N-Polypeptides

The utilization of the solid support cannot by itself simplify the problem of separating the (n) polypeptide from the mixture of its immediate precursor, the (n — 1) product, as both are bound to the resin. However, in this approach it is possible to use an excess of any reagent necessary to secure 100% conversion of the (n — 1) precursor as this excess can easily be removed from the resin-bound target product. 

P. aestuarii - Prosthecochloris aestuarii ps - picosecond, or 10" second PsaA-N - the polypeptide subunits of photosystem I (see Chapter 1, Table 1 to 6) psaA-N - genes encoding the PsaA-N polypeptide subunits of photosystem I (see Chapter 1, Table 1 to 6)... 

The result of a conformational calculation for the polypeptide VI-N is shown in Figure 12. Again, insertion of the bulky naphthyl group does not seem to enlarge the P-T distance. The VI-N polypeptide showed neither the exciplex emission that was expected to form between the N and T groups... 

Ramachandran G N and Sasisekharan V 1968 Conformation of polypeptides and proteins Adv. Prof. Chem. 23 283-438... 

Example Crippen and Snow reported their success in developing a simplified potential for protein folding. In their model, single poin Ls rep resell t am in o acids. For th e avian pan creatic polypeptide, th c n ative structure is not at a poten tial m in imum. However, a global search fotin d that the most stable poten tial m in im urn h ad only a 1.8, An gstrom root-m ean-square deviation from thenative structu re. 

Section 27 19 Two secondary structures of proteins are particularly prominent The pleated sheet is stabilized by hydrogen bonds between N—H and C=0 groups of adjacent chains The a helix is stabilized by hydrogen bonds within a single polypeptide chain... 

Truncated Forms. Tmncated forms of hGH have been produced, either through the actions of enzymes or by genetic methods. 2-CAP, generated by the controlled actions of the trypsin, has the first eight residues at the N-terminus of hGH removed. Other tmncated versions of hGH have been produced by modification of the gene before expression in a suitable host. The first 13 residues have been removed to yield a derivative having distinctive biological properties (30). In this latter case the polypeptide chain is not cleaved. 

The key enzyme in this sequence, isopenicillin N synthase (IPNS), has been purified from E. coli (59) and the recombinant enzyme shown to be a single polypeptide of 336 amino acids containing two cysteines, numbers 106 and 255 from the /V-teiminus, and probably a ferrous ion in a nonheme environment. The enzyme has been crystallized and studies undertaken to obtain suitably sized crystals for diffraction studies. 

Figure 1.2 Proteins are built up by amino acids that are linked by peptide bonds to form a polypeptide chain, (a) Schematic diagram of an amino acid. Illustrating the nomenclature used in this book. A central carbon atom (Ca) is attached to an amino group (NH2), a carboxyl group (COOH), a hydrogen atom (H), and a side chain (R). (b) In a polypeptide chain the carboxyl group of amino acid n has formed a peptide bond, C-N, to the amino group of amino acid + 1. One water molecule is eliminated in this process. The repeating units, which are called residues, are divided into main-chain atoms and side chains. The main-chain part, which is identical in all residues, contains a central Ca atom attached to an NH group, a C =0 group, and an H atom. The side chain R, which is different for different residues, is bound to the Ca atom.

Figure 1.6 Diagram showing a polypeptide chain where the main-chain atoms are represented as rigid peptide units, linked through the atoms. Each unit has two degrees of freedom it can rotate around two bonds, its Ca-C bond and its N-Ca bond. The angle of rotation around the N-Ca bond is called phi (cj)) and that around the Co-C bond is called psi (xj/). The conformation of the main-chain atoms is therefore determined by the values of these two angles for each amino acid.

The fundamental unit of tertiary structure is the domain. A domain is defined as a polypeptide chain or a part of a polypeptide chain that can fold independently into a stable tertiary structure. Domains are also units of function. Often, the different domains of a protein are associated with different functions. For example, in the lambda repressor protein, discussed in Chapter 8, one domain at the N-terminus of the polypeptide chain binds DNA, while a second domain at the C-terminus contains a site necessary for the dimerization of two polypeptide chains to form the dimeric repressor molecule. 

Figure S.ll A computer-generated diagram of the structure of y crystallin comprising one polypeptide chain of 170 amino acid residues. The diagram illustrates that the polypeptide chain is arranged in two domains (blue and red). Only main chain (N, C , Ca) atoms and no side chains are shown.

Figure 6.12 (a) Schematic diagram of one subunit of GroEL. The polypeptide chain is folded info three domains. The equatorial domain (green) is the largest domain, comprising 10 a helices, and is built up from both the N-tetminal and the C-terminal regions. 

A, B, and C, surrounded by a helices. The polypeptide chain is colored in sections from the N-terminus to facilitate following the chain tracing in the order green, blue, yellow, red and pink. The red region corresponds to the active site loop in the serpins which in ovalbumin is protruding like a handle out of the main body of the structure. (Adapted from R.W. Carrell et al.. Structure 2 257-270, 1994.)... 

