| 1. |
- Abelein, Axel, et al.
(författare)
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Hydrophobicity and conformational change as mechanistic determinants for nonspecific modulators of amyloid β self-assembly
- 2012
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Ingår i: Biochemistry. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 0006-2960 .- 1520-4995. ; 51:1, s. 126-137
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The link between many neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, and the aberrant folding and aggregation of proteins has prompted a comprehensive search for small organic molecules that have the potential to inhibit such processes. Although many compounds have been reported to affect the formation of amyloid fibrils and/or other types of protein aggregates, the mechanisms by which they act are not well understood. A large number of compounds appear to act in a nonspecific way affecting several different amyloidogenic proteins. We describe here a detailed study of the mechanism of action of one representative compound, lacmoid, in the context of the inhibition of the aggregation of the amyloid β-peptide (Aβ) associated with Alzheimer's disease. We show that lacmoid binds Aβ(1-40) in a surfactant-like manner and counteracts the formation of all types of Aβ(1-40) and Aβ(1-42) aggregates. On the basis of these and previous findings, we are able to rationalize the molecular mechanisms of action of nonspecific modulators of protein self-assembly in terms of hydrophobic attraction and the conformational preferences of the polypeptide.
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| 2. |
- Adase, Christopher A., et al.
(författare)
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Residues at the Cytoplasmic End of Transmembrane Helix 2 Determine the Signal Output of the Tar(Ec) Chemoreceptor
- 2013
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Ingår i: Biochemistry. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 0006-2960 .- 1520-4995. ; 52:16, s. 2729-2738
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Baseline signal output and communication between the periplasmic and cytoplasmic domains of the Escherichia colt aspartate chemoreceptor Tar(Ec) are both strongly influenced by residues at the C-terminus of transmembrane helix 2 (TM2). In particular, the cytoplasmic aromatic anchor, composed of residues Trp-209 and Tyr-210 in wild type Tar(Ec) is important for determining the CheA kinase-stimulating activity of the receptor and its ability to respond to chemoeffector-induced stimuli. Here, we have studied the effect on Tar(Ec) function of the six residue sequence at positions 207-212 Moving various combinations of aromatic residues among these positions generates substantial changes M receptor activity. Trp has the largest effect on function, both in maintaining normal activity and in altering activity when it is moved. Tyr has a weaker effect, and Phe has the weakest; however, all three aromatic residues can alter signal output when they are placed in novel positions. We also find that Gly-211 plays an important role in receptor function, perhaps because of the flexibility it introduces into the TM2-HAMP domain connector. The conservation of this Gly residue in the high-abundance chemoreceptors of E. coli and Salmonella enterica suggests that it may be important for the nuanced, bidirectional transmembrane signaling that occurs in these proteins.
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| 3. |
- Adase, Christopher A., et al.
(författare)
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The Residue Composition of the Aromatic Anchor of the Second Transmembrane Helix Determines the Signaling Properties of the Aspartate/Maltose Chemoreceptor Tar of Escherichia coli
- 2012
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Ingår i: Biochemistry. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 0006-2960 .- 1520-4995. ; 51:9, s. 1925-1932
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Repositioning of the tandem aromatic residues (Trp-209 and Tyr-210) at the cytoplasmic end of the second transmembrane helix (TM2) modulates the signal output of the aspartate/maltose chemoreceptor of Escherichia coli (Tar(Ec)). Here, we directly assessed the effect of the residue composition of the aromatic anchor by studying the function of a library of Tar(Ec) variants that possess all possible combinations of Ala, Phe, Tyr, and Trp at positions 209 and 210. We identified three important properties of the aromatic anchor. First, a Trp residue at position 209 was required to maintain clockwise (CW) signal output in the absence of adaptive methylation, but adaptive methylation restored the ability of all of the mutant receptors to generate CW rotation. Second, when the aromatic anchor was replaced with tandem Ala residues, signaling was less compromised than when an Ala residue occupied position 209 and an aromatic residue occupied position 210. Finally, when Trp was: present at position 209, the identity of the residue at position 210 had little effect on baseline signal output or aspartate chemotaxis, although maltose taxis was significantly affected by some substitutions at position 210. All of the mutant receptors we constructed supported some level of aspartate and maltose taxis in semisolid agar swim plates, but those without Trp at position 209 were overmethylated in their baseline signaling state. These results show the importance of the cytoplasmic aromatic anchor of TM2 in maintaining the baseline Tar(Ec) signal output and responsiveness to attractant signaling.
