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Molecular cloning of a 1alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3-inducible transcript (DDVit 1) in human blood monocytes.

The differentiation and activation of monocytes (MO) and monocytic cells is modulated by 1alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (Vitamin D3). In order to investigate early effects on the differentiation process of MO, we used the mRNA Differential Display technology to identify genes that are induced in freshly isolated human blood MO cultured for 4 hours with Vitamin D3. A cDNA fragment was isolated and Northern analysis confirmed a low expression of this cDNA at about 1,4 kb in MO which was increased by the addition of Vitamin D3. Using the rapid amplification of cDNA Ends (RACE)-PCR we got a transcript (DDVit 1) of a length of 1251 bp containing an open reading frame that encodes a putative 16,5 kD protein. Database search revealed an identity with a possible enterocyte differentiation promoting factor with a length of 1177 bp that has not been further characterized. Therefore DDVit 1 may be a differentiation promoting factor for the monocytic lineage. Further investigations will clarify the role of this protein in the differentiation process of MO.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Isolation and quantification of the heat shock protein 90 alpha and beta isoforms from rat liver.

Heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) is an abundant cytosolic protein. In higher eukaryotes two isoforms of Hsp90 exist, Hsp90 alpha and Hsp90 beta. Hsp90 was purified from rat liver and after sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis revealed a double band at about 90 kDa. The two bands were separated and identified as the Hsp90 alpha and Hsp90 beta isoforms. There was no entry in the protein databases for the Hsp90 alpha isoform from rat. Furthermore, the ratio of the two Hsp90 isoforms was determined.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Characterization of the exosporium of Bacillus cereus.

Exosporium components from endospores of Bacillus cereus ATCC 10876 were purified and separated by gel electrophoresis. Several of the proteins for which N-terminal sequences were recovered were found to have homologues in protein databases which have been demonstrated to have enzymic activity in other organisms. Amongst these is a zinc metalloprotease, immune inhibitor A, already described in B. thuringiensis. This has been shown to be present in an active 73 kDa form on the exosporium of B. cereus. Other proteins associated with the exosporium include the molecular chaperone GroEL and a homologue of RocA (1-pyrroline-5-carboxylate dehydrogenase (EC 1.5.1.12)) of B. subtilis. Although these are unlikely to represent integral structural proteins of the exosporium, the observation that they are selectively present in the spore surface layer suggests that this layer may have functional significance.

Bacillus cereus↗

Isolation and molecular cloning of transferrin from the tobacco hornworm, Manduca sexta. Sequence similarity to the vertebrate transferrins.

An iron-binding glycoprotein of Mr = 77,000 has been isolated from hemolymph of the adult sphinx moth Manduca sexta. Since this protein binds ferric ion both in vivo and in vitro and has a secondary structure similar to that of human serum transferrin and human lactoferrin as judged by CD spectra, we decided to clone its cDNA in order to determine its relationship to the vertebrate transferrins. Antiserum generated against this protein was used to screen a larval fat body cDNA library. A 2.0 kilobase clone was isolated that selects an mRNA which, when translated in vitro, produces an immunoprecipitable 77-kDa protein. When the library was rescreened using the 2.0-kilobase clone as a probe, three full-length clones were isolated, and the complete nucleotide sequence of one 2,183-base pair insert was determined. The deduced protein sequence contains an 18-amino acid signal sequence and a mature protein sequence of 663 amino acids with a calculated Mr of 73,436. The sequence was used to search the National Biomedical Research Foundation (NBRF) protein database, revealing significant similarity to the vertebrate transferrins, a family of 80-kDa glycoproteins which transport and sequester iron in the blood and other body fluids. A multiple sequence alignament shows the greatest areas of similarity to be around the two iron binding sites, although the insect protein seems to contain only one such functional site. Moreover, 23 of the 24 cysteine residues in the insect protein occupy identical positions as compared with the other transferrins, indicating a similar overall tertiary structure. Comparison of the two halves of the insect sequence indicates that the protein may have arisen as a result of gene duplication. The similarity of the M. sexta sequence to the vertebrate transferrins may provide important clues to transferrin evolution.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

African swine fever virus-induced polypeptides in porcine alveolar macrophages and in Vero cells: two-dimensional gel analysis.

