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Background: Cerebral amyloid angiopathy is a cerebrovascular disease directly implicated in Alzheimer’s disease pathogenesis through amyloid-β deposition. Growing evidence has shown a pivotal role of chronic neuroinflammation both in cerebral amyloid angiopathy and Alzheimer’s disease. Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate whether circulating levels of the complement 3, a crucial component of the innate immune system, are increased in patients with cerebral amyloid angiopathy. Methods: Serum complement 3 levels were retrospectively measured by a sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in a single-center cohort of patients with mild cognitive impairment. The diagnosis of cerebral amyloid angiopathy was based on the modified Boston criteria. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the predictive factors for cerebral amyloid angiopathy. Results: We analyzed 55 mild cognitive impairment patients (mean age [standard deviation]: 76.3 [6.8] years; 33 [60% ] men). Complement 3 levels were significantly increased in cerebral amyloid angiopathy patients (n = 16) compared with those without cerebral amyloid angiopathy (n = 39) (median [interquartile range]: 0.43 [0.34–0.65] versus 0.35 [0.25–0.45], respectively; p = 0.040). Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that increased complement 3 levels were significantly associated with cerebral amyloid angiopathy. After selection of the best predictive model using stepwise selection, complement 3 was preserved as a significant independent predictive factor for cerebral amyloid angiopathy (odds ratio per 0.1 unit/mL increase [95% confidence interval]: 1.407 [1.042–1.899]; p = 0.026). Conclusion: Complement activation may play a pivotal role in cerebral amyloid angiopathy. Complement 3 may be a novel diagnostic biomarker for cerebral amyloid angiopathy.

A newly cloned Helicoverpa armigera nucleopolyhedrovirus (HearNPV) from Kenya, HearNPV-NNg1, has a higher insecticidal activity than HearNPV-G4, which also exhibits lower insecticidal activity than HearNPV-C1. In the search for genes and/or nucleotide sequences that might be involved in the observed virulence differences among Helicoverpa spp. NPVs, the entire genome of NNg1 was sequenced and compared with previously sequenced genomes of G4, C1 and Helicoverpa zea single-nucleocapsid NPV (Hz). The NNg1 genome was 132,425 bp in length, with a total of 143 putative open reading frames (ORFs), and shared high levels of overall amino acid and nucleotide sequence identities with G4, C1 and Hz. Three NNg1 ORFs, ORF5, ORF100 and ORF124, which were shared with C1, were absent in G4 and Hz, while NNg1 and C1 were missing a homologue of G4/Hz ORF5. Another three ORFs, ORF60 (bro-b), ORF119 and ORF120, and one direct repeat sequence (dr) were unique to NNg1. Relative to the overall nucleotide sequence identity, lower sequence identities were observed between NNg1 hrs and the homologous hrs in the other three Helicoverpa spp. NPVs, despite containing the same number of hrs located at essentially the same positions on the genomes. Differences were also observed between NNg1 and each of the other three Helicoverpa spp. NPVs in the diversity of bro genes encoded on the genomes. These results indicate several putative genes and nucleotide sequences that may be responsible for the virulence differences observed among Helicoverpa spp., yet the specific genes and/or nucleotide sequences responsible have not been identified.

To evaluate the ability of an insect cell-free protein synthesis system to carry out proper protein prenylation, several CAIX (X indicates any C-terminal amino acid) sequences were introduced into the C-terminus of truncated human gelsolin (tGelsolin). Tryptic digests of these mutant proteins were analyzed by MALDI-TOF MS and MALDI-quadrupole-IT-TOF MS. The results indicated that the insect cell-free protein synthesis system possesses both farnesyltransferase (FTase) and geranylgeranyltransferase (GGTase) I, as is the case of the rabbit reticulocyte lysate system. The C-terminal amino acid sequence requirements for protein prenylation in this system showed high similarity to those observed in rat prenyltransferases. In the case of rhoC, which is a natural geranylgeranylated protein, it was found that it could serve as a substrate for both prenyltransferases in the presence of either farnesyl or geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate, whereas geranylgeranylation was only observed when both prenyl pyrophosphates were added to the in vitro translation reaction mixture. Thus, a combination of the cell-free protein synthesis system with MS is an effective strategy to analyze protein prenylation.

