scholarly journals How One Bad Protein Spoils the Barrel: Structural Details of β2-Microglobulin Amyloidogenicity

2011 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lila M. Gierasch
Author(s):  
A. Trillo

There are conflicting reports regarding some fine structural details of arteries from several animal species. Buck denied the existence of a sub-endothelial space, while Karrer and Keech described a space of variable width which separates the endothelium from the underlying internal elastic lamina in aortas of aging rats and mice respectively.The present communication deals with the ultrastrueture of the interface between the endothelial cell layer and the internal elastic lamina as observed in carotid arteries from rabbits of varying ages.


Author(s):  
J. Chakraborty ◽  
A. P. Sinha Hikim ◽  
J. S. Jhunjhunwala

Although the presence of annulate lamellae was noted in many cell types, including the rat spermatogenic cells, this structure was never reported in the Sertoli cells of any rodent species. The present report is based on a part of our project on the effect of torsion of the spermatic cord to the contralateral testis. This paper describes for the first time, the fine structural details of the annulate lamellae in the Sertoli cells of damaged testis from guinea pigs.One side of the spermatic cord of each of six Hartly strain adult guinea pigs was surgically twisted (540°) under pentobarbital anesthesia (1). Four months after induction of torsion, animals were sacrificed, testes were excised and processed for the light and electron microscopic investigations. In the damaged testis, the majority of seminiferous tubule contained a layer of Sertoli cells with occasional spermatogonia (Fig. 1). Nuclei of these Sertoli cells were highly pleomorphic and contained small chromatinic clumps adjacent to the inner aspect of the nuclear envelope (Fig. 2).


Author(s):  
Alain R. Trudel ◽  
M. Trudel

AirfugeR (Beckman) direct ultracentrifugation of viral samples on electron microscopy grids offers a rapid way to concentrate viral particles or subunits and facilitate their detection and study. Using the A-100 fixed angle rotor (30°) with a K factor of 19 at maximum speed (95 000 rpm), samples up to 240 μl can be prepared for electron microscopy observation in a few minutes: observation time is decreased and structural details are highlighted. Using latex spheres to calculate the increase in sensitivity compared to the inverted drop procedure, we obtained a 10 to 40 fold increase in sensitivity depending on the size of particles. This technique also permits quantification of viral particles in samples if an aliquot is mixed with latex spheres of known concentration.Direct ultracentrifugation for electron microscopy can be performed on laboratory samples such as gradient or column fractions, infected cell supernatant, or on clinical samples such as urine, tears, cephalo-rachidian liquid, etc..


Author(s):  
Bridget Carragher ◽  
David A. Bluemke ◽  
Michael J. Potel ◽  
Robert Josephs

We have investigated the feasibility of restoring blurred electron micrographs. Two related problems have been considered; the restoration of images blurred as a result of relative motion between the specimen and the image plane, and the restoration of images which are rotationally blurred about an axis. Micrographs taken while the specimen is drifting result in images which are blurred in the direction of motion. An example of rotational blurring arises in micrographs of thin sections of helical particles viewed in cross section. The twist of the particle within the finite thickness of the section causes the image to appear rotationally blurred about the helical axis. As a result, structural details, particularly at large distances from the helical axis, will be obscured.


Author(s):  
Santosh Bhattacharyya

Three dimensional microscopic structures play an important role in the understanding of various biological and physiological phenomena. Structural details of neurons, such as the density, caliber and volumes of dendrites, are important in understanding physiological and pathological functioning of nervous systems. Even so, many of the widely used stains in biology and neurophysiology are absorbing stains, such as horseradish peroxidase (HRP), and yet most of the iterative, constrained 3D optical image reconstruction research has concentrated on fluorescence microscopy. It is clear that iterative, constrained 3D image reconstruction methodologies are needed for transmitted light brightfield (TLB) imaging as well. One of the difficulties in doing so, in the past, has been in determining the point spread function of the system.We have been developing several variations of iterative, constrained image reconstruction algorithms for TLB imaging. Some of our early testing with one of them was reported previously. These algorithms are based on a linearized model of TLB imaging.


