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Full-Text Articles in Other Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology

Conformation Of The Protein-Free Spliceosomal U2-U6 Snrna Complex And Remodeling By Mg2+ And Proteins, Huong Chu Sep 2021

Conformation Of The Protein-Free Spliceosomal U2-U6 Snrna Complex And Remodeling By Mg2+ And Proteins, Huong Chu

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Splicing of precursor messenger RNA is an essential process in eukaryotes in which the non-coding regions (introns) are removed and coding regions (exons) ligated together to form a mature mRNA. This process is catalyzed by a multi-mega Dalton ribonucleoprotein complex called the spliceosome, which is assembled from five small nuclear ribonucleoproteins (snRNP) in the form of RNA-protein complexes (U1, U2, U4, U5 and U6) and hundreds of proteins. U2 and U6 small nuclear (sn)RNAs are the only snRNAs directly implicated in catalyzing the splicing of pre-mRNA, but assembly and rearrangement steps prior to catalysis require numerous proteins. Previous studies have …


Dual Control Of One Component Signaling: Mechanistic And Structural Insights Into El222 Active States, Uthama Phani R. Edupuganti Sep 2021

Dual Control Of One Component Signaling: Mechanistic And Structural Insights Into El222 Active States, Uthama Phani R. Edupuganti

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Photoreceptors play a crucial role in signal transduction as specialized proteins which sense light as environmental stimuli and transduce the signal to control of downstream functions. Here we focus our attention on one class of these proteins, the Light-Oxygen-Voltage (LOV) domain, which is sensitive to blue light via an internally-bound flavin chromophore. Since their initial discovery in plant phototropins, many details of their photochemistry, chromophore interactions, and use with a diverse set of functional effectors have been described. However, several key details, especially a comprehensive understanding of signaling mechanism and its regulation, still remain elusive due in part to the …


The Structural And Functional Role Of Photosensing In Rgs-Lov Proteins, Zaynab Jaber Sep 2021

The Structural And Functional Role Of Photosensing In Rgs-Lov Proteins, Zaynab Jaber

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Light provides organisms with energy and spatiotemporal information. To survive and adapt, organisms have developed the ability to sense light to drive biochemical effects that underlie vision, entrainment of circadian rhythm, stress response, virulence, and many other important molecularly driven responses. Blue-light sensing Light-Oxygen-Voltage (LOV) domains are ubiquitous across multiple kingdoms of life and modulate various physiological events via diverse effector domains. Using a small molecule flavin chromophore, the LOV domain undergoes light-dependent structural changes leading to activation or repression of these catalytic and non-catalytic effectors. In silico analyses of high-throughput genomic sequencing data has led to the marked expansion …