scholarly journals That zincing feeling: the effects of EDTA on the behaviour of zinc-binding transcriptional regulators

2004 ◽  
Vol 381 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer K. NYBORG ◽  
Olve B. PEERSEN

Zinc-binding proteins account for nearly half of the transcription regulatory proteins in the human genome and are the most abundant class of proteins in the human proteome. The zinc-binding transcriptional regulatory proteins utilize Zn2+ to fold structural domains that participate in intermolecular interactions. A study by Matt et al. in this issue of the Biochemical Journal has examined the transcription factor binding properties of the zinc-binding module C/H1 (cysteine/histidine-rich region 1) found in the transcriptional co-activator proteins CBP (CREB-binding protein) and p300. Their studies revealed that EDTA treatment of native C/H1 leads to irreversible denaturation and aggregation. Of particular concern is their finding that unfolded C/H1 participates in non-specific protein–protein interactions. The implications of these results are significant. EDTA is a very potent zinc-chelating agent that is used ubiquitously in protein interaction studies and in molecular biology in general. The potentially detrimental effects of EDTA on the structure and interactions of zinc-binding proteins should be taken into account in the interpretation of a sizeable number of published studies and must be considered in future experiments.

2004 ◽  
Vol 379 (1) ◽  
pp. e1-e2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael B. YAFFE

Serine/threonine phosphorylation plays a central role in cellular regulation, either by altering a protein's activity directly or by inducing specific protein–protein interactions, which, in turn, affect localization, binding specificity or activity. One group of molecules that bind to phosphoserine/phosphothreonine-containing sequences are the 14-3-3 proteins, which regulate a wide range of cellular targets. A new analysis of the 14-3-3 phosphoproteome using affinity chromatography has revealed many previously unknown 14-3-3 ligands whose binding to 14-3-3 proteins is phosphorylation-dependent. This study by the Mackintosh group in this issue of the Biochemical Journal paves the way for future work on these important 14-3-3-interacting proteins.


2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ylenia Cau ◽  
Daniela Valensin ◽  
Mattia Mori ◽  
Sara Draghi ◽  
Maurizio Botta

14-3-3 is a class of proteins able to interact with a multitude of targets by establishing protein-protein interactions (PPIs). They are usually found in all eukaryotes with a conserved secondary structure and high sequence homology among species. 14-3-3 proteins are involved in many physiological and pathological cellular processes either by triggering or interfering with the activity of specific protein partners. In the last years, the scientific community has collected many evidences on the role played by seven human 14-3-3 isoforms in cancer or neurodegenerative diseases. Indeed, these proteins regulate the molecular mechanisms associated to these diseases by interacting with (i) oncogenic and (ii) pro-apoptotic proteins and (iii) with proteins involved in Parkinson and Alzheimer diseases. The discovery of small molecule modulators of 14-3-3 PPIs could facilitate complete understanding of the physiological role of these proteins, and might offer valuable therapeutic approaches for these critical pathological states.


1994 ◽  
Vol 14 (10) ◽  
pp. 6635-6646
Author(s):  
J A Diehl ◽  
M Hannink

Protein-protein interactions between the CCAAT box enhancer-binding proteins (C/EBP) and the Rel family of transcription factors have been implicated in the regulation of cytokine gene expression. We have used sequence-specific DNA affinity chromatography to purify a complex from avian T cells that binds to a consensus C/EBP motif. Our results provide evidence that Rel-related proteins are components of the C/EBP-DNA complex as a result of protein-protein interactions with the C/EBP proteins. A polyclonal antiserum raised against the Rel homology domain of v-Rel and antisera raised against two human RelA-derived peptides specifically induced a supershift of the C/EBP-DNA complex in mobility shift assays using the affinity-purified C/EBP. In addition, several kappa B-binding proteins copurified with the avian C/EBP complex through two rounds of sequence-specific DNA affinity chromatography. The kappa B-binding proteins are distinct from the C/EBP proteins that directly contact DNA containing the C/EBP binding site. The identification of a protein complex that binds specifically to a consensus C/EBP site and contains both C/EBP and Rel family members suggests a novel mechanism for regulation of gene expression by Rel family proteins.


2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (6) ◽  
pp. 1593-1603 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chenkang Zheng ◽  
Patricia C. Dos Santos

