Correlation of Amino Acid Sequence and Conformation in Tobacco Mosaic Virus

Correlation of the amino acid sequence with the conformation in tobacco mosaic virus protein is considered in this article. After division of the sequence into groups with helical or nonhelical potential, the segments likely to be helical were related to the X-ray diffraction patterns obtained by Franklin, Caspar, Holmes, and Klug. The approximate locations of these segments within the known boundaries of the subunit were predicted from the radial distribution and helical projection of electron density. As a result of these assignments, the number of possible conformations was also reduced for the nonhelical segments. The structure of the subunit was simulated by flexible models of rubber and electrical tubing, as well as by space-filling Corey-Pauling-Koltun models. These models were used to locate the protein segments impinging upon the ribonucleic acid of the virus. The two pairs of carboxyl groups believed to be responsible for the binding of lead were also tentatively identified on these models as aspartic acid residues 64 and 66 (first pair) and glutamic acid residues 131 and 145 (second pair).     

Noradrenaline reduces the stimulatory effect of interleukin-1α on reactive oxygen species production by oyster immunocytes

Abstract. A growing body of evidence suggests that interleukin-1α (IL-1α) is present in invertebrates. Both invertebrate and human IL-1α can bind to invertebrate receptors and stimulate invertebrate immune functions. The present study shows that IL-1α increases reactive oxygen species (ROS) production by oyster immunocytes. However, physiological doses of noradrenaline (NA) exert a suppressive effect on IL-1α stimulation in vitro . The β-adrenoceptor agonist isoproterenol mimicked the effects of NA and the β-adrenoceptor antagonist propanolol blocked the NA-induced suppression of hemocyte responsiveness to IL-1α. The type IV phosphodiesterase inhibitor rolipram acted in synergy with isoproterenol to reduce hemocyte response to IL-1α and the protein kinase A inhibitor H-89 suppressed the effects of isoproterenol. These results suggest that circulating NA impairs IL-1α-stimulation of oyster hemocyte via a β-adrenoceptor/cyclic AMP/protein kinase-A signaling pathway. Considering that mollusc immunocytes secrete NA, an autocrine regulatory loop may also modulate the ability of these cells to respond to IL-1α.