Biosensing and drug delivery by polypyrrole

Conducting polypyrrole is a biological compatible polymer matrix wherein number of drugs and enzymes can be incorporated by way of doping. The polypyrrole, which is obtained as freestanding film by electrochemical polymerization, has gained tremendous recognition as sophisticated electronic measuring device in the field of sensors and drug delivery. In drug delivery the reversing of the potential 100% of the drug can be released and is highly efficient as a biosensor in presence of an enzyme. In this review we discuss the applications of conducting polypyrrole as biosensor for some biomolecules and drug delivery systems.

A novel mode of carbohydrate recognition in jacalin, a Moraceae plant lectin with a beta-prism fold

Jacalin, a tetrameric two-chain lectin (66,000 Mr) from jackfruit seeds, is highly specific for the tumour associated T-antigenic disaccharide. The crystal structure of jacalin with methyl-alpha-D-galactose reveals that each subunit has a three-fold symmetric beta-prism fold made up of three four-stranded beta-sheets. The lectin exhibits a novel carbohydrate-binding site involving the N terminus of the alpha-chain which is generated through a post-translational modification involving proteolysis, the first known instance where such a modification has been used to confer carbohydrate specificity. This new lectin fold may be characteristic of the Moraceae plant family. The structure provides an explanation for the relative affinities of the lectin for galactose derivatives and provides insights into the structural basis of its T-antigen specificity.

Lectins

Lectins - carbohydrate-binding proteins involved in a variety of recognition processes - exhibit considerable structural diversity. Three new lectin folds and further elaborations of known folds have been described recently. Large variability in quaternary association resulting from small alterations in essentially the same tertiary structure is a property exhibited specially by legume lectins. The strategies used by lectins to generate carbohydrate specificity include the extensive use of water bridges, post-translational modification and oligomerization. Recent results pertaining to influenza and foot-and-mouth viruses further elaborate the role of lectins in infection.

MicroRNAs as Peripheral Biomarkers in Aging and Age-Related Diseases

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are found in the circulatory biofluids considering the important molecules for biomarker study in aging and age-related diseases. Blood or blood components (serum/plasma) are primary sources of circulatory miRNAs and can release these in cell-free form either bound with some protein components or encapsulated with microvesicle particles, called exosomes. miRNAs are quite stable in the peripheral circulation and can be detected by high-throughput techniques like qRT-PCR, microarray, and sequencing. Intracellular miRNAs could modulate mRNA activity through target-specific binding and play a crucial role in intercellular communications. At a pathological level, changes in cellular homeostasis lead to the modulation of molecular function of cells; as a result, miRNA expression is deregulated. Deregulated miRNAs came out from cells and frequently circulate in extracellular body fluids as part of various human diseases. Most common aging-associated diseases are cardiovascular disease, cancer, arthritis, dementia, cataract, osteoporosis, diabetes, hypertension, and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease, Parkinson's disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Variation in the miRNA signature in a diseased peripheral circulatory system opens up a new avenue in the field of biomarker discovery. Here, we measure the biomarker potential of circulatory miRNAs in aging and various aging-related pathologies. However, further more confirmatory researches are needed to elaborate these findings at the translation level.

Conformation, protein-carbohydrate interactions and a novel subunit association in the refined structure of peanut lectin-lactose complex

The structure of the complex of the tetrameric peanut lectin with lactose has been refined to an R-value of 16.4% using 2.25 angstroms resolution X-ray diffraction data. The subunit conformation in the structure is similar to that in other legume lectins except in the loops. It has been shown that in the tertiary structure of legume lectins, the short five-stranded sheet plays a major role in connecting the larger flat six-stranded and curved seven-stranded sheets. Furthermore, the loops that connect the strands at the two ends of the seven-stranded sheet curve toward and interact with each other to produce a second hydrophobic core in addition to the one between the two large sheets. The protein-lactose interactions involve the invariant features observed in other legume lectins in addition to those characteristic of peanut lectin. The "open" quaternary association in peanut lectin is stabilised by hydrophobic, hydrogen-bonded and water-mediated interactions. Contrary to the earlier belief, the structure of peanut lectin demonstrates that the variability in quaternary association in legume lectins, despite all of them having nearly the same tertiary structure, is not necessarily caused by covalently bound carbohydrate. An attempt has been made to provide a structural rationale for this variability, on the basis of buried surface areas during dimerisation. A total of 45 water molecules remain invariant when the hydration shells of the four subunits are compared. A majority of them appear to be involved in stabilising loops.

