捷安肽素对采后柑桔青绿霉菌抑制效果及作用机理研究

捷安肽素是一种由枯草芽孢杆菌（Bacillus subtilis）ZK 产生的抗真菌多肽。本文以柑桔青霉菌（Penicillium italicum）和绿霉菌（Penicillium digitaum）为供试真菌，研究了捷安肽素的抑菌性能及作用机理，为捷安肽素开发为有效的生物杀菌剂提供理论依据。全文共分两部分：第一部分：捷安肽素对柑桔青霉菌和绿霉菌抑制效果研究。采用琼脂扩散法测定捷安肽素对柑桔青霉菌和绿霉菌的抑菌活性。53.9 µg/mL 捷安肽素对绿霉菌和青霉菌的抑菌圈直径分别为26.7mm 和24.1mm。结果表明捷安肽素能够抑制柑桔青绿霉菌的生长，柑桔绿霉菌比青霉菌对捷安肽素敏感。在柑桔果实上，研究了不同浓度、不同接入时间的捷安肽素对柑桔青霉病和绿霉病的防治效果，并与常用化学杀菌剂抑霉唑、咪鲜胺、甲基硫菌灵和多菌灵作比较。53.9 µg/mL捷安肽素处理柑桔果实，柑桔青霉病和绿霉病发病率分别为5.0 %和5.3 %,比对照低95.0 %和94.7 %；柑桔青霉病和绿霉病的病情指数分别为1.87 和2.18，比对照低73.73 和97.82。结果表明，捷安肽素能够有效地防治柑桔青绿霉病。与对照相比，捷安肽素先于或后于柑桔青绿霉菌接入时，对柑桔青绿霉菌均有抑制作用，但抑制效果随接入间隔时间的增长而降低。第二部分：捷安肽素对绿霉菌作用机理研究。首先在光学显微镜和透射电镜下观察捷安肽素处理后绿霉菌菌丝表面形态结构与菌丝体内超微结构的变化。形态观察发现，捷安肽素处理24h以内，绿霉菌菌丝结构无变化。捷安肽素作用36h后，绿霉菌菌丝不规则缢缩和膨大。48h后，在绿霉菌菌丝顶端、中部、末端的多处细胞均可发生畸形的球状结构，这种畸变结构随处理的延长而增加，致使细胞成为捻珠状。处理72 h后，畸变球形细胞开始断裂离解。处理96h后，镜下几乎无完整菌丝，成单个的球状细胞，部分细胞出现破裂。而对照菌丝表面光滑，结构完整。通过透射电镜观察发现，与对照相比，捷安肽素处理后，绿霉菌细胞壁、细胞膜轮廓模糊不清，细胞质外泄。推测捷安肽素能够使绿霉菌细胞膜通透性发生改变。进一步实验利用紫外-可见分光光度计检测捷安肽素作用后绿霉菌胞外液紫外吸光度的变化，表明捷安肽素作用于绿霉菌菌丝后，细胞内蛋白质、核酸缓慢泄漏。通过Atomscan Advantage单道扫描等离子体发射光谱仪(ICP)测定捷安肽素作用后菌丝体内K+浓度的改变，结果表明捷安肽素作用于柑桔绿霉菌1h内，菌丝体内K+含量迅速下降，为对照绿霉菌K+含量的37.53 %，1 h后菌丝体内K+含量变化趋于平缓。K+的迅速泄漏，以及蛋白质、核酸的泄漏表明捷安肽素通过迅速改变绿霉菌细胞膜通透性，使绿霉菌菌丝生长受到抑制。Jiean-peptide produced by Bacillus subtilis ZK has broad-spectrumresistance to plant pathogens. In this study, we investigated the antifungal propertyand the possible antifungal mechanism of jiean-peptide against two commonphytopathogenic fungi of citrus fruits: blue molds (P. italicum) and green molds (P.digitatum).The paper involved two parts:Part 1 is the study of the antifungal property of jiean-peptide against blue moldsand green molds of citrus fruits. The in vitro inhibition effect of jiean-peptide againstblue molds and green molds was detected by agar diffusion method. The diameters ofinhibition zones of green molds and blue molds are 26.7mm and 24.1mm respectivelyby treating with 53.9 µg/mL jiean-peptide. It shows that jiean-peptide effectivelyinhibits the both phytopathogenic fungi, and it is more effective for inhibiting greenmolds than blue molds. The effectiveness of jiean-peptde to inhibit green molds andblue molds in vivo was investigated compared with four conventional fungicides thatare imazalil, prochloraz, carbendazin and methylthiophanate. The result is that the incidences of the blue mold disease and green mold disease are 5.0 % and 5.3 %, thedisease severities are 1.87 and 2.18 respectively when citrus are inoculated with 53.9µg/ml jiean-peptide. The decay incidences and disease severities were significantlyreduced by treating with jiean-peptide compared with the control. The results indicateJiean-peptide is effective for controlling blue molds and green molds on citrus. Theoptimized inoculation time was also investigated. When inoculated with jiean-peptideat 0 h, 6 h, 12 h, 24 h and 48 h before or after pathogens’ inoculation, Jiean-peptidecan suppress the occurrence of blue molds and green molds compared with the control, but the effect of later inoculation decreases compared with the inoculation at the sametime.In Part 2, we investigated the possible antifungal mechanism against greenmolds of citrus. At first, we observed the exterior morphological changes andultrastructural changes of blue molds under light microscopy (LM) and transmissionelectron microscopy (TEM). Compared with untreated control cells which aregenerally uniform in shape, the appearances of treated hyphae change obviously. Itshows that some cells of hyphae irregularly shrink or enlarge when cultured for 36h.When the treating time of jiean-peptide increases, the aberrance of the hyphaebecomes more obvious, and hyphae exhibit the moniliform appearances. Finally, thereis no intact hypha leaved except only single cells, and some of which appear fractured.By transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observation, we find that the outline ofthe cell wall and the cell membrane of hyphae are blurry, and the cytoplasma oozesout. The observation result under LM and TEM suggests that jiean-peptide mightchange the permeability of the cell membrane. So we conducted further experiment todetect the change of permeability when the cells of blue molds were treated withjiean-peptide. And the effect of jiean-peptide on non-growing cells of blue molds wastested. By the spectrophotometer measurement, we found that compounds with lightabsorption at 260 nm and 280 nm were released and amounts increased within 12 hcompared with the control. Moreover, by the ICP measurement, the leakage of K+occurred immediately in the presence of jiean-peptide within 1 h, but with nearly nofurther change after 1 h. All these results indicate that jiean-peptide could change themembrane permeability of blue molds immediately and result in leaking nucleotides,proteins and K+ from cells.

