Identifying peptide substrates that are efficiently cleaved by proteases gives insights into substrate recognition and specificity, guides development of inhibitors, and improves assay sensitivity. Peptide arrays and SAMDI mass spectrometry were used to identify a tetrapeptide substrate exhibiting high activity for the bacterial outer-membrane protease (OmpT). Analysis of protease activity for the preferred residues at the cleavage site (P1, P1') and nearest-neighbor positions (P2, P2') and their positional interdependence revealed FRRV as the optimal peptide with the highest OmpT activity. Substituting FRRV into a fragment of LL37, a natural substrate of OmpT, led to a greater than 400-fold improvement in OmpT catalytic efficiency, with a k /K value of 6.1×10 L mol s . Wild-type and mutant OmpT displayed significant differences in their substrate specificities, demonstrating that even modest mutants may not be suitable substitutes for the native enzyme.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/anie.201707535 | DOI Listing |
Int J Biol Macromol
January 2025
Nitte (Deemed to be University), Nitte University Centre for Science Education and Research, Department of Bio & Nano Technology, Paneer Campus, Deralakatte, Mangaluru 575018, Karnataka, India. Electronic address:
Bacteriophages, the most abundant biological agents targeting bacteria, offer a promising alternative to antibiotics for combating multi-drug resistant pathogens like Acinetobacter baumannii. However, the rapid development of bacteriophage resistance poses a significant challenge. This study highlights the contribution of outer membrane proteins (OMPs) in the emergence of bacteriophage resistance in A.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNat Cell Biol
January 2025
Biochemistry Section, Surgical Neurology Branch, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Mitochondrial protein import through the outer and inner membranes is key to mitochondrial biogenesis. Recent studies have explored how cells respond when import is impaired by a variety of different insults. Here, we developed a mammalian import blocking system using dihydrofolate reductase fused to the N terminus of the inner membrane protein MIC60.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Endocrinol
January 2025
W L Miller, Department of Pediatrics, Center for Reproductive Sciences, and Institute for Human Genetics University of California, San Francisco, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Current understanding of the biology, biochemistry and genetics of the steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR) and its deficiency state (congenital lipoid adrenal hyperplasia, lipoid CAH) involves the complex interplay of four areas of study: the acute regulation of steroidogenesis, clinical phenomena in lipoid CAH, the enzymatic conversion of cholesterol to pregnenolone in steroidogenic mitochondria, and the cell biology of StAR. This review traces the origins of these areas of study, describes how they have been woven into an increasingly coherent fabric, and tries to explore some remaining loose ends in this ongoing field of endocrine research. Abundant research from multiple laboratories establishes that StAR is required for the rapid, abundant steroidal responses of the adrenals and gonads, but all steroidogenic cells, especially the placenta, have StAR-independent steroidogenesis, whose basis remains under investigation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFEMS Microbiol Lett
January 2024
Latvian Biomedical Research and Study Centre, Ratsupites 1 k-1, Riga LV-1067, Latvia.
Endolysins are bacteriophage-encoded peptidoglycan-degrading enzymes with potential applications for treating multidrug-resistant bacterial infections. While exogenously applied endolysins are active against Gram-positive bacteria in their native form, Gram-negative bacteria are protected from such activity of most native endolysins by an outer membrane. However, it was shown that recombinant endolysins can be designed to efficiently lyse Gram-negative bacteria from without as well.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFElife
November 2024
Key Laboratory of Virology and Biosafety, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China.
Phage-derived peptidoglycan hydrolases (i.e. lysins) are considered promising alternatives to conventional antibiotics due to their direct peptidoglycan degradation activity and low risk of resistance development.
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