Search results for "DOMAIN"
showing 10 items of 2485 documents
Characterization of the pleiotropic LysR-type transcription regulator LeuO of Escherichia coli
2019
AbstractLeuO is a pleiotropic LysR-type transcriptional regulator (LTTR) and co-regulator of the abundant nucleoid-associated repressor protein H-NS in Gammaproteobacteria. As other LTTRs, LeuO is a tetramer that is formed by dimerization of the N-terminal DNA-binding domain (DBD) and C-terminal effector-binding domain (EBD). To characterize the Escherichia coli LeuO protein, we screened for LeuO mutants that activate the cas (CRISPR-associated/Cascade) promoter more effectively than wild-type LeuO. This yielded nine mutants carrying amino acid substitutions in the dimerization interface of the regulatory EBD, as shown by solving the EBD’s crystal structure. Superimposing of the crystal str…
Proteomic identification of FHL1 as the protein mutated in human reducing body myopathy
2007
Reducing body myopathy (RBM) is a rare disorder causing progressive muscular weakness characterized by aggresome-like inclusions in the myofibrils. Identification of genes responsible for RBM by traditional genetic approaches has been impossible due to the frequently sporadic occurrence in affected patients and small family sizes. As an alternative approach to gene identification, we used laser microdissection of intracytoplasmic inclusions identified in patient muscle biopsies, followed by nanoflow liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry and proteomic analysis. The most prominent component of the inclusions was the Xq26.3-encoded four and a half LIM domain 1 (FHL1) protein, expresse…
Proteomic identification of protease cleavage sites characterizes prime and non-prime specificity of cysteine cathepsins B, L, and S.
2011
Cysteine cathepsins mediate proteome homeostasis and have pivotal functions in diseases such as cancer. To better understand substrate recognition by cathepsins B, L, and S, we applied proteomic identification of protease cleavage sites (PICS) for simultaneous profiling of prime and non-prime specificity. PICS profiling of cathepsin B endopeptidase specificity highlights strong selectivity for glycine in P3' due to an occluding loop blocking access to the primed subsites. In P1', cathepsin B has a partial preference for phenylalanine, which is not found for cathepsins L and S. Occurrence of P1' phenylalanine often coincides with aromatic residues in P2. For cathepsin L, PICS identifies 845 …
Monolayer curvature stabilizes nanoscale raft domains in mixed lipid bilayers
2013
According to the lipid raft hypothesis, biological lipid membranes are laterally heterogeneous and filled with nanoscale ordered "raft" domains, which are believed to play an important role for the organization of proteins in membranes. However, the mechanisms stabilizing such small rafts are not clear, and even their existence is sometimes questioned. Here we report the observation of raft-like structures in a coarse-grained molecular model for multicomponent lipid bilayers. On small scales, our membranes demix into a liquid ordered (lo) and a liquid disordered (ld) phase. On large scales, phase separation is suppressed and gives way to a microemulsion-type state that contains nanometer si…
Canonical azimuthal rotations and flanking residues constrain the orientation of transmembrane helices.
2013
AbstractIn biological membranes the alignment of embedded proteins provides crucial structural information. The transmembrane (TM) parts have well-defined secondary structures, in most cases α-helices and their orientation is given by a tilt angle and an azimuthal rotation angle around the main axis. The tilt angle is readily visualized and has been found to be functionally relevant. However, there exist no general concepts on the corresponding azimuthal rotation. Here, we show that TM helices prefer discrete rotation angles. They arise from a combination of intrinsic properties of the helix geometry plus the influence of the position and type of flanking residues at both ends of the hydrop…
Computational Methods in Developing Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationships (QSAR): A Review
2006
Virtual filtering and screening of combinatorial libraries have recently gained attention as methods complementing the high-throughput screening and combinatorial chemistry. These chemoinformatic techniques rely heavily on quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) analysis, a field with established methodology and successful history. In this review, we discuss the computational methods for building QSAR models. We start with outlining their usefulness in high-throughput screening and identifying the general scheme of a QSAR model. Following, we focus on the methodologies in constructing three main components of QSAR model, namely the methods for describing the molecular structure …
Promiscuity in alkaline phosphatase superfamily. Unraveling evolution through molecular simulations.
2011
We here present a theoretical study of the alkaline hydrolysis of a phosphodiester (methyl p-nitrophenyl phosphate or MpNPP) in the active site of Escherichia coli alkaline phosphatase (AP), a monoesterase that also presents promiscuous activity as a diesterase. The analysis of our simulations, carried out by means of molecular dynamics (MD) simulations with hybrid quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) potentials, shows that the reaction takes place through a D(N)A(N) or dissociative mechanism, the same mechanism employed by AP in the hydrolysis of monoesters. The promiscuous activity observed in this superfamily can be then explained on the basis of a conserved reaction mechanism. …
Topology and accessibility of the transmembrane helices and the sensory site in the bifunctional transporter DcuB of Escherichia coli.
2011
C(4)-Dicarboxylate uptake transporter B (DcuB) of Escherichia coli is a bifunctional transporter that catalyzes fumarate/succinate antiport and serves as a cosensor of the sensor kinase DcuS. Sites and domains of DcuB were analyzed for their topology relative to the cytoplasmic or periplasmic side of the membrane and their accessibility to the water space. For the topology studies, DcuB was fused at 33 sites to the reporter enzymes PhoA and LacZ that are only active when located in the periplasm or the cytoplasm, respectively. The ratios of the PhoA and LacZ activities suggested the presence of 10 or 11 hydrophilic loops, and 11 or 12 α-helical transmembrane domains (TMDs). The central part…
Structures of yeast peroxisomal Δ(3),Δ(2)-enoyl-CoA isomerase complexed with acyl-CoA substrate analogues: the importance of hydrogen-bond networks f…
2015
Δ3,Δ2-Enoyl-CoA isomerases (ECIs) catalyze the shift of a double bond from 3Z- or 3E-enoyl-CoA to 2E-enoyl-CoA. ECIs are members of the crotonase superfamily. The crotonase framework is used by many enzymes to catalyze a wide range of reactions on acyl-CoA thioesters. The thioester O atom is bound in a conserved oxyanion hole. Here, the mode of binding of acyl-CoA substrate analogues to peroxisomalSaccharomyces cerevisiaeECI (ScECI2) is described. The best defined part of the bound acyl-CoA molecules is the 3′,5′-diphosphate-adenosine moiety, which interacts with residues of loop 1 and loop 2, whereas the pantetheine part is the least well defined. The catalytic base, Glu158, is hydrogen-bo…
Homology modeling using simulated annealing of restrained molecular dynamics and conformational search calculations with CONGEN: application in predi…
1997
We have developed an automatic approach for homology modeling using restrained molecular dynamics and simulated annealing procedures, together with conformational search algorithms available in the molecular mechanics program CONGEN (Bruccoleri RE, Karplus M, 1987, Biopolymers 26:137-168). The accuracy of the method is validated by "predicting" structures of two homeodomain proteins with known three-dimensional structures, and then applied to predict the three-dimensional structure of the homeodomain of the murine Msx-1 transcription factor. Regions of the unknown protein structure that are highly homologous to the known template structure are constrained by "homology distance constraints,"…