Protein and Peptide Letters - Volume 14, Issue 3, 2007

Synthesis of thirteen new analogues of arginine vasopressin (AVP) has been described. Amino acid residues at positions 2 and 3 of AVP, [3-mercaptopropionic acid (Mpa)1]AVP (dAVP), [Mpa1,D-Arg8]VP (dDAVP) and [Mpa1,Val4,D-Arg8]VP (dVDAVP) were replaced with one amino acid residue using sterically constrained nonproteinogenic amino acids, 4-aminobenzoic acid (Abz), cis-4-aminocyclohexanecarboxylic acid (a Read More

The fast-twitch SERCA1 isoform of the sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase was purified to homogeneity and conjugated to peroxidase. The SERCA1 probe showed high affinity binding to the immobilized monomeric enzyme, but not crosslinker-stabilized oligomers. This suggests a preferential complex formation via homo-dimerization, rather than interactions with established oligomeric structures.

Comparative substrate analysis of full-length bovine enteropeptidase and trypsin, bovine and human enteropeptidase light chains was performed using model N-terminal dodecapeptides corresponding to wild-type human trypsinogen and pancreatitis-associated mutant trypsinogens K23R and D22G. The substitution of Lys residue by Arg at P1 leads to 2- fold increase in the efficiency of enteropeptidase hydrolysis; the absence o Read More

The lone oligosaccharide chain of stem bromelain was oxidized with periodic acid to generate aldehyde groups and the resulting oxidized enzyme coupled to amino-Sepharose in order to obtain an immobilized preparation with uniformly oriented enzyme. The immobilized bromelain exhibited high proteolytic activity and remarkably enhanced thermal stability as compared to soluble bromelain and that coupled to CNBr activate Read More

Investigations of the pathways involved in the metabolism of endocannabinoids have grown exponentially in recent years following the discovery of cannabinoid receptors (CB) and their endogenous ligands, such as anandamide (AEA) and 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG). The in vivo biosynthesis of AEA has been shown to occur through several pathways mediated by N-acylphosphatidylethanolamide-phospholipase D (NAPE-PLD), a s Read More

BmK AngM1, a scorpion peptide isolated from Buthus martensii Karch was reported to exhibit potential analgesic effect. But the relative low content of this toxin in crude venom limits its further characterization. In this study, we constructed an expression vector and transformed into E.coli. The BmK AngM1 was expressed as a fusion protein in the soluble fraction and was purified by Nickel affinity chromatography. Sub Read More

Sec2p is an essential yeast gene and is part of the cell polarization process that leads to budding. The Nterminal domain of sec2p (Sec2pN) the guanine-nucleotide exchange factor for sec4p has been expressed in Escherichia coli, purified, and crystallized. Crystals belong to the space group P21 with unit cell dimensions 178.1 x 98.4 x 180.0 Å,β = 91.7°, and diffract synchrotron-generated X-rays to better than 3.6 Å resolution. Read More

Highly efficient coupling reagents, N-methanesulphonyloxy-2-phenyl benzimidazole and N - ptoluenesulphonyloxy- 2-phenyl benzimidazole were designed, synthesized and successfully applied in peptide coupling reactions. Their efficiency was evaluated by synthesizing a number of structurally different amides and peptides as well. The distereomeric purity was examined by HPLC. Also the optical rotations of all the s Read More

As part of structural investigations of components of the molecular motor, dynein, we prepared the light chain, Robl1_mouse, with and without an N-terminal His-tag. We found that the His-tag introduced a spurious binding site for a second protein, IC74. We propose a molecular mechanism for functional interference by the His-tag.

Boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are quite attractive techniques for treatment and diagnosis of cancer, respectively. In order to develop practical materials utilizing both for BNCT and MRI, fluorinated p-boronophenylalanines and their alcohol derivatives had already been designed and synthesized. In the present paper the cytotoxicity, the incorporated amount into cancer cells Read More

With the advances in genomics, molecular biology including gene vector technologies today's molecular imaging modalities have strongly been improved. The major progress is based on peptide and antibody targeting vectors. When labeled with β-emitting radioisotopes these agents are applicable for endoradiotherapy and exploit the targeting potential for highly specific therapeutic applications. This novel class of pharm Read More

The bacterial phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP):sugar phosphotransferase system (PTS), formed by a cascade of several proteins, mediates the uptake and phosphorylation of carbohydrates, and it is also involved in signal transduction. Its uniqueness in bacteria makes the PTS a target for new antibacterial drugs. These drugs can be obtained from peptides or proteins fragments able to interfere the first step of the protein casc Read More

To investigate diverse enzyme structure-function combination (SFC) types in different species, 34 different genome sequences were annotated using the protein catalytic domain database SCOPEC (http://www.enzome.com/ enzome/), in which both the structure and function for each entry are known. Annotated enzymes with catalytic domains from the same SCOP superfamily are considered to have an identical structure. Read More

A synthetic peptide termed core peptide (CP), which corresponds to a specific sequence of the TCR-α chain transmembrane domain, is known to inhibit IL-2 production in antigen stimulated T-cells. The molecular mechanism of the TCR inhibition is not known. This study examined the effects of CP on TCR subunit assembly and TCR cell surface expression in vitro. Co-transfection experiments between TCR-α and CD3-δ using COS- Read More