The very different effects of Cholera Toxin （CT） on cell growth and proliferation may depend on the type of ganglioside receptors in cell membranes and different signal transduction mechanisms triggered, but other f...The very different effects of Cholera Toxin （CT） on cell growth and proliferation may depend on the type of ganglioside receptors in cell membranes and different signal transduction mechanisms triggered, but other functions related to the drug resistance mechanisms can not be excluded. The effect of CT treatment on the ＂in vitro＂ clonogenicity, the Population Doubling Time （PDT）, apoptosis, PKA activation and Bax and Bcl-2 expression was evaluated in WEHI-3B cell line and its CT-resistant subclone （WEHI-3B/CTRES）. In WEHI-3B parental cells the dramatic accumulation of cAMP induced by CT correlated well with PKA activation, increased PDT value, inhibition of clonogenicity and apoptosis. H-89 treatment inhibited PKA activation by CT but did not protect the cells from apoptosis and growth inhibition. In WEHI-3B/CTRES no significant CT-dependent accumulation of cAMP occurred with any increase of PKA activity and PDT. In CT resistant cells （WEHI-3B/CTRES）, Bcl-2 expression was down regulated by both CT or drug treatment （eg, ciprofloxacin, CPX） although these cells were protected from CT-dependent apoptosis but not from drug-induced apoptosis. Differently from other cell models described, down regulation of Bcl-2 is proved to be independent on cAMP accumulation and PKA activation. Our observations support the implication of cAMP dependent kinase （PKA） in the inhibition of WEHI-3B cells growth and suggest that, in WEHI-3B/CTRES, Bcl-2 expression could be modulated by CT in the absence of cAMP accumulation. Also in consideration of many contradictory data reported in literature, our cell models （of one sensitive parental cell strain and two clones with different uncrossed specific resistance to CT and CPX） provides a new and interesting tool for better investigating the relationship between the CT signal transduction mechanisms and Bcl-2 expression and function.展开更多
Neural tract tracing is used to study neural pathways and evaluate neuronal regeneration following nerve injuries.However,it is not always clear which tracer should be used to yield optimal results.In this study,we ex...Neural tract tracing is used to study neural pathways and evaluate neuronal regeneration following nerve injuries.However,it is not always clear which tracer should be used to yield optimal results.In this study,we examined the use of Alexa Fluor 488-conjugated cholera toxin subunit B(AF488-CTB).This was injected into the gastrocnemius muscle of rats,and it was found that motor,sensory,and sympathetic neurons were labeled in the spinal ventral horn,dorsal root ganglia,and sympathetic chain,respectively.Similar results were obtained when we injected AF594-CTB into the tibialis anterior muscle.The morphology and number of neurons were evaluated at different time points following the AF488-CTB injection.It was found that labeled motor and sensory neurons could be observed 12 hours post-injection.The intensity was found to increase over time,and the morphology appeared clear and complete 3-7 days post-injection,with clearly distinguishable motor neuron axons and dendrites.However,14 days after the injection,the quality of the images decreased and the neurons appeared blurred and incomplete.Nissl and immunohistochemical staining showed that the AF488-CTB-labeled neurons retained normal neurochemical and morphological features,and the surrounding microglia were also found to be unaltered.Overall,these results imply that the cholera toxin subunit B,whether unconjugated or conjugated with Alexa Fluor,is effective for retrograde tracing in muscular tissues and that it would also be suitable for evaluating the regeneration or degeneration of injured nerves.展开更多
Mucosal vaccination has been getting more and more recognition because of its compliance and low risk of spreading infectious disease by contaminated syringes used in subcutaneous immunization. However, most vaccines ...Mucosal vaccination has been getting more and more recognition because of its compliance and low risk of spreading infectious disease by contaminated syringes used in subcutaneous immunization. However, most vaccines are unable to induce immune responses when given mucosally, and require the use of strong adjuvant for effective delivery systems. Heat-labile enterotoxin (LT) and Cholera toxin(CT) are powerful mucosal adjuvants when co-administered with soluble antigens. But high toxicity hampers their use in humans. Thanks