Search results for "conformation"
showing 10 items of 1414 documents
Evolution of molluscan hemocyanin structures
2013
AbstractHemocyanin transports oxygen in the hemolymph of many molluscs and arthropods and is therefore a central physiological factor in these animals. Molluscan hemocyanin molecules are oligomers composed of many protein subunits that in turn encompass subsets of distinct functional units. The structure and evolution of molluscan hemocyanin have been studied for decades, but it required the recent progress in DNA sequencing, X-ray crystallography and 3D electron microscopy to produce a detailed view of their structure and evolution. The basic quaternary structure is a cylindrical decamer 35nm in diameter, consisting of wall and collar (typically at one end of the cylinder). Depending on th…
Optical properties of in-vitro biomineralised silica
2012
Silicon is the second most common element on the Earth's crust and its oxide (SiO(2)) the most abundant mineral. Silica and silicates are widely used in medicine and industry as well as in micro- and nano-optics and electronics. However, the fabrication of glass fibres and components requires high temperature and non-physiological conditions, in contrast to biosilica structures in animals and plants. Here, we show for the first time the use of recombinant silicatein-α, the most abundant subunit of sponge proteins catalyzing biosilicification reactions, to direct the formation of optical waveguides in-vitro through soft microlithography. The artificial biosilica fibres mimic the natural spon…
Matrix Isolation and Ab Initio Study of Trans−Trans and Trans−Cis Dimers of Formic Acid
2010
Six trans-trans and five trans-cis dimeric structures of formic acid (HCOOH) are revealed by ab initio calculations. Four trans-trans and two trans-cis dimers are identified in the IR absorption spectra in argon matrices. The trans-cis dimers are obtained by narrow-band IR excitation of the vibrational transitions of the trans-trans dimers. Two trans-trans (tt3 and tt6) and one trans-cis (tc4) dimer are characterized experimentally for the first time. The tunneling decay rates of two trans-cis dimers (tc1 and tc4) are evaluated at different temperatures. A greater lifetime of the trans-cis dimers at elevated temperatures compared to the cis-monomer suggests that the high-energy conformers c…
EPR, ENDOR and TRIPLE Resonance and MO Studies on Ubiquinones (Q-n): Comparison of Radical Anions and Cations of Coenzymes Q-10 and Q-6 with the Mode…
1997
Radical anions and cations of the biologically important coenzymes Q-6 and Q-10, which have 6 and 10 unsaturated isoprene units in their side chains, respectively, have been generated in various solvents, and the results compared with those obtained for Q-0, a ubiquinone with no isoprene units, and for decylubiquinone Q-2 which has a saturated side chain. Hyperfine splitting constants (hfsc) of methyl and methoxy protons of the substituents in the quinone ring, and beta and gamma protons of the side chain were measured by EPR and ENDOR spectroscopy for both the radical anions and cations of Q-0, Q-6 and Q-10, and for the radical anion of Q-2. The relative signs of the hfsc were determined b…
Diversity of Omega Glutathione Transferases in mushroom-forming fungi revealed by phylogenetic, transcriptomic, biochemical and structural approaches
2021
International audience; The Omega class of glutathione transferases (GSTs) forms a distinct class within the cytosolic GST superfamily because most of them possess a catalytic cysteine residue. The human GST Omega 1 isoform was first characterized twenty years ago, but it took years of work to clarify the roles of the human isoforms. Concerning the kingdom of fungi, little is known about the cellular functions of Omega glutathione transferases (GSTOs), although they are widely represented in some of these organisms. In this study, we re-assess the phylogeny and the classification of GSTOs based on 240 genomes of mushroom-forming fungi (Agaricomycetes). We observe that the number of GSTOs is…
Effects of glycosylation on fragments of tumour associated human epithelial mucin MUC1.
1998
The glycodecapeptide AcPAPGS(alpha GalNAc)T(alpha GalNAc)APPA and the C-terminal glycohexapeptide AcS(alpha GalNAc)T(alpha GalNAc)APPA have been synthesized by applying the N-terminal Fmoc group in combination with the heptyl ester cleavable by lipase-catalyzed hydrolysis at pH 7. The solution conformation of these MUC1-related synthetic glycopeptides and the control, non-glycosylated decapeptide AcPAPGSTAPPA have been investigated using NMR spectroscopy. The structural studies indicate that the glycohexapeptide has a folded structure in solution. For this molecule, unrestrained molecular dynamics has been used to confirm the presence of the observed solution through-space connections. The …
Molecular dynamics studies on HIV-1 protease: a comparison of the flap motions between wild type protease and the M46I/G51D double mutant
2007
The emergence of drug-resistant mutants of HIV-1 is a tragic effect associated with conventional long-treatment therapies against acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. These mutations frequently involve the aspartic protease encoded by the virus; knowledge of the molecular mechanisms underlying the conformational changes of HIV-1 protease mutants may be useful in developing more effective and longer lasting treatment regimes. The flap regions of the protease are the target of a particular type of mutations occurring far from the active site. These mutations modify the affinity for both substrate and ligands, thus conferring resistance. In this work, molecular dynamics simulations were perform…
An NMR view of the unfolding process of rusticyanin: Structural elements that maintain the architecture of a β-barrel metalloprotein
2005
The unfolding process of the blue copper protein rusticyanin (Rc) as well as its dynamic and D(2)O/H(2)O exchange properties in an incipient unfolded state have been studied by heteronuclear NMR spectroscopy. Titrations of apo, Cu(I), and Cu(II)Rc with guanidinium chloride (GdmCl) show that the copper ion stabilizes the folded species and remains bound in the completely unfolded state. The oxidized state of the copper ion is more efficient than the reduced form in this respect. The long loop of Rc (where the first ligand of the copper ion is located) is one of the most mobile domains of the protein. This region has no defined secondary structure elements and is prone to exchange its amide p…
DOTASQ as a prototype of nature-inspired G-quadruplex ligand
2011
DOTASQ (for DOTA-templated Synthetic G-quartet) is the first prototype of nature-inspired G-quadruplex ligand: its design, founded on a possible intramolecular G-quartet formation, enables it to interact with G-quadruplex DNA via an unprecedented nature-mimicking binding mode, based on the association between two G-quartets, one being native (quadruplex) and the other one artificial (ligand).
Ferrocene compounds: methyl 1′-aminoferrocene-1-carboxylate
2010
The title compund, [Fe(C(5)H(6)N)(C(7)H(7)O(2))], features one strong intermolecular hydrogen bond of the type N-H...O=C [N...O = 3.028 (2) A] between the amine group and the carbonyl group of a neighbouring molecule, and vice versa, to form a centrosymmetric dimer. Furthermore, the carbonyl group acts as a double H-atom acceptor in the formation of a second, weaker, hydrogen bond of the type C-H...O=C [C...O = 3.283 (2) A] with the methyl group of the ester group of a second neighbouring molecule at (x, -y - 1/2, z - 1/2). The methyl group also acts as a weak hydrogen-bond donor, symmetry-related to the latter described C-H...O=C interaction, to a third molecule at (x, -y - 1/2, z + 1/2) t…