Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:2.7.7.6 (RNA polymerase)
 34,946 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

A set of low-copy-number vectors (pPD) has been constructed that permit selective gene expression and high-level protein overproduction in Escherichia coli, based on the bacteriophage T7 RNA polymerase/T7 promoter system. These plasmids carry a chloramphenicol resistance gene (cat) as a selective marker and an extended multiple cloning site for convenient gene cloning. Their replication is mediated by ori sequences derived from the low-copy-number vector pSC101. The efficient T7 gene 10 promoter present on these vectors allows selective and high-level transcription of cloned genes carrying their own translational initiation signals. In addition, low-copy-number T7 vectors were constructed that permit expression of genes lacking their own transcription and translation initiation elements by providing a ribosome binding site, an ATG start codon and a multiple cloning site devised for the cloning in all three reading frames. The pPD expression vectors were used to achieve high-level overproduction of the E. coli integral outer membrane protein Tsx, and the cytoplasmic enzymes beta-galactosidase (beta Gal) and UTP:alpha-D-glucose-1-phosphate uridylyltransferase (GalU). The characteristics of these low-copy-number T7 expression vectors should prove very useful for the cloning and high-level overexpression of genes whose gene products are deleterious to the E. coli host.
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PMID:Low-copy-number T7 vectors for selective gene expression and efficient protein overproduction in Escherichia coli. 798 88

Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) is capable of invading epithelial cell lines derived from the human colon and ileocecum. Two separate loci (tia and tib) that direct noninvasive E. coli HB101 to adhere to and invade intestinal epithelial cells have previously been cosmid cloned from ETEC H10407. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analysis of cellular fractions from tib-positive HB101 shows that the tib locus directs the synthesis of a 104-kDa outer membrane protein (the TibA protein). The tib locus was subcloned to a maximum of 6.7 kb and mutagenized with transposon Tn5. Production of TibA was directly correlated with the capacity of the subclones and Tn5 mutants to invade and adhere to epithelial cells, suggesting that TibA was required for these phenotypes. The position and direction of transcription of the tibA gene were identified by complementation and in vivo T7 RNA polymerase-promoter induction experiments. The role of the tib locus in epithelial cell invasion was confirmed by the construction of chromosomal deletion derivatives in H10407. These deletion mutants invaded epithelial cells at about 15% of the parental level and were fully complemented by plasmids bearing the tib locus. The size and function of the TibA protein are similar to those of invasin from Yersinia pseudotuberculosis (103 kDa). However, a tib probe did not hybridize with the gene encoding invasin. Hybridization analyses of genomic DNA from a wide variety of pathogenic and nonpathogenic bacteria, including Salmonella, Shigella, Yersinia, and Escherichia species, indicate that the tib locus is unique to specific ETEC strains.
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PMID:Epithelial cell invasion and adherence directed by the enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli tib locus is associated with a 104-kilodalton outer membrane protein. 803 17

L-Fucose (6-deoxy-L-galactose) is used as sole carbon source by many microorganisms, and its transport into Escherichia coli is mediated by an L-fucose-H+ symport activity. In order to determine the nature of a putative transporter encoded by the E. coli fucP gene and identify its protein product it was cloned downstream of the inducible T7 RNA polymerase and lambda OLPL promoters. Induction of the T7 promoter resulted in the expression of [14C]-L-fucose uptake activity and the concomitant expression of a [35S]-Met-labelled 32 kDa protein at levels too low for detection by staining with Coomassie brilliant blue or for protein sequencing. Induction of the lambda OLPL promoter caused the appearance of L-fucose-H+ symport activity and of a Coomassie brilliant blue-stained 32 kDa membrane protein expressed at high levels sufficient for identification as FucP by N-terminal protein sequencing. The FucP protein is, therefore, a sugar-H+ symporter different in amino acid sequence from any other known transporter. These and other results illustrate the general unpredictability of cloning strategies for attempting the amplified expression of membrane transport proteins.
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PMID:Identification of a novel sugar-H+ symport protein, FucP, for transport of L-fucose into Escherichia coli. 805 31