Iron–sulfur (Fe–S) clusters are ubiquitous cofactors present in all domains of life. The chemistries catalyzed by these inorganic cofactors are diverse and their associated enzymes are involved in many cellular processes. Despite the wide range of structures reported for Fe–S clusters inserted into proteins, the biological synthesis of all Fe–S clusters starts with the assembly of simple units of 2Fe–2S and 4Fe–4S clusters. Several systems have been associated with the formation of Fe–S clusters in bacteria with varying phylogenetic origins and number of biosynthetic and regulatory components. All systems, however, construct Fe–S clusters through a similar biosynthetic scheme involving three main steps: (1) sulfur activation by a cysteine desulfurase, (2) cluster assembly by a scaffold protein, and (3) guided delivery of Fe–S units to either final acceptors or biosynthetic enzymes involved in the formation of complex metalloclusters. Another unifying feature on the biological formation of Fe–S clusters in bacteria is that these systems are tightly regulated by a network of protein interactions. Thus, the formation of transient protein complexes among biosynthetic components allows for the direct transfer of reactive sulfur and Fe–S intermediates preventing oxygen damage and reactions with non-physiological targets. Recent studies revealed the importance of reciprocal signature sequence motifs that enable specific protein–protein interactions and consequently guide the transactions between physiological donors and acceptors. Such findings provide insights into strategies used by bacteria to regulate the flow of reactive intermediates and provide protein barcodes to uncover yet-unidentified cellular components involved in Fe–S metabolism.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikolaj Riis Christensen ◽  
Christian Parsbæk Pedersen ◽  
Vita Sereikaite ◽  
Jannik Nedergaard Pedersen ◽  
Maria Vistrup-Parry ◽  
...  

SUMMARYThe organization of the postsynaptic density (PSD), a protein-dense semi-membraneless organelle, is mediated by numerous specific protein-protein interactions (PPIs) which constitute a functional post-synapse. Postsynaptic density protein 95 (PSD-95) interacts with a manifold of proteins, including the C-terminal of transmembrane AMPA receptor (AMAPR) regulatory proteins (TARPs). Here, we uncover the minimal essential peptide responsible for the stargazin (TARP-γ2) mediated liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) formation of PSD-95 and other key protein constituents of the PSD. Furthermore, we find that pharmacological inhibitors of PSD-95 can facilitate formation of LLPS. We found that in some cases LLPS formation is dependent on multivalent interactions while in other cases short peptides carrying a high charge are sufficient to promote LLPS in complex systems. This study offers a new perspective on PSD-95 interactions and their role in LLPS formation, while also considering the role of affinity over multivalency in LLPS systems.


2019 ◽  
Vol 97 (2) ◽  
pp. 140-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Navneet Sidhu ◽  
John F. Dawson

A purified F-actin-derived actin trimer that interacts with end-binding proteins did not activate or bind the side-binding protein myosin under rigor conditions. Remodeling of the actin trimer by the binding of gelsolin did not rescue myosin binding, nor did the use of different means of inhibiting the polymerization of the trimer. Our results demonstrate that ADP-ribosylation on all actin subunits of an F-actin-derived trimer inhibits myosin binding and that the binding of DNase-I to the pointed end subunits of a crosslinked trimer also remodels the myosin binding site. Taken together, this work highlights the need for a careful balance between modification of actin subunits and maintaining protein–protein interactions to produce a physiologically relevant short F-actin complex.


2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (19) ◽  
pp. 4846-4853 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yan Wang ◽  
Miguel Correa Marrero ◽  
Marnix H Medema ◽  
Aalt D J van Dijk

Abstract Motivation Polyketide synthases (PKSs) are enzymes that generate diverse molecules of great pharmaceutical importance, including a range of clinically used antimicrobials and antitumor agents. Many polyketides are synthesized by cis-AT modular PKSs, which are organized in assembly lines, in which multiple enzymes line up in a specific order. This order is defined by specific protein–protein interactions (PPIs). The unique modular structure and catalyzing mechanism of these assembly lines makes their products predictable and also spurred combinatorial biosynthesis studies to produce novel polyketides using synthetic biology. However, predicting the interactions of PKSs, and thereby inferring the order of their assembly line, is still challenging, especially for cases in which this order is not reflected by the ordering of the PKS-encoding genes in the genome. Results Here, we introduce PKSpop, which uses a coevolution-based PPI algorithm to infer protein order in PKS assembly lines. Our method accurately predicts protein orders (93% accuracy). Additionally, we identify new residue pairs that are key in determining interaction specificity, and show that coevolution of N- and C-terminal docking domains of PKSs is significantly more predictive for PPIs than coevolution between ketosynthase and acyl carrier protein domains. Availability and implementation The code is available on http://www.bif.wur.nl/ (under ‘Software’). Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.


2012 ◽  
Vol 58 (11) ◽  
pp. 1241-1257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberto Velasco-García ◽  
Rocío Vargas-Martínez

Many of the functions fulfilled by proteins in the cell require specific protein–protein interactions (PPI). During the last decade, the use of high-throughput experimental technologies, primarily based on the yeast 2-hybrid system, generated extensive data currently located in public databases. This information has been used to build interaction networks for different species. Unfortunately, due to the nature of the yeast 2-hybrid system, these databases contain many false positives and negatives, thus they require purging. A method for confirming these PPI is to test them using a technique that operates in vivo and detects binary PPI. This article comprises an overview of the study of PPI and describes the main techniques that have been used to identify bacterial PPI, prioritizing those that can be used for their verification, and it also mentions a number of PPI that have been identified or confirmed using these methods.


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