Primary Structure Of Protein Research Articles

Spatial and temporal expression of cytosine-5 DNA methyltransferase and DNA demethylase gene families of the Ricinus communis during seed development and drought stress

Cytosine methylation plays a key role in genome stability and gene expression regulation. The dynamic and reversible nature of cytosine methylation is orchestrated by the coordinated and opposing action of two different gene families: the cytosine-5 DNA methyltransferases (C5-MTases) and the DNA demethylases. Here, we identified and characterized eight C5-MTases and three DNA demethylase family members in Ricinus communis (castor plant), an oilseed species of the Euphorbiaceae family. Bioinformatic analysis of the protein primary structure revealed the presence of conserved functional domains defining each family. The amino acid identities between C5-MTases and DNA demethylases from castor plant and their protein homologues from Jatropha curcas and Manihot esculenta, were 65 and 85%, respectively. Intriguingly, protein localization predictions suggested multiple targeting to nucleus, mitochondria and chloroplasts for some methyltransferases. Tissue and developmental gene expression analysis, with emphasis in seed maturation stages, showed that all family members varied widely in their expression across tissues suggesting distinct biological roles. In silico promoter analysis revealed several cis acting elements associated with drought responses indicating an epigenetic mechanism of regulation for the drought response by means of a methylation/demethylation switch. Consequent quantitative PCR analysis revealed that although C5-MTase genes were differentially expressed under drought stress, all the demethylase genes analyzed in this study (RcDME, RcDML-3 and RcROS1) were significantly upregulated suggesting fine-tuning of DNA methylation and demethylation events. The detection and organization of putative transposable elements (ΤEs) along promoter regions of most of the genes indicates a possible role in transcriptional control. The current results set the foundation for functional studies of the C5-MTase and DNA demethylase gene families in castor plant.

Inhibitors of connexin and pannexin channels as potential therapeutics

While gap junctions support the exchange of a number of molecules between neighboring cells, connexin hemichannels provide communication between the cytosol and the extracellular environment of an individual cell. The latter equally holds true for channels composed of pannexin proteins, which display an architecture reminiscent of connexin hemichannels. In physiological conditions, gap junctions are usually open, while connexin hemichannels and, to a lesser extent, pannexin channels are typically closed, yet they can be activated by a number of pathological triggers. Several agents are available to inhibit channels built up by connexin and pannexin proteins, including alcoholic substances, glycyrrhetinic acid, anesthetics and fatty acids. These compounds not always strictly distinguish between gap junctions, connexin hemichannels and pannexin channels, and may have effects on other targets as well. An exception lies with mimetic peptides, which reproduce specific amino acid sequences in connexin or pannexin primary protein structure. In this paper, a state-of-the-art overview is provided on inhibitors of cellular channels consisting of connexins and pannexins with specific focus on their mode-of-action and therapeutic potential.

Triphenyltin recognition by primary structures of effector proteins and the protein network of Bacillus thuringiensis during the triphenyltin degradation process

Herein, triphenyltin (TPT) biodegradation efficiency and its transformation pathway have been elucidated. To better understand the molecular mechanism of TPT degradation, the interactions between amino acids, primary structures, and quaternary conformations of effector proteins and TPT were studied. The results verified that TPT recognition and binding depended on amino acid sequences but not on secondary, tertiary or quaternary protein structure. During this process, TPT could change the molecular weight and isoelectric point of effector proteins, induce their methylation or demethylation, and alter their conformation. The effector proteins, alkyl hydroperoxide reductase and acetyl-CoA acetyltransferase, recognizing TPT were crucial to TPT degradation. Electron transfer flavoprotein subunit alpha, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase, aconitate hydratase, branched-chain alpha-keto acid dehydrogenase E1 component, biotin carboxylase and superoxide dismutase were related to energy and carbon metabolism, which was consistent with the results in vivo. The current findings develop a new approach for investigating the interactions between proteins and target compounds.

