Hg^2＋ -牛血清白蛋白复合体系中蛋白质微观结构的研究

研究了Hg2+在生物体内与牛血清白蛋白相互作用的毒性机理以及蛋白质的微观结构变化.测定了Hg2+与牛血清白蛋白(BSA)复合体系的红外光谱(FT-IR)和圆二色谱(CD),并对图谱进行拟合解析处理.红外光谱实验数据表明Hg2+与BSA发生作用的结合位点可能包括-SH、-OH和-NH基团,采用红外拟合技术对BSA二级结构的变化进行了研究,结果表明蛋白质α-螺旋结构含量降低,β-折叠结构含量升高.圆二色谱图也表明由于一定浓度的Hg2+与BSA结合,从而导致蛋白质的二级结构被破坏,这与拟合红外光谱得到的蛋白质二级结构数据相吻合.Hg2+与牛血清蛋白作用致使蛋白质的构象改变,形成金属离子与蛋白质作用的复合物,因而蛋白质失去活性导致生物体发生病变.     

蛋白质和变性蛋白质二级结构的FTIR分析进展

蛋白质结构的研究一直是人们研究的一个热点,蛋白质在发生变性后,二级结构会改变,从而导致生物活性丧失,这些与医药学及食品科学等领域密切相关。傅里叶变换红外光谱(FTIR)作为一种无损、快速的分析方法在蛋白质二级结构的研究中发挥重要的作用,本文就FTIR对于蛋白质二级结构的研究作一初步概述,主要介绍FTIR研究蛋白质结构的主要方法、红外光谱的谱学特点。     

基于萘酰肼衍生物有机小分子凝胶的设计合成及其离子响应性研究

本文以萘甲酰肼为原料,合成了三种不同长度烷氧基链的凝胶因子D6、D12、D16,通过扫描电镜(SEM)、红外光谱(FT-IR)、核磁共振(NMR)、紫外光谱(UV-vis)等测试了其在有机溶剂中的凝胶性能和离子响应特性等.扫描电镜(SEM)结果表明所形成的凝胶具有规则的片状结构.采用红外光谱(FT-IR)、核磁共振(N...     

再生丝素蛋白-纳米生物活性玻璃复合膜的制备和表征

将再生丝素蛋白(SF)与纳米生物活性玻璃(NBG)粉体复合成膜,制备出一种新型生物材料。采用场发射扫描电镜(FESEM)、红外光谱(FT-IR)、热重分析(TGA)等方法对复合膜结构进行表征。结果表明:NBG均匀分散在丝素膜中,随着NBG含量的增加,复合膜中丝素的构象部分由无规线团或SilkⅠ向SilkⅡ转变,同时力学性能变差。体外生物活性研究表明:复合膜表面沉积出较多的类骨羟基磷灰石(HA),说明其具有较高的生物活性及优良的诱导类骨HA沉积的能力。     

海藻多糖的组成及结构光谱分析

海藻多糖具有抗凝血等多种生物活性,其活性与多糖的组成结构有关。本文对近年来红藻、褐藻及少量绿藻多糖的单糖组成及含量研究以及FT-IR和12^C NMR两种主要光谱手段对多糖结构研究的结果进行了介绍。     

溶胶-凝胶法固定生物活性物质的研究进展

综述了近年来溶胶一凝胶(Sol-gel)技术在生物活性物质固定化方面的应用和进展。蛋白质、酶、抗体(抗原)、细胞及微生物均可被包埋于Sol-gel玻璃中。包埋后,这些生物活性物质仍保持其生物活性和光谱性质,有望成为实用的生物催化剂和生物传感器。     

红外和拉曼光谱用于对丝蛋白构象的研究

动物丝纤维和相关丝蛋白材料的性能与丝蛋白本身的二级结构即构象密切相关。红外光谱和拉曼光谱是研究蛋白质构象的有力手段,因此在丝蛋白结构的研究中也有广泛的应用。本文综述了红外光谱和拉曼光谱在家蚕、野蚕(主要是柞蚕)和蜘蛛丝蛋白研究方面的应用,并对表征丝蛋白各种构象的红外和拉曼特征峰进行了较为全面的归纳总结。     

