Search results for "structural"

Effects of chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, and xanthophylls on the in vitro assembly kinetics of the major light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b complex, LH…

2001

The major light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b complex (LHCIIb) of photosystem II in higher plants can be reconstituted with pigments in lipid-detergent micelles. The pigment-protein complexes formed are functional in that they perform efficient internal energy transfer from chlorophyll b to chlorophyll a. LHCIIb formation in vitro, can be monitored by the appearance of energy transfer from chlorophyll b to chlorophyll a in time-resolved fluorescence measurements. LHCIIb is found to form in two apparent kinetic steps with time constants of about 30 and 200 seconds. Here we report on the dependence of the LHCIIb formation kinetics on the composition of the pigment mixture used in the reconstitut…

Amino acids in the second transmembrane helix of the Lhca4 subunit are important for formation of stable heterodimeric light-harvesting complex LHCI-…

2007

Photosynthetic light-harvesting complexes (LHCs) are assembled from apoproteins (Lhc proteins) and non-covalently attached pigments. Despite a considerable amino acid sequence identity, these proteins differ in their oligomerization behavior. To identify the amino acid residues determining the heterodimerization of Lhca1 and Lhca4 to form LHCI-730, we mutated the poorly conserved second transmembrane helix of the two subunits. Mutated genes were expressed in Escherichia coli and the resultant proteins were refolded in vitro and subsequently analyzed by gel electrophoresis. Replacement of the entire second helix in Lhca4 by the one of Lhca3 abolished heterodimerization, whereas it had no eff…

A critical assessment of methods for the determination of the shear stress amplitude in multiaxial fatigue criteria belonging to critical plane class

2015

Abstract Multiaxial high cycle fatigue criteria based on the critical plane approach necessitate unambiguous definitions of the amplitude and mean value of the shear stress (τa and τm) acting on the material planes. Four of the existing definitions relate the values of τa and τm to a geometrical element of the curve described by the tip of the shear stress vector (curve Ψ), respectively, the radius of the Minimum Circumscribed Circle, the Longest Chord, the Longest Projection, the diagonal of the Maximum Rectangular Hull (MRH). In this paper a critical assessment of the above definitions is proposed, focusing on that based on the concept of MRH, which is the most recently developed. The mai…

Dissection of the elements of osmotic stress response transcription factor Hot1 involved in the interaction with MAPK Hog1 and in the activation of t…

2013

Abstract The response to hyperosmotic stress is mediated by the HOG pathway. The MAP kinase Hog1 activates several transcription factors, regulates chromatin-modifying enzymes and, through its interaction with RNA polymerase II, it directs this enzyme to osmotic stress-controlled genes. For such targeting, this kinase requires the interaction with transcription factors Hot1 and Sko1. However, phosphorylation of these proteins by Hog1 is not required for their functionality. In this study, we aim to identify the Hot1 elements involved in Hog1-binding and in the activation of transcription. Two-hybrid experiments demonstrated that the Hot1 sequence between amino acids 340 and 534 and the CD e…

RIP-Chip analysis supports different roles for AGO2 and GW182 proteins in recruiting and processing microRNA targets.

2019

Background MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNA molecules mediating the translational repression and degradation of target mRNAs in the cell. Mature miRNAs are used as a template by the RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC) to recognize the complementary mRNAs to be regulated. To discern further RISC functions, we analyzed the activities of two RISC proteins, AGO2 and GW182, in the MCF-7 human breast cancer cell line. Methods We performed three RIP-Chip experiments using either anti-AGO2 or anti-GW182 antibodies and compiled a data set made up of the miRNA and mRNA expression profiles of three samples for each experiment. Specifically, we analyzed the input sample, the immunoprecipita…

Topological structure analysis of chromatin interaction networks.

2019

Abstract Background Current Hi-C technologies for chromosome conformation capture allow to understand a broad spectrum of functional interactions between genome elements. Although significant progress has been made into analysis of Hi-C data to identify biologically significant features, many questions still remain open, in particular regarding potential biological significance of various topological features that are characteristic for chromatin interaction networks. Results It has been previously observed that promoter capture Hi-C (PCHi-C) interaction networks tend to separate easily into well-defined connected components that can be related to certain biological functionality, however, …

An electrospray ionization mass spectrometric study of the extracellular hemoglobins from Chironomus thummi thummi.

1998

The aquatic larvae of the dipteran, Chironomus thummi thummi contain extracellular hemoglobins which exhibit stage-specific expression. We have used maximum entropy-based deconvolution of the complex, multiply charged electrospray ionization mass spectra, to demonstrate the presence of more than 20 components, ranging in mass from 14,417.3 Da to 17,356.5 Da in the 4th instar larvae. Of the 15 major peaks with intensities > 10 relative to 100 for the 14,417.3 Da-component (CTT-IV), only the 15,528.2-Da peak does not correspond to a known amino acid sequence. Since the number of C. thummi thummi globin genes now stands at 27, including one cDNA and not counting three that must encode known gl…

Gas chromatographic and mass spectrometric analysis of bile acids as trifluoroacetyl-hexafluoroisopropyl and heptafluorobutyryl derivatives

1981

Abstract The gas chromatographic retention times on QF-1 of 38 bile acids in the form of their trifluoroacetyl-hexafluoroisopropyl (TFA-HFIP), trifluoroacetyl-methyl, and heptafluorobutyryl derivatives are given. In general hexafluoroisopropyl ester trifluoroacetates proved superior with regard to simplicity of preparation, absence of artifacts, and resolution on QF-1. The main disadvantages of heptafluorobutyrates were the production of artifacts with some ketonic bile acids and the impossibility of separating any of the dihydroxy bile acids with substituents in the 3,6- and 3,7-positions. Mass spectra of TFA-HFIP derivatives were recorded with both direct and gas chromatographic inlet sys…

Plant Microtechnique and Microscopy

2001

Keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH), I: Reassociation from Immucothel® followed by separation of KLH1 and KLH2

1997

Abstract Studies of keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH) normally require purification of functional complexes directly from living animals. An alternative procedure is described wherein a commercial preparation of KLH which is fully dissociated into its subunits (Immucothel®, biosyn Arzneimittel GmbH) is reassociated in the presence of a high concentration of calcium and magnesium. The reassociation products, when observed by electron microscopy, consist of didecamers, multidecamers and flexible tubules of varying length. The two forms of KLH described previously and designated KLH1 and KLH2, are present in the reassocated mixture as homo-oligomers/polymers and can be separated by selective dis…