High-resolution two-dimensional electrophoresis followed by computer analysis has been used to study quantitatively the patterns of protein synthesis produced in porcine alveolar macrophages and in Vero cells infected with African swine fever virus (ASFV). Initially, a protein database for each cell type was constructed. The porcine alveolar macrophage database includes 995 polypeptides (818 acidic, isoelectric focusing (IEF) and 177 basic, nonequilibrium pH gradient electrophoresis (NEPHGE)) whereas the Vero database contains 1,398 polypeptides (1,127 acidic, IEF and 271 basic, NEPHGE). Taking these databases as reference, ASFV highly virulent strain E70 induces 57 acid and 43 basic polypeptides in porcine alveolar macrophages, which account for most of the information content of the virus DNA. The kinetics of synthesis of the virus-induced polypeptides showed the existence of three classes of proteins: one whose synthesis starts early after infection, continues for a period and then switches off; another whose synthesis also starts early but continues for prolonged periods; and a third which requires DNA replication. The attenuated, cell adapted, strain BA71V induces 92 acidic and 37 basic proteins in Vero cells. Significant differences were observed when comparing the patterns of polypeptides induced by the two viral strains. In both cell systems studied, ASFV infection produces a general shutoff of protein synthesis that affects up to 65% of the cellular proteins. Interestingly, 28 proteins of porcine alveolar macrophages and 48 proteins of Vero cells are stimulated at least two times by ASFV infection.

African Swine Fever Virus↗

Application of SELDI-TOF mass spectrometry for the identification of differentially expressed proteins in transformed follicular lymphoma.

Completion of the human genome project has focused scientific attention on the development of methods that permit rapid characterization of proteins that are encoded by the genome. Recent improvements in two-dimensional separation techniques in combination with protein identification software/databases and mass spectrometry (MS) now permit rapid comprehensive large-scale analysis of individual proteins within complex protein mixtures. We have performed pairwise comparisons of low-grade and transformed follicular lymphomas (FLs) in order to identify proteins that may be involved in FL progression using surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (SELDI-TOF) mass spectrometer (ProteinChip, Ciphergen Biosystems). This system utilizes preactivated differential binding surfaces to achieve multidimensional chromatography. The protein-bound chips were then analyzed by a SELDI-TOF mass spectrometer to generate protein profiles. In preliminary experiments, we established that the MS data obtained from SELDI-TOF MS were reproducible, and that reduction in sample complexity improved the ability to detect lower abundance proteins. With specific regard to FL transformation, we rapidly identified a number of potential candidate proteins involved in this process. These included an upregulated 32 kDa protein and a down-regulated 11.8 kDa protein. Protein database searches revealed several candidates, among them cyclin D3 (32.5 kDa) and caspase 3 (11.8 kDa) whose differential expression were confirmed by immunoblotting and/or immunohistochemical analysis on the primary tissue specimens. Our studies demonstrate the utility of SELDI-TOF-MS for the rapid discovery of differentially expressed proteins using femtomolar quantities of crude protein derived from biopsy material. The versatility of this methodology supports its application to the rapid discovery of potential biomarkers in a variety of cellular systems.

Antigens, CD20↗

The EMBL nucleotide sequence database.

The EMBL Nucleotide Sequence Database (http://www.ebi.ac.uk/embl/) is maintained at the European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI) in an international collaboration with the DNA Data Bank of Japan (DDBJ) and GenBank at the NCBI (USA). Data is exchanged amongst the collaborating databases on a daily basis. The major contributors to the EMBL database are individual authors and genome project groups. Webin is the preferred web-based submission system for individual submitters, whilst automatic procedures allow incorporation of sequence data from large-scale genome sequencing centres and from the European Patent Office (EPO). Database releases are produced quarterly. Network services allow free access to the most up-to-date data collection via ftp, email and World Wide Web interfaces. EBI's Sequence Retrieval System (SRS), a network browser for databanks in molecular biology, integrates and links the main nucleotide and protein databases plus many specialized databases. For sequence similarity searching a variety of tools (e.g. Blitz, Fasta, BLAST) are available which allow external users to compare their own sequences against the latest data in the EMBL Nucleotide Sequence Database and SWISS-PROT.

