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Showing 191 to 198 of 198 (0.078 seconds)Spelling suggestions: "subject:" 1protein purification"" "subject:" 2protein purification""
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Transcriptional regulation of mouse ribonucleotide reductaseElfving, Anna January 2011 (has links)
All living organisms are made of cells and they store their hereditary information in the form of double stranded DNA. In all organisms DNA replication and repair is essential for cell division and cell survival. These processes require deoxyribonucleotides (dNTPs), the building blocks of DNA. Ribonucleotide reductase (RNR) is catalyzing the rate limiting step in the de novo synthesis of dNTPs. Active RNR is a heterodimeric protein complex. In S phase cells, the mouse RNR consists of the R1 and the R2 proteins. The R1/R2 RNR-complex supplies the cell with dNTPs required for DNA replication. Outside S-phase or in non-proliferating cells RNR is composed of R1 and p53R2 proteins. The R1/p53R2 RNR-complex supplies cells with dNTPs required for mitochondrial DNA replication and for DNA repair. An undisturbed dNTP regulation is important since unbalanced dNTP pools results in DNA mutations and cell death. Since unbalanced pools are harmful to the cell, RNR activity is regulated at many levels. The aim of this thesis is to study how the mouse RNR genes are regulated at a transcriptional level. We have focused on the promoter regions of all three mouse RNR genes. Primer extension experiments show that the transcription start of the TATA-less p53R2 promoter colocalizes with an earlier unidentified initiator element (Inr-element). This element is similar to the known Inr-element in the mouse R1 promoter. Furthermore, functional studies of the R1 promoter revealed a putative E2F binding element. This result suggests that the S phase specific transcription of the R1 gene is regulated by a similar mechanism as the R2 promoter which contains an E2F binding site. Finally we have established a method to partially purify the transcription factor(s) binding the upstream activating region in the mouse R2 promoter by phosphocellulose chromatography and affinity purification using oligonucleotides immobilized on magnetic beads. This method will allow us to further study the transcription factors responsible for activating expression of the R2 protein. This method has a potential to be utilized as a general method when purifying unknown transcription factors.
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| 192 |
Development of a wheat germ cell-free expression system for the production, the purification and the structural and functional characterization of eukaryotic membrane proteins : application to the preparation of hepatitis C viral proteins / Développement d'un système d'expression acellulaire à base d'extrait de germe de blé pour la production, la purification et la caractérisation structurale et fonctionnelle de protéines membranaires eucaryotes : application à la préparation des protéines du virus de l'hépatite CFogeron, Marie-Laure 30 June 2015 (has links)
Alors que 30% du génome code pour des protéines membranaires, moins de 3% des structures protéiques dans la Protein Data Bank correspondent à ces protéines. En raison de leur nature hydrophobe, les protéines membranaires sont en effet très difficiles à produire dans des systèmes d'expression classique en cellules, notamment en bactéries. L'étude structurale des protéines membranaires du virus de l'hépatite C (VHC) sous forme entière et native a donc été pendant longtemps entravée. Le VHC est un virus à ARN positif dont le complexe de réplication est basé sur un réarrangement spécifique des membranes induit par l'action concertée de plusieurs protéines non structurales du virus dont NS2, NS4B et NS5A. La structure tridimensionnelle et le rôle de ces protéines dans la réplication virale sont encore mal connus. Pour surmonter les limitations qui empêchent leurs études structurales et fonctionnelles, un système d'expression acellulaire à base d'extrait de germe de blé a été développé avec succès, permettant la production des protéines NS2, NS4B et NS5A entières directement sous une forme solubilisée en présence de détergent. Ces protéines membranaires sont produites et purifiées par chromatographie d'affinité dans des quantités de l'ordre du milligramme. Des analyses par filtration sur gel indiquent que les échantillons obtenus sont homogènes. De plus, des analyses structurales par dichroïsme circulaire montrent que les protéines produites dans ce système sont bien repliées. Leur reconstitution dans des lipides est en cours d'optimisation. Le but ultime est en effet de déterminer leur structure par RMN du solide dans un environnement lipidique mimant l'environnement natif / While 30% of the genome encodes for membrane proteins, less than 3% of protein structures in the Protein Data Bank correspond to such proteins. Due to their hydrophobic nature, membrane proteins are indeed notoriously difficult to express in classical cell-based protein expression systems. The structural study of the membrane proteins of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in their full-length and native form has therefore been for long time hampered. HCV is a positive-strand RNA virus building its replication complex on a specific membrane rearrangement (membranous web), which serves as a scaffold for the HCV replicase, and is induced by the concerted action of several HCV non-structural proteins including NS2, NS4B and NSSA. The knowledge of the three- dimensional structure of these proteins and their role in virus replication is still limited. To overcome the limitations that prevent the structural and functional studies of these proteins, a wheat germ cell-free protein expression system has been developed. A production protocol was designed which allows us to directly obtain membrane proteins in a soluble form by adding detergent during the in vitro protein synthesis. A large number of mainly viral proteins were successfully expressed, and full protocols were developed for the full-length NS2, NS4B and NSSA proteins. These membrane proteins were produced and purified by affinity chromatography using a Strep-tag II in the milligram range. These protein samples are homogenous, as shown by gel filtration analysis. Moreover, structural analyses by circular dichroism showed that the proteins produced in the wheat germ cell-free system are well folded. Reconstitution of these proteins in lipids is currently under optimization. The ultimate goal is to determine their structure by solid-state NMR in a native-like membrane lipids environment
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| 193 |
Design, expression and purification of virus-like particles derived from metagenomic studies : Virus-like Particles (VLP) of novel Partitiviridae species, Hubei.PLV 11, and novel Soutern pygmy squid flavilike virus were designed, expressed using the bac-to-bac expression system and then pruified using various methodsAyranci, Diyar January 2021 (has links)
Viruses are entities which are made of a few genes and are reliant on obligate parasitism to propagate. Due to the obligate connection to their hosts, virus evolution is constrained to the type of host. Viruses however do transmit to evolutionary distinct hosts; in these cases, the phylogenetic relationship of the hosts usually are close. In some instances, RNA-viruses have made host jumps between evolutionary distant hosts, such as the host jump from invertebrates to vertebrates, and fungi to arthropod. Partitiviruses are double stranded RNA viruses which mainly infect fungi and plants. The defining characteristic of these double stranded RNA viruses are the double layered capsids which are formed by a single open reading frame (ORF). The capsid proteins form icosahedral virus particles which are in the magnitude of 30-40 nm. Metagenomic studies have discovered partitiviruses originating from an insect in the Odanata family, a finding which contradicts the fungal host specificity of partitiviruses. The finding of the Hubei.PLV 11 thus implies the existence of a partitiviruses containing structural elements in their capsids which could be involved in the infection of arthropods. Thus, this virus could be used as a model for a structural comparison with its fungi infecting relatives with hopes to identify common viral structural factors necessary for the infection of arthropods. For this purpose, the Hubei.PLV ORF was cloned and then transfected into insect Spodoptera frugiperda (Sf-9) cells using a baculovirus expression system, “bac-to-bac” expression system. The FLAG-tagged capsid proteins were expressed by the Sf-9 cells to be approximately 60 kDa. After ultra-centrifugation in a sucrose gradient, some spontaneous assembly into the expected ~40 nm icosahedral virus-like particles were observed using low resolution scanning electron microscopy. The observed particles were also confirmed by a dynamic light scattering experiment (DLS) and a higher resolution cryo-EM microscope. Thus, the bac-to-bac expression system can be used to produce VLPs from this genus of viruses, and this metagenomically derived virus genome. However, for future success in defining a high-resolution model of this virus, it is recommended that the Sf-9 culture volume is sufficiently high for enough particle production which is necessary for a high-resolution map. The other virus, the Southern pygmy squid Flavilike virus (SpSFV) has been suggested to be the oldest relative of the land based flaviviruses. The SpSFV was found to be the most divergent of the flaviviruses, and to infect invertebrates. Solving for the structure of the SpSFV and comparing it to vertebrate infecting flaviviruses could therefore lead to the identification of factors necessary for the adaptation to vertebrates and thus the humoral immunity by flaviviruses. The soluble E-protein was expressed using the bac-to-bac expression system. The protein was indicated to be multiglycosylated and approximately 50 kDa which is in line with other strains in the genus. Affinity chromatography did not elute this protein, likely due to the His-tag not being spatially available. Cation exchange could elute some protein, but not much from the small ~30 mL culture. To conclude, VLP assembly was confirmed by the Hubei.PLV, thus, solving for the structure is a distinct possibility when a larger Sf-9 culture is used to produce the VLPs. For the SpSFV soluble E-protein, the protein is secreted into the supernatant of the Sf-9 cultures, making purification a possibility. For this, a large Sf-9 culture can be used to produce this protein and then purify it with a cat-ion exchange chromatography.
