Azevedo Cristina, Szijgyarto Zsolt, Saiardi Adolfo
Cell Biology Unit, Medical Research Council Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology (MRC-LMCB), University College London, London, UK.
Adv Enzyme Regul. 2011;51(1):74-82. doi: 10.1016/j.advenzreg.2010.08.003. Epub 2010 Oct 28.
The past ten years have seen a contained explosion of interest in inositol pyrophosphates. The early cloning of the IP6Ks and the more recent identification of the PP-IP5Ks have allowed the development of essential experimental tools to investigate the physiological role of inositol pyrophosphates. However, for this exciting field of research to gain momentum, simpler and more reliable research protocols need to be further developed. The ability to resolve and quantify inositol pyrophosphates using gel electrophoresis (Losito et al., 2009) has dramatically altered the way we are studying this class of molecules, opening new avenues for research. The use of this technology to resolve, detect and characterize inositol pyrophosphates extracted from cells certainly represents one desirable aim. The most crucial objective, however, is to obtain definite proof of the new mechanism of post-translational modification by identifying with biophysical methods the presence in vivo of pyrophosphorylated serines. This will hopefully precipitate the development of new ways to detect this modification, for example through the production of antibodies that specifically recognize pyrophosphorylated serines.
在过去十年中，人们对肌醇焦磷酸的兴趣呈爆发式增长，但仍受到一定限制。IP6Ks的早期克隆以及PP-IP5Ks的近期发现，使得研究肌醇焦磷酸生理作用的重要实验工具得以开发。然而，为了让这个令人兴奋的研究领域更具发展势头，还需要进一步开发更简单、更可靠的研究方案。利用凝胶电泳解析和定量肌醇焦磷酸的能力（Losito等人，2009年）极大地改变了我们研究这类分子的方式，开辟了新的研究途径。运用这项技术解析、检测和表征从细胞中提取的肌醇焦磷酸无疑是一个理想目标。然而，最关键的目标是通过生物物理方法确定体内焦磷酸化丝氨酸的存在，从而获得翻译后修饰新机制的确凿证据。这有望推动检测这种修饰的新方法的发展，例如通过生产能特异性识别焦磷酸化丝氨酸的抗体。
