Disulfide bonds, proteins with

The reactive site of the cysteinyl residue is the thiol group, which is deprotonated at alkaline pH (pXa around 8.5). The residue under oxidizing conditions (and neutral to alkaline pH) is able to react with a similar residue under formation of a disulfide bond. Many proteins are stabilized by intramolecular disulfide bonds (e.g., insulin, growth hormone, lGF-1), but intermolecular bonds may also result from the reaction under formation of aggregates. In order to avoid unintended disulfide bond formation/cleavage, the redox potential of the solution must be monitored and controlled. In practice, aqueous buffers contain micromolar amounts of dissolved oxygen assuring a redox potential of 200-600 mV, which is sufficient to maintain the intramolecular disulfide bonds. Proteins with free cysteines may... 

The serum IgA, both normal and monoclonal, of BALB/c mice has an unusual disulfide bonded structure the L chains are not disulfide bonded to H chains and, in most of the molecules, are disulfide bonded to one another (16,16a,17). At low pH, therefore, as the molecule dissociates into dimers of L chains and dimers of H chains as well as some monomers. In NZB mice, serum IgA has the typical disulfide bonded structure, with each L chain linked through a disulfide bond to an H chain (18). With respect to this structural feature NZB and BALB/c serum IgA proteins correspond to human IgA 1 and to the Ajml 1) allotype of human IgA2, respectively. 

The foregoing statement 1) is true for all proteins, monomeric as well as oligomeric, proteins with and without disulfide bonds, even with those that have been previously reduced,... 

Size Isomers. In solution, hGH is a mixture of monomer, dimer, and higher molecular weight oligomers. Furthermore, there are aggregated forms of hGH found in both the pituitary and in the circulation (16,17). The dimeric forms of hGH have been the most carefully studied and there appear to be at least three distinct types of dimer a disulfide dimer connected through interchain disulfide bonds (8) a covalent or irreversible dimer that is detected on sodium dodecylsulfate- (SDS-)polyacrylamide gels (see Electroseparations, Electrophoresis) and is not a disulfide dimer (19,20) and a noncovalent dimer which is easily dissociated into monomeric hGH by treatment with agents that dismpt hydrophobic interactions in proteins (21). In addition, hGH forms a dimeric complex with ( 2). Scatchard analysis has revealed that two ions associate per hGH dimer in a cooperative... 

In addition to the restrictions on their mobiHty caused by steric and polar interactions between chemical groups, the protein molecules in wool fibers are covalentiy cross-linked by disulfide bonds. Permanent setting only occurs if these disulfide bonds are also rearranged to be in equiHbrium with the new shape of the fiber. Disulfide bond rearrangement occurs only at high temperature (>70° C) in wet wool and at even higher temperatures (above 100°C) in... 

Streptokinase has a molecular weight of about 47,000 with a single chain of 415 amino acids there are no intramolecular disulfide bonds (64). The complete nucleotide sequence of the gene encoding the RNA for this protein has been reported (65,66). 

Figure 15.18 (a) Schematic representation of the path of the polypeptide chain in the structure of the class I MHC protein HLA-A2. Disulfide bonds are indicated as two connected spheres. The molecule is shown with the membrane proximal immunoglobulin-like domains (a3 and Pzm) at the bottom and the polymorphic al and a2 domains at the top. 

Enzymes assist formation of proper disulfide bonds during folding Isomerization of proline residues can be a rate-limiting step in protein folding Proteins can fold or unfold inside chaperonins GroEL is a cylindrical structure with a... 

FIGURE 5.18 Methods for cleavage of disulfide bonds in proteins, (a) Oxidative cleavage by reaction with performic acid, (b) Reductive cleavage with snlfliydryl compounds. Disulfide bridges can be broken by reduction of the S—S link with snlfliydryl agents such as 2-mercaptoethanol or dithiothreitol. Because reaction between the newly reduced —SH groups to re-establish disulfide bonds is a likelihood, S—S reduction must be followed by —SH modification (1) alkylation with iodoac-etate (ICH,COOH) or (2) modification with 3-bromopropylamine (Br— (CH,)3—NH,). 

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