The human genome holds an extraordinary trove of information about human development, physiology, medicine and evolution. Here we report the results of an international collaboration to produce and make freely available a draft sequence of the human genome. We also present an initial analysis of the data, describing some of the insights that can be gleaned from the sequence.

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Initial sequencing and analysis of the human genome.

抗原变异可使得多种致病微生物易于逃避宿主免疫应答。表达在感染红细胞表面的恶性疟原虫红细胞表面蛋白1（PfPMP1）与感染红细胞、内皮细胞、树突状细胞以及胎盘的单个或多个受体作用，在黏附及免疫逃避中起关键的作用。每个单倍体基因组var基因家族编码约60种成员，通过启动转录不同的var基因变异体为抗原变异提供了分子基础。

疟原虫var基因转换速率变化导致抗原变异[英]／Paul H, Robert P, Christodoulou Z, et al//Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A

CHAPTER 24 – Evolution of Protein Molecules

Semiconductor nanocrystals were prepared for use as fluorescent probes in biological staining and diagnostics. Compared with conventional fluorophores, the nanocrystals have a narrow, tunable, symmetric emission spectrum and are photochemically stable. The advantages of the broad, continuous excitation spectrum were demonstrated in a dual-emission, single-excitation labeling experiment on mouse fibroblasts. These nanocrystal probes are thus complementary and in some cases may be superior to existing fluorophores.

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/281/5385/2013.full.pdf

Semiconductor Nanocrystals as Fluorescent Biological Labels

Highly luminescent semiconductor quantum dots (zinc sulfide-capped cadmium selenide) have been covalently coupled to biomolecules for use in ultrasensitive biological detection. In comparison with organic dyes such as rhodamine, this class of luminescent labels is 20 times as bright, 100 times as stable against photobleaching, and one-third as wide in spectral linewidth. These nanometer-sized conjugates are water-soluble and biocompatible. Quantum dots that were labeled with the protein transferrin underwent receptor-mediated endocytosis in cultured HeLa cells, and those dots that were labeled with immunomolecules recognized specific antibodies or antigens.

http://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/281/5385/2016.full.pdf

Quantum Dot Bioconjugates for Ultrasensitive Nonisotopic Detection

The biliproteins of the unicellular, thylakoid-less cyanobacterium Gleobacter violaceus were resolved by chromatography on hydroxylapatite and DEAE-cellulose into five components: phycoerythrin I and II, phycocyanin I and II, and allophycocyanin. Allophycocyanin B was not detected. Three of these components, phycoerythrin II, phycocyanin II, and allophycocyanin, were purified to homogeneity. Phycoerythrin II crystallized as hexagonal prisms. G. violaceus allophycocyanin crystallized as thin plates; unter similar conditions other cyanobacterial allophycocyanins crystallize as needles. The biliproteins in the phycoerythrin I and phycocyanin I components were present in polydisperse, high molecular weight aggregates, which may represent incompletely dissociated substructures of the phycobilisome. Both phycoerythrin components from G. violaceus carry phycoerythrobilin and phycourbilin groups in the ratio of 6:1. Separation of the α and β subunits of these biliproteins revealed that the phycoerythrobilins were equally distributed between the two subunits, and that the β subunit alone carried the phycourobilin. These phycoerythrins are the first cyanobacterial phycobiliproteins found to carry a phycourobilin prosthetic group.

Characterization of the biliproteins of Gloeobacter violaceus chromophore content of a cyanobacterial phycoerythrin carrying phycourobilin chromophore

R-phycocyanin II, a new phycocyanin occurring in marine Synechococcus species. Identification of the terminal energy acceptor bilin in phycocyanins.

We have designed a streptavidin-metallothionein chimeric protein in which the streptavidin moiety provides a means of binding the metallothionein moiety tightly to specific biological targets. A gene fusion of streptavidin with mouse metallothionein I was efficiently expressed in Escherichia coli, and the expressed chimeric protein was purified to homogeneity by a simple procedure. The purified chimera, consisting of four identical subunits, bound one biotin and approximately seven Cd2+ ions per subunit (19.5 kDa). This indicates that both the streptavidin and the metallothionein moieties are fully functional. The high binding affinity of the chimera both for biotin and for heavy metal ions allows the specific labeling or conjugation of any biological material containing unhindered biotin with a variety of different heavy metal ions and their isotopes, thereby opening the way for simultaneous assay systems for a large number of biological targets.

https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/89/5/1534.full.pdf

Alexander N. Glazer

Papers

Characterization of the biliproteins of Gloeobacter violaceus chromophore content of a cyanobacterial phycoerythrin carrying phycourobilin chromophore

R-phycocyanin II, a new phycocyanin occurring in marine Synechococcus species. Identification of the terminal energy acceptor bilin in phycocyanins.

A streptavidin-metallothionein chimera that allows specific labeling of biological materials with many different heavy metal ions.

The sulfur distribution of papain.

In vitro attachment of bilins to apophycocyanin. III. Properties of the phycoerythrobilin adduct.