Computer based software such as the SignalP v3.0, TargetP v1.01, big-PI predictor and TMHMM v2.0 were combined to predict the signal peptides, and the signal peptide-dependent secreted proteins among the 6 700 ORFs in...Computer based software such as the SignalP v3.0, TargetP v1.01, big-PI predictor and TMHMM v2.0 were combined to predict the signal peptides, and the signal peptide-dependent secreted proteins among the 6 700 ORFs in genome of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The results showed that 163 proteins were the secreted ones containing signal peptides, and they were secreted via Sec pathway. Among the 163 predicted secreted proteins, the signal peptides of 47 secreted proteins included only the H-domain and C-domain, without N-domain, but the signal peptides of other 116 secreted proteins included all the three domains. There were differences in the constitution of signal peptides between the secreted proteins of S. cerevisiae and of Candida albicans, but the length and amino acids types of their signal peptides were similar in general. Few of the same signal peptides occurred in the secreted proteins of S. cerevisiae genome, and the homology could be compared among the secreted proteins with the same signal peptides. The BLAST 2 SEQUENECES and CLUSTAL W were used to align the two protein sequences and multi-protein sequences, respectively. The alignment result indicated that homology of these sequences with the same signal peptide was very highly conservative in amino acid of complete gene. The effect of the signal peptides in S. cerevisia on expression of foreign eukaryotic secreted proteins is discussed in this paper.展开更多
The pathological implication of amyloid precursor protein(APP)in Alzheimer’s disease has been widely documented due to its involvement in the generation of amyloid-β peptide.However,the physiological functions of AP...The pathological implication of amyloid precursor protein(APP)in Alzheimer’s disease has been widely documented due to its involvement in the generation of amyloid-β peptide.However,the physiological functions of APP are still poorly understood.APP is considered a multimodal protein due to its role in a wide variety of processes,both in the embryo and in the adult brain.Specifically,APP seems to play a key role in the proliferation,differentiation and maturation of neural stem cells.In addition,APP can be processed through two canonical processing pathways,generating different functionally active fragments:soluble APP-α,soluble APP-β,amyloid-β peptide and the APP intracellular C-terminal domain.These fragments also appear to modulate various functions in neural stem cells,including the processes of proliferation,neurogenesis,gliogenesis or cell death.However,the molecular mechanisms involved in these effects are still unclear.In this review,we summarize the physiological functions of APP and its main proteolytic derivatives in neural stem cells,as well as the possible signaling pathways that could be implicated in these effects.The knowledge of these functions and signaling pathways involved in the onset or during the development of Alzheimer’s disease is essential to advance the understanding of the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease,and in the search for potential therapeutic targets.展开更多
In the present work, computational analyses were applied to study the subcellular localiza-tion and posttranslational modifications of hu-man prion proteins (PrPs). The tentative location of prion protein was determin...In the present work, computational analyses were applied to study the subcellular localiza-tion and posttranslational modifications of hu-man prion proteins (PrPs). The tentative location of prion protein was determined to be in the nu-cleolus inside the nucleus by the following bio-informatics tools: Hum-PLoc, Euk-PLoc and Nuc-PLoc. Based on our results signal peptides with average of 22 base pairs in N-terminal were identified in human PrPs. This theoretical study demonstrates that PrP is post-translationally modified by: 1) attachment of two N-linked complex carbohydrate moieties (N181 and N197), 2) attachmet of glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) at serine 230 and 3) formation of two di-sulfide bonds between “6–22” and “179–214” cysteines. Furthermore, ten protein kinase phosphorylation sites were predicted in human PrP. The above-noted phosphorylation was car-ried out by PKC and CK2. By using bioinfor-matics tools, we have shown that computation-ally human PrPs locate particularly into the nu-cleolus.展开更多
Protein secretion plays an important role in bacterial lifestyles. In Gram-negative bacteria, a wide range of proteins are secreted to modulate the interactions of bacteria with their environments and other bacteria v...Protein secretion plays an important role in bacterial lifestyles. In Gram-negative bacteria, a wide range of proteins are secreted to modulate the interactions of bacteria with their environments and other bacteria via various secretion systems. These proteins are essential for the virulence of bacteria, so it is crucial to study them for the pathogenesis of diseases and the development of drugs. Using amino acid composition (AAC), position-specific scoring matrix (PSSM) and N-terminal signal peptides, two different substitution models are firstly constructed to transform protein sequences into numerical vectors. Then, based on support vector machine (SVM) and the “one to one”?algorithm, a hybrid multi-classifier named SecretP v.2.2 is proposed to rapidly and accurately?distinguish different types of Gram-negative?bacterial secreted proteins. When performed on the same test set for a comparison with other methods, SecretP v.2.2 gets the highest total sensitivity of 93.60%. A public independent dataset is used to further test the power of SecretP v.2.2 for predicting NCSPs, it also yields satisfactory results.展开更多
