Presence Of Guanidine Hydrochloride Research Articles

Residue-selective C-H sulfenylation enabled by acid-activated S-acetamidomethyl cysteine sulfoxide with application to one-pot stapling and lipidation sequence.

A tyrosine (Tyr)- or tryptophan (Trp)-selective metal-free C-H sulfenylation reaction using an acid-activated S-acetamidomethyl cysteine (Cys) sulfoxide, Cys(Acm)(O), has been achieved. The dually protonated intermediate produced from the Cys(Acm)(O) under acidic conditions allows the sulfenylation of Tyr. Significantly, the reaction in the presence of trimethylsilyl trifluoromethanesulfonate (TMSOTf) mainly affords a Cys-Tyr-linked peptide even in the presence of Trp residues. In contrast, a Cys-Trp-linked peptide was selectively obtained from the reaction in the presence of guanidine hydrochloride (Gn·HCl) under acidic conditions. Established Tyr- and Trp-selective sulfenylation methods were used in the Cys-Tyr stapling and Trp-lipidation of glucagon-like peptides in a one-pot/stepwise manner. Investigation of the mechanism showed that orbital- and charge-controlled reactions are responsible for the Trp and Tyr selectivity, respectively.

Rapid and Green One-Pot Synthesis of Novel 2-(4-Hydroxy-2-oxo-2Hchromen- 3-yl)-2-(arylamino)-1H-indene-1,3(2H)-diones

Abstract:A green and efficient protocol was developed for the one-pot three-component synthesis of novel 2-(4-hydroxy-2-oxo-2H-chromen-3-yl)-2-(arylamino)-1H-indene-1,3(2H)-dione derivatives by the reaction of 4-hydroxycoumarin, ninhydrin and aromatic amines in the presence of guanidine hydrochloride as an organocatalyst under solvent-free conditions. The present approach offers several advantages such as low cost, simple work-up, short reaction times, chromatography-free purification, high yields and greener conditions.

SOLUBILIZATION AND REFOLDING TECHNIQUES TO ATTAIN Candidatus liberibacter ASIATICUS OMP PROTEIN FROM INCLUSION BODIES

The OMP is a conserved and major outer membrane protein presented on the surface of Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (CLas). High expression level of recombinant outer membrane protein (OMP) in Escherichia coli led to form inclusion bodies (IBs) in cytoplasmic space which is an inactive form of protein and needs a solubilizing and refolding process. The aim of this study was to compare different methods for solubilization and refolding of recombinant OMP expressed in E. coli. For this aim, preliminary washing process was performed by Triton X-100 and sodium deoxycholate. To solubilize IBs, reducing agents; guanidine-hydrochloride, urea, β-mercaptoethanol and dithiothritol were applied. The results of washing process showed that applying of 0.5% TritonX-100 (v/v) is led to highest protein recovery. The results obtained from solubilization step revealed that applying guanidine-hydrochloride denaturing agent is led to obtain more solubilized protein. Furthermore, adding supplementary β-mercaptoethanol in denaturing buffer resulted to improve protein recovery during solubilization process. Presence of arginine in refolding buffer containing high urea concentration was led to significant decreases in aggregation. As a result, the best recovery of OMP was obtained at a concentration 0.5 M of Triton X-100, the high efficiency of solubility was found in pH 8 in the presence of guanidine-hydrochloride and the best efficiency of refolding was attained by final buffer containing 2M urea and 0.5 M L-Arginine. These results suggested a suitable procedure to produce appropriate recombinant OMP for preparation of poly and monoclonal antibodies.

Disassembly of Single Virus Capsids Monitored in Real Time with Multicycle Resistive-Pulse Sensing.

