A Magnetic-Bead-Based Immunoassay with a Newly Developed Monoclonal Antibody for Rapid and Highly Sensitive Detection of Forchlorfenuron.

Forchlorfenuron (CPPU) is a widely used plant growth regulator in agriculture, and CPPU residue in food can cause harm to human health. Thus, it is necessary to develop a rapid and sensitive detection method for CPPU monitoring. In this study, a new monoclonal antibody (mAb) against CPPU with high affinity was prepared by a hybridoma technique, and a magnetic bead (MB)-based analytical method was established for the determination of CPPU by a one-step procedure. Under optimized conditions, the detection limit of the MB-based immunoassay was as low as 0.0004 ng/mL, which was five times more sensitive than the traditional indirect competitive ELISA (icELISA). In addition, the detection procedure took less than 35 min, a significant improvement over the 135 min required for icELISA. The selectivity test of the MB-based assay also showed negligible cross-reactivity with five analogues. Furthermore, the accuracy of the developed assay was assessed by the analysis of spiked samples, and the results agreed well with those obtained by HPLC. The excellent analytical performance of the proposed assay suggests its great potential for routine screening of CPPU, and it provides a basis for promoting the application of more immunosensors in the quantitative detection of low concentrations of small organic molecules in food.

Mutation of two residues converts the ligand-binding domain of RXRα into a uniform monomer without impairing the binding of retinoic acid and cofactors.

Retinoid X receptor (RXRα) is a nuclear receptor (NR) for retinoic acid (RA) and regulates various NR signaling pathways. Ligand-binding domain (LBD) of RXRα can bind with its ligand 9-cis-RA and cofactors, and mediate the forming of homodimer and homotetramer of RXRα and its heterodimer with other NRs, conferring RXRα the ability to play complicated roles in development and diseases. Due to the coexistence of monomer, dimer and tetramer, there are difficulties to study the structure and interaction of RXRα-LBD with its ligands and cofactors in solution and to distinguish the roles of different forms of RXRα in cell. Here, through analyzing available structures of RXRα-LBD, we selected two residues, D379 and L420, in the homodimer interface to design three mutants of RXRα-LBD. Recombinant proteins of the three mutants showed decreased proportions of dimer and tetramer but unchanged overall structure and binding affinities to 9-cis-RA, corepressor SMRT, and coactivator SRC2. Especially, the double-site mutant RXRα-LBDD379A-L420G existed as a uniform monomer. Furthermore, L420 was found to play a similar role in forming RXRα-LBD homodimer and its heterodimer with various NRs, while the role of D379 varies a lot, as it shows almost no interaction with RARα/ß, LXRα/ß, and THRα/ß. This study provides a new insight into the mechanism for forming RXRα-LBD homodimer and its heterodimer with other NRs, and will facilitate the studies on the structure and interaction of RXRα-LBD with ligands, cofactors and drugs in solution, and the broad physiological functions of RXRα cooperating with various NRs in cell.

An auxiliary binding interface of SHIP2-SH2 for Y292-phosphorylated FcγRIIB reveals diverse recognition mechanisms for tyrosine-phosphorylated receptors involved in different cell signaling pathways.

SH2 domain-containing inositol 5-phosphatase 2 (SHIP2) plays an essential role in regulating phosphatidylinositol level in human cell, and is recruited to many phosphotyrosine (pY)-dependent signal transduction pathways by the SH2 domain. In immunity signaling, immunoreceptor FcγRIIB binds to SHIP2-SH2 via its Y292-phosphorylated immunoreceptor tyrosine-based inhibitory motif (ITIM) and transmits inhibitory signal, which regulates B cell and neuronal cell activity and is associated with immune diseases and Alzheimer's disease. To date, the interaction between SHIP2 and FcγRIIB has not been analyzed from a structural point of view. Here, the binding of SHIP2-SH2 with Y292-phosphorylated FcγRIIB-ITIM was analyzed using NMR spectroscopy. The results demonstrated that SHIP2-SH2 mainly utilizes two regions including a pY-binding pocket and a specificity pocket formed by ßD, ßE, and EF-loop, to bind with FcγRIIB-ITIM in high affinity. In addition to the two regions, the BG-loop of SHIP2-SH2 functions as an auxiliary interface enhancing affinity. By comparing the binding of SHIP2-SH2 with ligands from FcγRIIB and c-MET, a hepatocyte growth factor receptor associated with tumorigenesis, significant differences in interface and affinity were found, suggesting that SHIP2-SH2 applies diverse patterns for binding to different ligand proteins. Moreover, S49, S51, and R70 of SHIP2 were identified to mediate the binding of both FcγRIIB and c-MET, while R28 and Q107 were found to only participate in the binding of c-MET and FcγRIIB respectively. Taken together, this study reveals the diverse mechanisms of SHIP2-SH2 for recognizing different ligands, and provides important clues for selectively manipulating various signaling pathways and specific drug design.

