TIR domains of TLR family-from the cell culture to the protein sample for structural studies.

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are key players in the innate immune system. Despite the great efforts in TLR structural biology, today we know the spatial structures of only four human TLR intracellular TIR domains. All of them belong to one of five subfamilies of receptors.

Conjugated Dienoic Acid Peroxides as Substrates in Bioluminescence System.

Biochemistry of bioluminescence of the marine parchment tubeworm has been in research focus for over a century; however, the results obtained by various groups contradict each other. Here, we report the isolation and structural elucidation of three compounds from algae, which demonstrate bioluminescence activity with luciferase in the presence of Fe ions. These compounds are derivatives of polyunsaturated fatty acid peroxides.

Peptides from the Sea Anemone with Modified Inhibitor Cystine Knot (ICK) Fold Inhibit Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors.

Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) play an important role in the functioning of the central and peripheral nervous systems, and other organs of living creatures. There are several subtypes of nAChRs, and almost all of them are considered as pharmacological targets in different pathological states. The crude venom of the sea anemone showed the ability to interact with nAChRs.

Spatial Structure of NanoFAST in the Apo State and in Complex with its Fluorogen HBR-DOM2.

NanoFAST is a fluorogen-activating protein and can be considered one of the smallest encodable fluorescent tags. Being a shortened variant of another fluorescent tag, FAST, nanoFAST works nicely only with one out of all known FAST ligands. This substantially limits the applicability of this protein.

Artificial pore blocker acts specifically on voltage-gated potassium channel isoform K1.6.

Among voltage-gated potassium channel (K) isoforms, K1.6 is one of the most widespread in the nervous system. However, there are little data concerning its physiological significance, in part due to the scarcity of specific ligands.

Modulation of Toll-like receptor 1 intracellular domain structure and activity by Zn ions.

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) play an important role in the innate immune response. While a lot is known about the structures of their extracellular parts, many questions are still left unanswered, when the structural basis of TLR activation is analyzed for the TLR intracellular domains. Here we report the structure and dynamics of TLR1 toll-interleukin like (TIR) cytoplasmic domain in crystal and in solution.

Sampling the cultivation parameter space for the bacterial production of TLR1 intracellular domain reveals the multiple optima.

T7 expression system is an extremely popular approach for the recombinant protein production in Escherichia coli for structural and functional studies and therapeutic applications. There are many useful tools and successful techniques that allow expressing the desired protein in this system. However, high yield of soluble protein often requires a systematic optimization of a wide range of cell cultivation parameters.

A Novel Lipopeptaibol Emericellipsin A with Antimicrobial and Antitumor Activity Produced by the Extremophilic Fungus .

Soil fungi are known to contain a rich variety of defense metabolites that allow them to compete with other organisms (fungi, bacteria, nematodes, and insects) and help them occupy more preferential areas at the expense of effective antagonism. These compounds possess antibiotic activity towards a wide range of other microbes, particularly fungi that belong to different taxonomical units. These compounds include peptaibols, which are non-ribosomal synthesized polypeptides containing non-standard amino acid residues (alpha-aminoisobutyric acid mandatory) and some posttranslational modifications.