The Structure and Sequence Analysis of TLR4 Gene in Cattle

Toll-like receptor 4 （TLR4） is essential for initiating the innate response to lipopolysaccharide （LPS） from Gram-negative bacteria by acting as a signal transducting receptor. In order to help in investigating TLR4 as a candidate disease-resistance gene in cows, we isolated the cDNA （GenBank accession no. DQ839566） by RT-PCR and rapid amplification of cDNA ends （RACE） experiments and analyzed the sequence characters by bioinformatics. The results showed that cattle TLR4 gene about 3 739 bp contains an open reading frame of 2 526 bp encoded 841 amino acids （aa）, 470 bp 5′ untranslated region （UTR）, and 743 bp 3′ UTR. Tissue expression profile by RT-PCR indicated that TLR4 gene expresses in mammary glands, liver, muscle, duodenum, fats, uterus, kidneys, hearts, lungs, pancreas, and ovary. TLR4 protein domain predicted by bioinformatics consists of signal peptide, transmembrane helices domain, 3 sorts of leucine-rich repeat domains （LRR, LRR-TYP, and LRRCT）, and a toll-interleukinl-resistance domain （TIR）. Leucine-rich repeat domains were related with recognizing a broad of pathogen-associated molecular patterns （PAMP） from pathogen, and TIR domain for downstream signaling transduction was most conservative （98% identify） than other domains after alignment of protein from ovine, porcine, human, and mouse. In addition, a 470 bp 5′-flanking region sequence was amplified by PCR, and 15 putative DNA binding sites were predicted, but this sequence lacks TATA box, CCAAT character, and GC-rich regions.     

猪TLR3胞外区片段重组载体的构建、表达和多克隆抗体的制备

为制备猪TLR3(poTLR3)胞外区蛋白的多克隆抗体,从poTLR3克隆载体扩增胞外区基因序列连接到pGEX-4T-1载体上,转化大肠杆菌BL21(DE3),在IPTG的诱导下,表达GST-poTLR3融合蛋白,将表达的融合蛋白纯化,免疫家兔制备抗体,并以间接ELISA法测定抗体效价,利用Western-blot和细胞免疫荧光验证抗体与真核表达蛋结合的白特异性.结果表明:制备的多克隆抗体的效价可达1∶128 000,poTLR3胞外区蛋白在大肠杆菌中得到高效表达,并且制备的多克隆抗体特异性好、滴度高.     

山羊C D 4基因的克隆及组织表达分析

CD4基因是质膜上的转运系统之一,为动物辅助性T细胞(TH)和部分胸腺细胞的共受体与信号传导分子,参与TCR介导的TH细胞活化和胸腺细胞分化过程.该研究首次克隆了山羊CD4基因(GenBank登录号:EU913093),并分析了该基因的组织表达情况.结果表明:所克隆的山羊CD4全长cDNA序列为1 555bp,开放阅读框(ORF)为1 368bp,编码455个氨基酸的蛋白,相对分子质量为5.05×104,等电点为9.52.山羊CD4蛋白前体由信号肽、胞外区、跨膜区和胞浆区4个部分构成.胞外区含有4个Ig样结构域,2个二硫键(C41—C109和C143—C180)及3个N糖基化位点(N231,N263和N343).氨基酸序列比对表明山羊CD4与绵羊CD4的氨基酸相似性为98%,与猪、人、兔、狗、猫、蝙蝠以及小鼠的氨基酸相似性分别为81%,74%,73%,72%,70%,70%和66%.系统发育树表明山羊CD4与绵羊和猪的CD4蛋白聚成一支,表明它们有较近的亲缘关系,其中山羊与绵羊的亲缘关系最近,而与狗、蝙蝠、兔、人和小鼠的亲缘关系相对较远.实时荧光定量PCR分析发现,CD4在山羊淋巴中的表达量最高,在睾丸中表达量较低,表明山羊CD4是一种免疫分子.     

