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Background: Amongst all form of asphyxial death, hanging is most frequently encountered by forensic experts. Easy availability and presence of wide range of ligature materials at home itself makes hanging a preferred method of committing suicide over other methods. Findings over neck vary from case to case depending upon various factors like position of knot over neck, composition of ligature material, duration of suspension etc. Aim & Objectives: The aim of the present study is to identify the various pattern of ligature mark produced in cases of hanging brought to the mortuary. Methodology: The present prospective study was carried out in the Department of Forensic Medicine &Toxicology, Guntur Medical College& GGH Hospital, Guntur, during the period from Feb to December 2017 and includes a total of 40 cases of death due to Hanging, brought to the mortuary of the hospital for medico-legal postmortem examination. Results: In the present study, Majority of cases observed were young adults in third decade i.e., 21-30 years – 20 (50%) followed by individuals in fourth decade i.e., 41-50years – 07(17.5%). Most of the victims belong to middle and lower socio economic strata - 15(37.5%) and 25 (62.5%) respectively. In the present study most of the victims belongs to urban 28 (70%) areas than the rural areas 12 (30%). In our study chunni was the major ligature material for hanging observed in 16 (40%) cases. Postmortem findings revealed that majority of cases showed that bluish colour nails, lips and earlobes. Microscopic examination - breaking, wrinkling and compression of skin along with micro haemorrhages and inflammatory changes in sub- cutaneous tissues were notified. Conclusion: The correlation of external, internal and microscopic findings leads to easy formulation of final opinion these cases. It also, to some extent helps to delineate antemortem cases of hanging with postmortem cases.

This paper describes a method for the purification of monoclonal antibodies (rat anti-2,4-dinitrophenyl IgG: IgG(DNP); and mouse antidigoxin IgG: IgG(Dgn)) from ascites fluid. This procedure (for IgG(DNP)) has three steps: (i) precipitation of proteins heavier than immunoglobulins with ammonium sulfate; (ii) formation of cyclic complexes of IgG(DNP) by causing it to bind to synthetic multivalent haptens containing multiple DNP groups; (iii) selective precipitation of these dimers, trimers, and higher oligomers of the target antibody, followed by regeneration of the free antibody. This procedure separates the targeted antibody from a mixture of antibodies, as well as from other proteins and globulins in a biological fluid. This method is applicable to antibodies with a wide range of monovalent binding constants (0.1 microM to 0.1 nM). The multivalent ligands we used (derivatives of DNP and digoxin) isolated IgG(DNP) and IgG(Dgn) from ascites fluid in yields of >80% and with >95% purity. This technique has two advantages over conventional chromatographic methods for purifying antibodies: (i) it is selective for antibodies with two active Fab binding sites (both sites are required to form the cyclic complexes) over antibodies with one or zero active Fab binding sites; (ii) it does not require chromatographic separation. It has the disadvantage that the structure of the hapten must be compatible with the synthesis of bi- and/or trivalent analogues.

This paper describes a systematic study of the thermodynamics of association of bovine carbonic anhydrase II (BCA) and para-substituted benzenesulfonamides with chains of oligoglycine, oligosarcosine, and oligoethylene glycol of lengths of one to five residues. For all three of these series of ligands, the enthalpy of binding became less favorable, and the entropy less unfavorable, as the chain length of the ligands increased. The dependence on chain length of the enthalpy was almost perfectly compensated by that of the entropy; this compensation resulted in dissociation constants that were independent of chain length for the three series of ligands. Changes in heat capacity were independent of chain length for the three series and revealed that the amount of molecular surface area buried upon protein-ligand complexation did not increase with increasing chain length. Taken together, these data refute a model in which the chains of the ligands interact hydrophobically with the surface of BCA. To explain the data, a model is proposed based on decreasing "tightness" of the protein-ligand interface as the chain length of the ligand increases. This decreasing tightness, as the chain length increases, is reflected in a less favorable enthalpy (due to fewer van der Waals contacts) and a less unfavorable entropy (due to greater mobility of the chain) of binding for ligands with long chains than for those with short chains. Thus, this study demonstrates a surprising example of enthalpy/entropy compensation in a well-defined system. Understanding this compensation is integral to the rational design of high-affinity ligands for proteins.

