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Search results for: MOLECULAR DYNAMICS,OSMOLITY,PROTEIN FOLDING,ZWIJANIE BIAŁEK,OSMOLYTES
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Structure-based design and evaluation of novel N-phenyl-1H-indol-2-amine derivatives for fat mass and obesity-associated (FTO) protein inhibition
PublicationFat mass and obesity-associated (FTO) protein contributes to non-syndromic human obesity which refers to excessive fat accumulation in human body and results in health risk. FTO protein has become a promising target for anti-obesity medicines as there is an immense need for the rational design of potent inhibitors to treat obesity. In our study, a new scaffold N-phenyl-1H-indol-2-amine was selected as a base for FTO protein inhibitors...
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Taurine as a water structure breaker and protein stabilizer
PublicationThe enhancing effect on the water structure has been confirmed for most of the osmolytes exhibiting both stabilizing and destabilizing properties in regard to proteins. The presented work concerns osmolytes, which should be classified as “structure breaking” solutes: taurine and N,N,N-trimethyltaurine (TMT). Here, we combine FTIR spectroscopy, DSC calorimetry and DFT calculations to gain an insight into the interactions between...
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Inhibition of amyloid fibril formation of hen egg white lysozyme by trimethylamine N-oxide at low pH
PublicationIn vitro inhibition of the formation of fibrous aggregates of proteins (amyloids) has gained increasing attention due to the number of diseases associated with protein misfolding and fibrillation. An interesting group of compounds for which pronounced activity against this phenomenon can be expected consists of low molecular weight substances (osmolytes) which have the ability to change protein stability. Here we investigate the...
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Properties of water in the region between a tubulin dimer and a single motor head of kinesin
PublicationA kinesin is a molecular motor that can perform movement on a microtubule track in a stepping-like manner. This motion is connected with processes of association and dissociation of kinesin and tubulin. Water is an important participant in these kinds of molecular interactions. This is why we have decided to investigate the dynamical and structural properties of water in the region between the kinesin catalytic domain and the tubulin...
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Understanding the interactions between protein stabilizers and the peptide bond through the analysis of the volumetric and compressibility properties for the model systems
PublicationThis work confirms our earlier supposition, that volumetric and acoustic parameters for simple model proposed by us are directly related to stabilizing/destabilizing effect of osmolytes on proteins structure. The apparent molar volumes, V and the apparent molar isentropic compressions, KS,, of glycine and N,N,N –trimethylglycine (betaine) were determined from densities and speed of sound measurements in aqueous solution of N-methylacetamide...
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Effect of urea and glycine betaine on the hydration sphere of model molecules for the surface features of proteins
PublicationWater properties may significantly affect protein stability. Osmolytes are compounds that intrinsically affect water in many different ways and thus can influence proteins with this type of indirect mechanism. In this study, we characterize water properties in ternary solutions: model–water–osmolyte, with two model molecules: N-methylacetamide (NMA) and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and two osmolytes: glycine betaine (TMG)and urea....
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Wpływ oddziaływań sfer hydratacyjnych białek i osmolitów na stabilność białek w roztworze
PublicationZjawisko zwijania białek w roztworach osmolitów jest intensywnie badane od wielu lat. Wciąż jednak nie ma zgodności co do mechanizmu stabilizacji/destabilizacji białek. Celem niniejszej pracy było poznanie mechanizmu wpływu osmolitów na stabilność białek. W tym aspekcie przeprowadzone badania były ukierunkowane na poznanie wpływu osmolitów na sferę hydratacyjną białka. W niniejszej pracy zbadałem wpływ przedstawiciela osmolitów...
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Identification of Substrates of Cytoplasmic Peptidyl-Prolyl Cis/Trans Isomerases and Their Collective Essentiality in Escherichia Coli
PublicationProtein folding often requires molecular chaperones and folding catalysts, such as peptidyl-prolyl cis/trans isomerases (PPIs). The Escherichia coli cytoplasm contains six well-known PPIs, although a requirement of their PPIase activity, the identity of their substrates and relative enzymatic contribution is unknown. Thus, strains lacking all periplasmic and one of the cytoplasmic PPIs were constructed. Measurement of their PPIase...
