The low-affinity complex of cytochrome c and its peroxidase.

The complex of yeast cytochrome c peroxidase and cytochrome c is a paradigm of the biological electron transfer (ET). Building on seven decades of research, two different models have been proposed to explain its functional redox activity. One postulates that the intermolecular ET occurs only in the dominant, high-affinity protein-protein orientation, while the other posits formation of an additional, low-affinity complex, which is much more active than the dominant one.

Suppression of type 1 pilus assembly in uropathogenic Escherichia coli by chemical inhibition of subunit polymerization.

Objectives: To identify and to characterize small-molecule inhibitors that target the subunit polymerization of the type 1 pilus assembly in uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC).

Methods: Using an SDS-PAGE-based assay, in silico pre-filtered small-molecule compounds were screened for specific inhibitory activity against the critical subunit polymerization step of the chaperone-usher pathway during pilus biogenesis. The biological activity of one of the compounds was validated in assays monitoring UPEC type 1 pilus biogenesis, type 1 pilus-dependent biofilm formation and adherence to human bladder epithelial cells.

Redox-dependent conformational changes in eukaryotic cytochromes revealed by paramagnetic NMR spectroscopy.

Cytochrome c (Cc) is a soluble electron carrier protein, transferring reducing equivalents between Cc reductase and Cc oxidase in eukaryotes. In this work, we assessed the structural differences between reduced and oxidized Cc in solution by paramagnetic NMR spectroscopy. First, we have obtained nearly-complete backbone NMR resonance assignments for iso-1-yeast Cc and horse Cc in both oxidation states.

Crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of kanamycin-binding β-lactamase in complex with its ligand.

TEM-1 β-lactamase is a highly efficient enzyme that is involved in bacterial resistance against β-lactam antibiotics such as penicillin. It is also a robust scaffold protein which can be engineered by molecular-evolution techniques to bind a variety of targets. One such β-lactamase variant (BlaKr) has been constructed to bind kanamycin (kan) and other aminoglycoside antibiotics, which are neither substrates nor ligands of native β-lactamases.