Protein and Peptide Letters - Volume 8, Issue 2, 2001

Crystal structure of a two-chain lectin, isolated from the tuber of Trichosanthes kirilowii, was solved by the molecular replacement method using abrin-a as probe. From the present density map at 2.7A resolution, it could be seen that a residue corresponding to an invariant tyrosine locating in the active site of ribosome-inactivating proteins (RIPs) is replaced with a non-aromatic one. This may be the reason why this kind of lecti Read More

MB-1 is a de novo protein designed to incorporate amino acids required for dairy cow nutrition while folding into a four-helix-bundle. Analysis shows that, as per design, MB-1 is a largely helical protein but appears to be dimeric and shows less stability than expected. Recent evidence indicates that the loop regions in MB-1 may have been under-designed. The variant, MB-16, described here attempts to correct potentially detrim Read More

The coding sequence of the surface antigen HBsAg of hepatitis B virus was cloned into a plant expression vector under the control of cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter. Cotyledons, hypocotyls and roots of lettuce cultivar Vitória were transformed by cocultivation with Agrobacterium tumefaciens harbouring the recombinant plasmid. Lettuce callus tissue grown on selective medium was analysed and the presence of th Read More

The circular dichroism spectrum in the far UV-region (190-240 nm) indicates that the acid protease from Aspergillus saitoi contains appreciable amounts of beta-sheet. The structure-activity relationship of the protein is studied as a function of the pH.

Potato genotypes that differ in their resistance to Andean Potato Mottle Virus (APMoV) were analyzed regarding their response to stress induced by APMoV inoculation. Using 1- and 2-D electrophoretic analysis, a substantial difference was observed between the patterns of induced / reduced polypeptides in the leaves of susceptible plants (cv. Delta) and resistant ones (cv. Bintje). Western blot analysis indicates the presence of Read More

A repeating 11-mer amino acid sequence motif, first recognized in plant seed proteins, has been observed in such diverse organisms as the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans and the eubacteria Haemophilus influenzae and Dienococcus radiodurans. Amino acid preferences at each position in the motif are presented, as are dot matrix sequence comparisons between several of the proteins harboring the repeating m Read More

Mono- and di-substituted triazines were appended to the side chain of lysine or ornithine, which was then used in the synthesis of peptides. In this way, environment-sensitive reporter groups can be included in a sequence-specific manner in a peptide. The triazine adducts are stable to standard conditions employed in peptide synthesis. Several model peptides showing the utility of these conjugates were prepared

Recombinant human Persephin (PSP) has been expressed at high levels in recombinant baculavirus infected Trichoplusia ni (Tn-5B1-4) cells. The expressed protein was purified by nickel affinity chromatography. Pure, recombinant human PSP promoted the survival of embryonic motor neurons in vitro but failed to protect adult rat spinal cord motor neurons after sciatic nerve transection in vivo. Because recombinant bio Read More

ABri is a 34 residue polypeptide that forms amyloid fibrils in Familial British Dementia (FBD). A PSI-Blast search, 3 different fold recognition programs and 3D model-building indicated that it has 3 beta-strands forming an antiparallel beta-sheet and a small C-terminal alpha-helix. In order to validate the prediction, the region coding the ABri polypeptide was cloned, expressed and purified from E. Coli. Circular Dichroism (CD Read More

[Phe(4F)97]CART55-102 was synthesized by a solid-phase method. Hydrogen fluoride was used to deprotect and cleave the peptide from the resin except for Acm groups and a Met(0) residue. The product was treated with dithiothreitol to remove a sulfoxide group of Met(0) residue and then treated with Hg(OAc)2 in 50percent aqueous AcOH to remove Acm groups. The reduced peptide was subjected to oxidative folding to fo Read More

The peptide analogues of cholecystokinin (CCK) fragment 26-33 in which phenylalanine residue at the 33th position are replaced by phenylglycine [Phg], 1-naphthylalanine [1-Nal], 4-fluorophenylalanine [Phe(4F)], cyclohexylalanine [cHex] and O-methyltyrosine [Tyr(Me)], were synthesized by a solid-phase method and the feeding significance of the aromatic amino acid of this position was comparatively investigated. The in vivo Read More