Nuclei, enzymes

Proteins are complex molecules that give cells structure and act as both enzymes and motors within cells. Proteins are long strings of amino acids folded in specific three-dimensional formations. There are twenty different animo acids in our bodies. DNA, the genetic material located in the cell nucleus, carries information for the order of the amino acids in each protein. Indeed, in the simplest sense, a gene is the... 

Figure 6.14 Enzymatic side chain cleavage of penicillins. 6-Aminopenicillanic acid, a valuable intermediate for the production of various semi-synthetic penicillins, can be obtained through enzyme-mediated hydrolysis of the phenylacety group of penicillin G or the phenoxyacetyl group of penicillin V. The active site of the enzyme recognises the aromatic side chain and the amide linkage, rather than the penidllin nucleus. Chemical entitles other than penicillins are therefore often good substrates, as long as they contain the aromatic acetamide moiety.

Due to the large amount of DNA present within the nucleus it must be carefully packaged. In the resting cell DNA is tightly compacted around basic histone proteins, excluding the binding of the enzyme RNA polymerase II, which activates the formation of mRNA. This conformation of the chromatin structure... 

Cyclosporine A (CsA) is a water-insoluble cyclic peptide from a fungus composed of 11 amino acids. CsA binds to its cytosolic receptor cyclophilin. The CsA/cyclophilin complex reduces the activity of the protein phosphatase calcineurin. Inhibition of this enzyme activity interrupts antigen receptor-induced activation and translocation of the transcription factor NEAT to the nucleus which is essential for the induction of cytokine synthesis in T-lymphocytes. 

Acetylsalicylic acid irreversibly inhibits both COX-1 and COX-2 by acetylating the enzymes. Since mature platelets lack a nucleus, they are unable to synthesise new enzyme. The anti-platelet effects of acetylsalicylic acid persist therefore throughout the lifetime of the platelet and the half-life of this effect is thus being much longer than the elimination half-life of acetylsalicylic acid (15 min). Since new platelets are continuously launched into the circulation, the clinically relevant anti-platelet effect of aspirin lasts for up to five days. This is the reason why low doses of acetylsalicylic acid (ca. 100 mg per day) are sufficient in the prophylaxis of heart attacks. 

Poly(A) tails are added to the S end of mRNA molecules in a posttranscriptional processing step. The mRNA is first cleaved about 20 nucleotides downstream from an AAUAA recognition sequence. Another enzyme, poly(A) polymerase, adds a poly(A) tail which is subsequently extended to as many as 200 A residues. The poly(A) tail appears to protect the S end of mRNA from S —> S exonuclease attack. The presence or absence of the poly(A) tail does not determine whether a precursor molecule in the nucleus appears in the cytoplasm, because all poly(A)-tailed hnRNA molecules do not contribute to cytoplasmic mRNA, nor do all cytoplasmic mRNA molecules contain poly(A) tails... 

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