N-linked glycan structures of a mouse monoclonal antibody produced from tobacco BY2 suspension-cultured cells

cDNA encoding H- and L-chains from a mouse monoclonal antibody was introduced into tobacco BY2 cells, and the resulting sugar chain structures of plant-produced antibodies were analyzed by a combination of HPLC, exoglucosidase digestion and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry. The glycan structures determined were Man(5-6)GlcNAc2 (22.3%), GlcNAcMan5GlcNAc2 (3.1%), GlcNAcMan3FucXylGlcNAc2 (24.4%), GlcNAcMan3XylGlcNAc2 (17.8%), Man3FucXylGlcNAc2 (24.3%), and Man3XylGlcNAc2 (8.1%). The major glycan structures of the antibodies produced by transgenic suspension-cultured cells contain typical plant bisecting beta(1,2)-xylose and alpha(1,3)-fucose residues, suggesting the posttranslational modification of a recombinant antibody in the late Golgi apparatus.     

Characterization of transient expression system for retroviral vector production

The production of retroviral vectors using a transient expression system has been improved to obtain a high-titer virus preparation that is difficult to produce using packaging cell lines due to the cytotoxic or cytostatic effect of transgenes. Here, we used one such production method, the so-called Q-vector system, and examined its potential for virus production. The Q-vector system could produce a similar level of viral vectors compared with the packaging cell system but the production seemed to depend on the size and nature of transgenes. In the process of investigation of the quantitative difference in viral components between the transient expression system and the packaging cell system, we found that the Q-vector system could express higher amounts of viral RNA and proteins compared with the packaging cell system. However, this did not lead to a higher virus titer compared with that produced by the packaging cell system. This suggests that retroviral RNA transcribed from the plasmid in the transient system seemed to be used mainly for translation and only some of the RNA molecules were packaged in viral particles.     

Construction of FLAG tagging vectors for Candida albicans

We have constructed three new vectors for Candida albicans (pFLAG-Act1, pFLAG-Mal2, and pFLAG-Met3). The proteins can be expressed as C-terminal FLAG-tagged proteins under the control of different promoters (ACT1, MAL2, and MET3). To confirm the protein expression, we used the Renilla reniformis luciferase and the drug efflux pump Cdr1p of Candida albicans as reporters. The luciferase protein expressed by the MET3 promoter was found to have the strongest activity of the three promoters when cultured in a methionine-depleted synthetic medium. Cdr1p was expressed as a C-terminal FLAG-tagged protein using either these vectors or PCR-mediated integration. The fluconazole resistance was increased by the Cdr1p expression in a CDR1 homozygous disruptant. The expressed proteins were detected by Western blotting using the anti-FLAG antibody. We also constructed a Cdr1p-FLAG expressing strain, in which we directly tagged Cdr1p with FLAG on the genome loci, using a PCR-based integrative marker cassette that was amplified using the pFLAG vector. We then confirmed the protein expression by Western blotting. Thus, these new vectors are useful as C. albicans genetic tools.     

苹果转录因子MdHB1的原核表达与多克隆抗体制备

HD-Zip转录因子在植物生长发育过程中具有重要作用,蛋白水平的研究有助于进一步阐释其功能。将苹果转录因子基因MdHB1分别连接到pGEX-6p-1和pET-28a（＋）表达载体,热激转化大肠杆菌感受态细胞BL21（DE3）,随后用异丙基-β-D-硫代半乳糖苷（isopropyl-β-D-thiogalactoside,IPTG）诱导培养,分别得到了带有GST和6×His标签的MdHB1融合蛋白（分别命名为MdHB1-GST和MdHB1-His6）。十二烷基硫酸钠-聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳分析表明,在?18、28?℃和37?℃?3?个温度诱导条件下都是沉淀中MdHB1-GST融合蛋白的量较多,37?℃尤为明显,较低的诱导温度（18?℃和28?℃）能够提高融合蛋白MdHB1-GST可溶性形式存在的比例;28?℃条件下50?mg/L IPTG诱导的总蛋白量在8?h左右达到最大,且受IPTG质量浓度（10、50、100?mg/L）的影响不大。以Ni-NTA柱纯化的融合蛋白MdHB1-His6为抗原,成年兔免疫以制备多克隆抗体。间接酶联免疫法检测结果表明,所得抗体效价较高。蛋白质免疫印迹实验结果说明,所制备多克隆抗体特异性良好,能够从菌体和苹果幼叶总蛋白中成功检测MdHB1蛋白。综上所述,本实验所得多克隆抗体能够用于深入研究MdHB1在植物体内的功能。     