F-box domain is involved in regulating the proliferation of MCF-7 cells by FBXO39 protein

AIM: To investigate the effect of F-box domain on the regulation of MCF-7 cell proliferation by FBXO39 protein. METHODS: The effect of F-box domain on the localization of FBXO39 protein in the MCF-7 cells was investigated. MCF-7 cell cDNA library was used as the template resource. The full-length cDNA sequence of FBXO39 was amplified by PCR method and subcloned into eukaryotic expression vector pEGFP-C2. The pEGFP-FBXO39ΔF (F-box domain deletion mutation) plasmid was successfully constructed with the template resource of pEGFP-FBXO39 plasmid. The recombinant plasmids were transfected into the MCF-7 cells, and then the expression of FBXO39 and FBXO39ΔF were determined by Western blot. The cellular localization of FBXO39 and FBXO39ΔF were observed by confocal microscopy. The localization of endogenous FBXO39 in the MCF-7 cells was detected by immunofluorescence staining. In addition, MTT and EdU assays were used to measure the cell proliferation, flow cytometry was used to measure the cell cycle distribution, and immunohistochemical staining was used to observe the expression of FBXO39 in the breast cancer and para-carcinoma tissues. RESULTS: The eukaryotic expression vector pEGFP-FBXO39 and pEGFP-FBXO39ΔF were constructed successfully. F-box domain had no effect on the cell localization of FBXO39. FBXO39 promoted MCF-7 cell proliferation but FBXO39ΔF did not. FBXO39 was highly expressed in the breast cancer tissues. CONCLUSION: F-box domain had no effect on the cellular localization of FBXO39 protein. However, it plays an important role in the biological function of FBXO39. FBXO39 may be related to breast cancer tumorigenesis.     

Allelic variation of a clubroot resistance gene (Crr1a) in Japanese cultivars of Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa L.)

Clubroot resistance (CR) is an important trait in Chinese cabbage breeding worldwide. Although Crr1a, the gene responsible for clubroot-resistance, has been cloned and shown to encode the NLR protein, its allelic variation and molecular function remain unknown. Here, we investigated the sequence variation and function of three Crr1a alleles cloned from six CR F₁ cultivars of Chinese cabbage. Gain-of-function analysis revealed that Crr1a^Kinami90_a isolated from the cv. ‘Kinami 90’ conferred clubroot resistance as observed for Crr1a^G004. Because two susceptible alleles commonly lacked 172 amino acids in the C-terminal region, we investigated clubroot resistance in transgenic Arabidopsis harboring the chimeric Crr1a, in which 172 amino acids of the functional alleles were fused to the susceptible alleles. The fusion of the C-terminal region to the susceptible alleles restored resistance, indicating that their susceptibility was caused by the lack of the C-terminus. We developed DNA markers to detect the two functional Crr1a alleles, and demonstrated that the functional Crr1a alleles were frequently found in European fodder turnips, whereas they were rarely introduced into Japanese CR cultivars of Chinese cabbage. These results would contribute to CR breeding via marker-assisted selection and help our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying clubroot resistance.     

水稻白叶枯病菌HD-GYP结构域蛋白PXO_03945的功能鉴定

为了揭示水稻白叶枯病菌(Xanthomonas oryzae pv.oryzae,简称Xoo)环二鸟苷酸(c-di-GMP)信号相关蛋白PXO_03945的生物学功能,本研究通过基因同源重组和无标记交换,对PXO_03945基因进行了缺失突变,对野生型、突变体和互补菌株进行表型测定,分析该基因缺失突变对病菌胞内c-di-GMP水平、致病性、运动性、胞外多糖产生和生物膜形成的影响。结果表明,PXO_03945蛋白具有参与c-di-GMP降解的磷酸二酯酶(PDE)的HD-GYP结构域和功能未知的DUF3391结构域。全长基因缺失可导致体内c-di-GMP浓度明显上升。与野生型相比,ΔPXO_03945对水稻品种日本晴的致病性显著下降,而游动性增强,胞外多糖产生和生物膜形成增加。基因互补可以使之恢复。因此,HD-GYP结构域蛋白PXO_03945可能通过降解胞内c-di-GMP,正向调控了致病性,负向调控了运动性、EPS产生和生物膜形成能力。     

人工改造野生大豆GsDREB2基因对植物耐盐和耐渗透胁迫能力的影响

DREB (dehydration responsive element binding protein)转录因子是一个干旱应答元件的结合蛋白,它能特异结合启动子中含有DRE/CRT顺式元件,激活逆境诱导基因的表达,调控植物对干旱、低温、高盐、高温等胁迫的耐逆性。大量研究表明DREB转录因子在信号传导、作用机理及基因表达方面存在复杂性。为了野生大豆来源GsDREB2基因能更有效地发挥功能,人工突变该基因的负向调节结构域(negative regulatory domain, NRD,140~204),经改造命名为GsDREB2-mNRD。在酵母中比较全长基因(FLDREB2)和GsDREB2-mNRD转录激活和与DRE元件结合的能力,并验证GsDREB2-mNRD核定位情况。分别将FLDREB2和GsDREB2-mNRD转化拟南芥,通过拟南芥幼苗期盐胁迫和渗透胁迫试验,比较GsDREB2-mNRD和FLDREB2在提高植物耐盐和渗透胁迫方面的差异。结果表明,GsDREB2基因内部存在着负向调节结构域(NRD),抑制了GsDREB2转录激活功能和DRE元件结合的特性;经改造的GsDREB2基因依然能定位在细胞核;超量表达GsDREB2-mNRD基因的拟南芥耐盐和渗透胁迫能力明显强于非转基因对照,也高于FLDREB2基因超表达的拟南芥;野生大豆来源的GsDREB2基因NRD结构域的缺失可增强该基因在植物耐盐、渗透胁迫等逆境胁迫下的功能。     

