RESUMEN
A putative glycoside phosphorylase from Caldanaerobacter subterraneus subsp. pacificus was recombinantly expressed in Escherichia coli, after codon optimization and chemical synthesis of the encoding gene. The enzyme was purified by His tag chromatography and was found to be specifically active toward trehalose, with an optimal temperature of 80°C. In addition, no loss of activity could be detected after 1 h of incubation at 65°C, which means that it is the most stable trehalose phosphorylase reported so far. The substrate specificity was investigated in detail by measuring the relative activity on a range of alternative acceptors, applied in the reverse synthetic reaction, and determining the kinetic parameters for the best acceptors. These results were rationalized based on the enzyme-substrate interactions observed in a homology model with a docked ligand. The specificity for the orientation of the acceptor's hydroxyl groups was found to decrease in the following order: C-3 > C-2 > C-4. This results in a particularly high activity on the monosaccharides d-fucose, d-xylose, l-arabinose, and d-galactose, as well as on l-fucose. However, determination of the kinetic parameters revealed that these acceptors bind less tightly in the active site than the natural acceptor d-glucose, resulting in drastically increased K(m) values. Nevertheless, the enzyme's high thermostability and broad acceptor specificity make it a valuable candidate for industrial disaccharide synthesis.
Asunto(s)
Glucosiltransferasas/metabolismo , Bacterias Grampositivas/enzimología , Monosacáridos/metabolismo , Dominio Catalítico , Cromatografía de Afinidad , Estabilidad de Enzimas , Escherichia coli/genética , Expresión Génica , Glucosiltransferasas/química , Glucosiltransferasas/genética , Glucosiltransferasas/aislamiento & purificación , Calor , Cinética , Modelos Moleculares , Estabilidad Proteica , Proteínas Recombinantes/química , Proteínas Recombinantes/genética , Proteínas Recombinantes/aislamiento & purificación , Proteínas Recombinantes/metabolismo , Especificidad por Sustrato , Factores de TiempoRESUMEN
A calorimetric assay is described for the high-throughput screening of enzymes that produce inorganic phosphate. In the current example, cellobiose phosphorylase (EC 2.4.1.20) is tested for its ability to synthesise rare disaccharides. The generated phosphate is measured in a high-throughput calorimeter by coupling the reaction to pyruvate oxidase and catalase. This procedure allows for the simultaneous analysis of 48 reactions in microtiter plate format and has been validated by comparison with a colorimetric phosphate assay. The proposed assay has a coefficient of variation of 3.14% and is useful for screening enzyme libraries for enhanced activity and substrate libraries for enzyme promiscuity.
Asunto(s)
Calorimetría/métodos , Glucosiltransferasas/metabolismo , Fosfatos/metabolismo , Colorimetría , Reproducibilidad de los ResultadosRESUMEN
Disaccharide phosphorylases are interesting enzymes for the production of sugar phosphates from cheap starting materials and for the synthesis of novel glycosides. Cellobiose phosphorylase (CP) from Cellulomonas uda was subjected to directed evolution in order to create enzyme variants with significantly increased lactose phosphorylase (LP) activity, useful for the production of alpha-D-galactose 1-phosphate. In a first round, random mutagenesis was performed on part of the CP gene and the resultant library was selected on minimal lactose medium. One clone containing six amino acid mutations was found with increased LP activity compared with the wild-type CP enzyme. The negative and neutral mutations were eliminated by site-directed mutagenesis and the resultant enzyme variant containing two amino acid substitutions (T508A/N667T) showed more LP activity than the parent mutant. Saturation mutagenesis of the beneficial sites and screening for improved mutants allowed us to identify the T508I/N667A mutant which has 7.5 times higher specific activity on lactose than the wild-type. The kinetic parameters of the mutants were determined and showed that the increased LP activity was caused by a higher k(cat) value. This is the first report of an engineered CP with modified substrate specificity.
