The design of dimeric coiled-coils has ultimately led to novel applications, such as self-replicating peptide systems, whereas the structural features of the less common trimeric coiled-coil continue to be elucidated. Novel topologies have been discovered in designed proteins, as exemplified by the right-handed tetrameric coiled-coil and the inverted U four-helix bundle, and a single switch of ...

In the present article, a numerical study is performed to investigate the crushing behavior of cylindrical and conical corrugated composite tubes. Different aluminum foams are applied to the proposed structures in order to offer an excellent energy absorption capacity. The crushing behavior of tubes are evaluated in terms of two parameters: SEA (specific energy absorption) and CFE (crush force ...

The secretory proteins of Chironomus tentans larvae, which are used to construct underwater feeding and pupation tubes, assemble into complexes in vitro. Members of a family of 1000 kDa proteins, the spIs, appear to form the fibrous backbone of the assembled complexes. The spIs consist of a core of tandemly repeating units of 60 to 90 amino acids that can be subdivided into two regions: the sub...

Intermediate filaments (IFs) are the key components of cytoskeleton in eukaryotic cells and are critical for cell mechanics. The building block of IFs is a coiled-coil alpha-helical dimer, consisting of several domains that include linkers and other structural discontinuities. One of the discontinuities in the dimer's coiled-coil region is the so-called 'stutter' region. The stutter is a region...

A new protein of Salmonella typhimurium was identified and characterized. The gene (tlpA) encoding this protein (TlpA) was isolated from the large virulence-associated plasmid of S. typhimurium and sequenced in order to predict the primary structure of TlpA. tlpA encodes a 371-amino acid soluble protein with a calculated M(r) of 41600 and pI of 4.63. Secondary structure predictions and sequence...

The role of pH, temperature, salt type, and salt concentration on the three possible transformations involving the crystalline, dispersed helical, and randomly coiled forms of collagen has been investigated. The results are given in terms of pseudo phase diagrams where the field of stability of each form is delimited by the curves representing the variation of the three transformation temperatu...

Subunit oligomerization of many proteins is mediated by coiled-coil domains. Although the basic features contributing to the thermodynamic stability of coiled coils are well understood, the mechanistic details of their assembly have not yet been dissected. Here we report a 13-residue sequence pattern that occurs with limited sequence variations in many two-stranded coiled coils and that is abso...

Stomatin is a major integral membrane protein of human erythrocytes, the absence of which is associated with a form of hemolytic anemia known as hereditary stomatocytosis. It is reported that stomatin regulates the gating of acid-sensing ion channels in mammalian neurons. However, the function of stomatin is not fully understood. In the genomic sequence of the hyperthermophilic archaeon Pyrococ...

The small GTPase Rho and one of its targets, Rho-associated kinase (ROCK), participate in a variety of actin-based cellular processes including smooth muscle contraction, cell migration, and stress fiber formation. The ROCK protein consists of an N-terminal kinase domain, a central coiled-coil domain containing a Rho binding site, and a C-terminal pleckstrin homology domain. Here we present the...