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Multicopy Suppressor Analysis of Strains Lacking Cytoplasmic Peptidyl-Prolyl cis/trans Isomerases Identifies Three New PPIase Activities in Escherichia coli That Includes the DksA Transcription Factor
PublicationConsistent with a role in catalyzing rate-limiting step of protein folding, removal of genes encoding cytoplasmic protein folding catalysts belonging to the family of peptidyl-prolyl cis/trans isomerases (PPIs) in Escherichia coli confers conditional lethality. To address the molecular basis of the essentiality of PPIs, a multicopy suppressor approach revealed that overexpression of genes encoding chaperones (DnaK/J and GroL/S),...
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Keep It Flexible: Driving Macromolecular Rotary Motions in Atomistic Simulations with GROMACS
PublicationWe describe a versatile method to enforce the rotation of subsets of atoms, e.g., a protein subunit, in molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. In particular, we introduce a “flexible axis” technique that allows realistic flexible adaptions of both the rotary subunit as well as the local rotation axis during the simulation. A variety of useful rotation potentials were implemented for the GROMACS 4.5 MD package. Application to the...
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Effect of osmolytes of different type on DNA behavior in aqueous solution. Experimental and theoretical studies
PublicationOsmolytes, the small organic molecules accumulated in cells under environmental stress, can modulate the stability of biopolymers such as proteins and DNA. In spite of many years of research, there is no established molecular mechanism of the influence of osmolytes on DNA structure. Here, we used two model osmolytes that denature (urea) or stabilize (trimethylglycine, TMG) proteins to study their effect on DNA in aqueous solutions...
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Water-mediated long-range interactions between the internal vibrations of remote proteins
PublicationIt is generally acknowledged that the mobility of protein atoms and the mobility of water molecules in the solvation layer are connected. In this article, we answer the question whether a similar interdependence exists between the motions of atoms of proteins separated by the hydration layers of variable thickness. The system consisted of a kinesin catalytic domain and a tubulin dimer. It was studied using molecular dynamics simulations....
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A mobile loop order–disorder transition modulates the speed of chaperonin cycling
PublicationMolecular machines order and disorder polypeptides as they form and dissolve large intermolecular interfaces, but the biological significance of coupled ordering and binding has been established in few, if any, macromolecular systems. The ordering and binding of GroES co-chaperonin mobile loops accompany an ATP-dependent conformational change in the GroEL chaperonin that promotes client protein folding. Following ATP hydrolysis,...
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Crystal structures of the DsbG disulfide isomerase reveal an unstable disulfide
PublicationDsb proteins control the formation and rearrangement of disulfide bonds during the folding of secreted and membrane proteins in bacteria. DsbG, a member of this family, has disulfide bond isomerase and chaperone activity. Here, we present two crystal structures of DsbG at 1.7- and 2.0-Angstrom resolution that are meant to represent the reduced and oxidized forms, respectively. The oxidized structure, however, reveals a mixture...
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Mapping the Structural and Dynamic Determinants of pH-Sensitive Heparin Binding to Granulocyte Macrophage Colony Stimulating Factor
PublicationGranulocyte macrophage colony stimulating factor (GMCSF) is an immunomodulatory cytokine that is harnessed as a therapeutic. GMCSF is known to interact with other clinically important molecules, such as heparin, suggesting that endogenous and administered GMCSF has the potential to modulate orthogonal treatment outcomes. Thus, molecular level characterization of GMCSF and its interactions with biologically active compounds is critical...
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Wpływ osmolitów na stabilność białek w oparciu o metodę dynamiki molekularnej
PublicationCelem niniejszej pracy było zbadanie molekularnego mechanizmu wpływu biologicznie znaczących związków, tzw. osmolitów na stabilność białek. Aby zweryfikować istniejące hipotezy i dostarczyć spójnego obrazu działania osmolitów na poziomie molekularnym, wykorzystano metodę dynamiki molekularnej do zasymulowania mechanicznej denaturacji modelowych białek – lizozymu i ubikwityny. W tym podejściu odtworzony został efekt stabilizujący...
