晶状体蛋白识别互作与白内障的研究进展

白内障是全球致盲率最高的眼科疾病, 发病组织为晶状体. 晶状体内纤维细胞含有高浓度的晶状体蛋白, 晶状体蛋白家族分α?, β?和γ?3大亚家族. α-晶状体蛋白具有小分子伴侣功能, 可识别错误折叠蛋白质, 维持晶状体内蛋白质稳态; β?/γ?晶状体蛋白通过分子内或分子间相互作用, 主要发挥结构蛋白功能. 晶状体蛋白在晶状体纤维细胞内呈瞬时有序排列, 精准分子识别及动态相互作用在维持晶状体透明度中发挥关键作用. 晶状体内蛋白质稳态失衡是白内障的主要致病因素. 晶状体蛋白半衰期长, 且翻译合成后不再更新, 广泛受pH值、 金属离子、 辐射损伤和蛋白质翻译后修饰等细胞内外环境因素和化学因素的干扰, 影响晶状体蛋白间的分子识别和相互作用, 诱发白内障. 理清化学调控的晶状体蛋白分子识别及互作调控, 有助于阐明白内障发病机理, 并发掘防治白内障的创新策略. 本文基于晶状体蛋白识别互作与白内障研究进展, 综合评述了晶状体蛋白的分子识别、 相互作用方式、 调控因素及研究技术创新, 并探讨了晶状体蛋白识别互作调控网络在白内障药物研发的应用价值与挑战.     

转基因抗虫蛋白Cry1Ac与表面活性剂作用的芘探针光谱分析

以芘作为外源荧光探针,采用牛血清蛋白作为参照,考察了转基因抗虫蛋白Cry1Ac与4种表面活性剂相互作用的荧光光谱特征.结果表明,鼠李糖脂和Tween 80体系的芘荧光行为有相似的变化规律,可与蛋白质发生稳定的缔合过程.Cry1Ac蛋白的亲水性和分子极性较强,在表面活性剂浓度低时,可导致芘的I1/I3值较高.在阴离子、非离子表面活性剂胶团形成后,2种蛋白质的存在均不改变芘与表面活性剂的结合位点.十六烷基三甲基溴化铵对芘的荧光有一定猝灭作用,且在Cry1Ac蛋白介入下不能形成稳定的胶束.     

牛血清白蛋白与光谱探针相互作用机理的研究

在酸性条件下研究了考马斯亮蓝光谱探针与牛血清白蛋白结合物的光学性质,探讨了考马斯亮蓝染料和蛋白质的相互作用机理。研究结果表明染料考马斯亮蓝的疏水作用和亲水作用的协调作用以及与生物大分子蛋白质具有相反电荷的静电作用,是光谱探针与生物大分子形成大分子聚集体的必要因素。     

热休克蛋白90的分子伴侣调控与癌症研究进展

热休克蛋白90(Heat shock protein 90,HSP90)是在遗传上高度保守的热休克蛋白家族成员之一。在真核生物细胞中,HSP90作为一种重要的分子伴侣,在维持细胞内蛋白质稳态方面起到关键的调节作用。HSP90的底物蛋白种类繁多,因而HSP90广泛参与诸多生命活动。随着研究的深入,研究者发现HSP90对肿瘤的发生发展以及转移起到重要调节作用,HSP90逐渐成为抗肿瘤生物学研究的靶点。本文综述了HSP90作为分子伴侣的最新研究进展及其与癌症的关系。     

蛋白质的化学全合成

含有非天然氨基酸的蛋白质（如翻译后修饰蛋白质、修饰有探针分子的蛋白质等）是化学生物学中重要的生理活性分子。这些分子难以通过生物表达来获取，而必须使用化学方法来合成。半胱氨酸肽片段连接方法是目前应用于蛋白质化学全合成中的一种重要方法，该方法能够在温和的水溶液中高效地实现肽片段的连接，从而生成天然或者非天然的蛋白质。本文系统地综述了半胱氨酸肽片段连接方法的基本原理，详细讨论了近年来人们对该方法的一些重要改进。最后又介绍了该方法在几类重要的蛋白质分子合成中的代表性应用。     

蛋氨酸亚砜还原酶荧光探针的设计及应用

蛋氨酸亚砜还原酶(Msr)是一类很好的抗氧化酶和蛋白修复酶,在生物体氧化还原体系中扮演着重要的角色.本文依据其反应特异性及分子探针发光机制,设计合成了可用于检测蛋氨酸亚砜还原酶活性的探针Msr-TFMCM,并详细研究了其与Msrs的相互作用及反应机理.在此基础上,将Msr-TFMCM进一步用于活细胞内Msrs活性的可视化检测.在培养的细胞中预先加入Msrs的底物蛋氨酸亚砜可以显著抑制荧光信号,说明了探针可以实现对Msrs的专一性检测.     

