Genetic manipulation of human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) provides a powerful tool for modeling diseases and developing future medicine. Recently a number of independent genome-editing techniques were developed, including plasmid, bacterial artificial chromosome, adeno-associated virus vector, zinc finger nuclease, transcription activator-like effecter nuclease, and helper-dependent adenoviral vector. Gene editing has been successfully employed in different aspects of stem cell research such as gene correction, mutation knock-in, and establishment of reporter cell lines (
In this review we summarize the progress made towards understanding the role of protein-protein interactions in the function of various bioluminescence systems of marine organisms, including bacteria, jellyfish and soft corals, with particular focus on methodology used to detect and characterize these interactions. In some bioluminescence systems, protein-protein interactions involve an “accessory protein” whereby a stored substrate is efficiently delivered to the bioluminescent enzyme luciferase. Other types of complexation mediate energy transfer to an “antenna protein” altering the color and quantum yield of a bioluminescence reaction. Spatial structures of the complexes reveal an important role of electrostatic forces in governing the corresponding weak interactions and define the nature of the interaction surfaces. The most reliable structural model is available for the protein-protein complex of the Ca2+-regulated photoprotein clytin and green-fluorescent protein (GFP) from the jellyfish
After two decades of ups and downs, gene therapy has recently achieved a milestone in treating patients with Leber’s congenital amaurosis (LCA). LCA is a group of inherited blinding diseases with retinal degeneration and severe vision loss in early infancy. Mutations in several genes, including
Previous studies have indicated that ERp44 inhibits inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3)-induced Ca2+ release (IICR) via IP3R1, but the mechanism remains largely unexplored. Using extracellular ATP to induce intracellular calcium transient as an IICR model, Ca2+ image, pull down assay, and Western blotting experiments were carried out in the present study. We found that extracellular ATP induced calcium transient via IP3Rs (IICR) and the IICR were markedly decreased in ERp44 over-expressed Hela cells. The inhibitory effect of C160S/C212S but not C29S/T396A/ΔT(331--377) mutants of ERp44 on IICR were significantly decreased compared with ERp44. However, the binding capacity of ERp44 to L3V domain of IP3R1 (1L3V) was enhanced by ERp44 C160S/C212S mutation. Taken together, these results suggest that the mutants of ERp44, C160/C212, can more tightly bind to IP3R1 but exhibit a weak inhibition of IP3R1 channel activity in Hela cells.
There is a great need for new vaccine development against influenza A viruses due to the drawbacks of traditional vaccines that are mainly prepared using embryonated eggs. The main component of the current split influenza A virus vaccine is viral hemagglutinin (HA) which induces a strong antibody-mediated immune response. To develop a modern vaccine against influenza A viruses, the current research has been focused on the universal vaccines targeting viral M2, NP and HA proteins. Crystallographic studies have shown that HA forms a trimer embedded on the viral envelope surface, and each monomer consists of a globular head (HA1) and a “rod-like” stalk region (HA2), the latter being more conserved among different HA subtypes and being the primary target for universal vaccines. In this study, we rationally designed the HA head based on the crystal structure of the 2009-pandemic influenza A (H1N1) virus HA as a model, tested its immunogenicity in mice, solved its crystal structure and further examined its immunological characteristics. The results show that the HA globular head can be easily prepared by
Functional proteins designed