Microsomal redox systems in brown adipose tissue: high lipid peroxidation, low cholesterol biosynthesis and no detectable cytochrome P-450

The presence of redox systems in microsomes of brown adipose tissue (BAT) in cold exposed rats was investigated and compared with liver. BAT microsomes showed high activity of lipid peroxidation measured both by the formation of malondialdehyde (MDA) and by oxygen uptake. NADH and NADPH dependent cytochrome c reductase activity were present in both BAT and liver microsomes. Aminopyrine demethylase and aniline hydroxylase activities, the characteristic detoxification enzymes in liver microsomes could not be detected in BAT microsomes. BAT minces showed very poor incorporation of [1-14C]acetate and [2-14C]-mevalonate in unsaponifiable lipid fraction compared to liver. Biosynthesis of cholesterol and ubiquinone, but not fatty acids, and the activity of 3-hydroxy-3-methyl glutaryl CoA reductase appear to be very low in BAT. Examination of difference spectra showed the presence of only cytochrome b 5 in BAT microsomes. In addition to the inability to detect the enzyme activities dependent on cytochrome P-450, a protein with the characteristic spectrum, molecular size in SDS-PAGE and interaction with antibodies in double diffusion test, also could not be detected in BAT microsomes. The high activity of lipid peroxidation in microsomes, being associated with large oxygen uptake and oxidation of NADPH, will also contribute to the energy dissipation as heat in BAT, considered important in thermogenesis.

Cytochrome P4504f, a potential therapeutic target limiting neuroinflammation

Inflammatory processes are involved in the pathogenesis and/or progression of acute central nervous system (CNS) infection, traumatic brain injury and neurodegenerative disorders among others indicating the need for novel strategies to limit neuroinflammation. Eicosanoids including leukotrienes, particularly leukotriene B-4 (LTB4) are principle mediator(s) of inflammatory response, initiating and amplifying the generation of cytokines and chemokines. Cytochrome P450 (Cyp), a family of heme proteins mediate metabolism of xenobiotics and endogenous compounds, such as eicosanoids and leukotrienes. Cytochrome P4504F (Cyp4f) subfamily includes five functional enzymes in mouse. We cloned and expressed the mouse Cyp4f enzymes, assayed their relative expression in brain and examined their ability to hydroxylate the inflammatory cascade prompt LTB4 to its inactive 20-hydroxylated product. We then examined the role of Cyp4fs in regulating inflammatory response in vitro, in microglial cells and in vivo, in mouse brain using lipopolysacharide (LPS), as a model compound to generate inflammatory response. We demonstrate that mouse brain Cyp4fs are expressed ubiquitously in several cell types in the brain, including neurons and microglia, and modulate inflammatory response triggered by LPS, in vivo and in microglial cells, in vitro through metabolism of LTB4 to the inactive 20-hydroxy LTB4. Chemical inhibitor or shRNA to Cyp4fs enhance and inducer of Cyp4fs attenuates inflammatory response. Further, induction of Cyp4f expression lowers LTB4 levels and affords neuroprotection in microglial cells or mice exposed to LPS. Thus, catalytic activity of Cyp4fs is a novel target for modulating neuroinflammation through hydroxylation of LTB4. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Molecular Epidemiology of HIV-1 Subtypes in India: Origin and Evolutionary History of the Predominant Subtype C

Background: India has the third largest HIV-1 epidemic with 2.4 million infected individuals. Molecular epidemiological analysis has identified the predominance of HIV-1 subtype C (HIV-1C). However, the previous reports have been limited by sample size, and uneven geographical distribution. The introduction of HIV-1C in India remains uncertain due to this lack of structured studies. To fill the gap, we characterised the distribution pattern of HIV-1 subtypes in India based on data collection from nationwide clinical cohorts between 2007 and 2011. We also reconstructed the time to the most recent common ancestor (tMRCA) of the predominant HIV-1C strains. Methodology/Principal Findings: Blood samples were collected from 168 HIV-1 seropositive subjects from 7 different states. HIV-1 subtypes were determined using two or three genes, gag, pol, and env using several methods. Bayesian coalescent-based approach was used to reconstruct the time of introduction and population growth patterns of the Indian HIV-1C. For the first time, a high prevalence (10%) of unique recombinant forms (BC and A1C) was observed when two or three genes were used instead of one gene (p<0.01; p = 0.02, respectively). The tMRCA of Indian HIV-1C was estimated using the three viral genes, ranged from 1967 (gag) to 1974 (env). Pol-gene analysis was considered to provide the most reliable estimate 1971, (95% CI: 1965-1976)]. The population growth pattern revealed an initial slow growth phase in the mid-1970s, an exponential phase through the 1980s, and a stationary phase since the early 1990s. Conclusions/Significance: The Indian HIV-1C epidemic originated around 40 years ago from a single or few genetically related African lineages, and since then largely evolved independently. The effective population size in the country has been broadly stable since the 1990s. The evolving viral epidemic, as indicated by the increase of recombinant strains, warrants a need for continued molecular surveillance to guide efficient disease intervention strategies.

