Role of inducible nitric oxide synthase on the development of virus-associated asthma exacerbation which is dependent on Th1 and Th17 cell responses

Asthma is characterized by airway inflammation induced by immune dysfunction to inhaled antigens. Although respiratory viral infections are the most common cause of asthma exacerbation, immunologic mechanisms underlying virus-associated asthma exacerbation are controversial. Clinical evidence indicates that nitric oxide (NO) levels in exhaled air are increased in exacerbated asthma patients compared to stable patients. Here, we evaluated the immunologic mechanisms and the role of NO synthases (NOSs) in the development of virus-associated asthma exacerbation. A murine model of virus-associated asthma exacerbation was established using intranasal challenge with ovalbumin (OVA) plus dsRNA for 4 weeks in mice sensitized with OVA plus dsRNA. Lung infiltration of inflammatory cells, especially neutrophils, was increased by repeated challenge with OVA plus dsRNA, as compared to OVA alone. The neutrophilic inflammation enhanced by dsRNA was partly abolished in the absence of IFN-gamma or IL-17 gene expression, whereas unaffected in the absence of IL-13. In terms of the roles of NOSs, dsRNA-enhanced neutrophilic inflammation was significantly decreased in inducible NOS (iNOS)-deficient mice compared to wild type controls; in addition, this phenotype was inhibited by treatment with a non-specific NOS inhibitor (L-NAME) or an specific inhibitor (1400 W), but not with a specific endothelial NOS inhibitor (AP-CAV peptide). Taken together, these findings suggest that iNOS pathway is important in the development of virus-associated exacerbation of neutrophilic inflammation, which is dependent on both Th1 and Th17 cell responses.     

Prostacyclin and Thromboxane Synthase: New Aspects of Hemethiolate Catalysis

The arachidonic acid metabolites thromboxane A₂ and prostacyclin are highly potent regulators of cell physiology. They are both formed by enzymatic rearrangement of the 9,11-epidioxy prostaglandin H₂ catalyzed, however, by thromboxane and prostacyclin synthase, respectively. The two enzymes have been isolated, sequenced, and characterized as hemethiolate (“P450”) enzymes. The different isomerization products can be explained on the same catalytic principle by a different ligation of the heme centers with the two epidioxy oxygens atoms. This requires different conformations for substrate binding at the active site, which is substantiated by the different inhibitors and amino acid sequences of the enzymes. In a hypothesis which has mechanistic principles in common with the P450-monooxygenases and the allene oxide synthases, oxy radicals are formed first and rearrange to carbon radicals. These could then rapidly be converted into carbocations by the ferrylthiolate or iron(III )thiyl structures formed as intermediates.     

Mutation effects of a conserved alanine (Ala510) in type I polyhydroxyalkanoate synthase from Ralstonia eutropha on polyester biosynthesis

Type I polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) synthases, as represented by Ralstonia eutropha enzyme (PhaC(Re)), have narrow substrate specificity toward (R)-3-hydroxyacyl-coenzyme A with acyl chain length of C3-C5 to yield PHA polyesters. In this study, saturation point mutagenesis of a highly conserved alanine at position 510 (A510) in PhaC(Re) was carried out to investigate the effects on the polymerization activity and the substrate specificity for in vivo PHA biosynthesis in bacterial cells. A series of saturation mutants were first applied for poly[(R)-3-hydroxybutyrate] homopolymer synthesis in Escherichia coli and R. eutropha PHB(-)4 (PHA negative mutant) cells to assess the polymerization activity. All mutants showed quantitatively similar polymerization activities when R. eutropha PHB(-)4 was used for assay, whereas several mutants such as A510P showed low activities in E. coli. Further analysis has revealed that majority of mutants synthesize polyesters with higher molecular weights than the wild-type. In particular, substitution by acidic amino acids, A510D(E), led to remarkable increases in molecular weights. Subsequently, PHA copolymer synthesis from dodecanoate (C12 fatty acid) was examined. The copolymer compositions were varied depending on the mutants used. Significant increased fractions of long monomer units (C6 and C8) in PHA copolymers were observed for three mutants [A510M(Q,C)]. From these results, the mutations at this potion are beneficial to change the molecular weight of polyesters and the substrate specificity of PhaC(Re). Molecular weight distributions of PHA polymers synthesized by the wild-type enzyme (PhaC(Re)) and its mutants.     

Macrolactam formation catalyzed by the thioesterase domain of vicenistatin polyketide synthase

The excited thioesterase (TE) domain from the vicenistatin polyketide synthase (PKS) efficiently catalyzed the macrolactam formation of the N-acetylcysteamine thioester of the seco-amino acid of the aglycon vicenilactam. This result indicates that the vicenistatin PKS TE domain cyclizes the extended polyketide chain on the ACP domain in the PKS. Furthermore, the simple ethyl ester of the seco-amino acid was also found to be used as a substrate of the TE domain with similar efficiency.     

