Effects of melittin, an amphipathic polypeptide, on various species of protein kinases were investigated. It was found that melittin inhibited the newly identified phospholipid-sensitive Ca2+-dependent protein kinase (from heart, brain, spleen and neutrophils) and the cardiac myosin light-chain kinase, a calmodulin-sensitive Ca2+-dependent enzyme. In contrast, melittin had little or no effect o...

In this work we examine the role of lateral phase separation in cholesterol-containing biomimetic membranes on the disrupting action of melittin using a label-free surface-sensitive technique, quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D). Melittin disruption mechanisms depend strongly on the geometry of the lipid layer; however, despite the interplay between layer geometry/th...

The interaction between calmodulin and its target protein is a key step in many calcium-regulated cellular functions. Melittin binds tightly to calmodulin in the presence of calcium and is a competitive inhibitor of calmodulin function. Using melittin as a model for the target peptide of calmodulin, we have found a large Ca2+-dependent conformational change of calmodulin in solution induced by ...

Molecular dynamics trajectories of melittin in an explicit dimyristoyl phosphatidylcholine (DMPC) bilayer are generated to study the details of lipid-protein interactions at the microscopic level. Melittin, a small amphipathic peptide found in bee venom, is known to have a pronounced effect on the lysis of membranes. The peptide is initially set parallel to the membrane-solution interfacial reg...

We have studied the effect of melittin, a basic membrane-binding peptide, on Ca-ATPase activity and on protein and lipid dynamics in skeletal sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR), using time-resolved phosphorescence and fluorescence spectroscopy. Melittin completely inhibits Ca-ATPase activity, with half-maximal inhibition at 9 +/- 1 mol of melittin bound to the membrane per mole of ATPase (0.1 mol of m...

introduction: multiple sclerosis (ms) is a progressive and autoimmune neurodegenerative disease of the central nervous system (cns). this disease is renowned through symptoms like inflammation, demyelination and the damage of neurological actions. melittin is one of components of bee venom and has anti-neuroinflammatory effects. curcumin also, a dietary spice from turmeric, has outstanding anti...

Solid-state 31P- and 13C-NMR spectra were recorded in melittin-lecithin vesicles composed of 1,2-dilauroyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DLPC) or 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DPPC). Highly ordered magnetic alignments were achieved with the membrane surface parallel to the magnetic field above the gel-to-liquid crystalline phase transition temperature (Tc). Using these magneticall...

The interaction between the peptide melittin from bee venom with multilamellar liposomes of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine or egg yolk phosphatidylcholine has been studied by the method of temperature scanning densitometry, yielding information on the specific volume of the association products and on the changes during the thermotropic transition of the lipids. The effects of the interaction w...

The effect of melittin incorporated into the phospholipid bilayer of 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DPPC) at mole fractions up to 3.75 mol% have been investigated. The study reveals a considerable influence of melittin on the phase transition profile and volumetric properties of the DPPC bilayer. The temperature dependence of the coefficient of expansion, , and the volume fluctua...