H-1, C-13, N-15 assignment and secondary structure determination of glutamine amido transferase subunit of gaunosine monophosphate synthetase from Methanocaldococcus jannaschii

Sequence specific resonance assignments have been obtained for H-1, C-13 and N-15 nuclei of the 21 kDa (188 residues long) glutamine amido transferase subunit of guanosine monophosphate synthetase from Methanocaldococcus jannaschii. From an analysis of H-1 and C-13(alpha), C-13(beta) secondary chemical shifts, (3) JH(N)H(alpha) scalar coupling constants and sequential, short and medium range H-1-H-1 NOEs, it was deduced that the glutamine amido transferase subunit has eleven strands and five helices as the major secondary structural elements in its tertiary structure.

I. The 3.7 Å crystal structure of horse heart ferricytochrome C. II. The application of the Karle-Hauptman tangent formula to protein phasing

I. The 3.7 Å Crystal Structure of Horse Heart Ferricytochrome C.

The crystal structure of horse heart ferricytochrome c has been determined to a resolution of 3.7 Å using the multiple isomorphous replacement technique. Two isomorphous derivatives were used in the analysis, leading to a map with a mean figure of merit of 0.458. The quality of the resulting map was extremely high, even though the derivative data did not appear to be of high quality.

Although it was impossible to fit the known amino acid sequence to the calculated structure in an unambiguous way, many important features of the molecule could still be determined from the 3.7 Å electron density map. Among these was the fact that cytochrome c contains little or no α-helix. The polypeptide chain appears to be wound about the heme group in such a way as to form a loosely packed hydrophobic core in the molecule.

The heme group is located in a cleft on the molecule with one edge exposed to the solvent. The fifth coordinating ligand is His 18 and the sixth coordinating ligand is probably neither His 26 nor His 33.

The high resolution analysis of cytochrome c is now in progress and should be completed within the next year.

II. The Application of the Karle-Hauptman Tangent Formula to Protein Phasing.

The Karle-Hauptman tangent formula has been shown to be applicable to the refinement of previously determined protein phases. Tests were made with both the cytochrome c data from Part I and a theoretical structure based on the myoglobin molecule. The refinement process was found to be highly dependent upon the manner in which the tangent formula was applied. Iterative procedures did not work well, at least at low resolution.

The tangent formula worked very well in selecting the true phase from the two possible phase choices resulting from a single isomorphous replacement phase analysis. The only restriction on this application is that the heavy atoms form a non-centric cluster in the unit cell.

Pages 156 through 284 in this Thesis consist of previously published papers relating to the above two sections. References to these papers can be found on page 155.

HIV-1 C亚型密码子优化gp120基因重组腺病毒载体的构建及表达

目的 构建含有HIV-1 C亚型gp120基因重组腺病毒载体,并在293细胞中表达gp120蛋白.方法 PCR扩增,获得HIV-1 C亚型gp120片段,定向克隆入腺病毒转移载体pTrack-CMV,线性化后转化至含有腺病毒骨架载体pAd-easy-1的大肠埃希菌BJ5183,获得重组子prAd-gp120,PacⅠ酶切纯化后转染293细胞,包装成复制缺陷型重组腺病毒vAd-gp120.结果 经PCR、酶切及DNA测序,插入片段大小、方向正确,获得了具有感染力的vAd-gp120重组腺病毒;通过Western 印迹检测,重组腺病毒在293细胞中表达出分子量为120 kD的蛋白.结论 成功构建了含有HIV-1 C亚型gp120基因重组腺病毒载体,并获得该基因的表达.

