Home About us Contact
|
Home About us Contact | ||
|
|
||
High Sequence Homology (high + sequence_homology)
Selected AbstractsCloning and Characterization of the cDNA Encoding the Masquerade-like Serine Proteinase Homologue Gene of the Silkworm, Bombyx moriENTOMOLOGICAL RESEARCH, Issue 3 2002Doo-Sang PARK ABSTRACT From Bombyx mori larvae, RT-PCR and cDNA library screening isolated masquerade-like serine proteinase homologue cDNA gene, proposed to be related to insect immunity and its characteristics were examined. The isolated gene is composed of 1.3 kb of nucleotide and 420 amino acid residues were encoded. According to the results of database search, the isolated gene showed high sequence homology with Holotrichia and Tenebrio's 45 kDa protein, Drosophila CG5390 gene. Moreover, it is composed of regulatory domain and catalytic domain, which is characteristic of serine proteinase that can be found in the insect immune reaction and embryonic development processes. Enzyme activation site by proteolytic cleavage and the sequence of three amino acids participate in the catalytic triad of enzyme and 14 cystein residues used in disulfide bridges are well conserved with the compared genes. The mRNA expression was increased following E. coli injection and constitutive expression was also observed before injection by Northern blot analysis. [source] Differential distribution of Rac1 and Rac3 GTPases in the developing mouse brain: implications for a role of Rac3 in Purkinje cell differentiationEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE, Issue 9 2003Annalisa Bolis Abstract Rac3 is one of the three known Rac GTPases in vertebrates. Rac3 shows high sequence homology to Rac1, and its transcript is specifically expressed in the developing nervous system, where its localization and function are unknown. By using Rac3-specific antibodies, we show that the endogenous Rac3 protein is differentially expressed during mouse brain development, with a peak of expression at times of neuronal maturation and synaptogenesis. Comparison with Rac1 shows clear-cut differences in the overall distribution of the two GTPases in the developing brain, and in their subcellular distribution in regions of the brain where both proteins are expressed. At P7, Rac3 staining is particularly marked in the deep cerebellar nuclei and in the pons, where it shows a discontinuous distribution around the neuronal cell bodies, in contrast with the diffuse staining of Rac1. Rac3 does not evidently co-localize with pre- and post-synaptic markers, nor with GFAP-positive astrocytes, but it clearly co-localizes with actin filaments, and with the terminal portions of calbindin-positive Purkinje cell axons in the deep cerebellar nuclei. Our data implicate Rac3 in neuronal differentiation, and support a specific role of this GTPase in actin-mediated remodelling of Purkinje cell neuritic terminals at time of synaptogenesis. [source] Molecular cloning and functional expression of a gene encoding an antiarrhythmia peptide derived from the scorpion toxinFEBS JOURNAL, Issue 18 2002Fang Peng From a cDNA library of Chinese scorpion Buthus martensii Karsch, full-length cDNAs of 351 nucleotides encoding precursors (named BmKIM) that contain signal peptides of 21 amino acid residues, a mature toxin of 61 residues with four disulfide bridges, and an extra Gly-Lys-Lys tail, were isolated. The genomic sequence of BmKIM was cloned and sequenced; it consisted of two exons disrupted by an intron of 1622 bp, the largest known in scorpion toxin genomes, inserted in the region encoding the signal peptide. The cDNA was expressed in Escherichia coli. The recombinant BmKIM was toxic to both mammal and insects. This is the first report that a toxin with such high sequence homology with an insect-specific depressant toxin group exhibits toxicity to mammals. Using whole cell patch-clamp recording, it was discovered that the recombinant BmKIM inhibited thesodium current in rat dorsal root ganglion neurons andventricular myocytes and protected against aconitine- induced cardiac arrhythmia. [source] Kinetic study of sn -glycerol-1-phosphate dehydrogenase from the aerobic hyperthermophilic archaeon, Aeropyrum pernix K1FEBS JOURNAL, Issue 3 2002Jin-Suk Han A gene having high sequence homology (45,49%) with the glycerol-1-phosphate dehydrogenase gene from Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum was cloned from the aerobic hyperthermophilic archaeon Aeropyrum pernix K1 (JCM 9820). This gene expressed in Escherichia coli with the pET vector system consists of 1113 nucleotides with an ATG initiation codon and a TAG termination codon. The molecular mass of the purified enzyme was estimated to be 38 kDa by SDS/PAGE and 72.4 kDa by gel column chromatography, indicating presence as a dimer. The optimum reaction temperature of this enzyme