修饰离子聚合度对膜-颗粒体系静电自组装的影响

采用不同聚合度的季铵阳离子聚合物作为修饰离子,对纳米Pt颗粒的合成及其在全氟磺酸膜(Ｎａｆｉｏｎ)上的静电自组装行为进行了研究,结合Ｎａｆｉｏｎ膜电导率的变化对膜-颗粒自组装机理进行了分析。结果表明:自组装过程中Ｎａｆｉｏｎ膜电导率的下降总是比Pt组装量的上升先达到平衡,表明膜-颗粒体系(MPS)的静电自组装是一个先由大量的小阳离子占据空位,然后由离子修饰的大颗粒(纳米Pt)取代的过程；改变修饰离子的聚合度同时会引起组装液中游离修饰离子的数目的变化,从而对电导率的衰减速度和组装第二阶段的脱附-组装平衡造成影响,因此随着修饰离子聚合度的增加,导电率达到平衡的时间增加,组装量达到平衡的时间减少。     

Peptide Stapling by Crosslinking Two Amines with α-Ketoaldehydes through Diverse Modified Glyoxal-Lysine Dimer Linkers

α-Ketoaldehydes play versatile roles in the ubiquitous natural processes of protein glycation. However, leveraging the reactivity of α-ketoaldehydes for biomedical applications has been challenging. Previously, the reactivity of α-ketoaldehydes with guanidine has been harnessed to design probes for labeling Arg residues on proteins in an aqueous medium. Herein, a highly effective, broadly applicable, and operationally simple protocol for stapling native peptides by crosslinking two amino groups through diverse imidazolium linkers with various α-ketoaldehyde reagents is described. The use of hexafluoroisopropanol as a solvent facilitates rapid and clean reactions under mild conditions and enables unique selectivity for Lys over Arg. The naturally occurring GOLD/MOLD linkers have been expanded to encompass a wide range of modified glyo xal-l ysine d imer (OLD) linkers. In a proof-of-concept trial, these modular stapling reactions enabled a convenient two-round strategy to streamline the structure–activity relationship (SAR) study of the wasp venom peptide anoplin, leading to enhanced biological activities.     

High-Efficiency Expression and Purification of DNAJB6b Based on the pH-Modulation of Solubility and Denaturant-Modulation of Size

The chaperone DNAJB6b delays amyloid formation by suppressing the nucleation of amyloid fibrils and increases the solubility of amyloid-prone proteins. These dual effects on kinetics and equilibrium are related to the unusually high chemical potential of DNAJB6b in solution. As a consequence, the chaperone alone forms highly polydisperse oligomers, whereas in a mixture with an amyloid-forming protein or peptide it may form co-aggregates to gain a reduced chemical potential, thus enabling the amyloid peptide to increase its chemical potential leading to enhanced solubility of the peptide. Understanding such action at the level of molecular driving forces and detailed structures requires access to highly pure and sequence homogeneous DNAJB6b with no sequence extension. We therefore outline here an expression and purification protocol of the protein “as is” with no tags leading to very high levels of pure protein based on its physicochemical properties, including size and charge. The versatility of the protocol is demonstrated through the expression of an isotope labelled protein and seven variants, and the purification of three of these. The activity of the protein is bench-marked using aggregation assays. Two of the variants are used to produce a palette of fluorescent DNAJB6b labelled at an engineered N- or C-terminal cysteine.     

不同拓扑构型嵌段液晶分子的合成与相变行为

本文对近来报道的三类嵌段液晶分子：多羟基1－苯甲酰胺－2,3－丙二醇两亲性分子I,星状季戊四醇苯甲酸酯II及带侧链的波拉化合物III的合成及自组装行为作了综述。这些分子由各向异性嵌段、两亲性嵌段和烷基链（或全氟链）以不同的拓扑形式组合而成,其合成的关键步骤是Pd(0)催化下碘代全氟烷烃对双键的自由基加成反应以及Pd(0)催化的偶合反应。通过调节亲水部分和亲脂部分的比例, 在I和II-F中观察到了从近晶层相（Sm）到柱相（Col）再到三维立方相（Cub）的液晶相序列;在波拉分子III-F中通过改变侧链的长度, 获得了一系列柱相及新型层相。这些研究表明, 利用多元化竞争组合理念,将分子中不相容的部分以不同的拓扑形式结合在一起,通过它们的微观相分离, 形成不同的微观区域, 获得不同的界面, 产生不同的界面曲率, 可设计合成具有不同微观结构的超分子体系, 从而在分子水平上控制分子的自组装行为; 同时全氟链的引入所带来的氟效应能促进微观分离,稳定液晶相,并有利于复杂超分子体系的产生。     