Structural Investigations on the SH3b Domains of Clostridium perfringens Autolysin through NMR Spectroscopy and Structure Simulation Enlighten the Cell Wall Binding Function.

Clostridium perfringens autolysin (CpAcp) is a peptidoglycan hydrolase associated with cell separation, division, and growth. It consists of a signal peptide, ten SH3b domains, and a catalytic domain. The structure and function mechanisms of the ten SH3bs related to cell wall peptidoglycan binding remain unclear. Here, the structures of CpAcp SH3bs were studied through NMR spectroscopy and structural simulation. The NMR structure of SH3b6 was determined at first, which adopts a typical ß-barrel fold and has three potential ligand-binding pockets. The largest pocket containing eight conserved residues was suggested to bind with peptide ligand in a novel model. The structures of the other nine SH3bs were subsequently predicted to have a fold similar to SH3b6. Their ligand pockets are largely similar to those of SH3b6, although with varied size and morphology, except that SH3b1/2 display a third pocket markedly different from those in other SH3bs. Thus, it was supposed that SH3b3-10 possess similar ligand-binding ability, while SH3b1/2 have a different specificity and additional binding site for ligand. As an entirety, ten SH3bs confer a capacity for alternatively binding to various peptidoglycan sites in the cell wall. This study presents an initial insight into the structure and potential function of CpAcp SH3bs.

Expression, purification and characterization of the RhoA-binding domain of human SHIP2 in E.coli.

Human SH2-containing inositol 5-phosphatase 2 (SHIP2) is a multi-domain protein playing essential roles in various physiological and pathological processes. In cell polarization and migration, SHIP2 serves as a RhoA effector for manipulating the level of phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5-trisphosphate. The domain between SH2 and a potential PH-R domain of SHIP2 was suggested to bind with GTP-bound form of RhoA. However, the structure of this RhoA-binding domain (RBD) of SHIP2 and the mechanism for its binding with RhoA remain unknown. In this study, SHIP2118-298 and SHIP2176-298, two truncated proteins harboring the RBD were designed, expressed, and purified successfully in E. coli. Unexpectedly, both SHIP2118-298 and SHIP2176-298 were determined to exist as homo-dimers in solution by multi-angle light scattering. Circular dichroism spectra indicated that both proteins predominantly consisted of α-helix structure. Moreover, in pull-down experiments, both proteins could bind with GTP-bound RhoA and RhoAQ63L, a mutant mimicing the state of GTP-bound RhoA. Importantly, in silico analysis showed that the shorter truncation, SHIP2176-298, contained all ordered residues between the SH2 and the PH-R domain, and matched the RhoA effector motif 1 of PKN1 well in sequence alignment, suggesting that SHIP2176-298 is sufficient for further studies on the structure and RhoA binding of SHIP2. This work shortens and confirms the main region of SHIP2 interacting with RhoA, provides the method for sample preparation, and presents preliminary information for SHIP2-RBD structure, which will facilitate the comprehensive understanding of the structure and function of SHIP2.

Solution NMR structure of CGL2373, a polyketide cyclase-like protein from Corynebacterium glutamicum.

Protein CGL2373 from Corynebacterium glutamicum was previously proposed to be a member of the polyketide_cyc2 family, based on amino-acid sequence and secondary structure features derived from NMR chemical shift assignments. We report here the solution NMR structure of CGL2373, which contains three α-helices and one antiparallel ß-sheet and adopts a helix-grip fold. This structure shows moderate similarities to the representative polyketide cyclases, TcmN, WhiE, and ZhuI. Nevertheless, unlike the structures of these homologs, CGL2373 structure looks like a half-open shell with a much larger pocket, and key residues in the representative polyketide cyclases for binding substrate and catalyzing aromatic ring formation are replaced with different residues in CGL2373. Also, the gene cluster where the CGL2373-encoding gene is located in C. glutamicum contains additional genes encoding nucleoside diphosphate kinase, folylpolyglutamate synthase, and valine-tRNA ligase, different from the typical gene cluster encoding polyketide cyclase in Streptomyces. Thus, although CGL2373 is structurally a polyketide cyclase-like protein, the function of CGL2373 may differ from the known polyketide cyclases and needs to be further investigated. The solution structure of CGL2373 lays a foundation for in silico ligand screening and binding site identifying in future functional study.

Backbone and side chain resonance assignments of the C-terminal domain of human TGIF1.

TGIF1 is an essential regulator of cell differentiation in various biological processes, and is associated with holoprosencephaly and many cancers. The C-terminal domain of TGIF1 that was originally defined as repressive domain 2 can interact with a variety of proteins, such as transcription factor Smad2 and co-repressor Sin3A, to mediate the regulative roles of TGIF1 in diverse cell signaling pathways. However, the recognition mechanism of TGIF1 C-terminal domain for different interacting proteins remains unknown. Here, we report the nearly complete 1H, 13C, and 15N backbone and side chain resonance assignments of TGIF1 C-terminal domain (residues 256-375), laying a foundation for further research on the structure-function relationship of TGIF1.