Amide and ester coupling reactions of ω-functionalized monolayer-protected gold cluster molecules (MPCs) are an exceptionally efficient avenue to a diverse variety of polyfunctionalized MPCs starting from a small subset of ω-functionalized materials. In this paper, coupling reactions have been employed to produce 13 MPCs bearing multiple copies of a diverse variety of structural groups. Detailed features of three of the 13 polyfunctionalized products are highlighted: (a) stepwise coupling and deprotection reactions result in an MPC surrounded by ca. eight pendant tripeptides, (b) a preliminary Steady-State Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (SSEPR) experiment is described for MPCs bearing multiple spin labels (ca. 13/cluster), and (c) a polyelectron electrochemical reaction is described for an MPC bearing multiple (ca. 7/cluster) coupled phenothiazine derivatives. The coupling reactions substantially expand the available diversity of MPCs as polyfunctionalized chemical reagents platformed on a nanometer-siz...

Protein design approaches based on the binary patterning of nonpolar and polar amino acids have been successful in generating native-like protein structures of amphiphilic α-helices or idealized amphiphilic β-strands in aqueous solution. Such patterning is not possible in the nonpolar environment of biological membranes, precluding the application of conventional approaches to the design of membrane proteins that assemble into discrete aggregates. This review surveys a promising, new strategy for membrane protein design that exploits the unique properties of fluorocarbons-in particular, their ability to phase separate from both water (due to their hydrophobicity) and hydrocarbons (due to their lipophobicity)-to generate membrane protein assemblies. The ability to design such discrete assemblies should enable the disruption of protein-protein interactions and provide templates for novel biomaterials and therapeutics.

This paper describes a biophysical investigation of residual mobility in complexes of bovine carbonic anhydrase II (BCA) and para-substituted benzenesulfonamide ligands with chains of 1-5 glycine subunits, and explains the previously observed increase in entropy of binding with chain length. The reported results represent the first experimental demonstration that BCA is not the rigid, static globulin that has been typically assumed, but experiences structural fluctuations upon binding ligands. NMR studies with (15)N-labeled ligands demonstrated that the first glycine subunit of the chain binds without stabilization or destabilization by the more distal subunits, and suggested that the other glycine subunits of the chain behave similarly. These data suggest that a model based on ligand mobility in the complex cannot explain the thermodynamic data. Hydrogen/deuterium exchange studies provided a global estimate of protein mobility and revealed that the number of exchanged hydrogens of BCA was higher when the protein was bound to a ligand with five glycine subunits than when bound to a ligand with only one subunit, and suggested a trend of increasing number of exchanged hydrogens with increasing chain length of the BCA-bound ligand, across the series. These data support the idea that the glycine chain destabilizes the structure of BCA in a length-dependent manner, causing an increase in BCA mobility. This study highlights the need to consider ligand-induced mobility of even "static" proteins in studies of protein-ligand binding, including rational ligand design approaches.

Protein design approaches based on the binary patterning of nonpolar and polar amino acids have been successful in generating native-like protein structures of amphiphilic α-helices or idealized amphiphilic β-strands in aqueous solution. Such patterning is not possible in the nonpolar environment of biological membranes, precluding the application of conventional approaches to the design of membrane proteins that assemble into discrete aggregates. This review surveys a promising, new strategy for membrane protein design that exploits the unique properties of fluorocarbons-in particular, their ability to phase separate from both water (due to their hydrophobicity) and hydrocarbons (due to their lipophobicity)-to generate membrane protein assemblies. The ability to design such discrete assemblies should enable the disruption of protein-protein interactions and provide templates for novel biomaterials and therapeutics.

