Neuroreplacement therapy and stem cell biology under disease conditions

Recent advances in stem cell technology are expanding our ability to replace a variety of cells throughout the body. In the past, neurological diseases caused by the degeneration of neuronal cells were considered incurable because of a long-held 'truism'; neurons do not regenerate during adulthood. However, this statement has been challenged, and we have now found much evidence that the brain is indeed capable of regenerating neurons after maturing. Based on this new concept, researchers have shown neural differentiation of stem cells and recovery of function following transplantation of these cells into the brain. These results may promise a bright future for clinical applications of stem cell strategies in neurological diseases; however, we must consider the pathophysiological environments of individual diseases that may affect stem cell biology. Before we begin to develop clinical applications, we must consider environmental factors that have not been discussed in the current preclinical studies. Here, we study cases of Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia and discuss the effects of environmental factors under disease conditions.Received 15 January 2003; received after revision 7 April 2003; accepted 8 April 2003     

蓝藻真核型蛋白质激酶与信号传导

对最近10年在蓝藻中找到大量编码Ser／Thr基因的研究结果进行了综述,并对这些蛋白质激酶在信号传导中的作用模式做了讨论．     

Characterization of a calmodulin binding protein kinase from<Emphasis Type="Italic">Arabidopsis thalian</Emphasis>

A full-length calmodulin binding protein kinase cDNA ,AtCBK1 ,from Arabidopsis has been isolated by screening of an Arabidopsis cDNA library and by 5′-RACE-Northern blot and in situ hybridization indicated that the expression of AtCBK1 was more abundant in the vascular bundles and the meristems than in other tissues,The phylogenetic analyses revenl that AtCBK1 is different from animal CaMKs and it falls into CRK subgroup,indicating that they may come from different ancestors,The result suggests that AtCBK1 encoldes a CaM-binding serine/threonine protein kinase.     

Modulating multidrug resistance through inhibiting of protein kinase C activity by phenothiazines

In the present study, actions of phenothiazines(PTZ) in reversing multidrug resistance(MDR) and inhibiting PKC activity were investigated. It was found that the three PTZs caused 2.49, 36.58 and 75.78 fold reversal of K562/AO2 MDR cells resistant to adriamycin, respectively, while the chemosensitizer verapamil caused 40 fold reversal in the same condition, indicating that PTZ11 is a novel reversal agent of MDR and a potential chemotherapeutic reagent for tumor therapy. PKC activity analysis in the presence of PTZs showd that PTZ6 and PTZ11 inhibited rat brain protein kinase C activity in a manner of dose_dependent. The IC 50 values were (489.77±31.4) and (113±9.64) μmol/L, respectively. PTZ7 had no inhibition on PKC activity. Further study showed that PTZ11 could reduce PMA_mediated activation of PKC in a manner of dose_dependent, suggesting that PTZ11 might compete for the high_affinity phorbol ester binding site within PKC molecule. Recently, an X_ray structure of PMA in complex with PKC Cys2 activator_binding domain was solved. We therefore decided to explore the possible binding model of PTZ11 with PKC molecule using SYBYL 6.02 program. It was shown that the binding site of PTZ11 with PKC molecule partially overlapped with that of PMA, providing for the first time new data for designing PKC inhibitors and MDR reversal drugs.     

Subunit Structure and Conformation of Bombyx Mori Silk Proteins

Molecular weights of the silk fibroin were determined by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the presence of so-didium dodecyl sulfate (SDS - PAGE): The silk fibroin molecule consisted of subunits a, b and c with molecular weights of 280 kD, 230 kD and 25 kD respectively, of which the b subunit was composed of two subunits e and f with molecular weights of 130 kD and 125 kD, respec-tively, connected by disulfide bonds. The conformation of silk fibroin and subunits was determinated by Raman spectroscopy and Large angle X - ray diffraction) LAXS. The native silk fibroin only contained a - helix and random coil, but there were three conformation such as random - coil.a - helix and β - sheet in the silk fibroin dissolved in KSCN solution and frozen at - 20 °C. This suggested that KSCN solution and - 20°C freezing action could lead to the conformational transi-tion from random - coil and a - helix to P - sheet. The a subunit mainly existed in β - sheet conformation, in con-trast, the c subunit was chie     

