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Protein Segments (protein + segment)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Chemistry	100%

Selected Abstracts

An enigmatic peptide ligation reaction: Protease-catalyzed oligomerization of a native protein segment in neat aqueous solution

PROTEIN SCIENCE, Issue 4 2000
Sangaralingam Kumaran
Abstract We report an enigmatic peptide ligation reaction catalyzed by Glu-specific Staphylococcus aureus V8 protease that occurs in neat aqueous solution around neutral pH utilizing a totally unprotected peptide substrate containing free ,-carboxyl and ,-amino groups. V8 protease catalyzed a chain of ligation steps between pH 6 and 8 at 4 °C, producing a gamut of covalent oligomers (dimer through octamer or higher) of a native protein segment TAAAKFE (S39) derived from ribonuclease A (RNAse A). Size-exclusion chromatography suggested the absence of strong interaction between the reacting peptides. The circular dichroism spectra of monomer through pentamer showed length-dependent enhancement of secondary structure in the oligomers, suggesting that protease-catalyzed ligation of a monomer to an oligomer resulted in a product that was more structured than its precursor. The relative conformational stability of the oligomers was reflected in their ability to resist proteolysis, indicating that the oligomerization reaction was facilitated as a consequence of the "conformational trapping" of the product. The ligation reaction proceeded in two phases,slow formation and accumulation of the dimer followed by a fast phase of oligomerization, implying that the conformational trap encountered in the oligomerization reaction was a two-step process. The Gly substitution at any position of the TAAAKFE sequence was deleterious, suggesting that the first step of the conformational trap, namely the dimerization reaction, that proceeded very slowly even with the parent peptide, was quite sensitive to amino acid sequence. In contrast, the oligomerization reaction of an Ala analog, AAAAKFE, occurred in much the same way as S39, albeit with faster rate, suggesting that Ala substitution stabilized the overall conformational trapping process. The results suggest the viability of the product-directed "conformational trap" as a mechanism to achieve peptide ligation of totally unprotected peptide fragments in neat aqueous solution. Further, the study projects the presence of considerable innate synthetic potential in V8 protease, baring rich possibilities of protein engineering of this enzyme to generate a "V8 peptide ligase." [source]

The hidden code in genomics: a tool for gene discovery

JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR RECOGNITION, Issue 5 2001
Heinz Kohler
Abstract Among new insights coming from the completion of sequencing of the human genome, reported in Nature and Science, are clues of how evolution has increased the complexity of species, and in particular how the genetic code has enabled this process. It is clear that life has not only evolved by increasing the number of genes, but also by ingeniously evolving an efficient code for expressing diversity in the building blocks (i.e. the amino acids). The rules of nucleic acid base pairing and the classification of amino acids according to hydrophobicity/hydrophilicity relationships define a binary DNA code, which determines the general biophysical characteristics of proteins. Sense and antisense strands can encode protein segments having inverted and complementary hydropathy. The underlying binary code controls association and dissociation of proteins and presumably represents a primordial code that might have emerged in the early stages of self-organizing biochemical cycles. It is the purpose of this communication to provide a perspective of the code in the context of a binary language from its primordial origin to its present day format and to propose to use this code as a genomic mining tool. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

DNA and RNA-Controlled Switching of Protein Kinase Activity

CHEMBIOCHEM, Issue 4 2009
Lars Röglin Dr.
Abstract Constrained: The readily programmable nucleic acid mediated recognition is used to constrain a phosphopeptide that was flanked by PNA segments. RNA-based switching allows control over the activity of target enzymes such as the protein kinase Src. It might thus be feasible to transduce changes of the concentration of selected RNA molecules to changes of the activity of signal transduction proteins. Protein switches use the binding energy gained upon recognition of ligands to modulate the conformation and binding properties of protein segments. We explored whether the programmable nucleic acid mediated recognition might be used to design or mimic constraints that limit the conformational freedom of peptide segments. The aim was to design nucleic acid,peptide conjugates in which the peptide portion of the conjugate would change the affinity for a protein target upon hybridization. This approach was used to control the affinity of a PNA,phosphopeptide conjugate for the signal transduction protein Src kinase, which binds the cognate phosphopeptides in a linear conformation. Peptide,nucleic acid arms were attached to known peptide binders. The chimeric molecules were studied in three modes: 1) as single strands, 2) constrained by intermolecular hybridization (duplex formation) and 3) constrained by intramolecular hybridization (hairpin formation). Of note, duplexes that were designed to accommodate bulged peptide structures (for example, in hairpins or bulges) had lower binding affinities than duplexes in which the peptide was allowed to adopt a more relaxed conformation. Greater than 90-fold differences in binding affinities were observed. It was, thus, feasible to make use of DNA hybridization to reversibly switch from no to almost complete inhibition of Src-SH2,peptide binding, and vice versa. A series of DNA and PNA-based hybridization experiments revealed the importance of charges and conformational effects. Nucleic acid mediated switching was extended to the use of RNA; this enabled a regulation of the enzymatic activity of the Src kinase. The proof-of-principle results demonstrate for the first time that PNA,peptide chimeras can transduce changes of the concentration of a given RNA molecule to changes of the activity of a signal transduction enzyme. [source]

Cover Picture: Semisynthesis and Characterization of the First Analogues of Pro-Neuropeptide Y (ChemBioChem 5/2003)

CHEMBIOCHEM, Issue 5 2003
Regula von Eggelkraut-Gottanka Dipl.-Pharm.
Abstract The cover picture shows how a combination of recombinant synthesis and chemical synthesis has been used to obtain chemically modified proteins. N-terminal protein segments of pro-neuropeptide Y (proNPY) were produced as intein-fusion proteins in Escherischia coli in order to obtain thioesters. C-terminal segments were synthesized by parallel automated peptide synthesis and derivatized to obtain carboxyfluorescein- (CF) and biotin-labeled peptides. Native chemical ligation yielded chemically modified full-length analogues of proNPY that can be used to monitor the biosynthesis of neuropeptide Y. Futher information can be found in the article by Beck-Sickinger and co-workers on p. 425 ff. [source]