Newcomers and the innovative group process: An experimental investigation of convergence in collaborative problem solving.

During collaborative small group problem-solving, a group member with a minority perspective has a notable influence on the majority's perspective. However, the type of interactions with such a member could influence a stalemate, and the relationships between internal and task conflicts and the convergence process remain unclear. This study comprised two experiments focusing on the influence of minorities who act as "newcomers" among 231 university psychology majors. Using multiple conversational agents as the experimental tools, Experiment 1 revealed that a newcomer who presents a new perspective promotes the majority's perspective change, compared to when such a member has been in the group from the beginning. Experiment 2 demonstrated that such an effect occurs when most of the internal conflict and the task phase facilitated the newcomers' influence. The findings indicated that the minority member advantage increases when they are a newcomer; thus, they have a stronger influence on the perspective-taking process. The same effect occurs when the newcomer intervenes in majority task conflicts and internal cognitive loads. Thus, this study provides new implications for research on minority influence in laboratory experiments using virtual agents for small-group studies. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Structure elements can be predicted using the contact volume among protein residues.

Previously, the structure elements of dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) were determined using comprehen-sive Ala-insertion mutation analysis, which is assumed to be a kind of protein "building blocks." It is hypo-thesized that our comprehension of the structure elements could lead to understanding how an amino acid sequence dictates its tertiary structure. However, the comprehensive Ala-insertion mutation analysis is a time- and cost-consuming process and only a set of the DHFR structure elements have been reported so far. Therefore, developing a computational method to predict structure elements is an urgent necessity. We focused on intramolecular residue-residue contacts to predict the structure elements. We introduced a simple and effective parameter: the overlapped contact volume (CV) among the residues and calculated the CV along the DHFR sequence using the crystal structure. Our results indicate that the CV profile can recapitulate its precipitate ratio profile, which was used to define the structure elements in the Ala-insertion mutation analysis. The CV profile allowed us to predict structure elements like the experimentally determined structure elements. The strong correlation between the CV and precipitate ratio profiles indicates the importance of the intramolecular residue-residue contact in maintaining the tertiary structure. Additionally, the CVs between the structure elements are considerably more than those between a structure element and a linker or two linkers, indicating that the structure elements play a funda-mental role in increasing the intramolecular adhesion. Thus, we propose that the structure elements can be considered a type of "building blocks" that maintain and dictate the tertiary structures of proteins.

Spectroscopic and structural characteristics of a dual-light sensor protein, PYP-phytochrome related protein.

PYP-phytochrome related (Ppr) protein contains the two light sensor domains, photoactive yellow protein (PYP) and bacteriophytochrome (Bph), which mainly absorb blue and red light by the chromophores of p-coumaric acid (pCA) and biliverdin (BV), respectively. As a result, Ppr has the ability to photoactivate both domains together or separately. We investigated the photoreaction of each photosensor domain under different light irradiation conditions and clarified the inter-dependency between these domains. Within the first 10 s of blue light illumination, Ppr (Holo-Holo-Ppr) accompanied by both pCA and BV demonstrated spectrum changes reflecting PYPL accumulation, which can also be observed in Ppr containing only pCA (Holo-Apo-Ppr), and a fragment of Ppr lacking the C-terminal Bph domain. Although Holo-Apo-Ppr showed PYPL as a major photoproduct under blue light, as seen in the Bph-truncated Ppr, the equilibrium in the Holo-Holo-Ppr was shifted from PYPL to PYPM as the reaction progresses under blue light. Concomitantly, the spectrum of Bph exhibited subtle but distinguishable alteration. Together with the fact, it can be proposed that Bph with BV influences the photoreaction of PYP in Ppr, and vice versa. SAXS measurements revealed substantial tertiary structure changes in Holo-Holo-Ppr under continuous blue light irradiation within the first 5 min time domain. Interestingly, the changes in tertiary structure were partially suppressed by photoactivation of the Bph domain. These observations indicate that the photoreactions of the PYP and Bph domains are coupled with each other, and that the interplay realizes the structural switch, which might be involved in downstream signal transduction.

