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The role of lipids in signal transduction with reference to phosphatidylinositol 3-phosphate directing endosomal localization of regulatory proteins is discused. Specific phosphate and hydroxyl group interactions distinguish phosphatidylinositol 3-phosphate from other lipids. The lipid binds to FYVE and PX domains found in intracellular membrane transport/signal transduction proteins and phagocyte proteins, respectively.

The structure of type II-beta phosphatidylinositol phosphate kinase (PIPK) shows a protein kinase ATP-binding core. It indicates that all phosphoinositide kinases are part of one superfamily. The flatness of the membrane-binding site, along with the shallowness of the substrate-binding pocket and its closeness to the membrane indicate that PIPKs phosphyorylate their substrates in situ in membranes. This allows the enzyme to avoid an energetic penalty for removing the substrate from its low-energy conformation within the membrane.

Soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC) is a heme-containing heterodimeric enzyme that generates many molecules of cGMP in response to its ligand nitric oxide (NO); sGC thereby acts as an amplifier in NO-driven biological signaling cascades. Because sGC helps regulate the cardiovascular, neuronal, and gastrointestinal systems through its cGMP production, boosting sGC activity and preventing or reversing sGC inactivation are important therapeutic and pharmacologic goals. Work over the last two decades is uncovering the processes by which sGC matures to become functional, how sGC is inactivated, and how sGC is rescued from damage. A diverse group of small molecules and proteins have been implicated in these processes, including NO itself, reactive oxygen species, cellular heme, cell chaperone Hsp90, and various redox enzymes as well as pharmacologic sGC agonists. This review highlights their participation and provides an update on the processes that enable sGC maturation, drive its inactivation, or assist in its recovery in various settings within the cell, in hopes of reaching a better understanding of how sGC function is regulated in health and disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The CUE domain of the Vps9p sorting protein binds to monoubiquitin. The two binding surfaces of the CUE monomer are opposite to each other and cannot bind a ubiquitin molecule simultaneously. However, dimerization facilitates both sides to bind a monoubiquitin molecule.

The FYVE domains' interaction with the phosphatidylinositol three-phosphate membranes controls membrane trafficking and signalling pathways. Study of the FYVE domain structure revealed that this amino acid region is composed of two antiparallel beta sheets and an L helix stabilized by two Zn2+-binding clusters. It was also observed that the tip of the FYVE domain has basic and hydrophobic surfaces that promote nonspecific interactions with the phospholipid bilayer.

