RESUMEN
Current methods for diagnosing transmissible spongiform encephalopathies rely on the degradation of the cellular prion protein (PrP(C)) and the subsequent detection of the protease-resistant remnant of the pathological prion isoform PrP(Sc) by antibodies that react with all forms of PrP. We report on a monoclonal antibody, V5B2, raised against a peptide from the C-terminal part of PrP, which recognizes an epitope specific to PrP(Sc). In cryostat sections from Creutzfeldt-Jacob's disease (CJD) patients' brains, V5B2 selectively labels various deposits of PrP(Sc) without any pretreatment for removal of PrP(C). V5B2 does not bind to non-CJD brain samples or to recombinant PrP, either in its native or denatured form. Specificity for PrP is confirmed by a sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay utilizing V5B2, which discriminates between CJD and normal samples without proteinase K treatment, and by immunoprecipitation from CJD brain homogenate. The PrP(Sc)-specific epitope is disrupted by denaturation. We conclude that the C-terminal part of PrP in disease-associated PrP(Sc) aggregates forms a structural epitope whose conformation is distinct from that of PrP(C).
Asunto(s)
Anticuerpos Monoclonales/química , Síndrome de Creutzfeldt-Jakob/metabolismo , Péptidos/química , Proteínas PrPC/fisiología , Animales , Western Blotting , Encéfalo/metabolismo , Síndrome de Creutzfeldt-Jakob/inmunología , Electroforesis en Gel de Poliacrilamida , Endopeptidasa K/farmacología , Ensayo de Inmunoadsorción Enzimática , Epítopos/química , Humanos , Ratones , Ratones Endogámicos BALB C , Proteínas PrPC/química , Pruebas de Precipitina , Conformación Proteica , Estructura Terciaria de Proteína , Proteínas Recombinantes/química , Proteínas Recombinantes/metabolismoRESUMEN
Gyrases are DNA topology modifying enzymes present only in prokaryotes which makes them an attractive target for antibacterial drugs. Quercetin, one of the most abundant natural flavonoids, inhibits supercoiling activity of bacterial gyrase and induces DNA cleavage. It has been generally assumed that the mechanism of flavonoid inhibition is based on interaction with DNA. We show that quercetin binds to the 24 kDa fragment of gyrase B of Escherichia coli with a K(D) value of 15 microM and inhibits ATPase activity of gyrase B. Its binding site overlaps with ATP binding pocket and could be competitively replaced by either ATP or novobiocin. The structural model of quercetin-gyrase complex was prepared, based on the close similarity with ATP and quercetin binding sites of the src family tyrosine kinase Hck. We propose that quercetin inhibits gyrases through two different mechanisms based either on interaction with DNA or with ATP binding site of gyrase.