An analysis of side-chain conformation in proteins

The crystal structures of a number of globular proteins are currently available. An analysis of the distribution of side-chains among different allowed conformations in these proteins has been carried out. The observed conformations of individual residues are discussed on the basis of well-known stereochemical criteria. The population distribution of side-chains in different allowed regions in conformational space can be explained largely on the basis of simple steric considerations. In addition to examining the conformational behaviour of individual residues, some population distributions of conformational angles of general interest involving groups of residues have also been analyzed.

Crystal structure of peanut lectin, a protein with an unusual quaternary structure

The x-ray crystal structure of the tetrameric T-antigen-binding lectin from peanut, M(r) 110,000, has been determined by using the multiple isomorphous replacement method and refined to an R value of 0.218 for 22,155 reflections within the 10- to 2.95-A resolution range. Each subunit has essentially the same characteristic tertiary fold that is found in other legume lectins. The structure, however, exhibits an unusual quaternary arrangement of subunits. Unlike other well-characterized tetrameric proteins with identical subunits, peanut lectin has neither 222 (D2) nor fourfold (C4) symmetry. A noncrystallographic twofold axis relates two halves of the molecule. The two monomers in each half are related by a local twofold axis. The mutual disposition of the axes is such that they do not lead to a closed point group. Furthermore, the structure of peanut lectin demonstrates that differences in subunit arrangement in legume lectins could be due to factors intrinsic to the protein molecule and, contrary to earlier suggestions, are not necessarily caused by interactions involving covalently linked sugar. The structure provides a useful framework for exploring the structural basis and the functional implications of the variability in the subunit arrangement in legume lectins despite all of them having nearly the same subunit structure, and also for investigating the general problem of "open" quaternary assembly in oligomeric proteins.

Crystal structure of a dimeric mannose-specific agglutinin from garlic: quaternary association and carbohydrate specificity

A mannose-specific agglutinin, isolated from garlic bulbs, has been crystallized in the presence of a large excess of alpha-d-mannose, in space group C2 and cell dimensions, a=203.24, b=43.78, c=79.27 A, beta=112.4 degrees, with two dimers in the asymmetric unit. X-ray diffraction data were collected up to a nominal resolution of 2.4 A and the structure was solved by molecular replacement. The structure, refined to an R-factor of 22.6 % and an Rfree of 27.8 % reveals a beta-prism II fold, similar to that in the snowdrop lectin, comprising three antiparallel four-stranded beta-sheets arranged as a 12-stranded beta-barrel, with an approximate internal 3-fold symmetry. This agglutinin is, however, a dimer unlike snowdrop lectin which exists as a tetramer, despite a high degree of sequence similarity between them. A comparison of the two structures reveals a few substitutions in the garlic lectin which stabilise it into a dimer and prevent tetramer formation. Three mannose molecules have been identified on each subunit. In addition, electron density is observed for another possible mannose molecule per dimer resulting in a total of seven mannose molecules in each dimer. Although the mannose binding sites and the overall structure are similar in the subunits of snowdrop and garlic lectin, their specificities to glycoproteins such as GP120 vary considerably. These differences appear, in part, to be a direct consequence of the differences in oligomerisation, implying that variation in quaternary association may be a mode of achieving oligosaccharide specificity in bulb lectins.

Crystal structures of Mycobacterium tuberculosis RecA and its complex with ADP-AlF(4): implications for decreased ATPase activity and molecular aggregation

Sequencing of the complete genome of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, combined with the rapidly increasing need to improve tuberculosis management through better drugs and vaccines, has initiated extensive research on several key proteins from the pathogen. RecA, a ubiquitous multifunctional protein, is a key component of the processes of homologous genetic recombination and DNA repair. Structural knowledge of MtRecA is imperative for a full understanding of both these activities and any ensuing application. The crystal structure of MtRecA, presented here, has six molecules in the unit cell forming a 6(1) helical filament with a deep groove capable of binding DNA. The observed weakening in the higher order aggregation of filaments into bundles may have implications for recombination in mycobacteria. The structure of the complex reveals the atomic interactions of ADP-AlF(4), an ATP analogue, with the P-loop-containing binding pocket. The structures explain reduced levels of interactions of MtRecA with ATP, despite sharing the same fold, topology and high sequence similarity with EcRecA. The formation of a helical filament with a deep groove appears to be an inherent property of MtRecA. The histidine in loop L1 appears to be positioned appropriately for DNA interaction.