茶叶CHS基因表达特性及其与儿茶素积累的关系

本研究用高效液相色谱法(HPLC)测定两种茶叶的儿茶素含量,通过RT-PCR克隆英红9号(YH)和南昆山毛叶茶(MY)的CHS基因进行比对分析,借助烟草瞬时表达技术对基因表达蛋白进行亚细胞定位;结合生物信息学分析选取特定肽段经人工合成后作为抗原制备CHS基因特异抗体;用荧光定量PCR(qRT-PCR)技术和Western blot技术测定比较两种茶叶CHS基因在转录、翻译水平的差异,并对比分析了两种茶叶间儿茶素含量差异与相应CHS基因表达的关系。结果表明:YH和MY中的儿茶素含量分别为181.51 mg/g和106.02 mg/g,前者显著高于后者并达到1.71倍;两种茶叶中所克隆的CHS基因具有单核苷酸差异但编码相同的氨基酸序列,其表达蛋白亚细胞定位于细胞质、细胞膜和细胞核;制备的CHS蛋白兔源抗体效价为1:80000;CHS基因在YH中的表达无论在转录水平还是在翻译水平均显著高于MY,前者分别是后者的3.9倍和1.7倍,两种茶叶中CHS合成酶基因在转录、翻译水平的表达均与其对应的儿茶素积累水平一致。实验研究证明,茶叶儿茶素积累水平与其合成通路关键酶基因CHS的表达呈正相关。     

Effects of eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid on responses of LPS-stimulated intestinal B lymphocytes from broiler chickens studied in vitro

Effects of different ratios and concentrations of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) on intestinal B lymphocyte proliferation, IgA secretion and expression of CD5 + CD79a were studied in vitro using cells isolated from broilers. Proliferation was determined by the 3-(4,5- dimethylthiazol-2-yl)- 2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, and those groups with significant difference were selected to detect the IgA using ELISA kit. According to the significant difference of IgA secretion, the expression of CD5 and CD79a was analyzed by fluorescent antibody staining and flow cytometry. The results showed that EPA and DHA inhibited the in vitro proliferation of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated B lymphocytes. EPA and DHA significantly suppressed the ability of LPS-stimulated B cells to secrete IgA with ratios of 1:1 at 20 μg/mL and 2:1 at 20 and 40 μg/mL (P < 0.05). In addition, CD5 and CD79a were maximally expressed on LPS-stimulated B cells when the EPA/DHA ratio was 2:1 at 20 μg/mL (P < 0.01), suggesting that the inflammatory reaction may be downregulated by the increasing expression of CD5 and CD79a and inhibitive secretion of IgA by B cell.     

Optimal ratios of essential amino acids stimulate β-casein synthesis via activation of the mammalian target of rapamycin signaling pathway in MAC-T cells and bovine mammary tissue explants

Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins and serve as key molecular components upstream of the signaling pathways that regulate protein synthesis. The objective of this study was to systematically investigate the effect of essential AA ratios on milk protein synthesis in vitro and to elucidate some of the underlying mechanisms. Triplicate cultures of MAC-T cells and bovine mammary tissue explants (MTE) were incubated with the optimal AA ratio (OPAA; Lys:Met, 2.9:1; Thr:Phe, 1.05:1; Lys:Thr, 1.8:1; Lys:His, 2.38:1; and Lys:Val, 1.23:1) in the presence of rapamycin (control), OPAA, a Lys:Thr ratio of 2.1:1, a Lys:Thr ratio of 1.3:1, a Lys:His ratio of 3.05:1, or a Lys:Val ratio of 1.62:1 for 12 h; the other AA concentrations were equal to OPAA. In some experiments, the cells were cultured with OPAA with or without rapamycin (100 ng/mL) or with mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) small interference RNA, and the MTE were exposed to OPAA with rapamycin for β-casein expression. Among the treatments, the expression of β-casein was greatest in the MTE cultured with OPAA. In MAC-T cells, the OPAA upregulated the mRNA expression of SLC1A5 and SLC7A5 but downregulated the expression of IRS1, AKT3, EEF1A1, and EEF2 compared with the control. The OPAA had no effect on the mTOR phosphorylation status but increased the phosphorylation of S6K1 and RPS6. When the MTE were treated with rapamycin in the presence of OPAA, the expression of β-casein was markedly decreased. The phosphorylation of RPS6 and 4EBP1 also was reduced in MAC-T cells. A similar negative effect on the expression of RPS6KB1 and EIF4EBP1 was detected when the cells were cultured with either rapamycin or mTOR small interference RNA. The optimal AA ratio stimulated β-casein expression partly by enhancing the transport of AA into the cells, cross-talk with insulin signaling and a subsequent enhancement of mTOR signaling, or translation elongation in both MAC-T cells and bovine MTE.     

