Multiscale dynamics of macromolecules using normal mode Langevin.

Proteins and other macromolecules have coupled dynamics over multiple time scales (from femtosecond to millisecond and beyond) that make resolving molecular dynamics challenging. We present an approach based on periodically decomposing the dynamics of a macromolecule into slow and fast modes based on a scalable coarse-grained normal mode analysis. A Langevin equation is used to propagate the slowest degrees of freedom while minimizing the nearly instantaneous degrees of freedom. We present numerical results showing that time steps of up to 1000 fs can be used, with real speedups of up to 200 times over plain molecular dynamics. We present results of successfully folding the Fip35 mutant of WW domain.

A Chlamydia trachomatis UDP-N-acetylglucosamine acyltransferase selective for myristoyl-acyl carrier protein. Expression in Escherichia coli and formation of hybrid lipid A species.

Chlamydia trachomatis lipid A is unusual in that it is acylated with myristoyl chains at the glucosamine 3 and 3' positions. We have cloned and expressed the gene encoding UDP-N-acetylglucosamine 3-O-acyltransferase of C. trachomatis (CtlpxA), the first enzyme of lipid A biosynthesis. C. trachomatis LpxA displays approximately 20-fold selectivity for myristoyl-ACP over R/S-3-hydroxymyristoyl-ACP under standard assay conditions, consistent with the proposed structure of C. trachomatis lipid A. CtLpxA is the first reported UDP-N-acetylglucosamine acyltransferase that prefers a non-hydroxylated acyl-ACP to a hydroxyacyl-ACP. When CtlpxA was expressed in RO138, a temperature-sensitive lpxA mutant of Escherichia coli, five new hybrid lipid A species were made in vivo after 2 h at 42 degrees C, in place of Escherichia coli lipid A. These compounds were purified and analyzed by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization/time of flight mass spectrometry. In each case, a myristoyl chain replaced one or both of the ester linked 3-hydroxymyristoyl residues of E. coli lipid A. With prolonged growth at 42 degrees C, all the ester-linked 3-hydroxymyristoyl residues were replaced with myristate chains. Re-engineering the structure of E. coli lipid A should facilitate the microbiological production of novel agonists or antagonists of the innate immunity receptor TLR-4, with possible uses as adjuvants or anti-inflammatory agents.

Lethal pulmonary hypoplasia and hydrocolpos with transverse vaginal septum in a newborn: a case report and review of the literature.

This is a case report of an unusual cause of Potter sequence. Autopsy showed lethal pulmonary hypoplasia in association with a transverse vaginal septum, hydrocolpos, and a secondary obstructive uropathy.

Regulation of the cyanide-resistant alternative oxidase of plant mitochondria. Identification of the cysteine residue involved in alpha-keto acid stimulation and intersubunit disulfide bond formation.

The cyanide-resistant alternative oxidase of plant mitochondria is a homodimeric protein whose activity can be regulated by a redox-sensitive intersubunit sulfhydryl/disulfide system and by alpha-keto acids. After determining that the Arabidopsis alternative oxidase possesses the redox-sensitive sulfhydryl/disulfide system, site-directed mutagenesis of an Arabidopsis cDNA clone was used to individually change the two conserved Cys residues, Cys-128 and Cys-78, to Ala. Using diamide oxidation and chemical cross-linking of the protein expressed in Escherichia coli, Cys-78 was shown to be: 1) the Cys residue involved in the sulfhydryl/disulfide system; and 2) not required for subunit dimerization. The C128A mutant was stimulated by pyruvate, while the C78A mutant protein had little activity and displayed no stimulation by pyruvate. Mutating Cys-78 to Glu produced an active enzyme which was insensitive to pyruvate, consistent with alpha-keto acid activation occurring through a thiohemiacetal. These results indicate that Cys-78 serves as both the regulatory sulfhydryl/disulfide and the site of activation by alpha-keto acids. In light of these results, the previously observed effects of sulfhydryl reagents on the alternative oxidase of isolated soybean mitochondria were re-examined and were found to be in agreement with a single sulfhydryl residue being the site both of alpha-keto acid activation and of the regulatory sulfhydryl/disulfide system.

A unique point mutation in the androgen receptor gene in a family with complete androgen insensitivity syndrome.

OBJECTIVE: To further delineate the diversity of genetic alterations in the gene coding for the androgen receptor in individuals with the androgen insensitivity syndrome and to increase our understanding of the disease at the molecular level. DESIGN: This was a prospective study in which genomic deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) from individuals with androgen insensitivity were examined through the polymerase chain reaction and DNA sequencing analysis. PATIENTS: Eleven complete and four individuals with partial androgen insensitivity syndrome were examined. RESULTS: Exons two through eight were grossly intact in all study subjects. Nucleotide sequence analysis revealed that three of three related family members with complete androgen insensitivity had the same guanine to adenine base substitution in exon five of the steroid-binding domain. CONCLUSION: The subsequent alanine to threonine amino acid conversion may have resulted in a configurational change of the androgen receptor protein leading to complete androgen insensitivity. This precise alteration has not been previously identified in the human androgen receptor gene in patients with the androgen insensitivity syndrome.