桑蚕丝素蛋白初始结构对其矿化作用的影响

以碱金属离子诱导桑蚕丝素蛋白溶液发生构象转变, 研究了蛋白质初始结构对其矿化作用的影响. FT-IR, XRD和SEM等测试结果显示, 未经任何处理的桑蚕丝素蛋白溶液矿化后形成片状复合物, 其无机相以二水磷酸氢钙(DCPD)为主; 而经过K^＋和Na^＋金属离子处理后, 桑蚕丝素溶液的结构由无规线团/螺旋构象向β-折叠发生转变, 矿化后成纤维状, 并相互结合呈现纳米级的三维多孔结构, 其无机相以热力学稳定的羟基磷灰石(HA)为主. 可以认为, 丝素蛋白结构转化为较伸展的β-折叠后, 使得更多的亲水基团暴露在外面, 在丝素蛋白分子不断凝聚成纤过程中, HA结晶快速生长并附着在这些微纤上, 最终形成纤维状的丝素蛋白/HA复合物. 该结果为阐明蛋白质的生物矿化过程及其调控机理提供了理论依据, 同时可以从矿化复合物的形成来反映这些微量元素可能对骨组织形成的影响, 为临床骨组织的修复提供一定的参考.     

Binding Ensembles of p53-MDM2 Peptide Inhibitors by Combining Bayesian Inference and Atomistic Simulations

Designing peptide inhibitors of the p53-MDM2 interaction against cancer is of wide interest. Computational modeling and virtual screening are a well established step in the rational design of small molecules. But they face challenges for binding flexible peptide molecules that fold upon binding. We look at the ability of five different peptides, three of which are intrinsically disordered, to bind to MDM2 with a new Bayesian inference approach (MELD × MD). The method is able to capture the folding upon binding mechanism and differentiate binding preferences between the five peptides. Processing the ensembles with statistical mechanics tools depicts the most likely bound conformations and hints at differences in the binding mechanism. Finally, the study shows the importance of capturing two driving forces to binding in this system: the ability of peptides to adopt bound conformations (ΔGconformation) and the interaction between interface residues (ΔGinteraction).     

Expression and Purification of ZNF191（243-368） in Three Expression Systems

ZNF191 （243-368）, a new human zinc finger protein, probably relates to some hereditary diseases and cancers, To obtain adequate amount of ZNF191（243-368） for the study of its property, structure and function, three different expression systems of inclusion-body, glutathione S-transferase （GST）, and hexahistidine （6 × His） were used and compared. Among these systems, the expression level of ZNFI91（243-368） was increased in inclusion body system under a higher isopropylthio-β-D-galactoside （IPTG） concentration, but the non-target proteins were also increased more, which made its purification more difficult and the yield lower. The expression of His-tag fusion protein was almost not affected by IPTG concentration, temperature and inducing time. At a high IPTG concentration the highest expression yield for GST fusion protein was obtained. And the fusion proteins can be partially purified by a single affinity chromatography step. The fusion protein systems show advantages for expression of these proteins.     

Affinity enrichment of plasma membrane for proteomics analysis

Proteomics analysis of plasma membranes from cells exposed to different extracellular environments is potentially a powerful approach for the identification of membrane-associated proteins responding to these environments. Preparation of high concentration plasma membrane fractions with low contamination from cellular organelles is essential for such studies. Here, we describe an affinity enrichment method, which combines cell surface biotinylation with affinity enrichment by immobilized streptavidin beads, for the isolation of plasma membranes. This method results in a 400-fold enrichment of plasma membrane relative to endoplasmic reticulum, a major contaminant in standard plasma membrane preparations, and dramatically reduces contamination from other cellular organelles. The biotinylation reaction did not interfere with ligand-dependent activation of receptor tyrosine kinases or G-protein coupled receptors, suggesting cell-surface signal transduction machinery remains functional. Membrane fractions prepared by this method should provide excellent starting materials for membrane proteomics analysis such as studies of dynamic trafficking and regulation of signaling molecules or identification of disease-specific membrane markers.     

Contributions of restructuring and oxidation to the aging of the surface of plasma polymers containing heteroatoms

The properties and composition of plasma polymer surfaces stored in air can change considerably over time, especially as a result of oxidative reactions. When plasma polymers contain an element other than O, it is possible to probe for mechanisms in addition to oxidation that contribute to the aging of the surface. Plasma polymers containing N were fabricated from either 1,3-diaminopropane (DAP),n-heptylamine (nHA), or allylamine (AA), and studied by X-ray photo-electron spectroscopy (XPS) and air/water contact angles (CA). For each of the plasma polymers, a multiexponential increase in the O/C ratio was observed over time using XPS. The N/C ratios remained constant (AA) or decreased somewhat (nHA and DAP). In contrast, the trends in CA values differed, declining for the nHA surfaces, rising for the AA, and changing little for the DAP. Surface roughness, assessed by scanning tunnelling or atomic force microscopy, did not change over time. The diverse adjustments in the polarity of each surface and the similar compositional changes between them are reconcilable if the aging of the plasma polymer surface is a manifestation of the superposition of concurrent oxidative reactions and partial surface reorientation; the former introduce polar groups and the latter transports then from the surface to deeper regions beyond the CA probe depth but within the XPS analysis depth. These processes vary between different plasma polymers. Data for the alkylamine plasma polymers is also compared with that for two plasma polymers fabricated from methanol. The change in composition, but not polarity, of the DAP surface after 4 days of storage demonstrates the importance of using multiple techniques to characterize the aging of plasma polymer surfaces.     