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| 4. |
- Aguilar, Ximena, 1978-, et al.
(författare)
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Macromolecular crowding extended to a heptameric system : the co-chaperonin protein 10
- 2011
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Ingår i: Biochemistry. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 0006-2960 .- 1520-4995. ; 50:14, s. 3034-3044
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Experiments on monomeric proteins have shown that macromolecular crowding can stabilize toward heat perturbation and also modulate native-state structure. To assess the effects of macromolecular crowding on unfolding of an oligomeric protein, we here tested the effects of the synthetic crowding agent Ficoll 70 on human cpn10 (GroES in E. coli), a heptameric protein consisting of seven identical β-barrel subunits assembling into a ring. Using far-UV circular dichroism (CD), tyrosine fluorescence, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and cross-linking experiments, we investigated thermal and chemical stability, as well as the heptamer-monomer dissociation constant, without and with crowding agent. We find that crowding shifts the heptamer-monomer equilibrium constant in the direction of the heptamer. The cpn10 heptamer is both thermally and thermodynamically stabilized in 300 mg/mL Ficoll 70 as compared to regular buffer conditions. Kinetic unfolding experiments show that the increased stability in crowded conditions, in part, is explained by slower unfolding rates. A thermodynamic cycle reveals that in presence of 300 mg/mL Ficoll the thermodynamic stability of each cpn10 monomer increases by over 30%, whereas the interfaces are stabilized by less than 10%. We also introduce a new approach to analyze the spectroscopic data that makes use of multiple wavelengths: this provides robust error estimates of thermodynamic parameters.
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| 5. |
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| 6. |
- Ariöz, Candan, 1983-, et al.
(författare)
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Anionic Lipid Binding to the Foreign Protein MGS Provides a Tight Coupling between Phospholipid Synthesis and Protein Overexpression in Escherichia coli
- 2013
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Ingår i: Biochemistry. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 0006-2960 .- 1520-4995. ; 52:33, s. 5533-5544
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Certain membrane proteins involved in lipid synthesis can induce formation of new intracellular membranes in Escherichia coli, i.e., intracellular vesicles. Among those, the foreign monotopic glycosyltransferase MGS from Acholeplasma laidlawii triggers such massive lipid synthesis when overexpressed. To examine the mechanism behind the increased lipid synthesis, we investigated the lipid binding properties of MGS in vivo together with the correlation between lipid synthesis and MGS overexpression levels. A good correlation between produced lipid quantities and overexpressed MGS protein was observed when standard LB medium was supplemented with four different lipid precursors that have significant roles in the lipid biosynthesis pathway. Interestingly, this correlation was highest concerning anionic lipid production and at the same time dependent on the selective binding of anionic lipid molecules by MGS. A selective interaction with anionic lipids was also observed in vitro by P-31 NMR binding studies using bicelles prepared with E. coli lipids. The results clearly demonstrate that the discriminative withdrawal of anionic lipids, especially phosphatidylglycerol, from the membrane through MGS binding triggers an in vivo signal for cells to create a feed-forward stimulation of lipid synthesis in E. coil. By this mechanism, cells can produce more membrane surface in order to accommodate excessively produced MGS molecules, which results in an interdependent cycle of lipid and MGS protein synthesis.
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| 7. |
- Balogh, Larissa M., et al.
(författare)
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Substrate Specificity Combined with Stereopromiscuity in Glutathione Transferase A4-4-Dependent Metabolism of 4-Hydroxynonenal
- 2010
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Ingår i: Biochemistry. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 0006-2960 .- 1520-4995. ; 49:7, s. 1541-1548
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Conjugation to glutathione (GSH) by glutathione transferase A4-4 (GSTA4-4) is a major route of elimination for the lipid peroxidation product 4-hydroxynonenal (HNE), a toxic compound that contributes to numerous diseases. Both enantiomers of HNE are presumed to be toxic, and GSTA4-4 has negligible stereoselectivity toward them, despite its high catalytic chemospecificity for alkenals. In contrast to the highly flexible, and substrate promiscuous, GSTA1-1 isoform that has poor catalytic efficiency with HNE, GSTA4-4 has been postulated to be a rigid template that is preorganized for HNE metabolism. However, the combination of high substrate chemoselectivity and low substrate stereoselectivity is intriguing. The mechanism by which GSTA4-4 achieves this combination is important, because it must metabolize both enantiomers of HNE to efficiently detoxify the biologically formed mixture. The crystal structures of GSTA4-4 and ail engineered variant of GSTA1-1 with high catalytic efficiency toward HNE, cocrystallized with a GSH-HNE conjugate analogue, demonstrate that GSTA4-4 undergoes no enantiospecific induced fit; instead, the active site residue Arg15 is ideally located to interact with the 4-hydroxyl group of either HNE enantiomer. The results reveal an evolutionary strategy for achieving biologically useful stereopromiscuity toward a toxic racemate, concomitant with high catalytic efficiency and substrate specificity toward ail endogenously formed toxin.