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Water-mediated influence of a crowded environment on internal vibrations of a protein molecule
PublicationThe influence of crowding on the protein inner dynamics is examined by putting a single protein molecule close to one or two neighboring protein molecules. The presence of additional molecules influences the amplitudes of protein fluctuations. Also, a weak dynamical coupling of collective velocities of surface atoms of proteins separated by a layer of water is detected. The possible mechanisms of these phenomena are described....
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Highly Conserved Homotrimer Cavity Formed by the SARS-CoV-2 Spike Glycoprotein: A Novel Binding Site
PublicationAn important stage in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) life cycle is the binding of the spike (S) protein to the angiotensin converting enzyme-2 (ACE2) host cell receptor. Therefore, to explore conserved features in spike protein dynamics and to identify potentially novel regions for drugging, we measured spike protein variability derived from 791 viral genomes and studied its properties by molecular...
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Interactions of telomeric proteins with nucleic acids: sequence recognition on intact and oxidatively damaged telomeres
PublicationTelomeres are complex nucleoprotein assemblies that play a vital role in the maintenance of functional ends of linear chromosomes. Telomeric DNA, composed of tandem repeats of the 5'-TTAGGG-3' motif, solves the so-called end replication problem: as chromosomes shorten with each cell division, no information is lost, and the telomere can be re-extended. In the cell, many protein factors regulate telomere length, nuclear positioning...
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Phase Transition in a Sequence-Structure Channel
PublicationWe study an interesting channel which maps binary sequences to self-avoiding walks in the two-dimensional grid, inspired by a model of protein folding from statistical physics. The channel is characterized by a Boltzmann/Gibbs distribution with a free parameter corresponding to temperature. We estimate the conditional entropy between the input sequence and the output fold, giving an upper bound which exhibits an unusual phase transition...
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The Role of Electrostatics in Enzymes: Do Biomolecular Force Fields Reflect Protein Electric Fields?
PublicationPreorganization of large, directionally oriented, electric fields inside protein active sites has been proposed as a crucial contributor to catalytic mechanism in many enzymes, and it may be efficiently investigated at the atomistic level with molecular dynamics simulations. Here, we evaluate the ability of the AMOEBA polarizable force field, as well as the additive Amber ff14SB and Charmm C36m models, to describe the electric...
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Effect of Ion and Binding Site on the Conformation of Chosen Glycosaminoglycans at the Albumin Surface
PublicationAlbumin is one of the major components of synovial fluid. Due to its negative surface charge, it plays an essential role in many physiological processes, including the ability to form molecular complexes. In addition, glycosaminoglycans such as hyaluronic acid and chondroitin sulfate are crucial components of synovial fluid involved in the boundary lubrication regime. This study presents the influence of Na+, Mg2+ and Ca2+ ions...
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The significance of the properties of water for the working cycle of the kinesin molecular motor
PublicationExplicit solvent molecular dynamics simulations were performed in this study to investigate and discuss several aspects of the influence of the properties of water on the working cycle of a molecular motor from the kinesin superfamily. The main objects of attention were: the binding of the neck linker and the association of the kinesin and the tubulin. The docking of the neck linker is considered a crucial event during the working...
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UNRES-GPU for Physics-Based Coarse-Grained Simulations of Protein Systems at Biological Time- and Size-Scales
PublicationThe dynamics of the virus like particles (VLPs) corresponding to the GII.4 Houston, GII.2 SMV, and GI.1 Norwalk strains of human noroviruses (HuNoV) that cause gastroenteritis was investigated by means of long-time (about 30 μs in the laboratory timescale) molecular dynamics simulations with the coarse-grained UNRES force field. The main motion of VLP units turned out to be the bending at the junction between the P1 subdomain (that...
