Septin crystallization for structural analysis.

Septins are filament-forming proteins found in many eukaryotes. Despite being important components of the cytoskeleton, only recently details of their macromolecular assemblies and crystal structures have started to appear in the literature. These are of fundamental importance to the understanding of cytoskeleton dynamics, membrane barrier formation, and bacterial caging, as well as essential cellular processes such as cell division, exocytosis, and vesicle trafficking. However, obtaining this data is frequently hindered by several experimental difficulties common to the majority of septin samples. Here we provide an overview of the current approaches to circumvent or minimize the experimental complications observed in septin crystallography focusing mainly, but not exclusively, on the choice of the septin construct and how to best prepare the sample itself.

Physico-chemical and antifungal properties of protease inhibitors from Acacia plumosa.

This study was aimed at investigating the purification, biological activity, and some structural properties of three serine protease inhibitors isoforms, denoted ApTIA, ApTIB, and ApTIC from Acacia plumosa Lowe seeds. They were purified from the saline extract of the seeds, using Superdex-75 gel filtration and Mono-S ion exchange chromatography. They were further investigated by mass spectrometry, spectroscopic measurements, surface plasmon resonance, and inhibition assays with proteases and phytopathogenic fungi. The molecular mass of each isoform was estimated at ca. 20 kDa. Each contained two polypeptide chains linked by a disulfide bridge, with different isoelectric points that are acidic in nature. The N-terminal sequences of both chains indicated that they were Kunitz-type inhibitors. Circular dichroism (CD) analyses suggested the predominance of both disordered and beta-strands on ApTI isoforms secondary structure, as expected for beta-II proteins. In addition, it was observed that the proteins were very stable, even at either extreme pH values or at high temperature, with denaturation midpoints close to 75 degrees C. The isoinhibitors could delay, up to 10 times, the blood coagulation time in vitro and inhibited action of trypsin (Ki 1.8 nM), alpha-chymotrypsin (Ki 10.3 nM) and kallikrein (Ki 0.58 microM). The binding of ApTIA, ApTIB, and ApTIC to trypsin and alpha-chymotrypsin, was investigated by surface plasmon resonance (SPR), this giving dissociation constants of 0.39, 0.56 and 0.56 nM with trypsin and 7.5, 6.9 and 3.5 nM with alpha-chymotrypsin, respectively. The growth profiles of Aspergillus niger, Thielaviopsis paradoxa and Colletotrichum sp. P10 were also inhibited by each isoforms. These three potent inhibitors from A. plumosa may therefore be of great interest as specific inhibitors to regulate proteolytic processes.