The polypeptide chain of the 92 N-terminal residues is folded into five a helices connected by loop regions (Figure 8.6). Again the helices are not packed against each other in the usual way for a-helical structures. Instead, a helices 2 and 3, residues 33-52, form a helix-turn-helix motif with a very similar structure to that found in Cro. 

The helices at the N-terminal regions of the two polypeptide chains are intertwined and make extensive contacts in the central part of the molecule to form a stable core. This core supports two "heads", each comprising the last three helices from one polypeptide chain. Alpha helix 3 in the middle of the subunit chain is quite long and forms the main link between the core and the head. 

The polypeptide chain of the lac repressor subunit is arranged in four domains (Figure 8.21) an N-terminal DNA-hinding domain with a helix-turn-helix motif, a hinge helix which binds to the minor groove of DNA, a large core domain which binds the corepressor and has a structure very similar to the periplasmic arablnose-binding protein described in Chapter 4, and finally a C-terminal a helix which is involved in tetramerization. This a helix is absent in the PurR subunit structure otherwise their structures are very similar. 

Many biochemical and biophysical studies of CAP-DNA complexes in solution have demonstrated that CAP induces a sharp bend in DNA upon binding. This was confirmed when the group of Thomas Steitz at Yale University determined the crystal structure of cyclic AMP-DNA complex to 3 A resolution. The CAP molecule comprises two identical polypeptide chains of 209 amino acid residues (Figure 8.24). Each chain is folded into two domains that have separate functions (Figure 8.24b). The larger N-terminal domain binds the allosteric effector molecule, cyclic AMP, and provides all the subunit interactions that form the dimer. The C-terminal domain contains the helix-tum-helix motif that binds DNA. 

The polypeptide chain of p53 is divided in three domains, each with its own function (Figure 9.16). Like many other transcription factors, p53 has an N-terminal activation domain followed by a DNA-binding domain, while the C-terminal 100 residues form an oligomerization domain involved in the formation of the p53 tetramers. Mutants lacking the C-terminal domain do not form tetramers, but the monomeric mutant molecules retain their sequence-specific DNA-binding properties in vitro. 

The 12 residues between the second cysteine zinc ligand and the first histidine ligand of the classic zinc finger motif form the "finger region". Structurally, this region comprises the second p strand, the N-terminal half of the helix and the two residues that form the turn between the p strand and the helix. This is the region of the polypeptide chain that forms the main interaction area with DNA and these interactions are both sequence specific. 

The C-terminal transmembrane helix, the inner helix, faces the central pore while the N-terminal helix, the outer helix, faces the lipid membrane. The four inner helices of the molecule are tilted and kinked so that the subunits open like petals of a flower towards the outside of the cell (Figure 12.10). The open petals house the region of the polypeptide chain between the two transmembrane helices. This segment of about 30 residues contains an additional helix, the pore helix, and loop regions which form the outer part of the ion channel. One of these loop regions with its counterparts from the three other subunits forms the narrow selectivity filter that is responsible for ion selectivity. The central and inner parts of the ion channel are lined by residues from the four inner helices. 

Figure 13.4 Schematic diagram (a) and topology diagram (b) of the polypeptide chain of cH-ras p21. The central p sheet of this a/p structure comprises six p strands, five of which are parallel a helices are green, p strands are blue, and the adenine, ribose, and phosphate parts of the GTP analog are blue, green, and ted, respectively. The loop regions that are involved in the activity of this protein are red and labeled Gl-GS. The Gl, G3, and G4 loops have the consensus sequences G-X-X-X-X-G-K-S/T, D-X-X-E, and N-K-X-D, respectively. (Adapted from E.R Pai et al., Nature 341 209-214, 1989.)...

The phosducin polypeptide chmn, of some 240 amino acids, is folded into two domains (Figure 13.16). The N-terminal domain is mostly a-helical and appears to be quite flexible since only a weak electron density is obtained in the structure determination. The actual path of the polypeptide chain from the end of helix to the beginning of helix Ba is tentative due to slight disorder. This region is close to serine 73 at the beginning of Ba, which also becomes disordered on phosphorylation. 

The polypeptide chain of Src tyrosine kinase, and related family members, comprises an N-terminal "unique" region, which directs membrane association and other as yet unknown functions, followed by a SH3 domain, a SH2 domain, and the two lobes of the protein kinase. Members of this family can be phosphorylated at two important tyrosine residues—one in the "activation loop" of the kinase domain (Tyr 419 in c-Src), the other in a short... 

The N-terminal part of the tomato bushy stunt virus polypeptide chain (the R-segment in Figure 16.8) is disordered in all the subunits. As in the core of many other single-strand RNA viruses this region of the polypeptide chain... 

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