Computational Biology↗

Characterization of two Arabidopsis thaliana myb-like proteins showing affinity to telomeric DNA sequence.

Telomere-binding proteins participate in forming a functional nucleoprotein structure at chromosome ends. Using a genomic approach, two Arabidopsis thaliana genes coding for candidate Myb-like telomere binding proteins were cloned and expressed in E. coli. Both proteins, termed AtTBP2 (accession Nos. T46051 (protein database) and GI:638639 (nucleotide database); 295 amino acids, 32 kDa, pI 9.53) and AtTBP3 (BAB08466, GI:9757879; 299 amino acids, 33 kDa, pI 9.88), contain a single Myb-like DNA-binding domain at the N-terminus, and a histone H1/H5-like DNA-binding domain in the middle of the protein sequence. Both proteins are expressed in various A. thaliana tissues. Using the two-hybrid system interaction between the proteins AtTBP2 and AtTBP3 and self interactions of each of the proteins were detected. Gel-retardation assays revealed that each of the two proteins is able to bind the G-rich strand and double-stranded DNA of plant telomeric sequence with an affinity proportional to a number of telomeric repeats. Substrates bearing a non-telomeric DNA sequence positioned between two telomeric repeats were bound with an efficiency depending on the length of interrupting sequence. The ability to bind variant telomere sequences decreased with sequence divergence from the A. thaliana telomeric DNA. None of the proteins alone or their mixture affects telomerase activity in vitro. Correspondingly, no interaction was observed between any of two proteins and the Arabidopsis telomerase reverse transcriptase catalytic subunit TERT (accession No. AF172097) using two-hybrid assay.

Arabidopsis↗

Rnq1: an epigenetic modifier of protein function in yeast.

Two protein-based genetic elements (prions) have been identified in yeast. It is not clear whether other prions exist, nor is it understood how one might find them. We established criteria for searching protein databases for prion candidates and found several. The first examined, Rnq1, exists in distinct, heritable physical states, soluble and insoluble. The insoluble state is dominant and transmitted between cells through the cytoplasm. When the prion-like region of Rnq1 was substituted for the prion domain of Sup35, the protein determinant of the prion [PSI+], the phenotypic and epigenetic behavior of [PSI+] was fully recapitulated. These findings identity Rnq1 as a prion, demonstrate that prion domains are modular and transferable, and establish a paradigm for identifying and characterizing novel prions.

Cloning, Molecular↗

Structure and expression of a light-inducible shoot-specific rice gene.

By differential screening of a cDNA library of two-week-old rice seedlings cDNA clones were obtained, corresponding to shoot-specific mRNAs. By sequence analysis two of these clones were found to be rbcS cDNA clones. The mRNA corresponding to a third cDNA clone (COS5) displayed an expression pattern similar to the expression pattern of rbcS genes. The mRNA (800 bases) was light-inducible and encoded by a single-copy gene. The genomic clone (GOS5) was isolated and the intron/exon structure was determined by comparing the nucleotide sequences of the mRNA and the genomic clone. The gene contains two introns. Transcription start sites were determined by S1-nuclease mapping and primer extension. The start site obtained by both methods is located 87 bp upstream of the translation start site and 23 bp downstream of TATA box-like sequence. In the 5' non-coding region motifs can be found that are homologous to sequences in promoters that are light- or UV-inducible or confer leaf-specific expression. The open reading frame present in GOS5 codes for a protein (15 kDa) that contains a putative chloroplast transit peptide and does not show any significant homology to protein sequences in the NBRF protein database.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Analytical challenges and strategies for the characterization of gp96-associated peptides.