1. Introduction: Overview of CA as a Model Carbonic anhydrase (CA, EC 4.2.1.1) is a protein that is especially well-suited to serve as a model in many types of studies in biophysics, bioanalysis, the physical-organic chemistry of inhibitor design, and medicinal chemistry. In vivo, this enzyme catalyzes the hydration of CO2 and the dehydration of bicarbonate (eq 1). CO2+H2O⇌HCO3−+H+ (1) The active site of α-CAs comprises a catalytic ZnII ion coordinated by three imidazole groups of histidines and by one hydroxide ion (or water molecule), all in a distorted tetrahedral geometry. This grouping is located at the base of a cone-shaped amphiphilic depression, one wall of which is dominated by hydrophobic residues and the other of which is dominated by hydrophilic residues.1 Unless otherwise stated, “CA” in this review refers to (i) various isozymes of α-CAs or (ii) the specific α-CAs human carbonic anhydrases I and II (HCA I and HCA II) and bovine carbonic anhydrase II (BCA II); “HCA” refers to HCA I and HCA II; and “CA II” refers to HCA II and BCA II. CA is particularly attractive for biophysical studies of protein–ligand binding for many reasons. (i) CA is a monomeric, single-chain protein of intermediate molecular weight (~30 kDa), and it has no pendant sugar or phosphate groups and no disulfide bonds. (ii) It is inexpensive and widely available. (iii) It is relatively easy to handle and purify, due in large part to its excellent stability under standard laboratory conditions. (iv) Amino acid sequences are available for most of its known isozymes. (v) The structure of CA, and of its active site, has been defined in detail by X-ray diffraction, and the mechanism of its catalytic activity is well-understood. (vi) As an enzyme, CA behaves not only as a hydratase/anhydrase with a high turnover number but also as an esterase (a reaction that is easy to follow experimentally). (vii) The mechanism of inhibition of CA by ligands that bind to the ZnII ion is fairly simple and well-characterized; it is, therefore, easy to screen inhibitors and to examine designed inhibitors that test theories of protein–ligand interactions. (viii) It is possible to prepare and study the metal-free apoenzyme and the numerous variants of CA in which the ZnII ion is replaced by other divalent ions. (ix) Charge ladders of CA II—sets of derivatives in which acylation of lysine amino groups (−NH3+ → −NHAc) changes the net charge of the protein—allow the influence of charge on properties to be examined by capillary electrophoresis. Some disadvantages of using CA include the following: (i) the presence of the ZnII cofactor, which can complicate biophysical and physical-organic analyses; (ii) a structure that is more stable than a representative globular protein and, thus, slightly suspect as a model system for certain studies of stability; (iii) a function—interconversion of carbon dioxide and carbonate—that does not involve the types of enzyme/substrate interactions that are most interesting in design of drugs; (iv) a catalytic reaction that is, in a sense, too simple (determining the mechanism of a reaction is, in practice, usually made easier if the reactants and products have an intermediate level of complexity); and (v) the absence of a solution structure of CA (by NMR spectroscopy). The ample X-ray data, however, paint an excellent picture of the changes (which are generally small) in the structure of CA that occur on binding ligands or introducing mutations. The most important class of inhibitors of CA, the aryl-sulfonamides, has several characteristics that also make it particularly suitable for physical-organic studies of inhibitor binding and in drug design: (i) arylsulfonamides are easily synthesized; (ii) they bind with high affinity to CA (1 μM to sub-nM); (iii) they share one common structural feature; and (iv) they share a common, narrowly defined geometry of binding that exposes a part of the ligand that can be easily modified synthetically. There are also many non-sulfonamide, organic inhibitors of CA, as well as anionic, inorganic inhibitors. We divide this review into five parts, all with the goal of using CA as a model system for biophysical studies: (I) an overview of the enzymatic activity and medical relevance of CA; (II) the structure and structure–function relationships of CA and its engineered mutants; (III) the thermodynamics and kinetics of the binding of ligands to CA; (IV) the effect of electrostatics on the binding of ligands to and the denaturation of CA; and (V) what makes CA a good model for studying protein–ligand binding and protein stability. 1.1. Value of Models CA serves as a good model system for the study of enzymes. That is, it is a protein having some characteristics representative of enzymes as a class, but with other characteristics that make it especially easy to study. It is a moderately important target in current medicinal chemistry: its inhibition is important in the treatment of glaucoma, altitude sickness, and obesity; its overexpression has recently been implicated in tumor growth; and its inhibition in pathogenic organisms might lead to further interesting drugs.2,3 More than its medical relevance, its tractability and simplicity are what make CA a particularly attractive model enzyme. The importance of models in science is often underestimated. Models represent more complex classes of related systems and contribute to the study of those classes by focusing research on particular, tractable problems. The development of useful, widely accepted models is a critical function of scientific research: many of the techniques (both experimental and analytical) and concepts of science are developed in terms of models; they are thoroughly engrained in our system of research and analysis. Examples of models abound in successful areas of science: in biology, E. coli, S. cerevisiae, Drosophila mela-nogaster, C. elegans, Brachydanio rerio (zebrafish), and the mouse; in chemistry, the hydrogen atom, octanol as a hydrophobic medium, benzene as an aromatic molecule, the 2-norbornyl carbocation as a nonclassical ion, substituted cyclohexanes for the study of steric effects, p-substituted benzoic acids for the study of electronic effects, cyclodextrins for ligand–receptor interactions; in physics, a vibrating string as an oscillator and a particle in a box as a model for electrons in orbitals. Science needs models for many reasons: Focus: Models allow a community of researchers to study a common subject. Solving any significant problem in science requires a substantial effort, with contributions from many individuals and techniques. Models are often the systems chosen to make this productive, cooperative focus possible. Research Overhead: Development of a system to the point where many details are scientifically tractable is the product of a range of contributions: for enzymes, these contributions are protocols for preparations, development of assays, determination of structures, preparation of mutants, definition of substrate specificity, study of rates, and development of mechanistic models. In a well-developed model system, the accumulation of this information makes it relatively easy to carry out research, since before new experiments begin, much of the background work–the fundamental research in a new system–has already been carried out. Recruiting and Interdisciplinarity: The availability of good model systems makes it relatively easy for a neophyte to enter an area of research and to test ideas efficiently. This ease of entry recruits new research groups, who use, augment, and improve the model system. It is especially important to have model systems to encourage participation by researchers in other disciplines, for whom even the elementary technical procedures in a new field may appear daunting. Comparability: A well-established model allows researchers in different laboratories to calibrate their experiments, by reproducing well-characterized experiments. Community: The most important end result of a good model system is often the generation of a scientific community–that is, a group of researchers examining a common problem from different perspectives and pooling information relevant to common objectives. One of the goals of this review is to summarize many experimental and theoretical studies of CA that have established it as a model protein. We hope that this summary will make it easier for others to use this protein to study fundamentals of two of the most important questions in current chemistry: (i) Why do a protein and ligand associate selectively? (ii) How can one design an inhibitor to bind to a protein selectively and tightly? We believe that the summary of studies of folding and stability of CA will be useful to biophysicists who study protein folding. In addition, we hope that the compilation of data relevant to CA in one review will ease the search for information for those who are beginning to work with this protein.

