarcinoma

Summary Electrophoretic analysis of histones and non-histone acid-soluble proteins in active (nuclease sensitive) and inactive chromatin from liver of young and old CBA mice and in age-related hepatocarcinomas showed a higher ratio of NHP: histones in active chromatin in old cells. Some liver- and hepatoma-specific fractions of non-histone proteins have been identified as chromatin matrix proteins.     

Biogenesis of β-barrel membrane proteins in bacteria and eukaryotes: evolutionary conservation and divergence

Membrane-embedded β-barrel proteins span the membrane via multiple amphipathic β-strands arranged in a cylindrical shape. These proteins are found in the outer membranes of Gram-negative bacteria, mitochondria and chloroplasts. This situation is thought to reflect the evolutionary origin of mitochondria and chloroplasts from Gram-negative bacterial endosymbionts. β-barrel proteins fulfil a variety of functions; among them are pore-forming proteins that allow the flux of metabolites across the membrane by passive diffusion, active transporters of siderophores, enzymes, structural proteins, and proteins that mediate protein translocation across or insertion into membranes. The biogenesis process of these proteins combines evolutionary conservation of the central elements with some noticeable differences in signals and machineries. This review summarizes our current knowledge of the functions and biogenesis of this special family of proteins.     

Polypeptide translocation machinery of the yeast endoplasmic reticulum

Proteins enter the secretory pathway by two general routes. In one, the complete polypeptide is made in the cytoplasm and held in an incompletely folded state by chaperoning adenosine triphosphatases (ATPases) such as hsp70. InSaccharomyces cerevisiae, fully synthesized secretory precursors engage the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane by interaction with a set of Sec proteins comprising the polypeptide translocation apparatus (Sec61p, Sec62p, Sec63p, Sec71p, Sec72p). Productive interaction requires displacement of hsp70 from the precursor, a reaction that is facilitated by Ydj1p, a homologue of theEscherichia coli DnaJ protein. Both DnaJ and Ydj1p regulate chaperone activity by stimulating the ATPase activity of their respective hsp70 partners (E. coli DnaK andS. cerevisiae Ssa1p, resepectively). In the ER lumen, another hsp70 chaperone, BiP, binds ATP and interacts with the ER membrane via its contact with a peptide loop of Sec63p. This loop represents yet another DnaJ homologue in that it contains a region of 70 residue similarity to the J box, the most conserved region of the DnaJ family of proteins. In the presence of ATP, under conditions in which BiP can bind to Sec63p, the secretory precursor passes from the cytosol into the lumen through a membrane channel formed by Sec61 p. A second route to the membrane pore that is used by many other secretory precursors, particularly in mammalian cells, requires that the polypeptide engage the ER membrane as the nascent chain emerges from the ribosome. Such cotranslational translocation bypasses the need for certain Sec proteins, instead utilizing an alternate set of cytosolic and membrane factors that allows the nascent chain to be inserted directly into the Sec61p channel.