to the fine knowledge of the structure-function relationship of LT and CT, many nontoxic or low toxic mutants have been generated, part of them retain high adjuvanticity of mucosal immunization. Among these mutants, LTS63K, LTA72R, LTR192G and CTE29H, CTE112K have been widely investigated. LTS63K and CTE112K are fully non toxic, whereas LTA72R and CTE29H are low toxic, and LTR192G is nontoxic in vitro(it remains the same toxicity as wild type LT in vivo). These mutants are extremely active as mucosal adjuvants when co-administrated with a variety of antigens in different animal models. They will be investigated more widely and deeply in the future. Some of them will be tested soon in human bodies.展开更多
Cholera is a well-known gastrointestinal infection.The cholera toxin is an important pathological substance in pathogenesis of cholera diarrhea.Cholera toxin is composed of catalytic A1 subunit,an A2 linker,and a homo...Cholera is a well-known gastrointestinal infection.The cholera toxin is an important pathological substance in pathogenesis of cholera diarrhea.Cholera toxin is composed of catalytic A1 subunit,an A2 linker,and a homopentameric cell-binding B subunit.In enterocyte,cholera toxin will attach to GM1 ganglioside receptors on the apical membrane and causes retrograde vesicular trafficking to endoplasmic reticulum.At endoplasmic reticulum,cholera toxin A1 is released from the rest of the toxin into cytoplasm.The cholera toxin A1 interacts will catalyze ADP ribosylation of subunits of stimulatory G protein resulting a persistent activation of adenylate cyclase and an elevation of intracellular c AMP which further result in diarrhea.The single alanine substitutional mutation can result in the reduction of the interaction activity between cholera toxin A1 and stimulatory G protein.In this study,the four well-known mutations,H55,R67,L71,S78,or D109,of cholera toxin A1 is focused.The author hereby calculates for the reaction energy for the reaction between cholera toxin A1 and stimulatory G protein in na¨?ve case and mutated case.To calculate,the standard bonding energy calculation technique in mutation analysis was used.It can be seen that aberrant in reaction energy in each studied mutation is different and can imply the different effect on activity with stimulatory G protein.展开更多
Commensal bacteria boost serum IgG production in response to oral immunization with antigen and cholera toxin(CT)in a manner that depends on Nod2(nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-containing protein 2).In this...Commensal bacteria boost serum IgG production in response to oral immunization with antigen and cholera toxin(CT)in a manner that depends on Nod2(nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-containing protein 2).In this study,we examined the role of intestinal lysozyme(Lyz1)in adjuvant activity of CT.We found that Lyz1 released Nod2 ligand(s)from bacteria.Lyz1 deficiency reduced the level of circulating Nod2 ligand in mice.Lyz1 deficiency also reduced the production of IgG and T-cellspecific cytokines after oral immunization in mice.Supplementing Lyz1-deficient mice with MDP restored IgG production.Furthermore,overexpression of Lyz1 in intestinal epithelium boosted the antigen-specific IgG response induced by CT.Collectively,our results indicate that Lyz1 plays an important role in mediating the immune regulatory effect of commensal bacteria through the release of Nod2 ligand(s).展开更多
Background Cholera toxin B subunit （CTB） was shown to be a potent adjuvant for protein immunogen, especially when inoculated through mucosal route. We aimed to optimize the expression approach for CTB and thereafter...Background Cholera toxin B subunit （CTB） was shown to be a potent adjuvant for protein immunogen, especially when inoculated through mucosal route. We aimed to optimize the expression approach for CTB and thereafter to determine the adjuvant effect on DNA vaccine. Methods Wild type CTB coding gene was amplified and cloned into prokaryotic expression vector pET-30a, and the recombinant CTB was expressed in the presence of different concentration of chloramphenicol and isopropyl β-D-thiogalactoside. Purified recombinant CTB was mixed with HIV-1 AE2f tat-rev-integrase-vif-nef fusion gene DNA vaccine and female BALB/c mice were vaccinated with a DNA priming-recombinant vaccinia vectored vaccine boosting regimen through intramuscular injection. Interferon γ （IFN-γ） enzyme-linked immunospot （Elispot） assay was used to read out the specific T-cell immunity. Results Chloramphenicol was essential for the efficient expression of recombinant CTB （rCTB） in