To establish a strategy to generate N-acylated proteins modified with fatty acids having a specific chain length, tGelsolin-streptag, an epitope-tagged model protein having an N-myristoylation motif, was synthesized using an insect cell-free protein synthesis system in the presence of acyl-CoA with various fatty acid chain lengths. It was found that the fatty acid species attached to the N-termini fully depended on the acyl-CoA species added to the reaction mixture. N-Acylated proteins with fatty acid chain lengths of 8, 10, 12, and 14 were generated successfully.

The whole-genome sequence of the Hyphantria cunea nucleopolyhedrovirus (HycuNPV) was analysed. The entire nucleotide sequence of the HycuNPV genome was 132 959 bp long, with a G+C content of 45.1 mol%. A total of 148 open reading frames (ORFs) consisting of more than 50 aa were encoded by the genome. HycuNPV shares more than 122 ORFs with other lepidopteran group I NPVs, including Autographa californica MNPV, Bombyx mori NPV, Choristoneura fumiferana MNPV (CfMNPV), Choristoneura fumiferana defective NPV, Epiphyas postvittana MNPV and Orgyia pseudotsugata MNPV (OpMNPV). Six ORFs are identified as being unique to HycuNPV. Most of the HycuNPV ORFs showed higher similarity to CfMNPV and OpMNPV ORFs than to those of the other group I NPVs. HycuNPV encodes two conotoxin-like homologues (ctls), which are observed only in OpMNPV in group I NPVs. HycuNPV encodes three inhibitors of apoptosis (iaps), hycu-iap-1, hycu-iap-2 and hycu-iap-3, a feature that it shares only with CfMNPV. In addition, six homologous regions (hrs) are identified in the HycuNPV genome. These hrs are located in regions similar to those of the OpMNPV hrs, but different from most of the CfMNPV hrs. Based on the close phylogenetic relationship and conservation of group I NPV-specific genes, such as gp64, ie-2 and ptp-1, it is concluded that HycuNPV belongs to the group I NPVs and is most similar to CfMNPV or OpMNPV.

Aphanothece halophytica is a halotolerant alkaliphilic cyanobacterium which can grow at NaCl concentrations up to 3.0 M and at pH values up to 11. The genome sequence revealed that the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. strain PCC 6803 contains five putative Na + /H + antiporters, two of which are homologous to NhaP of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and three of which are homologous to NapA of Enterococcus hirae . The physiological and functional properties of NapA-type antiporters are largely unknown. One of NapA-type antiporters in Synechocystis sp. strain PCC 6803 has been proposed to be essential for the survival of this organism. In this study, we examined the isolation and characterization of the homologous gene in Aphanothece halophytica . Two genes encoding polypeptides of the same size, designated Ap- napA1 - 1 and Ap- napA1 - 2 , were isolated. Ap-NapA1-1 exhibited a higher level of homology to the Synechocystis ortholog (Syn-NapA1) than Ap-NapA1-2 exhibited. Ap-NapA1-1, Ap-NapA1-2, and Syn-NapA1 complemented the salt-sensitive phenotypes of an Escherichia coli mutant and exhibited strongly pH-dependent Na + /H + and Li + /H + exchange activities (the highest activities were at alkaline pH), although the activities of Ap-NapA1-2 were significantly lower than the activities of the other polypeptides. Only one these polypeptides, Ap-NapA1-2, complemented a K + uptake-deficient E. coli mutant and exhibited K + uptake activity. Mutagenesis experiments suggested the importance of Glu129, Asp225, and Asp226 in the putative transmembrane segment and Glu142 in the loop region for the activity. Overexpression of Ap-NapA1-1 in the freshwater cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp. strain PCC 7942 enhanced the salt tolerance of cells, especially at alkaline pH. These findings indicate that A. halophytica has two NapA1-type antiporters which exhibit different ion specificities and play an important role in salt tolerance at alkaline pH.

The Transdirect insect cell is a newly developed in vitro translation system for mRNA templates, which utilizes an extract from cultured Spodoptera frugiperda 21 (Sf21) insect cells. An expression vector, pTD1, which includes a 5'-untranslated region (UTR) sequence from a baculovirus polyhedrin gene as a translational enhancer, was also developed to obtain maximum performance from the insect cell-free protein synthesis system. This combination of insect cell extract and expression vector results in protein productivity of about 50 microg/mL of the translation reaction mixture. This is the highest protein productivity yet noted among commercialized cell-free protein synthesis systems based on animal extracts.

