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Sample records for s100a6 binding protein

  1. S100A6 - New facts and features

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    Lesniak, Wieslawa; Slomnicki, Lukasz P. [Department of Molecular and Cellular Neurobiology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, 02-093 Warsaw (Poland); Filipek, Anna, E-mail: a.filipek@nencki.gov.pl [Department of Molecular and Cellular Neurobiology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, 02-093 Warsaw (Poland)

    2009-12-25

    S100A6 (calcyclin) is a 10.5 kDa Ca{sup 2+}-binding protein that belongs to the S100 protein family. S100A6 contains two EF-hand motifs responsible for binding of Ca{sup 2+}. It also binds Zn{sup 2+} through not yet identified structures. Binding of Ca{sup 2+} induces a conformational change in the S100A6 molecule which in consequence increases its overall hydrophobicity and allows for interaction with target proteins. S100A6 was found in different mammalian and avian (chicken) tissues. A high level of S100A6 is observed in epithelial cells, fibroblasts and in different kinds of cancer cells. The function of S100A6 is not clear at present, but it has been suggested that it may be involved in cell proliferation, cytoskeletal dynamics and tumorigenesis. Additionally, S100A6 might have some extracellular activities. This review presents new facts and features concerning the S100A6 protein.

  2. Immunohistochemical Characterization of S100A6 in the Murine Ovary

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hanaue, Mayu; Miwa, Naofumi; Takamatsu, Ken

    2012-01-01

    S100 proteins comprise a large family of Ca 2+ -binding proteins and exhibit a variety of intra- and extracellular functions. Despite our growing knowledge about the biology of S100 proteins in some tissues such as brain and smooth muscle, little is known about S100 proteins in the normal mammalian reproductive tissue. In the present study, we investigated the distribution pattern of S100A6 (alternatively named calcyclin) in the murine ovary by immunohistochemical study using specific antibody. S100A6 was localized substantially in the cytoplasm of luteal cells, with concomitant expression of S100A11, another S100 protein, but not in the other type of cells such as oocytes, follicle epithelial cells (granulosa cells), and cells of stroma including theca interna cells in the murine ovary. S100A6-immunoreactive corpora lutea (CLs) were divided into two types: homogeneously and heterogeneously stained CLs, and possibly they may represent differentiating and mature CL, respectively. Our regression analysis revealed that expression level of S100A6 positively correlated with that of cytochrome P450 11A, a steroidogenic enzyme in the heterogeously stained CL. These results suggested that S100A6 may contribute to differentiation of steroidogenic activity of luteal cells in a synergistic manner with S100A11 by facilitating some shared functions

  3. Expression of calcium binding protein S100 A7 (psoriasin) in laryngeal carcinoma.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tiveron, Rogério Costa; de Freitas, Luiz Carlos Conti; Figueiredo, David L; Serafini, Luciano N; Mamede, Rui Celso Martins; Zago, Marco A

    2012-01-01

    Many studies have reported increased expression of S100 A7 (psoriasin) in neoplastic lesions. Among them are studies on breast carcinoma, bladder squamous cell carcinoma, skin tumors and oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma. The expression of S100 A7 has not been described for laryngeal cancer. This study aims to identify the expression of the calcium-binding protein S100 A7 and its correlation with squamous cell carcinomas of the larynx. Specimens from 63 patients were submitted to immunohistochemistry testing with antibody S100 A7. Results were classified and compared. The group with highly differentiated tumors had the highest treatment failure scores. Moderately differentiated tumors had higher treatment failure scores than poorly differentiated tumors. Higher scores were predominantly seen on stages I and II in moderately differentiated tumors, whereas score distribution was more homogeneous in advanced stage disease (III and IV). Regarding failure in treatment, the group scoring zero (3/4 complications: 75%) differed significantly from the remaining groups (13/59: 22%). S100 A7 marker was expressed in 93.7% of laryngeal cancer cases, with higher positive correlation rates in more differentiated tumors and significantly lower rates of treatment failure. Scores had no impact on survival rates.

  4. Effect of calcium-binding protein S100A8 expression on early phase of radiation pulmonary fibrosis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rao Yalan; Li Ming; Cong Yue; Li Fengsheng; Chen Xiaohua; Dong Bo; Zhang Junquan; Gao Ling; Mao Bingzhi

    2008-01-01

    The study explores the expression and effect of calcium-binding protein S100A8 on early phase of radiation pulmonary fibrosis via in vivo and in vitro experiments. In vivo experiment, the thoracic regions of rats were irradiated under 20Gy 60 Co γ-rays to establish radiation pulmonary fibrosis. After irradiation, the lung specimens of the sacrificed rats were separately harvested by the ends of the first, second, and fourth weeks respectively. The protein expression of S100A8 was tested through immunohistochemistry, the mRNA expression of S100A8 and its heterodimeric S100A9 were investigated by RT-PCR method. In vitro experiment, RT-PCR method was also applied to measure the mRNA expression of S100A8 in mouse macrophage cell line RAW264.7 after γ-rays irradiation and/or lipopolysaccharide (LPS). It shows that the protein expression of S100A8 was increased in the plasma of lung macrophages samples and the mRNA expression of S100A8 and S100A9 was also increased in the lung tissue samples in four weeks after irradiation in vivo experiment. And in vitro experiment it shows that the cooperation between γ-rays and LPS can increase the mRNA expression of S100A8 in RAW264.7. These phenomena suggest that S100A8 can exert the chemotactic activity, participate in the inflammatory response, and influence the establishment of radiation pulmonary fibrosis. (authors)

  5. Structural and functional diversification in the teleost S100 family of calcium-binding proteins

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    Korsching Sigrun I

    2008-02-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Among the EF-Hand calcium-binding proteins the subgroup of S100 proteins constitute a large family with numerous and diverse functions in calcium-mediated signaling. The evolutionary origin of this family is still uncertain and most studies have examined mammalian family members. Results We have performed an extensive search in several teleost genomes to establish the s100 gene family in fish. We report that the teleost S100 repertoire comprises fourteen different subfamilies which show remarkable similarity across six divergent teleost species. Individual species feature distinctive subsets of thirteen to fourteen genes that result from local gene duplications and gene losses. Eight of the fourteen S100 subfamilies are unique for teleosts, while six are shared with mammalian species and three of those even with cartilaginous fish. Several S100 family members are found in jawless fish already, but none of them are clear orthologs of cartilaginous or bony fish s100 genes. All teleost s100 genes show the expected structural features and are subject to strong negative selection. Many aspects of the genomic arrangement and location of mammalian s100 genes are retained in the teleost s100 gene family, including a completely conserved intron/exon border between the two EF hands. Zebrafish s100 genes exhibit highly specific and characteristic expression patterns, showing both redundancy and divergence in their cellular expression. In larval tissue expression is often restricted to specific cell types like keratinocytes, hair cells, ionocytes and olfactory receptor neurons as demonstrated by in situ hybridization. Conclusion The origin of the S100 family predates at least the segregation of jawed from jawless fish and some extant family members predate the divergence of bony from cartilaginous fish. Despite a complex pattern of gene gains and losses the total repertoire size is remarkably constant between species. On the expression

  6. Molecular dynamics simulation of S100B protein to explore ligand blockage of the interaction with p53 protein

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Zhigang; Li, Yumin

    2009-10-01

    As a tumor suppressor, p53 plays an important role in cancer suppression. The biological function of p53 as a tumor suppressor is disabled when it binds to S100B. Developing the ligands to block the S100B-p53 interaction has been proposed as one of the most important approaches to the development of anti-cancer agents. We screened a small compound library against the binding interface of S100B and p53 to identify potential compounds to interfere with the interaction. The ligand-binding effect on the S100B-p53 interaction was explored by molecular dynamics at the atomic level. The results show that the ligand bound between S100B and p53 propels the two proteins apart by about 2 Å compared to the unligated S100B-p53 complex. The binding affinity of S100B and p53 decreases by 8.5-14.6 kcal/mol after a ligand binds to the interface from the original unligated state of the S100B-p53 complex. Ligand-binding interferes with the interaction of S100B and p53. Such interference could impact the association of S100B and p53, which would free more p53 protein from the pairing with S100B and restore the biological function of p53 as a tumor suppressor. The analysis of the binding mode and ligand structural features would facilitate our effort to identify and design ligands to block S100B-p53 interaction effectively. The results from the work suggest that developing ligands targeting the interface of S100B and p53 could be a promising approach to recover the normal function of p53 as a tumor suppressor.

  7. S100 Proteins As an Important Regulator of Macrophage Inflammation

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    Chang Xia

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available The S100 proteins, a family of calcium-binding cytosolic proteins, have a broad range of intracellular and extracellular functions through regulating calcium balance, cell apoptosis, migration, proliferation, differentiation, energy metabolism, and inflammation. The intracellular functions of S100 proteins involve interaction with intracellular receptors, membrane protein recruitment/transportation, transcriptional regulation and integrating with enzymes or nucleic acids, and DNA repair. The S100 proteins could also be released from the cytoplasm, induced by tissue/cell damage and cellular stress. The extracellular S100 proteins, serving as a danger signal, are crucial in regulating immune homeostasis, post-traumatic injury, and inflammation. Extracellular S100 proteins are also considered biomarkers for some specific diseases. In this review, we will discuss the multi-functional roles of S100 proteins, especially their potential roles associated with cell migration, differentiation, tissue repair, and inflammation.

  8. The calcium-binding protein complex S100A8/A9 has a crucial role in controlling macrophage-mediated renal repair following ischemia/reperfusion

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Dessing, Mark C.; Tammaro, Alessandra; Pulskens, Wilco P.; Teske, Gwendoline J.; Butter, Loes M.; Claessen, Nike; van Eijk, Marco; van der Poll, Tom; Vogl, Thomas; Roth, Johannes; Florquin, Sandrine; Leemans, Jaklien C.

    2015-01-01

    Upon ischemia/reperfusion (I/R)-induced injury, several damage-associated molecular patterns are expressed including the calcium-binding protein S100A8/A9 complex. S100A8/A9 can be recognized by Toll-like receptor-4 and its activation is known to deleteriously contribute to renal I/R-induced injury.

  9. The calcium-modulated proteins, S100A1 and S100B, as potential regulators of the dynamics of type III intermediate filaments

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    M. Garbuglia

    1999-10-01

    Full Text Available The Ca2+-modulated, dimeric proteins of the EF-hand (helix-loop-helix type, S100A1 and S100B, that have been shown to inhibit microtubule (MT protein assembly and to promote MT disassembly, interact with the type III intermediate filament (IF subunits, desmin and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP, with a stoichiometry of 2 mol of IF subunit/mol of S100A1 or S100B dimer and an affinity of 0.5-1.0 µM in the presence of a few micromolar concentrations of Ca2+. Binding of S100A1 and S100B results in inhibition of desmin and GFAP assemblies into IFs and stimulation of the disassembly of preformed desmin and GFAP IFs. S100A1 and S100B interact with a stretch of residues in the N-terminal (head domain of desmin and GFAP, thereby blocking the head-to-tail process of IF elongation. The C-terminal extension of S100A1 (and, likely, S100B represents a critical part of the site that recognizes desmin and GFAP. S100B is localized to IFs within cells, suggesting that it might have a role in remodeling IFs upon elevation of cytosolic Ca2+ concentration by avoiding excess IF assembly and/or promoting IF disassembly in vivo. S100A1, that is not localized to IFs, might also play a role in the regulation of IF dynamics by binding to and sequestering unassembled IF subunits. Together, these observations suggest that S100A1 and S100B may be regarded as Ca2+-dependent regulators of the state of assembly of two important elements of the cytoskeleton, IFs and MTs, and, potentially, of MT- and IF-based activities.

  10. The characterization of a novel S100A1 binding site in the N-terminus of TRPM1

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Jirků, M.; Lánský, Z.; Bednárová, Lucie; Šulc, M.; Monincová, Lenka; Majer, Pavel; Vyklický, L.; Vondrášek, Jiří; Teisinger, J.; Boušová, Kristýna

    2016-01-01

    Roč. 78, Sep (2016), s. 186-193 ISSN 1357-2725 Institutional support: RVO:61388963 Keywords : TRPM1 channel * binding site * calcium-binding protein S100A1 * steady-state fluorescence anisotropy * molecular modeling * circular dichroism Subject RIV: CE - Biochemistry Impact factor: 3.505, year: 2016

  11. S100 calcium binding protein B as a biomarker of delirium duration in the intensive care unit – an exploratory analysis

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    Khan BA

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available Babar A Khan,1–3 Mark O Farber,1 Noll Campbell,2–5 Anthony Perkins,2,3 Nagendra K Prasad,6 Siu L Hui,1–3 Douglas K Miller,1–3 Enrique Calvo-Ayala,1 John D Buckley,1 Ruxandra Ionescu,1 Anantha Shekhar,1 E Wesley Ely,7,8 Malaz A Boustani1–3 1Indiana University School of Medicine, 2Indiana University Center for Aging Research, 3Regenstrief Institute, Inc., 4Wishard Health Services, Indianapolis, 5Department of Pharmacy Practice, Purdue University College of Pharmacy, West Lafayette, 6Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center, Indianapolis, IN, 7Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, 8VA Tennessee Valley Geriatric Research Education Clinical Center (GRECC, Nashville, TN, USA Background: Currently, there are no valid and reliable biomarkers to identify delirious patients predisposed to longer delirium duration. We investigated the hypothesis that elevated S100 calcium binding protein B (S100β levels will be associated with longer delirium duration in critically ill patients. Methods: A prospective observational cohort study was performed in the medical, surgical, and progressive intensive care units (ICUs of a tertiary care, university affiliated, and urban hospital. Sixty-three delirious patients were selected for the analysis, with two samples of S100β collected on days 1 and 8 of enrollment. The main outcome measure was delirium duration. Using the cutoff of <0.1 ng/mL and $0.1 ng/mL as normal and abnormal levels of S100β, respectively, on day 1 and day 8, four exposure groups were created: Group A, normal S100β levels on day 1 and day 8; Group B, normal S100β level on day 1 and abnormal S100β level on day 8; Group C, abnormal S100β level on day 1 and normal on day 8; and Group D, abnormal S100β levels on both day 1 and day 8. Results: Patients with abnormal levels of S100β showed a trend towards higher delirium duration (P=0.076; Group B (standard deviation (7.0 [3.2] days, Group C (5.5 [6.3] days, and Group D

  12. The occurrence of gibberellin-binding protein(s) in pea

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    Liu, Z.H.

    1988-01-01

    In vitro gibberellin (GA) binding properties of a cytosol fraction from epicotyls of dwarf pea (Pisum sativum L. cv. Progress No. 9) and tall pea (Pisum sativum L. cv. Alaska) were investigated using ({sup 3}H)GA{sub 4} in a DEAE filter paper assay at 0-3 C. The binding obtained is saturable, reversible, and temperature labile in dwarf pea, and has a half-life of dissociation of 5-6 min. By varying the concentration of ({sup 3}H)GA{sub 4} in the incubation medium the Kd was estimated to be 120-140 nM in dwarf pea and 70 nM in tall pea. The number of binding sites (n) was estimated to be 0.66 and 0.43 pmole mg{sup {minus}1} soluble protein in dwarf pea and in tall pea, respectively. In competition binding assays, biologically active GAs, such as GA{sub 3} and GA{sub 4} could reduce the level of ({sup 3}H)GA{sub 4} binding much more than the biologically inactive GA{sub 4} methyl ester and epi-GA{sub 4}. Changes in gibberellin-binding protein(s) were studied during seed germination. While the Kd of the binding protein(s) for ({sup 3}H)GA{sub 4} remained the same, there was a marked increase in the number of binding sites from 24 h soaked seed to 8-day old seedlings. Also, the Kd and the number of binding sites in the GA-responsive apical part and in the nonresponsive basal part in the epicotyl were similar. The effect of light on gibberellin-binding protein in dwarf pea was also studied. The GA-binding protein in dwarf pea was partially purified by gel filtration and ion exchange chromatography.

  13. Both Ca2+ and Zn2+ are essential for S100A12 protein oligomerization and function

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    Shekhtman Alexander

    2009-04-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Human S100A12 is a member of the S100 family of EF-hand calcium-modulated proteins that are associated with many diseases including cancer, chronic inflammation and neurological disorders. S100A12 is an important factor in host/parasite defenses and in the inflammatory response. Like several other S100 proteins, it binds zinc and copper in addition to calcium. Mechanisms of zinc regulation have been proposed for a number of S100 proteins e.g. S100B, S100A2, S100A7, S100A8/9. The interaction of S100 proteins with their targets is strongly dependent on cellular microenvironment. Results The aim of the study was to explore the factors that influence S100A12 oligomerization and target interaction. A comprehensive series of biochemical and biophysical experiments indicated that changes in the concentration of calcium and zinc led to changes in the oligomeric state of S100A12. Surface plasmon resonance confirmed that the presence of both calcium and zinc is essential for the interaction of S100A12 with one of its extracellular targets, RAGE – the Receptor for Advanced Glycation End products. By using a single-molecule approach we have shown that the presence of zinc in tissue culture medium favors both the oligomerization of exogenous S100A12 protein and its interaction with targets on the cell surface. Conclusion We have shown that oligomerization and target recognition by S100A12 is regulated by both zinc and calcium. Our present work highlighted the potential role of calcium-binding S100 proteins in zinc metabolism and, in particular, the role of S100A12 in the cross talk between zinc and calcium in cell signaling.

  14. Olopatadine Suppresses the Migration of THP-1 Monocytes Induced by S100A12 Protein

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    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available Olopatadine hydrochloride (olopatadine is an antiallergic drug with histamine H 1 receptor antagonistic activity. Recently, olopatadine has been shown to bind to S100A12 which is a member of the S100 family of calcium-binding proteins, and exerts multiple proinflammatory activities including chemotaxis for monocytes and neutrophils. In this study, we examined the possibility that the interaction of olopatadine with S100A12 inhibits the proinflammatory effects of S100A12. Pretreatment of olopatadine with S100A12 reduced migration of THP-1, a monocyte cell line, induced by S100A12 alone, but did not affect recombinant human regulated upon activation, normal T cell expressed and secreted (RANTES-induced migration. Amlexanox, which also binds to S100A12, inhibited the THP-1 migration induced by S100A12. However, ketotifen, another histamine H 1 receptor antagonist, had little effect on the activity of S100A12. These results suggest that olopatadine has a new mechanism of action, that is, suppression of the function of S100A12, in addition to histamine H 1 receptor antagonistic activity.

  15. S100A6 is a negative regulator of the induction of cardiac genes by trophic stimuli in cultured rat myocytes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tsoporis, J.N.; Marks, A.; Haddad, A.; O'Hanlon, D.; Jolly, S.; Parker, T.G.

    2005-01-01

    S100A6 (calcyclin), a member of the S100 family of EF-hand Ca 2+ binding proteins, has been implicated in the regulation of cell growth and proliferation. We have previously shown that S100B, another member of the S100 family, is induced postinfarction and limits the hypertrophic response of surviving cardiac myocytes. We presently report that S100A6 expression is also increased in the periinfarct zone of rat heart postinfarction and in cultured neonatal rat myocytes by treatment with several trophic agents, including platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), the α 1 -adrenergic agonist phenylephrine (PE), and angiotensin II (AII). Cotransfection of S100A6 in cultured neonatal rat cardiac myocytes inhibits induction of the cardiac fetal gene promoters skeletal α-actin (skACT) and β-myosin heavy chain (β-MHC) by PDGF, PE, AII, and the prostaglandin F 2α (PGF 2α ), induction of the S100B promoter by PE, and induction of the α-MHC promoter by triiodothyronine (T3). By contrast, S100B cotransfection selectively inhibited only PE induction of skACT and β-MHC promoters. Fluorescence microscopy demonstrated overlapping intracellular distribution of S100B and S100A6 in transfected myocytes and in postinfarct myocardium but heterodimerization of the two proteins could not be detected by co-immunoprecipitation. We conclude that S100A6 may function as a global negative modulator of differentiated cardiac gene expression comparable to its putative role in cell cycle progression of dividing cells

  16. Attenuation of cancer-initiating cells stemness properties by abrogating S100A4 calcium binding ability in head and neck cancers.

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    Cheng, Li-Hao; Hung, Kai-Feng; Huang, Tung-Fu; Hsieh, Hsin-Pei; Wang, Shu-Ying; Huang, Chih-Yang; Lo, Jeng-Fan

    2016-11-29

    S100A4 is a calcium-binding protein capable of promoting epithelial-mesenchymal transition. Previously, we have demonstrated that S100A4 is required to sustain the head and neck cancer-initiating cells (HN-CICs) subpopulation. In this study, to further investigate the molecular mechanism, we established the head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) cell lines stably expressing mutant S100A4 proteins with defective calcium-binding sites on either N-terminal (NM) or C-terminal (CM), or a deletion of the last 15 amino-acid residues (CD). We showed that the NM, CM and CD harboring sphere cells that were enriched with HN-CICs population exhibited impaired stemness and malignant properties in vitro, as well as reduced tumor growth ability in vivo. Mechanistically, we demonstrated that mutant S100A4 proteins decreased the promoter activity of Nanog, likely through inhibition of p53. Moreover, the biophysical analyses of purified recombinant mutant S100A4 proteins suggest that both NM and CM mutant S100A4 were very similar to the WT S100A4 with subtle difference on the secondary structure, and that the CD mutant protein displayed the unexpected monomeric form in the solution phase.Taken together, our results suggest that both the calcium-binding ability and the C-terminal region of S100A4 are important for HN-CICs to sustain its stemness property and malignancy, and that the mechanism could be mediated by repressing p53 and subsequently activating the Nanog expression.

  17. Interleukin-6 induces S100A9 expression in colonic epithelial cells through STAT3 activation in experimental ulcerative colitis.

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    Min Jeoung Lee

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Intestinal epithelium is essential for maintaining normal intestinal homeostasis; its breakdown leads to chronic inflammatory pathologies, such as inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs. Although high concentrations of S100A9 protein and interleukin-6 (IL-6 are found in patients with IBD, the expression mechanism of S100A9 in colonic epithelial cells (CECs remains elusive. We investigated the role of IL-6 in S100A9 expression in CECs using a colitis model. METHODS: IL-6 and S100A9 expression, signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3 phosphorylation, and infiltration of immune cells were analyzed in mice with dextran sulfate sodium (DSS-induced colitis. The effects of soluble gp130-Fc protein (sgp130Fc and S100A9 small interfering (si RNA (si-S100A9 on DSS-induced colitis were evaluated. The molecular mechanism of S100A9 expression was investigated in an IL-6-treated Caco-2 cell line using chromatin immunoprecipitation assays. RESULTS: IL-6 concentrations increased significantly in the colon tissues of DSS-treated mice. sgp130Fc or si-S100A9 administration to DSS-treated mice reduced granulocyte infiltration in CECs and induced the down-regulation of S100A9 and colitis disease activity. Treatment with STAT3 inhibitors upon IL-6 stimulation in the Caco-2 cell line demonstrated that IL-6 mediated S100A9 expression through STAT3 activation. Moreover, we found that phospho-STAT3 binds directly to the S100A9 promoter. S100A9 may recruit immune cells into inflamed colon tissues. CONCLUSIONS: Elevated S100A9 expression in CECs mediated by an IL-6/STAT3 signaling cascade may play an important role in the development of colitis.

  18. Participation of the oviductal s100 calcium binding protein G in the genomic effect of estradiol that accelerates oviductal embryo transport in mated rats

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    Croxatto Horacio B

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Mating changes the mechanism by which E2 regulates oviductal egg transport, from a non-genomic to a genomic mode. Previously, we found that E2 increased the expression of several genes in the oviduct of mated rats, but not in unmated rats. Among the transcripts that increased its level by E2 only in mated rats was the one coding for an s100 calcium binding protein G (s100 g whose functional role in the oviduct is unknown. Methods Herein, we investigated the participation of s100 g on the E2 genomic effect that accelerates oviductal transport in mated rats. Thus, we determined the effect of E2 on the mRNA and protein level of s100 g in the oviduct of mated and unmated rats. Then, we explored the effect of E2 on egg transport in unmated and mated rats under conditions in which s100 g protein was knockdown in the oviduct by a morpholino oligonucleotide against s100 g (s100 g-MO. In addition, the localization of s100 g in the oviduct of mated and unmated rats following treatment with E2 was also examined. Results Expression of s100 g mRNA progressively increased at 3-24 h after E2 treatment in the oviduct of mated rats while in unmated rats s100 g increased only at 12 and 24 hours. Oviductal s100 g protein increased 6 h following E2 and continued elevated at 12 and 24 h in mated rats, whereas in unmated rats s100 g protein increased at the same time points as its transcript. Administration of a morpholino oligonucleotide against s100 g transcript blocked the effect of E2 on egg transport in mated, but not in unmated rats. Finally, immunoreactivity of s100 g was observed only in epithelial cells of the oviducts of mated and unmated rats and it was unchanged after E2 treatment. Conclusions Mating affects the kinetic of E2-induced expression of s100 g although it not changed the cellular localization of s100 g in the oviduct after E2 . On the other hand, s100 g is a functional component of E2 genomic effect that accelerates egg

  19. The metastasis-associated Mts1(S100A4) protein could act as an angiogenic factor

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ambartsumian, N; Klingelhöfer, Jörg; Grigorian, M

    2001-01-01

    The involvement of Mts1(S100A4), a small Ca(2+)-binding protein in tumor progression and metastasis had been demonstrated. However, the mechanism by which mts1(S100A4) promoted metastasis had not been identified. Here we demonstrated that Mts1(S100A4) had significant stimulatory effect on the ang...

  20. Serum S-100β protein as a biomarker for brain damage in patients with encephalopathy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Takeda, Munekazu; Yaguchi, Arino; Yamada, Sou; Nagai, Atsushi; Yuzawa, Junji

    2008-01-01

    Cerebrospinal fluid concentrations of S-100β protein, an acidic calcium-binding protein found in astrocytes and Schwann cells, increase after central nervous system damage. Serum S-100β protein, thus, has been expected to be a biochemical marker of brain cell damage. Several reports show a relation between severity of head injury and serum S-100β protein levels, although, there are still not significant advances in the study of S-100β regarding the prediction of the clinical outcome in brain diseases. The objective of the present study was to verify S-100β as a marker for the clinical outcome in patients with encephalopathy. Serum S-100β protein concentrations (pg/ml) were measured daily using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) until discharge from the intensive care unit (ICU) in 82 patients (54 men, 28 women; age 20-93 years [mean 61.0±19.2]) with moderate or severe encephalopathy. There were 50 survivors and 32 non-survivors. S-100β levels were significantly lower in survivors (240.2 pg/ml) than in non-survivors (1,594.8 pg/ml) from day 1 until ICU discharge. The electroencephalogram (EEG) and computed tomography (CT) abnormalities were correlated with S-100β levels. The optimal cut-off value at 451.2 pg/ml calculated from receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis showed the sensitivity of 80.2% and specificity of 78.1% for ICU mortality. Our results indicate that serum S-100β protein could be a useful biomarker to assess brain damage and predict prognosis in patients with encephalopathy. (author)

  1. Evidence supporting a role for astrocytes in the regulation of cognitive flexibility and neuronal oscillations through the Ca2+ binding protein S100β.

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    Brockett, Adam T; Kane, Gary A; Monari, Patrick K; Briones, Brandy A; Vigneron, Pierre-Antoine; Barber, Gabriela A; Bermudez, Andres; Dieffenbach, Uma; Kloth, Alexander D; Buschman, Timothy J; Gould, Elizabeth

    2018-01-01

    The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is important for cognitive flexibility, the ability to switch between two task-relevant dimensions. Changes in neuronal oscillations and alterations in the coupling across frequency ranges have been correlated with attention and cognitive flexibility. Here we show that astrocytes in the mPFC of adult male Sprague Dawley rats, participate in cognitive flexibility through the astrocyte-specific Ca2+ binding protein S100β, which improves cognitive flexibility and increases phase amplitude coupling between theta and gamma oscillations. We further show that reduction of astrocyte number in the mPFC impairs cognitive flexibility and diminishes delta, alpha and gamma power. Conversely, chemogenetic activation of astrocytic intracellular Ca2+ signaling in the mPFC enhances cognitive flexibility, while inactivation of endogenous S100β among chemogenetically activated astrocytes in the mPFC prevents this improvement. Collectively, our work suggests that astrocytes make important contributions to cognitive flexibility and that they do so by releasing a Ca2+ binding protein which in turn enhances coordinated neuronal oscillations.

  2. The characterization of a novel S100A1 binding site in the N-terminus of TRPM1

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Jirků, Michaela; Lánský, Zdeněk; Bednárová, L.; Šulc, Miroslav; Monincová, L.; Majer, P.; Vyklický ml., Ladislav; Vondrášek, J.; Teisinger, Jan; Boušová, Kristýna

    2016-01-01

    Roč. 78, Sep 2016 (2016), s. 186-193 ISSN 1357-2725 R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GBP304/12/G069; GA MŠk(CZ) ED1.1.00/02.0109; GA ČR(CZ) GA15-17488S Institutional support: RVO:67985823 ; RVO:61388971 ; RVO:86652036 Keywords : TRPM1 channel * binding site * calcium-binding protein S100A1 * steady-state fluorescence anisotropy * molecular modeling * circular dichroism Subject RIV: CE - Biochemistry ; EE - Microbiology, Virology (MBU-M); EB - Genetics ; Molecular Biology (BTO-N) Impact factor: 3.505, year: 2016

  3. Imparting albumin-binding affinity to a human protein by mimicking the contact surface of a bacterial binding protein.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oshiro, Satoshi; Honda, Shinya

    2014-04-18

    Attachment of a bacterial albumin-binding protein module is an attractive strategy for extending the plasma residence time of protein therapeutics. However, a protein fused with such a bacterial module could induce unfavorable immune reactions. To address this, we designed an alternative binding protein by imparting albumin-binding affinity to a human protein using molecular surface grafting. The result was a series of human-derived 6 helix-bundle proteins, one of which specifically binds to human serum albumin (HSA) with adequate affinity (KD = 100 nM). The proteins were designed by transferring key binding residues of a bacterial albumin-binding module, Finegoldia magna protein G-related albumin-binding domain (GA) module, onto the human protein scaffold. Despite 13-15 mutations, the designed proteins maintain the original secondary structure by virtue of careful grafting based on structural informatics. Competitive binding assays and thermodynamic analyses of the best binders show that the binding mode resembles that of the GA module, suggesting that the contacting surface of the GA module is mimicked well on the designed protein. These results indicate that the designed protein may act as an alternative low-risk binding module to HSA. Furthermore, molecular surface grafting in combination with structural informatics is an effective approach for avoiding deleterious mutations on a target protein and for imparting the binding function of one protein onto another.

  4. Protein S100B and physical exercise

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Álvaro Reischak Oliveira

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Protein S100B has been used as a peripheral biochemical marker of brain injury and/or activity. However, recent studies have demonstrated that this protein is also increased in serum after physical exercise, although the interpretation of this finding remains controversial. Although predominantly released by astrocytes in the central nervous system, extracerebral sources of protein S100B have been suggested to contribute to the increase in serum levels of this protein. However, in the case of exercises that have an impact on the brain such as boxing, elevated levels are clearly associated with brain damage. More recently, some studies have proposed that protein S100B might be released by activated adipocytes and by damaged muscle cells. If confirmed experimentally, protein S100B might be potentially useful in sports training. We are currently investigating the potential role of serum protein S100B as an indicator of muscle damage. Therefore, the objective of this review was to discuss the current knowledge about the relationship between physical exercise and serum protein S100B and its possible leakage from muscle cells injured by exercise.

  5. Purification, crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction of human S100A15

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Boeshans, Karen M. [X-ray Crystallography Facility, NIAMS, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892 (United States); Wolf, Ronald; Voscopoulos, Christopher [Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892 (United States); Gillette, William; Esposito, Dominic [Protein Expression Laboratory, Research Technology Program, National Cancer Institute, SAIC-Frederick Inc., Frederick, MD 21702 (United States); Mueser, Timothy C. [Department of Chemistry, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH 43606 (United States); Yuspa, Stuart H. [Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892 (United States); Ahvazi, Bijan, E-mail: ahvazib@mail.nih.gov [X-ray Crystallography Facility, NIAMS, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892 (United States)

    2006-05-01

    S100 proteins are differentially expressed during epithelial cell maturation, tumorigenesis and inflammation. The novel human S100A15 protein has been cloned, expressed, purified and crystallized in two crystal forms, a triclinic and a monoclinic form, which diffract to 1.7 and 2.0 Å, respectively. Human S100A15 is a novel member of the S100 family of EF-hand calcium-binding proteins and was recently identified in psoriasis, where it is significantly upregulated in lesional skin. The protein is implicated as an effector in calcium-mediated signal transduction pathways. Although its biological function is unclear, the association of the 11.2 kDa S100A15 with psoriasis suggests that it contributes to the pathogenesis of the disease and could provide a molecular target for therapy. To provide insight into the function of S100A15, the protein was crystallized to visualize its structure and to further the understanding of how the many similar calcium-binding mediator proteins in the cell distinguish their cognate target molecules. The S100A15 protein has been cloned, expressed and purified to homogeneity and produced two crystal forms. Crystals of form I are triclinic, with unit-cell parameters a = 33.5, b = 44.3, c = 44.8 Å, α = 71.2, β = 68.1, γ = 67.8° and an estimated two molecules in the asymmetric unit, and diffract to 1.7 Å resolution. Crystals of form II are monoclinic, with unit-cell parameters a = 82.1, b = 33.6, c = 52.2 Å, β = 128.2° and an estimated one molecule in the asymmetric unit, and diffract to 2.0 Å resolution. This structural analysis of the human S100A15 will further aid in the phylogenic comparison between the other members of the S100 protein family, especially the highly homologous paralog S100A7.

  6. S100B proteins in febrile seizures

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mikkonen, Kirsi; Pekkala, Niina; Pokka, Tytti

    2011-01-01

    S100B protein concentrations correlate with the severity and outcome of brain damage after brain injuries, and have been shown to be markers of blood-brain barrier damage. In children elevated S100B values are seen as a marker of damage to astrocytes even after mild head injuries. S100B proteins...... may also give an indication of an ongoing pathological process in the brain with respect to febrile seizures (FS) and the likelihood of their recurrence. To evaluate this, we measured S100B protein concentrations in serum and cerebrospinal fluid from 103 children after their first FS. 33 children...

  7. The C-terminal random coil region tunes the Ca²⁺-binding affinity of S100A4 through conformational activation.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Annette Duelli

    Full Text Available S100A4 interacts with many binding partners upon Ca2+ activation and is strongly associated with increased metastasis formation. In order to understand the role of the C-terminal random coil for the protein function we examined how small angle X-ray scattering of the wild-type S100A4 and its C-terminal deletion mutant (residues 1-88, Δ13 changes upon Ca2+ binding. We found that the scattering intensity of wild-type S100A4 changes substantially in the 0.15-0.25 Å-1 q-range whereas a similar change is not visible in the C-terminus deleted mutant. Ensemble optimization SAXS modeling indicates that the entire C-terminus is extended when Ca2+ is bound. Pulsed field gradient NMR measurements provide further support as the hydrodynamic radius in the wild-type protein increases upon Ca2+ binding while the radius of Δ13 mutant does not change. Molecular dynamics simulations provide a rational explanation of the structural transition: the positively charged C-terminal residues associate with the negatively charged residues of the Ca2+-free EF-hands and these interactions loosen up considerably upon Ca2+-binding. As a consequence the Δ13 mutant has increased Ca2+ affinity and is constantly loaded at Ca2+ concentration ranges typically present in cells. The activation of the entire C-terminal random coil may play a role in mediating interaction with selected partner proteins of S100A4.

  8. Metastasis-associated protein, S100A4 mediates cardiac fibrosis potentially through the modulation of p53 in cardiac fibroblasts

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tamaki, Yodo; Iwanaga, Yoshitaka; Niizuma, Shinichiro

    2013-01-01

    Metastasis-associated protein, S100A4 is suggested as a marker for fibrosis in several organs. It also modulates DNA binding of p53 and affects its function. However, the functional role of S100A4 in the myocardium has remained unclear. Therefore, we investigated the role of S100A4 and its relati...

  9. Alarmins S100A8 and S100A9 elicit a catabolic effect in human osteoarthritic chondrocytes that is dependent on Toll-like receptor 4.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Schelbergen, R.F.P.; Blom, A.B.; Bosch, M.H.J. van den; Sloetjes, A.W.; Abdollahi-Roodsaz, S.; Schreurs, B.W.; Mort, J.S.; Vogl, T.; Roth, J.; Berg, W.B. van den; Lent, P.L.E.M. van

    2012-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: S100A8 and S100A9 are two Ca(2+) binding proteins classified as damage-associated molecular patterns or alarmins that are found in high amounts in the synovial fluid of osteoarthritis (OA) patients. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether S100A8 and/or S100A9 can interact

  10. Purification and partial characterization of canine S100A12.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heilmann, Romy M; Suchodolski, Jan S; Steiner, Jörg M

    2010-12-01

    Canine S100A12 (cS100A12) is a calcium-binding protein of the S100 superfamily of EF-hand proteins, and its expression is restricted to neutrophils and monocytes. Interaction of S100A12 with the receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) has been suggested to play a central role in inflammation. Moreover, S100A12 has been shown to represent a sensitive and specific marker for gastrointestinal inflammation in humans. Only human, porcine, bovine, and rabbit S100A12 have been purified to date, and an immunoassay for the quantification of S100A12 is available only for humans. Therefore, the aim of this study was to develop a protocol for the purification of S100A12 and to partially characterize this protein in the dog (Canis lupus familiaris) as a prelude to the development of an immunologic method for its detection and quantification in canine serum and fecal specimens. Leukocytes were isolated from canine whole blood by dextran sedimentation, and canine S100A12 was extracted from the cytosol fraction of these cells. Further purification of cS100A12 comprised of ammonium sulfate precipitation, hydrophobic interaction chromatography, and strong cation- and anion-exchange column chromatography. Canine S100A12 was successfully purified from canine whole blood. The relative molecular mass of the protein was estimated at 10,379.5 and isoelectric focusing revealed an isoelectric point of 6.0. The approximate specific absorbance of cS100A12 at 280 nm was determined to be 1.78 for a 1 mg/ml solution. The N-terminal AA sequence of the first 15 residues of cS100A12 was Thr-Lys-Leu-Glu-Asp-His-X-Glu-Gly-Ile-Val-Asp-Val-Phe-His, and revealed 100% identity with the predicted protein sequence available through the canine genome project. Sequence homology for the 14 N-terminal residues identified for cS100A12 with those of feline, bovine, porcine, and human S100A12 was 78.6%. We conclude that canine S100A12 can be successfully purified from canine whole blood using the

  11. Binding of MCM-interacting proteins to ATP-binding site in MCM6

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hosoi A

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Atsutoshi Hosoi, Taku Sakairi, Yukio Ishimi Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Ibaraki University, Mito, Ibaraki, Japan Abstract: The function of MCM2–7 complex that is a DNA helicase in DNA replication may be regulated by various MCM-interacting proteins, including CDC45, RPA, TIM, TIPIN, Claspin, MCM10, and MCM-BP. It has been shown by immunoprecipitation that human MCM6 interacts with all these proteins in coexpressed insect cells. To determine the region in MCM6 to interact with these proteins, we prepared various truncated forms of MCM6 and examined the interaction of these MCM6 fragments with the MCM-interacting proteins. All these proteins bound to C-terminal half of MCM6, and CDC45, RPA2, TIM, TIPIN, MCM-BP, and MCM10 bound to the fragments containing ATP-binding motifs. CDC45 and RPA2 bound to the smallest fragment containing Walker motif A. Only MCM-BP is bound to the N-terminal half of MCM6. Site-directed mutagenesis study suggests that hydrophobic interaction is involved in the interaction of MCM6 with CDC45 and TIM. These results suggest a possibility that MCM-interacting proteins regulate MCM2–7 function by modulating the ATP-binding ability of the MCM2–7. Keywords: DNA helicase, DNA replication, checkpoint, MCM2–7 proteins

  12. Structural insights into calcium-bound S100P and the V domain of the RAGE complex.

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    Srinivasa R Penumutchu

    Full Text Available The S100P protein is a member of the S100 family of calcium-binding proteins and possesses both intracellular and extracellular functions. Extracellular S100P binds to the cell surface receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE and activates its downstream signaling cascade to meditate tumor growth, drug resistance and metastasis. Preventing the formation of this S100P-RAGE complex is an effective strategy to treat various disease conditions. Despite its importance, the detailed structural characterization of the S100P-RAGE complex has not yet been reported. In this study, we report that S100P preferentially binds to the V domain of RAGE. Furthermore, we characterized the interactions between the RAGE V domain and Ca(2+-bound S100P using various biophysical techniques, including isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC, fluorescence spectroscopy, multidimensional NMR spectroscopy, functional assays and site-directed mutagenesis. The entropy-driven binding between the V domain of RAGE and Ca(+2-bound S100P was found to lie in the micromolar range (Kd of ∼ 6 µM. NMR data-driven HADDOCK modeling revealed the putative sites that interact to yield a proposed heterotetrameric model of the S100P-RAGE V domain complex. Our study on the spatial structural information of the proposed protein-protein complex has pharmaceutical relevance and will significantly contribute toward drug development for the prevention of RAGE-related multifarious diseases.

  13. Binding of 2,2',4,4',6-pentabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-100) and/or its metabolites to mammalian biliary carrier proteins

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Larsen, G.; Huwe, J.; Hakk, H. [USDA ARS Biosciences Research Lab, Fargo, ND (United States); Low, M.; Rutherford, D. [Concordia College, Moorhead, MN (United States)

    2004-09-15

    Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are used as flame retardants in the textile and electronics industries and are globally produced in the range of 150,000 tons annually. Because they are very lipophilic, structurally similar to polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and biphenyls, environmentally persistent, and display an increasing number of toxicological effects, there is growing concern that this class of compounds may be emerging as a new environmental contaminant. Recent reports have documented their presence in human plasma, milk, and adipose tissue and in aquatic species such as sperm whales, harbor seals, and whitebeaked dolphins. Only a few PBDE congeners are consistently found and reported in the environment, e.g. BDE-47, 99, 100, 153 and 154, and 209. Of this group, only BDE-47 and 99 have been studied in mammals. Halogenated aromatic hydrocarbons can associate with endogenous carrier proteins in the urine and bile of rats, either as the parent or as metabolites. Toxic and non-toxic dioxins, PCB's, and PBDE's all have this capacity. Based on its lipophilicity, BDE-100 would be expected to require carrier proteins for mammalian in vivo transport. The purpose of the association has not been established but may be part of the process involved in mammalian elimination of these xenobiotics. However, the association may affect the normal function of these carrier proteins. One of the purposes of the present research was to administer a single oral dose of BDE-100 to male rats and measure the amount eliminated in the urine and bile, as well as characterize the nature and extent of binding to any proteins in these excreta.

  14. Membrane interactions of S100A12 (Calgranulin C.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Assuero F Garcia

    Full Text Available S100A12 (Calgranulin C is a small acidic calcium-binding peripheral membrane protein with two EF-hand structural motifs. It is expressed in macrophages and lymphocytes and highly up-regulated in several human inflammatory diseases. In pigs, S100A12 is abundant in the cytosol of granulocytes, where it is believed to be involved in signal modulation of inflammatory process. In this study, we investigated the interaction of the porcine S100A12 with phospholipid bilayers and the effect that ions (Ca(2+, Zn(2+ or both together have in modifying protein-lipid interactions. More specifically, we intended to address issues such as: (1 is the protein-membrane interaction modulated by the presence of ions? (2 is the protein overall structure affected by the presence of the ions and membrane models simultaneously? (3 what are the specific conformational changes taking place when ions and membranes are both present? (4 does the protein have any kind of molecular preferences for a specific lipid component? To provide insight into membrane interactions and answer those questions, synchrotron radiation circular dichroism spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, and surface plasmon resonance were used. The use of these combined techniques demonstrated that this protein was capable of interacting both with lipids and with ions in solution, and enabled examination of changes that occur at different levels of structure organization. The presence of both Ca(2+ and Zn(2+ ions modify the binding, conformation and thermal stability of the protein in the presence of lipids. Hence, these studies examining molecular interactions of porcine S100A12 in solution complement the previously determined crystal structure information on this family of proteins, enhancing our understanding of its dynamics of interaction with membranes.

  15. Significance of the S100A4 protein in psoriasis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Zibert, John R; Skov, Lone; Thyssen, Jacob P

    2010-01-01

    the expression and significance of S100A4 in psoriasis. We found significant upregulation of S100A4 in the dermis of psoriatic skin compared with normal skin. This pattern of S100A4 expression differs considerably from that of other S100 proteins, S100A7 and S100A8/9, with predominant expression in the epidermis...... of psoriasis. Furthermore, we revealed a massive release of the biologically active forms of S100A4 from psoriatic skin. Interestingly, we found stabilization (increase) of p53 in the basal layer of epidermis in close proximity to cells expressing S100A4. To examine the possible implication of S100A4...... in the pathogenesis of psoriasis, we analyzed the effect of S100A4 blocking antibodies in a human psoriasis xenograft SCID mouse model and observed a significant reduction of the epidermal thickness and impairment in cell proliferation and dermal vascularization. In conclusion, we showed strong upregulation...

  16. Overexpression of the S100A2 protein as a prognostic marker for patients with stage II and III colorectal cancer

    Science.gov (United States)

    MASUDA, TAIKI; ISHIKAWA, TOSHIAKI; MOGUSHI, KAORU; OKAZAKI, SATOSHI; ISHIGURO, MEGUMI; IIDA, SATORU; MIZUSHIMA, HIROSHI; TANAKA, HIROSHI; UETAKE, HIROYUKI; SUGIHARA, KENICHI

    2016-01-01

    We aimed to identify a novel prognostic biomarker related to recurrence in stage II and III colorectal cancer (CRC) patients. Stage II and III CRC tissue mRNA expression was profiled using an Affymetrix Gene Chip, and copy number profiles of 125 patients were generated using an Affymetrix 250K Sty array. Genes showing both upregulated expression and copy number gains in cases involving recurrence were extracted as candidate biomarkers. The protein expression of the candidate gene was assessed using immunohistochemical staining of tissue from 161 patients. The relationship between protein expression and clinicopathological features was also examined. We identified 9 candidate genes related to recurrence of stage II and III CRC, whose mRNA expression was significantly higher in CRC than in normal tissue. Of these proteins, the S100 calcium-binding protein A2 (S100A2) has been observed in several human cancers. S100A2 protein overexpression in CRC cells was associated with significantly worse overall survival and relapse-free survival, indicating that S100A2 is an independent risk factor for stage II and III CRC recurrence. S100A2 overexpression in cancer cells could be a biomarker of poor prognosis in stage II and III CRC recurrence and a target for treatment of this disease. PMID:26783118

  17. Characterization of mini-protein S, a recombinant variant of protein S that lacks the sex hormone binding globulin-like domain

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Wijnen, M.; Stam, J. G.; Chang, G. T.; Meijers, J. C.; Reitsma, P. H.; Bertina, R. M.; Bouma, B. N.

    1998-01-01

    Protein S is a vitamin K-dependent glycoprotein involved in the regulation of the anticoagulant activity of activated protein C (APC). Also, an anticoagulant role for protein S, independent of APC, has been described. Protein S has a unique C-terminal sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG)-like domain

  18. Expression of human protein S100A7 (psoriasin, preparation of antibody and application to human larynx squamous cell carcinoma

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Barbieri Manuela R

    2011-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Up-regulation of S100A7 (Psoriasin, a small calcium-binding protein, is associated with the development of several types of carcinomas, but its function and possibility to serve as a diagnostic or prognostic marker have not been fully defined. In order to prepare antibodies to the protein for immunohistochemical studies we produced the recombinant S100A7 protein in E. coli. mRNA extracted from human tracheal tumor tissue which was amplified by RT-PCR to provide the region coding for the S100A7 gene. The amplified fragment was cloned in the vector pCR2.1-TOPO and sub-cloned in the expression vector pAE. The protein rS100A7 (His-tag was expressed in E. coli BL21::DE3, purified by affinity chromatography on an Ni-NTA column, recovered in the 2.0 to 3.5 mg/mL range in culture medium, and used to produce a rabbit polyclonal antibody anti-rS100A7 protein. The profile of this polyclonal antibody was evaluated in a tissue microarray. Results The rS100A7 (His-tag protein was homogeneous by SDS-PAGE and mass spectrometry and was used to produce an anti-recombinant S100A7 (His-tag rabbit serum (polyclonal antibody anti-rS100A7. The molecular weight of rS100A7 (His-tag protein determined by linear MALDI-TOF-MS was 12,655.91 Da. The theoretical mass calculated for the nonapeptide attached to the amino terminus is 12,653.26 Da (delta 2.65 Da. Immunostaining with the polyclonal anti-rS100A7 protein generated showed reactivity with little or no background staining in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma cells, detecting S100A7 both in nucleus and cytoplasm. Lower levels of S100A7 were detected in non-neoplastic tissue. Conclusions The polyclonal anti-rS100A7 antibody generated here yielded a good signal-to-noise contrast and should be useful for immunohistochemical detection of S100A7 protein. Its potential use for other epithelial lesions besides human larynx squamous cell carcinoma and non-neoplastic larynx should be explored in future.

  19. S100A8/A9 Is Not Involved in Host Defense against Murine Urinary Tract Infection

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Dessing, M.C.; Butter, L.M.; Teske, G.J.; Claessen, N.; van der Loos, C.M.; Vogl, T.; Roth, J.; van der Poll, T.; Florquin, S.; Leemans, J.C.

    2010-01-01

    Background: Inflammation is commonly followed by the release of endogenous proteins called danger associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) that are able to warn the host for eminent danger. S100A8/A9 subunits are DAMPs that belong to the S100 family of calcium binding proteins. S100A8/A9 complexes

  20. Synergistic inhibition of the intrinsic factor X activation by protein S and C4b-binding protein

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Koppelman, S.J.

    1995-01-01

    The complement protein C4b-binding protein plays an important role in the regulation of the protein C anticoagulant pathway. C4b-binding protein can bind to protein S, thereby inhibiting the cofactor activity of protein S for activated protein C. In this report, we describe a new role for

  1. Amlexanox Blocks the Interaction between S100A4 and Epidermal Growth Factor and Inhibits Cell Proliferation.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ching Chang Cho

    Full Text Available The human S100A4 protein binds calcium, resulting in a change in its conformation to promote the interaction with its target protein. Human epidermal growth factor (EGF is the target protein of S100A4 and a critical ligand of the receptor EGFR. The EGF/EGFR system promotes cell survival, differentiation, and growth by activating several signaling pathways. Amlexanox is an anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic drug that is used to treat recurrent aphthous ulcers. In the present study, we determined that amlexanox interacts with S100A4 using heteronuclear single quantum correlation titration. We elucidated the interactions of S100A4 with EGF and amlexanox using fluorescence and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. We generated two binary models (for the S100A4-EGF and S100A4-amlexanox complexes and observed that amlexanox and EGF share a similar binding region in mS100A4. We also used a WST-1 assay to investigate the bioactivity of S100A4, EGF, and amlexanox, and found that amlexanox blocks the binding between S100A4 and EGF, and is therefore useful for the development of new anti-proliferation drugs.

  2. Evolutionary conservation of nuclear and nucleolar targeting sequences in yeast ribosomal protein S6A

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lipsius, Edgar; Walter, Korden; Leicher, Torsten; Phlippen, Wolfgang; Bisotti, Marc-Angelo; Kruppa, Joachim

    2005-01-01

    Over 1 billion years ago, the animal kingdom diverged from the fungi. Nevertheless, a high sequence homology of 62% exists between human ribosomal protein S6 and S6A of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. To investigate whether this similarity in primary structure is mirrored in corresponding functional protein domains, the nuclear and nucleolar targeting signals were delineated in yeast S6A and compared to the known human S6 signals. The complete sequence of S6A and cDNA fragments was fused to the 5'-end of the LacZ gene, the constructs were transiently expressed in COS cells, and the subcellular localization of the fusion proteins was detected by indirect immunofluorescence. One bipartite and two monopartite nuclear localization signals as well as two nucleolar binding domains were identified in yeast S6A, which are located at homologous regions in human S6 protein. Remarkably, the number, nature, and position of these targeting signals have been conserved, albeit their amino acid sequences have presumably undergone a process of co-evolution with their corresponding rRNAs

  3. Characterization of a cocaine binding protein in human placenta

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ahmed, M.S.; Zhou, D.H.; Maulik, D.; Eldefrawi, M.E.

    1990-01-01

    [ 3 H]-Cocaine binding sites are identified in human placental villus tissue plasma membranes. These binding sites are associated with a protein and show saturable and specific binding of [ 3 H]-cocaine with a high affinity site of 170 fmole/mg protein. The binding is lost with pretreatment with trypsin or heat. The membrane bound protein is solubilized with the detergent 3-(3-cholamidopropyl)dimethyl-ammonio-1-propane sulphonate (CHAPS) with retention of its saturable and specific binding of [ 3 H]-cocaine. The detergent-protein complex migrates on a sepharose CL-6B gel chromatography column as a protein with an apparent molecular weight of 75,900. The protein has an S 20,w value of 5.1. The binding of this protein to norcocaine, pseudococaine, nomifensine, imipramine, desipramine, amphetamine and dopamine indicates that it shares some, but not all, the properties of the brain cocaine receptor. The physiologic significance of this protein in human placenta is currently unclear

  4. The metastasis-promoting S100A4 protein confers neuroprotection in brain injury

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dmytriyeva, Oksana; Pankratova, Stanislava; Owczarek, Sylwia

    2012-01-01

    and downregulating the neuroprotective protein metallothionein I+II. We identify two neurotrophic motifs in S100A4 and show that these motifs are neuroprotective in animal models of brain trauma. Finally, we find that S100A4 rescues neurons via the Janus kinase/STAT pathway and, partially, the interleukin-10......Identification of novel pro-survival factors in the brain is paramount for developing neuroprotective therapies. The multifunctional S100 family proteins have important roles in many human diseases and are also upregulated by brain injury. However, S100 functions in the nervous system remain...... unclear. Here we show that the S100A4 protein, mostly studied in cancer, is overexpressed in the damaged human and rodent brain and released from stressed astrocytes. Genetic deletion of S100A4 exacerbates neuronal loss after brain trauma or excitotoxicity, increasing oxidative cell damage...

  5. Expression of S100A6 in Rat Hippocampus after Traumatic Brain Injury Due to Lateral Head Acceleration

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bo Fang

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available In a rat model of traumatic brain injury (TBI, we investigated changes in cognitive function and S100A6 expression in the hippocampus. TBI-associated changes in this protein have not previously been reported. Rat S100A6 was studied via immunohistochemical staining, Western blot, and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR after either lateral head acceleration or sham. Reduced levels of S100A6 protein and mRNA were observed 1 h after TBI, followed by gradual increases over 6, 12, 24, and 72 h, and then a return to sham level at 14 day. Morris water maze (MWM test was used to evaluate animal spatial cognition. TBI- and sham-rats showed an apparent learning curve, expressed as escape latency. Although TBI-rats displayed a relatively poorer cognitive ability than sham-rats, the disparity was not significant early post-injury. Marked cognitive deficits in TBI-rats were observed at 72 h post-injury compared with sham animals. TBI-rats showed decreased times in platform crossing in the daily MWM test; the performance at 72 h post-injury was the worst. In conclusion, a reduction in S100A6 may be one of the early events that lead to secondary cognitive decline after TBI, and its subsequent elevation is tightly linked with cognitive improvement. S100A6 may play important roles in neuronal degeneration and regeneration in TBI.

  6. EF-hands at atomic resolution: The structure of human psoriasin (S100A7) solved by MAD phasing

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Brodersen, Ditlev Egeskov; Etzerodt, Michael; Madsen, Peder Søndergaard

    1998-01-01

    psoriasin reveals that this protein, in contrast to other S100 proteins with known structure, is not likely to strongly bind more than one calcium ion per monomer. The present study contradicts the idea that calcium binding induces large changes in conformation, as suggested by previously determined......The S100 family consists of small acidic proteins, belonging to the EF-hand class of calcium-binding proteins. They are primarily regulatory proteins, involved in cell growth, cell structure regulation and signal transduction. Psoriasin (S100A7) is an 11.7 kDa protein that is highly upregulated...... in the epidermis of patients suffering from the chronic skin disease psoriasis. Although its exact function is not known, psoriasin is believed to participate in the biochemical response which follows transient changes in the cellular Ca2+ concentration. RESULTS: The three-dimensional structure of holmium...

  7. Detection and significance of S-100 protein and NSE during mild hypothermia cardiopulmonary bypass

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu Xiuqin; Jin Mu; Tan Jiefang; Huang Wenqi; Chen Bingxue; Huang Weiming; Huang Xiongqing

    2001-01-01

    To observe dynamic changes of S-100 protein and NSE during mild hypothermia cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), the venous blood samples of 25 patients with elective cardiac surgery were obtained simultaneously from the left artery and left jugular bulb before CPB(A), hypothermia period (32-35 degree C) (B) and rewarming to 36 degree C (C) during CPB, 30 minutes (D), 4-6 hours (E) and 24 hours (F) after CPB. Plasma S-100 protein concentration was determined by chemiluminescence immunoassay, and NSE level was determined by radioimmunoassay. The results showed that the levels of S-100 protein and NSE increased significantly during CPB, and NSE peaked at 30 minutes (D) after CPB. It suggested the central nervous system dysfunctions. The S-100 protein and NSE concentrations decreased gradually and retuned to normal nearly (F) after mild hypothermia CPB. It suggested that there were not obvious central nervous system dysfunctions

  8. ProBiS-ligands: a web server for prediction of ligands by examination of protein binding sites.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Konc, Janez; Janežič, Dušanka

    2014-07-01

    The ProBiS-ligands web server predicts binding of ligands to a protein structure. Starting with a protein structure or binding site, ProBiS-ligands first identifies template proteins in the Protein Data Bank that share similar binding sites. Based on the superimpositions of the query protein and the similar binding sites found, the server then transposes the ligand structures from those sites to the query protein. Such ligand prediction supports many activities, e.g. drug repurposing. The ProBiS-ligands web server, an extension of the ProBiS web server, is open and free to all users at http://probis.cmm.ki.si/ligands. © The Author(s) 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

  9. Molecular mechanisms of Ca(2+) signaling in neurons induced by the S100A4 protein

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kiryushko, Darya; Novitskaya, Vera; Soroka, Vladislav

    2006-01-01

    The S100A4 protein belongs to the S100 family of vertebrate-specific proteins possessing both intra- and extracellular functions. In the nervous system, high levels of S100A4 expression are observed at sites of neurogenesis and lesions, suggesting a role of the protein in neuronal plasticity. Ext...... at the cell surface. Thus, glycosaminoglycans may act as coreceptors of S100 proteins in neurons. This may provide a mechanism by which S100 proteins could locally regulate neuronal plasticity in connection with brain lesions and neurological disorders....

  10. S100A4 interacts with p53 in the nucleus and promotes p53 degradation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Orre, L M; Panizza, E; Kaminskyy, V O; Vernet, E; Gräslund, T; Zhivotovsky, B; Lehtiö, J

    2013-12-05

    S100A4 is a small calcium-binding protein that is commonly overexpressed in a range of different tumor types, and it is widely accepted that S100A4 has an important role in the process of cancer metastasis. In vitro binding assays has shown that S100A4 interacts with the tumor suppressor protein p53, indicating that S100A4 may have additional roles in tumor development. In the present study, we show that endogenous S100A4 and p53 interact in complex samples, and that the interaction increases after inhibition of MDM2-dependent p53 degradation using Nutlin-3A. Further, using proximity ligation assay, we show that the interaction takes place in the cell nucleus. S100A4 knockdown experiments in two p53 wild-type cell lines, A549 and HeLa, resulted in stabilization of p53 protein, indicating that S100A4 is promoting p53 degradation. Finally, we demonstrate that S100A4 knockdown leads to p53-dependent cell cycle arrest and increased cisplatin-induced apoptosis. Thus, our data add a new layer to the oncogenic properties of S100A4 through its inhibition of p53-dependent processes.

  11. Protein S100B in umbilical cord blood as a potential biomarker of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy in asphyxiated newborns.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zaigham, Mehreen; Lundberg, Fredrik; Olofsson, Per

    2017-09-01

    Neonatal hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) is a devastating condition resulting from a sustained lack of oxygen during birth. The interest in identifying a relevant biomarker of HIE has thrown into limelight the role of protein S100B as a clinical diagnostic marker of hypoxic brain damage in neonates. To evaluate the diagnostic value of protein S100B, measured in umbilical cord blood immediately after birth, as a useful biomarker in the diagnosis of HIE Sarnat stages II-III as well as a marker for long-term mortality and morbidity. Protein S100B was analyzed in cord blood sampled at birth from 13 newborns later diagnosed with stage II-III HIE and compared with 21 healthy controls. S100B concentrations were related to cord artery pH, amplitude-integrated electroencephalography (aEEG), stage of HIE, and death/sequelae up to an age of 6years. Both parametric and non-parametric statistics were used with a two-sided P<0.05 considered significant. The difference in S100B concentration was marginally statistically significant between HIE cases and controls (P=0.056). Cord blood acidosis (P=0.046), aEEG pattern severity (P=0.030), HIE severity (P=0.027), and condition at 6-year follow-up (healthy/permanent sequelae/death; P=0.027) were all related to an increase in S100B concentration. Protein S100B in neonates suffering from HIE stages II-III appeared elevated in umbilical cord blood at birth. The S100B concentrations were positively associated to the severity of disease and the risk of suffering from neurodevelopmental sequelae and even death. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  12. Expressão da proteína ligadora de cálcio S100 A7 (psoriasina no carcinoma laríngeo Expression of calcium binding protein S100 A7 (psoriasin in laryngeal carcinoma

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rogério Costa Tiveron

    2012-08-01

    Full Text Available Muitos estudos relatam o aumento da expressão de S100 A7 (psoriasina em lesões neoplásicas. Destacam-se trabalhos em carcinoma da mama, espinocelular da bexiga, pele e cavidade oral. Não foi demonstrada expressão da S100 A7 em câncer de laringe. OBJETIVO: Identificar a expressão da proteína ligadora de cálcio S100 A7 e sua correlação com carcinomas espinocelular da laringe. MATERIAL E MÉTODOS: Amostras de tecido neoplásico de 63 pacientes foram submetidos à imunohis toquímica com o anticorpo S110 A7. Os resultados foram classificados e comparados. RESULTADOS: O grupo bem diferenciado teve a maior pontuação de falha no tratamento. O grupo moderadamente diferenciado apresentou escores mais elevados do que o grupo pouco diferenciado. Pontuações mais altas predominaram nos estágios I e II no grupo moderadamente diferenciado, enquanto a distribuição do escore foi mais homogênea em estados avançados (III e IV. Em relação às falhas no tratamento, o grupo pontuação zero (04/03 complicações: 75% diferiu significativamente da pontuação restante (13/59: 22%. CONCLUSÕES: A S100 A7 foi expressa em 93,7% dos casos de câncer de laringe, com maior positividade nos tumores mais diferenciados e taxa significativamente menor de falha no tratamento. A pontuação obtida não teve impacto sobre a sobrevivência.Many studies have reported increased expression of S100 A7 (psoriasin in neoplastic lesions. Among them are studies on breast carcinoma, bladder squamous cell carcinoma, skin tumors and oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma. The expression of S100 A7 has not been described for laryngeal cancer. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to identify the expression of the calcium-binding protein S100 A7 and its correlation with squamous cell carcinomas of the larynx. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Specimens from 63 patients were submitted to immunohistochemistry testing with antibody S100 A7. Results were classified and compared. RESULTS: The group with

  13. Large-scale proteomic identification of S100 proteins in breast cancer tissues

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cancemi, Patrizia; Di Cara, Gianluca; Albanese, Nadia Ninfa; Costantini, Francesca; Marabeti, Maria Rita; Musso, Rosa; Lupo, Carmelo; Roz, Elena; Pucci-Minafra, Ida

    2010-01-01

    Attempts to reduce morbidity and mortality in breast cancer is based on efforts to identify novel biomarkers to support prognosis and therapeutic choices. The present study has focussed on S100 proteins as a potentially promising group of markers in cancer development and progression. One reason of interest in this family of proteins is because the majority of the S100 genes are clustered on a region of human chromosome 1q21 that is prone to genomic rearrangements. Moreover, there is increasing evidence that S100 proteins are often up-regulated in many cancers, including breast, and this is frequently associated with tumour progression. Samples of breast cancer tissues were obtained during surgical intervention, according to the bioethical recommendations, and cryo-preserved until used. Tissue extracts were submitted to proteomic preparations for 2D-IPG. Protein identification was performed by N-terminal sequencing and/or peptide mass finger printing. The majority of the detected S100 proteins were absent, or present at very low levels, in the non-tumoral tissues adjacent to the primary tumor. This finding strengthens the role of S100 proteins as putative biomarkers. The proteomic screening of 100 cryo-preserved breast cancer tissues showed that some proteins were ubiquitously expressed in almost all patients while others appeared more sporadic. Most, if not all, of the detected S100 members appeared reciprocally correlated. Finally, from the perspective of biomarkers establishment, a promising finding was the observation that patients which developed distant metastases after a three year follow-up showed a general tendency of higher S100 protein expression, compared to the disease-free group. This article reports for the first time the comparative proteomic screening of several S100 protein members among a large group of breast cancer patients. The results obtained strongly support the hypothesis that a significant deregulation of multiple S100 protein members is

  14. The S100A4 Oncoprotein Promotes Prostate Tumorigenesis in a Transgenic Mouse Model

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Siddique, Hifzur R; Adhami, Vaqar M; Parray, Aijaz

    2013-01-01

    earlier showed that S100A4 expression progressively increases in prostatic tissues with the advancement of prostate cancer (CaP) in TRAMP, an autochthonous mouse model. To study the functional significance of S100A4 in CaP, we generated a heterozygously deleted S100A4 (TRAMP/S100A4(+/-)) genotype...... (intracellular and extracellular) forms. We observed that 1) the growth-promoting effect of S100A4 is due to its activation of NFκB, 2) S100A4-deficient tumors exhibit reduced NFκB activity, 3) S100A4 regulates NFκB through the RAGE receptor, and 4) S100A4 and RAGE co-localize in prostatic tissues of mice......S100A4, a calcium-binding protein, is known for its role in the metastatic spread of tumor cells, a late event of cancer disease. This is the first report showing that S100A4 is not merely a metastatic protein but also an oncoprotein that plays a critical role in the development of tumors. We...

  15. Pentamidine blocks the interaction between mutant S100A5 and RAGE V domain and inhibits the RAGE signaling pathway

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cho, Ching Chang, E-mail: ccjwo@yahoo.com.tw [Department of Chemistry, National Tsing Hua University, No. 101, Section 2, Kuang-Fu Road, Hsinchu 30013, Taiwan (China); Chou, Ruey Hwang, E-mail: rhchou@mail.cmu.edu.tw [Graduate Institute of Cancer Biology and Center for Molecular Medicine, China Medical University, No.91, Hsueh-Shih Road, Taichung 40402, Taiwan (China); Yu, Chin, E-mail: cyu.nthu@gmail.com [Department of Chemistry, National Tsing Hua University, No. 101, Section 2, Kuang-Fu Road, Hsinchu 30013, Taiwan (China)

    2016-08-19

    The human S100 protein family contains small, dimeric and acidic proteins that contain two EF-hand motifs and bind calcium. When S100A5 binds calcium, its conformation changes and promotes interaction with the target protein. The extracellular domain of RAGE (Receptor of Advanced Glycation End products) contain three domains: C1, C2 and V. The RAGE V domain is the target protein of S100A5 that promotes cell survival, growth and differentiation by activating several signaling pathways. Pentamidine is an apoptotic and antiparasitic drug that is used to treat or prevent pneumonia. Here, we found that pentamidine interacts with S100A5 using HSQC titration. We elucidated the interactions of S100A5 with RAGE V domain and pentamidine using fluorescence and NMR spectroscopy. We generated two binary models—the S100A5-RAGE V domain and S100A5-Pentamidine complex—and then observed that the pentamidine and RAGE V domain share a similar binding region in mS100A5. We also used the WST-1 assay to investigate the bioactivity of S100A5, RAGE V domain and pentamidine. These results indicated that pentamidine blocks the binding between S100A5 and RAGE V domain. This finding is useful for the development of new anti-proliferation drugs. - Highlights: • The interaction between mS100A5–RAGE V was investigated by fluorescence spectroscopy. • The interfacial residues on mS100A5–RAGE V and mS100A5–pentamidine contact surface were mapped by {sup 1}H-{sup 15}N HSQC experiments. • mS100A5–RAGE V and mS100A5–pentamidine complex models were generated from NMR restraints using HADDOCK program. • The bioactivity of the mS100A5–RAGE V and mS100A5–pentamidine complex was studied using WST-1 assay.

  16. S100B protein in serum is elevated after global cerebral ischemic injury

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Bao-di Sun; Hong-mei Liu; Shi-nan Nie

    2013-01-01

    BACKGROUND:S100B protein in patients with cardiac arrest,hemorrhagic shock and other causes of global cerebral ischemic injury will be dramatically increased.Ischemic brain injury may elevate the level of serum S100 B protein and the severity of brain damage.METHODS:This article is a critical and descriptive review on S100 B protein in serum after ischemic brain injury.We searched Pubmed database with key words or terms such as 'S100B protein', 'cardiac arrest', 'hemorrhagic shock' and 'ischemia reperfusion injury' appeared in the last five years.RESULTS:S100B protein in patients with cardiac arrest,hemorrhagic shock and other causes of ischemic brain injury will be dramatically increased.Ischemic brain injury elevated the level of serum S100 B protein,and the severity of brain damage.CONCLUSION:The level of S100 B protein in serum is elevated after ischemic brain injury,but its mechanism is unclear.

  17. Elevated S100A9 expression in tumor stroma functions as an early recurrence marker for early-stage oral cancer patients through increased tumor cell invasion, angiogenesis, macrophage recruitment and interleukin-6 production.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fang, Wei-Yu; Chen, Yi-Wen; Hsiao, Jenn-Ren; Liu, Chiang-Shin; Kuo, Yi-Zih; Wang, Yi-Ching; Chang, Kung-Chao; Tsai, Sen-Tien; Chang, Mei-Zhu; Lin, Siao-Han; Wu, Li-Wha

    2015-09-29

    S100A9 is a calcium-binding protein with two EF-hands and frequently deregulated in several cancer types, however, with no clear role in oral cancer. In this report, the expression of S100A9 in cancer and adjacent tissues from 79 early-stage oral cancer patients was detected by immunohistochemical staining. Although S100A9 protein was present in both tumor and stromal cells, only the early-stage oral cancer patients with high stromal expression had reduced recurrence-free survival. High stromal S100A9 expression was also significantly associated with non-well differentiation and recurrence. In addition to increasing cell migration and invasion, ectopic S100A9 expression in tumor cells promoted xenograft tumorigenesis as well as the dominant expression of myeloid cell markers and pro-inflammatory IL-6. The expression of S100A9 in one stromal component, monocytes, stimulated the aggressiveness of co-cultured oral cancer cells. We also detected the elevation of serum S100A9 levels in early-stage oral cancer patients of a separate cohort of 73 oral cancer patients. The release of S100A9 protein into extracellular milieu enhanced tumor cell invasion, transendothelial monocyte migration and angiogenic activity. S100A9-mediated release of IL-6 requires the crosstalk of tumor cells with monocytes through the activation of NF-κB and STAT-3. Early-stage oral cancer patients with both high S100A9 expression and high CD68+ immune infiltrates in stroma had shortest recurrence-free survival, suggesting the use of both S100A9 and CD68 as poor prognostic markers for oral cancer. Together, both intracellular and extracellular S100A9 exerts a tumor-promoting action through the activation of oral cancer cells and their associated stroma in oral carcinogenesis.

  18. Interleukin-11 binds specific EF-hand proteins via their conserved structural motifs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kazakov, Alexei S; Sokolov, Andrei S; Vologzhannikova, Alisa A; Permyakova, Maria E; Khorn, Polina A; Ismailov, Ramis G; Denessiouk, Konstantin A; Denesyuk, Alexander I; Rastrygina, Victoria A; Baksheeva, Viktoriia E; Zernii, Evgeni Yu; Zinchenko, Dmitry V; Glazatov, Vladimir V; Uversky, Vladimir N; Mirzabekov, Tajib A; Permyakov, Eugene A; Permyakov, Sergei E

    2017-01-01

    Interleukin-11 (IL-11) is a hematopoietic cytokine engaged in numerous biological processes and validated as a target for treatment of various cancers. IL-11 contains intrinsically disordered regions that might recognize multiple targets. Recently we found that aside from IL-11RA and gp130 receptors, IL-11 interacts with calcium sensor protein S100P. Strict calcium dependence of this interaction suggests a possibility of IL-11 interaction with other calcium sensor proteins. Here we probed specificity of IL-11 to calcium-binding proteins of various types: calcium sensors of the EF-hand family (calmodulin, S100B and neuronal calcium sensors: recoverin, NCS-1, GCAP-1, GCAP-2), calcium buffers of the EF-hand family (S100G, oncomodulin), and a non-EF-hand calcium buffer (α-lactalbumin). A specific subset of the calcium sensor proteins (calmodulin, S100B, NCS-1, GCAP-1/2) exhibits metal-dependent binding of IL-11 with dissociation constants of 1-19 μM. These proteins share several amino acid residues belonging to conservative structural motifs of the EF-hand proteins, 'black' and 'gray' clusters. Replacements of the respective S100P residues by alanine drastically decrease its affinity to IL-11, suggesting their involvement into the association process. Secondary structure and accessibility of the hinge region of the EF-hand proteins studied are predicted to control specificity and selectivity of their binding to IL-11. The IL-11 interaction with the EF-hand proteins is expected to occur under numerous pathological conditions, accompanied by disintegration of plasma membrane and efflux of cellular components into the extracellular milieu.

  19. AtMBD6, a methyl CpG binding domain protein, maintains gene ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    2017-01-13

    Jan 13, 2017 ... 13 methyl CpG binding domain (MBD) proteins, but the molecular/biological functions of most of these ... AtMBD5, AtMBD6 and AtMBD7 are more similar to those .... prey were able to grow on -AHLW (-Ade, -His, -Leu, -Trp).

  20. Role of S100A12 in the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nakashima, Motoshige [Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, 65 Tsurumai-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8550 (Japan); Sakai, Tadahiro, E-mail: tadsakai@med.nagoya-u.ac.jp [Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, 65 Tsurumai-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8550 (Japan); Hiraiwa, Hideki; Hamada, Takashi; Omachi, Takaaki [Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, 65 Tsurumai-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8550 (Japan); Ono, Yohei [Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, 65 Tsurumai-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8550 (Japan); Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University, 600 Moye Blvd., Greenville, NC 27834 (United States); Inukai, Norio [Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Nishio Municipal Hospital, 6 Kumami-cho, Nishio 445-8510 (Japan); Ishizuka, Shinya; Matsukawa, Tetsuya; Oda, Tomoyuki; Takamatsu, Akira; Yamashita, Satoshi; Ishiguro, Naoki [Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, 65 Tsurumai-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8550 (Japan)

    2012-06-08

    Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer This is the first report of S100A12 expression in human OA articular cartilages. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Exogenous S100A12 increased the production of MMP13 and VEGF in OA chondrocytes. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Soluble RAGE suppressed the increased production of MMP13 and VEGF. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer p38MAPK and NF-{kappa}B inhibitors abrogated S100A12-induced MMP13 and VEGF production. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer S100A12 may contribute to OA progression by increasing MMP13 and VEGF production. -- Abstract: S100A12 is a member of the S100 protein family, which are intracellular calcium-binding proteins. Although there are many reports on the involvement of S100A12 in inflammatory diseases, its presence in osteoarthritic cartilage has not been reported. The purpose of this study was to investigate the expression of S100A12 in human articular cartilage in osteoarthritis (OA) and to evaluate the role of S100A12 in human OA chondrocytes. We analyzed S100A12 expression by immunohistochemical staining of cartilage samples obtained from OA and non-OA patients. In addition, chondrocytes were isolated from knee cartilage of OA patients and treated with recombinant human S100A12. Real-time RT-PCR was performed to analyze mRNA expression. Protein production of matrix metalloproteinase 13 (MMP-13) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in the culture medium were measured by ELISA. Immunohistochemical analyses revealed that S100A12 expression was markedly increased in OA cartilages. Protein production and mRNA expression of MMP-13 and VEGF in cultured OA chondrocytes were significantly increased by treatment with exogenous S100A12. These increases in mRNA expression and protein production were suppressed by administration of soluble receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE). Both p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and nuclear factor-{kappa}B (NF-{kappa}B) inhibitors also suppressed the increases

  1. S100A4: a common mediator of epithelial-mesenchymal transition, fibrosis and regeneration in diseases?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schneider, M.; Sheikh, S.P.; Hansen, Jakob Lerche

    2008-01-01

    and neuronal injuries. Common to all these diseases is the involvement of fibrotic and inflammatory processes, i.e. processes greatly dependent on tissue remodelling, cell motility and epithelial-mesenchymal transition. Therefore, the basic biological mechanisms behind S100A4's effects are emerging. S100A4...... belongs to the S100 family of proteins that contain two Ca2+-binding sites including a canonical EF-hand motif. S100A4 is involved in the regulation of a wide range of biological effects including cell motility, survival, differentiation and contractility. S100A4 has both intracellular and extracellular...... effects. Hence, S100A4 interacts with cytoskeletal proteins and enhances metastasis of several types of cancer cells. In addition, S100A4 is secreted by unknown mechanisms, thus, paracrinely stimulating a variety of cellular responses, including angiogenesis and neuronal growth. Although many cellular...

  2. Regulation of S100A8/A9 (calprotectin) binding to tumor cells by zinc ion and its implication for apoptosis-inducing activity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nakatani, Yuichi; Yamazaki, Masatoshi; Chazin, Walter J; Yui, Satoru

    2005-10-24

    S100A8/A9 (calprotectin), which is released by neutrophils under inflammatory conditions, has the capacity to induce apoptosis in various cells. We previously reported that S100A8/A9 induces apoptosis of EL-4 lymphoma cells via the uptake of extracellular zinc in a manner similar to DTPA, a membrane-impermeable zinc chelator. In this study, S100A8/A9-induced apoptosis was examined in several cell lines that are weakly sensitive to DTPA, suggesting S100A8/A9 is directly responsible for apoptosis in these cells. Since zinc inhibits apoptosis of MM46, one of these cells, the regulation by zinc of the capacity of S100A8/A9 to bind MM46 cells was studied. When MM46 cells were incubated with S100A8/A9 in standard or zinc-depleted medium, the amounts of S100A8/A9 bound to cells was markedly lower at 3 h than at 1 h. In contrast, when MM46 cells were incubated with S100A8/A9 in the presence of high levels of zinc, binding to cells was the same at 1 and 3 h. When the cells were permeabilized with saponin prior to analysis, a larger amount of cell-associated S100A8/A9 was detected at 3 h. The amount was further increased in cells treated with chloroquine, suggesting that S100A8/A9 was internalized and degraded in lysosomes. Although it has been reported that S100A8/A9 binds to heparan sulfate on cell membranes, the amount of S100A8/A9 bound to MM46 cells was not reduced by heparinase treatment, but was reduced by trypsin treatment. These results suggest that S100A8/A9 induces apoptosis by direct binding to MM46 cells, and that this activity is regulated by zinc.

  3. S100A10 protein expression is associated with oxaliplatin sensitivity in human colorectal cancer cells

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Suzuki Sayo

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Individual responses to oxaliplatin (L-OHP-based chemotherapy remain unpredictable. The objective of our study was to find candidate protein markers for tumor sensitivity to L-OHP from intracellular proteins of human colorectal cancer (CRC cell lines. We performed expression difference mapping (EDM analysis of whole cell lysates from 11 human CRC cell lines with different sensitivities to L-OHP by using surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (SELDI-TOF MS, and identified a candidate protein by liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry ion trap time-of-flight (LCMS-IT-TOF. Results Of the qualified mass peaks obtained by EDM analysis, 41 proteins were differentially expressed in 11 human colorectal cancer cell lines. Among these proteins, the peak intensity of 11.1 kDa protein was strongly correlated with the L-OHP sensitivity (50% inhibitory concentrations (P R2 = 0.80. We identified this protein as Protein S100-A10 (S100A10 by MS/MS ion search using LCMS-IT-TOF. We verified its differential expression and the correlation between S100A10 protein expression levels in drug-untreated CRC cells and their L-OHP sensitivities by Western blot analyses. In addition, S100A10 protein expression levels were not correlated with sensitivity to 5-fluorouracil, suggesting that S100A10 is more specific to L-OHP than to 5-fluorouracil in CRC cells. S100A10 was detected in cell culture supernatant, suggesting secretion out of cells. Conclusions By proteomic approaches including SELDI technology, we have demonstrated that intracellular S100A10 protein expression levels in drug-untreated CRC cells differ according to cell lines and are significantly correlated with sensitivity of CRC cells to L-OHP exposure. Our findings provide a new clue to searching predictive markers of the response to L-OHP, suggesting that S100A10 is expected to be one of the candidate protein markers.

  4. GenProBiS: web server for mapping of sequence variants to protein binding sites.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Konc, Janez; Skrlj, Blaz; Erzen, Nika; Kunej, Tanja; Janezic, Dusanka

    2017-07-03

    Discovery of potentially deleterious sequence variants is important and has wide implications for research and generation of new hypotheses in human and veterinary medicine, and drug discovery. The GenProBiS web server maps sequence variants to protein structures from the Protein Data Bank (PDB), and further to protein-protein, protein-nucleic acid, protein-compound, and protein-metal ion binding sites. The concept of a protein-compound binding site is understood in the broadest sense, which includes glycosylation and other post-translational modification sites. Binding sites were defined by local structural comparisons of whole protein structures using the Protein Binding Sites (ProBiS) algorithm and transposition of ligands from the similar binding sites found to the query protein using the ProBiS-ligands approach with new improvements introduced in GenProBiS. Binding site surfaces were generated as three-dimensional grids encompassing the space occupied by predicted ligands. The server allows intuitive visual exploration of comprehensively mapped variants, such as human somatic mis-sense mutations related to cancer and non-synonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms from 21 species, within the predicted binding sites regions for about 80 000 PDB protein structures using fast WebGL graphics. The GenProBiS web server is open and free to all users at http://genprobis.insilab.org. © The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

  5. S100A9 is a novel ligand of EMMPRIN that promotes melanoma metastasis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hibino, Toshihiko; Sakaguchi, Masakiyo; Miyamoto, Shoko; Yamamoto, Mami; Motoyama, Akira; Hosoi, Junichi; Shimokata, Tadashi; Ito, Tomonobu; Tsuboi, Ryoji; Huh, Nam-Ho

    2013-01-01

    The calcium-binding proteins S100A8 and S100A9 can dimerize to form calprotectin, the release of which during tissue damage has been implicated in inflammation and metastasis. However, receptor(s) mediating the physiologic and pathophysiologic effects of this damage-associated "danger signal" are uncertain. In this study, searching for candidate calprotectin receptors by affinity isolation-mass spectrometry, we identified the cell surface glycoprotein EMMPRIN/BASIGIN (CD147/BSG). EMMPRIN specifically bound to S100A9 but not S100A8. Induction of cytokines and matrix metalloproteases (MMP) by S100A9 was markedly downregulated in melanoma cells by attenuation of EMMPRIN. We found that EMMPRIN signaling used the TNF receptor-associated factor TRAF2 distinct from the known S100-binding signaling pathway mediated by RAGE (AGER). S100A9 strongly promoted migration when EMMPRIN was highly expressed, independent of RAGE, whereas EMMPRIN blockade suppressed migration by S100A9. Immunohistologic analysis of melanomas revealed that EMMPRIN was expressed at both the invasive edge of lesions and the adjacent epidermis, where S100A9 was also strongly expressed. In epidermal-specific transgenic mice, tail vein-injected melanoma accumulated in skin expressing S100A9 but not S100A8. Together, our results establish EMMPRIN as a receptor for S100A9 and suggest the therapeutic use in targeting S100A9-EMMPRIN interactions.