Virus assembly and disassembly are critical steps in the virus lifecycle; however, virus disassembly is much less well understood than assembly. For hepatitis B virus (HBV) capsids, disassembly of the virus capsid in the presence of guanidine hydrochloride (GuHCl) exhibits strong hysteresis that requires additional chemical energy to initiate disassembly and disrupt the capsid structure. To study disassembly of HBV capsids, we mixed T = 4 HBV capsids with 1.0-3.0 M GuHCl, monitored the reaction over time by randomly selecting particles, and measured their size with resistive-pulse sensing. Particles were cycled forward and backward multiple times to increase the observation time and likelihood of observing a disassembly event. The four-pore device used for resistive-pulse sensing produces four current pulses for each particle during translocation that improves tracking and identification of single particles and increases the precision of particle-size measurements when pulses are averaged. We studied disassembly at GuHCl concentrations below and above denaturing conditions of the dimer, the fundamental unit of HBV capsid assembly. As expected, capsids showed little disassembly at low GuHCl concentrations (e.g., 1.0 M GuHCl), whereas at higher GuHCl concentrations (≥1.5 M), capsids exhibited disassembly, sometimes as a complex series of events. In all cases, disassembly was an accelerating process, where capsids catastrophically disassembled within a few 100 ms of reaching critical stability; disassembly rates reached tens of dimers per second just before capsids fell apart. Some disassembly events exhibited metastable intermediates that appeared to lose one or more trimers of dimers in a stepwise fashion.

Guanidine improves DEAE anion exchange-based analytical separation of plasmid DNA.

Elution of strong and weak anion exchangers with sodium chloride gradients is commonly employed for analysis of sample mixtures containing different isomers of plasmid DNA. Gradient elution of a weak anion exchanger (diethylaminoethyl) in the presence of guanidine hydrochloride (Gdn) roughly doubles resolution between open-circular (oc) and supercoiled (sc) isomers. It also improves resolution among sc, linear, and multimeric/aggregated forms. Sharper elution peaks with less tailing increase sensitivity about 30%. However, elution with an exclusively Gdn gradient to 900mM causes more than 10% loss of plasmid. Elution with a sodium chloride gradient while maintaining Gdn at a level concentration of 300mM achieves close to 100% recovery of sc plasmid while maintaining the separation improvements achieved by exclusively Gdn elution. Corresponding improvements in separation performance are not observed on a strong (quaternary amine) anion exchanger. Other chaotropic salts do not produce a favorable result on either exchanger, nor does the inclusion of surfactants or EDTA. Selectivity of the diethylaminoethyl-Gdn method is orthogonal to electrophoresis, but with better quantification than agarose electrophoresis, better quantitative accuracy than CE, and resolution approaching CE.

Peptide Cyclization Mediated by Metal-Free S-Arylation: S-Protected Cysteine Sulfoxide as an Umpolung of the Cysteine Nucleophile.

Covalent linking of side chains provides a method to produce cyclic or stapled peptides that are important in developing peptide-based drugs. A variety of crosslinking formats contribute to fixing the active conformer and prolonging its biological activity under physiological conditions. One format uses the cysteine thiol to participate in crosslinking through nucleophilic thiolate anions or thiyl radicals to form thioether and disulfide bonds. Removal of the S-protection from an S-protected Cys derivative generates the thiol, which functions as a nucleophile. S-Oxidation of a protected Cys allows the formation of a sulfoxide that operates as an umpolung electrophile. Herein, the applicability of S-p-methoxybenzyl Cys sulfoxide (Cys(MBzl)(O)) to the formation of a thioether linkage between tryptophan and Cys has been investigated. The reaction of peptides containing Cys(MBzl)(O) and Trp with trifluoromethanesulfonic acid (TFMSA) or methanesulfonic acid (MSA) in TFA in the presence of guanidine hydrochloride (Gn ⋅ HCl) proceeded to give cyclic or stapled peptides possessing the Cys-Trp thioether linkage. In this reaction, strong acids such as TFMSA or MSA are necessary to activate the sulfoxide. Additionally, Gn ⋅ HCl plays a critical role in producing an electrophilic Cys derivative that combines with the indole by aromatic electrophilic substitution. The findings led us to conclude that the less-electrophilic Cys(MBzl)(O) serves as an acid-activated umpolung of a Cys nucleophile and is useful for S-arylation-mediated peptide cyclization.

