蜂王浆是哺育蜂咽下腺与上颚腺分泌的供3日龄以内蜜蜂幼虫和蜂王食用的浆状物质,具有多种生物活性。王浆含有丰富的蛋白质,通过直接分离纯化王浆中的蛋白质分子,或通过王浆蛋白基因克隆表达以获得表达产物,进而研究王浆蛋白的功能。研究发现王浆中含有多种具有特定功能的蛋白质,如MRJP3具有免疫调节作用,Jelleine—I—IV及Royalisin具有抗菌作用,MRJP1具有抗肿瘤功能及可能的蜜蜂行为调节功能,57kDa蛋白及Apisimin的促细胞生长功能,57kDa蛋白具有抗疲劳功能等。随着王浆蛋白组分分离、基因克隆表达及其功能研究的深入,王浆蛋白将被应用到生物医药、细胞培养、组织工程等更多的研究领域。
Royal jelly (RJ) is thick, milky material with multiple bioactivities, which is confirmed to be secreted from both hypopharyngeal and mandibular glands of nurse bees. In a colony of bees, the queen is fed on RJ throughout the whole life, while all the other larvae are fed on RJ only for the first 3 days after hatching. Some functions of RJ proteins have been determined, such as the immunomodulatory activity of MRJP3, the antibacterial activity of Jelleine-I-IV and Royalisin, the antitumour activity and the potential modulatory activity of honeybee social behavior of MRJP1, the stimulating cell growth activity of 57 kDa protein and Apisimin, the antifatigue of 57 kDa protein and so on. The proteins can be isolated and purified from RJ directly or obtained by genes expression in vitro now. With the development of protein isolation, gene cloning and expression, and functions studies, RJ proteins will be used in more and more fields such as biological medicine, cell culture and tissue engineering.