  6. Crystallization and preliminary X-ray analysis of human S100A13

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Imai, Fabiana Lica; Nagata, Koji; Yonezawa, Naoto; Yu, Jinyan; Ito, Eriko; Kanai, Saeko; Tanokura, Masaru; Nakano, Minoru

    2006-01-01

    Human S100A13 protein was cloned, expressed, purified and crystallized by the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion method. The crystals obtained belonged to space group P2 1 2 1 2 1 and diffracted to a resolution of 1.8 Å. S100A13 is a member of the S100 family of EF-hand-containing calcium-binding proteins and plays an important role in the secretion of fibroblast growth factor-1 and interleukin 1α, two pro-angiogenic factors released by the endoplasmic reticulum/Golgi-independent non-classical secretory pathway. Human S100A13 was heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli, purified and crystallized by the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion method using PEG 3350 as the precipitant. The crystals diffracted X-rays from a synchrotron-radiation source to 1.8 Å resolution and the space group was assigned as primitive orthorhombic P2 1 2 1 2 1

  7. Immunoreactivity of S100β protein in the hippocampus of chinchilla

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Krawczyk Aleksandra

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available The aim of the study was to investigate S100β protein in astrocytes of CA1 and CA3 areas of the hippocampus proper and the dentate gyrus with the hilus yet undefined in mature males of chinchilla. The presence of S100β was determined using indirect immunohistochemical peroxidase-antiperoxidase method with specific monoclonal antibody against this protein. Most of the S100β-positive cells were detected in the subgranular zone of the dentate gyrus and in the middle part of the hilus. In CA3 area, it was found that the most numerous cells with S100β are in stratum radiatum. In CA1 area, there were single astrocytes expressing this protein. This data demonstrates species differences and a large quantity of S100β immunoreactive cells in the subgranular zone of the dentate gyrus of chinchilla, which may be associated with structural reorganisation of the hippocampus and with neurogenesis, learning, and memorising process dependent on the hippocampus.

  8. S-100 protein in the diagnosis of tuberculoid borderline tuberculoidleprosy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Khan, A.R.

    1998-01-01

    A definitive diagnosis of tuberculoid and borderline tuberculoid leprosyis based on a demonstration of either acid-fast bacilli or nerve elementswithin the granulomas. On routine hematoxylin and eosin stains, the nervefibers are not easily identifiable. In this study, we used S-100 protein tohighlight the nerve elements and to count their numbers in leprosy andnon-leprosy granulomas. Skin biopsy specimens from 15 cases oftuberculoid/borderline tuberculoid leprosy and 14 cases belonging to othergranulomatous disease of the skin were stained with S-100 protein. Thesurface area of all the biopsies was calculated and the numbers of nervebundles stained with S-100 protein were counted in each specimen. The nervebundles were 15 per cm2 in leprosy cases, and 9.2 per cm2 in non-leprosycases. In addition, the leprosy cases showed longer nerve twigs that wereperpendicularly oriented to the skin surface. Immunostaining with S-100facilitated detection of nerve elements in tuberculoid/borderline tuberculoidleprosy. Also, an increased number of nerve elements were found in leprosygranulomas when compared with non-leprosy granulomas (P=<0.05). (author)

  9. Identification of the Raptor-binding motif on Arabidopsis S6 kinase and its use as a TOR signaling suppressor

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Son, Ora; Kim, Sunghan; Hur, Yoon-Sun; Cheon, Choong-Ill, E-mail: ccheon@sookmyung.ac.kr

    2016-03-25

    TOR (target of rapamycin) kinase signaling plays central role as a regulator of growth and proliferation in all eukaryotic cells and its key signaling components and effectors are also conserved in plants. Unlike the mammalian and yeast counterparts, however, we found through yeast two-hybrid analysis that multiple regions of the Arabidopsis Raptor (regulatory associated protein of TOR) are required for binding to its substrate. We also identified that a 44-amino acid region at the N-terminal end of Arabidopsis ribosomal S6 kinase 1 (AtS6K1) specifically interacted with AtRaptor1, indicating that this region may contain a functional equivalent of the TOS (TOR-Signaling) motif present in the mammalian TOR substrates. Transient over-expression of this 44-amino acid fragment in Arabidopsis protoplasts resulted in significant decrease in rDNA transcription, demonstrating a feasibility of developing a new plant-specific TOR signaling inhibitor based upon perturbation of the Raptor-substrate interaction. - Highlights: • Multiple regions on the Arabidopsis Raptor protein were found to be involved in substrate binding. • N-terminal end of the Arabidopsis ribosomal S6 kinase 1 (AtS6K1) was responsible for interacting with AtRaptor1. • The Raptor-interacting fragment of AtS6K1 could be utilized as an effective inhibitor of plant TOR signaling.

  10. Identification of the Raptor-binding motif on Arabidopsis S6 kinase and its use as a TOR signaling suppressor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Son, Ora; Kim, Sunghan; Hur, Yoon-Sun; Cheon, Choong-Ill

    2016-01-01

    TOR (target of rapamycin) kinase signaling plays central role as a regulator of growth and proliferation in all eukaryotic cells and its key signaling components and effectors are also conserved in plants. Unlike the mammalian and yeast counterparts, however, we found through yeast two-hybrid analysis that multiple regions of the Arabidopsis Raptor (regulatory associated protein of TOR) are required for binding to its substrate. We also identified that a 44-amino acid region at the N-terminal end of Arabidopsis ribosomal S6 kinase 1 (AtS6K1) specifically interacted with AtRaptor1, indicating that this region may contain a functional equivalent of the TOS (TOR-Signaling) motif present in the mammalian TOR substrates. Transient over-expression of this 44-amino acid fragment in Arabidopsis protoplasts resulted in significant decrease in rDNA transcription, demonstrating a feasibility of developing a new plant-specific TOR signaling inhibitor based upon perturbation of the Raptor-substrate interaction. - Highlights: • Multiple regions on the Arabidopsis Raptor protein were found to be involved in substrate binding. • N-terminal end of the Arabidopsis ribosomal S6 kinase 1 (AtS6K1) was responsible for interacting with AtRaptor1. • The Raptor-interacting fragment of AtS6K1 could be utilized as an effective inhibitor of plant TOR signaling.

  11. Expression of S100A4 by a variety of cell types present in the tumor microenvironment of human breast cancer

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Cabezón, Teresa; Celis, Julio E; Skibshøj, Inge

    2007-01-01

    The S100A4 protein, which is involved in the metastasis process, is a member of the S100 superfamily of Ca-binding proteins. Members of this family are multifunctional signaling proteins with dual extra and intracellular functions involved in the regulation of diverse cellular processes. Several ...... interstitial fluid (TIF) as compared to their corresponding normal counterparts (NIF)....

  12. Insulin Stimulates S100B Secretion and These Proteins Antagonistically Modulate Brain Glucose Metabolism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wartchow, Krista Minéia; Tramontina, Ana Carolina; de Souza, Daniela F; Biasibetti, Regina; Bobermin, Larissa D; Gonçalves, Carlos-Alberto

    2016-06-01

    Brain metabolism is highly dependent on glucose, which is derived from the blood circulation and metabolized by the astrocytes and other neural cells via several pathways. Glucose uptake in the brain does not involve insulin-dependent glucose transporters; however, this hormone affects the glucose influx to the brain. Changes in cerebrospinal fluid levels of S100B (an astrocyte-derived protein) have been associated with alterations in glucose metabolism; however, there is no evidence whether insulin modulates glucose metabolism and S100B secretion. Herein, we investigated the effect of S100B on glucose metabolism, measuring D-(3)H-glucose incorporation in two preparations, C6 glioma cells and acute hippocampal slices, and we also investigated the effect of insulin on S100B secretion. Our results showed that: (a) S100B at physiological levels decreases glucose uptake, through the multiligand receptor RAGE and mitogen-activated protein kinase/ERK signaling, and (b) insulin stimulated S100B secretion via PI3K signaling. Our findings indicate the existence of insulin-S100B modulation of glucose utilization in the brain tissue, and may improve our understanding of glucose metabolism in several conditions such as ketosis, streptozotocin-induced dementia and pharmacological exposure to antipsychotics, situations that lead to changes in insulin signaling and extracellular levels of S100B.

  13. Interaction between S100P and the anti-allergy drug cromolyn

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Penumutchu, Srinivasa R.; Chou, Ruey-Hwang; Yu, Chin

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • The interaction between S100P–cromolyn was investigated by fluorescence spectroscopy. • The interfacial residues on S100P and cromolyn contact surface were mapped by 1 H- 15 N HSQC experiments. • S100P–cromolyn complex model was generated from NMR restraints using HADDOCK program. • The stability of the S100P–cromolyn complex was studied using molecular dynamics simulations. - Abstract: The S100P protein has been known to mediate cell proliferation by binding the receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) to activate signaling pathways, such as the extracellular regulated kinase (ERK) and nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB) pathways. S100P/RAGE signaling is involved in a variety of diseases, such as cancer, metastasis, and diabetes. Cromolyn is an anti-allergy drug that binds S100P to block the interaction between S100P and RAGE. In the present study, we characterized the properties of the binding between cromolyn and calcium-bound S100P using various biophysical techniques. The binding affinity for S100P and cromolyn was measured to be in the millimolar range by fluorescence spectroscopy. NMR-HSQC titration experiments and HADDOCK modeling was employed to determine the spatial structure of the proposed heterotetramer model of the S100P–cromolyn complex. Additional MD simulation results revealed the important properties in the complex stability and conformational flexibility of the S100P–cromolyn complex. This proposed model has provided an understanding of the molecular level interactions of S100P–cromolyn complex

  14. Crystallization and preliminary X-ray analysis of human S100A13

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Imai, Fabiana Lica [Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Chiba University, 1-33 Yayoi-cho, Inage-ku, Chiba 263-8522 (Japan); Nagata, Koji [Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 1-1-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8657 (Japan); Yonezawa, Naoto [Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Chiba University, 1-33 Yayoi-cho, Inage-ku, Chiba 263-8522 (Japan); Yu, Jinyan; Ito, Eriko; Kanai, Saeko [Graduate School of Science and Technology, Chiba University, 1-33 Yayoi-cho, Inage-ku, Chiba 263-8522 (Japan); Tanokura, Masaru [Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 1-1-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8657 (Japan); Nakano, Minoru, E-mail: mnakano@faculty.chiba-u.jp [Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Chiba University, 1-33 Yayoi-cho, Inage-ku, Chiba 263-8522 (Japan)

    2006-11-01

    Human S100A13 protein was cloned, expressed, purified and crystallized by the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion method. The crystals obtained belonged to space group P2{sub 1}2{sub 1}2{sub 1} and diffracted to a resolution of 1.8 Å. S100A13 is a member of the S100 family of EF-hand-containing calcium-binding proteins and plays an important role in the secretion of fibroblast growth factor-1 and interleukin 1α, two pro-angiogenic factors released by the endoplasmic reticulum/Golgi-independent non-classical secretory pathway. Human S100A13 was heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli, purified and crystallized by the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion method using PEG 3350 as the precipitant. The crystals diffracted X-rays from a synchrotron-radiation source to 1.8 Å resolution and the space group was assigned as primitive orthorhombic P2{sub 1}2{sub 1}2{sub 1}.

  15. Identification of a 48 kDa tubulin or tubulin-like C6/36 mosquito cells protein that binds dengue virus 2 using mass spectrometry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chee, H.-Y.; AbuBakar, Sazaly

    2004-01-01

    Binding of dengue virus 2 (DENV-2) to C6/36 mosquito cells protein was investigated. A 48 kDa DENV-2-binding C6/36 cells protein (D2BP) was detected in a virus overlay protein-binding assay. The binding occurred only to the C6/36 cells cytosolic protein fraction and it was inhibited by free D2BP. D2BP was shown to bind to DENV-2 E in the far-Western-binding studies and using mass spectrometry (MS) and MS/MS, peptide masses of the D2BP that matched to β-tubulin and α-tubulin chains were identified. These findings suggest that DENV-2 through DENV-2 E binds directly to a 48 kDa tubulin or tubulin-like protein of C6/36 mosquito cells

  16. Metastasis-inducing S100A4 protein is associated with the disease activity of rheumatoid arthritis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Oslejsková, Lucie; Grigorian, Mariam; Hulejová, Hana

    2009-01-01

    To evaluate the association between metastasis-inducing protein S100A4 and disease activity in patients with RA, and to demonstrate the effect of TNF-alpha blocking therapy on plasma levels of S100A4 in these patients.......To evaluate the association between metastasis-inducing protein S100A4 and disease activity in patients with RA, and to demonstrate the effect of TNF-alpha blocking therapy on plasma levels of S100A4 in these patients....

  17. Mannan-binding protein forms complexes with alpha-2-macroglobulin. A protein model for the interaction

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Storgaard, P; Holm Nielsen, E; Skriver, E

    1995-01-01

    We report that alpha-2-macroglobulin (alpha 2M) can form complexes with a high molecular weight porcine mannan-binding protein (pMBP-28). The alpha 2M/pMBP-28 complexes was isolated by PEG-precipitation and affinity chromatography on mannan-Sepharose, protein A-Sepharose and anti-IgM Sepharose......-PAGE, which reacted with antibodies against alpha 2M and pMBP-28, respectively, in Western blotting. Furthermore, alpha 2M/pMBP-28 complexes were demonstrated by electron microscopy. Fractionation of pMBP-containing D-mannose eluate from mannan-Sepharose on Superose 6 showed two protein peaks which reacted...... with anti-C1 s antibodies in ELISA, one of about 650-800 kDa, which in addition contained pMBP-28 and anti-alpha 2M reactive material, the other with an M(r) of 100-150 kDa. The latter peak revealed rhomboid molecules (7 x 15 nm) in the electron microscope and a 67 kDa band in SDS-PAGE under reducing...

  18. Identification and characterisation of the IgE-binding proteins 2S albumin and conglutin gamma in almond (Prunus dulcis) seeds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Poltronieri, P; Cappello, M S; Dohmae, N; Conti, A; Fortunato, D; Pastorello, E A; Ortolani, C; Zacheo, G

    2002-06-01

    Almond proteins can cause severe anaphylactic reactions in susceptible individuals. The aim of this study was the identification of IgE-binding proteins in almonds and the characterisation of these proteins by N-terminal sequencing. Five sera were selected from individuals with a positive reaction to food challenge. Sodium dodecylsulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and immunoblotting were performed on almond seed proteins. Purified IgE-binding proteins were tested for immunoblot inhibition with sera pre-incubated with extracts of hazelnut and walnut. N-terminal sequences of the 12-, 30- and 45-kD proteins were obtained. The 45- and 30-kD proteins shared the same N terminus, with 60% homology to the conglutin gamma heavy chain from lupine seed (Lupinus albus) and to basic 7S globulin from soybean (Glycine max). The sequences of the N-terminal 12-kD protein and of an internal peptide obtained by endoproteinase digestion showed good homology to 2S albumin from English walnut (Jug r 1). Immunoblot inhibition experiments were performed and IgE binding to almond 2S albumin and conglutin gamma was detected in the presence of cross-reacting walnut or hazelnut antigens. Two IgE-binding almond proteins were N-terminally sequenced and identified as almond 2S albumin and conglutin gamma. Localisation and conservation of IgE binding in a 6-kD peptide obtained by endoproteinase digestion of 2S albumin was shown. Copyright 2002 S. Karger AG, Basel

  19. Interaction between S100P and the anti-allergy drug cromolyn

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Penumutchu, Srinivasa R. [Department of Chemistry, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 30013, Taiwan (China); Chou, Ruey-Hwang [Graduate Institute of Cancer Biology and Center for Molecular Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung 404, Taiwan (China); Department of Biotechnology, Asia University, Taichung 413, Taiwan (China); Yu, Chin, E-mail: cyu.nthu@gmail.com [Department of Chemistry, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 30013, Taiwan (China); The Key Laboratory for Chemical Biology of Fujian Province, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005 (China)

    2014-11-21

    Highlights: • The interaction between S100P–cromolyn was investigated by fluorescence spectroscopy. • The interfacial residues on S100P and cromolyn contact surface were mapped by {sup 1}H-{sup 15}N HSQC experiments. • S100P–cromolyn complex model was generated from NMR restraints using HADDOCK program. • The stability of the S100P–cromolyn complex was studied using molecular dynamics simulations. - Abstract: The S100P protein has been known to mediate cell proliferation by binding the receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) to activate signaling pathways, such as the extracellular regulated kinase (ERK) and nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB) pathways. S100P/RAGE signaling is involved in a variety of diseases, such as cancer, metastasis, and diabetes. Cromolyn is an anti-allergy drug that binds S100P to block the interaction between S100P and RAGE. In the present study, we characterized the properties of the binding between cromolyn and calcium-bound S100P using various biophysical techniques. The binding affinity for S100P and cromolyn was measured to be in the millimolar range by fluorescence spectroscopy. NMR-HSQC titration experiments and HADDOCK modeling was employed to determine the spatial structure of the proposed heterotetramer model of the S100P–cromolyn complex. Additional MD simulation results revealed the important properties in the complex stability and conformational flexibility of the S100P–cromolyn complex. This proposed model has provided an understanding of the molecular level interactions of S100P–cromolyn complex.

  20. Shared CaM- and S100A1-binding epitopes in the distal TRPM4 N terminus

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Boušová, Kristýna; Heřman, P.; Večeř, J.; Bednárová, Lucie; Monincová, Lenka; Majer, Pavel; Vyklický, L.; Vondrášek, Jiří; Teisinger, J.

    2018-01-01

    Roč. 285, č. 3 (2018), s. 599-613 ISSN 1742-464X Institutional support: RVO:61388963 Keywords : calmodulin * fluorescence anisotropy * ligand-binding domains * S100A1 * TRPM4 channel Subject RIV: CE - Biochemistry OBOR OECD: Biochemistry and molecular biology Impact factor: 3.902, year: 2016

  1. Non-canonical binding interactions of the RNA recognition motif (RRM) domains of P34 protein modulate binding within the 5S ribonucleoprotein particle (5S RNP).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kamina, Anyango D; Williams, Noreen

    2017-01-01

    RNA binding proteins are involved in many aspects of RNA metabolism. In Trypanosoma brucei, our laboratory has identified two trypanosome-specific RNA binding proteins P34 and P37 that are involved in the maturation of the 60S subunit during ribosome biogenesis. These proteins are part of the T. brucei 5S ribonucleoprotein particle (5S RNP) and P34 binds to 5S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) and ribosomal protein L5 through its N-terminus and its RNA recognition motif (RRM) domains. We generated truncated P34 proteins to determine these domains' interactions with 5S rRNA and L5. Our analyses demonstrate that RRM1 of P34 mediates the majority of binding with 5S rRNA and the N-terminus together with RRM1 contribute the most to binding with L5. We determined that the consensus ribonucleoprotein (RNP) 1 and 2 sequences, characteristic of canonical RRM domains, are not fully conserved in the RRM domains of P34. However, the aromatic amino acids previously described to mediate base stacking interactions with their RNA target are conserved in both of the RRM domains of P34. Surprisingly, mutation of these aromatic residues did not disrupt but instead enhanced 5S rRNA binding. However, we identified four arginine residues located in RRM1 of P34 that strongly impact L5 binding. These mutational analyses of P34 suggest that the binding site for 5S rRNA and L5 are near each other and specific residues within P34 regulate the formation of the 5S RNP. These studies show the unique way that the domains of P34 mediate binding with the T. brucei 5S RNP.

  2. Classification of a Haemophilus influenzae ABC Transporter HI1470/71 through Its Cognate Molybdate Periplasmic Binding Protein, MolA

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tirado-Lee, Leidamarie; Lee, Allen; Rees, Douglas C.; Pinkett, Heather W. (CIT); (NWU)

    2014-10-02

    molA (HI1472) from H. influenzae encodes a periplasmic binding protein (PBP) that delivers substrate to the ABC transporter MolB{sub 2}C{sub 2} (formerly HI1470/71). The structures of MolA with molybdate and tungstate in the binding pocket were solved to 1.6 and 1.7 {angstrom} resolution, respectively. The MolA-binding protein binds molybdate and tungstate, but not other oxyanions such as sulfate and phosphate, making it the first class III molybdate-binding protein structurally solved. The {approx}100 {mu}M binding affinity for tungstate and molybdate is significantly lower than observed for the class II ModA molybdate-binding proteins that have nanomolar to low micromolar affinity for molybdate. The presence of two molybdate loci in H. influenzae suggests multiple transport systems for one substrate, with molABC constituting a low-affinity molybdate locus.

  3. Crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of the haem-binding protein HemS from Yersinia enterocolitica

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schneider, Sabine; Paoli, Massimo

    2005-01-01

    The haem binding protein HemS from Y. enterocolitica has been crystallized in complex with its ligand. The crystals diffracted X-rays to 2.6 Å in-house. Bacteria have evolved strategies to acquire iron from their environment. Pathogenic microbes rely on specialized proteins to ‘steal’ haem from their host and use it as an iron source. HemS is the ultimate recipient of a molecular-relay system for haem uptake in Gram-negative species, functioning as the cytosolic carrier of haem. Soluble expression and high-quality diffraction crystals were obtained for HemS from Yersinia enterocolitica. Crystals belong to the orthorhombic space group I222, with unit-cell parameters a = 74.86, b = 77.45, c = 114.09 Å, and diffract X-rays to 2.6 Å spacing in-house. Determination of the structure of the haem–HemS complex will reveal the molecular basis of haem binding

  4. Crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of the haem-binding protein HemS from Yersinia enterocolitica

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Schneider, Sabine; Paoli, Massimo, E-mail: max.paoli@nottingham.ac.uk [School of Pharmacy and Centre for Biomolecular Sciences, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD (United Kingdom)

    2005-08-01

    The haem binding protein HemS from Y. enterocolitica has been crystallized in complex with its ligand. The crystals diffracted X-rays to 2.6 Å in-house. Bacteria have evolved strategies to acquire iron from their environment. Pathogenic microbes rely on specialized proteins to ‘steal’ haem from their host and use it as an iron source. HemS is the ultimate recipient of a molecular-relay system for haem uptake in Gram-negative species, functioning as the cytosolic carrier of haem. Soluble expression and high-quality diffraction crystals were obtained for HemS from Yersinia enterocolitica. Crystals belong to the orthorhombic space group I222, with unit-cell parameters a = 74.86, b = 77.45, c = 114.09 Å, and diffract X-rays to 2.6 Å spacing in-house. Determination of the structure of the haem–HemS complex will reveal the molecular basis of haem binding.

  5. Quantitative characterization of conformational-specific protein-DNA binding using a dual-spectral interferometric imaging biosensor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Xirui; Daaboul, George G.; Spuhler, Philipp S.; Dröge, Peter; Ünlü, M. Selim

    2016-03-01

    not fully understood. Recently, it was discovered that DNA-binding proteins recognize specific binding sites to carry out their functions through an indirect readout mechanism by recognizing and capturing DNA conformational flexibility and deformation. High-throughput DNA microarray-based methods that provide large-scale protein-DNA binding information have shown effective and comprehensive analysis of protein-DNA binding affinities, but do not provide information of DNA conformational changes in specific protein-DNA complexes. Building on the high-throughput capability of DNA microarrays, we demonstrate a quantitative approach that simultaneously measures the amount of protein binding to DNA and nanometer-scale DNA conformational change induced by protein binding in a microarray format. Both measurements rely on spectral interferometry on a layered substrate using a single optical instrument in two distinct modalities. In the first modality, we quantitate the amount of binding of protein to surface-immobilized DNA in each DNA spot using a label-free spectral reflectivity technique that accurately measures the surface densities of protein and DNA accumulated on the substrate. In the second modality, for each DNA spot, we simultaneously measure DNA conformational change using a fluorescence vertical sectioning technique that determines average axial height of fluorophores tagged to specific nucleotides of the surface-immobilized DNA. The approach presented in this paper, when combined with current high-throughput DNA microarray-based technologies, has the potential to serve as a rapid and simple method for quantitative and large-scale characterization of conformational specific protein-DNA interactions. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: DNA sequences and nomenclature (Table 1S); SDS-PAGE assay of IHF stock solution (Fig. 1S); determination of the concentration of IHF stock solution by Bradford assay (Fig. 2S); equilibrium binding isotherm fitting

  6. Production and characterization of monoclonal antibodies that discriminate among individual S100 polypeptides

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Van Eldik, L.J.

    1984-01-01

    The term S100 refers to a heterogeneous fraction of low molecular weight, acidic, calcium binding proteins. The S100 fraction is a mixture of polypeptides, only some of which have been isolated and characterized. The amino acid sequences of two S100 proteins from bovine brain, S100α and S100β, have been determined. The physiological functions of the S100 proteins are not known. Although assay of immunoreactive S100 has been used clinically to screen tumors of neural origin, as an index of cell injury in various disorders, and as an index of malignancy, most of the antisera used in previous studies react with more than one protein in the S100 fraction. Even the currently available monoclonal antibodies against S100 (2-4) do not appear to measure the individual S100α and S100β components. In order to unequivocally interpret studies on the localization of S100 and its potential alterations in various disease states, and on the validity of S100 immunoreactivity as a diagnostic tool for tumor diagnosis, it would be useful to have antibodies that discriminate among the individual S100 components. The authors report here the production of monoclonal antibodies that appear to be specific for S100β

  7. Properties of Folate Binding Protein Purified from Cow’s Milk

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    SUBANDRATE

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available Folic acid played an important role in the metabolism of the body. To measure the serum folic acid levels could use the folate binding protein (FBP from cow’s milk with a technique analogous to ELISA. The aims of this study were to identify characteristics of FBP from cow’s milk and binding capacity of FBP to folic acid and to purify FBP from other whey protein passed through DEAE-cellulose chromatography column. Each of DEAE-cellulose peaks was passed in affinity chromatography column. FBP was released from affinity column with sodium acetate buffer pH 3.5. The purity of obtained FBP was demonstrated by a single spot in SDS-PAGE analysis and the estimated molecular weight of FBP was around 31 kDa. Our study indicated that 1 mol FBP bound 1 mol folic acid. Alkylation with iodoacetic acid decreased the binding capacity of FBP which suggested the presence of a–SH or imidazol group in its active site. The importance of disulfide bridge was proven by decreasing of folate binding capacity of FBP after -mercaptoethanol treatment. In contrary, the folate binding didn need Ca2+ ion, as indicated by EDTA test which gave the same result as control.

  8. Day/night changes in serum S100B protein concentrations in acute paranoid schizophrenia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morera-Fumero, Armando L; Díaz-Mesa, Estefanía; Abreu-Gonzalez, Pedro; Fernandez-Lopez, Lourdes; Cejas-Mendez, Maria Del Rosario

    2017-04-03

    There are day/night and seasonal changes in biological markers such as melatonin and cortisol. Controversial changes in serum S100B protein levels have been described in schizophrenia. We aim studying whether serum S100B levels present day/night variations in schizophrenia patients and whether S100B levels are related to psychopathology. Sixty-five paranoid schizophrenic inpatients participated in the study. Psychopathology was assessed with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) at admission and discharge. Blood was drawn at 12:00 (midday) and 00:00 (midnight) hours at admission and discharge. Sixty-five healthy subjects matched by age, gender and season acted as control group. At admission and discharge patients had significantly higher serum S100B concentrations at midday and midnight than healthy subjects. At admission, patients showed a day/night variation of S100B levels, with higher S100B levels at 12:00 than at 00:00h (143.7±26.3pg/ml vs. 96.9±16.6pg/ml). This day/night difference was not present in the control group. Midday and midnight S100B at admission decreased when compared to S100B at discharge (midday, 143.7±26.3 vs. 83.0±12, midnight 96.9±16.6 vs. 68.6±14.5). There was a positive correlation between the PANSS positive subscale and S100B concentrations at admission. This correlation was not present at discharge. acute paranoid schizophrenia inpatients present a day/night change of S100B serum levels at admission that disappears at discharge. The correlation between serum S100B concentrations and the PANSS positive scores at admission as well as the decrease of S100B at discharge may be interpreted as an acute biological response to the clinical state of the patients. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. Efficient inhibition of tumor angiogenesis and growth by a synthetic peptide blocking S100A4-methionine aminopeptidase 2 interaction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Takahiro Ochiya

    Full Text Available The prometastatic calcium-binding protein, S100A4, is expressed in endothelial cells, and its downregulation markedly suppresses tumor angiogenesis in a xenograft cancer model. Given that endothelial S100A4 can be a molecular target for inhibiting tumor angiogenesis, we addressed here whether synthetic peptide capable of blocking S100A4-effector protein interaction could be a novel antiangiogenic agent. To examine this hypothesis, we focused on the S100A4-binding domain of methionine aminopeptidase 2, an effector protein, which plays a role in endothelial cell growth. Overexpression of the domain in mouse endothelial MSS31 cells reduced DNA synthesis, and the corresponding synthetic peptide (named NBD indeed interacted with S100A4 and inhibited capillary formation in vitro and new blood vessel formation in vivo. Intriguingly, a single intra-tumor administration of the NBD peptide in human prostate cancer xenografts significantly reduced vascularity, resulting in tumor regression. Mechanistically, the NBD peptide enhanced assembly of nonmuscle myosin IIA filaments along with Ser1943 phosphorylation, stimulated formation of focal adhesions without phosphorylation of focal adhesion kinase, and provoked G1/S arrest of the cell cycle. Altogether, the NBD peptide is a potent inhibitor for tumor angiogenesis, and is the first example of an anticancer peptide drug developed on the basis of an endothelial S100A4-targeted strategy.

  10. Impact of S100A4 Expression on Clinicopathological Characteristics and Prognosis in Pancreatic Cancer: A Meta-Analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shanshan Huang

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Background. The small Ca2+-binding protein S100A4 is identified as a metastasis-associated or metastasis-inducing protein in various types of cancer. The goal of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the relationship between S100A4 expression and clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of patients with pancreatic cancer. Methods. A comprehensive literature search was carried out in the electronic databases PubMed and Chinese CNKI. Only the studies reporting the correlation between S100A4 expression and clinicopathological characteristics or overall survival (OS of patients with pancreatic cancer are enrolled. Extracted data was analyzed using the RevMan 5.3 software to calculate the pooled relative risks (95% confidence interval, CI for statistical analyses. Results. Seven studies including a total of 474 patients were enrolled into this meta-analysis. Negative expression of S100A4 was significantly associated with higher 3-year OS rate (RR = 3.92, 95% CI = 2.24–6.87, P<0.0001, compared to S100A4-positive cases. Moreover, negative expression of S100A4 was also related to N0 stage for lymph node metastasis (RR = 2.15, 95% CI = 1.60–2.88, P<0.0001. However, S100A4 expression was not significantly correlated with histological types and distant metastasis status. Conclusion. S100A4 expression represents a potential marker for lymph node metastasis of pancreatic cancer and a potential unfavorable factor for prognosis of patients with this disease.

  11. Detergent activation of the binding protein in the folate radioassay

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hansen, S.I.; Holm, J.; Lyngbye, J.

    1982-01-01

    A minor cow's whey protein associated with β-lactoglobulin is used as binding protein in the competitive radioassay for serum and erythrocyte folate. Seeking to optimize the assay, we tested the performance of binder solutions of increasing purity. The folate binding protein was isolated from cow's whey by means of CM-Sepharose CL-6B cation-exchange chromatography, and further purified on a methotrexate-AH-Sepharose 4B affinity matrix. In contrast to β-lactoglobulin, the purified protein did not bind folate unless the detergents cetyltrimethylammonium (10 mmol/Ll) or Triton X-100 (1 g/L) were present. Such detergent activation was not needed in the presence of serum. There seems to be a striking analogy between these phenomena and the well-known reactivation of certain purified membrane-derived enzymes by surfactants

  12. A study on antigenicity and receptor-binding ability of fragment 450-650 of the spike protein of SARS coronavirus

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhao Jincun; Wang Wei; Yuan Zhihong; Jia Rujing; Zhao Zhendong; Xu Xiaojun; Lv Ping; Zhang Yan; Jiang Chengyu; Gao Xiaoming

    2007-01-01

    The spike (S) protein of SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV) is responsible for viral binding with ACE2 molecules. Its receptor-binding motif (S-RBM) is located between residues 424 and 494, which folds into 2 anti-parallel β-sheets, β5 and β6. We have previously demonstrated that fragment 450-650 of the S protein (S450-650) is predominantly recognized by convalescent sera of SARS patients. The N-terminal 60 residues (450-510) of the S450-650 fragment covers the entire β6 strand of S-RBM. In the present study, we demonstrate that patient sera predominantly recognized 2 linear epitopes outside the β6 fragment, while the mouse antisera, induced by immunization of BALB/c mice with recombinant S450-650, mainly recognized the β6 strand-containing region. Unlike patient sera, however, the mouse antisera were unable to inhibit the infectivity of S protein-expressing (SARS-CoV-S) pseudovirus. Fusion protein between green fluorescence protein (GFP) and S450-650 (S450-650-GFP) was able to stain Vero E6 cells and deletion of the β6 fragment rendered the fusion product (S511-650-GFP) unable to do so. Similarly, recombinant S450-650, but not S511-650, was able to block the infection of Vero E6 cells by the SARS-CoV-S pseudovirus. Co-precipitation experiments confirmed that S450-650 was able to specifically bind with ACE2 molecules in lysate of Vero E6 cells. However, the ability of S450-510, either alone or in fusion with GFP, to bind with ACE2 was significantly poorer compared with S450-650. Our data suggest a possibility that, although the β6 strand alone is able to bind with ACE2 with relatively high affinity, residues outside the S-RBM could also assist the receptor binding of SARS-CoV-S protein

  13. Lead-Binding Proteins: A Review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Harvey C. Gonick

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Lead-binding proteins are a series of low molecular weight proteins, analogous to metallothionein, which segregate lead in a nontoxic form in several organs (kidney, brain, lung, liver, erythrocyte. Whether the lead-binding proteins in every organ are identical or different remains to be determined. In the erythrocyte, delta-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase (ALAD isoforms have commanded the greatest attention as proteins and enzymes that are both inhibitable and inducible by lead. ALAD-2, although it binds lead to a greater degree than ALAD-1, appears to bind lead in a less toxic form. What may be of greater significance is that a low molecular weight lead-binding protein, approximately 10 kDa, appears in the erythrocyte once blood lead exceeds 39 μg/dL and eventually surpasses the lead-binding capacity of ALAD. In brain and kidney of environmentally exposed humans and animals, a cytoplasmic lead-binding protein has been identified as thymosin β4, a 5 kDa protein. In kidney, but not brain, another lead-binding protein has been identified as acyl-CoA binding protein, a 9 kDa protein. Each of these proteins, when coincubated with liver ALAD and titrated with lead, diminishes the inhibition of ALAD by lead, verifying their ability to segregate lead in a nontoxic form.

  14. Binding site of ribosomal proteins on prokaryotic 5S ribonucleic acids: a study with ribonucleases

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Douthwaite, S; Christensen, A; Garrett, R A

    1982-01-01

    The binding sites of ribosomal proteins L18 and L25 on 5S RNA from Escherichia coli were probed with ribonucleases A, T1, and T2 and a double helix specific cobra venom endonuclease. The results for the protein-RNA complexes, which were compared with those for the free RNA [Douthwaite, S...... stearothermophilus 5S RNA. Several protein-induced changes in the RNA structures were identified; some are possibly allosteric in nature. The two prokaryotic 5S RNAs were also incubated with total 50S subunit proteins from E. coli and B. stearothermophilus ribosomes. Homologous and heterologous reconstitution....... stearothermophilus 5S RNA, which may have been due to a third ribosomal protein L5....

  15. Efficacy of antipsychotic agents at human 5-HT(1A) receptors determined by [3H]WAY100,635 binding affinity ratios: relationship to efficacy for G-protein activation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Newman-Tancredi, A; Verrièle, L; Touzard, M; Millan, M J

    2001-10-05

    5-HT(1A) receptors are implicated in the aetiology of schizophrenia. Herein, the influence of 15 antipsychotics on the binding of the selective 'neutral' antagonist, [3H]WAY100,635 ([3H]N-[2-[4-(2-methoxyphenyl)-1-piperazinyl]ethyl]-N-(2-pyridinyl)-cyclo-hexanecarboxamide), was examined at human 5-HT(1A) receptors expressed in Chinese Hamster Ovary cells. In competition binding experiments, 5-HT displayed biphasic isotherms which were shifted to the right in the presence of the G-protein uncoupling agent, GTPgammaS (100 microM). In analogy, the isotherms of ziprasidone, quetiapine and S16924 (((R-2-[1-[2-(2,3-dihydro-benzo[1,4]dioxin-5-yloxy)-ethyl]-pyrrolidin-3yl]-1-(4-fluoro-phenyl)-ethanone), were displaced to the right by GTPgammaS, consistent with agonist actions. Binding of several other antipsychotics, such as ocaperidone, olanzapine and risperidone, was little influenced by GTPgammaS. Isotherms of the neuroleptics, haloperidol, chlorpromazine and thioridazine were shifted to the left in the presence of GTPgammaS, suggesting inverse agonist properties. For most ligands, the magnitude of affinity changes induced by GTPgammaS (alteration in pK(i) values) correlated well with their previously determined efficacies in [35S]GTPgammaS binding studies [Eur. J. Pharmacol. 355 (1998) 245]. In contrast, the affinity of the 'atypical' antipsychotic agent, clozapine, which is a known partial agonist at 5-HT(1A) receptors, was less influenced by GTPgammaS. When the ratio of high-/low-affinity values was plotted against efficacy, hyperbolic isotherms were obtained, consistent with a modified ternary complex model which assumes that receptors can adopt active conformations in the absence of agonist. In conclusion, modulation of [3H]-WAY100,635 binding by GTPgammaS differentiated agonist vs. inverse agonist properties of antipsychotics at 5-HT(1A) receptors. These may contribute to differing profiles of antipsychotic activity.

  16. Single protein omission reconstitution studies of tetracycline binding to the 30S subunit of Escherichia coli ribosomes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Buck, M.; Cooperman, B.S.

    1990-01-01

    In previous work the authors showed that on photolysis of Escherichia coli ribosomes in the presence of [ 3 H]tetracycline (TC) the major protein labeled is S7, and they presented strong evidence that such labeling takes place from a high-affinity site related to the inhibitory action of TC. In this work they use single protein omission reconstitution (SPORE) experiments to identify those proteins that are important for high-affinity TC binding to the 30S subunit, as measured by both cosedimentation and filter binding assays. With respect to both sedimentation coefficients and relative Phe-tRNA Phe binding, the properties of the SPORE particles they obtain parallel very closely those measured earlier, with the exception of the SPORE particle lacking S13. A total of five proteins, S3, S7, S8, S14, and S19, are shown to be important for TC binding, with the largest effects seen on omission of proteins S7 and S14. Determination of the protein compositions of the corresponding SPORE particles demonstrates that the observed effects are, for the most part, directly attributable to the omission of the given protein rather than reflecting an indirect effect of omitting one protein on the uptake of another. A large body of evidence supports the notion that four of these proteins, S3, S7, S14, and S19, are included, along with 16S rRNA bases 920-1,396, in one of the major domains of the 30S subunit. The results support the conclusion that the structure of this domain is important for the binding of TC and that, within this domain, TC binds directly to S7

  17. CC1, a novel crenarchaeal DNA binding protein.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luo, Xiao; Schwarz-Linek, Uli; Botting, Catherine H; Hensel, Reinhard; Siebers, Bettina; White, Malcolm F

    2007-01-01

    The genomes of the related crenarchaea Pyrobaculum aerophilum and Thermoproteus tenax lack any obvious gene encoding a single-stranded DNA binding protein (SSB). SSBs are essential for DNA replication, recombination, and repair and are found in all other genomes across the three domains of life. These two archaeal genomes also have only one identifiable gene encoding a chromatin protein (the Alba protein), while most other archaea have at least two different abundant chromatin proteins. We performed a biochemical screen for novel nucleic acid binding proteins present in cell extracts of T. tenax. An assay for proteins capable of binding to a single-stranded DNA oligonucleotide resulted in identification of three proteins. The first protein, Alba, has been shown previously to bind single-stranded DNA as well as duplex DNA. The two other proteins, which we designated CC1 (for crenarchaeal chromatin protein 1), are very closely related to one another, and homologs are restricted to the P. aerophilum and Aeropyrum pernix genomes. CC1 is a 6-kDa, monomeric, basic protein that is expressed at a high level in T. tenax. This protein binds single- and double-stranded DNAs with similar affinities. These properties are consistent with a role for CC1 as a crenarchaeal chromatin protein.

  18. Insulin receptors mediate growth effects in cultured fetal neurons. II. Activation of a protein kinase that phosphorylates ribosomal protein S6

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Heidenreich, K.A.; Toledo, S.P.

    1989-01-01

    As an initial attempt to identify early steps in insulin action that may be involved in the growth responses of neurons to insulin, we investigated whether insulin receptor activation increases the phosphorylation of ribosomal protein S6 in cultured fetal neurons and whether activation of a protein kinase is involved in this process. When neurons were incubated for 2 h with 32Pi, the addition of insulin (100 ng/ml) for the final 30 min increased the incorporation of 32Pi into a 32K microsomal protein. The incorporation of 32Pi into the majority of other neuronal proteins was unaltered by the 30-min exposure to insulin. Cytosolic extracts from insulin-treated neurons incubated in the presence of exogenous rat liver 40S ribosomes and [gamma-32P]ATP displayed a 3- to 8-fold increase in the phosphorylation of ribosomal protein S6 compared to extracts from untreated cells. Inclusion of cycloheximide during exposure of the neurons to insulin did not inhibit the increased cytosolic kinase activity. Activation of S6 kinase activity by insulin was dose dependent (seen at insulin concentration as low as 0.1 ng/ml) and reached a maximum after 20 min of incubation. Addition of phosphatidylserine, diolein, and Ca2+ to the in vitro kinase reaction had no effect on the phosphorylation of ribosomal protein S6. Likewise, treatment of neurons with (Bu)2cAMP did not alter the phosphorylation of ribosomal protein S6 by neuronal cytosolic extracts. We conclude that insulin activates a cytosolic protein kinase that phosphorylates ribosomal S6 in neurons and is distinct from protein kinase-C and cAMP-dependent protein kinase. Stimulation of this kinase may play a role in insulin signal transduction in neurons

  19. Partial characterization of GTP-binding proteins in Neurospora

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hasunuma, K.; Miyamoto-Shinohara, Y.; Furukawa, K.

    1987-01-01

    Six fractions of GTP-binding proteins separated by gel filtration of a mycelial extract containing membrane components of Neurospora crassa were partially characterized. [ 35 S]GTP gamma S bound to GTP-binding protein was assayed by repeated treatments with a Norit solution and centrifugation. The binding of [ 35 S]GTP gamma S to GTP-binding proteins was competitively prevented in the presence of 0.1 to 1 mM GTP but not in the presence of ATP. These GTP-binding proteins fractionated by the gel column had Km values of 20, 7, 4, 4, 80 and 2 nM. All six fractions of these GTP-binding proteins showed the capacity to be ADP-ribosylated by pertussis toxin

  20. Genome-wide identification, sequence characterization, and protein-protein interaction properties of DDB1 (damaged DNA binding protein-1)-binding WD40-repeat family members in Solanum lycopersicum.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Yunye; Huang, Shengxiong; Miao, Min; Tang, Xiaofeng; Yue, Junyang; Wang, Wenjie; Liu, Yongsheng

    2015-06-01

    One hundred DDB1 (damaged DNA binding protein-1)-binding WD40-repeat domain (DWD) family genes were identified in the S. lycopersicum genome. The DWD genes encode proteins presumably functioning as the substrate recognition subunits of the cullin4-ring ubiquitin E3 ligase complex. These findings provide candidate genes and a research platform for further gene functionality and molecular breeding study. A subclass of DDB1 (damaged DNA binding protein-1)-binding WD40-repeat domain (DWD) family proteins has been demonstrated to function as the substrate recognition subunits of the cullin4-ring ubiquitin E3 ligase complex. However, little information is available about the cognate subfamily genes in tomato (S. lycopersicum). In this study, based on the recently released tomato genome sequences, 100 tomato genes encoding DWD proteins that potentially interact with DDB1 were identified and characterized, including analyses of the detailed annotations, chromosome locations and compositions of conserved amino acid domains. In addition, a phylogenetic tree, which comprises of three main groups, of the subfamily genes was constructed. The physical interaction between tomato DDB1 and 14 representative DWD proteins was determined by yeast two-hybrid and co-immunoprecipitation assays. The subcellular localization of these 14 representative DWD proteins was determined. Six of them were localized in both nucleus and cytoplasm, seven proteins exclusively in cytoplasm, and one protein either in nucleus and cytoplasm, or exclusively in cytoplasm. Comparative genomic analysis demonstrated that the expansion of these subfamily members in tomato predominantly resulted from two whole-genome triplication events in the evolution history.

  1. The PDZ Ligand Domain of the Human Papillomavirus Type 16 E6 Protein Is Required for E6's Induction of Epithelial Hyperplasia In Vivo

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nguyen, Marie L.; Nguyen, Minh M.; Lee, Denis; Griep, Anne E.; Lambert, Paul F.

    2003-01-01

    Human papillomaviruses (HPVs) are the causative agent of warts. Infections with high-risk HPVs are associated with anogenital and head and neck cancers. One of the viral genes responsible for HPV's oncogenic activity is E6. Mice expressing the HPV-16 E6 protein in their epidermis (K14E6WT) develop epithelial hyperplasia and squamous carcinomas. Numerous cellular proteins interact with E6, some of which can be grouped based on common amino acid motifs in their E6-binding domains. One such group, the PDZ partners, including hDLG, hSCRIBBLE, MUPP1, and MAGI, bind to the carboxy-terminal four amino acids of E6 through their PDZ domains. E6's interaction with the PDZ partners leads to their degradation. Additionally, E6's binding to PDZ proteins has been correlated with its ability to transform baby rat kidney cells in tissue culture and to confer tumorigenicity onto cells in xenograft experiments. To address whether the ability of E6 to bind PDZ domain partners is necessary for E6 to confer epithelial hyperproliferation in vivo, we generated transgenic mice that express in stratified squamous epithelia a mutant of E6 lacking the last six amino acids at its carboxyl terminus, E6Δ146-151, from the human keratin 14 (K14) promoter. The K14E6Δ146-151 mice exhibit a radiation response similar to that of the K14E6WT mice, demonstrating that this protein, as predicted, retains an ability to inactivate p53. However, the K14E6Δ146-151 mice fail to display epithelial hyperplasia. These results indicate that an interaction of E6 with PDZ partners is necessary for its induction of epithelial hyperplasia. PMID:12768014

  2. Protein Binding Capacity of Different Forages Tannin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yusiati, L. M.; Kurniawati, A.; Hanim, C.; Anas, M. A.

    2018-02-01

    Eight forages of tannin sources(Leucaena leucocephala, Arachis hypogaea, Mimosa pudica, Morus alba L, Swietenia mahagoni, Manihot esculenta, Gliricidia sepium, and Bauhinia purpurea)were evaluated their tannin content and protein binding capacity. The protein binding capacity of tannin were determined using precipitation of bovine serum albumin (BSA). Swietenia mahagonihas higest total tannin level and condensed tannin (CT) compared with other forages (P<0.01). The Leucaena leucocephala has highest hydrolysable tannin (HT) level (P<0.01). The total and condensed tannin content of Swietenia mahagoni were 11.928±0.04 mg/100 mg and 9.241±0.02mg/100mg dry matter (DM) of leaves. The hydrolysable tannin content of Leucaena leucocephala was 5.338±0.03 mg/100 mg DM of leaves. Binding capacity was highest in Swietenia mahagoni and Leucaena leucocephala compared to the other forages (P<0.01). The optimum binding of BSA to tannin in Leucaena leucocephala and Swietenia mahagoniwere1.181±0.44 and 1.217±0.60mg/mg dry matter of leaves. The present study reports that Swietenia mahagoni has highest of tannin content and Leucaena leucocephala and Swietenia mahagoni capacity of protein binding.

  3. Association of papillomavirus E6 proteins with either MAML1 or E6AP clusters E6 proteins by structure, function, and evolutionary relatedness.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nicole Brimer

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Papillomavirus E6 proteins bind to LXXLL peptide motifs displayed on targeted cellular proteins. Alpha genus HPV E6 proteins associate with the cellular ubiquitin ligase E6AP (UBE3A, by binding to an LXXLL peptide (ELTLQELLGEE displayed by E6AP, thereby stimulating E6AP ubiquitin ligase activity. Beta, Gamma, and Delta genera E6 proteins bind a similar LXXLL peptide (WMSDLDDLLGS on the cellular transcriptional co-activator MAML1 and thereby repress Notch signaling. We expressed 45 different animal and human E6 proteins from diverse papillomavirus genera to ascertain the overall preference of E6 proteins for E6AP or MAML1. E6 proteins from all HPV genera except Alpha preferentially interacted with MAML1 over E6AP. Among animal papillomaviruses, E6 proteins from certain ungulate (SsPV1 from pigs and cetacean (porpoises and dolphins hosts functionally resembled Alpha genus HPV by binding and targeting the degradation of E6AP. Beta genus HPV E6 proteins functionally clustered with Delta, Pi, Tau, Gamma, Chi, Mu, Lambda, Iota, Dyokappa, Rho, and Dyolambda E6 proteins to bind and repress MAML1. None of the tested E6 proteins physically and functionally interacted with both MAML1 and E6AP, indicating an evolutionary split. Further, interaction of an E6 protein was insufficient to activate degradation of E6AP, indicating that E6 proteins that target E6AP co-evolved to separately acquire both binding and triggering of ubiquitin ligase activation. E6 proteins with similar biological function clustered together in phylogenetic trees and shared structural features. This suggests that the divergence of E6 proteins from either MAML1 or E6AP binding preference is a major event in papillomavirus evolution.

  4. Crystallization and preliminary X-ray analysis of coagulation factor IX-binding protein from habu snake venom at pH 6.5 and 4.6

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Suzuki, Nobuhiro; Shikamoto, Yasuo; Fujimoto, Zui; Morita, Takashi; Mizuno, Hiroshi

    2004-01-01

    Crystals of habu coagulation factor IX-binding protein have been obtained at pH 6.5 and 4.6 and characterized by X-ray diffraction. Coagulation factor IX-binding protein isolated from Trimeresurus flavoviridis (IX-bp) is a C-type lectin-like protein. It is an anticoagulant protein consisting of homologous subunits A and B. The subunits both contain a Ca 2+ -binding site with differing affinity (K d values of 14 and 130 µM at pH 7.5). These binding characteristics are pH-dependent; under acidic conditions, the affinity of the low-affinity site was reduced considerably. In order to identify which site has high affinity and also to investigate the Ca 2+ -releasing mechanism, IX-bp was crystallized at pH 6.5 and 4.6. The crystals at pH 6.5 and 4.6 diffracted to 1.72 and 2.29 Å resolution, respectively; the former crystals belong to the monoclinic space group P2 1 , with unit-cell parameters a = 60.7, b = 63.5, c = 66.9 Å, β = 117.0°, while the latter belong to the monoclinic space group C2, with a = 134.1, b = 37.8, c = 55.8 Å, β = 110.4°

  5. New human erythrocyte protein with binding sites for both spectrin and calmodulin

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gardner, K.; Bennett, V.

    1986-01-01

    A new cytoskeletal protein that binds calmodulin has been purified to greater than 95% homogeneity from human erythrocyte cytoskeletons. The protein is a heterodimer with subunits of 103,000 and 97,000 and M/sub r/ = 197,000 calculated from its Stokes radius of 6.9 nm and sedimentation coefficient of 6.8. A binding affinity of this protein for calmodulin has been estimated to be 230 nM by displacement of two different concentrations of 125 I-azidocalmodulin with increasing concentrations of unmodified calmodulin followed by Dixon plot analysis. This protein is present in red cells at approximately 30,000 copies per cell and contains a very tight binding site(s) on cytoskeletons. The protein can be only partially solubilized from isolated cytoskeletons in buffers containing high salt, but can be totally solubilized from red cell ghost membranes by extraction in low ionic strength buffers. Affinity purified IgG against this calmodulin-binding protein identifies crossreacting polypeptide(s) in brain, kidney, testes and retina. Visualization of the calmodulin-binding protein by negative staining, rotary shadowing and unidirectional shadowing indicate that it is a flattened circular molecule with molecular height of 5.4 nm and a diameter of 12.4 nm. Preliminary cosedimentation studies with purified spectrin and F-actin indicate that the site of interaction of this calmodulin-binding protein with the cytoskeleton resides on spectrin

  6. Predicting the binding patterns of hub proteins: a study using yeast protein interaction networks.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carson M Andorf

    Full Text Available Protein-protein interactions are critical to elucidating the role played by individual proteins in important biological pathways. Of particular interest are hub proteins that can interact with large numbers of partners and often play essential roles in cellular control. Depending on the number of binding sites, protein hubs can be classified at a structural level as singlish-interface hubs (SIH with one or two binding sites, or multiple-interface hubs (MIH with three or more binding sites. In terms of kinetics, hub proteins can be classified as date hubs (i.e., interact with different partners at different times or locations or party hubs (i.e., simultaneously interact with multiple partners.Our approach works in 3 phases: Phase I classifies if a protein is likely to bind with another protein. Phase II determines if a protein-binding (PB protein is a hub. Phase III classifies PB proteins as singlish-interface versus multiple-interface hubs and date versus party hubs. At each stage, we use sequence-based predictors trained using several standard machine learning techniques.Our method is able to predict whether a protein is a protein-binding protein with an accuracy of 94% and a correlation coefficient of 0.87; identify hubs from non-hubs with 100% accuracy for 30% of the data; distinguish date hubs/party hubs with 69% accuracy and area under ROC curve of 0.68; and SIH/MIH with 89% accuracy and area under ROC curve of 0.84. Because our method is based on sequence information alone, it can be used even in settings where reliable protein-protein interaction data or structures of protein-protein complexes are unavailable to obtain useful insights into the functional and evolutionary characteristics of proteins and their interactions.We provide a web server for our three-phase approach: http://hybsvm.gdcb.iastate.edu.

  7. Role of p70S6K1-mediated phosphorylation of eIF4B and PDCD4 proteins in the regulation of protein synthesis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dennis, Michael D; Jefferson, Leonard S; Kimball, Scot R

    2012-12-14

    Modulation of mRNA binding to the 40 S ribosomal subunit during translation initiation controls not only global rates of protein synthesis but also regulates the pattern of protein expression by allowing for selective inclusion, or exclusion, of mRNAs encoding particular proteins from polysomes. The mRNA binding step is modulated by signaling through a protein kinase known as the mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1). mTORC1 directly phosphorylates the translational repressors eIF4E binding proteins (4E-BP) 1 and 2, releasing them from the mRNA cap binding protein eIF4E, thereby promoting assembly of the eIF4E·eIF4G complex. mTORC1 also phosphorylates the 70-kDa ribosomal protein S6 kinase 1 (p70S6K1), which subsequently phosphorylates eIF4B, and programmed cell death 4 (PDCD4), which sequesters eIF4A from the eIF4E·eIF4G complex, resulting in repressed translation of mRNAs with highly structured 5'-untranslated regions. In the present study, we compared the role of the 4E-BPs in the regulation of global rates of protein synthesis to that of eIF4B and PDCD4. We found that maintenance of eIF4E interaction with eIF4G was not by itself sufficient to sustain global rates of protein synthesis in the absence of mTORC1 signaling to p70S6K1; phosphorylation of both eIF4B and PDCD4 was additionally required. We also found that the interaction of eIF4E with eIF4G was maintained in the liver of fasted rats as well as in serum-deprived mouse embryo fibroblasts lacking both 4E-BP1 and 4E-BP2, suggesting that the interaction of eIF4G with eIF4E is controlled primarily through the 4E-BPs.

  8. The Scl1 protein of M6-type group A Streptococcus binds the human complement regulatory protein, factor H, and inhibits the alternative pathway of complement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Caswell, Clayton C; Han, Runlin; Hovis, Kelley M; Ciborowski, Pawel; Keene, Douglas R; Marconi, Richard T; Lukomski, Slawomir

    2008-02-01

    Non-specific activation of the complement system is regulated by the plasma glycoprotein factor H (FH). Bacteria can avoid complement-mediated opsonization and phagocytosis through acquiring FH to the cell surface. Here, we characterize an interaction between the streptococcal collagen-like protein Scl1.6 of M6-type group A Streptococcus (GAS) and FH. Using affinity chromatography with immobilized recombinant Scl1.6 protein, we co-eluted human plasma proteins with molecular weight of 155 kDa, 43 kDa and 38 kDa. Mass spectrometry identified the 155 kDa band as FH and two other bands as isoforms of the FH-related protein-1. The identities of all three bands were confirmed by Western immunoblotting with specific antibodies. Structure-function relation studies determined that the globular domain of the Scl1.6 variant specifically binds FH while fused to collagenous tails of various lengths. This binding is not restricted to Scl1.6 as the phylogenetically linked Scl1.55 variant also binds FH. Functional analyses demonstrated the cofactor activity of the rScl1.6-bound FH for factor I-mediated cleavage of C3b. Finally, purified FH bound to the Scl1.6 protein present in the cell wall material obtained from M6-type GAS. In conclusion, we have identified a functional interaction between Scl1 and plasma FH, which may contribute to GAS evasion of complement-mediated opsonization and phagocytosis.

  9. S100A8/A9 (Calprotectin), Interleukin-6, and C-Reactive Protein in Obesity and Diabetes before and after Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass Surgery

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lylloff, Louise; Bathum, Lise; Madsbad, Sten

    2017-01-01

    Background: In obesity, which is a major contributor to insulin resistance and diabetes, the circulating level of S100A8/A9 (calprotectin) is elevated and declines after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery (RYGB). However, studies on S100A8/A9 and the pathophysiological mechanisms in insulin...... resistance and diabetes are few and contradictory. Methods: We studied 48 subjects who underwent RYGB, comprising a non-diabetic control group and two diabetic groups in whom diabetes either regressed or persisted, 6-12 months post-surgically. S100A8/A9, interleukin 6 (IL-6) as well as other inflammatory...... and diabetes-related markers were measured pre- A nd post-surgically. Results: Significant and similar decreases of BMI were found in all groups. S100A8/A9 and IL-6 decreased significantly in the group with diabetes remission and in the control group, but not in the group with persistent diabetes. The relative...

  10. Generation and characterization of polyclonal antibodies specific to N-terminal extension of p85 isoform of ribosomal protein S6 kinase 1 (p85 S6K1

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Savinska L. O.

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available Aim. Generation of polyclonal antibodies specific to the ribosomal protein S6 kinase isoform – p85S6K1 and directed to the N-terminal (1–23 aa extension of p85S6K1. Methods. Animal immunization with synthetic (1–23 aa peptide, ELISA, Western blot, Immunoprecipitation, immunofluorescent analysis. Results. Polyclonal antibodies have been generated, which specifically recognize only p85 but not p70 isoform of S6K1 in western blot, immunoprecipitation and immunofluorescence analysis. Conclusions. The obtained antibodies can be recommended for studies on the p85S6K1 and other S6K1 isoforms possessing the N-terminal extension – the identification of binding protein partners, analysis of subcellular localization under different physiological conditions, elucidation of the signal transduction pathways involving different S6K1 isoforms.

  11. Protein S binding to human endothelial cells is required for expression of cofactor activity for activated protein C

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hackeng, T. M.; Hessing, M.; van 't Veer, C.; Meijer-Huizinga, F.; Meijers, J. C.; de Groot, P. G.; van Mourik, J. A.; Bouma, B. N.

    1993-01-01

    An important feedback mechanism in blood coagulation is supplied by the protein C/protein S anticoagulant pathway. In this study we demonstrate that the binding of human protein S to cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) is required for the expression of cofactor activity of

  12. Secretion of S100A8, S100A9, and S100A12 by Neutrophils Involves Reactive Oxygen Species and Potassium Efflux

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mélanie R. Tardif

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available S100A8/A9 (calprotectin and S100A12 proinflammatory mediators are found at inflammatory sites and in the serum of patients with inflammatory or autoimmune diseases. These cytoplasmic proteins are secreted by neutrophils at sites of inflammation via alternative secretion pathways of which little is known. This study examined the nature of the stimuli leading to S100A8/A9 and S100A12 secretion as well as the mechanism involved in this alternative secretion pathway. Chemotactic agents, cytokines, and particulate molecules were used to stimulate human neutrophils. MSU crystals, PMA, and H2O2 induced the release of S100A8, S100A9, and S100A12 homodimers, as well as S100A8/A9 heterodimer. High concentrations of S100A8/A9 and S100A12 were secreted in response to nanoparticles like MSU, silica, TiO2, fullerene, and single-wall carbon nanotubes as well as in response to microbe-derived molecules, such as zymosan or HKCA. However, neutrophils exposed to the chemotactic factors fMLP failed to secrete S100A8/A9 or S100A12. Secretion of S100A8/A9 was dependent on the production of reactive oxygen species and required K+ exchanges through the ATP-sensitive K+ channel. Altogether, these findings suggest that S100A12 and S100A8/A9 are secreted independently either via distinct mechanisms of secretion or following the activation of different signal transduction pathways.

  13. Sensitization of interferon-γ induced apoptosis in human osteosarcoma cells by extracellular S100A4

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pedersen, Kjetil Boye; Andersen, Kristin; Fodstad, Øystein; Mælandsmo, Gunhild Mari

    2004-01-01

    S100A4 is a small Ca 2+ -binding protein of the S100 family with metastasis-promoting properties. Recently, secreted S100A4 protein has been shown to possess a number of functions, including induction of angiogenesis, stimulation of cell motility and neurite extension. Cell cultures from two human osteosarcoma cell lines, OHS and its anti-S100A4 ribozyme transfected counterpart II-11b, was treated with IFN-γ and recombinant S100A4 in order to study the sensitizing effects of extracellular S100A4 on IFN-γ mediated apoptosis. Induction of apoptosis was demonstrated by DNA fragmentation, cleavage of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase and Lamin B. In the present work, we found that the S100A4-expressing human osteosarcoma cell line OHS was more sensitive to IFN-γ-mediated apoptosis than the II-11b cells. S100A4 protein was detected in conditioned medium from OHS cells, but not from II-11b cells, and addition of recombinant S100A4 to the cell medium sensitized II-11b cells to apoptosis induced by IFN-γ. The S100A4/IFN-γ-mediated induction of apoptosis was shown to be independent of caspase activation, but dependent on the formation of reactive oxygen species. Furthermore, addition of extracellular S100A4 was demonstrated to activate nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB). In conclusion, we have shown that S100A4 sensitizes osteosarcoma cells to IFN-γ-mediated induction of apoptosis. Additionally, extracellular S100A4 activates NF-κB, but whether these events are causally related remains unknown

  14. S100A8/A9 is not involved in host defense against murine urinary tract infection.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mark C Dessing

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Inflammation is commonly followed by the release of endogenous proteins called danger associated molecular patterns (DAMPs that are able to warn the host for eminent danger. S100A8/A9 subunits are DAMPs that belong to the S100 family of calcium binding proteins. S100A8/A9 complexes induce an inflammatory response and their expression correlates with disease severity in several inflammatory disorders. S100A8/A9 promote endotoxin- and Escherichia (E. coli-induced sepsis showing its contribution in systemic infection. The role of S100A8/A9 during a local infection of the urinary tract system caused by E. coli remains unknown. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We investigated the contribution of S100A8/A9 in acute urinary tract infection (UTI by instilling 2 different doses of uropathogenic E. coli transurethrally in wild type (WT and S100A9 knockout (KO mice. Subsequently, we determined bacterial outgrowth, neutrophilic infiltrate and inflammatory mediators in bladder and kidney 24 and 48 hours later. UTI resulted in a substantial increase of S100A8/A9 protein in bladder and kidney tissue of WT mice. S100A9 KO mice displayed similar bacterial load in bladder or kidney homogenate compared to WT mice using 2 different doses at 2 different time points. S100A9 deficiency had little effect on the inflammatory responses to E. Coli-induced UTI infection, as assessed by myeloperoxidase activity in bladder and kidneys, histopathologic analysis, and renal and bladder cytokine concentrations. CONCLUSIONS: We show that despite high S100A8/A9 expression in bladder and kidney tissue upon UTI, S100A8/A9 does not contribute to an effective host response against E. Coli in the urinary tract system.

  15. Predicting protein-binding RNA nucleotides with consideration of binding partners.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tuvshinjargal, Narankhuu; Lee, Wook; Park, Byungkyu; Han, Kyungsook

    2015-06-01

    In recent years several computational methods have been developed to predict RNA-binding sites in protein. Most of these methods do not consider interacting partners of a protein, so they predict the same RNA-binding sites for a given protein sequence even if the protein binds to different RNAs. Unlike the problem of predicting RNA-binding sites in protein, the problem of predicting protein-binding sites in RNA has received little attention mainly because it is much more difficult and shows a lower accuracy on average. In our previous study, we developed a method that predicts protein-binding nucleotides from an RNA sequence. In an effort to improve the prediction accuracy and usefulness of the previous method, we developed a new method that uses both RNA and protein sequence data. In this study, we identified effective features of RNA and protein molecules and developed a new support vector machine (SVM) model to predict protein-binding nucleotides from RNA and protein sequence data. The new model that used both protein and RNA sequence data achieved a sensitivity of 86.5%, a specificity of 86.2%, a positive predictive value (PPV) of 72.6%, a negative predictive value (NPV) of 93.8% and Matthews correlation coefficient (MCC) of 0.69 in a 10-fold cross validation; it achieved a sensitivity of 58.8%, a specificity of 87.4%, a PPV of 65.1%, a NPV of 84.2% and MCC of 0.48 in independent testing. For comparative purpose, we built another prediction model that used RNA sequence data alone and ran it on the same dataset. In a 10 fold-cross validation it achieved a sensitivity of 85.7%, a specificity of 80.5%, a PPV of 67.7%, a NPV of 92.2% and MCC of 0.63; in independent testing it achieved a sensitivity of 67.7%, a specificity of 78.8%, a PPV of 57.6%, a NPV of 85.2% and MCC of 0.45. In both cross-validations and independent testing, the new model that used both RNA and protein sequences showed a better performance than the model that used RNA sequence data alone in

  16. S100B protein, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, and glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor in human milk.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ruisong Li

    Full Text Available Human milk contains a wide variety of nutrients that contribute to the fulfillment of its functions, which include the regulation of newborn development. However, few studies have investigated the concentrations of S100B protein, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF, and glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF in human milk. The associations of the concentrations of S100B protein, BDNF, and GDNF with maternal factors are not well explored.To investigate the concentrations of S100B protein, BDNF, and GDNF in human milk and characterize the maternal factors associated with their levels in human milk, human milk samples were collected at days 3, 10, 30, and 90 after parturition. Levels of S100B protein, BDNF, and GDNF, and their mRNAs in the samples were detected. Then, these concentrations were compared with lactation and other maternal factors. S100B protein levels in human milk samples collected at 3, 10, 30, and 90 d after parturition were 1249.79±398.10, 1345.05±539.16, 1481.83±573.30, and 1414.39±621.31 ng/L, respectively. On the other hand, the BDNF concentrations in human milk samples were 10.99±4.55, 13.01±5.88, 13.35±6.43, and 2.83±5.47 µg/L, while those of GDNF were 10.90±1.65, 11.38±1., 11.29±3.10, and 11.40±2.21 g/L for the same time periods. Maternal post-pregnancy body mass index was positively associated with S100B levels in human milk (r = 0.335, P = 0.030<0.05. In addition, there was a significant correlation between the levels of S100B protein and BDNF (z = 2.09, P = 0.037<0.05. Delivery modes were negatively associated with the concentration of GDNF in human milk.S100B protein, BDNF, and GDNF are present in all samples of human milk, and they may be responsible for the long term effects of breast feeding.

  17. Detection and properties of A-factor-binding protein from Streptomyces griseus

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Miyake, K.; Horinouchi, S.; Yoshida, M.; Chiba, N.; Mori, K.; Nogawa, N.; Morikawa, N.; Beppu, T.

    1989-01-01

    The optically active form of tritium-labeled A-factor (2-isocapryloyl-3R-hydroxymethyl-gamma-butyrolactone), a pleiotropic autoregulator responsible for streptomycin production, streptomycin resistance, and sporulation in Streptomyces griseus, was chemically synthesized. By using the radioactive A-factor, a binding protein for A-factor was detected in the cytoplasmic fraction of this organism. The binding protein had an apparent molecular weight of approximately 26,000, as determined by gel filtration. Scatchard analysis suggested that A-factor bound the protein in the molar ratio of 1:1 with a binding constant, Kd, of 0.7 nM. The number of the binding protein was roughly estimated to be 37 per genome. The inducing material virginiae butanolide C (VB-C), which has a structure very similar to that of A-factor and is essential for virginiamycin production in Streptomyces virginiae, did not inhibit binding. In addition, no protein capable of specifically binding 3 H-labeled VB-C was found in S. griseus. Together with the observation that VB-C had almost no biological activity on the restoration of streptomycin production or sporulation in an A-factor-deficient mutant of S. griseus, these results indicated that the binding protein had a strict ligand specificity. Examination for an A-factor-binding protein in Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2) and Streptomyces lividans showed the absence of any specifically binding protein

  18. AtMBD6, a methyl CpG binding domain protein, maintains gene ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    DNA methylation, mediated by double-stranded RNA, is a conserved epigenetic phenomenon that protects a genome fromtransposons, silences unwanted genes and has a paramount function in plant or animal development. Methyl CpG bindingdomain proteins are members of a class of proteins that bind tomethylated ...

  19. Expression and divalent cation binding properties of the novel chemotactic inflammatory protein psoriasin

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Vorum, H; Madsen, Peder; Rasmussen, H H

    1996-01-01

    Psoriasin is a novel chemotactic inflammatory protein that possesses weak similarity to the S100 family members of Ca(2+)-binding proteins, and that is highly up-regulated in hyperproliferative psoriatic keratinocytes. Here we have used the psoriasin cDNA to express recombinant human (rh) psorias...

  20. Identification of the G13 (cAMP-response-element-binding protein-related protein) gene product related to activating transcription factor 6 as a transcriptional activator of the mammalian unfolded protein response.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haze, K; Okada, T; Yoshida, H; Yanagi, H; Yura, T; Negishi, M; Mori, K

    2001-04-01

    Eukaryotic cells control the levels of molecular chaperones and folding enzymes in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) by a transcriptional induction process termed the unfolded protein response (UPR). The mammalian UPR is mediated by the cis-acting ER stress response element consisting of 19 nt (CCAATN(9)CCACG), the CCACG part of which is considered to provide specificity. We recently identified the basic leucine zipper (bZIP) protein ATF6 as a mammalian UPR-specific transcription factor; ATF6 is activated by ER stress-induced proteolysis and binds directly to CCACG. Here we report that eukaryotic cells express another bZIP protein closely related to ATF6 in both structure and function. This protein encoded by the G13 (cAMP response element binding protein-related protein) gene is constitutively synthesized as a type II transmembrane glycoprotein anchored in the ER membrane and processed into a soluble form upon ER stress as occurs with ATF6. The proteolytic processing of ATF6 and the G13 gene product is accompanied by their relocation from the ER to the nucleus; their basic regions seem to function as a nuclear localization signal. Overexpression of the soluble form of the G13 product constitutively activates the UPR, whereas overexpression of a mutant lacking the activation domain exhibits a strong dominant-negative effect. Furthermore, the soluble forms of ATF6 and the G13 gene product are unable to bind to several point mutants of the cis-acting ER stress response element in vitro that hardly respond to ER stress in vivo. We thus concluded that the two related bZIP proteins are crucial transcriptional regulators of the mammalian UPR, and propose calling the ATF6 gene product ATF6alpha and the G13 gene product ATF6beta.

  1. The amphiphilic peptide adenoregulin enhances agonist binding to A1-adenosine receptors and [35S]GTP gamma S to brain membranes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moni, R W; Romero, F S; Daly, J W

    1995-08-01

    1. Adenoregulin is an amphilic peptide isolated from skin mucus of the tree frog, Phyllomedusa bicolor. Synthetic adenoregulin enhanced the binding of agonists to several G-protein-coupled receptors in rat brain membranes. 2. The maximal enhancement of agonist binding, and in parentheses, the concentration of adenoregulin affording maximal enhancement were as follows: 60% (20 microM) for A1-adenosine receptors, 30% (100 microM) for A2a-adenosine receptors, 20% (2 microM) for alpha 2-adrenergic receptors, and 30% (10 microM) for 5HT1A receptors. High affinity agonist binding for A1-, alpha 2-, and 5HT1A-receptors was virtually abolished by GTP gamma S in the presence of adenoregulin, but was only partially abolished in its absence. Magnesium ions increased the binding of agonists to receptors and reduced the enhancement elicited by adenoregulin. 3. The effect of adenoregulin on binding of N6-cyclohexyladenosine ([3H]CHA) to A1-receptors was relatively slow and was irreversible. Adenoregulin increased the Bmax value for [3H]CHA binding sites, and the proportion of high affinity states, and slowed the rate of [3H]CHA dissociation. Binding of the A1-selective antagonist, [3H]DPCPX, was maximally enhanced by only 13% at 2 microM adenoregulin. Basal and A1-adenosine receptor-stimulated binding of [35S]GTP gamma S were maximally enhanced 45% and 23%, respectively, by 50 microM adenoregulin. In CHAPS-solubilized membranes from rat cortex, the binding of both [3H]CHA and [3H]DPCPX were enhanced by adenoregulin. Binding of [3H]CHA to membranes from DDT1 MF-2 cells was maximally enhanced 17% at 20 microM adenoregulin. In intact DDT1 MF-2 cells, 20 microM adenoregulin did not potentiate the inhibition of cyclic AMP accumulation mediated via the adenosine A1 receptor. 4. It is proposed that adenoregulin enhances agonist binding through a mechanism involving enhancement of guanyl nucleotide exchange at G-proteins, resulting in a conversion of receptors into a high affinity state

  2. The Inflammation-Related Gene S100A12 Is Positively Regulated by C/EBPβ and AP-1 in Pigs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xinyun Li

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available S100A12 is involved in the inflammatory response and is considered an important marker for many inflammatory diseases in humans. Our previous studies indicated that the S100A12 gene was abundant in the immune tissues of pigs and was significantly upregulated during infection with Haemophilus parasuis (HPS or porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2. In this study, the mechanism of transcriptional regulation of S100A12 was investigated in pigs. Our results showed that S100A12, CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein beta (C/EBPβ and activator protein-1 (AP-1 genes were up-regulated in PK-15 (ATCC, CCL-33 cells when treated with LPS or Poly I: C. Additionally, the promoter activity and expression level of the S100A12 gene were significantly upregulated when C/EBPβ or AP-1 were overexpressed. We utilized electromobility shift assays (EMSA to confirm that C/EBPβ and AP-1 could directly bind the S100A12 gene promoter. We also found that the transcriptional activity and expression levels of C/EBPβ and AP-1 could positively regulate each other. Furthermore, the promoter activity of the S100A12 gene was higher when C/EBPβ and AP-1 were cotransfected than when they were transfected individually. We concluded that the S100A12 gene was cooperatively and positively regulated by C/EBPβ and AP-1 in pigs. Our study offers new insight into the transcriptional regulation of the S100A12 gene.

  3. Epstein-Barr virus-encoded EBNA-5 binds to Epstein-Barr virus-induced Fte1/S3a protein

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kashuba, Elena; Yurchenko, Mariya; Szirak, Krisztina; Stahl, Joachim; Klein, George; Szekely, Laszlo

    2005-01-01

    Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) transforms resting human B cells into immortalized immunoblasts. EBV-encoded nuclear antigens EBNA-5 (also called EBNA-LP) is one of the earliest viral proteins expressed in freshly infected B cells. We have recently shown that EBNA-5 binds p14ARF, a nucleolar protein that regulates the p53 pathway. Here, we report the identification of another protein with partially nucleolar localization, the v-fos transformation effector Fte-1 (Fte-1/S3a), as an EBNA-5 binding partner. In transfected cells, Fte-1/S3a and EBNA-5 proteins showed high levels of colocalization in extranucleolar inclusions. Fte-1/S3a has multiple biological functions. It enhances v-fos-mediated cellular transformation and is part of the small ribosomal subunit. It also interacts with the transcriptional factor CHOP and apoptosis regulator poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP). Fte-1/S3a is regularly expressed at high levels in both tumors and cancer cell lines. Its high expression favors the maintenance of malignant phenotype and undifferentiated state, whereas its down-regulation is associated with cellular differentiation and growth arrest. Here, we show that EBV-induced B cell transformation leads to the up-regulation of Fte-1/S3a. We suggest that EBNA-5 through binding may influence the growth promoting, differentiation inhibiting, or apoptosis regulating functions of Fte-1/S3a

  4. The Extracellular Heme-binding Protein HbpS from the Soil Bacterium Streptomyces reticuli Is an Aquo-cobalamin Binder*

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ortiz de Orué Lucana, Darío; Fedosov, Sergey N.; Wedderhoff, Ina; Che, Edith N.; Torda, Andrew E.

    2014-01-01

    The extracellular protein HbpS from Streptomyces reticuli interacts with iron ions and heme. It also acts in concert with the two-component sensing system SenS-SenR in response to oxidative stress. Sequence comparisons suggested that the protein may bind a cobalamin. UV-visible spectroscopy confirmed binding (Kd = 34 μm) to aquo-cobalamin (H2OCbl+) but not to other cobalamins. Competition experiments with the H2OCbl+-coordinating ligand CN− and comparison of mutants identified a histidine residue (His-156) that coordinates the cobalt ion of H2OCbl+ and substitutes for water. HbpS·Cobalamin lacks the Asp-X-His-X-X-Gly motif seen in some cobalamin binding enzymes. Preliminary tests showed that a related HbpS protein from a different species also binds H2OCbl+. Furthermore, analyses of HbpS-heme binding kinetics are consistent with the role of HbpS as a heme-sensor and suggested a role in heme transport. Given the high occurrence of HbpS-like sequences among Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, our findings suggest a great functional versatility among these proteins. PMID:25342754

  5. The binding affinity of a soluble TCR-Fc fusion protein is significantly improved by crosslinkage with an anti-C{beta} antibody

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ozawa, Tatsuhiko; Horii, Masae; Kobayashi, Eiji [Department of Immunology, Graduate School of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Toyama, 2630 Sugitani, Toyama 930-0194 (Japan); Jin, Aishun [Department of Immunology, Graduate School of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Toyama, 2630 Sugitani, Toyama 930-0194 (Japan); Department of Immunology, College of Basic Medical Sciences, Harbin Medical University, 157 Baojian Road, Nangang District, Harbin 150081 (China); Kishi, Hiroyuki, E-mail: immkishi@med.u-toyama.ac.jp [Department of Immunology, Graduate School of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Toyama, 2630 Sugitani, Toyama 930-0194 (Japan); Muraguchi, Atsushi [Department of Immunology, Graduate School of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Toyama, 2630 Sugitani, Toyama 930-0194 (Japan)

    2012-06-01

    Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer A novel soluble TCR composed of TCR V and C regions with Ig Fc region is generated. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer TCR-Fc protein immobilized by an anti-C{beta} antibody bound to a p/MHC tetramer. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Binding affinity of TCR-Fc was markedly increased by binding with anti-C{beta} antibody. -- Abstract: The identification and cloning of tumor antigen-specific T cell receptors (TCRs) and the production of the soluble form of the TCR (sTCR) contributed to the development of diagnostic and therapeutic tools for cancer. Recently, several groups have reported the development of technologies for the production of sTCRs. The native sTCR has a very low binding affinity for the antigenic peptide/MHC (p/MHC) complex. In this study, we established a technology to produce high affinity, functional sTCRs. We generated a novel sTCR-Fc fusion protein composed of the TCR V and C regions of the TCR linked to the immunoglobulin (Ig) Fc region. A Western blot analysis revealed that the molecular weight of the fusion protein was approximately 60 kDa under reducing conditions and approximately 100-200 kDa under non-reducing conditions. ELISAs using various antibodies showed that the structure of each domain of the TCR-Fc protein was intact. The TCR-Fc protein immobilized by an anti-C{beta} antibody effectively bound to a p/MHC tetramer. An SPR analysis showed that the TCR-Fc protein had a low binding affinity (KD; 1.1 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -5} M) to the p/MHC monomer. Interestingly, when the TCR-Fc protein was pre-incubated with an anti-C{beta} antibody, its binding affinity for p/MHC increased by 5-fold (2.2 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -6} M). We demonstrated a novel method for constructing a functional soluble TCR using the Ig Fc region and showed that the binding affinity of the functional sTCR-Fc was markedly increased by an anti-C{beta} antibody, which is probably due to the stabilization of the V

  6. Electrostatics, structure prediction, and the energy landscapes for protein folding and binding.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsai, Min-Yeh; Zheng, Weihua; Balamurugan, D; Schafer, Nicholas P; Kim, Bobby L; Cheung, Margaret S; Wolynes, Peter G

    2016-01-01

    While being long in range and therefore weakly specific, electrostatic interactions are able to modulate the stability and folding landscapes of some proteins. The relevance of electrostatic forces for steering the docking of proteins to each other is widely acknowledged, however, the role of electrostatics in establishing specifically funneled landscapes and their relevance for protein structure prediction are still not clear. By introducing Debye-Hückel potentials that mimic long-range electrostatic forces into the Associative memory, Water mediated, Structure, and Energy Model (AWSEM), a transferable protein model capable of predicting tertiary structures, we assess the effects of electrostatics on the landscapes of thirteen monomeric proteins and four dimers. For the monomers, we find that adding electrostatic interactions does not improve structure prediction. Simulations of ribosomal protein S6 show, however, that folding stability depends monotonically on electrostatic strength. The trend in predicted melting temperatures of the S6 variants agrees with experimental observations. Electrostatic effects can play a range of roles in binding. The binding of the protein complex KIX-pKID is largely assisted by electrostatic interactions, which provide direct charge-charge stabilization of the native state and contribute to the funneling of the binding landscape. In contrast, for several other proteins, including the DNA-binding protein FIS, electrostatics causes frustration in the DNA-binding region, which favors its binding with DNA but not with its protein partner. This study highlights the importance of long-range electrostatics in functional responses to problems where proteins interact with their charged partners, such as DNA, RNA, as well as membranes. © 2015 The Protein Society.