Hemoglobin and myoglobin stabilization by heme-fluoride complexes

Under physiological conditions, hemoglobin (Hb) and myoglobin (Mb) are subject to autoxidation, leading to the formation of ferric heme proteins with weakened globular structures and resulting in the loss of the heme cofactor. To gain further insights into the role of the heme pocket in the stabilization of the heme-containing proteins (holo-Mb and holo-Hb), the relative stabilities of heme-bound fluoride complexes (Mb-F and Hb-F) were examined under denaturing conditions. The electronic spectra of the heme proteins were followed upon addition of guanidine hydrochloride (GuHCl) and under denaturation-induced acidification. In the presence of ~ 2 M GuHCl, the heme-bound fluoride complexes are 27 – 46% more stable than metaquo Mb and Hb and about 50% more stable under acidic conditions. Mb and Hb denaturation equilibria at 25 and 40 °C were analyzed by using two-state and three-state models, respectively. Under GuHCl-induced and acid-induced denaturations, Mb-F and Hb-F behave as a two-state process. In addition, the affinity for fluoride under these denaturing conditions were determined. The dissociation constants (Kd) for fluoride binding in Hb and Mb under 1.5 M GuHCl are slightly greater than the measured Kd without GuHCl, which we attribute to the presence of molten-globular holo protein intermediates that are not favorable for fluoride binding. This study shows that the measured fluoride affinities in the presence of GuHCl at various temperatures and the effects of pH on the Kd can provide additional thermodynamic properties of Mb and Hb denaturation processes at low pH.

Hemoglobin and Myoglobin Stabilization by Heme-Fluoride Complexes

Under physiological conditions, hemoglobin (Hb) and myoglobin (Mb) are subject to autoxidation, leading to the formation of ferric heme proteins with weakened globular structures and resulting in the loss of the heme cofactor. To gain further insights into the role of the heme pocket in the stabilization of the heme-containing proteins (holo-Mb and holo-Hb), the relative stabilities of heme-bound fluoride complexes (Mb-F and Hb-F) were examined under denaturing conditions. The electronic spectra of the heme proteins were followed upon addition of guanidine hydrochloride (GuHCl) and under denaturation-induced acidification. In the presence of ~2M GuHCl, the heme-bound fluoride complexes are 27 – 46% more stable than ferric Hb and Mb. In addition, the affinity for fluoride under these denaturing conditions were determined. The dissociation constants ( K d ) for fluoride binding in Hb and Mb under 1.5 M GuHCl are slightly greater than the measured K d without GuHCl, which we attribute to the presence of molten-globular holo protein intermediates that are not favorable for fluoride binding. Under acidic denaturation, the acid-induced denaturing curves of Mb-F and Hb-F are -0.3 and -0.5 pH units shifted relative to ferric Hb and Mb, which show that the heme-bound fluoride proteins are more resistant to acid denaturation. This study shows that the measured fluoride affinities in the presence of GuHCl at various temperatures and the effects of pH on the K d can provide additional thermodynamic properties of Hb and Mb denaturation processes at low pH, where interactions between the heme pocket and the heme-bound fluoride are much stronger.

Synergistic interactions of ionic liquids and antimicrobials improve drug efficacy.

SummaryCombinations of ionic liquids (ILs) with antimicrobial compounds have been shown to produce synergistic activities in model liposomes. In this study, imidazolium chloride-based ILs with alkyl tail length variations are combined with commercially available, small-molecule antimicrobials to examine the potential for combinatorial and synergistic antimicrobial effects on P. aeruginosa, E. coli, S. aureus, and S. cerevisiae. The effects of these treatments in a human cell culture model indicate the cytotoxic limits of ILs paired with antimicrobials. The analysis of these ILs demonstrates that the length of the alkyl chain on the IL molecule is proportional to both antimicrobial activity and cytotoxicity. Moreover, the ILs which exhibit synergy with small-molecule antibiotics appear to be acting in a membrane permeabilizing manner. Collectively, results from these experiments demonstrate an increase in antimicrobial efficacy with specific IL + antimicrobial combinations on microbial cultures while maintaining low cytotoxicity in a mammalian cell culture model.

