Protein & Peptide Letters, Volume 9, No. 4, 2002
CRAMP Analog Having Potent Antibiotic
Activity Without Hemolytic Activity Pp.275-282
Shin-Won
Kang, Dong Gun Lee, Sung-Tae Yang, Yangmee Kim,
Jae Il Kim, Kyung-Soo Hahm & Song Yub Shin
Isolation and Characterization of an Angiogenin-Like Protein from Goat Plasma Pp.283-288
Tushar
Kanti Maiti and Swagata Dasgupta
Cleavage Specificities of Aspartic Proteinases toward Oxidized Insulin B Chain at Different pH Values Pp.289-294
Senarath
B. P. Athauda, and Kenji Takahashia
Functional Expression of Human Methionine
Aminopeptidase Type 1 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae Pp.295-303
Benjamin
Dummitt, Ying Fei and Yie-Hwa Chang
Misconceptions Arising from a Sign Discrepancy in Thermodynamic Data for the Gibbs Free Energy Profile of Ribonuclease A Pp.305-313
Paul
W. Chun
A Prionogenic Peptide Derived from Sup35 Can Force the Whole GST Fusion Protein to Show Amyloid Characteristics Pp.315-321
Young
Kee Chae, Kyoung Suk Cho, Woochun Chun
Production of Recombinant Human Calcitonin from Silkworm (B. mori) Larvae Infected by Baculovirus Pp.323-329
Isolation and Partial Characterisation of a Protein from Buck Seminal Plasma (Capra hircus),Homologous to Spermadhesins Pp.331-335
D.I.A.
Teixeira, B.S. Cavada, A.H. Sampaio, A. Havt, C. Bloch Jr., M.V.Prates,F.B.M.B. Moreno, E.A.Santos, C.A.A.Gadelha,
T.S.Gadelha, F.S.M.Crisóstomo, V. J. F.
Freitas,
Biophysical Evidence of Lipid and Carbohydrate Binding Activities of Shrimp High Density Lipoprotein/? Glucan Binding Protein Pp.337-344
Claudia
L. Vargas-Requena, Alejandra Hernández-Santoyo, Gloria Yepiz-Plascencia,
Francisco Vargas-Albores, Inocencio Higuera-Ciapara, Adela Rodríguez-Romero,
José L. Soulages and Rogerio R. Sotelo-Mundo,
A Convenient Method for the Synthesis of
C-Protected Esters of Boc-/Z-a,a- Dialkylamino Acidsby the Mixed Carboxylic –
Carbonic Anhydride Method Pp.345-348
Vommina
V. Suresh Babu, Kuppanna Ananda &
Effect of Phosphorylation and Aggregation on Tau Binding to DNA Pp.349-357
Qian
Hua, and Rong-Qiao He
Heavy Metal-Mediated Crystallization of Escherichia coli Phytase and Analysis of Bridging Interactions Pp.359-365
Daniel Lim and Zongchao Jia
[Back to top] CRAMP Analog Having Potent Antibiotic
Activity Without Hemolytic Activity
Shin-Won
Kang, Dong Gun Lee, Sung-Tae Yang, Yangmee Kim,
Jae Il Kim, Kyung-Soo Hahm & Song Yub Shin
CRAMP-18 is an 18-residue
functional region, corresponding to residues 16-33 of a mouse-derived
antibiotic peptide CRAMP. To develop novel antibiotic peptides possessing
strong antibiotic activity against bacterial, fungal and tumor cells without
hemolytic activity, three analogs of CRAMP-18 were synthesized containing
either Leu- or Lys-substitution. Leu-substitution ([L1, 8]-CRAMP-18) in the
hydrophobic helix face of CRAMP-18 induced a dramatic increase in antibiotic
activity without a significant increase in hemolytic activity. Lys-substitution
([
[Back to top] Isolation and Characterization of an Angiogenin-Like Protein from Goat Plasma
Tushar Kanti Maiti and Swagata Dasgupta
Angiogenin, a
blood vessel inducing protein has been implicated in wound healing and tumour
progression. First isolated from human carcinoma cells, it has been
subsequently isolated from human, bovine, rabbit, pig and mouse sera and bovine
milk. This study reports the isolation of an angiogenic-like protein from goat
plasma. The ribonucleolytic activity has been followed by yeast transfer RNA
(tRNA) degradation using spectrophotometric and denaturing polyacrylamide gel
electrophoresis methods. The chorioallantoic membrane (
[Back to top] Cleavage Specificities of Aspartic Proteinases toward Oxidized Insulin B Chain at Different pH Values
Senarath
B. P. Athauda, and Kenji Takahashia
The cleavage
specificities of typical aspartic proteinases: pepsin A, gastricsin, cathepsin D
and rhizopuspepsin, were examined at different pH values with oxidized insulin B
chain as a substrate with special attention to the specificities near neutral
pH. Significant differences in relative specificity for scissile bonds
were observed between pH 2.0 and 5.5-6.5, which may be partly related with the
changes in dissociation states of the His and Glu residues in the substrate and
the ionizable residues in the active site of each enzyme.
