| 1. |
- Chamberlain, Aaron K, et al.
(författare)
-
Ultrastructural organization of amyloid fibrils by atomic force microscopy
- 2000
-
Ingår i: Biophysical Journal. - : Cell Press. - 0006-3495 .- 1542-0086. ; 79:6, s. 3282-3293
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Atomic force microscopy has been employed to investigate the structural organization of amyloid fibrils produced in vitro from three very different polypeptide sequences. The systems investigated are a 10-residue peptide derived from the sequence of transthyretin, the 90-residue SH3 domain of bovine phosphatidylinositol-3'-kinase, and human wild-type lysozyme, a 130-residue protein containing four disulfide bridges. The results demonstrate distinct similarities between the structures formed by the different classes of fibrils despite the contrasting nature of the polypeptide species involved. SH3 and lysozyme fibrils consist typically of four protofilaments, exhibiting a left-handed twist along the fibril axis. The substructure of TTR(10-19) fibrils is not resolved by atomic force microscopy and their uniform appearance is suggestive of a regular self-association of very thin filaments. We propose that the exact number and orientation of protofilaments within amyloid fibrils is dictated by packing of the regions of the polypeptide chains that are not directly involved in formation of the cross-beta core of the fibrils. The results obtained for these proteins, none of which is directly associated with any human disease, are closely similar to those of disease-related amyloid fibrils, supporting the concept that amyloid is a generic structure of polypeptide chains. The detailed architecture of an individual fibril, however, depends on the manner in which the protofilaments assemble into the fibrillar structure, which in turn is dependent on the sequence of the polypeptide and the conditions under which the fibril is formed.
|
|
| 2. |
- Karolin, J, et al.
(författare)
-
Donor-donor energy migration for determining intramolecular distances in proteins : I. Application of a model to the latent plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1).
- 1998
-
Ingår i: Biophysical Journal. - 0006-3495 .- 1542-0086. ; 74:1, s. 11-21
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A new fluorescence spectroscopic method is presented for determining intramolecular and intermolecular distances in proteins and protein complexes, respectively. The method circumvents the general problem of achieving specific labeling with two different chromophoric molecules, as needed for the conventional donor-acceptor transfer experiments. For this, mutant forms of proteins that contain one or two unique cysteine residues can be constructed for specific labeling with one or two identical fluorescent probes, so-called donors (d). Fluorescence depolarization experiments on double-labeled Cys mutant monitor both reorientational motions of the d molecules, as well as the rate of intramolecular energy migration. In this report a model that accounts for these contributions to the fluorescence anisotropy is presented and experimentally tested. Mutants of a protease inhibitor, plasminogen activator inhibitor type-1 (PAI-1), containing one or two cysteine residues, were labeled with sulfhydryl specific derivatives of 4,4-difluoro-4-borata-3a-azonia-4a-aza-s-indacence (BODIPY). From the rate of energy migration, the intramolecular distance between the d groups was calculated by using the Forster mechanism and by accounting for the influence of local anisotropic orientation of the d molecules. The calculated intramolecular distances were compared with those obtained from the crystal structure of PAI-1 in its latent form. To test the stability of parameters extracted from experiments, synthetic data were generated and reanalyzed.
|
|
| 3. |
- Leitz, Guenther, et al.
(författare)
-
Stress response in Caenorhabditis elegans caused by optical tweezers : wavelength, power, and time dependence
- 2002
-
Ingår i: Biophysical Journal. - : Biophysical Society. - 0006-3495 .- 1542-0086. ; 82:4, s. 2224-2231
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Optical tweezers have emerged as a powerful technique for micromanipulation of living cells. Although the technique often has been claimed to be nonintrusive, evidence has appeared that this is not always the case. This work presents evidence that near-infrared continuous-wave laser light from optical tweezers can produce stress in Caenorhabditis elegans. A transgenic strain of C. elegans, carrying an integrated heat-shock-responsive reporter gene, has been exposed to laser light under a variety of illumination conditions. It was found that gene expression was most often induced by light of 760 nm, and least by 810 nm. The stress response increased with laser power and irradiation time. At 810 nm, significant gene expression could be observed at 360 mW of illumination, which is more than one order of magnitude above that normally used in optical tweezers. In the 700-760-nm range, the results show that the stress response is caused by photochemical processes, whereas at 810 nm, it mainly has a photothermal origin. These results give further evidence that the 700-760-nm wavelength region is unsuitable for optical tweezers and suggest that work at 810 nm at normal laser powers does not cause stress at the cellular level.
|
|
| 4. |
- Åman, Ken, et al.
