SV2 is the protein receptor for botulinum neurotoxin A

How the widely used botulinum neurotoxin A (BoNT/A) recognizes and enters neurons is poorly understood. We found that BoNT/A enters neurons by binding to the synaptic vesicle protein SV2 (isoforms A, B, and C). Fragments of SV2 that harbor the toxin interaction domain inhibited BoNT/A from binding to neurons. BoNT/A binding to SV2A and SV2B knockout hippocampal neurons was abolished and was restored by expressing SV2A, SV2B, or SV2C. Reduction of SV2 expression in PC12 and Neuro-2a cells also inhibited entry of BoNT/A, which could be restored by expressing SV2 isoforms. Finally, mice that lacked an SV2 isoform (SV2B) displayed reduced sensitivity to BoNT/A. Thus, SV2 acts as the protein receptor for BoNT/A.     

Distinct kinetic changes in neurotransmitter release after SNARE protein cleavage

Neurotransmitter release is triggered by calcium ions and depends critically on the correct function of three types of SNARE [soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein (SNAP) receptor] proteins. With use of the large calyx of Held presynaptic terminal from rats, we found that cleavage of different SNARE proteins by clostridial neurotoxins caused distinct kinetic changes in neurotransmitter release. When elevating calcium ion concentration directly at the presynaptic terminal with the use of caged calcium, cleavage of SNAP-25 by botulinum toxin A (BoNT/A) produced a strong reduction in the calcium sensitivity for release, whereas cleavage of syntaxin using BoNT/C1 and synaptobrevin using tetanus toxin (TeNT) produced an all-or-nothing block without changing the kinetics of remaining vesicles. When stimulating release by calcium influx through channels, a difference between BoNT/C1 and TeNT emerged, which suggests that cleavage of synaptobrevin modifies the coupling between channels and release-competent vesicles.     

干酪乳杆菌作为口服疫苗递呈抗原载体的可行性

通过口服干酪乳杆菌安全性、胃液及胆汁酸耐受能力、肠道定植能力及外源基因在干酪乳杆菌中的遗传稳定性等实验,对干酪乳杆菌作为递呈疫苗抗原活菌载体的可行性进行了研究。结果表明:干酪乳杆菌符合益生菌的标准,可作为递呈疫苗抗原活菌载体。     

转基因食品中外源DNA在加工过程的降解及在体内降解和代谢的研究进展

综述了转基因食品中外源DNA在加工过程、生物体胃肠道中的代谢降解等方面的研究进展。食品加工过程中的热、压力和酸碱等物理和/或化学因素都能使DNA产生一定的降解,不同加工方式对DNA的降解程度不同;大部分DNA在动物胃肠道中被消化降解,有一些DNA片段可能在胃肠道、血液及其他组织和器官中残留;外源基因能否向胃肠道微生物、口腔微生物或体细胞转移尚缺少确凿证据,争论激烈。     

七彩山鸡胃肠道生长抑素细胞的免疫组织化学定位

[目的]应用生长抑素（somatostatin,SS）抗血清研究七彩山鸡（Phasianus colchicas）胃肠道SS免疫活性细胞的分布密度和形态,并探讨其分布型的成因及细胞形态与功能的关系。[方法]采用免疫组织化学方法进行试验。[结果]SS细胞在腺胃及十二指肠以下都有分布。在回肠分布密度最高,空肠和十二指肠较高,盲肠和腺胃次之,直肠很少。SS细胞的型态多样,呈圆形、椭圆形、锥体形等,主要分布于胃肠固有膜、黏膜上皮细胞之间、黏膜上皮细胞基部、腺泡上皮细胞之间。[结论]七彩山鸡胃肠道SS细胞分布型的形成与各部位消化功能有关,根据形态,认为七彩山鸡胃肠道SS细胞具有内、外分泌两种功能。     

Midbody targeting of the ESCRT machinery by a noncanonical coiled coil in CEP55

The ESCRT (endosomal sorting complex required for transport) machinery is required for the scission of membrane necks in processes including the budding of HIV-1 and cytokinesis. An essential step in cytokinesis is recruitment of the ESCRT-I complex and the ESCRT-associated protein ALIX to the midbody (the structure that tethers two daughter cells) by the protein CEP55. Biochemical experiments show that peptides from ALIX and the ESCRT-I subunit TSG101 compete for binding to the ESCRT and ALIX-binding region (EABR) of CEP55. We solved the crystal structure of EABR bound to an ALIX peptide at a resolution of 2.0 angstroms. The structure shows that EABR forms an aberrant dimeric parallel coiled coil. Bulky and charged residues at the interface of the two central heptad repeats create asymmetry and a single binding site for an ALIX or TSG101 peptide. Both ALIX and ESCRT-I are required for cytokinesis, which suggests that multiple CEP55 dimers are required for function.     

