Protein and Peptide Letters - Volume 8, Issue 4, 2001

The major lipid transfer protein has been purified from sunflower seeds and its amino acid sequence determined. An homology model has been built based on the rice LTP, which suggests that the protein can bind palmitic acid. The sequence may therefore correspond to previously characterized proteins with lipid transfer and antifungal activities.

The stability of three related subtilisin -like proteinases a proteinase from a psychrotrophic Vibrio-species, proteinase K and aqualysin I from the thermophile Thermus aquaticus, to denaturation by GdmSCN, was measured in the presence and absence of selected lyotropic salts (sulfate and thiocyanate). How these salts affect protein stability has been ascribed to their effect on the strength of hydrophobic interactions. The s Read More

The knowledge based correlation mapping (KBCM) is devised here as a unified measure of the information on antigen-antibody complexes available in the Protein Data Banks. This mapping is estimated from a random training sample using a Hopfield Network while representing the epitope and paratope in a complex as 3-dimensional attributed graphs. Identification of paratopes on immunoglobulins against given epi Read More

Affinity chromatography on Ni-nitrilotriacetic acid agarose was used to purify human mu-opioid receptors overexpressed in Sf9 cells. We introduced a tag of 6 consecutive histidines at its carboxyl terminus for easy purification of recombinant proteins. The binding activity and identification of the purified receptor were determined by receptor binding assay, SDS-PAGE and Western blotting analysis. This procedure used in the paper Read More

The native gene information of anti-LPS factor from Tachypleus tridentatus was first reported in this study. The total RNA was extracted from amebocytes of Tachypleus tridentatus and the first-strand cDNA was synthesized by RT-PCR. Then the amplified cDNA of TALF was cloned and expressed in Pichia pastoris. The biological activity of the recombinant proteins obtained have been confirmed by LPS neutralization ass Read More

Dermaseptin S3 (DS3) is a a-helical antimicrobial peptide isolated from the South American frogs Phyllomedusa sauvagii. Insertion of Gly-Pro sequence into DS3 resulted in a drastic reduction in the mammalian cell toxicity against human red blood and normal fibroblast cells, with retention of the antibacterial activity. The results indicated that the bend created by insertion of Gly-Pro in the continuous a-helical peptide plays a Read More

To understand the comparative effect on the anorectic property of the replacement of two Tyr residues at positions 58 and 62 in CART(55-102) by two Tyr(Me) or Phe(NO2) residues, [Tyr(Me)58,62]CART55-102 and [Phe(NO2)58,62]CART55-102 were synthesized. In vivo inhibitory activity on the food intake induced by NPY was compared with that of the parent peptide. [Phe(NO2)58,62]CART55-62 exhibited 2-fold higher anorectic Read More

Secondary structure composition of two homologous proteins, alpha-fetoprotein and serum albumin, has been compared using circular dichroism and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. CD-only analysis gives an accurate a-helical content for SA, but underestimates the predicted value for AFP. In contrast, FTIR-only analysis underestimates the helical content of SA. However, analysis of hybrid IR-CD spectra gives more a Read More

Michaelis-Menten analysis of the hydrolyses of ONPG and PNPG by E. coli beta-galactosidase were performed from 5.5 to 45 degree C. Analysis of the T-dependence of KM and kcat reveals the thermodynamics for formation of the E / S complex and attainment of the galactosylation transition state, respectively. While the binding and transition state free energies are similar for each substrate, the enthalpic and entropic contrib Read More

The peptide Boc-(Gly-Dpg-Gly)3-OBzl (I) has been synthesized to examine the conformational preferences of Dpg residues in a peptide sequence rich in glycine, which is known to be a poor helix promoter. The detailed NMR studies revealed that peptide (I) adopts a helical conformation in CDCl3.

Human autocrine motility factor (hAMF), a tumor-secreted cytokine which stimulates cell migration in vitro and metastasis in vivo, has been crystallized by the hanging-drop vapour diffusion method. The crystals belong to an orthorhombic space group P212121 with the cell dimensions of a = 80.79 A, b = 107.1 A, and c = 270.9 A. There are two dimers per asymmetric unit. The crystals diffract to at least 2.0 A resolution a Read More

Hanging-drop vapour-diffusion method was used for the crystallization of the extended DNA-binding domain (residues 309-410) of the E2 protein from Bovine Papillomavirus Type 1. X-ray data collection at 2.0 A resolution was performed using synchrotron radiation. The crystal symmetry could be described by the space group P3121 and with unit cell parameters a = b = 55.3 A, c = 203.4 A. The protein structure was solved by Read More

Catechol 2,3-dioxygenase (C23O) is one of extradiol type dioxygenase that cleave the aromatic C-C bond at meta position of the hazardous dihydroxylated aromatic substrates, and plays a key role in the degradation of aromatic molecules in the environment by soil bacteria [1,2]. In a high temperature environment, the counterpart of the mesophilic C23O is the thermostable catechol 2,3-dioxygenase (TC23O) from the Read More