Development and validation of an LC-MS/MS method for detection and quantification of in vivo derived metabolites of [Pyr1]apelin-13 in humans

[Pyr1]apelin-13 is the predominant apelin peptide isoform in the human cardiovascular system and plasma. To date, few studies have investigated [Pyr1]apelin-13 metabolism in vivo in rats with no studies examining its stability in humans. We therefore aimed to develop an LC-MS/MS method for detection and quantification of intact [Pyr1]apelin-13 and have used this method to identify the metabolites generated in vivo in humans. [Pyr1]apelin-13 (135 nmol/min) was infused into six healthy human volunteers for 120 minutes and blood collected at time 0 and 120 minutes after infusion. Plasma was extracted in the presence of guanidine hydrochloride and analysed by LC-MS/MS. Here we report a highly sensitive, robust and reproducible method for quantification of intact [Pyr1]apelin-13 and its metabolites in human plasma. Using this method, we showed that the circulating concentration of intact peptide was 58.3 ± 10.5 ng/ml after 120 minutes infusion. We demonstrated for the first time that in humans, [Pyr1]apelin-13 was cleaved from both termini but the C-terminal was more susceptible to cleavage. Consequently, of the metabolites identified, [Pyr1]apelin-13(1–12), [Pyr1]apelin-13(1–10) and [Pyr1]apelin-13(1–6) were the most abundant. These data suggest that apelin peptides designed for use as cardiovascular therapeutics, should include modifications that minimise C-terminal cleavage.

Enhanced mitochondrial inhibition by 3,4‐dihydroxyphenyl‐acetaldehyde (DOPAL)‐oligomerized α‐synuclein

Oligomeric forms of α-synuclein are believed to cause mitochondrial injury, which may contribute to neurotoxicity in Parkinson's disease (PD). Here oligomers of α-synuclein were prepared using the dopamine metabolite, DOPAL (3,4-dihydroxyphenyl-acetaldehyde), in the presence of guanidinium hydrochloride. Electron microscopy, mass spectrometry, and Western blotting studies revealed enhanced and stable oligomerization with DOPAL compared with dopamine or CuCl2 /H2 O2 . Using isolated mouse brain mitochondria, DOPAL-oligomerized α-synuclein (DOS) significantly inhibited oxygen consumption rates compared with untreated, control-fibrillated, and dopamine-fibrillated synuclein, or with monomeric α-synuclein. Inhibition was greater in the presence of malate plus pyruvate than with succinate, suggesting the involvement of mitochondrial complex I. Mitochondrial membrane potential studies using fluorescent probes, JC-1, and Safranin O also detected enhanced inhibition by DOS compared with the other aggregated forms of α-synuclein. Testing a small customized chemical library, four compounds were identified that rescued membrane potential from DOS injury. While diverse in chemical structure and mechanism, each compound has been reported to interact with mitochondrial complex I. Western blotting studies revealed that none of the four compounds disrupted the oligomeric banding pattern of DOS, suggesting their protection involved direct mitochondrial interaction. The remaining set of chemicals also did not disrupt oligomeric banding, attesting to the high structural stability of this α-synuclein proteoform. DOPAL and α-synuclein are both found in dopaminergic neurons, where their levels are elevated in PD and in animal models exposed to chemical toxicants, including agricultural pesticides. The current study provides further evidence of α-synuclein-induced mitochondrial injury and a likely role in PD neuropathology.

Non-covalent interaction of BODIPY-benzimidazole conjugate with bovine serum albumin–A photophysical and molecular docking study

