A discussion is presented of contributions of the Zaccai group to the understanding of flexibility in biological macromolecules using dynamic neutron scattering. The concept of resilience as introduced by Zaccai is discussed and investigated using molecular dynamics simulation on camphor-bound cytochrome P450. The resilience of hydrophilic residues is found to be more strongly affected by hydration than that of hydrophobic counterparts. The hydration-induced softening of protein propagates from the surface into the dry core. Moreover, buried hydrophilic residues behave more like those exposed on the protein surface, and are different from their hydrophobic counterparts.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1140/epje/i2013-13072-5 | DOI Listing |
Biopolymers
March 2025
Department of Chemistry, Bose Institute, Kolkata, India.
The stability of α-crystallin, the major protein of the mammalian eye lens and a molecular chaperone, is one of the most crucial factors for its survival and function. The chaperone-like activity and stability of α-crystallin dramatically increased in the presence of Zn. Each subunit of α-crystallin could bind multiple zinc atoms through inter-subunit bridging and cause enhanced stability.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiomacromolecules
January 2025
BOKU-University, Institute of Physics and Materials Science, Vienna, Peter-Jordan-Straße 82, Vienna 1190, Austria.
To understand xylan-cellulose interactions in softwood, the adsorption behavior of hexameric softwood xylan proxies with various substitutions was analyzed on the three surfaces of a hexagonal cellulose microfibril. The study found that all surfaces could bind xylan motifs, showing equally high affinity for the hydrophilic (110) and hydrophobic (100) surfaces and significantly lower affinity for the hydrophilic (11̅0) surface. Unsubstituted xylose hexamers had the highest affinity and most ordered adsorption structures, while substitutions generally reduced the affinity and regularity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNucleic Acids Res
January 2025
Centre for Bacterial Resistance Biology, Imperial College London, LondonSW7 2AZ, United Kingdom.
The RNA chaperone Hfq plays crucial roles in bacterial gene expression and is a major facilitator of small regulatory RNA (sRNA) action. The toroidal architecture of the Hfq hexamer presents three well-characterized surfaces that allow it to bind sRNAs to stabilize them and engage target transcripts. Hfq-interacting sRNAs are categorized into two classes based on the surfaces they use to bind Hfq.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFViruses
December 2024
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, PA 17033, USA.
Since the discovery of the Australia antigen, now known as the hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), significant research has been conducted to elucidate its physical, chemical, structural, and functional properties. Subviral particles (SVPs) containing HBsAg are highly immunogenic, non-infectious entities that have not only revolutionized vaccine development but also provided critical insights into HBV immune evasion and viral assembly. Recent advances in cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) have uncovered the heterogeneity and dynamic nature of spherical HBV SVPs, emphasizing the essential role of lipid-protein interactions in maintaining particle stability.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Mol Sci
January 2025
Functional Dairy Products Engineering Laboratory of Gansu Province, College of Food Science and Engineering, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, China.
Pancreatic lipase serves as a primary trigger for hyperlipidemia and is also a crucial target in the inhibition of hypercholesterolemia. By synthesizing anti-hypercholesterolemic drugs such as atorvastatin, which are used to treat hypercholesterolemia, there were some side effects associated with the long-term use of statins. Based on this idea, in the present study, we identified peptides that inhibited PL by virtual screening and in vitro activity assays.
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