邻苯二甲酸酐化学修饰对辣根过氧化物酶催化活性的影响

通过采用邻苯二甲酸酐(PA)对辣根过氧化物酶(HRP)的蛋白链进行修饰, 研究了PA化学修饰对HRP的稳定性、催化活性、活性中心结构、酶对底物的亲合性和专一性等催化性质的影响. 结果显示: 酸性条件下(pH=3), 4小时后PA-HRP的催化活性比天然HRP提高了7.5%;碱性条件下(pH=10), 4小时后PA-HRP的催化活性比天然HRP提高了27%. PA-HRP的K_m值为8.16 (mmol/L), 小于天然HRP的K_m值12.99 (mmol/L), 而PA-HRP的k_(cat)/K_m值为7.86(10~4(L/ mmol· min)大于天然HRP的k_(cat)/K_m的6.70(10~4(L/ mmol· min). 这些催化活性和动力学数据表明了PA-HRP与天然HRP相比其稳定性、酶对底物的亲和性和专一性得到了提高. 紫外-可见光谱、拉曼光谱数据显示: 修饰剂PA 改变了天然HRP血红素周围的微环境, 对酶蛋白分子的活性中心结构并没有影响. 差示光谱显示PA修饰剂可以提高酶对底物的亲和力.     

一种具有双重功能的可视化pH荧光探针的合成及光谱研究

以二烯单酮结构为荧光团,酚羟基为脱质子基团,合成了一种具有双重功能的可视化pH荧光分子探针.pH滴定实验表明,探针的紫外吸收和荧光光谱均对溶液的pH值有很强的依赖性,当体系溶液由酸性变为碱性时,探针的紫外吸收光谱发生明显的红移,并伴有溶液颜色的显著变化;荧光光谱强度在酸性条件下随pH值的变化不大,而在碱性条件下随pH值...     

血红素蛋白的分子设计新趋向

综述了近年来有关血红素蛋白分子设计所出现的新趋向， 包括氨基酸选择突变与血红素修饰相结合，非天然辅基的引入，非天然氨基酸的引入，辅基与蛋白肽链的共价结合，以及全新血红素蛋白的设计与构建5个方面。这些新发展趋向对研究金属蛋白的结构-功能关系提供了重要的信息，同时也为这些理性设计的新颖金属蛋白分子拓宽了其在生物化学、生物工程和药学上的应用。     

一种pH荧光探针的合成及光谱研究

设计合成了一种pH荧光分子探针2,5-双(4-羟基-苯亚甲基)环戊酮,并对其光谱性能进行了研究.pH滴定实验表明:探针的紫外吸收和荧光光谱对溶液的pH值有很强的依赖性.当体系溶液由酸性变为碱性时,探针紫外吸收光谱发生明显的红移,并伴有溶液颜色的显著变化.荧光光谱强度在酸性条件下随pH的变化不大,而在碱性条件下荧光强度则...     

Probing pH-dependent dissociation of HdeA dimers

HdeA protein is a small, ATP-independent, acid stress chaperone that undergoes a dimer-to-monomer transition in acidic environments. The HdeA monomer binds a broad range of proteins to prevent their acid-induced aggregation. To understand better HdeA's function and mechanism, we perform constant-pH molecular dynamics simulations (CPHMD) to elucidate the details of the HdeA dimer dissociation process. First the pK(a) values of all the acidic titratable groups in HdeA are obtained and reveal a large pK(a) shift only for Glu(37). However, the pH-dependent monomer charge exhibits a large shift from -4 at pH > 6 to +6 at pH = 2.5, suggesting that the dramatic change in charge on each monomer may drive dissociation. By combining the CPHMD approach with umbrella sampling, we demonstrate a significant stability decrease of the HdeA dimer when the environmental pH changes from 4.0 to 3.5 and identify the key acidic residue-lysine interactions responsible for the observed pH sensing in HdeA chaperon activity function.     