[Back to top]
Functional Expression of Human Methionine
Aminopeptidase Type 1 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Benjamin
Dummitt, Ying Fei and Yie-Hwa Chang
We expressed
recombinant human methionine aminopeptidase type 1 (MAP or MetAP) in a map1
null yeast strain to determine the extent of functional complementation between
the two proteins. The human MetAP1 protein fully rescued the slow growth
phenotype associated with deletion of yeast MetAP1, suggesting that the yeast
and human MetAP1 proteins may have similar roles in vivo. Expression of human
MetAP1 in yeast has significance in understanding the function of the human
protein, studying its in vivo substrate specificity, and developing specific
anti-fungal drugs to target yeast MetAP1.
[Back to top]Misconceptions Arising from a Sign Discrepancy in Thermodynamic Data for the Gibbs Free Energy Profile of Ribonuclease A
Paul
W. Chun
An apparent discrepancy
in the data for the Gibbs free energy change as a function of temperature at
different pHs, originally published by Brandts in 1965 and repeated by Brandts
and Hunt in 1967 with an unexplained change in sign, has lead to close to 40
years of misguided thinking in examining the thermodynamics of protein
unfolding, including the frequently promulgated idea of cold denaturation. We
have carried out a detailed analysis based on the Planck-Benzinger approach,
which is very powerful in clarifying the fundamental aspects of biochemical
energetics.
[Back to top] A Prionogenic Peptide Derived from Sup35 Can Force the Whole GST Fusion Protein to Show Amyloid Characteristics
Young
Kee Chae, Kyoung Suk Cho, Woochun Chun
A prion
determining 7-mer peptide derived from Sup35 was fused to glutathione S
transferase (GST). The fusion protein was successfully overexpressed in
Escherichia coli, and purified by employing affinity chromatography. Upon incubation, it showed substantial
aggregation suggesting the formation of amyloid-like fibrils. Congo Red binding
strongly suggested that the fusion protein formed amyloid-like fibrils. By
considering the steric hindrance of GST, the b-sheet formation should be in the
anti-parallel fashion.
[Back to top] Production of Recombinant Human Calcitonin from Silkworm (B. mori) Larvae Infected by Baculovirus
Guan-zhen
Yang, Zhen-zhen Chen, Da-fu Cui, Bo-liang Li, Xiang-fu Wu
A synthetic
modified gene encoding the human calcitonin analog (hmCT) was expressed by use
of the baculovirus expression system. After injection with recombinant
baculoviruses, the hmCT-GST fusion protein was produced within the silkworm
larvae. The fusion protein was purified by affinity chromatography. Biological
activity of hmCT for hypercalcemic effect was determined in normal rats.
[Back to top] Isolation and Partial Characterisation of a Protein from Buck Seminal Plasma (Capra hircus),Homologous to Spermadhesins
D.I.A.
