Self-associating proteins

For self-associating protein systems, third-order polynomial functions provided a good fit over the accessible range The data on AG° must show the direction of the chemical change, toward the minimum in the Gibbs function. If this proves true, the equation can be applied in the standard or nonstandard state. For protein unfolding or DNA unwinding, nonlinear models are needed Consistent with Occam s razor, the simplest description is used to describe the system, and complexity is increased only if warranted by the experimental results. 

Cann, J. R. and Fink, N. H. (1983). Effect of microheterogeneity on the sedimentation behavior of self-associating proteins. Biophys. Chem. 17, 29-34. 

FRONTAL B013NDARY ANALYSIS IN SIZE EXCLUSION CHROMATOGRAPHY OF SELF-ASSOCIATING PROTEINS... 

ITowever, membrane proteins can also be distributed in nonrandom ways across the surface of a membrane. This can occur for several reasons. Some proteins must interact intimately with certain other proteins, forming multisubunit complexes that perform specific functions in the membrane. A few integral membrane proteins are known to self-associate in the membrane, forming large multimeric clusters. Bacteriorhodopsin, a light-driven proton pump protein, forms such clusters, known as purple patches, in the membranes of Halobacterium halobium (Eigure 9.9). The bacteriorhodopsin protein in these purple patches forms highly ordered, two-dimensional crystals. 

The microtubule-associated proteins MAP2 and tau both have two separate functional regions (Lewis et al., 1989). One is the microtubule-binding site, which nucleates microtubule assembly and controls the rate of elongation (by slowing the rate of assembly). The second functional domain shared by MAP2 and tau is a short C-terminal a-helical sequence that can cross-link microtubules into bundles by self-interaction. This domain has some of the properties of a leucine zipper. Likely it is responsible for the organization of microtubules into dense stable parallel arrays in axons and dendrites (Lewis et al., 1989). 

In spite of the overwhelming evidence suggesting that recombinant resilin is amorphous, there are some results that suggest that a level of defined stmcmre cannot be completely ruled out. In particular, the fact that the protein solution coacervates when cooled (Figure 9.7) suggests that there is a degree of self-association between protein molecules. 

Coacervation occurs in tropoelastin solutions and is a precursor event in the assembly of elastin nanofibrils [42]. This phenomenon is thought to be mainly due to the interaction between hydro-phobic domains of tropoelastin. In scanning electron microscopy (SEM) picmres, nanofibril stmc-tures are visible in coacervate solutions of elastin-based peptides [37,43]. Indeed, Wright et al. [44] describe the self-association characteristics of multidomain proteins containing near-identical peptide repeat motifs. They suggest that this form of self-assembly occurs via specific intermolecular association, based on the repetition of identical or near-identical amino acid sequences. This specificity is consistent with the principle that ordered molecular assembhes are usually more stable than disordered ones, and with the idea that native-like interactions may be generally more favorable than nonnative ones in protein aggregates. 

Other clues to the self-association of recombinant resilin in solution, and thus a degree of defined stmcture, include the propensity of the monomer proteins to covalently cross-link very rapidly through dityrosine side chains using a mthenium-based photochemical method [29]. Proteins which do not naturally self-associate do not form biomaterials when exposed to the Ru(ll)-based photochemical procedure (Elvin, C.E. and Brownlee, A.G., personal communication). Furthermore, Kodadek and colleagues showed that only intimately associated proteins are cross-linked via this zero-A photochemistry procedure [45]. 

Fig. 2b. The appearance of two crystal forms shows that the protein in the membrane exists in equilibrium between the protomeric aj8 unit and oligomeric (aj8>2 forms. The high rate of crystal formation of the protein in vanadate solution shows that transition to the E2 form reduces the difference in free energy required for self association of the protein. This vanadate-method for crystallization has been very reproducible [34-36] and it also leads to crystalline arrays of Ca-ATPase in sarcoplasmic reticulum [37] and H,K-ATPase from stomach mucosa [38]. 

Loss of the native conformation of a protein generally exposes hydrophobic amino acid residues that are normally buried on the inside of the self-associated structure and are shielded from the aqueous environment. This leads to association between the exposed hydrophobic residues of neighboring proteins (aggregation) or between these exposed residues and hydrophobic surfaces that the protein may encounter either in the manufacturing process or in the primary package. 

J. J. Robinson, Roles of Ca(2 + ), Mg (2 + ) and NaCl in modulating the self association reaction of hyalin, a major protein component of the sea urchin extra-embryonic hyaline layer, Biochem J., 256(1), 225 (1988). 

Several pathological self-polymerizing systems have been biophysi-cally characterized sufficiently to permit identification of protein or peptide species that could serve as molecular targets in a structure-activity relationship. These include transthyretin (TTR) [73-76], serum amyloid A protein (SAA) [77], microtubule-associated protein tau [78-80], amylin or islet amyloid polypeptide (IAPP) [81,82], IgG light chain amyloidosis (AL) [83-85], polyglutamine diseases [9,86], a-synuclein [47,48] and the Alzheimer s (3 peptide [87-96]. A variety of A(3 peptide assay systems have been established at Parke-Davis to search for inhibitors of fibril formation that could be therapeutically useful [97]. 

In the search for fibril formation inhibitors, the self-association to form amyloid fibrils of the A(3 peptides containing 40 and 42 amino acids can be treated as a coupled protein folding and polymerization process passing through multiple intermediate peptide species. The in vitro challenge is (1) to identify the various conformational forms and... 

Piljic, A. and Schultz, C. (2006). Annexin A4 self-association modulates general membrane protein mobility in living cells. Mol. Biol. Cell 17, 3318-28. 

Adams, C.A., Kar, S.R., Hopper, J.E., and Fried, M.G. (2004) Self-association of the amino-terminal domain of the yeast TATA-binding protein./. Biol. Chem. 279, 1376-1382. 

In erythrocytes and most other cells, the major structural link of plasma membranes to the cytoskeleton is mediated by interactions between ankyrin and various integral membrane proteins, including Cf/HCOj antiporters, sodium ion pumps and voltage-dependent sodium ion channels. Ankyrin also binds to the =100 nm, rod-shaped, antiparallel a(3 heterodimers of spectrin and thus secures the cytoskeleton to the plasma membrane. Spectrin dimers self-associate to form tetramers and further to form a polygonal network parallel to the plasma membrane (Fig. 2-9D). Neurons contain both spectrin I, also termed erythroid spectrin, and spectrin II, also termed fodrin. Spectrin II is found throughout neurons, including axons, and binds to microtubules, whereas spectrin I occurs only in the soma and dendrites. 

Physical properties of the protein structure should be considered in designing strategies to achieve stable formulations because they can often yield clues about which solution environment would be appropriate for stabilization. For example, the insulin molecule is known to self-associate via a nonspecific hydrophobic mechanism66 Stabilizers tested include phenol derivatives, nonionic and ionic surfactants, polypropylene glycol, glycerol, and carbohydrates. The choice of using stabilizers that are amphiphilic in nature to minimize interactions where protein hydrophobic surfaces instigate the instability is founded upon the hydro-phobic effect.19 It has already been mentioned that hydrophobic surfaces prefer... 

As noted earlier, microtubule elongation has been characterized largely with respect to the involvement of guanine nucleotides and the modes of drug inhibition of microtubule formation. There have also been a number of important studies on the influence of microtubule-associated proteins and solution variables on the kinetics and thermodynamics of microtubule self-assembly. Of these, the characterization of the so-called mitotic spindle poisons has been particularly complex because of the variety of agents and the diversity of systems studied. For this reason, we shall concentrate on the other factors affecting the elongation process. 

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