Non-covalent interactions of different dyes/drugs with various biological agents, which lead to large modulations in photophysical properties, have attracted attention of many scientists over the decades due to their versatile applicability in different fields. Herein, we report the spectroscopic investigation of non-covalent interaction of a synthesized BODIPY-benzimidazole conjugate (BDZ) dye with bovine serum albumin (BSA), which results in distinctive modulations in the photophysical properties of the dye. The structural immobilization, and reduced propensity of forming the weakly emissive intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) state of the dye, inside the confined BSA cavity, results into a significant increase in fluorescence intensity, which is also supported by the increase in the excited-state lifetime and fluorescence anisotropy decay time of the dye. Molecular docking calculations and competitive binding experiments reveal that the BDZ dye binds selectively to site IB with a reasonably high binding constant Kb ˜ 1.38 × 104 M−1. The BDZ-BSA complex shows a notable decrease in fluorescence intensity in the presence of guanidinium hydrochloride, indicating the selective binding of the dye with the native form of the BSA protein as compared to its denatured form. Formation of BDZ-BSA complex, which emits in the biologically favorable red region, makes the studied system a probable choice to monitor the denatured form of the BSA protein, biological sensing study, and to understand the transport mechanism of similar kind of drugs and other metabolites with serum albumin protein.

Solution effects on the self-association of a water-soluble peptoid.

A desire to replicate the structural and functional complexity of proteins with structured, sequence-specific oligomers motivates study of the structural features of water-soluble peptoids (N-substituted glycine oligomers). Understanding the molecular-level details of peptoid self-assembly in water is essential to advance peptoids' application as novel materials. Peptoid 1, an amphiphilic, putatively helical peptoid previously studied in our laboratory, shows evidence of self-association in aqueous solution. In this work, we evaluate how changes to aqueous solution conditions influence the self-association of 1. We report that changes to pH influence the fluorescence and CD spectroscopic features as well as the peptoid's interaction with a solvatochromic fluorophore and its apparent size as estimated by size exclusion chromatography. Addition of guanidine hydrochloride and ammonium sulfate also modulate spectroscopic features of the peptoid, its interaction with a solvatochromic fluorophore, and its elution in size exclusion chromatography. These data suggest that the ordering of the self-assembly changes in response to pH and with solvent additives and is more ordered at higher pH and in the presence of guanidine hydrochloride. The deeper understanding of the self-association of 1 afforded by these studies informs the design of new stimuli-responsive peptoids with stable tertiary or quaternary structures.

Region-Specific Double Denaturation of Human Serum Albumin: Combined Effects of Temperature and GnHCl on Structural and Dynamical Responses.

In this work, we have investigated the effects of denaturing agents, guanidine hydrochloride (GnHCl) and temperature, on the overall structure, domain-I, and domain-III of human serum albumin (HSA) using circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy and steady-state, time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy. We have tagged Cys-34 of HSA, located at domain-I, using N-(7-dimethylamino-4-methylcoumarin-3-yl)iodoacetamide and Tyr-411 of HSA, located at domain-III, using p-nitrophenyl coumarin ester, for this purpose. The CD spectroscopy studies reveal the overall denaturation of the protein. The denaturation follows the expected direction in which the protein is denatured with an increase in the concentration of GnHCl or temperature. The α-helicity of the native state of HSA was found to be 64.2%, and the minimum value of α-helicity was found to be 14.8% in the presence of 6 M GnHCl at room temperature. Steady-state emission studies were carried out on domain-I and domain-III of the protein using site-specific fluorescent tags. The degree of folding of the two domains at different combinations of temperature and GnHCl concentration was calculated and was found to follow a slightly different course of denaturation. Solvation dynamics was found to be quite different for these two domains. The domain-I of HSA has a maximum solvation time of 0.39 ns, and the solvation time tends to decrease with the action of either temperature or GnHCl. On the other hand, the domain-III of HSA showed a much higher solvation time (1.42 ns) and does not show any regular change at higher temperatures or in the presence of GnHCl. This difference could be attributed to the different microenvironment inside the protein cores of the two domains.

Multiple poliovirus-induced organelles suggested by comparison of spatiotemporal dynamics of membranous structures and phosphoinositides.