  7. Glucose-6-phosphate mediates activation of the carbohydrate responsive binding protein (ChREBP)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li, Ming V.; Chen, Weiqin; Harmancey, Romain N.; Nuotio-Antar, Alli M.; Imamura, Minako; Saha, Pradip; Taegtmeyer, Heinrich; Chan, Lawrence

    2010-01-01

    Carbohydrate response element binding protein (ChREBP) is a Mondo family transcription factor that activates a number of glycolytic and lipogenic genes in response to glucose stimulation. We have previously reported that high glucose can activate the transcriptional activity of ChREBP independent of the protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A)-mediated increase in nuclear entry and DNA binding. Here, we found that formation of glucose-6-phosphate (G-6-P) is essential for glucose activation of ChREBP. The glucose response of GAL4-ChREBP is attenuated by D-mannoheptulose, a potent hexokinase inhibitor, as well as over-expression of glucose-6-phosphatase (G6Pase); kinetics of activation of GAL4-ChREBP can be modified by exogenously expressed GCK. Further metabolism of G-6-P through the two major glucose metabolic pathways, glycolysis and pentose-phosphate pathway, is not required for activation of ChREBP; over-expression of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) diminishes, whereas RNAi knockdown of the enzyme enhances, the glucose response of GAL4-ChREBP, respectively. Moreover, the glucose analogue 2-deoxyglucose (2-DG), which is phosphorylated by hexokinase, but not further metabolized, effectively upregulates the transcription activity of ChREBP. In addition, over-expression of phosphofructokinase (PFK) 1 and 2, synergistically diminishes the glucose response of GAL4-ChREBP. These multiple lines of evidence support the conclusion that G-6-P mediates the activation of ChREBP.

  8. DNA-repair protein hHR23a alters its protein structure upon binding proteasomal subunit S5a

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walters, Kylie J.; Lech, Patrycja J.; Goh, Amanda M.; Wang, Qinghua; Howley, Peter M.

    2003-01-01

    The Rad23 family of proteins, including the human homologs hHR23a and hHR23b, stimulates nucleotide excision repair and has been shown to provide a novel link between proteasome-mediated protein degradation and DNA repair. In this work, we illustrate how the proteasomal subunit S5a regulates hHR23a protein structure. By using NMR spectroscopy, we have elucidated the structure and dynamic properties of the 40-kDa hHR23a protein and show it to contain four structured domains connected by flexible linker regions. In addition, we reveal that these domains interact in an intramolecular fashion, and by using residual dipolar coupling data in combination with chemical shift perturbation analysis, we present the hHR23a structure. By itself, hHR23a adopts a closed conformation defined by the interaction of an N-terminal ubiquitin-like domain with two ubiquitin-associated domains. Interestingly, binding of the proteasomal subunit S5a disrupts the hHR23a interdomain interactions and thereby causes it to adopt an opened conformation. PMID:14557549

  9. Crystal structure and conformational flexibility of the unligated FK506-binding protein FKBP12.6

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chen, Hui; Mustafi, Sourajit M. [New York State Department of Health, Empire State Plaza, Albany, NY 12201 (United States); LeMaster, David M. [New York State Department of Health, Empire State Plaza, Albany, NY 12201 (United States); University at Albany – SUNY, Empire State Plaza, Albany, NY 12201 (United States); Li, Zhong [New York State Department of Health, Empire State Plaza, Albany, NY 12201 (United States); Héroux, Annie [Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973 (United States); Li, Hongmin; Hernández, Griselda, E-mail: griselda@wadsworth.org [New York State Department of Health, Empire State Plaza, Albany, NY 12201 (United States); University at Albany – SUNY, Empire State Plaza, Albany, NY 12201 (United States)

    2014-03-01

    Two crystal forms of unligated FKBP12.6 exhibit multiple conformations in the active site and in the 80s loop, the primary site for known protein-recognition interactions. The previously unreported NMR backbone assignment of FKBP12.6 revealed extensive doubling of amide resonances, which reflects a slow conformational transition centered in the 80s loop. The primary known physiological function of FKBP12.6 involves its role in regulating the RyR2 isoform of ryanodine receptor Ca{sup 2+} channels in cardiac muscle, pancreatic β islets and the central nervous system. With only a single previously reported X-ray structure of FKBP12.6, bound to the immunosuppressant rapamycin, structural inferences for this protein have been drawn from the more extensive studies of the homologous FKBP12. X-ray structures at 1.70 and 1.90 Å resolution from P2{sub 1} and P3{sub 1}21 crystal forms are reported for an unligated cysteine-free variant of FKBP12.6 which exhibit a notable diversity of conformations. In one monomer from the P3{sub 1}21 crystal form, the aromatic ring of Phe59 at the base of the active site is rotated perpendicular to its typical orientation, generating a steric conflict for the immunosuppressant-binding mode. The peptide unit linking Gly89 and Val90 at the tip of the protein-recognition ‘80s loop’ is flipped in the P2{sub 1} crystal form. Unlike the >30 reported FKBP12 structures, the backbone conformation of this loop closely follows that of the first FKBP domain of FKBP51. The NMR resonances for 21 backbone amides of FKBP12.6 are doubled, corresponding to a slow conformational transition centered near the tip of the 80s loop, as recently reported for 31 amides of FKBP12. The comparative absence of doubling for residues along the opposite face of the active-site pocket in FKBP12.6 may in part reflect attenuated structural coupling owing to increased conformational plasticity around the Phe59 ring.

  10. Scientific Opinion on the safety and suitability for use by infants of follow-on formulae with a protein content of at least 1.6 g/100 kcal

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sjödin, Anders Mikael

    2017-01-01

    Following a request from the European Commission, the EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies (NDA) was asked to deliver a scientific opinion on the safety and suitability for use by infants of follow-on formulae (FOF) based on cow’s milk intact protein with a protein content...... of at least 1.6 g/100 kcal (rounded value) that meet otherwise the requirements of relevant EU legislation. If the formula under evaluation is considered to be safe and suitable for use by infants, the NDA Panel is also asked to advise on whether FOF based on goat’s milk intact protein, soy protein isolates...... legislation is safe and suitable for healthy infants living in Europe with an intake of complementary foods of a sufficient quality. This conclusion does not apply to infant formula (IF). The Panel also concludes that the safety and suitability of FOF with a protein content of at least 1.6 g/100 kcal...

  11. Evidence for glycosylation on a DNA-binding protein of Salmonella enterica

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Almeida Igor C

    2007-04-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background All organisms living under aerobic atmosphere have powerful mechanisms that confer their macromolecules protection against oxygen reactive species. Microorganisms have developed biomolecule-protecting systems in response to starvation and/or oxidative stress, such as DNA biocrystallization with Dps (DNA-binding protein from starved cells. Dps is a protein that is produced in large amounts when the bacterial cell faces harm, which results in DNA protection. In this work, we evaluated the glycosylation in the Dps extracted from Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium. This Dps was purified from the crude extract as an 18-kDa protein, by means of affinity chromatography on an immobilized jacalin column. Results The N-terminal sequencing of the jacalin-bound protein revealed 100% identity with the Dps of S. enterica serovar Typhimurium. Methyl-alpha-galactopyranoside inhibited the binding of Dps to jacalin in an enzyme-linked lectin assay, suggesting that the carbohydrate recognition domain (CRD of jacalin is involved in the interaction with Dps. Furthermore, monosaccharide compositional analysis showed that Dps contained mannose, glucose, and an unknown sugar residue. Finally, jacalin-binding Dps was detected in larger amounts during the bacterial earlier growth periods, whereas high detection of total Dps was verified throughout the bacterial growth period. Conclusion Taken together, these results indicate that Dps undergoes post-translational modifications in the pre- and early stationary phases of bacterial growth. There is also evidence that a small mannose-containing oligosaccharide is linked to this bacterial protein.

  12. Localization of S-100 proteins in the testis and epididymis of poultry and rabbits

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abd-Elmaksoud, Ahmed; Marei, Hany E. S.

    2014-01-01

    The present investigation was conducted to demonstrate S-100 protein in the testis and epididymis of adult chickens, Sudani ducks, pigeons, and rabbits. This study may represent the first indication for the presence of S-100 in the male reproductive organs of these species and might therefore serve as a milestone for further reports. In the testis of chickens, pigeons and rabbits, intense S-100 was seen in Sertoli cells. S-100 was also seen in the endothelial lining of blood vessels in rabbit testis. On the contrary, no S-100 reaction was detected in the Sertoli cells of Sudani ducks. In epididymis, the localization of S-100 had varied according to species studied; it was seen in the basal cells (BC) of epididymal duct in duck, non-ciliated cells of the distal efferent ductules in pigeons and ciliated cells of the efferent ductules and BC of rabbit epididymis. Conversely, S-100 specific staining was not detected in the epithelial lining of the rooster and pigeon epididymal duct as well as the principal cells of the rabbit epididymis. In conclusion, the distribution of the S-100 proteins in the testis and epididymis might point out to its roles in the male reproduction. PMID:25276477

  13. Retinoid-binding proteins: similar protein architectures bind similar ligands via completely different ways.

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    Yu-Ru Zhang

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Retinoids are a class of compounds that are chemically related to vitamin A, which is an essential nutrient that plays a key role in vision, cell growth and differentiation. In vivo, retinoids must bind with specific proteins to perform their necessary functions. Plasma retinol-binding protein (RBP and epididymal retinoic acid binding protein (ERABP carry retinoids in bodily fluids, while cellular retinol-binding proteins (CRBPs and cellular retinoic acid-binding proteins (CRABPs carry retinoids within cells. Interestingly, although all of these transport proteins possess similar structures, the modes of binding for the different retinoid ligands with their carrier proteins are different. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In this work, we analyzed the various retinoid transport mechanisms using structure and sequence comparisons, binding site analyses and molecular dynamics simulations. Our results show that in the same family of proteins and subcellular location, the orientation of a retinoid molecule within a binding protein is same, whereas when different families of proteins are considered, the orientation of the bound retinoid is completely different. In addition, none of the amino acid residues involved in ligand binding is conserved between the transport proteins. However, for each specific binding protein, the amino acids involved in the ligand binding are conserved. The results of this study allow us to propose a possible transport model for retinoids. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our results reveal the differences in the binding modes between the different retinoid-binding proteins.

  14. Inflammation and pancreatic cancer: molecular and functional interactions between S100A8, S100A9, NT-S100A8 and TGFβ1.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Basso, Daniela; Bozzato, Dania; Padoan, Andrea; Moz, Stefania; Zambon, Carlo-Federico; Fogar, Paola; Greco, Eliana; Scorzeto, Michele; Simonato, Francesca; Navaglia, Filippo; Fassan, Matteo; Pelloso, Michela; Dupont, Sirio; Pedrazzoli, Sergio; Fassina, Ambrogio; Plebani, Mario

    2014-03-26

    In order to gain further insight on the crosstalk between pancreatic cancer (PDAC) and stromal cells, we investigated interactions occurring between TGFβ1 and the inflammatory proteins S100A8, S100A9 and NT-S100A8, a PDAC-associated S100A8 derived peptide, in cell signaling, intracellular calcium (Cai2+) and epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT). NF-κB, Akt and mTOR pathways, Cai2+ and EMT were studied in well (Capan1 and BxPC3) and poorly differentiated (Panc1 and MiaPaCa2) cell lines. NT-S100A8, one of the low molecular weight N-terminal peptides from S100A8 to be released by PDAC-derived proteases, shared many effects on NF-κB, Akt and mTOR signaling with S100A8, but mainly with TGFβ1. The chief effects of S100A8, S100A9 and NT-S100A8 were to inhibit NF-κB and stimulate mTOR; the molecules inhibited Akt in Smad4-expressing, while stimulated Akt in Smad4 negative cells. By restoring Smad4 expression in BxPC3 and silencing it in MiaPaCa2, S100A8 and NT-S100A8 were shown to inhibit NF-κB and Akt in the presence of an intact TGFβ1 canonical signaling pathway. TGFβ1 counteracted S100A8, S100A9 and NT-S100A8 effects in Smad4 expressing, not in Smad4 negative cells, while it synergized with NT-S100A8 in altering Cai2+ and stimulating PDAC cell growth. The effects of TGFβ1 on both EMT (increased Twist and decreased N-Cadherin expression) and Cai2+ were antagonized by S100A9, which formed heterodimers with TGFβ1 (MALDI-TOF/MS and co-immuno-precipitation). The effects of S100A8 and S100A9 on PDAC cell signaling appear to be cell-type and context dependent. NT-S100A8 mimics the effects of TGFβ1 on cell signaling, and the formation of complexes between TGFβ1 with S100A9 appears to be the molecular mechanism underlying the reciprocal antagonism of these molecules on cell signaling, Cai2+ and EMT.

  15. S100A9 interaction with TLR4 promotes tumor growth.

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    Eva Källberg

    Full Text Available By breeding TRAMP mice with S100A9 knock-out (S100A9(-/- animals and scoring the appearance of palpable tumors we observed a delayed tumor growth in animals devoid of S100A9 expression. CD11b(+ S100A9 expressing cells were not observed in normal prostate tissue from control C57BL/6 mice but were readily detected in TRAMP prostate tumors. Also, S100A9 expression was observed in association with CD68(+ macrophages in biopsies from human prostate tumors. Delayed growth of TRAMP tumors was also observed in mice lacking the S100A9 ligand TLR4. In the EL-4 lymphoma model tumor growth inhibition was observed in S100A9(-/- and TLR4(-/-, but not in RAGE(-/- animals lacking an alternative S100A9 receptor. When expression of immune-regulating genes was analyzed using RT-PCR the only common change observed in mice lacking S100A9 and TLR4 was a down-regulation of TGFβ expression in splenic CD11b(+ cells. Lastly, treatment of mice with a small molecule (ABR-215050 that inhibits S100A9 binding to TLR4 inhibited EL4 tumor growth. Thus, S100A9 and TLR4 appear to be involved in promoting tumor growth in two different tumor models and pharmacological inhibition of S100A9-TLR4 interactions is a novel and promising target for anti-tumor therapies.

  16. S100A9 Interaction with TLR4 Promotes Tumor Growth

    Science.gov (United States)

    Källberg, Eva; Vogl, Thomas; Liberg, David; Olsson, Anders; Björk, Per; Wikström, Pernilla; Bergh, Anders; Roth, Johannes; Ivars, Fredrik; Leanderson, Tomas

    2012-01-01

    By breeding TRAMP mice with S100A9 knock-out (S100A9−/−) animals and scoring the appearance of palpable tumors we observed a delayed tumor growth in animals devoid of S100A9 expression. CD11b+ S100A9 expressing cells were not observed in normal prostate tissue from control C57BL/6 mice but were readily detected in TRAMP prostate tumors. Also, S100A9 expression was observed in association with CD68+ macrophages in biopsies from human prostate tumors. Delayed growth of TRAMP tumors was also observed in mice lacking the S100A9 ligand TLR4. In the EL-4 lymphoma model tumor growth inhibition was observed in S100A9−/− and TLR4−/−, but not in RAGE−/− animals lacking an alternative S100A9 receptor. When expression of immune-regulating genes was analyzed using RT-PCR the only common change observed in mice lacking S100A9 and TLR4 was a down-regulation of TGFβ expression in splenic CD11b+ cells. Lastly, treatment of mice with a small molecule (ABR-215050) that inhibits S100A9 binding to TLR4 inhibited EL4 tumor growth. Thus, S100A9 and TLR4 appear to be involved in promoting tumor growth in two different tumor models and pharmacological inhibition of S100A9-TLR4 interactions is a novel and promising target for anti-tumor therapies. PMID:22470535

  17. Fragment-based quantum mechanical calculation of protein-protein binding affinities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Yaqian; Liu, Jinfeng; Li, Jinjin; He, Xiao

    2018-04-29

    The electrostatically embedded generalized molecular fractionation with conjugate caps (EE-GMFCC) method has been successfully utilized for efficient linear-scaling quantum mechanical (QM) calculation of protein energies. In this work, we applied the EE-GMFCC method for calculation of binding affinity of Endonuclease colicin-immunity protein complex. The binding free energy changes between the wild-type and mutants of the complex calculated by EE-GMFCC are in good agreement with experimental results. The correlation coefficient (R) between the predicted binding energy changes and experimental values is 0.906 at the B3LYP/6-31G*-D level, based on the snapshot whose binding affinity is closest to the average result from the molecular mechanics/Poisson-Boltzmann surface area (MM/PBSA) calculation. The inclusion of the QM effects is important for accurate prediction of protein-protein binding affinities. Moreover, the self-consistent calculation of PB solvation energy is required for accurate calculations of protein-protein binding free energies. This study demonstrates that the EE-GMFCC method is capable of providing reliable prediction of relative binding affinities for protein-protein complexes. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  18. A structural classification of substrate-binding proteins

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Berntsson, Ronnie P. -A.; Smits, Sander H. J.; Schmitt, Lutz; Slotboom, Dirk-Jan; Poolman, Bert

    2010-01-01

    Substrate-binding proteins (SBP) are associated with a wide variety of protein complexes. The proteins are part of ATP-binding cassette transporters for substrate uptake, ion gradient driven transporters, DNA-binding proteins, as well as channels and receptors from both pro-and eukaryotes. A wealth

  19. Bacterial periplasmic sialic acid-binding proteins exhibit a conserved binding site

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gangi Setty, Thanuja [Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, NCBS Campus, GKVK Post, Bangalore, Karnataka 560 065 (India); Cho, Christine [Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242-1109 (United States); Govindappa, Sowmya [Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, NCBS Campus, GKVK Post, Bangalore, Karnataka 560 065 (India); Apicella, Michael A. [Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242-1109 (United States); Ramaswamy, S., E-mail: ramas@instem.res.in [Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, NCBS Campus, GKVK Post, Bangalore, Karnataka 560 065 (India)

    2014-07-01

    Structure–function studies of sialic acid-binding proteins from F. nucleatum, P. multocida, V. cholerae and H. influenzae reveal a conserved network of hydrogen bonds involved in conformational change on ligand binding. Sialic acids are a family of related nine-carbon sugar acids that play important roles in both eukaryotes and prokaryotes. These sialic acids are incorporated/decorated onto lipooligosaccharides as terminal sugars in multiple bacteria to evade the host immune system. Many pathogenic bacteria scavenge sialic acids from their host and use them for molecular mimicry. The first step of this process is the transport of sialic acid to the cytoplasm, which often takes place using a tripartite ATP-independent transport system consisting of a periplasmic binding protein and a membrane transporter. In this paper, the structural characterization of periplasmic binding proteins from the pathogenic bacteria Fusobacterium nucleatum, Pasteurella multocida and Vibrio cholerae and their thermodynamic characterization are reported. The binding affinities of several mutations in the Neu5Ac binding site of the Haemophilus influenzae protein are also reported. The structure and the thermodynamics of the binding of sugars suggest that all of these proteins have a very well conserved binding pocket and similar binding affinities. A significant conformational change occurs when these proteins bind the sugar. While the C1 carboxylate has been identified as the primary binding site, a second conserved hydrogen-bonding network is involved in the initiation and stabilization of the conformational states.

  20. Bacterial periplasmic sialic acid-binding proteins exhibit a conserved binding site

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gangi Setty, Thanuja; Cho, Christine; Govindappa, Sowmya; Apicella, Michael A.; Ramaswamy, S.

    2014-01-01

    Structure–function studies of sialic acid-binding proteins from F. nucleatum, P. multocida, V. cholerae and H. influenzae reveal a conserved network of hydrogen bonds involved in conformational change on ligand binding. Sialic acids are a family of related nine-carbon sugar acids that play important roles in both eukaryotes and prokaryotes. These sialic acids are incorporated/decorated onto lipooligosaccharides as terminal sugars in multiple bacteria to evade the host immune system. Many pathogenic bacteria scavenge sialic acids from their host and use them for molecular mimicry. The first step of this process is the transport of sialic acid to the cytoplasm, which often takes place using a tripartite ATP-independent transport system consisting of a periplasmic binding protein and a membrane transporter. In this paper, the structural characterization of periplasmic binding proteins from the pathogenic bacteria Fusobacterium nucleatum, Pasteurella multocida and Vibrio cholerae and their thermodynamic characterization are reported. The binding affinities of several mutations in the Neu5Ac binding site of the Haemophilus influenzae protein are also reported. The structure and the thermodynamics of the binding of sugars suggest that all of these proteins have a very well conserved binding pocket and similar binding affinities. A significant conformational change occurs when these proteins bind the sugar. While the C1 carboxylate has been identified as the primary binding site, a second conserved hydrogen-bonding network is involved in the initiation and stabilization of the conformational states

  1. The monoclonal S9.6 antibody exhibits highly variable binding affinities towards different R-loop sequences.

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    Fabian König

    Full Text Available The monoclonal antibody S9.6 is a widely-used tool to purify, analyse and quantify R-loop structures in cells. A previous study using the surface plasmon resonance technology and a single-chain variable fragment (scFv of S9.6 showed high affinity (0.6 nM for DNA-RNA and also a high affinity (2.7 nM for RNA-RNA hybrids. We used the microscale thermophoresis method allowing surface independent interaction studies and electromobility shift assays to evaluate additional RNA-DNA hybrid sequences and to quantify the binding affinities of the S9.6 antibody with respect to distinct sequences and their GC-content. Our results confirm high affinity binding to previously analysed sequences, but reveals that binding affinities are highly sequence specific. Our study presents R-loop sequences that independent of GC-content and in different sequence variations exhibit either no binding, binding affinities in the micromolar range and as well high affinity binding in the nanomolar range. Our study questions the usefulness of the S9.6 antibody in the quantitative analysis of R-loop sequences in vivo.

  2. Correlation between Amitriptyline-Induced Cardiotoxic Effects and Cardiac S100b Protein in Isolated Rat Hearts

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nil Hocaoğlu

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Background: Amitriptyline is an important cause of mortality due to its cardiovascular toxicity. Aims: To investigate the changes in levels of cardiac S100b protein on amitriptyline-induced cardiotoxicity and also to examine the correlation between amitriptyline-induced cardiotoxic effects and cardiac S100b protein in an isolated rat heart model. Study Design: Animal experimentation, isolated heart model. Methods: After a stabilization period, isolated hearts were randomized to two groups (n=5 and n=7. In the control group, isolated hearts were subjected to an infusion of 5% dextrose for 60 minutes. In the amitriptyline group, 5.5×10-5 M amitriptyline was infused for 60 minutes to achieve amitriptyline toxicity. After the infusion period, heart tissues were removed for histological examination. Results: In comparison to control treatment, amitriptyline infusion decreased left ventricular developed pressure (LVDP, dp/dtmax and heart rate (HR and significantly prolonged QRS duration (p<0.05. The semiquantitative scores for S100b protein levels in amitriptyline-infused hearts were higher than in the control group (p<0.01. At the end of the experiment, in the amitriptyline-infused group, significant correlations were found between LVDP and S100b protein scores (r=-0.807, p=0.003 and between QRS duration and S100b protein scores (r=0.859, p=0.001. Conclusion: Our results indicate that the S100b protein may be a helpful indicator or biomarker in studying the cardiotoxic effects of amitriptyline.

  3. S100A8 and S100A9 are messengers in the crosstalk between epidermis and dermis modulating a psoriatic milieu in human skin

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    Lee, Young; Jang, Sunhyae [Department of Dermatology, College of Medicine, Chungnam National University, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Min, Jeong-Ki; Lee, Kyungmin [Immunotherapy Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Department of Biomolecular Science, University of Science and Technology, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Sohn, Kyung-Cheol [Department of Dermatology, College of Medicine, Chungnam National University, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Lim, Jong-Soon [College of Oriental Medicine, Daejeon University, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Im, Myung; Lee, Hae-Eul; Seo, Young-Joon; Kim, Chang-Deok [Department of Dermatology, College of Medicine, Chungnam National University, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Jeung-Hoon, E-mail: jhoon@cnu.ac.kr [Department of Dermatology, College of Medicine, Chungnam National University, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

    2012-07-13

    Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Upregulated S100A8 and/or S100A9 in psoriasis epidermis induce cytokine production. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Upregulated S100A8 and/or S100A9 in psoriasis epidermis induce migration of immune cells. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Upregulated S100A8 and/or S100A9 in psoriasis epidermis induce angiogenesis. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer S100A8 and/or S100A9 may play a role in the crosstalk between epidermis and dermis in psoriasis. -- Abstract: S100A8 and S100A9 are members of the S100A8 protein family that exist as homodimers and heterodimers in neutrophils, monocytes, and macrophages. Recent studies have shown the pivotal roles of S100A8 and S100A9 in the propagation of inflammation and keratinocyte proliferation in psoriasis. We found significant up-regulation of S100A8 and S100A9 secretion from keratinocytes in psoriatic lesions. To mimic the in vivo secretory conditions of S100A8 and S100A9 from psoriatic epidermal keratinocytes, we used the culture medium (CM) of S100A8 and S100A8/A9 adenovirus-transduced keratinocytes to investigate the functions of S100A8 and S100A9. We detected increased levels of various pro-inflammatory cytokines in the CM, including IL-8 and TNF-{alpha}, which are involved in aggravating psoriatic skin lesions, and IL-6 and members of the CXCL family of pro-angiogenic cytokines. The CM increased immune cell migration and increased angiogenesis in human umbilical vein endothelial cells. In conclusion, we found that the upregulated production of S100A8 and S100A9 by psoriatic epidermal keratinocytes activated adjacent keratinocytes to produce several cytokines. Moreover, S100A8 and S100A9 themselves function as pro-angiogenic and chemotactic factors, generating a psoriatic milieu in skin.

  4. S100A8 and S100A9 are messengers in the crosstalk between epidermis and dermis modulating a psoriatic milieu in human skin

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Young; Jang, Sunhyae; Min, Jeong-Ki; Lee, Kyungmin; Sohn, Kyung-Cheol; Lim, Jong-Soon; Im, Myung; Lee, Hae-Eul; Seo, Young-Joon; Kim, Chang-Deok; Lee, Jeung-Hoon

    2012-01-01

    Highlights: ► Upregulated S100A8 and/or S100A9 in psoriasis epidermis induce cytokine production. ► Upregulated S100A8 and/or S100A9 in psoriasis epidermis induce migration of immune cells. ► Upregulated S100A8 and/or S100A9 in psoriasis epidermis induce angiogenesis. ► S100A8 and/or S100A9 may play a role in the crosstalk between epidermis and dermis in psoriasis. -- Abstract: S100A8 and S100A9 are members of the S100A8 protein family that exist as homodimers and heterodimers in neutrophils, monocytes, and macrophages. Recent studies have shown the pivotal roles of S100A8 and S100A9 in the propagation of inflammation and keratinocyte proliferation in psoriasis. We found significant up-regulation of S100A8 and S100A9 secretion from keratinocytes in psoriatic lesions. To mimic the in vivo secretory conditions of S100A8 and S100A9 from psoriatic epidermal keratinocytes, we used the culture medium (CM) of S100A8 and S100A8/A9 adenovirus-transduced keratinocytes to investigate the functions of S100A8 and S100A9. We detected increased levels of various pro-inflammatory cytokines in the CM, including IL-8 and TNF-α, which are involved in aggravating psoriatic skin lesions, and IL-6 and members of the CXCL family of pro-angiogenic cytokines. The CM increased immune cell migration and increased angiogenesis in human umbilical vein endothelial cells. In conclusion, we found that the upregulated production of S100A8 and S100A9 by psoriatic epidermal keratinocytes activated adjacent keratinocytes to produce several cytokines. Moreover, S100A8 and S100A9 themselves function as pro-angiogenic and chemotactic factors, generating a psoriatic milieu in skin.

  5. [Protein kinase A inhibitor H-89 blocks polyploidization of SP600125-induced CMK cells by regulating phosphorylation of ribosomal protein S6 kinase 1].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, Song; Yang, Jingang; Li, Changling; Xing, Sining; Yu, Ying; Liu, Shuo; Pu, Feifei; Ma, Dongchu

    2016-10-01

    Objective To investigate the regulatory effect of post-translation modification of ribosomal protein S6 kinase 1 (S6K1) on the polyploidization of megakaryocytes. Methods SP600125, a c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) inhibitor, and H-89, a cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) inhibitor, were used to treat CMK cells separately or in combination. With propidium iodide (PI) to dye DNA in the treated cells, the relative DNA content was detected by flow cytometry, and then the DNA polyploidy was analyzed. The change of expression and phosphorylation of ribosomal protein S6 kinase 1 (S6K1), an important mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) downstream target molecule, was analyzed by Western blotting. Molecular docking study and kinase activity assay were performed to analyze the combination of H-89 with S6K1 and the effect of H-89 on the activity of S6K1 kinase. Results SP600125 induced CMK cell polyploidization in a time-dependent and dose-dependent manner. At the same time, it increased the phosphorylation of S6K1 at Thr421/Ser424 and decreased the phosphorylation of S6K1 at Thr389. H-89 not only blocked polyploidization, but also decreased the phosphorylation of S6K1 at Thr421/Ser424 and increased the phosphorylation of S6K1 at Thr389. Molecular docking and kinase activity assay showed that H-89 occupied the ATP binding sites of S6K1 and inhibited its activity. Noticeably, both H-89 and SP600125 inhibited the activity of PKA. Moreover, the two drugs further inhibited the activity of PKA when used together. Therefore, these data indicated that H-89 blocked the SP600125-induced polyploidization of CMK cells mainly by changing S6K1 phosphorylation state, rather than its inhibitory effect on PKA. Conclusion H-89 can block the polyploidization of SP600125-induced CMK cells by regulating S6K1 phosphorylation state.

  6. Interaction of an S100A9 gene variant with saturated fat and carbohydrates to modulate insulin resistance in 3 populations of different ancestries

    Science.gov (United States)

    BACKGROUND: S100 calcium binding protein A9 (S100A9) has previously been identified as a type 2 diabetes (T2D) gene. However, this finding requires independent validation and more in depth analyses in other populations and ancestries. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to replicate the associations between an S10...

  7. Immunohistochemical localization of anterior pituitary hormones in S-100 protein-positive cells in the rat pituitary gland.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kikuchi, Motoshi; Yatabe, Megumi; Tando, Yukiko; Yashiro, Takashi

    2011-09-01

    In the anterior and intermediate lobes of the rat pituitary gland, non-hormone-producing cells that express S-100 protein coexist with various types of hormone-producing cells and are believed to function as phagocytes, supporting and paracrine-controlling cells of hormone-producing cells and stem cells, among other functions; however, their cytological characteristics are not yet fully understood. Using a transgenic rat that expresses green fluorescent protein under the promoter of the S100β protein gene, we immunohistochemically detected expression of the luteinizing hormone, thyroid-stimulating hormone, prolactin, growth hormone and proopiomelanocortin by S-100 protein-positive cells located between clusters of hormone-producing cells in the intermediate lobe. These findings lend support to the hypothesis that S-100 protein-positive cells are capable of differentiating into hormone-producing cells in the adult rat pituitary gland.

  8. Structure of a C-terminal AHNAK peptide in a 1:2:2 complex with S100A10 and an acetylated N-terminal peptide of annexin A2

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ozorowski, Gabriel; Milton, Saskia; Luecke, Hartmut

    2013-01-01

    Structure of a 20-amino-acid peptide of AHNAK bound asymmetrically to the AnxA2–S100A10A heterotetramer (1:2:2 symmetry) provides insights into the atomic level interactions that govern this membrane-repair scaffolding complex. AHNAK, a large 629 kDa protein, has been implicated in membrane repair, and the annexin A2–S100A10 heterotetramer [(p11) 2 (AnxA2) 2 )] has high affinity for several regions of its 1002-amino-acid C-terminal domain. (p11) 2 (AnxA2) 2 is often localized near the plasma membrane, and this C2-symmetric platform is proposed to be involved in the bridging of membrane vesicles and trafficking of proteins to the plasma membrane. All three proteins co-localize at the intracellular face of the plasma membrane in a Ca 2+ -dependent manner. The binding of AHNAK to (p11) 2 (AnxA2) 2 has been studied previously, and a minimal binding motif has been mapped to a 20-amino-acid peptide corresponding to residues 5654–5673 of the AHNAK C-terminal domain. Here, the 2.5 Å resolution crystal structure of this 20-amino-acid peptide of AHNAK bound to the AnxA2–S100A10 heterotetramer (1:2:2 symmetry) is presented, which confirms the asymmetric arrangement first described by Rezvanpour and coworkers and explains why the binding motif has high affinity for (p11) 2 (AnxA2) 2 . Binding of AHNAK to the surface of (p11) 2 (AnxA2) 2 is governed by several hydrophobic interactions between side chains of AHNAK and pockets on S100A10. The pockets are large enough to accommodate a variety of hydrophobic side chains, allowing the consensus sequence to be more general. Additionally, the various hydrogen bonds formed between the AHNAK peptide and (p11) 2 (AnxA2) 2 most often involve backbone atoms of AHNAK; as a result, the side chains, particularly those that point away from S100A10/AnxA2 towards the solvent, are largely interchangeable. While the structure-based consensus sequence allows interactions with various stretches of the AHNAK C-terminal domain, comparison

  9. Factors Affecting the Binding of a Recombinant Heavy Metal-Binding Domain (CXXC motif Protein to Heavy Metals

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kamala Boonyodying

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available A number of heavy metal-binding proteins have been used to study bioremediation. CXXC motif, a metal binding domain containing Cys-X-X-Cys motif, has been identified in various organisms. These proteins are capable of binding various types of heavy metals. In this study, heavy metal binding domain (CXXC motif recombinant protein encoded from mcsA gene of S. aureus were cloned and overexpressed in Escherichia coli. The factors involved in the metal-binding activity were determined in order to analyze the potential of recombinant protein for bioremediation. A recombinant protein can be bound to Cd2+, Co2+, Cu2+ and Zn2+. The thermal stability of a recombinant protein was tested, and the results showed that the metal binding activity to Cu2+ and Zn2+ still exist after treating the protein at 85ºC for 30 min. The temperature and pH that affected the metal binding activity was tested and the results showed that recombinant protein was still bound to Cu2+ at 65ºC, whereas a pH of 3-7 did not affect the metal binding E. coli harboring a pRset with a heavy metal-binding domain CXXC motif increased the resistance of heavy metals against CuCl2 and CdCl2. This study shows that metal binding domain (CXXC motif recombinant protein can be effectively bound to various types of heavy metals and may be used as a potential tool for studying bioremediation.

  10. Further biochemical characterization of Mycobacterium leprae laminin-binding proteins

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M.A.M. Marques

    2001-04-01

    Full Text Available It has been demonstrated that the alpha2 chain of laminin-2 present on the surface of Schwann cells is involved in the process of attachment of Mycobacterium leprae to these cells. Searching for M. leprae laminin-binding molecules, in a previous study we isolated and characterized the cationic proteins histone-like protein (Hlp and ribosomal proteins S4 and S5 as potential adhesins involved in M. leprae-Schwann cell interaction. Hlp was shown to bind alpha2-laminins and to greatly enhance the attachment of mycobacteria to ST88-14 Schwann cells. In the present study, we investigated the laminin-binding capacity of the ribosomal proteins S4 and S5. The genes coding for these proteins were PCR amplified and their recombinant products were shown to bind alpha2-laminins in overlay assays. However, when tested in ELISA-based assays and in adhesion assays with ST88-14 cells, in contrast to Hlp, S4 and S5 failed to bind laminin and act as adhesins. The laminin-binding property and adhesin capacity of two basic host-derived proteins were also tested, and only histones, but not cytochrome c, were able to increase bacterial attachment to ST88-14 cells. Our data suggest that the alanine/lysine-rich sequences shared by Hlp and eukaryotic H1 histones might be involved in the binding of these cationic proteins to laminin.

  11. A novel injection strategy of flurbiprofen axetil by inhibiting protein binding with 6-methoxy-2-naphthylacetic acid.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ogata, Kenji; Takamura, Norito; Tokunaga, Jin; Ikeda, Tetsuya; Setoguchi, Nao; Tanda, Kazuhiro; Yamasaki, Tetsuo; Nishio, Toyotaka; Kawai, Keiichi

    2016-04-01

    Flurbiprofen axetil (FPA) is an injection product and a prodrug of a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID). After injection, it is rapidly hydrolyzed to the active form, flurbiprofen (FP). Since frequent injections of FPA can lead to abnormal physiology, an administration strategy is necessary to ensure there is enhancement of the analgesic efficiency of FP after a single dose and to reduce the total number of doses. FP strongly binds to site II of albumin, and thus the free (unbound) FP concentration is low. This study focused on 6-methoxy-2-naphthylacetic acid (6-MNA), the active metabolite of nabumetone (a prodrug of NSAID). We performed ultrafiltration experiments and pharmacokinetics analysis in rats to investigate whether the inhibitory effect of 6-MNA on FP binding to albumin increased the free FP concentration in vitro and in vivo. Results indicated that 6-MNA inhibited the binding of FP to albumin competitively. When 6-MNA was injected in rats, there was a significant increase in the free FP concentration and the area under concentration-time curve (AUC) calculated from the free FP concentration, while there was a significant decrease in the total (bound + free) FP concentration and the AUC calculated from the total FP concentration. These findings indicate that 6-MNA inhibits the protein binding of FP in vivo. This suggests that the frequency of FPA injections can be reduced when administered with nabumetone, as there is increase in the free FP concentration associated with pharmacological effect.

  12. Recombinant expression and purification of the RNA-binding LARP6 proteins from fish genetic model organisms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Castro, José M; Horn, Daniel A; Pu, Xinzhu; Lewis, Karen A

    2017-06-01

    The RNA-binding proteins that comprise the La-related protein (LARP) superfamily have been implicated in a wide range of cellular functions, from tRNA maturation to regulation of protein synthesis. To more expansively characterize the biological function of the LARP6 subfamily, we have recombinantly expressed the full-length LARP6 proteins from two teleost fish, platyfish (Xiphophorus maculatus) and zebrafish (Danio rerio). The yields of the recombinant proteins were enhanced to >2 mg/L using a tandem approach of an N-terminal His 6 -SUMO tag and an iterative solubility screening assay to identify structurally stabilizing buffer components. The domain topologies of the purified fish proteins were probed with limited proteolysis. The fish proteins contain an internal, protease-resistant 40 kDa domain, which is considerably more stable than the comparable domain from the human LARP6 protein. The fish proteins are therefore a lucrative model system in which to study both the evolutionary divergence of this family of La-related proteins and the structure and conformational dynamics of the domains that comprise the LARP6 protein. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  13. Trichohyalin-like 1 protein, a member of fused S100 proteins, is expressed in normal and pathologic human skin

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yamakoshi, Takako [Department of Dermatology, Graduate School of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Toyama, Sugitani, Toyama 930-0194 (Japan); Makino, Teruhiko, E-mail: tmakino@med.u-toyama.ac.jp [Department of Dermatology, Graduate School of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Toyama, Sugitani, Toyama 930-0194 (Japan); Ur Rehman, Mati; Yoshihisa, Yoko [Department of Dermatology, Graduate School of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Toyama, Sugitani, Toyama 930-0194 (Japan); Sugimori, Michiya [Department of Integrative Neuroscience, Graduate School of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Toyama, Sugitani, Toyama 930-0194 (Japan); Shimizu, Tadamichi, E-mail: shimizut@med.u-toyama.ac.jp [Department of Dermatology, Graduate School of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Toyama, Sugitani, Toyama 930-0194 (Japan)

    2013-03-01

    Highlights: ► Trichohyalin-like 1 protein is a member of the fused-type S100 protein gene family. ► Specific antibodies against the C-terminus of the TCHHL1 protein were generated. ► TCHHL1 proteins were expressed in the basal layer of the normal epidermis. ► TCHHL1 proteins were strongly expressed in tumor nests of BCC and SCC. ► The expression of TCHHL1 proteins increased in epidermis of psoriasis vulgaris. - Abstract: Trichohyalin-like 1 (TCHHL1) protein is a novel member of the fused-type S100 protein gene family. The deduced amino acid sequence of TCHHL1 contains an EF-hand domain in the N-terminus, one trans-membrane domain and a nuclear localization signal. We generated specific antibodies against the C-terminus of the TCHHL1 protein and examined the expression of TCHHL1 proteins in normal and pathological human skin. An immunohistochemical study showed that TCHHL1 proteins were expressed in the basal layer of the normal epidermis. In addition, signals of TCHHL1 proteins were observed around the nuclei of cultured growing keratinocytes. Accordingly, TCHHL1 mRNA has been detected in normal skin and cultured growing keratinocytes. Furthermore, TCHHL1 proteins were strongly expressed in the peripheral areas of tumor nests in basal cell carcinomas and squamous cell carcinomas. A dramatic increase in the number of Ki67 positive cells was observed in TCHHL1-expressing areas. The expression of TCHHL1 proteins also increased in non-cancerous hyperproliferative epidermal tissues such as those of psoriasis vulgaris and lichen planus. These findings highlight the possibility that TCHHL1 proteins are expressed in growing keratinocytes of the epidermis and might be associated with the proliferation of keratinocytes.

  14. Trichohyalin-like 1 protein, a member of fused S100 proteins, is expressed in normal and pathologic human skin

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yamakoshi, Takako; Makino, Teruhiko; Ur Rehman, Mati; Yoshihisa, Yoko; Sugimori, Michiya; Shimizu, Tadamichi

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: ► Trichohyalin-like 1 protein is a member of the fused-type S100 protein gene family. ► Specific antibodies against the C-terminus of the TCHHL1 protein were generated. ► TCHHL1 proteins were expressed in the basal layer of the normal epidermis. ► TCHHL1 proteins were strongly expressed in tumor nests of BCC and SCC. ► The expression of TCHHL1 proteins increased in epidermis of psoriasis vulgaris. - Abstract: Trichohyalin-like 1 (TCHHL1) protein is a novel member of the fused-type S100 protein gene family. The deduced amino acid sequence of TCHHL1 contains an EF-hand domain in the N-terminus, one trans-membrane domain and a nuclear localization signal. We generated specific antibodies against the C-terminus of the TCHHL1 protein and examined the expression of TCHHL1 proteins in normal and pathological human skin. An immunohistochemical study showed that TCHHL1 proteins were expressed in the basal layer of the normal epidermis. In addition, signals of TCHHL1 proteins were observed around the nuclei of cultured growing keratinocytes. Accordingly, TCHHL1 mRNA has been detected in normal skin and cultured growing keratinocytes. Furthermore, TCHHL1 proteins were strongly expressed in the peripheral areas of tumor nests in basal cell carcinomas and squamous cell carcinomas. A dramatic increase in the number of Ki67 positive cells was observed in TCHHL1-expressing areas. The expression of TCHHL1 proteins also increased in non-cancerous hyperproliferative epidermal tissues such as those of psoriasis vulgaris and lichen planus. These findings highlight the possibility that TCHHL1 proteins are expressed in growing keratinocytes of the epidermis and might be associated with the proliferation of keratinocytes

  15. Guanine nucleotide-binding protein regulation of melatonin receptors in lizard brain

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rivkees, S.A.; Carlson, L.L.; Reppert, S.M.

    1989-01-01

    Melatonin receptors were identified and characterized in crude membrane preparations from lizard brain by using 125 I-labeled melatonin ( 125 I-Mel), a potent melatonin agonist. 125 I-Mel binding sites were saturable; Scatchard analysis revealed high-affinity and lower affinity binding sites, with apparent K d of 2.3 ± 1.0 x 10 -11 M and 2.06 ± 0.43 x 10 -10 M, respectively. Binding was reversible and inhibited by melatonin and closely related analogs but not by serotonin or norepinephrine. Treatment of crude membranes with the nonhydrolyzable GTP analog guanosine 5'-[γ-thio]triphosphate (GTP[γS]), significantly reduced the number of high-affinity receptors and increased the dissociation rate of 125 I-Mel from its receptor. Furthermore, GTP[γS] treatment of ligand-receptor complexes solubilized by Triton X-100 also led to a rapid dissociation of 125 I-Mel from solubilized ligand-receptor complexes. Gel filtration chromatography of solubilized ligand-receptor complexes revealed two major peaks of radioactivity corresponding to M r > 400,000 and M r ca. 110,000. This elution profile was markedly altered by pretreatment with GTP[γS] before solubilization; only the M r 110,000 peak was present in GTP[γS]-pretreated membranes. The results strongly suggest that 125 I-mel binding sites in lizard brain are melatonin receptors, with agonist-promoted guanine nucleotide-binding protein (G protein) coupling and that the apparent molecular size of receptors uncoupled from G proteins is about 110,000

  16. Specific binding of [alpha-32P]GTP to cytosolic and membrane-bound proteins of human platelets correlates with the activation of phospholipase C

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lapetina, E.G.; Reep, B.R.

    1987-01-01

    We have assessed the binding of [alpha- 32 P]GTP to platelet proteins from cytosolic and membrane fractions. Proteins were separated by NaDodSO 4 /PAGE and electrophoretically transferred to nitrocellulose. Incubation of the nitrocellulose blots with [alpha- 32 P]GTP indicated the presence of specific and distinct GTP-binding proteins in cytosol and membranes. Binding was prevented by 10-100 nM GTP and by 100 nM guanosine 5'-[gamma-thio]triphosphate (GTP[gamma S]) or GDP; binding was unaffected by 1 nM-1 microM ATP. One main GTP-binding protein (29.5 kDa) was detected in the membrane fraction, while three others (29, 27, and 21 kDa) were detected in the soluble fraction. Two cytosolic GTP-binding proteins (29 and 27 kDa) were degraded by trypsin; another cytosolic protein (21 kDa) and the membrane-bound protein (29.5 kDa) were resistant to the action of trypsin. Treatment of intact platelets with trypsin or thrombin, followed by lysis and fractionation, did not affect the binding of [alpha- 32 P]GTP to the membrane-bound protein. GTP[gamma S] still stimulated phospholipase C in permeabilized platelets already preincubated with trypsin. This suggests that trypsin-resistant GTP-binding proteins might regulate phospholipase C stimulated by GTP[gamma S

  17. Demonstration of S-100 protein in sustentacular cells of phaeochromocytomas and paragangliomas

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schroder, H D; Johannsen, L

    1986-01-01

    to the sustentacular cells of normal paraganglia and adrenal medulla were found in all paragangliomas and in the benign and aggressively growing phaeochromocytomas. In the two malignant tumours no positive reaction was demonstrated. In one tumour the sustentacular cells were shown to contain glial fibrillary acidic......Eighteen phaeochromocytomas, including both sporadic and familial cases, four cervical paragangliomas, two jugular paragangliomas, and one abdominal paraganglioma were examined immunohistochemically for the presence of S-100 protein. Positive staining in cells morphologically similar...... protein further supporting their Schwann cell relationship. The number of S-100 positive cells varied considerably. They demonstrated a spindle celled or elongated configuration with long slender processes. The nature of the sustentacular cell proliferation, neoplastic versus reactive, is discussed....

  18. Vildagliptin and its metabolite M20.7 induce the expression of S100A8 and S100A9 in human hepatoma HepG2 and leukemia HL-60 cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Asakura, Mitsutoshi; Karaki, Fumika; Fujii, Hideaki; Atsuda, Koichiro; Itoh, Tomoo; Fujiwara, Ryoichi

    2016-10-19

    Vildagliptin is a potent, orally active inhibitor of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus. It has been reported that vildagliptin can cause hepatic dysfunction in patients. However, the molecular-mechanism of vildagliptin-induced liver dysfunction has not been elucidated. In this study, we employed an expression microarray to determine hepatic genes that were highly regulated by vildagliptin in mice. We found that pro-inflammatory S100 calcium-binding protein (S100) a8 and S100a9 were induced more than 5-fold by vildagliptin in the mouse liver. We further examined the effects of vildagliptin and its major metabolite M20.7 on the mRNA expression levels of S100A8 and S100A9 in human hepatoma HepG2 and leukemia HL-60 cells. In HepG2 cells, vildagliptin, M20.7, and sitagliptin - another DPP-4 inhibitor - induced S100A9 mRNA. In HL-60 cells, in contrast, S100A8 and S100A9 mRNAs were significantly induced by vildagliptin and M20.7, but not by sitagliptin. The release of S100A8/A9 complex in the cell culturing medium was observed in the HL-60 cells treated with vildagliptin and M20.7. Therefore, the parental vildagliptin- and M20.7-induced release of S100A8/A9 complex from immune cells, such as neutrophils, might be a contributing factor of vildagliptin-associated liver dysfunction in humans.

  19. Molecular cloning and expression of a novel keratinocyte protein (psoriasis-associated fatty acid-binding protein [PA-FABP]) that is highly up-regulated in psoriatic skin and that shares similarity to fatty acid-binding proteins

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Madsen, Peder; Rasmussen, H H; Leffers, H

    1992-01-01

    termed PA-FABP (psoriasis-associated fatty acid-binding protein). The deduced sequence predicted a protein with molecular weight of 15,164 daltons and a calculated pI of 6.96, values that are close to those recorded in the keratinocyte 2D gel protein database. The protein comigrated with PA-FABP...... as determined by 2D gel analysis of [35S]-methionine-labeled proteins expressed by transformed human amnion (AMA) cells transfected with clone 1592 using the vaccinia virus expression system and reacted with a rabbit polyclonal antibody raised against 2D gel purified PA-FABP. Structural analysis of the amino...... acid sequence revealed 48%, 52%, and 56% identity to known low-molecular-weight fatty acid-binding proteins belonging to the FABP family. Northern blot analysis showed that PA-FABP mRNA is indeed highly up-regulated in psoriatic keratinocytes. The transcript is present in human cell lines of epithelial...

  20. A tool for calculating binding-site residues on proteins from PDB structures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hu Jing

    2009-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background In the research on protein functional sites, researchers often need to identify binding-site residues on a protein. A commonly used strategy is to find a complex structure from the Protein Data Bank (PDB that consists of the protein of interest and its interacting partner(s and calculate binding-site residues based on the complex structure. However, since a protein may participate in multiple interactions, the binding-site residues calculated based on one complex structure usually do not reveal all binding sites on a protein. Thus, this requires researchers to find all PDB complexes that contain the protein of interest and combine the binding-site information gleaned from them. This process is very time-consuming. Especially, combing binding-site information obtained from different PDB structures requires tedious work to align protein sequences. The process becomes overwhelmingly difficult when researchers have a large set of proteins to analyze, which is usually the case in practice. Results In this study, we have developed a tool for calculating binding-site residues on proteins, TCBRP http://yanbioinformatics.cs.usu.edu:8080/ppbindingsubmit. For an input protein, TCBRP can quickly find all binding-site residues on the protein by automatically combining the information obtained from all PDB structures that consist of the protein of interest. Additionally, TCBRP presents the binding-site residues in different categories according to the interaction type. TCBRP also allows researchers to set the definition of binding-site residues. Conclusion The developed tool is very useful for the research on protein binding site analysis and prediction.

  1. CLIPZ: a database and analysis environment for experimentally determined binding sites of RNA-binding proteins.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khorshid, Mohsen; Rodak, Christoph; Zavolan, Mihaela

    2011-01-01

    The stability, localization and translation rate of mRNAs are regulated by a multitude of RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) that find their targets directly or with the help of guide RNAs. Among the experimental methods for mapping RBP binding sites, cross-linking and immunoprecipitation (CLIP) coupled with deep sequencing provides transcriptome-wide coverage as well as high resolution. However, partly due to their vast volume, the data that were so far generated in CLIP experiments have not been put in a form that enables fast and interactive exploration of binding sites. To address this need, we have developed the CLIPZ database and analysis environment. Binding site data for RBPs such as Argonaute 1-4, Insulin-like growth factor II mRNA-binding protein 1-3, TNRC6 proteins A-C, Pumilio 2, Quaking and Polypyrimidine tract binding protein can be visualized at the level of the genome and of individual transcripts. Individual users can upload their own sequence data sets while being able to limit the access to these data to specific users, and analyses of the public and private data sets can be performed interactively. CLIPZ, available at http://www.clipz.unibas.ch, aims to provide an open access repository of information for post-transcriptional regulatory elements.

  2. Validation of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the measurement of canine S100A12.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heilmann, Romy M; Cranford, Shannon M; Ambrus, Andy; Grützner, Niels; Schellenberg, Stefan; Ruaux, Craig G; Suchodolski, Jan S; Steiner, Jörg M

    2016-03-01

    Canine S100 calcium-binding protein A12 (cS100A12) shows promise as biomarker of inflammation in dogs. A previously developed cS100A12-radioimmunoassay (RIA) requires radioactive tracers and is not sensitive enough for fecal cS100A12 concentrations in 79% of tested healthy dogs. An ELISA assay may be more sensitive than RIA and does not require radioactive tracers. The purpose of the study was to establish a sandwich ELISA for serum and fecal cS100A12, and to establish reference intervals (RI) for normal healthy canine serum and feces. Polyclonal rabbit anti-cS100A12 antibodies were generated and tested by Western blotting and immunohistochemistry. A sandwich ELISA was developed and validated, including accuracy and precision, and agreement with cS100A12-RIA. The RI, stability, and biologic variation in fecal cS100A12, and the effect of corticosteroids on serum cS100A12 were evaluated. Lower detection limits were 5 μg/L (serum) and 1 ng/g (fecal), respectively. Intra- and inter-assay coefficients of variation were ≤ 4.4% and ≤ 10.9%, respectively. Observed-to-expected ratios for linearity and spiking recovery were 98.2 ± 9.8% (mean ± SD) and 93.0 ± 6.1%, respectively. There was a significant bias between the ELISA and the RIA. The RI was 49-320 μg/L for serum and 2-484 ng/g for fecal cS100A12. Fecal cS100A12 was stable for 7 days at 23, 4, -20, and -80°C; biologic variation was negligible but variation within one fecal sample was significant. Corticosteroid treatment had no clinically significant effect on serum cS100A12 concentrations. The cS100A12-ELISA is a precise and accurate assay for serum and fecal cS100A12 in dogs. © 2016 American Society for Veterinary Clinical Pathology.

  3. Ligand binding turns moth pheromone-binding protein into a pH sensor: effect on the Antheraea polyphemus PBP1 conformation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Katre, Uma V; Mazumder, Suman; Prusti, Rabi K; Mohanty, Smita

    2009-11-13

    In moths, pheromone-binding proteins (PBPs) are responsible for the transport of the hydrophobic pheromones to the membrane-bound receptors across the aqueous sensillar lymph. We report here that recombinant Antheraea polyphemus PBP1 (ApolPBP1) picks up hydrophobic molecule(s) endogenous to the Escherichia coli expression host that keeps the protein in the "open" (bound) conformation at high pH but switches to the "closed" (free) conformation at low pH. This finding has bearing on the solution structures of undelipidated lepidopteran moth PBPs determined thus far. Picking up a hydrophobic molecule from the host expression system could be a common feature for lipid-binding proteins. Thus, delipidation is critical for bacterially expressed lipid-binding proteins. We have shown for the first time that the delipidated ApolPBP1 exists primarily in the closed form at all pH levels. Thus, current views on the pH-induced conformational switch of PBPs hold true only for the ligand-bound open conformation of the protein. Binding of various ligands to delipidated ApolPBP1 studied by solution NMR revealed that the protein in the closed conformation switches to the open conformation only at or above pH 6.0 with a protein to ligand stoichiometry of approximately 1:1. Mutation of His(70) and His(95) to alanine drives the equilibrium toward the open conformation even at low pH for the ligand-bound protein by eliminating the histidine-dependent pH-induced conformational switch. Thus, the delipidated double mutant can bind ligand even at low pH in contrast to the wild type protein as revealed by fluorescence competitive displacement assay using 1-aminoanthracene and solution NMR.

  4. Binding of plasma proteins to titanium dioxide nanotubes with different diameters

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kulkarni M

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available Mukta Kulkarni,1,* Ajda Flašker,1,* Maruša Lokar,1 Katjuša Mrak-Poljšak,2 Anca Mazare,3 Andrej Artenjak,4 Saša Čučnik,2 Slavko Kralj,5 Aljaž Velikonja,1 Patrik Schmuki,3 Veronika Kralj-Iglič,6 Snezna Sodin-Semrl,2,7 Aleš Iglič11Laboratory of Biophysics, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia; 2Department of Rheumatology, University Medical Centre Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia; 3Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Erlangen Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany; 4Sandoz Biopharmaceuticals Mengeš, Lek Pharmaceuticals dd, Menges, Slovenia; 5Department for Materials Synthesis, Institute Jožef Stefan (IJS, Ljubljana, Slovenia; 6Faculty of Health Studies, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia; 7Faculty of Mathematics, Natural Science and Information Technology, University of Primorska, Koper, Slovenia *These authors contributed equally to this workAbstract: Titanium and titanium alloys are considered to be one of the most applicable materials in medical devices because of their suitable properties, most importantly high corrosion resistance and the specific combination of strength with biocompatibility. In order to improve the biocompatibility of titanium surfaces, the current report initially focuses on specifying the topography of titanium dioxide (TiO2 nanotubes (NTs by electrochemical anodization. The zeta potential (ζ-potential of NTs showed a negative value and confirmed the agreement between the measured and theoretically predicted dependence of ζ-potential on salt concentration, whereby the absolute value of ζ-potential diminished with increasing salt concentrations. We investigated binding of various plasma proteins with different sizes and charges using the bicinchoninic acid assay and immunofluorescence microscopy. Results showed effective and comparatively higher protein binding to NTs with 100 nm diameters (compared to 50 or 15 nm. We also showed a dose

  5. Structure of Alzheimer’s disease amyloid precursor protein copper-binding domain at atomic resolution

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kong, Geoffrey Kwai-Wai; Adams, Julian J. [Biota Structural Biology Laboratory, St Vincent’s Institute, 9 Princes Street, Fitzroy, Victoria 3065 (Australia); Cappai, Roberto [Department of Pathology and Centre for Neuroscience, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010 (Australia); The Mental Health Research Institute of Victoria, Parkville, Victoria 3052 (Australia); Bio21 Institute, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010 (Australia); Parker, Michael W., E-mail: mparker@svi.edu.au [Biota Structural Biology Laboratory, St Vincent’s Institute, 9 Princes Street, Fitzroy, Victoria 3065 (Australia); Bio21 Institute, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010 (Australia)

    2007-10-01

    An atomic resolution structure of the copper-binding domain of the Alzheimer’s disease amyloid precursor protein is presented. Amyloid precursor protein (APP) plays a central role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease, as its cleavage generates the Aβ peptide that is toxic to cells. APP is able to bind Cu{sup 2+} and reduce it to Cu{sup +} through its copper-binding domain (CuBD). The interaction between Cu{sup 2+} and APP leads to a decrease in Aβ production and to alleviation of the symptoms of the disease in mouse models. Structural studies of CuBD have been undertaken in order to better understand the mechanism behind the process. Here, the crystal structure of CuBD in the metal-free form determined to ultrahigh resolution (0.85 Å) is reported. The structure shows that the copper-binding residues of CuBD are rather rigid but that Met170, which is thought to be the electron source for Cu{sup 2+} reduction, adopts two different side-chain conformations. These observations shed light on the copper-binding and redox mechanisms of CuBD. The structure of CuBD at atomic resolution provides an accurate framework for structure-based design of molecules that will deplete Aβ production.

  6. Binding free energy analysis of protein-protein docking model structures by evERdock.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Takemura, Kazuhiro; Matubayasi, Nobuyuki; Kitao, Akio

    2018-03-14

    To aid the evaluation of protein-protein complex model structures generated by protein docking prediction (decoys), we previously developed a method to calculate the binding free energies for complexes. The method combines a short (2 ns) all-atom molecular dynamics simulation with explicit solvent and solution theory in the energy representation (ER). We showed that this method successfully selected structures similar to the native complex structure (near-native decoys) as the lowest binding free energy structures. In our current work, we applied this method (evERdock) to 100 or 300 model structures of four protein-protein complexes. The crystal structures and the near-native decoys showed the lowest binding free energy of all the examined structures, indicating that evERdock can successfully evaluate decoys. Several decoys that show low interface root-mean-square distance but relatively high binding free energy were also identified. Analysis of the fraction of native contacts, hydrogen bonds, and salt bridges at the protein-protein interface indicated that these decoys were insufficiently optimized at the interface. After optimizing the interactions around the interface by including interfacial water molecules, the binding free energies of these decoys were improved. We also investigated the effect of solute entropy on binding free energy and found that consideration of the entropy term does not necessarily improve the evaluations of decoys using the normal model analysis for entropy calculation.

  7. Blocking Breast Cancer Metastasis by Targeting RNA-Binding Protein HuR

    Science.gov (United States)

    2017-10-01

    AWARD NUMBER: W81XWH-16-1-0730 TITLE: Blocking Breast Cancer Metastasis by Targeting RNA-Binding Protein HuR PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Danny Welch...NUMBER Blocking Breast Cancer Metastasis by Targeting RNA-Binding Protein HuR 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR(S) 5d. PROJECT...increased aggressiveness in breast cancer , the primary objective of this proposal is to assess whether HuR (or analogs) prevent and/or treat metastasis and/or

  8. Does unpaired adenosine-66 from helix II of Escherichia coli 5S RNA bind to protein L18?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christiansen, J; Douthwaite, S R; Christensen, A

    1985-01-01

    Adenosine-66 is unpaired within helix II of Escherichia coli 5S RNA and lies in the binding site of ribosomal protein L18. It has been proposed as a recognition site for protein L18. We have investigated further the structural importance of this nucleotide by deleting it. The 5S RNA gene of the rrn...... plasmid derived from pKK3535. Binding studies with protein L18 revealed that the protein bound much more weakly to the mutated 5S RNA. We consider the most likely explanation of this result is that L18 interacts with adenosine-66, and we present a tentative model for an interaction between the unpaired...

  9. Structure of a C-terminal AHNAK peptide in a 1:2:2 complex with S100A10 and an acetylated N-terminal peptide of annexin A2

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ozorowski, Gabriel [University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697-3900 (United States); University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697-3900 (United States); Milton, Saskia [University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697-3900 (United States); Luecke, Hartmut, E-mail: hudel@uci.edu [University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697-3900 (United States); University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697-3900 (United States); University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697 (United States); University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697 (United States)

    2013-01-01

    Structure of a 20-amino-acid peptide of AHNAK bound asymmetrically to the AnxA2–S100A10A heterotetramer (1:2:2 symmetry) provides insights into the atomic level interactions that govern this membrane-repair scaffolding complex. AHNAK, a large 629 kDa protein, has been implicated in membrane repair, and the annexin A2–S100A10 heterotetramer [(p11){sub 2}(AnxA2){sub 2})] has high affinity for several regions of its 1002-amino-acid C-terminal domain. (p11){sub 2}(AnxA2){sub 2} is often localized near the plasma membrane, and this C2-symmetric platform is proposed to be involved in the bridging of membrane vesicles and trafficking of proteins to the plasma membrane. All three proteins co-localize at the intracellular face of the plasma membrane in a Ca{sup 2+}-dependent manner. The binding of AHNAK to (p11){sub 2}(AnxA2){sub 2} has been studied previously, and a minimal binding motif has been mapped to a 20-amino-acid peptide corresponding to residues 5654–5673 of the AHNAK C-terminal domain. Here, the 2.5 Å resolution crystal structure of this 20-amino-acid peptide of AHNAK bound to the AnxA2–S100A10 heterotetramer (1:2:2 symmetry) is presented, which confirms the asymmetric arrangement first described by Rezvanpour and coworkers and explains why the binding motif has high affinity for (p11){sub 2}(AnxA2){sub 2}. Binding of AHNAK to the surface of (p11){sub 2}(AnxA2){sub 2} is governed by several hydrophobic interactions between side chains of AHNAK and pockets on S100A10. The pockets are large enough to accommodate a variety of hydrophobic side chains, allowing the consensus sequence to be more general. Additionally, the various hydrogen bonds formed between the AHNAK peptide and (p11){sub 2}(AnxA2){sub 2} most often involve backbone atoms of AHNAK; as a result, the side chains, particularly those that point away from S100A10/AnxA2 towards the solvent, are largely interchangeable. While the structure-based consensus sequence allows interactions with various

  10. Exploring the binding sites and binding mechanism for hydrotrope encapsulated griseofulvin drug on γ-tubulin protein.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shubhadip Das

    Full Text Available The protein γ-tubulin plays an important role in centrosomal clustering and this makes it an attractive therapeutic target for treating cancers. Griseofulvin, an antifungal drug, has recently been used to inhibit proliferation of various types of cancer cells. It can also affect the microtubule dynamics by targeting the γ-tubulin protein. So far, the binding pockets of γ-tubulin protein are not properly identified and the exact mechanism by which the drug binds to it is an area of intense speculation and research. The aim of the present study is to investigate the binding mechanism and binding affinity of griseofulvin on γ-tubulin protein using classical molecular dynamics simulations. Since the drug griseofulvin is sparingly soluble in water, here we also present a promising approach for formulating and achieving delivery of hydrophobic griseofulvin drug via hydrotrope sodium cumene sulfonate (SCS cluster. We observe that the binding pockets of γ-tubulin protein are mainly formed by the H8, H9 helices and S7, S8, S14 strands and the hydrophobic interactions between the drug and γ-tubulin protein drive the binding process. The release of the drug griseofulvin from the SCS cluster is confirmed by the coordination number analysis. We also find hydrotrope-induced alteration of the binding sites of γ-tubulin protein and the weakening of the drug-protein interactions.

  11. Calbindin and S100 protein expression in the developing inner ear in mice

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Buckiová, Daniela; Syka, Josef

    2009-01-01

    Roč. 513, č. 5 (2009), s. 469-482 ISSN 0021-9967 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA309/07/1336; GA MŠk(CZ) LC554 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z50390512 Keywords : Calcium binding proteins * Immunohistochemistry * Development Subject RIV: FH - Neurology Impact factor: 3.718, year: 2009

  12. Human papillomavirus type 16 E2 and E6 are RNA-binding proteins and inhibit in vitro splicing of pre-mRNAs with suboptimal splice sites

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bodaghi, Sohrab; Jia Rong; Zheng Zhiming

    2009-01-01

    Human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV16) genome expresses six regulatory proteins (E1, E2, E4, E5, E6, and E7) which regulate viral DNA replication, gene expression, and cell function. We expressed HPV16 E2, E4, E6, and E7 from bacteria as GST fusion proteins and examined their possible functions in RNA splicing. Both HPV16 E2, a viral transactivator protein, and E6, a viral oncoprotein, inhibited splicing of pre-mRNAs containing an intron with suboptimal splice sites, whereas HPV5 E2 did not. The N-terminal half and the hinge region of HPV16 E2 as well as the N-terminal and central portions of HPV16 E6 are responsible for the suppression. HPV16 E2 interacts with pre-mRNAs through its C-terminal DNA-binding domain. HPV16 E6 binds pre-mRNAs via nuclear localization signal (NLS3) in its C-terminal half. Low-risk HPV6 E6, a cytoplasmic protein, does not bind RNA. Notably, both HPV16 E2 and E6 selectively bind to the intron region of pre-mRNAs and interact with a subset of cellular SR proteins. Together, these findings suggest that HPV16 E2 and E6 are RNA binding proteins and might play roles in posttranscriptional regulation during virus infection

  13. In silico analysis and verification of S100 gene expression in gastric cancer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu, Ji; Li, Xue; Dong, Guang-Long; Zhang, Hong-Wei; Chen, Dong-Li; Du, Jian-Jun; Zheng, Jian-Yong; Li, Ji-Peng; Wang, Wei-Zhong

    2008-01-01

    The S100 protein family comprises 22 members whose protein sequences encompass at least one EF-hand Ca 2+ binding motif. They were involved in the regulation of a number of cellular processes such as cell cycle progression and differentiation. However, the expression status of S100 family members in gastric cancer was not known yet. Combined with analysis of series analysis of gene expression, virtual Northern blot and microarray data, the expression levels of S100 family members in normal and malignant stomach tissues were systematically investigated. The expression of S100A3 was further evaluated by quantitative RT-PCR. At least 5 S100 genes were found to be upregulated in gastric cance by in silico analysis. Among them, four genes, including S100A2, S100A4, S100A7 and S100A10, were reported to overexpressed in gastric cancer previously. The expression of S100A3 in eighty patients of gastric cancer was further examined. The results showed that the mean expression levels of S100A3 in gastric cancer tissues were 2.5 times as high as in adjacent non-tumorous tissues. S100A3 expression was correlated with tumor differentiation and TNM (Tumor-Node-Metastasis) stage of gastric cancer, which was relatively highly expressed in poorly differentiated and advanced gastric cancer tissues (P < 0.05). To our knowledge this is the first report of systematic evaluation of S100 gene expressions in gastric cancers by multiple in silico analysis. The results indicated that overexpression of S100 gene family members were characteristics of gastric cancers and S100A3 might play important roles in differentiation and progression of gastric cancer

  14. Definition of IgG- and albumin-binding regions of streptococcal protein G.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Akerström, B; Nielsen, E; Björck, L

    1987-10-05

    Protein G, the immunoglobin G-binding surface protein of group C and G streptococci, also binds serum albumin. The albumin-binding site on protein G is distinct from the immunoglobulin G-binding site. By mild acid hydrolysis of the papain-liberated protein G fragment (35 kDa), a 28-kDa fragment was produced which retained full immunoglobulin G-binding activity (determined by Scatchard plotting) but had lost all albumin-binding capacity. A protein G (65 kDa), isolated after cloning and expression of the protein G gene in Escherichia coli, had comparable affinity to immunoglobulin G (5-10 X 10(10)M-1), but much higher affinity to albumin than the 35- and 28-kDa protein G fragments (31, 2.6, and 0 X 10(9)M-1, respectively). The amino-terminal amino acid sequences of the 65-, 35-, and 28-kDa fragments allowed us to exactly locate the three fragments in an overall sequence map of protein G, based on the partial gene sequences published by Guss et al. (Guss, B., Eliasson, M., Olsson, A., Uhlen, M., Frej, A.-K., Jörnvall, H., Flock, J.-I., and Lindberg, M. (1986) EMBO J. 5, 1567-1575) and Fahnestock et al. (Fahnestock, S. R., Alexander, P., Nagle, J., and Filpula, D. (1986) J. Bacteriol. 167, 870-880). In this map could then be deduced the location of three homologous albumin-binding regions and three homologous immunoglobulin G-binding regions.

  15. Competitive protein binding assay

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kaneko, Toshio; Oka, Hiroshi

    1975-01-01

    The measurement of cyclic GMP (cGMP) by competitive protein binding assay was described and discussed. The principle of binding assay was represented briefly. Procedures of our method by binding protein consisted of preparation of cGMP binding protein, selection of 3 H-cyclic GMP on market, and measurement procedures. In our method, binding protein was isolated from the chrysalis of silk worm. This method was discussed from the points of incubation medium, specificity of binding protein, the separation of bound cGMP from free cGMP, and treatment of tissue from which cGMP was extracted. cGMP existing in the tissue was only one tenth or one scores of cGMP, and in addition, cGMP competed with cGMP in binding with binding protein. Therefore, Murad's technique was applied to the isolation of cGMP. This method provided the measurement with sufficient accuracy; the contamination by cAMP was within several per cent. (Kanao, N.)

  16. Cytoplasmic vitamin A binding proteins in chick embryo dermis and epidermis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gates, R.E.; King, L.E. Jr.

    1985-01-01

    Excess vitamin A has striking morphologic and developmental effects on chick embryo skin. While cytoplasmic retinoic acid-binding protein (CRABP) was known to be abundant in chick embryo skin, neither quantitative values nor the distribution between dermis and epidermis have been established. The authors determined CRABP levels in collagenase-separated dermis and epidermis from 8-day-old embryos using specific binding of all-trans-[11- 3 H]retinoic acid in cytosols prepared from gram quantities of these tissues. The level of CRABP in dermis was twice the level in epidermis whether calculated on the basis of wet weight, cytosol protein, or DNA. When averaged over many preparations, 3 times as much dermis as epidermis was recovered from a single piece of skin. Therefore, the dermis contained 85% of the extremely high CRABP levels found in collagenase-treated skin, while epidermis contributed only 15%. Cytoplasmic retinol binding protein (CRBP) was also detected in chick embryo skin, but the binding was low and the levels in epidermis and dermis were not significantly different. The amount of CRABP in chick embryo skin (1600 pmol/g wet weight or 100 pmol/mg cytosol protein) is the highest level reported in any tissue and suggests an important role for vitamin A in the normal development and maturation of skin

  17. DNA-binding properties of the Bacillus subtilis and Aeribacillus pallidus AC6 σ(D) proteins.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sevim, Elif; Gaballa, Ahmed; Beldüz, A Osman; Helmann, John D

    2011-01-01

    σ(D) proteins from Aeribacillus pallidus AC6 and Bacillus subtilis bound specifically, albeit weakly, to promoter DNA even in the absence of core RNA polymerase. Binding required a conserved CG motif within the -10 element, and this motif is known to be recognized by σ region 2.4 and critical for promoter activity.

  18. Identification of the Raptor-binding motif on Arabidopsis S6 kinase and its use as a TOR signaling suppressor.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Son, Ora; Kim, Sunghan; Hur, Yoon-Sun; Cheon, Choong-Ill

    2016-03-25

    TOR (target of rapamycin) kinase signaling plays central role as a regulator of growth and proliferation in all eukaryotic cells and its key signaling components and effectors are also conserved in plants. Unlike the mammalian and yeast counterparts, however, we found through yeast two-hybrid analysis that multiple regions of the Arabidopsis Raptor (regulatory associated protein of TOR) are required for binding to its substrate. We also identified that a 44-amino acid region at the N-terminal end of Arabidopsis ribosomal S6 kinase 1 (AtS6K1) specifically interacted with AtRaptor1, indicating that this region may contain a functional equivalent of the TOS (TOR-Signaling) motif present in the mammalian TOR substrates. Transient over-expression of this 44-amino acid fragment in Arabidopsis protoplasts resulted in significant decrease in rDNA transcription, demonstrating a feasibility of developing a new plant-specific TOR signaling inhibitor based upon perturbation of the Raptor-substrate interaction. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. Oxysterol-binding protein-related protein (ORP) 9 is a PDK-2 substrate and regulates Akt phosphorylation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lessmann, Eva; Ngo, Mike; Leitges, Michael; Minguet, Susana; Ridgway, Neale D; Huber, Michael

    2007-02-01

    The oxysterol-binding protein and oxysterol-binding protein-related protein family has been implicated in lipid transport and metabolism, vesicle trafficking and cell signaling. While investigating the phosphorylation of Akt/protein kinase B in stimulated bone marrow-derived mast cells, we observed that a monoclonal antibody directed against phospho-S473 Akt cross-reacted with oxysterol-binding protein-related protein 9 (ORP9). Further analysis revealed that mast cells exclusively express ORP9S, an N-terminal truncated version of full-length ORP9L. A PDK-2 consensus phosphorylation site in ORP9L and OPR9S at S287 (VPEFS(287)Y) was confirmed by site-directed mutagenesis. In contrast to Akt, increased phosphorylation of ORP9S S287 in stimulated mast cells was independent of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase but sensitive to inhibition of conventional PKC isotypes. PKC-beta dependence was confirmed by lack of ORP9S phosphorylation at S287 in PKC-beta-deficient, but not PKC-alpha-deficient, mast cells. Moreover, co-immunoprecipitation of PKC-beta and ORP9S, and in vitro phosphorylation of ORP9S in this complex, argued for direct phosphorylation of ORP9S by PKC-beta, introducing ORP9S as a novel PKC-beta substrate. Akt was also detected in a PKC-beta/ORP9S immune complex and phosphorylation of Akt on S473 was delayed in PKC-deficient mast cells. In HEK293 cells, RNAi experiments showed that depletion of ORP9L increased Akt S473 phosphorylation 3-fold without affecting T308 phosphorylation in the activation loop. Furthermore, mammalian target of rapamycin was implicated in ORP9L phosphorylation in HEK293 cells. These studies identify ORP9 as a PDK-2 substrate and negative regulator of Akt phosphorylation at the PDK-2 site.

  20. Prediction of vitamin interacting residues in a vitamin binding protein using evolutionary information

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Panwar Bharat

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The vitamins are important cofactors in various enzymatic-reactions. In past, many inhibitors have been designed against vitamin binding pockets in order to inhibit vitamin-protein interactions. Thus, it is important to identify vitamin interacting residues in a protein. It is possible to detect vitamin-binding pockets on a protein, if its tertiary structure is known. Unfortunately tertiary structures of limited proteins are available. Therefore, it is important to develop in-silico models for predicting vitamin interacting residues in protein from its primary structure. Results In this study, first we compared protein-interacting residues of vitamins with other ligands using Two Sample Logo (TSL. It was observed that ATP, GTP, NAD, FAD and mannose preferred {G,R,K,S,H}, {G,K,T,S,D,N}, {T,G,Y}, {G,Y,W} and {Y,D,W,N,E} residues respectively, whereas vitamins preferred {Y,F,S,W,T,G,H} residues for the interaction with proteins. Furthermore, compositional information of preferred and non-preferred residues along with patterns-specificity was also observed within different vitamin-classes. Vitamins A, B and B6 preferred {F,I,W,Y,L,V}, {S,Y,G,T,H,W,N,E} and {S,T,G,H,Y,N} interacting residues respectively. It suggested that protein-binding patterns of vitamins are different from other ligands, and motivated us to develop separate predictor for vitamins and their sub-classes. The four different prediction modules, (i vitamin interacting residues (VIRs, (ii vitamin-A interacting residues (VAIRs, (iii vitamin-B interacting residues (VBIRs and (iv pyridoxal-5-phosphate (vitamin B6 interacting residues (PLPIRs have been developed. We applied various classifiers of SVM, BayesNet, NaiveBayes, ComplementNaiveBayes, NaiveBayesMultinomial, RandomForest and IBk etc., as machine learning techniques, using binary and Position-Specific Scoring Matrix (PSSM features of protein sequences. Finally, we selected best performing SVM modules and

  1. Prediction of vitamin interacting residues in a vitamin binding protein using evolutionary information.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Panwar, Bharat; Gupta, Sudheer; Raghava, Gajendra P S

    2013-02-07

    The vitamins are important cofactors in various enzymatic-reactions. In past, many inhibitors have been designed against vitamin binding pockets in order to inhibit vitamin-protein interactions. Thus, it is important to identify vitamin interacting residues in a protein. It is possible to detect vitamin-binding pockets on a protein, if its tertiary structure is known. Unfortunately tertiary structures of limited proteins are available. Therefore, it is important to develop in-silico models for predicting vitamin interacting residues in protein from its primary structure. In this study, first we compared protein-interacting residues of vitamins with other ligands using Two Sample Logo (TSL). It was observed that ATP, GTP, NAD, FAD and mannose preferred {G,R,K,S,H}, {G,K,T,S,D,N}, {T,G,Y}, {G,Y,W} and {Y,D,W,N,E} residues respectively, whereas vitamins preferred {Y,F,S,W,T,G,H} residues for the interaction with proteins. Furthermore, compositional information of preferred and non-preferred residues along with patterns-specificity was also observed within different vitamin-classes. Vitamins A, B and B6 preferred {F,I,W,Y,L,V}, {S,Y,G,T,H,W,N,E} and {S,T,G,H,Y,N} interacting residues respectively. It suggested that protein-binding patterns of vitamins are different from other ligands, and motivated us to develop separate predictor for vitamins and their sub-classes. The four different prediction modules, (i) vitamin interacting residues (VIRs), (ii) vitamin-A interacting residues (VAIRs), (iii) vitamin-B interacting residues (VBIRs) and (iv) pyridoxal-5-phosphate (vitamin B6) interacting residues (PLPIRs) have been developed. We applied various classifiers of SVM, BayesNet, NaiveBayes, ComplementNaiveBayes, NaiveBayesMultinomial, RandomForest and IBk etc., as machine learning techniques, using binary and Position-Specific Scoring Matrix (PSSM) features of protein sequences. Finally, we selected best performing SVM modules and obtained highest MCC of 0.53, 0.48, 0.61, 0

  2. Crystallization and preliminary crystallographic studies of the copper-binding domain of the amyloid precursor protein of Alzheimer’s disease

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kong, Geoffrey K.-W. [Biota Structural Biology Laboratory, St Vincent’s Institute, 9 Princes Street, Fitzroy, Victoria 3065 (Australia); Department of Pathology, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010 (Australia); Galatis, Denise; Barnham, Kevin J. [Department of Pathology, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010 (Australia); The Mental Health Research Institute of Victoria, Parkville, Victoria 3052 (Australia); Polekhina, Galina; Adams, Julian J. [Biota Structural Biology Laboratory, St Vincent’s Institute, 9 Princes Street, Fitzroy, Victoria 3065 (Australia); Masters, Colin L. [Department of Pathology, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010 (Australia); The Mental Health Research Institute of Victoria, Parkville, Victoria 3052 (Australia); Cappai, Roberto [Department of Pathology, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010 (Australia); The Mental Health Research Institute of Victoria, Parkville, Victoria 3052 (Australia); Centre for Neuroscience, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010 (Australia); Parker, Michael W.; McKinstry, William J., E-mail: wmckinstry@svi.edu.au [Biota Structural Biology Laboratory, St Vincent’s Institute, 9 Princes Street, Fitzroy, Victoria 3065 (Australia)

    2005-01-01

    The binding of Cu{sup 2+} ions to the copper-binding domain of the amyloid precursor protein of Alzheimer’s disease reduces the production of the amyloid β peptide, which is centrally involved in Alzheimer’s disease. Structural studies of the copper-binding domain will provide a basis for structure-based drug design that might prove useful in treating this devastating disease. Alzheimer’s disease is thought to be triggered by production of the amyloid β (Aβ) peptide through proteolytic cleavage of the amyloid precursor protein (APP). The binding of Cu{sup 2+} to the copper-binding domain (CuBD) of APP reduces the production of Aβ in cell-culture and animal studies. It is expected that structural studies of the CuBD will lead to a better understanding of how copper binding causes Aβ depletion and will define a potential drug target. The crystallization of CuBD in two different forms suitable for structure determination is reported here.

  3. Mechanistic insights into the role of prenyl-binding protein PrBP/δ in membrane dissociation of phosphodiesterase 6

    KAUST Repository

    Qureshi, Bilal M.

