微小牛蜱铁蛋白编码基因的克隆和分析

从微小牛蜱克隆到1个新的铁蛋白编码基因，cDNA全长642bp，编码区为123-639bp，编码172个氨基酸残基，该蛋白预测的分子量为19．9ku，等电点为4．24。经过分析，其预测氨基酸序列与已报道的变异革蜱、非洲钝缘蜱和蓖子硬蜱铁蛋白同源性分别为93．60％、88．37％和83．72％。且核苷酸序列在mRNA 5’未翻译区(5’UTR)的茎环结构存在铁应答元件(IRE)，其氨基酸序列上带有典型的亚铁氧化酶中心结构的保守序列。RT-PCR分析表明，该基因在微小牛蜱卵、幼蜱、半饱血雌蜱、饱血雌蜱和雄蜱这几个阶段均有表达。     

Camel Kidney Ferritin: Isolation and Partial Characterization

Camel kidney ferritin was isolated from a tissue homogenate by thermal denaturation, ammonium sulphate fractionation, Sephacryl S-300 gel filtration and DEAE-blue gel affinity chromatography. The yield and the iron and neutral carbohydrate contents were 0.012 mg/g wet tissue, 4.0% and 2.7%, respectively. The phosphate:iron ratio was 0.13, twofold lower than that reported for camel liver ferritin. Native gel electrophoresis revealed the presence of a monomeric ferritin. SDS gel electrophoresis and immunoblotting showed two types of subunits, heavy and light, contrary to the extensive heterogeneity observed in camel liver ferritin. In general, the tissue ferritins shared a similar amino acid composition. However, a twofold lower glycine and an eightfold higher arginine content were recorded for camel kidney ferritin. In addition, kidney ferritin had a relatively high content of glutamic acid. Cross-reactivity studies by Ouchterlony double diffusion and noncompetitive indirect ELISA revealed a distinct cross-reactivity between buffalo ferritin antiserum and camel liver ferritin, but camel liver ferritin showed only weak cross-reactivity.     

细粒棘球蚴重组St-Eg 95-Eg.ferritin疫苗构建及生物学特性检测

构建表达细粒棘球蚴Eg95-Eg.ferritin融合蛋白的重组口服减毒鼠伤寒沙门菌活载体疫苗株并评价其生物学特性。将细粒棘球蚴Eg95-Eg.ferritin融合基因插入到表达载体pYA3341中,构建重组质粒pYA3341-Eg95-Eg.ferritin,将重组质粒分别电转入减毒鼠伤寒沙门菌X3770和X4550,获得重组疫苗菌株St-Eg95-Eg.ferritin,对重组菌的稳定性、生长状态及安全性进行分析。结果表明,经PCR和酶切鉴定成功构建重组质粒pYA3341-Eg95-Eg.ferritin,Western blot检测Eg95-Eg.ferritin蛋白在重组菌中获得表达;生物学特性研究结果表明,重组质粒可稳定存在,且不影响重组菌的生长状态,小鼠口服试验证实,重组菌安全无毒性。成功构建能稳定表达细粒棘球蚴Eg95-Eg.ferritin融合蛋白的口服减毒鼠伤寒沙门菌活载体疫苗株,将为研究包虫病口服基因工程疫苗奠定基础。     

Change of antibody levels to ferritin in the sera of foals after birth: Possible passive transfer of maternal anti‐ferritin autoantibody via colostrum and age‐related anti‐ferritin autoantibody production

Antibody (immunoglobulin G (IgG), IgM or IgA) levels relative to ferritin in six foal sera (three male and three female) after birth (day 0 and 2, 6, 10, 20, 28, 36, 40, 52 and 56 weeks of age) were semi‐quantitatively measured with normalization with antibody activity to ferritin in one adult horse serum. After addition of horse spleen ferritin to the serum sample, the complex formed between antibodies to ferritin in the serum and ferritin was co‐immunoprecipitated using antibody to horse spleen ferritin. Antibody classes of the co‐immnoprecipitate were detected with antibodies specific for horse IgG, IgM or IgA heavy chain. Six adult horse serum samples were found to have ferritin‐binding activities in all immunoglobulin classes examined. Although ferritin antibody activities (IgG, IgM and IgA) were scant in the foal sera before sucking colostrum (day 0), their activities increased at 2 weeks of age. IgG antibodies showed a biphasic response and IgM antibody activity increased up to 40 weeks of age. Antibody (IgG, IgM and IgA) activities to ferritin in three colostrum samples were significantly higher than in adult horse serum samples. These results demonstrate that antibody to ferritin in foal serum is derived from colostrum after birth and is produced thereafter.     

Shotgun and TMT-Labeled Proteomic Analysis of the Ovarian Proteins of an Insect Vector,Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae)

Aedes aegypti [Linnaeus in Hasselquist; yellow fever mosquito] transmits several viruses that infect millions of people each year, including Zika, dengue, yellow fever, chikungunya, and West Nile. Pathogen transmission occurs during blood feeding. Only the females blood feed as they require a bloodmeal for oogenesis; in the bloodmeal, holo-transferrin and hemoglobin provide the females with a high iron load. We are interested in the effects of the bloodmeal on the expression of iron-associated proteins in oogenesis. Previous data showed that following digestion of a bloodmeal, ovarian iron concentrations doubles by 72 hr. We have used shotgun proteomics to identify proteins expressed in Ae. aegypti ovaries at two oogenesis developmental stages following blood feeding, and tandem mass tag-labeling proteomics to quantify proteins expressed at one stage following feeding of a controlled iron diet. Our findings provide the first report of mosquito ovarian protein expression in early and late oogenesis. We identify proteins differentially expressed in the two oogenesis development stages. We establish that metal-associated proteins play an important role in Ae. aegypti oogenesis and we identify new candidate proteins that might be involved in mosquito iron metabolism. Finally, this work identified a unique second ferritin light chain subunit, the first reported in any species. The shotgun proteomic data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD005893, while the tandem mass tag-labeled proteomic data are available with identifier PXD028242.     

Localization and Characterization of Ferritin in Demospongiae: A Possible Role on Spiculogenesis

Iron, as inorganic ion or as oxide, is widely used by biological systems in a myriad of biological functions (e.g., enzymatic, gene activation and/or regulation). In particular, marine organisms containing silica structures—diatoms and sponges—grow preferentially in the presence of iron. Using primary sponge cell culture from S. domuncula–primmorphs—as an in vitro model to study the Demospongiae spiculogenesis, we found the presence of agglomerates 50 nm in diameter exclusively inside sponge specialized cells called sclerocytes. A clear phase/material separation is observed between the agglomerates and the initial stages of intracellular spicule formation. STEM-HRTEM-EDX analysis of the agglomerates (30–100 nm) showed that they are composed of pseudohexagonal nanoparticles between 5 and 15 nm in size, displaying lattice parameters corresponding to hematite (Fe₂O₃) and mixed iron oxide phases typically attributed to ferritin. Further analysis, using western blotting, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), sequence alignment analysis, immunostaining and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), of mature spicule filaments confirm the presence of ferritin within these organic structures. We suggest that S. domuncula can be classified as a dual biomineralizating organism, i.e., within the same cellular structure two distinct biomineralizing processes can occur as a result of the same cellular/metabolic function, spiculogenesis.