Article Title:Antiangiogenic Function of Antithrombin is Dependent on its Conformational Variation: Implication for Other Serpins
Author(s): Asim Azhar, Poonam Singh, Qudsia Rashid, Asma Naseem, Mohammad Sazzad Khan and Mohamad Aman Jairajpuri

Abstract: Endogenous angiogenesis inhibitor that specifically decreases tumor cell proliferation can be used to treat cancer since angiogenesis is required at every step of tumor progression and metastasis. Endothelial cells are the main target for the antiangiogenic therapy because they are non-transformed and easily accessible to angiogenic inhibitors. Antithrombin functions as a principal plasma protein inhibitor of blood coagulation proteinases and belongs to the family of serine protease inhibitors (serpins) which have common mechanism of inhibition. Antithrombin acquires a potent antiangiogenic activity upon conversion of the native molecule to cleaved or latent conformation. Cleaved and latent preparations of bovine and human plasma derived antithrombin inhibited capillary endothelial cell proliferation and the growth of human SK-NAS neuroblastoma and Lewis lung carcinoma tumors in mice as compared to the native antithrombin. The native form of antithrombin binds with high affinity to vascular heparan sulfate proteoglycans containing a specific pentasaccharide sequence and it is this cofactor interaction that activated antithrombin to maximal rate of thrombin inhibition. Upon inhibitory complex formation with target proteinases the antithrombin undergoes stressed to relaxed transformation and lose their high affinity for pentasacchride. Low affinity relaxed conformation with reduced heparin binding like cleaved and latent are antiangiogenic but native high affinity heparin binding stressed conformation is not, indicating the critical importance of heparin affinity in antithrombin antiangiogenic function. Based on evidence of interactions of the endothelial cell growth factors bFGF (Basic fibroblast growth factor) and VEGF (vascular endothelial cell growth factor) with heparin like molecule in matrix, the possibility of antiangiogenic antithrombin to interfere with endothelial cell growth and angiogenesis through heparin mediated mechanism deserves serious consideration and investigation. It is also possible that cleaved and latent conformations with reduced affinity for heparins can also induce conformational change in the antithrombin which can open an epitope on the antithrombin surface for appropriate interactions on the endothelial surface for better antiangiogenic activity. This review illustrates the potential of antithrombin and other serpin family members as endogenous antiangiogenic proteins.

Article Title:X-Ray Structure of PTP1B in Complex with a New PTP1B Inhibitor
Author(s): M.V.V.V. Sekhar reddy, Chakshumathi Ghadiyaram, Sunil Kumar Panigrahi, Narasimha Rao Krishnamurthy, Subramanya Hosahalli, Arun P. Chandrasekharappa, Deepankar Manna, Sangamesh E. Badiger, Pramod K. Dubey and Lakshmi Narasu Mangamoori
Abstract: Protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) is a prototype non receptor cytoplasmic PTPase enzyme that has been implicated in regulation of insulin and leptin signaling pathways. Studies on PTP1B knockout mice and PTP1B antisense treated mice suggested that inhibition of PTP1B would be an effective strategy for the treatment of type II diabetes and obesity. Here we report the X-ray structure of PTP1B in complex with compound IN1834-146C (PDB ID 4I8N). The crystals belong to P3121 space group with cell dimensions (a = b = 87.89 Å, c = 103.68 Å) diffracted to 2.5 Å. The crystal structure contained one molecule of protein in the asymmetric unit and was solved by molecular replacement method. The compound engages both catalytic site and allosteric sites of PTP1B protein. We described the molecular interaction of the compound with the active site residues of PTP1B in this crystal structure report.

Article Title:The Solubility and Stability of Amino Acids in Biocompatible Ionic Liquids
Author(s): T. Vasantha, Awanish Kumar, Pankaj Attri, Pannuru Venkatesu and R.S. Rama Devi
Abstract: In recent years, ionic liquids (ILs) represent a new class of biocompatible co-solvents for biomolecules. In this work, we report the apparent transfer free energies ( ΔG’tr) for six amino acids (AA) from water to aqueous solutions of six ammonium based ILs (diethylammonium acetate (DEAA), diethylammonium sulfate (DEAS), triethyl ammonium acetate (TEAA), triethylammonium sulfate (TEAS), triethylammonium dihydrogen phosphate (TEAP), and trimethylammonium acetate (TMAA)) through solubility measurements, as a function of IL concentration at 298.15 K under atmospheric pressure. Salting-out effect was found for AA in aqueous IL solutions with increasing IL concentrations. In addition, we observed positive values of Δ G’tr for AA from water to ILs, indicating that the interactions between ILs and AA are unfavorable. From the obtained results, we found that the selected ammonium based ILs act as stabilizers for the structure of AA.

Article Title:Purification and Biophysical Characterization of an 11S Globulin from Wrightia tinctoria Exhibiting Hemagglutinating Activity
Author(s): Pramod Kumar, Dipak N. Patil, Anshul Chaudhary, Shailly Tomar, Dinesh Yernool, Nirpendra Singh, Pushpanjali Dasauni, Suman Kundu and Pravindra Kumar
Abstract: Wrightia tinctoria globulin (WTG), one of the major seed storage proteins, was isolated for the first time from seeds of the medicinal plant. WTG was extracted and purified to homogeneity in two steps using anion-exchange and size-exclusion chromatographies. On an SDS–PAGE gel under non-reducing conditions, a major band of ~56 kDa was observed; under reducing conditions, however, two major polypeptides, one with molecular weight ~32-34 kDa and the other with molecular weight ~22-26 kDa were observed. Intact mass determination by MALDI-TOF supported this observation. The N-terminal amino acid sequence of WTG matched in NCBI database with an expressed sequence tag obtained from the c-DNA of developing embryo m-RNA of Wrightia tinctoria. The EST sequence was further substantiated by partial de novo internal sequencing using MALDI-TOF/TOF. The high sequence homology with seed storage protein 11S globulin confirmed that WTG is a type of 11S globulin. Circular dichroism analysis showed that the secondary structure of WTG consists predominantly of β-sheets (44.2%) and moderate content of α-helices (10.3%). WTG showed hemagglutinating property indicating that the protein may possess lectin-like activity. WTG was crystallized at 20 °C by the vapour diffusion method using PEG 400 as precipitant. The crystals belonged to the orthorhombic space group P212121 with cell dimensions of a=109.9Å, b=113.2Å and c=202.2Å with six molecules per asymmetric unit. Diffraction data were collected to a resolution of 2.2Å under cryocondition. Preliminary structure solution of WTG indicated the possibility of a hexameric assembly in its asymmetric unit.
courtesy by Bentham Insight