Amino posttranslational modification

Histone Acetylation. Figure 1 Histone acetylation is a posttranslational modification of lysine residues of histones. This modification is catalyzed by histone actyl transferases (HATs), which transfer an acetyl group (yellow) from acetyl-Coenzyme A onto the E-amino group of the lysine residue. Histone deacetylation is catalyzed by histone deacetylases (HDACs), which hydrolyze the lysine bound acetyl group. HDAC inhibitors like Trichostatin A (TSA) are known to inhibit the deacetylation reaction in vivo and in vitro. 

The core unit of the chromatin, the nucleosome, consists of histones arranged as an octamer consisting of a (H3/ H4)2-tetramer complexed with two histone H2A/H2B dimers. Accessibility to DNA-binding proteins (for replication, repair, or transcription) is achieved by posttranslational modifications of the amino-termini of the histones, the histone tails phosphorylation, acetylation, methylation, ubiquitination, and sumoyla-tion. Especially acetylation of histone tails has been linked to transcriptional activation, leading to weakened interaction of the core complexes with DNA and subsequently to decondensation of chromatin. In contrast, deacetylation leads to transcriptional repression. As mentioned above, transcriptional coactivators either possess HAT activity or recruit HATs. HDACs in turn act as corepressors. 

Posttranslational modifications of S-layer proteins include cleavage of N- or C-terminal fragments, glycosylation, and phosphorylation of amino acid residues. 

While the first 20-30 residues of a peptide can readily be determined by the Edman method, most polypeptides contain several hundred amino acids. Consequently, most polypeptides must first be cleaved into smaller peptides prior to Edman sequencing. Cleavage also may be necessary to circumvent posttranslational modifications that render a protein s a-amino group blocked , or unreactive with the Edman reagent. 

DNA sequencing reveals the order in which amino acids are added to the nascent polypeptide chain as it is synthesized on the ribosomes. However, it provides no information about posttranslational modifications such as proteolytic processing, methylation, glycosylation, phosphorylation, hydroxylation of prohne and lysine, and disulfide bond formation that accompany mamra-tion. While Edman sequencing can detect the presence of most posttranslational events, technical hmitations often prevent identification of a specific modification. 

Many other peptides are synthesized as proproteins that require modifications before attaining biologic activity. Many of the posttranslational modifications involve the removal of amino terminal amino acid residues by specific aminopeptidases. Collagen, an abundant protein in the extracellular spaces of higher eukaryotes, is synthesized as procollagen. Three procol-... 

Biosynthesis of the polypeptide chain is realised by a complicated process called translation. The basic polypeptide chain is subsequently chemically modified by the so-called posttranslational modifications. During this sequence of events the peptide chain can be cleaved by directed proteolysis, some of the amino acids can be covalently modified (hydroxylated, dehydrogenated, amidated, etc.) or different so-called prosthetic groups such as haem (haemoproteins), phosphate residues (phosphoproteins), metal ions (metal-loproteins) or (oligo)saccharide chains (glycoproteins) can be attached to the molecule by covalent bonds. Naturally, one protein molecule can be modified by more means. 

When chromatographic resolution of species based on modifications located at the protein surface is desired, it may be advisable to use conditions that favor retention of native conformation.17 Here, the standard acidic conditions described in the preceding text may be inappropriate, and mobile phases buffered near neutrality may be required. Buffers based on ammonium acetate, ammonium bicarbonate, and triethylammonium phosphate may prove more useful in resolving polypeptide variants with differing posttranslational modifications, amino acid substitutions, or oxidation and deamidation products. The addition of more hydro-phobic ion-pairing agents may be needed to obtain polypeptide retention, and a variety of alkyl sulfonates and alkyl amines have been described for specific applications.17... 

Chemical changes include posttranslational modifications including glycosy-lation, phosphorylation, disulfide bond formation and exchange (scrambling), proteolysis or hydrolysis, and deamidation or oxidation of amino acids.4... 

A high proportion of the positiveiy charged basic amino acids lysine and arginine within these flexible tails are frequent targets for extensive posttranslational modifications (Berger, 2002). Such modifications include the acetylation of lysine residues, the methylation of lysine and arginine residues, the ubiquitination of lysine residues, the phosphorylation of serine and threonine residues, the sumoylation of lysine residues, and the poly ADP-ribosylation of glutamic acid residues. 

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