Author(s):  
M. Boublik ◽  
N. Robakis ◽  
W. Hellmann ◽  
F. Jenkins

Ribosomes are ribonucleoprotein particles which process the genetic information coded in mRNA into protein synthesis. The analogy in function and composition of ribosomes from various sources, both prokaryotic and eukaryo-tic, imply a structural similarity. At present, high resolution electron microscopy is the most direct technique with a potential to resolve the extent of the structural homology of ribosomal particles at a macromolecular level. The structure of ribosomes is highly complex as a result of the large number of their constituents. In general, 80S eukaryotic monosomes consist of two uneven subunits - large (60S) and small (40S) - accomodating four different RNAs and approximately 80 different proteins. Mutual orientation of both subunits on the monosome is of particular interest because it determines the interface, the supposed site of interactions of ribosomes with other macro-molecules involved in peptide bond formation. Since entrapping of the contrasting solution (0.5% aqueous uranyl acetate) obscures all structural details in the interface, information on its architecture is limited to an indirect reconstruction based on the established 3-D structure of both sub-units and their mutual position after association.


1981 ◽  
Vol 78 ◽  
pp. 837-841 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcel Sarrazin ◽  
Claudette Briand ◽  
Madeleine Bourdeaux ◽  
Michèle Chauvet ◽  
Claude Vincent ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  

1986 ◽  
Vol 56 (02) ◽  
pp. 229-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
A H Hopper ◽  
H Tindall ◽  
J A Davies

SummaryTBeta-thromboglobulin (βTG) is a platelet-specific protein and since its concentration in plasma rises when platelets are activated, it has been used as an indicator of platelet involvement in vascular disease. Since platelets might be involved in the pathogenesis of diabetic microvascular disease we measured urinary βTG in 20 insulin-dependent diabetics with nephropathy and compared the results with those from 20 normal subjects. Measurement of βTG in urine was undertaken to avoid errors induced by blood sampling and to gain information over a prolonged period using a single assay. Measurements were made of βTG, β2-microglobulin and total protein in urine collected for 24 h and creatinine and β2 microglobulin in plasma. Survival of indium-111-labelled platelets was measured in nine patients. Urinary PTG was significantly (p <0.02) increased in the 20 patients compared with 20 normal volunteers (median value 1.3 vs 0.8 μg/24 h). There was a strong correlation between urinary βTG excretion and plasma creatinine concentration (r = 0.8, p <0.0001) and plasma β2-microglobulin concentration (r = 0.9, p <0.0001). Urinary βTG concentration did not correlate with platelet survival. The results indicate that although urinary βTG is significantly increased in patients with diabetic nephropathy its concentration in urine correlates with indicators of glomerular filtration rather than with a test of platelet activation.


2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 265 ◽  
Author(s):  
Son Tung Ngo

The Amyloid beta (Aβ) oligomers are characterized as critical cytotoxic materials in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathogenesis. Structural details of transmembrane oligomers are inevitably necessary to design/search potential inhibitor due to treat AD. However, the experimental detections for structural modify of low-order Aβ oligomers are precluded due to the extremely dynamic fluctuation of the oligomers. In this project, the transmembrane Italian-mutant (E22K) 3Aβ11-40 (tmE22K 3Aβ11-40) was extensively investigated upon the temperature replica exchange molecular dynamics (REMD) simulations. The structural changes of the trimer when replacing the negative charged residue E22 by a positively charged residue K were monitored over simulation intervals. The oligomer size was turned to be larger and the increase of β-content was recorded. The momentous gain of intermolecular contacts with DPPC molecules implies that tmE22K 3Aβ11-40 easier self-inserts into the membrane than the WT one. Furthermore, the tighter interaction between constituting monomers was indicated implying that the E22K mutation probably enhances the Aβ fibril formation. The results are in good agreement with experiments that E22K amyloid is self-aggregate faster than the WT form. Details information of tmE22K trimer structure and kinetics probably yield the understanding of AD mechanism.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Di Liu ◽  
Yaming Shao ◽  
Joseph A. Piccirilli ◽  
Yossi Weizmann

<p>Though advances in nanotechnology have enabled the construction of synthetic nucleic acid based nanoarchitectures with ever-increasing complexity for various applications, high-resolution structures are lacking due to the difficulty of obtaining good diffracting crystals. Here we report the design of RNA nanostructures based on homooligomerizable tiles from an RNA single-strand for X-ray determination. Three structures are solved to near-atomic resolution: a 2D parallelogram, an unexpectedly formed 3D nanobracelet, and a 3D nanocage. Structural details of their constituent motifs—such as kissing loops, branched kissing-loops and T-junctions—that resemble natural RNA motifs and resisted X-ray determination are revealed. This work unveils the largely unexplored potential of crystallography in gaining high-resolution feedback for nanostructure design and suggests a novel route to investigate RNA motif structures by configuring them into nanoarchitectures.</p>


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document