Neurodegenerative diseases are a group of chronic progressive neuronal damage disorders. The cause is unclear, most of them share a same pathological hallmark with misfold proteins accumulating in neurons. Carboxyl-terminus of Hsc70 interacting protein (CHIP) is a dual functional molecule, which has a N terminal tetratrico peptide repeat (TPR) domain that interacts with Hsc/Hsp70 complex and Hsp90 enabling CHIP to modulate the aberrant protein folding; and a C terminal U-box ubiquitin ligase domain that binds to the 26S subunit of the proteasome involved in protein degradation via ubiqutin-proteasome system. CHIP protein mediates interactions between the chaperone system and the ubiquitin-proteasome system, and plays an important role in maintaining the protein homeostasis in cells. This article reviews the molecular characteristics and physiological functions of CHIP, and its role in cellular metabolism and discusses the relationship between CHIP dysfunction and neurodegenerative diseases.
Animals ; Humans ; Neurodegenerative Diseases ; genetics ; metabolism ; Protein Binding ; Protein Folding ; Proteolysis ; Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases ; genetics ; metabolism

Bacteriophages bind to the bacteria receptor through the receptor binding proteins (RBPs), a process that requires the involvement of complex atomic structures and conformational changes. In response to bacteriophage infection, bacteria have developed a variety of resistance mechanisms, while bacteriophages have also evolved multiple antagonistic mechanisms to escape host resistance. The exploration of the "adsorption-anti adsorption-escape process" between bacteriophages and bacteria helps us better understand the co-evolution process of bacteriophages and bacteria, which is important for the development of phage therapeutic technologies and phage-based biotechnologies. This review summarizes the bacteriophage adsorption related proteins, how bacteriophages escape host resistance based on the RBP alternations, and the recent progress of RBP-related biotechnologies.
Bacteria ; Bacteriophage Receptors ; Bacteriophages/genetics* ; Carrier Proteins ; Protein Binding

Humans ; Protein Binding ; genetics ; Protein Structure, Secondary ; Ubiquitin Thiolesterase ; genetics ; metabolism ; Ubiquitin-Specific Peptidase 7

Capsaicin in chili peppers bestows the sensation of spiciness. Since the discovery of its receptor, transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) ion channel, how capsaicin activates this channel has been under extensive investigation using a variety of experimental techniques including mutagenesis, patch-clamp recording, crystallography, cryo-electron microscopy, computational docking and molecular dynamic simulation. A framework of how capsaicin binds and activates TRPV1 has started to merge: capsaicin binds to a pocket formed by the channel's transmembrane segments, where it takes a "tail-up, head-down" configuration. Binding is mediated by both hydrogen bonds and van der Waals interactions. Upon binding, capsaicin stabilizes the open state of TRPV1 by "pull-and-contact" with the S4-S5 linker. Understanding the ligand-host interaction will greatly facilitate pharmaceutical efforts to develop novel analgesics targeting TRPV1.
Binding Sites ; Capsaicin ; chemistry ; pharmacokinetics ; Humans ; Hydrogen Bonding ; Protein Binding ; TRPV Cation Channels ; chemistry ; genetics ; metabolism

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the regulatory effects of RBM47 on HMGA2 and the function of RBM47 in human chronic myeloid leukemia cell K562. METHODS: K562 cells were transduction by the overexpressed and knockdown RBM47 lentiviral vector. CCK-8 assay was used to detect the effect of RBM47 on the proliferation of K562 cells. Flow cytometry assay was used to detect the effect of RBM47 on the cell cycle progression of K562 cells. RNA immunoprecipitation assay was used to detect the association between RBM47 and HMGA2 mRNA. RT-qPCR was used to detect the effects of RBM47 on the stability of HMGA2 mRNA. Western blot was used to evaluate the effect of RBM47 on HMGA2 protein expression. RESULTS: The overexpressed RBM47 could inhibit the proliferation and cell cycle progression of K562 cells. However, the inhibitation of RBM47 could improve the proliferation and cell cycle progression of K562 cells. RBM47 combined with HMGA2 mRNA could promote the degradation of HMGA2 mRNA. Thus, the overexpressed RBM47 could decrease the expression of HMGA2 protein in K562 cells. CONCLUSION RNA binding protein RBM47 can inhibit the proliferation of K562 cells by regulating HMGA2 expression.
Apoptosis ; Cell Proliferation ; HMGA2 Protein/genetics* ; Humans ; K562 Cells ; RNA, Messenger/genetics* ; RNA-Binding Proteins/genetics*

