In approximately one billion people, a point mutation inactivates a key detoxifying enzyme, aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH2). This mitochondrial enzyme metabolizes toxic biogenic and environmental aldehydes, including the endogenously produced 4-hydroxynonenal (4HNE) and the environmental pollutant, acrolein. ALDH2 also bioactivates nitroglycerin, but it is best known for its role in ethanol metabolism. The accumulation of acetaldehyde following the consumption of even a single alcoholic beverage leads to the Asian Alcohol-induced Flushing Syndrome in ALDH2*2 homozygotes. The ALDH2*2 allele is semi-dominant and heterozygotic individuals exhibit a similar, but not as severe phenotype. We recently identified a small molecule, Alda-1, which activates wild-type ALDH2 and restores near wild-type activity to ALDH2*2. The structures of Alda-1 bound to ALDH2 and ALDH2*2 reveal how Alda-1 activates the wild-type enzyme and how it restores the activity of ALDH2*2 by acting as a structural chaperone.

The aggregation of beta-lactoglobulin (BLG) at ambient temperature was studied using turbidimetry and dynamic light scattering in the range 3.8

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The aggregation of insulin near its isoelectric point and at low ionic strength was suppressed in the presence of heparin. To understand this effect, we used turbidimetry and stopped-flow to study the pH-and ionic strength (I)-dependence of the aggregation of heparin-free insulin. The results supported the role of interprotein electrostatic interactions, contrary to the commonly held view that such forces are minimized at pH ) pI. Electrostatic modeling of insulin (DelPhi) revealed that attractive interactions arise from the marked charge anisotropy of insulin near pI. We show how screening of the interprotein attractions by added salt lead to maximum aggregation near I ) 0.01 M, corresponding to a Debye length nearly equal to the diameter of the insulin dimer, consistent with a dipole-like protein charge distribution. This analysis is also consistent with suppression of aggregation by heparin, a strong polyanion that by binding to the positive domain of one protein, inhibits its interaction with the negative domain of another.