Golden crowns: cation binding by macrocyclic gold(I) crown ether derivatives

The polyether bis(alkynes) α,ω-bis(O-propargyl)triethylene glycol and α,ω-bis(O-4-propargyloxyphenoxy)triethylene glycol reacted with [AuCl(SMe₂)] in the presence of base to form the corresponding oligomeric gold(I) acetylide complexes (AuCCCH₂O(CH₂CH₂O)₃CH₂CCAu)_n and (AuCCCH₂OC₆H₄O(CH₂CH₂O)₃C₆H₄OCH₂CCAu)_n. These digold(I) diacetylide complexes reacted with diphosphine ligands to give macrocyclic digold(I) complexes of the type [Au₂(μ-CC)(μ-PP)], where CC is the diacetylide and PP is a diphosphine ligand. These digold(I) complexes bind the cations Li⁺, Na⁺, K⁺ and Cs⁺, as studied by electrospray mass spectrometry.     

依波西隆蓝与蛋白质作用的共振光散射光谱及其分析应用

微量蛋白质对依波西隆蓝的共振光散射产生增强作用，且增强程度与蛋白质浓度有良好的线性关系，由此建立了测定蛋白质的灵敏共振光散射分析方法。利用该方法测定合成样品和血清样品中的蛋白质，均获得了可靠的分析结果。     

High-level expression of soluble human β-defensin-2 fused with green fluorescent protein in Escherichia coli cell-free system

Human β-defensin-2 (hBD2), a small cationic peptide, exhibits a broad range of antimicrobial activity and does not acquire any microbial resistance. To produce this uneasily detectable, degradable, and toxic polypeptide efficiently, an alternative approach based on the Escherichia coli cell-free biosynthesis system was proposed. The approach implies that a polypeptide of interest is synthesized as a fusion protein linked to a green fluorescent protein (GFP) through a cleavable spacer. With batch-mode operation, a significant amount of hBD2 fused with GFP (0.25 mg/mL) can be expressed in this cell-free system. The productivity of the fusion protein can be improved up to 1.2 mg/mL by employing a continuous-exchange cell-free system. Furthermore, the GFP moiety provides directly visible and quantitative monitoring of the polypeptide synthesis, and the product is soluble and stable. This work will be helpful in allowing the rapid and visible expression of other similar defensins using an in vitro cell-free system.     

Classification of cultivation area of ginseng by near infrared spectroscopy and ICP-AES

A rapid and nondestructive near infrared (NIR) method using soft independent modeling of class analogy (SIMCA) for the classification of cultivation area (Korea and China) was evaluated and confirmed. Raw, first, and second derivative NIR spectra were compared to develop a robust classification rule. The chemical properties of ginseng samples were also investigated to find out the differences between Korean samples and Chinese samples. These differences make NIR spectroscopic method viable. The average value of each Korean and Chinese ginseng sample for crude fiber, crude protein, starch, and 10 inorganic constituents were measured and compared with F-test and t-test. The inorganic constituents were also measured by induced coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES). It could be found that the amount of starch and ten inorganic elements for example Na, Mg, P, K, Ca, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu and Zn in ginseng samples are considerably different based on cultivation area. SIMCA has been applied to the inorganic data to investigate the possibility of ICP-AES as classification tool. However, it was observed that the result was not equal to than NIR spectra data. The overall results showed the availability of NIR method using SIMCA would be adequate for classification of cultivation of ginseng, since NIR spectra includes useful and various information on chemical properties in spite of broad and overlapped bands.     

UO22＋•nH2O和PuO22＋•nH2O (n＝2, 4, 5, 6)密度泛函理论研究

首先用密度泛函理论(DFT)方法研究了铀酰和钚酰离子的几何与电子结构, 计算结果与实验基本符合, 表明DFT方法也能用于含铀和钚重原子的化合物计算. 然后对铀酰和钚酰水合离子的几何构型、Mulliken集居数分布以及铀酰(钚酰)与配体水分子的结合能进行计算, 计算结果表明UO₂^2＋•5H₂O和PuO₂^2＋•5H₂O分别为铀酰和钚酰系列水合离子中最稳定的配合物.