Search results for "Teas"

The sequence alteration associated with a mutational hotspot in p53 protects cells from lysis by cytotoxic T lymphocytes specific for a flanking pept…

1998

A high proportion of tumors arise due to mutation of the p53 tumor suppressor protein. A p53 hotspot mutation at amino acid position 273 from R to H, flanking a peptide epitope that spans residues 264–272, renders cells resistant to killing by human histocompatibility leukocyte antigen (HLA)-A*0201–restricted cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) specific for this epitope. Acquisition of the R to H mutation at residue 273 of the human p53 protein promotes tumor growth in vivo by selective escape from recognition by p53.264–272 peptide-specific CTLs. Synthetic 27-mer p53 polypeptides covering the antigenic nonamer region 264–272 of p53 were used as proteasome substrates to investigate whether the R…

Domain organization and evolution of multifunctional autoprocessing repeats-in-toxin (MARTX) toxin in Vibrio vulnificus.

2011

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to analyze multifunctional autoprocessing repeats-in-toxin (MARTX) toxin domain organization within the aquatic species Vibrio vulnificus as well as to study the evolution of the rtxA1 gene. The species is subdivided into three biotypes that differ in host range and geographical distribution. We have found three different types (I, II, and III) of V. vulnificus MARTX (MARTX Vv ) toxins with common domains (an autocatalytic cysteine protease domain [CPD], an α / β-hydrolase domain, and a domain resembling that of the LifA protein of Escherichia coli O127:H6 E2348/69 [Efa/LifA]) and specific domains (a Rho-GTPase inactivation domain [RID], a domain of …

Mast cells promote homeostasis by limiting endothelin-1-induced toxicity

2004

Endothelin-1 (ET-1) is a 21-amino-acid peptide, derived from vascular endothelial cells, with potent vasoconstrictor activity. ET-1 has been implicated in diverse physiological or pathological processes, including the vascular changes associated with sepsis. However, the factors that regulate ET-1-associated toxicity during bacterial infections, or in other settings, are not fully understood. Both the pathology associated with certain allergic and autoimmune disorders, and optimal host defence against bacterial and parasitic infections are mediated by mast cells. In vitro, mast cells can produce ET-1 (ref. 11), undergo ET-1-dependent and endothelin-A receptor (ET(A))-dependent activation, a…

Purification of Large Cytosolic Proteases for In Vitro Assays: 20S and 26S Proteasomes

2012

Proteasomes are the main cytosolic proteases responsible for generating peptides for antigen processing and presentation in the MHC (major histocompatibility complex) class-I pathway. Purified 20S and 26S proteasomes have been widely used to study both specificity and efficiency of antigen processing. Here, we describe the purification of active human 20S and 26S proteasomes from human erythrocytes by DEAE-ion exchange chromatography, ammonium sulfate precipitation, glycerol density gradient centrifugation, and Superose-6 size exclusion chromatography and their characterization using fluorogenic substrates and specific inhibitors.

Alternate methods to prevent protease use as a masking agent in sport.

2010

Protocol for rational design of covalently interacting inhibitors.

2014

The inhibition potencies of covalent inhibitors mainly result from the formation of a covalent bond to the enzyme during the inhibition mechanism. This class of inhibitors has essentially been ignored in previous target-directed drug discovery projects because of concerns about possible side effects. However, their advantages, such as higher binding energies and longer drug-target residence times moved them into the focus of recent investigations. While the rational design of non-covalent inhibitors became standard the corresponding design of covalent inhibitors is still in its early stages. Potent covalent inhibitors can be retrieved from large compound libraries by covalent docking approa…

From In Silico to Experimental Validation: Tailoring Peptide Substrates for a Serine Protease.

2020

Smart nanocarriers for the transport of drugs to tumor cells are nowadays of great interest for treating cancer. The use of enzymatic stimuli to cleave peptide-based drug nanocapsules for the selective release of nanocapsule cargo in close proximity to tumor cells opens new possibilities in cancer research. In the present work, we demonstrate a methodology for finding and optimizing cleavable substrate sequences by the type II transmembrane serine protease hepsin, which is highly overexpressed in prostate cancer. The design and screening of combinatorial libraries in silico against the binding cavity of hepsin allow the identification of a panel of promising substrates with high-calculated …

Microscopic interactions between ivermectin and key human and viral proteins involved in SARS-CoV-2 infection

2021

The identification of chemical compounds able to bind specific sites of the human/viral proteins involved in the SARS-CoV-2 infection cycle is a prerequisite to design effective antiviral drugs. Here we conduct a molecular dynamics study with the aim to assess the interactions of ivermectin, an antiparasitic drug with broad-spectrum antiviral activity, with the human Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2 (ACE2), the viral 3CLpro and PLpro proteases, and the viral SARS Unique Domain (SUD). The drug/target interactions have been characterized in silico by describing the nature of the non-covalent interactions found and by measuring the extent of their time duration along the MD simulation. Results …

Selected cytotoxic gold compounds cause significant inhibition of 20S proteasome catalytic activities

2014

Abstract Six structurally diverse cytotoxic gold compounds are reported to cause profound and differential inhibition of the three main catalytic activities of purified 20S proteasome whilst auranofin , an established gold(I) drug in clinical use, is nearly ineffective. In particular, the gold(I) complex [( pbiH ) Au ( PPh 3 )] PF 6 , turns out to be the most potent inhibitor of all three enzyme activities with sub-micromolar IC 50 values. The present results further support the view that proteasome inhibition may play a major – yet not exclusive – role in the cytotoxic actions of gold based anticancer agents.

Drug combination studies of curcumin and genistein against rhodesain of Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense

2018

Curcumin and genistein are two natural products obtained from Curcuma longa L. and soybeans, endowed with many biological properties. Within the last years they were shown to possess also a promising antitrypanosomal activity. In the present paper, we investigated the activity of both curcumin and genistein against rhodesain, the main cysteine protease of Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense; drug combination studies, according to Chou and Talalay method, allowed us to demonstrate a potent synergistic effect for the combination curcumin-genistein. As a matter of fact, with our experiments we observed that the combination index of curcumin-genistein is < 1 for the reduction from 10 to 90% of rhode…