Solution NMR structure of CHU_1110 from Cytophaga hutchinsonii, an AHSA1 protein potentially involved in metal ion stress response.

We report the solution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) structure of CHU_1110 from Cytophaga hutchinsonii. CHU_1110 contains three α-helices and one antiparallel ß-sheet, forming a large cavity in the center of the protein, which are consistent with the structural characteristics of AHSA1 protein family. This protein shows high structural similarities to the prokaryotic proteins RHE_CH02687 from Rhizobium etli and YndB from Bacillus subtilis, which can bind with flavinoids. Unlike these two homologs, CHU_1110 shows no obvious interaction with flavonoids in NMR titration experiments. In addition, no direct interaction has been observed between CHU_1110 and ATP, although many homologous sequences of CHU_1110 have been annotated as ATPase. Combining the analysis of structural similarity of CHU_1110 and genomic context of its encoding gene, we speculate that CHU_1110 may be involved in the stress response of bacteria to heavy metal ions, even though its specific biological functions that need to be further investigated.

Sorption of carbendazim on activated carbons derived from rape straw and its mechanism.

Due to the production and widespread application of pesticides, pesticide pollution poses a potential danger to human health and the ecosystem. Herein, activated carbons employing rape straw as a precursor were produced using H3PO4 as an activating agent at various temperatures (300-600 °C). The activated carbons differed with respect to the physicochemical properties, which were derived from elemental analysis, N2 sorption-desorption, FTIR, XPS, XRD, pHpzc, Boehm titration and blocking of the oxygen-containing groups. The oxygen-containing functional groups and the pore structure of the activated carbons obtained from the different preparation conditions were quite different. The as-prepared samples were applied as sorbents to remove carbendazim (CBD). The results indicated that the sorption of CBD was mainly dominated by partitioning at low concentrations of CBD. Meanwhile, electrostatic attractions played a more important role than hydrophobic interactions at a low initial pH; in contrast, as the initial pH increased, the hydrophobic interaction was the predominant sorption mechanism. Therefore, the results can be used to design some efficient and environmentally friendly adsorbents to reduce the risk of organic pollutants, especially organic pesticides, in aqueous solutions.

Solution NMR structure of zinc finger 4 and 5 from human INSM1, an essential regulator of neuroendocrine differentiation.

Human INSM1 containing five C-terminal C2H2-type zinc fingers (ZFs), is a key regulator of neuroendocrine development. Previous research reported that full-length INSM1 containing all five ZFs recognized a consensus DNA sequence. Structure elucidation of human INSM1 ZFs is currently insufficient to understand the DNA binding mechanism. Herein, we present the solution NMR structure of ZF4-5, in which the two ZFs adopt a head-to-tail arrangement and each ZF features a canonical ßßα fold. NMR titrations and isothermal titration calorimetry experiments showed that ZF4-5 binds weakly to the consensus DNA sequence. Proteins 2017; 85:957-962. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Acylthiourea derivatives as colorimetric sensors for anions: Synthesis, characterization and spectral behaviors.

Several acylthioureas have been synthesized to develop colorimetric sensors for detection of biologically important anions. UV-vis titration experiments indicated that the absorbance values have a good linear relationship with concentration of anions when the anions were added in AR-1, AR-4 and AR-6 sensor molecules. The detection limit to AcO(-) and F(-) is 5×10(-6) mol/L when the concentration of receptors are 2×10(-5) mol/L. Especially, compounds AR-1 and AR-4, decorated with strong electron-withdrawing NO2 substituent, showed augmented anion sensing properties, being capable of naked-eye detecting of F(-) and AcO(-) when the water content is lower than 15%. The recognition details of anion sensing were also assessed using (1)H NMR technique and confirmed that the basic anions induced deprotonation of N-H.

[13,27-Dichloro-3,6,9,17,20,23-hexa-azatetracyclo-[23.3.1.1.0]triaconta-1(29),9,11,13,15(30),16,23,25,27-nona-ene-29,30-diol-κN,N,N,O,O]bis-(nitrato-κO,O')europium(III) nitrate methanol hemisolvate.

The title compound, [Eu(III)(NO(3))(2)(C(24)H(28)Cl(2)N(6)O(2))]NO(3)·0.5CH(3)OH, is isostructural with the Gd(III) and Ho(III) complexes of the analogous macrocyclic ligand, with both Cl atoms replaced by methyl groups. The Eu atom exhibits a nine-coordinate distorted tricapped trigonal-prismatic coordination geometry. The methanol solvent mol-ecule is disordered about a twofold rotation axis with occupancies of 0.543 (12):0.457 (12).