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Long‐time scale simulations of virus‐like particles from three human‐norovirus strains
PublicationThe dynamics of the virus like particles (VLPs) corresponding to the GII.4 Houston, GII.2 SMV, and GI.1 Norwalk strains of human noroviruses (HuNoV) that cause gastroenteritis was investigated by means of long-time (about 30 μs in the laboratory timescale) molecular dynamics simulations with the coarse-grained UNRES force field. The main motion of VLP units turned out to be the bending at the junction between the P1 subdomain (that...
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Benzonaza(R): możliwości praktycznych zastosowań.
PublicationBenzonaza znajduje zastosowanie w efektywnym obniżaniu lepkości i usuwaniu kwasów nukleinowych z roztworów białkowych. Zbadano w praktyce jej możliwości aplikacyjne w oczyszczaniu białek rekombinantowych wiążących jednoniciowe DNA (ang. SSB - single stranded DNA binding protein).
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Coarse-grained simulation - an efficient approach for studying motions of large proteins
PublicationOne of the most important challenges in performing Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations of large protein complexes is to accommodate the model accuracy and the simulation timescale. Hitherto, for the most relevant dynamics of protein aggregates in an explicit aqueous environment, the timescale reachable for the all-atoms simulations is of hundreds of nanoseconds. This range is four to six orders of magnitude smaller than processes...
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Molecular basis and potential activity of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase toward trimethylamine-based compounds
PublicationReverse transcriptase (RT) inhibitors are currently used to treat human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 infections. In this work, novel triethylamine derivatives were designed and studied by rigid and flexible docking and molecular dynamics (MD) approaches. An apo form of HIV-1 RT was also studied by MD simulation to analyze comparative response of protein in ligand-bound and ligand-unbound forms. Among newly designed HIV-1 RT inhibitors,...
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Extracting functional groups of ALLINI to design derivatives of FDA‐approved drugs: Inhibition of HIV‐1 integrase
PublicationHIV‐1 integrase (IN) is crucial for integration of viral DNA into the host genome and a promising target in development of antiretroviral inhibitors. In this work, six new compounds were designed by linking the structures of two different class of HIV‐1 IN inhibitors (active site binders and allosteric IN inhibitors (ALLINIs)). Among newly designed compounds, INRAT10b was found most potent HIV‐1 IN inhibitor considering different...
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A coarse‐grained approach to NMR ‐data‐assisted modeling of protein structures
PublicationThe ESCASA algorithm for analytical estimation of proton positions from coarse-grained geometry developed in our recent work has been implemented in modeling protein structures with the highly coarse-grained UNRES model of polypeptide chains (two sites per residue) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) data. A penalty function with the shape of intersecting gorges was applied to treat ambiguous distance restraints, which automatically...
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Enhancing colloidal stability of nanodiamond via surface modification with dendritic molecules for optical sensing in physiological environments
PublicationPre-treatment of diamond surface in low-temperature plasma for oxygenation and in acids for carboxylation was hypothesized to promote the branching density of the hyperbranched glycidol polymer. This was expected to increase the homogeneity of the branching level and suppress interactions with proteins. As a result, composite nanodiamonds with reduced hydrodynamic diameters that are maintained in physiological environments were...
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Mechanism of antifreeze protein functioning and the “anchored clathrate water” concept
PublicationIn liquid water, there is a natural tendency to form aggregates that consist of water molecules linked by hydrogen bonds. Such spontaneously formed aggregates are surrounded by a "sea" of disordered water molecules, with both forms remaining in equilibrium. The process of creating water aggregates also takes place in the solvation water of proteins, but in this case the interactions of water molecules with the protein surface shift...
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Molecular Recognition in Complexes of TRF Proteins with Telomeric DNA
PublicationTelomeres are specialized nucleoprotein assemblies that protect the ends of linear chromosomes. In humans and many other species, telomeres consist of tandem TTAGGG repeats bound by a protein complex known as shelterin that remodels telomeric DNA into a protective loop structure and regulates telomere homeostasis. Shelterin recognizes telomeric repeats through its two major components known as Telomere Repeat-Binding Factors, TRF1...
