scholarly journals The dimerization of half-molecule fragments of transferrin

1988 ◽  
Vol 251 (3) ◽  
pp. 849-855 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Williams ◽  
K Moreton

Partial proteolysis was used to prepare half-molecule fragments of hen ovotransferrin. N-Terminal and C-terminal fragments associate to form an N-terminal fragment-C-terminal fragment dimer. Variant forms of the N- and C-terminal fragments can be prepared in which a few amino acid residues are lacking from the C-terminal ends of the fragments. These variant fragments are partially or completely unable to associate; the suggestion that the molecular recognition sites are located in these C-terminal stretches of the N-terminal half-molecule (320-332) and of the C-terminal half-molecule (683-686) is in agreement with X-ray-crystallography data for human lactotransferrin [Anderson, Baker, Dodson, Norris, Rumball, Waters & Baker (1987) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 84, 1769-1773].

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lan Guan ◽  
Parameswaran Hariharan

AbstractMajor facilitator superfamily_2 transporters are widely found from bacteria to mammals. The melibiose transporter MelB, which catalyzes melibiose symport with either Na+, Li+, or H+, is a prototype of the Na+-coupled MFS transporters, but its sugar recognition mechanism has been a long-unsolved puzzle. Two high-resolution X-ray crystal structures of a Salmonella typhimurium MelB mutant with a bound ligand, either nitrophenyl-α-d-galactoside or dodecyl-β-d-melibioside, were refined to a resolution of 3.05 or 3.15 Å, respectively. In the substrate-binding site, the interaction of both galactosyl moieties on the two ligands with MelBSt are virturally same, so the sugar specificity determinant pocket can be recognized, and hence the molecular recognition mechanism for sugar binding in MelB has been deciphered. The conserved cation-binding pocket is also proposed, which directly connects to the sugar specificity pocket. These key structural findings have laid a solid foundation for our understanding of the cooperative binding and symport mechanisms in Na+-coupled MFS transporters, including eukaryotic transporters such as MFSD2A.


2006 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 118-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
E.J. Dridge ◽  
D.J. Richardson ◽  
R.J. Lewis ◽  
C.S. Butler

The AF0174–AF0176 gene cluster in Archaeoglobus fulgidus encodes a putative oxyanion reductase of the D-type (Type II) family of molybdo-enzymes. Sequence analysis reveals that the catalytic subunit AF0176 shares low identity (31–32%) and similarity (41–42%) to both NarG and SerA, the catalytic components of the respiratory nitrate and selenate reductases respectively. Consequently, predicting the oxyanion substrate selectivity of AF0176 has proved difficult based solely on sequence alignments. In the present study, we have modelled both AF0176 and SerA on the recently determined X-ray structure of the NAR (nitrate reductase) from Escherichia coli and have identified a number of key amino acid residues, conserved in all known NAR sequences, including AF0176, that we speculate may enhance selectivity towards trigonal planar (NO3−) rather than tetrahedral (SeO42− and ClO4−) substrates.


2009 ◽  
Vol 390 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Reinhard Krämer ◽  
Christine Ziegler

Abstract Activation of the osmoregulated trimeric betaine transporter BetP from Corynebacterium glutamicum was shown to depend mainly on the correct folding and integrity of its 55 amino acid long, partly α-helical C-terminal domain. Reorientation of the three C-terminal domains in the BetP trimer indicates different lipid-protein and protein-protein interactions of the C-terminal domain during osmoregulation. A regulation mechanism is suggested where this domain switches the transporter from the inactive to the active state. Interpretation of recently obtained electron and X-ray crystallography data of BetP led to a structure-function based model of C-terminal molecular switching involved in osmoregulation.


1990 ◽  
Vol 43 (11) ◽  
pp. 1827 ◽  
Author(s):  
MJ Crossley ◽  
TW Hambley ◽  
AW Stamford

The relative stereochemistry of methyl 2-phthalimido-1- trimethylsilyloxybicyclo[2.2.2]oct-5-ene-2-carboxylate (9) and its 5,6-epoxide (10), intermediates in a synthetic approach to the amino acid antibiotic anticapsin, were established by the TiCl4-mediated cyclization of (10) to the carbolactone (12); the structure of which was proved by single-crystal X-ray crystallography. Full-matrix least- squares refinement of all atomic parameters with individual isotropic thermal parameters for the hydrogen atoms by using 1446 reflections converged at R 0.036. Crystals of (12) are monoclinic, P21/c, a 12.342(3), b 12.239(2), c 13.405(3) Ǻ, β 99.34(2)°, Z 4.