pET-30a/BL21 （DE3） system and could be optimized at the concentration of 0.625 μg/ml in the presence of chloramphenicol. The purified rCTB could bind with GM1 efficiently. INF-γ Elispot data showed the T-cell response induced in CTB adjuvanted group （（734±240） spot forming cells/106 splenocytes） was higher than that induced by non-adjuvanted （（520±150） spot forming cells/10e splenocytes）, all responses against different antigens were enhanced in parallel. Conclusion CTB could be efficiently expressed in the presence of chloramphenicol and purified CTB is functional and capable of enhancincl the specific T cell responses elicited by DNA vaccine, the mechanism needs to be explored in the future.展开更多
An engineered E. coli strain containing high expression level of CT-B subunits has beenobtained by the application of recombinant DNA techniques. The B subunit can be secretedinto the medium and reaches 20- 40 μg/ml ...An engineered E. coli strain containing high expression level of CT-B subunits has beenobtained by the application of recombinant DNA techniques. The B subunit can be secretedinto the medium and reaches 20- 40 μg/ml when this strain is incubated in a 50 1 fermenta-tion tank. The CT-B subunit purified with affinity chromatography in E. coli has the samecharacters as the natural CT- B subunit in molecular weight, N terminal amino acid analysisand antigenicity. The CT-B subunit has good immunogenicity and can be used as a preparation for protect-ing against diarrhea caused by V. cholera and enterotoxigenic E. coli. It can also be usedas a vector for hepatins.展开更多
Vibrio cholerae(V. cholerae) genome is equipped with a number of integrative mobile genetic element(IMGE) like prophages, plasmids, transposons or genomic islands, which provides fitness factors that help the pathogen...Vibrio cholerae(V. cholerae) genome is equipped with a number of integrative mobile genetic element(IMGE) like prophages, plasmids, transposons or genomic islands, which provides fitness factors that help the pathogen to survive in changing environmental conditions. Metagenomic analyses of clinical and environmental V. cholerae isolates revealed that dimer resolution sites(dif) harbor several structurally and functionally distinct IMGEs. All IMGEs present in the dif region exploit chromosomally encoded tyrosine recombinases, Xer C and Xer D, for integration. Integration takes place due to site-specific recombination between two specific DNA sequences; chromosomal sequence is called att B and IMGEs sequence is called att P. Different IMGEs present in the att P region have different attP structure but all of them are recognized by Xer C and Xer D enzymes and mediate either reversible or irreversible integration. Cholera toxin phage(CTXΦ), a lysogenic filamentous phage carrying the cholera toxin genes ctx AB, deserves special attention because it provides V. cholerae the crucial toxin and is always present in the dif region of all epidemic cholera isolates. Therefore, understanding the mechanisms of integration and dissemination of CTXΦ, genetic and ecological factors which support CTXΦ integration as well as production of virion from chromosomally integrated phage genome and interactions of CTXΦ with other genetic elements present in the genomes of V. cholerae is important for learning more about the biology of cholera pathogen.展开更多
AIM To investigate the interaction of Zot withmicrotubule.METHODS Zot affinity column was applied topurify Zot-binding protein（s）from crudeintestinal cell lysates.After incubation at roomtemperature,the column was w...AIM To investigate the interaction of Zot withmicrotubule.METHODS Zot affinity column was applied topurify Zot-binding protein（s）from crudeintestinal cell lysates.After incubation at roomtemperature,the column was washed and theproteins bound to the Zot affinity column wereeluted by step gradient with NaCl(0.3 mol·L<sup>-1</sup>-0.5mol·L<sup>-1</sup>).The fractions were subjected to6.0%-15.0%（w/v）gradient SDS-PAGE andthen transferred to PVDF membrane for N-terminal sequencing.Purified Zot and tauprotein were blotted by using anti-Zot or anti-tauantibodies.Finally,purified Zot was tested in anin vitro tubulin binding assay.RESULTS Fractions from Zot affinity columnyielded two protein bands with a Mr of 60 kU and45kU respectively.The N-terminal sequence ofthe 60 kU band resulted identical to β-tubulin.Zot also cross-reacts with anti-tau antibodies.Inthe in vitro tubulin binding assay,Zot co-precipitate with Mt,further suggesting that Zotpossesses tubulin-binding properties.CONCLUSION Taken together,these resultssuggest that Zot regulates the permeability ofintestinal tight junctions by binding tointracellular Mt,with the subsequent activationof the intracellular signaling leading to thepermeabilization of intercellular tight junctions.展开更多