聚丙烯酰吡咯作为蛋白质吸附材料的研究

近些年, 具有电活性的聚合物在生物分子吸附材料方面的应用越来越广. 而导电聚合物的前聚体化合物的合成(如带吡咯基团的聚合物)对于生物分子的吸附研究非常重要. 详细研究了牛血清白蛋白(BSA)在导电聚合物前聚体—聚丙烯酰吡咯(PAP)表面上的吸附规律. 首先, 采用自由基聚合方法合成PAP, 通过spin-coating方法将PAP涂覆到50 nm厚的金膜上, 制备出均匀聚合物薄膜. 然后, 采用傅立叶转换红外光谱(FT-IR)和X射线光电子能谱(XPS)对PAP的化学结构及元素构成进行了分析, 同时考察了PAP膜在不同pH值的生物缓冲液环境中的水接触角. 在详细研究了聚合物膜的化学结构和表面性质之后, 采用表面等离子体谐振仪(SPR)原位监测BSA在PAP上的吸附动力学过程, 发现其吸附行为主要受缓冲液的pH值和BSA浓度的影响. 在不同生物缓冲液环境下, 蛋白质和聚合物膜之间的各种作用力会发生变化, 最终导致蛋白质吸附行为以及吸附量的不同, 这为以后制备更加敏感的导电蛋白质芯片奠定了基础.     

原料乳中蛋白质与脂肪的近红外光谱快速定量研究

本文对快速无损检测原料乳中蛋白质与脂肪含量的近红外光谱(NIRS)技术进行了研究。对采集的250组蛋白质及脂肪含量不同的原料乳近红外光谱进行马氏距离(Mahalanobis Distance)剔除异常光谱,结合主成分分析(Principal Component Analysis,PCA),筛选出最佳建模光谱区间,采用反向传播神经网络(Back Propagation Neutral Network,BPNN)建立原料乳中蛋白含量与脂肪含量的定量模型,获得了较好的预测结果,预测模型R2分别为0.9883、0.9878,预测均方根差(RMSEP)分别为1.83%、1.85%。研究结果表明,通过合理选择光谱范围及建模方法,可得到预测精度与稳定性均较高的近红外光谱定量模型,适用于原料乳中蛋白质与脂肪含量的测定。     

红外光谱法分析酵母蛋白质的二级结构

采用红外光谱法分析了酵母蛋白质的二级结构。测定了不同温度下酵母酰胺Ⅲ带的一维红外光谱、二阶导数红外光谱及去卷积红外光谱。结果表明:随着测量温度的升高,酵母中的蛋白质α-螺旋结构的红外吸收强度降低;而β-转角结构、无规卷曲结构和β-折叠结构红外吸收强度均有所增加。还研究了酵母酰胺Ⅲ带的二维红外光谱,以确定酵母中蛋白质红外吸收强度的变化次序,进一步证明了酵母蛋白质的β-折叠结构的热不稳定性。     

Collisional and Coulombic Unfolding of Gas‐Phase Proteins: High Correlation to Their Domain Structures in Solution

The three‐dimensional structures adopted by proteins are predicated by their many biological functions. Mass spectrometry has played a rapidly expanding role in protein structure discovery, enabling the generation of models for both proteins and their higher‐order assemblies. While important coursed‐grained insights have been generated, relatively few examples exist where mass spectrometry has been successfully applied to the characterization of protein tertiary structure. Here, we demonstrate that gas‐phase unfolding can be used to determine the number of autonomously folded domains within monomeric proteins. Our ion mobility‐mass spectrometry data highlight a strong, positive correlation between the number of protein unfolding transitions observed in the gas phase and the number of known domains within a group of sixteen proteins ranging from 8–78 kDa. This correlation and its potential uses for structural biology is discussed.     

The use of circular dichroism in the investigation of protein structure and function

