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Full-Text Articles in Molecular Biology

Advanced Molecular Biologic Techniques In Toxicologic Disease, Jeanine Ward, Gyongyi Szabo, David Mcmanus, Edward Boyer Oct 2012

Advanced Molecular Biologic Techniques In Toxicologic Disease, Jeanine Ward, Gyongyi Szabo, David Mcmanus, Edward Boyer

Gyongyi Szabo

The advancement of molecular biologic techniques and their capabilities to answer questions pertaining to mechanisms of pathophysiologic events have greatly expanded over the past few years. In particular, these opportunities have provided researchers and clinicians alike the framework from with which to answer clinical questions not amenable for elucidation using previous, more antiquated methods. Utilizing extremely small molecules, namely microRNA, DNA, protein, and nanoparticles, we discuss the background and utility of these approaches to the progressive, practicing physician. Finally, we consider the application of these tools employed as future bedside point of care tests, aiding in the ultimate goal of …


Decomposing The Energetic Impact Of Drug-Resistant Mutations: The Example Of Hiv-1 Protease-Drv Binding, Yufeng Cai, Celia Schiffer Oct 2012

Decomposing The Energetic Impact Of Drug-Resistant Mutations: The Example Of Hiv-1 Protease-Drv Binding, Yufeng Cai, Celia Schiffer

Celia A. Schiffer

HIV-1 protease is a major drug target for AIDS therapy. With the appearance of drug-resistant HIV-1 protease variants, understanding the mechanism of drug resistance becomes critical for rational drug design. Computational methods can provide more details about inhibitor-protease binding than crystallography and isothermal titration calorimetry. The latest FDA-approved HIV-1 protease inhibitor is Darunavir (DRV). Herein, each DRV atom is evaluated by free energy component analysis for its contribution to the binding affinity with wild-type protease and ACT, a drug-resistant variant. This information can contribute to the rational design of new HIV-1 protease inhibitors.


Mass Spectrometry Tools For Analysis Of Intermolecular Interactions, Jared Auclair, Mohan Somasundaran, Karin Green, James Evans, Celia Schiffer, Dagmar Ringe, Gregory Petsko, Jeffrey Agar Oct 2012

Mass Spectrometry Tools For Analysis Of Intermolecular Interactions, Jared Auclair, Mohan Somasundaran, Karin Green, James Evans, Celia Schiffer, Dagmar Ringe, Gregory Petsko, Jeffrey Agar

Celia A. Schiffer

The small quantities of protein required for mass spectrometry (MS) make it a powerful tool to detect binding (protein-protein, protein-small molecule, etc.) of proteins that are difficult to express in large quantities, as is the case for many intrinsically disordered proteins. Chemical cross-linking, proteolysis, and MS analysis, combined, are a powerful tool for the identification of binding domains. Here, we present a traditional approach to determine protein-protein interaction binding sites using heavy water ((18)O) as a label. This technique is relatively inexpensive and can be performed on any mass spectrometer without specialized software.


The Molecular Basis Of Drug Resistance Against Hepatitis C Virus Ns3/4a Protease Inhibitors, Keith Romano, Akbar Ali, Cihan Aydin, Djade Soumana, Aysegul Ozen, Laura Deveau, Casey Silver, Hong Cao, Alicia Newton, Christos Petropoulos, Wei Huang, Celia Schiffer Oct 2012

The Molecular Basis Of Drug Resistance Against Hepatitis C Virus Ns3/4a Protease Inhibitors, Keith Romano, Akbar Ali, Cihan Aydin, Djade Soumana, Aysegul Ozen, Laura Deveau, Casey Silver, Hong Cao, Alicia Newton, Christos Petropoulos, Wei Huang, Celia Schiffer

Celia A. Schiffer

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infects over 170 million people worldwide and is the leading cause of chronic liver diseases, including cirrhosis, liver failure, and liver cancer. Available antiviral therapies cause severe side effects and are effective only for a subset of patients, though treatment outcomes have recently been improved by the combination therapy now including boceprevir and telaprevir, which inhibit the viral NS3/4A protease. Despite extensive efforts to develop more potent next-generation protease inhibitors, however, the long-term efficacy of this drug class is challenged by the rapid emergence of resistance. Single-site mutations at protease residues R155, A156 and D168 confer …


Context Surrounding Processing Sites Is Crucial In Determining Cleavage Rate Of A Subset Of Processing Sites In Hiv-1 Gag And Gag-Pro-Pol Polyprotein Precursors By Viral Protease, Sook-Kyung Lee, Marc Potempa, Madhavi Kolli, Aysegul Ozen, Celia Schiffer, Ronald Swanstrom Oct 2012

Context Surrounding Processing Sites Is Crucial In Determining Cleavage Rate Of A Subset Of Processing Sites In Hiv-1 Gag And Gag-Pro-Pol Polyprotein Precursors By Viral Protease, Sook-Kyung Lee, Marc Potempa, Madhavi Kolli, Aysegul Ozen, Celia Schiffer, Ronald Swanstrom

Celia A. Schiffer

Processing of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) Gag and Gag-Pro-Pol polyproteins by the HIV-1 protease (PR) is essential for the production of infectious particles. However, the determinants governing the rates of processing of these substrates are not clearly understood. We studied the effect of substrate context on processing by utilizing a novel protease assay in which a substrate containing HIV-1 matrix (MA) and the N-terminal domain of capsid (CA) is labeled with a FlAsH (fluorescein arsenical hairpin) reagent. When the seven cleavage sites within the Gag and Gag-Pro-Pol polyproteins were placed at the MA/CA site, the rates of …


Guanosine Diphosphatase Is Required For Protein And Sphingolipid Glycosylation In The Golgi Lumen Of Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, Claudia Abeijon, Ken Yanagisawa, Elisabet Mandon, Alex Hausler, Kelley Moremen, Carlos Hirschberg, Phillips Robbins Feb 2012

Guanosine Diphosphatase Is Required For Protein And Sphingolipid Glycosylation In The Golgi Lumen Of Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, Claudia Abeijon, Ken Yanagisawa, Elisabet Mandon, Alex Hausler, Kelley Moremen, Carlos Hirschberg, Phillips Robbins

Elisabet Mandon

Current models for nucleotide sugar use in the Golgi apparatus predict a critical role for the lumenal nucleoside diphosphatase. After transfer of sugars to endogenous macromolecular acceptors, the enzyme converts nucleoside diphosphates to nucleoside monophosphates which in turn exit the Golgi lumen in a coupled antiporter reaction, allowing entry of additional nucleotide sugar from the cytosol. To test this model, we cloned the gene for the S. cerevisiae guanosine diphosphatase and constructed a null mutation. This mutation should reduce the concentrations of GDP-mannose and GMP and increase the concentration of GDP in the Golgi lumen. The alterations should in turn …