全同1，2－聚丁二烯的合成及用~(13)C-NMR方法研究1，2－聚丁二烯的序列结构

采用Cr／Al催化体系，成功地合成了全同1，2－聚丁二烯（PBD），并用DSC方法、X－射线衍射、红外光谱及~(13)C－NMR的方法进行结构与物性测定，得如下结果：全同1，2－PBD的熔点为124.3℃；三角晶系中，分子链成了螺旋，晶胞参数为a＝17.3A，c＝ 6.5A；在红外光谱中，其特征谱带出现在694.4 cm~(-1)处；在~(13)C－NMR谱中仅出现四条谱峰，其化学位移分别为142.51、111.56、39.26、37.43 ppm。全同1，2－PBD的~(13)C－NMR谱提供的实验数据表明，在~(13)C－NMR谱中1，2－PBD－CH二碳十个五元组谱峰的归属是有别于Elgert、Kumar已有的归属。它属于一种新的归属，与半经验方法所推演的结果相符。它恰巧同聚丙烯侧甲基五元组谱峰的归属一致。采用半经验方法研究了1，2－PBD的~(13)C－NMR增中CH二碳五元组、CH_2－碳四元组及六元组共振谱峰，同时讨论了模型链的链长、温度以及立构序列的排列对各立构序列键概率的影响，求得了相应的r值。同时采用经验方法对1，2－PBD的~(13)C－NMR谱中CH_2=碳、CH－碳五元组及CH_2－碳四元组谱峰做了归属。两种方法对CH_2－碳谱峰的归属得到了一致的结果。

HIV-1 C亚型密码子优化gp120负载人DC疫苗的构建及体外功能

目的构建HIV-1C亚型gp120负载人树突状细胞(dentriti ccell,DC)疫苗,并对其体外功能进行初步检测。方法利用Amaxa细胞核转染技术将pcDNA3.1-gp120质粒转染至人成熟DC,以Western blot检测gp120的表达。通过流式细胞仪检测DC表面共刺激分子的变化、混合淋巴细胞反应、CD8+T细胞表面活化分子CD25的表达及其分泌IFN-γ的变化。结果通过Western blot检测,gp120在DC中得到了正确表达。经流式细胞仪检测,DC表面分子CD80表达率由刺激前的33.34%上升至43.20%,CD86表达率由刺激前的60.08%上升至90.34%;负载gp120DC刺激淋巴细胞增殖率为86.72%;CD8+T细胞表面分子CD25表达率由刺激前的5.27%上升至74.21%,IFN-γ的表达率达37%。结论负载了HIV-1gp120的人树突状细胞能够显著刺激淋巴细胞的增殖、增强CD8+T细胞表面活化分子CD25表达以及促进CD8+T细胞分泌IFN-γ,为下一步DC治疗性疫苗的体内研究奠定基础。

HIV-1 C亚型gp120重组腺病毒载体的构建及gp120负载人树突状细胞疫苗的初步研究

获得性免疫缺陷综合征(AIDS)是一种由人类免疫缺陷病毒(HIV)引起的，以全身免疫系统受到严重损害为特征的传染性疾病。从目前HIV-1的流行趋势来看，HIV-1 C亚型已经成为全球最主要的流行株之一，因此，针对HIV-1 C亚型的疫苗设计颇为重要。gp120作为HIV-1的包膜糖蛋白，能够诱导广泛的中和抗体反应，中和进入机体的病毒粒子，阻止病毒早期感染，所以本实验选取HIV-1 C亚型密码子优化的gp120作为免疫原进行研究。目前的疫苗研究中，腺病毒载体是较理想的病毒载体之一，具有安全性好、外源基因容纳量大、感染效率高、操作简便等优点。我们以复制缺陷型腺病毒为载体，构建了表达HIV-1 C亚型密码子优化的gp120的重组腺病毒vAd-gp120，经Western Blot方法检测到了gp120蛋白的表达。树突状细胞（DC）是已知最强的抗原呈递细胞(APC)，也是目前发现的唯一能够刺激初始型T细胞增殖的细胞。经抗原致敏的DC可通过MHC-Ⅰ、MHC-Ⅱ途径递呈抗原，并激活T细胞，从而激发体内的体液免疫和特异性细胞免疫反应。我们利用Amaxa系统将HIV-1 C亚型gp120基因转入人外周血单核细胞来源的DC，构建了以DC为载体的治疗性疫苗，并对其功能进行初步研究，发现负载gp120的DC能够显著刺激淋巴细胞的增殖、增强CD8T细胞表面活化分子CD25的表达以及促进CD8T细胞分泌++IFN-γ，为下一步DC治疗性疫苗的体内研究奠定了基础。

