Abstracts » Zoology and wildlife conservation

A designed metal-binding protein with a novel fold

Article Abstract:

An all-beta protein was designed and synthesized based on the three beta- strands from eachof the two beta-sheets of the variable heavy domain of the immunoglobulin McPC603. The 61-residue protein, termed a minibody, retained the hypervariable H1 and H2 loops, which forms the site for creating functional centers. By introducing one histidine in H1 and two in H2, a metal-binding site was successfully engineered. The minibody loops are amenable to sequence changes and may also be used for the construction of peptide libraries.

Binding sites (Biochemistry), Active sites (Biochemistry), Protein engineering

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Loose-patch recordings of single quanta at individual hippocampal synapses

Article Abstract:

Researchers have succeeded in detecting miniature excitatory postsynaptic currents ('minis') arising from spontaneous vesicle exocytosis at a single synaptic site. These were compared with minis identified simultaneously in the cell body. It was established that it is possible to accurately estimate the quantal properties of a single central synapse. Quantal variability at individual glutamatergic synapses is much shorter than that identified in population recordings.

Neural transmission, Synaptic transmission, Neural stimulation

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Integrin LFA-1 interacts with the transcriptional co-activator JAB1 to modulate AP-1 activity

Article Abstract:

Jun activation domain-binding protein 1 (JAB1), a coactivator of the c-Jun transcription factor, is present in the nucleus and the cytoplasm of cells. A fraction of JAB1 colocalizes with the alpha-L/beta-2 integrin LFA-1 at the cell membrane. Signalling through the LFA-1 integrin may influence c-Jun-prompted transcription.

Genetic transcription, Transcription (Genetics)

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