Background: α-Amylases are starch-degrading enzymes and used widely, the study on thermostability of α-amylase is a central requirement for its application in life science and biotechnology. Objective: In this article, our motivation is to study how the effect of Ca2+ ions on the structure and thermal characterization of α-amylase (AGXA) from thermophilic Anoxybacillus sp.GXS-BL. Methods: α-Amylase activity was assayed with soluble starch as the substrate, and the amount of sugar released was determined by DNS method. For AGXA with calcium ions and without calcium ions, optimum temperature (Topt), half-inactivation temperature (T50) and thermal inactivation (halflife, t1/2) was evaluated. The thermal denaturation of the enzymes was determined by DSC and CD methods. 3D structure of AGXA was homology modeled with α-amylase (5A2A) as the template. Results: With calcium ions, the values of Topt, T50, t1/2, Tm and ΔH in AGXA were significantly higher than those of AGXA without calcium ions, showing calcium ions had stabilizing effects on α-amylase structure with the increased temperature. Based on DSC measurements AGXA underwent thermal denaturation by adopting two-state irreversible unfolding processes. Based on the CD spectra, AGXA without calcium ions exhibited two transition states upon unfolding, including α- helical contents increasing, and the transition from α-helices to β-sheet structures, which was obviously different in AGXA with Ca2+ ions, and up to 4 Ca2+ ions were located on the inter-domain or intra-domain regions according to the modeling structure. Conclusion: These results reveal that Ca2+ ions have pronounced influences on the thermostability of AGXA structure.

Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) are prion protein misfolding diseases that involve the accumulation of an abnormal β-sheet-rich prion protein aggregated form (PrP(sc)) of the normal α- helix-rich prion protein (PrP(c)) within the central nervous system (CNS) and other organs. On account of its large size and insolubility properties, characterization of PrP(c) is quite difficult. A soluble intermediate, called PrP(β) or β(o), exhibiting many of the same features as PrP(sc), can be generated using a combination of low pH and/or mild denaturing conditions. Here, we review the current knowledge on the following five issues relevant to the conversion mechanisms of PrP(c) to PrP(sc) : (1) How is the Stability of the Helical Structures in the Native PrP(c) Related to the Primary Structure of the PrP(c) (2) Why the Low pH Solution System is a Ideal Trigger of PrP(c) to PrP(sc) Conversion (3) How are the Structural and Dynamical Characteristics of the α-helixrich Intermediates Determined using NMR Data (4) How are the Premolten (PrP(α4) and PrP(αβ)) and β-Oligomer (PrP(β)) Intermediates Detected and Assayed, and (5) Can the Disordered N-terminal Domain be folded into the Structural Segment? Particularly, Chou's wenxiang diagram (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wenxiang_diagram) was introduced for providing an intuitive picture. This review may help to further understand the prion protein misfolding mechanism.

P53 controls the cell cycle arrest and cell apoptosis through interaction with the downstream genes and their signal pathways. To stimulate the investigation into the complicated responses of p53 under the circumstance of ion radiation (IR) in the cellular level, a dynamic model for the p53 stress response networks is proposed. The model can be successfully used to simulate the dynamic processes of generating the double-strand breaks (DSBs) and their repairing, ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) activation, as well as the oscillations occurring in the p53-MDM2 feedback loop.

All residues in an alpha helix can be characterized and dispositioned on a 2D the wenxiang diagram, which possesses the following features: (1) the relative locations of the amino acids in the α-helix can be clearly displayed regardless how long it is; (2) direction of an alphahelix can be indicated; and (3) more information regarding each of the constituent amino acid residues in an alpha helix. Owing to its intuitionism and easy visibility, wenxiang diagrams have had an immense influence on our understanding of protein structure, protein-protein interactions, and the effect of helical structural stability on protein conformational transitions. In this review, we summarize two recent applications of wenxiang diagrams incorporating NMR spectroscopy in the researches of the coiled-coil protein interactions related to the regulation of contraction or relaxation states of vascular smooth muscle cells, and the effects of α-helical stability on the protein misfolding in prion disease, in hopes that the gained valuable information through these studies can stimulate more and more widely applications of wenxiang diagrams in structural biology.

Polysialic acid (polySia) is an unusual glycan that posttranslational modifies neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) proteins in mammalian cells. The up-regulated expression of polySia-NCAM is associated with tumor progression in many metastatic human cancers and in neurocognitive processes. Two members of the ST8Sia family of α2,8-polysialyltransferases (polySTs), ST8Sia II (STX) and ST8Sia IV (PST) both catalyze synthesis of polySia when activated cytidine monophosphate(CMP)-Sialic acid (CMP-Sia) is translocate into the lumen of the Golgi apparatus. Two key polybasic domains in the polySTs, the polybasic region (PBR) and the polysialyltransferase domain (PSTD) areessential forpolysialylation of the NCAM proteins. However, the precise molecular details to describe the interactions required for polysialylation remain unknown. In this study, we hypothesize that PSTD interacts with both CMP-Sia and polySia to catalyze polysialylation of the NCAM proteins. To test this hypothesis, we synthesized a 35-amino acid-PSTD peptide derived from the ST8Sia IV gene sequence and used it to study its interaction with CMP-Sia, and polySia. Our results showed for the PSTD-CMP-Sia interaction, the largest chemical-shift perturbations (CSP) were in amino acid residues V251 to A254 in the short H1 helix, located near the N-terminus of PSTD. However, larger CSP values for the PSTD-polySia interaction were observed in amino acid residues R259 to T270 in the long H2 helix. These differences suggest that CMP-Sia preferentially binds to the domain between the short H1 helix and the longer H2 helix. In contrast, polySia was principally bound to the long H2 helix of PSTD. For the PSTD-polySia interaction, a significant decrease in peak intensity was observed in the 20 amino acid residues located between the N-and C-termini of the long H2 helix in PSTD, suggesting a slower motion in these residues when polySia bound to PSTD. Specific features of the interactions between PSTD-CMP-Sia, and PSTD-polySia were further confirmed by comparing their 800 MHz-derived HSQC spectra with that of PSTD-Sia, PSTD-TriSia (DP 3) and PSTD-polySia. Based on the interactions between PSTD-CMP-Sia, PSTD-polySia, PBR-NCAM and PSTD-PBR, these findingsprovide a greater understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying polySia-NCAM polysialylation, and thus provides a new perspective for translational pharmacological applications and development by targeting the two polysialyltransferases.