AIM:To obtain the pure sample of SARS small envelope E protein (SARS E protein), study its properties and analyze its possible functions. METHODS: The plasmid of SARS E protein was constructed by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and the protein was expressed in the E coli strain. The secondary structure feature of the protein was determined by circular dichroism (CD) technique. The possible functions of this protein were annotated by bioinformatics methods, and its possible three-dimensional model was constructed by molecular modeling. RESULTS: The pure sample of SARS E protein was obtained. The secondary structure feature derived from CD determination is similar to that from the secondary structure prediction. Bioinformatics analysis indicated that the key residues of SARS E protein were much conserved compared to the E proteins of other coronaviruses. In particular, the primary amino acid sequence of SARS E protien is much more similar to that of murine hepatitis virus(MHV) and other mammal coronaviruses. The transmembrane (TM) segment of the SARS E protein is relatively more conserved in the whole protein than other regions. CONCLUSION: The success of expressing the SARS E protein is a good starting point for investigating the structure and functions of this protein and SARS coronavirus itself as well. The SARS E protein may fold in water solution in a similar way as it in membrane-water mixed environment. It is possible that β-sheet I of the SARS E protein interacts with the membrane surface via hydrogen bonding, this β-sheet may uncoil to a random structure in water solution. 相似文献
Introduction: The emergence and mass utilization of high-throughput (HT) technologies, including sequencing technologies (genomics) and mass spectrometry (proteomics, metabolomics, lipids), has allowed geneticists, biologists, and biostatisticians to bridge the gap between genotype and phenotype on a massive scale. These new technologies have brought rapid advances in our understanding of cell biology, evolutionary history, microbial environments, and are increasingly providing new insights and applications towards clinical care and personalized medicine.
Areas covered: The very success of this industry also translates into daunting big data challenges for researchers and institutions that extend beyond the traditional academic focus of algorithms and tools. The main obstacles revolve around analysis provenance, data management of massive datasets, ease of use of software, interpretability and reproducibility of results.
Expert commentary: The authors review the challenges associated with implementing bioinformatics best practices in a large-scale setting, and highlight the opportunity for establishing bioinformatics pipelines that incorporate data tracking and auditing, enabling greater consistency and reproducibility for basic research, translational or clinical settings. 相似文献