Human interleukin-10 (h-IL-10) is a pleiotropic cytokine with stimulatory activity on B-lymphocytes. Recent evidence indicates that infection with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) induces h-IL-10 production in B-cells and that this cytokine may contribute to EBV-induced B-cell transformation. It is not known whether h-IL-10 induction by EBV correlates with distinct phenotypic features of the infected cells or with the expression of particular viral genes. We have approached these questions by investigating the expression of h-IL-10 mRNA in a panel of B-cell lines including: in vitro EBV-transformed lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs), EBV-carrying Burkitt lymphoma (BL) lines, EBV-negative BL lines and their sublines infected with different EBV strains, or transfected with the transformation-associated viral gene. h-IL-10 mRNA was detected by reverse-transcriptase-assisted (RT)-PCR in a subset of EBV-negative BLs and in all EBV-positive BL lines and LCLs investigated except Daudi. This cell line carries an EBV nuclear antigen (EBNA)-2 gene-defective virus strain. h-IL-10 mRNA was induced by conversion of 3 EBV-negative and h-IL-10-negative BL lines (BL41, BL47 and BL49) with the transforming, B95.8-derived EBV strain. P3HR-I virus convertants that do not express the viral EBNA-2 and the EBV latent membrane protein (LMP)-1, and fail to progress towards a LCL-like cell phenotype, showed no evidence of h-IL-10 up-regulation. Expression of LMP1 was sufficient to induce h-IL-10 mRNA in transfected sublines of the EBV-negative DG75 and BL41 cell lines, whereas expression of EBNA1, 2, 5, or 6 had no effect. h-IL-10 was detected in the culture supernatants of the LMP1 transfectants by specific ELISA assays. The present findings confirm the role of LMP1 in the transactivation of a wide variety of cellular genes which may be involved in EBV-induced B-cell transformation.
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PMID:The Epstein-Barr virus latent membrane protein-1 (LMP1) induces interleukin-10 production in Burkitt lymphoma lines. 815 62

In Rhizobium meliloti, transcription of the key nitrogen-fixation regulatory genes nifA and fixK is induced in response to microaerobiosis through the action of the FixL and FixJ proteins. These two proteins are sensor and regulator homologues, respectively, of a large family of bacterial two-component systems involved in sensing and responding to environmental changes. A soluble, truncated form of the membrane protein FixL, FixL*, has been shown to be a hemoprotein that phosphorylates and dephosphorylates FixJ in response to oxygen tension. Here we use an in vitro transcription system to prove that FixJ is a transcriptional activator of both nifA and fixK and that phosphorylation of FixJ markedly increases its activity. Phosphorylation was achieved either by preincubating FixJ with FixL* and ATP or by exposing FixJ to the inorganic phospho donor ammonium hydrogen phosphoramidate. Both FixJ and FixJ-phosphate formed heparin-resistant complexes under the assay conditions used. Lastly, we were able to show that anaerobiosis, in the presence of FixL* and ATP, greatly stimulates FixJ activity at the nifA promoter with either Escherichia coli or R. meliloti RNA polymerase. This use of atmospheric oxygen to control nifA transcription in vitro represents a reconstitution of a bacterial two-component signal transduction system in its entirety, from effector to ultimate target, by the use of purified components.
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PMID:Oxygen regulation of nifA transcription in vitro. 847 99