Role of water in plasticity, stability, and action of proteins: the crystal structures of lysozyme at very low levels of hydration

Earlier studies involving water-mediated transformations in lysozyme and ribonuclease A have shown that the overall movements in the protein molecule consequent to the reduction in the amount of surrounding water are similar to those that occur during enzyme action, thus highlighting the relationship among hydration, plasticity, and action of these enzymes. Monoclinic lysozyme retains its crystallinity even when the level of hydration is reduced further below that necessary for activity (about 0.2 gram of water per gram of protein). In order to gain insights into the role of water in the stability and the plasticity of the protein molecule and the geometrical basis for the loss of activity that accompanies dehydration, the crystal structures of monoclinic lysozyme with solvent contents of 17.6%, 16.9%, and 9.4% were determined and refined. A detailed comparison of these forms with the normally hydrated forms show that the C-terminal segment (residues 88-129) of domain I and the main loop (residues 65-73) in domain II exhibit large deviations in atomic positions when the solvent content is reduced, although the three-dimensional structure is essentially preserved. Many crucial water bridges between different regions of the molecule are conserved in spite of differences in detail, even when the level of hydration is reduced well below that required for activity. The loss of activity that accompany dehydration appears to be caused by the removal of functionally important water molecules from the active-site region and the reduction in the size of the substrate binding cleft.

Crystal structures of artocarpin, a Moraceae lectin with mannose specificity, and its complex with methyl-alpha-D-mannose: implications to the generation of carbohydrate specificity

The seeds of jack fruit (Artocarpus integrifolia) contain two tetrameric lectins, jacalin and artocarpin. Jacalin was the first lectin found to exhibit the beta-prism I fold, which is characteristic of the Moraceae plant lectin family. Jacalin contains two polypeptide chains produced by a post-translational proteolysis which has been shown to be crucial for generating its specificity for galactose. Artocarpin is a single chain protein with considerable sequence similarity with jacalin. It, however, exhibits many properties different from those of jacalin. In particular, it is specific to mannose. The structures of two crystal forms, form I and form II, of the native lectin have been determined at 2.4 and 2.5 A resolution, respectively. The structure of the lectin complexed with methyl-alpha-mannose, has also been determined at 2.9 A resolution. The structure is similar to jacalin, although differences exist in details. The crystal structures and detailed modelling studies indicate that the following differences between the carbohydrate binding sites of artocarpin and jacalin are responsible for the difference in the specificities of the two lectins. Firstly, artocarpin does not contain, unlike jacalin, an N terminus generated by post-translational proteolysis. Secondly, there is no aromatic residue in the binding site of artocarpin whereas there are four in that of jacalin. A comparison with similar lectins of known structures or sequences, suggests that, in general, stacking interactions with aromatic residues are important for the binding of galactose while such interactions are usually absent in the carbohydrate binding sites of mannose-specific lectins with the beta-prism I fold.

Food-deprivation affects seawater acclimation in tilapia: hormonal and metabolic changes

We tested the hypothesis that nutritional state affects seawater acclimation by transferring either fed or food-deprived (2 weeks) male tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus) from fresh water to full-strength sea water. Food-deprivation resulted in a significant increase in plasma concentrations of Na+, Cl-, cortisol, glucose, total amino acid, glutamate, serine and alanine, and in hepatic pyruvate kinase (PK) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activities, whereas the prolactin-188 to prolactin-177 ratio (tPRL188:tPRL177) and plasma prolactin-188 (tPRL188), lactate, arginine and hepatic glycogen content and hepatic alanine aminotransferase (AlaAT) and 3-hydroxyacyl-Coenzyme A dehydrogenase (HOAD) activities were lower than in the fed group. Seawater transfer significantly increased the tPRL188:tPRL177 ratio and plasma concentrations of Na+, Cl-, K+, growth hormone (GH), glucose, aspartate, tyrosine, alanine, methionine, phenylalanine, leucine, isoleucine and valine levels as well as gill Na+/K+-ATPase activity and hepatic PK and LDH activities, whereas plasma tPRL177, tPRL188, glycine and lysine concentrations were significantly lower than in fish retained in fresh water. There was a significant interaction between nutritional state and salinity that affected the tPRL188:tPRL177 ratio and plasma concentrations of Cl-, GH, glucose, aspartate, tyrosine, serine, alanine, glycine, arginine and hepatic PK, LDH, AlaAT, aspartate aminotransferase, glutamate dehydrogenase and HOAD activities. These results, taken together, indicate that food-deprived fish did not regulate their plasma Cl- levels, despite an enhancement of plasma hormonal and metabolic responses in sea water. Our study also suggests the possibility that plasma prolactin and essential amino acids may be playing an important role in the seawater acclimation process in tilapia.