TEMPO-initiated oxidation of 2-aminophenol to 2-aminophenoxazin-3-one

The oxidation reaction of 2-aminophenol (OAP) to 2-aminophenoxazin-3-one (APX) initiated by 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-1-piperidinyloxyl (TEMPO) has been investigated in methanol at ambient temperature. The oxidation of OAP was followed by electronic spectroscopy and the rate constants were determined according to the rate law −d[OAP]/dt=k_obs[OAP][TEMPO]. The rate constant, activation enthalpy and entropy at 298 K are as follows: k_obs (dm³ mol⁻¹ s⁻¹)=(1.49±0.02)×10⁻⁴, E_a=18±5 kJ mol⁻¹, ΔH^‡=15±4 kJ mol⁻¹, ΔS^‡=−82±17 J mol⁻¹ K⁻¹. The results of oxidation of OAP show that the formation of 2-aminophenoxyl radical is the key step in the activation process of the substrate.     

Biosynthesis of polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) copolymer from fructose using wild-type and laboratory-evolved PHA synthases

Eleven laboratory-evolved polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) synthases which originated from Pseudomonas sp. 61-3 enzyme (PhaC1(Ps)), together with the wild-type enzyme, were applied for PHA synthesis from fructose using Ralstonia eutropha PHB(-)4 as a host strain. The evolved PhaC1(Ps) mutants had amino acid substitution(s) at position 325 and/or position 481. In these mutants, serine-325 (S325) was replaced by cysteine (C) or threonine (T), while glutamine-481 (Q481) was replaced by lysine (K), methionine (M) or arginine (R). All recombinant strains harboring the genes of the evolved PhaC1(Ps) mutants produced a significantly increased amount of PHA (55-68 wt.-%) compared with the one harboring the wild-type gene (49 wt.-%). Particularly, those evolved PhaC1(Ps) mutants having multiple amino acid substitutions showed higher activities for PHA synthesis. Characterization of the PHA by NMR spectroscopy revealed that they were copolymers consisting of (R)-3-hydroxybutyrate (98-99 mol-%) and medium-chain-length comonomers (1-2 mol-%). This study also confirmed that amino acid substitution at position 481 in PhaC1(Ps) led to an increasing molecular weight of PHA. The number-average molecular weight (Mn) of PHA (Mn = 240,000) synthesized by the evolved PhaC1(Ps) (Q481K) mutant was 4.6-fold greater than that (Mn = 52,000) synthesized by the wild-type enzyme.     

几丁质合成酶抑制剂

几丁质合成酶是生物合成几丁质的关键物质。几丁质是昆虫表皮和真菌细胞壁的特征成分,由于存在的特殊性而成为农药、医药研发的独特靶标。几丁质合成酶抑制剂由于具有安全、高效等特点,成为农用杀虫、杀螨、杀菌剂以及医药抗真菌药物的研发热点。本文综述了天然及人工合成的几丁质合成酶抑制剂的研究进展,并对其发展趋势进行了展望。     

超声辅助提取-液相色谱-串联质谱法同时测定油料作物中6种新型乙酰乳酸合成酶抑制剂类除草剂残留

将超声辅助提取与液相色谱-质谱联用技术相结合,建立了油料作物中6种新型乙酰乳酸合成酶（ALS）抑制剂类除草剂（甲基二磺隆、氯吡嘧磺、双草醚、嘧草醚、嘧苯胺磺隆和乙氧嘧磺隆）的痕量多残留检测技术。比较了超声辅助提取和QuEChERS提取2种方法对6种除草剂的提取回收率,并根据净化效果和吸附作用对十八烷基键合硅胶吸附剂（C18）、乙二胺-N-丙基硅烷（PSA）、石墨化炭黑（GCB）、弗罗里硅土（Florisil）和增强型基质去除吸附剂（EMR）5种吸附材料进行优化。结果表明,超声辅助提取可使6种化合物的提取回收率在90.0%以上,EMR对6种化合物的吸附作用较小,且可有效去除油脂干扰,减小基质效应。6种除草剂在0.05~500.0 μg/L范围内具有良好的线性,相关系数均大于0.9984。该方法检出限和定量限分别为0.08~0.8 μg/kg和0.25~2.5 μg/kg。6种化合物在油菜籽、大豆、花生米和葵花籽4种基质中3个加标水平下的加标回收率为70.7%~103.8%,相对标准偏差为0.8%~9.2%,可应用于油料作物中6种ALS抑制剂类除草剂的同时测定。     

一氧化氮合酶的结构及其催化机理

综述了一氧化氮合酶的结构、功能和催化路径, 讨论了诱导型一氧化氮合酶的结构和功能的关系以及加氧氧化的机理.     

对羟基杏仁酸合成酶三维结构模建及其与底物的分子对接研究

以对羟基苯丙酮酸双氧化酶(HPPD)的晶体结构为模板, 利用同源模建方法构建了与其高度同源、底物相同但催化功能存在明显差别的对羟基杏仁酸合成酶(HMS)的三维结构, 并对模建结构的合理性进行了分析. 在模建结果的基础上, 对HPPD和HMS分别与底物羟苯基丙酮酸(HPP)进行分子对接计算, 比较了二者结合模式的异同, 为两种同源酶在催化方面差异性的合理阐释提供了一些有益的信息.