We investigate in detail the structural properties of the monomeric peptide fragment that corresponds to residues 21-31 of beta(2)-microglobulin. As a first step towards the understanding of the mechanism of the amyloid formation, we have performed a replica-exchange molecular dynamics simulation of this peptide with explicit water molecules. We analyze various structural properties as functions of temperature. Although the corresponding part of the native protein is a fully extended beta-strand, our results show that beta-hairpin structures are formed with high frequency around 310 K. We conjecture that this beta-hairpin formation is closely related to the amyloid fibrillogenesis.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
---|---|
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.febslet.2005.08.068 | DOI Listing |
Viruses
January 2025
School of Public Health, Bengbu Medical University, Bengbu 233030, China.
The re-emergence of the mpox pandemic poses considerable challenges to human health and societal development. There is an urgent need for effective prevention and treatment strategies against the mpox virus (MPXV). In this study, we focused on the A35R protein and created a chimeric A35R-Fc protein by fusing the Fc region of IgG to its C-terminal.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMolecules
January 2025
Department of Chemistry, Technical University of Denmark, 206 Kemitorvet, 2800 Kgs Lyngby, Denmark.
A human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-specific nanobody called 2Rs15d, containing a His3LysHis6 segment at the C-terminus, was recombinantly produced. Subsequent site-selective acylation on the C-terminally activated lysine residue allowed installation of the cytotoxin monomethyl auristatin E-functionalized cathepsin B-sensitive payload to provide a highly homogenous nanobody-drug conjugate (NBC), which demonstrated high potency and selectivity for HER2-positive breast cancer models.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMolecules
January 2025
Dipartimento di Chimica, Università di Pavia, Via Taramelli 12, 27100 Pavia, Italy.
Spontaneous cleavage reactions normally occur in vivo on amino acid peptide backbones, leading to fragmentation products that can have different physiological roles and toxicity, particularly when the substrate of the hydrolytic processes are neuronal peptides and proteins highly related to neurodegeneration. We report a hydrolytic study performed with the HPLC-MS technique at different temperatures (4 °C and 37 °C) on peptide fragments of different neuronal proteins (amyloid-β, tau, and α-synuclein) in physiological conditions in the presence of Cu and Zn ions, two metal ions found at millimolar concentrations in amyloid plaques. The coordination of these metal ions with these peptides significantly protects their backbones toward hydrolytic degradation, preserving the entire sequences over two weeks in solution, while the free peptides in the same buffer are fully fragmented after the same or even shorter incubation period.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Mol Sci
January 2025
Department of Applied Biology, Faculty of Textile Science and Technology, Shinshu University, Ueda 386-8567, Nagano, Japan.
Osteocalcin is a useful biomarker for bone formation and bone-related diseases. KTM219 is an anti-osteocalcin C-terminal peptide antibody. The single-chain variable region (scFv) and antigen-binding fragment (Fab) of KTM219 are applicable to the Quenchbody (Q-body) immunoassay.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Mol Sci
January 2025
A. N. Belozersky Institute of Physico-Chemical Biology, M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Leninskie Gory 1, Bld. 40, Moscow 119992, Russia.
Artificial peptides P4, A1 and A4 are homologous to amphipathic α-helical fragments of the influenza virus M1 protein. P4 and A4 contain the cholesterol recognition sequence CARC, which is absent in A1. As shown previously, P4 and A4 but not A1 have cytotoxic effects on some eukaryotic and bacterial cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!