Search results for "binding"
showing 10 items of 3896 documents
Consensus guidelines for the detection of immunogenic cell death
2014
Apoptotic cells have long been considered as intrinsically tolerogenic or unable to elicit immune responses specific for dead cell-associated antigens. However, multiple stimuli can trigger a functionally peculiar type of apoptotic demise that does not go unnoticed by the adaptive arm of the immune system, which we named "immunogenic cell death" (ICD). ICD is preceded or accompanied by the emission of a series of immunostimulatory damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) in a precise spatiotemporal configuration. Several anticancer agents that have been successfully employed in the clinic for decades, including various chemotherapeutics and radiotherapy, can elicit ICD. Moreover, defect…
The Odd Sibling: Features ofβ3-Adrenoceptor Pharmacology
2014
beta(3)-Adrenoceptor agonists have recently been introduced for the treatment of overactive urinary bladder syndrome. Their target, the beta(3)-adrenoceptor, was discovered much later than beta(1)- and beta(2)-adrenoceptors and exhibits unique properties which make extrapolation of findings from the other two subtypes difficult and the beta(3)-adrenoceptor a less-understood subtype. This article discusses three aspects of beta(3)-adrenoceptor pharmacology. First, the ligand-recognition profile of beta(3)-adrenoceptors differs considerably from that of the other two subtypes, i.e., many antagonists considered as nonselective actually are beta(3)-sparing, including propranolol or nadolol. Man…
Selective MicroRNA-Offset RNA Expression in Human Embryonic Stem Cells
2015
Small RNA molecules, including microRNAs (miRNAs), play critical roles in regulating pluri-potency, proliferation and differentiation of embryonic stem cells. miRNA-offset RNAs (moRNAs) are similar in length to miRNAs, align to miRNA precursor (pre-miRNA) loci and are therefore believed to derive from processing of the pre-miRNA hairpin sequence. Recent next generation sequencing (NGS) studies have reported the presence of moRNAs in human neurons and cancer cells and in several tissues in mouse, including pluripotent stem cells. In order to gain additional knowledge about human moRNAs and their putative development-related expression, we applied NGS of small RNAs in human embryonic stem cel…
Probing a Polar Cluster in the Retinal Binding Pocket of Bacteriorhodopsin by a Chemical Design Approach
2012
Bacteriorhodopsin has a polar cluster of amino acids surrounding the retinal molecule, which is responsible for light harvesting to fuel proton pumping. From our previous studies, we have shown that threonine 90 is the pivotal amino acid in this polar cluster, both functionally and structurally. In an attempt to perform a phenotype rescue, we have chemically designed a retinal analogue molecule to compensate the drastic effects of the T90A mutation in bacteriorhodopsin. This analogue substitutes the methyl group at position C(13) of the retinal hydrocarbon chain by and ethyl group (20-methyl retinal). We have analyzed the effect of reconstituting the wild-type and the T90A mutant apoprotein…
In the Pursuit of Efficient Anion-Binding Organic Ligands Based on Halogen Bonding
2013
The syntheses and the crystal structures of new multitopic anion-binding organic ligands based on a benzenoid scaffold and bearing two or three 2-iodo-imidazolium arms are reported. The quite short...
Fluorine Scan of Inhibitors of the Cysteine Protease Human Cathepsin L: Dipolar and Quadrupolar Effects in the π-Stacking of Fluorinated Phenyl Rings…
2016
The π-stacking of fluorinated benzene rings on protein backbone amide groups was investigated, using a dual approach comprising enzyme-ligand binding studies complemented by high-level quantum chemical calculations. In the experimental study, the phenyl substituent of triazine nitrile inhibitors of human cathepsin L (hCatL), which stacks onto the peptide amide bond Gly67-Gly68 at the entrance of the S3 pocket, was systematically fluorinated, and differences in inhibitory potency were measured in a fluorimetric assay. Binding affinity is influenced by lipophilicity (clog P), the dipole and quadrupole moments of the fluorinated rings, but also by additional interactions of the introduced fluo…
Assessment of the Optimum Linker Tethering Site of Alternariol Haptens for Antibody Generation and Immunoassay Development
2021
Immunochemical methods for mycotoxin analysis require antigens with well-defined structures and antibodies with outstanding binding properties. Immunoreagents for the mycotoxins alternariol and/or alternariol monomethyl ether have typically been obtained with chemically uncharacterized haptens, and antigen conjugates have most likely been prepared with mixtures of functionalized molecules. For the first time, total synthesis was performed, in the present study, to obtain two haptens with opposite linker attachment locations. The functionalized synthetic haptens were purified and deeply characterized by different spectrometric methods, allowing the preparation of bioconjugates with unequivoc…
Spectrum of styrene-induced DNA adducts: the relationship to other biomarkers and prospects in human biomonitoring.
2002
Styrene is an important industrial chemical that has shown genotoxicity in many toxicology assays. This is believed to be related to the DNA-binding properties of styrene-7,8-oxide (SO), a major metabolite of styrene. In this review, we have summarized knowledge on various aspects of styrene genotoxicity, especially in order to understand the formation and removal of primary DNA lesions, and the usefulness of biomarkers for risk assessment. Biological significances of specific DNA adducts and their role in the cascade of genotoxic events are discussed. Links between markers of external and internal exposure are evaluated, as well as metabolic aspects leading to the formation of DNA adducts …
Detection of oxidative mutagenesis by isoniazid and other hydrazine derivatives in Escherichia coli WP2 tester strain IC203, deficient in OxyR: stron…
1998
Abstract Strain IC203, deficient in the OxyR function, was sensitive to both cytotoxic and mutagenic effects of isoniazid (INH) whereas its parent, WP2 uvrA /pKM101, was resistant to these effects. Four other hydrazine compounds, hydrazine hydrate (HZH), phenylhydrazine (PHZ), hydralazine (HLZ) and nialamide (NLD), were mutagenic in WP2 uvrA /pKM101. Increases in mutagenicity were observed in IC203 for HZH and PHZ but not for HLZ and NLD. Growth inhibition zones by HZH, PHZ and NLD were larger in IC203 than in WP2 uvrA /pKM101. The enhancements in the effects of INH, HZH and PHZ in IC203 with respect to its oxyR + parent are considered to be caused by the production of reactive oxygen speci…
A novel RNA-binding motif in influenza A virus non-structural protein 1.
1997
The solution NMR structure of the RNA-binding domain from influenza virus non-structural protein 1 exhibits a novel dimeric six-helical protein fold. Distributions of basic residues and conserved salt bridges of dimeric NS1(1-73) suggest that the face containing antiparallel helices 2 and 2′ forms a novel arginine-rich nucleic acid binding motif.