美国白蛾hcapn3基因的克隆及HcAPN3蛋白与Cry1Ac结合特性分析

通过比对分析已知昆虫氨肽酶N(aminopeptidase N,APN)氨基酸序列并结合本实验室的美国白蛾(Hyphantria cunea)中肠iTRAQ结果,设计了hcapn3基因特异引物,获得hcapn3基因片段。通过RACE-PCR技术获得美国白蛾中肠氨肽酶N基因(hcapn3)全长序列(GenBank登录号为KJ013598)。Blastp分析表明,获得的氨肽酶属于氨肽酶N3家族,命名为HcAPN3。序列分析显示HcAPN3包括952个氨基酸残基,具有典型的谷氨酸锌化氨肽酶(Gluzincin)结构域和羧基端(ERAP1_C)结构域。利用Bac to Bac表达系统在昆虫细胞中表达108kDa的HcAPN3蛋白。在原核表达系统中表达58kDa的Gluzincin结构域和49kDa ERAP1_C的结构域蛋白。Ligand Blot分析结果显示,HcAPN3蛋白及Gluzincin结构域可与Cry1Ac蛋白特异性结合,但ERAP1_C结构域未能与Cry1Ac结合。本研究首次克隆了美国白蛾氨肽酶基因并分析了HcAPN3与Cry1Ac的结合特性,为下一步功能研究提供基础。     

盘尾丝虫ASP1蛋白佐剂活性区不同标签融合表达与佐剂活性比较

为了探明纯化标签对盘尾丝虫活化相关分泌蛋白1(activation-associated secreted protein 1,ASP1)佐剂活性的影响,将其佐剂活性区PR-1编码序列分别与类弹性蛋白多肽(elastin-like polypeptide,ELP)、ELK16自聚肽或His标签进行融合表达,用相变循环、离心洗涤和镍亲和层析进行融合蛋白纯化;将ELP与传染性法氏囊病病毒(Infectious bursal disease virus,IBDV)VP2基因片段进行融合表达,用蛋白酶切除ELP标签后与不同标签融合PR-1免疫小鼠,两次免疫后不同时间采血分离血清,采用ELISA检测VP2特异IgG、IgG1和IgG2c滴度,用试剂盒检测免疫小鼠血清的IFN-γ、TNF-α、IL-6、IL-10浓度。结果显示,ELP-PR1、ELK-PR1、His-PR1和ELP-VP2融合蛋白在重组大肠杆菌中均获得正确表达,纯化蛋白纯度大于90%;3种标签融合PR-1均能增强免疫小鼠的抗原特异IgG、IgG1和IgG2应答,并能刺激小鼠产生IFN-γ、TNF-α、IL-6或IL-10细胞因子。在3种PR-1融合蛋白中,ELP-PR1的佐剂活性最强,ELK-PR1与不完全弗氏佐剂相当。本研究探索了不同纯化标签对PR-1免疫佐剂活性的影响,为传染性法氏囊病新型亚单位疫苗佐剂研制提供思路。     

狂犬病病毒糖蛋白膜外区基因在大肠埃希氏菌中的高效表达

为获得狂犬病病毒（RV）糖蛋白抗原，采用RT-PCR方法从狂犬病病毒ERA株中扩增了编码RV糖蛋白的全长基因，将其克隆于pMD18-T载体，再经PCR扩增出糖蛋白全长基因和膜外区基因，将其分别亚克隆至原核表达载体pET-28a（＋）、pET-32a（＋）和pGEX-4T-1中，经PCR和双酶切鉴定以及序列分析，表明已成功构建了重组质粒。将重组质粒转化到大肠埃希氏菌BL21（DE3）中进行表达，结果显示，克隆到pET-32a（＋）的糖蛋白膜外区基因表达量最高，目的蛋白表达量占菌体总蛋白的45．4％。经Western-blotting检测，不同载体表达的糖蛋白膜外区产物均可与兔抗RV多抗发生特异性反应，表明，重组蛋白具有良好的反应原性。