Amyloid deposits are associated with several neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease and the prion diseases. The amyloid fibrils isolated from these different diseases share similar structural features. However, the protein sequences that assemble into these fibrils differ substantially from one disease to another. To probe the relationship between amino acid sequence and the propensity to form amyloid, we studied a combinatorial library of sequences designed de novo. All sequences in the library were designed to share an identical pattern of alternating polar and nonpolar residues, but the precise identities of these side chains were not constrained and were varied combinatorially. The resulting proteins selfassemble into large oligomers visible by electron microscopy as amyloid-like fibrils. Like natural amyloid, the de novo fibrils are composed of -sheet secondary structure and bind the diagnostic dye, Congo red. Thus, binary patterning of polar and nonpolar residues arranged in alternating periodicity can direct protein sequences to form fibrils resembling amyloid. The model amyloid fibrils assemble and disassemble reversibly, providing a tractable system for both basic studies into the mechanisms of fibril assembly and the development of molecular therapies that interfere with this assembly.
We used phage display to generate surrogate peptides that define the hotspots involved in protein-protein interaction between insulin and the insulin receptor. All of the peptides competed for insulin binding and had affinity constants in the high nanomolar to low micromolar range. Based on competition studies, peptides were grouped into non-overlapping Sites 1, 2, or 3. Some Site 1 peptides were able to activate the tyrosine kinase activity of the insulin receptor and act as agonists in the insulin-dependent fat cell assay, suggesting that Site 1 marks the hotspot involved in insulin-induced activation of the insulin receptor. On the other hand, Site 2 and 3 peptides were found to act as antagonists in the phosphorylation and fat cell assays. These data show that a peptide display can be used to define the molecular architecture of a receptor and to identify the critical regions required for biological activity in a site-directed manner.
A technique was developed to evaluate whether electron transfer (ET) complexes formed in solution by the cloned cytochrome c peroxidase [CcP(MI)] and cytochromes c from yeast (yCc) and horse (hCc) are structurally similar to those seen in the respective crystal structures. Site-directed mutagenesis was used to convert the sole Cys of the parent enzyme (Cys 128) to Ala, and a Cys residue was introduced at position 193 of CcP(MI), the point of closest contact between CcP(MI) and yCc in the crystal structure. Cys 193 was then modified with a bulky sulfhydryl reagent, 3-(N-maleimidylpropionyl)-biocytin (MPB), to prevent yCc from binding at the site seen in the crystal. The MPB modification has no effect on overall enzyme structure but causes 20-100-fold decreases in transient and steady-state ET reaction rates with yCc. The MPB modification causes only 2-3-fold decreases in ET reaction rates with hCc, however. This differential effect is predicted by modeling studies based on the crystal structures and indicates that solution phase ET complexes closely resemble the crystalline complexes. The low rate of catalysis of the MPB-enzyme was constant for yCc in buffers of 20-160 mM ionic strength. This indicates that the low affinity complex formed between CcP(MI) and yCc at low ionic strength is not reactive in ET.
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