Direct selection of Pichia pastoris expression strains using new G418 resistance vectors

The methylotrophic yeast, Pichia pastoris, is widely used as a host organism for the expression of heterologous proteins. Currently, the Zeocin and blasticidin resistance genes are the only dominant selectable markers that can be used for primary selection of transformants. In this report we describe new expression vectors that can be used to select directly for P. pastoris transformants using G418 resistance conferred by a modified Tn903kan(r) gene. Compared to other dominant markers, this system is more economical and offers a higher transformation efficiency, due to the small sizes of the cloning vectors, pKAN B and pKANalpha B (GenBank Accession Nos EU285585 and EU285586, respectively). Additionally, multicopy transformants can be generated using these new vectors.     

Bacterial plasmid pBR322 sequences serve as upstream activating sequences in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The expression of acid phosphatase (APase) from PHO5 and MF alpha-PHO5 hybrid genes is regulated by inorganic phosphate and mating type locus respectively, as well as the PHO4 and MAT alpha 1 gene products respectively. When PHO5 and MF alpha-PHO5 hybrid genes were cloned in the BamHI site of the pBR322 sequence of the yeast shuttle vectors (YRp7 or YEp9T), in one orientation they were regulated normally but in the other orientation their expression was not regulated but expressed constitutively. The pBR322 sequences present upstream of the inserted genes are responsible for the constitutive expression. By replacing the PHO5 upstream activating sequences (UAS) element with pBR322 fragments, we have identified three pBR322 sequences, from nucleotides 376 to 650, 2068 to 2116 and 2136 to 2247, which were able to promote expression of APase. A comparison of these three pBR322 fragments revealed 5' ATCGCGCGAG 3' and 5' CGGTGATGNCGG 3' to be the common sequences likely to act as UASs in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. By using synthetic oligonucleotides, it was found that both sequences are required for maximum expression of APase activity.     

Hygromycin‐resistance vectors for gene expression in Pichia pastoris

Pichia pastoris is a common host organism for heterologous protein expression and metabolic engineering. Zeocin‐, G418‐, nourseothricin‐ and blasticidin‐resistance genes are the only dominant selectable markers currently available for selecting P. pastoris transformants. We describe here new P. pastoris expression vectors that confer a hygromycin resistance base on the Klebsiella pneumoniae hph gene. To demonstrate the application of the vectors for intracellular and secreted protein expression, green fluorescent protein (GFP) and human serum albumin (HSA) were cloned into the vectors and transformed into P. pastoris cells. The resulting strains expressed GFP and HSA constitutively or inducibly. The hygromycin resistance marker was also suitable for post‐transformational vector amplication (PTVA) for obtaining strains with high plasmid copy numbers. A strain with multiple copies of the HSA expression cassette after PTVA had increased HSA expression compared with a strain with a single copy of the plasmid. To demonstrate compatibility of the new vectors with other vectors bearing antibiotic‐resistance genes, P. pastoris was transformed with the Saccharomyces cerevisiae genes GSH1, GSH2 or SAM2 on plasmids containing genes for resistance to Zeocin, G418 or hygromycin. The resulting strain produced glutathione and S‐adenosyl‐l ‐methionine at levels approximately twice those of the parent strain. The new hygromycin‐resistance vectors allow greater flexibility and potential applications in recombinant protein production and other research using P. pastoris. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of a novel co-culture system on development,metabolism and gene expression of bovine embryos produced in vitro

An in vitro model using co-culture of bovine in vitro-produced (IVP) embryos and bovine oviduct epithelial cells (bOECs) was established to study embryo-maternal interactions in the oviductal environment. In vitro conditions maintaining differentiated growth of oviductal cells were determined by evaluating several media supplemented with different sera at various concentrations. Morphological features were used as indicators of physiological growth, and it became obvious that synthetic oviduct fluid (SOF) supplemented with either oestrous cow serum (OCS) or dextran-coated charcoal-treated fetal calf serum (DCC-FCS) helped to prevent dedifferentiation of bOECs (Expt 1). RT-real-time-PCR analysis revealed an increased mRNA content of the oviduct-specific glycoprotein GP 85-97 when using lower serum concentrations (2 and 5% compared with 10%; Expt 2). In subsequent experiments in which cell-free cultured controls and co-cultured embryos were compared, co-cultured embryos showed an increased rate of cleavage (P < 0.05) after 3 days. Successive cell-free culture until day 8 resulted in a lower rate of blastocyst development (P < 0.05) and reduced ATP content (P < 0.05) of co-cultured versus control embryos (Expt 3). Long-term co-culture (8 days) in SOF with 5% OCS increased the expression of developmentally relevant genes (glucose transporter 1 (Glut-1) and heat shock protein (HSP 70)) in co-cultured versus control embryos (Expt 4). Higher embryonic Glut-1 mRNA expression after co-culture was obvious when using 10% DCC-FCS, but was not significant when culture medium was supplemented with 10% rather than 5% OCS (Expt 5). In conclusion, SOF with 5% OCS supports differentiated growth of bOECs. Co-culture under these conditions improves early cleavage rate, but not blastocyst development, and increases the expression of developmentally relevant genes influenced by type of serum and serum concentration.     

