Β galactosidase là gì? Các nghiên cứu khoa học về Β galactosidase

Replicative senescence limits the proliferation of somatic cells passaged in culture and may reflect cellular aging in vivo. The most widely used biomarker for senescent and aging cells is senescence‐associated β‐galactosidase (SA‐β‐gal), which is defined as β‐galactosidase activity detectable at pH 6.0 in senescent cells, but the origin of SA‐β‐gal and its cellular roles in senescence are not known. We demonstrate here that SA‐β‐gal activity is expressed from GLB1, the gene encoding lysosomal β‐D‐galactosidase, the activity of which is typically measured at acidic pH 4.5. Fibroblasts from patients with autosomal recessive G_M1‐gangliosidosis, which have defective lysosomal β‐galactosidase, did not express SA‐β‐gal at late passages even though they underwent replicative senescence. In addition, late passage normal fibroblasts expressing small‐hairpin interfering RNA that depleted GLB1 mRNA underwent senescence but failed to express SA‐β‐gal. GLB1 mRNA depletion also prevented expression of SA‐β‐gal activity in HeLa cervical carcinoma cells induced to enter a senescent state by repression of their endogenous human papillomavirus E7 oncogene. SA‐β‐gal induction during senescence was due at least in part to increased expression of the lysosomal β‐galactosidase protein. These results also indicate that SA‐β‐gal is not required for senescence.

Recent advances in cryo–electron microscopy (cryo-EM) allow structures of large macromolecules to be determined at near-atomic resolution. So far, though, resolutions approaching 2 Å, where features key to drug design are revealed, remain the province of x-ray crystallography. Bartesaghi et al. achieved a resolution of 2.2 Å for a 465-kD ligand-bound protein complex using cryo-EM. The density map is detailed enough to show close to 800 water molecules, magnesium and sodium ions, and precise side-chain conformations. These results bring routine use of cryo-EM in rational drug design a step closer.

Science , this issue p. 1147

β‐Galactosidase has been immobilized within thermally reversible hydrogel beads and has been studied in batch and packed bed reactor systems. The enzyme was entrapped in a copolymer hydrogel of N‐isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAm) and acrylamide (AAm) as beads were formed in an inverse suspension polymerization. A reversible deswelling and reswelling of the hydrogel matrix was induced by first warming and then cooling through 37–40°C, which is the lower critical solution temperature, LCST, of the backbone copolymer. The optimum temperature for maximum activity of the immobilized enzyme‐gel bead system was found to be 30–357deg;C in a batch mode and 40°C in a packed bed reactor, which were both below the 50°C optimum for the free enzyme. These differences are understandable, since the mass transfer rates of substrate and product within the pores of the gel matrix are controlled mainly by the temperature, so therefore it is the temperature which governs the overall activity of the immobilized enzyme system. It was also found that when the operational temperature in the packed bed reactor was cycled between temperatures below (35°C) and above (45°C) the copolymer gel LCST, the activity of the immobilized enzyme almost fully recovered after each cycle. In fact, the enzyme‐gel system exhibited a complete “shut‐off” in activity at 50°C which was the temperature where the free enzyme showed its maximum activity. The thermal cycling operation of LCST enzyme‐gel beads can be used to enhance overall activity and productivity of a packed bed reactor, when compared to isothermal operation of this reactor. This is due to the thermally induced “pumping” which enhances mass transfer rates of substrate in and product out of the gel beads.