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Life Sciences

J. A. Aquilina

2012

Mass spectrometry

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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Evidence For Specific Subunit Distribution And Interactions In The Quaternary Structure Of Α-Crystallin, Amie M. Morris, J. Andrew Aquilina Oct 2012

Evidence For Specific Subunit Distribution And Interactions In The Quaternary Structure Of Α-Crystallin, Amie M. Morris, J. Andrew Aquilina

J. A. Aquilina

The quaternary structure of α-crystallin is dynamic, a property which has thwarted crystallographic efforts towards structural characterization. In this study, we have used collision-induced dissociation mass spectrometry to examine the architecture of the polydisperse assemblies of α-crystallin. For total α-crystallin isolated directly from fetal calf lens using size-based chromatography, the αB-crystallin subunit was found to be preferentially dissociated from the oligomers, despite being significantly less abundant overall than the αA-crystallin subunits. Furthermore, upon mixing molar equivalents of purified αA- and αB-crystallin, the levels of their dissociation were found to decrease and increase, respectively, with time. Interestingly though, dissociation of subunits …


Small Heat Shock Protein Activity Is Regulated By Variable Oligomeric Substructure, J. L. Benesch, M. Ayoub, C. V. Robinson, J. A. Aquilina Jul 2012

Small Heat Shock Protein Activity Is Regulated By Variable Oligomeric Substructure, J. L. Benesch, M. Ayoub, C. V. Robinson, J. A. Aquilina

J. A. Aquilina

The alpha-crystallins are members of the small heat shock protein (sHSP) family of molecular chaperones which have evolved to minimize intracellular protein aggregation, however they are also implicated in a number of protein deposition diseases. In this study we have employed novel mass spectrometry techniques to investigate the changes in quaternary structure associated with this switch from chaperone to adjuvant of aggregation. We have replicated the oligomeric rearrangements observed for in vivo disease-related modifications, without altering the protein sequence, by refolding the alpha-crystallins in vitro. This refolding results in a loss of dimeric substructure concomitant with an augmentation of substrate …


Evidence For Specific Subunit Distribution And Interactions In The Quaternary Structure Of Α-Crystallin, Amie M. Morris, J. Andrew Aquilina Jul 2012

Evidence For Specific Subunit Distribution And Interactions In The Quaternary Structure Of Α-Crystallin, Amie M. Morris, J. Andrew Aquilina

J. A. Aquilina

The quaternary structure of α-crystallin is dynamic, a property which has thwarted crystallographic efforts towards structural characterization. In this study, we have used collision-induced dissociation mass spectrometry to examine the architecture of the polydisperse assemblies of α-crystallin. For total α-crystallin isolated directly from fetal calf lens using size-based chromatography, the αB-crystallin subunit was found to be preferentially dissociated from the oligomers, despite being significantly less abundant overall than the αA-crystallin subunits. Furthermore, upon mixing molar equivalents of purified αA- and αB-crystallin, the levels of their dissociation were found to decrease and increase, respectively, with time. Interestingly though, dissociation of subunits …