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

Short cationic amphiphilic peptides with antimicrobial and/or immunomodulatory activities are present in virtually every life form, as an important component of (innate) immune defenses. These host-defense peptides provide a template for two separate classes of antimicrobial drugs. Direct-acting antimicrobial host-defense peptides can be rapid-acting and potent, and possess an unusually broad spectrum of activity; consequently, they have prospects as new antibiotics, although clinical trials to date have shown efficacy only as topical agents. But for these compounds to fulfill their therapeutic promise and overcome clinical setbacks, further work is needed to understand their mechanisms of action and reduce the potential for unwanted toxicity, to make them more resistant to protease degradation and improve serum half-life, as well as to devise means of manufacturing them on a large scale in a consistent and cost-effective manner. In contrast, the role of cationic host-defense peptides in modulating the innate immune response and boosting infection-resolving immunity while dampening potentially harmful pro-inflammatory (septic) responses gives these peptides the potential to become an entirely new therapeutic approach against bacterial infections.

Antimicrobial and host-defense peptides as new anti-infective therapeutic strategies.

Antimicrobial host defense peptides are produced by all complex organisms as well as some microbes and have diverse and complex antimicrobial activities. Collectively these peptides demonstrate a broad range of antiviral and antibacterial activities and modes of action, and it is important to distinguish between direct microbicidal and indirect activities against such pathogens. The structural requirements of peptides for antiviral and antibacterial activities are evaluated in light of the diverse set of primary and secondary structures described for host defense peptides. Peptides with antifungal and antiparasitic activities are discussed in less detail, although the broad-spectrum activities of such peptides indicate that they are important host defense molecules. Knowledge regarding the relationship between peptide structure and function as well as their mechanism of action is being applied in the design of antimicrobial peptide variants as potential novel therapeutic agents.

Peptide Antimicrobial Agents

The development of nonviral vectors for safe and efficient gene delivery has been gaining considerable attention recently. An ideal nonviral vector must protect the gene against degradation by nuclease in the extracellular matrix, internalize the plasma membrane, escape from the endosomal compartment, unpackage the gene at some point and have no detrimental effects. In comparison to viruses, nonviral vectors are relatively easy to synthesize, less immunogenic, low in cost, and have no limitation in the size of a gene that can be delivered. Significant progress has been made in the basic science and applications of various nonviral gene delivery vectors; however, the majority of nonviral approaches are still inefficient and often toxic. To this end, two nonviral gene delivery systems using either biodegradable poly(D,Llactide-co-glycolide) (PLG) nanoparticles or cell penetrating peptide (CPP) complexes have been designed and studied using A549 human lung epithelial cells. PLG nanoparticles were optimized for gene delivery by varying particle surface chemistry using different coating materials that adsorb to the particle surface during formation. A variety of cationic coating materials were studied and compared to more conventional surfactants used for PLG nanoparticle fabrication. Nanoparticles (~200 nm) efficiently encapsulated plasmids encoding for luciferase (80-90%) and slowly released the same for two weeks. After a delay, moderate levels of gene expression appeared at day 5 for certain positively charged PLG particles and gene expression was maintained for at least two weeks. In contrast, gene expression mediated by polyethyleneimine (PEI) ended at day 5. PLG particles were also significantly less

Nonviral Vectors for Gene Delivery

S-nitrosylation, the covalent attachment of a nitrogen monoxide group to the thiol side chain of cysteine, has emerged as an important mechanism for dynamic, post-translational regulation of most or all main classes of protein. S-nitrosylation thereby conveys a large part of the ubiquitous influence of nitric oxide (NO) on cellular signal transduction, and provides a mechanism for redox-based physiological regulation.

Protein S-nitrosylation: purview and parameters.

