In higher plants, the PsbS subunit of photosystem II (PSII) plays a crucial role in pH- and xanthophyll-dependent nonphotochemical quenching of excess absorbed light energy, thus contributing to the defense mechanism against photoinhibition. We determined the amino acid sequence of Zea mays PsbS and produced an antibody that recognizes with high specificity a region of the protein located in th...

A set of three catecholamide ligands mimicking the structure of enterobactin was constructed on ferritin, where the 3-fold symmetric arrangement of the monomer subunits served as a foundation to form a coordination space. Similar to enterobactin, the ligands showed strong affinity for the ferric ion and formed a tris-catechoyl complex. Crystallography revealed that the complex was embedded in t...

Photolysis of dibenzyl ketone derivatives adsorbed on ZSM-5 zeolites produces persistent benzyl radicals (initiator radicals), which add to methyl acrylates (monomers) to generate persistent adduct radicals. Both initiator and adduct radicals are readily observable by conventional steady-state EPR spectroscopy at room temperature and are persistent for time periods ranging from seconds to many ...

We develop a theoretical framework on the mechanism of combinatorial binding of transcription factors (TFs) with their specific binding sites on DNA. We consider three possible mechanisms viz. monomer, hetero-oligomer and coordinated recruitment pathways. In the monomer pathway, combinatorial TFs search for their targets in an independent manner and the protein-protein interactions among them w...

The co-chaperone Hsp70-Hsp90 organizing protein (HOP) plays a central role in protein folding in vivo, binding to both Hsp70 and Hsp90 and bringing them together in a functional complex. Reports in the literature concerning the oligomeric state of HOP have been inconsistent-is it a monomer, dimer, or higher order oligomer? Knowing the oligomeric state of HOP is important, because it places limi...

Cyclic monomers that have been polymerized via ring opening encompass a variety of structures, such as alkanes, alkenes, compounds containing heteroatoms in the ring: oxygen [ethers, acetals, esters (lactones, lactides, and carbonates), and anhydrides], sulfur (polysulfur, sulfi des and polysulfi des), nitrogen [amines, amides (lactames), imides, N carboxyanhydrides and 1,3 oxaza derivatives], ...

A series of potent and selective inducible nitric-oxide synthase (iNOS) inhibitors was shown to prevent iNOS dimerization in cells and inhibit iNOS in vivo. These inhibitors are now shown to block dimerization of purified human iNOS monomers. A 3H-labeled inhibitor bound to full-length human iNOS monomer with apparent Kd approximately 1.8 nm and had a slow off rate, 1.2 x 10(-4) x s(-1). Inhibi...

The formation of a fibrin clot is initiated after the proteolytic cleavage of fibrinogen by thrombin. The enzyme removes fibrinopeptides A and B and generates fibrin monomer which spontaneously polymerizes. Polymerization appears to occur though the interaction of complementary binding sites on the NH2-terminal and COOH-terminal (Fragment D) regions of the molecule. A peptide has been isolated ...