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PhD Dissertation-Chemistry-Aayush-2023Aayush Aayush (15354604) 26 April 2023 (has links)
<p> </p>
<p>Learning about ‘behavior’ has always been at the heart of my research endeavors. While my undergraduate work in evolution and ecology exposed me to the science behind why a behavior exists, in my graduate work, I intended to explore how to use something’s behavior to widen its applicability. In this thesis, <em>I will present three works that utilize some of the fundamental</em></p>
<p><em>behaviors (i.e., properties) of elastin-like polypeptides (ELP) to improve existing protein purification methods or explore their applicability in bladder cancer imaging and immunotherapy. </em></p>
<p>Bladder cancer has high recurrence rates (60-70 % annually) that necessitate multiple follow-up therapies making it one of the costliest cancers per patient. In this work, we have attempted to address two leading causes of the recurrence. First is a low sensitivity (62-84 %) and variable specificity (43-95 %) of white light cystoscopy used to diagnose and remove tumors. We aimed to address the heart of this problem, i.e., the non-specific mode of detection using white light. Only the trained eyes can discern abnormal from normal-appearing tissues even then, leaving up to 45% of tumors unresected to colonize and spread. <em>We developed and characterized near infrared dye-peptide-ligand conjugates (NIR-ELP-ligand) that undergo receptor-mediated binding and internalization to human bladder cancer cells in vitro and tissues ex vivo.</em> By using a molecular target-based probe in combination with NIR imaging, we can aid in improving the detection limit via selective binding to the tumor and reduction in background autofluorescence.</p>
<p>Bacillus-Calmette Guérin (BCG) instillation in the bladder is the gold-standard</p>
<p>immunotherapy used after surgical removal of bladder tumors. This was approved as a response to the inefficiency of surgery alone in improving cancer status. It has succeeded by reducing the recurrence rate to 30-50 %. But it comes with the complications of putting a live mycobacterium</p>
<p>in the human body and giving a patient a urinary tract infection right after surgical tumor resection. <em>Thus, we aimed to deliver nucleic acid as immunotherapeutic cargo in a selective manner to elicit robust anti-tumor immune responses while minimizing the side effects due to its carrier.</em> Towards</p>
<p>this goal, we have developed a highly modular and adaptable ELP-ligand fusion protein-based nucleic acid delivery carrier targeted toward bladder cancer. Before developing targeted peptide-based cancer imaging and nucleic acid delivery modalities, we addressed the Achilles heel of peptide-based approaches. The peptide and protein industry suffers</p>
<p>through complex, time-consuming, inconsistent, and low-yielding purification methods. <em>We have developed a scalable, facile, and reproducible protein purification method that delivers ELP and ELP fusion proteins free of host cell proteins and nucleic acids and has low lipopolysaccharide</em></p>
<p><em>content in just 3 h starting from a bacterial pellet. </em>Thus, for a coherent narrative, the thesis is structured as follows:</p>
<p>1. Introduction</p>
<p>2. ELP as a protein purification tag: Development of a rapid purification method for ELPs and ELP fusion proteins.</p>
<p>3. ELP as a cancer imaging agent: Development of NIR-ELP-Ligand imaging probe targeting bladder cancer.</p>
<p>4. ELP as a drug delivery agent: Utilizing ELP-ligand fusion protein in the formulation of targeted nucleic acid delivery carrier to bladder cancer.</p>
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Structural insights and interaction mechanism of stress granule core proteins UBAP2L and G3BP1 / Strukturella insikter och interaktionsmekanism av kärnproteiner i stressgranuler UBAP2L och G3BP1Lin, Yuyang January 2023 (has links)
