Reduced activity of enzymes upon immobilization is a major challenge for the industrial use of enzymes. Enzyme-surface interactions and interactions between the immobilized enzymes are thought of as primary reasons for the reduced activity. In the current paper, we study the thermal and structural stability of proteins on a patterned hydrophobic surface in the framework of a hydrophobic-polar lattice model. Our results indicate that, while a homogeneous hydrophobic surface denatures the proteins, carefully patterned surfaces can dramatically increase the stability of adsorbed proteins. The size, shape, and the distance between surface patterns play a significant role in determining the stability of proteins. When the spacing between the patterns is large, maximum stability is observed when the surface pattern is complementary to the exposed hydrophobic domain of the protein, while at smaller spacing, patterns with lower hydrophobicity stabilize the protein more compared to the complementary pattern. The findings from the paper can be rationalized to design novel enzyme-specific surfaces for immobilization with enhanced enzymatic activity.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcb.9b05663 | DOI Listing |
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
January 2025
State Key Laboratory of Wheat Improvement, College of Life Science, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai'an 271018, China.
In many plants, the asymmetric division of the zygote sets up the apical-basal body axis. In the cress , the zygote coexpresses regulators of the apical and basal embryo lineages, the transcription factors WOX2 and WRKY2/WOX8, respectively. WRKY2/WOX8 activity promotes nuclear migration, cellular polarity, and mitotic asymmetry of the zygote, which are hallmarks of axis formation in many plant species.
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January 2025
Institute of Science and Technology Austria, AT-3400 Klosterneuburg, Austria.
Biophysical constraints limit the specificity with which transcription factors (TFs) can target regulatory DNA. While individual nontarget binding events may be low affinity, the sheer number of such interactions could present a challenge for gene regulation by degrading its precision or possibly leading to an erroneous induction state. Chromatin can prevent nontarget binding by rendering DNA physically inaccessible to TFs, at the cost of energy-consuming remodeling orchestrated by pioneer factors (PFs).
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January 2025
Department of Physiology and Biophysical Sciences, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY 14214.
Ion channels are generally allosteric proteins, involving specialized stimulus sensor domains conformationally linked to the gate to drive channel opening. Temperature receptors are a group of ion channels from the transient receptor potential family. They exhibit an unprecedentedly strong temperature dependence and are responsible for temperature sensing in mammals.
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January 2025
Research Applications Laboratory, NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO 80301.
Precipitation recycling, where evapotranspiration (ET) from the land surface contributes to precipitation within the same region, is a critical component of the water cycle. This process is especially important for the US Corn Belt, where extensive cropland expansions and irrigation activities have significantly transformed the landscape and affected the regional climate. Previous studies investigating precipitation recycling typically relied on analytical models with simplifying assumptions, overlooking the complex interactions between groundwater hydrology and agricultural management.
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January 2025
California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720.
Polysaccharide monooxygenase (PMO) catalysis involves the chemically difficult hydroxylation of unactivated C-H bonds in carbohydrates. The reaction requires reducing equivalents and will utilize either oxygen or hydrogen peroxide as a cosubstrate. Two key mechanistic questions are addressed here: 1) How does the enzyme regulate the timely and tightly controlled electron delivery to the mononuclear copper active site, especially when bound substrate occludes the active site? and 2) How does this electron delivery differ when utilizing oxygen or hydrogen peroxide as a cosubstrate? Using a computational approach, potential paths of electron transfer (ET) to the active site copper ion were identified in a representative AA9 family PMO from (PMO9E).
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