Asunto(s)
Evolución Molecular Dirigida , Glucosiltransferasas/biosíntesis , Glucosiltransferasas/genética , Fosforilasas/genética , Sustitución de Aminoácidos , Evolución Molecular Dirigida/métodos , Glucosiltransferasas/química , Cinética , Mutagénesis Sitio-Dirigida , Fosforilasas/metabolismo , Proteínas Recombinantes/metabolismo , Especificidad por SustratoRESUMEN
Anti-tumor vaccines are a relatively non-toxic alternative to conventional chemotherapeutic strategies to control breast cancer. Immunization with tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) triggers anti-tumor cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL), which can limit tumor progression. Here we report on the development and effectiveness of a TAA-based DNA vaccine encoding Mage-b1/2, the mouse homologue of the human MAGE-B1/2. As model system, we used immune competent Balb/c mice with syngeneic non-metastatic (64pT) or metastatic (4TO7cg) breast tumors. First, the presence of Mage-btranscripts in the 64pT and 4TO7cg breast tumors and metastases was demonstrated by RT-PCR, Southern blotting, and DNA sequencing. A DNA-based vaccine was developed from transcripts of one of the 64pT tumors, encoding the complete Mage-b1/2 protein, and subsequently tested for its preventive efficacy in both breast tumor models. Mice were immunized two times intramuscularly with the vaccine (pcDNA3.1-Mage-b1/2-V5), the control vector (pcDNA3.1-V5), or saline. Two weeks after the last immunization, the syngeneic 4TO7cg or 64pT tumor cell lines were injected in a mammary fat pad. Mice were monitored during the next 4 weeks for tumor formation, latency and size, and subsequently sacrificed for analysis. While the Mage-b1/2 vaccine had only a minor effect on the latency and growth of primary tumors, a significant and reproducible reduction in the number of 4TO7cg metastases was observed (vaccine versus control vector, p=0.0329; vaccine versus saline, p=0.0128). The observed protective efficacy of the Mage-b DNA vaccine correlated with high levels of vaccine-induced IFNgamma in spleen and lymph nodes upon re-stimulation in vitro. These results demonstrate the potential of TAA-based DNA vaccines in controlling metastatic disease in breast cancer patients.
Asunto(s)
Antígenos de Neoplasias/inmunología , Neoplasias de la Mama/inmunología , Neoplasias de la Mama/patología , Vacunas contra el Cáncer/inmunología , Vacunas contra el Cáncer/farmacología , Metástasis de la Neoplasia/prevención & control , Vacunas de ADN/inmunología , Vacunas de ADN/farmacología , Animales , Neoplasias de la Mama/veterinaria , Modelos Animales de Enfermedad , Femenino , Perfilación de la Expresión Génica , Ratones , Ratones Endogámicos BALB C , Metástasis de la Neoplasia/inmunología , Proteínas de Neoplasias/genética , Proteínas de Neoplasias/inmunología , Reacción en Cadena de la Polimerasa de Transcriptasa InversaRESUMEN
Cancer is an age-related disease and with the graying of the society, there is an increasing need to optimize cancer management and therapy for application in elderly patients. Cancer vaccines that can be applied in both prevention and therapy are potentially less toxic than chemotherapy or radiation and could, therefore, be especially suitable for older more frail cancer patients. In this study, we used syngeneic metastatic (4TO7) and non-metastatic (64pT) breast tumor models to obtain valuable information on the potential usefulness of MAGE-encoding cancer vaccines in metastatic and non-metastatic breast cancer at old age. First, we tested a mouse Mage-b DNA vaccine in young mice and found a significant preventive effect on the development of metastases. However, little effect was observed on primary breast tumors. Second, we studied tumor progression in relation to aging and found significant smaller tumors in old compared to young mice. This was associated with an increase in the percentage of CD8(+) T cells in the inguinal lymph nodes at the site of the tumor at old age. These findings suggest that breast cancer immunotherapeutic approaches could be a valid strategy even in elderly patients.
Asunto(s)
Envejecimiento/inmunología , Neoplasias de la Mama/inmunología , Neoplasias de la Mama/prevención & control , Vacunas contra el Cáncer , Anciano , Animales , Modelos Animales de Enfermedad , Femenino , Humanos , RatonesRESUMEN
Bacillus thuringiensis, the entomopathogenic bacteria from the Bacillus cereus group, harbors numerous extrachromosomal molecules whose sizes vary from 2 to more than 200kb. Apart from the genes coding for the biopesticide delta-endotoxins located on large plasmids, little information has been obtained on these plasmids and their contribution to the biology of their host. In this paper, we embarked on a detailed comparison of six small rolling-circle replicating (RCR) plasmids originating from two major B. thuringiensis strains. The complete nucleotide sequences of plasmid pGI1, pGI2, pGI3, pTX14-1, pTX14-2, and pTX14-3 have been obtained and compared. Replication functions, comprising, for each plasmid, the gene encoding the Rep-protein, double-strand origin of replication (dso), single-strand origin of replication (sso), have been identified and analyzed. Two new families, or homology groups, of RCR plasmids originated from the studies of these plasmids (Group VI based on pGI3 and Group VII based on pTX14-3). On five of the six plasmids, loci involved in conjugative mobilization (Mob-genes and origin of transfer (oriT)) were identified. Plasmids pTX14-1, pTX14-2, and pTX14-3 each harbor an ORF encoding a polypeptide containing a central domain with repetitive elements similar to eukaryotic collagen (Gly-X-Y triplets). These genes were termed bcol for Bacillus-collagen-like genes.
