In vitro and in vivo anti-tumor effect of Trichobakin fused with urokinase-type plasminogen activator ATF-TBK.

Background: Trichobakin (TBK), a member of type I ribosome-inactivating proteins (RIPs), was first successfully cloned from Trichosanthes sp Bac Kan 8-98 in Vietnam. Previous study has shown that TBK acts as a potential protein synthesis inhibitor; however, the inhibition efficiency and specificity of TBK on cancer cells remain to be fully elucidated.

Methods And Results: In this work, we employed TBK and TBK conjugated with a part of the amino-terminal fragment (ATF) of the urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA), which contains the Ω-loop that primarily interacts with urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor, and can be a powerful carrier in the drug delivery to cancer cells.

Diversity of Structural, Dynamic, and Environmental Effects Explain a Distinctive Functional Role of Transmembrane Domains in the Insulin Receptor Subfamily.

Human InsR, IGF1R, and IRR receptor tyrosine kinases (RTK) of the insulin receptor subfamily play an important role in signaling pathways for a wide range of physiological processes and are directly associated with many pathologies, including neurodegenerative diseases. The disulfide-linked dimeric structure of these receptors is unique among RTKs. Sharing high sequence and structure homology, the receptors differ dramatically in their localization, expression, and functions.

Crystal Structure of Inhibitor-Bound Bacterial Oligopeptidase B in the Closed State: Similarity and Difference between Protozoan and Bacterial Enzymes.

The crystal structure of bacterial oligopeptidase B from (SpOpB) in complex with a chloromethyl ketone inhibitor was determined at 2.2 Å resolution. SpOpB was crystallized in a closed (catalytically active) conformation.

Unusual Cytochrome 552 from : Solution NMR Structure and Interaction with Thiocyanate Dehydrogenase.

The search of a putative physiological electron acceptor for thiocyanate dehydrogenase (TcDH) newly discovered in the thiocyanate-oxidizing bacteria revealed an unusually large, single-heme cytochrome (CytC552), which was co-purified with TcDH from the periplasm. Recombinant CytC552, produced in as a mature protein without a signal peptide, has spectral properties similar to the endogenous protein and serves as an in vitro electron acceptor in the TcDH-catalyzed reaction. The CytC552 structure determined by NMR spectroscopy reveals significant differences compared to those of the typical class I bacterial cytochromes : a high solvent accessible surface area for the heme group and so-called "intrinsically disordered" nature of the histidine-rich N- and C-terminal regions.

First Crystal Structure of Bacterial Oligopeptidase B in an Intermediate State: The Roles of the Hinge Region Modification and Spermine.

Oligopeptidase B (OpB) is a two-domain, trypsin-like serine peptidase belonging to the S9 prolyloligopeptidase (POP) family. Two domains are linked by a hinge region that participates in the transition of the enzyme between two major states-closed and open-in which domains and residues of the catalytic triad are located close to each other and separated, respectively. In this study, we described, for the first time, a structure of OpB from bacteria obtained for an enzyme from with a modified hinge region (PSPmod).

Backbone and side-chain chemical shift assignments for the ribosome-inactivating protein trichobakin (TBK).

Trichobakin (TBK) is a type-I ribosome-inactivating protein (RIP-I), acting as an extremely potent inhibitor of protein synthesis in the cell-free translation system of rabbit reticulocyte lysate (IC: 3.5 pM). In this respect, TBK surpasses the well-studied highly homologous RIP-I trichosanthin (IC: 20-27 pM), therefore creation of recombinant toxins based on it is of great interest.

Photosensitized singlet oxygen luminescence from the protein matrix of Zn-substituted myoglobin.

A nanosecond laser near-infrared spectrometer was used to study singlet oxygen ((1)O2) emission in a protein matrix. Myoglobin in which the intact heme is substituted by Zn-protoporphyrin IX (ZnPP) was employed. Every collision of ground state molecular oxygen with ZnPP in the excited triplet state results in (1)O2 generation within the protein matrix.

Protein interactomics based on direct molecular fishing on paramagnetic particles: experimental simulation and SPR validation.

We describe an experimental approach for direct molecular fishing of prey protein on the surface of two types of paramagnetic particles (PMP) having different size and composition. Human microsomal cytochrome b(5) (b(5)) and its known partner human cytochrome P450 3A5 (CYP3A5) were used as bait and prey proteins, respectively. For assessing the level of unspecific binding of background proteins, α-fetoprotein (aFP) was used.

[Cryopreserved allo-grafts in aortic valve surgery].

Bakulev Scientific Center for Cardiovascular Surgery resumed research into cryopreservation and creation of valve bank in 1990. This technology allowed preparation of valve allo-grafts with preserved cell reproductive capacity for clinical use. A new technology, allowing reduction of calcinosis in the graft's aortic wall, was developed and experimentally tested in 2003.