UgpB, a periplasmic component of the UgpABCE ATP-binding cassette transporter, predominantly follows the Sec translocation pathway

Microorganisms secrete proteins to carry out different types of biological functions including biogenesis of flagella or pili, sequestration of nutrients, pathogenicity, etc. Translocation of these proteins across the plasma membrane to the periplasm or external environment takes place via two main pathways viz. Sec (secretory) and Tat (twin arginine translocation). Sec pathway translocates proteins in their unfolded state, whereas, Tat pathway favors the translocation of folded proteins. However, the selection of a particular translocation pathway must be accomplished during or immediately after the completion of protein biosynthesis. This suggests that the primary structure of proteins itself must have some specific signatures for Sec- and Tat-mediated translocation. To identify and further verify the signature motifs and properties of proteins translocated through Sec and Tat pathways, we took up a case study of periplasmic UgpB protein. UgpB is a periplasmic solute (or substrate) binding protein of UgpABCE ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter, which mediates the sequestration of either sn-glycerol-3-phosphate (G3P) or glycerophosphocholine (GPC) molecules in the periplasmic space. Recently, UgpB protein from Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MtUgpB) was reported to follow the Tat pathway for its translocation to the periplasm during its pathogenesis; hence it has been proposed as a promising candidate for drug target. Thus, in this study, we attempted to identify the translocation pathway for all UgpB proteins from different organisms available in protein databases. Our computational analysis of these proteins reveals that most of the UgpB proteins follow Sec pathway rather than Tat pathway, unlike MtUgpB. Moreover, this study reveals that the selection of pathway by UgpB proteins mainly depends on the characteristics of signal peptide. In addition, it suggests that the selection of the translocation pathway can also be influenced by the environment in which the organism thrives.

A demonstration of analytical similarity comparing a proposed biosimilar pegfilgrastim and reference pegfilgrastim

BackgroundRecombinant human granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF, filgrastim) is used primarily to reduce incidence and duration of severe neutropenia and its associated complications in cancer patients that have received a chemotherapy regimen. The pegylated form of filgrastim, “pegfilgrastim”, is a long-acting form that requires only a once-per-cycle administration for the management of chemotherapy-induced neutropenia. Apobiologix, a division of ApoPharma USA, Inc., and Intas Pharmaceuticals Limited have co-developed a proposed pegfilgrastim biosimilar to US-licensed pegfilgrastim. MethodsThe analytical similarity of Apobiologix pegfilgrastim and US-licensed pegfilgrastim with respect to their physicochemical profile was established using a wide range of rigorous orthogonal analytical techniques. Biological function was compared using receptor binding analyses, in vitro proliferation assays, and in vivo hematopoietic progenitor mobilization. ResultsApobiologix pegfilgrastim and the US-licensed pegfilgrastim reference product were found to be highly similar analytically with respect to molecular mass, primary, secondary and tertiary protein structures, purity, charge, and hydrophobicity. No differences in receptor binding affinity were observed, and all samples demonstrated similar in vitro and in vivo bioactivity. ConclusionThese studies provide robust evidence supporting the structural and functional similarity between Apobiologix pegfilgrastim and the US-licensed reference pegfilgrastim, and hence their biosimilarity.

Common Fibril Structures Imply Systemically Conserved Protein Misfolding Pathways In Vivo.

Systemic amyloidosis is caused by the misfolding of a circulating amyloid precursor protein and the deposition of amyloid fibrils in multiple organs. Chemical and biophysical analysis of amyloid fibrils from human AL and murine AA amyloidosis reveal the same fibril morphologies in different tissues or organs of one patient or diseased animal. The observed structural similarities concerned the fibril morphology, the fibril protein primary and secondary structures, the presence of post-translational modifications and, in case of the AL fibrils, the partially folded characteristics of the polypeptide chain within the fibril. Our data imply for both analyzed forms of amyloidosis that the pathways of protein misfolding are systemically conserved; that is, they follow the same rules irrespective of where inside one body fibrils are formed or accumulated.

Common Fibril Structures Imply Systemically Conserved Protein Misfolding Pathways In Vivo

AbstractSystemic amyloidosis is caused by the misfolding of a circulating amyloid precursor protein and the deposition of amyloid fibrils in multiple organs. Chemical and biophysical analysis of amyloid fibrils from human AL and murine AA amyloidosis reveal the same fibril morphologies in different tissues or organs of one patient or diseased animal. The observed structural similarities concerned the fibril morphology, the fibril protein primary and secondary structures, the presence of post‐translational modifications and, in case of the AL fibrils, the partially folded characteristics of the polypeptide chain within the fibril. Our data imply for both analyzed forms of amyloidosis that the pathways of protein misfolding are systemically conserved; that is, they follow the same rules irrespective of where inside one body fibrils are formed or accumulated.

