The nonreceptor isoform of tyrosine phosphatase epsilon (cyt-PTPe) supports osteoclast adhesion and activity in vivo, leading to increased bone mass in female mice lacking PTPe (EKO mice). The structure and organization of the podosomal adhesion structures of EKO osteoclasts are abnormal; the molecular mechanism behind this is unknown. We show here that EKO podosomes are disorganized, unusually...

The high quantum efficiency of photosynthetic reaction centers (RCs) makes them attractive for bioelectronic and biophotovoltaic applications. However, much of the native RC efficiency is lost in communication between surface-bound RCs and electrode materials. The state-of-the-art biophotoelectrodes utilizing cytochrome c (cyt c) as a biological wiring agent have at best approached 32% retained...

The activation of an anion channel in the plasma membrane of Arabidopsis thaliana hypocotyls by blue light (BL) is believed to be a signal-transducing event leading to growth inhibition. Here we report that the open probability of this particular anion channel depends on cytoplasmic Ca2+ ([Ca2+]cyt) within the concentration range of 1 to 10 microM, raising the possibility that BL activates the ...

Redox-controlled backbone dynamics in cytochrome c (Cyt c) were revealed by 2D N NMR relaxation experiments. N T1 and T2 values and H-N NOEs of uniformly N-labeled reduced and oxidized Cyt c were measured, and the generalized order parameters (S), the effective correlation time for internal motion (τe), the N exchalnge broadening contributions (Rex) for each residue, and the overal correlation ...

In this study, all available cytochrome b (Cyt b) genes from the GOBASE database were compiled and the evolutionary dynamics of the Cyt b gene introns was assessed. Cyt b gene introns were frequently present in the fungal kingdom and some lower plants, but generally absent or rare in Chromista, Protozoa, and Animalia. Fungal Cyt b introns were found at 35 positions in Cyt b genes and the number...

Cytochrome c (cyt c) and other heme proteins are oxidatively modified in the presence of hydrogen peroxide in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. Cyt c modification has been monitored by several spectral probes by absorption spectroscopy (at wavelengths 410 nm, 530 nm), and circular dichroism (222, 268, 288 and 417 nm). Kinetics monitored with these spectral probes indicates that the ox...

In the photosynthetic light reactions of plants and cyanobacteria, plastocyanin (Pc) plays a crucial role as an electron carrier and shuttle protein between two membrane protein complexes: cytochrome b(6)f (cyt b(6)f) and photosystem I (PSI). The rapid turnover of Pc between cyt b(6)f and PSI enables the efficient use of light energy. In the Pc-cyt b(6)f and Pc-PSI electron transfer complexes, ...

Vesicular glutamate release from astrocytes depends on mobilization of free Ca(2+) from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), and extracellular space to elevate cytosolic Ca(2+) (Ca(2+)(cyt)). Although mitochondria in neurons, and other secretory cells, have been shown to sequester free Ca(2+) and have been implicated in the modulation of Ca(2+)-dependent transmitter release, the role of mitochondria...

We have developed a model to study the role of geometrical factors in influencing the early stages of unfolding in three cytochromes: cyt c', cyt c-b562 and cyt c. Each stage in unfolding is quantified by the spatial extension λ̂i of n-residue segments, and by their angular extension 〈βn〉. Similarities and differences between and among the three cytochromes in the unfolding of helical and non-he...

The basis for selective death of specific neuronal populations in neurodegenerative diseases remains unclear. Parkinson's disease (PD) is a synucleinopathy characterized by a preferential loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra (SN), whereas neurons of the ventral tegmental area (VTA) are spared. Using intracellular patch electrochemistry to directly measure cytosolic dopamine (DA(...