A cyclic peptide–polymer probe for the detection of Clostridium botulinum neurotoxin serotype A

A Botulinum neurotoxin serotype A (BoNT/A) ELISA detection system was developed based upon an 11-mer cyclic peptide, termed C11-019, that was identified through peptide phage display technology. The assay employs a sandwich format using the C11-019 cyclic peptide attached to a PEMA (poly(ethylene maleic anhydride)) matrix as the capture phase and anti-BoNT/A polyclonal antibodies as the detection phase. Results reported demonstrate that the C11-019 peptide–polymer can specifically bind to BoNT/A with no cross-reactivity to other serotypes examined in assay buffers and a variety of body fluids and foodstuffs. When a highly sensitive chemiluminescent substrate was engaged, the detection of 1 pg/mL could be readily achieved within 3 h with a linear range of 0.1–1 ng/mL. These results demonstrate that an inexpensive peptide–polymer-based capture ELISA system can be used for rapid, sensitive and highly specific BoNT detection.     

应用激光显微分离技术在骨肉瘤组织原位筛选噬菌体肽库

目的将激光显微分离(laser capture microdissection, LCM) 技术应用于噬菌体表面呈现肽库的筛选过程,建立一种可以直接在天然组织中筛选肽库的方法。方法将新鲜人骨肉瘤组织块在噬菌体肽库溶液振荡孵育后制成组织冰冻切片,免疫组化染色检测噬菌体在组织中的浸润扩散。改进常规LCM切片处理方法,以冻干法替代酒精/二甲苯法脱水,以期在LCM操作过程中提高切片上噬菌体的存活率。LCM法分离摄取骨肉瘤切片上的肿瘤靶细胞,转染回收这些细胞上特异结合的噬菌体。滴定法检测所筛选的噬菌体对特异性细胞的亲和力。结果利用LCM技术,可以由肿瘤冰冻切片上收集到足够的与特异性噬菌体短肽,应用于噬菌体表面呈现肽库筛选。经过3轮筛选后所获得的噬菌体与人骨肉瘤组织的特异性亲和力提高16倍。结论本研究首次将LCM技术应用于噬菌体表面呈现肽库的筛选,可以使我们直接在新鲜人肿瘤组织中筛选与特定细胞群甚至单个细胞亲合的短肽;同时又避免了天然组织中其他杂质细胞的污染,为研制细胞特异性导向载体提供了一个新的途径。     

诱生型一氧化氮合酶特异性抑制肽的制备

目的：通过噬菌体展示技术筛选iNOS特异性抑制肽。方法：将iNOSFAD结合区及其附近序列的基因片段装入pET-28A( )，在大肠杆菌BL21中表达，His.bind^TM亲和层析柱纯化目的蛋白，使用纯化蛋白筛选Ph.D.-12^TM噬菌体库，筛选iNOS活性抑制作用较高的噬菌体克隆，测序并合成其中具有一致序列的短肽。结果：得到具有较高表达量的目的蛋白，经His.Bind^TM柱亲和层析纯化后纯度大于95％，以纯化蛋白筛选Ph.D.-12^TM噬菌体库，经4轮筛选获得10株iNOS活性抑制作用较高的噬菌体克隆，测序发现其中5株序列完全相同，合成该12肽，初步研究表明其对iNOS表现为高浓度抑制，低浓度兴奋的作用，而对nNOS及eNOS则没有影响。结论：以iNOSFAD片段蛋白为靶蛋白筛选得到的克隆对iNOS活性具有特异性影响，可根据这些特征设计合成小分子前导药物，创造新的活性药物。     

Effect of amyloid peptides on the increase in TrkA receptor expression induced by nicotine in vitro and in vivo

