Search results for "Protein folding"
showing 10 items of 196 documents
Effect of Ligands on HP-Induced Unfolding and Oligomerization of β-Lactoglobulin
2020
ABSTRACTTo probe intermediate states during unfolding and oligomerization of proteins remains a major challenge. High pressure (HP) is a powerful tool for studying these problems, revealing subtle structural changes in proteins not accessible by other means of denaturation. Bovine β-lactoglobulin (BLG), the main whey protein, has a strong propensity to bind various bioactive molecules, such as retinol and resveratrol, two ligands with different affinity and binding sites. By combining in situ HP-small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) and HP-UV/visible absorption spectroscopy, we report the specific effects of these ligands on 3D conformational and local changes in BLG induced by HP. Dependin…
Evaluation of Fused Pyrrolothiazole Systems as Correctors of Mutant CFTR Protein.
2021
Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a genetic disease caused by mutations that impair the function of the CFTR chloride channel. The most frequent mutation, F508del, causes misfolding and premature degradation of CFTR protein. This defect can be overcome with pharmacological agents named “correctors”. So far, at least three different classes of correctors have been identified based on the additive/synergistic effects that are obtained when compounds of different classes are combined together. The development of class 2 correctors has lagged behind that of compounds belonging to the other classes. It was shown that the efficacy of the prototypical class 2 corrector, the bithiazole corr-4a, could be impr…
Hsp60, a Novel Target for Antitumor Therapy: Structure-Function Features and Prospective Drugs Design
2013
Heat shock protein 60 kDa (Hsp60) is a chaperone classically believed to be involved in assisting the correct folding of other mitochondrial proteins. Hsp60 also plays a role in cytoprotection against cell stressors, displaying for example, antiapoptotic potential. Despite the plethora of studies devoted to the mechanism of Hsp60's function, especially in prokaryotes, fundamental issues still remain unexplored, including the definition of its role in cancer. Key questions still unanswered pertain to the differences in structure-function features that might exist between the well-studied prokaryotic GroEL and the largely unexplored eukaryotic Hsp60 proteins. In this article we discuss these …
Hsp60 in Modifications of Nervous System Homeostasis and Neurodegeneration
2019
Hsp60 is a critical chaperonin for its role in preserving cell survival and protecting mitochondria against stress conditions. Indeed, mutations or malfunctions of Hsp60 are involved in several human diseases, either genetic or acquired, some of them affecting also the brain. In this chapter, we present several experimental observations supporting the role of Hsp60 in some neurodegenerative diseases. Further, Hsp60, as multifunctional protein, contributes to the protein folding system, to protect mitochondria and is involved in several other cellular pathways that are known to be affected in these diseases. Furthermore, due to its role outside of the mitochondria and in the extracellular fl…
High Resolution Solution NMR Structure of the Z Domain of Staphylococcal Protein A. Analysis of Secondary Structure for Free Z Domain and Bounded to …
1997
Staphylococcal protein A (SpA) is a cell-wall-bound pathogenicity factor from the bacterium Staphylcoccus aureus. It exhibits tight binding to many IgG, IgA and IgM molecules at site(s) different from antigen-combining site. Because of their small size and immunoglobulin (IgG)-binding activities, domains of protein A are important targets for protein engineering efforts and for the development of computational approaches for de novo protein folding.
Local vs global motions in protein folding
2013
It is of interest to know whether local fluctuations in a polypeptide chain play any role in the mechanism by which the chain folds to the native structure of a protein. This question is addressed by analyzing folding and non-folding trajectories of a protein; as an example, the analysis is applied to the 37-residue triple β-strand WW domain from the Formin binding protein 28 (FBP28) (PDB ID: 1E0L). Molecular dynamics (MD) trajectories were generated with the coarse-grained united-residue force field, and one- and two-dimensional free-energy landscapes (FELs) along the backbone virtual-bond angle θ and backbone virtual-bond-dihedral angle γ of each residue, and principal components, respect…
Redox Biochemistry of the Genetic Code.
2021
New findings on the chemistry of the amino acids, their role in protein folding, and their sequential primordial introduction have uncovered concealed causalities in genetic code evolution. The genetically encoded amino acids successively provided (i) membrane anchors, (ii) halophilic protein folds, (iii) mesophilic protein folds, (iv) metal ligation, and (v) antioxidation.
Epoxide Hydrolases: Structure, Function, Mechanism, and Assay
2005
Epoxide hydrolases are a class of enzymes important in the detoxification of genotoxic compounds, as well as in the control of physiological signaling molecules. This chapter gives an overview on the function, structure, and enzymatic mechanism of structurally characterized epoxide hydrolases and describes selected assays for the quantification of epoxide hydrolase activity.
Influence of the hydrophilic face on the folding ability and stability of α-helix bundles: relevance to the peptide catalytic activity
2000
Although not the sole feature responsible, the packing of amino acid side chains in the interior of proteins is known to contribute to protein conformational specificity. While a number of amphipathic peptide sequences with optimized hydrophobic domains has been designed to fold into a desired aggregation state, the contribution of the amino acids located on the hydrophilic side of such peptides to the final packing has not been investigated thoroughly. A set of self-aggregating 18-mer peptides designed previously to adopt a high level of alpha-helical conformation in benign buffer is used here to evaluate the effect of the nature of the amino acids located on the hydrophilic face on the pa…
Chapter 16 Folding and Pigment Binding of Light-Harvesting Chlorophyll a/b Protein (LHCIIb)
2010
The major light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b protein (LHCIIb) is one of the most abundant proteins of the chloroplast in green plants. It contains roughly half of the chlorophylls involved in photosynthesis, and exhibits an unusual ability to self-organize in vitro. Simply mixing the apoprotein, native or recombinant, with its pigments, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, and xanthophylls, in detergent solution, suffices to trigger protein folding and the assembly of about 18 pigments in their correct binding sites. A study of the mechanism of this self-organization seems worthwhile since (1) our knowledge about membrane protein folding is scarce compared to what we know about the folding of water-…