Recent studies indicate that p50cdc37 facilitates Hsp90-mediated biogenesis of certain protein kinases. In this report, we examined whether p50 cdc37 is required for the biogenesis of the heme-regulated eIF2␣ kinase (HRI) in reticulocyte lysate. p50 cdc37 interacted with nascent HRI co-translationally and this interaction persisted during the maturation and activation of HRI. p50 cdc37 stimulated HRI's activation in response to heme deficiency, but did not activate HRI per se. p50 cdc37 function was specific to immature and inactive forms of the kinase. Analysis of mutant Cdc37 gene products indicated that the N-terminal portion of p50 cdc37 interacted with immature HRI, but not with Hsp90, while the C-terminal portion of p50 cdc37 interacted with Hsp90. The Hsp90-specific inhibitor geldanamycin disrupted the ability of both Hsp90 and p50 cdc37 to bind HRI and promote its activation, but did not disrupt the native association of p50 cdc37 with Hsp90. A C-terminal truncated mutant of p50 cdc37 inhibited HRI's activation, prevented the interaction of Hsp90 with HRI, and bound to HRI irrespective of geldanamycin treatment. Additionally, native complexes of HRI with p50 cdc37 were detected in cultured K562 erythroleukemia cells. These results suggest that p50 cdc37 provides an activity essential to HRI biogenesis via a process regulated by nucleotide-mediated conformational switching of its partner Hsp90.The heme-regulated inhibitor (HRI) 1 of protein synthesis is a protein-serine kinase which coordinates the synthesis of globin chains with the availability of heme in reticulocytes (reviewed in Refs. 1 and 2). Under heme-deficient conditions, HRI phosphorylates the ␣-subunit of eukaryotic translational initiation factor eIF2. Phosphorylation of eIF2␣ causes an inhibition of polypeptide chain initiation and the arrest of protein synthesis, preventing the synthesis of apo-globin chains in the absence of heme. HRI is also activated under heme-replete conditions in response to a host of other adverse environmental stimuli, such as heat shock, agents that generate oxidative stress, and the presence of denatured proteins (1, 2).The biogenesis and activation of HRI into an active hemeregulatable eIF2␣ kinase requires its functional interaction with the chaperone machinery containing the 90-kDa heat shock protein (Hsp90) and the 70-kDa heat shock cognate protein (Hsc70) (3, 4). During HRI biogenesis and its subsequent transformation and activation, several discrete HRI intermediates are generated; these intermediates can be distinguished on the basis of their competence to become an active kinase in response to heme deficiency or upon treatment with sulfhydryl reactive compounds such as N-ethylmaleimide. Immediately after their synthesis, HRI molecules are not active in hemereplete or heme-deficient rabbit reticulocyte lysate (RRL) and cannot be activated by N-ethylmaleimide treatment. This immature population interacts with Hsp90 and Hsc70 (3-7). Subsequent to this immature phase, a "mature-competent" HRI population appear...

Manganese oxide has been recognized as one of the most promising gaseous heterogeneous catalysts due to its low cost, environmental friendliness, and high catalytic oxidation performance. Mn-based oxides can be classified into four types: (1) single manganese oxide (MnOx), (2) supported manganese oxide (MnOx/support), (3) composite manganese oxides (MnOx-X), and (4) special crystalline manganese oxides (S-MnOx). These Mn-based oxides have been widely used as catalysts for the elimination of gaseous pollutants. This review aims to describe the environmental applications of these manganese oxides and provide perspectives. It gives detailed descriptions of environmental applications of the selective catalytic reduction of NOx with NH, the catalytic combustion of volatile organic compounds, Hg oxidation and adsorption, and soot oxidation, in addition to some other environmental applications. Furthermore, this review mainly focuses on the effects of structure, morphology, and modified elements and on the role of catalyst supports in gaseous heterogeneous catalytic reactions. Finally, future research directions for developing manganese oxide catalysts are proposed.

Hsp90 and p50(cdc37) provide a poorly understood biochemical function essential to certain protein kinases, and recent models describe p50(cdc37) as an exclusive hsp90 cohort which links hsp90 machinery to client kinases. We describe here the recovery of p50(cdc37) in immunoadsorptions directed against the hsp90 cohorts FKBP52, cyp40, p60HOP, hsp70, and p23. Additionally, monoclonal antibodies against FKBP52 coadsorb maturation intermediates of the hsp90-dependent kinases p56(lck) and HRI, and the presence of these maturation intermediates significantly increases the representation of p50(cdc37) and hsp90 on FKPB52 machinery. Although the native heterocomplex between hsp90 and p50(cdc37) is salt-labile, their dynamic interactions with kinase substrates produce kinase-chaperone heterocomplexes which are highly salt-resistant. The hsp90 inhibitor geldanamycin does not directly disrupt the native association of hsp90 with p50(cdc37) per se, but does result in the formation of salt-labile hsp90-kinase heterocomplexes which lack the p50(cdc37) cohort. We conclude that p50(cdc37) does not simply serve as a passive structural bridge between hsp90 and its kinase substrates; instead, p50(cdc37) is a nonexclusive hsp90 cohort which responds to hsp90's nucleotide-regulated conformational switching during the generation of high-affinity interactions within the hsp90-kinase-p50(cdc37) heterocomplex.

