Analysis of conformational motions and related key residue interactions responsible for a specific function of proteins with elastic network model

Protein collective motions play a critical role in many biochemical processes. How to predict the functional motions and the related key residue interactions in proteins is important for our understanding in the mechanism of the biochemical processes. Normal mode analysis (NMA) of the elastic network model (ENM) is one of the effective approaches to investigate the structure-encoded motions in proteins. However, the motion modes revealed by the conventional NMA approach do not necessarily correspond to a specific function of protein. In the present work, a new analysis method was proposed to identify the motion modes responsible for a specific function of proteins and then predict the key residue interactions involved in the functional motions by using a perturbation approach. In our method, an internal coordinate that accounts for the specific function was introduced, and the Cartesian coordinate space was transformed into the internal/Cartesian space by using linear approximation, where the introduced internal coordinate serves as one of the axes of the coordinate space. NMA of ENM in this internal/Cartesian space was performed and the function-relevant motion modes were identified according to their contributions to the specific function of proteins. Then the key residue interactions important for the functional motions of the protein were predicted as the interactions whose perturbation largely influences the fluctuation along the internal coordinate. Using our proposed methods, the maltose transporter (MalFGK₂) from E. Coli was studied. The functional motions and the key residue interactions that are related to the channel-gating function of this protein were successfully identified.     

Protein factors that bind to the murine 2',5'-oligoadenylate synthetase ME-12 gene 5' upstream regulatory region

The murine 2',5'-oligoadenylate synthetase ME-12 gene regulatory region AB forms six complexes with protein factors in murine BALB/c 3T3 cells as demonstrated by the mobility shift electrophoresis assay under the reaction conditions used. The complexes, designated C1-C6 in order of their decreasing electrophoretic mobility, showed three distinctive specificities with regulatory region AB, element A, and element B as probes or competing DNA: 1) C1 is region AB-specific (this complex did not form with either element A or B used alone or as a mixture); 2) C5 formed both with element A and element B; 3) C2, C3, C4, and C6 formed with element B, but not A. The protein factors that give rise to these complexes show differential DNA binding activities in various buffer solutions at different pH values. The C4-forming protein factor is the interferon (IFN)-alpha/beta-stimulated response factor (ISRF) which shows element B specificity. It preexists in the cytoplasm. ISRF appears to be complexed to an inhibitor (ISRFI) in the cytoplasm and to dissociate from the inhibitor and to translocate into the nucleus upon treatment of cells with IFN-alpha/beta. We propose that IFN-alpha/beta treatment of BALB/c 3T3 can trigger at least two events: 1) loosening of a tight inhibitor-ISRF complex with the release of free ISRF; this may be mediated via phosphorylation of ISRF or ISRFI; 2) translocation of ISRF into the nucleus and binding to the enhancer element B, which results in the activation of 2',5'-oligoadenylate synthetase gene expression.     

Capturing pair-wise epistatic effects associated with three agronomic traits in barley

Genetic association mapping has been widely applied to determine genetic markers favorably associated with a trait of interest and provide information for marker-assisted selection. Many association mapping studies commonly focus on main effects due to intolerable computing intensity. This study aims to select several sets of DNA markers with potential epistasis to maximize genetic variations of some key agronomic traits in barley. By doing so, we integrated a MDR (multifactor dimensionality reduction) method with a forward variable selection approach. This integrated approach was used to determine single nucleotide polymorphism pairs with epistasis effects associated with three agronomic traits: heading date, plant height, and grain yield in barley from the barley Coordinated Agricultural Project. Our results showed that four, seven, and five SNP pairs accounted for 51.06, 45.66 and 40.42% for heading date, plant height, and grain yield, respectively with epistasis being considered, while corresponding contributions to these three traits were 45.32, 31.39, 31.31%, respectively without epistasis being included. The results suggested that epistasis model was more effective than non-epistasis model in this study and can be more preferred for other applications.     

Foliar Spray with 24-Epibrassinolide Enhanced Strawberry Fruit Quality,Phytochemical Content,and Postharvest Life

Journal of Plant Growth Regulation - Activation of complex metabolic pathways and antioxidant activities is necessary for enhancing quality and health promoting capacity of food crops. Plant growth...     

Biomimetic Approaches to Functional Surfaces, Surface Wetting and Fluids Drag Reduction

In the natural world,plants and animals haveevolved over time to best adapt to the environment.Theyinteract very effectively with the surrounding environmentby exchanging energies and mass flow across theircuticles of specific micro structures and functions toachieve perfect energy balance.Such different functionsmay include the limitation of uncontrolled loss of water,protection from solar radiation,micro effect of inducedturbulence on flow drag reduction,defence againstpathogens,changing surface wettability and hydropho-     

Cucurbitacin I Induces Protective Autophagy in Glioblastoma in Vitro and in Vivo

There is an urgent need for new therapeutic avenues to improve the outcome of patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). Current studies have suggested that cucurbitacin I, a natural selective inhibitor of JAK2/STAT3, has a potent anticancer effect on a variety of cancer cell types. This study showed that autophagy and apoptosis were induced by cucurbitacin I. Exposure of GBM cells to cucurbitacin I resulted in pronounced apoptotic cell death through activating bcl-2 family proteins. Cells treatment with cucurbitacin I up-regulated Beclin 1 and triggered autophagosome formation and accumulation as well as conversion of LC3I to LC3II. Activation of the AMP-activated protein kinase/mammalian target of rapamycin/p70S6K pathway, but not the PI3K/AKT pathway, occurred in autophagy induced by cucurbitacin I, which was accompanied by decreased hypoxia-inducible factor 1α. Stable overexpression of hypoxia-inducible factor 1α induced by FG-4497 prevented cucurbitacin I-induced autophagy and down-regulation of bcl-2. Knockdown of beclin 1 or treatment with the autophagy inhibitor 3-methyladenine also inhibited autophagy induced by cucurbitacin I. A coimmunoprecipitation assay showed that the interaction of Bcl-2 and Beclin 1/hVps34 decreased markedly in cells treated with cucurbitacin I. Furthermore, knockdown of beclin 1 or treatment with the lysosome inhibitor chloroquine sensitized cancer cells to cucurbitacin I-induced apoptosis. Finally, a xenograft model provided additional evidence for the occurrence of cucurbitacin I-induced apoptosis and autophagy in vitro. Our findings provide new insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying cucurbitacin I-mediated GBM cell death and may provide an efficacious therapy for patients harboring GBM.