This paper describes a calorimetric study of the association of a series of seven fluorinated benzenesulfonamide ligands (C6H(n)F(5-n)SO2NH2) with bovine carbonic anhydrase II (BCA). Quantitative structure-activity relationships between the free energy, enthalpy, and entropy of binding and pKa and log P of the ligands allowed the evaluation of the thermodynamic parameters in terms of the two independent effects of fluorination on the ligand: its electrostatic potential and its hydrophobicity. The parameters were partitioned to the three different structural interactions between the ligand and BCA: the Zn(II) cofactor-sulfonamide bond (approximately 65% of the free energy of binding), the hydrogen bonds between the ligand and BCA (approximately 10%), and the contacts between the phenyl ring of the ligand and BCA (approximately 25%). Calorimetry revealed that all of the ligands studied bind in a 1:1 stoichiometry with BCA; this result was confirmed by 19F NMR spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography (for complexes with human carbonic anhydrase II).

This paper reports dissociation constants and "effective molarities" (M(eff)) for the intramolecular binding of a ligand covalently attached to the surface of a protein by oligo(ethylene glycol) (EG(n)) linkers of different lengths (n = 0, 2, 5, 10, and 20) and compares these experimental values with theoretical estimates from polymer theory. As expected, the value of M(eff) is lowest when the linker is too short (n = 0) to allow the ligand to bind noncovalently at the active site of the protein without strain, is highest when the linker is the optimal length (n = 2) to allow such binding to occur, and decreases monotonically as the length increases past this optimal value (but only by a factor of approximately 8 from n = 2 to n = 20). These experimental results are not compatible with a model in which the single bonds of the linker are completely restricted when the ligand has bound noncovalently to the active site of the protein, but they are quantitatively compatible with a model that treats the linker as a random-coil polymer. Calorimetry revealed that enthalpic interactions between the linker and the protein are not important in determining the thermodynamics of the system. Taken together, these results suggest that the manifestation of the linker in the thermodynamics of binding is exclusively entropic. The values of M(eff) are, theoretically, intrinsic properties of the EG(n) linkers and can be used to predict the avidities of multivalent ligands with these linkers for multivalent proteins. The weak dependence of M(eff) on linker length suggests that multivalent ligands containing flexible linkers that are longer than the spacing between the binding sites of a multivalent protein will be effective in binding, and that the use of flexible linkers with lengths somewhat greater than the optimal distance between binding sites is a justifiable strategy for the design of multivalent ligands.