The purpose of this study is to make a boron carbide (B 4 C) and cubic boron nitride (cBN) reinforced Ti6Al4V metal matrix composites (MMC's) by direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) technique using the continuous wave (CW) SPI fiber laser and to check the feasibility of the formation of three dimensional objects by this process. For this study, the process parameters like laser power density (3.528–5.172 W/cm 2 (×10 4 ), scanning speed (3500–4500 mm/min), composition of the reinforced materials B 4 C (5–25% by volume) and cBN (3% by volume) were taken as input variables and hatching gap (0.2 mm), spot diameter (0.4 mm), layer thickness (0.4 mm) were taken as constant. It was analyzed that surface characteristic, density and the mechanical properties of sintered samples were greatly influenced by varying the input process parameters. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and X-Ray diffraction (XRD) were performed for microstructural analysis, elemental analysis, and recognition of intermetallic compounds respectively. Mechanical properties like micro-hardness & wear rate were examined by Vickers micro-hardness tester & pin on disc arrangement respectively. From hardness tests, it was observed that hardness property of the sintered specimens was increased as compared to the parent material. The XRD results show that there is a good affinity between Ti6Al4V-B 4 C-cBN to produce various intermetallic compounds which themselves enhance the mechanical properties of the samples. From FESEM analysis, we can conclude that there is a uniform distribution of reinforcements in the titanium alloy matrix. Furthermore, the coefficient of friction (COF) was characterized by the irregular pattern and it tends to decrease with an increase in the volume % of reinforcement. The results obtained in this work may be useful in preparing the MMC's with improved mechanical properties and overall characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The enzyme soluble guanylyl cyclase (sGC) is a heterodimer composed of an subunit and a heme-containing β subunit. It participates in signaling by generating cGMP in response to nitric oxide (NO). Heme insertion into the β1 subunit of sGC (sGCβ) is critical for function, and heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) associates with heme-free sGCβ (apo-sGCβ) to drive its heme insertion. Here, we tested the accuracy and relevance of a modeled apo-sGCβ-HSP90 complex by constructing sGCβ variants predicted to have an impaired interaction with HSP90. Using site-directed mutagenesis, purified recombinant proteins, mammalian cell expression, and fluorescence approaches, we found that (i) three regions in apo-sGCβ predicted by the model mediate direct complex formation with HSP90 both in vitro and in mammalian cells; (ii) such HSP90 complex formation directly correlates with the extent of heme insertion into apo-sGCβ and with cyclase activity; and (iii) apo-sGCβ mutants possessing an HSP90-binding defect instead bind to sGC in cells and form inactive, heme-free sGC heterodimers. Our findings uncover the molecular features of the cellular apo-sGCβ- HSP90 complex and reveal its dual importance in enabling heme insertion while preventing inactive heterodimer formation during sGC maturation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary The ubiquitin ligase CHIP plays an important role in cytosolic protein quality control by ubiquitinating proteins chaperoned by Hsp70/Hsc70 and Hsp90, thereby targeting such substrate proteins for degradation. We present a 2.91 Å resolution structure of the tetratricopeptide repeat (TPR) domain of CHIP in complex with the α-helical lid subdomain and unstructured tail of Hsc70. Surprisingly, the CHIP-TPR interacts with determinants within both the Hsc70-lid subdomain and the C-terminal PTIEEVD motif of the tail, exhibiting an atypical mode of interaction between chaperones and TPR domains. We demonstrate that the interaction between CHIP and the Hsc70-lid subdomain is required for proper ubiquitination of Hsp70/Hsc70 or Hsp70/Hsc70-bound substrate proteins. Posttranslational modifications of the Hsc70 lid and tail disrupt key contacts with the CHIP-TPR and may regulate CHIP-mediated ubiquitination. Our study shows how CHIP docks onto Hsp70/Hsc70 and defines a bipartite mode of interaction between TPR domains and their binding partners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mutations in the chloride channel cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator (CFTR) cause cystic fibrosis, a genetic disorder characterized by defects in CFTR biosynthesis, localization to the cell surface, or activation by regulatory factors. It was discovered recently that surface localization of CFTR is stabilized by an interaction between the CFTR N terminus and the multidomain cytoskeletal protein filamin. The details of the CFTR-filamin interaction, however, are unclear. Using x-ray crystallography, we show how the CFTR N terminus binds to immunoglobulin-like repeat 21 of filamin A (FlnA-Ig21). CFTR binds to β-strands C and D of FlnAa-Ig21 using backbone-backbone hydrogen bonds, a linchpin serine residue, and hydrophobic side-chain packing. We use NMR to determine that the CFTR N terminus also binds to several other immunoglobulin-like repeats from filamin A in vitro. Our structural data explain why the cystic fibrosis-causing S13F mutation disrupts CFTR-filamin interaction. We show that FlnA-Ig repeats transfected into cultured Calu-3 cells disrupt CFTR-filamin interaction and reduce surface levels of CFTR. Our findings suggest that filamin A stabilizes surface CFTR by anchoring it to the actin cytoskeleton through interactions with multiple filamin Ig repeats. Such an interaction mode may allow filamins to cluster multiple CFTR molecules and to promote colocalization of CFTR and other filamin-binding proteins in the apical plasma membrane of epithelial cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nitric-oxide synthases (NOS) are heme-thiolate enzymes that N-hydroxylate L-arginine (L-Arg) to make NO. NOS contain a unique Trp residue whose side chain stacks with the heme and hydrogen bonds with the heme thiolate. To understand its importancewesubstitutedHisforTrp188 intheinducibleNOSoxygenase domain (iNOSoxy) and characterized enzyme spectral, thermodynamic, structural, kinetic, and catalytic properties. The W188H mutation had relatively small effects on L-Arg binding and on enzyme heme-CO and heme-NO absorbance spectra, but increased the heme midpoint potential by 88 mV relative to wildtype iNOSoxy, indicating it decreased heme-thiolate electronegativity. The protein crystal structure showed that the His188 imidazole still stacked with the heme and was positioned to hydrogen bond with the heme thiolate. Analysis of a single turnover L-Arg hydroxylation reaction revealed that a new heme species formed during the reaction. Its build up coincided kinetically with the disappearance of the enzyme heme-dioxy species and with the formation of a tetrahydrobiopterin (H4B) radical in the enzyme, whereas its subsequent disappearance coincided with the rate of L-Arg hydroxylation and formation of ferric enzyme. We conclude: (i) W188H iNOSoxy stabilizes a heme-oxy species that forms upon reductionoftheheme-dioxyspeciesbyH4B.(ii)TheW188Hmutation hinders either the processing or reactivity of the heme-oxy species and makes these steps become rate-limiting for L-Arg hydroxylation. Thus, the conserved Trp residue in NOS may facilitate formation and/or reactivity of the ultimate hydroxylating species by tuning heme-thiolate electronegativity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Myotrophin, a 12-kDa ankyrin repeat protein, stimulates protein synthesis and cardiomyocyte growth to initiate cardiac hypertrophy by activating the NF-κB signaling cascade. We found that, after internalization into myocytes, myotrophin cotranslocates into the nucleus with p65 to stimulate myocyte growth. We used structure-based mutations on the hairpin loops of myotrophin to determine the effect of the loops on myotrophin and p65 localization, induction of protein synthesis, and cardiac hypertrophy. Loop mutants, most prominently glutamic acid 33→alanine (E33A), stimulated protein synthesis much less than wild type. Myotrophin-E33A internalized into myocytes but did not translocate into the nucleus and failed to promote nuclear translocation of p65. In addition, two cardiac hypertrophy marker genes, atrial natriuretic factor and β-myosin heavy chain, were not up-regulated in E33A-treated cells. Myotrophin-induced myocyte growth and initiation of hypertrophy thus require nuclear co-translocation of myotrophin and p65, in a manner that depends crucially on the myotrophin hairpin loops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses research on modular signal transduction domains. Contributions and limitations of the various approaches used; Structural features of signal domains; Relationship of structure to the function of signaling domains.