Coating of biomaterial scaffolds with the collagen-mimetic peptide GFOGER for bone defect repair

Healing large bone defects and non-unions remains a significant clinical problem. Current treatments, consisting of auto and allografts, are limited by donor supply and morbidity, insufficient bioactivity and risk of infection. Biotherapeutics, including cells, genes and proteins, represent promising alternative therapies, but these strategies are limited by technical roadblocks to biotherapeutic delivery, cell sourcing, high cost, and regulatory hurdles. In the present study, the collagen-mimetic peptide, GFOGER, was used to coat synthetic PCL scaffolds to promote bone formation in critically-sized segmental defects in rats. GFOGER is a synthetic triple helical peptide that binds to the [alpha]2[beta]1 integrin receptor involved in osteogenesis. GFOGER coatings passively adsorbed onto polymeric scaffolds, in the absence of exogenous cells or growth factors, significantly accelerated and increased bone formation in non-healing femoral defects compared to uncoated scaffolds and empty defects. Despite differences in bone volume, no differences in torsional strength were detected after 12 weeks, indicating that bone mass but not bone quality was improved in this model. This work demonstrates a simple, cell/growth factor-free strategy to promote bone formation in challenging, non-healing bone defects. This biomaterial coating strategy represents a cost-effective and facile approach, translatable into a robust clinical therapy for musculoskeletal applications.

