Three-dimensional structural keys

Most of the known antiparallel p structures, including the immunoglobulins and a number of different enzymes, have barrels that comprise at least one Greek key motif. An example is 7 crystallin, which has two consecutive Greek key motifs in each of two barrel domains. These four motifs are homologous in terms of both their three-dimensional structure and amino acid sequence and are thus evolutionarily related. 

Proteins are built up by aminoacids linked by peptide bonds into a polypeptide chain (Figure 2). The sequence of the aminoacids in the chain is known as the primary structure of the protein. The primary structure of the protein gives rise to the corresponding three-dimensional structure, and the spatial relationships of the constituents are the key for the peptide function. 

The chemical world is often divided into measurers and makers of molecules. This division has deep historic roots, but it artificially impedes taking advantage of both aspects of the chemical sciences. Of key importance to all forms of chemistry are instruments and techniques that allow examination, in space and in time, of the composition and characterization of a chemical system under study. To achieve this end in a practical manner, these instruments will need to multiplex several analytical methods. They will need to meet one or more of the requirements for characterization of the products of combinatorial chemical synthesis, correlation of molecular structure with dynamic processes, high-resolution definition of three-dimensional structures and the dynamics of then-formation, and remote detection and telemetry. 

At the time the hormone is introduced into the LBD (Fig. 1.4), a conformational change is produced in the three-dimensional structure of the receptor, a change that is key to the subsequent steps in hormonal action. This change is produced by a few contacts (between 6 or 7 and 15) of the receptor s amino acids with related groups from the hormone s structure. Some basic amino acid residues, particularly from arginine, which are preserved virtually intact among receptors, are critical in the execution of this function (Quingley et al. 1995). 

In de novo three-dimensional structure determinations of proteins in solution by NMR spectroscopy, the key conformational data are upper distance limits derived from nuclear Overhauser effects (NOEs) [11, 14]. In order to extract distance constraints from a NOESY spectrum, its cross peaks have to be assigned, i.e. the pairs of hydrogen atoms that give rise to cross peaks have to be identified. The basis for the NOESY assignment... 

Fig. 21.4 Three-dimensional structure of the enzyme cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase. The cofactors FAD and FMN are depicted in light blue. Loop regions are represented by cylindrical rods (yellow) a-helices and /(-sheets (in white) are represented by ribbons and arrows, respectively. Resonance assignments for the residues located in the key loops regions [30] highlighted in purple and red were obtained with a 3D SEA-HNCA-TROSY experiment.

Noncovalent interactions play a key role in biodisciplines. A celebrated example is the secondary structure of proteins. The 20 natural amino acids are each characterized by different structures with more or less acidic or basic, hydrophilic or hydrophobic functionalities and thus capable of different intermolecular interactions. Due to the formation of hydrogen bonds between nearby C=0 and N-H groups, protein polypeptide backbones can be twisted into a-helixes, even in the gas phase in the absence of any solvent." A protein function is determined more directly by its three-dimensional structure and dynamics than by its sequence of amino acids. Three-dimensional structures are strongly influenced by weak non-covalent interactions between side functionalities, but the central importance of these weak interactions is by no means limited to structural effects. Life relies on biological specificity, which arises from the fact that individual biomolecules communicate through non-covalent interactions." " Molecular and chiral recognition rely on... 

Here are the key points, (a) DNA is the stuff of genes, (b) DNA is a sequence of nucleotides, each of which carries one of four possible symbols, (c) DNA is orgaiuzed into a sequence of genes, (d) Genes determine the sequence of amino acids in proteins, (e) The sequence of amino acids determines the three-dimensional structure of proteins, which, in turn (f) determines their biological properties. These, in turn (g) determine the nature of the cell. It follows that the sequence of bases in DNA is the ultimate repository of the information required to specify the uifique biochemical personality of the cell. 

These quantitative relationships, sometimes called ChargafPs rules, were confirmed by many subsequent researchers. They were a key to establishing the three-dimensional structure of DNA and yielded clues to how genetic information is encoded in DNA and passed from one generation to the next. 

Impressed by the specificity of enzymatic action, biochemists early adopted a "lock-and-key" theory which stated that for a reaction to occur the substrate must fit into an active site precisely. Modem experiments have amply verified the idea. A vast amount of kinetic data on families of substrates and related competitive inhibitors support the idea and numerous X-ray structures of enzymes with bound inhibitors or with very slow substrates have given visual evidence of the reality of the lock-and-key concept. Directed mutation of genes of many enzymes of known three-dimensional structure has provided additional proof. 

In green plants, which contain little or no cholesterol, cydoartenol is the key intermediate in sterol biosynthesis.161-1623 As indicated in Fig. 22-6, step c, cydoartenol can be formed if the proton at C-9 is shifted (as a hydride ion) to displace the methyl group from C-8. A proton is lost from the adjacent methyl group to close the cyclopropane ring. There are still other ways in which squalene is cyclized,162/163/1633 including some that incorporate nitrogen atoms and form alkaloids.1631 One pathway leads to the hop-anoids. These triterpene derivatives function in bacterial membranes, probably much as cholesterol does in our membranes. The three-dimensional structure of a bacterial hopene synthase is known.164 1643 Like glucoamylase (Fig. 2-29) and farnesyl transferase, the enzyme has an (a,a)6-barrel structure in one domain and a somewhat similar barrel in a second domain. 

Molecular graphics images of key molecules enable students to see and interpret three-dimensional structures. 

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