Thesis (Ph. D.)--Chemistry and Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2006. / Dr. Suzanne B. Shuker, Committee Chair ; Dr. Thomas M. Orlando, Committee Co-Chair ; Dr. Donald F. Doyle, Committee Member ; Dr. C. David Sherrill, Committee Member ; Dr. Andreas S. Bommarius, Committee Member ; Dr. S. Michele Owen, Committee Member ; Dr. Vicky L. H. Bevilacqua, Committee Member.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2005. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

This diploma thesis deals with acidic proteins contained in the potato (Solanum tuberosum) tubers, or rather about their separation with chromatography techniques. For the analysis were chosen tubers of two czech potato varieties, Adéla and Westamyl. From the concentrated potato juice were eliminated basic and most of the patatin proteins with the gravity column chromatography. In the next step were applied the chromatography techniques on the anion and hydroxyapatite columns by the fast protein liquid chromatography (FPLC) system. On the anion column were separated protein fractions which contained proteins of molecular weight in the range of 15 kDa to 60 kDa (Adéla) and 15 kDa to 100 kDa (Westamyl). The most abundant were the proteins with molecular weight 15 kDa a 20 kDa. In the last step was used the mass spectrometry for the identification of chosen protein fractions.

This research has focused on the development of novel coumann derivatives containing peptide-like side chains as potential HIV-1 protease inhibitors. The reaction of various salicylaldehyde derivatives with tert-butyl acrylate In the presence of 1,4- diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane (DABCO) has afforded a series of Baylis-Hillman adducts in moderate yield. Cyclisation of the adducts in the presence of HCI afforded the corresponding 3-(chloromethyl)coumarin derivatives, which have been reacted with various amine hydrochlorides in the presence of Proton Sponge® to afford a series of novel 3- (aminomethyl)coumarin derivatives, which were fully characterised by NMR and HRMS methods. Various approaches to the introduction of hydroxyl or amino groups at the C-4 position of coumarin and the 3-(chloromethyl)coumarin derivatives have been explored; these have included dihydroxylation of the coumarin double bond, and the synthesis of 4- benzylaminocoumarin derivatives as potential intermediates. The Vilsmeier-Haack and Mannich reactions have also been investigated as possible methods of introducing the desired peptide-like functionality. Computer modelling of selected structures has indicated that some of the novel 3- (aminomethyl)coumarin derivatives may exhibit activity as inhibitors of HIV-1 protease. The planned enzyme inhibition assays were unfortunately precluded by the aqueous insolubility of the selected compounds. Three ¹³C NMR chemical shift algorithms, viz., Modgraph Neural Network, Modgraph HOSE and Chern Window, have been applied to selected compounds prepared in this study. The Modgraph Neural Network algorithm was found, in all cases, to provide the most accurate correlations with the experimentally-determined chemical shifts. / KMBT_363 / Adobe Acrobat 9.54 Paper Capture Plug-in

A symbiotic association between leguminous roots and soil fixing nitrogen bacteria is required for legume nodule formation. The primary function of nodules is the fixation of nitrogen from the atmosphere into an accessible form for plants. In this study, nodules of plants of the soybean cultivar Prima 2000 were characterized and their number and weight were determined during nodule development. Their nitrogen-fixing activity during nodule development was determined by color evaluation. A pink nodule color showed active leghemoglobin required for nitrogen fixation and a green nodule color nonfunctional leghemoglobin. Strong appearance of nonfunctional leghemoglobin in the later stages of nodule development during senescence was accompanied by an increase in protease activity within crown nodules demonstrated by gelatine-containing SDS PAGE. Cysteine protease activity was identified as a major protease activity during nodule senescence when the cysteine protease inhibitor E-64 was used to block total protease activity. Products, which may indicate the expression of cysteine protease inhibitors during nodule development, were detected with the reverse zymogram technique and Western blotting. However, these bands have not been characterized so far in more detail. Putative transgenic plants were produced using the Agrobacterium transformation technique to allow determining the activity of native and mutated papaya cysteine protease inhibitor coding sequences. These sequences will ultimately be used for soybean transformation to reduce cysteine protease activity in nodules. However, the presence of coding sequence in the genome of these putative transgenic plants could not be confirmed by gene amplification and protease activity testing. Overall, this study has contributed to establish parameters to measure nodule growth and performance during development. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Plant Science / unrestricted