Circular Dichroism (CD) relies on the differential absorption of left and right circularly polarised radiation by chromophores which either possess intrinsic chirality or are placed in chiral environments. Proteins possess a number of chromophores which can give rise to CD signals. In the far UV region (240-180 nm), which corresponds to peptide bond absorption, the CD spectrum can be analysed to give the content of regular secondary structural features such as alpha-helix and beta-sheet. The CD spectrum in the near UV region (320-260 nm) reflects the environments of the aromatic amino acid side chains and thus gives information about the tertiary structure of the protein. Other non-protein chromophores such as flavin and haem moieties can give rise to CD signals which depend on the precise environment of the chromophore concerned. Because of its relatively modest resource demands, CD has been used extensively to give useful information about protein structure, the extent and rate of structural changes and ligand binding. In the protein design field, CD is used to assess the structure and stability of the designed protein fragments. Studies of protein folding make extensive use of CD to examine the folding pathway; the technique has been especially important in characterising molten globule intermediates which may be involved in the folding process. CD is an extremely useful technique for assessing the structural integrity of membrane proteins during extraction and characterisation procedures. The interactions between chromophores can give rise to characteristic CD signals. This is well illustrated by the case of the light harvesting complex from photosynthetic bacteria, where the CD spectra can be analysed to indicate the extent of orbital overlap between the rings of bacteriochlorophyll molecules. It is therefore evident that CD is a versatile technique in structural biology, with an increasingly wide range of applications.     

Travelling wave ion mobility mass spectrometry studies of protein structure: biological significance and comparison with X-ray crystallography and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy measurements

The three-dimensional conformation of a protein is central to its biological function. The characterisation of aspects of three-dimensional protein structure by mass spectrometry is an area of much interest as the gas-phase conformation, in many instances, can be related to that of the solution phase. Travelling wave ion mobility mass spectrometry (TWIMS) was used to investigate the biological significance of gas-phase protein structure. Protein standards were analysed by TWIMS under denaturing and near-physiological solvent conditions and cross-sections estimated for the charge states observed. Estimates of collision cross-sections were obtained with reference to known standards with published cross-sections. Estimated cross-sections were compared with values from published X-ray crystallography and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy structures. The cross-section measured by ion mobility mass spectrometry varies with charge state, allowing the unfolding transition of proteins in the gas phase to be studied. Cross-sections estimated experimentally for proteins studied, for charge states most indicative of native structure, are in good agreement with measurements calculated from published X-ray and NMR structures. The relative stability of gas-phase structures has been investigated, for the proteins studied, based on their change in cross-section with increase in charge. These results illustrate that the TWIMS approach can provide data on three-dimensional protein structures of biological relevance.     

Revisiting proteus: do minor changes in lectin structure matter in biological activity? Lessons from and potential biotechnological uses of the Diocleinae subtribe lectins

Significant differences in function have been observed among lectins structurally similar to concanavalin A, but their high homology with this widely used lectin has kept them in obscurity. The observation of large differences in the potency of many of these Diocleinae lectins as stimulators of Interferon-g production by human peripheral blood mononuclear cells has lead to a major effort to unravel their chemical structure and biological activity. Modeling studies of some of these lectins reveal conformational changes in side chains of some residues involved in the carbohydrate-binding site, with possible effects on the ability of these proteins to recognize specific carbohydrate structures. Additionally, all them constitute in fact a mixture of isolectins, which in different proportions could lead to diverse effects. The present review of the biological actions of Diocleinae lectins includes several in vitro and in vivo immunological findings, as well as their effects on insect growth and reproduction. In these systems Diocleinae lectins proved to be quite diverse in their potency. Such diversity in the biological activity of highly related proteins recalls the origin of the name protein: like Proteus, the capability of assuming various forms is the essential feature of this class of molecules.     

Creating functional artificial proteins

Much is now known about how protein folding occurs, through the sequence analysis of proteins of known folding geometry and the sequence/structural analysis of proteins and their mutants. This has allowed not only the modification of natural proteins but also the construction of de novo polypeptides with predictable folding patterns. Structure/function analysis of natural proteins is used to construct derived versions that retain a degree of biological activity. The constructed versions made of either natural or artificial sequences contain critical residues for activity such as receptor binding. In some cases, the functionality is introduced by incorporating binding sites for other elements, such as organic cofactors or transition metals, into the protein scaffold. While these modified proteins can mimic the function of natural proteins, they can also be constructed to have novel activities. Recently engineered photoactive proteins are good examples of such systems in which a light-induced electron transfer can be established in normally light-insensitive proteins. The present review covers some aspects of protein design that have been used to investigate protein receptor binding, cofactor binding and biological electron transfer.     