Site-specific incorporation of photo-cross-linker and bioorthogonal amino acids into enteric bacterial pathogens

Enteric bacterial pathogens are known to effectively pass through the extremely acidic mammalian stomachs and cause infections in the small and/or large intestine of human hosts. However, their acid-survival strategy and pathogenesis mechanisms remain elusive, largely due to the lack of tools to directly monitor and manipulate essential components (e.g., defense proteins or invasive toxins) participating in these processes. Herein, we have extended the pyrrolysine-based genetic code expansion strategy for encoding unnatural amino acids in enteric bacterial species, including enteropathogenic Escherichia coli , Shigella , and Salmonella . Using this system, a photo-cross-linking amino acid was incorporated into a Shigella acid chaperone HdeA (shHdeA), which allowed the identification of a comprehensive list of in vivo client proteins that are protected by shHdeA upon acid stress. To further demonstrate the application of our strategy, an azide-bearing amino acid was introduced into a Shigella type 3 secretion effector, OspF, without interruption of its secretion efficiency. This site-specifically installed azide handle allowed the facile detection of OspF's secretion in bacterial extracellular space. Taken together, these bioorthogonal functionalities we incorporated into enteric pathogens were shown to facilitate the investigation of unique and important proteins involved in the pathogenesis and stress-defense mechanisms of pathogenic bacteria that remain exceedingly difficult to study using conventional methodologies.     

Converting a solvatochromic fluorophore into a protein-based pH indicator for extreme acidity

Live-cell pH measurements: An environment-sensitive fluorophore (green) was site-specifically introduced on HdeA, an acid-resistant chaperone showing pH-mediated conformational changes under low pH conditions. A survey of the attachment sites led to the discovery of one position on HdeA at which the attached fluorophore showed a strong fluorescence increase upon acidification.     

Luminescent gold nanoparticles with pH-dependent membrane adsorption

pH regulates many cellular processes and is also an indicator of disease progression. Therefore, pH-responsive materials often serve as either tools in the fundamental understanding of cell biology or medicine for disease diagnosis and therapy. While gold nanoparticles have broad biomedical applications, very few of them exhibit pH-dependent interactions with live cells in a native biological environment due to nonspecific serum protein adsorption. Herein, we report that by coating luminescent gold nanoparticles with a natural peptide, glutathione, and the simplest stable aminothiol, cysteamine, we enabled the nanoparticles to exhibit not only high resistance to serum protein adsorption but also pH-dependent adsorption onto live cell membranes in the presence of serum proteins. Incorporating this pH-dependent membrane adsorption behavior into gold nanoparticles could potentially catalyze new biomedical applications of metal nanoparticles in the fundamental understanding of biological processes as well as disease diagnosis and therapy, where pH changes are involved.     

Protein tango: the toolbox to capture interacting partners

The evaluation of protein function in the context of the whole cell is crucial for understanding of living systems. In this context, the identification and modulation of protein-protein interactions in and outside cells is of ample importance. Several methods have been developed in the past years to detect and/or actively induce protein-protein interactions in living cells. As a result, tools are now available to manipulate intracellular events by reversible or irreversible cross-linking of proteins in a specific manner. These techniques open many new doors and enable the dissection of complicated protein networks. Herein we describe which cross-linkers and inducers of dimerization are out there and how to make use of this great toolbox.     

蛋白质相互作用的研究方法

生物体的生理功能主要由细胞中的蛋白质控制和调节。其中,多数蛋白质是通过与配体结合或是作为蛋白质复合物中的一部分参与细胞的代谢过程。因此,研究蛋白质间的相互作用是理解生命活动的基础。本文对现有蛋白质相互作用的研究方法和技术进行了评述。     

Mechanisms of Chaperones as Active Assistant/Protector for Proteins: Insights from NMR Studies

Molecular chaperones are diverse families of proteins that play key roles in protein homeostasis. They assist the folding of client proteins or prevent them from irreversible aggregation under stress conditions. Diverse chaperone families contribute to different aspects of protein homeostasis by interacting with a wide range of client proteins. Despite the vital roles of chaperones in cell survival, the molecular mechanisms underlying chaperone functions remain elusive, due to the non‐specificity of chaperone‐client interactions and the intrinsic flexibility of the clients. Our understanding of the chaperone functional mechanisms, especially regarding chaperone‐client interactions, has greatly expanded in recent years, thanks to the significant contribution from various NMR studies. Solution NMR methods have unique advantages in characterizing disordered protein structures, detecting weak and non‐specific interactions, and probing conformational dynamics of proteins and protein complexes, etc., and therefore are especially powerful in the studies of chaperone structure‐function relationships. In this review, we summarize some of the current knowledge of molecular chaperones, with emphasis on common features of chaperone‐client interactions and examples on a number of specific systems in which solution NMR methods were used to provide essential insights into their functional mechanisms.      

