Proteins - continued oxidation

An adult has a requirement for a dietary intake of protein because there is continual oxidation of amino acids as a source of metabolic fuel and for gluconeogenesis in the fasting state. In the fed state, amino acids in excess of immediate requirements for protein synthesis are oxidized. Overall, for an adult in nitrogen balance, the total amount of amino acids being metabolized will be equal to the total intake of amino acids in dietary proteins. 

For the preparation of nanoparticles based on two aqueous phases at room temperature one phase contains chitosan and poly(ethylene oxide) and the other contains sodium tripolyphosphate. The particle size (200-1000 nm) and zeta potential (between -i- 20 mV and -l- 60 mV) could be modulated by varying the ratio chitosan/PEO-PPO. These nanoparticles have great proteinloading capacity and provide continuous release of the entrapped protein (particularly insulin) for up to one week [100,101]. 

Cervera and Levine [81] studied the mechanism of oxidative modification of glutamine synthetase from Escherichia coli. It was found that active oxygen species initially caused inactivation of the enzyme and generated a more hydrophilic protein, which still was not a substrate for the protease. Continuous action of oxygen species resulted in the formation of oxidized protein subjected to the proteolytic attack of protease. 

The NO/NO+ and NO/NO- self-exchange rates are quite slow (42). Therefore, the kinetics of nitric oxide electron transfer reactions are strongly affected by transition metal complexes, particularly by those that are labile and redox active which can serve to promote these reactions. Although iron is the most important metal target for nitric oxide in mammalian biology, other metal centers might also react with NO. For example, both cobalt (in the form of cobalamin) (43,44) and copper (in the form of different types of copper proteins) (45) have been identified as potential NO targets. In addition, a substantial fraction of the bacterial nitrite reductases (which catalyze reduction of NO2 to NO) are copper enzymes (46). The interactions of NO with such metal centers continue to be rich for further exploration. 

Abstraction reactions in biological systems, in particular the site of radical attack in proteins (oxidative damage), continue to be a matter of great interest, primarily owing... 

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