This paper describes the methods that were used for the preparation of gp96-associated peptides and the analysis of these peptides using mass spectrometry. A general approach for stripping, enriching, and separating peptides associated with gp96 is presented. Protocols for the demonstration of the diversity of gp96-associated peptides using mass spectrometry and the identification of these peptides using a combination of tandem mass spectrometry and protein database searching are described. Important parameters and factors that affect the outcome of the experiments are discussed.

Animals↗

A reference map of human lung MRC-5 fibroblast proteins using immobilized pH gradient-isoelectric focusing-based two-dimensional electrophoresis.

We report the first protein map of human adult lung MRC-5 fibroblasts using isoelectric focusing-immobilized pH gradient-based two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. MRC-5 is an immortalised cell line used in a wide range of investigations. The two-dimensional gel pattern of proteins generated from any given cell system provides a fingerprint that is unique to those cells. Therefore, the establishment of a protein map for a particular cell system provides a useful reference tool as a "master map" for subsequent studies using those cells. In this map a total of 98 protein spots were identified by comparative searches of the nucleotide and protein database using peptide masses obtained by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight following trypsin digestion. To increase the utility of the reference map, cells were cultured in both Dulbecco's modified Eagle medium (DMEM), the standard medium, and Roswell Park Memorial Institute (RPMI)-1640. Two-dimensional gel protein patterns of MRC-5 cultures were shown to be largely unaffected by the use of RPMI compared to DMEM, respectively. In combination with the reference map, the standardised protocol described provides a tool for comparative studies involving MRC-5 cells in which nonspecific variation is minimized.

Adult↗

Studies characterizing 60 kda autoantibodies in subjects with schizophrenia.

BACKGROUND: Studies suggest that schizophrenic patients have an increased prevalence of serum antibodies to neuroblastoma cell proteins migrating at 60 kilodaltons (kDa). We present work identifying and characterizing 60 kDa antigen-antibody interactions. METHODS: Sera from schizophrenic subjects and normal volunteers were screened by Western blotting. Proteins migrating at 60 kDa were characterized by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and indirect immunofluorescent staining of human epithelial cell (HEp-2) slides. Human brain and bladder cell complementary deoxyribonucleic acid libraries were screened with immunoaffinity-purified antibodies. Complementary deoxyribonucleic acid clones were sequenced and compared with published databases. Proteins were generated by in vitro transcription/translation and expression in an Escherichia coli BL21 system. Immunoprecipitation and immunohistochemistry studies were performed. RESULTS: Fifteen percent (17/117) of schizophrenic subjects and 3% (2/62) of normal volunteers had autoantibodies that reacted with 60 kDa proteins [chi(2)(1) = 4.4, p =.037]. Five percent of subjects had autoantibodies directed against 60 kDa heat shock protein (HSP60) [chi(2)(1) = 3.3, p =.100). Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis identified 13 different proteins migrating at 60 kDa; 5 were splice variants of HSP60, and 2 corresponded with a protein associated with MYC (PAM). CONCLUSIONS: There is an increased prevalence of autoantibodies that bind to proteins migrating at 60 kDa in subjects with schizophrenia. Potential target antigens include HSP60 and PAM.

Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing↗

Comparative proteomic analysis of high cell density cultivations with two recombinant Bacillus megaterium strains for the production of a heterologous dextransucrase.