Prediction of glycoprotein secondary structure using ATR-FTIR

Glycoproteins are important biomolecules with a diverse array of structural and signaling functions in biology. Determination of glycoprotein secondary structure is becoming increasingly important in aiding the understanding of how these molecules function in biological environments and disease. Furthermore, glycoproteins such as mucins are being evaluated in various nano-engineering processes that require knowledge of how the underlying secondary structure might alter in different target environments. We have developed an analytical procedure for predicting the secondary structures of glycoprotein using ATR-FTIR on dry film. Using Bovine submaxillary mucin (BSM) as a glycoprotein model, we determined the additive infrared spectral pattern of acetyl amino sugars and amino acids that could contribute to the absorbance in the Amide I band of BSM through empirical data. We show through subtraction of these spectra how the absorbance pattern of the protein backbone can be determined in order to predict glycoprotein secondary structure. The analysis predicted a predominant pattern of random coil, beta sheet and beta turn secondary structure for BSM after carbohydrate and amino acid spectral subtraction in agreement with other methods. Our relatively simple approach can be applied to predict secondary structure in other glycoproteins.     

Circular and linear dichroism of proteins

Circular dichroism (CD) is an important technique in the structural characterisation of proteins, and especially for secondary structure determination. The CD of proteins can be calculated from first principles using the so-called matrix method, with an accuracy which is almost quantitative for helical proteins. Thus, for proteins of unknown structure, CD calculations and experimental data can be used in conjunction to aid structure analysis. Linear dichroism (LD) can be calculated using analogous methodology and has been used to establish the relative orientations of subunits in proteins and protein orientation in an environment such as a membrane. However, simple analysis of LD data is not possible, due to overlapping transitions. So coupling the calculations and experiment is an important strategy. In this paper, the use of LD for the determination of protein orientation and how these data can be interpreted with the aid of calculations, are discussed. We review methods for the calculation of CD spectra, focusing on semiempirical and ab initio parameter sets used in the matrix method. Lastly, a new web interface for online CD and LD calculation is presented.     

Using small angle scattering (SAS) to structurally characterise peptide and protein self-assembled materials

In the past 20 years protein and peptide self-assembly has attracted material scientists' interest due to the possibility to exploit such molecular mechanism to create novel biomaterials including hydrogels. One of the main challenges when dealing with "soft" biological materials is their structural and morphological characterisation. Small angle scattering (SAS) can be a highly complementary tool to microscopy for the characterisation of such materials as it allows the investigation of samples in their wet-state without the need for any sample preparation such as drying and/or freezing. In this tutorial review we introduce briefly the SAS technique to the non-expert and through selected examples from the literature show how SAS can be readily used thanks to existing analytical approaches developed by a number of authors to extract structural information on the self-assembly of peptide and proteins.     

Protein misfolded oligomers: experimental approaches, mechanism of formation, and structure-toxicity relationships

The conversion of proteins from their native state to misfolded oligomers is associated with, and thought to be the cause of, a number of human diseases, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and systemic amyloidoses. The study of the structure, mechanism of formation, and biological activity of protein misfolded oligomers has been challenged by the metastability, transient formation, and structural heterogeneity of such species. In spite of these difficulties, in the past few years, many experimental approaches have emerged that enable the detection and the detailed molecular study of misfolded oligomers. In this review, we describe the basic and generic knowledge achieved on protein oligomers, describing the mechanisms of oligomer formation, the methodologies used thus far for their structural determination, and the structural elements responsible for their toxicity.     

From interactions of single transmembrane helices to folding of alpha-helical membrane proteins: analyzing transmembrane helix-helix interactions in bacteria

Despite a wide variety of biological functions, alpha-helical membrane proteins display a rather simple transmembrane architecture. Although not many high resolution structures of transmembrane proteins are available today, our understanding of membrane protein folding has emerged in the recent years. Now we begin to develop a basic understanding of the forces that guide folding and interaction of alpha-helical membrane proteins. Some structural requirements for transmembrane helix interactions are defined, and common motifs have been discovered in the recent years which can drive helix-helix interactions. Nevertheless, many open questions remain to be addressed in future studies. One general problem with investigating transmembrane helix interactions is the limited number of appropriate tools, which can be applied to investigate membrane protein folding. Only recently several new techniques have been developed and established, including genetic systems, which allow measuring transmembrane helix interactions in vitro and in vivo. In the first part of this review, we summarize several aspects of the current understanding of membrane protein folding and assembly. In the second part, we discuss genetic systems, which were developed in the recent years to measure interaction of transmembrane helices in the inner membrane of E. coli.