Both of the acute phase reactants, C-reactive protein and fibrinogen, as well as neutrophils have been shown to accumulate at sites of tissue injury or inflammation. The association of C-reactive protein with neutrophils and the concomitant degradation of this ligand by a phorbol 12-myristate 13 acetateactivatable membrane-associated neutral protease has been shown in previous studies. Degradation of C-reactive protein by the neutrophil protease was shown to result in peptides with an ability to modulate various immune functions of the neutrophil. The aim of this study has been to investigate specific characteristics of the protease, with respect to cellular distribution and molecular size. The ability of this neutrophil membrane-associated protease to degrade the acute phase protein, fibrinogen was investigated. The mechanism of degradation of both C-reactive protein and fibrinogen during their association with the neutrophil was also examined. The neutrophil protease, capable of degrading C-reactive protein, was also associated with the cytoskeleton and was proposed to be a submembrane protease localised at sites of attachment of the membrane with the cytoskeleton. The protease was found to have a molecular mass of approximately 600 kDa which, on sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, separated into four bands which migrated to molecular mass values of 209 kDa, 316 kDa, 398 kDa and 501 kDa. This protease also possessed fibrinogenolytic activity. The fibrinogen degradation products generated by this neutrophil membrane-associated protease were distinct from the products generated by the fibrinogenolytic systems of plasmin, human neutrophil elastase and neutrophil lysosomal enzymes and were unclottable through cleavage of the Aα chain from the N-terminus and the Bβ and γ chains from the C-terminus. N-terminal cleavage of the Aα chain by the neutrophil membrane-associated protease generated the Aα1-21 peptide, previously regarded as a unique consequence of elastase activity. Degradation of C-reactive protein and fibrinogen occurred as a result of their interaction with the neutrophil near to the CD11c integrin receptor. This interaction resulted in the egress of proteolytic activity into the extracellular medium. The fibrinogen products generated outside the cell associated with the neutrophil via the β₂ integrin receptors and the IgG Fc receptor. The interaction of the Creactive protein degradation products with the neutrophil could not be determined. Both C-reactive protein and fibrinogen are degraded by non-stimulated neutrophils but activation with phorbol 12- myristate 13 acetate resulted in maximum degradation This upregulation of activity was achieved through activation of H7 and trifluoperazine inhibitable cellular kinases and changes in microfilament assembly. The generation of non-clottable fibrinogen together with possible modulation of neutrophil receptormediated functions by the fibringen degradation products as well as the knowledge that the neutrophil protease generates C-reactive protein peptides with immunomodulatory activity implicates this neutrophil membrane-associated protease in the modulation of various inflammatory processes.

With the advent of more effective therapies for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, HIV-infected patients are living longer and cardiovascular disease is becoming more obvious in this population. Patients with HIV infection represent one of the most rapidly developing groups with cardiovascular disease globally. Cardiovascular disease complicating HIV infection is likely to contribute to burgeoning healthcare costs. Pericarditis, myocarditis, cardiomyopathy, atherosclerotic coronary vasculopathy, arterial aneurysms, pulmonary hypertension, and endocarditis occur with increased frequency in these patients. Pedcardial tamponade, dilated cardiomyopathy, endocarditis, and vasculopathy can lead to fatal outcomes in this population. The advent of cardiomyopathy heralds a very poor prognosis in patients infected with HIV. Coronary vasculopathy without obvious risk factors can lead to myocardial ischemia in young patients infected with the virus. MoreoVer, the protease inhibitors used to treat HIV infection induce a syndrome of lipodystrophy and dyslipidemia that may be associated with accelerated atherosclerosis as well as insulin resistance. All these factors contribute to increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in the HIV-infected population. HIV infection, opportunistic infections, secreted viral proteins such as gp120 (envelope protein) or Tat (transactivator of viral transcription), and cytokines elaborated during the course of HIV infection of the immune system all contribute to pathogenesis of these disorders. Further basic and clinical studies are required to understand the pathogenesis of cardiovascular complications and develop appropriate management strategies for these patients.