Prandial subcutaneous injections of glucagon-like peptide-1 cause weight loss in obese human subjects

Recombinant glucagon-like peptide-1 (7–36)amide (rGLP-1) was recently shown to cause significant weight loss in type 2 diabetics when administered for 6 weeks as a continuous subcutaneous infusion. The mechanisms responsible for the weight loss are not clarified. In the present study, rGLP-1 was given for 5d by prandial subcutaneous injections (PSI) (76nmol 30min before meals, four times daily; a total of 302·4nmol/24h) or by continuous subcutaneous infusion (CSI) (12·7nmol/h; a total of 304·8nmol/24h). This was performed in nineteen healthy obese subjects (mean age 44·2 (sem 2·5) years; BMI 39·0 (sem 1·2)kg/m2) in a prospective randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over study. Compared with the placebo, rGLP-1 administered as PSI and by CSI generated a 15% reduction in mean food intake per meal (P=0·02) after 5d treatment. A weight loss of 0·55 (sem 0·2) kg (P<0·05) was registered after 5d with PSI of rGLP-1. Gastric emptying rate was reduced during both PSI (P<0·001) and CSI (P<0·05) treatment, but more rapidly and to a greater extent with PSI of rGLP-1. To conclude, a 5d treatment of rGLP-1 at high doses by PSI, but not CSI, promptly slowed gastric emptying as a probable mechanism of action of increased satiety, decreased hunger and, hence, reduced food intake with an ensuing weight loss.

The expanding roles of the ghrelin-gene derived peptide obestatin in health and disease

Obestatin is a 23 amino acid, ghrelin gene-derived peptide hormone produced in the stomach and a range of other tissues throughout the body. While it was initially reported that obestatin opposed the actions of ghrelin with regards to appetite and food intake, it is now clear that obestatin is not an endogenous ghrelin antagonist of ghrelin, but it is a multi-functional peptide hormone in its own right. In this review we will discuss the controversies associated with the discovery of obestatin and explore emerging central and peripheral roles of obestatin, roles in adipogenesis, pancreatic homeostasis and cancer.

A fragment of the LG3 peptide of endorepellin is present in the urine of physically active mining workers : a potential marker of physical activity

Biomarker analysis has been implemented in sports research in an attempt to monitor the effects of exertion and fatigue in athletes. This study proposed that while such biomarkers may be useful for monitoring injury risk in workers, proteomic approaches might also be utilised to identify novel exertion or injury markers. We found that urinary urea and cortisol levels were significantly elevated in mining workers following a 12 hour overnight shift. These levels failed to return to baseline over 24h in the more active maintenance crew compared to truck drivers (operators) suggesting a lack of recovery between shifts. Use of a SELDI-TOF MS approach to detect novel exertion or injury markers revealed a spectral feature which was associated with workers in both work categories who were engaged in higher levels of physical activity. This feature was identified as the LG3 peptide, a C-terminal fragment of the anti-angiogenic / anti-tumourigenic protein endorepellin. This finding suggests that urinary LG3 peptide may be a biomarker of physical activity. It is also possible that the activity mediated release of LG3 / endorepellin into the circulation may represent a biological mechanism for the known inverse association between physical activity and cancer risk / survival.

Expression Pattern of the Alpha-Kafirin Promoter Coupled with a Signal Peptide from Sorghum bicolor L. Moench

Regulatory sequences with endosperm specificity are essential for foreign gene expression in the desired tissue for both grain quality improvement and molecular pharming. In this study, promoters of seed storage α-kafirin genes coupled with signal sequence (ss) were isolated from Sorghum bicolor L. Moench genomic DNA by PCR. The α-kafirin promoter (α-kaf) contains endosperm specificity-determining motifs, prolamin-box, the O2-box 1, CATC, and TATA boxes required for α-kafirin gene expression in sorghum seeds. The constructs pMB-Ubi-gfp and pMB-kaf-gfp were microprojectile bombarded into various sorghum and sweet corn explants. GFP expression was detected on all explants using the Ubi promoter but only in seeds for the α-kaf promoter. This shows that the α-kaf promoter isolated was functional and demonstrated seed-specific GFP expression. The constructs pMB-Ubi-ss-gfp and pMB-kaf-ss-gfp were also bombarded into the same explants. Detection of GFP expression showed that the signal peptide (SP)::GFP fusion can assemble and fold properly, preserving the fluorescent properties of GFP.

