Investigations detailed in this thesis constitue a part of continuing programme of research work undertaken in this laboratory on vitamin binding proteins. Avidin from the chicken egg white, streptavidin &om the bacterium Streptromyces avidin and biotin binding proteins (BBP-I and BBP-11) from chicken egg yolk constitute a family of proteins that bind the vitamin biotin with extremely high affinities. The yolk BBPs are involved in the deposition of the vitamin in the developing oocyte in chicks whereas an antimicrobial function has been attributkl to avidin.. The fact that all these proteins bind the vitamin in the same manner, unlike biotin-dependent enzymes, indicates that the structural features involved in ligand binding could be similar, if not identical in these proteins. To delineate the basis of putative structural similarity among these proteins, studies were carried out using antibodies as the immunological probes. Avidin, a homotetremer glycoprotein, with a subunit Mr of 17,000 has been purified to homogeneity from chicken egg white using a novel procedure involving ammonium sulphate fractionation, ethanol precipitation and S-Sepharose column chromatography. Despite their lesser abundance in chicken egg yolk associated with a large amount of interfering lipids during the purification, both BBP-I (monomer and shown to be precursor for BBP-11) and BBP-I1 (tetramer) have been purified to homogeneity by employing a common method using butanol extraction to remove the lipids, DEAE-Sephacel column chromatography, biotin-AH-Sepharose affinity chromatography and fast performance liquid chrometography (FPLC) system. The purity of all these proteins was confirmed by SDS-PAGE analysis.

Les acides gras à longue chaîne (AGLC) issus des graisses alimentaires exercent de<br />nombreuses fonctions au niveau de l'organisme (source d'énergie et d'acides gras<br />indispensables, synthèse d'eicosanoïdes, régulation de gènes). Leur biodisponibilité cellulaire<br />est donc un paramètre essentiel, principalement conditionné par la barrière intestinale. On sait<br />que l'absorption intestinale des AGLC est très efficace. En revanche, on ignore si ce<br />phénomène est inné ou adaptatif. La réponse à cette question est essentielle. Si l'intestin est<br />capable d'adapter son absorption au contenu en lipides du régime, on pourrait envisager de<br />nouvelles stratégies thérapeutiques visant à limiter la surcharge lipidique de l'organisme dont<br />les effets sont connus. Dans cette optique, nous avons soumis pendant 21 jours des souris à un<br />régime hyperlipidique (40% m/m). Nous avons constaté une induction : 1) du captage des<br />AGLC, 2) de l'activité proliférative qui s'accompagne d'une augmentation de la masse<br />relative de la muqueuse, 3) de l'expression des gènes impliqués dans le captage (Fatty Acid<br />Transport Protein 4, FATP-4), le trafic entérocytaire (Fatty Acid Transporter, FAT; Intestinal<br />and Liver Fatty Acid-Binding Protein, I et L-FABP) des AGLC, la synthèse et la sécrétion des<br />lipoprotéines (Microsomal Triglyceride transfer Protein, MTP et apolipoprotéine A-IV). Ce<br />phénomène est adaptatif puisque ces régulations retournent aux valeurs des témoins lorsque<br />les souris sont renourries avec un régime normolipidique. Ces modifications s'accompagnent<br />d'une augmentation de l'efficacité de clairance plasmatique des lipoprotéines riches en<br />triglycérides. Selon les données de la littérature, le Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated<br />Receptor β (PPARβ) pourrait occuper une place centrale dans cette adaptation intestinale.<br />C'est pourquoi l'impact de la sur-expression intestinale de ce récepteur nucléaire a été étudié<br />sur les capacités d'absorption chez la souris. Les données obtenues ont montré que la surexpression<br />intestinale de PPARβ engendre une adaptation moins efficace des capacités<br />d'absorption. Selon nos travaux, une moins bonne différenciation des entérocytes chez les<br />souris doubles trangéniques pourraient être à l'origine de ce défaut d'adaptation.

Dissertation (Ph.D.)--University of Toledo, 2009. / Typescript. "Submitted as a partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Biology." Bibliography: leaves 135-146.

Zugl.: Berlin, Freie Univ., Diss., 2008 / Includes bibliographic references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Kentucky, 2002. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains vii, 158 p. : ill. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 128-155).