Asunto(s)
Bacillus thuringiensis/genética , ADN Circular , Plásmidos/metabolismo , Secuencia de Aminoácidos , Secuencia de Bases , Clonación Molecular , Colágeno/química , ADN/metabolismo , Elementos Transponibles de ADN , Genes Bacterianos , Modelos Genéticos , Datos de Secuencia Molecular , Sistemas de Lectura Abierta , Filogenia , Recombinación Genética , Homología de Secuencia de Aminoácido , Homología de Secuencia de Ácido NucleicoRESUMEN
Currently, there is a lack of suitable pre-clinical mouse models for testing and optimization of experimental cancer vaccines. Here, in situ developed mammary tumors of MMTV-v-Ha-ras and MMTV-c-myc transgenic mice and normal mammary, liver, spleen, and testis were screened for expression of tumor-associated antigens (TAA) Mage-b1/2/3 by reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Southern blot hybridization. Mage-b1/2/3 are homologues of the human TAA MAGE-B1/2/3. Expression of these human MAGE genes has been found in tumors of various histological types, including breast cancer. Mage-specific RT-PCR products (using primers that amplify all three Mage-b1/2/3) were detected in mammary tumors of the MMTV-v-Ha-ras and MMTV-c-myc transgenic mice and in testis, but not in other normal tissues. RT-PCR products obtained from the mammary tumors (using primers that amplify the complete protein-encoding region of Mage-b1/2/3) were cloned and sequenced, and appeared to be most homologous with Mage-b3. Comparison of the Mage-b3 gene in mammary tumors and normal tissues suggest that somatic mutations did not occur in the Mage-b3 gene of the ras- and myc-induced mammary tumors. In addition, no differences were found between the Mage-b3 cDNA of testis, the only normal tissue that expresses Mage-b3, and Mage-b3 in genomic DNA of normal kidney, where Mage-b3 is silent. The MMTV-v-Ha-ras and MMTV-c-myc transgenic mice of this study are the first immune competent mouse models with in situ developed mammary tumors in which the expression of Mage-b3 TAA has been demonstrated. This makes them potentially suitable as a mouse model for pre-clinical testing of Mage-specific cancer vaccines in vivo.
Asunto(s)
Antígenos de Neoplasias/genética , Neoplasias de la Mama/prevención & control , Vacunas contra el Cáncer , Modelos Animales de Enfermedad , Neoplasias Mamarias Animales/genética , Animales , Secuencia de Bases , Southern Blotting , Femenino , Humanos , Ratones , Ratones Transgénicos , Datos de Secuencia Molecular , Proteínas de Neoplasias/genética , Reacción en Cadena de la Polimerasa , Reacción en Cadena de la Polimerasa de Transcriptasa InversaRESUMEN
Detailed functional analysis revealed the modular organization of pGI2, a 9672 bp plasmid from Bacillus thuringiensis H1.1 that harbours the 4149 bp transposon Tn4430. Whereas the pGI2 leading-strand replicon was identified through deletion experiments, sequence comparisons indicated the presence of an ssot-like single-strand origin commonly found among Bacillus plasmids. Southern hybridization confirmed the existence of ssDNA intermediates, but only in the case of plasmid derivatives lacking the ssot site. Moreover, the pGI2 replication protein Rep displayed significant similarity with that of pTX14-3, a 7-6 kb plasmid from B. thuringiensis serovar israelensis, suggesting that both elements are representatives of a new family of rolling-circle replicating (RCR) plasmids. In addition, both plasmids share a conserved 320 bp region downstream of their rep genes which, in the case of pGI2, appeared indispensable for replication. This region is therefore likely to correspond to, or to be part of, the actual double-strand origin of both plasmids. Another interesting feature of pGI2 is the presence of a mobilization (Mob) protein, as demonstrated by its ability to be mobilized by the conjugative plasmid pAW63 from B. thuringiensis serovar kurstaki HD73. The same transfer system was also used to unambiguously demonstrate similar properties of the related Mob-like protein from pTX14-3. A closer analysis of this family of related Mob proteins suggested a subdomanial organization among its members. Finally, the 270 residue pGI2 ORF2 was shown to be related to ORF43 of pMRC01, a 60 kb conjugative plasmid from Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis. Although no function has been assigned to the putative ORF43 protein, it is located downstream of a bacteriocin operon, next to an IS946 element. pGI2 appears thus far as an assemblage of functional modules with no obvious metabolic function, presumably acting as a reservoir of carrier (rep and sso), rearrangement (Tn4430) or recruiting (Mob) entities for its bacterial host.