Release Date: October 2017 Anemia of chronic inflammation (ACI) is a condition that develops in a setting of chronic immune activation. ACI is characterized and triggered by inflammatory cytokines and the disruption of iron homeostasis. Hepcidin, a small peptide hormone, is the master regulator of iron homeostasis, and rapidly responds to iron supply and demand. Under conditions of chronic inflammation, hepcidin is elevated, and alters the way that iron is absorbed and disrupted throughout the body, resulting in disrupted iron homeostasis through inhibition of the iron exporter protein ferroportin. Anemia arises when insufficient erythropoietic activity combined with inadequate iron supply abrogates the healthy development of mature red blood cells (RBCs). The proprotein convertase (PC) known as furin is a serine protease capable of cleaving peptide precursors into their active state. Furin is critical for normal activation of proteins and enzymes but recently, furin has been implicated in critical roles within cancers, viral and pathogenic infections, and arthritis through activating precursors novel to the disease type. Furin has previously been identified as being the sole PC responsible for generating active hepcidin. Hepcidin is initially synthesized as a larger precursor protein, before undergoing furin cleavage. Furin is known to form mature, bioactive hepcidin, with the removal of this pro-region. Our discovery of a novel regulatory site on Furin has led to potent inhibition using small molecules. This inhibition is shown with the use of in vitro fluorogenic assays, in vivo cell tissue cultures, and within an animal model of ACI. Our results demonstrate that in using these small molecules we can decrease hepcidin levels even in the presence of potent inflammatory cytokines. The inhibition of hepcidin by these small molecules causes an increase in stably expressed ferroportin on cell surfaces and the restoration of the ability to mobilize iron from storage tissues and absorption from the diet. The ability to "fine-tune" inhibition of furin in targeting its allosteric site along with its catalytic domain designates these small-molecule inhibitors as promising therapeutics for treatment of diseases ranging from Alzheimer's and cancer to anthrax and Ebola fever.

No description available.

Two research projects are described: studies of the synthesis of alpha-amino-alpha-alkylsilanes, the synthetic precursor of silanediol-based protease inhibitors, and the synthesis and stability evaluation of silanediol amino acids with an unprecedently unhindered silanediol group. Two methods were investigated as approaches to alpha-amino-alpha-alkylsilanes. First, a silicon-substituted aziridine was chosen as the precursor of an alpha-amino-alpha-alkylsilane via ring opening reactions with carbon nucleophiles. Silyl-substituted aziridines 2-24 and 2-30 were prepared via direct lithiation/silylation of aziridine and employed as substrates for ring opening reactions. In spite of many attempts to ring open these silylaziridines and prepare ?-amino-?-alkylsilanes, optimization of the reaction conditions were unsuccessful. Secondly, alpha-chloro-alpha-benzylsilane 3-12 was prepared as the precursor of an alpha-amino-alpha-alkylsilane via lithiation/benzylation. The alkylation at carbon alpha to silicon to give chloromethylsilane 3-14 was successful when using n-butyllithium for lithiation, which could be explained by the steric encumbrance inherent in the structure. Several attempts for nucleophilic displacement of chloride to obtain alpha-chloro-alpha-benzylsilane 3-11 were unsuccessful possibly due to the steric effect as well as the electronic effect of silicon on the alpha carbon which made the chloride less reactive toward nucleophilic substitution. The silanediol amino acid 4-1 was synthesized originally as a potential arginase inhibitor. Although the expected biological activity was not observed, the studies on silanediol-siloxane distribution of the silanediol amino acid revealed the unique properties of this compound. Under basic conditions, the silanediol amino acid was mainly stable in monomeric form. As the pH decreased, the silanediol amino acid gave a mixture of siloxanes which consisted of a variety of stereoisomers. With available instrumental techniques, monomer, dimers and trimers of the silanediol amino acid were identified. / Chemistry