(författare)
-
Structure and dynamics of interfacial water in an L-alpha phase lipid bilayer from molecular dynamics simulations
- 2003
-
Ingår i: Biophysical Journal. - 0006-3495 .- 1542-0086. ; 84, s. 102-15
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Based on molecular dynamics simulations, an analysis of structure and dynamics is performed on interfacial water at a liquid crystalline dipalmitoylphosphatidycholine/water system. Water properties relevant for understanding NMR relaxation are emphasized. The first and second rank orientational order parameters of the water O-H bonds were calculated, where the second rank order parameter is in agreement with experimental determined quadrupolar splittings. Also, two different interfacial water regions (bound water regions) are revealed with respect to different signs of the second rank order parameter. The water reorientation correlation function reveals a mixture of fast and slow decaying parts. The fast (ps) part of the correlation function is due to local anisotropic water reorientation whereas the much slower part is due to more complicated processes including lateral diffusion along the interface and chemical exchange between free and bound water molecules. The 100-ns-long molecular dynamics simulation at constant pressure (1 atm) and at a temperature of 50degreesC of 64 lipid molecules and 64 x 23 water molecules lack a slow water reorientation correlation component in the ns time scale. The (H2O)-H-2 powder spectrum of the dipalmitoylphosphatidycholine/water system is narrow and consequently, the NMR relaxation time T-2 is too short compared to experimental results.
|
|
| 5. |
|
|
| 6. |
- Andersson, Magnus, et al.
(författare)
-
A sticky chain model of the elongation and unfolding of escherichia coli P pili under stress
- 2006
-
Ingår i: Biophysical Journal. - : Elsevier BV. - 0006-3495 .- 1542-0086. ; 90:5, s. 1521-1534
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A model of the elongation of P pili expressed by uropathogenic Escherichia coli exposed to stress is presented. The model is based upon the sticky chain concept, which is based upon Hooke’s law for elongation of the layer-to-layer and head-to-tail bonds between neighboring units in the PapA rod and a kinetic description of the opening and closing of bonds, described by rate equations and an energy landscape model. It provides an accurate description of the elongation behavior of P pili under stress and supports a hypothesis that the PapA rod shows all three basic stereotypes of elongation/unfolding: elongation of bonds in parallel, the zipper mode of unfolding, and elongation and unfolding of bonds in series. The two first elongation regions are dominated by a cooperative bond opening, in which each bond is influenced by its neighbor, whereas the third region can be described by individual bond opening, in which the bonds open and close randomly. A methodology for a swift extraction of model parameters from force-versus-elongation measurements performed under equilibrium conditions is derived. Entities such as the free energy, the stiffness, the elastic elongation, the opening length of the various bonds, and the number of PapA units in the rod are determined.
|
|
| 7. |
- Andersson, Magnus, et al.
(författare)
-
Dynamic Force Spectroscopy of E. coli P Pili
- 2006
-
Ingår i: Biophysical Journal. - : Elsevier BV. - 0006-3495 .- 1542-0086. ; 91:7, s. 2717-2725
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Surface organelles (so-called pili) expressed on the bacterial membrane mediate the adhesion of Escherichia coli causing urinary tract infection. These pili possess some extraordinary elongation properties that are assumed to allow a close bacterium-to-host contact even in the presence of shear forces caused by urine flow. The elongation properties of P pili have therefore been assessed for low elongation speeds (steady-state conditions). This work reports on the behavior of P pili probed by dynamic force spectroscopy. A kinetic model for the unfolding of a helixlike chain structure is derived and verified. It is shown that the unfolding of the quaternary structure of the PapA rod takes place at a constant force that is almost independent of elongation speed for slow elongations (up to ~0.4 μm/s), whereas it shows a dynamic response with a logarithmic dependence for fast elongations. The results provide information about the energy landscape and reaction rates. The bond length and thermal bond opening and closure rates for the layer-to-layer bond have been assessed to ~0.76 nm, ~0.8 Hz, and ~8 GHz, respectively. The results also support a previously constructed sticky-chain model for elongation of the PapA rod that until now had been experimentally verified only under steady-state conditions.
|
|
| 8. |
- Andersson, Magnus, et al.