Ubiquitinbindande protein 2-liknande (UBAP2L) och Ras GTPas-aktiverande proteinsbindande protein 1 (G3BP1) är två kärn-RNA-bindande proteiner (RBPs) som är involverade i bildandet av SGs. Nyligen genomförda studier föreslog att UBAP2L kan fungera som ett upströmsprotein till G3BP1/2 med förmågan att främja SG-bildning oberoende. NTF2-domänen dimeriserar G3BP1 och bildar en plattform för protein-protein-interaktioner. Dess interaktion med UBAP2L-DUF-regionen var avgörande för bildandet av mogna SG. Detta projekt syftade till att avslöja protein-protein-interaktionen mellan G3BP1 och UBAP2L in vitro och karakterisera den kända interaktionen mellan G3BP1-NTF2 och UBAP2L-DUF-regionen. I detta projekt renades homodimeren av G3BP1-NTF2-domänen och komplexades med en syntetiserad peptid som motsvarar rester 505–534 av UBAP2L (UBAP2L 505-534). Låga diffraktionskristallträffar erhölls genom att co-kristallisera G3BP1-NTF2 med peptiden. Ytterligare optimeringar krävs fortfarande. Tre konstruktioner av UBAP2L (N, C och L) designades och utsattes för reningsförsök. Fullängds-G3BP1 renades för att identifiera domäninteraktionen inom UBAP2L-konstruktionerna. Pull-down-testet med His-G3BP och samuttrycket av G3BP1/UBAP2L-N föreslog en mycket svag interaktion mellan G3BP1 och UBAP2L-N. Med tanke på de tillgängliga resultaten från vår studie och co-IP-tester från andra publicerade artiklar bör vi fokusera mer på studien av G3BP2, som föreslogs spela en mer direkt roll i att binda UBAP2L. / Ubiquitin Binding Protein 2-like (UBAP2L) and Ras GTPase-activating protein-binding protein 1 (G3BP1) are two core RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) involved in the assembly of SGs. Recent studies suggested that UBAP2L might serve as an upstream protein of G3BP1/2 with the ability to promote SG assembly independently. The NTF2 domain dimerizes G3BP1 and forms a platform for protein-protein interactions. Its interaction with the UBAP2L-DUF region was critical for mature SG formations. This project aimed to reveal the protein-protein interaction between G3BP1 and UBAP2L in vitro and characterize the known interaction between G3BP1-NTF2 and UBAP2L-DUF region. In this project, the G3BP1-NTF2 domain homodimer was purified and complexed UBAP2L-DUF derived peptide. Low diffraction crystal hits were obtained by co-crystallizing G3BP1-NTF2 with a synthesized peptide corresponding to residues 505 – 534 of UBAP2L (UBAP2L 505-534). While further optimizations are still required. Three constructs of UBAP2L (N, C, and L) were designed and subjected to purification trials. Full-length G3BP1 was purified to identify the domain interaction within UBAP2L constructs. The his-G3BP pull-down assay and co-expression of G3BP1/UBAP2L-N suggested a very weak interaction between G3BP1 and UBAP2L-N. Considering the available results from our study and co-IP assays from other published papers, we should focus more on the study of G3BP2 which was suggested to play a more direct role in binding UBAP2L.
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Structural and Functional Characterization of O-Antigen Translocation and Polymerization in Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1Islam, Salim Timo 07 June 2013 (has links)
Heteropolymeric O antigen (O-Ag)-capped lipopolysaccharide is the principal constituent of the Gram-negative bacterial cell surface. It is assembled via the integral inner membrane (IM) Wzx/Wzy-dependent pathway. In Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Wzx translocates lipid-linked anionic O-Ag subunits from the cytoplasmic to the periplasmic leaflets of the IM, where Wzy polymerizes the subunits to lengths regulated by Wzz1/2. The Wzx and Wzy IM topologies were mapped using random C-terminal-truncation fusions to PhoALacZα, which displays PhoA/LacZ activity dependent upon its subcellular localization. Twelve transmembrane segments (TMS) containing charged residues were identified for Wzx. Fourteen TMS, two sizeable cytoplasmic loops (CL), and two large periplasmic loops (PL3 and PL5 of comparable size) were characterized for Wzy.
Despite Wzy PL3–PL5 sequence homology, these loops were distinguished by respective cationic and anionic charge properties. Site-directed mutagenesis identified functionally-essential Arg residues in both loops. These results led to the proposition of a “catch-and-release” mechanism for Wzy function. The abovementioned Arg residues and intra-Wzy PL3–PL5 sequence homology were conserved among phylogenetically diverse Wzy homologues, indicating widespread potential for the proposed mechanism. Unexpectedly, Wzy CL6 mutations disrupted Wzz1-mediated regulation of shorter O-Ag chains, providing the first evidence for direct Wzy–Wzz interaction.