    2018-01-02

    Isoprenylated proteins are associated with membranes and their inter-compartmental distribution is regulated by solubilization factors, which incorporate lipid moieties in hydrophobic cavities and thereby facilitate free diffusion during trafficking. Here we report the crystal structure of a solubilization factor, the prenyl-binding protein (PrBP/δ), at 1.81 Å resolution in its ligand-free apo-form. Apo-PrBP/δ harbors a preshaped, deep hydrophobic cavity, capacitating apo-PrBP/δ to readily bind its prenylated cargo. To investigate the molecular mechanism of cargo solubilization we analyzed the PrBP/δ-induced membrane dissociation of rod photoreceptor phosphodiesterase (PDE6). The results suggest that PrBP/δ exclusively interacts with the soluble fraction of PDE6. Depletion of soluble species in turn leads to dissociation of membrane-bound PDE6, as both are in equilibrium. This

  4. Mechanistic insights into the role of prenyl-binding protein PrBP/δ in membrane dissociation of phosphodiesterase 6

    KAUST Repository

    Qureshi, Bilal M.; Schmidt, Andrea; Behrmann, Elmar; Bü rger, Jö rg; Mielke, Thorsten; Spahn, Christian M. T.; Heck, Martin; Scheerer, Patrick

    2018-01-01

    Isoprenylated proteins are associated with membranes and their inter-compartmental distribution is regulated by solubilization factors, which incorporate lipid moieties in hydrophobic cavities and thereby facilitate free diffusion during trafficking. Here we report the crystal structure of a solubilization factor, the prenyl-binding protein (PrBP/δ), at 1.81 Å resolution in its ligand-free apo-form. Apo-PrBP/δ harbors a preshaped, deep hydrophobic cavity, capacitating apo-PrBP/δ to readily bind its prenylated cargo. To investigate the molecular mechanism of cargo solubilization we analyzed the PrBP/δ-induced membrane dissociation of rod photoreceptor phosphodiesterase (PDE6). The results suggest that PrBP/δ exclusively interacts with the soluble fraction of PDE6. Depletion of soluble species in turn leads to dissociation of membrane-bound PDE6, as both are in equilibrium. This

  5. Purification and binding analysis of the nitrogen fixation regulatory NifA protein from Azospirillum brasilense

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    L.M.P. Passaglia

    1998-11-01

    Full Text Available NifA protein activates transcription of nitrogen fixation operons by the alternative sigma54 holoenzyme form of RNA polymerase. This protein binds to a well-defined upstream activator sequence (UAS located at the -200/-100 position of nif promoters with the consensus motif TGT-N10-ACA. NifA of Azospirillum brasilense was purified in the form of a glutathione-S-transferase (GST-NifA fusion protein and proteolytic release of GST yielded inactive and partially soluble NifA. However, the purified NifA was able to induce the production of specific anti-A. brasilense NifA-antiserum that recognized NifA from A. brasilense but not from K. pneumoniae. Both GST-NifA and NifA expressed from the E. coli tac promoter are able to activate transcription from the nifHDK promoter but only in an A. brasilense background. In order to investigate the mechanism that regulates NifA binding capacity we have used E. coli total protein extracts expressing A. brasilense nifA in mobility shift assays. DNA fragments carrying the two overlapping, wild-type or mutated UAS motifs present in the nifH promoter region revealed a retarded band of related size. These data show that the binding activity present in the C-terminal domain of A. brasilense NifA protein is still functional even in the presence of oxygen.

  6. Comparison of hippocampal G protein activation by 5-HT(1A) receptor agonists and the atypical antipsychotics clozapine and S16924.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Newman-Tancredi, A; Rivet, J-M; Cussac, D; Touzard, M; Chaput, C; Marini, L; Millan, M J

    2003-09-01

    This study employed [(35)S]guanosine 5'- O-(3-thiotriphosphate) ([(35)S]GTPgammaS) binding to compare the actions of antipsychotic agents known to stimulate cloned, human 5-HT(1A) receptors with those of reference agonists at postsynaptic 5-HT(1A) receptors. In rat hippocampal membranes, the following order of efficacy was observed (maximum efficacy, E(max), values relative to 5-HT=100): (+)8-OH-DPAT (85), flesinoxan (62), eltoprazine (60), S14506 (59), S16924 (48), buspirone (41), S15535 (22), clozapine (22), ziprasidone (21), pindolol (7), p-MPPI (0), WAY100,635 (0), spiperone (0). Despite differences in species and tissue source, the efficacy and potency (pEC(50)) of agonists (with the exception of clozapine) correlated well with those determined previously at human 5-HT(1A) receptors expressed in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. In contrast, clozapine was more potent at hippocampal membranes. The selective antagonists p-MPPI and WAY100,635 abolished stimulation of binding by (+)8-OH-DPAT, clozapine and S16924 (p-MPPI), indicating that these actions were mediated specifically by 5-HT(1A) receptors. Clozapine and S16924 also attenuated 5-HT- and (+)8-OH-DPAT-stimulated [(35)S]GTPgammaS binding, consistent with partial agonist properties. In [(35)S]GTPgammaS autoradiographic studies, 5-HT-induced stimulation, mediated through 5-HT(1A) receptors, was more potent in the septum (pEC(50) approximately 6.5) than in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus (pEC(50) approximately 5) suggesting potential differences in coupling efficiency or G protein expression. Though clozapine (30 and 100 microM) did not enhance [(35)S]GTPgammaS labelling in any structure, S16924 (10 micro M) modestly increased [(35)S]GTPgammaS labelling in the dentate gyrus. On the other hand, both these antipsychotic agents attenuated 5-HT (10 microM)-stimulated [(35)S]GTPgammaS binding in the dentate gyrus and septum. In conclusion, clozapine, S16924 and ziprasidone act as partial agonists for G

  7. S100B Protein concentration in milk-formulas for preterm and term infants. Correlation with industrial preparation procedures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nigro, Francesco; Gagliardi, Luigi; Ciotti, Sabina; Galvano, Fabio; Pietri, Amedeo; Tina, Gabriella Lucia; Cavallaro, Daniela; La Fauci, Luca; Iacopino, Leonardo; Bognanno, Matteo; Li Volti, Giovanni; Scacco, Antonio; Michetti, Fabrizio; Gazzolo, Diego

    2008-05-01

    Human milk S100B protein possesses important neurotrophic properties. However, in some conditions human milk is substituted by milk formulas. The aims of the present study were: to assess S100B concentrations in milk formulas, to verify any differences in S100B levels between preterm and term infant formulas and to evaluate the impact of industrial preparation at predetermined phases on S100B content. Two different set of samples were tested: (i) commercial preterm (n = 36) and term (n = 36) infant milk formulas; ii) milk preterm (n = 10) and term infant (n = 10) formulas sampled at the following predetermined industrial preparation time points: skimmed cow milk (Time 0); after protein sources supplementation (Time 1); after pasteurization (Time 2); after spray-drying (Time 3). Our results showed that S100B concentration in preterm formulas were higher than in term ones (p 0.05) at Time 2, whereas a significant (p pasteurization but not spry-drying. New feeding strategies in preterm and term infants are therefore warranted in order to preserve S100B protein during industrial preparation.

  8. ProBiS-2012: web server and web services for detection of structurally similar binding sites in proteins.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Konc, Janez; Janezic, Dusanka

    2012-07-01

    The ProBiS web server is a web server for detection of structurally similar binding sites in the PDB and for local pairwise alignment of protein structures. In this article, we present a new version of the ProBiS web server that is 10 times faster than earlier versions, due to the efficient parallelization of the ProBiS algorithm, which now allows significantly faster comparison of a protein query against the PDB and reduces the calculation time for scanning the entire PDB from hours to minutes. It also features new web services, and an improved user interface. In addition, the new web server is united with the ProBiS-Database and thus provides instant access to pre-calculated protein similarity profiles for over 29 000 non-redundant protein structures. The ProBiS web server is particularly adept at detection of secondary binding sites in proteins. It is freely available at http://probis.cmm.ki.si/old-version, and the new ProBiS web server is at http://probis.cmm.ki.si.

  9. Low-Molecular-Weight Peptides from Salmon Protein Prevent Obesity-Linked Glucose Intolerance, Inflammation, and Dyslipidemia in LDLR-/-/ApoB100/100 Mice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chevrier, Geneviève; Mitchell, Patricia L; Rioux, Laurie-Eve; Hasan, Fida; Jin, Tianyi; Roblet, Cyril Roland; Doyen, Alain; Pilon, Geneviève; St-Pierre, Philippe; Lavigne, Charles; Bazinet, Laurent; Jacques, Hélène; Gill, Tom; McLeod, Roger S; Marette, André

    2015-07-01

    We previously reported that fish proteins can alleviate metabolic syndrome (MetS) in obese animals and human subjects. We tested whether a salmon peptide fraction (SPF) could improve MetS in mice and explored potential mechanisms of action. ApoB(100) only, LDL receptor knockout male mice (LDLR(-/-)/ApoB(100/100)) were fed a high-fat and -sucrose (HFS) diet (25 g/kg sucrose). Two groups were fed 10 g/kg casein hydrolysate (HFS), and 1 group was additionally fed 4.35 g/kg fish oil (FO; HFS+FO). Two other groups were fed 10 g SPF/kg (HFS+SPF), and 1 group was additionally fed 4.35 g FO/kg (HFS+SPF+FO). A fifth (reference) group was fed a standard feed pellet diet. We assessed the impact of dietary treatments on glucose tolerance, adipose tissue inflammation, lipid homeostasis, and hepatic insulin signaling. The effects of SPF on glucose uptake, hepatic glucose production, and inducible nitric oxide synthase activity were further studied in vitro with the use of L6 myocytes, FAO hepatocytes, and J774 macrophages. Mice fed HFS+SPF or HFS+SPF+FO diets had lower body weight (protein effect, P = 0.024), feed efficiency (protein effect, P = 0.018), and liver weight (protein effect, P = 0.003) as well as lower concentrations of adipose tissue cytokines and chemokines (protein effect, P ≤ 0.003) compared with HFS and HFS+FO groups. They also had greater glucose tolerance (protein effect, P < 0.001), lower activation of the mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1/S6 kinase 1/insulin receptor substrate 1 (mTORC1/S6K1/IRS1) pathway, and increased insulin signaling in liver compared with the HFS and HFS+FO groups. The HFS+FO, HFS+SPF, and HFS+SPF+FO groups had lower plasma triglycerides (protein effect, P = 0.003; lipid effect, P = 0.002) than did the HFS group. SPF increased glucose uptake and decreased HGP and iNOS activation in vitro. SPF reduces obesity-linked MetS features in LDLR(-/-)/ApoB(100/100) mice. The anti-inflammatory and glucoregulatory properties of SPF were

  10. Acyl-CoA-binding protein/diazepam-binding inhibitor gene and pseudogenes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mandrup, S; Hummel, R; Ravn, S

    1992-01-01

    Acyl-CoA-binding protein (ACBP) is a 10 kDa protein isolated from bovine liver by virtue of its ability to bind and induce the synthesis of medium-chain acyl-CoA esters. Surprisingly, it turned out to be identical to a protein named diazepam-binding Inhibitor (DBI) claimed to be an endogenous mod...... have molecularly cloned and characterized the ACBP/DBI gene family in rat. The rat ACBP/DBI gene family comprises one expressed gene and four processed pseudogenes of which one was shown to exist in two allelic forms. The expressed gene is organized into four exons and three introns...

  11. DNA-binding proteins essential for protein-primed bacteriophage ø29 DNA replication

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Margarita Salas

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available Bacillus subtilis phage Φ29 has a linear, double-stranded DNA 19 kb long with an inverted terminal repeat of 6 nucleotides and a protein covalently linked to the 5’ ends of the DNA. This protein, called terminal protein (TP, is the primer for the initiation of replication, a reaction catalyzed by the viral DNA polymerase at the two DNA ends. The DNA polymerase further elongates the nascent DNA chain in a processive manner, coupling strand displacement with elongation. The viral protein p5 is a single-stranded DNA binding protein (SSB that binds to the single strands generated by strand displacement during the elongation process. Viral protein p6 is a double-stranded DNA binding protein (DBP that preferentially binds to the origins of replication at the Φ29 DNA ends and is required for the initiation of replication. Both SSB and DBP are essential for Φ29 DNA amplification. This review focuses on the role of these phage DNA-binding proteins in Φ29 DNA replication both in vitro and in vivo, as well as on the implication of several B. subtilis DNA-binding proteins in different processes of the viral cycle. We will revise the enzymatic activities of the Φ29 DNA polymerase: TP-deoxynucleotidylation, processive DNA polymerization coupled to strand displacement, 3’-5’ exonucleolysis and pyrophosphorolysis. The resolution of the Φ29 DNA polymerase structure has shed light on the translocation mechanism and the determinants responsible for processivity and strand displacement. These two properties have made Φ29 DNA polymerase one of the main enzymes used in the current DNA amplification technologies. The determination of the structure of Φ29 TP revealed the existence of three domains: the priming domain, where the primer residue Ser232, as well as Phe230, involved in the determination of the initiating nucleotide, are located, the intermediate domain, involved in DNA polymerase binding, and the N-terminal domain, responsible for DNA binding

  12. Chloroplast RNA-Binding Protein RBD1 Promotes Chilling Tolerance through 23S rRNA Processing in Arabidopsis.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shuai Wang

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Plants have varying abilities to tolerate chilling (low but not freezing temperatures, and it is largely unknown how plants such as Arabidopsis thaliana achieve chilling tolerance. Here, we describe a genome-wide screen for genes important for chilling tolerance by their putative knockout mutants in Arabidopsis thaliana. Out of 11,000 T-DNA insertion mutant lines representing half of the genome, 54 lines associated with disruption of 49 genes had a drastic chilling sensitive phenotype. Sixteen of these genes encode proteins with chloroplast localization, suggesting a critical role of chloroplast function in chilling tolerance. Study of one of these proteins RBD1 with an RNA binding domain further reveals the importance of chloroplast translation in chilling tolerance. RBD1 is expressed in the green tissues and is localized in the chloroplast nucleoid. It binds directly to 23S rRNA and the binding is stronger under chilling than at normal growth temperatures. The rbd1 mutants are defective in generating mature 23S rRNAs and deficient in chloroplast protein synthesis especially under chilling conditions. Together, our study identifies RBD1 as a regulator of 23S rRNA processing and reveals the importance of chloroplast function especially protein translation in chilling tolerance.

  13. Tritium NMR spectroscopy of ligand binding to maltose-binding protein

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gehring, K.; Williams, P.G.; Pelton, J.G.; Morimoto, H.; Wemmer, D.E.

    1991-01-01

    Tritium-labeled α- and β-maltodextrins have been used to study their complexes with maltose-binding protein (MBP), a 40-kDa bacterial protein. Five substrates, from maltose to maltohexaose, were labeled at their reducing ends and their binding studied. Tritium NMR specctroscopy of the labeled sugars showed large upfield chamical shift changes upon binding and strong anomeric specficity. At 10 degrees C, MBP bound α-maltose with 2.7 ± 0.5-fold higher affinity than β-maltose, and, for longer maltodextrins, the ratio of affinities was even larger. The maximum chemical shift change was 2.2 ppm, suggesting that the reducing end of bound α-maltodextrin makes close contact with an aromatic residue in the MBP-binding site. Experiments with maltotriose (and longer maltodextrins) also revealed the presence of two bound β-maltotriose resonances in rapid exchange. The authors interpret these two resonances as arising from two distinct sugar-protein complexes. In one complex, the β-maltodextrin is bound by its reducing end, and, in the other complex, the β-maltodextrin is bound by the middle glucose residue(s). This interpretation also suggests how MBP is able to bind both linear and circular maltodextrins

  14. Expression of cbsA encoding the collagen-binding S-protein of Lactobacillus crispatus JCM5810 in Lactobacillus casei ATCC 393T

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Martínez, B.; Sillanpää, J.; Smit, E.; Korhonen, T.K.; Pouwels, P.H.

    2000-01-01

    The cbsA gene encoding the collagen-binding S-layer protein of Lactobacillus crispatus JCM5810 was expressed in L. casei ATCC 393T. The S-protein was not retained on the surface of the recombinant bacteria but was secreted into the medium. By translational fusion of CbsA to the cell wall sorting

  15. SCM, the M Protein of Streptococcus canis Binds Immunoglobulin G.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bergmann, Simone; Eichhorn, Inga; Kohler, Thomas P; Hammerschmidt, Sven; Goldmann, Oliver; Rohde, Manfred; Fulde, Marcus

    2017-01-01

    The M protein of Streptococcus canis (SCM) is a virulence factor and serves as a surface-associated receptor with a particular affinity for mini-plasminogen, a cleavage product of the broad-spectrum serine protease plasmin. Here, we report that SCM has an additional high-affinity immunoglobulin G (IgG) binding activity. The ability of a particular S. canis isolate to bind to IgG significantly correlates with a scm -positive phenotype, suggesting a dominant role of SCM as an IgG receptor. Subsequent heterologous expression of SCM in non-IgG binding S. gordonii and Western Blot analysis with purified recombinant SCM proteins confirmed its IgG receptor function. As expected for a zoonotic agent, the SCM-IgG interaction is species-unspecific, with a particular affinity of SCM for IgGs derived from human, cats, dogs, horses, mice, and rabbits, but not from cows and goats. Similar to other streptococcal IgG-binding proteins, the interaction between SCM and IgG occurs via the conserved Fc domain and is, therefore, non-opsonic. Interestingly, the interaction between SCM and IgG-Fc on the bacterial surface specifically prevents opsonization by C1q, which might constitute another anti-phagocytic mechanism of SCM. Extensive binding analyses with a variety of different truncated SCM fragments defined a region of 52 amino acids located in the central part of the mature SCM protein which is important for IgG binding. This binding region is highly conserved among SCM proteins derived from different S. canis isolates but differs significantly from IgG-Fc receptors of S. pyogenes and S. dysgalactiae sub. equisimilis , respectively. In summary, we present an additional role of SCM in the pathogen-host interaction of S. canis . The detailed analysis of the SCM-IgG interaction should contribute to a better understanding of the complex roles of M proteins in streptococcal pathogenesis.

  16. Preliminary structural characterization of human SOUL, a haem-binding protein

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Freire, Filipe; Romão, Maria João; Macedo, Anjos L.; Aveiro, Susana S.; Goodfellow, Brian J.; Carvalho, Ana Luísa

    2009-01-01

    This manuscript describes the overexpression, purification and crystallization of human SOUL protein (hSOUL). hSOUL is a 23 kDa haem-binding protein that was first identified as the PP23 protein isolated from human full-term placenta. Human SOUL (hSOUL) is a 23 kDa haem-binding protein that was first identified as the PP 23 protein isolated from human full-term placentas. Here, the overexpression, purification and crystallization of hSOUL are reported. The crystals belonged to space group P6 4 22, with unit-cell parameters a = b = 145, c = 60 Å and one protein molecule in the asymmetric unit. X-ray diffraction data were collected to 3.5 Å resolution at the ESRF. A preliminary model of the three-dimensional structure of hSOUL was obtained by molecular replacement using the structures of murine p22HBP, obtained by solution NMR, as search models

  17. Combination PPARγ and RXR Agonist Treatment in Melanoma Cells: Functional Importance of S100A2

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Joshua P. Klopper

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Nuclear hormone receptors, including RXR and PPARγ, represent novel therapeutic targets in melanoma. We have previously shown that the DRO subline of the amelanotic melanoma A375 responds to rexinoid and thiazolidinedione (TZD treatment in vitro and in vivo. We performed microarray analysis of A375(DRO after TZD and combination rexinoid/TZD treatment in which the calcium binding protein S100A2 had increased expression after rexinoid or TZD treatment and a synergistic increase to combination treatment. Increased S100A2 expression is dependent on an intact PPARγ receptor, but it is not sufficient to mediate the antiproliferative effects of rexinoid/TZD treatment. Over expression of S100A2 enhanced the effect of rexinoid and TZD treatment while inhibition of S100A2 expression attenuated the response to rexinoid/TZD treatment, suggesting that S100A2 is necessary for optimal response to RXR and PPARγ activation by respective ligands. In summary, we have identified potential downstream mediators of rexinoid and TZD treatment in a poorly differentiated melanoma and found that alterations in S100A2 expression affect RXR and PPARγ signaling in A375(DRO cells. These studies provide insight into potential mechanisms of tumor response or resistance to these novel therapies.

  18. A tetrodotoxin-binding protein in the hemolymph of shore crab Hemigrapsus sanguineus: purification and properties.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nagashima, Yuji; Yamamoto, Kazuhiko; Shimakura, Kuniyoshi; Shiomi, Kazuo

    2002-06-01

    The shore crab Hemigrapsus sanguineus hemolymph contains soluble proteins that bind tetrodotoxin (TTX) and are responsible for high resistance of the crab to TTX. The TTX-binding protein was purified from the hemolymph by ultrafiltration, lectin affinity chromatography and gel filtration HPLC. The purified protein gave only one band in native-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE), confirming its homogeneity. Its molecular weight was estimated to be about 400k by gel filtration HPLC, while it was estimated to be about 82k under non-reducing conditions and about 72 and 82k under reducing conditions by SDS-PAGE, indicating that the TTX-binding protein was composed of at least two distinct subunits. The TTX-binding protein was an acidic glycoprotein with pI 3.5, abundant in Asp and Glu but absent in Trp, and contained 6% reducing sugar and 12% amino sugar. The protein selectively bound to TTX, with a neutralizing ability of 6.7 mouse unit TTX/mg protein, but not to paralytic shellfish poisoning toxins. However, its neutralizing activity was almost lost by treatments with enzymes (protease XIV, thermolysin, trypsin, amyloglucosidase and alpha-amylase) and denaturing agents (1% SDS, 1% dithiothreitol, 8 M urea and 6 M guanidine hydrochloride), suggesting the involvement of both proteinaceous and sugar moieties in the binding to TTX and the importance of the steric conformation of the TTX-binding protein. Copright 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd.

  19. Recent improvements to Binding MOAD: a resource for protein-ligand binding affinities and structures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahmed, Aqeel; Smith, Richard D; Clark, Jordan J; Dunbar, James B; Carlson, Heather A

    2015-01-01

    For over 10 years, Binding MOAD (Mother of All Databases; http://www.BindingMOAD.org) has been one of the largest resources for high-quality protein-ligand complexes and associated binding affinity data. Binding MOAD has grown at the rate of 1994 complexes per year, on average. Currently, it contains 23,269 complexes and 8156 binding affinities. Our annual updates curate the data using a semi-automated literature search of the references cited within the PDB file, and we have recently upgraded our website and added new features and functionalities to better serve Binding MOAD users. In order to eliminate the legacy application server of the old platform and to accommodate new changes, the website has been completely rewritten in the LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP) environment. The improved user interface incorporates current third-party plugins for better visualization of protein and ligand molecules, and it provides features like sorting, filtering and filtered downloads. In addition to the field-based searching, Binding MOAD now can be searched by structural queries based on the ligand. In order to remove redundancy, Binding MOAD records are clustered in different families based on 90% sequence identity. The new Binding MOAD, with the upgraded platform, features and functionalities, is now equipped to better serve its users. © The Author(s) 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

  20. Allergenic relevance of nonspecific lipid transfer proteins 2: Identification and characterization of Api g 6 from celery tuber as representative of a novel IgE-binding protein family.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vejvar, Eva; Himly, Martin; Briza, Peter; Eichhorn, Stephanie; Ebner, Christof; Hemmer, Wolfgang; Ferreira, Fatima; Gadermaier, Gabriele

    2013-11-01

    Apium graveolens represents a relevant food allergen source linked with severe systemic reactions. We sought to identify an IgE-binding nonspecific lipid transfer protein (nsLTP) in celery tuber. A low molecular weight protein exclusively present in celery tuber was purified and designated Api g 6. The entire protein sequence was obtained by MS and classified as member of the nsLTP2 family. Api g 6 is monomeric in solution with a molecular mass of 6936 Da. The alpha-helical disulfide bond-stabilized structure confers tremendous thermal stability (Tm > 90°C) and high resistance to gastrointestinal digestion. Endolysosomal degradation demonstrated low susceptibility and the presence of a dominant peptide cluster at the C-terminus. Thirty-eight percent of A. graveolens allergic patients demonstrated IgE reactivity to purified natural Api g 6 in ELISA and heat treatment did only partially reduce its allergenic activity. No correlation in IgE binding and limited cross-reactivity was observed with Api g 2 and Art v 3, nsLTP1 from celery stalks and mugwort pollen. Api g 6, a novel nsLTP2 from celery tuber represents the first well-characterized allergen in this protein family. Despite similar structural and physicochemical features as nsLTP1, immunological properties of Api g 6 are distinct which warrants its inclusion in molecule-based diagnosis of A. graveolens allergy. © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  1. Binding of plasma proteins to titanium dioxide nanotubes with different diameters

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kulkarni, Mukta; Flašker, Ajda; Lokar, Maruša; Mrak-Poljšak, Katjuša; Mazare, Anca; Artenjak, Andrej; Čučnik, Saša; Kralj, Slavko; Velikonja, Aljaž; Schmuki, Patrik; Kralj-Iglič, Veronika; Sodin-Semrl, Snezna; Iglič, Aleš

    2015-01-01

    Titanium and titanium alloys are considered to be one of the most applicable materials in medical devices because of their suitable properties, most importantly high corrosion resistance and the specific combination of strength with biocompatibility. In order to improve the biocompatibility of titanium surfaces, the current report initially focuses on specifying the topography of titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanotubes (NTs) by electrochemical anodization. The zeta potential (ζ-potential) of NTs showed a negative value and confirmed the agreement between the measured and theoretically predicted dependence of ζ-potential on salt concentration, whereby the absolute value of ζ-potential diminished with increasing salt concentrations. We investigated binding of various plasma proteins with different sizes and charges using the bicinchoninic acid assay and immunofluorescence microscopy. Results showed effective and comparatively higher protein binding to NTs with 100 nm diameters (compared to 50 or 15 nm). We also showed a dose-dependent effect of serum amyloid A protein binding to NTs. These results and theoretical calculations of total available surface area for binding of proteins indicate that the largest surface area (also considering the NT lengths) is available for 100 nm NTs, with decreasing surface area for 50 and 15 nm NTs. These current investigations will have an impact on increasing the binding ability of biomedical devices in the body leading to increased durability of biomedical devices. PMID:25733829

  2. Comparison between capillary, venous and arterial levels of protein S100B in patients with severe brain pathology

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Astrand, Ramona; Romner, Bertil; Reinstrup, Peter

    2012-01-01

    of the study was to investigate the relation between capillary, venous and arterial measurements of protein S100B, primarily by determining whether capillary S100B differ from venous and if capillary S100B can predict venous S100B levels, and secondarily, if arterial S100B samples can substitute venous samples...... in severely brain-injured patients....

  3. The Effect of CYP2B6, CYP2D6, and CYP3A4 Alleles on Methadone Binding: A Molecular Docking Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nik Nur Syazana Bt Nik Mohamed Kamal

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Current methadone maintenance therapy (MMT is yet to ensure 100% successful treatment as the optimum dosage has yet to be determined. Overdose leads to death while lower dose causes the opioid withdrawal effect. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP in cytochrome P450s (CYPs, the methadone metabolizers, have been showen to be the main factor for the interindividual variability of methadone clinical effects. In this study, we investigated the effect of SNPs in three major methadone metabolizers (CYP2B6, CYP2D6, and CYP3A4 on methadone binding affinity. Results showed that CYP2B6*11, CYP2B6*12, CYP2B6*18, and CYP3A4*12 have significantly higher binding affinity to R-methadone compared to wild type. S-methadone has higher binding affinity in CYP3A4*3, CYP3A4*11, and CYP3A4*12 compared to wild type. R-methadone was shown to be the active form of methadone; thus individuals with CYP alleles that binds better to R-methadone will have higher methadone metabolism rate. Therefore, a higher dosage of methadone is necessary to obtain the opiate effect compared to a normal individual and vice versa. These results provide an initial prediction on methadone metabolism rate for individuals with mutant type CYP which enables prescription of optimum methadone dosage for individuals with CYP alleles.

  4. Factor H Binds to the Hypervariable Region of Many Streptococcus pyogenes M Proteins but Does Not Promote Phagocytosis Resistance or Acute Virulence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kristensen, Bodil M.; Olsen, John E.; Harris, Claire L.; Ufret-Vincenty, Rafael L.; Stålhammar-Carlemalm, Margaretha; Lindahl, Gunnar

    2013-01-01

    Many pathogens express a surface protein that binds the human complement regulator factor H (FH), as first described for Streptococcus pyogenes and the antiphagocytic M6 protein. It is commonly assumed that FH recruited to an M protein enhances virulence by protecting the bacteria against complement deposition and phagocytosis, but the role of FH-binding in S. pyogenes pathogenesis has remained unclear and controversial. Here, we studied seven purified M proteins for ability to bind FH and found that FH binds to the M5, M6 and M18 proteins but not the M1, M3, M4 and M22 proteins. Extensive immunochemical analysis indicated that FH binds solely to the hypervariable region (HVR) of an M protein, suggesting that selection has favored the ability of certain HVRs to bind FH. These FH-binding HVRs could be studied as isolated polypeptides that retain ability to bind FH, implying that an FH-binding HVR represents a distinct ligand-binding domain. The isolated HVRs specifically interacted with FH among all human serum proteins, interacted with the same region in FH and showed species specificity, but exhibited little or no antigenic cross-reactivity. Although these findings suggested that FH recruited to an M protein promotes virulence, studies in transgenic mice did not demonstrate a role for bound FH during acute infection. Moreover, phagocytosis tests indicated that ability to bind FH is neither sufficient nor necessary for S. pyogenes to resist killing in whole human blood. While these data shed new light on the HVR of M proteins, they suggest that FH-binding may affect S. pyogenes virulence by mechanisms not assessed in currently used model systems. PMID:23637608

  5. Factor H binds to the hypervariable region of many Streptococcus pyogenes M proteins but does not promote phagocytosis resistance or acute virulence.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mattias C U Gustafsson

    Full Text Available Many pathogens express a surface protein that binds the human complement regulator factor H (FH, as first described for Streptococcus pyogenes and the antiphagocytic M6 protein. It is commonly assumed that FH recruited to an M protein enhances virulence by protecting the bacteria against complement deposition and phagocytosis, but the role of FH-binding in S. pyogenes pathogenesis has remained unclear and controversial. Here, we studied seven purified M proteins for ability to bind FH and found that FH binds to the M5, M6 and M18 proteins but not the M1, M3, M4 and M22 proteins. Extensive immunochemical analysis indicated that FH binds solely to the hypervariable region (HVR of an M protein, suggesting that selection has favored the ability of certain HVRs to bind FH. These FH-binding HVRs could be studied as isolated polypeptides that retain ability to bind FH, implying that an FH-binding HVR represents a distinct ligand-binding domain. The isolated HVRs specifically interacted with FH among all human serum proteins, interacted with the same region in FH and showed species specificity, but exhibited little or no antigenic cross-reactivity. Although these findings suggested that FH recruited to an M protein promotes virulence, studies in transgenic mice did not demonstrate a role for bound FH during acute infection. Moreover, phagocytosis tests indicated that ability to bind FH is neither sufficient nor necessary for S. pyogenes to resist killing in whole human blood. While these data shed new light on the HVR of M proteins, they suggest that FH-binding may affect S. pyogenes virulence by mechanisms not assessed in currently used model systems.

  6. Expression of microphthalmia transcription factor, S100 protein, and HMB-45 in malignant melanoma and pigmented nevi.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xia, Jianxin; Wang, Yanlong; Li, Fuqiu; Wang, Jinfeng; Mu, Yan; Mei, Xianglin; Li, Xue; Zhu, Wenjing; Jin, Xianhua; Yu, Kai

    2016-09-01

    Malignant melanoma (MM) is a type of malignant tumor, which originates from neural crest melanocytes. MM progresses rapidly and results in a high mortality rate. The present study aims to investigate the expression of microphthalmia transcription factor (MITF), the S100 protein, and HMB-45 in MM and pigmented nevi. A total of 32 MM samples (including three skin metastasis, three lymph node metastasis and two spindle cell MM samples), two Spitz nevus samples, four pigmented nevus samples and two blue nevus samples were collected. The expression levels of S100 protein, HMB-45, and MITF were observed via immunostaining. The S100 protein exhibited high positive rates in MM and pigment disorders (96.7 and 100%, respectively), but with low specificity. The S100 protein was also expressed in fibroblasts, myoepithelial cells, histocytes and Langerhans cells in normal skin samples. HMB-45 had high specificity. Its positive expression was only confined to MM cells and junctional nevus cells. Furthermore, HMB-45 was not expressed in melanocytes in the normal tissue samples around the tumor or in the benign intradermal nevus cells. MITF exhibited high specificity and high sensitivity. It was expressed in the nuclei of melanocytes, MM cells and nevus cells. It was observed to be strongly expressed in metastatic MM and spindle cell MMs. Thus, MITF may present as a specific immunomarker for the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of MM.

  7. Structural Basis for a Ribofuranosyl Binding Protein: Insights into the Furanose Specific Transport

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bagaria, A.; Swaminathan, S.; Kumaran, D.; Burley, S. K.

    2011-04-01

    The ATP-binding cassette transporters (ABC-transporters) are members of one of the largest protein superfamilies, with representatives in all extant phyla. These integral membrane proteins utilize the energy of ATP hydrolysis to carry out certain biological processes, including translocation of various substrates across membranes and non-transport related processes such as translation of RNA and DNA repair. Typically, such transport systems in bacteria consist of an ATP binding component, a transmembrane permease, and a periplasmic receptor or binding protein. Soluble proteins found in the periplasm of gram-negative bacteria serve as the primary receptors for transport of many compounds, such as sugars, small peptides, and some ions. Ligand binding activates these periplasmic components, permitting recognition by the membrane spanning domain, which supports for transport and, in some cases, chemotaxis. Transport and chemotaxis processes appear to be independent of one another, and a few mutants of bifunctional periplasmic components reveal the absence of one or the other function. Previously published high-resolution X-ray structures of various periplasmic ligand binding proteins include Arabinose binding protein (ABP), Allose binding protein (ALBP), Glucose-galactose binding protein (GBP) and Ribose binding protein (RBP). Each of these proteins consists of two structurally similar domains connected by a three-stranded hinge region, with ligand buried between the domains. Upon ligand binding and release, various conformational changes have been observed. For RBP, open (apo) and closed (ligand bound) conformations have been reported and so for MBP. The closed/active form of the protein interacts with the integral membrane component of the system in both transport and chemotaxis. Herein, we report 1.9{angstrom} resolution X-ray structure of the R{sub f}BP periplasmic component of an ABC-type sugar transport system from Hahella chejuensis (UniProt Id Q2S7D2) bound to

  8. Leptospiral outer membrane protein microarray, a novel approach to identification of host ligand-binding proteins.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pinne, Marija; Matsunaga, James; Haake, David A

    2012-11-01

    Leptospirosis is a zoonosis with worldwide distribution caused by pathogenic spirochetes belonging to the genus Leptospira. The leptospiral life cycle involves transmission via freshwater and colonization of the renal tubules of their reservoir hosts. Infection requires adherence to cell surfaces and extracellular matrix components of host tissues. These host-pathogen interactions involve outer membrane proteins (OMPs) expressed on the bacterial surface. In this study, we developed an Leptospira interrogans serovar Copenhageni strain Fiocruz L1-130 OMP microarray containing all predicted lipoproteins and transmembrane OMPs. A total of 401 leptospiral genes or their fragments were transcribed and translated in vitro and printed on nitrocellulose-coated glass slides. We investigated the potential of this protein microarray to screen for interactions between leptospiral OMPs and fibronectin (Fn). This approach resulted in the identification of the recently described fibronectin-binding protein, LIC10258 (MFn8, Lsa66), and 14 novel Fn-binding proteins, denoted Microarray Fn-binding proteins (MFns). We confirmed Fn binding of purified recombinant LIC11612 (MFn1), LIC10714 (MFn2), LIC11051 (MFn6), LIC11436 (MFn7), LIC10258 (MFn8, Lsa66), and LIC10537 (MFn9) by far-Western blot assays. Moreover, we obtained specific antibodies to MFn1, MFn7, MFn8 (Lsa66), and MFn9 and demonstrated that MFn1, MFn7, and MFn9 are expressed and surface exposed under in vitro growth conditions. Further, we demonstrated that MFn1, MFn4 (LIC12631, Sph2), and MFn7 enable leptospires to bind fibronectin when expressed in the saprophyte, Leptospira biflexa. Protein microarrays are valuable tools for high-throughput identification of novel host ligand-binding proteins that have the potential to play key roles in the virulence mechanisms of pathogens.

  9. The RNA-binding protein repertoire of Arabidopsis thaliana

    KAUST Repository

    Marondedze, Claudius

    2016-07-11

    RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) have essential roles in determining the fate of RNA from synthesis to decay and have been studied on a protein-by-protein basis, or computationally based on a number of well-characterised RNA-binding domains. Recently, high-throughput methods enabled the capture of mammalian RNA-binding proteomes. To gain insight into the role of Arabidopsis thaliana RBPs at the systems level, we have employed interactome capture techniques using cells from different ecotypes grown in cultures and leaves. In vivo UV-crosslinking of RNA to RBPs, oligo(dT) capture and mass spectrometry yielded 1,145 different proteins including 550 RBPs that either belong to the functional category ‘RNA-binding’, have known RNA-binding domains or have orthologs identified in mammals, C. elegans, or S. cerevisiae in addition to 595 novel candidate RBPs. We noted specific subsets of RBPs in cultured cells and leaves and a comparison of Arabidopsis, mammalian, C. elegans, and S. cerevisiae RBPs reveals a common set of proteins with a role in intermediate metabolism, as well as distinct differences suggesting that RBPs are also species and tissue specific. This study provides a foundation for studies that will advance our understanding of the biological significance of RBPs in plant developmental and stimulus specific responses.

  10. Binding of the cyclic AMP receptor protein of Escherichia coli to RNA polymerase.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pinkney, M; Hoggett, J G

    1988-03-15

    Fluorescence polarization studies were used to study the interaction of a fluorescein-labelled conjugate of the Escherichia coli cyclic AMP receptor protein (F-CRP) and RNA polymerase. Under conditions of physiological ionic strength, F-CRP binds to RNA polymerase holoenzyme in a cyclic AMP-dependent manner; the dissociation constant was about 3 microM in the presence of cyclic AMP and about 100 microM in its absence. Binding to core RNA polymerase under the same conditions was weak (Kdiss. approx. 80-100 microM) and independent of cyclic AMP. Competition experiments established that native CRP and F-CRP compete for the same binding site on RNA polymerase holoenzyme and that the native protein binds about 3 times more strongly than does F-CRP. Analytical ultracentrifuge studies showed that CRP binds predominantly to the monomeric rather than the dimeric form of RNA polymerase.

  11. The correlation of serum S100β protein levels and hippocampal Seladin-1 gene expression in a rat model of sporadic Alzheimer\\\\\\'s disease

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Soheila Hosseinzadeh

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available Background: Seladin-1 protein protects the neural cells against amyloid beta toxicity and its expression decreased in vulnerable regions of Alzheimer's disease (AD brains. On the other hand, changes in serum levels of S100 have been considered as a marker of brain damage in neurodegenerative diseases. Furthermore, this study was carried out to determine the relation between the change profile of serum S100β protein levels and hippocampal Seladin-1 gene expression in a rat model of sporadic AD. Methods: In this experimental study that established in Department of Neuroscience, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Science, from March 2011 to April 2013, 72 animals were randomly divided into control, 4, 7, 14, and 21days ICV-STZ/Saline administrated rats. Alzheimer's model was induced by intracerebroventricular (ICV injections of streptozotocin (STZ [3 mg/kg] on days 1 and 3. Serum levels of S100β and hippocampal Seladin-1 gene expression were evalu-ated in experimental groups. The initial and step-through latencies (STL were deter-mined using passive avoidance test. Results: Serum levels of S100β were significantly different between the STZ-7 day and STZ-14 day groups in comparison with the control, saline and STZ-4 day groups. As well as, there was a significant difference between the STZ-7 day group in comparison with the STZ-14 day and STZ-21 day groups (P=0.0001. Hippocampal Seladin-1 gene expression in STZ-14 day and STZ-21 day groups significantly decreased as compared to the control, saline and STZ-4 day groups (P=0.0001. However, significant correla-tion was detected between serum S100β protein decrement and Seladin-1 down regula-tion (P=0.001. Also, the STL was significantly decreased in 21 days ICV-STZ adminis-trated rats as compared to the control or saline groups (P=0.001. Conclusion: Monitoring the changes of serum S100β protein levels by relationship with changes in hippocampal Seladin-1

  12. TATA-binding protein and the retinoblastoma gene product bind to overlapping epitopes on c-Myc and adenovirus E1A protein

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hateboer, G.; Timmers, H.T.M.; Rustgi, A.K.; Billaud, Marc; Veer, L.J. Van 't; Bernards, R.A.

    1993-01-01

    Using a protein binding assay, we show that the amino-teminal 204 amino acids of the c-Myc protein interact di y with a key component of the basal p tdon factor TFID, the TATA box-binding protein (TBP). Essentialy the same region of the c-Myc protein alo binds the product of the retinoblatoma

  13. Ras p21 and other Gn proteins are detected in mammalian cell lines by [gamma-35S]GTP gamma S binding

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Comerford, J.G.; Gibson, J.R.; Dawson, A.P.; Gibson, I.

    1989-01-01

    The presence of guanine nucleotide binding proteins in mouse and human cell lines was investigated using [gamma- 35 S]GTP gamma S and [gamma-32P]GTP. Cell lysate polypeptides were separated by sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and transferred to nitrocellulose. Incubation of the nitrocellulose blots with [gamma- 35 S]GTP gamma S identified 9 distinct GTP-binding polypeptides in all lysates. One of these is the ras oncogene product, p21, as demonstrated by subsequent immunochemical staining of the nitrocellulose blots. We have shown that this procedure provides a sensitive method for detection of p21 in culture cell lines

  14. Synthesis of 17α-[(E)-2-[125I]iodoethenyl]androsta-4-6-dien-17β-o l-3-one, an active -site-directed photoaffinity radiolabel for androgen-binding proteins

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Diaz Cruz, P.J.; Smith, H.E.; Vanderbilt Univ., Nashville, TN; Danzo, B.J.; Clanton, J.A.; Mason, N.S.

    1993-01-01

    The active-site-directed photoaffinity radiolabel for androgen-binding proteins, 17α-[(E)-2-[ 125 I]iodoethenyl]androsta-4,6-dien-17β-ol-3-one, was prepared by reaction of 17α-[(E)-2-tributyltin(IV)ethenyl]androsta-4,6-dien-17β-ol-3-one with carrier added sodium iodide-125 in the presence of hydrogen peroxide and acetic acid. Purification by HPLC gave the radiolabeled steroid in 52% radiochemical yield with a specific activity of 27 Ci/mmol and 100% radiochemical purity. (author)

  15. Dynamic SPR monitoring of yeast nuclear protein binding to a cis-regulatory element

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mao, Grace; Brody, James P.

    2007-01-01

    Gene expression is controlled by protein complexes binding to short specific sequences of DNA, called cis-regulatory elements. Expression of most eukaryotic genes is controlled by dozens of these elements. Comprehensive identification and monitoring of these elements is a major goal of genomics. In pursuit of this goal, we are developing a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) based assay to identify and monitor cis-regulatory elements. To test whether we could reliably monitor protein binding to a regulatory element, we immobilized a 16 bp region of Saccharomyces cerevisiae chromosome 5 onto a gold surface. This 16 bp region of DNA is known to bind several proteins and thought to control expression of the gene RNR1, which varies through the cell cycle. We synchronized yeast cell cultures, and then sampled these cultures at a regular interval. These samples were processed to purify nuclear lysate, which was then exposed to the sensor. We found that nuclear protein binds this particular element of DNA at a significantly higher rate (as compared to unsynchronized cells) during G1 phase. Other time points show levels of DNA-nuclear protein binding similar to the unsynchronized control. We also measured the apparent association complex of the binding to be 0.014 s -1 . We conclude that (1) SPR-based assays can monitor DNA-nuclear protein binding and that (2) for this particular cis-regulatory element, maximum DNA-nuclear protein binding occurs during G1 phase

  16. Comparison of mRNA, Protein, and Urinary Nucleic Acid Levels of S100A8 and S100A9 between Prostate Cancer and BPH.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yun, Seok Joong; Yan, Chunri; Jeong, Pildu; Kang, Ho Won; Kim, Ye-Hwan; Kim, Eun-Ah; Lee, Ok-Jun; Kim, Won Tae; Moon, Sung-Kwon; Kim, Isaac Yi; Choi, Yung-Hyun; Kim, Wun-Jae

    2015-07-01

    Infections and inflammation in the prostate play a critical role in carcinogenesis, and S100A8 and S100A9 are key mediators in acute and chronic inflammation. Therefore, we investigated the differences of S100A8/A9 expression between prostate cancer (CaP) and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) tissues, and we evaluated the possibilities of urinary nucleic acids of S100A8/A9 as diagnostic and prognostic markers. Tissues from 132 CaP patients who underwent prostatectomy or transurethral resection and 90 BPH patients who underwent transurethral prostatectomy were assessed.sd In addition, S100A8 and S100A9 nucleic acid levels were measured in the urine of 283 CaP patients and 363 BPH controls. S100A8 and S100A9 mRNA levels were lower in CaP than BPH tissues (P BPH tissues stained more strongly for both S100A8 and S100A9 than CaP tissues (P BPH (P = 0.001 and BPH. Both were more highly expressed in patients with aggressive disease and shorter biochemical recurrence-free time. S100A8/A9 urinary cell-free nucleic acid levels correlated positively with expression levels obtained from tissue staining. Therefore, S100A8/A9 measurement in tissues and urine may have diagnostic and prognostic value in CaP.

  17. The 5HT(1A) receptor ligand, S15535, antagonises G-protein activation: a [35S]GTPgammaS and [3H]S15535 autoradiography study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Newman-Tancredi, A; Rivet, J; Chaput, C; Touzard, M; Verrièle, L; Millan, M J

    1999-11-19

    4-(Benzodioxan-5-yl)1-(indan-2-yl)piperazine (S15535) is a highly selective ligand at 5-HT(1A) receptors. The present study compared its autoradiographic labelling of rat brain sections with its functional actions, visualised by guanylyl-5'-[gamma-thio]-triphosphate ([35S]GTPgammaS) autoradiography, which affords a measure of G-protein activation. [3H]S15535 binding was highest in hippocampus, frontal cortex, entorhinal cortex, lateral septum, interpeduncular nucleus and dorsal raphe, consistent with specific labelling of 5-HT(1A) receptors. In functional studies, S15535 (10 microM) did not markedly stimulate G-protein activation in any brain region, but abolished the activation induced by the selective 5-HT(1A) agonist, (+)-8-hydroxy-dipropyl-aminotetralin ((+)-8-OH-DPAT, 1 microM), in structures enriched in [3H]S15535 labelling. S15535 did not block 5-HT-stimulated activation in caudate nucleus or substantia nigra, regions where (+)-8-OH-DPAT was ineffective and [3H]S15535 binding was absent. Interestingly, S15535 attenuated (+)-8-OH-DPAT and 5-HT-stimulated G-protein activation in dorsal raphe, a region in which S15535 is known to exhibit agonist properties in vivo [Lejeune, F., Millan, M.J., 1998. Induction of burst firing in ventral tegmental area dopaminergic neurons by activation of serotonin (5-HT)(1A) receptors: WAY100,635-reversible actions of the highly selective ligands, flesinoxan and S15535. Synapse 30, 172-180.]. The present data show that (i) [3H]S15535 labels pre- and post-synaptic populations of 5-HT(1A) sites in rat brain sections, (ii) S15535 exhibits antagonist properties at post-synaptic 5-HT(1A) receptors in corticolimbic regions, and (iii) S15535 also attenuates agonist-stimulated G-protein activation at raphe-localised 5-HT(1A) receptors.

  18. Radiometric immunosorbent assay for the detection of anti-hormone-binding protein antibodies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pierce, E.A.; Dame, M.C.; DeLuca, H.F.

    1986-01-01

    A radiometric immunosorbent assay (RISA) for the detection of monoclonal antibodies to hormone-binding proteins has been developed. The assay involves incubating hybridoma supernatants in microtiter wells that have been coated with goat anti-mouse IgG antibodies. Any mouse IgG in the test supernatant is thus specifically retained in the wells. Radioactive ligand-binding protein complexes are then incubated in the wells. The presence of anti-binding protein antibodies in the supernatant is indicated by specific retention of radioactive ligand-binding protein complexes in the wells. Crude antigen preparations, such as tissue homogenates, can be used to detect antibodies. The assay is capable of detecting antibody at concentrations 20 ng/ml (approx. 100 pM IgG). The RISA has been used successfully to screen for monoclonal antibodies to the intracellular receptor for 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D 3 and should be useful for the detection of antibodies to ligand-binding proteins in general

  19. Evaluation of the in vivo binding of 99mTc-MDP on serum proteins

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Freitas, R.S.F.; Mattos, D.M.M.; Gomes, M.L.; Moreno, S.R.F.; Lima, E.A.C.; Dire, G.F.; Aleixo, L.C.M.; Lima Filho, G.L.; Bernardo-Filho, M.

    2002-01-01

    Aim: In the clinical application of technetium-99m-radiopharmaceuticals (99mTc) these agents are injected into the blood stream and they may bind reversibly and irreversibly to the blood proteins. To evaluate the protein binding of the radiopharmaceutical, the protein-bound 99mTc-radiopharmaceuticals must be separated from the free 99mTc-radiopharmaceuticals complexes. This has been accomplished by precipitation of the proteins. In this study, we have compared the results obtained with the evaluation of the binding of the radiopharmaceutical Tc-99m methylenediphosphonic acid (99mTc-MDP) on serum proteins using precipitation methods with TCA and AS. Material and Methods: 99mTc-MDP was administrated in Wistar rats and after 10 minutes blood was withdrawn and serum (S) isolated. Aliquots of S were precipitated with 1 ml of TCA or AS at various concentrations (0.1, 0.5, 1.0, 5.0, 10.0 and 20.0%) and soluble (SF) and insoluble fractions (IF) were separated. The samples (IF-S and SF-S) were counted in a well counter with NaI(TI)crystal. The percent of the radioactivity (%ATI) was determined in each fraction. Results: The results obtained with the comparison of the in vivo binding of 99mTc-MDP when the precipitation was performed with TCA showed that the %ATI was only statistically different (ANOVA, p<0.05) to the 20% TCA concentration. When various concentrations of AS were used no differences in the %ATI were found and the results were similar to the obtained with TCA, except to the concentration of 20%(TCA - 51.70 ± 10.19 and SA - 10.17 ± 0.98 %). Conclusion: It is possible to suggest that the different concentrations of the precipitating agents (TCA and AS) act, in general, on the same binding sites of the evaluate radiopharmaceutical to the proteins of the serum, except to concentration of 20%

  20. Expression of Slug in S100β-protein-positive cells of postnatal developing rat anterior pituitary gland.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Horiguchi, Kotaro; Fujiwara, Ken; Tsukada, Takehiro; Yako, Hideji; Tateno, Kozue; Hasegawa, Rumi; Takigami, Shu; Ohsako, Shunji; Yashiro, Takashi; Kato, Takako; Kato, Yukio

    2016-02-01

    Among heterogeneous S100β-protein-positive (S100β-positive) cells, star-like cells with extended cytoplasmic processes, the so-called folliculo-stellate cells, envelop hormone-producing cells or interconnect homophilically in the anterior pituitary. S100β-positive cells are known, from immunohistochemistry, to emerge from postnatal day (P) 10 and to proliferate and migrate in the parenchyma of the anterior pituitary with growth. Recent establishment of S100β-GFP transgenic rats expressing specifically green fluorescent protein (GFP) under the control of the S100β-promoter has allowed us to observe living S100β-positive cells. In the present study, we first confirmed that living S100β-positive cells in tissue cultures of S100β-GFP rat pituitary at P5 were present prior to P10 by means of confocal laser microscopy and that they proliferated and extended their cytoplasmic processes. Second, we examined the expression of the Snail-family zinc-finger transcription factors, Snail and Slug, to investigate the mechanism behind the morphological changes and the proliferation of S100β-positive cells. Interestingly, we detected Slug expression in S100β-positive cells and its increase together with development in the anterior pituitary. To analyze downstream of SLUG in S100β-positive cells, we utilized specific small interfering RNA for Slug mRNAs and observed that the expression of matrix metalloprotease (Mmp) 9, Mmp14 and chemokine Cxcl12 was down-regulated and that morphological changes and proliferation were decreased. Thus, our findings suggest that S100β-positive cells express Slug and that its expression is important for subsequent migration and proliferation.

  1. The Р60-S6K1 isoform of ribosomal protein S6 kinase 1 is a product of alternative mRNA translation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    I. V. Zaiets

    2018-07-01

    Full Text Available Ribosomal protein S6 kinase 1 (S6K1 is a well-known downstream effector of mTORC1 (mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 participating primarily in the regulation of cell growth and metabolism. Deregulation of mTOR/S6K1 signaling can promote numerous human pathologies, including cancer, neurodegeneration, cardiovascular disease, and metabolic disorders. As existing data suggest, the S6K1 gene encodes several protein isoforms, including p85-S6K1, p70-S6K1, and p60-S6K1. The two of these isoforms, p85-S6K1 and p70-S6K1, were extensively studied to date. The origin and functional significance of the p60-S6K1 isoform remains a mystery, however, it was suggested that the isoform could be a product of alternative S6K1 mRNA translation. Herein we report the generation of HEK-293 cells exclusively expressing p60-S6K1 as a result of CRISPR/Cas9-mediated inactivation of p85/p70-S6K1 translation. Moreover, the generated modified cells displayed the elevated level of p60-S6K1 expression compared to that in wild-type HEK-293 cells. Our data confirm an assumption that p60-S6K1 is alternatively translated, most probably, from the common for both p70- and p85-S6K1 mRNA transcript and reveal a link between p60-S6K1 expression and such cellular processes as cell proliferation and motility. In addition, our findings indicate that the p60-S6K1 isoform of S6K1 may undergo a mode of regulation distinct from p70- and p85-S6K1 due to the absence of mTOR-regulated p60-S6K1 phosphorylation at T389 that is important for S6K1 activation.

  2. Functional coupling between adenosine A1 receptors and G-proteins in rat and postmortem human brain membranes determined with conventional guanosine-5'-O-(3-[35S]thio)triphosphate ([35S]GTPγS) binding or [35S]GTPγS/immunoprecipitation assay.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Odagaki, Yuji; Kinoshita, Masakazu; Ota, Toshio; Meana, J Javier; Callado, Luis F; Matsuoka, Isao; García-Sevilla, Jesús A

    2018-06-01

    Adenosine signaling plays a complex role in multiple physiological processes in the brain, and its dysfunction has been implicated in pathophysiology of neuropsychiatric diseases such as schizophrenia and affective disorders. In the present study, the coupling between adenosine A 1 receptor and G-protein was assessed by means of two [ 35 S]GTPγS binding assays, i.e., conventional filtration method and [ 35 S]GTPγS binding/immunoprecipitation in rat and human brain membranes. The latter method provides information about adenosine A 1 receptor-mediated Gα i-3 activation in rat as well as human brain membranes. On the other hand, adenosine-stimulated [ 35 S]GTPγS binding determined with conventional assay derives from functional activation of Gα i/o proteins (not restricted only to Gα i-3 ) coupled to adenosine A 1 receptors. The determination of adenosine concentrations in the samples used in the present study indicates the possibility that the assay mixture under our experimental conditions contains residual endogenous adenosine at nanomolar concentrations, which was also suggested by the results on the effects of adenosine receptor antagonists on basal [ 35 S]GTPγS binding level. The effects of adenosine deaminase (ADA) on basal binding also support the presence of adenosine. Nevertheless, the varied patterns of ADA discouraged us from adding ADA into assay medium routinely. The concentration-dependent increases elicited by adenosine were determined in 40 subjects without any neuropsychiatric disorders. The increases in %E max values determined by conventional assay according to aging and postmortem delay should be taken into account in future studies focusing on the effects of psychiatric disorders on adenosine A 1 receptor/G-protein interaction in postmortem human brain tissue.

  3. Mechanism of the G-protein mimetic nanobody binding to a muscarinic G-protein-coupled receptor.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miao, Yinglong; McCammon, J Andrew

    2018-03-20

    Protein-protein binding is key in cellular signaling processes. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of protein-protein binding, however, are challenging due to limited timescales. In particular, binding of the medically important G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) with intracellular signaling proteins has not been simulated with MD to date. Here, we report a successful simulation of the binding of a G-protein mimetic nanobody to the M 2 muscarinic GPCR using the robust Gaussian accelerated MD (GaMD) method. Through long-timescale GaMD simulations over 4,500 ns, the nanobody was observed to bind the receptor intracellular G-protein-coupling site, with a minimum rmsd of 2.48 Å in the nanobody core domain compared with the X-ray structure. Binding of the nanobody allosterically closed the orthosteric ligand-binding pocket, being consistent with the recent experimental finding. In the absence of nanobody binding, the receptor orthosteric pocket sampled open and fully open conformations. The GaMD simulations revealed two low-energy intermediate states during nanobody binding to the M 2 receptor. The flexible receptor intracellular loops contribute remarkable electrostatic, polar, and hydrophobic residue interactions in recognition and binding of the nanobody. These simulations provided important insights into the mechanism of GPCR-nanobody binding and demonstrated the applicability of GaMD in modeling dynamic protein-protein interactions.

  4. Monomeric Yeast Frataxin is an Iron-Binding Protein

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cook, J.; Bencze, K.; Jankovic, A.; Crater, A.; Busch, C.; Bradley, P.; Stemmler, A.; Spaller, M.; Stemmler, T.

    2006-01-01

    Friedreich's ataxia, an autosomal cardio- and neurodegenerative disorder that affects 1 in 50 000 humans, is caused by decreased levels of the protein frataxin. Although frataxin is nuclear-encoded, it is targeted to the mitochondrial matrix and necessary for proper regulation of cellular iron homeostasis. Frataxin is required for the cellular production of both heme and iron-sulfur (Fe-S) clusters. Monomeric frataxin binds with high affinity to ferrochelatase, the enzyme involved in iron insertion into porphyrin during heme production. Monomeric frataxin also binds to Isu, the scaffold protein required for assembly of Fe-S cluster intermediates. These processes (heme and Fe-S cluster assembly) share requirements for iron, suggesting that monomeric frataxin might function as the common iron donor. To provide a molecular basis to better understand frataxin's function, we have characterized the binding properties and metal-site structure of ferrous iron bound to monomeric yeast frataxin. Yeast frataxin is stable as an iron-loaded monomer, and the protein can bind two ferrous iron atoms with micromolar binding affinity. Frataxin amino acids affected by the presence of iron are localized within conserved acidic patches located on the surfaces of both helix-1 and strand-1. Under anaerobic conditions, bound metal is stable in the high-spin ferrous state. The metal-ligand coordination geometry of both metal-binding sites is consistent with a six-coordinate iron-(oxygen/nitrogen) based ligand geometry, surely constructed in part from carboxylate and possibly imidazole side chains coming from residues within these conserved acidic patches on the protein. On the basis of our results, we have developed a model for how we believe yeast frataxin interacts with iron

  5. ATP-Binding Cassette Proteins: Towards a Computational View of Mechanism

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liao, Jielou

    2004-03-01

    Many large machine proteins can generate mechanical force and undergo large-scale conformational changes (LSCC) to perform varying biological tasks in living cells by utilizing ATP. Important examples include ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters. They are membrane proteins that couple ATP binding and hydrolysis to the translocation of substrates across membranes [1]. To interpret how the mechanical force generated by ATP binding and hydrolysis is propagated, a coarse-grained ATP-dependent harmonic network model (HNM) [2,3] is applied to the ABC protein, BtuCD. This protein machine transports vitamin B12 across membranes. The analysis shows that subunits of the protein move against each other in a concerted manner. The lowest-frequency modes of the BtuCD protein are found to link the functionally critical domains, and are suggested to be responsible for large-scale ATP-coupled conformational changes. [1] K. P. Locher, A. T. Lee and D. C. Rees. Science 296, 1091-1098 (2002). [2] Atilgan, A. R., S. R. Durell, R. L. Jernigan, M. C. Demirel, O. Keskin, and I. Bahar. Biophys. J. 80, 505-515(2002); M. M Tirion, Phys. Rev. Lett. 77, 1905-1908 (1996). [3] J. -L. Liao and D. N. Beratan, 2003, to be published.

  6. EM structure of a helicase-loader complex depicting a 6:2 binding sub-stoichiometry from Geobacillus kaustophilus HTA426

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lin, Yen-Chen; Naveen, Vankadari; Hsiao, Chwan-Deng

    2016-01-01

    During DNA replication, bacterial helicase is recruited as a complex in association with loader proteins to unwind the parental duplex. Previous structural studies have reported saturated 6:6 helicase-loader complexes with different conformations. However, structural information on the sub-stoichiometric conformations of these previously-documented helicase-loader complexes remains elusive. Here, with the aid of single particle electron-microscopy (EM) image reconstruction, we present the Geobacillus kaustophilus HTA426 helicase-loader (DnaC-DnaI) complex with a 6:2 binding stoichiometry in the presence of ATPγS. In the 19 Å resolution EM map, the undistorted and unopened helicase ring holds a robust loader density above the C-terminal RecA-like domain. Meanwhile, the path of the central DNA binding channel appears to be obstructed by the reconstructed loader density, implying its potential role as a checkpoint conformation to prevent the loading of immature complex onto DNA. Our data also reveals that the bound nucleotides and the consequently induced conformational changes in the helicase hexamer are essential for active association with loader proteins. These observations provide fundamental insights into the formation of the helicase-loader complex in bacteria that regulates the DNA replication process. - Highlights: • Helicase-loader complex structure with 6:2 sub-stoichiometry is resolved by EM. • Helicase hexamer in 6:2 sub-stoichiometry is constricted and un-opened. • 6:2 binding ratio of helicase-loader complex could act as a DNA loading checkpoint. • Nucleotides stabilize helicase-loader complex at low protein concentrations.

  7. EM structure of a helicase-loader complex depicting a 6:2 binding sub-stoichiometry from Geobacillus kaustophilus HTA426

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lin, Yen-Chen [Institute of Molecular Biology, Academia Sinica, Taipei 115, Taiwan (China); Naveen, Vankadari [Institute of Molecular Biology, Academia Sinica, Taipei 115, Taiwan (China); Molecular Cell Biology, Taiwan International Graduate Program, Institute of Molecular Biology, Academia Sinica, and Graduate Institute of Life Sciences, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan (China); Hsiao, Chwan-Deng, E-mail: hsiao@gate.sinica.edu.tw [Institute of Molecular Biology, Academia Sinica, Taipei 115, Taiwan (China); Molecular Cell Biology, Taiwan International Graduate Program, Institute of Molecular Biology, Academia Sinica, and Graduate Institute of Life Sciences, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan (China)

    2016-04-22

    During DNA replication, bacterial helicase is recruited as a complex in association with loader proteins to unwind the parental duplex. Previous structural studies have reported saturated 6:6 helicase-loader complexes with different conformations. However, structural information on the sub-stoichiometric conformations of these previously-documented helicase-loader complexes remains elusive. Here, with the aid of single particle electron-microscopy (EM) image reconstruction, we present the Geobacillus kaustophilus HTA426 helicase-loader (DnaC-DnaI) complex with a 6:2 binding stoichiometry in the presence of ATPγS. In the 19 Å resolution EM map, the undistorted and unopened helicase ring holds a robust loader density above the C-terminal RecA-like domain. Meanwhile, the path of the central DNA binding channel appears to be obstructed by the reconstructed loader density, implying its potential role as a checkpoint conformation to prevent the loading of immature complex onto DNA. Our data also reveals that the bound nucleotides and the consequently induced conformational changes in the helicase hexamer are essential for active association with loader proteins. These observations provide fundamental insights into the formation of the helicase-loader complex in bacteria that regulates the DNA replication process. - Highlights: • Helicase-loader complex structure with 6:2 sub-stoichiometry is resolved by EM. • Helicase hexamer in 6:2 sub-stoichiometry is constricted and un-opened. • 6:2 binding ratio of helicase-loader complex could act as a DNA loading checkpoint. • Nucleotides stabilize helicase-loader complex at low protein concentrations.

  8. [Determination of plasma protein binding rate of arctiin and arctigenin with ultrafiltration].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Han, Xue-Ying; Wang, Wei; Tan, Ri-Qiu; Dou, De-Qiang

    2013-02-01

    To determine the plasma protein binding rate of arctiin and arctigenin. The ultrafiltration combined with HPLC was employed to determine the plasma protein binding rate of arctiin and arctigenin as well as rat plasma and healthy human plasma proteins. The plasma protein binding rate of arctiin with rat plasma at the concentrations of 64. 29, 32.14, 16.07 mg x L(-1) were (71.2 +/- 2.0)%, (73.4 +/- 0.61)%, (78.2 +/- 1.9)%, respectively; while the plasma protein binding rate of arctiin with healthy human plasma at the above concentrations were (64.8 +/- 3.1)%, (64.5 +/- 2.5)%, (77.5 +/- 1.7)%, respectively. The plasma protein binding rate of arctigenin with rat plasma at the concentrations of 77.42, 38.71, 19.36 mg x L(-1) were (96.7 +/- 0.41)%, (96.8 +/- 1.6)%, (97.3 +/- 0.46)%, respectively; while the plasma protein binding rate of arctigenin with normal human plasma at the above concentrations were (94.7 +/- 3.1)%, (96.8 +/- 1.6)%, (97.9 +/- 1.3)%, respectively. The binding rate of arctiin with rat plasma protein was moderate, which is slightly higher than the binding rate of arctiin with healthy human plasma protein. The plasma protein binding rates of arctigenin with both rat plasma and healthy human plasma are very high.

  9. The level of neuron-specific enolase and S-100 protein in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with acute bacterial meningitis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. V. Sokhan

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available Aim. To evaluate the diagnostic and prognostic role of neuron-specific enolase (NSE and S-100 protein levels in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF of patients with acute bacterial meningitis in the course of the disease. Materials and Methods. 54 cases of acute bacterial meningitis were analyzed, among them – 26 with pneumococcal and 28 with meningococcal etiology. Patients were divided into groups depending on the severity and etiology of disease. In addition to routine laboratory methods, we analyzed the CSF levels of S-100 protein and NSE at admission and after 10 – 12 days of treatment. 12 patients with acute respiratory infections and meningism were examined as a comparison group. Results. In all patients with acute bacterial meningitis CSF NSE and protein S-100 levels were significantly higher than in the control group (P <0,05. CSF neuro specific proteins level was in direct dependence on severity of the disease, and in patients with severe disease was significantly higher than in patients with moderate severity and in the control group (P <0,01. After 10 – 12 days of treatment, the level of the NSE and S-100 protein decreased, but in severe cases was still higher than in the control group (P <0,05. Conclusions. Increased cerebrospinal fluid NSE and S100 protein levels shows the presence and value of neurons and glial cells damage in patients with acute bacterial meningitis. CSF S-100 protein and neuron-specific enolase levels help to determine the severity of neurons destruction and glial cells in patients with acute bacterial meningitis. Level of neurospecific protein is in direct proportion to the severity of the disease and is the highest in patients with severe cases (P<0,05. It confirms the diagnostic and prognostic value of CSF neurospecific protein determination in patients with bacterial meningitis.

  10. SMAD4 loss enables EGF, TGF?1 and S100A8/A9 induced activation of critical pathways to invasion in human pancreatic adenocarcinoma cells

    OpenAIRE

    Moz, Stefania; Basso, Daniela; Bozzato, Dania; Galozzi, Paola; Navaglia, Filippo; Negm, Ola H.; Arrigoni, Giorgio; Zambon, Carlo-Federico; Padoan, Andrea; Tighe, Paddy; Todd, Ian; Franchin, Cinzia; Pedrazzoli, Sergio; Punzi, Leonardo; Plebani, Mario

    2016-01-01

    Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF) receptor overexpression, KRAS, TP53, CDKN2A and SMAD4 mutations characterize pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. This mutational landscape might influence cancer cells response to EGF, Transforming Growth Factor ?1 (TGF?1) and stromal inflammatory calcium binding proteins S100A8/A9. We investigated whether chronic exposure to EGF modifies in a SMAD4-dependent manner pancreatic cancer cell signalling, proliferation and invasion in response to EGF, TGF?1 and S100A8/A...

  11. Proteins of bacteriophage phi6

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sinclair, J.F.; Tzagoloff, A.; Levine, D.; Mindich, L.

    1975-01-01

    We investigated the protein composition of the lipid-containing bacteriophage phi 6. We also studied the synthesis of phage-specific proteins in the host bacterium Pseudomonas phaseolicola HB10Y. The virion was found to contain 10 proteins of the following molecular weights: P1, 93,000; P2, 88,000; P3, 84,000; P4, 36,800; P5, 24,000; P6, 21,000; P7, 19,900; P8, 10,500; P9, 8,700; and P10, less than 6,000. Proteins P3, P9, and P10 were completely extracted from the virion with 1 percent Triton X-100. Protein P6 was partially extracted. Proteins P8 and P9 were purified by column chromatography. The amino acid composition of P9 was determined and was found to lack methionine. Labeling of viral proteins with [ 35 S]methionine in infected cells indicated that proteins P5, P9, P10, and P11 lacked methionine. Treatment of host cells with uv light before infection allowed the synthesis of P1, P2, P4, and P7; however, the extent of viral protein synthesis fell off exponentially with increasing delay time between irradiation and infection. Treatment of host cells with rifampin during infection allowed preferential synthesis of viral proteins, but the extent of synthesis also fell off exponentially with increasing delay time between the addition of rifampin and the addition of radioactive amino acids. All of the virion proteins were seen in gels prepared from rifampin-treated infected cells. In addition, two proteins, P11 and P12, were observed; their molecular weights were 25,200 and 20,100, respectively. Proteins P1, P2, P4, and P7 were synthesized early, whereas the rest began to increase at 45 min post-infection

  12. Acyl CoA Binding Domain Containing 3 (ACBD3) Protein in Huntington’s Disease 
Human Skin Fibroblasts

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Kratochvílová, H.; Rodinová, M.; Sládková, J.; Klempíř, J.; Lišková, Irena; Motlík, Jan; Zeman, J.; Hansíková, H.; Tesařová, M.

    2015-01-01

    Roč. 78, Suppl. 2 (2015), s. 34-38 ISSN 1210-7859. [Conference on Animal Models for neurodegenerative Diseases /3./. Liblice, 08.11.2015-10.11.2015] R&D Projects: GA MŠk ED2.1.00/03.0124 Institutional support: RVO:67985904 Keywords : Huntington’s disease * Acyl-CoA binding domain containing 3 protein * human skin fibroblasts Subject RIV: FH - Neurology Impact factor: 0.209, year: 2015

  13. Binding of low molecular mass compounds to proteins studied by liquid chromatographic techniques

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Cserháti, T.; Forgács, E.; Deyl, Zdeněk; Mikšík, Ivan; Eckhardt, Adam

    2003-01-01

    Roč. 17, č. 6 (2003), s. 353-360 ISSN 0269-3879 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z5011922 Keywords : protein binding Subject RIV: CB - Analytical Chemistry, Separation Impact factor: 1.269, year: 2003

  14. Juvenile hormone-binding proteins of Melanoplus bivittatus identified by EFDA photoaffinity labeling

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Winder, B.S.

    1988-01-01

    Proteins that bind juvenile hormone in the hemolymph and fat body of the grasshopper, Melanoplus bivittatus were identified by photoaffinity labeling with radiolabeled epoxyfarnesyl diazoacetate ( 3 H-EFDA), and were characterized by electrophoretic analysis. A protocol was developed which allowed detection of 3 H-EFDA that was covalently linked to proteins upon exposure to ultraviolet light at 254 nm. Quantification of protein-linked 3 H-EFDA by liquid scintillation spectrometry took advantage of the differential solubility of unlinked 3 H-EFDA in toluene alone, and of the protein-linked 3 H-EFDA in toluene plus the detergent, Triton X-100. Competition between EFDA and juvenile hormone (JH) for binding to JH-specific binding sites was measured by hydroxyapatite protein binding assays in the presence of radiolabeled JH or EFDA and competing non-radiolabeled hormone. The protein-linked EFDA was detected on fluorograms of SDS or nondenaturing polyacrylamide gels (PAGE), and by liquid scintillation spectrometry of membranes to which the proteins had been electrophoretically transferred. Proteins which specifically bound JH were identified by photolabeling proteins in the presence and absence of nonlabeled JH-III

  15. Novel Drosophila receptor that binds multiple growth factors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rosner, M.R.; Thompson, K.L.; Garcia, V.; Decker, S.J.

    1986-01-01

    The authors have recently reported the identification of a novel growth factor receptor from Drosophila cell cultures that has dual binding specificity for both insulin and epidermal growth factor (EGF). This 100 kDa protein is also antigenically related to the cytoplasmic region of the mammalian EGF receptor-tyrosine kinase. They now report that this protein binds to mammalian nerve growth factor and human transforming growth factor alpha as well as insulin and EGF with apparent dissociation constants ranging from 10 -6 to 10 -8 M. The 100 kDa protein can be affinity-labeled with these 125 I-labeled growth factors after immunoprecipitation with anti-EGF receptor antiserum. These four growth factors appear to share a common binding site, as evidenced by their ability to block affinity labelling by 125 I-insulin. No significant binding to the 100 kDa protein was observed with platelet-derived growth factor, transforming growth factor beta, or glucagon. The 100 kDa Drosophila protein has a unique ligand-binding spectrum with no direct counterpart in mammalian cells and may represent an evolutionary precursor of the mammalian receptors for these growth factors

  16. Proteomics unveil corticoid-induced S100A11 shuttling in keratinocyte differentiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dezitter, Xavier; Hammoudi, Fatma; Belverge, Nicolas; Deloulme, Jean-Christophe; Drobecq, Herve; Masselot, Bernadette; Formstecher, Pierre; Mendy, Denise; Idziorek, Thierry

    2007-01-01

    Unlike classical protein extraction techniques, proteomic mapping using a selective subcellular extraction kit revealed S100A11 as a new member of the S100 protein family modulated by glucocorticoids in keratinocytes. Glucocorticoids (GC)-induced S100A11 redistribution in the 'organelles and membranes' compartment. Microscopic examination indicated that glucocorticoids specifically routed cytoplasmic S100A11 toward perinuclear compartment. Calcium, a key component of skin terminal differentiation, directed S100A11 to the plasma membrane as previously reported. When calcium was added to glucocorticoids, minor change was observed at the proteomic level while confocal microscopy revealed a rapid and dramatic translocation of S100A11 toward plasma membrane. This effect was accompanied by strong nuclear condensation, loss of mitochondrial potential and DNA content, and increased high molecular weight S100A11 immunoreactivity, suggesting corticoids accelerate calcium-induced terminal differentiation. Finally, our results suggest GC-induced S100A11 relocalization could be a key step in both keratinocyte homeostasis and glucocorticoids side effects in human epidermis

  17. IGF binding proteins.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bach, Leon A

    2017-12-18

    Insulin-like growth factor binding proteins (IGFBPs) 1-6 bind IGFs but not insulin with high affinity. They were initially identified as serum carriers and passive inhibitors of IGF actions. However, subsequent studies showed that, although IGFBPs inhibit IGF actions in many circumstances, they may also potentiate these actions. IGFBPs are widely expressed in most tissues, and they are flexible endocrine and autocrine/paracrine regulators of IGF activity, which is essential for this important physiological system. More recently, individual IGFBPs have been shown to have IGF-independent actions. Mechanisms underlying these actions include (i) interaction with non-IGF proteins in compartments including the extracellular space and matrix, the cell surface and intracellularly; (ii) interaction with and modulation of other growth factor pathways including EGF, TGF- and VEGF; and (iii) direct or indirect transcriptional effects following nuclear entry of IGFBPs. Through these IGF-dependent and IGF-independent actions, IGFBPs modulate essential cellular processes including proliferation, survival, migration, senescence, autophagy and angiogenesis. They have been implicated in a range of disorders including malignant, metabolic, neurological and immune diseases. A more complete understanding of their cellular roles may lead to the development of novel IGFBP-based therapeutic opportunities.

  18. CacyBP/SIP binds ERK1/2 and affects transcriptional activity of Elk-1

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kilanczyk, Ewa; Filipek, Slawomir; Jastrzebska, Beata; Filipek, Anna

    2009-01-01

    In this work we showed for the first time that mouse CacyBP/SIP interacts with extracellular signal regulated kinases 1 and 2 (ERK1/2). We also established that a calcium binding protein, S100A6, competes for this interaction. Moreover, the E217K mutant of CacyBP/SIP does not bind significantly to ERK1/2 although it retains the ability to interact with S100A6. Molecular modeling shows that the E217K mutation in the 189-219 CacyBP/SIP fragment markedly changes its electrostatic potential, suggesting that the binding with ERK1/2 might have an electrostatic character. We also demonstrate that CacyBP/SIP-ERK1/2 interaction inhibits phosphorylation of the Elk-1 transcription factor in vitro and in the nuclear fraction of NB2a cells. Altogether, our data suggest that the binding of CacyBP/SIP with ERK1/2 might regulate Elk-1 phosphorylation/transcriptional activity and that S100A6 might further modulate this effect via Ca 2+ -dependent interaction with CacyBP/SIP and competition with ERK1/2.

  19. S-layer fusion protein as a tool functionalizing emulsomes and CurcuEmulsomes for antibody binding and targeting.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ucisik, Mehmet H; Küpcü, Seta; Breitwieser, Andreas; Gelbmann, Nicola; Schuster, Bernhard; Sleytr, Uwe B

    2015-04-01

    Selective targeting of tumor cells by nanoparticle-based drug delivery systems is highly desirable because it maximizes the drug concentration at the desired target while simultaneously protecting the surrounding healthy tissues. Here, we show a design for smart nanocarriers based on a biomimetic approach that utilizes the building principle of virus envelope structures. Emulsomes and CurcuEmulsomes comprising a tripalmitin solid core surrounded by phospholipid layers are modified by S-layer proteins that self-assemble into a two-dimensional array to form a surface layer. One significant advantage of this nanoformulation is that it increases the solubility of the lipophilic anti-cancer agent curcumin in the CurcuEmulsomes by a factor of 2700. In order to make the emulsomes specific for IgG, the S-layer protein is fused with two protein G domains. This S-layer fusion protein preserves its recrystallization characteristics, forming an ordered surface layer (square lattice with 13 nm unit-by-unit distance). The GG domains are presented in a predicted orientation and exhibit a selective binding affinity for IgG. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  20. Solution structure of the Equine Infectious Anemia Virus p9 protein: a rationalization of its different ALIX binding requirements compared to the analogous HIV-p6 protein

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Henklein Peter

    2009-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The equine infection anemia virus (EIAV p9 Gag protein contains the late (L- domain required for efficient virus release of nascent virions from the cell membrane of infected cell. Results In the present study the p9 protein and N- and C-terminal fragments (residues 1-21 and 22-51, respectively were chemically synthesized and used for structural analyses. Circular dichroism and 1H-NMR spectroscopy provide the first molecular insight into the secondary structure and folding of this 51-amino acid protein under different solution conditions. Qualitative 1H-chemical shift and NOE data indicate that in a pure aqueous environment p9 favors an unstructured state. In its most structured state under hydrophobic conditions, p9 adopts a stable helical structure within the C-terminus. Quantitative NOE data further revealed that this α-helix extends from Ser-27 to Ser-48, while the N-terminal residues remain unstructured. The structural elements identified for p9 differ substantially from that of the functional homologous HIV-1 p6 protein. Conclusions These structural differences are discussed in the context of the different types of L-domains regulating distinct cellular pathways in virus budding. EIAV p9 mediates virus release by recruiting the ALG2-interacting protein X (ALIX via the YPDL-motif to the site of virus budding, the counterpart of the YPXnL-motif found in p6. However, p6 contains an additional PTAP L-domain that promotes HIV-1 release by binding to the tumor susceptibility gene 101 (Tsg101. The notion that structures found in p9 differ form that of p6 further support the idea that different mechanisms regulate binding of ALIX to primary versus secondary L-domains types.

  1. The RNA-Binding Site of Poliovirus 3C Protein Doubles as a Phosphoinositide-Binding Domain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shengjuler, Djoshkun; Chan, Yan Mei; Sun, Simou; Moustafa, Ibrahim M; Li, Zhen-Lu; Gohara, David W; Buck, Matthias; Cremer, Paul S; Boehr, David D; Cameron, Craig E

    2017-12-05

    Some viruses use phosphatidylinositol phosphate (PIP) to mark membranes used for genome replication or virion assembly. PIP-binding motifs of cellular proteins do not exist in viral proteins. Molecular-docking simulations revealed a putative site of PIP binding to poliovirus (PV) 3C protein that was validated using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The PIP-binding site was located on a highly dynamic α helix, which also functions in RNA binding. Broad PIP-binding activity was observed in solution using a fluorescence polarization assay or in the context of a lipid bilayer using an on-chip, fluorescence assay. All-atom molecular dynamics simulations of the 3C protein-membrane interface revealed PIP clustering and perhaps PIP-dependent conformations. PIP clustering was mediated by interaction with residues that interact with the RNA phosphodiester backbone. We conclude that 3C binding to membranes will be determined by PIP abundance. We suggest that the duality of function observed for 3C may extend to RNA-binding proteins of other viruses. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Identification of pheromone components and their binding affinity to the odorant binding protein CcapOBP83a-2 of the Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Siciliano, P.; He, X. L.; Woodcock, C.; Pickett, J. A.; Field, L. M.; Birkett, M. A.; Kalinová, Blanka; Gomulski, L. M.; Scolari, F.; Gasperi, G.; Malacrida, A. R.; Zhou, J. J.

    2014-01-01

    Roč. 48, May (2014), s. 51-62 ISSN 0965-1748 Institutional support: RVO:61388963 Keywords : medfly * Ceratitis capitata * olfaction * odorant binding protein * pheromone binding protein * pheromone * binding studies * protein expression * electroantennography * GC-EAG * fluorescence displacement Subject RIV: CE - Biochemistry Impact factor: 3.450, year: 2014

  3. Deleted in malignant brain tumors-1 protein (DMBT1): a pattern recognition receptor with multiple binding sites.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ligtenberg, Antoon J M; Karlsson, Niclas G; Veerman, Enno C I

    2010-01-01

    Deleted in Malignant Brain Tumors-1 protein (DMBT1), salivary agglutinin (DMBT1(SAG)), and lung glycoprotein-340 (DMBT1(GP340)) are three names for glycoproteins encoded by the same DMBT1 gene. All these proteins belong to the scavenger receptor cysteine-rich (SRCR) superfamily of proteins: a superfamily of secreted or membrane-bound proteins with SRCR domains that are highly conserved down to sponges, the most ancient metazoa. In addition to SRCR domains, all DMBT1s contain two CUB domains and one zona pellucida domain. The SRCR domains play a role in the function of DMBT1s, which is the binding of a broad range of pathogens including cariogenic streptococci, Helicobacter pylori and HIV. Mucosal defense proteins like IgA, surfactant proteins and lactoferrin also bind to DMBT1s through their SRCR domains. The binding motif on the SRCR domains comprises an 11-mer peptide in which a few amino acids are essential for binding (GRVEVLYRGSW). Adjacent to each individual SRCR domain are glycosylation domains, where the attached carbohydrate chains play a role in the binding of influenza A virus and Helicobacter pylori. The composition of the carbohydrate chains is not only donor specific, but also varies between different organs. These data demonstrate a role for DMBT1s as pattern recognition molecules containing various peptide and carbohydrate binding motifs.

