吐唾沫、流口水……唾液通常不是一個令人愉快的談話主題。但中國科學家一項最新研究發現,唾液中含有的糖蛋白成分可以部分解釋健康老年人具有更強的流感抵抗力這一事實,將來或許能夠利用這種糖蛋白開發出抗流感病毒的口鼻噴霧或口含藥。
唾液不僅能幫助消化食物,它也含有抗菌蛋白,是應對感染的第一道防線。中國西北大學生命科學學院研究人員在新一期美國《蛋白質組學研究雜誌》上報告說,他們檢測了180名不同年齡的健康人唾液中的糖蛋白糖鏈譜,發現與兒童和成年人相比,老年人唾液中的糖蛋白唾液酸α2-3和α2-6糖鏈結構能更有效地與H9N2禽流感病毒等病毒結合。
研究負責人李錚教授對新華社記者解釋說,這是首次詳細地研究健康兒童、成人和老年人唾液糖蛋白的不同糖型,結果發現唾液糖蛋白唾液酸α2-3和α2-6糖鏈結構可與流感病毒血凝素結合,從而抑制流感病毒對人體上呼吸道細胞的侵襲,這一結果部分解釋了為什麼老年人比年輕人能夠更好地應對一些新出現的流感。
李錚希望在接下來的研究中,能夠利用具有唾液酸α2-3和α2-6糖鏈結構的糖蛋白開發出抗流感病毒的口鼻噴霧或口含形式的藥物。
李錚說:「唾液是一面反射人體健康的鏡子,唾液中含有豐富的糖蛋白。從變化的唾液糖蛋白糖鏈中可以找到與疾病相關的生物標誌物,而基於唾液檢測的新技術和新方法也會逐漸成為今後非侵襲性臨床診斷髮展的一個方向。」(生物谷Bioon.com)
生物谷推薦英文摘要:
Joural of Proteome research DOI: 10.1021/pr400096w
Age- and Sex-Associated Differences in the Glycopatterns of Human Salivary Glycoproteins and Their Roles against Influenza A Virus
Yannan Qin,Yaogang Zhong,Minzhi Zhu,Liuyi Dang,Hanjie Yu,Zhuo Chen,Wentian Chen,Xiurong Wang,Hua Zhang,Zheng Li
Recent studies have elucidated that expression of certain glycoproteins in human saliva is increased or decreased according to age; meanwhile, human saliva may inhibit viral infection and prevent viral transmission. However, little is known about the age- and sex-associated differences in the glycopatterns of human salivary glycoproteins and their significant roles against influenza A virus (IVA). Here, we investigate the glycopatterns of human salivary glycoproteins with 180 healthy saliva samples divided into six age/sex groups using lectin microarrays and fabricate saliva microarrays to validate the terminal carbohydrate moieties of glycoproteins in individual saliva samples. Furthermore, we assess the inhibiting and neutralizing activity of saliva against two strains of influenza A (H9N2) virus. We find that seven lectins (e.g., MAL-II and SNA) show significant age differences in both females and males, and seven lectins (e.g., WFA and STL) show significant sex differences in children, adults and elde...
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