Ulcerative colitis(UC)is an incurable and highly complex digestive disease affecting millions of people worldwide.Compared to the current therapeutic drugs,bioactive peptides are more promising and safe substances as ...Ulcerative colitis(UC)is an incurable and highly complex digestive disease affecting millions of people worldwide.Compared to the current therapeutic drugs,bioactive peptides are more promising and safe substances as functional foods or drugs for the prevention and treatment of UC.The alcohol-soluble components from fermentation broth by fresh wheat germ and apple(AC-WGAF)were found to be effective in UC prevention in dextran sulfate sodium-induced mice in vivo.Herein,4 novel peptides are identifi ed from AC-WGAF by membrane ultrafi ltration,recycling preparative high-performance liquid chromatography,and matrix-assisted laser desorption–ionization time-of-fl ight/time-of-fl ight mass spectrometry,possessing anticolitis activity via using an in vitro model.One of those peptides named T24(PVLGPVRGPFPLL)exhibited the most remarkable anti-colitis activity by preventing tight junction protein loss,maintaining epithelial barrier integrity,and promoting cell proliferation during in vitro and in vivo studies by regulating mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathways.Thus,T24 is a promising peptide as a functional food or novel drug for UC prevention and treatment.展开更多
According to our previous study, saprophytic fungi Botrytis cinerea contained 579 predicted secretary proteins. Among them, we found that 122 of these proteins contained the highly conserved pathogenic-related host-ta...According to our previous study, saprophytic fungi Botrytis cinerea contained 579 predicted secretary proteins. Among them, we found that 122 of these proteins contained the highly conserved pathogenic-related host-targeting-motif RxLx within 100 residues adjacent to the signal peptide cleavage site. According to PEDNAT and COG of the GenBank database, the functions of this motif containing proteins included metabolism modification and cell secretion. We blasted them in GenBank and found 47.54% had highly conserved homologues in other species, among them 74.1% had putative functional domains. This suggests these proteins are presumably ancient and vertically transmitted within the species. Many of these domains belonged to proteins which played roles in the pathogenic process of other kinds of pathogens and some had already been proved to be pathogenic secretary proteins of Botrytis cinerea. So we postulated that proteins contained host-targeting-motif RxLx were candidates participating in the pathogenesis of Botrytis cinerea.展开更多
AIM: The goal of this study was to characterize the AFP receptor, its possible signal transduction pathway and its proliferative functions in human hepatoma cell line Bel 7402. METHODS: Cell proliferation enhanced by ...AIM: The goal of this study was to characterize the AFP receptor, its possible signal transduction pathway and its proliferative functions in human hepatoma cell line Bel 7402. METHODS: Cell proliferation enhanced by AFP was detected by MTT assay, 3H-thymidine incorporation and S-stage percentage of cell cycle analysis. With radioactive labeled 125I-AFP for receptor binding assay; cAMP accumulation, protein kinase A activity were detected by radioactive immunosorbent assay and the change of intracellular free calcium (Ca2+i) was monitored by scanning fluorescence intensity under TCS-NT confocal microscope. The expression of oncogenes N- ras, p 53, and p21( ras ) in the cultured cells in vitro were detected by Northern blotting and Western blotting respectively. RESULTS: It was demonstrated that AFP enhanced the proliferation of human hepatoma Bel 7402 cell in a dose dependent fashion as shown in MTT assay, (3)H-thymidine incorporation and S-phase percentage up to 2-fold. Two subtypes of AFP receptors were identified in the cells with Kds of 1.3 x 10(-9)mol.L(-1) and 9.9 x10(-8)mol. (-1)L respectively. Pretreatment of cells with AFP resulted in a significant increase (625%) in cAMP accumulation. The activity of protein kinase A activity were increased up to 37.5, 122.6, 73.7 and 61.2% at treatment time point 2, 6, 12 and 24 hours. The level of intracellular calcium were elevated after the treatment of alpha-fetoprotein and achieved to 204% at 4 min. The results also showed that AFP(20mg.L(-1)) could upregulate the expression of N- ras oncogenes and p 53 and p21( ras ) in Bel 7402 cells. In the later case,the alteration were 81.1%(12h) and 97.3%(12h) respectively compared with control. CONCLUSION: These results demonstrate that AFP is a potential growth factor to promote the proliferation of human hepatoma Bel 7402 cells. Its growth-regulatory effects are mediated by its specific plasma membrane receptors coupled with its transmembrane signaling transduction through the pathway of cAMP-PKA and intracellular calcium to regulate the expression of oncogenes.展开更多