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| 8. |
- Behnen, Petra, et al.
(författare)
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Calcium-Dependent Interaction of Calmodulin with Human 80S Ribosomes and Polyribosomes.
- 2012
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Ingår i: Biochemistry. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 0006-2960 .- 1520-4995. ; 51:34, s. 6718-6727
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Ribosomes are the protein factories of every living cell. The process of protein translation is highly complex and tightly regulated by a large number of diverse RNAs and proteins. Earlier studies indicate that Ca(2+) plays a role in protein translation. Calmodulin (CaM), a ubiquitous Ca(2+)-binding protein, regulates a large number of proteins participating in many signaling pathways. Several 40S and 60S ribosomal proteins have been identified to interact with CaM, and here, we report that CaM binds with high affinity to 80S ribosomes and polyribosomes in a Ca(2+)-dependent manner. No binding is observed in buffer with 6 mM Mg(2+) and 1 mM EGTA that chelates Ca(2+), suggesting high specificity of the CaM-ribosome interaction dependent on the Ca(2+) induced conformational change of CaM. The interactions between CaM and ribosomes are inhibited by synthetic peptides comprising putative CaM-binding sites in ribosomal proteins S2 and L14. Using a cell-free in vitro translation system, we further found that these synthetic peptides are potent inhibitors of protein synthesis. Our results identify an involvement of CaM in the translational activity of ribosomes.
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| 9. |
- Beke-Somfai, Tamas, 1977, et al.
(författare)
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Mechanical Control of ATP Synthase Function: Activation Energy Difference between Tight and Loose Binding Sites
- 2010
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Ingår i: Biochemistry. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1520-4995 .- 0006-2960. ; 49:3, s. 401-403
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Despite exhaustive chemical and crystal structure studies, the mechanistic details of how F o F 1 -ATP synthase can convert mechanical energy to chemical, producing ATP, are still not fully understood. On the basis of quantum mechanical calculations using a recent highresolution X-ray structure, we conclude that formation of the P-O bond may be achieved through a transition state (TS) with a planar PO 3 - ion. Surprisingly, there is a more than 40 kJ/mol difference between barrier heights of the loose and tight binding sites of the enzyme. This indicates that even a relatively small change in active site conformation, induced by the γ-subunit rotation, may effectively block the back reaction in β TP and, thus, promote ATP. © 2009 American Chemical Society.
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| 10. |
- Björnerås, Johannes, et al.
(författare)
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Membrane Interaction of Disease-Related Dynorphin A Variants
- 2013
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Ingår i: Biochemistry. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 0006-2960 .- 1520-4995. ; 52:24, s. 4157-4167
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The membrane interaction properties of two single-residue variants, R6W and L5S, of the 17-amino acid neuropeptide dynorphin A (DynA) were studied by circular dichroism (CD) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Corresponding gene mutations have recently been discovered in humans and causatively linked to a neurodegenerative disorder. The peptides were investigated in buffer and in isotropic solutions of q = 0.3 bicelles with 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DMPC) or DMPC (0.8) and 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phospho(1'-rac-glycerol) (DMPG) (0.2). The CD results and the NMR secondary chemical shifts show that R6W-DynA has a small a-helical fraction in buffer, which increases in the presence of bicelles, while L5S-DynA is mainly unstructured under all conditions studied here. R6W-DynA has an almost complete association with zwitterionic bicelles (similar to 90%, as probed by NMR diffusion experiments), similar to the behavior of wtDynA, while L5S-DynA has a weaker association (similar to 50%). For all peptides, the level of bicelle association is increased in negatively charged bicelles. The L5A-DynA peptide adopts a very shallow position in the headgroup region of the bicelle bilayer, as studied by paramagnetic spin relaxation enhancement experiments using paramagnetic probes. Similarly, the results show that R6W-DynA is more deeply buried in the bilayer, with only the C-terminal residues exposed to solvent, again more similar to the case of wild-type DynA. We suggest that the results presented here may explain the differences in cell toxicity of these disease-related neuropeptide variants.
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