High cell density cultivations were performed under identical conditions for two Bacillus megaterium strains (MS941 and WH320), both carrying a heterologous dextransucrase (dsrS) gene under the control of the xylA promoter. At characteristic points of the cultivations (end of batch, initial feeding, before and after induction) the proteome was analyzed based on two dimensional gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometric protein identification using the protein database "bmegMEC.v2" recently made available. High expression but no secretion of DsrS was found for the chemical mutant WH320 whereas for MS 941, a defined protease deficient mutant of the same parent strain (DSM319), not even expression of DsrS could be detected. The proteomic analysis resulted in the identification of proteins involved in different cellular pathways such as in central carbon and overflow metabolism, in protein synthesis, protein secretion and degradation, in cell wall metabolism, in cell division and sporulation, in membrane transport and in stress responses. The two strains exhibited considerable variations in expression levels of specific proteins during the different phases of the cultivation process, whereas induction of DsrS production had, in general, little effect. The largely differing behaviour of the two strains with regard to DsrS expression can be attributed, at least in part, to changes observed in the proteome which predominantly concern biosynthetic enzymes and proteins belonging to the membrane translocation system, which were strongly down-regulated at high cell densities in MS941 compared with WH320. At the same time a cell envelope-associated quality control protease and two peptidoglycan-binding proteins related to cell wall turnover were strongly expressed in MS941 but not found in WH320. However, to further explain the very different physiological responses of the two strains to the same cultivation conditions, it is necessary to identify the mutated genes in WH320 in addition to the known lacZ. In view of the results of this proteomic study it seems that at high cell density conditions and hence low growth rates MS941, in contrast to WH320, does not maintain a vegetative growth which is essential for the expression of the foreign dsrS gene by using the xylA promoter. It is conceivable that applications of a promoter which is highly active under nutrient-limited cultivation conditions is necessary, at least for MS941, for the overexpression of recombinant genes in such B. megaterium fed-batch cultivation process. However to obtain a heterologous protein in secreted and properly folded form stills remains a big challenge.

Journal Article↗

Domain combinations in archaeal, eubacterial and eukaryotic proteomes.

There is a limited repertoire of domain families that are duplicated and combined in different ways to form the set of proteins in a genome. Proteins are gene products, and at the level of genes, duplication, recombination, fusion and fission are the processes that produce new genes. We attempt to gain an overview of these processes by studying the evolutionary units in proteins, domains, in the protein sequences of 40 genomes. The domain and superfamily definitions in the Structural Classification of Proteins Database are used, so that we can view all pairs of adjacent domains in genome sequences in terms of their superfamily combinations. We find 783 out of the 859 superfamilies in SCOP in these genomes, and the 783 families occur in 1307 pairwise combinations. Most families are observed in combination with one or two other families, while a few families are very versatile in their combinatorial behaviour; 209 families do not make combinations with other families. This type of pattern can be described as a scale-free network. We also study the N to C-terminal orientation of domain pairs and domain repeats. The phylogenetic distribution of domain combinations is surveyed, to establish the extent of common and kingdom-specific combinations. Of the kingdom-specific combinations, significantly more combinations consist of families present in all three kingdoms than of families present in one or two kingdoms. Hence, we are led to conclude that recombination between common families, as compared to the invention of new families and recombination among these, has also been a major contribution to the evolution of kingdom-specific and species-specific functions in organisms in all three kingdoms. Finally, we compare the set of the domain combinations in the genomes to those in the RCSB Protein Data Bank, and discuss the implications for structural genomics.

Animals↗

Transcriptome analysis of the salivary glands of Dermacentor andersoni Stiles (Acari: Ixodidae).