AIM: The existence and properties of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) receptor on the surface of NIH 3T3 cells and the effects of AFP on cellular signal transduction pathway were investigated. METHODS: The effect of AFP on the...AIM: The existence and properties of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) receptor on the surface of NIH 3T3 cells and the effects of AFP on cellular signal transduction pathway were investigated. METHODS: The effect of AFP on the proliferation of NIH 3T3 cells was measured by incorporation of 3H-TdR. Receptor-binding assay of 125I-AFP was performed to detect the properties of AFP receptor in NIH 3T3 cells. The influences of AFP on the [cAMP]i and the activities of protein kinase A (PKA) were determined. Western blot was used to detect the change of K-ras P21 protein expression. RESULTS: The proliferation of NIH 3T3 cells treated with 0-80 mg/L of AFP was significantly enhanced. The Scatchard analysis indicated that there were two classes of binding sites with KD of 2.722 x 10(-9)M (Bmax=12810 sites per cell) and 8.931 x 10(-8)M (Bmax=119700 sites per cell) respectively. In the presence of AFP (20 mg/L), the content of cAMP and activities of PKA were significantly elevated . The level of K-ras P21 protein was upregulated by AFP at the concentration of 20 mg/L. The monoclonal antibody against AFP could reverse the effects of AFP on the cAMP content, PKA activity and the expression of K-ras p21 gene. CONCLUSION: The effect of AFP on the cell proliferation was achieved by binding its receptor to trigger the signal transduction pathway of cAMP-PKA and alter the expression of K- ras p21 gene.展开更多
Generation of the root greatly benefits higher plants living on land.Continuous root growth and development are achieved by the root apical meristem,which acts as a reservoir of stem cells.The stem cells,on the one ha...Generation of the root greatly benefits higher plants living on land.Continuous root growth and development are achieved by the root apical meristem,which acts as a reservoir of stem cells.The stem cells,on the one hand,constantly renew themselves through cell division.On the other hand,they differentiate into functional cells to form diverse tissues of the root.The balance between the maintenance and consumption of the root apical meristem is governed by cell-to-cell communications.Receptor-like protein kinases(RLKs),a group of signaling molecules localized on the cell surface,have been implicated in sensing multiple endogenous and environmental signals for plant development and stress adaptation.Over the past two decades,various RLKs and their ligands have been revealed to participate in regulating root meristem homeostasis.In this review,we focus on the recent studies about RLK-mediated signaling in regulating the maintenance and consumption of the root apical meristem.展开更多
Background Calcitonin gene-related peptide （CGRP）, a sensory neuropeptide, affects osteoblast proliferation and bone formation. However, the mechanisms are not fully understood. Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 （...Background Calcitonin gene-related peptide （CGRP）, a sensory neuropeptide, affects osteoblast proliferation and bone formation. However, the mechanisms are not fully understood. Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 （MCP-1） is a chemokine that stimulates the migration of monocytes and plays important roles in regulating bone remolding during fracture repair. In this study, we investigated the effects of CGRP on proliferation and MCP-1 expression in cultured rat osteoblasts. Methods Primary rat osteoblasts were isolated from fetal rats calvariae. Cells were exposed to gradient concentrations （10^-9 to 10^-7 mol/L） of CGRP. Protein and mRNA levels of MCP-1 were quantified by Western blotting and semiquantitative reverse transcdption-polymerase chain reaction, respectively. The protein level of MCP-1 was investigated and compared in cell culture media by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA）. Phospho-extracellular signal-regulated kinase （ERK） expression was detected by Western blotting. Cell proliferative activity was measured by 3-（4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl）-2, 5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide （MTT） and BrdU assay. The effects of MAPK/ERK kinase （MEK）-inhibitor U0126 on CGRP-induced MCP-1 expression in primary rat osteoblasts were examined. Results CGRP effectively enhanced primary rat osteoblast proliferation and led to significant increases in the expression of MCP-1 mRNA and protein in time- and dose-dependent manners. CGRP activated the ERK pathway. Pretreatment of cultured rat osteoblasts with MEK inhibitor U0126 resulted in dose-dependent inhibitions of CGRP-induced MCP-1 mRNA and protein levels. Thus, CGRP promoted cell proliferation and stimulated MCP-1 expression in cultured rat osteoblasts. Conclusion These studies document novel links between CGRP and MCP-1 and illuminate the effects of CGRP in regulating bone remodeling.展开更多
基金This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China （30360061）Natural Science Foundation of Yunnan Province of China （1999C0008Z） National 863 Program of China （2003AA211020）.