  4. Deleted in Malignant Brain Tumors-1 Protein (DMBT1: A Pattern Recognition Receptor with Multiple Binding Sites

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Enno C. I. Veerman

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available Deleted in Malignant Brain Tumors-1 protein (DMBT1, salivary agglutinin (DMBT1SAG, and lung glycoprotein-340 (DMBT1GP340 are three names for glycoproteins encoded by the same DMBT1 gene. All these proteins belong to the scavenger receptor cysteine-rich (SRCR superfamily of proteins: a superfamily of secreted or membrane-bound proteins with SRCR domains that are highly conserved down to sponges, the most ancient metazoa. In addition to SRCR domains, all DMBT1s contain two CUB domains and one zona pellucida domain. The SRCR domains play a role in the function of DMBT1s, which is the binding of a broad range of pathogens including cariogenic streptococci, Helicobacter pylori and HIV. Mucosal defense proteins like IgA, surfactant proteins and lactoferrin also bind to DMBT1s through their SRCR domains. The binding motif on the SRCR domains comprises an 11-mer peptide in which a few amino acids are essential for binding (GRVEVLYRGSW. Adjacent to each individual SRCR domain are glycosylation domains, where the attached carbohydrate chains play a role in the binding of influenza A virus and Helicobacter pylori. The composition of the carbohydrate chains is not only donor specific, but also varies between different organs. These data demonstrate a role for DMBT1s as pattern recognition molecules containing various peptide and carbohydrate binding motifs.

  5. Nimodipine accelerates the postnatal development of parvalbumin and S-100β immunoreactivity in the rat brain

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Buwalda, Bauke; Naber, Riet; Nyakas, Csaba; Luiten, Paul G.M.

    1994-01-01

    The effects of chronic maternal perinatal nimodipine treatment on the immunocytochemical distribution of the Ca2+-binding proteins parvalbumin (PV) and S-100β in neocortex and hippocampus were studied at the age of postnatal day (PD) 5, 7, 10, 14 and 20. The Ca2+ antagonist nimodipine (1000 ppm BAY

  6. RBPmap: a web server for mapping binding sites of RNA-binding proteins.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paz, Inbal; Kosti, Idit; Ares, Manuel; Cline, Melissa; Mandel-Gutfreund, Yael

    2014-07-01

    Regulation of gene expression is executed in many cases by RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) that bind to mRNAs as well as to non-coding RNAs. RBPs recognize their RNA target via specific binding sites on the RNA. Predicting the binding sites of RBPs is known to be a major challenge. We present a new webserver, RBPmap, freely accessible through the website http://rbpmap.technion.ac.il/ for accurate prediction and mapping of RBP binding sites. RBPmap has been developed specifically for mapping RBPs in human, mouse and Drosophila melanogaster genomes, though it supports other organisms too. RBPmap enables the users to select motifs from a large database of experimentally defined motifs. In addition, users can provide any motif of interest, given as either a consensus or a PSSM. The algorithm for mapping the motifs is based on a Weighted-Rank approach, which considers the clustering propensity of the binding sites and the overall tendency of regulatory regions to be conserved. In addition, RBPmap incorporates a position-specific background model, designed uniquely for different genomic regions, such as splice sites, 5' and 3' UTRs, non-coding RNA and intergenic regions. RBPmap was tested on high-throughput RNA-binding experiments and was proved to be highly accurate. © The Author(s) 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

  7. Identification of actin binding protein, ABP-280, as a binding partner of human Lnk adaptor protein.

    Science.gov (United States)

    He, X; Li, Y; Schembri-King, J; Jakes, S; Hayashi, J

    2000-08-01

    Human Lnk (hLnk) is an adaptor protein with multiple functional domains that regulates T cell activation signaling. In order to identify cellular Lnk binding partners, a yeast two-hybrid screening of human spleen cDNA library was carried out using human hLnk as bait. A polypeptide sequence identical to the C-terminal segment of the actin binding protein (ABP-280) was identified as a hLnk binding protein. The expressed hLnk and the FLAG tagged C-terminal 673 amino acid residues of ABP-280 or the endogenous ABP-280 in COS-7 cells could be co-immunoprecipitated using antibodies either to hLnk, FLAG or ABP-280, respectively. Furthermore, immunofluorescence confocal microscope showed that hLnk and ABP-280 co-localized at the plasma membrane and at juxtanuclear region of COS-7 cells. In Jurkat cells, the endogenous hLnk also associates with the endogenous ABP-280 indicating that the association of these two proteins is physiological. The interacting domains of both proteins were mapped using yeast two-hybrid assays. Our results indicate that hLnk binds to the residues 2006-2454 (repeats 19-23C) of ABP-280. The domain in hLnk that associates with ABP-280 was mapped to an interdomain region of 56 amino acids between pleckstrin homology and Src homology 2 domains. These results suggest that hLnk may exert its regulatory role through its association with ABP-280.

  8. S100A7, a novel Alzheimer's disease biomarker with non-amyloidogenic alpha-secretase activity acts via selective promotion of ADAM-10.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Weiping Qin

    Full Text Available Alzheimer's disease (AD is the most common cause of dementia among older people. At present, there is no cure for the disease and as of now there are no early diagnostic tests for AD. There is an urgency to develop a novel promising biomarker for early diagnosis of AD. Using surface-enhanced laser desorption ionization-mass spectrometry SELDI-(MS proteomic technology, we identified and purified a novel 11.7-kDa metal- binding protein biomarker whose content is increased in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF and in the brain of AD dementia subjects as a function of clinical dementia. Following purification and protein-sequence analysis, we identified and classified this biomarker as S100A7, a protein known to be involved in immune responses. Using an adenoviral-S100A7 expression system, we continued to examine the potential role of S100A7 in AD amyloid neuropathology in in vitro model of AD. We found that the expression of exogenous S100A7 in primary cortico-hippocampal neuron cultures derived from Tg2576 transgenic embryos inhibits the generation of beta-amyloid (Abeta(1-42 and Abeta(1-40 peptides, coincidental with a selective promotion of "non- amyloidogenic" alpha-secretase activity via promotion of ADAM (a disintegrin and metalloproteinase-10. Finally, a selective expression of human S100A7 in the brain of transgenic mice results in significant promotion of alpha-secretase activity. Our study for the first time suggests that S100A7 may be a novel biomarker of AD dementia and supports the hypothesis that promotion of S100A7 expression in the brain may selectively promote alpha-secretase activity in the brain of AD precluding the generation of amyloidogenic peptides. If in the future we find that S1000A7 protein content in CSF is sensitive to drug intervention experimentally and eventually in the clinical setting, S100A7 might be developed as novel surrogate index (biomarker of therapeutic efficacy in the characterization of novel drug agents for

  9. Interaction of Salivary alpha-Amylase and Amylase-Binding-Protein A (AbpA of Streptococcus gordonii with Glucosyltransferase of S. gordonii and Streptococcus mutans

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tanzer Jason M

    2007-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Glucosyltransferases (Gtfs, enzymes that produce extracellular glucans from dietary sucrose, contribute to dental plaque formation by Streptococcus gordonii and Streptococcus mutans. The alpha-amylase-binding protein A (AbpA of S. gordonii, an early colonizing bacterium in dental plaque, interacts with salivary amylase and may influence dental plaque formation by this organism. We examined the interaction of amylase and recombinant AbpA (rAbpA, together with Gtfs of S. gordonii and S. mutans. Results The addition of salivary alpha-amylase to culture supernatants of S. gordonii precipitated a protein complex containing amylase, AbpA, amylase-binding protein B (AbpB, and the glucosyltransferase produced by S. gordonii (Gtf-G. rAbpA was expressed from an inducible plasmid, purified from Escherichia coli and characterized. Purified rAbpA, along with purified amylase, interacted with and precipitated Gtfs from culture supernatants of both S. gordonii and S. mutans. The presence of amylase and/or rAbpA increased both the sucrase and transferase component activities of S. mutans Gtf-B. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA using anti-Gtf-B antibody verified the interaction of rAbpA and amylase with Gtf-B. A S. gordonii abpA-deficient mutant showed greater biofilm growth under static conditions than wild-type in the presence of sucrose. Interestingly, biofilm formation by every strain was inhibited in the presence of saliva. Conclusion The results suggest that an extracellular protein network of AbpA-amylase-Gtf may influence the ecology of oral biofilms, likely during initial phases of colonization.

  10. The role of S100 genes in breast cancer progression.

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    McKiernan, Eadaoin

    2012-02-01

    The S100 gene family encode low molecular weight proteins implicated in cancer progression. In this study, we analyzed the expression of four S100 genes in one cohort of patients with breast cancer and 16 S100 genes in a second cohort. In both cohorts, the expression of S100A8 and S1009 mRNA level was elevated in high-grade compared to low-grade tumors and in estrogen receptor-negative compared to estrogen receptor-positive tumors. None of the S100 transcripts investigated were significantly associated with the presence of lymph node metastasis. Notably, multiple S100 genes, including S100A1, S100A2, S100A4, S100A6, S100A8, S100A9, S100A10, S100A11, and S100A14 were upregulated in basal-type breast cancers compared to non-basal types. Using Spearman\\'s correlation analysis, several S100 transcripts correlated significantly with each other, the strongest correlation has been found between S100A8 and S100A9 (r = 0.889, P < 0.001, n = 295). Of the 16 S100 transcripts investigated, only S100A11 and S100A14 were significantly associated with patient outcome. Indeed, these two transcripts predicted outcome in the cohort of patients that did not receive systemic adjuvant therapy. Based on our findings, we conclude that the different S100 genes play varying roles in breast cancer progression. Specific S100 genes are potential targets for the treatment of basal-type breast cancers.

  11. The role of S100 genes in breast cancer progression.

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    McKiernan, Eadaoin

    2011-06-01

    The S100 gene family encode low molecular weight proteins implicated in cancer progression. In this study, we analyzed the expression of four S100 genes in one cohort of patients with breast cancer and 16 S100 genes in a second cohort. In both cohorts, the expression of S100A8 and S1009 mRNA level was elevated in high-grade compared to low-grade tumors and in estrogen receptor-negative compared to estrogen receptor-positive tumors. None of the S100 transcripts investigated were significantly associated with the presence of lymph node metastasis. Notably, multiple S100 genes, including S100A1, S100A2, S100A4, S100A6, S100A8, S100A9, S100A10, S100A11, and S100A14 were upregulated in basal-type breast cancers compared to non-basal types. Using Spearman\\'s correlation analysis, several S100 transcripts correlated significantly with each other, the strongest correlation has been found between S100A8 and S100A9 (r = 0.889, P < 0.001, n = 295). Of the 16 S100 transcripts investigated, only S100A11 and S100A14 were significantly associated with patient outcome. Indeed, these two transcripts predicted outcome in the cohort of patients that did not receive systemic adjuvant therapy. Based on our findings, we conclude that the different S100 genes play varying roles in breast cancer progression. Specific S100 genes are potential targets for the treatment of basal-type breast cancers.

  12. Influence of DNA-methylation on zinc homeostasis in myeloid cells: Regulation of zinc transporters and zinc binding proteins.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kessels, Jana Elena; Wessels, Inga; Haase, Hajo; Rink, Lothar; Uciechowski, Peter

    2016-09-01

    The distribution of intracellular zinc, predominantly regulated through zinc transporters and zinc binding proteins, is required to support an efficient immune response. Epigenetic mechanisms such as DNA methylation are involved in the expression of these genes. In demethylation experiments using 5-Aza-2'-deoxycytidine (AZA) increased intracellular (after 24 and 48h) and total cellular zinc levels (after 48h) were observed in the myeloid cell line HL-60. To uncover the mechanisms that cause the disturbed zinc homeostasis after DNA demethylation, the expression of human zinc transporters and zinc binding proteins were investigated. Real time PCR analyses of 14 ZIP (solute-linked carrier (SLC) SLC39A; Zrt/IRT-like protein), and 9 ZnT (SLC30A) zinc transporters revealed significantly enhanced mRNA expression of the zinc importer ZIP1 after AZA treatment. Because ZIP1 protein was also enhanced after AZA treatment, ZIP1 up-regulation might be the mediator of enhanced intracellular zinc levels. The mRNA expression of ZIP14 was decreased, whereas zinc exporter ZnT3 mRNA was also significantly increased; which might be a cellular reaction to compensate elevated zinc levels. An enhanced but not significant chromatin accessibility of ZIP1 promoter region I was detected by chromatin accessibility by real-time PCR (CHART) assays after demethylation. Additionally, DNA demethylation resulted in increased mRNA accumulation of zinc binding proteins metallothionein (MT) and S100A8/S100A9 after 48h. MT mRNA was significantly enhanced after 24h of AZA treatment also suggesting a reaction of the cell to restore zinc homeostasis. These data indicate that DNA methylation is an important epigenetic mechanism affecting zinc binding proteins and transporters, and, therefore, regulating zinc homeostasis in myeloid cells. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

  13. gamma-Aminobutyric acid- and benzodiazepine-induced modulation of [35S]-t-butylbicyclophosphorothionate binding to cerebellar granule cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gallo, V.; Wise, B.C.; Vaccarino, F.; Guidotti, A.

    1985-01-01

    t-Butylbicyclophosphorothionate (TBPS) is a bicyclophosphate derivative with potent picrotoxin-like convulsant activity that binds with high affinity and specificity to a Cl- channel-modulatory site of the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)/benzodiazepine receptor complex. Using intact cerebellar granule cells maintained in primary culture, the authors have studied the modifications induced by GABA and diazepam on the ion channel-modulatory binding site labeled by [ 35 S]TBPS. At 25 degrees C, and in a modified Locke solution, the [ 35 S]TBPS specific binding, determined by displacing the radioligand with an excess (10(-4) M) of picrotoxin, was approximately 70% of the total radioactivity bound to the cells. [ 35 S]TBPS specific binding was saturable with a Kd of approximately 100 nM, a Bmax of approximately 440 fmol/mg of protein, and a Hill coefficient of 1.18. Neither cerebellar astrocytes maintained in culture for 2 weeks nor a neuroblastoma cell line (NB-2A) exhibited any specific [ 35 S]TBPS binding. Muscimol (0.3 to 5 microM) enhanced and bicuculline (0.1 to 5 microM) inhibited [ 35 S]TBPS specific binding to intact cerebellar granule cells. The effect of muscimol and bicuculline on [ 35 S]TBPS binding was noncompetitive. Muscimol (0.1 to 5 microM) reversed bicuculline inhibition in a dose-dependent fashion but failed to reverse picrotoxin-induced inhibition. [ 35 S]TBPS binding was also modulated by benzodiazepine receptor ligands. The binding was increased by diazepam and decreased by 6,7-dimethoxy-4-ethyl-beta-carboline-3-carboxylic acid methylester. Muscimol (0.05 microM) failed to reverse bicuculline inhibition in the absence of diazepam, but it became effective in the presence of 0.1 to 1 microM diazepam

  14. Opposing Effects of Zac1 and Curcumin on AP-1-Regulated Expressions of S100A7.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yu-Wen Chu

    Full Text Available ZAC, an encoding gene mapped at chromosome 6q24-q25 within PSORS1, was previously found over-expressed in the lower compartment of the hyperplastic epidermis in psoriatic lesions. Cytokines produced in the inflammatory dermatoses may drive AP-1 transcription factor to induce responsive gene expressions. We demonstrated that mZac1 can enhance AP-1-responsive S100A7 expression of which the encoding gene was located in PSORS4 with HaCaT keratinocytes. However, the mZac1-enhanced AP-1 transcriptional activity was suppressed by curcumin, indicating the anti-inflammatory property of this botanical agent and is exhibited by blocking the AP-1-mediated cross-talk between PSORS1 and PSORS4. Two putative AP-1-binding sites were found and demonstrated to be functionally important in the regulation of S100A7 promoter activity. Moreover, we found curcumin reduced the DNA-binding activity of AP-1 to the recognition element located in the S100A7 promoter. The S100A7 expression was found to be upregulated in the lesioned epidermis of atopic dermatitis and psoriasis, which is where this keratinocyte-derived chemoattractant engaged in the pro-inflammatory feedback loop. Understanding the regulatory mechanism of S100A7 expression will be helpful to develop therapeutic strategies for chronic inflammatory dermatoses via blocking the reciprocal stimuli between the inflammatory cells and keratinocytes.

  15. Role of S100A1 in hypoxia-induced inflammatory response in cardiomyocytes via TLR4/ROS/NF-κB pathway.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Jiangkun; Lu, Yanyu; Li, Yapeng; Xiao, Lili; Xing, Yu; Li, Yanshen; Wu, Leiming

    2015-09-01

    S100A1 plays a crucial role in hypoxia-induced inflammatory response in cardiomyocytes. However, the role of S100A1 in hypoxia-induced inflammatory response in cardiomyocytes is still unknown. enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was performed for the determination of inflammatory cytokines. Immunocytochemistry and immunofluorescence, Western blot analysis and Real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) were conducted to assess protein or mRNA expressions. Fluorogenic probe dihydroethidium (DHE) was used to evaluate the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) while Hoechst 33342 staining for apoptosis. Small interfering RNA (siRNA) for S100A1 was used to evaluate the role of S100A1. The levels of ROS and inflammatory cytokine including tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6 and IL-8 in H9c2 cells were increased remarkably by hypoxia. However, IL-37 protein or mRNA levels were decreased significantly. Both Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) inhibitor Ethyl (6R)-6-[N-(2-Chloro-4fluorophenyl)sulfamoyl]cyclohex-1-ene-1-carboxylate (TAK-242) treatment or siRNA S100A1 downregulated TLR4 expression and inflammatory cytokine level and mRNA in H9c2 cells, as well as weakening ROS and phospho-p65 Nuclear factor (NF)-κB levels. Further, S100A1 treatment significantly reduced TNF-α protein or mRNA level whereas enhanced IL-37 protein or mRNA level, and could attenuate ROS and phospho-p65 NF-κB levels. Our results demonstrate that S100A1 can regulate the inflammatory response and oxidative stress in H9C2 cells via TLR4/ROS/NF-κB pathway. These findings provide an interesting strategy for protecting cardiomyocytes from hypoxia-induced inflammatory response. © 2015 Royal Pharmaceutical Society.

  16. Synthesis, structure, DNA/protein binding, and cytotoxic activity of a rhodium(III) complex with 2,6-bis(2-benzimidazolyl)pyridine.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Esteghamat-Panah, Roya; Hadadzadeh, Hassan; Farrokhpour, Hossein; Simpson, Jim; Abdolmaleki, Amir; Abyar, Fatemeh

    2017-02-15

    A new mononuclear rhodium(III) complex, [Rh(bzimpy)Cl 3 ] (bzimpy = 2,6-bis(2-benzimidazolyl)pyridine), was synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis and spectroscopic methods. The molecular structure of the complex was confirmed by single-crystal X-ray crystallography. The interaction of the complex with fish sperm DNA (FS-DNA) was investigated by UV spectroscopy, emission titration, and viscosity measurement in order to evaluate the possible DNA-binding mode and to calculate the corresponding DNA-binding constant. The results reveal that the Rh(III) complex interacts with DNA through groove binding mode with a binding affinity on the order of 10 4 . In addition, the binding of the Rh(III) complex to bovine serum albumin (BSA) was monitored by UV-Vis and fluorescence emission spectroscopy at different temperatures. The mechanism of the complex interaction was found to be static quenching. The thermodynamic parameters (ΔH, ΔS, and ΔG) obtained from the fluorescence spectroscopy data show that van der Waals interactions and hydrogen bonds play a major role in the binding of the Rh(III) complex to BSA. For the comparison of the DNA- and BSA-binding affinities of the free bzimpy ligand with its Rh(III) complex, the absorbance titration and fluorescence quenching experiments of the free bzimpy ligand with DNA and BSA were carried out. Competitive experiments using eosin Y and ibuprofen as site markers indicated that the complex was mainly located in the hydrophobic cavity of site I of the protein. These experimental results were confirmed by the results of molecular docking. Finally, the in vitro cytotoxicity properties of the Rh(III) complex against the MCF-7, K562, and HT-29 cell lines were evaluated and compared with those of the free ligand (bzimpy). It was found that the complexation process improved the anticancer activity significantly. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

  17. Oxidative stress and S-100B protein in children with bacterial meningitis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hamed Enas A

    2009-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Bacterial meningitis is often associated with cerebral compromise which may be responsible for neurological sequelae in nearly half of the survivors. Little is known about the mechanisms of CNS involvement in bacterial meningitis. Several studies have provided substantial evidence for the key role of nitric oxide (NO and reactive oxygen species in the complex pathophysiology of bacterial meningitis. Methods In the present study, serum and CSF levels of NO, lipid peroxide (LPO (mediators for oxidative stress and lipid peroxidation; total thiol, superoxide dismutase (SOD (antioxidant mediators and S-100B protein (mediator of astrocytes activation and injury, were investigated in children with bacterial meningitis (n = 40. Albumin ratio (CSF/serum is a marker of blood-CSF barriers integrity, while mediator index (mediator ratio/albumin ratio is indicative of intrathecal synthesis. Results Compared to normal children (n = 20, patients had lower serum albumin but higher NO, LPO, total thiol, SOD and S-100B. The ratios and indices of NO and LPO indicate blood-CSF barriers dysfunction, while the ratio of S-100B indicates intrathecal synthesis. Changes were marked among patients with positive culture and those with neurological complications. Positive correlation was found between NO index with CSF WBCs (r = 0.319, p Conclusion This study suggests that loss of integrity of brain-CSF barriers, oxidative stress and S-100B may contribute to the severity and neurological complications of bacterial meningitis.

  18. Binding of rare earths to serum proteins and DNA

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rosoff, B.; Spencer, H.

    1979-01-01

    In order to investigate further the physiological behavior of rare earths and rare earth chelates, studies of the binding of 46 Sc, 91 Y, and 140 La to serum proteins and to nucleic acids were performed using the methods of equilibrium dialysis and ultrafiltration. The binding of lanthanum and yttrium as the chlorides to α-globulin increased as the free rare earth concentration increased. When scandium and lanthanum were chelated in nitrilotriacetate (NTA) the binding to α-globulin was considerably less and there was no binding to albumin. The binding of 46 Sc chelated to ethylenediamine di(O-hydroxyphenylacetate) (EDDHA) was five times greater than of 46 Sc chloride. When the free scandium concentration was increased, the moles bound per mole of protein increased proportionally and the binding was reversible. Scandium was 100% filterable from a mixture of human serum and from the scandium chelates with high stability constants scandium diethylenetriaminepentaacetate (ScDTPA), scandium ethylenediaminetetraacetate (ScEDTA) and scandium cyclohexane trans-1,2-diaminetetraacetate (ScCDTA) respectively. In contrast, only 2% of the scandium was filterable when scandium nitrilotriacetate, a scandium chelate of low stability constant, was used. (Auth.)

  19. Molecular cloning and expression of a novel keratinocyte protein (psoriasis-associated fatty acid-binding protein [PA-FABP]) that is highly up-regulated in psoriatic skin and that shares similarity to fatty acid-binding proteins

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Madsen, Peder; Rasmussen, H H; Leffers, H

    1992-01-01

    termed PA-FABP (psoriasis-associated fatty acid-binding protein). The deduced sequence predicted a protein with molecular weight of 15,164 daltons and a calculated pI of 6.96, values that are close to those recorded in the keratinocyte 2D gel protein database. The protein comigrated with PA......-FABP as determined by 2D gel analysis of [35S]-methionine-labeled proteins expressed by transformed human amnion (AMA) cells transfected with clone 1592 using the vaccinia virus expression system and reacted with a rabbit polyclonal antibody raised against 2D gel purified PA-FABP. Structural analysis of the amino...... with epidermal growth factor (EGF), pituitary extract, and 10% fetal calf serum] revealed a strong up-regulation of PA-FABP, psoriasin, calgranulins A and B, and a few other proteins that are highly expressed in psoriatic skin. The levels of these proteins exceeded by far those observed in non-cultured normal...

  20. Analysis of chitin-binding proteins from Manduca sexta provides new insights into evolution of peritrophin A-type chitin-binding domains in insects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tetreau, Guillaume; Dittmer, Neal T; Cao, Xiaolong; Agrawal, Sinu; Chen, Yun-Ru; Muthukrishnan, Subbaratnam; Haobo, Jiang; Blissard, Gary W; Kanost, Michael R; Wang, Ping

    2015-07-01

    In insects, chitin is a major structural component of the cuticle and the peritrophic membrane (PM). In nature, chitin is always associated with proteins among which chitin-binding proteins (CBPs) are the most important for forming, maintaining and regulating the functions of these extracellular structures. In this study, a genome-wide search for genes encoding proteins with ChtBD2-type (peritrophin A-type) chitin-binding domains (CBDs) was conducted. A total of 53 genes encoding 56 CBPs were identified, including 15 CPAP1s (cuticular proteins analogous to peritrophins with 1 CBD), 11 CPAP3s (CPAPs with 3 CBDs) and 17 PMPs (PM proteins) with a variable number of CBDs, which are structural components of cuticle or of the PM. CBDs were also identified in enzymes of chitin metabolism including 6 chitinases and 7 chitin deacetylases encoded by 6 and 5 genes, respectively. RNA-seq analysis confirmed that PMP and CPAP genes have differential spatial expression patterns. The expression of PMP genes is midgut-specific, while CPAP genes are widely expressed in different cuticle forming tissues. Phylogenetic analysis of CBDs of proteins in insects belonging to different orders revealed that CPAP1s from different species constitute a separate family with 16 different groups, including 6 new groups identified in this study. The CPAP3s are clustered into a separate family of 7 groups present in all insect orders. Altogether, they reveal that duplication events of CBDs in CPAP1s and CPAP3s occurred prior to the evolutionary radiation of insect species. In contrast to the CPAPs, all CBDs from individual PMPs are generally clustered and distinct from other PMPs in the same species in phylogenetic analyses, indicating that the duplication of CBDs in each of these PMPs occurred after divergence of insect species. Phylogenetic analysis of these three CBP families showed that the CBDs in CPAP1s form a clearly separate family, while those found in PMPs and CPAP3s were clustered

  1. Mutant forms of Escherichia coli protein L25 unable to bind to 5S rRNA are incorporated efficiently into the ribosome in vivo.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anikaev, A Y; Korepanov, A P; Korobeinikova, A V; Kljashtorny, V G; Piendl, W; Nikonov, S V; Garber, M B; Gongadze, G M

    2014-08-01

    5S rRNA-binding ribosomal proteins of the L25 family are an evolutional acquisition of bacteria. Earlier we showed that (i) single replacements in the RNA-binding module of the protein of this family result in destabilization or complete impossibility to form a complex with 5S rRNA in vitro; (ii) ΔL25 ribosomes of Escherichia coli are less efficient in protein synthesis in vivo than the control ribosomes. In the present work, the efficiency of incorporation of the E. coli protein L25 with mutations in the 5S rRNA-binding region into the ribosome in vivo was studied. It was found that the mutations in L25 that abolish its ability to form the complex with free 5S rRNA do not prevent its correct and efficient incorporation into the ribosome. This is supported by the fact that even the presence of a very weakly retained mutant form of the protein in the ribosome has a positive effect on the activity of the translational machinery in vivo. All this suggests the existence of an alternative incorporation pathway for this protein into the ribosome, excluding the preliminary formation of the complex with 5S rRNA. At the same time, the stable L25-5S rRNA contact is important for the retention of the protein within the ribosome, and the conservative amino acid residues of the RNA-binding module play a key role in this.

  2. Biophysical characterization and functional studies on calbindin-D28K: A vitamin D-induced calcium-binding protein

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Leathers, V.L.

    1989-01-01

    Vitamin D dependent calcium binding protein, or calbindin-D, is the principal protein induced in the intestine in response to the steroid hormone 1,25(OH) 2 -vitamin D 3 . A definitive role for calbindin-D in vitamin D 3 mediated biological responses remains unclear. Biophysical and functional studies on chick intestinal calbindin-D 28K (CaBP) were initiated so that some insight might be gained into its relevance to the process of intestinal calcium transport. Calbindin-D belongs to a class of high affinity calcium binding proteins which includes calmodulin, parvalbumin and troponin C. The Ca 2+ binding stoichiometry and binding constants for calbindin-D 28K were quantitated by Quin 2 titration analysis. The protein was found to bind 5-6 Ca 2+ ions with a K D on the order of 10 -8 , in agreement with the 6 domains identified from the amino acid sequence. A slow Ca 2+ exchange rate (80 s -1 ) as assessed by 43 Ca NMR and extensive calcium dependent conformational changes in 1 H NMR spectra were also observed. Functional studies on chick intestinal CaBP were carried out by two different methods. Interactions between CaBP and intestinal cellular components were assessed via photoaffinity labeling techniques. Specific calcium dependent complexes for CaBP were identified with bovine intestinal alkaline phosphatase and brush border membrane proteins of 60 and 150 kD. CaBP was also found to co-migrate with the alkaline phosphatase activity of chick intestinal brush border membranes as evaluated by gel filtration chromatography. The second procedure for evaluating CaBP functionality has involved the quantitation of CaBP association with vesicular transport components as assessed by ELISA. CaBP, immunoreactivity was observed in purified lysosomes, microsomes and microtubules

  3. Radiation damage to DNA-binding proteins

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Culard, G.; Eon, S.; DeVuyst, G.; Charlier, M.; Spotheim-Maurizot, M.

    2003-01-01

    The DNA-binding properties of proteins are strongly affected upon irradiation. The tetrameric lactose repressor (a dimer of dimers) losses its ability to bind operator DNA as soon as at least two damages per protomer of each dimer occur. The monomeric MC1 protein losses its ability to bind DNA in two steps : i) at low doses only the specific binding is abolished, whereas the non-specific one is still possible; ii) at high doses all binding vanishes. Moreover, the DNA bending induced by MC1 binding is less pronounced for a protein that underwent the low dose irradiation. When the entire DNA-protein complexes are irradiated, the observed disruption of the complexes is mainly due to the damage of the proteins and not to that of DNA. The doses necessary for complex disruption are higher than those inactivating the free protein. This difference, larger for MC1 than for lactose repressor, is due to the protection of the protein by the bound DNA. The oxidation of the protein side chains that are accessible to the radiation-induced hydroxyl radicals seems to represent the inactivating damage

  4. Agonist and antagonist actions of antipsychotic agents at 5-HT1A receptors: a [35S]GTPgammaS binding study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Newman-Tancredi, A; Gavaudan, S; Conte, C; Chaput, C; Touzard, M; Verrièle, L; Audinot, V; Millan, M J

    1998-08-21

    Recombinant human (h) 5-HT1A receptor-mediated G-protein activation was characterised in membranes of transfected Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells by use of guanosine-5'-O-(3-[35S]thio)-triphosphate ([35S]GTPgammaS binding). The potency and efficacy of 21 5-HT receptor agonists and antagonists was determined. The agonists, 5-CT (carboxamidotryptamine) and flesinoxan displayed high affinity (subnanomolar Ki values) and high efficacy (Emax > 90%, relative to 5-HT = 100%). In contrast, ipsapirone, zalospirone and buspirone displayed partial agonist activity. EC50s for agonist stimulation of [35S]GTPgammaS binding correlated well with Ki values from competition binding (r = +0.99). Among the compounds tested for antagonist activity, methiothepin and (+)butaclamol exhibited 'inverse agonist' behaviour, inhibiting basal [35S]GTPgammaS binding. The actions of 17 antipsychotic agents were investigated. Clozapine and several putatively 'atypical' antipsychotic agents, including ziprasidone, quetiapine and tiospirone, exhibited partial agonist activity and marked affinity at h5-HT1A receptors, similar to their affinity at hD2 dopamine receptors. In contrast, risperidone and sertindole displayed low affinity at h5-HT1A receptors and behaved as 'neutral' antagonists, inhibiting 5-HT-stimulated [35S]GTPgammaS binding. Likewise the 'typical' neuroleptics, haloperidol, pimozide, raclopride and chlorpromazine exhibited relatively low affinity and 'neutral' antagonist activity at h5-HT1A receptors with Ki values which correlated with their respective Kb values. The present data show that (i) [35S]GTPgammaS binding is an effective method to evaluate the efficacy and potency of agonists and antagonists at recombinant human 5-HT1A receptors. (ii) Like clozapine, several putatively 'atypical' antipsychotic drugs display balanced serotonin h5-HT1A/dopamine hD2 receptor affinity and partial agonist activity at h5-HT1A receptors. (iii) Several 'typical' and some putatively 'atypical

  5. Interplay between Trx-1 and S100P promotes colorectal cancer cell epithelial-mesenchymal transition by up-regulating S100A4 through AKT activation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zuo, Zhigui; Zhang, Peili; Lin, Feiyan; Shang, Wenjing; Bi, Ruichun; Lu, Fengying; Wu, Jianbo; Jiang, Lei

    2018-04-01

    We previously reported a novel positive feedback loop between thioredoxin-1 (Trx-1) and S100P, which promotes the invasion and metastasis of colorectal cancer (CRC). However, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain poorly understood. In this study, we examined the roles of Trx-1 and S100P in CRC epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and their underlying mechanisms. We observed that knockdown of Trx-1 or S100P in SW620 cells inhibited EMT, whereas overexpression of Trx-1 or S100P in SW480 cells promoted EMT. Importantly, S100A4 and the phosphorylation of AKT were identified as potential downstream targets of Trx-1 and S100P in CRC cells. Silencing S100A4 or inhibition of AKT phosphorylation eliminated S100P- or Trx-1-mediated CRC cell EMT, migration and invasion. Moreover, inhibition of AKT activity reversed S100P- or Trx-1-induced S100A4 expression. The expression of S100A4 was higher in human CRC tissues compared with their normal counterpart tissues and was significantly correlated with lymph node metastasis and poor survival. The overexpression of S100A4 protein was also positively correlated with S100P or Trx-1 protein overexpression in our cohort of CRC tissues. In addition, overexpression of S100P reversed the Trx-1 knockdown-induced inhibition of S100A4 expression, EMT and migration and invasion in SW620 cells. The data suggest that interplay between Trx-1 and S100P promoted CRC EMT as well as migration and invasion by up-regulating S100A4 through AKT activation, thus providing further potential therapeutic targets for suppressing the EMT in metastatic CRC. © 2018 The Authors. Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd and Foundation for Cellular and Molecular Medicine.

  6. Downregulation of placental S100P is associated with cadmium exposure in Guiyu, an e-waste recycling town in China

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhang, Qingying; Zhou, Taimei [Department of Preventive Medicine, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, Guangdong 515041 (China); Xu, Xijin; Guo, Yongyong [Analytic Cytology Laboratory, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, Guangdong 515041 (China); Zhao, Zhiguo; Zhu, Min [Department of Preventive Medicine, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, Guangdong 515041 (China); Li, Weiqiu [Analytic Cytology Laboratory, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, Guangdong 515041 (China); Yi, Deqing [Department of Preventive Medicine, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, Guangdong 515041 (China); Huo, Xia, E-mail: xhuo@stu.edu.cn [Analytic Cytology Laboratory, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, Guangdong 515041 (China)

    2011-12-01

    Excessive release of heavy metals, especially cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb), results from primitive electronic waste (e-waste) recycling activities in Guiyu, China, and has adverse effects on the health of local infants and pregnant women. We investigated the expression of placental S100P, a Ca{sup 2+}-binding protein, as a biological indicator of heavy-metal environmental pollution in pregnant women involved in these activities and constantly exposed to Cd and Pb. We included 105 pregnant women in the study: 55 from Guiyu and 50 from Shantou, an area not involved in e-waste recycling. The placental concentrations of Cd and Pb (PCCd, PCPb) after birth were measured by graphite-furnace atomic-absorption spectrometry. S100P mRNA expression was determined by semi-quantitative RT-PCR and real-time quantitative PCR. S100P protein expression was examined by western blot analysis and immunohistochemistry. The expression of metallothionein (MT), previously found upregulated after heavy metal contamination, was used for comparison. Placentas from Guiyu women showed 62.8% higher Cd concentrations, higher MT levels, and lower S100P protein levels than placentas from Shantou women. Furthermore, PCCd was negatively correlated with S100P protein expression and positively with MT expression, with no correlation between PCPb and S100P or MT expression. The PCCd-associated downregulation of S100P in placentas from Guiyu women suggests that S100P might be an effective biological indicator in the placental response to Cd toxicity in areas of e-waste recycling.

  7. Downregulation of placental S100P is associated with cadmium exposure in Guiyu, an e-waste recycling town in China

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, Qingying; Zhou, Taimei; Xu, Xijin; Guo, Yongyong; Zhao, Zhiguo; Zhu, Min; Li, Weiqiu; Yi, Deqing; Huo, Xia

    2011-01-01

    Excessive release of heavy metals, especially cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb), results from primitive electronic waste (e-waste) recycling activities in Guiyu, China, and has adverse effects on the health of local infants and pregnant women. We investigated the expression of placental S100P, a Ca 2+ -binding protein, as a biological indicator of heavy-metal environmental pollution in pregnant women involved in these activities and constantly exposed to Cd and Pb. We included 105 pregnant women in the study: 55 from Guiyu and 50 from Shantou, an area not involved in e-waste recycling. The placental concentrations of Cd and Pb (PCCd, PCPb) after birth were measured by graphite-furnace atomic-absorption spectrometry. S100P mRNA expression was determined by semi-quantitative RT-PCR and real-time quantitative PCR. S100P protein expression was examined by western blot analysis and immunohistochemistry. The expression of metallothionein (MT), previously found upregulated after heavy metal contamination, was used for comparison. Placentas from Guiyu women showed 62.8% higher Cd concentrations, higher MT levels, and lower S100P protein levels than placentas from Shantou women. Furthermore, PCCd was negatively correlated with S100P protein expression and positively with MT expression, with no correlation between PCPb and S100P or MT expression. The PCCd-associated downregulation of S100P in placentas from Guiyu women suggests that S100P might be an effective biological indicator in the placental response to Cd toxicity in areas of e-waste recycling.

  8. The prenyl-binding protein PrBP/δ: a chaperone participating in intracellular trafficking.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Houbin; Constantine, Ryan; Frederick, Jeanne M; Baehr, Wolfgang

    2012-12-15

    Expressed ubiquitously, PrBP/δ functions as chaperone/co-factor in the transport of a subset of prenylated proteins. PrBP/δ features an immunoglobulin-like β-sandwich fold for lipid binding, and interacts with diverse partners. PrBP/δ binds both C-terminal C15 and C20 prenyl side chains of phototransduction polypeptides and small GTP-binding (G) proteins of the Ras superfamily. PrBP/δ also interacts with the small GTPases, ARL2 and ARL3, which act as release factors (GDFs) for prenylated cargo. Targeted deletion of the mouse Pde6d gene encoding PrBP/δ resulted in impeded trafficking to the outer segments of GRK1 and cone PDE6 which are predicted to be farnesylated and geranylgeranylated, respectively. Rod and cone transducin trafficking was largely unaffected. These trafficking defects produce progressive cone-rod dystrophy in the Pde6d(-/-) mouse. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Magnetic levitation as a platform for competitive protein-ligand binding assays.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shapiro, Nathan D; Soh, Siowling; Mirica, Katherine A; Whitesides, George M

    2012-07-17

    This paper describes a method based on magnetic levitation (MagLev) that is capable of indirectly measuring the binding of unlabeled ligands to unlabeled protein. We demonstrate this method by measuring the affinity of unlabeled bovine carbonic anhydrase (BCA) for a variety of ligands (most of which are benzene sulfonamide derivatives). This method utilizes porous gel beads that are functionalized with a common aryl sulfonamide ligand. The beads are incubated with BCA and allowed to reach an equilibrium state in which the majority of the immobilized ligands are bound to BCA. Since the beads are less dense than the protein, protein binding to the bead increases the overall density of the bead. This change in density can be monitored using MagLev. Transferring the beads to a solution containing no protein creates a situation where net protein efflux from the bead is thermodynamically favorable. The rate at which protein leaves the bead for the solution can be calculated from the rate at which the levitation height of the bead changes. If another small molecule ligand of BCA is dissolved in the solution, the rate of protein efflux is accelerated significantly. This paper develops a reaction-diffusion (RD) model to explain both this observation, and the physical-organic chemistry that underlies it. Using this model, we calculate the dissociation constants of several unlabeled ligands from BCA, using plots of levitation height versus time. Notably, although this method requires no electricity, and only a single piece of inexpensive equipment, it can measure accurately the binding of unlabeled proteins to small molecules over a wide range of dissociation constants (K(d) values within the range from ~10 nM to 100 μM are measured easily). Assays performed using this method generally can be completed within a relatively short time period (20 min-2 h). A deficiency of this system is that it is not, in its present form, applicable to proteins with molecular weight greater

  10. UV-induced DNA-binding proteins in human cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Glazer, P.M.; Greggio, N.A.; Metherall, J.E.; Summers, W.C.

    1989-01-01

    To investigate the response of human cells to DNA-damaging agents such as UV irradiation, the authors examined nuclear protein extracts of UV-irradiated HeLa cells for the presence of DNA-binding proteins. Electrophoretically separated proteins were transferred to a nitrocellulose filter that was subsequently immersed in a binding solution containing radioactively labeled DNA probes. Several DNA-binding proteins were induced in HeLa cells after UV irradiation. These included proteins that bind predominantly double-stranded DNA and proteins that bind both double-stranded and single-stranded DNA. The binding proteins were induced in a dose-dependent manner by UV light. Following a dose of 12 J/m 2 , the binding proteins in the nuclear extracts increased over time to a peak in the range of 18 hr after irradiation. Experiments with metabolic inhibitors (cycloheximide and actinomycin D) revealed that de novo synthesis of these proteins is not required for induction of the binding activities, suggesting that the induction is mediated by protein modification

  11. Functional reconstitution of prostaglandin E receptor from bovine adrenal medulla with guanine nucleotide binding proteins

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Negishi, M.; Ito, S.; Yokohama, H.; Hayashi, H.; Katada, T.; Ui, M.; Hayaishi, O.

    1988-01-01

    Prostaglandin E 2 (PEG 2 ) was found to bind specifically to a 100,000 x g pellet prepared from bovine adrenal medulla. The PGE receptor was associated with a GTP-binding protein (G-protein) and could be covalently cross-linked with this G-protein by dithiobis(succinimidyl propionate) in the 100,000 x g pellet. In order to characterize the G-protein associated with the PGE receptor and reconstitute these proteins in phospholipid vesicles, the authors purified the G-protein to apparent homogeneity from the 100,000 x g pellet. The G-protein served as a substrate of pertussis toxin but differed in its α subunit from two known pertussis toxin substrate G-proteins (G/sub i/ and G 0 ) purified from bovine brain. The molecular weight of the α subunit was 40,000, which is between those of G/sub i/ and G 0 . The purified protein was also distinguished immunologically from G/sub i/ and G 0 and was referred to as G/sub am/. Reconstitution of the PGE receptor with pure C/sub am/, G/sub i/, or G 0 in phospholipid vesicles resulted in a remarkable restoration of [ 3 H]PGE 2 binding activity in a GTP-dependent manner. The efficiency of these three G-proteins in this capacity was roughly equal. When pertussis toxin- or N-ethylmaleimide-treated G-proteins, instead of the native ones, were reconstituted into vesicles, the restoration of binding activity was no longer observed. These results indicate that the PGE receptor can couple functionally with G/sub am/, G/sub i/, or G 0 in phospholipid vesicles and suggest that G/sub am/ may be involved in signal transduction of the PGE receptor in bovine adrenal medulla

  12. Estrogen receptor-independent catechol estrogen binding activity: protein binding studies in wild-type, Estrogen receptor-alpha KO, and aromatase KO mice tissues.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Philips, Brian J; Ansell, Pete J; Newton, Leslie G; Harada, Nobuhiro; Honda, Shin-Ichiro; Ganjam, Venkataseshu K; Rottinghaus, George E; Welshons, Wade V; Lubahn, Dennis B

    2004-06-01

    Primary evidence for novel estrogen signaling pathways is based upon well-documented estrogenic responses not inhibited by estrogen receptor antagonists. In addition to 17beta-E2, the catechol estrogen 4-hydroxyestradiol (4OHE2) has been shown to elicit biological responses independent of classical estrogen receptors in estrogen receptor-alpha knockout (ERalphaKO) mice. Consequently, our research was designed to biochemically characterize the protein(s) that could be mediating the biological effects of catechol estrogens using enzymatically synthesized, radiolabeled 4-hydroxyestrone (4OHE1) and 4OHE2. Scatchard analyses identified a single class of high-affinity (K(d) approximately 1.6 nM), saturable cytosolic binding sites in several ERalphaKO estrogen-responsive tissues. Specific catechol estrogen binding was competitively inhibited by unlabeled catechol estrogens, but not by 17beta-E2 or the estrogen receptor antagonist ICI 182,780. Tissue distribution studies indicated significant binding differences both within and among various tissues in wild-type, ERalphaKO, and aromatase knockout female mice. Ligand metabolism experiments revealed extensive metabolism of labeled catechol estrogen, suggesting that catechol estrogen metabolites were responsible for the specific binding. Collectively, our data provide compelling evidence for the interaction of catechol estrogen metabolites with a novel binding protein that exhibits high affinity, specificity, and selective tissue distribution. The extensive biochemical characterization of this binding protein indicates that this protein may be a receptor, and thus may mediate ERalpha/beta-independent effects of catechol estrogens and their metabolites.

  13. On binding specificity of (6-4) photolyase to a T(6-4)T DNA photoproduct*

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jepsen, Katrine Aalbæk; Solov'yov, Ilia A.

    2017-06-01

    Different factors lead to DNA damage and if it is not repaired in due time, the damaged DNA could initiate mutagenesis and cancer. To avoid this deadly scenario, specific enzymes can scavenge and repair the DNA, but the enzymes have to bind first to the damaged sites. We have investigated this binding for a specific enzyme called (6-4) photolyase, which is capable of repairing certain UV-induced damage in DNA. Through molecular dynamics simulations we describe the binding between photolyase and the DNA and reveal that several charged amino acid residues in the enzyme, such as arginines and lysines turn out to be important. Especially R421 is crucial, as it keeps the DNA strands at the damaged site inside the repair pocket of the enzyme separated. DNA photolyase is structurally highly homologous to a protein called cryptochrome. Both proteins are biologically activated similarly, namely through flavin co-factor photoexcitation. It is, however, striking that cryptochrome cannot repair UV-damaged DNA. The present investigation allowed us to conclude on the small but, apparently, critical differences between photolyase and cryptochrome. The performed analysis gives insight into important factors that govern the binding of UV-damaged DNA and reveal why cryptochrome cannot have this functionality.

  14. Multiple protonation equilibria in electrostatics of protein-protein binding.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Piłat, Zofia; Antosiewicz, Jan M

    2008-11-27

    All proteins contain groups capable of exchanging protons with their environment. We present here an approach, based on a rigorous thermodynamic cycle and the partition functions for energy levels characterizing protonation states of the associating proteins and their complex, to compute the electrostatic pH-dependent contribution to the free energy of protein-protein binding. The computed electrostatic binding free energies include the pH of the solution as the variable of state, mutual "polarization" of associating proteins reflected as changes in the distribution of their protonation states upon binding and fluctuations between available protonation states. The only fixed property of both proteins is the conformation; the structure of the monomers is kept in the same conformation as they have in the complex structure. As a reference, we use the electrostatic binding free energies obtained from the traditional Poisson-Boltzmann model, computed for a single macromolecular conformation fixed in a given protonation state, appropriate for given solution conditions. The new approach was tested for 12 protein-protein complexes. It is shown that explicit inclusion of protonation degrees of freedom might lead to a substantially different estimation of the electrostatic contribution to the binding free energy than that based on the traditional Poisson-Boltzmann model. This has important implications for the balancing of different contributions to the energetics of protein-protein binding and other related problems, for example, the choice of protein models for Brownian dynamics simulations of their association. Our procedure can be generalized to include conformational degrees of freedom by combining it with molecular dynamics simulations at constant pH. Unfortunately, in practice, a prohibitive factor is an enormous requirement for computer time and power. However, there may be some hope for solving this problem by combining existing constant pH molecular dynamics

  15. Host-parasite interaction: selective Pv-fam-a family proteins of Plasmodium vivax bind to a restricted number of human erythrocyte receptors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zeeshan, Mohammad; Tyagi, Rupesh Kumar; Tyagi, Kriti; Alam, Mohd Shoeb; Sharma, Yagya Dutta

    2015-04-01

    Plasmodium vivax synthesizes the largest number of 36 tryptophan-rich proteins belonging to the Pv-fam-a family. These parasite proteins need to be characterized for their biological function because tryptophan-rich proteins from other Plasmodium species have been proposed as vaccine candidates. Recombinant P. vivax tryptophan-rich antigens (PvTRAgs) were used to determine their erythrocyte-binding activity by a cell-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, flow cytometry, and a rosetting assay. Only 4 (PvTRAg26.3, PvTRAg34, PvTRAg36, and PvTRAg36.6) of 21 PvTRAgs bind to host erythrocytes. The cross-competition data indicated that PvTRAg36 and PvTRAg34 share their erythrocyte receptors with previously described proteins PvTRAg38 and PvTRAg33.5, respectively. On the other hand, PvTRAg26.3 and PvTRAg36.6 cross-compete with each other and not with any other PvTRAg, indicating that these 2 proteins bind to the same but yet another set of erythrocyte receptor(s). Together, 10 of 36 PvTRAgs possess erythrocyte-binding activity in which each protein recognizes >1 erythrocyte receptor. Further, each erythrocyte receptor is shared by >1 PvTRAg. This redundancy may be useful for the parasite to invade red blood cells and cause disease pathogenesis, and it can be exploited to develop therapeutics against P. vivax malaria. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  16. Identification of a group of Haemophilus influenzae penicillin-binding proteins that may have complementary physiological roles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Malouin, F.; Parr, T.R. Jr.; Bryan, L.E.

    1990-01-01

    [35S]penicillin bound to different Haemophilus influenzae proteins in assays performed at 20, 37, or 42 degrees C. Penicillin-binding proteins 3a, 3b, 4, and 4' formed a group characterized by their affinity for moxalactam, cefotaxime, and piperacillin. Penicillin-binding protein 4' showed specific properties that may reflect its complementary role in septation

  17. A mosquito hemolymph odorant-binding protein family member specifically binds juvenile hormone

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Il Hwan; Pham, Van; Jablonka, Willy; Goodman, Walter G.; Ribeiro, José M. C.; Andersen, John F.

    2017-07-27

    Juvenile hormone (JH) is a key regulator of insect development and reproduction. In adult mosquitoes, it is essential for maturation of the ovary and normal male reproductive behavior, but how JH distribution and activity is regulated after secretion is unclear. Here, we report a new type of specific JH-binding protein, given the name mosquito juvenile hormone-binding protein (mJHBP), which circulates in the hemolymph of pupal and adult Aedes aegypti males and females. mJHBP is a member of the odorant-binding protein (OBP) family, and orthologs are present in the genomes of Aedes, Culex, and Anopheles mosquito species. Using isothermal titration calorimetry, we show that mJHBP specifically binds JH II and JH III but not eicosanoids or JH derivatives. mJHBP was crystallized in the presence of JH III and found to have a double OBP domain structure reminiscent of salivary “long” D7 proteins of mosquitoes. We observed that a single JH III molecule is contained in the N-terminal domain binding pocket that is closed in an apparent conformational change by a C-terminal domain-derived α-helix. The electron density for the ligand indicated a high occupancy of the natural 10R enantiomer of JH III. Of note, mJHBP is structurally unrelated to hemolymph JHBP from lepidopteran insects. A low level of expression of mJHBP in Ae. aegypti larvae suggests that it is primarily active during the adult stage where it could potentially influence the effects of JH on egg development, mating behavior, feeding, or other processes.

  18. A mosquito hemolymph odorant-binding protein family member specifically binds juvenile hormone.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Il Hwan; Pham, Van; Jablonka, Willy; Goodman, Walter G; Ribeiro, José M C; Andersen, John F

    2017-09-15

    Juvenile hormone (JH) is a key regulator of insect development and reproduction. In adult mosquitoes, it is essential for maturation of the ovary and normal male reproductive behavior, but how JH distribution and activity is regulated after secretion is unclear. Here, we report a new type of specific JH-binding protein, given the name mosquito juvenile hormone-binding protein (mJHBP), which circulates in the hemolymph of pupal and adult Aedes aegypti males and females. mJHBP is a member of the odorant-binding protein (OBP) family, and orthologs are present in the genomes of Aedes , Culex , and Anopheles mosquito species. Using isothermal titration calorimetry, we show that mJHBP specifically binds JH II and JH III but not eicosanoids or JH derivatives. mJHBP was crystallized in the presence of JH III and found to have a double OBP domain structure reminiscent of salivary "long" D7 proteins of mosquitoes. We observed that a single JH III molecule is contained in the N-terminal domain binding pocket that is closed in an apparent conformational change by a C-terminal domain-derived α-helix. The electron density for the ligand indicated a high occupancy of the natural 10 R enantiomer of JH III. Of note, mJHBP is structurally unrelated to hemolymph JHBP from lepidopteran insects. A low level of expression of mJHBP in Ae. aegypti larvae suggests that it is primarily active during the adult stage where it could potentially influence the effects of JH on egg development, mating behavior, feeding, or other processes.

  19. Probing binding hot spots at protein-RNA recognition sites.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barik, Amita; Nithin, Chandran; Karampudi, Naga Bhushana Rao; Mukherjee, Sunandan; Bahadur, Ranjit Prasad

    2016-01-29

    We use evolutionary conservation derived from structure alignment of polypeptide sequences along with structural and physicochemical attributes of protein-RNA interfaces to probe the binding hot spots at protein-RNA recognition sites. We find that the degree of conservation varies across the RNA binding proteins; some evolve rapidly compared to others. Additionally, irrespective of the structural class of the complexes, residues at the RNA binding sites are evolutionary better conserved than those at the solvent exposed surfaces. For recognitions involving duplex RNA, residues interacting with the major groove are better conserved than those interacting with the minor groove. We identify multi-interface residues participating simultaneously in protein-protein and protein-RNA interfaces in complexes where more than one polypeptide is involved in RNA recognition, and show that they are better conserved compared to any other RNA binding residues. We find that the residues at water preservation site are better conserved than those at hydrated or at dehydrated sites. Finally, we develop a Random Forests model using structural and physicochemical attributes for predicting binding hot spots. The model accurately predicts 80% of the instances of experimental ΔΔG values in a particular class, and provides a stepping-stone towards the engineering of protein-RNA recognition sites with desired affinity. © The Author(s) 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

  20. Identification and measurement of a folate-binding protein in human serum by radioimmunoassay

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Da Costa, M.; Rothenberg, S.P.; Fischer, C.; Rosenberg, Z.

    1978-01-01

    Antiserum raised in rabbits against the FBP obtained from CML cells, and the purified binder labeled with 125 I, have been used for an RIA which can measure an immunologically similar protein in human serum. The concentration of the binding protein in normal serums ranged from 1.2 to 9.3 ng/ml, with a mean +- S.E.M. of 3.8 +- 0.4 ng/ml. Elevated values of the binder protein were measured in the serums from patients with folate deficiency, vitamin B 12 deficiency, liver disease, uremia, myeloproliferative diseases, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and various types of cancer and in the serum from pregnant women. The concentration of the binder protein and the capacity of the serum to specifically bind isotopically labeled PGA correlated poorly, indicating that the binding protein concentration and degree of saturation by endogenous serum folate vary independently in many instances

  1. Expression of S100 protein and protective effect of arundic acid on the rat brain in chronic cerebral hypoperfusion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ohtani, Ryo; Tomimoto, Hidekazu; Wakita, Hideaki; Kitaguchi, Hiroshi; Nakaji, Kayoko; Takahashi, Ryosuke

    2007-03-02

    S100 protein is expressed primarily by astroglia in the brain, and accumulates in and around the ischemic lesions. Arundic acid, a novel astroglia-modulating agent, is neuroprotective in acute cerebral infarction, whereas the protective effects remain unknown during chronic cerebral hypoperfusion. Rats undergoing chronic cerebral hypoperfusion were subjected to a bilateral ligation of the common carotid arteries, and were allowed to survive for 3, 7 and 14 days. The animals received a daily intraperitoneal injection of 5.0, 10.0 or 20.0 mg/kg of arundic acid, or vehicle, for 14 days. Alternatively, other groups of rats received a delayed intraperitoneal injection of 20.0 mg/kg of arundic acid or vehicle, which started from 1, 3 or 7 days after ligation and continued to 14 days. The degree of white matter (WM) lesions and the numerical density of S100 protein-immunoreactive astroglia were estimated. In the WM of rats with vehicle injections, the number of S100 protein-immunoreactive astroglia increased significantly after chronic cerebral hypoperfusion as compared to the sham-operation. A dosage of 10.0 and 20.0 mg/kg of arundic acid suppressed the numerical increase in S100 protein-immunoreactive astroglia and the WM lesions. These pathological changes were suppressed with delayed treatment up to 7 days in terms of astroglial activation, and up to 3 days in terms of the WM lesions. The protective effects of arundic acid against WM lesions were demonstrated in a dose-dependent manner, and even after postischemic treatments. These results suggest the potential usefulness of arundic acid in the treatment of cerebrovascular WM lesions.

  2. Vaccinia virus protein C6 is a virulence factor that binds TBK-1 adaptor proteins and inhibits activation of IRF3 and IRF7.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Leonie Unterholzner

    2011-09-01

    Full Text Available Recognition of viruses by pattern recognition receptors (PRRs causes interferon-β (IFN-β induction, a key event in the anti-viral innate immune response, and also a target of viral immune evasion. Here the vaccinia virus (VACV protein C6 is identified as an inhibitor of PRR-induced IFN-β expression by a functional screen of select VACV open reading frames expressed individually in mammalian cells. C6 is a member of a family of Bcl-2-like poxvirus proteins, many of which have been shown to inhibit innate immune signalling pathways. PRRs activate both NF-κB and IFN regulatory factors (IRFs to activate the IFN-β promoter induction. Data presented here show that C6 inhibits IRF3 activation and translocation into the nucleus, but does not inhibit NF-κB activation. C6 inhibits IRF3 and IRF7 activation downstream of the kinases TANK binding kinase 1 (TBK1 and IκB kinase-ε (IKKε, which phosphorylate and activate these IRFs. However, C6 does not inhibit TBK1- and IKKε-independent IRF7 activation or the induction of promoters by constitutively active forms of IRF3 or IRF7, indicating that C6 acts at the level of the TBK1/IKKε complex. Consistent with this notion, C6 immunoprecipitated with the TBK1 complex scaffold proteins TANK, SINTBAD and NAP1. C6 is expressed early during infection and is present in both nucleus and cytoplasm. Mutant viruses in which the C6L gene is deleted, or mutated so that the C6 protein is not expressed, replicated normally in cell culture but were attenuated in two in vivo models of infection compared to wild type and revertant controls. Thus C6 contributes to VACV virulence and might do so via the inhibition of PRR-induced activation of IRF3 and IRF7.

  3. Purification of a sarcoplasmic reticulum protein that binds Ca2+ and plasma lipoproteins

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hofmann, S.L.; Brown, M.S.; Lee, E.; Pathak, R.K.; Anderson, R.G.; Goldstein, J.L.

    1989-01-01

    A protein in the sarcoplasmic reticulum of rabbit skeletal and cardiac muscle was identified because of its ability to bind 125I-labeled low density lipoprotein (LDL) with high affinity after sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. This protein, referred to as the 165-kDa protein, is restricted to striated muscle. It was not detected in 14 other tissues, including several that contain smooth muscle, but it appears in rat L6 myoblasts when they differentiate into myocytes. Immunofluorescence and immunoelectron microscopic studies revealed that the protein is present throughout the sarcoplasmic reticulum and the terminal cisternae. It binds 45Ca2+ on nitrocellulose blots and stains metachromatically with Stains-all, a cationic dye that stains Ca2+-binding proteins. It does not appear to be a glycoprotein, and it appears slightly larger than the 160-kDa glycoprotein previously described in sarcoplasmic reticulum. The 165-kDa protein binds LDL, beta-migrating very low density lipoprotein, and a cholesterol-induced high density lipoprotein particle that contains apoprotein E as its sole apoprotein with much higher affinity than it binds high density lipoprotein. The protein is stable to boiling and to treatment with sodium dodecyl sulfate, but it becomes sensitive to these treatments when its cystine residues are reduced and alkylated. The protein was purified 1300-fold to apparent homogeneity from rabbit skeletal muscle membranes. It differs from the cell surface LDL receptor in that (1) its apparent molecular weight is not changed by reduction and alkylation; (2) it is present in Watanabe-heritable hyperlipidemic rabbits, which lack functional LDL receptors; (3) binding of lipoproteins is not inhibited by EDTA; and (4) it is located within the lumen of the sarcoplasmic reticulum where it has no access to plasma lipoproteins

  4. Split green fluorescent protein as a modular binding partner for protein crystallization

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nguyen, Hau B.; Hung, Li-Wei; Yeates, Todd O.; Terwilliger, Thomas C.; Waldo, Geoffrey S.

    2013-01-01

    A strategy using a new split green fluorescent protein (GFP) as a modular binding partner to form stable protein complexes with a target protein is presented. The modular split GFP may open the way to rapidly creating crystallization variants. A modular strategy for protein crystallization using split green fluorescent protein (GFP) as a crystallization partner is demonstrated. Insertion of a hairpin containing GFP β-strands 10 and 11 into a surface loop of a target protein provides two chain crossings between the target and the reconstituted GFP compared with the single connection afforded by terminal GFP fusions. This strategy was tested by inserting this hairpin into a loop of another fluorescent protein, sfCherry. The crystal structure of the sfCherry-GFP(10–11) hairpin in complex with GFP(1–9) was determined at a resolution of 2.6 Å. Analysis of the complex shows that the reconstituted GFP is attached to the target protein (sfCherry) in a structurally ordered way. This work opens the way to rapidly creating crystallization variants by reconstituting a target protein bearing the GFP(10–11) hairpin with a variety of GFP(1–9) mutants engineered for favorable crystallization

  5. Bacterial effector binding to ribosomal protein s3 subverts NF-kappaB function.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiaofei Gao

    2009-12-01

    Full Text Available Enteric bacterial pathogens cause food borne disease, which constitutes an enormous economic and health burden. Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC causes a severe bloody diarrhea following transmission to humans through various means, including contaminated beef and vegetable products, water, or through contact with animals. EHEC also causes a potentially fatal kidney disease (hemolytic uremic syndrome for which there is no effective treatment or prophylaxis. EHEC and other enteric pathogens (e.g., enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC, Salmonella, Shigella, Yersinia utilize a type III secretion system (T3SS to inject virulence proteins (effectors into host cells. While it is known that T3SS effectors subvert host cell function to promote diarrheal disease and bacterial transmission, in many cases, the mechanisms by which these effectors bind to host proteins and disrupt the normal function of intestinal epithelial cells have not been completely characterized. In this study, we present evidence that the E. coli O157:H7 nleH1 and nleH2 genes encode T3SS effectors that bind to the human ribosomal protein S3 (RPS3, a subunit of nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-kappaB transcriptional complexes. NleH1 and NleH2 co-localized with RPS3 in the cytoplasm, but not in cell nuclei. The N-terminal region of both NleH1 and NleH2 was required for binding to the N-terminus of RPS3. NleH1 and NleH2 are autophosphorylated Ser/Thr protein kinases, but their binding to RPS3 is independent of kinase activity. NleH1, but not NleH2, reduced the nuclear abundance of RPS3 without altering the p50 or p65 NF-kappaB subunits or affecting the phosphorylation state or abundance of the inhibitory NF-kappaB chaperone IkappaBalpha NleH1 repressed the transcription of a RPS3/NF-kappaB-dependent reporter plasmid, but did not inhibit the transcription of RPS3-independent reporters. In contrast, NleH2 stimulated RPS3-dependent transcription, as well

  6. Two-step interrogation then recognition of DNA binding site by Integration Host Factor: an architectural DNA-bending protein.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Velmurugu, Yogambigai; Vivas, Paula; Connolly, Mitchell; Kuznetsov, Serguei V; Rice, Phoebe A; Ansari, Anjum

    2018-02-28

    The dynamics and mechanism of how site-specific DNA-bending proteins initially interrogate potential binding sites prior to recognition have remained elusive for most systems. Here we present these dynamics for Integration Host factor (IHF), a nucleoid-associated architectural protein, using a μs-resolved T-jump approach. Our studies show two distinct DNA-bending steps during site recognition by IHF. While the faster (∼100 μs) step is unaffected by changes in DNA or protein sequence that alter affinity by >100-fold, the slower (1-10 ms) step is accelerated ∼5-fold when mismatches are introduced at DNA sites that are sharply kinked in the specific complex. The amplitudes of the fast phase increase when the specific complex is destabilized and decrease with increasing [salt], which increases specificity. Taken together, these results indicate that the fast phase is non-specific DNA bending while the slow phase, which responds only to changes in DNA flexibility at the kink sites, is specific DNA kinking during site recognition. Notably, the timescales for the fast phase overlap with one-dimensional diffusion times measured for several proteins on DNA, suggesting that these dynamics reflect partial DNA bending during interrogation of potential binding sites by IHF as it scans DNA.

  7. Sublingual immunization with the phosphate-binding-protein (PstS) reduces oral colonization by Streptococcus mutans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ferreira, E L; Batista, M T; Cavalcante, R C M; Pegos, V R; Passos, H M; Silva, D A; Balan, A; Ferreira, L C S; Ferreira, R C C

    2016-10-01

    Bacterial ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters play a crucial role in the physiology and pathogenicity of different bacterial species. Components of ABC transporters have also been tested as target antigens for the development of vaccines against different bacterial species, such as those belonging to the Streptococcus genus. Streptococcus mutans is the etiological agent of dental caries, and previous studies have demonstrated that deletion of the gene encoding PstS, the substrate-binding component of the phosphate uptake system (Pst), reduced the adherence of the bacteria to abiotic surfaces. In the current study, we generated a recombinant form of the S. mutans PstS protein (rPstS) with preserved structural features, and we evaluated the induction of antibody responses in mice after sublingual mucosal immunization with a formulation containing the recombinant protein and an adjuvant derived from the heat-labile toxin from enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli strains. Mice immunized with rPstS exhibited systemic and secreted antibody responses, measured by the number of immunoglobulin A-secreting cells in draining lymph nodes. Serum antibodies raised in mice immunized with rPstS interfered with the adhesion of bacteria to the oral cavity of naive mice challenged with S. mutans. Similarly, mice actively immunized with rPstS were partially protected from oral colonization after challenge with the S. mutans NG8 strain. Therefore, our results indicate that S. mutans PstS is a potential target antigen capable of inducing specific and protective antibody responses after sublingual administration. Overall, these observations raise interesting perspectives for the development of vaccines to prevent dental caries. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  8. Fragile X mental retardation protein: A paradigm for translational control by RNA-binding proteins.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Eileen; Joseph, Simpson

    2015-07-01

    Translational control is a common mechanism used to regulate gene expression and occur in bacteria to mammals. Typically in translational control, an RNA-binding protein binds to a unique sequence in the mRNA to regulate protein synthesis by the ribosomes. Alternatively, a protein may bind to or modify a translation factor to globally regulate protein synthesis by the cell. Here, we review translational control by the fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP), the absence of which causes the neurological disease, fragile X syndrome (FXS). Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. and Société française de biochimie et biologie Moléculaire (SFBBM). All rights reserved.

  9. Identification of a peptide binding protein that plays a role in antigen presentation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lakey, E.K.; Margoliash, E.; Pierce, S.K.

    1987-01-01

    The helper T-cell response to globular proteins appears, in general, to require intracellular processing of the antigen, such that a peptide fragment containing the T-cell antigenic determinant is released and transported to and held on the surface of an Ia-expressing, antigen-presenting cell. However, the molecular details underlying these phenomena are largely unknown. The means by which antigenic peptides are anchored on the antigen-presenting cell surface was investigated. A cell surface protein is identified that was isolated by it ability to bind to a 24-amino acid peptide fragment of pigeon cytochrome c, residues 81-104, containing the major antigenic determinant for B10.A mouse T cells. This peptide binding protein, purified from [ 35 S]methionine-labeled cells, appears as two discrete bands of ≅72 and 74 kDa after NaDodSO 4 /PAGE. The protein can be eluted from the peptide affinity column with equivalent concentrations of either the antigenic pigeon cytochrome c peptide or the corresponding nonantigenic peptide of mouse cytochrome c. However, it does not bind to the native cytochromes c, either of pigeon or mouse, and thus the protein appears to recognize some structure available only in the free peptides. This protein plays a role in antigen presentation. Its expression is not major histocompatibility complex-restricted in that the blocking activity of the antisera can be absorbed on spleen cells from mice of different haplotypes. This peptide binding protein can be isolated from a variety of cell types, including B cells, T cells, and fibroblasts. The anchoring of processed peptides on the cell surface by such a protein may play a role in antigen presentation

  10. An odorant-binding protein as a new allergen from Siberian hamster (Phodopus sungorus).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Torres, J A; Pastor-Vargas, C; de las Heras, M; Vivanco, F; Cuesta, Javier; Sastre, J

    2012-01-01

    A case of anaphylaxis following a bite from a Siberian hamster (SH; Phodopus sungorus) is described. Skin prick tests with hair, urine and salivary gland extracts from SH were positive, while the tests were negative for hair extracts from other rodents. IgE immunoblotting with the patient serum revealed 3 IgE-binding bands of about 18, 21 and 23 kDa. When the patient's serum was preincubated with rabbit, mouse and gerbil hair extracts, no inhibition of the 3 SH IgE-binding bands was demonstrated. Proteins extracted from the 3 bands were analyzed by N-terminal sequencing and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry, and peptides were sequenced. IgE-binding bands were identified as being an odorant-binding protein belonging to the lipocalin family. Analysis of the 3 IgE-binding bands found in the hair, urine and salivary glands of SH showed a new allergenic protein lacking cross-reactivity with allergens from other rodents. The 3 bands likely correspond to isoforms of a single allergen. Copyright © 2011 S. Karger AG, Basel.

  11. Guanine nucleotide binding proteins in zucchini seedlings: Characterization and interactions with the NPA receptor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lindeberg, M.; Jacobs, M.

    1989-01-01

    A microsomal membrane preparation from hypocotyls of dark-grown Cucurbita pepo L. seedlings contains specific high-affinity binding sites for the non-hydrolyzable GTP analog guanosine 5'-[γ-thio] triphosphate (GTP-γ-S). Both the binding affinity and the pattern of binding specificity for GTP and GTP analogs are similar to animal G-proteins, and two zucchini membrane proteins are recognized in western blots by antiserum specific for the σ subunit of platelet G s protein. GTP-γ-S can increase specific naphthylphthalamic acid (NPA) binding in zucchini microsomal membrane preparations, with its stimulation increasing with large tissue age. Al +3 and F - agents known to activate G-proteins - decreased NPA specific binding by ca. 15%. In tests of in vitro auxin transport employing zucchini plasma membrane vesicles, AlF - 4 strongly inhibited 3 H-indoleacetic acid nor accumulation; GTP-γ-S effects on this system will be discussed

  12. A peptide affinity column for the identification of integrin alpha IIb-binding proteins.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daxecker, Heide; Raab, Markus; Bernard, Elise; Devocelle, Marc; Treumann, Achim; Moran, Niamh

    2008-03-01

    To understand the regulation of integrin alpha(IIb)beta(3), a critical platelet adhesion molecule, we have developed a peptide affinity chromatography method using the known integrin regulatory motif, LAMWKVGFFKR. Using standard Fmoc chemistry, this peptide was synthesized onto a Toyopearl AF-Amino-650 M resin on a 6-aminohexanoic acid (Ahx) linker. Peptide density was controlled by acetylation of 83% of the Ahx amino groups. Four recombinant human proteins (CIB1, PP1, ICln and RN181), previously identified as binding to this integrin regulatory motif, were specifically retained by the column containing the integrin peptide but not by a column presenting an irrelevant peptide. Hemoglobin, creatine kinase, bovine serum albumin, fibrinogen and alpha-tubulin failed to bind under the chosen conditions. Immunodetection methods confirmed the binding of endogenous platelet proteins, including CIB1, PP1, ICln RN181, AUP-1 and beta3-integrin, from a detergent-free platelet lysate. Thus, we describe a reproducible method that facilitates the reliable extraction of specific integrin-binding proteins from complex biological matrices. This methodology may enable the sensitive and specific identification of proteins that interact with linear, membrane-proximal peptide motifs such as the integrin regulatory motif LAMWKVGFFKR.

  13. Cloning and molecular characterization of the salt-regulated jojoba ScRab cDNA encoding a small GTP-binding protein.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mizrahi-Aviv, Ela; Mills, David; Benzioni, Aliza; Bar-Zvi, Dudy

    2002-10-01

    Salt stress results in a massive change in gene expression. An 837 bp cDNA designated ScRab was cloned from shoot cultures of the salt tolerant jojoba (Simmondsia chinesis). The cloned cDNA encodes a full length 200 amino acid long polypeptide that bears high homology to the Rab subfamily of small GTP binding proteins, particularly, the Rab5 subfamily. ScRab expression is reduced in shoots grown in the presence of salt compared to shoots from non-stressed cultures. His6-tagged ScRAB protein was expressed in E. coli, and purified to homogeneity. The purified protein bound radiolabelled GTP. The unlabelled guanine nucleotides GTP, GTP gamma S and GDP but not ATP, CTP or UTP competed with GTP binding.

  14. When is protein binding important?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heuberger, Jules; Schmidt, Stephan; Derendorf, Hartmut

    2013-09-01

    The present paper is an ode to a classic citation by Benet and Hoener (2002. Clin Pharm Ther 71(3):115-121). The now classic paper had a huge impact on drug development and the way the issue of protein binding is perceived and interpreted. Although the authors very clearly pointed out the limitations and underlying assumptions for their delineations, these are too often overlooked and the classic paper's message is misinterpreted by broadening to cases that were not intended. Some members of the scientific community concluded from the paper that protein binding is not important. This was clearly not intended by the authors, as they finished their paper with a paragraph entitled: "When is protein binding important?" Misinterpretation of the underlying assumptions in the classic work can result in major pitfalls in drug development. Therefore, we revisit the topic of protein binding with the intention of clarifying when clinically relevant changes should be considered during drug development. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  15. Vitamin D-dependent rat renal calcium-binding protein: development of a radioimmunoassay, tissue distribution, and immunologic identification

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sonnenberg, J.; Pansini, A.R.; Christakos, S.

    1984-01-01

    A sensitive double antibody RIA has been developed for the 28,000 mol wt rat renal vitamin D-dependent calcium-binding protein. Using this assay, concentrations of calcium-binding protein (CaBP) as low as 30 ng can be measured. The assay is precise (intraassay variability, 5.0%) and reproductible (interassay variability, 8.2%). Measurements of renal CaBP by RIA showed a good correlation with measurements of CaBP by the chelex resin assay and by polyacrylamide gel analysis by densitometric tracing using a purified CaBP marker. The concentration of CaBP in the vitamin D-replete rat kidney is 7.3 +/- 1.0 (mean +/- SEM) micrograms/mg protein. In vitamin D-deficient rats the level of renal CaBP is 2.6 +/- 0.3 micrograms/mg protein. Tissue distribution of immunoreactive rat renal CaBP showed the highest concentration of CaBP in the rat cerebellum (38.3 +/- 5.1 micrograms/mg protein). Lower concentrations of immunoreactive CaBP were detected in several other rat tissues. No immunoreactive CaBP was detected in rat or human serum. In necropsy human kidney and cerebellum, high levels of immunoreactive CaBP were also detected (1.5 +/- 0.1 and 27.3 +/- 2.1 micrograms/mg protein, respectively). When extracts of rat kidney and brain and human cerebellum and kidney were assayed at several dilutions, immunodisplacement curves parallel to that of pure renal CaBP were observed, indicating immunochemical similarity. Fractionation of extracts of rat cerebellum, human kidney, and human cerebellum on Sephadex G-100 revealed immunoreactivity and calcium-binding activity in the 28,000 mol wt region similar to rat kidney

  16. Characterization of a Chitin-Binding Protein from Bacillus thuringiensis HD-1.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Naresh Arora

    Full Text Available Strains of Bacillus thuringiensis produce insecticidal proteins. These strains have been isolated from diverse ecological niches, such as soil, phylloplane, insect cadavers and grain dust. To effectively propagate, these strains produce a range of molecules that facilitate its multiplication in a competing environment. In this report, we have examined synthesis of a chitin-binding protein and evaluated its effect on fungi encountered in environment and its interaction with insecticidal proteins synthesized by B. thuringiensis. The gene encoding chitin-binding protein has been cloned and expressed. The purified protein has been demonstrated to interact with Cry insecticidal protein, Cry1Ac by Circular Dichrosim spectroscopy (CD and in vitro pull down assays. The chitin-binding protein potentiates insecticidal activity of bacillar insecticidal protein, Cry1Ac. Further, chitin-binding protein was fungistatic against several soil fungi. The chitin binding protein is expressed in spore mother cell and deposited along with insecticidal protein, Cry1Ac. It interacts with Cry1Ac to potentiate its insecticidal activity and facilitate propagation of Bacillus strain in environment by inhibiting growth of certain fungi.

  17. Accurate and sensitive quantification of protein-DNA binding affinity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rastogi, Chaitanya; Rube, H Tomas; Kribelbauer, Judith F; Crocker, Justin; Loker, Ryan E; Martini, Gabriella D; Laptenko, Oleg; Freed-Pastor, William A; Prives, Carol; Stern, David L; Mann, Richard S; Bussemaker, Harmen J

    2018-04-17

    Transcription factors (TFs) control gene expression by binding to genomic DNA in a sequence-specific manner. Mutations in TF binding sites are increasingly found to be associated with human disease, yet we currently lack robust methods to predict these sites. Here, we developed a versatile maximum likelihood framework named No Read Left Behind (NRLB) that infers a biophysical model of protein-DNA recognition across the full affinity range from a library of in vitro selected DNA binding sites. NRLB predicts human Max homodimer binding in near-perfect agreement with existing low-throughput measurements. It can capture the specificity of the p53 tetramer and distinguish multiple binding modes within a single sample. Additionally, we confirm that newly identified low-affinity enhancer binding sites are functional in vivo, and that their contribution to gene expression matches their predicted affinity. Our results establish a powerful paradigm for identifying protein binding sites and interpreting gene regulatory sequences in eukaryotic genomes. Copyright © 2018 the Author(s). Published by PNAS.

  18. Identification of Arsenic Direct-Binding Proteins in Acute Promyelocytic Leukaemia Cells

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tao Zhang

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available The identification of arsenic direct-binding proteins is essential for determining the mechanism by which arsenic trioxide achieves its chemotherapeutic effects. At least two cysteines close together in the amino acid sequence are crucial to the binding of arsenic and essential to the identification of arsenic-binding proteins. In the present study, arsenic binding proteins were pulled down with streptavidin and identified using a liquid chromatograph-mass spectrometer (LC-MS/MS. More than 40 arsenic-binding proteins were separated, and redox-related proteins, glutathione S-transferase P1 (GSTP1, heat shock 70 kDa protein 9 (HSPA9 and pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2, were further studied using binding assays in vitro. Notably, PKM2 has a high affinity for arsenic. In contrast to PKM2, GSTP1and HSPA9 did not combine with arsenic directly in vitro. These observations suggest that arsenic-mediated acute promyelocytic leukaemia (APL suppressive effects involve PKM2. In summary, we identified several arsenic binding proteins in APL cells and investigated the therapeutic mechanisms of arsenic trioxide for APL. Further investigation into specific signal pathways by which PKM2 mediates APL developments may lead to a better understanding of arsenic effects on APL.

  19. Megalin binds and mediates cellular internalization of folate binding protein

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Birn, Henrik; Zhai, Xiaoyue; Holm, Jan

    2005-01-01

    Folate is an essential vitamin involved in a number of biological processes. High affinity folate binding proteins (FBPs) exist both as glycosylphosphatidylinositol-linked, membrane associated folate binding proteins and as soluble FBPs in plasma and some secretory fluids such as milk, saliva...... to express high levels of megalin, is inhibitable by excess unlabeled FBP and by receptor associated protein, a known inhibitor of binding to megalin. Immortalized rat yolk sac cells, representing an established model for studying megalin-mediated uptake, reveal (125)I-labeled FBP uptake which is inhibited...

  20. Crystallization and preliminary X-ray analysis of the chemokine-binding protein from orf virus (Poxviridae)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Couñago, Rafael Miguez; Fleming, Stephen B.; Mercer, Andrew A.; Krause, Kurt L.

    2010-01-01

    The chemokine-binding protein from orf virus was purified and crystallized. The morphology and diffraction behaviour of these crystals was significantly improved through the use of additives known as Silver Bullets. The parapoxvirus orf virus (ORFV) encodes a chemokine-binding protein (CBP) that functions to downregulate the host’s immune response at the site of infection by blocking the chemokine-induced recruitment of immune cells. In order to shed light on the structural determinants of CBP–chemokine binding, ORFV CBP was crystallized as part of an ongoing structure–function study on this protein. ORFV CBP crystals were obtained by the sitting-drop vapour-diffusion technique using ammonium citrate as a precipitant. The crystal quality was greatly improved through the addition of small-molecule additives to the crystallization mother liquor. ORFV CBP crystals diffracted X-rays to 2.50 Å resolution and belonged to the hexagonal space group P6 1 22 or its enantiomorph P6 5 22, with unit-cell parameters a = b = 75.62, c = 282.49 Å, α = 90, β = 90, γ = 120°

  1. An altered gp100 peptide ligand with decreased binding by TCR and CD8alpha dissects T cell cytotoxicity from production of cytokines and activation of NFAT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Niels eSchaft

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available Altered peptide ligands (APLs provide useful tools to study T cell activation and potentially direct immune responses to improve treatment of cancer patients. To better understand and exploit APLs, we studied the relationship between APLs and T cell function in more detail. Here, we tested a broad panel of gp100(280-288 APLs with respect to T cell cytotoxicity, production of cytokines and activation of Nuclear Factor of Activated T cells (NFAT by human T cells gene-engineered with a gp100-HLA-A2-specific TCRalpha/beta. We demonstrated that gp100-specific cytotoxicity, production of cytokines, and activation of NFAT were not affected by APLs with single amino acid substitutions, except for an APL with an amino acid substitution at position 3 (APL A3, which did not elicit any T cell response. A gp100 peptide with a double amino acid mutation (APL S4S6 elicited T cell cytotoxicity and production of IFNgamma, and to a lesser extent TNFalpha, IL-4, and IL-5, but not production of IL-2 and IL-10, or activation of NFAT. Notably, TCR-mediated functions showed decreases in sensitivities for S4S6 versus gp100 wt peptide, which were minor for cytotoxicity but at least a 1000-fold more prominent for the production of cytokines. TCR-engineered T cells did not bind A3-HLA-A2, but did bind S4S6-HLA-A2 although to a lowered extent compared to wt peptide-HLA-A2. Moreover, S4S6-induced T cell function demonstrated an enhanced dependency on CD8alpha. Taken together, most gp100 APLs functioned as agonists, but A3 and S4S6 peptides acted as a null ligand and partial agonist, respectively. Our results further suggest that TCR-mediated cytotoxicity can be dissected from production of cytokines and activation of NFAT, and that the agonist potential of peptide mutants relates to the extent of binding by TCR and CD8alpha. These findings may facilitate the design of APLs to advance the study of T cell activation and their use for therapeutic applications.