The Transdirect insect cell is a newly developed in vitro translation system for mRNA templates, which utilizes an extract from cultured Spodoptera frugiperda 21 (Sf21) insect cells. An expression vector, pTD1, which includes a 5'-untranslated region (UTR) sequence from a baculovirus polyhedrin gene as a translational enhancer, was also developed to obtain maximum performance from the insect cell-free protein synthesis system. This combination of insect cell extract and expression vector results in protein productivity of about 50 microg per mL of the translation reaction mixture. This is the highest protein productivity yet noted among commercialized cell-free protein synthesis systems based on animal extracts.

Cell-free protein synthesis systems offer production of native proteins with high speed, even for the proteins that are toxic to cells. Among cell-free systems, the system derived from insect cells has the potential to carry out post-translational modifications that are specific to eukaryotic organisms, as occurs in the rabbit reticulocyte system. In this review, we describe development of this insect cell-free system and its applications.

The Transdirect insect cell is a newly developed in vitro translation system for mRNA templates, which utilizes an extract from cultured Spodoptera frugiperda 21 (Sf21) insect cells. An expression vector, pTD1, which includes a 5'-untranslated region (UTR) sequence from a baculovirus polyhedrin gene as a translational enhancer, was also developed to obtain maximum performance from the insect cell-free protein synthesis system. This combination of insect cell extract and expression vector results in protein productivity of about 50 microg per mL of the translation reaction mixture. This is the highest protein productivity yet noted among commercialized cell-free protein synthesis systems based on animal extracts.

Escherichia coli alkaline phosphatase (AP) and human lysozyme (h-LYZ), which contain two and four disulfide bonds, respectively, were expressed in a cell-free protein synthesis system constructed from Spodoptera frugiperda 21 (Sf21) cells. AP was expressed in a soluble and active form using the insect cell-free system under non-reducing conditions, and h-LYZ was expressed in a soluble and active form under non-reducing conditions after addition of reduced glutathione (GSH), oxidized glutathione (GSSG), and protein disulfide isomerase (PDI). The in vitro synthesized proteins were purified by means of a Strep-tag attached to their C termini. Approximately 41 microg AP and 30 microg h-LYZ were obtained from 1 mL each of the reaction mixture. The efficiency of protein synthesis approached that measured under reducing conditions. Analysis of the disulfide bond arrangements by MALDI-TOF MS showed that disulfide linkages identical to those observed in the wild-type proteins were formed.

Plants accumulate a variety of osmoprotectants that improve their ability to combat abiotic stresses. Among them, betaine appears to play an important role in conferring resistance to stresses. Betaine is synthesized via either choline oxidation or glycine methylation. An increased betaine level in transgenic plants is one of the potential strategies to generate stress-tolerant crop plants. Here, we showed that an exogenous supply of serine or glycine to a halotolerant cyanobacterium Aphanothece halophytica, which synthesizes betaine from glycine by a three-step methylation, elevated intracellular accumulation of betaine under salt stress. The gene encoding 3-phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase (PGDH), which catalyzes the first step of the phosphorylated pathway of serine biosynthesis, was isolated from A. halophytica. Expression of the Aphanothece PGDH gene in Escherichia coli caused an increase in levels of betaine as well as glycine and serine. Expression of the Aphanothece PGDH gene in Arabidopsis plants, in which the betaine synthetic pathway was introduced via glycine methylation, further increased betaine levels and improved the stress tolerance. These results demonstrate that PGDH enhances the levels of betaine by providing the precursor serine for both choline oxidation and glycine methylation pathways.

Ferritin is a class of iron storage protein composed of 24 subunits. Although many studies on gene expression analyses of plant ferritin have been conducted, the functions and oligomeric assembly of plant ferritin subunits are still largely unknown. In order to characterize the ability to form multimeric protein shells and determine the iron incorporating activity, we produced ferritin homo- and heteropolymers by expressing four cDNAs of ferritin subunits from soybean, sfer1, sfer2, sfer3, and sfer4, using an in vitro protein expression system. Using SDS–PAGE analysis followed by Prussian blue stain, homopolymers of SFER1, SFER2, and SFER3, and heteropolymers of SFER1/SFER2 and SFER1/SFER3 were detected as assembled polymers with iron incorporating activity, whereas only a small amount of SFER4 related homo- and heteropolymer was detected, suggesting that the SFER4 was not competent for oligomeric assembly, unlike every other ferritin. We conclude that certain combinations of plant ferritin subunits can form heteropolymers and that their iron incorporating activities depend on the formation of multimeric protein.