目的构建霍乱弧菌肠毒素B亚单位(Cholera toxin B subunit,CTB)基因的大肠杆菌表达重组质粒,并观察其在大肠杆菌和双歧杆菌中的表达。方法从pBI121质粒PCR扩增获得CTB基因片断,克隆到大肠杆菌载体pGEX-4T-1上,构建重组质粒,然后转化大...目的构建霍乱弧菌肠毒素B亚单位(Cholera toxin B subunit,CTB)基因的大肠杆菌表达重组质粒,并观察其在大肠杆菌和双歧杆菌中的表达。方法从pBI121质粒PCR扩增获得CTB基因片断,克隆到大肠杆菌载体pGEX-4T-1上,构建重组质粒,然后转化大肠杆菌DH5α和双歧杆菌。转化菌经IPTG诱导,然后用SDS-PAGE和Western blot方法鉴定表达的重组蛋白。结果构建了重组质粒pGEX-4T-CTB,CTB基因片段分子量约为376bp;在大肠杆菌中表达出35kD的霍乱弧菌B亚单位融合蛋白,经SDS-PAGE分析,相对分子量与文献相符,表达的蛋白约占细菌总蛋白的10%;在双岐杆菌中也能得到正确表达,表达量较大肠杆菌低,占细菌总蛋白约5%。Western blotting结果确认了该条带为CTB基因的产物。结论构建的重组质粒pGEX-4T-CTB能够在大肠杆菌及双歧杆菌中获得表达。展开更多
文摘The very different effects of Cholera Toxin （CT） on cell growth and proliferation may depend on the type of ganglioside receptors in cell membranes and different signal transduction mechanisms triggered, but other functions related to the drug resistance mechanisms can not be excluded. The effect of CT treatment on the ＂in vitro＂ clonogenicity, the Population Doubling Time （PDT）, apoptosis, PKA activation and Bax and Bcl-2 expression was evaluated in WEHI-3B cell line and its CT-resistant subclone （WEHI-3B/CTRES）. In WEHI-3B parental cells the dramatic accumulation of cAMP induced by CT correlated well with PKA activation, increased PDT value, inhibition of clonogenicity and apoptosis. H-89 treatment inhibited PKA activation by CT but did not protect the cells from apoptosis and growth inhibition. In WEHI-3B/CTRES no significant CT-dependent accumulation of cAMP occurred with any increase of PKA activity and PDT. In CT resistant cells （WEHI-3B/CTRES）, Bcl-2 expression was down regulated by both CT or drug treatment （eg, ciprofloxacin, CPX） although these cells were protected from CT-dependent apoptosis but not from drug-induced apoptosis. Differently from other cell models described, down regulation of Bcl-2 is proved to be independent on cAMP accumulation and PKA activation. Our observations support the implication of cAMP dependent kinase （PKA） in the inhibition of WEHI-3B cells growth and suggest that, in WEHI-3B/CTRES, Bcl-2 expression could be modulated by CT in the absence of cAMP accumulation. Also in consideration of many contradictory data reported in literature, our cell models （of one sensitive parental cell strain and two clones with different uncrossed specific resistance to CT and CPX） provides a new and interesting tool for better investigating the relationship between the CT signal transduction mechanisms and Bcl-2 expression and function.
基金supported by the CACMS Innovation Fund,No.CI2021A03407(to WZB)the Project of National Key R&D Program of China,No.2019YFC1709103(to WZB)+1 种基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China,Nos.81774432(to JJC),81774211(to WZB),82004492(to JW),81801561(to DSX)the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Public Welfare Research Institutes of China,Nos.ZZ13-YQ-068(to JJC),ZZ14-YQ-032(to JW),ZZ14-YQ-034(to DSX).
文摘Neural tract tracing is used to study neural pathways and evaluate neuronal regeneration following nerve injuries.However,it is not always clear which tracer should be used to yield optimal results.In this study,we examined the use of Alexa Fluor 488-conjugated cholera toxin subunit B(AF488-CTB).This was injected into the gastrocnemius muscle of rats,and it was found that motor,sensory,and sympathetic neurons were labeled in the spinal ventral horn,dorsal root ganglia,and sympathetic chain,respectively.Similar results were obtained when we injected AF594-CTB into the tibialis anterior muscle.The morphology and number of neurons were evaluated at different time points following the AF488-CTB injection.It was found that labeled motor and sensory neurons could be observed 12 hours post-injection.The intensity was found to increase over time,and the morphology appeared clear and complete 3-7 days post-injection,with clearly distinguishable motor neuron axons and dendrites.However,14 days after the injection,the quality of the images decreased and the neurons appeared blurred and incomplete.Nissl and immunohistochemical staining showed that the AF488-CTB-labeled neurons retained normal neurochemical and morphological features,and the surrounding microglia were also found to be unaltered.Overall,these results imply that the cholera toxin subunit B,whether unconjugated or conjugated with Alexa Fluor,is effective for retrograde tracing in muscular tissues and that it would also be suitable for evaluating the regeneration or degeneration of injured nerves.