The peritrophic membrane is a semi-permeable chitinous matrix lining the gut of most insects and is thought to have important roles in the maintenance of insect gut structure, facilitation of digestion, and protection from invasion by microrganisms and parasites. Proteins are integral components of this matrix, although the structures and functions of these proteins have not been characterized in any detail. The peritrophic membrane from the larvae of the fly Lucilia cuprina, the primary agent of cutaneous myiasis in sheep, was shown to contain six major integral peritrophic membrane proteins. Two of these proteins, a 44-kDa glycoprotein (peritrophin-44) and a 48-kDa protein (peritrophin-48) together represent >70% of the total mass of the integral peritrophic membrane proteins. Peritrophin-44 was purified and its complete amino acid sequence was determined by cloning and sequencing the DNA complementary to its mRNA. The deduced amino acid sequence codes for a protein of 356 amino acids containing an amino-terminal signal sequence followed by five similar but nonidentical domains, each of approximately 70 amino acids and characterized by a specific register of 6 cysteines. One of these domains was also present in the noncatalytic regions of chitinases from Brugia malayi, Manduca sexta, and Chelonus. Peritrophin-44 has a uniform distribution throughout the larval peritrophic membrane. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction detected the expression of peritrophin-44 in all three larval instars but only trace levels in adult L. cuprina. The protein binds specifically to tri-N-acetyl chitotriose and reacetylated chitosan in vitro. It is concluded that the multiple cysteine-rich domains in peritrophin-44 are responsible for binding to chitin, the major constituent of peritrophic membrane. Peritrophin-44 probably has roles in the maintenance of peritrophic membrane structure and in the determination of the porosity of the peritrophic membrane. This report represents the first characterization of an insect peritrophic membrane protein.
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PMID:Characterization of a major peritrophic membrane protein, peritrophin-44, from the larvae of Lucilia cuprina. cDNA and deduced amino acid sequences. 862 36

Mycoplasma hominis, an opportunistic pathogenic bacterium of humans, has a small genome of 700 kb. Despite this, multiple copies of gene sequences with similarities to the structural gene (lmp1) of a 135-kDa surface-located membrane protein (Lmp1) have been identified on the genome of M. hominis PG21 (lmp2, lmp3, and lmp4). The distance between the lmp1-lmp2 region and the lmp3-lmp4 region was more than 110 kb. lmp3-lmp4 of M. hominis PG21 was sequenced and found to contain two putative genes. The gene region of 6.5 kb contained a 5' unique region and a 3' unique region separated by 9 0.5-kb repeats with 51 to 90% similarity to 10 similar repeats found in the lmp1-lmp2 region. The 0.5-kb DNA repeats thus comprised about 1% of the entire genome. In both regions, a base change in one of the repeats gave rise to a stop codon, and thereby lmp2 and lmp4 occurred. By PCR amplification of reverse-transcriptase-generated cDNA it was shown that all four genes were transcribed. By use of Lmp-specific antibodies we showed that both lmp1 and lmp3 were translated into proteins (Lmp1 and Lmp3). Each of the four lmp genes represented by their unique cloned segments was used as a probe to analyze the presence, distribution, and organization of the genes within the genome in 13 M. hominis isolates. The repetitive element was detected at one or two locations on the chromosome for all isolates. The lmp3-specific element was present in all isolates, and lmp1- and lmp2-specific elements were present in all but one isolate. The lmp4-specific element was present in about half the isolates tested. For five M. hominis isolates the chromosomal location of the lmp genes was mapped.
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PMID:Analysis of 0.5-kilobase-pair repeats in the Mycoplasma hominis lmp gene system and identification of gene products. 863 64