We established a novel cell-free protein synthesis system derived from Trichoplusia ni (HighFive) insect cells by a simple extraction method. Luciferase and beta-galactosidase were synthesized in this system with active forms. We analyzed and optimized (1) the preparation method of the insect cell extract, (2) the concentration of the reaction components, and (3) the 5'-untranslated region (5'-UTR) of mRNA. The extract was prepared by freeze-thawing insect cells suspended in the extraction buffer. This preparation method was a simple and superior method compared with the conventional method using a Dounce homogenizer. Furthermore, protein synthesis efficiency was improved by the addition of 20% (v/v) glycerol to the extraction buffer. Concentrations of the reaction components were optimized to increase protein synthesis efficiency. Moreover, mRNAs containing 5'-UTRs derived from baculovirus polyhedrin genes showed high protein synthesis activity. Especially, the leader composition of the Ectropis obliqua nucleopolyhedrovirus polyhedrin gene showed the highest enhancement activity among the six 5'-UTRs tested. As a result, in a batch reaction approximately 71 microg of luciferase was synthesized per milliliter of reaction volume at 25 degrees C for 6 h. Moreover, this method for the establishment of a cell-free system was applied also to Spodoptera frugiperda 21 (Sf21) insect cells. After optimizing the concentrations of the reaction components and the 5'-UTR of mRNA, approximately 45 microg/mL of luciferase was synthesized in an Sf21 cell-free system at 25 degrees C for 3 h. These productivities were sufficient to perform gene expression analyses. Thus, these cell-free systems may be a useful tool for simple synthesis in post-genomic studies as a novel protein production method.

The entire genome of the unicellular cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus PCC 6301 (formerly Anacystis nidulans Berkeley strain 6301) was sequenced. The genome consisted of a circular chromosome 2,696,255 bp long. A total of 2,525 potential protein-coding genes, two sets of rRNA genes, 45 tRNA genes representing 42 tRNA species, and several genes for small stable RNAs were assigned to the chromosome by similarity searches and computer predictions. The translated products of 56% of the potential protein-coding genes showed sequence similarities to experimentally identified and predicted proteins of known function, and the products of 35% of the genes showed sequence similarities to the translated products of hypothetical genes. The remaining 9% of genes lacked significant similarities to genes for predicted proteins in the public DNA databases. Some 139 genes coding for photosynthesis-related components were identified. Thirty-seven genes for two-component signal transduction systems were also identified. This is the smallest number of such genes identified in cyanobacteria, except for marine cyanobacteria, suggesting that only simple signal transduction systems are found in this strain. The gene arrangement and nucleotide sequence of Synechococcus elongatus PCC 6301 were nearly identical to those of a closely related strain Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942, except for the presence of a 188.6 kb inversion. The sequences as well as the gene information shown in this paper are available in the Web database, CYORF (http://www.cyano.genome.jp/).

To evaluate the ability of an- insect cell-free protein synthesis system to generate proper N-terminal cotranslational protein modifications such as removal of the initiating Met, N-acetylation, and N-myristoylation, several mutants were constructed using truncated human gelsolin (tGelsolin) as a model protein. Tryptic digests of these mutants were analyzed by MALDI-TOF MS and MALDI-quadrupole-IT-TOF MS. The wild-type tGelsolin, which is an N-myristoylated protein, was found to be N-myristoylated when myristoyl-CoA was added to the in vitro translation reaction mixture. N-myristoylation did not occur on the Gly-2 to Ala mutant, in which the N-myristoylation motif was disrupted, whereas this mutant was found to be N-acetylated after removal of the initiating Met. Analyses of Gly-2 to His and Leu-3 to Asp mutants revealed that the amino acids at positions 2 and 3 strongly affect the susceptibility of the nascent peptide chain to removal of the initiating Met and to N-acetylation, respectively. These results suggest that N-terminal modifications occurring in the insect cell-free protein synthesis system are quite similar to those observed in the mammalian protein synthesis system. Thus, a combination of the cell-free protein synthesis system with MS is an effective strategy to analyze protein modifications.

