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Biomedical subjects

B Malcolm

Publications and source records attributed to B Malcolm.

11 recordsLinked to original sources

A novel recombinant single-chain hepatitis C virus NS3-NS4A protein with improved helicase activity.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) nonstructural protein 3 (NS3) has been shown to possess protease and helicase activities and has also been demonstrated to spontaneously associate with nonstructural protein NS4A (NS4A) to form a stable complex. Previous attempts to produce the NS3/NS4A complex in recombinant baculovirus resulted in a protein complex that aggregated and precipitated in the absence of nonionic detergent and high salt. A single-chain form of the NS3/NS4A complex (His-NS4A21-32-GSGS-NS3-631) was constructed in which the NS4A core peptide is fused to the N-terminus of the NS3 protease domain as previously described (Taremi et al., 1998). This protein contains a histidine tagged NS4A peptide (a.a. 21-32) fused to the full-length NS3 (a.a. 3-631) through a flexible tetra amino acid linker. The recombinant protein was expressed to high levels in Escherichia coli, purified to homogeneity, and examined for NTPase, nucleic acid unwinding, and proteolytic activities. The single-chain recombinant NS3-NS4A protein possesses physiological properties equivalent to those of the NS3/NS4A complex except that this novel construct is stable, soluble and sixfold to sevenfold more active in unwinding duplex RNA. Comparison of the helicase activity of the single-chain recombinant NS3-NS4A with that of the full-length NS3 (without NS4A) and that of the helicase domain alone suggested that the presence of the protease domain and at least the NS4A core peptide are required for optimal unwinding activity.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Sebaceous cysts.

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Cicatrix↗

Tinea pedis.

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Humans↗

Impetigo.

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Anti-Bacterial Agents↗

Identification of a decapeptide with the binding reactivity for tumor-associated TAG72 antigen from a phage displayed library.

Peptide ligands for tumor-associated TAG72 antigen were identified by screening a large, diverse decapeptide library expressed on the surface of filamentous phages. Fifty-eight clones of phages were selected from the eluates after the third round of biopanning and their DNA inserts were sequenced. A dominant decapeptide HYVSIELPDH (14/58) was found with the binding reactivity for TAG72 antigen in the TAG72-binding ELISA and Western dot blotting. It also showed a preferential binding to colonic adenocarcinomatous cells expressing the TAG72 antigen in the histochemical study. Therefore, this anti-TAG72 decapeptide may be useful in serving as the starting point with regard to further designing peptidomimetics for potential pharmaceuticals.

Adenocarcinoma↗

Nonendoscopic gastric mucosal biopsy to augment double-contrast upper gastrointestinal barium examination.

The authors present a gastric mucosal biopsy technique with use of a nasogastric catheter and biopsy forceps after double-contrast upper gastrointestinal fluoroscopy in patients with clinical symptoms of dyspepsia. In 51 patients (18 men and 33 women, aged 27-73 years [mean, 46 years]), 136 aggregates (specimens composed of the two pieces of mucosal tissue obtained in each region) ranged from 0.1 to 0.6 cm in diameter. All but three specimens were of adequate mucosal depth. No complications secondary to bleeding resulted.

Adult↗

A fluorescent peptide substrate for the surface metalloprotease of Leishmania.

A fluorescent oligopeptide substrate for the promastigote surface protease (PSP) of Leishmania was designed using the data reported for the substrate specificity of the enzyme (Bouvier, J., Schneider, P., Etges, R. J., and Bordier, C. 1990. Biochemistry 29, 10113-10119). The indole fluorescence of the tryptophan residue was efficiently quenched through resonance energy transfer by an N-terminal dansyl group located five amino acid residues away. The heptapeptide, dansyl-A-Y-L-K-K-W-V-NH2, was cleaved by PSP between the tyrosine and leucine residues with a kcat/Km ratio of 8.8 x 10(6) M-1sec-1. Hydrolysis by the enzyme results in a time-dependent increase of fluorescence intensity of 3.7-fold. Assays can be designed based on the tryptophan fluorescence at 360 nm or by individual product analyses using thin-layer chromatography. The synthetic substrate is readily cleaved by the metalloprotease at the surface of fixed promastigotes. The specificity and sensitivity of such internally quenched fluorescent peptide substrate will facilitate the identification of novel inhibitors for the enzyme and aid in detailed studies on its enzymology.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Overproduction of the membrane-bound components of the histidine permease from Salmonella typhimurium: identification of the M protein.

The periplasmic histidine permease of Salmonella typhimurium is composed of a soluble histidine-binding protein and three membrane-bound components. These latter are produced in very small amounts and only two, the Q and the P protein, have been previously identified. This paper describes the construction of a plasmid carrying the hisQ, hisM, and hisP genes under the control of the lambda PL promoter, thus allowing great overproduction of those gene products. The M protein has been identified in such overproducing strains and its nature confirmed by constructing in vitro hisM deletions within the plasmid. With these results the identification of all components of the histidine permease has been completed.

ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters↗