  2. Predicting binding within disordered protein regions to structurally characterised peptide-binding domains.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Waqasuddin Khan

    Full Text Available Disordered regions of proteins often bind to structured domains, mediating interactions within and between proteins. However, it is difficult to identify a priori the short disordered regions involved in binding. We set out to determine if docking such peptide regions to peptide binding domains would assist in these predictions.We assembled a redundancy reduced dataset of SLiM (Short Linear Motif containing proteins from the ELM database. We selected 84 sequences which had an associated PDB structures showing the SLiM bound to a protein receptor, where the SLiM was found within a 50 residue region of the protein sequence which was predicted to be disordered. First, we investigated the Vina docking scores of overlapping tripeptides from the 50 residue SLiM containing disordered regions of the protein sequence to the corresponding PDB domain. We found only weak discrimination of docking scores between peptides involved in binding and adjacent non-binding peptides in this context (AUC 0.58.Next, we trained a bidirectional recurrent neural network (BRNN using as input the protein sequence, predicted secondary structure, Vina docking score and predicted disorder score. The results were very promising (AUC 0.72 showing that multiple sources of information can be combined to produce results which are clearly superior to any single source.We conclude that the Vina docking score alone has only modest power to define the location of a peptide within a larger protein region known to contain it. However, combining this information with other knowledge (using machine learning methods clearly improves the identification of peptide binding regions within a protein sequence. This approach combining docking with machine learning is primarily a predictor of binding to peptide-binding sites, and is not intended as a predictor of specificity of binding to particular receptors.

  3. Andrographolide protects mouse astrocytes against hypoxia injury by promoting autophagy and S100B expression

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Juan Du

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Andrographolide (ANDRO has been studied for its immunomodulation, anti-inflammatory, and neuroprotection effects. Because brain hypoxia is the most common factor of secondary brain injury after traumatic brain injury, we studied the role and possible mechanism of ANDRO in this process using hypoxia-injured astrocytes. Mouse cortical astrocytes C8-D1A (astrocyte type I clone from C57/BL6 strains were subjected to 3 and 21% of O2 for various times (0–12 h to establish an astrocyte hypoxia injury model in vitro. After hypoxia and ANDRO administration, the changes in cell viability and apoptosis were assessed using CCK-8 and flow cytometry. Expression changes in apoptosis-related proteins, autophagy-related proteins, main factors of JNK pathway, ATG5, and S100B were determined by western blot. Hypoxia remarkably damaged C8-D1A cells evidenced by reduction of cell viability and induction of apoptosis. Hypoxia also induced autophagy and overproduction of S100B. ANDRO reduced cell apoptosis and promoted cell autophagy and S100B expression. After ANDRO administration, autophagy-related proteins, S-100B, JNK pathway proteins, and ATG5 were all upregulated, while autophagy-related proteins and s100b were downregulated when the jnk pathway was inhibited or ATG5 was knocked down. ANDRO conferred a survival advantage to hypoxia-injured astrocytes by reducing cell apoptosis and promoting autophagy and s100b expression. Furthermore, the promotion of autophagy and s100b expression by ANDRO was via activation of jnk pathway and regulation of ATG5.

  4. Multiple growth hormone-binding proteins are expressed on insulin-producing cells

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Møldrup, A; Billestrup, N; Thorn, N A

    1989-01-01

    The insulin-producing rat islet tumor cell line, RIN-5AH, expresses somatogen binding sites and responds to GH by increased proliferation and insulin production. Affinity cross-linking shows that RIN-5AH cells contain two major GH-binding subunits of Mr 100-130K (110K), which appear to exist as d....... It is concluded that the RIN-5AH cells have multiple GH-binding proteins which may mediate signals for either proliferation and/or insulin production....

  5. Involvement of ribosomal protein L6 in assembly of functional 50S ribosomal subunit in Escherichia coli cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shigeno, Yuta; Uchiumi, Toshio; Nomura, Takaomi

    2016-01-01

    Ribosomal protein L6, an essential component of the large (50S) subunit, primarily binds to helix 97 of 23S rRNA and locates near the sarcin/ricin loop of helix 95 that directly interacts with GTPase translation factors. Although L6 is believed to play important roles in factor-dependent ribosomal function, crucial biochemical evidence for this hypothesis has not been obtained. We constructed and characterized an Escherichia coli mutant bearing a chromosomal L6 gene (rplF) disruption and carrying a plasmid with an arabinose-inducible L6 gene. Although this ΔL6 mutant grew more slowly than its wild-type parent, it proliferated in the presence of arabinose. Interestingly, cell growth in the absence of arabinose was biphasic. Early growth lasted only a few generations (LI-phase) and was followed by a suspension of growth for several hours (S-phase). This suspension was followed by a second growth phase (LII-phase). Cells harvested at both LI- and S-phases contained ribosomes with reduced factor-dependent GTPase activity and accumulated 50S subunit precursors (45S particles). The 45S particles completely lacked L6. Complete 50S subunits containing L6 were observed in all growth phases regardless of the L6-depleted condition, implying that the ΔL6 mutant escaped death because of a leaky expression of L6 from the complementing plasmid. We conclude that L6 is essential for the assembly of functional 50S subunits at the late stage. We thus established conditions for the isolation of L6-depleted 50S subunits, which are essential to study the role of L6 in translation. - Highlights: • We constructed an in vivo functional assay system for Escherichia coli ribosomal protein L6. • Growth of an E. coli ΔL6 mutant was biphasic when L6 levels were depleted. • The ΔL6 mutant accumulated 50S ribosomal subunit precursors that sedimented at 45S. • L6 is a key player in the late stage of E. coli 50S subunit assembly.

  6. Involvement of ribosomal protein L6 in assembly of functional 50S ribosomal subunit in Escherichia coli cells

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shigeno, Yuta [Division of Applied Biology, Faculty of Textile Science and Technology, Shinshu University, Ueda 386-8567 (Japan); Uchiumi, Toshio [Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Niigata University, Niigata 950-2181 (Japan); Nomura, Takaomi, E-mail: nomurat@shinshu-u.ac.jp [Division of Applied Biology, Faculty of Textile Science and Technology, Shinshu University, Ueda 386-8567 (Japan)

    2016-04-22

    Ribosomal protein L6, an essential component of the large (50S) subunit, primarily binds to helix 97 of 23S rRNA and locates near the sarcin/ricin loop of helix 95 that directly interacts with GTPase translation factors. Although L6 is believed to play important roles in factor-dependent ribosomal function, crucial biochemical evidence for this hypothesis has not been obtained. We constructed and characterized an Escherichia coli mutant bearing a chromosomal L6 gene (rplF) disruption and carrying a plasmid with an arabinose-inducible L6 gene. Although this ΔL6 mutant grew more slowly than its wild-type parent, it proliferated in the presence of arabinose. Interestingly, cell growth in the absence of arabinose was biphasic. Early growth lasted only a few generations (LI-phase) and was followed by a suspension of growth for several hours (S-phase). This suspension was followed by a second growth phase (LII-phase). Cells harvested at both LI- and S-phases contained ribosomes with reduced factor-dependent GTPase activity and accumulated 50S subunit precursors (45S particles). The 45S particles completely lacked L6. Complete 50S subunits containing L6 were observed in all growth phases regardless of the L6-depleted condition, implying that the ΔL6 mutant escaped death because of a leaky expression of L6 from the complementing plasmid. We conclude that L6 is essential for the assembly of functional 50S subunits at the late stage. We thus established conditions for the isolation of L6-depleted 50S subunits, which are essential to study the role of L6 in translation. - Highlights: • We constructed an in vivo functional assay system for Escherichia coli ribosomal protein L6. • Growth of an E. coli ΔL6 mutant was biphasic when L6 levels were depleted. • The ΔL6 mutant accumulated 50S ribosomal subunit precursors that sedimented at 45S. • L6 is a key player in the late stage of E. coli 50S subunit assembly.

  7. Protein binding of psychotropic agents

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hassan, H.A.

    1990-01-01

    Based upon fluorescence measurements, protein binding of some psychotropic agents (chlorpromazine, promethazine, and trifluoperazine) to human IgG and HSA was studied in aqueous cacodylate buffer, PH7. The interaction parameters determined from emission quenching of the proteins. The interaction parameters determined include the equilibrium constant (K), calculated from equations derived by Borazan and coworkers, the number of binding sites (n) available to the monomer molecules on a single protein molecule. The results revealed a high level of affinity, as reflected by high values of K, and the existence of specific binding sites, since a limited number of n values are obtained. 39 tabs.; 37 figs.; 83 refs

  8. Up-regulation of metastasis-promoting S100A4 (Mts-1) in rheumatoid arthritis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Klingelhöfer, Jörg; Senolt, Ladislav; Baslund, Bo

    2007-01-01

    To examine the involvement of the metastasis-inducing protein S100A4 (Mts-1) in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA).......To examine the involvement of the metastasis-inducing protein S100A4 (Mts-1) in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA)....

  9. Aspirin and salicylate bind to immunoglobulin heavy chain binding protein (BiP) and inhibit its ATPase activity in human fibroblasts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deng, W G; Ruan, K H; Du, M; Saunders, M A; Wu, K K

    2001-11-01

    Salicylic acid (SA), an endogenous signaling molecule of plants, possesses anti-inflammatory and anti-neoplastic actions in human. Its derivative, aspirin, is the most commonly used anti-inflammatory and analgesic drug. Aspirin and sodium salicylate (salicylates) have been reported to have multiple pharmacological actions. However, it is unclear whether they bind to a cellular protein. Here, we report for the first time the purification from human fibroblasts of a approximately 78 kDa salicylate binding protein with sequence identity to immunoglobulin heavy chain binding protein (BiP). The Kd values of SA binding to crude extract and to recombinant BiP were 45.2 and 54.6 microM, respectively. BiP is a chaperone protein containing a polypeptide binding site recognizing specific heptapeptide sequence and an ATP binding site. A heptapeptide with the specific sequence displaced SA binding in a concentration-dependent manner whereas a control heptapeptide did not. Salicylates inhibited ATPase activity stimulated by this specific heptapeptide but did not block ATP binding or induce BiP expression. These results indicate that salicylates bind specifically to the polypeptide binding site of BiP in human cells that may interfere with folding and transport of proteins important in inflammation.

  10. Specific binding of a Pop6/Pop7 heterodimer to the P3 stem of the yeast RNase MRP and RNase P RNAs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Perederina, Anna; Esakova, Olga; Koc, Hasan; Schmitt, Mark E; Krasilnikov, Andrey S

    2007-10-01

    Pop6 and Pop7 are protein subunits of Saccharomyces cerevisiae RNase MRP and RNase P. Here we show that bacterially expressed Pop6 and Pop7 form a soluble heterodimer that binds the RNA components of both RNase MRP and RNase P. Footprint analysis of the interaction between the Pop6/7 heterodimer and the RNase MRP RNA, combined with gel mobility assays, demonstrates that the Pop6/7 complex binds to a conserved region of the P3 domain. Binding of these proteins to the MRP RNA leads to local rearrangement in the structure of the P3 loop and suggests that direct interaction of the Pop6/7 complex with the P3 domain of the RNA components of RNases MRP and P may mediate binding of other protein components. These results suggest a role for a key element in the RNase MRP and RNase P RNAs in protein binding, and demonstrate the feasibility of directly studying RNA-protein interactions in the eukaryotic RNases MRP and P complexes.

  11. Identification of nucleosome assembly protein 1 (NAP1) as an interacting partner of plant ribosomal protein S6 (RPS6) and a positive regulator of rDNA transcription

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Son, Ora [Department of Biological Science, Sookmyung Women' s University, Seoul 140-742 (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Sunghan [Department of Biological Science, Sookmyung Women' s University, Seoul 140-742 (Korea, Republic of); Department of Plant Science, Plant Genomics and Breeding Institute, Research Institute of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-921 (Korea, Republic of); Shin, Yun-jeong [Department of Biological Science, Sookmyung Women' s University, Seoul 140-742 (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Woo-Young [College of Pharmacy, Sookmyung Women' s University, Seoul 140-742 (Korea, Republic of); Koh, Hee-Jong, E-mail: heejkoh@snu.ac.kr [Department of Plant Science, Plant Genomics and Breeding Institute, Research Institute of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-921 (Korea, Republic of); Cheon, Choong-Ill, E-mail: ccheon@sookmyung.ac.kr [Department of Biological Science, Sookmyung Women' s University, Seoul 140-742 (Korea, Republic of)

    2015-09-18

    The ribosomal protein S6 (RPS6) is a downstream component of the signaling mediated by the target of rapamycin (TOR) kinase that acts as a central regulator of the key metabolic processes, such as protein translation and ribosome biogenesis, in response to various environmental cues. In our previous study, we identified a novel role of plant RPS6, which negatively regulates rDNA transcription, forming a complex with a plant-specific histone deacetylase, AtHD2B. Here we report that the Arabidopsis RPS6 interacts additionally with a histone chaperone, nucleosome assembly protein 1(AtNAP1;1). The interaction does not appear to preclude the association of RPS6 with AtHD2B, as the AtNAP1 was also able to interact with AtHD2B as well as with an RPS6-AtHD2B fusion protein in the BiFC assay and pulldown experiment. Similar to a positive effect of the ribosomal S6 kinase 1 (AtS6K1) on rDNA transcription observed in this study, overexpression or down regulation of the AtNAP1;1 resulted in concomitant increase and decrease, respectively, in rDNA transcription suggesting a positive regulatory role played by AtNAP1 in plant rDNA transcription, possibly through derepression of the negative effect of the RPS6-AtHD2B complex. - Highlights: • Nucleosome assembly protein 1 (AtNAP1) interacts with RPS6 as well as with AtHD2B. • rDNA transcription is regulated S6K1. • Overexpression or down regulation of AtNAP1 results in concomitant increase or decrease in rDNA transcription.

  12. Noncovalent binding of 4-nitroquinoline-N-oxide to proteins

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yamamoto, Osamu

    1979-01-01

    Binding of 4NQO to various kinds of enzymes or proteins was studied. Each one of proteins was mixed with 4NQO in 0.4 mM NaHCO 3 solution and eluted through Ultrogel AcA 22 column. Radioactivity of 14 C-labeled 4NQO found in protein fraction was measured. 4NQO bound hardly to polyglutamic acid and polyaspertic acid, somewhat to serum albumin, insulin, trypsin, RNA polymerase and DNA polymerase, and markedly to ureas which is an SH enzyme. Lactate dehydrogenase, one of SH enzymes, aggregated with 4NQO. The binding of SH enzyme with the N-oxide would be attributable to a noncovalent binding such as >N-O---H-S-, because 4NQO-urease binding yield markedly decreased in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate or cysteine, and also 4NQO-bound urease released 4NQO by the addition of sodium dodecyl sulfate. (author)

  13. Noncovalent binding of 4-nitroquinoline-N-oxide to proteins

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yamamoto, O [Hiroshima Univ. (Japan). Research Inst. for Nuclear Medicine and Biology

    1979-12-01

    Binding of 4NQO to various kinds of enzymes or proteins was studied. Each one of proteins was mixed with 4NQO in 0.4 mM NaHCO/sub 3/ solution and eluted through Ultrogel AcA 22 column. Radioactivity of /sup 14/C-labeled 4NQO found in protein fraction was measured. 4NQO bound hardly to polyglutamic acid and polyaspertic acid, somewhat to serum albumin, insulin, trypsin, RNA polymerase and DNA polymerase, and markedly to ureas which is an SH enzyme. Lactate dehydrogenase, one of SH enzymes, aggregated with 4NQO. The binding of SH enzyme with the N-oxide would be attributable to a noncovalent binding such as >N-O---H-S-, because 4NQO-urease binding yield markedly decreased in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate or cysteine, and also 4NQO-bound urease released 4NQO by the addition of sodium dodecyl sulfate.

  14. Protein-protein interactions within late pre-40S ribosomes.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Melody G Campbell

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Ribosome assembly in eukaryotic organisms requires more than 200 assembly factors to facilitate and coordinate rRNA transcription, processing, and folding with the binding of the ribosomal proteins. Many of these assembly factors bind and dissociate at defined times giving rise to discrete assembly intermediates, some of which have been partially characterized with regards to their protein and RNA composition. Here, we have analyzed the protein-protein interactions between the seven assembly factors bound to late cytoplasmic pre-40S ribosomes using recombinant proteins in binding assays. Our data show that these factors form two modules: one comprising Enp1 and the export adaptor Ltv1 near the beak structure, and the second comprising the kinase Rio2, the nuclease Nob1, and a regulatory RNA binding protein Dim2/Pno1 on the front of the head. The GTPase-like Tsr1 and the universally conserved methylase Dim1 are also peripherally connected to this second module. Additionally, in an effort to further define the locations for these essential proteins, we have analyzed the interactions between these assembly factors and six ribosomal proteins: Rps0, Rps3, Rps5, Rps14, Rps15 and Rps29. Together, these results and previous RNA-protein crosslinking data allow us to propose a model for the binding sites of these seven assembly factors. Furthermore, our data show that the essential kinase Rio2 is located at the center of the pre-ribosomal particle and interacts, directly or indirectly, with every other assembly factor, as well as three ribosomal proteins required for cytoplasmic 40S maturation. These data suggest that Rio2 could play a central role in regulating cytoplasmic maturation steps.

  15. DNABP: Identification of DNA-Binding Proteins Based on Feature Selection Using a Random Forest and Predicting Binding Residues.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, Xin; Guo, Jing; Sun, Xiao

    2016-01-01

    DNA-binding proteins are fundamentally important in cellular processes. Several computational-based methods have been developed to improve the prediction of DNA-binding proteins in previous years. However, insufficient work has been done on the prediction of DNA-binding proteins from protein sequence information. In this paper, a novel predictor, DNABP (DNA-binding proteins), was designed to predict DNA-binding proteins using the random forest (RF) classifier with a hybrid feature. The hybrid feature contains two types of novel sequence features, which reflect information about the conservation of physicochemical properties of the amino acids, and the binding propensity of DNA-binding residues and non-binding propensities of non-binding residues. The comparisons with each feature demonstrated that these two novel features contributed most to the improvement in predictive ability. Furthermore, to improve the prediction performance of the DNABP model, feature selection using the minimum redundancy maximum relevance (mRMR) method combined with incremental feature selection (IFS) was carried out during the model construction. The results showed that the DNABP model could achieve 86.90% accuracy, 83.76% sensitivity, 90.03% specificity and a Matthews correlation coefficient of 0.727. High prediction accuracy and performance comparisons with previous research suggested that DNABP could be a useful approach to identify DNA-binding proteins from sequence information. The DNABP web server system is freely available at http://www.cbi.seu.edu.cn/DNABP/.

  16. S100A11 promotes human pancreatic cancer PANC-1 cell proliferation and is involved in the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xiao, Mingbing; Li, Tao; Ji, Yifei; Jiang, Feng; Ni, Wenkai; Zhu, Jing; Bao, Baijun; Lu, Cuihua; Ni, Runzhou

    2018-01-01

    S100A11, a member of S100 calcium-binding protein family, is associated with the numerous processes of tumorigenesis and metastasis. In the present study, the role of S100A11, and its possible underlying mechanisms in cell proliferation, apoptosis and cell cycle distribution in human pancreatic cancer were explored. Immunohistochemical analyses of S100A11 and phosphorylated (p)-AKT serine/threonine kinase (AKT) were performed in 30 resected specimens from patients with pancreatic cancer. PANC-1 cells were transfected with pcDNA3.1-S100A11 or treated with 50 µmol/l LY294002 for 48 h. Cell proliferation was determined using a cell counting kit-8 assay, whereas apoptosis and cell cycle distribution were determined by flow cytometry analysis. The mRNA and protein levels of S100A11, and AKT were determined using semi quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and western blot analyses, respectively. Pearson correlation analysis revealed that the expression levels of S100A11 and p-AKT were positively correlated (r, 0.802; PPANC-1 cell proliferation and reduced the percentage of early apoptotic cells. Flow cytometric analysis indicated that the proportion of PANC-1 cells in the S phase was significantly elevated and cell percentage in the G0/G1 phase declined in response to S100A11 overexpression (all PPANC-1 cell proliferation, promoted apoptosis and caused G1/S phase arrest in PANC-1 cells (all PPANC-1 cells through the upregulation of the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. Thus, S100A11 may be considered as a novel drug target for targeted therapy of pancreatic cancer.

  17. Cell-mediated immunity against human retinal extract, S-antigen, and interphotoreceptor retinoid binding protein in onchocercal chorioretinopathy

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van der Lelij, A.; Rothova, A.; Stilma, J. S.; Hoekzema, R.; Kijlstra, A.

    1990-01-01

    Autoimmune mechanisms are thought to be involved in the pathogenesis of onchocercal chorioretinopathy. Cell-mediated immune responses to human retinal S-antigen, interphotoreceptor retinoid binding protein (IRBP), and crude retinal extract were investigated in patients with onchocerciasis from

  18. S100A4 amplifies TGF-β-induced fibroblast activation in systemic sclerosis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tomcik, Michal; Palumbo-Zerr, Katrin; Zerr, Pawel

    2015-01-01

    (SSc). METHODS: The expression of S100A4 was analysed in human samples, murine models of SSc and in cultured fibroblasts by real-time PCR, immunohistochemistry and western blot. The functional role of S100A4 was evaluated using siRNA, overexpression, recombinant protein and S100A4 knockout (S100A4...... or stimulation with recombinant S100A4 induced an activated phenotype in resting normal fibroblasts. In contrast, knockdown of S100A4 reduced the pro-fibrotic effects of TGF-β and decreased the release of collagen. S100A4(-/-) mice were protected from bleomycin-induced skin fibrosis with reduced dermal...

  19. A machine learning approach for the identification of odorant binding proteins from sequence-derived properties

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Suganthan PN

    2007-09-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Odorant binding proteins (OBPs are believed to shuttle odorants from the environment to the underlying odorant receptors, for which they could potentially serve as odorant presenters. Although several sequence based search methods have been exploited for protein family prediction, less effort has been devoted to the prediction of OBPs from sequence data and this area is more challenging due to poor sequence identity between these proteins. Results In this paper, we propose a new algorithm that uses Regularized Least Squares Classifier (RLSC in conjunction with multiple physicochemical properties of amino acids to predict odorant-binding proteins. The algorithm was applied to the dataset derived from Pfam and GenDiS database and we obtained overall prediction accuracy of 97.7% (94.5% and 98.4% for positive and negative classes respectively. Conclusion Our study suggests that RLSC is potentially useful for predicting the odorant binding proteins from sequence-derived properties irrespective of sequence similarity. Our method predicts 92.8% of 56 odorant binding proteins non-homologous to any protein in the swissprot database and 97.1% of the 414 independent dataset proteins, suggesting the usefulness of RLSC method for facilitating the prediction of odorant binding proteins from sequence information.

  20. Binding characteristics of arylamine, o-toluidine, in rodent blood proteins, hemoglobin and albumin

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    DeBord, D.G.; Swearengin, T.F.; Booth-Jones, A.B.; Wissinger, L.A.

    1991-01-01

    o-Toluidine (OT), an arylamine used as an anti-oxidant in the tire and rubber industry, is a suspect human carcinogen. In order to develop a method for biological monitoring of OT, the authors have examined the binding characteristics of OT to the blood proteins, albumin (Alb) and hemoglobin (Hb). Male Sprague-Dawley rats were treated with 10, 20, 40, 50, or 100 mg/kg [ 14 C0]-OT ip and terminated at 2, 4, 8, 18, or 24 hrs. Alb and Hb were isolated from the blood. OT binding was determined by radioactivity associated with Alb and Hb. Maximum OT binding occurred at 4 hrs for Alb and 24 hrs for Hb. The radioactivity associated with Alb was 2x greater than that associated with Hb at 4 hrs, and approximately 30% greater at 24 hrs. Similar OT binding to Alb was observed at the 50 and 100 mg/kg doses, while for Hb maximum binding was seen at 100 mg/kg. Extended time points were studied to determine which blood protein would be more useful for biological monitoring purposes. Rats were treated with 100 mg/kg bw [ 14 C]-OT and terminated at 1, 2 and 4 wks. The remaining radioactivity associated with Alb was 12% after 1 wk, and < 2% after 2 and 4 wks. Conversely, the radioactivity associated with Hb was 64% after 1 wk, 52% by 2 wks, and 24% by 4 wks. These results suggest that Hb may be more useful than Alb as a biological monitoring tool for OT

  1. De novo design of RNA-binding proteins with a prion-like domain related to ALS/FTD proteinopathies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mitsuhashi, Kana; Ito, Daisuke; Mashima, Kyoko; Oyama, Munenori; Takahashi, Shinichi; Suzuki, Norihiro

    2017-12-04

    Aberrant RNA-binding proteins form the core of the neurodegeneration cascade in spectrums of disease, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)/frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Six ALS-related molecules, TDP-43, FUS, TAF15, EWSR1, heterogeneous nuclear (hn)RNPA1 and hnRNPA2 are RNA-binding proteins containing candidate mutations identified in ALS patients and those share several common features, including harboring an aggregation-prone prion-like domain (PrLD) containing a glycine/serine-tyrosine-glycine/serine (G/S-Y-G/S)-motif-enriched low-complexity sequence and rich in glutamine and/or asparagine. Additinally, these six molecules are components of RNA granules involved in RNA quality control and become mislocated from the nucleus to form cytoplasmic inclusion bodies (IBs) in the ALS/FTD-affected brain. To reveal the essential mechanisms involved in ALS/FTD-related cytotoxicity associated with RNA-binding proteins containing PrLDs, we designed artificial RNA-binding proteins harboring G/S-Y-G/S-motif repeats with and without enriched glutamine residues and nuclear-import/export-signal sequences and examined their cytotoxicity in vitro. These proteins recapitulated features of ALS-linked molecules, including insoluble aggregation, formation of cytoplasmic IBs and components of RNA granules, and cytotoxicity instigation. These findings indicated that these artificial RNA-binding proteins mimicked features of ALS-linked molecules and allowed the study of mechanisms associated with gain of toxic functions related to ALS/FTD pathogenesis.

  2. A constitutive damage specific DNA-binding protein is synthesized at higher levels in UV-irradiated primate cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hirschfeld, S.; Levine, A.S.; Ozato, K.; Protic, M.

    1990-01-01

    Using a DNA band shift assay, we have identified a DNA-binding protein complex in primate cells which is present constitutively and has a high affinity for UV-irradiated, double-stranded DNA. Cells pretreated with UV light, mitomycin C, or aphidicolin have higher levels of this damage-specific DNA-binding protein complex, suggesting that the signal for induction can either be damage to the DNA or interference with cellular DNA replication. Physiochemical modifications of the DNA and competition analysis with defined substrates suggest that the most probable target site for the damage-specific DNA-binding protein complex is a 6-4'-(pyrimidine-2'-one)-pyrimidine dimer: specific binding could not be detected with probes which contain -TT- cyclobutane dimers, and damage-specific DNA binding did not decrease after photoreactivation of UV-irradiated DNA. This damage-specific DNA-binding protein complex is the first such inducible protein complex identified in primate cells. Cells from patients with the sun-sensitive cancer-prone disease, xeroderma pigmentosum (group E), are lacking both the constitutive and the induced damage-specific DNA-binding activities. These findings suggest a possible role for this DNA-binding protein complex in lesion recognition and DNA repair of UV-light-induced photoproducts

  3. Characterization of a Novel Association between Two Trypanosome-Specific Proteins and 5S rRNA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ciganda, Martin; Williams, Noreen

    2012-01-01

    P34 and P37 are two previously identified RNA binding proteins in the flagellate protozoan Trypanosoma brucei. RNA interference studies have determined that the proteins are essential and are involved in ribosome biogenesis. Here, we show that these proteins interact in vitro with the 5S rRNA with nearly identical binding characteristics in the absence of other cellular factors. The T. brucei 5S rRNA has a complex secondary structure and presents four accessible loops (A to D) for interactions with RNA-binding proteins. In other eukaryotes, loop C is bound by the L5 ribosomal protein and loop A mainly by TFIIIA. The binding of P34 and P37 to T. brucei 5S rRNA involves the LoopA region of the RNA, but these proteins also protect the L5 binding site located on LoopC. PMID:22253864

  4. Predicted RNA Binding Proteins Pes4 and Mip6 Regulate mRNA Levels, Translation, and Localization during Sporulation in Budding Yeast.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jin, Liang; Zhang, Kai; Sternglanz, Rolf; Neiman, Aaron M

    2017-05-01

    In response to starvation, diploid cells of Saccharomyces cerevisiae undergo meiosis and form haploid spores, a process collectively referred to as sporulation. The differentiation into spores requires extensive changes in gene expression. The transcriptional activator Ndt80 is a central regulator of this process, which controls many genes essential for sporulation. Ndt80 induces ∼300 genes coordinately during meiotic prophase, but different mRNAs within the NDT80 regulon are translated at different times during sporulation. The protein kinase Ime2 and RNA binding protein Rim4 are general regulators of meiotic translational delay, but how differential timing of individual transcripts is achieved was not known. This report describes the characterization of two related NDT80 -induced genes, PES4 and MIP6 , encoding predicted RNA binding proteins. These genes are necessary to regulate the steady-state expression, translational timing, and localization of a set of mRNAs that are transcribed by NDT80 but not translated until the end of meiosis II. Mutations in the predicted RNA binding domains within PES4 alter the stability of target mRNAs. PES4 and MIP6 affect only a small portion of the NDT80 regulon, indicating that they act as modulators of the general Ime2/Rim4 pathway for specific transcripts. Copyright © 2017 American Society for Microbiology.

  5. Interspecies In Vitro Evaluation of Stereoselective Protein Binding for 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wan Raihana Wan Aasim

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Abuse of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA is becoming more common worldwide. To date, there is no information available on stereoselectivity of MDMA protein binding in humans, rats, and mice. Since stereoselectivity plays an important role in MDMA’s pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, in this study we investigated its stereoselectivity in protein binding. The stereoselective protein binding of rac-MDMA was investigated using two different concentrations (20 and 200 ng/mL in human plasma and mouse and rat sera using an ultrafiltration technique. No significant stereoselectivity in protein binding was observed in both human plasma and rat serum; however, a significant stereoselective binding (p<0.05 was observed in mouse serum. Since the protein binding of MDMA in mouse serum is considerably lower than in humans and rats, caution should be exercised when using mice for in vitro studies involving MDMA.

  6. Effect of membrane protein concentration on binding of 3H-imipramine in human platelets

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Barkai, A.I.; Kowalik, S.; Baron, M.

    1985-01-01

    Binding of 3 H-imipramine to platelet membranes has been implicated as a marker for depression. Comparing 3 H-IMI binding between depressed patients and normal subjects we observed an increase in the dissociation constant Kd with increasing membrane protein. This phenomenon was studied more rigorously in five normal subjects. Platelet membranes were prepared and adjusted to four concentrations of protein ranging from 100 to 800 micrograms/ml. The 3 H-IMI binding parameters of maximum binding sites number (Bmax) and Kd were obtained by Scatchard analysis at each membrane concentration. A positive linear relationship was found between K/sub d/ values and the concentration of membrane protein in the assay, but no change was observed in Bmax. The variability in Kd values reported in the literature may be accounted for in part by the different concentrations of membrane protein used in various studies

  7. Peptide mimetic of the S100A4 protein modulates peripheral nerve regeneration and attenuates the progression of neuropathy in myelin protein P0 null mice

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Moldovan, Mihai; Pinchenko, Volodymyr; Dmytriyeva, Oksana

    2013-01-01

    and mimicked the S100A4-induced neuroprotection in brain trauma. Here, we investigated a possible function of S100A4 and its mimetics in the pathologies of the peripheral nervous system (PNS). We found that S100A4 was expressed in the injured PNS and that its peptide mimetic (H3) affected the regeneration......, these effects were attributed to the modulatory effect of H3 on initial axonal sprouting. In contrast to the modest effect of H3 on the time course of regeneration, H3 had a long-term neuroprotective effect in the myelin protein P0 null mice, a model of dysmyelinating neuropathy (Charcot-Marie-Tooth type 1...... disease), where the peptide attenuated the deterioration of nerve conduction, demyelination and axonal loss. From these results, S100A4 mimetics emerge as a possible means to enhance axonal sprouting and survival, especially in the context of demyelinating neuropathies with secondary axonal loss...

  8. Proton receptor GPR68 expression in dendritic-cell-like S100β-positive cells of rat anterior pituitary gland: GPR68 induces interleukin-6 gene expression in extracellular acidification.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Horiguchi, Kotaro; Higuchi, Masashi; Yoshida, Saishu; Nakakura, Takashi; Tateno, Kozue; Hasegawa, Rumi; Takigami, Shu; Ohsako, Shunji; Kato, Takako; Kato, Yukio

    2014-11-01

    S100β-positive cells, which do not express the classical pituitary hormones, appear to possess multifunctional properties and are assumed to be heterogeneous in the anterior pituitary gland. The presence of several protein markers has shown that S100β-positive cells are composed of populations such as stem/progenitor cells, epithelial cells, astrocytes and dendritic cells. Recently, we succeeded in separating S100β-positive cells into round-cell (dendritic-cell-like) and process-cell types. We also found the characteristic expression of anti-inflammatory factors (interleukin-6, Il-6) and membrane receptors (integrin β-6) in the round type. Here, we further investigate the function of the subpopulation of S100β-positive cells. Since IL-6 is also a paracrine factor that regulates hormone producing-cells, we examine whether a correlation exists among extracellular acid stress, IL-6 and hormone production by using primary cultures of anterior pituitary cells. Dendritic-cell-like S100β-positive cells notably expressed Gpr68 (proton receptor) and Il-6. Furthermore, the expression of Il-6 and proopiomelanocortin (Pomc) was up-regulated by extracellular acidification. The functional role of IL-6 and GPR68 in the gene expression of Pomc during extracellular acidification was also examined. Small interfering RNA for Il-6 up-regulated Pomc expression and that for Gpr68 reversed the down-regulation of Il-6 and up-regulated Pomc expression by extracellular acidification. Thus, S100β-positive dendritic-like cells can sense an increase in extracellular protons via GPR68 and respond by the production of IL-6 in order to suppress the up-regulation of Pomc expression.

  9. Influence of testosterone on the distribution of 65Zn-binding proteins in the prostate and seminal vesicles of rats

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Arlt, R.; Foerster, R.; Scherr, F.; Guenther, T.

    1977-01-01

    65 Zn (7.4 MBq; 200 μCi) was injected intravenously into normal, castrated and castrated, testosteronesubstituted rats. After 1,24 and 48 hours, the distribution of 65 Zn-binding proteins in the 100,000 g supernatant of the prostate and seminal vesicles was investigated by separation on Sephadex G 100. The prostate and seminal vesicles from any one rat showed the same distribution pattern of 65 Zn-proteins. In castrated rats, the incorporation of 65 Zn was, however, 5-6 times lower than in the normal or castrated, testosterone-substituted rats. One hour after the injection, the highest activity of 65 Zn was found in proteins in the molecular weight range above 100,000. After 48 hours the greatest proportion of 65 Zn was present in the protein peak corresponding to 28,000 Daltons. (orig.) 891 AJ [de

  10. Identification of the DNA-Binding Domains of Human Replication Protein A That Recognize G-Quadruplex DNA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aishwarya Prakash

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Replication protein A (RPA, a key player in DNA metabolism, has 6 single-stranded DNA-(ssDNA- binding domains (DBDs A-F. SELEX experiments with the DBDs-C, -D, and -E retrieve a 20-nt G-quadruplex forming sequence. Binding studies show that RPA-DE binds preferentially to the G-quadruplex DNA, a unique preference not observed with other RPA constructs. Circular dichroism experiments show that RPA-CDE-core can unfold the G-quadruplex while RPA-DE stabilizes it. Binding studies show that RPA-C binds pyrimidine- and purine-rich sequences similarly. This difference between RPA-C and RPA-DE binding was also indicated by the inability of RPA-CDE-core to unfold an oligonucleotide containing a TC-region 5′ to the G-quadruplex. Molecular modeling studies of RPA-DE and telomere-binding proteins Pot1 and Stn1 reveal structural similarities between the proteins and illuminate potential DNA-binding sites for RPA-DE and Stn1. These data indicate that DBDs of RPA have different ssDNA recognition properties.

  11. A novel carbohydrate-binding surface layer protein from the hyperthermophilic archaeon Pyrococcus horikoshii.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goda, Shuichiro; Koga, Tomoyuki; Yamashita, Kenichiro; Kuriura, Ryo; Ueda, Toshifumi

    2018-04-08

    In Archaea and Bacteria, surface layer (S-layer) proteins form the cell envelope and are involved in cell protection. In the present study, a putative S-layer protein was purified from the crude extract of Pyrococcus horikoshii using affinity chromatography. The S-layer gene was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. Isothermal titration calorimetry analyses showed that the S-layer protein bound N-acetylglucosamine and induced agglutination of the gram-positive bacterium Micrococcus lysodeikticus. The protein comprised a 21-mer structure, with a molecular mass of 1,340 kDa, as determined using small-angle X-ray scattering. This protein showed high thermal stability, with a midpoint of thermal denaturation of 79 °C in dynamic light scattering experiments. This is the first description of the carbohydrate-binding archaeal S-layer protein and its characteristics.

  12. D-fructose-binding proteins in bull seminal plasma: Isolation and characterization

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Liberda, J.; Kraus, Marek; Ryšlavá, H.; Vlasáková, M.; Jonáková, Věra; Tichá, M.

    2001-01-01

    Roč. 47, č. 4 (2001), s. 113-119 ISSN 0015-5500 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA303/99/0357; GA ČR GV524/96/K162 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z5052915 Keywords : bull seminal plasma * non-heparin-binding and heparin-binding proteins * D-fructose-binding proteins Subject RIV: EB - Genetics ; Molecular Biology Impact factor: 0.519, year: 2001

  13. CORRELATION BETWEEN ANGIOTENSIN-CONVERTING ENZYME INHIBITORS LIPOPHILICITY AND PROTEIN BINDING DATA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jasna Trbojević-Stanković

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE inhibitors represent a significant group of drugs primarily used in the treatment of hypertension and congestive heart failure. In this research, seven ACE inhibitors (enalapril, quinapril, fosinopril, lisinopril, cilazapril, ramipril, benazepril were studied to evaluate the relationship between their protein binding and calculated (logP values or ultra-high performance liquid chromatographytandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS and reversed-phase thin-layer chromatography (RP-TLC lipophilicity data (ϕ0, CHI or C0 parameters, respectively. Their protein binding data varied from negligible (lisinopril to 99% (fosinopril, while calculated logPKOWWINvalues ranged from -0.94 (lisinopril to 6.61 (fosinopril. The good correlations were established between protein binding values and logPKOWWIN data (R2=0.7520 as well as between protein binding and chromatographic hydrophobicity data, ϕ0, CHI or C0parameters (R2 were 0.6160, 0.6242 and 0.6547, respectively. The possible application of hydrophobicity data in drugs protein binding evaluation can be of great importance in drug bioavailability.

  14. Routine detection of calcium-binding proteins following their adsorption to nitrocellulose membrane filters

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hincke, M.T.

    1988-01-01

    A routine semiquantitative procedure which permits soluble calcium-binding proteins to be detected following their adsorption to nitrocellulose membrane filters by liquid scintillation counting of specifically bound 45 Ca is described. Proteins with high affinity for calcium such as calmodulin and troponin can be detected with a detection threshold of about 2 μg per 400 μl. Modifications to decrease this limit are feasible and are discussed. This technique should allow calcium-binding proteins of unknown function to be assayed during their purification. It was necessary to treat solutions containing 45 Ca with chelex-100 in order to prevent loss of calcium binding which occurred as the decay product (SC 3+ ) accumulated, suggesting that all studies utilizing 45 Ca as a tracer should evaluate possible interference by this ion

  15. Structure of the caspase-recruitment domain from a zebrafish guanylate-binding protein

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jin, Tengchuan; Huang, Mo; Smith, Patrick; Jiang, Jiansheng; Xiao, T. Sam

    2013-01-01

    The crystal structure of the first zebrafish caspase-recruitment domain at 1.47 Å resolution illustrates a six-helix bundle fold similar to that of the human NLRP1 CARD. The caspase-recruitment domain (CARD) mediates homotypic protein–protein interactions that assemble large oligomeric signaling complexes such as the inflammasomes during innate immune responses. Structural studies of the mammalian CARDs demonstrate that their six-helix bundle folds belong to the death-domain superfamily, whereas such studies have not been reported for other organisms. Here, the zebrafish interferon-induced guanylate-binding protein 1 (zIGBP1) was identified that contains an N-terminal GTPase domain and a helical domain typical of the mammalian guanylate-binding proteins, followed by a FIIND domain and a C-terminal CARD similar to the mammalian inflammasome proteins NLRP1 and CARD8. The structure of the zIGBP1 CARD as a fusion with maltose-binding protein was determined at 1.47 Å resolution. This revealed a six-helix bundle fold similar to the NLRP1 CARD structure with the bent α1 helix typical of all known CARD structures. The zIGBP1 CARD surface contains a positively charged patch near its α1 and α4 helices and a negatively charged patch near its α2, α3 and α5 helices, which may mediate its interaction with partner domains. Further studies using binding assays and other analyses will be required in order to address the physiological function(s) of this zebrafish protein

  16. Yersinia enterocolitica serum resistance proteins YadA and ail bind the complement regulator C4b-binding protein.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vesa Kirjavainen

    Full Text Available Many pathogens are equipped with factors providing resistance against the bactericidal action of complement. Yersinia enterocolitica, a Gram-negative enteric pathogen with invasive properties, efficiently resists the deleterious action of human complement. The major Y. enterocolitica serum resistance determinants include outer membrane proteins YadA and Ail. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS O-antigen (O-ag and outer core (OC do not contribute directly to complement resistance. The aim of this study was to analyze a possible mechanism whereby Y. enterocolitica could inhibit the antibody-mediated classical pathway of complement activation. We show that Y. enterocolitica serotypes O:3, O:8, and O:9 bind C4b-binding protein (C4bp, an inhibitor of both the classical and lectin pathways of complement. To identify the C4bp receptors on Y. enterocolitica serotype O:3 surface, a set of mutants expressing YadA, Ail, O-ag, and OC in different combinations was tested for the ability to bind C4bp. The studies showed that both YadA and Ail acted as C4bp receptors. Ail-mediated C4bp binding, however, was blocked by the O-ag and OC, and could be observed only with mutants lacking these LPS structures. C4bp bound to Y. enterocolitica was functionally active and participated in the factor I-mediated degradation of C4b. These findings show that Y. enterocolitica uses two proteins, YadA and Ail, to bind C4bp. Binding of C4bp could help Y. enterocolitica to evade complement-mediated clearance in the human host.

  17. Properties of the periplasmic ModA molybdate-binding protein of Escherichia coli.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rech, S; Wolin, C; Gunsalus, R P

    1996-02-02

    The modABCD operon, located at 17 min on the Escherichia coli chromosome, encodes the protein components of a high affinity molybdate uptake system. Sequence analysis of the modA gene (GenBank L34009) predicts that it encodes a periplasmic binding protein based on the presence of a leader-like sequence at its N terminus. To examine the properties of the ModA protein, the modA structural gene was overexpressed, and its product was purified. The ModA protein was localized to the periplasmic space of the cell, and it was released following a gentle osmotic shock. The N-terminal sequence of ModA confirmed that a leader region of 24 amino acids was removed upon export from the cell. The apparent size of ModA is 31.6 kDa as determined by gel sieve chromatography, whereas it is 22.5 kDa when examined by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. A ligand-dependent protein mobility shift assay was devised using a native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis protocol to examine binding of molybdate and other anions to the ModA periplasmic protein. Whereas molybdate and tungstate were bound with high affinity (approximately 5 microM), sulfate, chromate, selenate, phosphate, and chlorate did not bind even when tested at 2 mM. A UV spectral assay revealed apparent Kd values of binding for molybdate and tungstate of 3 and 7 microM, respectively. Strains defective in the modA gene were unable to transport molybdate unless high levels of the anion were supplied in the medium. Therefore the modA gene product is essential for high affinity molybdate uptake by the cell. Tungstate interference of molybdate acquisition by the cell is apparently due in part to the high affinity of the ModA protein for this anion.

  18. Cyclic adenosine 3:5-monophosphate binding proteins in Hartmannella culbertsoni

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Verma, A.K.; Krishna Murti, C.R.

    1976-01-01

    When 100, 000 g supernatant fractions of homogenates of Hartmannella culbertsoni were incubated with ('- 3 H)-cyclic adenosine 3 : 5 monophosphate and passed through a sephadex G-100 column, radioactivity appeared with protein fractions eluted after the void colume. About 75% radioactivity bound to these fractions was recovered as cyclic adenosine 3 : 5 monophosphate. Unlabelled cAMP diluted the amount of radioactivity bound. Adenosine, deoxyadenosine, 5-AMP, 3-AMP, ADP and ATP did not inhibit binding. (author)

  19. Definition of a consensus DNA-binding site for PecS, a global regulator of virulence gene expression in Erwinia chrysanthemi and identification of new members of the PecS regulon.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rouanet, Carine; Reverchon, Sylvie; Rodionov, Dmitry A; Nasser, William

    2004-07-16

    In Erwinia chrysanthemi, production of pectic enzymes is modulated by a complex network involving several regulators. One of them, PecS, which belongs to the MarR family, also controls the synthesis of various other virulence factors, such as cellulases and indigoidine. Here, the PecS consensus-binding site is defined by combining a systematic evolution of ligands by an exponential enrichment approach and mutational analyses. The consensus consists of a 23-base pair palindromic-like sequence (C(-11)G(-10)A(-9)N(-8)W(-7)T(-6)C(-5)G(-4)T(-3)A(-2))T(-1)A(0)T(1)(T(2)A(3)C(4)G(5)A(6)N(7)N(8)N(9)C(10)G(11)). Mutational experiments revealed that (i) the palindromic organization is required for the binding of PecS, (ii) the very conserved part of the consensus (-6 to 6) allows for a specific interaction with PecS, but the presence of the relatively degenerated bases located apart significantly increases PecS affinity, (iii) the four bases G, A, T, and C are required for efficient binding of PecS, and (iv) the presence of several binding sites on the same promoter increases the affinity of PecS. This consensus is detected in the regions involved in PecS binding on the previously characterized target genes. This variable consensus is in agreement with the observation that the members of the MarR family are able to bind various DNA targets as dimers by means of a winged helix DNA-binding motif. Binding of PecS on a promoter region containing the defined consensus results in a repression of gene transcription in vitro. Preliminary scanning of the E. chrysanthemi genome sequence with the consensus revealed the presence of strong PecS-binding sites in the intergenic region between fliE and fliFGHIJKLMNOPQR which encode proteins involved in the biogenesis of flagellum. Accordingly, PecS directly represses fliE expression. Thus, PecS seems to control the synthesis of virulence factors required for the key steps of plant infection.

  20. Thermodynamics of ligand binding to acyl-coenzyme A binding protein studied by titration calorimetry

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Færgeman, Nils J.; Sigurskjold, B W; Kragelund, B B

    1996-01-01

    Ligand binding to recombinant bovine acyl-CoA binding protein (ACBP) was examined using isothermal microcalorimetry. Microcalorimetric measurements confirm that the binding affinity of acyl-CoA esters for ACBP is strongly dependent on the length of the acyl chain with a clear preference for acyl-...

  1. Unusual binding of ursodeoxycholic acid to ileal bile acid binding protein: role in activation of FXRα[S

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fang, Changming; Filipp, Fabian V.; Smith, Jeffrey W.

    2012-01-01

    Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA, ursodiol) is used to prevent damage to the liver in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis. The drug also prevents the progression of colorectal cancer and the recurrence of high-grade colonic dysplasia. However, the molecular mechanism by which UDCA elicits its beneficial effects is not entirely understood. The aim of this study was to determine whether ileal bile acid binding protein (IBABP) has a role in mediating the effects of UDCA. We find that UDCA binds to a single site on IBABP and increases the affinity for major human bile acids at a second binding site. As UDCA occupies one of the bile acid binding sites on IBABP, it reduces the cooperative binding that is often observed for the major human bile acids. Furthermore, IBABP is necessary for the full activation of farnesoid X receptor α (FXRα) by bile acids, including UDCA. These observations suggest that IBABP may have a role in mediating some of the intestinal effects of UDCA. PMID:22223860

  2. A calmodulin-like protein (LCALA) is a new Leishmania amazonensis candidate for telomere end-binding protein.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morea, Edna G O; Viviescas, Maria Alejandra; Fernandes, Carlos A H; Matioli, Fabio F; Lira, Cristina B B; Fernandez, Maribel F; Moraes, Barbara S; da Silva, Marcelo S; Storti, Camila B; Fontes, Marcos R M; Cano, Maria Isabel N

    2017-11-01

    Leishmania spp. telomeres are composed of 5'-TTAGGG-3' repeats associated with proteins. We have previously identified LaRbp38 and LaRPA-1 as proteins that bind the G-rich telomeric strand. At that time, we had also partially characterized a protein: DNA complex, named LaGT1, but we could not identify its protein component. Using protein-DNA interaction and competition assays, we confirmed that LaGT1 is highly specific to the G-rich telomeric single-stranded DNA. Three protein bands, with LaGT1 activity, were isolated from affinity-purified protein extracts in-gel digested, and sequenced de novo using mass spectrometry analysis. In silico analysis of the digested peptide identified them as a putative calmodulin with sequences identical to the T. cruzi calmodulin. In the Leishmania genome, the calmodulin ortholog is present in three identical copies. We cloned and sequenced one of the gene copies, named it LCalA, and obtained the recombinant protein. Multiple sequence alignment and molecular modeling showed that LCalA shares homology to most eukaryotes calmodulin. In addition, we demonstrated that LCalA is nuclear, partially co-localizes with telomeres and binds in vivo the G-rich telomeric strand. Recombinant LCalA can bind specifically and with relative affinity to the G-rich telomeric single-strand and to a 3'G-overhang, and DNA binding is calcium dependent. We have described a novel candidate component of Leishmania telomeres, LCalA, a nuclear calmodulin that binds the G-rich telomeric strand with high specificity and relative affinity, in a calcium-dependent manner. LCalA is the first reported calmodulin that binds in vivo telomeric DNA. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  3. A Venom Gland Extracellular Chitin-Binding-Like Protein from Pupal Endoparasitoid Wasps, Pteromalus Puparum, Selectively Binds Chitin

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yu Zhu

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available Chitin-binding proteins (CBPs are present in many species and they act in a variety of biological processes. We analyzed a Pteromalus puparum venom apparatus proteome and transcriptome and identified a partial gene encoding a possible CBP. Here, we report cloning a full-length cDNA of a sequence encoding a chitin-binding-like protein (PpCBP from P. puparum, a pupal endoparasitoid of Pieris rapae. The cDNA encoded a 96-amino-acid protein, including a secretory signal peptide and a chitin-binding peritrophin-A domain. Phylogenetic analysis of chitin binding domains (CBDs of cuticle proteins and peritrophic matrix proteins in selected insects revealed that the CBD of PpCBP clustered with the CBD of Nasonia vitripennis. The PpCBP is specifically expressed in the venom apparatus of P. puparum, mostly in the venom gland. PpCBP expression was highest at day one after adult eclosion and much lower for the following five days. We produced a recombinant PpCBP and binding assays showed the recombinant protein selectively binds chitin but not cellulose in vitro. We infer that PpCBP serves a structural role in the venom reservoir, or may be injected into the host to help wound healing of the host exoskeleton.

  4. Guardian of Genetic Messenger-RNA-Binding Proteins

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Antje Anji

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available RNA in cells is always associated with RNA-binding proteins that regulate all aspects of RNA metabolism including RNA splicing, export from the nucleus, RNA localization, mRNA turn-over as well as translation. Given their diverse functions, cells express a variety of RNA-binding proteins, which play important roles in the pathologies of a number of diseases. In this review we focus on the effect of alcohol on different RNA-binding proteins and their possible contribution to alcohol-related disorders, and discuss the role of these proteins in the development of neurological diseases and cancer. We further discuss the conventional methods and newer techniques that are employed to identify RNA-binding proteins.

  5. Lysine 356 is a critical residue for binding the C-6 phospho group of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate to the fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase domain of rat liver 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase/fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, L; Lin, K; Correia, J J; Pilkis, S J

    1992-08-15

    Lysine 356 has been implicated by protein modification studies as a fructose-2,6-bisphosphate binding site residue in the 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase domain of rat liver 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase/fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase (Kitajima, S., Thomas, H., and Uyeda, K. (1985) J. Biol. Chem. 260, 13995-14002). However, Lys-356 is found in the fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase domain (Bazan, F., Fletterick, R., and Pilkis, S. J. (1989) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 86, 9642-9646). In order to ascertain whether Lys-356 is involved in fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase catalysis and/or domain/domain interactions of the bifunctional enzyme, Lys-356 was mutated to Ala, expressed in Escherichia coli, and then purified to homogeneity. Circular dichroism experiments indicated that the secondary structure of the Lys-356-Ala mutant was not significantly different from that of the wild-type enzyme. The Km for fructose 2,6-bisphosphate and the Ki for the noncompetitive inhibitor, fructose 6-phosphate, for the fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase of the Lys-356-Ala mutant were 2700- and 2200-fold higher, respectively, than those of the wild-type enzyme. However, the maximal velocity and the Ki for the competitive product inhibitor, inorganic phosphate, were unchanged compared to the corresponding values of the wild-type enzyme. Furthermore, in contrast to the wild-type enzyme, which exhibits substrate inhibition, there was no inhibition by substrate of the Lys-356-Ala mutant. In the presence of saturating substrate, inorganic phosphate, which acts by relieving fructose-6-phosphate and substrate inhibition, is an activator of the bisphosphatase. The Ka for inorganic phosphate of the Lys-356-Ala mutant was 1300-fold higher than that of the wild-type enzyme. The kinetic properties of the 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase of the Lys-356-Ala mutant were essentially identical with that of the wild-type enzyme. The results demonstrate that: 1) Lys-356 is a critical residue in fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase for binding the 6

  6. Analysis of the roles of E6 binding to E6TP1 and nuclear localization in the human papillomavirus type 31 life cycle

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Choongho; Wooldridge, Tonia R.; Laimins, Laimonis A.

    2007-01-01

    The E6 oncoproteins of high-risk human papillomaviruses provide important functions not only for malignant transformation but also in the productive viral life cycle. E6 proteins have been shown to bind to a number of cellular factors, but only a limited number of analyses have investigated the effects of these interactions on the viral life cycle. In this study, we investigated the consequences of HPV 31 E6 binding to E6TP1, a putative Rap1 GAP protein. HPV 16 E6 has been shown to bind as well as induce the rapid turnover of E6TP1, and similar effects were observed with HPV 31 E6. Mutation of amino acid 128 in HPV 31 E6 was found to abrogate the ability to bind and degrade E6TP1 but did not alter binding to another α-helical domain protein, E6AP. When HPV 31 genomes containing mutations at amino acid 128 were transfected into human keratinocytes, the viral DNAs were not stably maintained as episomes indicating the importance of this residue for pathogenesis. Many E6 binding partners including E6TP1 are cytoplasmic proteins, but E6 has been also reported to be localized to the nucleus. We therefore investigated the importance of E6 localization to the nucleus in the viral life cycle. Using a fusion of E6 to Green Fluorescent Protein, we mapped one component of the nuclear localization sequences to residues 121 to 124 of HPV 31 E6. Mutation of these residues in the context of the HPV 31 genome abrogated the ability for episomes to be stably maintained and impaired the ability to extend the life span of cells. These studies identify two activities of HPV 31 E6 that are important for its function in the viral life cycle and for extension of cell life span

  7. Learning a peptide-protein binding affinity predictor with kernel ridge regression

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-01-01

    Background The cellular function of a vast majority of proteins is performed through physical interactions with other biomolecules, which, most of the time, are other proteins. Peptides represent templates of choice for mimicking a secondary structure in order to modulate protein-protein interaction. They are thus an interesting class of therapeutics since they also display strong activity, high selectivity, low toxicity and few drug-drug interactions. Furthermore, predicting peptides that would bind to a specific MHC alleles would be of tremendous benefit to improve vaccine based therapy and possibly generate antibodies with greater affinity. Modern computational methods have the potential to accelerate and lower the cost of drug and vaccine discovery by selecting potential compounds for testing in silico prior to biological validation. Results We propose a specialized string kernel for small bio-molecules, peptides and pseudo-sequences of binding interfaces. The kernel incorporates physico-chemical properties of amino acids and elegantly generalizes eight kernels, comprised of the Oligo, the Weighted Degree, the Blended Spectrum, and the Radial Basis Function. We provide a low complexity dynamic programming algorithm for the exact computation of the kernel and a linear time algorithm for it’s approximation. Combined with kernel ridge regression and SupCK, a novel binding pocket kernel, the proposed kernel yields biologically relevant and good prediction accuracy on the PepX database. For the first time, a machine learning predictor is capable of predicting the binding affinity of any peptide to any protein with reasonable accuracy. The method was also applied to both single-target and pan-specific Major Histocompatibility Complex class II benchmark datasets and three Quantitative Structure Affinity Model benchmark datasets. Conclusion On all benchmarks, our method significantly (p-value ≤ 0.057) outperforms the current state-of-the-art methods at predicting

  8. Non-uniform binding of single-stranded DNA binding proteins to hybrids of single-stranded DNA and single-walled carbon nanotubes observed by atomic force microscopy in air and in liquid

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Umemura, Kazuo, E-mail: meicun2006@163.com; Ishizaka, Kei; Nii, Daisuke; Izumi, Katsuki

    2016-12-01

    Highlights: • Conjugates of protein, DNA, and SWNTs were observed by AFM in liquid. • Non-uniform binding of proteins was visualized in liquid. • Thickness of DNA molecules on SWNT surfaces was well characterized in liquid. - Abstract: Using atomic force spectroscopy (AFM), we observed hybrids of single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) and single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) with or without protein molecules in air and in an aqueous solution. This is the first report of ssDNA–SWNT hybrids with proteins in solution analyzed by AFM. In the absence of protein, the height of the ssDNA–SWNT hybrids was 1.1 ± 0.3 nm and 2.4 ± 0.6 nm in air and liquid, respectively, suggesting that the ssDNA molecules adopted a flexible structure on the SWNT surface. In the presence of single-stranded DNA binding (SSB) proteins, the heights of the hybrids in air and liquid increased to 6.4 ± 3.1 nm and 10.0 ± 4.5 nm, respectively. The AFM images clearly showed binding of the SSB proteins to the ssDNA–SWNT hybrids. The morphology of the SSB–ssDNA–SWNT hybrids was non-uniform, particularly in aqueous solution. The variance of hybrid height was quantitatively estimated by cross-section analysis along the long-axis of each hybrid. The SSB–ssDNA–SWNT hybrids showed much larger variance than the ssDNA–SWNT hybrids.

  9. Chromate Binding and Removal by the Molybdate-Binding Protein ModA.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karpus, Jason; Bosscher, Michael; Ajiboye, Ifedayo; Zhang, Liang; He, Chuan

    2017-04-04

    Effective and cheap methods and techniques for the safe removal of hexavalent chromate from the environment are in increasingly high demand. High concentrations of hexavalent chromate have been shown to have numerous harmful effects on human biology. We show that the E. coli molybdate-binding protein ModA is a genetically encoded tool capable of removing chromate from aqueous solutions. Although previously reported to not bind chromate, we show that ModA binds chromate tightly and is capable of removing chromate to levels well below current US federal standards. © 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  10. Papillomavirus E6 proteins

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Howie, Heather L.; Katzenellenbogen, Rachel A.; Galloway, Denise A.

    2009-01-01

    The papillomaviruses are small DNA viruses that encode approximately eight genes, and require the host cell DNA replication machinery for their viral DNA replication. Thus papillomaviruses have evolved strategies to induce host cell DNA synthesis balanced with strategies to protect the cell from unscheduled replication. While the papillomavirus E1 and E2 genes are directly involved in viral replication by binding to and unwinding the origin of replication, the E6 and E7 proteins have auxillary functions that promote proliferation. As a consequence of disrupting the normal checkpoints that regulate cell cycle entry and progression, the E6 and E7 proteins play a key role in the oncogenic properties of human papillomaviruses with a high risk of causing anogenital cancers (HR HPVs). As a consequence, E6 and E7 of HR HPVs are invariably expressed in cervical cancers. This article will focus on the E6 protein and its numerous activities including inactivating p53, blocking apoptosis, activating telomerase, disrupting cell adhesion, polarity and epithelial differentiation, altering transcription and reducing immune recognition

  11. Extracellular and intracellular steroid binding proteins

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wagner, R.K.

    1978-01-01

    Steroid hormone binding proteins can be measured, after the removal of endogenous steroids, as specific complexes with radio-labelled hormones. In this study all the requirements for a quantitative determination of steroid hormone binding proteins are defined. For different methods, agargel electrophoresis, density gradient centrifugation, equilibrium dialysis and polyacrylamide electrophoresis have been evaluated. Agar electrophoresis at low temperature was found to be the simplest and most useful procedure. With this method the dissociation rates of high affinity complexes can be assessed and absolute binding protein concentrations can be determined. The dissociation rates of the oestradiol-oestrogen receptor complex and the R-5020-progestin receptor complex are low (1-2% per h run time.) In contrast, that of complexes between androgen receptor and dihydrotestosterone (17β-hydroxy-5α-androstan-3-one (DHT), progestin receptor and progesterone, corticosteroid binding globulin (CBG) and cortisol or progesterone and sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) and DHT were hign (16-27% per h run time). Target tissue extracts (cytosols) contain, besides soluble tissue proteins, large amounts of plasma proteins. The extent of this plasma contamination can be determined by measuring the albumin concentration in cytosols by immunodiffusion. In cytosols of 4 different human target tissues the albumin content varied from 20-30% corresponding to an even higher whole plasma concentration. Steroid binding plasma proteins, such as CBG and SHBG are constituents of this containment. (author)

  12. Immuno-histochemical localization of cholesterol binding proteins in ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This manuscript aims to investigate immunocytochemical localization of cholesterol binding proteins (CBPs) in semi-thin sections of midgut of Schistocerca gregaria (Forskal). For this purpose ... Further, same protein was also localized in other tissues like fat body, testis, and ovary of male and female insects of S. gregaria.

  13. Overexpression and purification of U24 from human herpesvirus type-6 in E. coli: unconventional use of oxidizing environments with a maltose binding protein-hexahistine dual tag to enhance membrane protein yield

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Straus Suzana K

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Obtaining membrane proteins in sufficient quantity for biophysical study and biotechnological applications has been a difficult task. Use of the maltose binding protein/hexahistidine dual tag system with E.coli as an expression host is emerging as a high throughput method to enhance membrane protein yield, solubility, and purity, but fails to be effective for certain proteins. Optimizing the variables in this system to fine-tune for efficiency can ultimately be a daunting task. To identify factors critical to success in this expression system, we have selected to study U24, a novel membrane protein from Human Herpesvirus type-6 with potent immunosuppressive ability and a possible role in the pathogenesis of the disease multiple sclerosis. Results We expressed full-length U24 as a C-terminal fusion to a maltose binding protein/hexahistidine tag and examined the effects of temperature, growth medium type, cell strain type, oxidizing vs. reducing conditions and periplasmic vs. cytoplasmic expression location. Temperature appeared to have the greatest effect on yield; at 37°C full-length protein was either poorly expressed (periplasm or degraded (cytoplasm whereas at 18°C, expression was improved especially in the periplasm of C41(DE3 cells and in the cytoplasm of oxidizing Δtrx/Δgor mutant strains, Origami 2 and SHuffle. Expression of the fusion protein in these strains were estimated to be 3.2, 5.3 and 4.3 times greater, respectively, compared to commonly-used BL21(DE3 cells. We found that U24 is isolated with an intramolecular disulfide bond under these conditions, and we probed whether this disulfide bond was critical to high yield expression of full-length protein. Expression analysis of a C21SC37S cysteine-free mutant U24 demonstrated that this disulfide was not critical for full-length protein expression, but it is more likely that strained metabolic conditions favour factors which promote protein expression. This

  14. A conserved NAD+ binding pocket that regulates protein-protein interactions during aging.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Jun; Bonkowski, Michael S; Moniot, Sébastien; Zhang, Dapeng; Hubbard, Basil P; Ling, Alvin J Y; Rajman, Luis A; Qin, Bo; Lou, Zhenkun; Gorbunova, Vera; Aravind, L; Steegborn, Clemens; Sinclair, David A

    2017-03-24

    DNA repair is essential for life, yet its efficiency declines with age for reasons that are unclear. Numerous proteins possess Nudix homology domains (NHDs) that have no known function. We show that NHDs are NAD + (oxidized form of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) binding domains that regulate protein-protein interactions. The binding of NAD + to the NHD domain of DBC1 (deleted in breast cancer 1) prevents it from inhibiting PARP1 [poly(adenosine diphosphate-ribose) polymerase], a critical DNA repair protein. As mice age and NAD + concentrations decline, DBC1 is increasingly bound to PARP1, causing DNA damage to accumulate, a process rapidly reversed by restoring the abundance of NAD + Thus, NAD + directly regulates protein-protein interactions, the modulation of which may protect against cancer, radiation, and aging. Copyright © 2017, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

  15. Serum protein binding displacement: theoretical analysis using a hypothetical radiopharmaceutical and experimental analysis with 123I-N-isopropyl-p-iodoamphetamine

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kawai, Keiichi; Nishii, Ryuichi; Shikano, Naoto; Makino, Nobuo; Kuga, Noriyuki; Yoshimoto, Mitsuyoshi; Jinnouchi, Seishi; Nagamachi, Shigeki; Tamura, Shozo; Takamura, Norito

    2009-01-01

    Introduction: The binding of radiopharmaceutical to serum proteins is thought to be an important factor that restricts its excretion and accumulation in tissue. We calculated the effect of inhibitors of serum protein binding using a hypothetical radiopharmaceutical. In vitro experiments and protein binding inhibitor-loaded monkey scintigraphy were then conducted using 123 I-N-isopropyl-p-iodoamphetamine (IMP) as the radiopharmaceutical. Methods: Free fraction ratios of radiopharmaceutical were calculated with one radiopharmaceutical, two serum proteins and two specific inhibitors in the steady state at various serum protein concentrations. In vitro protein binding inhibition studies using human, rat and monkey sera were performed with site-selective displacers of specific binding sites: 400 μM 6-methoxy-2-naphthylacetic acid (6MNA; a major nabumeton metabolite) as a serum albumin Site II inhibitor and 400 μM erythromycin (ETC) as an α 1 -acid glycoprotein (AGP) site inhibitor. Scintigraphy with or without 6MNA loading of monkeys was performed. Results: The theoretical findings roughly corresponded to the experimental results. Approximately 75% of IMP bound to serum albumin Site II and AGP in the species examined. The free fraction of IMP (25.0±0.6% for human, 22.8±0.4% for monkey, 23.7±0.3% for rat) increased with loading of specific protein binding inhibitors (6MNA: 28.0±0.3% for human, 24.5±0.7% for monkey, 24.3±0.2% for rat; ETC: 26.3±0.4% for human, 29.5±1.1% for monkey, 26.0±0.7% for rat) and was serum protein concentration dependant based on the results of calculations. Simultaneous administration of 6MNA and ETC produced a higher free fraction ratio of IMP (31.9±1.0% for human, 34.6±0.4% for monkey, 27.0±0.3% for rat) than summation of the single administrations of 6MNA and ETC (domino effect) in human, rat and monkey sera. Rapid cerebral accumulation was observed with 6MNA loading in monkey scintigraphy. Conclusions: 6MNA appears to change

  16. Inhibition of the intrinsic factor X activating complex by protein S: evidence for a specific binding of protein S to factor VIII

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Koppelman, S.J.

    1995-01-01

    Protein S is a vitamin K-dependent nonenzymatic anticoagulant protein that acts as a cofactor to activated protein C. Recently it was shown that protein S inhibits the prothrombinase reaction independent of activated protein C. In this study, we show that protein S can also inhibit the intrinsic

  17. Chronic sustained inflammation links to left ventricular hypertrophy and aortic valve sclerosis: a new link between S100/RAGE and FGF23.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yan, Ling; Bowman, Marion A Hofmann

    Cardiovascular disease including left ventricular hypertrophy, diastolic dysfunction and ectopic valvular calcification are common in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Both S100A12 and fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23) have been identified as biomarkers of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in patients with CKD. We tested the hypothesis that human S100/calgranulin would accelerate cardiovascular disease in mice subjected to CKD. This review paper focuses on S100 proteins and their receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) and summarizes recent findings obtained in novel developed transgenic hBAC-S100 mice that express S100A12 and S100A8/9 proteins. A bacterial artificial chromosome of the human S100/calgranulin gene cluster containing the genes and regulatory elements for S100A8, S100A9 and S100A12 was expressed in C57BL/6J mice (hBAC-S100). CKD was induced by ureteral ligation, and hBAC-S100 mice and WT mice were studied after 10 weeks of chronic uremia. hBAC-S100 mice with CKD showed increased FGF23 in the heart, left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH), diastolic dysfunction, focal cartilaginous metaplasia and calcification of the mitral and aortic valve annulus together with aortic valve sclerosis. This phenotype was not observed in WT mice with CKD or in hBAC-S100 mice lacking RAGE with CKD, suggesting that the inflammatory milieu mediated by S100/RAGE promotes pathological cardiac hypertrophy in CKD. In vitro, inflammatory stimuli including IL-6, TNFα, LPS, or serum from hBAC-S100 mice up regulated FGF23 mRNA and protein in primary murine neonatal and adult cardiac fibroblasts. Taken together, our study shows that myeloid-derived human S100/calgranulin is associated with the development of cardiac hypertrophy and ectopic cardiac calcification in a RAGE dependent manner in a mouse model of CKD. We speculate that FGF23 produced by cardiac fibroblasts in response to cytokines may act in a paracrine manner to accelerate LVH and diastolic

  18. Binding proteins for the regulatory subunit (RII-B) of brain cAMP-dependent protein kinase II: isolation and initial characterization of cDNA clones

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bregman, D.B.; Hu, E.; Rubin, C.S.

    1987-01-01

    In mammalian brain several proteins bind RII-B with high affinity. An example is P75, which co-purifies with RII-B and also complexes Ca 2+ -calmodulin. Thus, RII-B binding proteins (RBPs) might play a role in integrating the Ca 2+ and cAMP signalling pathways in the CNS. In order to study the structure and function of these polypeptides they have isolated cloned cDNAs for RBPs by screening brain λgt11 expression libraries using a functional assay: the binding of 32 P-labeled RII to fusion proteins produced by recombinants expressing RII binding domains. Inserts from rat brain recombinant clones λ7B and λ10B both hybridize to a brain mRNA of 7000 nucleotides. Northern gel analyses indicate that the putative RBP mRNA is also expressed in lung, but not in several other tissues. The λ7B insert was subcloned into the expression plasmid pINIA. A 50 kDa high affinity RII-B binding polypeptide accumulated in E. coli transformed with pINIA-7B. Two RBP cDNAs (λ77, λ100A) have been retrieved from a bovine λgt 11 library using a monoclonal antibody directed against P75 and the binding assay respectively. On Southern blots the insert from λ100A hybridizes to the cDNA insert from clones λ77, suggesting that λ 77 cDNA might contain sequences coding for both an RII binding domain and a P75 epitope. The bovine λ100A insert also hybridizes with the rat λ7B clone indicating that an RII binding domain is conserved in the two species

  19. A Highly Expressed High-Molecular-Weight S-Layer Complex of Pelosinus sp. Strain UFO1 Binds Uranium

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Thorgersen, Michael P. [Univ. of Georgia, Athens, GA (United States). Dept. of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; Lancaster, W. Andrew [Univ. of Georgia, Athens, GA (United States). Dept. of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; Rajeev, Lara [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Biological Systems and Engineering Division; Ge, Xiaoxuan [Univ. of Georgia, Athens, GA (United States). Dept. of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; Vaccaro, Brian J. [Univ. of Georgia, Athens, GA (United States). Dept. of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; Poole, Farris L. [Univ. of Georgia, Athens, GA (United States). Dept. of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; Arkin, Adam P. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Biological Systems and Engineering Division; Mukhopadhyay, Aindrila [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Biological Systems and Engineering Division; Adams, Michael W. W. [Univ. of Georgia, Athens, GA (United States). Dept. of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

    2016-12-02

    Cell suspensions of Pelosinus sp. strain UFO1 were previously shown, using spectroscopic analysis, to sequester uranium as U(IV) complexed with carboxyl and phosphoryl group ligands on proteins. The goal of our present study was to characterize the proteins involved in uranium binding. Virtually all of the uranium in UFO1 cells was associated with a heterodimeric protein, which was termed the uranium-binding complex (UBC). The UBC was composed of two S-layer domain proteins encoded by UFO1_4202 and UFO1_4203. Samples of UBC purified from the membrane fraction contained 3.3 U atoms/heterodimer, but significant amounts of phosphate were not detected. The UBC had an estimated molecular mass by gel filtration chromatography of 15 MDa, and it was proposed to contain 150 heterodimers (UFO1_4203 and UFO1_4202) and about 500 uranium atoms. The UBC was also the dominant extracellular protein, but when purified from the growth medium, it contained only 0.3 U atoms/heterodimer. The two genes encoding the UBC were among the most highly expressed genes within the UFO1 genome, and their expressions were unchanged by the presence or absence of uranium. Therefore, the UBC appears to be constitutively expressed and is the first line of defense against uranium, including by secretion into the extracellular medium. Although S-layer proteins were previously shown to bind U(VI), here we showed that U(IV) binds to S-layer proteins, we identified the proteins involved, and we quantitated the amount of uranium bound. Widespread uranium contamination from industrial sources poses hazards to human health and to the environment. Here in this paper, we identified a highly abundant uranium-binding complex (UBC) from Pelosinus sp. strain UFO1. The complex makes up the primary protein component of the S-layer of strain UFO1 and binds 3.3 atoms of U(IV) per heterodimer. Finally, while other bacteria have been shown to bind U(VI) on their S-layer, we demonstrate here an example of U(IV) bound by

  20. Hypoxia Mediated Release of Endothelial Microparticles and Increased Association of S100A12 with Circulating Neutrophils

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rebecca V. Vince

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available Microparticles are released from the endothelium under normal homeostatic conditions and have been shown elevated in disease states, most notably those characterised by endothelial dysfunction. The endothelium is sensitive to oxidative stress/status and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1 expression is upregulated upon activated endothelium, furthermore the presence of VCAM-1 on microparticles is known. S100A12, a calcium binding protein part of the S100 family, is shown to be present on circulating leukocytes and is thought a sensitive marker to local inflammatory process, which may be driven by oxidative stress. Eight healthy males were subjected to breathing hypoxic air (15% O2, approximately equivalent to 3000 metres altitude for 80 minutes in a temperature controlled laboratory and venous blood samples were processed immediately for VCAM-1 microparticles (VCAM-1 MP and S100A12 association with leukocytes by flow cytometry. A pre-hypoxic blood sample was used for comparison. Both VCAM-1 MP and S100A12 association with neutrophils were significantly elevated post hypoxic breathing later declining to levels observed in the pre-test samples. A similar trend was observed in both cases and a correlation may exist between these two markers in response to hypoxia. These data offer evidence using novel markers of endothelial and circulating blood responses to hypoxia.

  1. A Central Nervous System-Dependent Intron-Embedded Gene Encodes a Novel Murine Fyn Binding Protein.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ben Khalaf, Noureddine; Taha, Safa; Bakhiet, Moiz; Fathallah, M Dahmani

    2016-01-01

    The interplay between the nervous and immune systems is gradually being unraveled. We previously reported in the mouse the novel soluble immune system factor ISRAA, whose activation in the spleen is central nervous system-dependent. We also showed that ISRAA plays a role in modulating anti-infection immunity. Herein, we report the genomic description of the israa locus, along with some insights into the structure-function relationship of the protein. Our findings revealed that israa is nested within intron 6 of the mouse zmiz1 gene. Protein sequence analysis revealed a typical SH2 binding motif (Y102TEV), with Fyn being the most likely binding partner. Docking simulation showed a favorable conformation for the ISRAA-Fyn complex, with a specific binding mode for the binding of the YTEV motif to the SH2 domain. Experimental studies showed that in vitro, recombinant ISRAA is phosphorylated by Fyn at tyrosine 102. Cell transfection and pull-down experiments revealed Fyn as a binding partner of ISRAA in the EL4 mouse T-cell line. Indeed, we demonstrated that ISRAA downregulates T-cell activation and the phosphorylation of an activation tyrosine (Y416) of Src-family kinases in mouse splenocytes. Our observations highlight ISRAA as a novel Fyn binding protein that is likely to be involved in a signaling pathway driven by the nervous system.

  2. A Central Nervous System-Dependent Intron-Embedded Gene Encodes a Novel Murine Fyn Binding Protein.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Noureddine Ben Khalaf

    Full Text Available The interplay between the nervous and immune systems is gradually being unraveled. We previously reported in the mouse the novel soluble immune system factor ISRAA, whose activation in the spleen is central nervous system-dependent. We also showed that ISRAA plays a role in modulating anti-infection immunity. Herein, we report the genomic description of the israa locus, along with some insights into the structure-function relationship of the protein. Our findings revealed that israa is nested within intron 6 of the mouse zmiz1 gene. Protein sequence analysis revealed a typical SH2 binding motif (Y102TEV, with Fyn being the most likely binding partner. Docking simulation showed a favorable conformation for the ISRAA-Fyn complex, with a specific binding mode for the binding of the YTEV motif to the SH2 domain. Experimental studies showed that in vitro, recombinant ISRAA is phosphorylated by Fyn at tyrosine 102. Cell transfection and pull-down experiments revealed Fyn as a binding partner of ISRAA in the EL4 mouse T-cell line. Indeed, we demonstrated that ISRAA downregulates T-cell activation and the phosphorylation of an activation tyrosine (Y416 of Src-family kinases in mouse splenocytes. Our observations highlight ISRAA as a novel Fyn binding protein that is likely to be involved in a signaling pathway driven by the nervous system.

  3. Solving the crystal structure of human calcium-free S100Z: the siege and conquer of one of the last S100 family strongholds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Calderone, V; Fragai, M; Gallo, G; Luchinat, C

    2017-06-01

    The X-ray structure of human apo-S100Z has been solved and compared with that of the zebrafish calcium-bound S100Z, which is the closest in sequence. Human apo-S100A12, which shows only 43% sequence identity to human S100Z, has been used as template model to solve the crystallographic phase problem. Although a significant buried surface area between the two physiological dimers is present in the asymmetric unit of human apo-S100Z, the protein does not form the superhelical arrangement in the crystal as observed for the zebrafish calcium-bound S100Z and human calcium-bound S100A4. These findings further demonstrate that calcium plays a fundamental role in triggering quaternary structure formation in several S100s. Solving the X-ray structure of human apo-S100Z by standard molecular replacement procedures turned out to be a challenge and required trying different models and different software tools among which only one was successful. The model that allowed structure solution was that with one of the lowest sequence identity with the target protein among the S100 family in the apo state. Based on the previously solved zebrafish holo-S100Z, a putative human holo-S100Z structure has been then calculated through homology modeling; the differences between the experimental human apo and calculated holo structure have been compared to those existing for other members of the family.

  4. The histone demethylase LSD1 is required for estrogen-dependent S100A7 gene expression in human breast cancer cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yu, Seung Eun; Jang, Yeun Kyu

    2012-01-01

    Highlights: ► S100A7 gene is up-regulated in response to estrogen in breast cancer cells. ► Histone demethylase LSD1 can associate physically with S100A7 gene promoters. ► E2-induced S100A7 expression requires the enzymatic activity of LSD1. ► S100A7 inhibits cell proliferation, implying its tumor suppressor-like function. -- Abstract: S100A7, a member of S100 calcium binding protein family, is highly associated with breast cancer. However, the molecular mechanism of S100A7 regulation remains unclear. Here we show that long-term treatment with estradiol stimulated S100A7 expression in MCF7 breast cancer cells at both the transcriptional and translational levels. Both treatment with a histone demethylase LSD1 inhibitor and shRNA-based knockdown of LSD1 expression significantly decreased 17β-estradiol (E2)-induced S100A7 expression. These reduced E2-mediated S100A7 expression are rescued by the overexpressed wild-type LSD1 but not by its catalytically inactive mutant. Our data showed in vivo association of LSD1 with S100A7 promoters, confirming the potential role of LSD1 in regulating S100A7 expression. S100A7 knockdown increased both normal cell growth and estrogen-induced cell proliferation, suggesting a negative influence by S100A7 on the growth of cancer cells. Together, our data suggest that estrogen-induced S100A7 expression mediated by the histone demethylase LSD1 may downregulate breast cancer cell proliferation, implying a potential tumor suppressor-like function for S100A7.

  5. Functional significance of metastasis-inducing S100A4(Mts1) in tumor-stroma interplay

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schmidt-Hansen, Birgitte; Klingelhöfer, Jörg; Grum-Schwensen, Birgitte

    2004-01-01

    Causal implication of S100A4 in inducing metastases was convincingly shown previously. However, the mechanisms that associate S100A4 with tumor progression are not well understood. S100A4 protein, as a typical member of the S100 family, exhibits dual, intracellular and extracellular, functions. T...

  6. Domain wise docking analyses of the modular chitin binding protein CBP50 from Bacillus thuringiensis serovar konkukian S4.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sehar, Ujala; Mehmood, Muhammad Aamer; Hussain, Khadim; Nawaz, Salman; Nadeem, Shahid; Siddique, Muhammad Hussnain; Nadeem, Habibullah; Gull, Munazza; Ahmad, Niaz; Sohail, Iqra; Gill, Saba Shahid; Majeed, Summera

    2013-01-01

    This paper presents an in silico characterization of the chitin binding protein CBP50 from B. thuringiensis serovar konkukian S4 through homology modeling and molecular docking. The CBP50 has shown a modular structure containing an N-terminal CBM33 domain, two consecutive fibronectin-III (Fn-III) like domains and a C-terminal CBM5 domain. The protein presented a unique modular structure which could not be modeled using ordinary procedures. So, domain wise modeling using MODELLER and docking analyses using Autodock Vina were performed. The best conformation for each domain was selected using standard procedure. It was revealed that four amino acid residues Glu-71, Ser-74, Glu-76 and Gln-90 from N-terminal domain are involved in protein-substrate interaction. Similarly, amino acid residues Trp-20, Asn-21, Ser-23 and Val-30 of Fn-III like domains and Glu-15, Ala-17, Ser-18 and Leu-35 of C-terminal domain were involved in substrate binding. Site-directed mutagenesis of these proposed amino acid residues in future will elucidate the key amino acids involved in chitin binding activity of CBP50 protein.

  7. Absence of serum growth hormone binding protein in patients with growth hormone receptor deficiency (Laron dwarfism)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Daughaday, W.H.; Trivedi, B.