We constructed a pTD1 vector for an insect cell-free translation system containing a 5' untranslated region (UTR) of a polyhedrin gene as a translational enhancer sequence. Its translational efficiency was about 50-fold higher than those of mRNAs without an enhancer sequence. Moreover, the pTD1 vector functioned as an effective expression vector not only in the insect cell-free translation system but also in wheat germ extract and rabbit reticulocyte lysate systems.

Genome sequences of cyanobacteria, Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803, Anabaena sp. PCC 7120, and Thermosynechococcus elongatus BP-1 revealed the presence of a single Ca2+/H+ antiporter in these organisms. Here, we isolated the putative Ca2+/H+ antiporter gene from Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 (synCAX) as well as a homologous gene from a halotolerant cyanobacterium Aphanothece halophytica (apCAX). In contrast to plant vacuolar CAXs, the full-length apCAX and synCAX genes complemented the Ca2+-sensitive phenotype of an Escherichia coli mutant. ApCAX and SynCAX proteins catalyzed specifically the Ca2+/H+ exchange reaction at alkaline pH. Immunological analysis suggested their localization in plasma membranes. The Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 cells disrupted of synCAX exhibited lower Ca2+ efflux activity and a salt-sensitive phenotype. Overexpression of ApCAX and SynCAX enhanced the salt tolerance of Synechococcus sp. PCC 7942 cells. Mutagenesis analyses indicate the importance of two conserved acidic amino acid residues, Glu-74 and Glu-324, in the transmembrane segments for the exchange activity. These results clearly indicate that cyanobacteria contain a Ca2+/H+ antiporter in their plasma membranes, which plays an important role for salt tolerance.

We have established a cell-free protein synthesis system (Transdirect insect cell) derived from Spodoptera frugiperda 21 insect cells [1]. This cell-free system has high protein productivity, and therefore it is expected to be sufficient to perform gene expression analyses including not only the measurement of enzymatic activity and western blotting, but also investigation of posttranslational modifications. In this study, several posttranslational modifications in the insect cell-free protein synthesis system were confirmed and identified by MALDI-TOF MS [2, 3, 4].

Temperature-sensitive (ts) mutants of Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus (BmNPV), which exhibited no polyhedra formation at the non-permissive temperature of 33 degrees C, were produced using the base analogue 5-bromodeoxyuridine. A unique ts mutant, designated ts-S1, was characterized in terms of gene mutation and virulence in cultured cells and silkworm larvae. Mutant-infected BmN4 cells at 33 degrees C showed normal viral DNA synthesis but defective budded virus production and polyhedrin synthesis, suggesting the absence of late and very late gene expression. Silkworm larvae were injected with ts-S1 and reared at 33.5 degrees C. At 7 days post-injection, none of the larvae exhibited nucleopolyhedrosis but some possessed viral DNA, detected by PCR using virus-specific primers. Continued rearing of the larvae at a permissive temperature of 25 degrees C showed that, while most developed into normal adults, some developed nucleopolyhedrosis, indicating that the former larvae had aborted the virus infection during the course of rearing at 33.5 degrees C. No viral DNA was detected in the adults. Marker rescue tests to identify the lesion involved in the ts phenotype of ts-S1, and nucleotide sequencing of the identified genome region, showed a single nucleotide mutation of a putative RNA polymerase gene, late expression factor-8 (lef-8). These results indicate that lef-8 is essential for BmNPV replication in vitro and in vivo.

Adoxophyes honmai nucleopolyhedrovirus (AdhoNPV) has a distinctive pathology in A. honmai larvae, killing the host more slowly than other NPVs. To further understand the pathology of AdhoNPV, its genome was completely sequenced and compared with those of other baculoviruses. The AdhoNPV genome is 113,220 bp, with a G + C content of 35.6%. It contains 125 putative open reading frames (ORFs), of which 8 are unique to AdhoNPV, and 4 homologous regions. The other 117 ORFs display similarity to previously characterized baculovirus genes involved in early and late gene expression, DNA replication, and structural and auxiliary functions. The phylogenetic position of AdhoNPV, in relation to 15 other baculoviruses whose genomes have been completely sequenced, was assessed by three different analyses: gene sequence, gene order, and gene content. Although gene content analysis failed to support the group II NPVs, phylogenetic trees based on gene sequence and gene order showed AdhoNPV to be closely related to the group II NPVs.