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Nicotinic acetylcholine receptor solubilization using lipid analog detergents: A key aspect toward receptor crystallization and functional characterization.
(2018-12)
The nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) is a ligand-gated ion channel (LGIC) composed of five subunits (2α, 1β, 1γ, and 1δ) in a pentameric arrangement. The nAChR is a crucial component of the cholinergic pathway and manages the synaptic transmission between the brain and muscle. During the past five decades, the nAChR from T. californica has been extensively studied and used as a representative model for crystallization trials. There have been several accomplishments in the nAChR crystallization efforts, particularly using Cryo-EM and molecular engineering coupled with hanging drop crystallography. However, a high-resolution crystal structure of the native nAChR has not yet been developed, in part due to the poor understanding of the lipid-protein-detergent interactions occurring within the receptor. Lipidic matrixes as crystallization environments for membrane proteins have been used to improve the yield of membrane protein’s crystal structures. Nevertheless, little is known about the effect of the isolation methodologies (i.e., detergents, buffers, and endogenous lipid composition) towards the LCP. Our laboratory designed a lipid-based characterization approach and examined the stability, functionality, and mobility of the T. californica nAChR. Size exclusion chromatography was used to assay soluble stability, two electron voltage clamp (TEVC) to study ion channel functionality, and fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) to assess nAChR mobility on the LCP. The evaluation of these criteria is essential to determine the appropriate conditions to conduct nAChR crystallization. Our studies showed it is possible to extract T. californica nAChR by employing lipid analog detergents and provided valuable insights for the preparation of functionally active nAChR-detergent complexes. We demonstrated that phospholipid-analog detergents with 16 carbon chains sustain nAChR function and stability....
Nanosized Core-Shell Protein Drug Delivery Systems
(2019-05)
Proteins have the complexity and specificity to be effective therapeutics. However, the same complexity that confer proteins with high specificity makes them susceptible to stability problems, immunogenicity, or rapid ...
Design of responsive cellulose-block copolymer memebranes for the remediation of organic emerging contaminants: a selective adsorption approach for electron-deficient aromatic compounds.
(2019-08)
Organic emerging contaminants (OECs) or contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) are molecules that were previously unaccounted for in term of water quality standards and are known now to have adverse ecological and human ...
Estudio químico y actividad citotóxica de extractos de la hoja de guanábana (Annona muricata L.)
(2014)
The present research was conducted to investigate the in vitro cytotoxic activity of
dichloromethane extracts obtained from the leaves of sourpsop (Annona muricata L.) on human
colon cancer cell line HT-29, as an alternative ...
Optimization of biodiesel production process using recycled vegetable oil
(2010)
Petro diesel toxic emissions and its limited resources have created an interest for the
development of new energy resources, such as biodiesel. Biodiesel is traditionally produced
by a transesterification reaction between ...
Síntesis y estudios mecanísticos de complejos de molibdenoceno: Interacción de agentes metálicos anti-cáncer con el transporte de proteínas
(2012)
Nuevos complejos organometálicos fueron sintetizados, partiendo del dicloruro de molibdenoceno (Cp2MoCl2) y cuatro ligandos: L-Acido ascórbico(L-AA), 6-o-palmitoil-L- acido ascórbico (PAA), Etil maltol y D-penicilamina, ...
Sulfmyoglobin formation pathway upon reaction of oxy-myoglobin and hydrogen sulfide
(2019-12-03)
Myoglobin (Mb) binds oxygen with high affinity as a low spin singlet complex and thus functions as an oxygen storage protein. Quantum chemical calculations of oxy-Mb models with hydrogen sulfide (H2S) in the active site ...
Synthesis, chemical and biochemical characterization of TiIV and VIV complexes with anti-tumor activity
(2010)
At the present time in which the metallocene dihalides have shown to possess antitumoral activity, scientists of all around the world have been working with the synthesis and structural modifications to improve their ...
Synthesis, characterization, cytotoxic activity and biological interactions of tungstenocene (lv) derivatives
(2012)
The design of medicinal compounds for cancer therapy is still a challenge. Organometallics offer a wide variety of promising anticancer drug candidates but this field is largely unexplored. This study has been focused on ...
Development of calibration models for the in-line prediction of active pharmaceutical ingredient concentration in the range 0-100% W/W by near infrared and Raman spectroscopy
(2013)
The development of quantitative calibration models by near infrared (NIR) and Raman spectroscopy with the capability of predicting concentration in a wider range than the currently used approach will be described. Current ...