文摘Mucosal vaccination has been getting more and more recognition because of its compliance and low risk of spreading infectious disease by contaminated syringes used in subcutaneous immunization. However, most vaccines are unable to induce immune responses when given mucosally, and require the use of strong adjuvant for effective delivery systems. Heat-labile enterotoxin (LT) and Cholera toxin(CT) are powerful mucosal adjuvants when co-administered with soluble antigens. But high toxicity hampers their use in humans. Thanks to the fine knowledge of the structure-function relationship of LT and CT, many nontoxic or low toxic mutants have been generated, part of them retain high adjuvanticity of mucosal immunization. Among these mutants, LTS63K, LTA72R, LTR192G and CTE29H, CTE112K have been widely investigated. LTS63K and CTE112K are fully non toxic, whereas LTA72R and CTE29H are low toxic, and LTR192G is nontoxic in vitro(it remains the same toxicity as wild type LT in vivo). These mutants are extremely active as mucosal adjuvants when co-administrated with a variety of antigens in different animal models. They will be investigated more widely and deeply in the future. Some of them will be tested soon in human bodies.
文摘Cholera is a well-known gastrointestinal infection.The cholera toxin is an important pathological substance in pathogenesis of cholera diarrhea.Cholera toxin is composed of catalytic A1 subunit,an A2 linker,and a homopentameric cell-binding B subunit.In enterocyte,cholera toxin will attach to GM1 ganglioside receptors on the apical membrane and causes retrograde vesicular trafficking to endoplasmic reticulum.At endoplasmic reticulum,cholera toxin A1 is released from the rest of the toxin into cytoplasm.The cholera toxin A1 interacts will catalyze ADP ribosylation of subunits of stimulatory G protein resulting a persistent activation of adenylate cyclase and an elevation of intracellular c AMP which further result in diarrhea.The single alanine substitutional mutation can result in the reduction of the interaction activity between cholera toxin A1 and stimulatory G protein.In this study,the four well-known mutations,H55,R67,L71,S78,or D109,of cholera toxin A1 is focused.The author hereby calculates for the reaction energy for the reaction between cholera toxin A1 and stimulatory G protein in na¨?ve case and mutated case.To calculate,the standard bonding energy calculation technique in mutation analysis was used.It can be seen that aberrant in reaction energy in each studied mutation is different and can imply the different effect on activity with stimulatory G protein.
基金supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China(2017YFA0503403)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(31730028 and 81670482)the Key Program for Frontier Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(QYZDBSSW-SMC025).
文摘Commensal bacteria boost serum IgG production in response to oral immunization with antigen and cholera toxin(CT)in a manner that depends on Nod2(nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-containing protein 2).In this study,we examined the role of intestinal lysozyme(Lyz1)in adjuvant activity of CT.We found that Lyz1 released Nod2 ligand(s)from bacteria.Lyz1 deficiency reduced the level of circulating Nod2 ligand in mice.Lyz1 deficiency also reduced the production of IgG and T-cellspecific cytokines after oral immunization in mice.Supplementing Lyz1-deficient mice with MDP restored IgG production.Furthermore,overexpression of Lyz1 in intestinal epithelium boosted the antigen-specific IgG response induced by CT.Collectively,our results indicate that Lyz1 plays an important role in mediating the immune regulatory effect of commensal bacteria through the release of Nod2 ligand(s).
基金This study was supported by the grants from the Chinese National Grand Program on Key Infectious Disease Control （No. 2008ZX10001-012 and -002）, the National Natural Science Foundation of China （No. 81072496H1014） and the Fund for Young Scientists from Fudan University （No. 07L03）.
