A new mechanism of fibronectin fibril assembly revealed by live imaging and super-resolution microscopy.

Fibronectin (Fn1) fibrils have long been viewed as continuous fibers composed of extended, periodically aligned Fn1 molecules. However, our live-imaging and single-molecule localization microscopy data are inconsistent with this traditional view and show that Fn1 fibrils are composed of roughly spherical nanodomains containing six to eleven Fn1 dimers. As they move toward the cell center, Fn1 nanodomains become organized into linear arrays, in which nanodomains are spaced with an average periodicity of 105±17 nm.

Biophysical characterization of hit compounds for mechanism-based enzyme activation.

Across all families of enzymes, only a dozen or so distinct classes of non-natural small molecule activators have been characterized, with only four known modes of activation among them. All of these modes of activation rely on naturally evolved binding sites that trigger global conformational changes. Among the enzymes that are of greatest interest for small molecule activation are the seven sirtuin enzymes, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+)-dependent protein deacylases that play a central role in the regulation of healthspan and lifespan in organisms ranging from yeast to mammals.

Characterization of a cold-adapted DNA photolyase from C. psychrerythraea 34H.

The phrB gene encoding a putative cold-adapted DNA photolyase was cloned from the bacterial genomic DNA of Colwellia psychrerythraea 34H, a psychrophilic bacterium. Recombinant DNA photolyase, rCpPL, was overexpressed and purified from three different vectors. rCpPL binds its DNA substrate by flipping a cyclobutane pyrimidine dimer (CPD) into its active site and repairs CPD-containing DNA in vitro.

The Missing Electrostatic Interactions Between DNA Substrate and Sulfolobus solfataricus DNA Photolyase: What is the Role of Charged Amino Acids in Thermophilic DNA Binding Proteins?

DNA photolyase can be used to study how a protein with its required cofactor has adapted over a large temperature range. The enzymatic activity and thermodynamics of substrate binding for protein from Sulfolobus solfataricus were directly compared to protein from Escherichia coli. Turnover numbers and catalytic activity were virtually identical, but organic cosolvents may be necessary to maintain activity of the thermophilic protein at higher temperatures.