1,721,101 research outputs found
Nickel impact on human health: An intrinsic disorder perspective
No full textThe interplay of the presence of nickel and protein disorder in processes affecting human health is the focus of the present review. Many systems involving nickel as either a cofactor or as a toxic contaminant are characterized by large disorder. The role of nickel in the biochemistry of bacterial enzymes is discussed here, covering both the beneficial effects of nickel in the human microbiota as well as the role of nickel-depending bacteria in human pathogenesis. In addition, the hazardous health effects caused by nickel exposure to humans, namely nickel-induced carcinogenesis and allergy, are triggered by non-specific interactions of nickel with macromolecules and formation of reactive compounds that mediate cellular damage. Cellular response to nickel is also related to signal transduction cascades. This review thus highlights the most promising systems for future studies aimed at decreasing the adverse effects of nickel on human health
Intrinsic disorder in the nickel-dependent urease network
No full textThe double face of nickel, being both a toxic element for living organisms and a necessary metal for enzymatic reactions, forces nickel-dependent organisms to develop regulatory networks in order to tightly control the intracellular Ni(II) ion quota, avoiding the occurrence of a free Ni(II) pool and overcoming the natural scarcity of this metal ion in the environment. Among nickel-dependent enzymes, urease is an important virulence factor, being required by pathogens for host colonization and virulence.
Regulation of urease activity by bacteria occurs at different levels, such as transcription, maturation and a catalysis. The regulatory networks controlling urease production and activity rely on intrinsically disordered proteins or regions. Different degrees of protein flexibility of Ni(II)-sensors influence their interactions with DNA, as well as modulate the protein-protein interactions for urease activation and the accessibility of the substrate for the catalytic activity. This chapter focuses on the molecular basis of the conformational changes and interactions based on the structural (and unstructural) information available. Understanding the role of intrinsic disorder for these regulatory networks might be the first step to design possible antimicrobial strategies aimed at identifying new selective drugs for bacterial eradication
Isothermal Titration Calorimetry to Characterize Enzymatic Reactions
No full textIsothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) is a technique that measures the heat released or absorbed during a chemical reaction as an intrinsic probe to characterize any chemical process that involves heat changes spontaneously occurring during the reaction. The general features of this method to determine the kinetic and thermodynamic parameters of enzymatic reactions (kcat, KM, ΔH) are described and discussed here together with some detailed applications to specific cases. ITC does not require any modification or labeling of the system under analysis, can be performed in solution, and needs only small amounts of enzyme. These properties make ITC an invaluable, powerful, and unique tool to extend the knowledge of enzyme kinetics to drug discovery
Nickel-responsive transcriptional regulators
No full textNickel is an essential micronutrient for a large number of living organisms, but it is also a toxic metal ion when it accumulates beyond the sustainable level as it may result if and when its cellular trafficking is not properly governed. Therefore, the homeostasis and metabolism of nickel is tightly regulated through metal-specific protein networks that respond to the available Ni(II) concentration. These are directed by specific nickel sensors, able to couple Ni(II) binding to a change in their DNA binding affinity and/or specificity, thus translating the cellular level of Ni(II) into a modification of the expression of the proteins devoted to modulating nickel uptake, efflux and cellular utilization. This review describes the Ni(II)-dependent transcriptional regulators discovered so far, focusing on their structural features, metal coordination modes and metal binding thermodynamics. Understanding these properties is essential to comprehend how these sensors correlate nickel availability to metal coordination and functional responses. A broad and comparative study, described here, reveals some general traits that characterize the binding stoichiometry and Ni(II) affinity of these metallo-sensors
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
The Ni(II)-Binding Activity of the Intrinsically Disordered Region of Human NDRG1, a Protein Involved in Cancer Development
No full textNickel exposure is associated with tumors of the respiratory tract such as lung and nasal cancers, acting through still-uncharacterized mechanisms. Understanding the molecular basis of nickel-induced carcinogenesis requires unraveling the mode and the effects of Ni(II) binding to its intracellular targets. A possible Ni(II)-binding protein and a potential focus for cancer treatment is hNDRG1, a protein induced by Ni(II) through the hypoxia response pathway, whose expression correlates with higher cancer aggressiveness and resistance to chemotherapy in lung tissue. The protein sequence contains a unique C-terminal sequence of 83 residues (hNDRG1*C), featuring a three-times-repeated decapeptide, involved in metal binding, lipid interaction and post-translational phosphorylation. In the present work, the biochemical and biophysical characterization of unmodified hNDRG1*C was performed. Bioinformatic analysis assigned it to the family of the intrinsically disordered regions and the absence of secondary and tertiary structure was experimentally proven by circular dichroism and NMR. Isothermal titration calorimetry revealed the occurrence of a Ni(II)-binding event with micromolar affinity. Detailed information on the Ni(II)-binding site and on the residues involved was obtained in an extensive NMR study, revealing an octahedral paramagnetic metal coordination that does not cause any major change of the protein backbone, which is coherent with CD analysis. hNDRG1*C was found in a monomeric form by light-scattering experiments, while the full-length hNDRG1 monomer was found in equilibrium between the dimer and tetramer, both in solution and in human cell lines. The results are the first essential step for understanding the cellular function of hNDRG1*C at the molecular level, with potential future applications to clarify its role and the role of Ni(II) in cancer development
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Structural Analysis of the Interaction between Jaburetox, an Intrinsically Disordered Protein, and Membrane Models
No full textJack bean urease is entomotoxic to insects with cathepsin-like digestive enzymes, and its toxicity is mainly caused by a polypeptide called Jaburetox (Jbtx), released by cathepsin-dependent hydrolysis of the enzyme. Jbtx is intrinsically disordered in aqueous solution, as shown by CD and NMR. Jbtx is able to alter the permeability of membranes, hinting to a role of Jbtx-membrane interaction as the basis for its toxicity. The present study addresses the structural aspects of this interaction by investigating the behaviour of Jbtx when in contact with membrane models, using nuclear magnetic resonance and circular dichroism spectroscopies in the absence or presence of micelles, large unilamellar vesicles, and bicelles. Fluorescence microscopy was also used to detect protein-insect membrane interaction. Significant differences were observed depending on the type of membrane model used. The interaction with negatively charged SDS micelles increases the secondary and tertiary structure content of the polypeptide, while, in the case of large unilamellar vesicles and bicelles, conformational changes were observed at the terminal regions, with no significant acquisition of secondary structure motifs. These results were interpreted as suggesting that the Jbtx-lipids interaction anchors the polypeptide to the cellular membrane through the terminal portions of the polypeptide and that, following this interaction, Jbtx undergoes conformational changes to achieve a more ordered structure that could facilitate its interaction with membrane-bound proteins. Consistently with this hypothesis, the presence of these membrane models decreases the ability of Jbtx to bind cellular membranes of insect nerve cord. The collected evidence from these studies implies that the biological activity of Jbtx is due to protein-phospholipid interactions.Fil: Broll, Valquiria. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; BrasilFil: Martinelli, Anne Helene S.. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; BrasilFil: Lopes, Fernanda C.. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; BrasilFil: Fruttero, Leonardo Luis. Pontificia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul; Brasil. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología; ArgentinaFil: Zambelli, Barbara. Universidad de Bologna; ItaliaFil: Salladini, Edoardo. Universidad de Bologna; ItaliaFil: Dobrovolska, Olena. Universidad de Bologna; ItaliaFil: Ciurli, Stefano. Universidad de Bologna; ItaliaFil: Carlini, Célia Regina R S. Pontificia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul; Brasil. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; Brasi
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