Cyclic nucleotide-gated (CNG) channels play a central role in the conversion of sensory stimuli into electrical signals. CNG channels form heterooligomeric complexes built of A and B subunits. Here, we study the subunit stoichiometry of the native rod CNG channel by chemical crosslinking. The apparent molecular weight (M(w)) of each crosslink product was determined by SDS-PAGE, and its composit...

Collagen type I crosslink type and prevalence can be influenced by age, tissue type, and health; however, the role that crosslink chemical structure plays in mechanical behavior is not clear. Molecular dynamics simulations of ~65-nm-long microfibril units were used to predict how difunctional (deH-HLNL and HLKNL) and trifunctional (HHL and PYD) crosslinks respond to mechanical deformation. Low-...

The capsids of tailed-DNA bacteriophages first assemble as procapsids, which mature by converting into a new form that is strong enough to contain a densely packed viral chromosome. We demonstrate that the intersubunit crosslinking that occurs during maturation of HK97 capsids actually promotes the structural transformation. Small-angle X-ray scattering and crosslinking assays reveal that a shi...

CrossLink is a versatile tool for the exploration of relationships between RNA sequences. After a parametrization phase, CrossLink delegates the determination of sequence relationships to established tools (BLAST, Vmatch and RNAhybrid) and then constructs a network. Each node in this network represents a sequence and each link represents a match or a set of matches. Match attributes are reflect...

Electrospun polyelectrolyte hydrogel nanofibres are being developed for many applications including artificial muscles, scaffolds for tissue engineering, wound dressings and controlled drug release. For electrospun polyelectrolytes, a post-spinning crosslinking process is necessary for producing a hydrogel. Typically, radiation or thermal crosslinking routines are employed that require multifun...

Breast cancer 1 antigen (BRCA 1) and breast cancer 2 antigen (BRCA2) genes play a significant role in deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) repair by means of interstrand crosslink repair, and deleterious germline mutations of these are responsible for most hereditary breast and ovarian cancers. Therapeutic strategies which specifically target interstrand crosslink repair can therefore be helpful in pati...

The relationship between the levels of two different crosslink compounds, pentosidine and pyridinoline, in human diabetic cataract lenses was investigated to elucidate the pathogenic mechanism of diabetic cataract. Subjects were classified into diabetes mellitus (DM) group and non-DM group according to the presence or absence of DM. The levels of the crosslink compounds were determined using hi...

C. elegans provides an excellent model system for the study of the Fanconi Anemia (FA), one of the hallmarks of which is sensitivity to interstrand crosslinking agents. Central to our understanding of FA has been the investigation of DOG-1, the functional ortholog of the deadbox helicase FANCJ. Here we review the current understanding of the unique role of DOG-1 in maintaining stability of G-ri...

Abstract We describe a multiphysics model of the collagen structure cornea undergoing progressive localized reduction stiffness, preluding to development ectasia and keratoconus. The architecture stromal is assumed follow simplified two-family proposed in Pandolfi et al. (A microstructural cross-link interaction between fibrils human cornea. Philos Trans R Soc A 377:20180079, 2019), where mecha...

Crosslinking mass spectrometry (XL-MS) is becoming an increasingly popular technique for modeling protein monomers and complexes. The distance restraints garnered from these experiments can be used alone or as part of an integrative modeling approach, incorporating data from many sources. However, modeling practices are varied and the difference in their usefulness is not clear. Here, we develo...