Effects of Radio Frequency Heating Treatment on Structure Changes of Soy Protein Isolate for Protein Modification

The effects of radio frequency (RF) heating treatments with different final temperatures (70, 80, and 90 °C) and electrode gaps (120, 160, and 200 mm) on the structural characteristics of soy protein isolate (SPI) dispersion were investigated. The results showed that RF heating significantly influenced free sulfhydryl groups and surface hydrophobicity of SPI. Free sulfhydryl groups increased with the increase of final temperature. The hydrophobicity of the RF-heated sample was higher than the original SPI without RF treatment. The highest hydrophobicity of the RF-heated SPI was found with electrode gap of 200 mm at 90 °C. RF heating treatment resulted in the reduction of ultraviolet absorption of SPI indicating the change of three-dimensional positions of soy protein but did not modify the protein primary structure of SPI. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy showed that hydration of SPI was decreased by RF heating. The self-reassembly from random coil structure to β-sheet structure suggested that RF heating treatment can change the secondary structure of soy protein to be more orderly.

β-N-Methylamino-L-Alanine Toxicity in PC12: Excitotoxicity vs. Misincorporation

The implication of β-N-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA) in the development of neurodegenerative diseases worldwide has led to several investigations of the mechanism, or mechanisms, of toxicity of this cyanobacterially produced amino acid. The primary mechanism of toxicity that was identified is excitotoxicity, with a second possible mechanism, the misincorporation of BMAA into the primary protein structure and consequent cell damage, having been more recently reported. However, studies on excitotoxicity and misincorporation have been conducted independently and there are therefore no data available on the relative contribution of each of these mechanisms to the total toxicity of BMAA. The rat pheochromocytoma cell line PC12 is an ideal model for a study of this type, as glutamate receptor expression is modified by cell differentiation, which can be affected by exposure to nerve growth factor. In this study, the PC12 cell line was evaluated as a model to study BMAA toxicity via the two proposed mechanisms: excitotoxicity and protein misincorporation. BMAA and canavanine treatment of cultures of PC12 were evaluated for depolarization of the mitochondrial membrane. In canavanine-treated cultures, this was evident after 9days of treatment and was attributed to the primary mechanism of canavanine toxicity, protein misincorporation. However, no membrane depolarization was observed for BMAA-treated cultures even after 21days of continuous treatment at 500μM. Short-term exposure to both BMAA and canavanine resulted in a slight increase in necrosis in undifferentiated cells that was prevented in canavanine-treated cultures by co-incubation with arginine, but not in BMAA-treated cultures by co-incubation with serine. A slight increase in apoptosis was observed in undifferentiated cells treated with either BMAA or glutamate, and ROS production increased in glutamate-treated cells. However, the excitotoxicity was less pronounced than reported in previous studies with neuronal cells. In contrast, apoptosis was greatly increased in both BMAA- and glutamate-treated cells after differentiation and resulting mGluR1 increase, indicating that excitotoxicity is the main, if not only, mechanism of toxicity in PC12.

Identification and sequence analyses of novel lipase encoding novel thermophillic bacilli isolated from Armenian geothermal springs

BackgroundAmong the huge diversity of thermophilic bacteria mainly bacilli have been reported as active thermostable lipase producers. Geothermal springs serve as the main source for isolation of thermostable lipase producing bacilli. Thermostable lipolytic enzymes, functioning in the harsh conditions, have promising applications in processing of organic chemicals, detergent formulation, synthesis of biosurfactants, pharmaceutical processing etc.ResultsIn order to study the distribution of lipase-producing thermophilic bacilli and their specific lipase protein primary structures, three lipase producers from different genera were isolated from mesothermal (27.5–70 °C) springs distributed on the territory of Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh. Based on phenotypic characteristics and 16S rRNA gene sequencing the isolates were identified as Geobacillus sp., Bacillus licheniformis and Anoxibacillus flavithermus strains. The lipase genes of isolates were sequenced by using initially designed primer sets. Multiple alignments generated from primary structures of the lipase proteins and annotated lipase protein sequences, conserved regions analysis and amino acid composition have illustrated the similarity (98–99%) of the lipases with true lipases (family I) and GDSL esterase family (family II). A conserved sequence block that determines the thermostability has been identified in the multiple alignments of the lipase proteins.ConclusionsThe results are spreading light on the lipase producing bacilli distribution in geothermal springs in Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh. Newly isolated bacilli strains could be prospective source for thermostable lipases and their genes.