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Stabilizing agents and protein stability
PublicationBiałka są kluczowymi elementami żywych organizmów, jak również efektywnymi katalizatorami w biotechnologii i medycynie. Szybki rozwój wielu gałęzi biotechnologii wiąże się z coraz większym zapotrzebowaniem na produkty białkowe charakteryzujące się wysoką stabilnością. Jednym ze sposobów osiągnięcia większej stabilności białek jest wykorzystanie małych związków organicznych, tzw. osmolitów. Do tej grupy związków należą aminokwasy,...
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Correlation between the number of Pro-Ala repeats in the EmrA homologue of Acinetobacter baumannii and resistance to netilmicin, tobramycin, imipenem and ceftazidime
PublicationAcinetobacter baumannii coccobacilli are dangerous to patients in intensive care units because of their multidrug resistance to antibiotics, developed mainly in the past decade. This study aimed to examine whether there is a significant correlation between the number of Pro-Ala repeats in the CAP01997 protein, the EmrA homologue of A. baumannii, and resistance to antibiotics. A total of 79 multidrug-resistant A. baumannii strains...
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Statistical Method for Analysis of Interactions Between Chosen Protein and Chondroitin Sulfate in an Aqueous Environment
PublicationWe present the statistical method to study the interaction between a chosen protein and another molecule (e.g., both being components of lubricin found in synovial fluid) in a water environment. The research is performed on the example of univariate time series of chosen features of the dynamics of mucin, which interact with chondroitin sulfate (4 and 6) in four different saline solutions. Our statistical approach is based on recurrence...
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Performance of electrochemical immunoassays for clinical diagnostics of SARS-CoV-2 based on selective nucleocapsid N protein detection: Boron-doped diamond, gold and glassy carbon evaluation
PublicationThe 21st century has already brought us a plethora of new threats related to viruses that emerge in humans after zoonotic transmission or drastically change their geographic distribution or prevalence. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was first spotted at the end of 2019 to rapidly spread in southwest Asia and later cause a global pandemic, which paralyzes the world since then. We have designed novel...
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Analysis of the Factors Affecting Static In Vitro Pepsinolysis of Food Proteins
PublicationIn this meta-analysis, we collected 58 publications spanning the last seven decades that reported static in vitro protein gastric digestion results. A number of descriptors of the pepsinolysis process were extracted, including protein type; pepsin activity and concentration; protein concentration; pH; additives; protein form (e.g., ‘native’, ‘emulsion’, ‘gel’, etc.); molecular weight of the protein; treatment; temperature; and...
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Novel primosomal protein B from thermophilic bacterium Thermoanerobacter tengcongensis
PublicationWe report the identification and characterization of theprimosomal protein B (PriB) from thermophilic bacteriumThermoanerobacter tengcongensis (TtePriB). It is the largestknown bacterial PriB protein consisting 216 amino acidresidues with a calculated molecular mass of 25 kDa. Surprisingly,it is functional as monomer containing two single-stranded DNA binding domain (OB-fold) and it is thecompletely new kind structure of SSB protein....
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Unusual dynamic properties of water near the ice-binding plane of hyperactive antifreeze protein
PublicationThe dynamical properties of solvation water of hyperactive antifreeze protein from Choristoneura fumiferana (CfAFP) are analyzed and discussed in context of its antifreeze activity. The protein comprises of three well-defined planes and one of them binds to the surface of ice. The dynamical properties of solvation water around each of these planes were analyzed separately; the results are compared with the dynamical properties...
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Influence of Urea and Dimethyl Sulfoxide on K-Peptide Fibrillation
PublicationProtein fibrillation leads to formation of amyloids—linear aggregates that are hallmarks of many serious diseases, including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. In this work, we investigate the fibrillation of a short peptide (K-peptide) from the amyloidogenic core of hen egg white lysozyme in the presence of dimethyl sulfoxide or urea. During the studies, a variety of spectroscopic methods were used: fluorescence spectroscopy...