At the culmination of poliovirus (PV) multiplication, membranes are observed that contain phosphatidylinositol-4-phosphate (PI4P) and appear as vesicular clusters in cross section. Induction and remodeling of PI4P and membranes prior to or concurrent with genome replication has not been well studied. Here, we exploit two PV mutants, termed EG and GG, which exhibit aberrant proteolytic processing of the P3 precursor that substantially delays the onset of genome replication and/or impairs virus assembly, to illuminate the pathway of formation of PV-induced membranous structures. For WT PV, changes to the PI4P pool were observed as early as 30 min post-infection. PI4P remodeling occurred even in the presence of guanidine hydrochloride, a replication inhibitor, and was accompanied by formation of membrane tubules throughout the cytoplasm. Vesicular clusters appeared in the perinuclear region of the cell at 3 h post-infection, a time too slow for these structures to be responsible for genome replication. Delays in the onset of genome replication observed for EG and GG PVs were similar to the delays in virus-induced remodeling of PI4P pools, consistent with PI4P serving as a marker of the genome-replication organelle. GG PV was unable to convert virus-induced tubules into vesicular clusters, perhaps explaining the nearly 5-log reduction in infectious virus produced by this mutant. Our results are consistent with PV inducing temporally distinct membranous structures (organelles) for genome replication (tubules) and virus assembly (vesicular clusters). We suggest that the pace of formation, spatiotemporal dynamics, and the efficiency of the replication-to-assembly-organelle conversion may be set by both the rate of P3 polyprotein processing and the capacity for P3 processing to yield 3AB and/or 3CD proteins.

Single Molecular Level Probing of Structure and Dynamics of Papain Under Denaturation.

Papain is a cysteine protease enzyme present in papaya and known to help in digesting peptide. Thus the structure and function of the active site of papain is of interest. The objective of present study is to unveil the overall structural transformation and the local structural change around the active site of papain as a function of chemical denaturant. Papain has been tagged at Cys-25 with a thiol specific fluorescence probe N-(7- dimethylamino-4-methylcoumarin-3-yl) iodoacetamide (DACIA). Guanidine hydrochloride (GnHCl) has been used as the chemical denaturant. Steady state, time-resolved, and single molecular level fluorescence techniques was applied to map the change in the local environment. It is found that papain undergoes a two-step denaturation in the presence of GnHCl. Fluorescence correlation spectroscopic (FCS) data indicate that the size (hydrodynamic diameter) of native papain is ~36.8 Å, which steadily increases to ~53 Å in the presence of 6M GnHCl. FCS study also reveals that the conformational fluctuation time of papain is 6.3 µs in its native state, which decreased to 2.7 µs in the presence of 0.75 M GnHCl. Upon further increase in GnHCl concentration the conformational fluctuation time increase monotonically till 6 M GnHCl, where the time constant is measured as 14 µs. On the other hand, the measurement of ellipticity, hence the helical structure, by circular dichroism spectroscopy is found to be incapable to capture such structural transformation. It is concluded that in the presence of small amount of GnHCl the active site of papain takes up a more compact structure (although the overall size increases) than in the native state, which has been designated as the intermediate state.

Optimization of expression and purification of human mortalin (Hsp70): Folding/unfolding analysis

Human mortalin is a Hsp70 mitochondrial protein that plays an essential role in the biogenesis of mitochondria. The deregulation of mortalin expression and its functions could lead to several age-associated disorders and some types of cancers. In the present study, we optimized the expression and purification of recombinant human mortalin by the use of two-step chromatography. Low temperature (18°C) and 0.5mM (IPTG) was required for optimum mortalin expression. Chaperone activity of mortalin was assessed by the citrate synthase and insulin protection assay, which suggested their protective role in mitochondria. Folding and unfolding assessments of mortalin were carried out in the presence of guanidine hydrochloride (GdnHCl) by intrinsic fluorescence measurement, ANS (8-analino 1-nephthlene sulfonic acid) binding and CD (circular dichroism) analysis. Under denaturing conditions, mortalin showed decrease in tryptophan fluorescence intensity along with a red shift of 11nm. Moreover, ANS binding studies illustrated decrease in hydrophobicity. CD measurement of mortalin showed a predominant helical structure. However, the secondary structure was lost at low concentration of GdnHCl (1M). We present a simple and robust method to produce soluble mortalin and warranted that chaperones are also susceptible to unfolding and futile to maintain protein homeostasis.