The ability of nicotine to induce a cytoprotective or neuroprotective action occurs through several down-stream mechanisms. One possibility is that the drug increases the expression of tyrosine kinase A (TrkA) nerve growth factor (NGF) receptors. Certain β-amyloid peptides (e.g., Aβ1–42) have been shown to bind with high affinity to α7 nicotinic receptors and thus interfere with a potentially neurotrophic influence. Treatment of differentiated PC-12 cells with nicotine produced a concentration-dependent increase in cell-surface TrkA receptors that occurred concomitantly with cytoprotection. The effect of nicotine was blocked by either of the α7 receptor antagonists α-bungarotoxin (α-BTX) or methyllycaconatine. The cytoprotective action of nicotine also was inhibited by pretreatment with 10–100 nM Aβ1–42. Nicotine also was administered (four injections of 30 μg, spaced evenly over 24 h) to rats by direct injection into a lateral cerebral ventricle. Brain TrkA expression was increased significantly in hippocampus and entorhinal cortex (up to 32% above control), with no changes found in cerebral cortex or hypothalamus. The nicotine-induced increases in TrKA expression in hippocampus and entorhinal cortex were significantly inhibited by 10 μg α-BTX or by 10 nmol Aβ1–42. Therefore, physiologically relevant concentrations of Aβ1–42 can prevent nicotine-induced TrkA receptor expression in brain regions containing cholinergic neurons susceptible to the neurotoxicity associated with Alzheimer’s disease.     

Ca2+ mobilization in physiologically stimulated single T cells gradually increases with peptide concentration (analog signaling)

We have investigated Ca²⁺ mobilization in single T cells stimulated with their physiological ligand, i.e. antigenic peptide bound to major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules on antigen-presenting cells (APC). Fibroblasts expressing I-E^d class II molecules were pulsed with a peptide derived from the λ2³¹⁵ immunoglobulin light chain. Onto such antigen-pulsed fibroblasts were sedimented cloned Th1 cells loaded with Fura-2. Changes in cytosolic Ca²⁺ concentration in single T cells were continually monitored by use of an imaging system based on fluorometry. Ca²⁺ mobilization was both peptide-specific and MHC-restricted. Within seconds of the initial APC-T cell contact, a Ca²⁺ spike could be observed. The Ca²⁺ response gradually declined over a 25-min period, during which oscillations were noted. Various parameters characterizing the magnitude of the Ca²⁺ response (latency, increase rate, max and mean Ca²⁺ increase, frequency and period of oscillations) all correlated with the amount of peptide used for pulsing the fibroblasts. Thus, Ca²⁺ mobilization in single T cells appears not to be an all or none phenomenon. Rather, activation is incremental (analog signaling), the degree of Ca²⁺ mobilization probably being related to the number of stimulatory peptide-MHC complexes on the surface of the APC. The extent of calcium mobilization and lymphokine production (interleukin (IL)-2, IL-3, interferon-γ) correlated, at least at the population level.     

Effects of bombesin and gastrin-releasing peptide on memory processing

We have previously shown that feeding mice immediately following training enhances memory retention and that one of the gastrointestinal hormones released during a meal, cholecystokinin, also enhances retention after peripheral administration. In the studies reported here we demonstrate that another gastrointestinal peptide, gastrin-releasing peptide (GRP), enhances retention after peripheral administration, as does its amphibian counterpart, bombesin. GRP_14–27 had the same effect as the intact peptide, while GRP_1–16 was ineffective at enhancing retention. The dose-response curves showed a characteristic inverted U-shape with high doses of both GRP and bombesin being amnestic. The effect of both peptides was time-dependent and both reversed amnesia induced by the anticholinergic, scopolamine. I.c.v. administration of the peptides required higher doses to produce an effect on memory retention. suggesting that the effect was mediated predominantly through a peripheral mechanism. Doses of the peptides that enhanced memory retention after peripheral administration failed to increase serum glucose, suggesting that glucose modulation was not the mechanism by which GRP and bombesin modulate memory processing. Vagotomy inhibited the memory-enhancing effects of both GRP and bombesin, suggesting that these peptides produced their effect by stimulating ascending vagal pathways. These studies, together with our previous study with cholecystokinin, suggest the existence of a gastrointestinal hormonal system, which is activated by the passage of food through the intestine, that enhances memory retention.     