Science ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 369 (6508) ◽  
pp. 1227-1233 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas F. Polizzi ◽  
William F. DeGrado

The de novo design of proteins that bind highly functionalized small molecules represents a great challenge. To enable computational design of binders, we developed a unit of protein structure—a van der Mer (vdM)—that maps the backbone of each amino acid to statistically preferred positions of interacting chemical groups. Using vdMs, we designed six de novo proteins to bind the drug apixaban; two bound with low and submicromolar affinity. X-ray crystallography and mutagenesis confirmed a structure with a precisely designed cavity that forms favorable interactions in the drug–protein complex. vdMs may enable design of functional proteins for applications in sensing, medicine, and catalysis.


2015 ◽  
Vol 93 (12) ◽  
pp. 1355-1362 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wai-Kit Tang ◽  
Chun-Ping Leong ◽  
Qiang Hao ◽  
Chi-Kit Siu

Selective cleavages of N–Cα and Cα–C bonds of β-radical tautomers of amino acid residues in radical peptides have been examined theoretically by means of the density functional theory at the M06-2X/6-311++G(d,p) level. The majority of the bond cleavages are homolytic via β-scission. Their energy barriers depend largely on the ability of the radical being stabilized in the transition structures and the availability of a mobile proton in the vicinity of the β-radical center. The N–Cα bond is less favorably cleaved than the Cα–C bond (except Ser and Thr) for systems without a mobile proton. It is because, firstly, the homolytic cleavage is less favorable for the more polar N–Cα bond than for the less polar Cα–C bond. Secondly, a less stable σ-radical localized on the amide nitrogen atom of the incipient N-terminal fragment is formed for the former, while a more stable radical delocalized in a π*(CO)-like orbital of the incipient C-terminal fragment is formed for the latter. In the presence of a mobile proton N-terminal to the β-radical center, some degrees of heterolytic cleavage character, as preferred by the polar N–Cα bond, are observed. Consequently, its barrier is reduced. If the mobile proton is located at the C-terminal amide oxygen of the β-radical center, the Cα–C bond cleavage will be significantly suppressed. It is because the radical in the incipient C-terminal fragment becomes more localized as a σ-radical on the carbon atom of its protonated amide group. With basic amino acid residues, the Cα–C bond cleavage can be reactivated. Heterolytic cleavage of the polar N–Cα bond can be largely facilitated if a mobile proton N-terminal to the β-radical center is available and the radical in the incipient C-terminal fragment is sufficiently stabilized, for instance, by the aromatic side chain of Trp and Tyr. Therefore, cleavages of the N–Cα bond induced by the β-radical tautomer of Trp and Tyr are often preferred as compared with cleavages of the Cα–C bond in peptide radical cations containing mobile protons.


Proceedings ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 37
Author(s):  
Petar Stanić ◽  
Marija Živković ◽  
Biljana Šmit

Hydantoins and their sulfur containing analogues, thiohydantoins, are cyclic ureides that have attracted huge attention ever since their discovery. Most of them are biologically active compounds and several points of structural diversity have made them very synthetically attractive. Although substituents can be introduced to the hydantoin nucleus, most substituted hydantoins are synthesized from substrates already containing these groups, while forming the hydantoin nucleus. This is a common route to the synthesis of hydantoins and one of them is employed in this study. A series of 3-allyl-2-thiohydantoins is synthesized from various α-amino acids in a reaction with allyl isothiocyanate. The substitution of the acquired thiohydantoin depends on the structure of the starting α-amino acid. The residual group of the α-amino acid becomes the substituent at the C5-position, while N-monosubstituted amino acids give rise to a substituent in the N1-position. The reaction is carried out in a two-step process and the reaction conditions generally depend on the nature of the amino acid itself. All thiohydantoins are obtained in a good yield and fully characterized by NMR and IR spectroscopy, as well as X-ray crystallography.


2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (24) ◽  
pp. 9680-9688 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angel García-Raso ◽  
Angel Terrón ◽  
Adela López-Zafra ◽  
Andrés García-Viada ◽  
Agostina Barta ◽  
...  

H-Bonding networks and anion–π interactions in the crystal structures of N6-modified-amino acid adenine analogs are investigated using X-ray crystallography and DFT calculations.


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