The ability to design drugs (so-called ‘rational drug design’) has been one of the long-term objectives of chemistry for 50 years. It is an exceptionally difficult problem, and many of its parts lie outside the expertise of chemistry. The much more limited problem – how to design tight-binding ligands (rational ligand design) – would seem to be one that chemistry could solve, but has also proved remarkably recalcitrant. The question is ‘Why is it so difficult?’ and the answer is ‘We still don't entirely know’. This perspective discusses some of the technical issues – potential functions, protein plasticity, enthalpy/entropy compensation, and others – that contribute, and suggests areas where fundamental understanding of protein–ligand interactions falls short of what is needed. It surveys recent technological developments (in particular, isothermal titration calorimetry) that will, hopefully, make now the time for serious progress in this area. It concludes with the calorimetric examination of the association of a series of systematically varied ligands with a model protein. The counterintuitive thermodynamic results observed serve to illustrate that, even in relatively simple systems, understanding protein–ligand association is challenging.

This paper describes the application of a bifunctional polyacrylamide (pA-V-F) presenting both vancomycin and fluorescein groups, to modify the surfaces of multiple species of Gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and Enterococcus faecalis) to control molecular recognition of these surfaces. The vancomycin groups allowed the specific recognition of a structural component of the bacterial cell wall: peptides terminated in D-Ala-D-Ala. The fluorescein groups allowed the imaging of binding of polymer to the surfaces of bacteria by fluorescence, and are representative, low molecular weight haptens; their recognition by anti-fluorescein antibodies provides proof-of-principle that bifunctional polymers can be used to introduce haptens onto the surface of the bacteria. Flow cytometry revealed that polymer-labeled S. aureus and S. pneumoniae were opsonized by anti-fluorescein antibodies approximately 20-fold more than were untreated bacteria; nearly all ( approximately 92%) polymer-labeled S. aureus, and a large (76%) fraction of polymer-labeled S. pneumoniae were opsonized. The bound antibodies then promoted phagocytosis of the bacteria by cultured J774 macrophage-like cells. Flow cytometry revealed that macrophages ingested S. aureus decorated with the polymer-antibody complexes approximately 2-fold more efficiently than S. aureus in control groups, in spite of the high background (caused by efficient antibody-independent ingestion of S. aureus by macrophages). This paper, thus, demonstrates the ability of a bifunctional polymer to carry out three distinct functions based on polyvalent molecular recognition: (i) recognition of the surface of Gram-positive bacteria, (ii) modification of this surface to generate specific binding sites recognized by an antibody, and (iii) promotion of phagocytosis of the opsonized bacteria.

Novel strategies are needed to expedite the generation and optimization of peptide probes targeting G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). We have previously shown that membrane tethered ligands (MTLs), recombinant proteins comprised of a membrane anchor, an extracellular linker, and a peptide ligand can be used to identify targeted receptor modulators. Although MTLs provide a useful tool to identify and/or modify functionally active peptides, a major limitation of this strategy is the reliance on recombinant protein expression. We now report the generation and pharmacological characterization of prototype peptide-linker-lipid conjugates, synthetic membrane anchored ligands (SMALs), which are designed as mimics of corresponding MTLs. In this study, we systematically compare the activity of selected peptides as MTLs versus SMALs. As prototypes, we focused on the precursor proteins of mature Substance P (SubP) and Cholecystokinin 4 (CCK4), specifically non-amidated SubP (SubP-COOH) and glycine extended CCK4 (CCK4-Gly-COOH). As low affinity soluble peptides these ligands each presented a challenging test case for assessment of MTL/SMAL technology. For each ligand, MTLs and corresponding SMALs showed agonist activity and comparable subtype selectivity. In addition, our results illustrate that membrane anchoring increases ligand potency. Furthermore, both MTL and SMAL induced signaling can be blocked by specific non-peptide antagonists suggesting that the anchored constructs may be orthosteric agonists. In conclusion, MTLs offer a streamlined approach for identifying low activity peptides which can be readily converted to higher potency SMALs. The ability to recapitulate MTL activity with SMALs extends the utility of anchored peptides as probes of GPCR function.

Proteins are functional biopolymers; viewed as molecules, they are also monodisperse polyamides with chemically reactive side chains. This paper describes the use of proteins as starting materials for the synthesis of monodisperse polymers with nonbiological functionalities attached to the side chains. It demonstrates the complete derivatization of amine groups (lysine side chains and N-termini) on three different proteins by addition of activated carboxylate reagents in aqueous solutions containing sodium dedecyl sulfate (SDS), under denaturing conditions. Several different acylating reagents were used to generate derivatized proteins; the resulting compounds constitute a new class of monodisperse, semisynthetic polymers, having the potential for wide variation in the structure of the backbone and of the side chains. Modification of lysozyme on a gram scale demonstrated that the method can generate useful quantities of material.