We have investigated the over-production of seven membrane proteins in an Escherichia coli-bacteriophage T7 RNA polymerase expression system. In all seven cases, when expression of the target membrane protein was induced, most of the BL21(DE3) host cells died. Similar effects were also observed with expression vectors for ten globular proteins. Therefore, protein over-production in this expression system is either limited or prevented by bacterial cell death. From the few survivors of BL21(DE3) expressing the oxoglutarate-malate carrier protein from mitochondrial membranes, a mutant host C41(DE3) was selected that grew to high saturation cell density, and produced the protein as inclusion bodies at an elevated level without toxic effect. Some proteins that were expressed poorly in BL21(DE3), and others where the toxicity of the expression plasmids prevented transformation into this host, were also over-produced successfully in C41(DE3). The examples include globular proteins as well as membrane proteins, and therefore, strain C41(DE3) is generally superior to BL21(DE3) as a host for protein over-expression. However, the toxicity of over-expression of some of the membrane proteins persisted partially in strain C41(DE3). Therefore, a double mutant host C43(DE3) was selected from C41(DE3) cells containing the expression plasmid for subunit b of bacterial F-ATPase. In strain C43(DE3), both subunits b and c of the F-ATPase, an alanine-H(+) symporter, and the ADP/ATP and the phosphate carriers from mitochondria were all over-produced. The transcription of the gene for the OGCP and subunit b was lower in C41(DE3) and C43(DE3), respectively, than in BL21(DE3). In C43(DE3), the onset of transcription of the gene for subunit b was delayed after induction, and the over-produced protein was incorporated into the membrane. The procedure used for selection of C41(DE3) and C43(DE3) could be employed to tailor expression hosts in order to overcome other toxic effects associated with over-expression.
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PMID:Over-production of proteins in Escherichia coli: mutant hosts that allow synthesis of some membrane proteins and globular proteins at high levels. 875 92

A cDNA fragment (HSD-1) coding for part of a human sperm membrane protein (hSMP-1) was previously isolated from a human testis cDNA expression library, with the serum from an infertile patient used as a probe. By rescreening human testis cDNA libraries with the HSD-1 insert and using rapid amplification of cDNA ends, the complete cDNA of 2482 bp was identified and sequenced. An open reading frame of 1572 bp encodes 523 amino acid residues with a computed molecular mass of 55.08 kDa. This protein sequence does not match any other sequence in the databases, indicating that it represents a novel sperm antigen. Northern blot analysis of human and rat testis poly(A) mRNA detected a band of approximately 2.5 kb in both species. Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction analysis showed that hSMP-1 mRNA was present in human testis but was not in either kidney or liver. When the cDNA was expressed in Escherichia coli under the control of the T7 promoter, the expressed protein accumulated to a level of about 50% of the total cellular protein. The expressed protein, which contained an N-terminal poly(his) sequence tag, was purified by chromatography on an nitrilo-tri-acetic acid affinity resin. Approximately 10 mg of pure protein was obtained from a 500-ml culture, purified, and used as antigen to generate a polyclonal antiserum in rabbits. Western blot analysis of human sperm extracts showed a single specific band at 55.5 kDa. Immunofluorescence data showed that hSMP-1 was localized to the head of human sperm. The fluorescent staining formed a cap-shaped pattern that was similar in morphology to the human sperm acrosome. The availability of large amounts of recombinant hSMP-1 and its antiserum will facilitate studies on the function and expression of the protein during spermatogenesis and the assessment of its potential value as a contraceptive immunogen.
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PMID:Expression and characterization of a novel human sperm membrane protein. 878 82

Light-induced carotenogenesis in Myxococcus xanthus is under the control of the carQRS operon. CarQ, a proposed extracytoplasmic (ECF) RNA polymerase sigma factor, is required for expression of the operon and the carC gene that encodes phytoene dehydrogenase. CarR, an inner membrane protein in Escherichia coli, is essential for carQRS promoter inactivation in the dark. CarS is required for the light-dependent expression of the promoter of the carB gene cluster that encodes the rest of the structural genes for carotenogenesis. Regulation of carQRS is dependent on the stoichiometry of CarQ and CarR. Increasing the copy number of carQ over carR led to constitutive carotenogenesis, as did loss of translational coupling between carQ and carR. The severity of the constitutive phenotype depended on the distance between the uncoupled genes. When expressed in M. xanthus, a CarR:beta-galactosidase fusion protein disappeared in the light. We propose that anti-sigma factor CarR sequesters CarQ to the membrane in the dark, but, in the light, loss of CarR leads to release of the sigma factor.
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PMID:Light-induced carotenogenesis in Myxococcus xanthus: light-dependent membrane sequestration of ECF sigma factor CarQ by anti-sigma factor CarR. 882 46


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