Mutagenesis studies identified functionally-important charged and aromatic TMS residues localized to either the interior vestibule or TMS bundles in a 3D homology model constructed for Wzx. Substrate-binding or energy-coupling roles were proposed for these residues, respectively. The Wzx interior was found to be cationic, consistent with translocation of anionic O-Ag subunits. To test these hypotheses, Wzx was overexpressed, purified, and reconstituted in proteoliposomes loaded with I−. Common transport coupling ions were introduced to “open” the protein and allow detection of I− flux via reconstituted Wzx. Extraliposomal changes in H+ induced I− flux, while Na+ addition had no effect, suggesting H+-dependent Wzx gating. Putative energy-coupling residue mutants demonstrated defective H+-dependent halide flux. Wzx also mediated H+ uptake as detected through fluorescence shifts from proteoliposomes loaded with pH-sensitive dye. Consequently, Wzx was proposed to function via H+-coupled antiport. In summary, this research has contributed structural and functional knowledge leading to novel mechanistic understandings for O-Ag biosynthesis in bacteria. / Bookmarks within the document have been provided for ease of access to a particular section in the body of the thesis. Each entry in the Table of Contents, List of Tables, and List of Figures has been "linked" to its respective position and as such can be clicked for direct access to the entry. Similarly, each in-text Figure or Table reference has been "linked" to its respective figure/table for direct access to the entry. / 1.) Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarship doctoral award, 2.) CIHR Michael Smith Foreign Study Award, 3.) Cystic Fibrosis Canada (CFC) doctoral studentship, 4.) University of Guelph Dean's Tri-Council Scholarship, 5.) Ontario Graduate Scholarship in Science and Technology, 6.) Operating grants to Dr. Joseph S. Lam from CIHR (MOP-14687) and CFC
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Structural Investigation of Processing α-Glucosidase I from Saccharomyces cerevisiaeBarker, Megan 20 August 2012 (has links)
N-glycosylation is the most common eukaryotic post-translational modification, impacting on protein stability, folding, and protein-protein interactions. More broadly, N-glycans play biological roles in reaction kinetics modulation, intracellular protein trafficking, and cell-cell communications.
The machinery responsible for the initial stages of N-glycan assembly and processing is found on the membrane of the endoplasmic reticulum. Following N-glycan transfer to a nascent glycoprotein, the enzyme Processing α-Glucosidase I (GluI) catalyzes the selective removal of the terminal glucose residue. GluI is a highly substrate-specific enzyme, requiring a minimum glucotriose for catalysis; this glycan is uniquely found in biology in this pathway. The structural basis of the high substrate selectivity and the details of the mechanism of hydrolysis of this reaction have not been characterized. Understanding the structural foundation of this unique relationship forms the major aim of this work.
To approach this goal, the S. cerevisiae homolog soluble protein, Cwht1p, was investigated. Cwht1p was expressed and purified in the methyltrophic yeast P. pastoris, improving protein yield to be sufficient for crystallization screens. From Cwht1p crystals, the structure was solved using mercury SAD phasing at a resolution of 2 Å, and two catalytic residues were proposed based upon structural similarity with characterized enzymes. Subsequently, computational methods using a glucotriose ligand were applied to predict the mode of substrate binding. From these results, a proposed model of substrate binding has been formulated, which may be conserved in eukaryotic GluI homologs.
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Structural Investigation of Processing α-Glucosidase I from Saccharomyces cerevisiaeBarker, Megan 20 August 2012 (has links)
N-glycosylation is the most common eukaryotic post-translational modification, impacting on protein stability, folding, and protein-protein interactions. More broadly, N-glycans play biological roles in reaction kinetics modulation, intracellular protein trafficking, and cell-cell communications.
The machinery responsible for the initial stages of N-glycan assembly and processing is found on the membrane of the endoplasmic reticulum. Following N-glycan transfer to a nascent glycoprotein, the enzyme Processing α-Glucosidase I (GluI) catalyzes the selective removal of the terminal glucose residue. GluI is a highly substrate-specific enzyme, requiring a minimum glucotriose for catalysis; this glycan is uniquely found in biology in this pathway. The structural basis of the high substrate selectivity and the details of the mechanism of hydrolysis of this reaction have not been characterized. Understanding the structural foundation of this unique relationship forms the major aim of this work.
To approach this goal, the S. cerevisiae homolog soluble protein, Cwht1p, was investigated. Cwht1p was expressed and purified in the methyltrophic yeast P. pastoris, improving protein yield to be sufficient for crystallization screens. From Cwht1p crystals, the structure was solved using mercury SAD phasing at a resolution of 2 Å, and two catalytic residues were proposed based upon structural similarity with characterized enzymes. Subsequently, computational methods using a glucotriose ligand were applied to predict the mode of substrate binding. From these results, a proposed model of substrate binding has been formulated, which may be conserved in eukaryotic GluI homologs.
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