螟黄足盘绒茧蜂复合群系统发育分析(膜翅目:茧蜂科:小腹茧蜂亚科)

对螟黄足盘绒茧蜂复合群Cotesia flavipes complex(膜翅目：茧蜂科：小腹茧蜂亚科)分布全世界的5个种和外群螟蛉盘绒茧蜂Cruficrus,粘虫盘绒茧蜂Ckariyai,粉蝶盘绒茧蜂eglomerata的24个性状进行比较研究,并运用支序分析的方法探讨螟黄足盘绒茧蜂复合群5个种种间系统发育关系．支序分析表明,螟黄足盘绒茧蜂复合群是一单系群,芦螟盘绒茧蜂C．chiloluteelli和汉寿盘绒茧蜂C．hanshouensis亲缘关系靠近,共有同一节点,二者与大螟盘绒茧蜂C．sesamiae构成姐妹群,此姐妹群再与二化螟盘绒茧蜂C．chilonis共有同一最近共同祖先,最后与螟黄足盘绒茧蜂C．tlavipes构成螟黄足盘绒茧蜂复合群单系群．     

Structure of the quaternary complex of interleukin-2 with its alpha, beta, and gammac receptors

Interleukin-2 (IL-2) is an immunoregulatory cytokine that acts through a quaternary receptor signaling complex containing alpha (IL-2Ralpha), beta (IL-2Rbeta), and common gamma chain (gc) receptors. In the structure of the quaternary ectodomain complex as visualized at a resolution of 2.3 angstroms, the binding of IL-2Ralpha to IL-2 stabilizes a secondary binding site for presentation to IL-2Rbeta. gammac is then recruited to the composite surface formed by the IL-2/IL-2Rbeta complex. Consistent with its role as a shared receptor for IL-4, IL-7, IL-9, IL-15, and IL-21, gammac forms degenerate contacts with IL-2. The structure of gammac provides a rationale for loss-of-function mutations found in patients with X-linked severe combined immunodeficiency diseases (X-SCID). This complex structure provides a framework for other gammac-dependent cytokine-receptor interactions and for the engineering of improved IL-2 therapeutics.     

甜菊糖的特点及功能

在介绍甜菊糖优点的基础上,总结了甜菊糖的主要功能,包括作为糖尿病人的甜味剂和辅助治疗剂、改善胃肠功能、降低血液中胆固醇及甘油三酯的含量、降低血压、抗过敏、预防龋齿等口腔疾病、减肥及预防心血管疾病功能、用于肥料及饲料等,以为甜菊糖的应用提供参考。     

Recent expansion of Toxoplasma through enhanced oral transmission

The global predominance of three clonal Toxoplasma gondii lineages suggests that they are endowed with an exceptional trait responsible for their current parasitism of nearly all warm-blooded vertebrates. Genetic polymorphism analyses indicate that these clonal lineages emerged within the last 10,000 years after a single genetic cross. Comparison with ancient strains (approximately 1 million years) suggests that the success of the clonal lineages resulted from the concurrent acquisition of direct oral infectivity. This key adaptation circumvented sexual recombination, simultaneously promoting transmission through successive hosts, hence leading to clonal expansion. Thus, changes in complex life cycles can occur rapidly and can profoundly influence pathogenicity.     

双分子荧光互补法（BiFC）精确MICOS复合物精细结构

在真核细胞中,线粒体是能量合成与物质代谢的重要场所。线粒体是双层膜细胞器,内膜向内折叠形成嵴,其中MICOS复合物对于线粒体嵴的形成起着重要作用。Mic60、Mic19和Mic10是MICOS复合物核心组成蛋白。采用双分子荧光互补技术(BiFC,bimolecular fluorescence complementation)方法在活细胞中直接观察研究MICOS复合物中各组成蛋白之间的相互作用关系。发现Mic60可以与Mic19发生较强的相互作用,而Mic60与Mic10的相互作用较弱。     

Structure of the VHL-ElonginC-ElonginB complex: implications for VHL tumor suppressor function

Mutation of the VHL tumor suppressor is associated with the inherited von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) cancer syndrome and the majority of kidney cancers. VHL binds the ElonginC-ElonginB complex and regulates levels of hypoxia-inducible proteins. The structure of the ternary complex at 2.7 angstrom resolution shows two interfaces, one between VHL and ElonginC and another between ElonginC and ElonginB. Tumorigenic mutations frequently occur in a 35-residue domain of VHL responsible for ElonginC binding. A mutational patch on a separate domain of VHL indicates a second macromolecular binding site. The structure extends the similarities to the SCF (Skp1-Cul1-F-box protein) complex that targets proteins for degradation, supporting the hypothesis that VHL may function in an analogous pathway.     

A crystal structure of the complex between human complement receptor 2 and its ligand C3d

The interaction of complement receptor 2 (CR2)--which is present on B cells and follicular dendritic cells--with its antigen-bound ligand C3d results in an enhanced antibody response, thus providing an important link between the innate and adaptive immune systems. Although a cocrystal structure of a complex between C3d and the ligand-binding domains of CR2 has been published, several aspects of this structure, including the position in C3d of the binding interface, remained controversial because of disagreement with biochemical data. We now report a cocrystal structure of a CR2(SCR1-2):C3d complex at 3.2 angstrom resolution in which the interaction interfaces differ markedly from the previously published structure and are consistent with the biochemical data. It is likely that, in the previous structure, the interaction was influenced by the presence of zinc acetate additive in the crystallization buffer, leading to a nonphysiological complex. Detailed knowledge of the binding interface now at hand gives the potential to exploit the interaction in vaccine design or in therapeutics directed against autoreactive B cells.     

