The development of synthetic, low-molecular-weight ligand receptor systems for the selective control of biomolecular interactions remains a major challenge. Binding of oligohistidine peptides to chelators containing Ni2+-loaded nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA) moieties is one of the most widely used and best-characterised recognition systems. Recognition units containing multiple NTA moieties (multi...

Insolubility of recombinant proteins in Escherichia coli is a major impediment to their production for structural and functional studies. One way to circumvent this problem is to fuse an aggregation-prone protein to a highly soluble partner. E. coli maltose-binding protein (MBP) has emerged as one of the most effective solubilizing agents. In this chapter, we describe how to construct combinato...

To understand better the mechanisms of resistance-nodulation-division (RND)-type multidrug efflux pumps, we examined the Escherichia coli AcrD pump, whose typical substrates, aminoglycosides, are not expected to diffuse spontaneously across the lipid bilayer. The hexahistidine-tagged AcrD protein was purified and reconstituted into unilamellar proteoliposomes. Its activity was measured by the p...

Carbonic anhydrases catalyze the interconversion of carbon dioxide to bicarbonate. Human carbonic anhydrase isozyme III with a C-terminal hexahistidine tag was overexpressed in Eschericha coli, purified and crystallized. Diffraction data (93.4% completeness) were collected to 2.2 A resolution on an in-house R-AXIS IV++ image-plate system with Osmic mirrors and a Rigaku HU-H3R CU rotating-anode ...

Fusion-tag affinity chromatography is a key technique in recombinant protein purification. Current methods for protein recovery from mammalian cells are hampered by the need for feed stream clarification. We have developed a method for direct capture using immobilized metal affinity chromatography (IMAC) of hexahistidine (His6) tagged proteins from unclarified mammalian cell feed streams. The p...

Since immobilized metal ion affinity chromatography (IMAC) was first reported, several modifications have been developed. Among them, Ni(2+) immobilized by chelation with nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA) bound to a solid support has become the most common method for the purification of proteins carrying either a C- or N-terminal histidine (His) tag. Despite its broad application in protein purificat...

Abraham Flexner first toured the Yale University School of Medicine in preparation for his report of 1910, but it was just the beginning of his relationship with the school. While his review of Yale in his report was generally favorable, he mentioned several shortfalls that needed to be improved to make the school acceptable. Throughout the next twenty-five years, Flexner worked with Deans Geor...

An important goal is to identify the direct activation domain (AD)-interacting components of the transcriptional machinery within the context of native complexes. Toward this end, we first demonstrate that the multisubunit TFIID, SAGA, mediator, and Swi/Snf coactivator complexes from transcriptionally competent whole-cell yeast extracts were all capable of specifically interacting with the prot...

RATIONALE Bunyaviruses have become a major threat to both humans and livestock in Europe and the Americas. The nucleocapsid (N) protein of these viruses is key to the replication cycle and knowledge of the N oligomerisation state is central to understanding the viral lifecycle and for development of therapeutic strategies. METHODS Bunyamwera virus and Schmallenberg virus N proteins (BUNV-N an...