No abstract

Skin aging is primarily due to alterations in the dermal extracellular matrix, especially a decrease in collagen I content, fragmentation of collagen fibrils, and accumulation of amorphous elastin material, also known as elastosis. Growth factors and cytokines are included in several cosmetic products intended for skin rejuvenation because of their ability to promote collagen synthesis. Matrikines and matrikine-like peptides offer the advantage of growth factor-like activities but better skin penetration due to their much smaller molecular size. In this review, we summarize the commercially available products containing growth factors, cytokines, and matrikines for which there is evidence that they promote skin rejuvenation.

The unique monooxygenase activity of cytochrome P450cam has been attributed to coordination of a cysteine thiolate to the heme cofactor. To investigate this interaction, we replaced cysteine with the more electron-donating selenocysteine. Good yields of the selenoenzyme were obtained by bacterial expression of an engineered gene containing the requisite UGA codon for selenocysteine and a simplified yet functional selenocysteine insertion sequence (SECIS). The sulfur-to-selenium substitution subtly modulates the structural, electronic, and catalytic properties of the enzyme. Catalytic activity decreases only 2-fold, whereas substrate oxidation becomes partially uncoupled from electron transfer, implying a more complex role for the axial ligand than generally assumed.protein engineering ͉ selenocysteine insertion sequence element ͉ selenoenzyme ͉ stop codon suppression ͉ X-ray crystallography

O-Phosphoseryl-tRNA kinase (PSTK) is the key enzyme in recruiting selenocysteine (Sec) to the genetic code of archaea and eukaryotes. The enzyme phosphorylates Ser-tRNASec to produce O-phosphoseryl-tRNASec (Sep-tRNASec) that is then converted to Sec-tRNASec by Sep-tRNA:Sec-tRNA synthase. Earlier we reported the structure of the Methanocaldococcus jannaschii PSTK (MjPSTK) complexed with AMPPNP. This study presents the crystal structure (at 2.4-Å resolution) of MjPSTK complexed with an anticodon-stem/loop truncated tRNASec (Mj*tRNASec), a good enzyme substrate. Mj*tRNASec is bound between the enzyme’s C-terminal domain (CTD) and N-terminal kinase domain (NTD) that are connected by a flexible 11 amino acid linker. Upon Mj*tRNASec recognition the CTD undergoes a 62-Å movement to allow proper binding of the 7-bp D-stem. This large reorganization of the PSTK quaternary structure likely provides a means by which the unique tRNASec species can be accurately recognized with high affinity by the translation machinery. However, while the NTD recognizes the tRNA acceptor helix, shortened versions of MjPSTK (representing only 60% of the original size, in which the entire CTD, linker loop and an adjacent NTD helix are missing) are still active in vivo and in vitro, albeit with reduced activity compared to the full-length enzyme.

Molecular recognition by the adaptive immune system relies on specific high-affinity antibody receptors that are generated from a restricted set of starting sequences through homologous recombination and somatic mutation. The steroid binding antibody DB3 and the catalytic Diels-Alderase antibody 1E9 derive from the same germ line sequences but exhibit very distinct specificities and functions. However, mutation of only two of the 36 sequence differences in the variable domains, Leu H47 Trp and Arg H100 Trp, converts 1E9 into a high-affinity steroid receptor with a ligand recognition profile similar to DB3. To understand how these changes switch binding specificity and function, we determined the crystal structures of the 1E9 Leu H47 Trp/Arg H100 Trp double mutant (1E9dm) as an unliganded Fab at 2.05 Å resolution and in complex with two configurationally distinct steroids at 2.40 and 2.85 Å. Surprisingly, despite the functional mimicry of DB3, 1E9dm employs a distinct steroid binding mechanism. Extensive structural rearrangements occur in the combining site, where residue H47 acts as a specificity switch and H100 adapts to different ligands. Unlike DB3, 1E9dm does not use alternative binding pockets or different sets of hydrogen-bonding interactions to bind configurationally distinct steroids. Rather, the different steroids are inserted more deeply into the 1E9dm combining site, creating more hydrophobic contacts that energetically compensate for the lack of hydrogen bonds. These findings demonstrate how subtle mutations within an existing molecular scaffold can dramatically modulate the function of immune receptors by inducing unanticipated, but compensating, mechanisms of ligand interaction.antibody-antigen complex ͉ modulation of receptor specificity ͉ molecular recognition ͉ protein engineering ͉ x-ray crystallography