Search results for "protein conformation"

Induction of Cell Differentiation in Transformed Keratinocytes by Synthetic (Glyco)peptides from the Homophilic Recognition Domain of E-Cadherin

2002

Molecular dynamics, dynamic site mapping, and highthroughput virtual screening on leptin and the Ob receptor as anti-obesity target.

2014

Body weight control is a mechanism finely regulated by several hormonal, metabolic, and nervous pathways. The leptin receptor (Ob-R) is crucial for energy homeostasis and regulation of food uptake. Leptin is a 16 kDa hormone that is mainly secreted by fat cells into the bloodstream, and under normal circumstances, circulating levels are proportionate to the fat body mass. Sensing of elevated leptin levels by the hypothalamic neurocircutry activates a negative feedback loop resulting in reduced food intake and increased energy expenditure. Decreased concentrations lead to opposite effects. Therefore rational design of leptin agonists constitute an appealing challenge in the battle against ob…

Light-Induced Protein-Matrix Uncoupling and Protein Relaxation in Dry Samples of Trehalose-Coated MbCO at Room Temperature

2005

In humid samples of trehalose-coated carboxy-myoglobin (MbCO), thermally driven conformational relaxation takes place after photodissociation of the carbon monoxide (CO) molecule at room temperature. In such samples, because of the extreme viscosity of the external matrix, photodissociated CO cannot diffuse out of the protein and explores the whole (proximal and distal side) heme pocket, experiencing averaged protein heme pocket structures, as a result of the presence of Brownian motions. At variance, in very dry samples, a lower portion of the photodissociated CO diffuses from the distal to the proximal heme pocket side probing in nonaveraged structures. We revisit here the flash photolysi…

Photoactivation of Drosophila melanogaster cryptochrome through sequential conformational transitions

2019

Time-resolved x-ray scattering reveals light-induced signal transduction in insect cryptochromes.

Decoding the Folding of Burkholderia glumae Lipase: Folding Intermediates En Route to Kinetic Stability

2012

The lipase produced by Burkholderia glumae folds spontaneously into an inactive near-native state and requires a periplasmic chaperone to reach its final active and secretion-competent fold. The B. glumae lipase-specific foldase (Lif) is classified as a member of the steric-chaperone family of which the propeptides of alpha-lytic protease and subtilisin are the best known representatives. Steric chaperones play a key role in conferring kinetic stability to proteins. However, until present there was no solid experimental evidence that Lif-dependent lipases are kinetically trapped enzymes. By combining thermal denaturation studies with proteolytic resistance experiments and the description of…

Neuroglobin and Other Hexacoordinated Hemoglobins Show a Weak Temperature Dependence of Oxygen Binding

2004

AbstractMouse and human neuroglobins, as well as the hemoglobins from Drosophila melanogaster and Arabidopsis thaliana, were recombinantly expressed in Escherichia coli, and their ligand-binding properties were studied versus temperature. These globins have a common feature of being hexacoordinated (via the distal histidine) under deoxy conditions, as evidenced by a large amplitude for the alpha absorption band at 560nm and the Soret band at 426nm. The transition from the hexacoordinated form to the CO bound species is slow, as expected for a replacement reaction Fe-His → Fe → FeCO. The intrinsic binding rates would indicate a high oxygen affinity for the pentacoordinated form, due to rapid…

Cooperative Transition in the Conformation of 24-Mer Tarantula Hemocyanin upon Oxygen Binding

2005

Hemocyanins are large respiratory proteins of arthropods and mollusks, which bind oxygen with very high cooperativity. Here, we investigated the relationship between oxygen binding and structural changes of the 24-mer tarantula hemocyanin. Oxygen binding of the hemocyanin was detected following the fluorescence intensity of the intrinsic tryptophans. Under the same conditions, structural changes were monitored by the non-covalently bound fluorescence probe Prodan (6-propionyl-2-(dimethylamino)-naphthalene), which is very sensitive to its surroundings. Upon oxygen binding of the hemocyanin a red shift of 5 nm in the emission maximum of the label was observed. A comparison of oxygen binding c…

Paramagnetic Cobalt and Nickel Derivatives of Alcaligenes denitrificans Azurin and Its M121Q Mutant. A 1H NMR Study

1996

Using cobalt or nickel to replace copper in native azurin allows one to fingerprint the metal coordination site of the protein. The metal sites of wild type Alcaligenes denitrificans azurin and its M121Q mutant are clearly distinguishable through the paramagnetic 1H NMR spectra of the Ni(II) and Co(II) derivatives. In the wild type azurin, Gly45 coordinates to nickel or cobalt, while Met121 appears as a weak metal ligand. On the contrary, in the M121Q azurin mutant, the metal exhibits a clear preference for the Gln121, which coordinates through the side chain carbonyl oxygen, and Gly45 is not a ligand. Changes in the isotropic shifts and relaxation properties of signals from the Cys112, His…

An NMR Study of the Interaction of 15N-Labelled Bradykinin with an Antibody Mimic of the Bradykinin B2 Receptor

1997

An isotope-edited NMR study of the peptide hormone bradykinin (RPPGFSPFR) bound to the Fab fragment of a monoclonal antibody against bradykinin (MBK3) is reported. MBK3 was previously shown to provide a binding site model of the B2 bradykinin receptor [Haasemann, M., Buschko, J., Faussner, A., Roscher, A. A., Hoebeke, J., Burch, R. M. & Muller-Esterl, W. (1991) Anti-idiotypic antibodies bearing the internal image of a bradykinin epitope, J. Immunol. 147, 3882-3892]. Bradykinin was obtained in a uniformly 15N-labelled form using recombinant expression of a fusion protein consisting of the glutathione-binding domain of glutathione S-transferase fused to residues 354-375 of the high-molecular-…

Expanding the β-III Spectrin-Associated Phenotypes toward Non-Progressive Congenital Ataxias with Neurodegeneration

2021

(1) Background: A non-progressive congenital ataxia (NPCA) phenotype caused by b-III spectrin (SPTBN2) mutations has emerged, mimicking spinocerebellar ataxia, autosomal recessive type 14 (SCAR14). The pattern of inheritance, however, resembles that of autosomal dominant classical spinocerebellar ataxia type 5 (SCA5). (2) Methods: In-depth phenotyping of two boys studied by a customized gene panel. Candidate variants were sought by structural modeling and protein expression. An extensive review of the literature was conducted in order to better characterize the SPTBN2-associated NPCA. (3) Results: Patients exhibited an NPCA with hypotonia, developmental delay, cerebellar syndrome, and cogni…