was observed to be 94,96 °C at near neutral pH. This enzyme was subjected to two-substrate kinetic analysis. The enzyme showed substrate specificity for NAD(P)H- dependent dihydroxyacetone phosphate reduction and NAD+ -dependent,glycerol-1-phosphate (Gro1P) oxidation. NADP+ -dependent Gro1P oxidation was not observed with this enzyme. For the production of Gro1P in A. pernix cells, NADPH is the preferred coenzyme rather than NADH. Gro1P acted as a noncompetitive inhibitor against dihydroxyacetone phosphate and NAD(P)H. However, NAD(P)+ acted as a competitive inhibitor against NAD(P)H and as a noncompetitive inhibitor against dihydroxyacetone phosphate. This kinetic data indicates that the catalytic reaction by glycerol- 1-phosphate dehydrogenase from A. pernix follows a ordered bi,bi mechanism. [source] LAF4, an AF4 -related gene, is fused to MLL in infant acute lymphoblastic leukemiaGENES, CHROMOSOMES AND CANCER, Issue 1 2002Anne R.M. von Bergh Infant acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) with MLL gene rearrangements is characterized by a proB phenotype and a poor clinical outcome. We analyzed an infant proB ALL with t(2;11)(p15;p14) and an MLL rearrangement on Southern blot analysis. Rapid amplification of cDNA ends,polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and reverse transcriptase-PCR identified the LAF4 gene mapped on chromosome region 2q11.2,q12 as a fusion partner of the MLL gene. The LAF4 gene was identified previously by its high sequence homology to the AF4 protein and encodes a protein of 1,227 amino acids. The t(4;11)(q21;q23), creating the MLL - AF4 chimeric transcripts, is the predominant 11q23 chromosome translocation in infant ALL and is associated with an extremely poor prognosis. Our findings further suggest that fusion of MLL to one of the AF4 family members (AF4/LAF4/AF5Q31) might determine a proB-cell phenotype in infant leukemia. © 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] A recently described polymorphism in the CD28 gene on chromosome 2q33 is not associated with susceptibility to type 1 diabetesINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF IMMUNOGENETICS, Issue 4 2002J. P. Wood Summary Type 1 diabetes mellitus is an autoimmune disease with a strong genetic background. The CTLA4 gene region (IDDM12) has been implicated in genetic susceptibility to type 1 diabetes by genome scanning and both family- and population-based analyses. As the genes encoding the costimulatory molecules CTLA4 and CD28, which compete for the receptor B7, reside close together on chromosome 2q33 and have high sequence homology, we investigated a recently described polymorphism in intron 3 of the CD28 gene and the CLTA4 codon 17 polymorphism in 176 patients with type 1 diabetes and 220 healthy controls. Whereas CTLA4 was found to be associated with type 1 diabetes, the frequency of the CD28 polymorphism did not differ between patients and controls, either in the entire sample or after stratification for CTLA4 genotype. Thus, the CD28 intron 3 polymorphism does not appear to be associated with susceptibility to type 1 diabetes. [source] Orexin-A is composed of a highly conserved C -terminal and a specific, hydrophilic N -terminal region, revealing the structural basis of specific recognition by the orexin-1 receptorJOURNAL OF PEPTIDE SCIENCE, Issue 7 2006Tomoyo Takai Abstract Orexins-A and B, also called hypocretins-1 and 2, respectively, are neuropeptides that regulate feeding and sleep-wakefulness by binding to two orphan G protein-coupled receptors named orexin-1 (OX1R) and orexin-2 (OX2R). The sequences and functions of orexins-A and B are similar to each other, but the high sequence homology (68%) is limited in their C -terminal half regions (residues 15,33). The sequence of the N -terminal half region of orexin-A (residues 1,14), containing two disulfide bonds, is very different from that of orexin-B. The structure of orexin-A was determined using two-dimensional homonuclear and 15N and 13C natural abundance heteronuclear NMR experiments. Orexin-A had a compact conformation in the N -terminal half region, which contained a short helix (III:Cys6-Gln9) and was fixed by the two disulfide bonds, and a helix-turn-helix conformation (I:Leu16-Ala23 and II:Asn25-Thr32) in the remaining C -terminal half region. The C -terminal half region had both hydrophobic and hydrophilic residues, which existed on separate surfaces to provide an amphipathic character in helices I and II. The nine residues on the hydrophobic surface are also well conserved in orexin-B, and it was reported that the substitution of each of them with alanine resulted in a significant drop in the functional potency at the receptors. Therefore, we suggest that they form the surface responsible for the main hydrophobic interaction with the receptors. On the