Search results for "protein conformation"
showing 10 items of 515 documents
Can multiscale simulations unravel the function of metallo-enzymes to improve knowledge-based drug discovery?
2019
Metallo-enzymes are a large class of biomolecules promoting specialized chemical reactions. Quantum-classical quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics molecular dynamics, describing the metal site at quantum mechanics level, while accounting for the rest of system at molecular mechanics level, has an accessible time-scale limited by its computational cost. Hence, it must be integrated with classical molecular dynamics and enhanced sampling simulations to disentangle the functions of metallo-enzymes. In this review, we provide an overview of these computational methods and their capabilities. In particular, we will focus on some systems such as CYP19A1 a Fe-dependent enzyme involved in estroge…
Sortase A Inhibitors: Recent Advances and Future Perspectives
2015
Here, we describe the most promising small synthetic organic compounds that act as potent Sortase A inhibitors and cater the potential to be developed as antivirulence drugs. Sortase A is a polypeptide of 206 amino acids, which catalyzes two sequential reactions: (i) thioesterification and (ii) transpeptidation. Sortase A is involved in the process of bacterial adhesion by anchoring LPXTG-containing proteins to lipid II. Sortase A inhibitors do not affect bacterial growth, but they restrain the virulence of pathogenic bacterial strains, thereby preventing infections caused by Staphylococcus aureus or other Gram-positive bacteria. The efficacy of the most promising inhibitors needs to be com…
Influence of the C-terminus of the glycophorin A transmembrane fragment on the dimerization process
2000
The monomer-dimer equilibrium of the glycophorin A (GpA) transmembrane (TM) fragment has been used as a model system to investigate the amino acid sequence requirements that permit an appropriate helix-helix packing in a membrane‐mimetic environment. In particular, we have focused on a region of the helix where no crucial residues for packing have been yet reported. Various deletion and replacement mutants in the C‐terminal region of the TM fragment showed that the distance between the dimerization motif and the flanking charged residues from the cytoplasmic side of the protein is important for helix packing. Furthermore, selected GpA mutants have been used to illustrate the rearrangement o…
β-turn tendency in N-methylated peptides with dehydrophenylalanine residue: DFT study.
2010
The tendency to adopt β-turn conformation by model dipeptides with α,β-dehydrophenylalanine (ΔPhe) residue in the gas phase and in solution is investigated by theoretical methods. We pay special attention to a dependence of conformational properties on the side-chain configuration of dehydro residue and the influence of N-methylation on β-turn stability. An extensive computational study of the conformational preferences of Z and E isomers of dipeptides Ac-Gly-(E/Z)-ΔPhe-NHMe (1a / 1b) and Ac-Gly-(E/Z)-ΔPhe-NMe(2) (2a/2b) by B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p) and MP2/6-311++G(d,p) methods is reported. It is shown that, in agreement with experimental data, Ac-Gly-(Z)-ΔPhe-NHMe has a great tendency to adopt …
Structure-Activity Relationships and X-ray Structures Describing the Selectivity of Aminopyrazole Inhibitors for c-Jun N-terminal Kinase 3 (JNK3) ove…
2009
c-Jun N-terminal kinase 3alpha1 (JNK3alpha1) is a mitogen-activated protein kinase family member expressed primarily in the brain that phosphorylates protein transcription factors, including c-Jun and activating transcription factor-2 (ATF-2) upon activation by a variety of stress-based stimuli. In this study, we set out to design JNK3-selective inhibitors that had >1000-fold selectivity over p38, another closely related mitogen-activated protein kinase family member. To do this we employed traditional medicinal chemistry principles coupled with structure-based drug design. Inhibitors from the aminopyrazole class, such as SR-3576, were found to be very potent JNK3 inhibitors (IC(50) = 7 nm)…
High Pressure Enhances Hexacoordination in Neuroglobin and Other Globins
2005
The techniques of high applied pressure and flash photolysis have been combined to study ligand rebinding to neuroglobin (Ngb) and tomato Hb, globins that may display a His-Fe-His hexacoordination in the absence of external ligands. High pressure induces a moderate decrease in the His association rate and a large decrease in His dissociation rate, thus leading to an enhancement of the overall His affinity. The overall structural difference between penta- and hexacoordinated globins may be rather small and can be overcome by external modifications such as high pressure. Over the pressure range 0.1-700 MPa (7 kbar), the globins may show a loss of over a factor of 100 in the amplitude of the b…
Meprins, membrane-bound and secreted astacin metalloproteinases
2008
The astacins are a subfamily of the metzincin superfamily of metalloproteinases. The first to be characterized was the crayfish enzyme astacin. To date more than 200 members of this family have been identified in species ranging from bacteria to humans. Astacins are involved in developmental morphogenesis, matrix assembly, tissue differentiation and digestion. Family members include the procollagen C-proteinase (BMP1, bone morphogenetic protein 1), tolloid and mammalian tolloid-like, HMP (Hydra vulgaris metalloproteinase), sea urchin BP10 (blastula protein) and SPAN (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus astacin), the 'hatching' subfamily comprising alveolin, ovastacin, LCE, HCE ('low' and 'high' c…
The molecular basis of filamin binding to integrins and competition with talin.
2006
The ability of adhesion receptors to transmit biochemical signals and mechanical force across cell membranes depends on interactions with the actin cytoskeleton. Filamins are large, actin-crosslinking proteins that connect multiple transmembrane and signaling proteins to the cytoskeleton. Here, we describe the high-resolution structure of an interface between filamin A and an integrin adhesion receptor. When bound, the integrin beta cytoplasmic tail forms an extended beta strand that interacts with beta strands C and D of the filamin immunoglobulin-like domain (IgFLN) 21. This interface is common to many integrins, and we suggest it is a prototype for other IgFLN domain interactions. Notabl…
Exploiting a list of protein sequences
2007
Abstract: We describe a software program to help exploit a database of aligned protein sequences. In addition to the classical lists of sequences, a graphical representation is used to get a better overview of the information. As natural parameters, the type of amino acid and sequence position are used. Various plots or 3D representations are then updated. Examples are shown based on globin sequences from various species and on the abnormal human hemoglobins. The software should be of interest to protein engineers who need to know what variants are already known.
Concerted motions of the integrin-binding loop and the C-terminal tail of the non-RGD disintegrin obtustatin.
2003
Obtustatin is a potent and selective inhibitor of the alpha1beta1 integrin in vitro and of angiogenesis in vivo. It possesses an integrin recognition loop that harbors, in a lateral position, the inhibitory 21KTS23 motif. We report an analysis of the dynamics of the backbone and side-chain atoms of obtustatin by homonuclear NMR methods. Angular mobility has been calculated for 90 assigned cross-peaks from 22 off-resonance rotating frame nuclear Overhauser effect spectroscopy spectra recorded at three magnetic fields. Our results suggest that the integrin binding loop and the C-terminal tail display concerted motions, which can be interpreted by hinge effects. Among the integrin-binding moti…