A periodic system of chiral structures in molecular biology

A systemic regularity of molecular biology is considered: the tendency towards alternating of the sense of chirality of intramolecular structural levels of DNA and proteins, namely, D–L–D–L for DNA and L–D–L–D for proteins, is observable starting from the level of asymmetric carbon in deoxyribose and amino acids. Helicity is a special case of chirality. In intermolecular interactions, the sense of chirality of the highest intramolecular structural level directly involved in the interaction prevails in each of the participants. The interaction of molecules of the same nature (protein–protein, DNA–RNA, tRNA–mRNA, and ribozymes) mainly occurs in the case of the same sense of chirality, either L–L or D–D, and for molecules of different types (DNA–protein, tRNA–amino acids, and enzyme–substrate), in the case of different senses of chirality, either D–L or L–D. An alternating sense of the chiral hierarchy of conjugated levels of macromolecular structures in proteins and nucleic acids is of general biological importance: it determines the discreteness of levels, serves as a tool of folding, and provides a structural basis for “preferred collective” (or “macroscopic mechanical”) degrees of freedom in the design of macromolecular machines, as well as being one of the mechanisms of blockwise/saltatory development of the evolutionary process. A new fundamental concept is proposed: the homochirality of primary structures of DNA and proteins determines the amount of the entropic component of the free energy, which is used in the processes of folding and molecular rearrangements.

RAPID COMMUNICATION: Generation of FGF5 knockout sheep via the CRISPR/Cas9 system.

Sheep are an important source of fiber production. Fibroblast growth factor 5 (FGF5) is a dominant inhibitor of length of the anagen phase of the hair cycle. Knockout or silencing of the gene results in a wooly coat in mice, donkeys, dogs, and rabbits. In sheep breeding, wool length is one of the most important wool quality traits. However, traditional breeding cannot accurately and efficiently mediate an advanced genotype into the sheep genome. In this study, we generated 3 knockout sheep via the 1-step clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)/Cas9 system. Sequencing analysis confirmed that mutations in the gene existed in all germ lines of 3 founders: besides the intact sequence, 3 kinds of deletions in the gene (including 5, 13, and 33 bp) were detected. The changes in the primary and senior structure of the FGF5 protein due to the 3 deletions in founders suggested that the FGF5 protein was dysfunctional. In addition, the expression level of intact mRNA in heterozygous individuals decreased compared with the wild types ( < 0.01). Functionally, we discovered that wool length in founders was significantly longer than in wild types ( < 0.05). Collectively, the knockout sheep with the longer wool length phenotype will provide an efficient way for fast genetic improvement of sheep breeding and promote the development of wool industry.

Computational prediction and analysis of deleterious cancer associated missense mutations in DYNC1H1

Dynein, cytoplasmic 1, heavy chain 1 (DYNC1H1) gene encodes a subunit of human cytoplasmic dynein complex, which has several crucial functions in the cell, such as intracellular transport of DNA damage proteins and mitotic spindle positioning. Recent studies reported the altered expression of DYNC1H1 in different cancers and DYNC1H1 was suggested to be potential biomarker in colorectal cancers. Previously, DYNC1H1 mutations have been associated with neurodegenerative diseases, however mutations of DYNC1H1 have not been fully investigated in cancers except for different types of pancreatic cancers. In this study we aimed to identify the cancer related mutations in DYNC1H1, which are deleterious for the DYNC1H1 structure and/or function. We investigated 523 cancer related missense mutations in DYNC1H1, which were collected from COSMIC database, to predict the effect of mutations on DYNC1H1 function. Of the 523 mutations, we identified 28 amino acid substitutions, which were predicted to be deleterious by PredictSNP1.0. When we searched for the effect of 28 deleterious mutations on protein stability by MUpro and I-Mutant2.0, we observed that most of the mutations decrease the protein stability. We analyzed the localization of deleterious mutations on primary protein structure and identified that predicted deleterious mutations were mainly located in the motor domain, which is crucial for the DYNC1H1 function. In addition, we detected close positioning of mutated residues in AAA + regions on 3D structure by STRUM and UCSF Chimera. When we searched the mutations in COSMIC database, we observed the occurrence of the mutations in different cancers, which might show the importance of these regions in corresponding cancers. Therefore, our findings provide potential structural and functional mutations and hotspots for DYNC1H1.