Construction of a Quadrangular Tetramer and a Cage-Like Hexamer from Three-Helix Bundle-Linked Fusion Proteins.

Self-assembled protein nanostructures have gained interest, owing to their potential applications in biomaterials; however, successful design and construction of protein nanostructures are limited. Herein, we constructed fusion protein 1 by linking the C-terminus of a dimerization domain and the N-terminus of another dimerization domain with a three-helix bundle protein, where it self-assembled mainly into tetramers. By replacing the C-terminal dimerization domain of 1 with a trimerization domain (fusion protein 2), hexamers were mainly obtained. According to ab initio structural models reconstructed from the small-angle X-ray scattering data, the tetramer of 1 and hexamer of 2 adopted quadrangle and cage-like structures, respectively, although they were combinations of different conformations. High-speed atomic force microscopy observations indicated that the tetramer and hexamer exhibit conformational dynamics. These results show that the present method utilizing three-helix bundle-linked fusion proteins is useful in the construction of protein nanostructures.

Structural Basis for the Function of the ß-Barrel Assembly-Enhancing Protease BepA.

The ß-barrel assembly machinery (BAM) complex mediates the assembly of ß-barrel membrane proteins in the outer membrane. BepA, formerly known as YfgC, interacts with the BAM complex and functions as a protease/chaperone for the enhancement of the assembly and/or degradation of ß-barrel membrane proteins. To elucidate the molecular mechanism underlying the dual functions of BepA, its full-length three-dimensional structure is needed. Here, we report the crystal structure of full-length BepA at 2.6-Å resolution. BepA possesses an N-terminal protease domain and a C-terminal tetratricopeptide repeat domain, which interact with each other. Domain cross-linking by structure-guided introduction of disulfide bonds did not affect the activities of BepA in vivo, suggesting that the function of this protein does not involve domain rearrangement. The full-length BepA structure is compatible with the previously proposed docking model of BAM complex and tetratricopeptide repeat domain of BepA.

The Power of a "Maverick" in Collaborative Problem Solving: An Experimental Investigation of Individual Perspective-Taking Within a Group.

Integrating different perspectives is a sophisticated strategy for developing constructive interactions in collaborative problem solving. However, cognitive aspects such as individuals' knowledge and bias often obscure group consensus and produce conflict. This study investigated collaborative problem solving, focusing on a group member interacting with another member having a different perspective (a "maverick"). It was predicted that mavericks might mitigate disadvantages and facilitate perspective taking during problem solving. Thus, 344 university students participated in two laboratory-based experiments by engaging in a simple rule-discovery task that raised conflicts among perspectives. They interacted with virtual partners whose conversations were controlled by multiple conversational agents. Results show that when participants interacted with a maverick during the task, they were able to take others' perspectives and integrate different perspectives to solve the problem. Moreover, when participants interacted in groups with a positive mood, groups with a maverick outperformed groups having several perspectives.

Visualisation of a flexible modular structure of the ER folding-sensor enzyme UGGT.

In the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), a protein quality control system facilitates the efficient folding of newly synthesised proteins. In this system, a series of N-linked glycan intermediates displayed on the protein surface serve as quality tags. The ER folding-sensor enzyme UDP-glucose:glycoprotein glucosyltransferase (UGGT) acts as a gatekeeper in the ER quality control system by specifically catalysing monoglucosylation onto incompletely folded glycoproteins, thereby enabling them to interact with lectin-chaperone complexes. Here we characterise the dynamic structure of this enzyme. Our crystallographic data demonstrate that the sensor region is composed of four thioredoxin-like domains followed by a ß-rich domain, which are arranged into a C-shaped structure with a large central cavity, while the C-terminal catalytic domain undergoes a ligand-dependent conformational alteration. Furthermore, small-angle X-ray scattering, cryo-electron microscopy and high-speed atomic force microscopy have demonstrated that UGGT has a flexible modular structure in which the smaller catalytic domain is tethered to the larger folding-sensor region with variable spatial arrangements. These findings provide structural insights into the working mechanism whereby UGGT operates as a folding-sensor against a variety of glycoprotein substrates through its flexible modular structure possessing extended hydrophobic surfaces for the recognition of unfolded substrates.

