Molecular globularity

Mayer [24] proposed two parameters for describing the packing. One is the ratio of the surface area of the sphere with the same volume of the molecule (the equivalent sphere) to the surface area of the molecule. This ratio can be interpreted as a measure of the molecular globularity . The other parameter—the ratio of the surface area to the volume—affects the steric hindrance that a molecule offers. 

Molecular globularity is defined as with surface area of a sphere of volume V, where S and Vare the molecular surface and volume described above, respectively. Globularity is 1.0 for perfect spherical molecules. It assumes values greater than 1.0 for real spheroidal molecules. Globularity is also related to molecular flexibility. 

Nlng Q and T J Sejnowsld 1988. Predicting the Secondary Structure of Globular Proteins Using Neural Network Models. Journal of Molecular Biology 202 865-888. 

M J1990. Calculation of Conformational Ensembles from Potentials of Mean Force. An Approach o the Knowledge-Based Prediction of Local Structures in Globular Proteins. Journal of Molecular Siology 213 859-883. 

FIGURE 2.4 Calibration curve of dextran on Sephacryi S-300 SF. Calibration curves were calculated from one chromatogram of a broad MWD reference sample using data for the molecular mass distribution as obtained by a calibrated gel filtration column ( , upper curve) and on-line MALLS ( ). The calibration curve was found useful for estimating the size of globular proteins. [Reproduced from Hagel et al. (1993), with permission.]... 

TSK-GEL column Particle size (/tm) Average pore size (A) Polyethylene oxides/glycols Molecular weight of sample Dextrans Globular proteins ... 

Molecular shape of the protein is not globular protein aggregates... 

G-actin (globular actin) has a molecular weight of about 42 kDa. In higher vertebrates, six isoforms of G-actin, which contain 374/375 residues, are expressed in a cell-specific manner. They are present in striated muscle cells (skeletal and cardiac isoforms), smooth muscle cells (vascular and visceral isoforms) and in non-muscle cells (two isoforms). 

An important measure for quality is the verification by MD or SA of the stability of a molecular model. Other programs (e.g., PROCHECK) can also be used to check the globular geometrical quality of a structure to avoid serious defects in the geometry of proteins. 

The logarithm of the micellar molecular weight (M) and consequently the aggregation number of sodium dodecyl sulfate at 25°C in aqueous sodium chloride solutions is linearly related to the logarithm of the CMC plus the concentration of salt (Cs), both expressed in molar units, through two equations [116]. Below 0.45 M NaCl micelles are spherical or globular, and Eq. (18) applies ... 

Microtubules (MT) are the largest of the cytoskeletal filaments with an outer diameter of about 25 nm, a wall thickness of about 5 nm, and a central lumen measuring about 15 nm. They consist of tubulin and associated proteins. Vertebrate brain tissue is a rich source of extractable tubulin because of the large numbers of microtubules that are present in axons and dendrites. Tubulin obtained from such a natural source is a heterodimer of 100 kD composed of a-tubulin and P-tubulin. Brain a-tubulin is a globular polypeptide that contains 451 amino acid residues, whereas P-tubulin, which is somewhat shorter, is made up of 445 amino acid residues. These two molecular species of tubulin share in common 40% of their amino acid residues. 

Even though dynein, kinesin, and myosin serve similar ATPase-dependent chemomechanical functions and have structural similarities, they do not appear to be related to each other in molecular terms. Their similarity lies in the overall shape of the molecule, which is composed of a pair of globular heads that bind microtubules and a fan-shaped tail piece (not present in myosin) that is suspected to carry the attachment site for membranous vesicles and other cytoplasmic components transported by MT. The cytoplasmic and axonemal dyneins are similar in structure (Hirokawa et al., 1989 Holzbaur and Vallee, 1994). Current studies on mutant phenotypes are likely to lead to a better understanding of the cellular roles of molecular motor proteins and their mechanisms of action (Endow and Titus, 1992). 

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