Computing the Diamagnetic Susceptibility and Diamagnetic Anisotropy of Membrane Proteins from Structural Subunits.

The behavior of large, complex molecules in the presence of magnetic fields is experimentally challenging to measure and computationally intensive to predict. This work proposes a novel, mixed-methods approach for efficiently computing the principal magnetic susceptibilities and diamagnetic anisotropy of membrane proteins. The hierarchical primary (amino acid), secondary (α helical and β sheet), and tertiary (α helix and β barrel) structure of transmembrane proteins enables analysis of a complex molecule using discrete subunits of varying size and resolution. The proposed method converts the magnetic susceptibility tensor for all protein subunits to a unit coordinate system and sums them to build the magnetic susceptibility tensor for the membrane protein. Using this approach, we calculate the diamagnetic anisotropy for all transmembrane proteins of known structure and investigate the effect of different subunit resolutions on the resulting predictions of diamagnetic anisotropy. We demonstrate that amino acid residues with aromatic side groups exhibit higher diamagnetic anisotropies. On average, high percentages of aromatic amino acid subunits, a β barrel tertiary structure, and a small volume are correlated with high volumetric diamagnetic anisotropy. Finally, we demonstrate that accounting for the spatial position of the residues with respect to one another is critical to accurately computing the magnetic properties of the complex protein molecule.

Hidden Markov model and Chapman Kolmogrov for protein structures prediction from images

Protein structure prediction and analysis are more significant for living organs to perfect asses the living organ functionalities. Several protein structure prediction methods use neural network (NN). However, the Hidden Markov model is more interpretable and effective for more biological data analysis compared to the NN. It employs statistical data analysis to enhance the prediction accuracy. The current work proposed a protein prediction approach from protein images based on Hidden Markov Model and Chapman Kolmogrov equation. Initially, a preprocessing stage was applied for protein images’ binarization using Otsu technique in order to convert the protein image into binary matrix. Subsequently, two counting algorithms, namely the Flood fill and Warshall are employed to classify the protein structures. Finally, Hidden Markov model and Chapman Kolmogrov equation are applied on the classified structures for predicting the protein structure. The execution time and algorithmic performances are measured to evaluate the primary, secondary and tertiary protein structure prediction.

Are neutral loss and internal product ions useful for top-down protein identification?

Neutral loss and internal product ions have been found to be significant in both peptide and protein tandem mass spectra and they have been proposed to be included in database search and for protein identification. In addition to common canonical b/y ions in collision-based dissociation or c/z ions in electron-based dissociation, inclusion of neutral loss and internal product ions would certainly make better use of tandem mass spectra data; however, their ultimate utility for protein identification with false discovery rate control remains unclear. Here we report our proteome-level utility benchmarking of neutral loss and internal product ions with tandem mass spectra of intact E. coli proteome. Utility of internal product ions was further evaluated at the protein level using selected tandem mass spectra of individual E. coli proteins. We found that both neutral loss and internal products ions do not have direct utility for protein identification when they were used for scoring of P Score; but they do have indirect utility for provision of more canonical b/y ions when they are included in the database search and overlapping ions between different ion types are resolved. Biological significanceTandem mass spectrometry has evolved to be a state-of-the-art method for characterization of protein primary structures (including amino acid sequence, post-translational modifications (PTMs) as well as their site location), where full study and utilization tandem mass spectra and product ions are indispensable. This primary structure information is essential for higher order structure and eventual function study of proteins.

A new hybrid coding for protein secondary structure prediction based on primary structure similarity

The coding pattern of protein can greatly affect the prediction accuracy of protein secondary structure. In this paper, a novel hybrid coding method based on the physicochemical properties of amino acids and tendency factors is proposed for the prediction of protein secondary structure. The principal component analysis (PCA) is first applied to the physicochemical properties of amino acids to construct a 3-bit-code, and then the 3 tendency factors of amino acids are calculated to generate another 3-bit-code. Two 3-bit-codes are fused to form a novel hybrid 6-bit-code. Furthermore, we make a geometry-based similarity comparison of the protein primary structure between the reference set and the test set before the secondary structure prediction. We finally use the support vector machine (SVM) to predict those amino acids which are not detected by the primary structure similarity comparison. Experimental results show that our method achieves a satisfactory improvement in accuracy in the prediction of protein secondary structure.

