Among the heavy metal-binding ligands in plant cells the phytochelatins (PCs) and metallothioneins (MTs) are the best characterized. PCs and MTs are different classes of cysteine-rich, heavy metal-binding protein molecules. PCs are enzymatically synthesized peptides, whereas MTs are gene-encoded polypeptides. Recently, genes encoding the enzyme PC synthase have been identified in plants and oth...

alpha-Melanocyte stimulating hormone (alpha-MSH) analogs, cyclized through site-specific rhenium (Re) and technetium (Tc) metal coordination, were structurally characterized and analyzed for their abilities to bind alpha-MSH receptors present on melanoma cells and in tumor-bearing mice. Results from receptor-binding assays conducted with B16 F1 murine melanoma cells indicated that receptor-bind...

Metals are the most commonly encountered protein cofactors, and they play important structural and functional roles in biology. In many cases, metal binding provides a major driving force for a polypeptide chain to fold. While there are many studies on the structure, stability, and function of metal-binding proteins, there are few studies focusing on understanding the kinetic mechanism of metal...

Marfan syndrome results from mutations in an extracellular matrix glycoprotein, fibrillin. Previous studies have characterized approximately 6.9-kb of the estimated 10-kb fibrillin transcript. We have now completed the primary structure of fibrillin, elucidated the exon/intron organization of the gene and derived a physical map of the genetic locus. Pre-fibrillin consists of 2,871 amino acids w...

Homeostatic mechanisms preventing the toxicity of free Zn ions in cells involve, among others, cytosolic Zn-binding ligands, particularly the cysteine-rich metallothioneins (MTs). Here we examined the Zn-binding peptides of Russula atropurpurea, an ectomycorrhizal fungus known for its ability to accumulate high amounts of Zn in its sporocarps. The Zn complexes and their peptide ligands were cha...

Metallothioneins (MTs) are low molecular weight cysteine-rich proteins that bind to metals. Owing their high cysteine (Cys) content, MTs effective mediators of heavy metal detoxification. To enhance the binding ability MT from freshwater crab Sinopotamon henanense (ShMT), sequence-based multiple sequence alignment (MSA) and structure-based docking simulation (MDS) were conducted in order identi...

vav is a human locus that appears to be specifically expressed in cells of hematopoietic origin regardless of their differentiation lineage. This gene was first identified as a result of its malignant activation during the course of gene transfer assays (Katzav, S., Martin-Zanca, D., and Barbacid, M. EMBO J., 8: 2283-2290, 1989). In this study, we report the isolation of complementary DNA clone...

Protein geranylgeranyltransferase type-I (GGTase-I) transfers a geranylgeranyl group from the prenyl donor geranylgeranyl diphosphate (GGPP) to the cysteine residue of substrate proteins containing a C-terminal CaaX-motif (a sequence motif of proteins consisting of an invariant Cys residue fourth from the C-terminus). The GGTase-I heterodimer contains one atom of zinc, and this metal is require...

Immunization of mice with the GP46/M-2 membrane glycoprotein has been demonstrated to elicit protection against infection with the parasitic protozoan Leishmania amazonensis. As this molecule is important for future vaccine studies of leishmaniasis, the gene encoding the GP46/M-2 surface membrane glycoprotein of Leishmania amazonensis has been cloned and sequenced. The protein sequence derived ...