Axially projected collagen structures

The positively stained bands of the segment long spacing (s. l. s.) pattern of collagen are shown to be accounted for by the distribution of charged residues in the sequence of the α 1 chain. The native tendon pattern can be constructed by repeated stagger of 234 residues between adjacent molecules, as in the Hodge-Petruska model. The relation of the precise version of this model to negatively stained patterns is shown and the part played by the teleopeptides revealed. A brief discussion of the meridional X-ray reflexions in terms of amino acid sequence is presented and related to electron microscope patterns. Optical diffraction suggests an approximate thirding of the D period. Finally a symmetric structure formed by reconstituting chick cartilage collagen is analysed and its origins revealed as an elaboration of the Hodge-Petruska model. It is shown to be related to the fibrous long spacing (f. l. s. I) structure.

The complete amino acid sequence of yeast phosphoglycerate mutase comprising 241 residues has been determined. The sequence was deduced from the two cyanogen bromide fragments, and from the peptides derived from these fragments after digestion by a number of proteolytic enzymes. Determination of this sequence now allows a detailed interpretation of the existing high-resolution X-ray crystallographic structure. A comparison of the sequence reported here with the sequences of peptides from phosphoglycerate mutases from other species, and with the sequence of erythrocyte diphosphoglycerate mutase, indicates that these enzymes have a high degree of structural homology. Autolysis of phosphoglycerate mutase by yeast extracts leads to the complete loss of mutase activity, and the formation of electrophoretically distinguishable forms (R. Sasaki, E. Sugimoto & H. Chiba, Archs Biochem. Biophys. 115, 53-61 (1966)). It is apparent from the amino acid sequence that these changes are due to the loss of an 8─12 residue peptide from the C-terminus.


2002 ◽  
Vol 362 (1) ◽  
pp. 131-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael ARAND ◽  
Alexander M. GOLUBEV ◽  
J. R. Brandao NETO ◽  
Igor POLIKARPOV ◽  
R. WATTIEZ ◽  
...  

Extracellular exo-inulinase has been isolated from a solid-phase culture of the filamentous fungus Aspergillus awamori var. 2250. The apparent molecular mass of the monomer enzyme was 69±1kDa, with a pI of 4.4 and a pH optimum of 4.5. The enzyme hydrolysed the β-(2 → 1)-fructan (inulin) and β-(2 → 6)-fructan (levan) via exo-cleavage, releasing fructose. The values for the Michaelis constants Km and Vmax in the hydrolysis of inulin were 0.003±0.0001mM and 175±5μmol·min−1·mg−1. The same parameters in the hydrolysis of levan were 2.08±0.04mg/ml and 1.2±0.02μmol/min per mg, respectively. The gene and cDNA encoding the A. awamori exo-inulinase were cloned and sequenced. The amino acid sequence indicated that the protein belongs to glycoside hydrolase family 32. A surprisingly high similarity was found to fructosyltransferase from Aspergillus foetidus (90.7% on the level of the amino acid sequence), despite the fact that the latter enzyme is unable to hydrolyse inulin and levan. Crystals of the native exo-inulinase were obtained and found to belong to the orthorhombic space group P212121 with cell parameters a = 64.726 Å (1Å = 0.1 nm), b = 82.041 Å and c = 136.075 Å. Crystals diffracted beyond 1.54 Å, and useful X-ray data were collected to a resolution of 1.73 Å.


1987 ◽  
Vol 105 (2) ◽  
pp. 913-925 ◽  
Author(s):  
J A Hammer ◽  
B Bowers ◽  
B M Paterson ◽  
E D Korn

We have completely sequenced a gene encoding the heavy chain of myosin II, a nonmuscle myosin from the soil ameba Acanthamoeba castellanii. The gene spans 6 kb, is split by three small introns, and encodes a 1,509-residue heavy chain polypeptide. The positions of the three introns are largely conserved relative to characterized vertebrate and invertebrate muscle myosin genes. The deduced myosin II globular head amino acid sequence shows a high degree of similarity with the globular head sequences of the rat embryonic skeletal muscle and nematode unc 54 muscle myosins. By contrast, there is no unique way to align the deduced myosin II rod amino acid sequence with the rod sequence of these muscle myosins. Nevertheless, the periodicities of hydrophobic and charged residues in the myosin II rod sequence, which dictate the coiled-coil structure of the rod and its associations within the myosin filament, are very similar to those of the muscle myosins. We conclude that this ameba nonmuscle myosin shares with the muscle myosins of vertebrates and invertebrates an ancestral heavy chain gene. The low level of direct sequence similarity between the rod sequences of myosin II and muscle myosins probably reflects a general tolerance for residue changes in the rod domain (as long as the periodicities of hydrophobic and charged residues are largely maintained), the relative evolutionary "ages" of these myosins, and specific differences between the filament properties of myosin II and muscle myosins. Finally, sequence analysis and electron microscopy reveal the presence within the myosin II rodlike tail of a well-defined hinge region where sharp bending can occur. We speculate that this hinge may play a key role in mediating the effect of heavy chain phosphorylation on enzymatic activity.


1977 ◽  
Vol 110 (4) ◽  
pp. 643-666 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J.S. Hulmes ◽  
Andrew Miller ◽  
Stephen W. White ◽  
Barbara Brodsky Doyle

Functional studies on interferon would be helped by a three-dimensional structure for the molecule. However, it may be several years before the structure of the protein is determined by X-ray crystallography. We have therefore used available methods for predicting the secondary - and the tertiary - structure of a protein from its amino acid sequence to propose a tertiary model involving the packing of four a-helices. Details of this work have been published elsewhere (Sternberg & Cohen 1982).


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