Mapping and identification of protein-protein interactions by two-dimensional far-Western immunoblotting

Studies of protein-protein interactions have proved to be a useful approach to link proteins of unknown function to known cellular processes. In this study we have combined several existing methods to attempt the comprehensive identification of substrates for poorly characterized human protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs). We took advantage of so-called "substrate trapping" mutants, a procedure originally described by Flint et al. (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 1997, 94, 1680-1685) to identify binding partners of cloned PTPs. This procedure was adapted to a proteome-wide approach to probe for candidate substrates in cellular extracts that were separated by two-dimensional (2-D) gel electrophoresis and blotted onto membranes. Protein-protein interactions were revealed by far-Western immunoblotting and positive binding proteins were subsequently identified from silver-stained gels using tandem mass spectrometry. With this method we were able to identify possible substrates for PTPs without using any radio-labeled cDNA or protein probes and showed that they corresponded to tyrosine phosphorylated proteins. We believe that this method could be generally applied to identify possible protein-protein interactions.     

Design and structure of peptide and peptidomimetic antagonists of protein-protein interaction

Peptides based on the amino acid sequences found at protein-protein interaction sites make excellent leads for antagonist development. A statistical picture of amino acids involved in protein-protein interactions indicates that proteins recognize and interact with one another through the restricted set of specialized interface amino acid residues, Pro, Ile, Tyr, Trp, Asp and Arg. These amino acids represent residues from each of the three classes of amino acids, hydrophobic, aromatic and charged, with one anionic and one cationic residue at neutral pH. The use of peptides as drug leads has been successfully used to search for antagonists of cell-surface receptors. Peptide, peptidomimetic, and non-peptide organic inhibitors of a class of cell surface receptors, the integrins, currently serve as therapeutic and diagnostic imaging agents. In this review, we discuss the structural features of protein-protein interactions as well as the design of peptides, peptidomimetics, and small organic molecules for the inhibition of protein-protein interactions. Information gained from studying inhibitors of integrin functions is now being applied to the design and testing of inhibitors of other protein-protein interactions. Most drug development progress in the past several decades has been made using the enzyme binding-pocket model of drug targets. Small molecules are designed to fit into the substrate-binding pockets of proteins based on a lock-and-key, induced-fit, or conformational ensemble model of the protein binding site. Traditionally, enzymes have been used as therapeutic drug targets because it was easier to develop rapid, sensitive screening assays, and to find low molecular weight inhibitors that blocked the active site. However, for proteins which interact with other proteins, rather than with small substrate molecules, the lack of binding pockets means that this approach will not generally succeed. There exist many diseases in which the inhibition of protein-protein interactions would provide therapeutic benefit, but there are no general methods available to address such problems. The focus of the first part of this review is to discuss the features of protein-protein interactions which may serve as general guidelines for the development and design of inhibitors for protein-protein interactions. In the second part we focus on the design of peptides (lead compounds) and their conversion into peptidomimetics or small organic molecules for the inhibition of protein-protein interactions. We draw examples from the important and emerging area of integrin-based cell adhesion and show how the principles of protein-protein interactions are followed in the discovery, optimization and usage of specific protein interface peptides as drug leads.     

Magnetically Guided Protein Transduction by Hybrid Nanogel Chaperones with Iron Oxide Nanoparticles

Protein pharmaceuticals show great therapeutic promise, but effective intracellular delivery remains challenging. To address the need for efficient protein transduction systems, we used a magnetic nanogel chaperone (MC): a hybrid of a polysaccharide nanogel, a protein carrier with molecular chaperone‐like properties, and iron oxide nanoparticles, enabling magnetically guided delivery. The MC complexed with model proteins, such as BSA and insulin, and was not cytotoxic. Cargo proteins were delivered to the target HeLa cell cytosol using a magnetic field to promote movement of the protein complex toward the cells. Delivery was confirmed by fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry. Delivered β‐galactosidase, inactive within the MC complex, became enzymatically active within cells to convert a prodrug. Thus, cargo proteins were released from MC complexes through exchange interactions with cytosolic proteins. The MC is a promising tool for realizing the therapeutic potential of proteins.