文摘Computer based software such as the SignalP v3.0, TargetP v1.01, big-PI predictor and TMHMM v2.0 were combined to predict the signal peptides, and the signal peptide-dependent secreted proteins among the 6 700 ORFs in genome of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The results showed that 163 proteins were the secreted ones containing signal peptides, and they were secreted via Sec pathway. Among the 163 predicted secreted proteins, the signal peptides of 47 secreted proteins included only the H-domain and C-domain, without N-domain, but the signal peptides of other 116 secreted proteins included all the three domains. There were differences in the constitution of signal peptides between the secreted proteins of S. cerevisiae and of Candida albicans, but the length and amino acids types of their signal peptides were similar in general. Few of the same signal peptides occurred in the secreted proteins of S. cerevisiae genome, and the homology could be compared among the secreted proteins with the same signal peptides. The BLAST 2 SEQUENECES and CLUSTAL W were used to align the two protein sequences and multi-protein sequences, respectively. The alignment result indicated that homology of these sequences with the same signal peptide was very highly conservative in amino acid of complete gene. The effect of the signal peptides in S. cerevisia on expression of foreign eukaryotic secreted proteins is discussed in this paper.
基金supported by grants from the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación-Instituto de Salud Carlos Ⅲ(PI-10/00291 and MPY1412/09)Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad(SAF2015-71140-R)+2 种基金Comunidad de Madrid(Neurostem-Comunidad de Madrid consortium S2010/BMD-2336)supported by grants from Plan de Empleo Juvenil-Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad
文摘The pathological implication of amyloid precursor protein(APP)in Alzheimer’s disease has been widely documented due to its involvement in the generation of amyloid-β peptide.However,the physiological functions of APP are still poorly understood.APP is considered a multimodal protein due to its role in a wide variety of processes,both in the embryo and in the adult brain.Specifically,APP seems to play a key role in the proliferation,differentiation and maturation of neural stem cells.In addition,APP can be processed through two canonical processing pathways,generating different functionally active fragments:soluble APP-α,soluble APP-β,amyloid-β peptide and the APP intracellular C-terminal domain.These fragments also appear to modulate various functions in neural stem cells,including the processes of proliferation,neurogenesis,gliogenesis or cell death.However,the molecular mechanisms involved in these effects are still unclear.In this review,we summarize the physiological functions of APP and its main proteolytic derivatives in neural stem cells,as well as the possible signaling pathways that could be implicated in these effects.The knowledge of these functions and signaling pathways involved in the onset or during the development of Alzheimer’s disease is essential to advance the understanding of the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease,and in the search for potential therapeutic targets.
文摘In the present work, computational analyses were applied to study the subcellular localiza-tion and posttranslational modifications of hu-man prion proteins (PrPs). The tentative location of prion protein was determined to be in the nu-cleolus inside the nucleus by the following bio-informatics tools: Hum-PLoc, Euk-PLoc and Nuc-PLoc. Based on our results signal peptides with average of 22 base pairs in N-terminal were identified in human PrPs. This theoretical study demonstrates that PrP is post-translationally modified by: 1) attachment of two N-linked complex carbohydrate moieties (N181 and N197), 2) attachmet of glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) at serine 230 and 3) formation of two di-sulfide bonds between “6–22” and “179–214” cysteines. Furthermore, ten protein kinase phosphorylation sites were predicted in human PrP. The above-noted phosphorylation was car-ried out by PKC and CK2. By using bioinfor-matics tools, we have shown that computation-ally human PrPs locate particularly into the nu-cleolus.