Pseudohypoparayhyroidism (PHP) is a rare autosomal dominant or recessive genetic disorder characterized by low calcium, high phosphorus, and target organ resistance to parathyroid. The clinical characteristics and genetic features in 4 patients with Type Ib PHP in the Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, have been reviewed. All 4 patients had low calcium, high phosphorus, and parathyroid resistance. Among them, 2 patients had slightly elevated thyroid stimulating hormone and mild features of Albright's hereditary osteodystrophy, and one patient had hypokalemia. No guanine nucleotide-binding protein alpha-stimulating activity polypeptide 1 (GNAS) and gene variant associated with hypokalemia were identified using the whole exome sequencing. The results of the methylation-specific multiple ligation-dependent probe amplification showed that there were abnormal methylation of the upstream differentially methylated regions of GNAS in the 4 patients. There were phenotype overlap among the various subtypes of PHP. Detection of GNAS gene methylation in patients with clinical suspicion of Type Ib PHP is helpful for the diagnosis and treatment of PHP.
Humans ; Chromogranins/genetics* ; GTP-Binding Protein alpha Subunits, Gs/genetics* ; Hypokalemia ; Calcium ; Pseudohypoparathyroidism/genetics* ; Phosphorus

Humans ; RNA-Binding Protein EWS/genetics* ; Melanoma/genetics* ; Oncogene Proteins, Fusion/genetics*

Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV), a member of the Phlebovirus genus from the Bunyaviridae family endemic to China, is the causative agent of life-threatening severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS), which features high fever and hemorrhage. Similar to other negative-sense RNA viruses, SFTSV encodes a nucleocapsid protein (NP) that is essential for viral replication. NP facilitates viral RNA encapsidation and is responsible for the formation of ribonucleoprotein complex. However, recent studies have indicated that NP from Phlebovirus members behaves in inhomogeneous oligomerization states. In the present study, we report the crystal structure of SFTSV NP at 2.8 Å resolution and demonstrate the mechanism by which it processes a ringshaped hexameric form to accomplish RNA encapsidation. Key residues essential for oligomerization are identified through mutational analysis and identified to have a significant impact on RNA binding, which suggests that correct formation of highly ordered oligomers is a critical step in RNA encapsidation. The findings of this work provide new insights into the discovery of new antiviral reagents for Phlebovirus infection.
Binding Sites ; Crystallography, X-Ray ; Mutation ; Nucleocapsid Proteins ; chemistry ; genetics ; metabolism ; Phlebovirus ; metabolism ; Protein Binding ; Protein Multimerization ; Protein Structure, Quaternary ; RNA, Viral ; metabolism ; Recombinant Proteins ; biosynthesis ; chemistry ; genetics

OBJECTIVETo explore whether the membrane-associated protein Flotillin-1 has relationship with endocytosis of PrPc.

METHODSThe expression of Flotillin-1 in different cell lines was detected with the method of Western Blot; the interaction between Flotillin-1 and PrPc in Cells which were treated with copper ions was observed using immunoprecipitation method.

RESULTS(1) Flotillin-1 was widely expressed in many cell lines without significant difference in the amounts of expression level; (2) Only in the appearance of copper ions, the protein complexes of PrPc and Flotillin-1 can be detected with the method of IP, which were related to copper ions concentration and processing time.

CONCLUSIONThe membrane-associated protein Flotillin-1 has the relationship with the endocytosis of PrPc.

Cell Line ; Cell Membrane ; genetics ; metabolism ; Endocytosis ; Humans ; Membrane Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; PrPC Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Protein Binding ; Protein Transport

This experiment was aimed to create A20 gene site-specific zinc finger DNA-binding protein. The sequence of A20 gene promoter was analyzed with bioinformatics means and submitted to ZF Tools Server at TSRI. Using the database of the web site, we determined the A20 gene valid target sites and designed the amino acid sequence of zinc finger protein predicted to be bound to the target site. And then, the structure of the protein sequence was analyzed and homology was modeled with various bioinformatics means. Based on the characteristic of this protein, the prokaryotic expression vector pTYB11-ZFP was constructed and expressed. Thus, the artificial zinc finger protein that recognized A20 specific sequence was designed, and expressed in Escherichia coli. The results indicate that it is feasible to design engineered artificial Zinc finger proteins by means of bioinformatics.
Amino Acid Sequence ; Base Sequence ; DNA-Binding Proteins ; chemistry ; genetics ; Humans ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Protein Binding ; Protein Engineering ; methods ; Transcription Factors ; chemistry ; genetics ; Zinc Fingers ; genetics