The interactions which govern chemical processes may be broadly categorized into specific interactions, high activity for a certain target molecule, and nonspecific interactions, low activity for all targets. Despite their ubiquity in biology and chemistry, nonspecific interactions are generally overlooked and a fundamental understanding of nonspecific interactions is lacking. Molecular chaperones are large protein complexes which have evolved to resist nonspecific interactions. Their interior surface resists binding to thousands of types of misfolded proteins. Proteins found in the cytoplasm, a crowded environment with many spurious binding targets, are another example. These proteins have evolved high selectivity and stability despite nonspecific interactions. Using structural bioinformatics, we have studied the interiors of molecular chaperones from five species and examined the surface chemistry of 1162 proteins, categorized by if they are present in the cytoplasm or extracellular space. A better understanding of how nature resists nonspecific interactions is key for the chemistry of materials, surfaces, and particles which must remain stable in complex environments. The abundance of amino acids, their interactions, their hydration, and sequence patterns were compared in these two systems, molecular chaperones and proteins surfaces. Striking similarities were found and trends were identified as the system environments became harsher. Peptide based mimics were synthesized to test the conclusions. This, in turn, has led to the design of new stealth compounds and a deeper understanding of nonspecific interactions.

Hsp90 functions to facilitate the folding of newly synthesized and denatured proteins. Hsp90 function is modulated through its interactions with cochaperones and the binding and hydrolysis of ATP. Recently, novobiocin has been shown to bind to a second nucleotide binding site located within the C-terminal domain of Hsp90. In this report, we have examined the effect of novobiocin on Hsp90 function in reticulocyte lysate. Novobiocin specifically inhibited the maturation of the heme-regulated eIF2alpha kinase (HRI) in a concentration-dependent manner. Novobiocin induced the dissociation of Hsp90 and Cdc37 from immature HRI, while the Hsp90 cochaperones p23, FKBP52, and protein phosphatase 5 remained associated with immature HRI. Proteolytic fingerprinting of Hsp90 indicated that novobiocin had a distinct effect on the conformation of Hsp90, and molybdate lowered the concentration of novobiocin required to alter Hsp90's conformation by 10-fold. The recombinant C-terminal domain of Hsp90 adopted a proteolytic resistant conformation in the presence of novobiocin, indicating that alteration of Hsp90/cochaperone interactions was not the cause of the novobiocin-induced protease resistance within Hsp90's C-terminal domain. The concentration dependence of this novobiocin-induced conformation change correlated with the dissociation of Hsp90 and Cdc37 from immature HRI and novobiocin-induced inhibition of Hsp90/Cdc37-dependent activation of HRI's autokinase activity. The data suggest that binding of novobiocin to the C-terminal nucleotide binding site of Hsp90 induces a change in Hsp90's conformation leading to the dissociation of bound kinase. The unique structure and properties of novobocin-bound Hsp90 suggest that it may represent the "client-release" conformation of the Hsp90 machine.

MnOx/graphene composites were prepared and employed to enhance the performance of manganese oxide (MnOx) for the capture of elemental mercury (Hg(0)) in flue gas. The composites were characterized using FT-IR, XPS, XRD, and TEM, and the results showed that the highly dispersed MnOx particles could be readily deposited on graphene nanosheets via hydrothermal process described here. Graphene appeared to be an ideal support for MnOx particles and electron transfer channels in the catalytic oxidation of Hg(0) at a high efficiency. Thus, MnOx/graphene-30% sorbents exhibited an Hg(0) removal efficiency of greater than 90% at 150 °C under 4% O2, compared with the 50% removal efficiency of pure MnOx. The mechanism of Hg(0) capture is discussed, and the main Hg(0) capture mechanisms of MnOx/graphene were catalytic oxidation and adsorption. Mn is the main active site for Hg(0) catalytic oxidation, during which high valence Mn (Mn(4+) or Mn(3+)) is converted to low valence Mn (Mn(3+) or Mn(2+)). Graphene enhanced the electrical conductivity of MnOx, which is beneficial for catalytic oxidation. Furthermore, MnOx/graphene exhibited an excellent regenerative ability, and is a promising sorbent for capturing Hg(0).

We develop a systematic coarse-grained (CG) model for methylcellulose polymers, including random copolymers with compositions representative of modeling commercial METHOCEL A polymer, using one CG bead per monomer. We parametrize our CG model using the RDFs from atomistic simulations of short methylcellulose oligomers, extrapolating the results to long chains. Using a LJ 9−6 potential, the CG model captures the effect of monomer substitution type and temperature observed in detailed atomistic simulations. We use dissociation free energy to validate our CG model against the atomistic model. We then use this CG model to simulate single chains up to 1000 monomers long, and we calculate persistence lengths for a selection of homogeneous and heterogeneous methylcellulose chains, which show good agreement with experimental results. Interestingly, simulations of 600-mer heterogeneous chains show a collapse transition at 50 °C and form a stable ring structure with outer diameter around 14 nm. This structure appears to be a precursor to fibril structure reported in a recent study of methylcellulose gels [Biomacromolecules 2013[Biomacromolecules , 14, 2484.

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