Neutrophilic defensins penetrate the blood-brain barrier

Defensins are small, cationic, cyclic peptides that are abundantly stored in granules of neutrophils. Defensins non-specifically interact with membranes by forming weakly ion-selective pores. Here we demonstrate immunolocalization of defensin-secreting cells in human brain. Defensins, secreted by activated granulocytes, apparently are not prevented by the blood-brain barrier (BBB) from diffusing across cerebral endothelium to penetrate the neuropil for a considerable distance from the granulocyte. This is in contrast to other neutrophil proteins like the granuleassociated enzyme elastase or the cytosolic protein MRP-14, which are strictly localized to the cytoplasm or granules of neutrophils. Thus, defensins, known chemokinetic and chemotactic molecules, display a unique distribution at BBB sites. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Treatment of diabetic polyneuropathy with the neurotrophic peptide ORG 2766

The efficacy of the neurotrophic peptide ORG 2766 in diabetic patients with polyneuropathy was evaluated in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicentre trial. One hundred and twenty four patients were randomised in five groups to receive 0.1, 0.4, 2 or 5 mg ORG 2766 or placebo, once daily, administered subcutaneously 52 weeks. Thermal discrimination thresholds (TDT) and vibration perception thresholds (VPT), motor and sensory nerve conduction velocity, Hoffmann reflex, heart rate variation during deep breathing and heart rate response after standing up, neurological examination score and neuropathic symptom score were determined at baseline and after 17, 34 and 52 weeks of treatment. Of the nerve function indices studied, at week 52 the TDT_warmth of the hand in the ORG 2766 0.1, 0.4 and 5 mg groups and the TDT_cold of the foot in the ORG 2766 0.1 and 0.4 mg groups significantly improved compared with placebo. Further significant improvement as compared with placebo was observed in the paraesthesia score at week 34 and week 52 in the ORG 2766 2 mg group. Only at week 34 had both the heartbeat variation during deep breathing and the VPT of the foot in the ORG 2766 0.1 mg group improved significantly, compared with placebo. No further statistically significant differences were observed at time for the other measures. No adverse reactions were observed. The only recorded drug-induced side effect was pain at the injection site. Taking all measures of efficacy into account, the statistically significant results observed did not show consistency within each measure. Therefore, it is concluded that ORG 2766, in contrast to earlier reports, is not effective in treating diabetic polyneuropathy.     

Changes of Intestinal Caicitonin Gene-related Peptide in Acute Intestinal Radiation Sickness in Rats

The characteristic distribution of calcitonin gone-related peptide(CGRP)inthe small intestine of rats and its changes in acute intestinal radiation sickness(AIRS)were studied with immunocytochemistry(whole mount stretch preparations of the smallintestine and cryostat sections)and radio-immunoassay.It was found that in all the lay-ers of the intestinal walls,there were large amounts of CGRP immunoreactive(CGRP-I)nerve fibers which existed in especiaUy high density in the myenteric,submucosal andmucosal plexuses.There was also a rather high density of the nerves around the smallvessels of the small intestine and the intestinal crypts.Some CGRP-I neurons were seenin the myenteric and submucosal plexuses.In AIRS,the intestinal CGRP showed a dip-hasic change,in a lower level in the 24th h and a higher level in the 48th and 72nd h af-ter irradiation.The results indicate that CGRP may be related to the regulation of the motility,se-cretion,absorption,sensation,and regional blood flow of the gastrointestinal tract.Pro-bably,CGRP is released under the stress of AIRS and participates in the mechanism ofinjury through many ways especially through the influence on the regional blood flowand the increase of the permeability of blood vessels.     

急性肾功能衰竭的治疗进展

目的：探讨急性肾功能衰竭的治疗。方法：复习有关急性肾功能衰竭的治疗文献，作一总结。结果：使用人工合成三肽序列（RGD）的多肽、生长因子、心房利钠因子和人工肾小管治疗急性肾功能衰竭都取得了较好的疗效。结论：这些新的治疗可望改善急性肾衰的预后和降低死亡率。