A protease is an enzyme that catalyzes proteolysis, breaking down proteins into smaller polypeptides or single amino acids, and spurring the formation of new protein products. They do this by cleaving the peptide bonds within proteins by hydrolysis, a reaction where water breaks bonds. Proteases are involved in numerous biological pathways, including digestion of ingested proteins, protein catabolism, and cell signaling.
Biosynthesis, i.e., chemical synthesis occurring in biological contexts, is a term most often referring to multi-step, enzyme-catalyzed processes where chemical substances absorbed as nutrients serve as enzyme substrates, with conversion by the living organism either into simpler or more complex products. Examples of biosynthetic pathways include those for the production of amino acids, lipid membrane components, and nucleotides, but also for the production of all classes of biological macromolecules, and of acetyl-coenzyme A, adenosine triphosphate, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide and other key intermediate and transactional molecules needed for metabolism. Thus, in biosynthesis, any of an array of compounds, from simple to complex, are converted into other compounds, and so it includes both the catabolism and anabolism of complex molecules. Biosynthetic processes are often represented via charts of metabolic pathways. A particular biosynthetic pathway may be located within a single cellular organelle, while others involve enzymes that are located across an array of cellular organelles and structures.
A peptidomimetic is a small protein-like chain designed to mimic a peptide. They typically arise either from modification of an existing peptide, or by designing similar systems that mimic peptides, such as peptoids and β-peptides. Irrespective of the approach, the altered chemical structure is designed to advantageously adjust the molecular properties such as stability or biological activity. This can have a role in the development of drug-like compounds from existing peptides. Peptidomimetics can be prepared by cyclization of linear peptides or coupling of stable unnatural amino acids. These modifications involve changes to the peptide that will not occur naturally. Unnatural amino acids can be generated from their native analogs via modifications such as amine alkylation, side chain substitution, structural bond extension cyclization, and isosteric replacements within the amino acid backbone. Based on their similarity with the precursor peptide, peptidomimetics can be grouped into four classes where A features the most and D the least similarities. Classes A and B involve peptide-like scaffolds, while classes C and D include small molecules.
2,3-Bisphosphoglyceric acid (2,3-BPG), also known as 2,3-diphosphoglyceric acid (2,3-DPG), is a three-carbon isomer of the glycolytic intermediate 1,3-bisphosphoglyceric acid (1,3-BPG).
An enzyme inhibitor is a molecule that binds to an enzyme and blocks its activity. Enzymes are proteins that speed up chemical reactions necessary for life, in which substrate molecules are converted into products. An enzyme facilitates a specific chemical reaction by binding the substrate to its active site, a specialized area on the enzyme that accelerates the most difficult step of the reaction.
Bisphosphoglycerate mutase is an enzyme expressed in erythrocytes and placental cells. It is responsible for the catalytic synthesis of 2,3-Bisphosphoglycerate (2,3-BPG) from 1,3-bisphosphoglycerate. BPGM also has a mutase and a phosphatase function, but these are much less active, in contrast to its glycolytic cousin, phosphoglycerate mutase (PGM), which favors these two functions, but can also catalyze the synthesis of 2,3-BPG to a lesser extent.
Phosphoglycerate mutase (PGM) is any enzyme that catalyzes step 8 of glycolysis - the internal transfer of a phosphate group from C-3 to C-2 which results in the conversion of 3-phosphoglycerate (3PG) to 2-phosphoglycerate (2PG) through a 2,3-bisphosphoglycerate intermediate. These enzymes are categorized into the two distinct classes of either cofactor-dependent (dPGM) or cofactor-independent (iPGM). The dPGM enzyme is composed of approximately 250 amino acids and is found in all vertebrates as well as in some invertebrates, fungi, and bacteria. The iPGM class is found in all plants and algae as well as in some invertebrate, fungi, and Gram-positive bacteria. This class of PGM enzyme shares the same superfamily as alkaline phosphatase.
Insulin regulated aminopeptidase (IRAP) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the leucyl and cystinyl aminopeptidase (LNPEP) gene. IRAP is a type II transmembrane protein which belongs to the oxytocinase subfamily of M1 aminopeptidases, alongside ERAP1 and ERAP2. It is also known as oxytocinase, leucyl and cystinyl aminopeptidase, placental leucine aminopeptidase (P-LAP), cystinyl aminopeptidase (CAP), and vasopressinase. IRAP is expressed in different cell types, mainly located in specialized regulated endosomes that can be recruited to the cell surface upon cell type-specific receptor activation.