A versatile set of vectors for constitutive and regulated gene expression in Pichia pastoris

The budding yeast Pichia pastoris is an attractive system for exploring certain questions in cell biology, but experimental use of this organism has been limited by a lack of convenient expression vectors. Here we describe a set of compact vectors that should allow for the expression of a wide range of endogenous or foreign genes in P. pastoris. A gene of interest is inserted into a modified pUC19 polylinker; targeted integration into the genome then results in stable and uniform expression of this gene. The utility of these vectors was illustrated by expressing the bacterial β-glucuronidase (GUS) gene. Constitutive GUS expression was obtained with the strong GAP promoter or the moderate YPT1 promoter. The regulatable AOX1 promoter yielded very strong GUS expression in methanol-grown cells, negligible expression in glucose-grown cells, and intermediate expression in mannitol-grown cells. GenBank Accession Numbers are: pIB1, AF027958; pIB2, AF027959; pIB3, AF027960; pIB4, AF027961. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Production of anti-prion scFv-Fc fusion proteins by recombinant animal cells

We constructed a replication-defective retroviral vector plasmid for the expression of a single-chain antibody fragment (scFv), derived from a chicken anti-human prion protein monoclonal antibody, fused with the Fc region of human IgG1. CHO-K1 and NS-1 cells were transformed with the viral vector pseudotyped with vesicular stomatitis virus G protein (VSV-G), and scFv-Fc producer clones were established. Among the established clones, CHO-2A9 cells produced a large amount of the product with an antibody-like dimerized structure in serum-free culture that facilitated the purification of scFv-Fc. The scFv-Fc specifically recognized the epitope sequence of prion protein in solid-phase enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and Western blot analysis. The injection test into quails revealed that the scFv became more stable in vivo by fusion with the Fc region. The scFv-Fc will be a useful tool for the detection of mammalian prion proteins.     

酿酒酵母和大肠杆菌鸟嘌呤脱氨酶基因的克隆、原核表达及活性测定

与植物体内合成路径不同,微生物体内合成咖啡碱存在一条以黄嘌呤为底物,利用鸟嘌呤脱氨酶催化鸟嘌呤生成黄嘌呤有效合成咖啡碱的新途径。为克隆鸟嘌呤脱氨酶的基因,构建可高效合成黄嘌呤的原核表达载体并对外源蛋白活性进行检测,分别以酿酒酵母和大肠杆菌为研究材料,根据GenBank中酿酒酵母和大肠杆菌中鸟嘌呤脱氨酶基因gud1和egud序列设计引物,聚合酶链式反应特异扩增其基因片段,将目的基因连接至pMAL-c5X载体,转入大肠杆菌BL21（DE3）中诱导蛋白表达,并用高效液相色谱法鉴定其目的蛋白的催化活性。结果表明重组载体pMAL-gud1、pMAL-egud均可用来合成黄嘌呤,且GUD1比EGUD合成黄嘌呤的效率更高。研究结果将进一步丰富黑茶加工技术理论,同时为体外构建高效咖啡碱生物工程菌提供理论支持。     

Mammary gland expression of antibacterial peptide genes to inhibit bacterial pathogens causing mastitis

As a step toward prevention of bovine mastitis, a plasmid-mediated gene transfer technique was used to enable mammary cells to synthesize and secrete bovine lactoferricin and bovine tracheal antibacterial peptides. For this purpose, a series of mammary tissue-specific expression vectors, harboring the antibacterial peptide gene, the 5′-flanking regulation sequence of goat β-casein, and the bovine growth hormone polyadenylation signal sequence, were constructed using a eukaryotic expression vector pIRES1-neo. The mammary gland tissue-specific expression vector carrying the antimicrobial peptide genes dissolved in physiologic saline was injected directly into the lactating mammary glands of goats. The milk samples after injection were checked by Tricine-SDS-PAGE and bacterium inhibition zone assay. The results of these tests showed that the mammary gland tissue-specific expression vector driven by the goat β-casein gene promoter could efficiently direct the expression of antibacterial peptides in goat milk; the expression of antibacterial proteins lasted for 3 to 6 d. All of the milk samples collected from the mammary glands that had been injected with different vectors harboring the antibacterial peptide gene(s) exhibited bacteriostatic activity against different bacterial pathogens. These results demonstrated that the mammary gland tissue-specific expression vector could be used to introduce antibacterial peptide gene into the goat mammary gland, enabling secretion of a bioactive form of antibacterial peptide in the milk. This successful expression of antibacterial peptides in goat mammary glands provided a possible method to prevent mastitis in ruminants.