Protein and Peptide Letters - Volume 20, Issue 6, 2013

Tachykinins (TKs) and their structurally related peptides constitute the largest peptide superfamily in the animal kingdom. TKs have been shown to play various physiological roles not only as major brain-gut peptides but also as endocrine-paracrine hormones in chordates and exocrine factors in amphibians. Recent studies have also revealed that the biological roles of TKs as brain-gut peptides and endocrine-paracrine factors are Read More

The purpose of this review is to highlight the role of pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) in a range of physiological and behavioral processes of gastropod molluscs, Helix and Lymnaea. Since its discovery in 1989 PACAP has become increasingly recognized for its important and diversified roles in the central and peripheral nervous system and in several peripheral organs of a variety of vertebrate Read More

C. elegans has 302 neurons (in the adult hermaphrodite) and this simple nervous system harbours over 250 neuropeptides. Neuropeptides are a class of signalling molecule implicated in key physiological roles and thus confer a surprising level of complexity to signalling in this nematode. Indeed, it is probable that most, if not all, sensory, motor and interneurons, in C. elegans synthesise and release at least one neuropepti Read More

In 1977 the neuropeptide FMRFamide was isolated from the clam, Macrocallista nimbosa. Since then several hundred FMRFamide-related peptides (FaRPs) have been isolated from invertebrate animals. Precursors to the FaRPs likely arose in the cnidarians. With the transition to a bilateral body plan FaRPs became a fixture in the invertebrate phyla. They have come to play a critical role as neurotransmitters, neuromodulators, an Read More

Peptides are known to play important developmental and physiological roles in signaling. The rich diversity of peptides, with functions as diverse as intercellular communication, neurotransmission and signaling that spatially and temporally controls axis formation and cell differentiation, hints at the wealth of information passed between interacting cells. Little is known about peptides that control developmental processes such as Read More

A number of unique challenges are inherent to the study of neuropeptides (NPs), both in determining their molecular structure and their function. Traditional studies follow a model in which novel NPs are discovered and identified, then investigated for function. These studies frequently use biochemical techniques that can be imprecise and cumbersome. Mass spectrometry (MS)-based tools are becoming important not only i Read More

Attachment to host cell surfaces is a crucial step in bacterial infections. This step is mediated by important virulence factors termed adhesins which are protein in nature. Non-covalent interactions play an important role in the structural stability of protein molecules. In the present study, the roles played by cation-π interactions in the adhesion proteins of Gram negative bacilli, Gram negative cocci and Gram positive cocci are syste Read More

In the circulatory system, serum albumin (SA) is an important transporter of the majority of molecules with biological activity. We focused the current study on the anti-inflammatory compound, o-alkylselenenylated benzoic acid (ALKSEBEA), to determine its ability to access SA. Herein, we employed experimental procedures (fluorescence studies, Raman spectroscopy) and docking study on SA obtained from the Protein Dat Read More

Porcine β defensin 2(pBD2)is a cationic 37-amino acid antimicrobial peptide with disulfide bonds. Synthetic pBD2 had broad antimicrobial activity against pathogenic bacteria, and thus pBD2 could be a good candidate as a bactericidal agent for pigs. This study reported the successful recombinant expression of pBD2 in Escherichia coli and analysis of its antimicrobial activity, its hemolytic activity, salt-tolerance and ther Read More

This work deals with the use of predictors to identify useful B-cell linear epitopes to develop immunoassays. Experimental techniques to meet this goal are quite expensive and time consuming. Therefore, we tested 5 free, online prediction methods (AAPPred, ABCpred, BcePred, BepiPred and Antigenic) widely used for predicting linear epitopes, using the primary structure of the protein as the only input. We chose a set of 65 e Read More