Structural insights of Labeo catla (catla) myxovirus resistance protein,GTP binding recognition and constitutive expression induced with Poly I:C.

The Myxovirus resistance (Mx) proteins are critical effectors belonging to the super-family of guanidine triphosphatase, often stimulated by type I interferon (IFN) and mediates antiviral responses to restrict the replication of numerous viral genes in fishes. In teleosts, Mx proteins display diverse and complicated antiviral activity in different species. The present investigation seeks to characterize the Mx gene from Labeo catla upon induction by double-stranded (ds) RNA, polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid, (poly I: C). Molecular modeling and all-atoms molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were employed to understand the architecture of the GTPase domain and its plausible mode of GTP recognition in Mx protein. The full-length L. catla Mx (LcMx) gene sequence (1821 bp nucleotides) encodes an open reading frame of 606 amino acids. Domain search indicated conserved tripartite domain architecture of LcMx and forms a major cluster with the Mx from other teleosts. The positively charged Arginine and polar Glutamine residues from helix 3 and 4 of stalk region LcMx aid in homo-oligomerization. MD simulation portrayed the role of conserved critical residues aid in GTP recognition by the GTPase domain which perfectly corroborates with experimental findings and prior MD studies. After injection of poly I:C, the temporal mRNA profile showed that LcMx expression was significantly elevated in the spleen, brain, kidney, liver, muscle, heart, intestine, and gill tissues. Collectively, these results suggest that the elevated expression of the major innate immune defense gene Mx was able to inhibit the poly I: C mediated virulence in fish.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.

Kanamycin-Mediated Conformational Dynamics of Escherichia coli Outer Membrane Protein TolC.

TolC is a member of the outer membrane efflux proteins (OEPs) family and acts as an exit duct to export proteins, antibiotics, and substrate molecules across the Escherichia coli cell membrane. Export of these molecules is evidenced to be brought about through the reversible interactions and binding of substrate-specific drug molecules or antibiotics with TolC and by being open for transport, which afterward leads to cross-resistance. Hence, the binding of kanamycin with TolC was monitored through molecular docking (MD), the structural fluctuations and conformational changes to the atomic level. The results were further supported from the steady-state fluorescence binding and isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) studies. Binding of kanamycin with TolC resulted in a concentration dependent fluorescence intensity quenching with 7 nm blue shift. ITC binding data maintains a single binding site endothermic energetic curve with binding parameters indicating an entropy driven binding process. The confirmational changes resulting from this binding were monitored by a circular dichroism (CD) study, and the results showed insignificant changes in the α-helix and ß-sheets secondary structure contents, but the tertiary structure shows inclusive changes in the presence of kanamycin. The experimental data substaintially correlates the RMSD, R g, and RMSF results. The resulting conformational changes of the TolC-kanamycin complexation was stabilized through H-bonding and other interactions.

Regulation of enzymatic activity by deamidation and their subsequent repair by protein L-isoaspartyl methyl transferase.

The present study explored both spontaneous and stress-induced deamidation in acid trehalase and endo-xylanase. An alteration in optimum pH by 1.5 units and optimum temperature by 20 °C accelerated the process of deamidation with a rise in isoaspartate formation and ammonia loss. Spontaneous deamidation during an enzyme-substrate reaction at physiological conditions resulted in accretion of isoaspartyl residues within the enzymes which gradually impaired their catalytic efficacy. Deamidation appeared to be more pronounced in endo-xylanase owing to its secondary structure conformation and high asparagine content. The active sites, Ala 549 in acid trehalase and His184 and Trp188 in endo-xylanase contributed to the loss of enzyme activity as they were flanking the deamidation-susceptible Asn residues. Protein L-isoaspartyl methyl transferase seemed to have a repairing capability, which enabled the heat-damaged enzymes to regain their partial activity as evident from there rise in K (cat)/K (m). Endo-xylanase could regain 38.1 % of its biological activity while a lesser 17.5 % reactivation was obtained in acid trehalase. A unique protein L-isoaspartyl methyl transferase recognition site, Asn 151 was also identified in acid trehalase. A mass increment of the tryptic peptides of repaired enzyme due to methylation catalyzed by protein L-isoaspartyl methyl transferase substantiated the repair hypothesis.

Purification and characterization of a trehalase-invertase enzyme with dual activity from Candida utilis.

Trehalose and sucrose, two important anti-stress non-reducing natural disaccharides, are catabolized by two enzymes, namely trehalase and invertase respectively. In this study, a 175 kDa enzyme protein active against both substrates was purified from wild type Candida utilis and characterized in detail. Substrate specificity assay and activity staining revealed the enzyme to be specific for both sucrose and trehalose. The ratio between trehalase and invertase activity was found to be constant at 1:3.5 throughout the entire study. Almost 40-fold purification and 30% yield for both activities were achieved at the final step of purification. The presence of common enzyme inhibitors, thermal and pH stress had analogous effects on its trehalase and invertase activity. Km values for two activities were similar while Vmax and Kcat also differed by a factor of 3.5. Competition plot for both substrates revealed the two activities to be occurring at the single active site. N-terminal sequencing and MALDI-TOF data analysis revealed higher similarity of the purified protein to previously known neutral trehalases. While earlier workers mentioned independent purification of neutral trehalase or invertase from different sources, the present study reports the purification of a single protein showing dual activity.

Purification and characterization of a low molecular weight endo-xylanase from mushroom Termitomyces clypeatus.

A low molecular weight endo-xylanase (EC 3.2.1.8) was purified from an edible mushroom Termitomyces clypeatus grown in submerged medium with oat spelt xylan. Xylanase was purified to apparent homogeneity by ammonium sulfate fractionation and gel filtration chromatography. Its molecular weight was determined by gel filtration chromatography and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis to be 12 kDa. The enzyme was found to be most active at 50 degrees C and pH 5.0, being most stable at pH 6.5. The K(m) for oat spelt xylan was determined to be 10.4 mg/ml. The specificities of the enzyme was observed to be highly specific towards oat spelt xylan and was inhibited by mercuric chloride (HgCl(2)), N-bromosuccinimide, and trans-1,2-diaminocyclohexane-N',N',N',N'-tetraacetic acid strongly. The inhibitory action of N-bromosuccinimide on enzyme confirmed the presence of one tryptophan residue in its substrate-binding site. Amino acid analysis for xylanase showed the presence of high amount of hydrophobic serine, glycine, threonine, and alanine residues. The N-terminal sequencing study for the previously purified and characterized 56 kDa xylanolytic amyloglucosidase reveal the presence of 33.30% identity with glucoamylase chain A from Aspergillus awamori. The N-terminal sequence analysis of the present 12 kDa enzyme showed highest similarity (72.22% identity) towards xylanase from Neurospora crassa.