A tetrapeptide is a peptide, classified as an oligopeptide, since it only consists of four amino acids joined by peptide bonds. Many tetrapeptides are pharmacologically active, often showing affinity and specificity for a variety of receptors in protein-protein signaling. Present in nature are both linear and cyclic tetrapeptides (CTPs), the latter of which mimics protein reverse turns which are often present on the surface of proteins and druggable targets. Tetrapeptides may be cyclized by a fourth peptide bond or other covalent bonds.
PDE3 is a phosphodiesterase. The PDEs belong to at least eleven related gene families, which are different in their primary structure, substrate affinity, responses to effectors, and regulation mechanism. Most of the PDE families are composed of more than one gene. PDE3 is clinically significant because of its role in regulating heart muscle, vascular smooth muscle and platelet aggregation. PDE3 inhibitors have been developed as pharmaceuticals, but their use is limited by arrhythmic effects and they can increase mortality in some applications.
In biochemistry, cyclotides are small, disulfide-rich peptides isolated from plants. Typically containing 28-37 amino acids, they are characterized by their head-to-tail cyclised peptide backbone and the interlocking arrangement of their three disulfide bonds. These combined features have been termed the cyclic cystine knot (CCK) motif. To date, over 100 cyclotides have been isolated and characterized from species of the families Rubiaceae, Violaceae, and Cucurbitaceae. Cyclotides have also been identified in agriculturally important families such as the Fabaceae and Poaceae.
Carboxypeptidase A usually refers to the pancreatic exopeptidase that hydrolyzes peptide bonds of C-terminal residues with aromatic or aliphatic side-chains. Most scientists in the field now refer to this enzyme as CPA1, and to a related pancreatic carboxypeptidase as CPA2.
A cystine knot is a protein structural motif containing three disulfide bridges. The sections of polypeptide that occur between two of them form a loop through which a third disulfide bond passes, forming a rotaxane substructure. The cystine knot motif stabilizes protein structure and is conserved in proteins across various species. There are three types of cystine knot, which differ in the topology of the disulfide bonds:
Racemic crystallography is a technique used in structural biology where crystals of a protein molecule are developed from an equimolar mixture of an L-protein molecule of natural chirality and its D-protein mirror image. L-protein molecules consist of 'left-handed' L-amino acids and the achiral amino acid glycine, whereas the mirror image D-protein molecules consist of 'right-handed' D-amino acids and glycine. Typically, both the L-protein and the D-protein are prepared by total chemical synthesis.
In chemistry, binding selectivity is defined with respect to the binding of ligands to a substrate forming a complex. Binding selectivity describes how a ligand may bind more preferentially to one receptor than another. A selectivity coefficient is the equilibrium constant for the reaction of displacement by one ligand of another ligand in a complex with the substrate. Binding selectivity is of major importance in biochemistry and in chemical separation processes.
In molecular biology, the ACT domain is a protein domain that is found in a variety of proteins involved in metabolism. ACT domains are linked to a wide range of metabolic enzymes that are regulated by amino acid concentration. The ACT domain is named after three of the proteins that contain it: aspartate kinase, chorismate mutase and TyrA. The archetypical ACT domain is the C-terminal regulatory domain of 3-phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase (3PGDH), which folds with a ferredoxin-like topology. A pair of ACT domains form an eight-stranded antiparallel sheet with two molecules of allosteric inhibitor serine bound in the interface. Biochemical exploration of a few other proteins containing ACT domains supports the suggestions that these domains contain the archetypical ACT structure.
Endoplasmic reticulum aminopeptidase 2 (ERAP2) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ERAP2 gene. ERAP2 is part of the M1 aminopeptidase family. It is expressed along with ERAP1 in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). In the ER, both enzymes help process and present antigens by trimming the ends of precursor peptides. This creates the optimal pieces for display by Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) class I molecules.
Cereulide is a toxin produced by some strains of Bacillus cereus, Bacillus megaterium and related species. It is a potent cytotoxin that destroys mitochondria. It causes nausea and vomiting.
James Inglese is an American biochemist, the director of the Assay Development and Screening Technology Laboratory at the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, a Center within the National Institutes of Health. His specialty is small molecule high throughput screening. Inglese's laboratory develops methods and strategies in molecular pharmacology with drug discovery applications. The work of his research group and collaborators focuses on genetic and infectious disease-associated biology.
Azemiopsin, a toxin obtained from the Azemiops feae viper venom, is a polypeptide that consists of 21 amino acid residues. It does not contain cysteine residues or disulfide bridges. The polypeptide can block skeletal muscle contraction by blocking nicotinic acetylcholine receptors.