Preparation and Application of a Chemical Probe for Identifying the Targets of the Marine Cyclic Peptide Kapakahine A

Marine organisms are a rich source of bioactive secondary metabolites. Although many marine natural products with bioactivities have been isolated, successful elucidation of their mechanisms of action remains limited. In this study, we prepared a probe molecule based on the marine cyclic peptide kapakahine A (1) by introducing a linker with an azide terminal group, which enables the introduction of fluorescent groups for the effective monitoring of subcellular localization, or coupling to affinity beads for the pull-down of target proteins. The results of LC/MS/MS measurements, ProteinPilot analysis, and Western blotting suggest that kapakahine A interacts with the mitochondrial inner membrane proteins PHB1, PHB2, and ANT2, which is consistent with the results of the subcellular localization analysis using a fluorescent probe.     

Hit-to-Lead Short Peptides against Dengue Type 2 Envelope Protein: Computational and Experimental Investigations

Data from the World Health Organisation show that the global incidence of dengue infection has risen drastically, with an estimated 400 million cases of dengue infection occurring annually. Despite this worrying trend, there is still no therapeutic treatment available. Herein, we investigated short peptide fragments with a varying total number of amino acid residues (peptide fragments) from previously reported dengue virus type 2 (DENV2) peptide-based inhibitors, DN58wt (GDSYIIIGVEPGQLKENWFKKGSSIGQMF), DN58opt (TWWCFYFCRRHHPFWFFYRHN), DS36wt (LITVNPIVTEKDSPVNIEAE), and DS36opt (RHWEQFYFRRRERKFWLFFW), aided by in silico approaches: peptide–protein molecular docking and 100 ns of molecular dynamics (MD) simulation via molecular mechanics using Poisson–Boltzmann surface area (MMPBSA) and molecular mechanics generalised Born surface area (MMGBSA) methods. A library of 11,699 peptide fragments was generated, subjected to in silico calculation, and the candidates with the excellent binding affinity and shown to be stable in the DI-DIII binding pocket of DENV2 envelope (E) protein were determined. Selected peptides were synthesised using conventional Fmoc solid-phase peptide chemistry, purified by RP-HPLC, and characterised using LCMS. In vitro studies followed, to test for the peptides’ toxicity and efficacy in inhibiting the DENV2 growth cycle. Our studies identified the electrostatic interaction (from free energy calculation) to be the driving stabilising force for the E protein–peptide interactions. Five key E protein residues were also identified that had the most interactions with the peptides: (polar) LYS36, ASN37, and ARG350, and (nonpolar) LEU351 and VAL354; these residues might play crucial roles in the effective binding interactions. One of the peptide fragments, DN58opt_8-13 (PFWFFYRH), showed the best inhibitory activity, at about 63% DENV2 plague reduction, compared with no treatment. This correlates well with the in silico studies in which the peptide possessed the lowest binding energy (−9.0 kcal/mol) and was maintained steadily within the binding pocket of DENV2 E protein during the MD simulations. This study demonstrates the use of computational studies to expand research on lead optimisation of antiviral peptides, thus explaining the inhibitory potential of the designed peptides.     

反相高效液相色谱法测定太子参中的环肽 Pseudostellarin B

建立了一种用于分析太子参中环肽Pseudostellarin B的高效液相色谱法. 该方法采用反相C18柱: 流动相A为水, 流动相B为乙腈, 梯度洗脱, 流速为 1.0 mL/min, 紫外检测波长为 203 nm, 柱温为 30 ℃, 外标法定量. 结果表明, 在0.5～20 μg范围内标准曲线有良好的线性关系 (r=0.9995), 加标回收率为96.7%～104.5%, 方法的精密度良好(平均RSD＜0.5%). 该方法可用于实际样品的测定.     

含有络合功能基的非天然氨基酸的设计、合成及在生物活性肽中的应用

设计合成了一类侧链带有络合基团的非天然氨基酸, 即侧链带有N,N-二羧甲基氨甲基、N,N-二酰胺甲基氨甲基和N,N-二羟乙基氨甲基的苯丙氨酸衍生物, 并将这类非天然氨基酸用于促性腺激素释放激素(LHRH)类似物的固相合成. 高效液相色谱分析结果表明, 粗肽的纯度较好, 易于纯化; 用电喷雾质谱测定了多肽的分子量. 这些非天然氨基酸可作为其它肽类药物合成的构建单元.     

胸腺素α1的C端活性片段环肽类似物的合成与生物活性评价

用硫酯法合成了一系列Tα1的C端活性片段的环肽类似物, 以提高其活性与稳定性. 用促淋巴细胞增殖法测定了环肽类似物的生物活性, 结果表明, 环肽类似物较好地保留或提高了促淋巴细胞增殖活性.