Extensive Chemical Modifications in the Primary Protein Structure of IgG1 Subvisible Particles Are Necessary for Breaking Immune Tolerance.

A current concern with the use of therapeutic proteins is the likely presence of aggregates and submicrometer, subvisible, and visible particles. It has been proposed that aggregates and particles may lead to unwanted increases in the immune response with a possible impact on safety or efficacy. The aim of this study was thus to evaluate the ability of subvisible particles of a therapeutic antibody to break immune tolerance in an IgG1 transgenic mouse model and to understand the particle attributes that might play a role in this process. We investigated the immunogenic properties of subvisible particles (unfractionated, mixed populations, and well-defined particle size fractions) using a transgenic mouse model expressing a mini-repertoire of human IgG1 (hIgG1 tg). Immunization with proteinaceous subvisible particles generated by artificial stress conditions demonstrated that only subvisible particles bearing very extensive chemical modifications within the primary amino acid structure could break immune tolerance in the hIgG1 transgenic mouse model. Protein particles exhibiting low levels of chemical modification were not immunogenic in this model.

A new biodegradable gate dielectric material based on keratin protein for organic thin film transistors

By virtue of the biocompatibility, environmental benignity, and sustainability, as well as low cost of keratin protein's source herein, we report its application as a gate dielectric material for organic electronic devices. Keratin protein, which is a biodegradable material was directly extracted from poultry chicken feathers (CFs). Solution-processed regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) organic thin film transistors (OTFTs) with keratin dielectric thin film exhibited enhanced charge mobility of 2.293 × 10−3 cm2 V−1 s−1 (saturation regime), high on-off current ratio of 105 and low threshold voltage, -1V as compared to conventional SiO2 dielectric. All the fabrication processes were performed below 100 °C. A detailed semiconductor-dielectric interface study has revealed that the high content of β-sheet structure in keratin protein has guided the P3HT polymer chains, through supramolecular forces of interaction to form 2D nanoribbons of large crystallite size (150 nm) over keratin thin film. This has led to the reduced trapping sites at the semiconductor/dielectric interface and hence the enhanced electrical performance of OTFTs was observed. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and Grazing Incidence X-ray diffraction (GI-XRD) study was further employed to explore the mechanism of formation of 2D nanoribbons of P3HT. The primary and secondary structure of keratin protein as analyzed by AFM, Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Fourier transform spectroscopy (FTIR) is also provided in this study. The water compatible nature of keratin has helped to overcome the common issue of dielectric layer washing that occurs mostly during fabrication of OTFTs by sol-gel method. The biodegradable nature of keratin protein has also been demonstrated here by providing it as feed to fishes in an aquarium.

Effect of Maillard induced glycation on protein hydrolysis by lysine/arginine and non-lysine/arginine specific proteases

Enzymatic protein hydrolysis is sensitive to modifications of protein structure, e.g. Maillard reaction. In early stages of the reaction glycation takes place, modifying the protein primary structure. In later stages protein aggregation occurs. The specific effect of glycation on protein hydrolysis was studied using α-lactalbumin glycated with d-glucose at 50 °C (0–10 h). This resulted in proteins with different degrees of glycation (DG = 0–63%) without changes in secondary, tertiary and quaternary structure. These glycated proteins were hydrolyzed by lysine/arginine specific proteases (bovine and porcine trypsin) or by non-lysine/arginine specific proteases (Bacillus licheniformis protease (BLP), α-chymotrypsin and subtilisin A). For bovine and porcine trypsin, the maximal degree of hydrolysis decreased linearly with 65% from untreated to maximal glycated protein (DG = 63%). This means trypsin cannot hydrolyze glycated cleavage sites. BLP and subtilisin A hydrolyses were independent of glycation, while α-chymotrypsin cannot hydrolyze cleavage sites with glycated binding sites. This means for non-lysine/arginine specific proteases, the effect of glycation depends on the enzyme sensitivity towards modifications on binding sites. Since not all cleavage sites are efficiently used by the enzymes, the extent of the effects depends on the enzyme selectivity towards cleavage sites (for trypsin) or cleavage sites near glycation sites (for α-chymotrypsin). Combining the results of all proteases, an equation was derived describing the effect of modification of protein primary structure on the extent of hydrolysis based on the enzyme specificity, selectivity and binding site sensitivity.