The functional receptor complex of ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF), a member of the gp130 family of cytokines, is composed of CNTF, the CNTF receptor alpha (CNTFR), gp130, and the leukemia inhibitory factor receptor (LIFR). However, the nature of the receptor-mediated interactions in this complex has not yet been resolved. To address this issue we have determined the solution structure of th...

Recombinant cellulose-binding domain (CBD) derived from the cellulolytic bacterium Clostridium cellulovorans was found to modulate the elongation of different plant cells in vitro. In peach (Prunus persica L.) pollen tubes, maximum elongation was observed at 50 &mgr;g mL-1 CBD. Pollen tube staining with calcofluor showed a loss of crystallinity in the tip zone of CBD-treated pollen tubes. At lo...

The cowpea weevil (Callosobruchus maculatus) is the main pest that attacks (Vigna unguiculata) seeds during storage, causing nutritional and economic losses in crop. Thus, studies aiming to identify resistant cultivars have been developed. Chitin-binding proteins (CBP), such vicilins chitinases, detected related with toxicity insects. In this work, we investigated presence of chitin-binding par...

Cellulose-binding domains (CBDs) are protein domains with cellulose-binding activity, and some act as leaders in the localization of cellulosomal scaffoldin proteins to the hydrophobic surface of crystalline cellulose. In this study, we found that a CBD fusion enhanced and improved soluble β-glucuronidase (GusA) enzyme properties through the formation of an artificially oligomeric state. First,...

BACKGROUND γ-lactamase is used for the resolution of γ-lactam which is utilized in the synthesizing of abacavir and peramivir. In some cases, enzymatic method is the most utilized method because of its high efficiency and productivity. The cellulose binding domain (CBD) of cellulose is often used as the bio-specific affinity matrix for enzyme immobilization. Cellulose is cheap and it has excell...

A new myosin motor-like chitin synthase gene, chsVb, has been identified in the vascular wilt fungus Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici. Phylogenetic analysis of the deduced amino acid sequence of the chsVb chitin synthase 2 domain (CS2) revealed that ChsVb belongs to class VII chitin synthases. The ChsVb myosin motor-like domain (MMD) is shorter than the MMD of class V chitin synthases and ...

Ca(2+)-calmodulin (CaM) regulates varieties of ion channels, including Transient Receptor Potential vanilloid subtype 4 (TrpV4). It has previously been proposed that internal Ca(2+) increases TrpV4 activity through Ca(2+)-CaM binding to a C-terminal Ca(2+)-CaM binding domain (CBD). We confirmed this model by directly presenting Ca(2+)-CaM protein to membrane patches excised from TrpV4-expressin...

Myosin VI is the only known molecular motor that moves toward the minus ends of actin filaments; thus, it plays unique roles in diverse cellular processes. The processive walking of myosin VI on actin filaments requires dimerization of the motor, but the protein can also function as a nonprocessive monomer. The molecular mechanism governing the monomer-dimer conversion is not clear. We report t...

We isolated SN-HLPf (Sambucus nigra hevein-like fruit protein), a hevein-like chitin-binding protein, from mature elderberry fruits. Cloning of the corresponding gene demonstrated that SN-HLPf is synthesized as a chimeric precursor consisting of an N-terminal chitin-binding domain corresponding to the mature elderberry protein and an unrelated C-terminal domain. Sequence comparisons indicated t...

Chitinases are slow-reacting but important enzymes as they are anticipated to have diverse applications. The role of a chitin-binding domain (ChBD) in enhancing the quality of binding is essential information for purposeful engineering of chitinases. The idea of making hybrid chitinases by fusing a known ChBD to a chitinase, which naturally lacks ChBD is of interest especially for bio-controlli...