Search results for " secondary"

The tetrameric α-helical membrane protein GlpF unfolds via a dimeric folding intermediate.

2011

Many membrane proteins appear to be present and functional in higher-order oligomeric states. While few studies have analyzed the thermodynamic stability of α-helical transmembrane (TM) proteins under equilibrium conditions in the past, oligomerization of larger polytopic monomers has essentially not yet been studied. However, it is vital to study the folding of oligomeric membrane proteins to improve our understanding of the general mechanisms and pathways of TM protein folding. To investigate the folding and stability of the aquaglyceroporin GlpF from Escherichia coli, unfolding of the protein in mixed micelles was monitored by steady-state fluorescence and circular dichroism spectroscopy…

Evidence for a possible NOS back-up system in the organ of Corti of the guinea pig

2003

Recently, the two Ca(2+)/calmodulin-regulated nitric oxide synthase isoforms, nNOS and eNOS, and NO itself have been identified in the cochlea of vertebrates using specific antibodies and a new fluorescence indicator. In order to acquire more information about the quantitative and spatial distribution of these two constitutively expressed NOS isoforms (cNOS) in the organ of Corti at the cellular and subcelluar levels, ultrathin sections of London resin (LR) White-embedded cochleae of the guinea pig were incubated with various concentrations of commercially available antibodies to nNOS and eNOS. The immunoreactivity was visualized by a gold-labeled secondary antibody and the amount of the im…

Weak separation condition, Assouad dimension, and Furstenberg homogeneity

2015

We consider dimensional properties of limit sets of Moran constructions satisfying the finite clustering property. Just to name a few, such limit sets include self-conformal sets satisfying the weak separation condition and certain sub-self-affine sets. In addition to dimension results for the limit set, we manage to express the Assouad dimension of any closed subset of a self-conformal set by means of the Hausdorff dimension. As an interesting consequence of this, we show that a Furstenberg homogeneous self-similar set in the real line satisfies the weak separation condition. We also exhibit a self-similar set which satisfies the open set condition but fails to be Furstenberg homogeneous.

Random cutout sets with spatially inhomogeneous intensities

2015

We study the Hausdorff dimension of Poissonian cutout sets defined via inhomogeneous intensity measures on Ahlfors-regular metric spaces. We obtain formulas for the Hausdorff dimension of such cutouts in self-similar and self-conformal spaces using the multifractal decomposition of the average densities for the natural measures.

Some notes on a superlinear second order Hamiltonian system

2016

Variational methods are used in order to establish the existence and the multiplicity of nontrivial periodic solutions of a second order dynamical system. The main results are obtained when the potential satisfies different superquadratic conditions at infinity. The particular case of equations with a concave-convex nonlinear term is covered.

The use of gerunds and infinitives in perceptive constructions

2016

In this article I compare the use of gerunds with perceptive verbs in Spanish and in Gardenese, a Rhaeto-Romance variety spoken in Northern Italy: perceptive gerunds are used as secondary predicates in Spanish, but as defective TP-complements in Gardenese. Following Rizzi’s (2014) account of parametric variation, I propose that the differences are due to the interplay of three parameters: a [+progressive] feature on Gardenese perception verbs, the pure lexical status of perception verbs in Gardenese and a [+Agreement] feature on Spanish gerunds. The discussion of the parameters involved leads to more general considerations, as a new proposal for the structure of perceptive ECMs in Romance, …

Interplay between RNA structure and protein evolution in HIV-1.

2010

The genomes of many RNA viruses contain abundant secondary structures that have been shown to be important for understanding the evolution of noncoding regions and synonymous sites. However, the consequences for protein evolution are less well understood. Recently, the secondary structure of the HIV-1 RNA genome has been experimentally determined. Using this information, here we show that RNA structure and proteins do not evolve independently. A negative correlation exists between the extent of base pairing in the genomic RNA and amino acid variability. Relaxed RNA structures may favor the accumulation of genetic variation in proteins and, conversely, sequence changes driven by positive sel…

Rapid evolution of translational control mechanisms in RNA genomes

1997

We have introduced 13 base substitutions into the coat protein gene of RNA bacteriophage MS2. The mutations, which are clustered ahead of the overlapping lysis cistron, do not change the amino acid sequence of the coat protein, but they disrupt a local hairpin, which is needed to control translation of the lysis gene. The mutations decreased the phage titer by four orders of magnitude but, upon passaging, the virus accumulated suppressor mutations that raised the fitness to almost wild-type level. Analysis of the pseudorevertants showed that the disruption of the local hairpin, controlling expression of the lysis gene, had apparently been so complete that its restoration by chance mutations…

2019

Codon composition, GC content and local RNA secondary structures can have a profound effect on gene expression, and mutations affecting these parameters, even though they do not alter the protein sequence, are not neutral in terms of selection. Although evidence exists that, in some cases, selection favours more stable RNA secondary structures, we currently lack a concrete idea of how many genes are affected within a species, and whether this is a universal phenomenon in nature. We searched for signs of structural selection in a global manner, analysing a set of 1 million coding sequences from 73 species representing all domains of life, as well as viruses, by means of our newly developed s…

Assessment of temperature effects on beta-aggregation of native and glycated albumin by FTIR spectroscopy and PAGE: relations between structural chan…

2007

Abstract Structural modifications of bovine serum albumin (BSA) induced by heating, and the involvement of glycation of albumin in such processing were studied by using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE). For native BSA, heating treatments gave rise to β structures which were amplified to the detriment of α-helix form, and which were associated with increased aggregation. A very high correlation was obtained between FTIR Amide I band evolution and aggregation rate parameters, showing the contribution of β-form in aggregates formation. We further assessed the effect of glycation on protein sensibility to heating treatments. A reductio…