In prokaryotic cells, the nucleoid contains almost all the genetic materials as well as a number of nucleoid structuring factors. The nucleoid-associated proteins (NAPs) are known to have low molecular weight and the ability to form dimer or oligomer, and most of them can bind to DNA for regulation of gene expression. The Histone-like nucleoid structuring protein H-NS, well studied as one of the NAPs, acts as a global transcriptional repressor. It has independent functional N-terminal domain for oligomerization and C-terminal domain for DNA binding, joined by a flexible linker. H-NS contributes to horizontal genes transfer and responses to environmental factors like temperature or pH, which would influence the oligomerization ability of H-NS and DNA binding. The α-hemolysin expression-modulating protein Hha is a member of the Hha-YmoA family, expressed only in Gram-negative Enterobacteriaceae as a modulator of virulence factors expression. In E. coli, the binding of Hha to H-NS can modulate the expression of α-hemolysin operon, which is essential for the H-NS-regulated gene expression. In this study, both Hha and the oligomerization domain of H-NS (H-NS64) were expressed in E. coli and the purified proteins were crystallized. The Hha crystals diffracted to 2.2 Å; and the HhA/H-NS complex crystals diffracted to 1.8 Å. Both structures were successfully determined by molecular replacement method. Comparisons were carried out between the published apo Hha and H-NS structures and our complex structures. The structures showed the binding details between H-NS and Hha and also conformational changes of each protein, which may indicate how Hha regulates gene expressions through H-NS. / published_or_final_version / Physiology / Master / Master of Philosophy

This thesis investigated the helical structure of core histone octamers to discover interacting surfaces and their relevance to the compaction of nucleosome arrays into the chromating fiber.

No description available.

This thesis investigated the helical structure of core histone octamers to discover interacting surfaces and their relevance to the compaction of nucleosome arrays into the chromating fiber.

No description available.

published_or_final_version / Physiology / Master / Master of Philosophy

X-ray crystallography is a powerful method in determining the structure of both small molecules and macromolecules and is now routinely applied in many scientific fields. However, to apply this method, there is an unavoidable problem to tackle: the Phase Problem, which arises because the phases of a scattered x-ray cannot be measured in diffraction experiment and the original structure cannot be retrieved only with the measurable amplitudes. This thesis presents two approaches in the development of macromolecular phasing methods. One approach presented here utilizes molecular envelope of NMR structures for molecular replacement (MR) phasing with the program FSEARCH at low resolution (about 6 Å). X-ray crystallography and NMR are complementary tools in structural biology. However, it is often difficult to use NMR structures as search models in MR to phase crystallographic data. For this purpose, in our study, several targets with both crystallographic and NMR structures available have been tested. The test protocol involves four steps: (1) Model preparation, NMR structures were processed into averaged polyalanine model, and centroid NMR models have also been tested; (2) Six-dimensional low resolution search were carried out by FSEARCH to find the best match between observed and calculated structure factors; (3) Apply the solution (4) Model building and refinement. In our tests, FSEARCH was able to find the correct translation and orientation of the search model in the crystallographic unit cell, while conventional MR procedures were unsuccessful. The other approach presented in this thesis is protein complex structure completion using IPCAS (Iterative Protein Crystal structure Automatic Solution). Protein complexes have been concerned as essential components in almost every cellular process. X-ray crystallography method is quite useful in studying the nature of protein complexes. In this study, we demonstrated a protein complex completion procedure from a partial molecular replacement (MR) solution using IPCAS. IPCAS is a direct-method aided dual-space iterative phasing and model-building procedure. The test cases were carefully selected from a practical perspective and IPCAS could build the whole complex from one or less than one subunit once molecular replacement method could give a partial solution. Before delivering to IPCAS, MR solution model examination and improvement might be necessary. The IPCAS iteration procedure involves (1) real-space model building and refinement; (2) direct-method aided reciprocal-space phase refinement; and (3) phase improvement through density modification. In our tests, IPCAS is able to extend the full length complex from a less than 30% starting model while conventional model building procedure were unsuccessful. / published_or_final_version / Physiology / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

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No description available.

No description available.