    1987-07-01

    It has recently been recognized that human serum contains a protein that specifically binds human growth hormone (hGH). This protein has the same restricted specificity for hGH as the membrane-bound GH receptor. To determine whether the GH-binding protein is a derivative of, or otherwise related to, the GH receptor, the authors have examined the serum of three patients with Laron-type dwarfism, a condition in which GH refractoriness has been attributed to a defect in the GH receptor. The binding of /sup 125/I-labeled hGH incubated with serum has been measured after gel filtration of the serum through an Ultrogel AcA 44 minicolumn. Results are expressed as percent of specifically bound /sup 125/I-hGH and as specific binding relative to that of a reference serum after correction is made for endogenous GH. The mean +/- SEM of specific binding of sera from eight normal adults (26-46 years of age) was 21.6 +/- 0.45%, and the relative specific binding was 101.1 +/- 8.6%. Sera from 11 normal children had lower specific binding of 12.5 +/- 1.95% and relative specific binding of 56.6 +/- 9.1%. Sera from three children with Laron-type dwarfism lacked any demonstrable GH binding, whereas sera from 10 other children with other types of nonpituitary short stature had normal relative specific binding. They suggest that the serum GH-binding protein is a soluble derivative of the GH receptor. Measurement of the serum GH-binding protein may permit recognition of other abnormalities of the GH receptor.

  8. Absence of serum growth hormone binding protein in patients with growth hormone receptor deficiency (Laron dwarfism)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Daughaday, W.H.; Trivedi, B.

    1987-01-01

    It has recently been recognized that human serum contains a protein that specifically binds human growth hormone (hGH). This protein has the same restricted specificity for hGH as the membrane-bound GH receptor. To determine whether the GH-binding protein is a derivative of, or otherwise related to, the GH receptor, the authors have examined the serum of three patients with Laron-type dwarfism, a condition in which GH refractoriness has been attributed to a defect in the GH receptor. The binding of 125 I-labeled hGH incubated with serum has been measured after gel filtration of the serum through an Ultrogel AcA 44 minicolumn. Results are expressed as percent of specifically bound 125 I-hGH and as specific binding relative to that of a reference serum after correction is made for endogenous GH. The mean +/- SEM of specific binding of sera from eight normal adults (26-46 years of age) was 21.6 +/- 0.45%, and the relative specific binding was 101.1 +/- 8.6%. Sera from 11 normal children had lower specific binding of 12.5 +/- 1.95% and relative specific binding of 56.6 +/- 9.1%. Sera from three children with Laron-type dwarfism lacked any demonstrable GH binding, whereas sera from 10 other children with other types of nonpituitary short stature had normal relative specific binding. They suggest that the serum GH-binding protein is a soluble derivative of the GH receptor. Measurement of the serum GH-binding protein may permit recognition of other abnormalities of the GH receptor

  9. TAM receptors, Gas6, and protein S: roles in inflammation and hemostasis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van der Meer, Jonathan H M; van der Poll, Tom; van 't Veer, Cornelis

    2014-04-17

    TAM receptors (Tyro3, Axl, and Mer) belong to a family of receptor tyrosine kinases that have important effects on hemostasis and inflammation. Also, they affect cell proliferation, survival, adhesion, and migration. TAM receptors can be activated by the vitamin K-dependent proteins Gas6 and protein S. Protein S is more commonly known as an important cofactor for protein C as well as a direct inhibitor of multiple coagulation factors. To our knowledge, the functions of Gas6 are limited to TAM receptor activation. When activated, the TAM receptors have effects on primary hemostasis and coagulation and display an anti-inflammatory or a proinflammatory effect, depending on cell type. To comprehend the effects that the TAM receptors and their ligands have on hemostasis and inflammation, we compare studies that report the different phenotypes displayed by mice with deficiencies in the genes of this receptor family and its ligands (protein S(+/-), Gas6(-/-), TAM(-/-), and variations of these). In this manner, we aim to display which features are attributable to the different ligands. Because of the effects TAM receptors have on hemostasis, inflammation, and cancer growth, their modulation could make interesting therapeutic targets in thromboembolic disease, atherosclerosis, sepsis, autoimmune disease, and cancer.

  10. CaMELS: In silico prediction of calmodulin binding proteins and their binding sites.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abbasi, Wajid Arshad; Asif, Amina; Andleeb, Saiqa; Minhas, Fayyaz Ul Amir Afsar

    2017-09-01

    Due to Ca 2+ -dependent binding and the sequence diversity of Calmodulin (CaM) binding proteins, identifying CaM interactions and binding sites in the wet-lab is tedious and costly. Therefore, computational methods for this purpose are crucial to the design of such wet-lab experiments. We present an algorithm suite called CaMELS (CalModulin intEraction Learning System) for predicting proteins that interact with CaM as well as their binding sites using sequence information alone. CaMELS offers state of the art accuracy for both CaM interaction and binding site prediction and can aid biologists in studying CaM binding proteins. For CaM interaction prediction, CaMELS uses protein sequence features coupled with a large-margin classifier. CaMELS models the binding site prediction problem using multiple instance machine learning with a custom optimization algorithm which allows more effective learning over imprecisely annotated CaM-binding sites during training. CaMELS has been extensively benchmarked using a variety of data sets, mutagenic studies, proteome-wide Gene Ontology enrichment analyses and protein structures. Our experiments indicate that CaMELS outperforms simple motif-based search and other existing methods for interaction and binding site prediction. We have also found that the whole sequence of a protein, rather than just its binding site, is important for predicting its interaction with CaM. Using the machine learning model in CaMELS, we have identified important features of protein sequences for CaM interaction prediction as well as characteristic amino acid sub-sequences and their relative position for identifying CaM binding sites. Python code for training and evaluating CaMELS together with a webserver implementation is available at the URL: http://faculty.pieas.edu.pk/fayyaz/software.html#camels. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  11. Identification and characterization of small molecule inhibitors of the calcium-dependent S100B-p53 tumor suppressor interaction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Markowitz, Joseph; Chen, Ijen; Gitti, Rossi; Baldisseri, Donna M; Pan, Yongping; Udan, Ryan; Carrier, France; MacKerell, Alexander D; Weber, David J

    2004-10-07

    The binding of S100B to p53 down-regulates wild-type p53 tumor suppressor activity in cancer cells such as malignant melanoma, so a search for small molecules that bind S100B and prevent S100B-p53 complex formation was undertaken. Chemical databases were computationally searched for potential inhibitors of S100B, and 60 compounds were selected for testing on the basis of energy scoring, commercial availability, and chemical similarity clustering. Seven of these compounds bound to S100B as determined by steady state fluorescence spectroscopy (1.0 microM model of one such inhibitor, pentamidine, bound to Ca(2+)-loaded S100B was calculated using intermolecular NOE data between S100B and the drug, and indicates that pentamidine binds into the p53 binding site on S100B defined by helices 3 and 4 and loop 2 (termed the hinge region).

  12. Gonadal cell surface receptor for plasma retinol-binding protein

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Krishna Bhat, M.; Cama, H.R.

    1979-01-01

    A specific membrane receptor for plasma retinol-binding protein has been demonstrated in testicular cells. Prealbumin-2 did not show any specific binding to the membrane. The affinity of retinol-binding protein for receptor drastically decreases upon delivery of retinol and the retinol-binding protein does not enter the cell. The mechanism of delivery of retinol to the target cell by plasma retinol-binding protein has been investigated. The process involves two steps; direct binding of retinol-binding protein to the receptor and uptake of retinol by the target cell with a concomitant drastic reduction in the affinity of the retinol-binding protein to the receptor. Probably the second step of the process needs a cytosolic factor, possibly the cellular retinol-binding protein or an enzyme. The binding of retinol-binding protein to the receptor is saturable and reversible. The interaction shows a Ksub(d) value of 2.1x10 -10 . The specific binding of a retinol-binding protein with great affinity has been employed in the development of a method for radioassay of the receptor. The receptor level of the gonadal cell has been found to vary with the stage of differentiation. The receptor concentrations in 11-week-old birds and adult birds are comparable. Testosterone treatment of 11-week-old birds produced a substantial increase in the receptor concentration over control, while the protein content increased marginally, indicating that, probably, synthesis of the receptor is specifcally induced by testosterone during spermatogenesis, and the concentration of receptor is relatively higher before the formation of the acrosome. (Auth.)

  13. HIV-1 Nef binds with human GCC185 protein and regulates mannose 6 phosphate receptor recycling

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kumar, Manjeet; Kaur, Supinder; Nazir, Aamir; Tripathi, Raj Kamal, E-mail: rajkamalcdri@gmail.com

    2016-05-20

    HIV-1 Nef modulates cellular function that enhances viral replication in vivo which culminate into AIDS pathogenesis. With no enzymatic activity, Nef regulates cellular function through host protein interaction. Interestingly, trans-cellular introduction of recombinant Nef protein in Caenorhabditis elegans results in AIDS like pathogenesis which might share common pathophysiology because the gene sequence of C. elegans and humans share considerable homology. Therefore employing C. elegans based initial screen complemented with sequence based homology search we identified GCC185 as novel host protein interacting with HIV-1 Nef. The detailed molecular characterization revealed N-terminal EEEE{sub 65} acidic domain of Nef as key region for interaction. GCC185 is a tethering protein that binds with Rab9 transport vesicles. Our results show that Nef-GCC185 interaction disrupts Rab9 interaction resulting in delocalization of CI-MPR (cation independent Mannose 6 phosphate receptor) resulting in elevated secretion of hexosaminidase. In agreement with this, our studies identified novel host GCC185 protein that interacts with Nef EEEE65 acidic domain interfering GCC185-Rab9 vesicle membrane fusion responsible for retrograde vesicular transport of CI-MPR from late endosomes to TGN. In light of existing report suggesting critical role of Nef-GCC185 interaction reveals valuable mechanistic insights affecting specific protein transport pathway in docking of late endosome derived Rab9 bearing transport vesicle at TGN elucidating role of Nef during viral pathogenesis. -- Highlights: •Nef, an accessory protein of HIV-1 interacts with host factor and culminates into AIDS pathogenesis. •Using Caenorhabditis elegans based screen system, novel Nef interacting cellular protein GCC185 was identified. •Molecular characterization of Nef and human protein GCC185 revealed Nef EEEE{sub 65} key region interacted with full length GCC185. •Nef impeded the GCC185-Rab 9 interaction and

  14. Mouse nucleolin binds to 4.5S RNAH, a small noncoding RNA

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hirose, Yutaka; Harada, Fumio

    2008-01-01

    4.5S RNAH is a rodent-specific small noncoding RNA that exhibits extensive homology to the B1 short interspersed element. Although 4.5S RNAH is known to associate with cellular poly(A)-terminated RNAs and retroviral genomic RNAs, its function remains unclear. In this study, we analyzed 4.5S RNAH-binding proteins in mouse nuclear extracts using gel mobility shift and RNA-protein UV cross-linking assays. We found that at least nine distinct polypeptides (p170, p110, p93, p70, p48, p40, p34, p20, and p16.5) specifically interacted with 4.5S RNAHin vitro. Using anti-La antibody, p48 was identified as mouse La protein. To identify the other 4.5S RNAH-binding proteins, we performed expression cloning from a mouse cDNA library and obtained cDNA clones derived from nucleolin mRNA. We identified p110 as nucleolin using nucleolin-specific antibodies. UV cross-linking analysis using various deletion mutants of nucleolin indicated that the third of four tandem RNA recognition motifs is a major determinant for 4.5S RNAH recognition. Immunoprecipitation of nucleolin from the subcellular fractions of mouse cell extracts revealed that a portion of the endogenous 4.5S RNAH was associated with nucleolin and that this complex was located in both the nucleoplasm and nucleolus

  15. Correlation of expressions of S100A8 and S100A9 and its ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    (S100A9) in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) tissues and their correlation with clinical pathological characteristics and ..... receptor (RAGE), a process which also activates .... S100A8 and S100A9 between Prostate Cancer and. BPH.

  16. The effect of ethanol on 35-S-TBPS binding to mouse brain membranes in the presence of chloride

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liljequist, S.; Culp, S.; Tabakoff, B.

    1989-01-01

    The effect of in vitro and in vivo administration of ethanol on the binding of 35 S-t-butyl-bicyclophosphorothionate ( 35 S-TBPS) to cortical brain membranes of C57B1 mice was investigated using KCl (100 mM) containing assay media. The in vitro addition of ethanol produced a dose-dependent inhibition of basal 35 S-TBPS binding. In the presence of chloride ions, GABA and pentobarbital had a biphasic action (stimulation followed by inhibition) on 35 S-TBPS binding, whereas diazepam only stimulated the binding. Ethanol reduced the stimulatory effects of GABA and pentobarbital in a dose-dependent manner, but had no effect on the enhancement of 35 S-TBPS binding produced by diazepam. 35 S-TBPS binding to cortical brain membranes was inhibited by the putative Cl - channel blocking agent DIDS. This inhibitory action of DIDS was significantly, and dose-dependently reduced by ethanol (≤ 100 mM ethanol). Chronic ethanol ingestion in vivo, which produced tolerance to and physical dependence on ethanol in the animals, did not alter the stimulatory and inhibitory effects of GABA and pentobarbital on 35 S-TBPS binding. The enhancement of 35 S-TBPS binding produced by diazepam was slightly, but significantly, enhanced in brain membranes from animals which had undergone 24 hours of ethanol withdrawal. Chronic ethanol treatment did not change the potency of picrotoxin and of the peripheral BDZ-receptor ligand RO 5-4864 to competitively inhibit 35 S-TBPS binding. Our results suggest that in vitro addition of ethanol alters the activity of the activity of the GABA benzodiazepine (BDZ) receptor complex. Although there was no change in basal 35 S-TBPS binding following chronic in vivo ethanol administration, our curent data suggest that chronic ethanol ingestion may cause specific changes of the GABA BDZ receptor proteins, in this study revealed as an altered modulation of 35 S-TBPS binding by diazepam. (author)

  17. Preference of small molecules for local minimum conformations when binding to proteins.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Qi Wang

    2007-09-01

    Full Text Available It is well known that small molecules (ligands do not necessarily adopt their lowest potential energy conformations when binding to proteins. Analyses of protein-bound ligand crystal structures have reportedly shown that many of them do not even adopt the conformations at local minima of their potential energy surfaces (local minimum conformations. The results of these analyses raise a concern regarding the validity of virtual screening methods that use ligands in local minimum conformations. Here we report a normal-mode-analysis (NMA study of 100 crystal structures of protein-bound ligands. Our data show that the energy minimization of a ligand alone does not automatically stop at a local minimum conformation if the minimum of the potential energy surface is shallow, thus leading to the folding of the ligand. Furthermore, our data show that all 100 ligand conformations in their protein-bound ligand crystal structures are nearly identical to their local minimum conformations obtained from NMA-monitored energy minimization, suggesting that ligands prefer to adopt local minimum conformations when binding to proteins. These results both support virtual screening methods that use ligands in local minimum conformations and caution about possible adverse effect of excessive energy minimization when generating a database of ligand conformations for virtual screening.

  18. A Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetic Model to Predict the Pharmacokinetics of Highly Protein-Bound Drugs and Impact of Errors in Plasma Protein Binding

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ye, Min; Nagar, Swati; Korzekwa, Ken

    2015-01-01

    Predicting the pharmacokinetics of highly protein-bound drugs is difficult. Also, since historical plasma protein binding data was often collected using unbuffered plasma, the resulting inaccurate binding data could contribute to incorrect predictions. This study uses a generic physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model to predict human plasma concentration-time profiles for 22 highly protein-bound drugs. Tissue distribution was estimated from in vitro drug lipophilicity data, plasma protein binding, and blood: plasma ratio. Clearance was predicted with a well-stirred liver model. Underestimated hepatic clearance for acidic and neutral compounds was corrected by an empirical scaling factor. Predicted values (pharmacokinetic parameters, plasma concentration-time profile) were compared with observed data to evaluate model accuracy. Of the 22 drugs, less than a 2-fold error was obtained for terminal elimination half-life (t1/2, 100% of drugs), peak plasma concentration (Cmax, 100%), area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC0–t, 95.4%), clearance (CLh, 95.4%), mean retention time (MRT, 95.4%), and steady state volume (Vss, 90.9%). The impact of fup errors on CLh and Vss prediction was evaluated. Errors in fup resulted in proportional errors in clearance prediction for low-clearance compounds, and in Vss prediction for high-volume neutral drugs. For high-volume basic drugs, errors in fup did not propagate to errors in Vss prediction. This is due to the cancellation of errors in the calculations for tissue partitioning of basic drugs. Overall, plasma profiles were well simulated with the present PBPK model. PMID:26531057

  19. A simple ligand-binding assay for thyroxine-binding globulin on reusable Sephadex columns

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bastomsky, C.H.; Kalloo, H.; Frenkel-Leith, D.B.; McGill Univ., Montreal, Quebec

    1977-01-01

    A method for the assay of thyroxine-binding globulin on reusable Sephadex G-25 columns is described. It depends upon elution by diluted iodothyronine-free serum of protein-bound [ 125 I]thyroxine from the columns under conditions where binding to thyroxine-binding prealbumin and albumin are abolished. It is simple, rapid and precise, and permits determinations inlarge numbers of samples. Values (mg/l; mean +- S.D.) were: normals 31.6+-5.4, hyperthyroid 28.3+-4.8, hypothyroid 40.6+-7.5, oral contraceptives 40.1+-6.8, pregnant 50.3+-5.4, cirrhotics 20.7+-4.3. Concentrations were reduced in serum heated at 56degC, while the uptake of [ 125 I]triiodothyronine was increased. There was a significant negative correlation between thyroxine-binding globulin concentration and triiodothyronine uptake in the heated serum samples and in euthyroid subjects

  20. 11C-PBR28 binding to translocator protein increases with progression of Alzheimer’s disease

    OpenAIRE

    Kreisl, William C.; Lyoo, Chul Hyoung; Liow, Jeih-San; Wei, Monica; Snow, Joseph; Page, Emily; Jenko, Kimberly J.; Morse, Cheryl L.; Zoghbi, Sami S.; Pike, Victor W.; Turner, R. Scott; Innis, Robert B.

    2016-01-01

    This longitudinal study sought to determine whether the 18 kDa translocator protein (TSPO), a marker of neuroinflammation, increases over time in Alzheimer’s disease. Positron emission tomography (PET) imaging with the TSPO radioligand 11C-PBR28 imaging was performed at baseline and after a median follow-up of 2.7 years in 14 amyloid-positive patients and eight amyloid-negative controls. Patients had a greater increase in TSPO binding than controls in inferior parietal lobul...

  1. Sequence of the amino-terminal region of rat liver ribosomal proteins S4, S6, S8, L6, L7a, L18, L27, L30, L37, L37a, and L39.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wittmann-Liebold, B; Geissler, A W; Lin, A; Wool, I G

    1979-01-01

    The sequence of the amino-terminal region of eleven rat liver ribosomal proteins--S4, S6, S8, L6, L7a, L18, L27, L30, L37a, and L39--was determined. The analysis confirmed the homogeneity of the proteins and suggests that they are unique, since no extensive common sequences were found. The N-terminal regions of the rat liver proteins were compared with amino acid sequences in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and in Escherichia coli ribosomal proteins. It seems likely that the proteins L37 from rat liver and Y55 from yeast ribosomes are homologous. It is possible that rat liver L7a or L37a or both are related to S cerevisiae Y44, although the similar sequences are at the amino-terminus of the rat liver proteins and in an internal region of Y44. A number of similarities in the sequences of rat liver and E coli ribosomal proteins have been found; however, it is not yet possible to say whether they connote a common ancestry.

  2. Collagen-binding proteins of Streptococcus mutans and related streptococci.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Avilés-Reyes, A; Miller, J H; Lemos, J A; Abranches, J

    2017-04-01

    The ability of Streptococcus mutans to interact with collagen through the expression of collagen-binding proteins (CBPs) bestows this oral pathogen with an alternative to the sucrose-dependent mechanism of colonization classically attributed to caries development. Based on the abundance and distribution of collagen throughout the human body, stringent adherence to this molecule grants S. mutans with the opportunity to establish infection at different host sites. Surface proteins, such as SpaP, WapA, Cnm and Cbm, have been shown to bind collagen in vitro, and it has been suggested that these molecules play a role in colonization of oral and extra-oral tissues. However, robust collagen binding is not achieved by all strains of S. mutans, particularly those that lack Cnm or Cbm. These observations merit careful dissection of the contribution from these different CBPs towards tissue colonization and virulence. In this review, we will discuss the current understanding of mechanisms used by S. mutans and related streptococci to colonize collagenous tissues, and the possible contribution of CBPs to infections in different sites of the host. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  3. Haptoglobin-related protein is a high-affinity hemoglobin-binding plasma protein

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Marianne Jensby; Petersen, Steen Vang; Jacobsen, Christian

    2006-01-01

    Haptoglobin-related protein (Hpr) is a primate-specific plasma protein associated with apolipoprotein L-I (apoL-I)-containing high-density lipoprotein (HDL) particles shown to be a part of the innate immune defense. Despite the assumption hitherto that Hpr does not bind to hemoglobin, the present...

  4. The Arabidopsis GAGA-Binding Factor BASIC PENTACYSTEINE6 Recruits the POLYCOMB-REPRESSIVE COMPLEX1 Component LIKE HETEROCHROMATIN PROTEIN1 to GAGA DNA Motifs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hecker, Andreas; Brand, Luise H; Peter, Sébastien; Simoncello, Nathalie; Kilian, Joachim; Harter, Klaus; Gaudin, Valérie; Wanke, Dierk

    2015-07-01

    Polycomb-repressive complexes (PRCs) play key roles in development by repressing a large number of genes involved in various functions. Much, however, remains to be discovered about PRC-silencing mechanisms as well as their targeting to specific genomic regions. Besides other mechanisms, GAGA-binding factors in animals can guide PRC members in a sequence-specific manner to Polycomb-responsive DNA elements. Here, we show that the Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) GAGA-motif binding factor protein basic pentacysteine6 (BPC6) interacts with like heterochromatin protein1 (LHP1), a PRC1 component, and associates with vernalization2 (VRN2), a PRC2 component, in vivo. By using a modified DNA-protein interaction enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay, we could show that BPC6 was required and sufficient to recruit LHP1 to GAGA motif-containing DNA probes in vitro. We also found that LHP1 interacts with VRN2 and, therefore, can function as a possible scaffold between BPC6 and VRN2. The lhp1-4 bpc4 bpc6 triple mutant displayed a pleiotropic phenotype, extreme dwarfism and early flowering, which disclosed synergistic functions of LHP1 and group II plant BPC members. Transcriptome analyses supported this synergy and suggested a possible function in the concerted repression of homeotic genes, probably through histone H3 lysine-27 trimethylation. Hence, our findings suggest striking similarities between animal and plant GAGA-binding factors in the recruitment of PRC1 and PRC2 components to Polycomb-responsive DNA element-like GAGA motifs, which must have evolved through convergent evolution. © 2015 American Society of Plant Biologists. All Rights Reserved.

  5. C1q protein binds to the apoptotic nucleolus and causes C1 protease degradation of nucleolar proteins.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cai, Yitian; Teo, Boon Heng Dennis; Yeo, Joo Guan; Lu, Jinhua

    2015-09-11

    In infection, complement C1q recognizes pathogen-congregated antibodies and elicits complement activation. Among endogenous ligands, C1q binds to DNA and apoptotic cells, but whether C1q binds to nuclear DNA in apoptotic cells remains to be investigated. With UV irradiation-induced apoptosis, C1q initially bound to peripheral cellular regions in early apoptotic cells. By 6 h, binding concentrated in the nuclei to the nucleolus but not the chromatins. When nucleoli were isolated from non-apoptotic cells, C1q also bound to these structures. In vivo, C1q exists as the C1 complex (C1qC1r2C1s2), and C1q binding to ligands activates the C1r/C1s proteases. Incubation of nucleoli with C1 caused degradation of the nucleolar proteins nucleolin and nucleophosmin 1. This was inhibited by the C1 inhibitor. The nucleoli are abundant with autoantigens. C1q binding and C1r/C1s degradation of nucleolar antigens during cell apoptosis potentially reduces autoimmunity. These findings help us to understand why genetic C1q and C1r/C1s deficiencies cause systemic lupus erythematosus. © 2015 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

  6. Interaction Entropy: A New Paradigm for Highly Efficient and Reliable Computation of Protein-Ligand Binding Free Energy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duan, Lili; Liu, Xiao; Zhang, John Z H

    2016-05-04

    Efficient and reliable calculation of protein-ligand binding free energy is a grand challenge in computational biology and is of critical importance in drug design and many other molecular recognition problems. The main challenge lies in the calculation of entropic contribution to protein-ligand binding or interaction systems. In this report, we present a new interaction entropy method which is theoretically rigorous, computationally efficient, and numerically reliable for calculating entropic contribution to free energy in protein-ligand binding and other interaction processes. Drastically different from the widely employed but extremely expensive normal mode method for calculating entropy change in protein-ligand binding, the new method calculates the entropic component (interaction entropy or -TΔS) of the binding free energy directly from molecular dynamics simulation without any extra computational cost. Extensive study of over a dozen randomly selected protein-ligand binding systems demonstrated that this interaction entropy method is both computationally efficient and numerically reliable and is vastly superior to the standard normal mode approach. This interaction entropy paradigm introduces a novel and intuitive conceptual understanding of the entropic effect in protein-ligand binding and other general interaction systems as well as a practical method for highly efficient calculation of this effect.

  7. Expression analysis of the mouse S100A7/psoriasin gene in skin inflammation and mammary tumorigenesis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Webb, Meghan; Myal, Yvonne; Shiu, Robert; Murphy, Leigh C; Watson, Peter H; Emberley, Ethan D; Lizardo, Michael; Alowami, Salem; Qing, Gefei; Alfia'ar, Abdullah; Snell-Curtis, Linda J; Niu, Yulian; Civetta, Alberto

    2005-01-01

    The human psoriasin (S100A7) gene has been implicated in inflammation and tumor progression. Implementation of a mouse model would facilitate further investigation of its function, however little is known of the murine psoriasin gene. In this study we have cloned the cDNA and characterized the expression of the potential murine ortholog of human S100A7/psoriasin in skin inflammation and mammary tumorigenesis. On the basis of chromosomal location, phylogenetic analysis, amino acid sequence similarity, conservation of a putative Jab1-binding motif, and similarities of the patterns of mouse S100A7/psoriasin gene expression (measured by RT-PCR and in-situ hybridization) with those of human S100A7/psoriasin, we propose that mouse S100A7/psoriasin is the murine ortholog of human psoriasin/S100A7. Although mouse S100A7/psoriasin is poorly conserved relative to other S100 family members, its pattern of expression parallels that of the human psoriasin gene. In murine skin S100A7/psoriasin was significantly upregulated in relation to inflammation. In murine mammary gland expression is also upregulated in mammary tumors, where it is localized to areas of squamous differentiation. This mirrors the context of expression in human tumor types where both squamous and glandular differentiation occur, including cervical and lung carcinomas. Additionally, mouse S100A7/psoriasin possesses a putative Jab1 binding motif that mediates many downstream functions of the human S100A7 gene. These observations and results support the hypothesis that the mouse S100A7 gene is structurally and functionally similar to human S100A7 and may offer a relevant model system for studying its normal biological function and putative role in tumor progression

  8. Site-directed antibody immobilization using a protein A-gold binding domain fusion protein for enhanced SPR immunosensing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Juan-Franco, Elena; Caruz, Antonio; Pedrajas, J R; Lechuga, Laura M

    2013-04-07

    We have implemented a novel strategy for the oriented immobilization of antibodies onto a gold surface based on the use of a fusion protein, the protein A-gold binding domain (PAG). PAG consists of a gold binding peptide (GBP) coupled to the immunoglobulin-binding domains of staphylococcal protein A. This fusion protein provides an easy and fast oriented immobilization of antibodies preserving its native structure, while leaving the antigen binding sites (Fab) freely exposed. Using this immobilization strategy, we have demonstrated the performance of the immunosensing of the human Growth Hormone by SPR. A limit of detection of 90 ng mL(-1) was obtained with an inter-chip variability lower than 7%. The comparison of this method with other strategies for the direct immobilization of antibodies over gold surfaces has showed the enhanced sensitivity provided by the PAG approach.

  9. Photoaffinity labeling of the oxysterol binding protein

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Taylor, F.R.; Kandutsch, A.A.; Anzalone, L.; Spencer, T.A.

    1986-01-01

    A cytosolic receptor protein for oxygenated sterols, that is thought to be involved in the regulation of HMG-CoA reductase and cholesterol biosynthesis, can be labeled covalently by the photoactivated affinity compound [5,6- 3 H]-7,7'-azocholestane-3β,25-diol (I). Several other compounds were tested including 25-hydroxycholesta-4,6-dien-3-one, 25-azido-27-norcholest-5-en-3β-ol,3β,25-dihydroxycholest-5-en-7-one and 3β-hydroxycholesta-8(14),9(11)-dien-15-one. However, these sterols either did not bind to the receptor with adequate affinity or did not react covalently with the receptor during photolysis. Compound I binds to the receptor with very high affinity (K/sub d/ = 30 nM). After activation with long wavelength UV, two tritium labeled proteins, M/sub r/ approximately 95K and 65K daltons, are found upon SDS gel electrophoresis. No labeling occurs when the binding reaction is carried out in the presence of a large excess of 25-hydroxycholesterol. It is possible that the smaller polypeptide is a degradation product. Under the reaction conditions investigated so far labeling is relatively inefficient (< 1% of bound sterol). These results are generally consistent with previous information suggesting that the M/sub r/ of the receptor subunit is 97,000. Covalent labeling of the receptor should greatly facilitate its further purification and characterization

  10. Protein arginine methyltransferase 6 specifically methylates the nonhistone chromatin protein HMGA1a

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Miranda, Tina Branscombe; Webb, Kristofor J.; Edberg, Dale D.; Reeves, Raymond; Clarke, Steven

    2005-01-01

    The HMGA family proteins HMGA1a and HMGA1b are nuclear nonhistone species implicated in a wide range of cellular processes including inducible gene transcription, modulation of chromosome structure through nucleosome and chromosome remodeling, and neoplastic transformation. HMGA proteins are highly modified, and changes in their phosphorylation states have been correlated with the phase of the cell cycle and changes in their transcriptional activity. HMGA1a is also methylated in the first DNA-binding AT-hook at Arg25 and other sites, although the enzyme or enzymes responsible have not been identified. We demonstrate here that a GST fusion of protein arginine methyltransferase 6 (PRMT6) specifically methylates full-length recombinant HMGA1a protein in vitro. Although GST fusions of PRMT1 and PRMT3 were also capable of methylating the full-length HMGA1a polypeptide, they recognize its proteolytic degradation products much better. GST fusions of PRMT4 or PRMT7 were unable to methylate the full-length protein or its degradation products. We conclude that PRMT6 is a good candidate for the endogenous enzyme responsible for HGMA1a methylation

  11. Ancestral mutations as a tool for solubilizing proteins: The case of a hydrophobic phosphate-binding protein

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daniel Gonzalez

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Stable and soluble proteins are ideal candidates for functional and structural studies. Unfortunately, some proteins or enzymes can be difficult to isolate, being sometimes poorly expressed in heterologous systems, insoluble and/or unstable. Numerous methods have been developed to address these issues, from the screening of various expression systems to the modification of the target protein itself. Here we use a hydrophobic, aggregation-prone, phosphate-binding protein (HPBP as a case study. We describe a simple and fast method that selectively uses ancestral mutations to generate a soluble, stable and functional variant of the target protein, here named sHPBP. This variant is highly expressed in Escherichia coli, is easily purified and its structure was solved at much higher resolution than its wild-type progenitor (1.3 versus 1.9 Å, respectively.

  12. GTP-binding proteins in rat liver nuclear envelopes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rubins, J.B.; Benditt, J.O.; Dickey, B.F.; Riedel, N.

    1990-01-01

    Nuclear transport as well as reassembly of the nuclear envelope (NE) after completion of mitosis are processes that have been shown to require GTP and ATP. To study the presence and localization of GTP-binding proteins in the NE, we have combined complementary techniques of [alpha-32P]GTP binding to Western-blotted proteins and UV crosslinking of [alpha-32P]GTP with well-established procedures for NE subfractionation. GTP binding to blotted NE proteins revealed five low molecular mass GTP-binding proteins of 26, 25, 24.5, 24, and 23 kDa, and [alpha-32P]GTP photoaffinity labeling revealed major proteins with apparent molecular masses of 140, 53, 47, 33, and 31 kDa. All GTP-binding proteins appear to localize preferentially to the inner nuclear membrane, possibly to the interface between inner nuclear membrane and lamina. Despite the evolutionary conservation between the NE and the rough endoplasmic reticulum, the GTP-binding proteins identified differed between these two compartments. Most notably, the 68- and 30-kDa GTP-binding subunits of the signal recognition particle receptor, which photolabeled with [alpha-32P]GTP in the rough endoplasmic reticulum fraction, were totally excluded from the NE fraction. Conversely, a major 53-kDa photolabeled protein in the NE was absent from rough endoplasmic reticulum. Whereas Western-blotted NE proteins bound GTP specifically, all [alpha-32P]GTP photolabeled proteins could be blocked by competition with ATP, although with a competition profile that differed from that obtained with GTP. In comparative crosslinking studies with [alpha-32P]ATP, we have identified three specific ATP-binding proteins with molecular masses of 160, 78, and 74 kDa. The localization of GTP- and ATP-binding proteins within the NE appears appropriate for their involvement in nuclear transport and in the GTP-dependent fusion of nuclear membranes

  13. A Comparison Study for DNA Motif Modeling on Protein Binding Microarray

    KAUST Repository

    Wong, Ka-Chun; Li, Yue; Peng, Chengbin; Wong, Hau-San

    2015-01-01

    Transcription Factor Binding Sites (TFBSs) are relatively short (5-15 bp) and degenerate. Identifying them is a computationally challenging task. In particular, Protein Binding Microarray (PBM) is a high-throughput platform that can measure the DNA binding preference of a protein in a comprehensive and unbiased manner; for instance, a typical PBM experiment can measure binding signal intensities of a protein to all possible DNA k-mers (k=810). Since proteins can often bind to DNA with different binding intensities, one of the major challenges is to build motif models which can fully capture the quantitative binding affinity data. To learn DNA motif models from the non-convex objective function landscape, several optimization methods are compared and applied to the PBM motif model building problem. In particular, representative methods from different optimization paradigms have been chosen for modeling performance comparison on hundreds of PBM datasets. The results suggest that the multimodal optimization methods are very effective for capturing the binding preference information from PBM data. In particular, we observe a general performance improvement using di-nucleotide modeling over mono-nucleotide modeling. In addition, the models learned by the best-performing method are applied to two independent applications: PBM probe rotation testing and ChIP-Seq peak sequence prediction, demonstrating its biological applicability.

  14. A Comparison Study for DNA Motif Modeling on Protein Binding Microarray

    KAUST Repository

    Wong, Ka-Chun

    2015-06-11

    Transcription Factor Binding Sites (TFBSs) are relatively short (5-15 bp) and degenerate. Identifying them is a computationally challenging task. In particular, Protein Binding Microarray (PBM) is a high-throughput platform that can measure the DNA binding preference of a protein in a comprehensive and unbiased manner; for instance, a typical PBM experiment can measure binding signal intensities of a protein to all possible DNA k-mers (k=810). Since proteins can often bind to DNA with different binding intensities, one of the major challenges is to build motif models which can fully capture the quantitative binding affinity data. To learn DNA motif models from the non-convex objective function landscape, several optimization methods are compared and applied to the PBM motif model building problem. In particular, representative methods from different optimization paradigms have been chosen for modeling performance comparison on hundreds of PBM datasets. The results suggest that the multimodal optimization methods are very effective for capturing the binding preference information from PBM data. In particular, we observe a general performance improvement using di-nucleotide modeling over mono-nucleotide modeling. In addition, the models learned by the best-performing method are applied to two independent applications: PBM probe rotation testing and ChIP-Seq peak sequence prediction, demonstrating its biological applicability.

  15. The Effect of Erythropoietin on S100 Protein Expression in Cochlea After Acoustic Overstimulation: An Experimental Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gulsen Gurgen

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available Aim: To investigate the effect of Erythropoietin on acoustically overstimulated rat spiral ganglion neurons (SGNs using S100 protein immunostaining.Material and Method: Twenty-two Wistar albino rats were divided into three groups: healthy control group (n=7, Saline solution (n=7 and Erythropoietin injection groups (n=8. Saline solution and Erythropoietin injection groups received white noise (100 dB SPL for 3 hours. Cochlear sections were stained by silver staining technique and immunostained by S100 antibody. Results: Histochemical analysis of silver staining sections revealed normal structure and a weak staining in SGNs of healthy control group. However, dark-black cytoplasmic staining, cellular shrinkage and degeneration were detected in saline injection group. On the other hand, a few weakly stained neurons were observed in erythropoietin injection group. S100 staining demonstrated strong reaction in Schwann cells and myelin sheaths of SGNs in healthy control group (p<0.05. In saline solution injection group, Schwann cells showed moderate S100 reaction and other regions of SGNs showed weak reaction (p<0.05. In erythropoietin injection group, strong S100 expression almost similar to the healthy control group was determined, although there was an occasional decrease. Discussion: Erythropoetin may prevent noise induced SGN degeneration via protecting the Schwann cells in rat cochlea.

  16. Protein Oxidation in the Lungs of C57BL/6J Mice Following X-Irradiation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barshishat-Kupper, Michal; McCart, Elizabeth A.; Freedy, James G.; Tipton, Ashlee J.; Nagy, Vitaly; Kim, Sung-Yop; Landauer, Michael R.; Mueller, Gregory P.; Day, Regina M.

    2015-01-01

    Damage to normal lung tissue is a limiting factor when ionizing radiation is used in clinical applications. In addition, radiation pneumonitis and fibrosis are a major cause of mortality following accidental radiation exposure in humans. Although clinical symptoms may not develop for months after radiation exposure, immediate events induced by radiation are believed to generate molecular and cellular cascades that proceed during a clinical latent period. Oxidative damage to DNA is considered a primary cause of radiation injury to cells. DNA can be repaired by highly efficient mechanisms while repair of oxidized proteins is limited. Oxidized proteins are often destined for degradation. We examined protein oxidation following 17 Gy (0.6 Gy/min) thoracic X-irradiation in C57BL/6J mice. Seventeen Gy thoracic irradiation resulted in 100% mortality of mice within 127–189 days postirradiation. Necropsy findings indicated that pneumonitis and pulmonary fibrosis were the leading cause of mortality. We investigated the oxidation of lung proteins at 24 h postirradiation following 17 Gy thoracic irradiation using 2-D gel electrophoresis and OxyBlot for the detection of protein carbonylation. Seven carbonylated proteins were identified using mass spectrometry: serum albumin, selenium binding protein-1, alpha antitrypsin, cytoplasmic actin-1, carbonic anhydrase-2, peroxiredoxin-6, and apolipoprotein A1. The carbonylation status of carbonic anhydrase-2, selenium binding protein, and peroxiredoxin-6 was higher in control lung tissue. Apolipoprotein A1 and serum albumin carbonylation were increased following X-irradiation, as confirmed by OxyBlot immunoprecipitation and Western blotting. Our findings indicate that the profile of specific protein oxidation in the lung is altered following radiation exposure. PMID:28248270

  17. Localization of cellular retinol-binding protein and retinol-binding protein in cells comprising the blood-brain barrier of rat and human

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    MacDonald, P.N.; Ong, D.E.; Bok, D.

    1990-01-01

    Brain is not generally recognized as an organ that requires vitamin A, perhaps because no obvious histologic lesions have been observed in severely vitamin A-deficient animals. However, brain tissue does contain cellular vitamin A-binding proteins and a nuclear receptor protein for retinoic acid. In the present study, immunohistochemical techniques were used to determine the cell-specific location of cellular retinol-binding protein in human and rat brain tissue. Cellular retinol-binding protein was localized specifically within the cuboidal epithelial cells of the choroid plexus, two primary sites of the mammalian blood-brain barrier. In addition, autoradiographic procedures demonstrated binding sites for serum retinol-binding protein in the choroidal epithelium. These observations suggest that a significant movement of retinol across the blood-brain barrier may occur

  18. Binding interaction between a queen pheromone component HOB and pheromone binding protein ASP1 of Apis cerana.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weng, Chen; Fu, Yuxia; Jiang, Hongtao; Zhuang, Shulin; Li, Hongliang

    2015-01-01

    The honeybee's social behavior is closely related to the critical response to pheromone, while pheromone binding proteins (PBPs) play an important role in binding and transferring those pheromones. Here we report one known PBP, antennal special protein 1(ASP1), which has high affinity with a queen mandibular pheromone component, methyl-p-hydroxybenzoate (HOB). In this study, multiple fluorescent spectra, UV absorption spectra, circular dichroism (CD) spectra and molecular docking analysis were combined to clarify the binding process. Basically, fluorescence intensity of ASP1 could be considerably quenched by HOB with an appropriate interaction distance (3.1 nm), indicating that a complex, which is more stable in lower temperature, was formed. The fact ΔH < 0, ΔS < 0, by thermodynamic analysis, indicated the van der Waals and hydrogen bond as main driving force. Moreover, synchronous fluorescence spectra and CD spectra analysis showed the change of partial hydrophilicity of ASP1 and the increase of α-helix after HOB addition. In conclusion, ASP1 can strongly and spontaneously interact with HOB. But the binding ability decreases with the rise of temperature, which may be necessary for sufficient social stability of hives. This study provides elucidation of the detailed binding mechanism and potential physicochemical basis of thermal stability to the social behavior of honeybee. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  19. Dynamic change of serum protein S100b and its clinical significance in patients with traumatic brain injury

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    CHEN Da-qing; ZHU Lie-lie

    2005-01-01

    Objective: To analyze the dynamic change of serum protein S100b in patients with traumatic brain injury and its clinical value in assessing brain damage. Methods: According to Glasgow coma scale (GCS), 102 cases of traumatic brain injury were divided into mild brain injury group (GCS≥13, n=31, Group A), moderate brain injury group (8S100b concentrations were analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in blood samples taken on admission, 12 h, 24 h, 48 h, 72 h and 7 days after traumatic brain injury. Results: The severe brain injury group showed significantly higher concentration of serum S100b, with earlier increase and longer duration, than the mild and moderate brain injury groups. The patients with higher S100b exhibited lower GCS scores and poor clinical prognosis. The increase in S100b could emerge before clinical image evidence indicated so. Conclusions: Serum S100b can be used as a sensitive index for assessment and prediction of traumatic brain injury severity and prognosis.

  20. Factor VII and protein C are phosphatidic acid-binding proteins.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tavoosi, Narjes; Smith, Stephanie A; Davis-Harrison, Rebecca L; Morrissey, James H

    2013-08-20

    Seven proteins in the human blood clotting cascade bind, via their GLA (γ-carboxyglutamate-rich) domains, to membranes containing exposed phosphatidylserine (PS), although with membrane binding affinities that vary by 3 orders of magnitude. Here we employed nanodiscs of defined phospholipid composition to quantify the phospholipid binding specificities of these seven clotting proteins. All bound preferentially to nanobilayers in which PS headgroups contained l-serine versus d-serine. Surprisingly, however, nanobilayers containing phosphatidic acid (PA) bound substantially more of two of these proteins, factor VIIa and activated protein C, than did equivalent bilayers containing PS. Consistent with this finding, liposomes containing PA supported higher proteolytic activity by factor VIIa and activated protein C toward their natural substrates (factors X and Va, respectively) than did PS-containing liposomes. Moreover, treating activated human platelets with phospholipase D enhanced the rates of factor X activation by factor VIIa in the presence of soluble tissue factor. We hypothesize that factor VII and protein C bind preferentially to the monoester phosphate of PA because of its accessibility and higher negative charge compared with the diester phosphates of most other phospholipids. We further found that phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate, which contains a monoester phosphate attached to its myo-inositol headgroup, also supported enhanced enzymatic activity of factor VIIa and activated protein C. We conclude that factor VII and protein C bind preferentially to monoester phosphates, which may have implications for the function of these proteases in vivo.

  1. Exploring the composition of protein-ligand binding sites on a large scale.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nickolay A Khazanov

    Full Text Available The residue composition of a ligand binding site determines the interactions available for diffusion-mediated ligand binding, and understanding general composition of these sites is of great importance if we are to gain insight into the functional diversity of the proteome. Many structure-based drug design methods utilize such heuristic information for improving prediction or characterization of ligand-binding sites in proteins of unknown function. The Binding MOAD database if one of the largest curated sets of protein-ligand complexes, and provides a source of diverse, high-quality data for establishing general trends of residue composition from currently available protein structures. We present an analysis of 3,295 non-redundant proteins with 9,114 non-redundant binding sites to identify residues over-represented in binding regions versus the rest of the protein surface. The Binding MOAD database delineates biologically-relevant "valid" ligands from "invalid" small-molecule ligands bound to the protein. Invalids are present in the crystallization medium and serve no known biological function. Contacts are found to differ between these classes of ligands, indicating that residue composition of biologically relevant binding sites is distinct not only from the rest of the protein surface, but also from surface regions capable of opportunistic binding of non-functional small molecules. To confirm these trends, we perform a rigorous analysis of the variation of residue propensity with respect to the size of the dataset and the content bias inherent in structure sets obtained from a large protein structure database. The optimal size of the dataset for establishing general trends of residue propensities, as well as strategies for assessing the significance of such trends, are suggested for future studies of binding-site composition.

  2. Development of a lectin binding assay to differentiate between recombinant and endogenous proteins in pharmacokinetic studies of protein-biopharmaceuticals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weber, Alfred; Minibeck, Eva; Scheiflinger, Friedrich; Turecek, Peter L

    2015-04-10

    Human glycoproteins, expressed in hamster cell lines, show similar glycosylation patterns to naturally occurring human molecules except for a minute difference in the linkage of terminal sialic acid: both cell types lack α2,6-galactosyl-sialyltransferase, abundantly expressed in human hepatocytes and responsible for the α2,6-sialylation of circulating glycoproteins. This minute difference, which is currently not known to have any physiological relevance, was the basis for the selective measurement of recombinant glycoproteins in the presence of their endogenous counterparts. The assay is based on using the lectin Sambucus nigra agglutinin (SNA), selectively binding to α2,6-sialylated N-glycans. Using von Willebrand factor (VWF), factor IX (FIX), and factor VIIa (FVIIa), it was demonstrated that (i) the plasma-derived proteins, but not the corresponding recombinant proteins, specifically bind to SNA and (ii) this binding can be used to deplete the plasma-derived proteins. The feasibility of this approach was confirmed in spike-recovery studies for all three recombinant coagulation proteins in human plasma and for recombinant VWF (rVWF) in macaque plasma. Analysis of plasma samples from macaques after administration of recombinant and a plasma-derived VWF demonstrated the suitability and robustness of this approach. Data showed that rVWF could be selectively measured without changing the ELISAs and furthermore revealed the limitations of baseline adjustment using a single measurement of the predose concentration only. The SNA gel-based depletion procedure can easily be integrated in existing procedures as a specific sample pre-treatment step. While ELISA-based methods were used to measure the recombinant coagulation proteins in the supernatants obtained by depletion, this procedure is applicable for all biochemical analyses. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  3. Measurement of the concentration of plasmatic cortisol by competition to the binding protein

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Okada, H.; Tambascia, M.A.; Wajchenberg, B.L.; Pieroni, R.R.

    1977-01-01

    The concentration of plasmatic cortisol was measured by competition to the binding protein (transcortin), after extracting the samples with dicloromethane. It is a suitable method for clinical routine, 100μl of plasma being used in each analysis. The normal mean +- standard error mean in 8:00 a.m. fasting subjects was 13,62 +- 5,43 μl/100 ml of plasma [pt

  4. Vitamin D binding protein: a multifunctional protein of clinical importance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Speeckaert, Marijn M; Speeckaert, Reinhart; van Geel, Nanja; Delanghe, Joris R

    2014-01-01

    Since the discovery of group-specific component and its polymorphism by Hirschfeld in 1959, research has put spotlight on this multifunctional transport protein (vitamin D binding protein, DBP). Besides the transport of vitamin D metabolites, DBP is a plasma glycoprotein with many important functions, including sequestration of actin, modulation of immune and inflammatory responses, binding of fatty acids, and control of bone development. A considerable DBP polymorphism has been described with a specific allele distribution in different geographic area. Multiple studies have shed light on the interesting relationship between polymorphisms of the DBP gene and the susceptibility to diseases. In this review, we give an overview of the multifunctional character of DBP and describe the clinical importance of DBP and its polymorphisms. Finally, we discuss the possibilities to use DBP as a novel therapeutic agent.

  5. Molecular analysis of an odorant-binding protein gene in two sympatric species of Lutzomyia longipalpis s.l.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ana Karina Kerche Dias

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Lutzomyia longipalpis s.l. is the main vector of American visceral leishmaniasis (AVL and occurs as a species complex. DNA samples from two Brazilian sympatric species that differ in pheromone and courtship song production were used to analyse molecular polymorphisms in an odorant-binding protein ( obp29 gene. OBPs are proteins related to olfaction and are involved in activities fundamental to survival, such as foraging, mating and choice of oviposition site. In this study, the marker obp29 was found to be highly polymorphic in Lu. longipalpis s.l. , with no fixed differences observed between the two species. A pairwise fixation index test indicated a moderate level of genetic differentiation between the samples analysed.

  6. Stimulation of a Cd-binding protein, and inhibition of the vitamin D-dependent calcium-binding protein, by zinc or cadmium in organ-cultured embryonic chick duodenum

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Corradino, R.A.; Fullmer, C.S.

    1980-01-01

    Embryonic chick duodenum maintained in organ culture responds to 1 α,25-dihydroxy vitamin D 3 in the culture medium by de novo synthesis of a specific calcium-binding protein (CaBP). The addition of Cd 2+ (3-5 x 10 -5 M) or Zn 2+ (10 -5 -10 -4 M) to the medium inhibited CaBP, but stimulated biosynthesis of a Cd-binding protein (CdBP). CdBP in duodenal homogenate supernatants was assessed in two ways: first, by its 109 Cd-binding activity ( 109 CdBA) using a competitive ion exchange procedure; and, second, by the extent of [ 35 S]-cystine incorporation into a specific peak or band after gel filtration or analytical polyacrylamide disc gel electrophoresis, respectively. Regardless of whether cadmium- or zinc-stimulated, the 35 S-labeled CdBP - the only protein significantly labeled under the conditions employed - migrated identically upon gel filtration and electrophoresis, and comigrated with purified chick liver Cd-metallothionein. Neither actinomycin D nor α-amanitin, in concentrations sufficient to severely inhibit CaBP, significantly reduced CdBP production. However, cycloheximide did inhibit either Cd 2+ - or Zn 2+ -stimulated CdBP by about 50% at an inhibitor concentration which abolished CaBP. The inhibitor studies, coupled with the observations of extensive incorporation of [ 35 S]cystine into CdBP, suggest that the metals stimulated biosynthesis by a mechanism operating at the translational level. The organ-cultured duodenum seems well suited for studies of the regulation of CdBP biosynthesis especially since it responds predictably to the steroid hormone, 1α,25-dihydroxy vitamin D 3 , in the induction of another specific protein, CaBP, at the transcriptional level. The biosynthesis of CaBP thus may serve as a convenient control in studies of CdBP production under various experimental conditions

  7. Interleukin 6 signaling regulates promyelocytic leukemia protein gene expression in human normal and cancer cells

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Hubáčková, Soňa; Krejčíková, Kateřina; Bartek, Jiří; Hodný, Zdeněk

    2012-01-01

    Roč. 287, č. 32 (2012), s. 26702-26714 ISSN 0021-9258 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA204/08/1418 Grant - others:Novo Nordisk(DK) R153-A12997; EK(XE) 223575 Institutional support: RVO:68378050 Keywords : cancer tumor promoter * DNA-binding protein * protein phosphorylation * tyrosine protein kinase * interleukin-6 Subject RIV: EB - Genetics ; Molecular Biology Impact factor: 4.651, year: 2012

  8. Salt modulates the stability and lipid binding affinity of the adipocyte lipid-binding proteins

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schoeffler, Allyn J.; Ruiz, Carmen R.; Joubert, Allison M.; Yang, Xuemei; LiCata, Vince J.

    2003-01-01

    Adipocyte lipid-binding protein (ALBP or aP2) is an intracellular fatty acid-binding protein that is found in adipocytes and macrophages and binds a large variety of intracellular lipids with high affinity. Although intracellular lipids are frequently charged, biochemical studies of lipid-binding proteins and their interactions often focus most heavily on the hydrophobic aspects of these proteins and their interactions. In this study, we have characterized the effects of KCl on the stability and lipid binding properties of ALBP. We find that added salt dramatically stabilizes ALBP, increasing its Delta G of unfolding by 3-5 kcal/mol. At 37 degrees C salt can more than double the stability of the protein. At the same time, salt inhibits the binding of the fluorescent lipid 1-anilinonaphthalene-8-sulfonate (ANS) to the protein and induces direct displacement of the lipid from the protein. Thermodynamic linkage analysis of the salt inhibition of ANS binding shows a nearly 1:1 reciprocal linkage: i.e. one ion is released from ALBP when ANS binds, and vice versa. Kinetic experiments show that salt reduces the rate of association between ANS and ALBP while simultaneously increasing the dissociation rate of ANS from the protein. We depict and discuss the thermodynamic linkages among stability, lipid binding, and salt effects for ALBP, including the use of these linkages to calculate the affinity of ANS for the denatured state of ALBP and its dependence on salt concentration. We also discuss the potential molecular origins and potential intracellular consequences of the demonstrated salt linkages to stability and lipid binding in ALBP.

  9. A protein engineered to bind uranyl selectively and with femtomolar affinity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Lu; Bosscher, Mike; Zhang, Changsheng; Özçubukçu, Salih; Zhang, Liang; Zhang, Wen; Li, Charles J.; Liu, Jianzhao; Jensen, Mark P.; Lai, Luhua; He, Chuan

    2014-03-01

    Uranyl (UO22+), the predominant aerobic form of uranium, is present in the ocean at a concentration of ~3.2 parts per 109 (13.7 nM) however, the successful enrichment of uranyl from this vast resource has been limited by the high concentrations of metal ions of similar size and charge, which makes it difficult to design a binding motif that is selective for uranyl. Here we report the design and rational development of a uranyl-binding protein using a computational screening process in the initial search for potential uranyl-binding sites. The engineered protein is thermally stable and offers very high affinity and selectivity for uranyl with a Kd of 7.4 femtomolar (fM) and >10,000-fold selectivity over other metal ions. We also demonstrated that the uranyl-binding protein can repeatedly sequester 30-60% of the uranyl in synthetic sea water. The chemical strategy employed here may be applied to engineer other selective metal-binding proteins for biotechnology and remediation applications.

  10. Sialic Acid Binding Properties of Soluble Coronavirus Spike (S1 Proteins: Differences between Infectious Bronchitis Virus and Transmissible Gastroenteritis Virus

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christine Winter

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available The spike proteins of a number of coronaviruses are able to bind to sialic acids present on the cell surface. The importance of this sialic acid binding ability during infection is, however, quite different. We compared the spike protein of transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV and the spike protein of infectious bronchitis virus (IBV. Whereas sialic acid is the only receptor determinant known so far for IBV, TGEV requires interaction with its receptor aminopeptidase N to initiate infection of cells. Binding tests with soluble spike proteins carrying an IgG Fc-tag revealed pronounced differences between these two viral proteins. Binding of the IBV spike protein to host cells was in all experiments sialic acid dependent, whereas the soluble TGEV spike showed binding to APN but had no detectable sialic acid binding activity. Our results underline the different ways in which binding to sialoglycoconjugates is mediated by coronavirus spike proteins.

  11. Molecular cloning of the gene for the human placental GTP-binding protein Gp (G25K): Identification of this GTP-binding protein as the human homolog of the yeast cell-division-cycle protein CDC42

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shinjo, K.; Koland, J.G.; Hart, M.J.; Narasimhan, V.; Cerione, R.A.; Johnson, D.I.; Evans, T.

    1990-01-01

    The authors have isolated cDNA clones from a human placental library that code for a low molecular weight GTP-binding protein originally designated G p (also called G25K). This identification is based on comparisons with the available peptide sequences for the purified human G p protein and the use of two highly specific anti-peptide antibodies. The predicted amino acid sequence of the protein is very similar to those of various members of the ras superfamily of low molecular weight GTP-binding proteins, including the N-, Ki-, and Ha-ras proteins (30-35% identical), the rho proteins and the rac proteins. The highest degree of sequence identity (80%) is found with the Saccharomyces cerevisiae cell division-cycle protein CDC42. The human placental gene, which they designate CDC42Hs, complements the cdc42-1 mutation in S. cerevisiae, which suggests that this GTP-binding protein is the human homolog of the yeast protein

  12. Elastin binds to a multifunctional 67-kilodalton peripheral membrane protein

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mecham, R.P.; Hinek, A.; Entwistle, R.; Wrenn, D.S.; Griffin, G.L.; Senior, R.M.

    1989-01-01

    Elastin binding proteins from plasma membranes of elastin-producing cells were isolated by affinity chromatography on immobilized elastin peptides. Three proteins of 67, 61, and 55 kDa were released from the elastin resin by guanidine/detergent, soluble elastin peptides, synthetic peptide VGVAPG, or galactoside sugars, but not by synthetic RGD-containing peptide or sugars not related to galactose. All three proteins incorporated radiolabel upon extracellular iodination and contained [ 3 H]leucine following metabolic labeling, confirming that each is a synthetic product of the cell. The 67-kDa protein could be released from the cell surface with lactose-containing buffers, whereas solubilization of the 61- and 55-kDa components required the presence of detergent. Although all three proteins were retained on elastin affinity columns, the 61- and 55-kDa components were retained only in the presence of 67-kDa protein, suggesting that the 67-kDa protein binds elastin and the 61- and 55-kDa proteins bind to the 67-kDa protein. The authors propose that the 67-, 61-, and 55-kDa proteins constitute an elastin-receptor complex that forms a transmembrane link between the extracellular matrix and the intracellular compartment

  13. Direct detection of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus from blood cultures using an immunochromatographic immunoassay-based MRSA rapid kit for the detection of penicillin-binding protein 2a.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shin, Kyeong Seob; Song, Hyung Geun; Kim, Haejung; Yoon, Sangsun; Hong, Seung Bok; Koo, Sun Hoe; Kim, Jimyung; Kim, Jongwan; Roh, Kyoung Ho

    2010-07-01

    Using an EZ-Step MRSA rapid kit, a novel screening test for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) that detects penicillin-binding protein 2a, 34 of 36 MRSA-positive clinical blood culture samples were positive on direct testing (sensitivity, 94.4%), whereas 21 of 21 methicillin-susceptible S. aureus-positive samples were negative (specificity, 100%).

  14. Circulating growth hormone (GH)-binding protein complex: a major constituent of plasma GH in man

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baumann, G.; Amburn, K.; Shaw, M.A.

    1988-01-01

    The recent discovery of a specific binding protein for human GH (hGH) in human plasma suggests that hGH circulates in part as a complex in association with the binding protein(s). However, the magnitude of the complexed fraction prevailing under physiological conditions is unknown because of 1) dissociation of the complex during analysis and 2) potential differences in the binding characteristics of radiolabeled and native hGH. We conducted experiments designed to minimize dissociation during analysis (gel filtration in prelabeled columns, frontal analysis, and batch molecular sieving) with both native and radioiodinated hGH. All three methods yielded similar estimates for the complexed fraction. In normal plasma the bound fraction for 22 K hGH averaged 50.1% (range, 39-59%), that for 20 K hGH averaged 28.5% (range, 26-31%). Above a hGH level of about 20 ng/ml the bound fraction declines in concentration-dependent manner due to saturation of the binding protein. We conclude that a substantial part of circulating hGH is complexed with carrier proteins. This concept has important implications for the metabolism, distribution, and biological activity of hGH

  15. Surface-Layer (S-Layer) Proteins Sap and EA1 Govern the Binding of the S-Layer-Associated Protein BslO at the Cell Septa of Bacillus anthracis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kern, Valerie J.; Kern, Justin W.; Theriot, Julie A.; Schneewind, Olaf

    2012-01-01

    The Gram-positive pathogen Bacillus anthracis contains 24 genes whose products harbor the structurally conserved surface-layer (S-layer) homology (SLH) domain. Proteins endowed with the SLH domain associate with the secondary cell wall polysaccharide (SCWP) following secretion. Two such proteins, Sap and EA1, have the unique ability to self-assemble into a paracrystalline layer on the surface of bacilli and form S layers. Other SLH domain proteins can also be found within the S layer and have been designated Bacillus S-layer-associated protein (BSLs). While both S-layer proteins and BSLs bind the same SCWP, their deposition on the cell surface is not random. For example, BslO is targeted to septal peptidoglycan zones, where it catalyzes the separation of daughter cells. Here we show that an insertional lesion in the sap structural gene results in elongated chains of bacilli, as observed with a bslO mutant. The chain length of the sap mutant can be reduced by the addition of purified BslO in the culture medium. This complementation in trans can be explained by an increased deposition of BslO onto the surface of sap mutant bacilli that extends beyond chain septa. Using fluorescence microscopy, we observed that the Sap S layer does not overlap the EA1 S layer and slowly yields to the EA1 S layer in a growth-phase-dependent manner. Although present all over bacilli, Sap S-layer patches are not observed at septa. Thus, we propose that the dynamic Sap/EA1 S-layer coverage of the envelope restricts the deposition of BslO to the SCWP at septal rings. PMID:22609927

  16. Transduction proteins of olfactory receptor cells: identification of guanine nucleotide binding proteins and protein kinase C

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anholt, R.R.H.; Mumby, S.M.; Stoffers, D.A.; Girard, P.R.; Kuo, J.F.; Snyder, S.H.

    1987-01-01

    The authors have analyzed guanine nucleotide binding proteins (G-proteins) in the olfactory epithelium of Rana catesbeiana using subunit-specific antisera. The olfactory epithelium contained the α subunits of three G-proteins, migrating on polyacrylamide gels in SDS with apparent molecular weights of 45,000, 42,000, and 40,000, corresponding to G/sub s/, G/sub i/, and G/sub o/, respectively. A single β subunit with an apparent molecular weight of 36,000 was detected. An antiserum against the α subunit of retinal transducin failed to detect immunoreactive proteins in olfactory cilia detached from the epithelium. The olfactory cilia appeared to be enriched in immunoreactive G/sub sα/ relative to G/sub ichemical bond/ and G/sub ochemical bond/ when compared to membranes prepared from the olfactory epithelium after detachment of the cilia. Bound antibody was detected by autoradiography after incubation with [ 125 I]protein. Immunohistochemical studies using an antiserum against the β subunit of G-proteins revealed intense staining of the ciliary surface of the olfactory epithelium and of the axon bundles in the lamina propria. In contrast, an antiserum against a common sequence of the α subunits preferentially stained the cell membranes of the olfactory receptor cells and the acinar cells of Bowman's glands and the deep submucosal glands. In addition to G-proteins, they have identified protein kinase C in olfactory cilia via a protein kinase C specific antiserum and via phorbol ester binding. However, in contrast to the G-proteins, protein kinase C occurred also in cilia isolated from respiratory epithelium

  17. Binding of triiodothyronine to rat liver nuclear matrix. influence of thyroid hormones on the phosphorylation of nuclear matrix proteins

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Adylova, A.T.; Atakhanova, B.A.

    1986-01-01

    The interaction of thyroid hormones with rat liver nuclear matrix proteins was investigated. It was shown that the nuclear matrix contains sites that bind triiodothyronine with high affinity (K = 1.07.10 9 M -1 ) and limited capacity (the maximum binding capacity is equal to 28 /SUP a/ .5 fmoles of triiodothyronine per 100 ug protein). Electrophoretic identification of the matrix proteins that bind triiodothyronine was performed. The molecular weight of the main triiodothyronine-binding fraction is 50,000-52,000. It was shown that the administration of triiodothyronine to thyroidectomized rats stimulates the phosphorylation of all the protein fractions of the nuclear matrix

  18. The clinical significance of fatty acid binding proteins

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Barbara Choromańska

    2011-11-01

    Full Text Available Excessive levels of free fatty acids are toxic to cells. The human body has evolved a defense mechanism in the form of small cytoplasmic proteins called fatty acid binding proteins (FABPs that bind long-chain fatty acids (LCFA, and then refer them to appropriate intracellular disposal sites (oxidation in mitochondria and peroxisomes or storage in the endoplasmic reticulum. So far, nine types of these proteins have been described, and their name refers to the place in which they were first identified or where they can be found in the greatest concentration. The most important FABPs were isolated from the liver (L-FABP, heart (H-FABP, intestine (I-FABP, brain (B-FABP, epidermis (E-FABP and adipocytes (A-FABP. Determination of H-FABP is used in the diagnosis of myocardial infarction, and L-FABP in kidney lesions of different etiologies. It is postulated that FABPs play an important role in the pathogenesis of metabolic diseases. Elevated levels of A-FABP have been found in the pericardial fat tissue and were associated with cardiac dysfunction in obese people. A rise in A-FABP has been observed in patients with type II diabetes. I-FABP is known as a marker of cell damage in the small intestine. Increased concentration of B-FABP has been associated with human brain tumors such as glioblastoma and astrocytoma, as well as with neurodegenerative diseases (Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other disorders of cognitive function. The aim of this work was to present current data on the clinical significance of fatty acid binding proteins.

  19. A solute-binding protein for iron transport in Streptococcus iniae

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Li Anxing

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Streptococcus iniae (S. iniae is a major pathogen that causes considerable morbidity and mortality in cultured fish worldwide. The pathogen's ability to adapt to the host affects the extent of infection, hence understanding the mechanisms by which S. iniae overcomes physiological stresses during infection will help to identify potential virulence determinants of streptococcal infection. Grow S. iniae under iron-restricted conditions is one approach for identifying host-specific protein expression. Iron plays an important role in many biological processes but it has low solubility under physiological condition. Many microorganisms have been shown to be able to circumvent this nutritional limitation by forming direct contacts with iron-containing proteins through ATP-binding cassette (ABC transporters. The ABC transporter superfamilies constitute many different systems that are widespread among living organisms with different functions, such as ligands translocation, mRNA translation, and DNA repair. Results An ABC transporter system, named as mtsABC (metal transport system was cloned from S. iniae HD-1, and was found to be involved in heme utilization. mtsABC is cotranscribed by three downstream genes, i.e., mtsA, mtsB, and mtsC. In this study, we cloned the first gene of the mtsABC transporter system (mtsA, and purified the corresponding recombinant protein MtsA. The analysis indicated that MtsA is a putative lipoprotein which binds to heme that can serve as an iron source for the microorganism, and is expressed in vivo during Kunming mice infection by S. iniae HD-1. Conclusions This is believed to be the first report on the cloning the ABC transporter lipoprotein from S. iniae genomic DNA. Together, our data suggested that MtsA is associated with heme, and is expressed in vivo during Kunming mice infection by S. iniae HD-1 which indicated that it can be a potential candidate for S. iniae subunit vaccine.

  20. G1/S-regulated E2F-containing protein complexes bind to the mouse thymidine kinase gene promoter

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dou, Q P; Zhao, S; Levin, A H

    1994-01-01

    report that MT2 includes an E2F-like binding site (GTTCGCGGGCAAA), as shown by the following evidence. (i) MT2 bound specifically to an affinity-purified fusion human E2F protein. (ii) Both MT2 and an authentic E2F site (TTTCGCGCGCTTT) bound specifically to similar or identical nuclear protein complexes...... complexes were also investigated. Studies using specific antibodies revealed that p107, a retinoblastoma-like protein, was present in both E2F-G0/G1 and E2F.S, whereas cyclin E.cyclin A.cdk2 were only present in E2F.S complex(es). These data suggest that removal of the p107-containing E2F.G0/G1 complex...

  1. Quantitative analysis of EGR proteins binding to DNA: assessing additivity in both the binding site and the protein

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stormo Gary D

    2005-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Recognition codes for protein-DNA interactions typically assume that the interacting positions contribute additively to the binding energy. While this is known to not be precisely true, an additive model over the DNA positions can be a good approximation, at least for some proteins. Much less information is available about whether the protein positions contribute additively to the interaction. Results Using EGR zinc finger proteins, we measure the binding affinity of six different variants of the protein to each of six different variants of the consensus binding site. Both the protein and binding site variants include single and double mutations that allow us to assess how well additive models can account for the data. For each protein and DNA alone we find that additive models are good approximations, but over the combined set of data there are context effects that limit their accuracy. However, a small modification to the purely additive model, with only three additional parameters, improves the fit significantly. Conclusion The additive model holds very well for every DNA site and every protein included in this study, but clear context dependence in the interactions was detected. A simple modification to the independent model provides a better fit to the complete data.

  2. IN SILICO EVALUATION OF ANGIOTENSIN II RECEPTOR ANTAGONIST’S PLASMA PROTEIN BINDING USING COMPUTED MOLECULAR DESCRIPTORS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jadranka Odović

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available The discovery of new pharmacologically active substances and drugs modeling led to necessity of predicting drugs properties and its ADME data. Angiotensin II receptor antagonists are a group of pharmaceuticals which modulate the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system and today represent the most commonly prescribed anti-hypertensive drugs. The aim of this study was to compare different molecular properties of seven angiotensin II receptor antagonists / blockers (ARBs, (eprosartan, irbesartan, losartan, olmesartan, telmisartan, valsartan and their plasma protein binding (PPB data. Several ARBs molecular descriptors were calculated using software package Molinspiration Depiction Software as well as Virtual Computational Chemistry Laboratory (electronic descriptor – PSA, constitutional parameter – Mw, geometric descriptor – Vol, lipophilicity descriptors - logP values, aqueous solubility data – logS. The correlations between all collected descriptors and plasma protein binding data obtained from relevant literature were established. In the simple linear regression poor correlations were obtained in relationships between PPB data and all calculated molecular descriptors. In the next stage of the study multiple linear regression (MLR was used for correlation of PPB data with two different descriptors as independent variables. The best correlation (R2=0.70 with P<0.05 was established between PPB data and molecular weight with addition of volume values as independent variables. The possible application of computed molecular descriptors in drugs protein binding evaluation can be of great importance in drug research.

  3. Roadmap to developing a recombinant coronavirus S protein receptor-binding domain vaccine for severe acute respiratory syndrome

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, Shibo; Bottazzi, Maria Elena; Du, Lanying; Lustigman, Sara; Tseng, Chien-Te Kent; Curti, Elena; Jones, Kathryn; Zhan, Bin; Hotez, Peter J

    2013-01-01

    A subunit vaccine, RBD-S, is under development to prevent severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) caused by SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV), which is classified by the US NIH as a category C pathogen. This vaccine is comprised of a recombinant receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the SARS-CoV spike (S) protein and formulated on alum, together with a synthetic glucopyranosyl lipid A. The vaccine would induce neutralizing antibodies without causing Th2-type immunopathology. Vaccine development is being led by the nonprofit product development partnership; Sabin Vaccine Institute and Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development in collaboration with two academic partners (the New York Blood Center and University of Texas Medical Branch); an industrial partner (Immune Design Corporation); and Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. A roadmap for the product development of the RBD-S SARS vaccine is outlined with a goal to manufacture the vaccine for clinical testing within the next 5 years. PMID:23252385

  4. Biophysical characterization of the complex between human papillomavirus E6 protein and synapse-associated protein 97

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Chi, Celestine Ngang; Bach, Anders; Engström, Åke

    2011-01-01

    The E6 protein of human papillomavirus exhibits complex interaction patterns with several host proteins and their roles in HPV mediated oncogenesis have proved challenging to study. Here we use several biophysical techniques to explore the binding of E6 to the three PDZ domains of the tumor......, this quaternary complex has the same apparent hydrodynamic volume as the unliganded PDZ region, suggesting that a conformational change occurs in the PDZ region upon binding, a conclusion supported by kinetic experiments. Using NMR, we discovered a new mode of interaction between E6 and PDZ: a subset of residues...

  5. Fusicoccin-Binding Proteins in Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. 1

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meyer, Christiane; Feyerabend, Martin; Weiler, Elmar W.

    1989-01-01

    Using the novel radioligand, [3H]-9′-nor-fusicoccin-8′-alcohol, high affinity binding sites for fusicoccin were characterized in preparations from leaves of Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. The binding site copartitioned with the plasmalemma marker, vanadate-sensitive K+, Mg2+-ATPase, when microsomal fractions were further purified by aqueous two-phase partitioning in polyethylene glycol-dextran phase systems and sedimented at an equilibrium density of 1.17 grams per cubic centimeter in continuous sucrose density gradients, as did the ATPase marker. The binding of [3H]-9′-nor-fusicoccin-8′-alcohol was saturable and Scatchard analysis revealed a biphasic plot with two apparent dissociation constants (KD), KD1 = 1.5 nanomolar and KD2 = 42 nanomolar, for the radioligand. Binding was optimal at pH 6, thermolabile, and was reduced by 70% when the membrane vesicles were pretreated with trypsin. The data are consistent with the presence of one or several binding proteins for fusicoccin at the plasma membrane of A. thaliana. Binding of the radioligand was unaffected by pretreatment of the sites with various alkylating and reducing agents, but was reduced by 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide, diethylpyrocarbonate, chloramine T, and periodate. A number of detergents were tested to find optimum conditions for solubilization. Nonanoyl-N-methylglucamide (50 millimolar) solubilized 70% of the radioligand-binding protein complex in undissociated form. Photoaffinity labeling of membrane preparations with a tritiated azido analog of fusicoccin resulted in the labeling of a 34 ± 1 kilodalton polypeptide. Labeling of this polypeptide, presumably the fusicoccin-binding protein, was severely reduced in the presence of unlabeled fusicoccin. PMID:16666603

  6. Polymeric competitive protein binding adsorbents for radioassay

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Adams, R.J.

    1976-01-01

    Serum protein comprising specific binding proteins such as antibodies, B 12 intrinsic factor, thyroxin binding globulin and the like may be copolymerized with globulin constituents of serum by the action of ethylchloroformate to form readily packed insoluble precipitates which, following purification as by washing, are eminently suited for employment as competitive binding protein absorbents in radioassay procedures. 10 claims, no drawings

  7. Sequence-based prediction of protein-binding sites in DNA: comparative study of two SVM models.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, Byungkyu; Im, Jinyong; Tuvshinjargal, Narankhuu; Lee, Wook; Han, Kyungsook

    2014-11-01

    As many structures of protein-DNA complexes have been known in the past years, several computational methods have been developed to predict DNA-binding sites in proteins. However, its inverse problem (i.e., predicting protein-binding sites in DNA) has received much less attention. One of the reasons is that the differences between the interaction propensities of nucleotides are much smaller than those between amino acids. Another reason is that DNA exhibits less diverse sequence patterns than protein. Therefore, predicting protein-binding DNA nucleotides is much harder than predicting DNA-binding amino acids. We computed the interaction propensity (IP) of nucleotide triplets with amino acids using an extensive dataset of protein-DNA complexes, and developed two support vector machine (SVM) models that predict protein-binding nucleotides from sequence data alone. One SVM model predicts protein-binding nucleotides using DNA sequence data alone, and the other SVM model predicts protein-binding nucleotides using both DNA and protein sequences. In a 10-fold cross-validation with 1519 DNA sequences, the SVM model that uses DNA sequence data only predicted protein-binding nucleotides with an accuracy of 67.0%, an F-measure of 67.1%, and a Matthews correlation coefficient (MCC) of 0.340. With an independent dataset of 181 DNAs that were not used in training, it achieved an accuracy of 66.2%, an F-measure 66.3% and a MCC of 0.324. Another SVM model that uses both DNA and protein sequences achieved an accuracy of 69.6%, an F-measure of 69.6%, and a MCC of 0.383 in a 10-fold cross-validation with 1519 DNA sequences and 859 protein sequences. With an independent dataset of 181 DNAs and 143 proteins, it showed an accuracy of 67.3%, an F-measure of 66.5% and a MCC of 0.329. Both in cross-validation and independent testing, the second SVM model that used both DNA and protein sequence data showed better performance than the first model that used DNA sequence data. To the best of

  8. Study of lymphocyte sensitization to protein S-100 in the patients with cerebrovascular diseases, suffered due to Chernobyl NPP accident

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Khomenko, V.Yi.

    2004-01-01

    Among the persons with cerebrovascular diseases, suffered due to Chernobyl NPP accident two groups of patients were revealed: with DNA coloration coefficients in response to protein S-100 stimulation below and above 1. Patients with DNA coloration coefficients <1 were older, they had statistically significant lower monocytes and T-activated lymphocytes absolute counts as well as increased content of cholesterol-2 and circulating immune complexes. Charges found there suggested possible existence of different pathways of immune response to antigenic stimulation by S-100 protein

  9. Efficient identification of phosphatidylserine-binding proteins by ORF phage display

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Caberoy, Nora B.; Zhou, Yixiong; Alvarado, Gabriela; Fan, Xianqun; Li, Wei

    2009-01-01

    To efficiently elucidate the biological roles of phosphatidylserine (PS), we developed open-reading-frame (ORF) phage display to identify PS-binding proteins. The procedure of phage panning was optimized with a phage clone expressing MFG-E8, a well-known PS-binding protein. Three rounds of phage panning with ORF phage display cDNA library resulted in ∼300-fold enrichment in PS-binding activity. A total of 17 PS-binding phage clones were identified. Unlike phage display with conventional cDNA libraries, all 17 PS-binding clones were ORFs encoding 13 real proteins. Sequence analysis revealed that all identified PS-specific phage clones had dimeric basic amino acid residues. GST fusion proteins were expressed for 3 PS-binding proteins and verified for their binding activity to PS liposomes, but not phosphatidylcholine liposomes. These results elucidated previously unknown PS-binding proteins and demonstrated that ORF phage display is a versatile technology capable of efficiently identifying binding proteins for non-protein molecules like PS.

  10. S100B proteins in febrile seizures

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mikkonen, Kirsi; Pekkala, Niina; Pokka, Tytti

    2011-01-01

    at the hospital after FS and S100B concentration in serum (r=-0.130, P=0.28) or in cerebrospinal fluid samples (r=-0.091, P=0.52). Our findings indicate that FS does not cause significant blood-brain barrier openings, and increase the evidence that these seizures are relatively harmless for the developing brain....

  11. Zinc deficiency-induced iron accumulation, a consequence of alterations in iron regulatory protein-binding activity, iron transporters, and iron storage proteins.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Niles, Brad J; Clegg, Michael S; Hanna, Lynn A; Chou, Susan S; Momma, Tony Y; Hong, Heeok; Keen, Carl L

    2008-02-22

    One consequence of zinc deficiency is an elevation in cell and tissue iron concentrations. To examine the mechanism(s) underlying this phenomenon, Swiss 3T3 cells were cultured in zinc-deficient (D, 0.5 microM zinc), zinc-supplemented (S, 50 microM zinc), or control (C, 4 microM zinc) media. After 24 h of culture, cells in the D group were characterized by a 50% decrease in intracellular zinc and a 35% increase in intracellular iron relative to cells in the S and C groups. The increase in cellular iron was associated with increased transferrin receptor 1 protein and mRNA levels and increased ferritin light chain expression. The divalent metal transporter 1(+)iron-responsive element isoform mRNA was decreased during zinc deficiency-induced iron accumulation. Examination of zinc-deficient cells revealed increased binding of iron regulatory protein 2 (IRP2) and decreased binding of IRP1 to a consensus iron-responsive element. The increased IRP2-binding activity in zinc-deficient cells coincided with an increased level of IRP2 protein. The accumulation of IRP2 protein was independent of zinc deficiency-induced intracellular nitric oxide production but was attenuated by the addition of the antioxidant N-acetylcysteine or ascorbate to the D medium. These data support the concept that zinc deficiency can result in alterations in iron transporter, storage, and regulatory proteins, which facilitate iron accumulation.

  12. Ribosomal protein L5 has a highly twisted concave surface and flexible arms responsible for rRNA binding.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nakashima, T; Yao, M; Kawamura, S; Iwasaki, K; Kimura, M; Tanaka, I

    2001-05-01

    Ribosomal protein L5 is a 5S rRNA binding protein in the large subunit and plays an essential role in the promotion of a particular conformation of 5S rRNA. The crystal structure of the ribosomal protein L5 from Bacillus stearothermophilus has been determined at 1.8 A resolution. The molecule consists of a five-stranded antiparallel beta-sheet and four alpha-helices, which fold in a way that is topologically similar to the ribonucleoprotein (RNP) domain. The molecular shape and electrostatic representation suggest that the concave surface and loop regions are involved in 5S rRNA binding. To identify amino acid residues responsible for 5S rRNA binding, we made use of Ala-scanning mutagenesis of evolutionarily conserved amino acids occurring in the beta-strands and loop regions. The mutations of Asn37 at the beta1-strand and Gln63 at the loop between helix 2 and beta3-strand as well as that of Phe77 at the tip of the loop structure between the beta2- and beta3-strands caused a significant reduction in 5S rRNA binding. In addition, the mutations of Thr90 on the beta3-strand and Ile141 and Asp144 at the loop between beta4- and beta5-strands moderately reduced the 5S rRNA-binding affinity. Comparison of these results with the more recently analyzed structure of the 50S subunit from Haloarcula marismortui suggests that there are significant differences in the structure at N- and C-terminal regions and probably in the 5S rRNA binding.

  13. Characterization of 6-mercaptopurine binding to bovine serum albumin and its displacement from the binding sites by quercetin and rutin

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ehteshami, Mehdi [Nutrition Research Center, School of Health and Nutrition, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz 51644-14766 (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Rasoulzadeh, Farzaneh [Drug Applied Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz 51644-14766 (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Mahboob, Soltanali [Nutrition Research Center, School of Health and Nutrition, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz 51644-14766 (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Rashidi, Mohammad-Reza, E-mail: rashidi@tbzmed.ac.ir [Research Center for Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz 51644-14766 (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

    2013-03-15

    Binding of a drug to the serum albumins as major serum transport proteins can be influenced by other ligands leading to alteration of its pharmacological properties. In the present study, binding characteristics of 6-mercaptopurine (6-MP) with bovine serum albumin (BSA) together with its displacement from its binding site by quercetin and rutin have been investigated by the spectroscopic method. According to the binding parameters, a static quenching component in overall dynamic quenching process is operative in the interaction between 6-MP and BSA. The binding of 6-MP to BSA occurred spontaneously due to entropy-driven hydrophobic interactions. The synchronous fluorescence spectroscopy study revealed that the secondary structure of BSA is changed in the presence of 6-MP and both Tyr and Trp residues participate in the interaction between 6-MP and BSA with the later one being more dominant. The binding constant value of 6-MP-BSA in the presence of quercetin and rutin increased. 6-MP was displaced by ibuprofen indicating that the binding site of 6-MP on albumin is site II. Therefore, the change of the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of 6-MP by quercetin and rutin through alteration of binding capacity of 6-MP to the serum albumin cannot be ruled out. In addition, the displacement study showed that 6-MP is located in site II of BSA. - Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Participation of both Tyr and particularly Trp residues in the interaction between 6-MP and BSA. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Involvement of a static quenching component in an overall dynamic quenching process. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Ability of quercetin and rutin to change the binding constants of 6-MP-BSA complex. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Binding of 6-MP to BSA through entropy-driven hydrophobic interactions.

