Tetramer properties

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. 

To obtain high molecular weight polymers the tetramer is equilibrated with a trace of alkaline catalyst for several hours at 150-200°C. The product is a viscous gum with no elastic properties. The molecular weight is controlled by CcU eful addition of monofunctional material. 

Properties of the luciferases. According to Shimomura and Flood (1998) and Shimomura et al. (2001), all Periphylla luciferases L, A, B and C catalyze the oxidation of coelenterazine, resulting in the emission of blue light (Amax 465 nm). Luciferases B (40 kDa) and C (80 kDa) are apparently the dimer and tetramer, respectively, of luciferase A (20 kDa). The presence of a salt is essential for the activity of luciferase, and the optimum salt concentration is about 1M in the case of NaCl for all forms of luciferases. The luminescence intensity of luciferase L is maximum near 0°C, and decreases almost linearly with rising temperature, falling to zero intensity at 60°C the luminescence intensity profiles of luciferases A, B and C show their peaks at about 30°C (Fig. 4.5.3). The Michaelis constants estimated for luciferases A, B and C with coelenterazine are all about 0.2 xM, and that for luciferase L is 1.2 jiM. 

Hemoglobins bind four molecules of Oj per tetramer, one per heme. A molecule of Oj binds to a hemoglobin tetramer more readily if other Oj molecules are already bound (Figure 6-4). Termed cooperative binding, this phenomenon permits hemoglobin to maximize both the quantity of O2 loaded at the PO2 of the lungs and the quantity of O2 released at the PO2 of the peripheral tissues. Gooperative interactions, an exclusive property of multimeric proteins, are critically important to aerobic life. 

A series of cumulene-bound ferrocene tetramers, 47, have been synthesized and their electrochemical properties examined by... 

Phosphofructokinase (PFK) is a key regulatory enzyme of glycolysis that catalyzes the conversion of fructose-6-phosphate to fructose-1,6-diphosphate. The active PFK enzyme is a homo- or heterotetrameric enzyme with a molecular weight of 340,000. Three types of subunits, muscle type (M), liver type (L), and fibroblast (F) or platelet (P) type, exist in human tissues. Human muscle and liver PFKs consist of homotetramers (M4 and L4), whereas red blood cell PFK consists of five tetramers (M4, M3L, M2L2, ML3, and L4). Each isoform is unique with respect to affinity for the substrate fructose-6-phosphate and ATP and modulation by effectors such as citrate, ATP, cAMP, and fructose-2,6-diphosphate. M-type PFK has greater affinity for fructose-6-phosphate than the other isozymes. AMP and fructose-2,6-diphosphate facilitate fructose-6-phosphate binding mainly of L-type PFK, whereas P-type PFK has intermediate properties. 

Many substituted thiophenes have also been electrochemically polymerised [19,54,399-405] (Table 4) as have thiophene dimers [21,37,55,251,400,406], trimers [21, 83,407], and tetramers [256,406], with the thiophene dimer giving rise to higher quality films than does the monomer [37, 395,408]. Several polycyclic monomers including a thiophene ring have also been polymerised [408-416], as have a series of compounds consisting of two thiophene rings linked by a polyene chain (Fig. 23c). The polymerisation of dithieno-thiophene (Fig. 23d) results in a polymer which shows remarkable similarity to polythiophene in its properties [409,410,414],... 

Cyclic polymers form nearly 50 per cent of the product while the tetramer, octamethylcyclotera siloxane (I) constitutes the main cyclic compound. Now the polymerisation of the tetramer is done by heating at 150-200°C with a trace of sodium hydroxide and a very small amount of non-functional material so as to control the Molecular weight. The products obtained is a highly viscous gum having no elastic properties. 

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