(författare)
-
The biomechanical properties of E. coli pili for urinary tract attachment reflect the host environment
- 2007
-
Ingår i: Biophysical Journal. - : Elsevier BV. - 0006-3495 .- 1542-0086. ; 93:9, s. 3008-3014
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Uropathogenic Escherichia coli express pili that mediate binding to host tissue cells. We demonstrate with in situ force measuring optical tweezers that the ability of P and type 1 pili to elongate by unfolding under exposure to stress is a shared property with some differences. The unfolding force of the quaternary structures under equilibrium conditions is similar, 28 ± 2 and 30 ± 2 pN for P pili and type 1 pili, respectively. However, type 1 pili are found to be more rigid than P pili through their stronger layer-to-layer bonds. It was found that type 1 pili enter a dynamic regime at elongation speeds of 6 nm/s, compared to 400 nm/s for P pili; i.e., it responds faster to an external force. This possibly helps type 1 to withstand the irregular urine flow in the urethra as compared to the more constant urine flow in the upper urinary tract. Also, it was found that type 1 pili refold during retraction at two different levels that possibly could be related to several possible configurations. Our findings highlight functions that are believed to be of importance for the bacterial ability to sustain a basic antimicrobial mechanism of the host and for bacterial colonization.
|
|
| 9. |
- Bano, Fouzia, et al.
(författare)
-
Single-molecule unbinding forces between the polysaccharide hyaluronan and its binding proteins
- 2018
-
Ingår i: Biophysical Journal. - : Biophysical society. - 0006-3495 .- 1542-0086. ; 114:12, s. 2910-2922
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The extracellular polysaccharide hyaluronan (HA) is ubiquitous in all vertebrate tissues, where its various functions are encoded in the supramolecular complexes and matrices that it forms with HA-binding proteins (hyaladherins). In tissues, these supramolecular architectures are frequently subjected to mechanical stress, yet how this affects the intermolecular bonding is largely unknown. Here, we used a recently developed single-molecule force spectroscopy platform to analyze and compare the mechanical strength of bonds between HA and a panel of hyaladherins from the Link module superfamily, namely the complex of the proteoglycan aggrecan and cartilage link protein, the proteoglycan versican, the inflammation-associated protein TSG-6, the HA receptor for endocytosis (stabilin-2/HARE), and the HA receptor CD44. We find that the resistance to tensile stress for these hyaladherins correlates with the size of the HA-binding domain. The lowest mean rupture forces are observed for members of the type A subgroup (i.e., with the shortest HA-binding domains; TSG-6 and HARE). In contrast, the mechanical stability of the bond formed by aggrecan in complex with cartilage link protein (two members of the type C subgroup, i.e., with the longest HA-binding domains) and HA is equal or even superior to the high affinity streptavidin⋅biotin bond. Implications for the molecular mechanism of unbinding of HA⋅hyaladherin bonds under force are discussed, which underpin the mechanical properties of HA⋅hyaladherin complexes and HA-rich extracellular matrices.
|
|
| 10. |
- Björnham, Oscar, 1976-, et al.
(författare)
-
Catch-Bond behavior of bacteria binding by slip bonds
- 2010
-
Ingår i: Biophysical Journal. - : Elsevier BV. - 0006-3495 .- 1542-0086. ; 99:5, s. 1331-1341
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- It is shown that multipili-adhering bacteria expressing helix-like pili binding by slip bonds can show catch-bond behavior. When exposed to an external force, such bacteria can mediate adhesion to their hosts by either of two limiting means: sequential or simultaneous pili force exposure (referring to when the pili mediate force in a sequential or simultaneous manner, respectively). As the force is increased, the pili can transition from sequential to simultaneous pili force exposure. Since the latter mode of adhesion gives rise to a significantly longer bacterial adhesion lifetime than the former, this results in a prolongation of the lifetime, which shows up as a catch-bond behavior. The properties and conditions of this effect were theoretically investigated and assessed in some detail for dual-pili-adhering bacteria, by both analytical means and simulations. The results indicate that the adhesion lifetime of such bacteria can be prolonged by more than an order of magnitude. This implies that the adhesion properties of multibinding systems cannot be directly conveyed to the individual adhesion-receptor bonds.
|
|
