Specific binding events

There have been notable successes in the replacement of individual peptide residues by peptoid monomers with retention of in vitro activity and enhancement of specificity. Unfortunately, attempts to completely transform those bioactive peptides that function via specific peptide-protein binding events into entirely pep-toid-based ohgomers have so far proven successful only at short chain lengths (e.g. [23]). It remains to be seen whether any general strategy can be developed in... 

The neurotransmitters of the ANS and the circulating catecholamines bind to specific receptors on the cell membranes of effector tissue. Each receptor is coupled to a G protein also embedded within the plasma membrane. Receptor stimulation causes activation of the G protein and formation of an intracellular chemical, the second messenger. (The neurotransmitter molecule, which cannot enter the cell, is the first messenger.) The function of intracellular second messenger molecules is to elicit tissue-specific biochemical events within the cell that alter the cell s activity. In this way, a given neurotransmitter may stimulate the same type of receptor on two different types of tissue and cause two different responses due to the presence of different biochemical pathways within each tissue. 

Transition metals such as iron can catalyze oxidation reactions in aqueous solution, which are known to cause modification of amino acid side chains and damage to polypeptide backbones (see Chapter 1, Section 1.1 Halliwell and Gutteridge, 1984 Kim et al., 1985 Tabor and Richardson, 1987). These reactions can oxidize thiols, create aldehydes and other carbonyls on certain amino acids, and even cleave peptide bonds. The purposeful use of metal-catalyzed oxidation in the study of protein interactions has been done to map interaction surfaces or identify which regions of biomolecules are in contact during specific affinity binding events. 

FIGURE 50-1 A schematic diagram of the olfactory epithelium. The initial events in odor perception occur in the olfactory epithelium of the nasal cavity. Odorants interact with specific odorant receptors on the lumenal cilia of olfactory sensory neurons. The signals generated by the initial binding events are transmitted along olfactory neuron axons to the olfactory bulb of the brain. 

In this cooperative binding event, the Rcol-PHD finger is primarily responsible for providing affinity for nucleosomes, while the Eafi chromodomain contributes specificity for the methylated H3K36 mark [59, 60]. These examples demonstrate how multiple domains can cooperate to read a histone code with high fidelity and enhanced affinity. 

Pharmacology The biological activity of peginterferon alfa-2b is derived from its interferon alfa-2b moiety. Interferons exert their cellular activities by binding to specific membrane receptors on the cell surface and initiate a complex sequence of intracellular events. 

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