Cardiac muscle function necessitates the meticulous assembly and interactions of several cytoskeletal and regulatory proteins into specialized structures that orchestrate contraction and transmission forces. Despite extensive studies identifying the protein components responsible for these important aspects of heart development, putative RNA based mechanisms remain poorly understood, even with their demonstrated importance in other tissues. Evidence suggests that post-transcriptional regulation is critical for muscle function, but the molecular players involved (RNA binding proteins and mRNA targets) have remained elusive. We investigated the molecular mechanisms and targets of the muscle-specific Fragile X Related protein-1 (FXR1), an RNA binding protein whose absence leads to perinatal lethality in mice. Loss of FXR1 results in global protein level alterations. Morphological and biochemical analyses of Fxr1^(-/-) mice revealed severe disruption of intercalated disc and costamere architecture and composition. We identified several candidate mRNAs specifically enriched in the FXR1 protein complex. Two targets that likely contribute to the architectural defects are desmoplakin (dsp) and talin2 (tln2). In vitro assays indicate that FXR1 binds to these mRNA targets directly and represses their translation. Additionally, we provide preliminary evidence that the Fxr1^(-/-) mice mimic a hypothyroid state of cardiac gene expression, with alterations in myosin heavy chain and troponin I isoforms. Our findings reveal the first mRNA targets of FXR1 in muscle and support translational repression as a novel mechanism for cardiac muscle development and function.

Staphylococcus aureus is an important human and animal pathogen that causes a wide range of infections. These infections can be very serious and sometimes hard to get rid of, because of the many virulence factors the bacteria produce during infections. This project was a research of the extracellular fibrinogen-binding protein, Efb, which is a 15.9 kDa protein that has been shown to be an important virulence factor during S. aureus infections. The purpose with the project was to find out if the protein has more than one binding site to fibrinogen and if people produce antibodies against Efb. This was performed with methods such as affinity chromatography, ELISA, coagulation test and western blot. It was shown that Efb has two binding sites to fibrinogen. One is placed on the C-terminal part of Efb and the other on the N-terminal. It was also shown that the production of antibodies against Efb rises significantly in people during an ongoing infection.

Microglia, the resident immune cells of the central nervous system, can become activated following injury, disease, or infection. In vitro, they can be activated by stimuli, which determine the inflammatory phenotype they will develop. In this thesis, stimulating microglia with tumor necrosis factor- and interferon- resulted in classical activation, characterized by proliferation, increased transcription of complement receptor 3 and major histocompatibility class II molecules, and elevated production and transcription of interleukin-1 and nitric oxide. Stimulation with TNF and IFN also changed the intensity of phosphorylated (activated) cyclic adenosine monophosphate response element binding protein immunoreactivity in microglia. Specifically, cells differentiated into populations with high or low pCREB intensity. This was the first example of such a response in microglia and was representative of what occurred in vivo, after ICH. Thus, the characterization of this model will be useful for future studies of this and other intracellular pathways of classically activated microglia.

Antifreeze proteins (AFPs) help cold-adapted organisms survive below 0 ◦C by binding to and inhibiting the growth of ice crystals. In this way, AFPs depress the freezing point of aqueous fluids below the melting point of ice (thermal hysteresis; TH). They also have the ability to inhibit ice recrystallization in the frozen state (ice recrystallization inhibition; IRI). Some AFPs show an order of magnitude higher TH activity than others, and are termed ‘hyperactive’. One of the objectives of this thesis was to see if IRI activities of the hyperactive AFPs are also an order of magnitude higher than the moderately active AFPs. Using a capillary-based assay for IRI, the activities of three hyperactive and three moderately active AFPs were determined. There was no apparent correlation between hyperactivity in TH and high IRI activity. However, mutations of residues on the ice-binding face (IBF) of both types of AFP reduced IRI and TH activities to a similar extent. In this way, the use of IBF mutant AFPs showed that the IBF responsible for an AFP’s TH activity is also responsible for its IRI activity. Analysis of the diverse AFP structures solved to date indicate that their IBFs are relatively flat, occupy a significant proportion of the protein’s surface area and are more hydrophobic than other surfaces of the protein. The IBFs also often have repeating sequence motifs and tend to be rich in alanine and/or, threonine. The de novo design of an ice-binding protein was undertaken using these features to verify the underlying physicochemical requirements necessary for a protein’s interaction with ice. Using site-directed mutagenesis, a total of sixteen threonine substitutions were made on one of the four faces of a cyanobacterial protein with no endogenous TH activity. The inclusion of eight paired threonines on one face of this quadrilateral helix gave the engineered protein low levels of TH activity, but at the cost of destabilizing the structure to some extent. The results of this study have validated some of the properties needed for the ice-binding activity of AFPs. / Thesis (Master, Biochemistry) -- Queen's University, 2010-01-29 17:37:24.322

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