盐源山蛭抗凝血蛋白的分离及抗凝血特性分析

以肝素琼脂糖亲和层析和超速离心分离了盐源山蛭的抗凝血蛋白,抗凝血活性试验证明,该蛋白不抑制凝血因子Ｘａ的活性,而显著抑制凝血酶的活性,亲和层析的蛋白洗脱峰与抗凝血酶的活力峰相吻合,因此,盐源山蛭抗凝血蛋白属于凝血酶特异性的抗凝血蛋白。     

黄皮种子发育,萌动和脱水胁迫时蛋白的合成

以典型的顽拗性种子黄皮（Ｃｌａｕｓｅｎａｌａｎｓｉｕｍ）为实验材料,运用３５Ｓ－Ｍｅｔ标记黄皮种子发育期间和脱水胁迫时合成的蛋白质．比较合成蛋白的二维电泳图谱,发现顽拗性种子黄皮胚轴在整个发育期间保持基本一致的蛋白质合成模式,只有在花后６３ｄ发育后期胚轴中能产生一种相对分子质量为２．６×１０４的新蛋白．根据实验结果,解释了顽拗性种子的一些生理特性,提出了顽拗性种子不耐脱水的另一种成因．     

In pre-sterol carrier protein 2 (SCP2) in solution the leader peptide 1 – 20 is flexibly disordered, and residues 21 – 143 adopt the same globular fold as in mature SCP2

The preform of the rabbit sterol carrier protein 2 (pre-rSCP2) was cloned, the uniformly ¹⁵N-labelled protein expressed in Escherichia coli and studied by three-dimensional ¹⁵N-resolved nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. In spite of its low solubility in aqueous solution of only ∼0.3 mM, sequential ¹⁵N and ¹H backbone resonance assignments were obtained for 105 out of the 143 residues. From comparison of the sequential and medium-range nuclear Overhauser effects (NOEs) in the two proteins, all regular secondary structures previously determined in mature human SCP2 (hSCP2) [Szyperski et al. (1993) FEBS Lett. 335: 18–26] were also identified in pre-rSCP2. Near-identity of the backbone ¹⁵N and ¹H chemical shifts and 1 : 1 correspondence of 24 long-range NOEs to backbone amide groups in the two proteins show that the residues 21 – 143 adopt the same globular fold in pre-rSCP2 and mature hSCP2. The N-terminal 20-residue leader peptide of pre-rSCP2 is flexibly disordered in solution and does not observably affect the conformation of the polypeptide segment 21 – 143. Received 11 May 1998; accepted 15 May 1998     

T-cell signal transduction and the role of protein kinase C

The T lymphocyte has a vital part to play in maintaining the host response to bacterial and viral infection and also appears to play a key pathological role in autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. In this review, we summarize the signalling pathways which trigger antigen-driven T-cell proliferation and examine the evidence which suggests that protein kinase C (PKC) is fundamental to this process. Finally, we discuss the therapeutic potential that PKC inhibitors may have in the treatment of autoimmune disease. Received 31 March 1998; received after revision 19 May 1998; accepted 19 May 1998     

CaMBP—10调节生长素应答反应机理初探

前期研究发现ＣａＭＢＰ－１０参与植物细胞对生长素应答反应的调节，但调节机理有待阐明，本文表明ＣａＭＢＰ－１０是由于影响质膜Ｈ－ＡＴＰａｓｅ活性，进而影响了质子外泌和细胞伸长，并进一步证明，它对质膜Ｈ－ＡＴＰａｓｅ活性的调节是通过介导该酶磷酸化而实现的最终调节了细胞对激素的应答。