The adenine-rich tract in the 5ʹ-end of the hepatitis C virus ORF encodes a peptide regulating the binding of the C protein to RNA

Hepatitis C virus (HCV ) core (C) protein is thought to bind to viral RNA before it undergoes oligomerization leading to RNA encapsidation. Details of these events are so far unknown. The 5ʹ-terminal C protein coding sequence that includes an adenine (A)-rich tract is a part of an internal ribosome entry site(IRES). This nucleotide sequence but not the corresponding protein sequence is needed for proper initiation of translation of viral RNA by an IRES-dependent mechanism. In this study, we examined the importance of this sequence for the ability of the C protein to bind to viral RNA. Serially truncated C proteins with deletions from 10 up to 45 N-terminal amino acids were expressed in Escherichia coli, purified and tested for binding to viral RNA by a gel shift assay. The results showed that truncation of the C protein from its N-terminus by more than 10 amino acids abolished almost completely its expression in E. coli. The latter could be restored by adding a tag to the N-terminus of the protein. The tagged proteins truncated by 15 or more amino acids showed an anomalous migration in SDS-PAGE. Truncation by more than 20 amino acids resulted in a complete loss of ability of tagged C protein to bind to viral RNA. These results provide clues to the early events in the C protein - RNA interactions leading to C protein oligomerization, RNA encapsidation and virion assembly.

Human Kallikrein 4 signal peptide induces cytotoxic T cell responses in healthy donors and prostate cancer patients.

Immunotherapy is a promising new treatment for patients with advanced prostate and ovarian cancer, but its application is limited by the lack of suitable target antigens that are recognized by CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL). Human kallikrein 4 (KLK4) is a member of the kallikrein family of serine proteases that is significantly overexpressed in malignant versus healthy prostate and ovarian tissue, making it an attractive target for immunotherapy. We identified a naturally processed, HLA-A*0201-restricted peptide epitope within the signal sequence region of KLK4 that induced CTL responses in vitro in most healthy donors and prostate cancer patients tested. These CTL lysed HLA-A*0201+ KLK4 + cell lines and KLK4 mRNA-transfected monocyte-derived dendritic cells. CTL specific for the HLA-A*0201-restricted KLK4 peptide were more readily expanded to a higher frequency in vitro compared to the known HLA-A*0201-restricted epitopes from prostate cancer antigens; prostate-specific antigen (PSA), prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) and prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP). These data demonstrate that KLK4 is an immunogenic molecule capable of inducing CTL responses and identify it as an attractive target for prostate and ovarian cancer immunotherapy.

Incorporation of exogenous RGD peptide and inter-species blending as strategies for enhancing human corneal limbal epithelial cell growth on Bombyx mori silk fibroin membranes

While fibroin isolated from the cocoons of domesticated silkworm Bombyx mori supports growth of human corneal limbal epithelial (HLE) cells, the mechanism of cell attachment remains unclear. In the present study we sought to enhance the attachment of HLE cells to membranes of Bombyx mori silk fibroin (BMSF) through surface functionalization with an arginine-glycine-aspartic acid (RGD)-containing peptide. Moreover, we have examined the response of HLE cells to BMSF when blended with the fibroin produced by a wild silkworm, Antheraea pernyi, which is known to contain RGD sequences within its primary structure. A procedure to isolate A. pernyi silk fibroin (APSF) from the cocoons was established, and blends of the two fibroins were prepared at five different BMSF/APSF ratios. In another experiment, BMSF surface was modified by binding chemically the GRGDSPC peptide using a water-soluble carbodiimide. Primary HLE were grown in the absence of serum on membranes made of BMSF, APSF, and their blends, as well as on RGD-modified BMSF. There was no statistically significant enhancing effect on the cell attachment due to the RGD presence. This suggests that the adhesion through RGD ligands may have a complex mechanism, and the investigated strategies are of limited value unless the factors contributing to this mechanism become better known.