Helical Form (helical + form)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Post-translational cleavage of recombinantly expressed nitrilase from Rhodococcus rhodochrous J1 yields a stable, active helical form

FEBS JOURNAL, Issue 8 2007
R. Ndoria Thuku
Nitrilases convert nitriles to the corresponding carboxylic acids and ammonia. The nitrilase from Rhodococcus rhodochrous J1 is known to be inactive as a dimer but to become active on oligomerization. The recombinant enzyme undergoes post-translational cleavage at approximately residue 327, resulting in the formation of active, helical homo-oligomers. Determining the 3D structure of these helices using electron microscopy, followed by fitting the stain envelope with a model based on homology with other members of the nitrilase superfamily, enables the interacting surfaces to be identified. This also suggests that the reason for formation of the helices is related to the removal of steric hindrance arising from the 39 C-terminal amino acids from the wild-type protein. The helical form can be generated by expressing only residues 1,327. [source]


MORPHOLOGICAL REVERSION OF SPIRULINA (ARTHROSPIRA) PLATENSIS (CYANOPHYTA): FROM LINEAR TO HELICAL,

JOURNAL OF PHYCOLOGY, Issue 3 2005
Zhi Ping Wang
The cyanobacterium Spirulina Turpin is characterized by its regularly coiled trichomes. Under some conditions, its helical filaments can convert to abnormal morphologies, such as irregularly curved and even linear shapes, that had been considered as a permanent degeneration that could not be reversed. However, here we found that the linear filaments of Spirulina platensis Geitler could spontaneously revert to the helical form with the same morphology as the original filaments. Further studies showed that the ultrastructural, physiological, and biochemical characteristics of linear filaments were different from those of the original filaments, whereas they were the same for the reverted and the original filaments. The SDS-PAGE analysis revealed at least four proteins or subunits related to Spirulina morphogenesis: The 21.9-kDa and the 20.3-kDa proteins were highly expressed in the helical filaments, whereas the 52.0-kDa and the 31.8-kDa proteins were highly expressed in the linear filaments. The random amplified polymorphic DNA analysis with 96 random primers showed that the genetic background of the reverted filaments was the same as that of the original filaments but distinct from that of the linear filaments. The results indicated that linear filaments of Spirulina could revert to the original morphology under certain conditions, and their other distinctive traits were regained. [source]


Molecular aspects on the interaction of protoberberine, benzophenanthridine, and aristolochia group of alkaloids with nucleic acid structures and biological perspectives

MEDICINAL RESEARCH REVIEWS, Issue 5 2007
Motilal Maiti
Abstract Alkaloids occupy an important position in chemistry and pharmacology. Among the various alkaloids, berberine and coralyne of the protoberberine group, sanguinarine of the benzophenanthridine group, and aristololactam-,- d -glucoside of the aristolochia group have potential to form molecular complexes with nucleic acid structures and have attracted recent attention for their prospective clinical and pharmacological utility. This review highlights (i) the physicochemical properties of these alkaloids under various environmental conditions, (ii) the structure and functional aspects of various forms of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) (B-form, Z-form, HL -form, protonated form, and triple helical form) and ribonucleic acid (RNA) (A-form, protonated form, and triple helical form), and (iii) the interaction of these alkaloids with various polymorphic DNA and RNA structures reported by several research groups employing various analytical techniques like absorbance, fluorescence, circular dichroism, and NMR spectroscopy; electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, thermal melting, viscosity, and DNase footprinting as well as molecular modeling and thermodynamic studies to provide detailed binding mechanism at the molecular level for structure,activity relationship. Nucleic acids binding properties of these alkaloids are interpreted in relation to their biological activity. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Med Res Rev, 27, No. 5, 649,695, 2007 [source]


CFD Simulation of Inlet Design Effect on Deoiling Hydrocyclone Separation Efficiency

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY (CET), Issue 12 2009
S. Noroozi
Abstract An Eulerian-Eulerian three-dimensional CFD model was developed to study the effect of different inlet designs on deoiling hydrocyclone separation efficiency. Reynolds averaged Navier Stokes and continuity equations were applied to solve steady turbulent flow through the cyclone with the Reynolds stress model. In addition, the modified drag correlation for liquid-liquid emulsion with respect to the Reynolds number range and viscosity ratio of two phases was used and the simulation results were compared with those predicted by the Schiller-Naumann correlation. Pressure profile, tangential and axial velocities and separation efficiency of the deoiling hydrocyclone were calculated for four different inlet designs and compared with the standard design. The simulation results for the standard design demonstrate an acceptable agreement with reported experimental data. The results show that all new four inlet designs offer higher efficiencies compared to the standard design. The difference between the efficiency of the LLHC, of the new inlets and the standard design can be improved by increasing the inlet velocity. Furthermore, the simulations show that the separation efficiency can be improved by about 10 % when using a helical form of inlet. [source]