Identification and characterization of a cyclosporin binding cyclophilin from Staphylococcus aureus Newman.

Cyclophilins, a class of peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase (PPIase) enzymes, are inhibited by cyclosporin A (CsA), an immunosuppressive drug. Staphylococcus aureus Newman, a pathogenic bacterium, carries a gene for encoding a putative cyclophilin (SaCyp). SaCyp shows significant homology with other cyclophilins at the sequence level. A three-dimensional model structure of SaCyp harbors a binding site for CsA. To verify whether SaCyp possesses both the PPIase activity and the CsA binding ability, we have purified and investigated a recombinant SaCyp (rCyp) using various in vitro tools. Our RNase T1 refolding assay indicates that rCyp has a substantial extent of PPIase activity. rCyp that exists as a monomer in the aqueous solution is truly a cyclophilin as its catalytic activity specifically shows sensitivity to CsA. rCyp appears to bind CsA with a reasonably high affinity. Additional investigations reveal that binding of CsA to rCyp alters its structure and shape to some extent. Both rCyp and rCyp-CsA are unfolded via the formation of at least one intermediate in the presence of guanidine hydrochloride. Unfolding study also indicates that there is substantial extent of thermodynamic stabilization of rCyp in the presence of CsA as well. The data suggest that rCyp may be exploited to screen the new antimicrobial agents in the future.

Over‐expression of the molecular chaperone Hsp104 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae results in the malpartition of [PSI+] propagons

The ability of a yeast cell to propagate [PSI+ ], the prion form of the Sup35 protein, is dependent on the molecular chaperone Hsp104. Inhibition of Hsp104 function in yeast cells leads to a failure to generate new propagons, the molecular entities necessary for [PSI+ ] propagation in dividing cells and they get diluted out as cells multiply. Over-expression of Hsp104 also leads to [PSI+ ] prion loss and this has been assumed to arise from the complete disaggregation of the Sup35 prion polymers. However, in conditions of Hsp104 over-expression in [PSI+ ] cells we find no release of monomers from Sup35 polymers, no monomerization of aggregated Sup35 which is not accounted for by the proportion of prion-free [psi- ] cells present, no change in the molecular weight of Sup35-containing SDS-resistant polymers and no significant decrease in average propagon numbers in the population as a whole. Furthermore, they show that over-expression of Hsp104 does not interfere with the incorporation of newly synthesised Sup35 into polymers, nor with the multiplication of propagons following their depletion in numbers while growing in the presence of guanidine hydrochloride. Rather, they present evidence that over-expression of Hsp104 causes malpartition of [PSI+ ] propagons between mother and daughter cells in a sub-population of cells during cell division thereby generating prion-free [psi- ] cells.

Characterization of the second conserved domain in the heme uptake protein HtaA from Corynebacterium diphtheriae

HtaA is a heme-binding protein that is part of the heme uptake system in Corynebacterium diphtheriae. HtaA contains two conserved regions (CR1 and CR2). It has been previously reported that both domains can bind heme; the CR2 domain binds hemoglobin more strongly than the CR1 domain. In this study, we report the biophysical characteristics of HtaA-CR2. UV–visible spectroscopy and resonance Raman experiments are consistent with this domain containing a single heme that is bound to the protein through an axial tyrosine ligand. Mutants of conserved tyrosine and histidine residues (Y361, H412, and Y490) have been studied. These mutants are isolated with very little heme (≤5%) in comparison to the wild-type protein (~20%). Reconstitution after removal of the heme with butanone gave an alternative form of the protein. The HtaA-CR2 fold is very stable; it was necessary to perform thermal denaturation experiments in the presence of guanidinium hydrochloride. HtaA-CR2 unfolds extremely slowly; even in 6.8M GdnHCl at 37°C, the half-life was 5h. In contrast, the apo forms of WT HtaA-CR2 and the aforementioned mutants unfolded at much lower concentrations of GdnHCl, indicating the role of heme in stabilizing the structure and implying that heme transfer is effected only to a partner protein in vivo.