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Mechanochemical Energy Transduction during the Main Rotary Step in the Synthesis Cycle of F1-ATPase
PublicationF1-ATPase is a highly efficient molecular motor that can synthesize ATP driven by a mechanical torque. Its ability to function reversibly in either direction requires tight mechanochemical coupling between the catalytic domain and the rotating central shaft, as well as temporal control of substrate binding and product release. Despite great efforts and significant progress, the molecular details of this synchronized and fine-tuned...
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Enzymatic cross-linking of β-lactoglobulin in solution and at air–water interface: Structural constraints
PublicationEffective and controlled use of cross-linking enzymes in structure engineering of food systems depends on characterization of the favorable conditions for enzyme-substrate complex and the limiting factors for the desired modification. In this respect, we analyzed the susceptibility of bovine β-lactoglobulin (BLG) to enzymatic cross-linking by Trichoderma reesei tyrosinase (TrTyr) and transglutaminase (TG). Changes in BLG molecular...
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A highly thermostable, homodimeric single-stranded DNA-binding protein from Deinococcus radiopugnans
PublicationWe report the identification and characterization of the single-stranded DNA-binding protein (SSB) from the mesophile and highly radiation-resistant Deinococcus radiopugnans (DrpSSB). PCR-derived DNA fragment containing the complete structural gene for DrpSSB protein was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. The gene consisting of an open reading frame of 900 nucleotides encodes a protein of 300 amino acids with a calculated...
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Enhanced susceptibility of SARS-CoV-2 spike RBD protein assay targeted by cellular receptors ACE2 and CD147: Multivariate data analysis of multisine impedimetric response
PublicationSevere acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) enters the cells through the binding of spike protein to the host cell surface-expressing angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) or by endocytosis mediated by extracellular matrix metalloproteinase inducer (CD147). We present extended statistical studies of the multisine dynamic electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (DEIS) revealing interactions between Spike RBD and...
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Novel primosomal protein B from Clostridium pasteurianum
PublicationPriB is a primosomal protein that catalyzes DNA replication in Procaryota. The replication pathway starts with PriA protein - the initiator protein that binds to a DNA replication fork, unwinds double-stranded DNA and role of PriB is to stabilize PriA on the DNA. However there are many biochemical differences in replication mechanism in bacteria and only some of them use PriB proteins. A few of PriB proteins were published and...
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Novel primosomal protein B from Clostridium pastuerianum
PublicationPriB is a primosomal protein that catalyzes DNA replication in Procaryota. The replication pathway starts with PriA protein - the initiator protein that binds to a DNA replication fork, unwinds double-stranded DNA and role of PriB is to stabilize PriA on the DNA. However there are many biochemical differences in replication mechanism in bacteria and only some of them use PriB proteins. A few of PriB proteins were published and...
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Novel single-stranded DNA-binding proteins from extreme psychrophilic bacterium Psychromonas ingrahamii 37
PublicationWe report the identification and characterization of the single-stranded DNA binding protein (SSB) from extreme psychrophilic bacterium Psychromonas ingrahamii 37 (PinSSB) that grows expotentially at -12°C and may well grow at even lower temperatures. PinSSB is one of the largest known bacterial SSB protein consisting 222 amino acid residues with a calculated molecular mass of 25.1 kDa. The analysis by gel filtration chromatography...
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Hopf bifurcation in time‐delayed gene expression model with dimers
PublicationWe study a mathematical model of gene transcription and protein synthesis with negative feedback. We consider a system of equations taking into account the formation of dimers (i.e., complex formed by two protein monomers), the way in which dimers bind to DNA and time delay in translation process. For the model consisting of three ordinary differential equations with time delay, we derive conditions for stability of the positive...
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On various modelling approaches to real-time visualisation of blood flow
PublicationThis paper reviews various modelling approaches to real-time visualisation of blood flow. These include classic, macroscale approach based on the momentum conservation equation together with a proper constitutive equation. Moreover, modern micro- and mesoscale approaches, such as molecular dynamics and dissipative particle dynamics, are discussed. Advantages and disadvantages of the discussed methods are highlighted with particular...