Structural basis of silencing: Sir3 BAH domain in complex with a nucleosome at 3.0 Å resolution

Gene silencing is essential for regulating cell fate in eukaryotes. Altered chromatin architectures contribute to maintaining the silenced state in a variety of species. The silent information regulator (Sir) proteins regulate mating type in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. One of these proteins, Sir3, interacts directly with the nucleosome to help generate silenced domains. We determined the crystal structure of a complex of the yeast Sir3 BAH (bromo-associated homology) domain and the nucleosome core particle at 3.0 angstrom resolution. We see multiple molecular interactions between the protein surfaces of the nucleosome and the BAH domain that explain numerous genetic mutations. These interactions are accompanied by structural rearrangements in both the nucleosome and the BAH domain. The structure explains how covalent modifications on H4K16 and H3K79 regulate formation of a silencing complex that contains the nucleosome as a central component.     

First solvation shell of the Cu(II) aqua ion: evidence for fivefold coordination

We determined the structure of the hydrated Cu(II) complex by both neutron diffraction and first-principles molecular dynamics. In contrast with the generally accepted picture, which assumes an octahedrally solvated Cu(II) ion, our experimental and theoretical results favor fivefold coordination. The simulation reveals that the solvated complex undergoes frequent transformations between square pyramidal and trigonal bipyramidal configurations. We argue that this picture is also consistent with experimental data obtained previously by visible near-infrared absorption, x-ray absorption near-edge structure, and nuclear magnetic resonance methods. The preference of the Cu(II) ion for fivefold instead of sixfold coordination, which occurs for other cations of comparable charge and size, results from a Jahn-Teller destabilization of the octahedral complex.     

Crystal structure of Argonaute and its implications for RISC slicer activity

Argonaute proteins and small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) are the known signature components of the RNA interference effector complex RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC). However, the identity of "Slicer," the enzyme that cleaves the messenger RNA (mRNA) as directed by the siRNA, has not been resolved. Here, we report the crystal structure of the Argonaute protein from Pyrococcus furiosus at 2.25 angstrom resolution. The structure reveals a crescent-shaped base made up of the amino-terminal, middle, and PIWI domains. The Piwi Argonaute Zwille (PAZ) domain is held above the base by a "stalk"-like region. The PIWI domain (named for the protein piwi) is similar to ribonuclease H, with a conserved active site aspartate-aspartate-glutamate motif, strongly implicating Argonaute as "Slicer." The architecture of the molecule and the placement of the PAZ and PIWI domains define a groove for substrate binding and suggest a mechanism for siRNA-guided mRNA cleavage.     

Structure of Rab GDP-dissociation inhibitor in complex with prenylated YPT1 GTPase

Rab/Ypt guanosine triphosphatases (GTPases) represent a family of key membrane traffic regulators in eukaryotic cells whose function is governed by the guanosine diphosphate (GDP) dissociation inhibitor (RabGDI). Using a combination of chemical synthesis and protein engineering, we generated and crystallized the monoprenylated Ypt1:RabGDI complex. The structure of the complex was solved to 1.5 angstrom resolution and provides a structural basis for the ability of RabGDI to inhibit the release of nucleotide by Rab proteins. Isoprenoid binding requires a conformational change that opens a cavity in the hydrophobic core of its domain II. Analysis of the structure provides a molecular basis for understanding a RabGDI mutant that causes mental retardation in humans.     

Thermal barrier coatings for gas-turbine engine applications

Hundreds of different types of coatings are used to protect a variety of structural engineering materials from corrosion, wear, and erosion, and to provide lubrication and thermal insulation. Of all these, thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) have the most complex structure and must operate in the most demanding high-temperature environment of aircraft and industrial gas-turbine engines. TBCs, which comprise metal and ceramic multilayers, insulate turbine and combustor engine components from the hot gas stream, and improve the durability and energy efficiency of these engines. Improvements in TBCs will require a better understanding of the complex changes in their structure and properties that occur under operating conditions that lead to their failure. The structure, properties, and failure mechanisms of TBCs are herein reviewed, together with a discussion of current limitations and future opportunities.     

X-ray diffraction study of the ultrathin Al2O3 layer on NiAl110

Ultrathin Al2O3 layers on alloys are used as templates for model catalysts, tunneling barriers in electronic devices, or corrosion-resistant layers. The complex atomic structure of well-ordered alumina overlayers on NiAl110 was solved by surface x-ray diffraction. The oxide layer is composed of a double layer of strongly distorted hexagonal oxygen ions that hosts aluminum ions on both octahedral and tetrahedral sites with equal probability. The alumina overlayer exhibits a domain structure that can be related to characteristic growth defects and is generated during the growth of a hexagonally ordered overlayer (Al2O3) on a body-centered cubic (110) substrate (NiAl).