文摘Protein secretion plays an important role in bacterial lifestyles. In Gram-negative bacteria, a wide range of proteins are secreted to modulate the interactions of bacteria with their environments and other bacteria via various secretion systems. These proteins are essential for the virulence of bacteria, so it is crucial to study them for the pathogenesis of diseases and the development of drugs. Using amino acid composition (AAC), position-specific scoring matrix (PSSM) and N-terminal signal peptides, two different substitution models are firstly constructed to transform protein sequences into numerical vectors. Then, based on support vector machine (SVM) and the “one to one”?algorithm, a hybrid multi-classifier named SecretP v.2.2 is proposed to rapidly and accurately?distinguish different types of Gram-negative?bacterial secreted proteins. When performed on the same test set for a comparison with other methods, SecretP v.2.2 gets the highest total sensitivity of 93.60%. A public independent dataset is used to further test the power of SecretP v.2.2 for predicting NCSPs, it also yields satisfactory results.
基金supported by the National Key Research and Development Plan,China(2016YFD0400203-4)the Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Commission(KCXFZ20201221173207022)。
文摘Ulcerative colitis(UC)is an incurable and highly complex digestive disease affecting millions of people worldwide.Compared to the current therapeutic drugs,bioactive peptides are more promising and safe substances as functional foods or drugs for the prevention and treatment of UC.The alcohol-soluble components from fermentation broth by fresh wheat germ and apple(AC-WGAF)were found to be effective in UC prevention in dextran sulfate sodium-induced mice in vivo.Herein,4 novel peptides are identifi ed from AC-WGAF by membrane ultrafi ltration,recycling preparative high-performance liquid chromatography,and matrix-assisted laser desorption–ionization time-of-fl ight/time-of-fl ight mass spectrometry,possessing anticolitis activity via using an in vitro model.One of those peptides named T24(PVLGPVRGPFPLL)exhibited the most remarkable anti-colitis activity by preventing tight junction protein loss,maintaining epithelial barrier integrity,and promoting cell proliferation during in vitro and in vivo studies by regulating mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathways.Thus,T24 is a promising peptide as a functional food or novel drug for UC prevention and treatment.
基金Supported by Project of Kunming University (YJL11014)
文摘According to our previous study, saprophytic fungi Botrytis cinerea contained 579 predicted secretary proteins. Among them, we found that 122 of these proteins contained the highly conserved pathogenic-related host-targeting-motif RxLx within 100 residues adjacent to the signal peptide cleavage site. According to PEDNAT and COG of the GenBank database, the functions of this motif containing proteins included metabolism modification and cell secretion. We blasted them in GenBank and found 47.54% had highly conserved homologues in other species, among them 74.1% had putative functional domains. This suggests these proteins are presumably ancient and vertically transmitted within the species. Many of these domains belonged to proteins which played roles in the pathogenic process of other kinds of pathogens and some had already been proved to be pathogenic secretary proteins of Botrytis cinerea. So we postulated that proteins contained host-targeting-motif RxLx were candidates participating in the pathogenesis of Botrytis cinerea.
基金National Natural Science Foundation of China,No.39760077
文摘AIM: The goal of this study was to characterize the AFP receptor, its possible signal transduction pathway and its proliferative functions in human hepatoma cell line Bel 7402. METHODS: Cell proliferation enhanced by AFP was detected by MTT assay, 3H-thymidine incorporation and S-stage percentage of cell cycle analysis. With radioactive labeled 125I-AFP for receptor binding assay; cAMP accumulation, protein kinase A activity were detected by radioactive immunosorbent assay and the change of intracellular free calcium (Ca2+i) was monitored by scanning fluorescence intensity under TCS-NT confocal microscope. The expression of oncogenes N- ras, p 53, and p21( ras ) in the cultured cells in vitro were detected by Northern blotting and Western blotting respectively. RESULTS: It was demonstrated that AFP enhanced the proliferation of human hepatoma Bel 7402 cell in a dose dependent fashion as shown in MTT assay, (3)H-thymidine incorporation and S-phase percentage up to 2-fold. Two subtypes of AFP receptors were identified in the cells with Kds of 1.3 x 10(-9)mol.L(-1) and 9.9 x10(-8)mol. (-1)L respectively. Pretreatment of cells with AFP resulted in a significant increase (625%) in cAMP accumulation. The activity of protein kinase A activity were increased up to 37.5, 122.6, 73.7 and 61.2% at treatment time point 2, 6, 12 and 24 hours. The level of intracellular calcium were elevated after the treatment of alpha-fetoprotein and achieved to 204% at 4 min. The results also showed that AFP(20mg.L(-1)) could upregulate the expression of N- ras oncogenes and p 53 and p21( ras ) in Bel 7402 cells. In the later case,the alteration were 81.1%(12h) and 97.3%(12h) respectively compared with control. CONCLUSION: These results demonstrate that AFP is a potential growth factor to promote the proliferation of human hepatoma Bel 7402 cells. Its growth-regulatory effects are mediated by its specific plasma membrane receptors coupled with its transmembrane signaling transduction through the pathway of cAMP-PKA and intracellular calcium to regulate the expression of oncogenes.