The human antimicrobial peptide LL-37 transfers extracellular DNA plasmid to the nuclear compartment of mammalian cells via lipid rafts and proteoglycan-dependent endocytosis

Nuclear Targeting of Macromolecular Polyanions by an HIV-Tat Derived Peptide ROLE FOR CELL-SURFACE PROTEOGLYCANS

https://www.genscript.com/site2/document/857_20050922021049.PDF

Glypican-1 Is a Vehicle for Polyamine Uptake in Mammalian Cells A PIVOTAL ROLE FOR NITROSOTHIOL-DERIVED NITRIC OXIDE

Mutations in glypican genes cause dysmorphic and overgrowth syndromes in men and mice, abnormal development in flies and worms, and defective gastrulation in zebrafish and ascidians. All glypican core proteins share a characteristic pattern of 14 conserved cysteine residues. Upstream from the C-terminal membrane anchorage are 3–4 heparan sulfate attachment sites. Cysteines in glypican-1 can become nitrosylated by nitric oxide in a copper-dependent reaction. When glypican-1 is exposed to ascorbate, nitric oxide is released and participates in deaminative cleavage of heparan sulfate at sites where the glucosamines have a free amino group. This process takes place while glypican-1 recycles via a nonclassical, caveolin-1-associated route. Glypicans are involved in growth factor signalling and transport, e.g. of polyamines. Cargo can be unloaded from heparan sulfate by nitric oxide-dependent degradation. How glypican and its degradation products and the cargo exit from the recycling route is an enigma.

Novel aspects of glypican glycobiology.

Dermatan sulphate is a co-polymer of two types of disaccharide repeats: D-glucuronate-N-acetylgalactosamine and L-iduronate-N-acetylgalactosamine. The former can be O-sulphated at C-4 or C-6 of the galactosamine, whereas the latter contains almost exclusively 4-O-sulphated galactosamine. A minor proportion of the L-iduronate may be O-sulphated at C-2. Chondroitin sulphate has no L-iduronate-containing repeats. We have used our recently developed methods for sequence analysis of galactosaminoglycans to investigate the structure of dermatan/chondroitin sulphates of the proteoglycans decorin and biglycan derived from various bovine tissues, like dermis, sclera, tendon, aorta, cartilage and bone. The glycan chains, radioiodinated at the reducing end, were partially cleaved with specific enzymes (chondroitin lyases), and subjected to high-resolution polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, blotting and autoradiography to identify fragments extending from the labelled reducing end to the point of cleavage. We used chondroitin B lyase to identify the location of L-iduronate, chondroitin AC-I lyase to locate D-glucuronate and chondroitin C lyase to cleave where D-glucuronate residues were succeeded by 6-O-sulphated N-acetylgalactosamine. We could demonstrate tissue-specific, periodic and wave-like patterns of distribution for the two epimeric uronic acids, as well as specific patterns of sulphation in dermatan sulphates derived from either decorin or biglycan. For example, some dermatan sulphates contained D-glucuronate-rich domains that were always 6-sulphated (scleral decorin), others were always 4-sulphated (decorin from bovine dermis, cartilage and bone; biglycan from aorta) or 6-sulphated near the linkage region, but 4-sulphated in more distal domains (decorin from porcine dermis and bovine tendon). Decorin from bone and articular cartilage, as well as biglycan from articular and nasal cartilage, carried largely chondroitin sulphate chains, but also some dermatan sulphate, whereas galactosaminoglycan chains derived from aggrecan of nasal cartilage were free of L-iduronate. Decorin and biglycan from the same tissue (articular cartilage or sclera) had similar glycan chains. The two side chains in a biglycan molecule are probably also similar to one another. The portion of the glycan chains nearest to the core protein was substituted with charged groups to a variable degree, which may correlate with the structural features of the main chain.

Fang Cheng

Papers

The human antimicrobial peptide LL-37 transfers extracellular DNA plasmid to the nuclear compartment of mammalian cells via lipid rafts and proteoglycan-dependent endocytosis

Nuclear Targeting of Macromolecular Polyanions by an HIV-Tat Derived Peptide ROLE FOR CELL-SURFACE PROTEOGLYCANS

Glypican-1 Is a Vehicle for Polyamine Uptake in Mammalian Cells A PIVOTAL ROLE FOR NITROSOTHIOL-DERIVED NITRIC OXIDE

Novel aspects of glypican glycobiology.

Patterns of uronosyl epimerization and 4-/6-O-sulphation in chondroitin/dermatan sulphate from decorin and biglycan of various bovine tissues.