Effect of the expression and knockdown of citrate synthase gene on carbon flux during triacylglycerol biosynthesis by green algae <Emphasis Type="Italic">Chlamydomonas reinhardtii</Emphasis>

Background

The regulation of lipid biosynthesis is essential in photosynthetic eukaryotic cells. This regulation occurs during the direct synthesis of fatty acids and triacylglycerols (TAGs), as well as during other controlling processes in the main carbon metabolic pathway.

Results

In this study, the mRNA levels of Chlamydomonas citrate synthase (CrCIS) were found to decrease under nitrogen-limited conditions, which suggests suppressed gene expression. Gene silencing by RNA interference (RNAi) was conducted to determine whether CrCIS suppression affected the carbon flux in TAG biosynthesis. Results showed that the TAG level increased by 169.5%, whereas the CrCIS activities in the corresponding transgenic algae decreased by 16.7% to 37.7%. Moreover, the decrease in CrCIS expression led to the increased expression of TAG biosynthesis-related genes, such as acyl-CoA:diacylglycerol acyltransferase and phosphatidate phosphatase. Conversely, overexpression of CrCIS gene decreased the TAG level by 45% but increased CrCIS activity by 209% to 266% in transgenic algae.

Conclusions

The regulation of CrCIS gene can indirectly control the lipid content of algal cells. Our findings propose that increasing oil by suppressing CrCIS expression in microalgae is feasible.

     

含环糊精链节的拓扑高分子

星形、超支化、树枝状、刷状等具有支化拓扑结构的高分子通常具有不同于直链结构高分子的优异性能。将有客体包合功能的环糊精与其结合构筑环糊精拓扑高分子体系,有望在分子识别、基因传输、药控释放等领域得到应用。本文根据高分子拓扑形态的不同,从星形、超支化、树枝状以及其他拓扑形态环糊精聚合物的合成及自组装构筑等方面进行了总结和评述,并在此基础上展望了基于环糊精的拓扑高分子的研究方向和发展趋势。     

Dephosphorylation of intact glycoprotein to greatly improve digestion efficiency coupled with matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization–Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometric analysis

Sialylation is essential for a variety of cellular functions. Herein, we used bovine fetuin with three potential N-linked glycosylation sites containing complex-type glycan structures, four potential O-linked glycosylation sites and six potential phosphorylation sites as a model compound to develop a highly-efficient digestion strategy for sialylated glycoproteins and efficient enrichment strategy for sialylated glycopeptides using titanium dioxide. The former according to the process of alkaline phosphatase digestion followed by tryptic digestion and then proteinase K digestion could greatly improve the enzymatic efficiency on fetuin, and the latter could obviously enhance the enrichment efficiency for multisialylated glycopeptides using phosphoric acid solution as elution buffer. The mass spectra of the enriched glycopeptides derived from fetuin reveal that several series of the ion clusters with mass difference of 291 Da correspond to the presence of multisialylated glycopeptides. In addition, the approach was applied to characterize the sialylated status of α2-macroglobulin and transferrin, respectively, from the sera of healthy subjects and sex- and age-matched patients with thyroid cancer, and their spectra indicate that the change in the amount of the glycoforms containing different number of sialic acid (SA) residues from one glycosylation site may be used to differentiate between healthy subjects and cancer cases.     

Ultrasensitive electrochemical immunosensor for zeranol detection based on signal amplification strategy of nanoporous gold films and nano-montmorillonite as labels

Nano-montmorillonites belong to aluminosilicate clay minerals with innocuity, high specific surface area, ion exchange, and favorable adsorption property. Due to the excellent properties, montmorillonites can be used as labels for the electrochemical immunosensors. In this study, nano-montmorillonites were converted to sodium montmorillonites (Na-Mont) and further utilized for the immobilization of thionine (TH), horseradish peroxidase (HRP) and the secondary anti-zeranol antibody (Ab₂). The modified particles, Na-Mont-TH-HRP-Ab₂ were used as labels for immunosensors to detect zeranol. This protocol was used to prepare the immunosensor with the primary antibody (Ab₁) immobilized onto the nanoporous gold films (NPG) modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE) surface. Within zeranol concentration range (0.01–12 ng mL⁻¹), a linear calibration plot (Y = 0.4326 + 8.713 X, r = 0.9996) was obtained with a detection limit of 3 pg mL⁻¹ under optimal conditions. The proposed immunosensor showed good reproducibility, selectivity, and stability. This new type of immunosensors with montmorillonites and NPG as labels may provide potential applications for the detection of zeranol.     

Glucose oxidase-functionalized fluorescent gold nanoclusters as probes for glucose

Creation and application of noble metal nanoclusters have received continuous attention. By integrating enzyme activity and fluorescence for potential applications, enzyme-capped metal clusters are more desirable. This work demonstrated a glucose oxidase (an enzyme for glucose)-functionalized gold cluster as probe for glucose. Under physiological conditions, such bioconjugate was successfully prepared by an etching reaction, where tetrakis (hydroxylmethyl) phosphonium-protected gold nanoparticle and thioctic acid-modified glucose oxidase were used as precursor and etchant, respectively. These bioconjugates showed unique fluorescence spectra (λ_{em max} = 650 nm, λ_{ex max} = 507 nm) with an acceptable quantum yield (ca. 7%). Moreover, the conjugated glucose oxidase remained active and catalyzed reaction of glucose and dissolved O₂ to produce H₂O₂, which quenched quantitatively the fluorescence of gold clusters and laid a foundation of glucose detection. A linear range of 2.0 × 10⁻⁶–140 × 10⁻⁶ M and a detection limit of 0.7 × 10⁻⁶ M (S/N = 3) were obtained. Also, another horseradish peroxidase/gold cluster bioconjugate was produced by such general synthesis method. Such enzyme/metal cluster bioconjugates represented a promising class of biosensors for biologically important targets in organelles or cells.     