基金This work was supported by National NaturalScience Fundation of China(No.39760077).
文摘AIM: The existence and properties of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) receptor on the surface of NIH 3T3 cells and the effects of AFP on cellular signal transduction pathway were investigated. METHODS: The effect of AFP on the proliferation of NIH 3T3 cells was measured by incorporation of 3H-TdR. Receptor-binding assay of 125I-AFP was performed to detect the properties of AFP receptor in NIH 3T3 cells. The influences of AFP on the [cAMP]i and the activities of protein kinase A (PKA) were determined. Western blot was used to detect the change of K-ras P21 protein expression. RESULTS: The proliferation of NIH 3T3 cells treated with 0-80 mg/L of AFP was significantly enhanced. The Scatchard analysis indicated that there were two classes of binding sites with KD of 2.722 x 10(-9)M (Bmax=12810 sites per cell) and 8.931 x 10(-8)M (Bmax=119700 sites per cell) respectively. In the presence of AFP (20 mg/L), the content of cAMP and activities of PKA were significantly elevated . The level of K-ras P21 protein was upregulated by AFP at the concentration of 20 mg/L. The monoclonal antibody against AFP could reverse the effects of AFP on the cAMP content, PKA activity and the expression of K-ras p21 gene. CONCLUSION: The effect of AFP on the cell proliferation was achieved by binding its receptor to trigger the signal transduction pathway of cAMP-PKA and alter the expression of K- ras p21 gene.
基金This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China(31770312 and 31970339)Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities(lzujbky-2019-ct04 and lzujbky-2020-kb05).
文摘Generation of the root greatly benefits higher plants living on land.Continuous root growth and development are achieved by the root apical meristem,which acts as a reservoir of stem cells.The stem cells,on the one hand,constantly renew themselves through cell division.On the other hand,they differentiate into functional cells to form diverse tissues of the root.The balance between the maintenance and consumption of the root apical meristem is governed by cell-to-cell communications.Receptor-like protein kinases(RLKs),a group of signaling molecules localized on the cell surface,have been implicated in sensing multiple endogenous and environmental signals for plant development and stress adaptation.Over the past two decades,various RLKs and their ligands have been revealed to participate in regulating root meristem homeostasis.In this review,we focus on the recent studies about RLK-mediated signaling in regulating the maintenance and consumption of the root apical meristem.
文摘Background Calcitonin gene-related peptide （CGRP）, a sensory neuropeptide, affects osteoblast proliferation and bone formation. However, the mechanisms are not fully understood. Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 （MCP-1） is a chemokine that stimulates the migration of monocytes and plays important roles in regulating bone remolding during fracture repair. In this study, we investigated the effects of CGRP on proliferation and MCP-1 expression in cultured rat osteoblasts. Methods Primary rat osteoblasts were isolated from fetal rats calvariae. Cells were exposed to gradient concentrations （10^-9 to 10^-7 mol/L） of CGRP. Protein and mRNA levels of MCP-1 were quantified by Western blotting and semiquantitative reverse transcdption-polymerase chain reaction, respectively. The protein level of MCP-1 was investigated and compared in cell culture media by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA）. Phospho-extracellular signal-regulated kinase （ERK） expression was detected by Western blotting. Cell proliferative activity was measured by 3-（4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl）-2, 5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide （MTT） and BrdU assay. The effects of MAPK/ERK kinase （MEK）-inhibitor U0126 on CGRP-induced MCP-1 expression in primary rat osteoblasts were examined. Results CGRP effectively enhanced primary rat osteoblast proliferation and led to significant increases in the expression of MCP-1 mRNA and protein in time- and dose-dependent manners. CGRP activated the ERK pathway. Pretreatment of cultured rat osteoblasts with MEK inhibitor U0126 resulted in dose-dependent inhibitions of CGRP-induced MCP-1 mRNA and protein levels. Thus, CGRP promoted cell proliferation and stimulated MCP-1 expression in cultured rat osteoblasts. Conclusion These studies document novel links between CGRP and MCP-1 and illuminate the effects of CGRP in regulating bone remodeling.
