Current Protein and Peptide Science - Volume 6, Issue 4, 2005

The existence of surface guided electromagnetic waves has been theoretically predicted from Maxwell's equations and investigated during the first decades of the 20th century. However, it is only since the late 1960's that they have attracted the interest of surface physicists and earned the moniker of “surface plasmon”. With the advent of commercially available instruments and well established theories, the technique has b Read More

The Serratia marcescens hemolysin represents the prototype of a growing family of pore forming toxins. The available bacterial genome sequences reveal Serratia hemolysin homologues in additional species. However, only S. marcescens hemolysin has been studied in great molecular detail. This family of toxins has nothing in common with the pore forming toxins of E. coli type (RTX toxins), the Staphylococcu Read More

Regulation of energy balance consists of two intertwined circuitries: food intake - metabolic rate - body weight, vs. metabolic rate - heat loss - body temperature. Metabolic rate serves interaction between the two. Some peptides influence individual components of energy homeostasis, without having coordinated anabolic or catabolic properties. Anabolic and catabolic peptides function with redundancy, and also show specific fe Read More

The brain renin-angiotensin system enables the formation of different biological active forms of angiotensins within the brain. All enzymes and peptides necessary for the biosynthesis of these angiotensins have been recognized within the central nervous system. Since there are considerable mismatches concerning the localization of the different enzymes, this system is not fully understood. Moreover, since alter Read More

Secretoneurin (SN) represents a 33 amino acid neuropeptide, which is highly conserved between mammals, reptiles, birds, amphibians and fish. It is specifically expressed in endocrine, neuroendocrine and neuronal tissues. In brain, the pattern of SN expression is widespread and unique, partially overlapping with established neurotransmitters. ProSN, the precursor protein, also named secretogranin II, belongs to a class of Read More

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) has become a common tool for biophysical studies of proteins; mainly due its property to perform characterizations near physiological conditions. The tertiary and quaternary structures, forces driving folding-unfolding processes, and secondary structure elements can be studied in their native environments allowing high resolution level associated with small distortions. This review outlines the oper Read More