Amongst blood-feeding arthropods, ticks of the family Ixodidae (hard ticks) are vectors and reservoirs of a greater variety of infectious agents than any other ectoparasite. Salivary glands of ixodid ticks secrete a large number of pharmacologically active molecules that not only facilitate feeding but also promote establishment of infectious agents. Genomic, proteomic and immunologic characterization of bioactive salivary gland molecules are, therefore, important as they offer new insights into molecular events occurring at the tick-host interface and they have implications for development of novel control strategies. The present work uses complementary DNA (cDNA) sequence analysis to identify salivary gland transcripts expressed by the Rocky Mountain wood tick, Dermacentor andersoni, a vector of the human pathogens causing Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Colorado tick fever, tularemia, and Powassan encephalitis as well as the veterinary pathogen Anaplasma marginale. Dermacentor andersoni is also capable of inducing tick paralysis. Automated single-pass DNA sequencing was conducted on 1440 randomly selected cDNA clones from the salivary glands of adult female D. andersoni collected during the early stages of feeding (18-24h). Analysis of the expressed sequence tags (ESTs) resulted in 544 singletons and 218 clusters with more than one quality read and attempts were made to assign putative functions to tick genes based on amino acid identity to published protein databases. Approximately 25.6% (195) of the sequences showed limited or no homology to previously identified gene products. A number of novel sequences were identified which presented significant sequence similarity to mammalian genes normally associated with extracellular matrix (ECM), regulation of immune responses, tumor suppression, and wound healing. Several coding sequences possessed various degrees of homology to previously described proteins from other tick species. Preliminary nucleotide variation analysis of these and other tick sequences suggests extensive nucleotide diversity, which has implications for evolution of tick feeding. Intra-species diversity studies can be a promising tool for identifying sequence variations potentially associated with phenotypic traits affecting vector-host-pathogen interactions.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Human protoporphyrinogen oxidase: expression, purification, and characterization of the cloned enzyme.

Protoporphyrinogen oxidase (E.C.1.3.3.4) catalyzes the oxygen-dependent oxidation of protoporphyrinogen IX to protoporphyrin IX. The enzyme from human placenta has been cloned, sequenced, expressed in Escherichia coli, purified to homogeneity, and characterized. Northern blot analysis of eight different human tissues show evidence for only a single transcript in all tissue types and the size of this transcript is approximately 1.8 kb. The human cDNA has been inserted into an expression vector for E. coli and the protein produced at high levels in these cells. The protein is found in both membrane and cytoplasmic fractions. The enzyme was purified to homogeneity in the presence of detergents using a metal chelate affinity column. The purified protein is a homodimer composed of subunits of molecular weight of 51,000. The enzyme contains one noncovalently bound FAD per dimer, has a monomer extinction coefficient of 48,000 at 270 nm and contains no detectable redox active metals. The apparent K(m) and Kcat for protoporphyrinogen IX are 1.7 microM and 10.5 min-1, respectively. The enzyme does not use coproporphyrinogen III as a substrate and is inhibited by micromolar concentrations of the herbicide acifluorfen. Protein database searches reveal significant homology between protoporphyrinogen oxidase and monoamine oxidase.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

indel-Seq-Gen: a new protein family simulator incorporating domains, motifs, and indels.

Reconstructing the evolutionary history of protein sequences will provide a better understanding of divergence mechanisms of protein superfamilies and their functions. Long-term protein evolution often includes dynamic changes such as insertion, deletion, and domain shuffling. Such dynamic changes make reconstructing protein sequence evolution difficult and affect the accuracy of molecular evolutionary methods, such as multiple alignments and phylogenetic methods. Unfortunately, currently available simulation methods are not sufficiently flexible and do not allow biologically realistic dynamic protein sequence evolution. We introduce a new method, indel-Seq-Gen (iSG), that can simulate realistic evolutionary processes of protein sequences with insertions and deletions (indels). Unlike other simulation methods, iSG allows the user to simulate multiple subsequences according to different evolutionary parameters, which is necessary for generating realistic protein families with multiple domains. iSG tracks all evolutionary events including indels and outputs the "true" multiple alignment of the simulated sequences. iSG can also generate a larger sequence space by allowing the use of multiple related root sequences. With all these functions, iSG can be used to test the accuracy of, for example, multiple alignment methods, phylogenetic methods, evolutionary hypotheses, ancestral protein reconstruction methods, and protein family classification methods. We empirically evaluated the performance of iSG against currently available methods by simulating the evolution of the G protein-coupled receptor and lipocalin protein families. We examined their true multiple alignments, reconstruction of the transmembrane regions and beta-strands, and the results of similarity search against a protein database using the simulated sequences. We also presented an example of using iSG for examining how phylogenetic reconstruction is affected by high indel rates.

Carrier Proteins↗