other hand, the residues on the hydrophilic surface, together with the hydrophilic residues in the N -terminal half region that form a cluster, are known to make only small contributions to the binding to the receptors through similar alanine-scan experiments. However, since our structure of orexin-A showed that large conformational and electrostatical differences between orexins-A and B were rather concentrated in the N -terminal half regions, we suggest that the region of orexin-A is important for the preference for orexin-A of OX1R. Copyright © 2006 European Peptide Society and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Structure elucidation and 3D solution conformation of the antibiotic enduracidin determined by NMR spectroscopy and molecular dynamicsMAGNETIC RESONANCE IN CHEMISTRY, Issue 8 2005F. Castiglione Abstract Enduracidin and ramoplanin belong to the large family of cyclodepsipeptide antibiotics, highly effective against Gram-positive bacteria. The primary and 3D solution structure of ramoplanin is already well known, and the primary structure of enduracidin has been determined by a combination of chemical and NMR spectroscopic methods. Both antibiotics share a similar peptide core of 17 amino acids and differ mainly in the length of the acyl chain and the presence of two D -mannose moieties in ramoplanin. Based on the high sequence homology with ramoplanin, the structure in solution of enduracidin is modeled as a cyclic peptide. The tertiary structure thus obtained was refined through molecular dynamics (MD) simulation, in which the interatomic NOE-derived distance restraints were imposed. MD simulations yielded a family of representative 3D structures (RMSD = 0.89), which highlighted a backbone geometry similar to that of ramoplanin in its ,-hairpin arrangement. In contrast, enduracidin displays a different arrangement of the side-chain and of the residues forming the hydrophobic core. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Phylogenetic analysis, genomic organization, and expression analysis of multi-copper oxidases in the ectomycorrhizal basidiomycete Laccaria bicolorNEW PHYTOLOGIST, Issue 3 2009P. E. Courty Summary ,,In forest soils, ectomycorrhizal and saprotrophic Agaricales differ in their strategies for carbon acquisition, but share common gene families encoding multi-copper oxidases (MCOs). These enzymes are involved in the oxidation of a variety of soil organic compounds. ,,The MCO gene family of the ectomycorrhizal fungus Laccaria bicolor is composed of 11 genes divided into two distinct subfamilies corresponding to laccases (lcc) sensu stricto (lcc1 to lcc9), sharing a high sequence homology with the coprophilic Coprinopsis cinerea laccase genes, and to ferroxidases (lcc10 and lcc11) that are not present in C. cinerea. The fet3 -like ferroxidase genes lcc10 and lcc11 in L. bicolor are each arranged in a mirrored tandem orientation with an ftr gene coding for an iron permease. Unlike C. cinerea, L. bicolor has no sid1/sidA gene for siderophore biosynthesis. ,,Transcript profiling using whole-genome expression arrays and quantitative reverse transcriptase,polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) revealed that some transcripts were very abundant in ectomycorrhizas (lcc3 and lcc8), in fruiting bodies (lcc7) or in the free-living mycelium grown on agar medium (lcc9 and lcc10), suggesting a specific function of these MCOs. ,,The amino acid composition of the MCO substrate binding sites suggests that L. bicolor MCOs interact with substrates different from those of saprotrophic fungi. [source] The serine palmitoyltransferase from Sphingomonas wittichii RW1: An interesting link to an unusual acyl carrier proteinBIOPOLYMERS, Issue 9 2010Marine C. C. Raman Abstract Serine palmitoyltransferase (SPT) catalyses the first step in the de novo biosynthesis of sphingolipids (SLs). It uses a decarboxylative Claisen-like condensation reaction to couple L -serine with palmitoyl-CoA to generate a long-chain base product, 3-ketodihydrosphingosine. SLs are produced by mammals, plants, yeast, and some bacteria, and we have exploited the complete genome sequence of Sphingomonas wittichii to begin a complete analysis of bacterial sphingolipid biosynthesis. Here, we describe the enzymatic characterization of the SPT from this organism and present its high-resolution x-ray structure. Moreover, we identified an open reading frame with high sequence homology to acyl carrier proteins (ACPs) that are common to fatty acid biosynthetic pathways. This small protein was co-expressed with the SPT and we isolated and characterised the apo- and holo-forms of the ACP. Our studies suggest a link between fatty acid and sphingolipid metabolism. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Biopolymers 93: 811,822, 2010. [source] | ||||||||||||||||