Metabolic effects of cortisol treatment in a marine teleost, the sea raven

Sea raven (Hemitripterus americanus) given intraperitoneal implants of coconut oil containing cortisol (50 mg kg-1) and sampled 5 days later had plasma cortisol, glucose and urea concentrations higher than in a sham-implanted group. No differences in plasma ammonia, free amino acid or fatty acid concentrations were apparent between the cortisol- and sham-treated groups. There was no change in hepatic glycogen content, whereas glutamine synthetase, allantoicase, arginase, aspartate aminotransferase, tyrosine aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, glutamate dehydrogenase, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase and 3-hydroxyacyl-coenzyme A dehydrogenase activities were higher in the cortisol-treated fish liver compared with the sham-implanted fish. On the basis of these general increases in enzyme activities, our results suggest that cortisol stimulates nitrogen metabolism in the sea raven. Amino acid catabolism may be a major source of substrate for gluconeogenesis and/or oxidation, while fatty acid mobilization may provide the fuel for endogenous use by the liver in cortisol-treated sea raven. These results further support the hypothesis that cortisol plays a role in the regulation of glucose production in stressed fish.

Structural Basis for the Carbohydrate Specificities of Artocarpin: Variation in the Length of a Loop as a Strategy for Generating Ligand Specificity

Artocarpin, a tetrameric lectin of molecular mass 65 kDa, is one of the two lectins extracted from the seeds of jackfruit. The structures of the complexes of artocarpin with mannotriose and mannopentose reported here, together with the structures of artocarpin and its complex with Me-alpha-mannose reported earlier, show that the lectin possesses a deep-seated binding site formed by three loops. The binding site can be considered as composed of two subsites; the primary site and the secondary site. Interactions at the primary site composed of two of the loops involve mainly hydrogen bonds, while those at the secondary site comprising the third loop are primarily van der Waals in nature. Mannotriose in its complex with the lectin interacts through all the three mannopyranosyl residues; mannopentose interacts with the protein using at least three of the five mannose residues. The complexes provide a structural explanation for the carbohydrate specificities of artocarpin. A detailed comparison with the sugar complexes of heltuba, the only other mannose-specific jacalin-like lectin with known three-dimensional structure in sugar-bound form, establishes the role of the sugar-binding loop constituting the secondary site, in conferring different specificities at the oligosaccharide level. This loop is four residues longer in artocarpin than in heltuba, providing an instance where variation in loop length is used as a strategy for generating carbohydrate specificity.

Crystal structure of the jacalin-T-antigen complex and a comparative study of lectin-T-antigen complexes

Thomsen-Friedenreich antigen (Galbeta1-3GalNAc), generally known as T-antigen, is expressed in more than 85% of human carcinomas. Therefore, proteins which specifically bind T-antigen have potential diagnostic value. Jacalin, a lectin from jack fruit (Artocarpus integrifolia) seeds, is a tetramer of molecular mass 66kDa. It is one of the very few proteins which are known to bind T-antigen. The crystal structure of the jacalin-T-antigen complex has been determined at 1.62A resolution. The interactions of the disaccharide at the binding site are predominantly through the GalNAc moiety, with Gal interacting only through water molecules. They include a hydrogen bond between the anomeric oxygen of GalNAc and the pi electrons of an aromatic side-chain. Several intermolecular interactions involving the bound carbohydrate contribute to the stability of the crystal structure. The present structure, along with that of the Me-alpha-Gal complex, provides a reasonable qualitative explanation for the known affinities of jacalin to different carbohydrate ligands and a plausible model of the binding of the lectin to T-antigen O-linked to seryl or threonyl residues. Including the present one, the structures of five lectin-T-antigen complexes are available. GalNAc occupies the primary binding site in three of them, while Gal occupies the site in two. The choice appears to be related to the ability of the lectin to bind sialylated sugars. In either case, most of the lectin-disaccharide interactions are at the primary binding site. The conformation of T-antigen in the five complexes is nearly the same.

