Crick envisaged the alpha-helical coiled coil to result from systematic bending of an alpha-helix such that every seventh residue was structurally equivalent, and he derived equations for the coordinates of the backbone atoms. Crick's predictions were vindicated experimentally and coiled-coil sequences were shown to have hydrophobic residues alternately spaced 3 and 4 residues apart. Nonetheles...

PDZ domains are involved in the scaffolding and assembly of multi-protein complexes at various subcellular sites. We describe here the isolation and characterization of a novel PDZ domain-containing protein that localizes to the Golgi apparatus. Using an in silico cloning approach, we have identified and isolated a cDNA encoding a ubiquitously expressed 59-kDa protein that we call FIG. It is co...

MOTIVATION The coiled coil is a ubiquitous α-helical protein-structure domain that directs and facilitates protein-protein interactions in a wide variety of biological processes. At the protein-sequence level, the coiled coil is readily recognized via a conspicuous heptad repeat of hydrophobic and polar residues. However, structurally coiled coils are more complicated, existing in a wide range ...

Here, we demonstrate the first successful isotope labeling of Ala carbons in hornet silk produced by the larvae of Vespa (Vespinae, Vespidae) mandarinia. This labeled hornet silk was examined by high-resolution 13C solid-state NMR, and it was found that the fraction of Ala residues in a-helical conformations compared with Ala residues in the overall conformation of hornet silk can be quantitati...

GemC1, together with Idas and Geminin, an important regulator of DNA-replication licensing and differentiation decisions, constitute a superfamily sharing a homologous central coiled-coil domain. To better understand this family of proteins, the crystal structure of a GemC1 coiled-coil domain variant engineered for better solubility was determined to 2.2 Å resolution. GemC1 shows a less typical...

We have investigated the process of the assembly of the Dictyostelium discoideum cortexillin I oligomerization domain (Ir) into a tightly packed, two-stranded, parallel coiled-coil structure using a variety of recombinant polypeptide chain fragments. The structures of these Ir fragments were analyzed by circular dichroism spectroscopy, analytical ultracentrifugation and electron microscopy. Del...

BACKGROUND Temporary epicardial pacing wires are routinely used during cardiac surgery; they are dependable in controlling postoperative arrhythmias and are associated with low morbitity. CASE REPORT We report a case of sternobronchial fistula formation induced by the existence of retained epicardial pacing wires in a patient who underwent coronary surgery ten years ago. CONCLUSION Reported...

We study the Coulomb interaction effects on the tunneling conductance of a contact constructed of two parallel quantum wires. The following contacts are considered: two clean identical quantum wires, two disordered identical quantum wires, and asymmetric contact of one clean and another disordered quantum wires. We show that the low-voltage anomaly of the tunneling conductance is less singular ...