Stereospecific radical polymerization of optically active (S)-N-(2-hydroxy-1-phenylethyl) methacrylamide catalyzed by Lewis acids

The effects of Lewis acids, namely, rare earth metal trifluoromethanesulfonates, on the radical polymerization of (S)-N-(2-hydroxy-1-phenylethyl) methacrylamide were examined under various conditions. In the absence of Lewis acids, syndiotactic-rich polymers (r = 84%) were obtained, whereas in the presence of a catalytic amount of Lewis acids, the polymerization proceeded in an isotactic-specific manner (m up to 64%). Polymerization solvents strongly influenced the effect of the Lewis acids. The polymerization in n-butyl alcohol showed the highest isotactic selectivity, whereas the polymerization in DMSO showed no isotacticity-enhancing effect. Further increases in the Lewis acid concentration and the polymerization temperature did not produce clear effects on the tacticity of the polymers. The interaction between the monomer and Lewis acids was investigated, and the plausible mechanism of stereocontrol in the radical polymerization of (S)-HPEMA was analyzed based on the Lewis acid-monomer interaction.     

Effect of carbon chain length of monocarboxylic acids on cloud point temperature of poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline)

The temperature-induced phase transition of poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline) (PEtOx) aqueous solution under mixing with a series of small carboxylic acids has been studied by turbidity measurements and laser light scattering. It has been found that cloud point temperature (T _cp) of the PEtOx was changed to varying degrees depending upon the pH, ionic strength, molar ratio of acids to 2-ethyl-2-oxazoline unit, and carbon chain length of small carboxylic acids. Significant change in T _cp was observed in the case of hexanoic acid. At acidic pH, an increase in the molar ratio of hexanoic acid to the 2-ethyl-2-oxazoline unit gradually decreased the phase transition temperature of the polymer as compared to the T _cp of pure PEtOx. At original pH 6 (pH?>?pK _a), T _cp shifts to higher value than that of pure PEtOx for lower molar ratios and decreased later on with increasing the molar ratio. The shift in the T _cp is described based on the differences in the driving force of phase transition, including hydrogen bonding between small carboxylic acids and PEtOx polymer and hydrophobic interaction.     

硫醇类配体修饰金纳米粒子在嵌段共聚物中自组装的研究进展

本文综述了不同类型硫醇配体修饰金纳米粒子的合成方法以及功能性金纳米粒子在嵌段共聚物薄膜中的自组装研究进展,重点介绍了硫醇类配体修饰金纳米粒子的合成方法,包括Brust合成法、原位合成法、grafting from合成法、配体置换法、单晶模板法等。总结了硫醇基小分子或聚合物配体修饰的金纳米粒子与嵌段共聚物之间自组装的调控方法,如利用配体与嵌段共聚物组分的隔离作用、配体与嵌段共聚物组分形成的氢键作用、溶剂蒸气退火或热退火等诱导嵌段共聚物/纳米粒子复合薄膜自组装。展望了功能性金纳米粒子以及嵌段共聚物/金纳米复合材料的发展方向。     

Determination of Cr(VI) by portable tungsten coil electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometer after surfactant-assisted dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction

As a new developed instrument, a portable tungsten coil electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometer (W-coil ET-AAS) was first coupled with surfactant assisted dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction (SA-DLLME) to improve its analytical performance and expand its applications in this work. SA-DLLME was very simple, rapid and the extraction efficiency was considerably improved by the effect of surfactant, which was suitable to be coupled with the portable instrument in field analysis. After SA-DLLME, concentrated chromium in organic phase was directly determined on W-coil atomiser. The influence factors relevant to SA-DLLME and instrumental conditions were studied systematically. Under the optimal conditions, the limit of detection (LOD) for Cr(VI) was 0.016 µg L^?1, with sensitivity enhancement factor (EF) of 107. The relative standard deviation (RSD) for seven replicate measurements of 0.5 µg L^?1 of Cr(VI) was 4.6%. The recoveries for the spiked samples were in the acceptable range of 96.8–104%. The rapid, simple and high effective method greatly improved the sensitivity of this portable spectrometer for the determination of Cr(VI) and was applied to the analysis of ultra-trace Cr(VI) in real and certified water samples with satisfactory results.     

Synthesis, structures, and magnetic properties of carboxylate-bridged trinuclear complexes based on low-spin manganese(III)/iron(III) building blocks

Four linear trinuclear transition metal complexes have been prepared and characterized. The complexes [M^II(MeOH)₄][Fe^III(L)₂]₂·2MeOH (M = Fe (1) or Ni (2)), [Co^II(EtOH)₂(H₂O)₂][Fe^III(L)₂]₂·2EtOH (3), and [Mn^II(phen)₂][Mn^III(L)₂]₂·4MeOH (4) (H₂L = ((2-carboxyphenyl)azo)-benzaldoxime, phen = 1,10-phenanthroline) possesses a similar syn–anti carboxylate-bridged structure. The terminal Fe(III) or Mn(III) ions are low spin, and the central M(II) ions are high spin. Magnetic measurements show that antiferromagnetic interactions were present between the adjacent metal ions via the syn–anti carboxylate bridges. The antiferromagnetic coupling between low-spin Fe(III) and Ni(II) is unusual, which has been tentatively assigned to the structural distortion of Fe(III).