X-ray Analysis of Mycobacterium smegmatis Dps and a Comparative Study Involving Other Dps and Dps-like Molecules

The structure of the DNA binding protein from starved cells from Mycobacterium smegmatis has been determined in three crystal forms and has been compared with those of similar proteins from other sources. The dodecameric molecule can be described as a distorted icosahedron. The interfaces among subunits are such that the dodecameric molecule appears to have been made up of stable trimers. The situation is similar in the proteins from Escherichia coli and Agrobacterium tumefaciens, which are closer to the M.smegmatis protein in sequence and structure than those from other sources, which appear to form a dimer first. Trimerisation is aided in the three proteins by the additional N-terminal stretches that they possess. The M.smegmatis protein has an additional C-terminal stretch compared to other related proteins. The stretch, known to be involved in DNA binding, is situated on the surface of the molecule. A comparison of the available structures permits a delineation of the rigid and flexible regions in the molecule. The subunit interfaces around the molecular dyads, where the ferroxidation centres are located, are relatively rigid. Regions in the vicinity of the acidic holes centred around molecular 3-fold axes, are relatively flexible. So are the DNA binding regions. The crystal structures of the protein from M.smegmatis confirm that DNA molecules can occupy spaces within the crystal without disturbing the arrangement of the protein molecules. However, contrary to earlier suggestions, the spaces do not need to be between layers of protein molecules. The cubic form provides an arrangement in which grooves, which could hold DNA molecules, criss-cross the crystal.

Structure of Mycobacterium tuberculosis single-stranded DNA-binding protein. Variability in quaternary structure and its implications

Single-stranded DNA-binding protein (SSB) is an essential protein necessary for the functioning of the DNA replication, repair and recombination machineries. Here we report the structure of the DNA-binding domain of Mycobacterium tuberculosis SSB (MtuSSB) in four different crystals distributed in two forms. The structure of one of the forms was solved by a combination of isomorphous replacement and anomalous scattering. This structure was used to determine the structure of the other form by molecular replacement. The polypeptide chain in the structure exhibits the oligonucleotide binding fold. The globular core of the molecule in different subunits in the two forms and those in Escherichia coli SSB (EcoSSB) and human mitochondrial SSB (HMtSSB) have similar structure, although the three loops exhibit considerable structural variation. However, the tetrameric MtuSSB has an as yet unobserved quaternary association. This quaternary structure with a unique dimeric interface lends the oligomeric protein greater stability, which may be of significance to the functioning of the protein under conditions of stress. Also, as a result of the variation in the quaternary structure the path adopted by the DNA to wrap around MtuSSB is expected to be different from that of EcoSSB.

Unusual sugar specificity of banana lectin from Musa paradisiaca and its probable evolutionary origin. Crystallographic and modelling studies

The crystal structure of a complex of methyl-alpha-D-mannoside with banana lectin from Musa paradisiaca reveals two primary binding sites in the lectin, unlike in other lectins with beta-prism I fold which essentially consists of three Greek key motifs. It has been suggested that the fold evolved through successive gene duplication and fusion of an ancestral Greek key motif. In other lectins, all from dicots, the primary binding site exists on one of the three motifs in the three-fold symmetric molecule. Banana is a monocot, and the three motifs have not diverged enough to obliterate sequence similarity among them. Two Greek key motifs in it carry one primary binding site each. A common secondary binding site exists on the third Greek key. Modelling shows that both the primary sites can support 1-2, 1-3, and 1-6 linked mannosides with the second residue interacting in each case primarily with the secondary binding site. Modelling also readily leads to a bound branched mannopentose with the nonreducing ends of the two branches anchored at the two primary binding sites, providing a structural explanation for the lectin's specificity for branched alpha-mannans. A comparison of the dimeric banana lectin with other beta-prism I fold lectins, provides interesting insights into the variability in their quaternary structure.

Structural studies on the second Mycobacterium smegmatis Dps: invariant and variable features of structure, assembly and function

A second DNA binding protein from stationary-phase cells of Mycobacterium smegmatis (MsDps2) has been identified from the bacterial genome. It was cloned, expressed and characterised and its crystal structure was determined. The core dodecameric structure of MsDps2 is the same as that of the Dps from the organism described earlier (MsDps1). However, MsDps2 possesses a long N-terminal tail instead of the C-terminal tail in MsDps1. This tail appears to be involved in DNA binding. It is also intimately involved in stabilizing the dodecamer. Partly on account of this factor, MsDps2 assembles straightway into the dodecamer, while MsDps1 does so on incubation after going through an intermediate trimeric stage. The ferroxidation centre is similar in the two proteins, while the pores leading to it exhibit some difference. The mode of sequestration of DNA in the crystalline array of molecules, as evidenced by the crystal structures, appears to be different in MsDps1 and MsDps2, highlighting the variability in the mode of Dps-DNA complexation. A sequence search led to the identification of 300 Dps molecules in bacteria with known genome sequences. Fifty bacteria contain two or more types of Dps molecules each, while 195 contain only one type. Some bacteria, notably some pathogenic ones, do not contain Dps. A sequence signature for Dps could also be derived from the analysis.