Brain protein BASP1 forms oligomers that resemble amyloid protein oligomers in some respects, including interaction with conformation-specific antibodies against amyloid oligomers. Aggregation-prone N-terminal myristoylated peptide myr-BASP1 (1-13) forms fibrillar aggregates of amyloid-like structure under physiological conditions in vitro, which is also the evidence of BASP1 similarity to amyloid proteins. Protein cross-linking by glutaraldehyde in situ demonstrated that BASP1 exists on the presynaptic membrane as lipid raft-associated oligomers. In addition, BASP1 is non-toxic to PC12 cells, when applied either as a monomer or oligomer. We conclude that BASP1 oligomer is a non-pathological physiologically relevant functional form of this protein.
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J Am Chem Soc
January 2025
Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208, United States.
The use of proteins as intracellular probes and therapeutic tools is often limited by poor intracellular delivery. One approach to enabling intracellular protein delivery is to transform proteins into spherical nucleic acid (proSNA) nanoconstructs, with surfaces chemically modified with a dense shell of radially oriented DNA that can engage with cell-surface receptors that facilitate endocytosis. However, proteins often have a limited number of available reactive surface residues for DNA conjugation such that the extent of DNA loading and cellular uptake is restricted.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Am Chem Soc
January 2025
Department of Chemistry, University of California, Riverside, California 92521-0403, United States.
Pseudouridine (Ψ) is the most abundant RNA modification in nature; however, not much is known about the biological functions of this modified nucleoside. Employing an unbiased quantitative proteomics method, we identified multiple candidate reader proteins of Ψ in RNA, including a cytoskeletal protein profilin-1 (PFN1). We demonstrated that PFN1 binds directly and selectively to Ψ-containing RNA.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Am Chem Soc
January 2025
Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, United States.
Direct translocation of RNA with secondary structures using single-molecule electrophoresis through protein nanopores shows significant fluctuations in the measured ionic current, in contrast to unstructured single-stranded RNA or DNA. We developed a multiscale model combining the oxRNA model for RNA with the 3-dimensional Poisson-Nernst-Planck formalism for electric fields within protein pores, aiming to map RNA conformations to ionic currents as RNA translocates through three protein nanopores: α-hemolysin, CsgG, and MspA. Our findings reveal three distinct stages of translocation (pseudoknot, melting, and molten globule) based on contact maps and current values.
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January 2025
Technical University of Darmstadt, Clemens-Schöpf Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Department of Chemistry, Peter-Grünberg-Straße 4, 64287 Darmstadt, Germany.
Molecular glues (MGs) and proteolysis-targeting chimeras (PROTACs) are used to modulate protein-protein interactions (PPIs), via induced proximity between compounds that have little or no affinity for each other naturally. They promote either reversible inhibition or selective degradation of a target protein, including ones deemed undruggable by traditional therapeutics. Though native MS (nMS) is capable of analyzing multiprotein complexes, the behavior of these artificially induced compounds in the gas phase is still not fully understood, and the number of publications over the past few years is still rather limited.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMed Chem
January 2025
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, Ibn Zohr University, Laayoune 70000, Morocco.
Background: Oxidative stress is strongly linked to neurodegeneration through the activation of c-Abl kinase, which arrests α-synuclein proteolysis by interacting with parkin interacting substrate (PARIS) and aminoacyl tRNA synthetase complex-interacting multifunctional protein 2 (AIMP2). This activation, triggered by ataxia-telangiectasia mutated (ATM) kinase, leads to dopaminergic neuron loss and α-synuclein aggregation, a critical pathophysiological aspect of Parkinson's disease (PD). To halt PD progression, pharmacological inhibition of c-Abl kinase is essential.
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