Biosynthesis and structure-activity relationships of the lipid a family of glycolipids.

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a glycolipid found in the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria, is a potent elicitor of innate immune responses in mammals. A typical LPS molecule is composed of three different structural domains: a polysaccharide called the O-antigen, a core oligosaccharide, and Lipid A. Lipid A is the amphipathic glycolipid moiety of LPS.

Partial In Vitro Reconstitution of an Orphan Polyketide Synthase Associated with Clinical Cases of Nocardiosis.

Although a few well-characterized polyketide synthases (PKSs) have been functionally reconstituted in vitro from purified protein components, the use of this strategy to decode "orphan" assembly line PKSs has not been described. To begin investigating a PKS found only in Nocardia strains associated with clinical cases of nocardiosis, we reconstituted in vitro its five terminal catalytic modules. In the presence of octanoyl-CoA, malonyl-CoA, NADPH, and S-adenosyl methionine, this pentamodular PKS system yielded unprecedented octaketide and heptaketide products whose structures were partially elucidated using mass spectrometry and NMR spectroscopy.

Metabolic flux between unsaturated and saturated fatty acids is controlled by the FabA:FabB ratio in the fully reconstituted fatty acid biosynthetic pathway of Escherichia coli.

The entire fatty acid biosynthetic pathway of Escherichia coli, starting from the acetyl-CoA carboxylase, has been reconstituted in vitro from 14 purified protein components. Radiotracer analysis verified stoichiometric conversion of acetyl-CoA and NAD(P)H to the free fatty acid product, allowing implementation of a facile spectrophotometric assay for kinetic analysis of this multienzyme system. At steady state, a maximal turnover rate of 0.

Competition-based transfer of carbohydrate expression information from a cell-adhered surface to a secondary surface.

An information transfer strategy was developed for the visualization of carbohydrate expression by the competition of a primary cell-adhered solid surface with a carbohydrate assembled surface as an artificial secondary surface for one species. The strategy could be effectively utilized for in situ monitoring of dynamic carbohydrate expression on an adhesive cell surface.

Noncovalent functionalization of carbon nanotubes with lectin for label-free dynamic monitoring of cell-surface glycan expression.

A kind of concanavalin A functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotube (ConA-MWCNT) was constructed by noncovalent assembly of ConA on carboxylated MWCNT with poly(diallyldimethylammonium) as a linker. The novel nanomaterial was characterized with scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. It incorporated both the specific recognition ability of lectin for cell-surface mannosyl groups and the unique electronic and mechanical properties of MWCNT.