  14. A novel signal transduction protein: Combination of solute binding and tandem PAS-like sensor domains in one polypeptide chain: Periplasmic Ligand Binding Protein Dret_0059

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wu, R. [Midwest Center for Structural Genomics, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne Illinois 60439; Biosciences Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne Illinois 60439; Wilton, R. [Biosciences Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne Illinois 60439; Cuff, M. E. [Midwest Center for Structural Genomics, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne Illinois 60439; Biosciences Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne Illinois 60439; Structural Biology Center, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne Illinois 60439; Endres, M. [Midwest Center for Structural Genomics, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne Illinois 60439; Babnigg, G. [Midwest Center for Structural Genomics, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne Illinois 60439; Biosciences Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne Illinois 60439; Edirisinghe, J. N. [Mathematics and Computer Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne Illinois 60439; Computation Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago Illinois 60637; Henry, C. S. [Mathematics and Computer Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne Illinois 60439; Computation Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago Illinois 60637; Joachimiak, A. [Midwest Center for Structural Genomics, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne Illinois 60439; Biosciences Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne Illinois 60439; Structural Biology Center, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne Illinois 60439; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Chicago, Chicago Illinois 60637; Schiffer, M. [Biosciences Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne Illinois 60439; Pokkuluri, P. R. [Biosciences Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne Illinois 60439

    2017-03-06

    We report the structural and biochemical characterization of a novel periplasmic ligand-binding protein, Dret_0059, from Desulfohalobium retbaense DSM 5692, an organism isolated from the Salt Lake Retba in Senegal. The structure of the protein consists of a unique combination of a periplasmic solute binding protein (SBP) domain at the N-terminal and a tandem PAS-like sensor domain at the C-terminal region. SBP domains are found ubiquitously and their best known function is in solute transport across membranes. PAS-like sensor domains are commonly found in signal transduction proteins. These domains are widely observed as parts of many protein architectures and complexes but have not been observed previously within the same polypeptide chain. In the structure of Dret_0059, a ketoleucine moiety is bound to the SBP, whereas a cytosine molecule is bound in the distal PAS-like domain of the tandem PAS-like domain. Differential scanning flourimetry support the binding of ligands observed in the crystal structure. There is significant interaction between the SBP and tandem PAS-like domains, and it is possible that the binding of one ligand could have an effect on the binding of the other. We uncovered three other proteins with this structural architecture in the non-redundant sequence data base, and predict that they too bind the same substrates. The genomic context of this protein did not offer any clues for its function. We did not find any biological process in which the two observed ligands are coupled. The protein Dret_0059 could be involved in either signal transduction or solute transport.

  15. The Bi{sup 3+} 6s and 6p electron binding energies in relation to the chemical environment of inorganic compounds

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Awater, Roy H.P., E-mail: R.H.P.Awater@tudelft.nl; Dorenbos, Pieter

    2017-04-15

    This paper provides an overview and interpretation of the spectroscopic data of the Bi{sup 3+} activator ion in 117 different inorganic compounds. The energies of the metal-to-metal charge transfer and the interconfigurational transitions of Bi{sup 3+} were collected from the archival literature. Using these energies, in combination with the electron binding energies in the host conduction and valence band, the binding energies in the 6s ground state and 6p excited state were determined relative to the vacuum level. The locations of the Bi{sup 3+} energy levels within the forbidden gap of the host compound provides valuable insight in the physical properties of the Bi{sup 3+} activator ion in different compounds.

  16. Heparin-binding peptide as a novel affinity tag for purification of recombinant proteins.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morris, Jacqueline; Jayanthi, Srinivas; Langston, Rebekah; Daily, Anna; Kight, Alicia; McNabb, David S; Henry, Ralph; Kumar, Thallapuranam Krishnaswamy Suresh

    2016-10-01

    Purification of recombinant proteins constitutes a significant part of the downstream processing in biopharmaceutical industries. Major costs involved in the production of bio-therapeutics mainly depend on the number of purification steps used during the downstream process. Affinity chromatography is a widely used method for the purification of recombinant proteins expressed in different expression host platforms. Recombinant protein purification is achieved by fusing appropriate affinity tags to either N- or C- terminus of the target recombinant proteins. Currently available protein/peptide affinity tags have proved quite useful in the purification of recombinant proteins. However, these affinity tags suffer from specific limitations in their use under different conditions of purification. In this study, we have designed a novel 34-amino acid heparin-binding affinity tag (HB-tag) for the purification of recombinant proteins expressed in Escherichia coli (E. coli) cells. HB-tag fused recombinant proteins were overexpressed in E. coli in high yields. A one-step heparin-Sepharose-based affinity chromatography protocol was developed to purify HB-fused recombinant proteins to homogeneity using a simple sodium chloride step gradient elution. The HB-tag has also been shown to facilitate the purification of target recombinant proteins from their 8 M urea denatured state(s). The HB-tag has been demonstrated to be successfully released from the fusion protein by an appropriate protease treatment to obtain the recombinant target protein(s) in high yields. Results of the two-dimensional NMR spectroscopy experiments indicate that the purified recombinant target protein(s) exist in the native conformation. Polyclonal antibodies raised against the HB-peptide sequence, exhibited high binding specificity and sensitivity to the HB-fused recombinant proteins (∼10 ng) in different crude cell extracts obtained from diverse expression hosts. In our opinion, the HB-tag provides a

  17. Malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor of the uterine cervix expressing both S-100 protein and HMB-45.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Na Rae; Chung, Dong-Hae; Park, Chan Yong; Ha, Seung Yeon

    2009-12-01

    A 50-year-old woman presented with a large cervical polypoid mass. Grossly, the mass occupied a substantial proportion of the cervical canal, measuring 6 cm. Histologically, the mass showed a spindle cell malignancy arranged in large fascicles that penetrated deeply into the fibromuscular wall of the cervix. The spindle cells were immunoreactive for both S-100 protein and HMB-45 antigen, but were negative for Melan-A. Electron microscopy showed that cytoplasmic processes of the spindle to oval tumor cells contained microtubules and were lined by basal lamina and abundant intercellular collagen spacing with no melanosomes in any stage. As far as we are aware, this is the ninth reported case of cervical malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor (MPNST), and the second reported case of MPNST expressing HMB-45 antigen.

  18. A urokinase receptor-associated protein with specific collagen binding properties

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Behrendt, N; Jensen, O N; Engelholm, L H

    2000-01-01

    membrane-bound lectin with hitherto unknown function. The human cDNA was cloned and sequenced. The protein, designated uPARAP, is a member of the macrophage mannose receptor protein family and contains a putative collagen-binding (fibronectin type II) domain in addition to 8 C-type carbohydrate recognition...... domains. It proved capable of binding strongly to a single type of collagen, collagen V. This collagen binding reaction at the exact site of plasminogen activation on the cell may lead to adhesive functions as well as a contribution to cellular degradation of collagen matrices....

  19. Clinical relevance of drug binding to plasma proteins

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ascenzi, Paolo; Fanali, Gabriella; Fasano, Mauro; Pallottini, Valentina; Trezza, Viviana

    2014-12-01

    Binding to plasma proteins highly influences drug efficacy, distribution, and disposition. Serum albumin, the most abundant protein in plasma, is a monomeric multi-domain macromolecule that displays an extraordinary ligand binding capacity, providing a depot and carrier for many endogenous and exogenous compounds, such as fatty acids and most acidic drugs. α-1-Acid glycoprotein, the second main plasma protein, is a glycoprotein physiologically involved in the acute phase reaction and is the main carrier for basic and neutral drugs. High- and low-density lipoproteins play a limited role in drug binding and are natural drug delivery system only for few lipophilic drugs or lipid-based formulations. Several factors influence drug binding to plasma proteins, such as pathological conditions, concurrent administration of drugs, sex, and age. Any of these factors, in turn, influences drug efficacy and toxicity. Here, biochemical, biomedical, and biotechnological aspects of drug binding to plasma proteins are reviewed.

  20. Fasciola spp: Mapping of the MF6 epitope and antigenic analysis of the MF6p/HDM family of heme-binding proteins.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Victoria Martínez-Sernández

    Full Text Available MF6p/FhHDM-1 is a small cationic heme-binding protein which is recognized by the monoclonal antibody (mAb MF6, and abundantly present in parenchymal cells and secreted antigens of Fasciola hepatica. Orthologs of this protein (MF6p/HDMs also exist in other causal agents of important foodborne trematodiasis, such as Clonorchis sinensis, Opisthorchis viverrini and Paragonimus westermani. Considering that MF6p/FhHDM-1 is relevant for heme homeostasis in Fasciola and was reported to have immunomodulatory properties, this protein is expected to be a useful target for vaccination. Thus, in this study we mapped the epitope recognized by mAb MF6 and evaluated its antigenicity in sheep. The sequence of the MF6p/FhHDM-1 ortholog from F. gigantica (MF6p/FgHDM-1 was also reported. By means of ELISA inhibitions with overlapping synthetic peptides, we determined that the epitope recognized by mAb MF6 is located within the C-terminal moiety of MF6p/FhHDM-1, which is the most conserved region of MF6p/HDMs. By immunoblotting analysis of parasite extracts and ELISA inhibitions with synthetic peptides we also determined that mAb MF6 reacted with the same intensity with F. hepatica and F. gigantica, and in decreasing order of intensity with C. sinensis, O.viverrini and P. westermani orthologs. On the contrary, mAb MF6 showed no reactivity against Dicrocoelium dendriticum and Schistosoma mansoni. The study of the recognition of peptides covering different regions of MF6p/FhHDM-1 by sera from immunized sheep revealed that the C-terminal moiety is the most antigenic, thus being of potential interest for vaccination. We also demonstrated that the production of antibodies to MF6p/FhHDM-1 in sheep infected by F. hepatica occurs relatively early and follows the same pattern as those produced against L-cathepsins.

  1. Predicting DNA-binding proteins and binding residues by complex structure prediction and application to human proteome.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Huiying Zhao

    Full Text Available As more and more protein sequences are uncovered from increasingly inexpensive sequencing techniques, an urgent task is to find their functions. This work presents a highly reliable computational technique for predicting DNA-binding function at the level of protein-DNA complex structures, rather than low-resolution two-state prediction of DNA-binding as most existing techniques do. The method first predicts protein-DNA complex structure by utilizing the template-based structure prediction technique HHblits, followed by binding affinity prediction based on a knowledge-based energy function (Distance-scaled finite ideal-gas reference state for protein-DNA interactions. A leave-one-out cross validation of the method based on 179 DNA-binding and 3797 non-binding protein domains achieves a Matthews correlation coefficient (MCC of 0.77 with high precision (94% and high sensitivity (65%. We further found 51% sensitivity for 82 newly determined structures of DNA-binding proteins and 56% sensitivity for the human proteome. In addition, the method provides a reasonably accurate prediction of DNA-binding residues in proteins based on predicted DNA-binding complex structures. Its application to human proteome leads to more than 300 novel DNA-binding proteins; some of these predicted structures were validated by known structures of homologous proteins in APO forms. The method [SPOT-Seq (DNA] is available as an on-line server at http://sparks-lab.org.

  2. Labelling of pneumococcal penicillin-binding proteins with [3H]propionyl-ampicillin. A rapid method for monitoring penicillin-binding activity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hakenbeck, R.; Kohiyama, M.

    1982-01-01

    Penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs) are membrane components ubiquitous to all bacteria examined so far. Some of them are present in only a few copies per cell. The conventional method of visualizing these proteins consists in binding of radioactive penicillin to the fractions containing PBPs followed by SDS-PAGE and finally fluorography. Although this procedure is laborious, it is necessary for the determination of the identity as well as for the quantification of each PBP. On the other hand, when penicillin-binding conditions are to be examined or binding activity has to be followed through fractionation and purification of PBPs, no fast monitoring device for these proteins has been available. The authors developed a rapid and easy assay for penicillin-binding activity with a filter-binding technique using [ 3 H]propionyl ampicillin ( 3 H-PA) of high specific activity. As little 2μg of crude membranes obtained from the highly penicillin-sensitive, β-lactamase-negative organism Streptococcus pneumoniae, are sufficient to detect binding activity. In this paper they describe optimum conditions for the assay of PBPs and show that this binding activity correlates with the presence of native penicillin-binding proteins. (Auth.)

  3. Cobalamin and its binding protein in rat milk

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Raaberg, Lasse; Nexø, Ebba; Poulsen, Steen Seier

    1989-01-01

    Cobalamin and its binding protein, haptocorrin, are present in rat milk throughout the lactation period. The concentration of cobalamin is approximately 0.3-times the concentration of the unsaturated binding protein. The concentration of the unsaturated cobalamin-binding protein varies between 18...

  4. Faecal S100A12 as a non-invasive marker distinguishing inflammatory bowel disease from irritable bowel syndrome

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kaiser, T; Langhorst, J; Wittkowski, H; Becker, K; Friedrich, A W; Rueffer, A; Dobos, G J; Roth, J; Foell, D

    2007-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: S100A12 is a pro-inflammatory protein that is secreted by granulocytes. S100A12 serum levels increase during inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). We performed the first study analysing faecal S100A12 in adults with signs of intestinal inflammation. METHODS: Faecal S100A12 was determined by

  5. Insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) and IGF binding proteins in active Crohn’s disease treated with omega-3 or omega-6 fatty acids and corticosteroids

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Eivindson, Martin; Grønbæk, Henning; Nielsen, J.N.

    2005-01-01

    of the present study was to examine the effects of enteral nutrition, Impact Powder, as adjuvant therapy to corticosteroid treatment on changes in the GH/IGF-I axis in patients with Crohn's disease (CD). MATERIAL AND METHODS: The patients were randomized to 3-IP (omega-3-fatty acid (FA), 3 g/day) or 6-IP (omega...... with previously published studies and may be explained by corticosteroid treatment; however, we cannot exclude an additional effect of omega3-/omega6 FA as adjuvant enteral nutrition.......-6-FA, 9 g/day). Changes in total IGF-I (tIGF-I) and total IGF-II (tIGF-II), free IGF-I (fIGF-I), IGF binding proteins (IGFBP-1 and IGFBP-3), IGFBP-3 protease activity and insulin levels were examined in 31 patients with active CD (CDAI: 186-603) during treatment with prednisolone (40 mg for 1 week...

  6. Substrate-Triggered Exosite Binding: Synergistic Dendrimer/Folic Acid Action for Achieving Specific, Tight-Binding to Folate Binding Protein.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Junjie; van Dongen, Mallory A; Merzel, Rachel L; Dougherty, Casey A; Orr, Bradford G; Kanduluru, Ananda Kumar; Low, Philip S; Marsh, E Neil G; Banaszak Holl, Mark M

    2016-03-14

    Polymer-ligand conjugates are designed to bind proteins for applications as drugs, imaging agents, and transport scaffolds. In this work, we demonstrate a folic acid (FA)-triggered exosite binding of a generation five poly(amidoamine) (G5 PAMAM) dendrimer scaffold to bovine folate binding protein (bFBP). The protein exosite is a secondary binding site on the protein surface, separate from the FA binding pocket, to which the dendrimer binds. Exosite binding is required to achieve the greatly enhanced binding constants and protein structural change observed in this study. The G5Ac-COG-FA1.0 conjugate bound tightly to bFBP, was not displaced by a 28-fold excess of FA, and quenched roughly 80% of the initial fluorescence. Two-step binding kinetics were measured using the intrinsic fluorescence of the FBP tryptophan residues to give a KD in the low nanomolar range for formation of the initial G5Ac-COG-FA1.0/FBP* complex, and a slow conversion to the tight complex formed between the dendrimer and the FBP exosite. The extent of quenching was sensitive to the choice of FA-dendrimer linker chemistry. Direct amide conjugation of FA to G5-PAMAM resulted in roughly 50% fluorescence quenching of the FBP. The G5Ac-COG-FA, which has a longer linker containing a 1,2,3-triazole ring, exhibited an ∼80% fluorescence quenching. The binding of the G5Ac-COG-FA1.0 conjugate was compared to poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) conjugates of FA (PEGn-FA). PEG2k-FA had a binding strength similar to that of FA, whereas other PEG conjugates with higher molecular weight showed weaker binding. However, no PEG conjugates gave an increased degree of total fluorescence quenching.

  7. Insulin receptor binding and protein kinase activity in muscles of trained rats

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dohm, G.L.; Sinha, M.K.; Caro, J.F.

    1987-01-01

    Exercise has been shown to increase insulin sensitivity, and muscle is quantitatively the most important tissue of insulin action. Since the first step in insulin action is the binding to a membrane receptor, the authors postulated that exercise training would change insulin receptors in muscle and in this study they have investigated this hypothesis. Female rats initially weighing ∼ 100 g were trained by treadmill running for 2 h/day, 6 days/wk for 4 wk at 25 m/min (0 grade). Insulin receptors from vastus intermedius muscles were solubilized by homogenizing in a buffer containing 1% Triton X-100 and then partially purified by passing the soluble extract over a wheat germ agglutinin column. The 4 wk training regimen resulted in a 65% increase in citrate synthase activity in red vastus lateralis muscle, indicating an adaptation to exercise [ 125 I]. Insulin binding by the partially purified receptor preparations was approximately doubled in muscle of trained rats at all insulin concentrations, suggesting an increase in the number of receptors. Training did not alter insulin receptor structure as evidenced by electrophoretic mobility under reducing and nonreducing conditions. Basal insulin receptor protein kinase activity was higher in trained than untrained animals and this was likely due to the greater number of receptors. However, insulin stimulation of the protein kinase activity was depressed by training. These results demonstrate that endurance training does alter receptor number and function in muscle and these changes may be important in increasing insulin sensitivity after exercise training

  8. Human plasminogen binding protein tetranectin

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kastrup, J S; Rasmussen, H; Nielsen, B B

    1997-01-01

    The recombinant human plasminogen binding protein tetranectin (TN) and the C-type lectin CRD of this protein (TN3) have been crystallized. TN3 crystallizes in the tetragonal space group P4(2)2(1)2 with cell dimensions a = b = 64.0, c = 75.7 A and with one molecule per asymmetric unit. The crystals...... to at least 2.5 A. A full data set has been collected to 3.0 A. The asymmetric unit contains one monomer of TN. Molecular replacement solutions for TN3 and TN have been obtained using the structure of the C-type lectin CRD of rat mannose-binding protein as search model. The rhombohedral space group indicates...

  9. Detection of vitamin D binding protein on the surface of cytotrophoblasts isolated from human placentae

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nestler, J.E.; McLeod, J.F.; Kowalski, M.A.; Strauss, J.F. III; Haddad, J.G. Jr.

    1987-01-01

    Vitamin D binding protein (DBP), a Mr 56,000-58,000 alpha 2-glycoprotein, is the major serum protein involved in the transport of vitamin D sterols. Recently it has been suggested that DBP may also be involved in immunoglobulin G binding to cells. Because the trophoblast is involved in the transport of molecules such as vitamin D and immunoglobulin G to the fetus, we asked whether DBP could be detected on the surface of human placental trophoblast cells. Cytotrophoblasts purified from human term placentae were fixed and made permeant with Triton X-100 and examined by indirect immunofluorescence after incubation with a monoclonal antibody to DBP. Greater than 90% of these cells stained positively, whereas no staining was observed with nonimmune antiserum. The presence of DBP on/in the surface of cytotrophoblasts could also be demonstrated by fluorescent cytometry. When cell surface-associated proteins of cytotrophoblasts were radioiodinated, a Mr 57,000 radiolabeled protein could be immunoisolated from the cell lysate with a purified monospecific polyclonal antibody to DBP. Immunoisolation of this radiolabeled protein was prevented by the addition of excess unlabeled human DBP to the cell lysate before incubation with antibody. This Mr 57,000 radiolabeled protein could also be isolated by affinity chromatography selecting for proteins that bind to globular actin. When cytotrophoblasts were incubated with [ 35 S]methionine for 3 or 18 h, active synthesis of DBP could not be demonstrated by immunoisolation techniques. These studies demonstrate the presence of DBP on the surface of well washed, human cytotrophoblasts. This DBP may be maternally derived, since active synthesis of DBP could not be demonstrated

  10. Lactoferrin binding protein B - a bi-functional bacterial receptor protein.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nicholas K H Ostan

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Lactoferrin binding protein B (LbpB is a bi-lobed outer membrane-bound lipoprotein that comprises part of the lactoferrin (Lf receptor complex in Neisseria meningitidis and other Gram-negative pathogens. Recent studies have demonstrated that LbpB plays a role in protecting the bacteria from cationic antimicrobial peptides due to large regions rich in anionic residues in the C-terminal lobe. Relative to its homolog, transferrin-binding protein B (TbpB, there currently is little evidence for its role in iron acquisition and relatively little structural and biophysical information on its interaction with Lf. In this study, a combination of crosslinking and deuterium exchange coupled to mass spectrometry, information-driven computational docking, bio-layer interferometry, and site-directed mutagenesis was used to probe LbpB:hLf complexes. The formation of a 1:1 complex of iron-loaded Lf and LbpB involves an interaction between the Lf C-lobe and LbpB N-lobe, comparable to TbpB, consistent with a potential role in iron acquisition. The Lf N-lobe is also capable of binding to negatively charged regions of the LbpB C-lobe and possibly other sites such that a variety of higher order complexes are formed. Our results are consistent with LbpB serving dual roles focused primarily on iron acquisition when exposed to limited levels of iron-loaded Lf on the mucosal surface and effectively binding apo Lf when exposed to high levels at sites of inflammation.

  11. Expression and purification of recombinant proteins in Escherichia coli tagged with a small metal-binding protein from Nitrosomonas europaea.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vargas-Cortez, Teresa; Morones-Ramirez, Jose Ruben; Balderas-Renteria, Isaias; Zarate, Xristo

    2016-02-01

    Escherichia coli is still the preferred organism for large-scale production of recombinant proteins. The use of fusion proteins has helped considerably in enhancing the solubility of heterologous proteins and their purification with affinity chromatography. Here, the use of a small metal-binding protein (SmbP) from Nitrosomonas europaea is described as a new fusion protein for protein expression and purification in E. coli. Fluorescent proteins tagged at the N-terminal with SmbP showed high levels of solubility, compared with those of maltose-binding protein and glutathione S-transferase, and low formation of inclusion bodies. Using commercially available IMAC resins charged with Ni(II), highly pure recombinant proteins were obtained after just one chromatography step. Proteins may be purified from the periplasm of E. coli if SmbP contains the signal sequence at the N-terminal. After removal of the SmbP tag from the protein of interest, high-yields are obtained since SmbP is a protein of just 9.9 kDa. The results here obtained suggest that SmbP is a good alternative as a fusion protein/affinity tag for the production of soluble recombinant proteins in E. coli. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  12. S100A14 is a novel independent prognostic biomarker in the triple-negative breast cancer subtype

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ehmsen, Sidse; Hansen, Lea Tykgaard; Bak, Martin

    2015-01-01

    Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) represents a heterogeneous subgroup with generally poor outcome and lack of an effective targeted therapy. Prognostic or predictive biomarkers to guide treatment decisions for this group of patients are needed. To evaluate the potential of S100A14 protein...... as a novel biomarker in TNBC, the protein expression of S100A14 was correlated with clinical outcomes in a Pilot Sample set and a Danish cohort of predominantly TNBC patients. Kaplan-Meier analysis identified a prognostic impact of S100A14 on disease-free survival and overall survival, showing that tumors......-), had equally poor outcomes as those with tumor-positive axillary lymph nodes (N+), while TNBC/N- patients with low S100A14 expression had a significantly better disease free survival (p = 0.013). Multivariate analysis revealed that S100A14 is an independent prognostic factor for TNBC patients (p = 0...

  13. Measuring Binding Affinity of Protein-Ligand Interaction Using Spectrophotometry: Binding of Neutral Red to Riboflavin-Binding Protein

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chenprakhon, Pirom; Sucharitakul, Jeerus; Panijpan, Bhinyo; Chaiyen, Pimchai

    2010-01-01

    The dissociation constant, K[subscript d], of the binding of riboflavin-binding protein (RP) with neutral red (NR) can be determined by titrating RP to a fixed concentration of NR. Upon adding RP to the NR solution, the maximum absorption peak of NR shifts to 545 nm from 450 nm for the free NR. The change of the absorption can be used to determine…

  14. A sequence-based dynamic ensemble learning system for protein ligand-binding site prediction

    KAUST Repository

    Chen, Peng

    2015-12-03

    Background: Proteins have the fundamental ability to selectively bind to other molecules and perform specific functions through such interactions, such as protein-ligand binding. Accurate prediction of protein residues that physically bind to ligands is important for drug design and protein docking studies. Most of the successful protein-ligand binding predictions were based on known structures. However, structural information is not largely available in practice due to the huge gap between the number of known protein sequences and that of experimentally solved structures

  15. A sequence-based dynamic ensemble learning system for protein ligand-binding site prediction

    KAUST Repository

    Chen, Peng; Hu, ShanShan; Zhang, Jun; Gao, Xin; Li, Jinyan; Xia, Junfeng; Wang, Bing

    2015-01-01

    Background: Proteins have the fundamental ability to selectively bind to other molecules and perform specific functions through such interactions, such as protein-ligand binding. Accurate prediction of protein residues that physically bind to ligands is important for drug design and protein docking studies. Most of the successful protein-ligand binding predictions were based on known structures. However, structural information is not largely available in practice due to the huge gap between the number of known protein sequences and that of experimentally solved structures

  16. Extracellular and circulating redox- and metalloregulated eRNA and eRNP: copper ion-structured RNA cytokines (angiotropin ribokines) and bioaptamer targets imparting RNA chaperone and novel biofunctions to S100-EF-hand and disease-associated proteins.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wissler, Josef H

    2004-06-01

    Bioassays for cellular differentiation and tissue morphogenesis were used to design methods for isolation of bioactive redox- and metalloregulated nucleic acids and copper ion complexes with proteins from extracellular, circulating, wound, and supernatant fluids of cultured cells. In extracellular biospheres, diversities of nucleic acids were found to be secreted by cells upon activation. They may reflect nucleic acid biolibraries with molecular imprints of cellular history. After removal of protein components, eRNA prototypes exuded by activated cells were sequenced. They are small, endogenous, highly modified and edited, redox- and metalloregulated 5'-end phosphorylated extracellular eRNA (approximately 2-200 bases) with cellular, enzymic, and bioaptamer functions. Fenton-type OH* radical redox reactions may form modified nucleotides in RNA as wobbles eRNA per se, or as copper ion-complex with protein (e.g., S100A12-EF-hand protein, angiotropin-related protein, calgranulin-C, hippocampal neurite differentiation factor) are shown to be bioactive in vivo and in vitro as cytokines (ribokines) and as nonmitogenic angiomorphogens for endothelial cell differentiation in the formation of organoid supracellular capillary structures. As bioaptamers, copper ion-structured eRNA imparts novel biofunctions to proteins that they do not have on their own. The origin of extracellular RNA and intermediate precursors (up to 500 bases) was traced to intracellular parent nucleic acids. Intermediate precursors with and without partial homology were found. This suggests that bioaptamers are not directly retranslatable gene products. Metalloregulated eRNA bioaptamer function was investigated by domains (e.g. 5'...CUG...3' hairpin loop) for folding, bioactivity, and binding of protein with copper, calcium, and alkali metal ion affinity. Vice versa, metalloregulated nucleic acid-binding domains (K3H, R3H) in proteins were identified. Interaction of protein and eRNA docking potentials

  17. The Collagen Binding Proteins of Streptococcus mutans and Related Streptococci

    Science.gov (United States)

    Avilés-Reyes, Alejandro; Miller, James H.; Lemos, José A.; Abranches, Jacqueline

    2016-01-01

    Summary The ability of Streptococcus mutans to interact with collagen through the expression of collagen-binding proteins (CBPs) bestows this oral pathogen with an alternative to the sucrose-dependent mechanism of colonization classically attributed to caries development. Based on the abundance and distribution of collagen throughout the human body, stringent adherence to this molecule grants S. mutans with the opportunity to establish infection at different host sites. Surface proteins, such as SpaP, WapA, Cnm and Cbm, have been shown to bind collagen in vitro, and it has been suggested that these molecules play a role in colonization of oral and extra-oral tissues. However, robust collagen binding is not achieved by all strains of S. mutans, particularly those that lack Cnm or Cbm. These observations merit careful dissection of the contribution from these different CBPs towards tissue colonization and virulence. In this review, we will discuss the current understanding of mechanisms utilized by S. mutans and related streptococci to colonize collagenous tissues, and the possible contribution of CBPs to infections in different sites of the host. PMID:26991416

  18. Ultra-sensitive chemiluminescent detection of Staphylococcus aureus based on competitive binding of Staphylococcus protein A-modified magnetic beads to immunoglobulin G

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xiong, Jie; Wang, Wenwen; Zhou, Yali; Kong, Weijun; Wang, Zhenxing; Fu, Zhifeng

    2016-01-01

    Staphylococcus protein A (SPA) is a surface protein only expressed naturally in the cell walls of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and binds specifically to the Fc region of immunoglobulin G (IgG). This fact can be utilized for the detection of S. aureus. Specifically, SPA-modified magnetic beads, compete with S. aureus pathogens for binding to rabbit IgG that previously was labeled with horseradish peroxidase (HRP). The beads were then magnetically separated, and chemiluminescence (CL) was generated by adding the reagents luminol and H_2O_2. Under optimal conditions, the intensity of CL decreases with increasing concentration of S. aureus over a very wide linear range (10 to 1.0 × 10"9 cfu·mL"−"1), with a limit of detection of 6.0 cfu·mL"−"1 at an S/N ratio of 3. The assay (including binding reaction, magnetic separation, washing of beads and detection) is completed within 50 min which is faster than many reported methods. It can well distinguish S. aureus from other Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. The magnetic beads have the beneficial effect of eliminating undesired matrix effects and of concentrating the sample. The method was applied to the analysis of urine, apple juice and glucose injection samples spiked with S. aureus, and recoveries ranged from 85 to 107 %. (author)

  19. SECRET domain of variola virus CrmB protein can be a member of poxviral type II chemokine-binding proteins family.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Antonets, Denis V; Nepomnyashchikh, Tatyana S; Shchelkunov, Sergei N

    2010-10-27

    Variola virus (VARV) the causative agent of smallpox, eradicated in 1980, have wide spectrum of immunomodulatory proteins to evade host immunity. Recently additional biological activity was discovered for VARV CrmB protein, known to bind and inhibit tumour necrosis factor (TNF) through its N-terminal domain homologous to cellular TNF receptors. Besides binding TNF, this protein was also shown to bind with high affinity several chemokines which recruit B- and T-lymphocytes and dendritic cells to sites of viral entry and replication. Ability to bind chemokines was shown to be associated with unique C-terminal domain of CrmB protein. This domain named SECRET (Smallpox virus-Encoded Chemokine Receptor) is unrelated to the host proteins and lacks significant homology with other known viral chemokine-binding proteins or any other known protein. De novo modelling of VARV-CrmB SECRET domain spatial structure revealed its apparent structural homology with cowpox virus CC-chemokine binding protein (vCCI) and vaccinia virus A41 protein, despite low sequence identity between these three proteins. Potential ligand-binding surface of modelled VARV-CrmB SECRET domain was also predicted to bear prominent electronegative charge which is characteristic to known orthopoxviral chemokine-binding proteins. Our results suggest that SECRET should be included into the family of poxviral type II chemokine-binding proteins and that it might have been evolved from the vCCI-like predecessor protein.

  20. Systematic review and meta-analysis of circulating S100B blood levels in schizophrenia.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Katina Aleksovska

    Full Text Available S100B is a calcium-binding protein secreted in central nervous system from astrocytes and other glia cells. High blood S100B levels have been linked to brain damage and psychiatric disorders. S100B levels have been reported to be higher in schizophrenics than healthy controls. To quantify the relationship between S100B blood levels and schizophrenia a systematic literature review of case-control studies published on this topic within July 3rd 2014 was carried out using three bibliographic databases: Medline, Scopus and Web of Science. Studies reporting mean and standard deviation of S100B blood levels both in cases and controls were included in the meta-analysis. The meta-Mean Ratio (mMR of S100B blood levels in cases compared to controls was used as a measure of effect along with its 95% Confidence Intervals (CI. 20 studies were included totaling for 994 cases and 785 controls. Schizophrenia patients showed 76% higher S100B blood levels than controls with mMR = 1.76 95% CI: 1.44-2.15. No difference could be found between drug-free patients with mMR = 1.84 95%CI: 1.24-2.74 and patients on antipsychotic medication with mMR = 1.75 95% CI: 1.41-2.16. Similarly, ethnicity and stage of disease didn't affect results. Although S100B could be regarded as a possible biomarker of schizophrenia, limitations should be accounted when interpreting results, especially because of the high heterogeneity that remained >70%, even after carrying out subgroups analyses. These results point out that approaches based on traditional categorical diagnoses may be too restrictive and new approaches based on the characterization of new complex phenotypes should be considered.

  1. The RNA-binding protein repertoire of Arabidopsis thaliana

    KAUST Repository

    Marondedze, Claudius; Thomas, Ludivine; Serano, Natalia Lorena Gorron; Lilley, Kathryn S.; Gehring, Christoph A

    2016-01-01

    RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) have essential roles in determining the fate of RNA from synthesis to decay and have been studied on a protein-by-protein basis, or computationally based on a number of well-characterised RNA-binding domains. Recently

  2. Programmable DNA-binding proteins from Burkholderia provide a fresh perspective on the TALE-like repeat domain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Lange, Orlando; Wolf, Christina; Dietze, Jörn; Elsaesser, Janett; Morbitzer, Robert; Lahaye, Thomas

    2014-06-01

    The tandem repeats of transcription activator like effectors (TALEs) mediate sequence-specific DNA binding using a simple code. Naturally, TALEs are injected by Xanthomonas bacteria into plant cells to manipulate the host transcriptome. In the laboratory TALE DNA binding domains are reprogrammed and used to target a fused functional domain to a genomic locus of choice. Research into the natural diversity of TALE-like proteins may provide resources for the further improvement of current TALE technology. Here we describe TALE-like proteins from the endosymbiotic bacterium Burkholderia rhizoxinica, termed Bat proteins. Bat repeat domains mediate sequence-specific DNA binding with the same code as TALEs, despite less than 40% sequence identity. We show that Bat proteins can be adapted for use as transcription factors and nucleases and that sequence preferences can be reprogrammed. Unlike TALEs, the core repeats of each Bat protein are highly polymorphic. This feature allowed us to explore alternative strategies for the design of custom Bat repeat arrays, providing novel insights into the functional relevance of non-RVD residues. The Bat proteins offer fertile grounds for research into the creation of improved programmable DNA-binding proteins and comparative insights into TALE-like evolution. © The Author(s) 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

  3. Improved detection of calcium-binding proteins in polyacrylamide gels

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anthony, F.A.; Babitch, J.A.

    1984-01-01

    The authors refined the method of Schibeci and Martonosi (1980) to enhance detection of calcium-binding proteins in polyacrylamide gels using 45 Ca 2+ . Their efforts have produced a method which is shorter, has 40-fold greater sensitivity over the previous method, and will detect 'EF hand'-containing calcium-binding proteins in polyacrylamide gels below the 0.5 μg level. In addition this method will detect at least one example from every described class of calcium-binding protein, including lectins and γ-carboxyglutamic acid containing calcium-binding proteins. The method should be useful for detecting calcium-binding proteins which may trigger neurotransmitter release. (Auth.)

  4. Characterization of binding of N'-nitrosonornicotine to protein

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hughes, M.F.

    1986-01-01

    The NADPH-dependent activation of the carcinogenic nitrosamine, N'-nitrosonornicotine (NNN) to a reactive intermediate which binds covalently to protein was assessed using male Sprague-Dawley rat liver and lung microsomes. The NADPH-dependent covalent binding of [ 14 C]NNN to liver and lung microsomes was linear with time up to 90 and 45 min, respectively and was also linear with protein concentrations up to 3.0 and 2.0 mg/ml, respectively. The apparent K/sub m/ and V/sub max/ of the NADPH-dependent binding to liver microsomes were determined from the initial velocities. Addition of the thiols glutathione, cystein, N-acetylcysteine or 2-mercapthoethanol significantly decreased the non-NADPH-dependent binding to liver microsomal protein, but did not affect the NADPH-dependent binding. Glutathione was required in order to observe any NADPH-dependent binding to lung microsomal protein. In lung microsomes, SKF-525A significantly decreased the NADPH-dependent binding by 79%. Replacement of an air atmosphere with N 2 or CO:O 2 (8:2) significantly decreased the NADPH-dependent binding of [ 14 C]NNN to liver microsomal protein by 40% or 27% respectively. Extensive covalent binding of [ 14 C]NNN to liver and muscle microsomal protein occurred in the absence of an NADPH-generating system, in the presence of 50% methanol and also to bovine serum albumin, indicating a nonenzymatic reaction. These data indicate that cytochrome P-450 is at least in part responsible for the metabolic activation of the carcinogen NNN, but also suggest additional mechanisms of activation

  5. UPF201 Archaeal Specific Family Members Reveals Structural Similarity to RNA-Binding Proteins but Low Likelihood for RNA-Binding Function

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rao, K.N.; Swaminathan, S.; Burley, S. K.

    2008-12-11

    We have determined X-ray crystal structures of four members of an archaeal specific family of proteins of unknown function (UPF0201; Pfam classification: DUF54) to advance our understanding of the genetic repertoire of archaea. Despite low pairwise amino acid sequence identities (10-40%) and the absence of conserved sequence motifs, the three-dimensional structures of these proteins are remarkably similar to one another. Their common polypeptide chain fold, encompassing a five-stranded antiparallel {beta}-sheet and five {alpha}-helices, proved to be quite unexpectedly similar to that of the RRM-type RNA-binding domain of the ribosomal L5 protein, which is responsible for binding the 5S- rRNA. Structure-based sequence alignments enabled construction of a phylogenetic tree relating UPF0201 family members to L5 ribosomal proteins and other structurally similar RNA binding proteins, thereby expanding our understanding of the evolutionary purview of the RRM superfamily. Analyses of the surfaces of these newly determined UPF0201 structures suggest that they probably do not function as RNA binding proteins, and that this domain specific family of proteins has acquired a novel function in archaebacteria, which awaits experimental elucidation.

  6. Determining Membrane Protein-Lipid Binding Thermodynamics Using Native Mass Spectrometry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cong, Xiao; Liu, Yang; Liu, Wen; Liang, Xiaowen; Russell, David H; Laganowsky, Arthur

    2016-04-06

    Membrane proteins are embedded in the biological membrane where the chemically diverse lipid environment can modulate their structure and function. However, the thermodynamics governing the molecular recognition and interaction of lipids with membrane proteins is poorly understood. Here, we report a method using native mass spectrometry (MS), to determine thermodynamics of individual ligand binding events to proteins. Unlike conventional methods, native MS can resolve individual ligand binding events and, coupled with an apparatus to control the temperature, determine binding thermodynamic parameters, such as for protein-lipid interactions. We validated our approach using three soluble protein-ligand systems (maltose binding protein, lysozyme, and nitrogen regulatory protein) and obtained similar results to those using isothermal titration calorimetry and surface plasmon resonance. We also determined for the first time the thermodynamics of individual lipid binding to the ammonia channel (AmtB), an integral membrane protein from Escherichia coli. Remarkably, we observed distinct thermodynamic signatures for the binding of different lipids and entropy-enthalpy compensation for binding lipids of variable chain length. Additionally, using a mutant form of AmtB that abolishes a specific phosphatidylglycerol (PG) binding site, we observed distinct changes in the thermodynamic signatures for binding PG, implying these signatures can identify key residues involved in specific lipid binding and potentially differentiate between specific lipid binding sites.

  7. A Venom Gland Extracellular Chitin-Binding-Like Protein from Pupal Endoparasitoid Wasps, Pteromalus Puparum, Selectively Binds Chitin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chitin-binding proteins (CBPs) existed in various species and involved in different biology processes. In the present study, we cloned a full length cDNA of chitin-binding protein-like (PpCBP-like) from Pteromalus puparum, a pupal endoparasitoid of Pieris rapae. PpCBP-like encoded a 96 putative amin...

  8. Purification and subunit structure of a putative K+-channel protein identified by its binding properties for dendrotoxin I

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rehm, H.; Lazdunski, M.

    1988-01-01

    The binding protein for the K + -channel toxin dendrotoxin I was purified from a detergent extract of rat brain membranes. The purification procedure utilized chromatography on DEAE-Trisacryl, affinity chromatography on a dendrotoxin-I-Aca 22 column, and wheat germ agglutinin-Affigel 10 with a final 3,800- to 4,600-fold enrichment and a recovery of 8-16%. The high affinity (K d , 40-100 pM) and specificity of the binding site are retained throughout the purification procedure. Analysis of the purified material on silver-stained NaDodSO 4 /polyacrylamide gel revealed three bands of M r 76,000-80,000, 38,000 and 35,000. Interestingly, the binding site for 125 I-labeled mast cell degranulating peptide, another putative K + -channel ligand from bee venom, which induces long-term potentiation in hippocampus, seems to reside on the same protein complex, as both binding sites copurify through the entire purification protocol

  9. The adenovirus E4 11 k protein binds and relocalizes the cytoplasmic P-body component Ddx6 to aggresomes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Greer, Amy E.; Hearing, Patrick; Ketner, Gary

    2011-01-01

    The adenovirus E4 11 k protein, product of E4 ORF3, is required in infection for processes including normal accumulation of viral late mRNAs. 11 k restructures both the nucleus and cytoplasm of infected cells by relocalizing specific host cell target proteins, most strikingly components of nuclear PML oncogenic domains. It is likely that in many cases relocalization inactivates target proteins to produce 11 k's effects, although the mechanism and targets for stimulation of late mRNA accumulation is unknown. We have identified a new set of proteins relocalized by 11 k: at least five protein components of cytoplasmic mRNA processing bodies (p-bodies) are found in 11 k-induced cytoplasmic aggresomes, sites where proteins are inactivated or destroyed. One of these p-body proteins, RNA helicase Ddx6, binds 11 k, suggesting a mechanism for relocalization. Because p-bodies are sites for mRNA degradation, their modification by 11 k may provide an explanation for the role of 11 k in viral late mRNA accumulation.

  10. The Potato Nucleotide-binding Leucine-rich Repeat (NLR) Immune Receptor Rx1 Is a Pathogen-dependent DNA-deforming Protein*

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fenyk, Stepan; Townsend, Philip D.; Dixon, Christopher H.; Spies, Gerhard B.; de San Eustaquio Campillo, Alba; Slootweg, Erik J.; Westerhof, Lotte B.; Gawehns, Fleur K. K.; Knight, Marc R.; Sharples, Gary J.; Goverse, Aska; Pålsson, Lars-Olof; Takken, Frank L. W.; Cann, Martin J.

    2015-01-01

    Plant nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat (NLR) proteins enable cells to respond to pathogen attack. Several NLRs act in the nucleus; however, conserved nuclear targets that support their role in immunity are unknown. Previously, we noted a structural homology between the nucleotide-binding domain of NLRs and DNA replication origin-binding Cdc6/Orc1 proteins. Here we show that the NB-ARC (nucleotide-binding, Apaf-1, R-proteins, and CED-4) domain of the Rx1 NLR of potato binds nucleic acids. Rx1 induces ATP-dependent bending and melting of DNA in vitro, dependent upon a functional P-loop. In situ full-length Rx1 binds nuclear DNA following activation by its cognate pathogen-derived effector protein, the coat protein of potato virus X. In line with its obligatory nucleocytoplasmic distribution, DNA binding was only observed when Rx1 was allowed to freely translocate between both compartments and was activated in the cytoplasm. Immune activation induced by an unrelated NLR-effector pair did not trigger an Rx1-DNA interaction. DNA binding is therefore not merely a consequence of immune activation. These data establish a role for DNA distortion in Rx1 immune signaling and define DNA as a molecular target of an activated NLR. PMID:26306038

  11. PipY, a Member of the Conserved COG0325 Family of PLP-Binding Proteins, Expands the Cyanobacterial Nitrogen Regulatory Network

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    José I. Labella

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942 is a paradigmatic model organism for nitrogen regulation in cyanobacteria. Expression of genes involved in nitrogen assimilation is positively regulated by the 2-oxoglutarate receptor and global transcriptional regulator NtcA. Maximal activation requires the subsequent binding of the co-activator PipX. PII, a protein found in all three domains of life as an integrator of signals of the nitrogen and carbon balance, binds to PipX to counteract NtcA activity at low 2-oxoglutarate levels. PII-PipX complexes can also bind to the transcriptional regulator PlmA, whose regulon remains unknown. Here we expand the nitrogen regulatory network to PipY, encoded by the bicistronic operon pipXY in S. elongatus. Work with PipY, the cyanobacterial member of the widespread family of COG0325 proteins, confirms the conserved roles in vitamin B6 and amino/keto acid homeostasis and reveals new PLP-related phenotypes, including sensitivity to antibiotics targeting essential PLP-holoenzymes or synthetic lethality with cysK. In addition, the related phenotypes of pipY and pipX mutants are consistent with genetic interactions in the contexts of survival to PLP-targeting antibiotics and transcriptional regulation. We also showed that PipY overexpression increased the length of S. elongatus cells. Taken together, our results support a universal regulatory role for COG0325 proteins, paving the way to a better understanding of these proteins and of their connections with other biological processes.

  12. Serum levels of psoriasin (S100A7) and koebnerisin (S100A15) as potential markers of atherosclerosis in patients with psoriasis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Awad, S M; Attallah, D A; Salama, R H; Mahran, A M; Abu El-Hamed, E

    2018-04-01

    Psoriasin (S100A7) and koebnerisin (S100A15) are proinflammatory proteins upregulated in psoriasis, but their relation to atherosclerosis remains unclear. To evaluate the role of serum psoriasin and koebnerisin as possible markers for subclinical atherosclerosis in patients with psoriasis. Serum levels of psoriasin and koebnerisin were measured by ELISA in 45 patients with psoriasis and in 45 healthy controls (HCs). Intima-media thickness (IMT) of the right and left common carotid arteries was measured to detect the presence of subclinical atherosclerosis. Clinical severity of psoriasis was estimated using the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI). Compared with HCs, patients with psoriasis had significantly higher levels of psoriasin (26.61 ± 22.45 ng/mL vs. 6.31 ± 1.68 ng/mL, P  0.01) and serum koebnerisin (r = 0.48, P psoriasis with subclinical atherosclerosis had higher serum levels of koebnerisin compared with patients without subclinical atherosclerosis (P = 0.04), which was not observed for psoriasin (P = 0.94). Serum psoriasin and koebnerisin correlate with IMT, underlining their value as a potential link between psoriasis and atherosclerosis. In particular, koebnerisin seems to be a useful marker of subclinical atherosclerosis in patients with psoriasis. © 2018 British Association of Dermatologists.

  13. A physiologically based pharmacokinetic model to predict the pharmacokinetics of highly protein-bound drugs and the impact of errors in plasma protein binding.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ye, Min; Nagar, Swati; Korzekwa, Ken

    2016-04-01

    Predicting the pharmacokinetics of highly protein-bound drugs is difficult. Also, since historical plasma protein binding data were often collected using unbuffered plasma, the resulting inaccurate binding data could contribute to incorrect predictions. This study uses a generic physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model to predict human plasma concentration-time profiles for 22 highly protein-bound drugs. Tissue distribution was estimated from in vitro drug lipophilicity data, plasma protein binding and the blood: plasma ratio. Clearance was predicted with a well-stirred liver model. Underestimated hepatic clearance for acidic and neutral compounds was corrected by an empirical scaling factor. Predicted values (pharmacokinetic parameters, plasma concentration-time profile) were compared with observed data to evaluate the model accuracy. Of the 22 drugs, less than a 2-fold error was obtained for the terminal elimination half-life (t1/2 , 100% of drugs), peak plasma concentration (Cmax , 100%), area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC0-t , 95.4%), clearance (CLh , 95.4%), mean residence time (MRT, 95.4%) and steady state volume (Vss , 90.9%). The impact of fup errors on CLh and Vss prediction was evaluated. Errors in fup resulted in proportional errors in clearance prediction for low-clearance compounds, and in Vss prediction for high-volume neutral drugs. For high-volume basic drugs, errors in fup did not propagate to errors in Vss prediction. This is due to the cancellation of errors in the calculations for tissue partitioning of basic drugs. Overall, plasma profiles were well simulated with the present PBPK model. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  14. cAMP response element binding protein (CREB activates transcription via two distinct genetic elements of the human glucose-6-phosphatase gene

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stefano Luisa

    2005-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The enzyme glucose-6-phosphatase catalyzes the dephosphorylation of glucose-6-phosphatase to glucose, the final step in the gluconeogenic and glycogenolytic pathways. Expression of the glucose-6-phosphatase gene is induced by glucocorticoids and elevated levels of intracellular cAMP. The effect of cAMP in regulating glucose-6-phosphatase gene transcription was corroborated by the identification of two genetic motifs CRE1 and CRE2 in the human and murine glucose-6-phosphatase gene promoter that resemble cAMP response elements (CRE. Results The cAMP response element is a point of convergence for many extracellular and intracellular signals, including cAMP, calcium, and neurotrophins. The major CRE binding protein CREB, a member of the basic region leucine zipper (bZIP family of transcription factors, requires phosphorylation to become a biologically active transcriptional activator. Since unphosphorylated CREB is transcriptionally silent simple overexpression studies cannot be performed to test the biological role of CRE-like sequences of the glucose-6-phosphatase gene. The use of a constitutively active CREB2/CREB fusion protein allowed us to uncouple the investigation of target genes of CREB from the variety of signaling pathways that lead to an activation of CREB. Here, we show that this constitutively active CREB2/CREB fusion protein strikingly enhanced reporter gene transcription mediated by either CRE1 or CRE2 derived from the glucose-6-phosphatase gene. Likewise, reporter gene transcription was enhanced following expression of the catalytic subunit of cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA in the nucleus of transfected cells. In contrast, activating transcription factor 2 (ATF2, known to compete with CREB for binding to the canonical CRE sequence 5'-TGACGTCA-3', did not transactivate reporter genes containing CRE1, CRE2, or both CREs derived from the glucose-6-phosphatase gene. Conclusions Using a constitutively active CREB2

  15. BIOMARKERS S100B AND NSE PREDICT OUTCOME IN HYPOTHERMIA-TREATED ENCEPHALOPATHIC NEWBORNS

    Science.gov (United States)

    Massaro, An N.; Chang, Taeun; Baumgart, Stephen; McCarter, Robert; Nelson, Karin B.; Glass, Penny

    2014-01-01

    Objective To evaluate if serum S100B protein and neuron specific enolase (NSE) measured during therapeutic hypothermia are predictive of neurodevelopmental outcome at 15 months in children with neonatal encephalopathy (NE). Design Prospective longitudinal cohort study Setting A level IV neonatal intensive care unit in a free-standing children’s hospital. Patients Term newborns with moderate to severe NE referred for therapeutic hypothermia during the study period. Interventions Serum NSE and S100B were measured at 0, 12, 24 and 72 hrs of hypothermia. Measurements and Main Reseults Of the 83 infants were enrolled, fifteen (18%) died in the newborn period. Survivors were evaluated by the Bayley Scales of Infant Development (BSID-II) at 15 months of age. Outcomes were assessed in 49/68 (72%) survivors at a mean age of 15.2±2.7 months. Neurodevelopmental outcome was classified by BSID-II Mental (MDI) and Psychomotor (PDI) Developmental Index scores, reflecting cognitive and motor outcomes respectively. Four-level outcome classifications were defined a priori: normal= MDI/PDI within 1SD (>85), mild= MDI/PDI <1SD (70–85), moderate/severe= MDI/PDI <2SD (<70), or died. Elevated serum S100B and NSE levels measured during hypothermia were associated with increasing outcome severity after controlling for baseline and soceioeconomic characteristics in ordinal regression models. Adjusted odds ratios for cognitive outcome were: S100B 2.5 (95% CI 1.3–4.8) and NSE 2.1 (1.2–3.6); for motor outcome: S100B 2.6 (1.2–5.6) and NSE 2.1 (1.2–3.6). Conclusions Serum S100B and NSE levels in babies with NE are associated with neurodevelopmental outcome at 15 months. These putative biomarkers of brain injury may help direct care during therapeutic hypothermia. PMID:24777302

  16. The binding cavity of mouse major urinary protein is optimised for a variety of ligand binding modes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pertinhez, Thelma A.; Ferrari, Elena; Casali, Emanuela [Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Parma, Via Volturno, 39, 43100 Parma (Italy); Patel, Jital A. [Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QR (United Kingdom); Spisni, Alberto, E-mail: alberto.spisni@unipr.it [Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Parma, Via Volturno, 39, 43100 Parma (Italy); Smith, Lorna J., E-mail: lorna.smith@chem.ox.ac.uk [Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QR (United Kingdom)

    2009-12-25

    {sup 15}N and {sup 1}HN chemical shift data and {sup 15}N relaxation studies have been used to characterise the binding of N-phenyl-naphthylamine (NPN) to mouse major urinary protein (MUP). NPN binds in the {beta}-barrel cavity of MUP, hydrogen bonding to Tyr120 and making extensive non-bonded contacts with hydrophobic side chains. In contrast to the natural pheromone 2-sec-butyl-4,5-dihydrothiazole, NPN binding gives no change to the overall mobility of the protein backbone of MUP. Comparison with 11 different ligands that bind to MUP shows a range of binding modes involving 16 different residues in the {beta}-barrel cavity. These finding justify why MUP is able to adapt to allow for many successful binding partners.

  17. Identification of the proteins responsible for SAR DNA binding in nuclear matrix of ''Cucurbita pepo''

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rzepecki, R.; Markiewicz, E.; Szopa, J.

    1995-01-01

    The nuclear matrices from White bush (''Cucurbita pepo var. patisonina'') cell nuclei have been isolated using three methods: I, standard procedure involving extraction of cell nuclei with 2 M NaCl and 1% Triton X-100; II, the same with pre-treatment of cell nuclei with 0.5 mM CuSO 4 (stabilisation step); and III, method with extraction by lithium diiodosalicylate (LIS), and compared the polypeptide pattern. The isolated matrices specifically bind SAR DNA derived from human β-interferon gene in the exogenous SAR binding assay and in the gel mobility shift assay. Using IgG against the 32 kDa endonuclease we have found in the DNA-protein blot assay that this protein is one of the proteins binding SAR DNA. We have identified three proteins with molecular mass of 65 kDa, 60 kDa and 32 kDa which are responsible for SAR DNA binding in the gel mobility shift assay experiments. (author). 21 refs, 3 figs

  18. Photoaffinity labelling of high affinity dopamine binding proteins

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ross, G.M.; McCarry, B.E.; Mishra, R.K.

    1986-01-01

    A photoactive analogue of the dopamine agonist 2-amino-6,7-dihydroxy-1,2,3,4-tetrahydronapthalene (ADTN) has been synthesized and used to photoaffinity label dopamine binding proteins prepared from bovine caudate nucleus. N-(3-]N'-4-azidobenzamidol]-aminopropyl)-aminopropyl)-ADTN (AzB-AP-ADTN) was incubated with caudate membranes and irradiated with UV light. Membranes were then repeatedly washed by centrifugation to remove excess photolabel. A binding assay, using ( 3 H)-SCH 23390 (a D 1 specific antagonist), was then performed to evaluate the loss of receptor density in the photolyzed preparation. AzB-AP-ADTN irreversibly blocked ( 3 H)-SCH 23390 binding in a dose-dependent manner. Scatchard analysis revealed a decrease in the B/sub max/, with no significant change in the K/sub d/, of ( 3 H)-SCH 23390 binding. Compounds which compete for D 1 receptor binding (such as dopamine, SKF 38393 or apomorphine), proteted the SCH 23390 binding site from inactivation. This data would suggest that the novel photoaffinity ligand, AzB-AP-ADTN, can covalently label the D 1 (adenylate cyclase linked) dopamine receptor

  19. SECRET domain of variola virus CrmB protein can be a member of poxviral type II chemokine-binding proteins family

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shchelkunov Sergei N

    2010-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Variola virus (VARV the causative agent of smallpox, eradicated in 1980, have wide spectrum of immunomodulatory proteins to evade host immunity. Recently additional biological activity was discovered for VARV CrmB protein, known to bind and inhibit tumour necrosis factor (TNF through its N-terminal domain homologous to cellular TNF receptors. Besides binding TNF, this protein was also shown to bind with high affinity several chemokines which recruit B- and T-lymphocytes and dendritic cells to sites of viral entry and replication. Ability to bind chemokines was shown to be associated with unique C-terminal domain of CrmB protein. This domain named SECRET (Smallpox virus-Encoded Chemokine Receptor is unrelated to the host proteins and lacks significant homology with other known viral chemokine-binding proteins or any other known protein. Findings De novo modelling of VARV-CrmB SECRET domain spatial structure revealed its apparent structural homology with cowpox virus CC-chemokine binding protein (vCCI and vaccinia virus A41 protein, despite low sequence identity between these three proteins. Potential ligand-binding surface of modelled VARV-CrmB SECRET domain was also predicted to bear prominent electronegative charge which is characteristic to known orthopoxviral chemokine-binding proteins. Conclusions Our results suggest that SECRET should be included into the family of poxviral type II chemokine-binding proteins and that it might have been evolved from the vCCI-like predecessor protein.

  20. Ophthalmic acid accumulation in an Escherichia coli mutant lacking the conserved pyridoxal 5′-phosphate-binding protein YggS

    OpenAIRE

    Ito, Tomokazu; Yamauchi, Ayako; Hemmi, Hisashi; Yoshimura, Tohru

    2016-01-01

    Escherichia coli YggS is a highly conserved pyridoxal 5′-phosphate (PLP)-binding protein whose biochemical function is currently unknown. A previous study with a yggS-deficient E. coli strain (ΔyggS) demonstrated that YggS controls l-Ile- and l-Val-metabolism by modulating 2-ketobutyrate (2-KB), l-2-aminobutyrate (l-2-AB), and/or coenzyme A (CoA) availability in a PLP-dependent fashion. In this study, we found that ΔyggS accumulates an unknown metabolite as judged by amino acid analyses. LC/M...

  1. The role of the metastasis promoting protein S100A4 during EMT in mammary gland epithelial cells

    OpenAIRE

    Rognlien, Vibeke Wethe

    2013-01-01

    Master i biomedisin Breast cancer is one of the greatest contributors to mortality among the different cancer types in the female population of the western world each year. An increasing degree of evidence state that the S100A4 protein, which has been identified in several tumors of different origins and has proven to be associated with a poor patient prognosis, might have an important role in a process which induces carcinoma cells of the breast to gain a more motile and invas...

  2. Comparative in vitro effects of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin and selected polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons on cyp1a1 gene transcription in cells which contain or are deficient in the 4S binding protein

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kamps, C.; Safe, S.

    1990-01-01

    Using [ 3 H]-benzo[a]pyrene as the radioligand, several cell culture lines have been screened for the presence (or absence) of the 4S binding protein. Murine Hepa 1c1c7 cells contained both the 4S binding protein and the 9S (Ah) receptor whereas only the 9S receptor was detected in rat hepatoma H-4-II E cells in culture. The effects of a series of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) which included benzo[e]pyrene, benzo[ghi]perylene and 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) and their interactive effects on CYP1A1 gene transcription was determined by Northern analysis in both cell lines. The results showed that the PAHs which exhibited high affinity for the 4S binding protein were inactive as inducers in both cell lines; TCDD was active in both cell lines and the interactive effects between the PAHs and TCDD did not significantly modulate TCDD-mediated CYP1A1 gene transcription. The results suggest that the 4S binding protein does not regulate CYP1A1 gene transcription

  3. A microscopic insight from conformational thermodynamics to functional ligand binding in proteins.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sikdar, Samapan; Chakrabarti, J; Ghosh, Mahua

    2014-12-01

    We show that the thermodynamics of metal ion-induced conformational changes aid to understand the functions of protein complexes. This is illustrated in the case of a metalloprotein, alpha-lactalbumin (aLA), a divalent metal ion binding protein. We use the histograms of dihedral angles of the protein, generated from all-atom molecular dynamics simulations, to calculate conformational thermodynamics. The thermodynamically destabilized and disordered residues in different conformational states of a protein are proposed to serve as binding sites for ligands. This is tested for β-1,4-galactosyltransferase (β4GalT) binding to the Ca(2+)-aLA complex, in which the binding residues are known. Among the binding residues, the C-terminal residues like aspartate (D) 116, glutamine (Q) 117, tryptophan (W) 118 and leucine (L) 119 are destabilized and disordered and can dock β4GalT onto Ca(2+)-aLA. No such thermodynamically favourable binding residues can be identified in the case of the Mg(2+)-aLA complex. We apply similar analysis to oleic acid binding and predict that the Ca(2+)-aLA complex can bind to oleic acid through the basic histidine (H) 32 of the A2 helix and the hydrophobic residues, namely, isoleucine (I) 59, W60 and I95, of the interfacial cleft. However, the number of destabilized and disordered residues in Mg(2+)-aLA are few, and hence, the oleic acid binding to Mg(2+)-bound aLA is less stable than that to the Ca(2+)-aLA complex. Our analysis can be generalized to understand the functionality of other ligand bound proteins.

  4. Structure and ligand-binding properties of the biogenic amine-binding protein from the saliva of a blood-feeding insect vector of Trypanosoma cruzi

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Xu, Xueqing; Chang, Bianca W. [NIH/NIAID, 12735 Twinbrook Parkway, Rockville, MD 20852 (United States); Mans, Ben J. [NIH/NIAID, 12735 Twinbrook Parkway, Rockville, MD 20852 (United States); Agricultural Research Council, Onderstepoort 0110 (South Africa); Ribeiro, Jose M. C.; Andersen, John F., E-mail: jandersen@niaid.nih.gov [NIH/NIAID, 12735 Twinbrook Parkway, Rockville, MD 20852 (United States)

    2013-01-01

    Biogenic amine-binding proteins mediate the anti-inflammatory and antihemostatic activities of blood-feeding insect saliva. The structure of the amine-binding protein from R. prolixus reveals the interaction of biogenic amine ligands with the protein. Proteins that bind small-molecule mediators of inflammation and hemostasis are essential for blood-feeding by arthropod vectors of infectious disease. In ticks and triatomine insects, the lipocalin protein family is greatly expanded and members have been shown to bind biogenic amines, eicosanoids and ADP. These compounds are potent mediators of platelet activation, inflammation and vascular tone. In this paper, the structure of the amine-binding protein (ABP) from Rhodnius prolixus, a vector of the trypanosome that causes Chagas disease, is described. ABP binds the biogenic amines serotonin and norepinephrine with high affinity. A complex with tryptamine shows the presence of a binding site for a single ligand molecule in the central cavity of the β-barrel structure. The cavity contains significant additional volume, suggesting that this protein may have evolved from the related nitrophorin proteins, which bind a much larger heme ligand in the central cavity.

  5. Structure and ligand-binding properties of the biogenic amine-binding protein from the saliva of a blood-feeding insect vector of Trypanosoma cruzi

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xu, Xueqing; Chang, Bianca W.; Mans, Ben J.; Ribeiro, Jose M. C.; Andersen, John F.

    2013-01-01

    Biogenic amine-binding proteins mediate the anti-inflammatory and antihemostatic activities of blood-feeding insect saliva. The structure of the amine-binding protein from R. prolixus reveals the interaction of biogenic amine ligands with the protein. Proteins that bind small-molecule mediators of inflammation and hemostasis are essential for blood-feeding by arthropod vectors of infectious disease. In ticks and triatomine insects, the lipocalin protein family is greatly expanded and members have been shown to bind biogenic amines, eicosanoids and ADP. These compounds are potent mediators of platelet activation, inflammation and vascular tone. In this paper, the structure of the amine-binding protein (ABP) from Rhodnius prolixus, a vector of the trypanosome that causes Chagas disease, is described. ABP binds the biogenic amines serotonin and norepinephrine with high affinity. A complex with tryptamine shows the presence of a binding site for a single ligand molecule in the central cavity of the β-barrel structure. The cavity contains significant additional volume, suggesting that this protein may have evolved from the related nitrophorin proteins, which bind a much larger heme ligand in the central cavity

  6. Identification of RNAIII-binding proteins in Staphylococcus aureus using tethered RNAs and streptavidin aptamers based pull-down assay.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Xu; Zhu, Qing; Tian, Tian; Zhao, Changlong; Zang, Jianye; Xue, Ting; Sun, Baolin

    2015-05-15

    It has been widely recognized that small RNAs (sRNAs) play important roles in physiology and virulence control in bacteria. In Staphylococcus aureus, many sRNAs have been identified and some of them have been functionally studied. Since it is difficult to identify RNA-binding proteins (RBPs), very little has been known about the RBPs in S. aureus, especially those associated with sRNAs. Here we adopted a tRNA scaffold streptavidin aptamer based pull-down assay to identify RBPs in S. aureus. The tethered RNA was successfully captured by the streptavidin magnetic beads, and proteins binding to RNAIII were isolated and analyzed by mass spectrometry. We have identified 81 proteins, and expressed heterologously 9 of them in Escherichia coli. The binding ability of the recombinant proteins with RNAIII was further analyzed by electrophoresis mobility shift assay, and the result indicates that proteins CshA, RNase J2, Era, Hu, WalR, Pyk, and FtsZ can bind to RNAIII. This study suggests that some proteins can bind to RNA III in S. aureus, and may be involved in RNA III function. And tRSA based pull-down assay is an effective method to search for RBPs in bacteria, which should facilitate the identification and functional study of RBPs in diverse bacterial species.

  7. Structures of Orf Virus Chemokine Binding Protein in Complex with Host Chemokines Reveal Clues to Broad Binding Specificity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Couñago, Rafael M; Knapp, Karen M; Nakatani, Yoshio; Fleming, Stephen B; Corbett, Michael; Wise, Lyn M; Mercer, Andrew A; Krause, Kurt L

    2015-07-07

    The chemokine binding protein (CKBP) from orf virus (ORFV) binds with high affinity to chemokines from three classes, C, CC, and CXC, making it unique among poxvirus CKBPs described to date. We present its crystal structure alone and in complex with three CC chemokines, CCL2, CCL3, and CCL7. ORFV CKBP possesses a β-sandwich fold that is electrostatically and sterically complementary to its binding partners. Chemokines bind primarily through interactions involving the N-terminal loop and a hydrophobic recess on the ORFV CKBP β-sheet II surface, and largely polar interactions between the chemokine 20s loop and a negatively charged surface groove located at one end of the CKBP β-sheet II surface. ORFV CKBP interacts with leukocyte receptor and glycosaminoglycan binding sites found on the surface of bound chemokines. SEC-MALLS and chromatographic evidence is presented supporting that ORFV CKBP is a dimer in solution over a broad range of protein concentrations. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. RNA-binding proteins involved in post-transcriptional regulation in bacteria

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elke eVan Assche

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Post-transcriptional regulation is a very important mechanism to control gene expression in changing environments. In the past decade, a lot of interest has been directed towards the role of small RNAs in bacterial post-transcriptional regulation. However, small RNAs are not the only molecules controlling gene expression at this level, RNA-binding proteins play an important role as well. CsrA and Hfq are the two best studied bacterial proteins of this type, but recently, additional proteins involved in post-transcriptional control have been identified. This review focuses on the general working mechanisms of post-transcriptionally active RNA-binding proteins, which include (i adaptation of the susceptibility of mRNAs and sRNAs to RNases, (ii modulating the accessibility of the ribosome binding site of mRNAs, (iii recruiting and assisting in the interaction of mRNAs with other molecules and (iv regulating transcription terminator / antiterminator formation, and gives an overview of both the well-studied and the newly identified proteins that are involved in post-transcriptional regulatory processes. Additionally, the post-transcriptional mechanisms by which the expression or the activity of these proteins is regulated, are described. For many of the newly identified proteins, however, mechanistic questions remain. Most likely, more post-transcriptionally active proteins will be identified in the future.

  9. Serum S100B: A possible biomarker for severity of obstructive sleep apnea

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eman Riad

    2017-10-01

    Conclusion: Serum S100B protein was significantly elevated in OSA patients and its serum levels correlated with the severity of the disease. Increased serum S100B could indicat brain injury and could be a potential serum biomarker for detection of early neurological complications in OSA patients that could improve the management and care of these patients.

  10. De novo design and engineering of functional metal and porphyrin-binding protein domains

    Science.gov (United States)

    Everson, Bernard H.

    In this work, I describe an approach to the rational, iterative design and characterization of two functional cofactor-binding protein domains. First, a hybrid computational/experimental method was developed with the aim of algorithmically generating a suite of porphyrin-binding protein sequences with minimal mutual sequence information. This method was explored by generating libraries of sequences, which were then expressed and evaluated for function. One successful sequence is shown to bind a variety of porphyrin-like cofactors, and exhibits light- activated electron transfer in mixed hemin:chlorin e6 and hemin:Zn(II)-protoporphyrin IX complexes. These results imply that many sophisticated functions such as cofactor binding and electron transfer require only a very small number of residue positions in a protein sequence to be fixed. Net charge and hydrophobic content are important in determining protein solubility and stability. Accordingly, rational modifications were made to the aforementioned design procedure in order to improve its overall success rate. The effects of these modifications are explored using two `next-generation' sequence libraries, which were separately expressed and evaluated. Particular modifications to these design parameters are demonstrated to effectively double the purification success rate of the procedure. Finally, I describe the redesign of the artificial di-iron protein DF2 into CDM13, a single chain di-Manganese four-helix bundle. CDM13 acts as a functional model of natural manganese catalase, exhibiting a kcat of 0.08s-1 under steady-state conditions. The bound manganese cofactors have a reduction potential of +805 mV vs NHE, which is too high for efficient dismutation of hydrogen peroxide. These results indicate that as a high-potential manganese complex, CDM13 may represent a promising first step toward a polypeptide model of the Oxygen Evolving Complex of the photosynthetic enzyme Photosystem II.

  11. Overexpression, purification and crystallization of a choline-binding protein CbpI from Streptococcus pneumoniae

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Paterson, Neil G.; Riboldi-Tunicliffe, Alan; Mitchell, Timothy J.; Isaacs, Neil W.

    2006-01-01

    The choline-binding protein CbpI from S. pneumoniae has been purified and crystallized and diffraction data have been collected to 3.5 Å resolution. The choline-binding protein CbpI from Streptococcus pneumoniae is a 23.4 kDa protein with no known function. The protein has been successfully purified initially using Ni–NTA chromatography and to homogeneity using Q-Sepharose ion-exchange resin as an affinity column. CbpI was crystallized using PEG 3350 as a precipitant and X-ray crystallographic analysis showed that the crystals belonged to the tetragonal space group P4, with unit-cell parameters a = b = 83.31, c = 80.29 Å, α = β = γ = 90°. The crystal contains two molecules in the asymmetric unit with a solvent content of 55.7% (V M = 2.77 Å 3 Da −1 ) and shows a diffraction limit of 3.5 Å

  12. Overexpression, purification and crystallization of a choline-binding protein CbpI from Streptococcus pneumoniae

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Paterson, Neil G., E-mail: neison@chem.gla.ac.uk; Riboldi-Tunicliffe, Alan [Department of Chemistry and WestCHEM, Glasgow Biomedical Research Centre (GBRC), University of Glasgow, 120 University Place, Glasgow G12 8TA,Scotland (United Kingdom); Mitchell, Timothy J. [Division of Infection and Immunity (IBLS), Glasgow Biomedical Research Centre (GBRC), University of Glasgow, 120 University Place, Glasgow G12 8TA,Scotland (United Kingdom); Isaacs, Neil W. [Department of Chemistry and WestCHEM, Glasgow Biomedical Research Centre (GBRC), University of Glasgow, 120 University Place, Glasgow G12 8TA,Scotland (United Kingdom)

    2006-07-01

    The choline-binding protein CbpI from S. pneumoniae has been purified and crystallized and diffraction data have been collected to 3.5 Å resolution. The choline-binding protein CbpI from Streptococcus pneumoniae is a 23.4 kDa protein with no known function. The protein has been successfully purified initially using Ni–NTA chromatography and to homogeneity using Q-Sepharose ion-exchange resin as an affinity column. CbpI was crystallized using PEG 3350 as a precipitant and X-ray crystallographic analysis showed that the crystals belonged to the tetragonal space group P4, with unit-cell parameters a = b = 83.31, c = 80.29 Å, α = β = γ = 90°. The crystal contains two molecules in the asymmetric unit with a solvent content of 55.7% (V{sub M} = 2.77 Å{sup 3} Da{sup −1}) and shows a diffraction limit of 3.5 Å.

  13. Crystal structure of the UBR-box from UBR6/FBXO11 reveals domain swapping mediated by zinc binding.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muñoz-Escobar, Juliana; Kozlov, Guennadi; Gehring, Kalle

    2017-10-01

    The UBR-box is a 70-residue zinc finger domain present in the UBR family of E3 ubiquitin ligases that directly binds N-terminal degradation signals in substrate proteins. UBR6, also called FBXO11, is an UBR-box containing E3 ubiquitin ligase that does not bind N-terminal signals. Here, we present the crystal structure of the UBR-box domain from human UBR6. The dimeric crystal structure reveals a unique form of domain swapping mediated by zinc coordination, where three independent protein chains come together to regenerate the topology of the monomeric UBR-box fold. Analysis of the structure suggests that the absence of N-terminal residue binding arises from the lack of an amino acid binding pocket. © 2017 The Authors Protein Science published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of The Protein Society.

  14. Expression of S100A4, ephrin-A1 and osteopontin in non-small cell lung cancer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rud, Ane Kongsgaard; Lund-Iversen, Marius; Berge, Gisle; Brustugun, Odd Terje; Solberg, Steinar K; Mælandsmo, Gunhild M; Boye, Kjetil

    2012-01-01

    The metastasis-promoting protein S100A4 induces expression of ephrin-A1 and osteopontin in osteosarcoma cell lines. The aim of this study was to investigate S100A4-mediated stimulation of ephrin-A1 and osteopontin in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell lines, and to characterize the expression of these biomarkers in primary tumor tissue from NSCLC patients. Four NSCLC cell lines were treated with extracellular S100A4, and ephrin-A1 and osteopontin expression was analyzed by real time RT-PCR and Western blotting. Immunohistochemical staining for S100A4, ephrin-A1 and osteopontin was performed on tissue microarrays containing primary tumor samples from a cohort of 217 prospectively recruited NSCLC patients, and associations with clinicopathological parameters were investigated. S100A4 induced ephrin-A1 mRNA and protein expression in adenocarcinoma, but not in squamous carcinoma cell lines, whereas the level of osteopontin was unaffected by S100A4 treatment. In primary tumors, moderate or strong immunoreactivity was observed in 57% of cases for cytoplasmic S100A4, 46% for nuclear S100A4, 86% for ephrin-A1 and 77% for osteopontin. Interestingly, S100A4 expression was associated with ephrin-A1 also in vivo, but there was no association between S100A4 and osteopontin. Expression levels of S100A4 and ephrin-A1 were significantly higher in adenocarcinomas compared to other histological subtypes, and S100A4-positive tumors were smaller and more differentiated than tumors without expression. Our findings suggest that S100A4, ephrin-A1 and osteopontin are involved in the biology of NSCLC, and further investigation of their potential use as biomarkers in NSCLC is warranted

  15. Insulin-like growth factor binding protein-2: contributions of the C-terminal domain to insulin-like growth factor-1 binding.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kibbey, Megan M; Jameson, Mark J; Eaton, Erin M; Rosenzweig, Steven A

    2006-03-01

    Signaling by the insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1 receptor (IGF-1R) has been implicated in the promotion and aggressiveness of breast, prostate, colorectal, and lung cancers. The IGF binding proteins (IGFBPs) represent a class of natural IGF antagonists that bind to and sequester IGF-1/2 from the IGF-1R, making them attractive candidates as therapeutics for cancer prevention and control. Recombinant human IGFBP-2 significantly attenuated IGF-1-stimulated MCF-7 cell proliferation with coaddition of 20 or 100 nM IGFBP-2 (50 or 80% inhibition, respectively). We previously identified IGF-1 contact sites both upstream and downstream of the CWCV motif (residues 247-250) in human IGFBP-2 (J Biol Chem 276:2880-2889, 2001). To further test their contributions to IGFBP-2 function, the single tryptophan in human IGFBP-2, Trp-248, was selectively cleaved with 2-(2'nitrophenylsulfenyl)-3-methyl-3 bromoindolenine (BNPS-skatole) and the BNPS-skatole products IGFBP-2(1-248) and IGFBP-2(249-289) as well as IGFBP-2(1-190) were expressed as glutathione S-transferase-fusion proteins and purified. Based on competition binding analysis, deletion of residues 249 to 289 caused an approximately 20-fold decrease in IGF-1 binding affinity (IGFBP-2 EC50 = 0.35 nM and IGFBP-2(1-248) = 7 nM). Removal of the remainder of the C-terminal domain had no further effect on affinity (IGFBP-2(1-190) EC50 = 9.2 nM). In kinetic assays, IGFBP-2(1-248) and IGFBP-2(1-190) exhibited more rapid association and dissociation rates than full-length IGFBP-2. These results confirm that regions upstream and downstream of the CWCV motif participate in IGF-1 binding. They further support the development of full-length IGFBP-2 as a cancer therapeutic.

  16. Clusters of basic amino acids contribute to RNA binding and nucleolar localization of ribosomal protein L22.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jennifer L Houmani

    Full Text Available The ribosomal protein L22 is a component of the 60S eukaryotic ribosomal subunit. As an RNA-binding protein, it has been shown to interact with both cellular and viral RNAs including 28S rRNA and the Epstein-Barr virus encoded RNA, EBER-1. L22 is localized to the cell nucleus where it accumulates in nucleoli. Although previous studies demonstrated that a specific amino acid sequence is required for nucleolar localization, the RNA-binding domain has not been identified. Here, we investigated the hypothesis that the nucleolar accumulation of L22 is linked to its ability to bind RNA. To address this hypothesis, mutated L22 proteins were generated to assess the contribution of specific amino acids to RNA binding and protein localization. Using RNA-protein binding assays, we demonstrate that basic amino acids 80-93 are required for high affinity binding of 28S rRNA and EBER-1 by L22. Fluorescence localization studies using GFP-tagged mutated L22 proteins further reveal that basic amino acids 80-93 are critical for nucleolar accumulation and for incorporation into ribosomes. Our data support the growing consensus that the nucleolar accumulation of ribosomal proteins may not be mediated by a defined localization signal, but rather by specific interaction with established nucleolar components such as rRNA.

  17. The Biochemistry and Regulation of S100A10: A Multifunctional Plasminogen Receptor Involved in Oncogenesis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Patricia A. Madureira

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available The plasminogen receptors mediate the production and localization to the cell surface of the broad spectrum proteinase, plasmin. S100A10 is a key regulator of cellular plasmin production and may account for as much as 50% of cellular plasmin generation. In parallel to plasminogen, the plasminogen-binding site on S100A10 is highly conserved from mammals to fish. S100A10 is constitutively expressed in many cells and is also induced by many diverse factors and physiological stimuli including dexamethasone, epidermal growth factor, transforming growth factor-α, interferon-γ, nerve growth factor, keratinocyte growth factor, retinoic acid, and thrombin. Therefore, S100A10 is utilized by cells to regulate plasmin proteolytic activity in response to a wide diversity of physiological stimuli. The expression of the oncogenes, PML-RARα and KRas, also stimulates the levels of S100A10, suggesting a role for S100A10 in pathophysiological processes such as in the oncogenic-mediated increases in plasmin production. The S100A10-null mouse model system has established the critical role that S100A10 plays as a regulator of fibrinolysis and oncogenesis. S100A10 plays two major roles in oncogenesis, first as a regulator of cancer cell invasion and metastasis and secondly as a regulator of the recruitment of tumor-associated cells, such as macrophages, to the tumor site.

  18. The Human Antimicrobial Protein Calgranulin C Participates in Control of Helicobacter pylori Growth and Regulation of Virulence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haley, Kathryn P; Delgado, Alberto G; Piazuelo, M Blanca; Mortensen, Brittany L; Correa, Pelayo; Damo, Steven M; Chazin, Walter J; Skaar, Eric P; Gaddy, Jennifer A

    2015-07-01

    During infectious processes, antimicrobial proteins are produced by both epithelial cells and innate immune cells. Some of these antimicrobial molecules function by targeting transition metals and sequestering these metals in a process referred to as "nutritional immunity." This chelation strategy ultimately starves invading pathogens, limiting their growth within the vertebrate host. Recent evidence suggests that these metal-binding antimicrobial molecules have the capacity to affect bacterial virulence, including toxin secretion systems. Our previous work showed that the S100A8/S100A9 heterodimer (calprotectin, or calgranulin A/B) binds zinc and represses the elaboration of the H. pylori cag type IV secretion system (T4SS). However, there are several other S100 proteins that are produced in response to infection. We hypothesized that the zinc-binding protein S100A12 (calgranulin C) is induced in response to H. pylori infection and also plays a role in controlling H. pylori growth and virulence. To test this, we analyzed gastric biopsy specimens from H. pylori-positive and -negative patients for S100A12 expression. These assays showed that S100A12 is induced in response to H. pylori infection and inhibits bacterial growth and viability in vitro by binding nutrient zinc. Furthermore, the data establish that the zinc-binding activity of the S100A12 protein represses the activity of the cag T4SS, as evidenced by the gastric cell "hummingbird" phenotype, interleukin 8 (IL-8) secretion, and CagA translocation assays. In addition, high-resolution field emission gun scanning electron microscopy (FEG-SEM) was used to demonstrate that S100A12 represses biogenesis of the cag T4SS. Together with our previous work, these data reveal that multiple S100 proteins can repress the elaboration of an oncogenic bacterial surface organelle. Copyright © 2015, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

  19. Expression of the calcium-binding proteins MRP8 and MRP14 in monocytes is regulated by a calcium-induced suppressor mechanism.

    OpenAIRE

    Roth, J; Goebeler, M; Wrocklage, V; van den Bos, C; Sorg, C

    1994-01-01

    MRP8 and MRP14 are two calcium-binding proteins of the S-100 family the expression of which is restricted to distinct stages of monocytic differentiation. Heteromeric MRP8/MRP14 complexes have been shown to represent their biologically active forms. However, it is not as yet clear whether biochemical modification of complexes, or regulation on the transcriptional level, are responsible for the control of MRP8/MRP14 expression. Employing Western-blot analysis and metabolic labelling we have de...

  20. [Analysis of the mRNA expression of the S100β protein in adipocytes of patients with diabetes mellitus, type 2].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hamasaki, Mike Yoshio; Hirata, Mario Hiroyuki; Hirata, Rosario Dominguez Crespo; Himelfarb, Silvia Tchernin; Campos, Leila Maria Guissoni; Nogueira, Maria Inês

    2012-10-01

    This study aims to explore the possible relationship between the expression level of S100β protein mRNA with diabetes mellitus type 2 in adipocytes from patients with this disease in comparison with normoglycemic individuals. Samples of adipose tissue of eight patients from the coronary section of the Institute Dante Pazzanese of Cardiology (IDPC), four in Group Diabetes and four of Normoglycemic group, were evaluated by RT-PCR real time. An increase around 15 times values, between the threshold cycle (ΔCt), of mRNA expression of S100β protein in adipocytes of the diabetes group was observed in comparison to the control group (p = 0.015). Our results indicate, for the first time, that there is coexistence of increased expression of the S100β and the type 2 diabetes mellitus gene.