Teixeira, B.S. Cavada, A.H. Sampaio, A. Havt, C. Bloch Jr., M.V.Prates, F.B.M.B.
Moreno, E.A.Santos, C.A.A.Gadelha,T.S.Gadelha, F.S.M.Crisóstomo, V. J. F.
Freitas
Spermadhesins are
a family of secretory proteins expressed in the male genital tract of pig,
horse and bull. Their function and structure have been widely studied,
especially those isolated from boar. However, there are no data concerning
spermadhesins isolated from buck. Buck seminal plasma was collected and
subjected to ion exchange chromatography on DEAE-Sephacel column followed by
chromatography in a C18 column coupled to a HPLC system. The purification of
the protein was determined by SDS-PAGE and MALDI-TOF analysis exhibiting a
molecular mass of 12.5 KDa and showed to be structurally homologous to
spermadhesins from boar and stallion.
[Back to top] Biophysical Evidence of Lipid and Carbohydrate Binding Activities of Shrimp High Density Lipoprotein/β Glucan Binding Protein
Claudia
L. Vargas-Requena, Alejandra Hernández-Santoyo, Gloria Yepiz-Plascencia, Francisco
Vargas-Albores, Inocencio Higuera-Ciapara, Adela Rodríguez-Romero, José L.
Soulages and Rogerio R. Sotelo-Mundo
Crustacean High
Density Lipoprotein/b-Glucan Binding Protein (HDL/BGBP) has been studied due to
its role in nutrition and immune response via activation of the defense cells
(hemocytes) upon binding 1,3-D-b-glucan carbohydrates. In this study, HDL/BGBP
was found to be composed mainly of beta sheets, as determined by circular dichroism.
Lipoprotein aggregation resulted when HDL/BGBP interacted with phospolipid
vesicles, laminaribiose (1,3-b-glucan disaccharide) or heparin. HDL/BGBP has
similar dissociation constants for laminaribiose (Kd=22 mM) or heparin (Kd=46
mM) as determined by 90° light scattering.
[Back to top] A Convenient Method for the Synthesis of
C-Protected Esters of Boc-/Z-a,a- Dialkylamino Acidsby the Mixed Carboxylic –
Carbonic Anhydride Method
Vommina
V. Suresh Babu, Kuppanna Ananda &
The synthesis of
C-protected esters of Boc-/Z-a,a-dialkylamino acids is accomplished by using
alkyl/aryl chloroformate in presence of DMAP as a catalyst. The reaction
proceeds through mixed carboxylic–carbonic anhydride, which was monitored by
IR. The reaction was clean and complete in about 2 hr. All the esters prepared
have been obtained in good yield and are fully characterized.
[Back to top] Effect of Phosphorylation and Aggregation on Tau Binding to DNA
Qian
Hua, and Rong-Qiao He
The potential
function of neuronal tau was found by our recent studies on the effect of tau
on the melting temperature of both calf thymus DNA and plasmid pBluescript-II
SK (Hua and He, Chin. Sci. Bull. 2000, 45:999-1001). Herein we examined whether
or not the interaction of tau with DNA was related to phosphorylation and
aggregation. Tau, phosphorylated by neuronal cdc2-like kinase, associated with
DNA as shown by electrophoretic mobility shift assay. Similar to native tau,
phosphorylated tau could increase the melting temperature of calf thymus DNA.
When tau was aggregated or treated with formaldehyde, neither native tau nor
phosphorylated tau kept its ability to interact with DNA, suggesting that
binding of tau to DNA was in an aggregation-dependent, and a
phosphorylation-independent, manner.
[Back to top] Heavy Metal-Mediated Crystallization of Escherichia coli Phytase and Analysis of Bridging Interactions
Daniel
Lim and Zongchao Jia
Escherichia coli
phytase is a phosphatase that catalyzes the hydrolysis of phytic acid into
inorganic phosphate and myo-inositol.
Two crystal forms of this enzyme were obtained in the presence of heavy
metals.