文摘Background Cholera toxin B subunit （CTB） was shown to be a potent adjuvant for protein immunogen, especially when inoculated through mucosal route. We aimed to optimize the expression approach for CTB and thereafter to determine the adjuvant effect on DNA vaccine. Methods Wild type CTB coding gene was amplified and cloned into prokaryotic expression vector pET-30a, and the recombinant CTB was expressed in the presence of different concentration of chloramphenicol and isopropyl β-D-thiogalactoside. Purified recombinant CTB was mixed with HIV-1 AE2f tat-rev-integrase-vif-nef fusion gene DNA vaccine and female BALB/c mice were vaccinated with a DNA priming-recombinant vaccinia vectored vaccine boosting regimen through intramuscular injection. Interferon γ （IFN-γ） enzyme-linked immunospot （Elispot） assay was used to read out the specific T-cell immunity. Results Chloramphenicol was essential for the efficient expression of recombinant CTB （rCTB） in pET-30a/BL21 （DE3） system and could be optimized at the concentration of 0.625 μg/ml in the presence of chloramphenicol. The purified rCTB could bind with GM1 efficiently. INF-γ Elispot data showed the T-cell response induced in CTB adjuvanted group （（734±240） spot forming cells/106 splenocytes） was higher than that induced by non-adjuvanted （（520±150） spot forming cells/10e splenocytes）, all responses against different antigens were enhanced in parallel. Conclusion CTB could be efficiently expressed in the presence of chloramphenicol and purified CTB is functional and capable of enhancincl the specific T cell responses elicited by DNA vaccine, the mechanism needs to be explored in the future.
文摘An engineered E. coli strain containing high expression level of CT-B subunits has beenobtained by the application of recombinant DNA techniques. The B subunit can be secretedinto the medium and reaches 20- 40 μg/ml when this strain is incubated in a 50 1 fermenta-tion tank. The CT-B subunit purified with affinity chromatography in E. coli has the samecharacters as the natural CT- B subunit in molecular weight, N terminal amino acid analysisand antigenicity. The CT-B subunit has good immunogenicity and can be used as a preparation for protect-ing against diarrhea caused by V. cholera and enterotoxigenic E. coli. It can also be usedas a vector for hepatins.
基金Supported by Research in the Laboratory of Das B and NairGB is funded in part by Department of Science Technology,No.SB/FT/LS-309/2012Government of India(GOI)and the Department of Biotechnology,No.BT/MB/THSTI/HMC-SFC/2011Research in the Laboratory of Bhadra RK is partly financiallysupported by Council of Scientific and Industrial Research,GOIand Indian Council of Medical Research,GOI
文摘Vibrio cholerae(V. cholerae) genome is equipped with a number of integrative mobile genetic element(IMGE) like prophages, plasmids, transposons or genomic islands, which provides fitness factors that help the pathogen to survive in changing environmental conditions. Metagenomic analyses of clinical and environmental V. cholerae isolates revealed that dimer resolution sites(dif) harbor several structurally and functionally distinct IMGEs. All IMGEs present in the dif region exploit chromosomally encoded tyrosine recombinases, Xer C and Xer D, for integration. Integration takes place due to site-specific recombination between two specific DNA sequences; chromosomal sequence is called att B and IMGEs sequence is called att P. Different IMGEs present in the att P region have different attP structure but all of them are recognized by Xer C and Xer D enzymes and mediate either reversible or irreversible integration. Cholera toxin phage(CTXΦ), a lysogenic filamentous phage carrying the cholera toxin genes ctx AB, deserves special attention because it provides V. cholerae the crucial toxin and is always present in the dif region of all epidemic cholera isolates. Therefore, understanding the mechanisms of integration and dissemination of CTXΦ, genetic and ecological factors which support CTXΦ integration as well as production of virion from chromosomally integrated phage genome and interactions of CTXΦ with other genetic elements present in the genomes of V. cholerae is important for learning more about the biology of cholera pathogen.
文摘AIM To investigate the interaction of Zot withmicrotubule.METHODS Zot affinity column was applied topurify Zot-binding protein（s）from crudeintestinal cell lysates.After incubation at roomtemperature,the column was washed and theproteins bound to the Zot affinity column wereeluted by step gradient with NaCl(0.3 mol·L<sup>-1</sup>-0.5mol·L<sup>-1</sup>).The fractions were subjected to6.0%-15.0%（w/v）gradient SDS-PAGE andthen transferred to PVDF membrane for N-terminal sequencing.Purified Zot and tauprotein were blotted by using anti-Zot or anti-tauantibodies.Finally,purified Zot was tested in anin vitro tubulin binding assay.RESULTS Fractions from Zot affinity columnyielded two protein bands with a Mr of 60 kU and45kU respectively.The N-terminal sequence ofthe 60 kU band resulted identical to β-tubulin.Zot also cross-reacts with anti-tau antibodies.Inthe in vitro tubulin binding assay,Zot co-precipitate with Mt,further suggesting that Zotpossesses tubulin-binding properties.CONCLUSION Taken together,these resultssuggest that Zot regulates the permeability ofintestinal tight junctions by binding tointracellular Mt,with the subsequent activationof the intracellular signaling leading to thepermeabilization of intercellular tight junctions.
