Cysteine, characteristics

Of the twenty amino acids that are normally found in proteins, only two contain sulfur, cysteine and methionine. Cysteine has long been recognized as being easily oxidized and this oxidation is associated with the loss of biological activity of many proteins. In recent years, it has been shown that methionine also shares these characteristics. Methionine was first isolated by Mueller19 and was one of the last amino acids discovered. Its structure was later proven to be y-methylthio-a-aminobutyric acid by Barger and Coyne20 who named the amino acid methionine as a contraction for its chemical name. 

Nishimura and coworkers57-59 studied the y-radiolysis of aqueous solutions of sulfoxide amino acids. Sulfoxide amino acids are the precursors of the flavors of onions (S-propyl-L-cysteine sulfoxide, S-methyl-L-cysteine sulfoxide and S-(l-propenyl)-L-cysteine sulfoxide) and garlic (S-allyl-L-cysteine sulfoxide). In studies on sprout inhibition of onion by /-irradiation it was found that the characteristic flavor of onions became milder. In the y-radiolysis of an aqueous solution of S-propyl-L-cysteine sulfoxide (PCSO)57,58 they identified as the main products alanine, cysteic acid, dipropyl disulfide and dipropyl sulfide. In the radiolysis of S-allyl-L-cysteine sulfoxide (ACSO) they found that the main products are S-allyl-L-cysteine, cysteic acid, cystine, allyl alcohol, propyl allyl sulfide and diallyl sulfide. The mechanisms of formation of the products were partly elucidated by the study of the radiolysis in the presence of N20 and Br- as eaq - and OH radicals scavengers, respectively. 

However, this is not so easy without the tertiary structure of the enzyme. The possible clues are the homology search with functionally resembling enzymes and computer simulation of the tert-structure of the enzyme. The characteristic features of AMDase are (i) the reaction proceeds via an enolate-type transition state, (ii) the cysteine residue plays an essential role and (iii) the reaction involves an inversion of configuration on the a-carbon of the carboxyl group. 

PelZ is a hydrophilic protein of 420 amino acids with a short hydrophobic sequence at its N-terminal end which has Ae characteristics of the signal sequences of exported proteins. The signal peptide may be 24 amino acids long, which would corroborate wiA the usual length encountered in prokaryotes. The molecular cloning of the pelZ gene in an expression vector pT7-6 allowed for the specific 35S-cysteine-methionine raAo-labelling of PelZ in E. coli K38. We could detect, in crude extracts, the presence of a precursor and a mature form of PelZ. After cell fractionation, Ae mature form of PelZ could be localized in Ae periplasm of E. coli. So PelZ appears to be a protein exported by Ae Sec-dependent system of translocation. 

Mordant dyes generally have the characteristics of acid dyes but with the ability in addition to form a stable complex with chromium. Most commonly, this takes the form of two hydroxy groups on either side of (ortho to) the azo group of a monoazo dye, as illustrated for the case of C. I. Mordant Black 1 (151). The dye is generally applied to the fibre as an acid dye and then treated with a source of chromium, commonly sodium or potassium dichromate. As a result of the process, the chromium(vi) is reduced by functional groups on the wool fibre, for example the cysteine thiol groups, and a chromium(m) complex of the dye is formed within the... 

Figure 1.15 AdsorptionofcysteineonAu l 1 0. Molecular model shows the deprotonated thiolate surface species, (a) Model of the reconstructed (1 x 2)-Au l 1 0 surface (b-d) show, respectively, dimers of L-cysteine, D-cysteine, and the two together characteristically rotated relative to the (1 1 0) azimuth. (Adapted with permission from Ref. [57], Copyright 2002, Macmillan Publishers Ltd.)...

The enzyme BdsC from the thermophilic strain B. subtilis WU-S2B has also been isolated [150], This enzyme has a subunit MW of 45kDa and a native molecular mass of 200 kDa. It has a temperature optimum of 50°C and a pH optimum of 8.0. Its stability at this temperature was 80% after incubation for 30 min. This enzyme demonstrated inhibition characteristics similar to other DBT monooxygenases, indicating involvement of metal ions and cysteine/SH groups in catalytic activity. 

The basic reactions of thiolsulfonates have been known for sometime (Field et al., 1961, 1964), but more recently, they have been applied to the study of protein interactions by site-directed modification of native cysteines or through modification of cysteines introduced at particular points in proteins by mutagenesis. Such studies have yielded insights into the structure and binding site characteristics of proteins (Kirley, 1989). Pascual et al. (1998) used AEAETS to probe the acetylcholine receptor from the extracellular side of the membrane in order to investigate the molecular accessibility and electrostatic potential within the open and closed channel. 

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