Domain swapping oligomerization of thermostable c-type cytochrome in E. coli cells.

Knowledge on domain swapping in vitro is increasing, but domain swapping may not occur regularly in vivo, and its information in cells is limited. Herein, we show that domain-swapped oligomers of a thermostable c-type cytochrome, Hydrogenobacter thermophilus cyt c552, are formed in E. coli which expresses cyt c552. The region containing the N-terminal α-helix and heme was domain-swapped between protomers in the dimer formed in E. coli. The amount of cyt c552 oligomers increased in E. coli as the cyt c552 concentration was increased, whereas that of high-order oligomers decreased in the order of decrease in protein stability, indicating that domain swapping decreases in cells when the protein stability decreases. Apo cyt c552 was detected in the cyt c552 oligomer formed in E. coli, but not in that of the A5F/M11V/Y32F/Y41E/I76V mutant. The cyt c552 oligomer containing its apo protein may form at the periplasm, since the apo protein detected by mass measurements did not contain the signal peptide. These results show that domain-swapped cyt c552 oligomers were formed in E. coli, owing to the stability of the transient oligomer containing the apo protein before heme attachment. This is an indication that exceedingly stable proteins may have disadvantages forming domain-swapped oligomers in cells.

Domain swapping of the heme and N-terminal α-helix in Hydrogenobacter thermophilus cytochrome c(552) dimer.

Oxidized horse cytochrome c (cyt c) has been shown to oligomerize by domain swapping its C-terminal helix successively. We show that the structural and thermodynamic properties of dimeric Hydrogenobacter thermophilus (HT) cytochrome c(552) (cyt c(552)) and dimeric horse cyt c are different, although both proteins belong to the cyt c superfamily. Optical absorption and circular dichroism spectra of oxidized dimeric HT cyt c(552) were identical to the corresponding spectra of its monomer. Dimeric HT cyt c(552) exhibited a domain-swapped structure, where the N-terminal α-helix together with the heme was exchanged between protomers. Since a relatively strong H-bond network was formed at the loop around the heme-coordinating Met, the C-terminal α-helix did not dissociate from the rest of the protein in dimeric HT cyt c(552). The packing of the amino acid residues important for thermostability in monomeric HT cyt c(552) were maintained in its dimer, and thus, dimeric HT cyt c(552) exhibited high thermostability. Although the midpoint redox potential shifted from 240 ± 2 to 213 ± 2 mV by dimerization, it was maintained relatively high. Ethanol has been shown to decrease both the activation enthalpy and activation entropy for the dissociation of the dimer to monomers from 140 ± 9 to 110 ± 5 kcal/mol and 310 ± 30 to 270 ± 20 cal/(mol·K), respectively. Enthalpy change for the dissociation of the dimer to monomers was positive (14 ± 2 kcal/mol per protomer unit). These results give new insights into factors governing the swapping region and thermodynamic properties of domain swapping.

Maintenance of the secondary structure of horse cytochrome c during the conversion process of monomers to oligomers by addition of ethanol.

We have previously shown that polymerization of cytochrome c (cyt c) occurs by successively domain swapping its C-terminal α-helix in the presence of ethanol. However, the factors that govern the conversion process of monomers to domain-swapped oligomers remain unknown. We found that oligomeric cyt c is produced in the presence of ethanol and the oligomers precipitate due to low solubility. The optical absorption spectra revealed that in the presence of 30-40% ethanol, the Met-heme coordination in cyt c is dissociated. However, according to circular dichroism and small-angle X-ray scattering measurements, the α-helical structure of cyt c is maintained in solution with a little perturbation and the radius of gyration increases slightly but without dissociation of the C-terminal α-helix from the rest of the protein by the addition of ethanol. Solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectra showed that oligomeric cyt c in the precipitate also retains most of its α-helical structure. In the transmission electron microscopic image of the precipitate obtained by the addition of ethanol to cyt c, spherical particles with diameters of about 3 nm were detected. These results indicate that oligomeric cyt c forms through a state with the Met80 region locally unfolded, while maintaining the secondary structure, possibly an open monomer.