不同剂量C离子注入Si单晶中Si_(1-x)C_x合金的形成及其特征

室温下在单晶Si中注入(0.6-1.5)%的C原子，利用高温退火固相外延了Si_(1-x)C_x合金，研究了不同注入剂量下Si_(1-x)C_x合金的形成及其特征，如果注入C原子的浓度小于0.6%，在850-950℃退火过程中，C原子容易与注入产生的损伤缺陷结合，难于形成Si_(1-x)C_x合金相。随注入C原子含量的增加，C原子几乎全部进入晶格位置形成Si_(1-x)C_x合金，但如果注入C原子的浓度达到1.5%，只有部分C原子参与形成Si_(1-x)C_x合金。升高退火温度，Si_(1-x)C_x合金相基本消失。

不同剂量C离子注入Si单晶中Si_(1-x)C_x合金的形成及其特征

室温下在单晶Si中注入 (0 6— 1 5 ) %的C原子 ,利用高温退火固相外延了Si1-xCx 合金 ,研究了不同注入剂量下Si1-xCx 合金的形成及其特征 .如果注入C原子的浓度小于 0 6 % ,在 85 0— 95 0℃退火过程中 ,C原子容易与注入产生的损伤缺陷结合 ,难于形成Si1-xCx 合金相 .随注入C原子含量的增加 ,C原子几乎全部进入晶格位置形成Si1-xCx 合金 ,但如果注入C原子的浓度达到 1 5 % ,只有部分C原子参与形成Si1-xCx 合金 .升高退火温度 ,Si1-xCx 合金相基本消失 .

C离子注入Si中Si_(1-x)C_x合金的形成及其稳定性

利用离子注入和高温退火的方法在Si中生长了C含量为0.6%~1.0%的Si1?xCx合金, 研究了不同注入剂量下Si1?xCx合金的形成及其在退火过程中的稳定性. 如果注入剂量小于引起Si非晶化的剂量, 850℃退火后, 注入产生的损伤缺陷容易与C原子结合形成缺陷团簇, 难于形成Si1?xCx合金. 随着注入C离子剂量的增大, 注入产生的损伤增强, 容易形成Si1?xCx合金, 但注入的剂量增大到一定程度, Si1?xCx合金的应变将趋于饱和, 即只有部分C原子进入晶格位置形成合金相. Si1?xCx合金一旦形成, 在950℃仍比较稳定, 而温度高于1 000℃, 合金的应力将部分释放. 随着合金中C原子浓度的升高, 合金的稳定性变差.

Sensitive, Label-Free Protein Assay Using 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium Tetrafluoroborate Supported Microchip Electrophoresis with Laser-Induced Fluorescence Detection

Based on the dimer-monomer equilibrium movement of the fluorescent dye Pyronin Y (PY), a rapid, simple, highly sensitive, label-free method for protein detection was developed by microchip electrophoresis with LIF detection. PY formed a nonfluorescent dimer induced by the premicellar aggregation of an anionic surfactant, SDS, however, the fluorescence intensity of the system increased dramatically when proteins such as BSA, bovine hemoglobin, cytochrome c, and trypsin were added to the solution due to the transition of dimer to fluorescent monomer. Furthermore, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate (EMImBF(4)) instead of PBS was applied as running buffers in microchip electrophoresis.

The direct electrochemistry behavior of Cyt c on the modified glassy carbon electrode by SBA-15 with a high-redox potential

It is discovered that SBA-15 (santa barbara amorphous) can provide the favorable microenvironments and optimal direct electron-transfer tunnels (DETT) of immobilizing cytochrome c (Cyt c) by the preferred orientation on it. A high-redox potential (254 mV vs. Ag/AgCl) was obtained on glassy carbon (GC) electrode modified by immobilizing Cyt c on rod-like SBA-15. With ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis), circular dichroism (CD), FTIR and cyclic voltammetry, it was demonstrated that immobilization made Cyt c exhibits stable and ideal electrochemical characteristics while the biological activity of immobilized Cyt c is retained as usual.

细胞色素c在纳米氧化铝模板修饰电极上的直接电化学

细胞色素c(Cytochrome c, Cyt c)是生物体中最常见的氧化-还原蛋白质, 研究其在电极上的直接电化学, 对于理解和认识生命体内的电子转移机制具有重要意义[1]. Cyt c与裸固体电极表面的直接接触通常会使其失去生物活性, 因此, Cyt c的电化学研究常借助于媒介体以实现其与电极之间的电子转移[2]. 纳米金属氧化物模板的表面积大且化学和光化学性质稳定, 被广泛应用于太阳能电池[3]和金属沉积[4]等领域. 本文研究氧化铝(AAO)模板对4,4′-二硫二吡啶存在下Cyt c直接电化学促进作用.