Site-directed mutagenesis of Pseudomonas aeruginosa azurin C112D at the M121 position has afforded a series of proteins with elevated Cu(II/I) reduction potentials relative to the Cu(II) aquo ion. The high potential and low axial hyperfine splitting (Cu(II) electron paramagnetic resonance A( parallel)) of the C112D/M121L protein are remarkably similar to features normally associated with type 1...

PURPOSE To investigate early retinal changes in a vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) transgenic mouse (tr029VEGF; rhodopsin promoter) with long-term damage that mimics nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR) and mild proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR). METHODS Rhodopsin and VEGF expression was assessed up to postnatal day (P)28. Vascular and retinal changes were charted at P...

Complete spinal transection in the mature nervous system is typically followed by minimal axonal repair, extensive motor paralysis and loss of sensory functions caudal to the injury. In contrast, the immature nervous system has greater capacity for repair, a phenomenon sometimes called the infant lesion effect. This study investigates spinal injuries early in development using the marsupial opo...

The steady-state charge and spin transfer yields were measured for three different Ru-modified azurin derivatives in protein films on silver electrodes. While the charge-transfer exhibit weak temperature dependences, consistent with operation of a near activation-less mechanism, selectivity electron improves as increases. This enhancement is explained by vibrationally induced exchange interacti...

The structure of the human red blood cell membrane band 3 protein has been investigated by proteolysis of intact cells with papain. Papain cleaves the 35,000-dalton chymotryptic peptide (CH35) of band 3 into two integral fragments of Mr 7,500 (P7) and 28,000 (P28). The papain cleavage of CH35 causes inhibition of band 3-catalyzed Cl transport. The peptide P28 carries the band 3 carbohydrate and...

The nature of CR type 2 (CR2)-ligand interactions which leads to the activation of human B cells was analyzed by using synthetic peptides and CR2-positive cell lines. The third component of C (C3) supported the growth of human lymphoblastoid B cells in serum-free medium containing human transferrin. This effect was inhibited by an antibody to C3d (mAb 130) which specifically inhibits C3d bindin...

Many reduced cupredoxins undergo a pH-dependent structural rearrangement, triggered by protonation of the His ligand belonging to the C-terminal hydrophobic loop, usually termed the acid transition. At variance with several members of the cupredoxin family, the acid transition is not observed for azurin (AZ). We have addressed this issue by performing molecular dynamics simulations of AZ and fo...

Electronic coupling between the copper atoms in an azurin dimer has been calculated in this conformationally well-defined system by using many-electronic wave functions. When one of the two water molecules forming intermolecular hydrogen bonds between the copper-ligating His-117 of the two azurins is removed, the calculated coupling element is reduced from 2.5 x 10(-6) to 1.1 x 10(-7) eV (1 eV ...

BACKGROUND It has been shown that γ-aminobutyric acid exerts excitatory actions on the immature brain due to the increased expression of Na(+)-K(+)-2Cl(-) cotransporter isoform 1. The authors sought to clarify whether midazolam, a γ-aminobutyric acid-mimetic hypnotic agent, causes neuronal excitation that can be blocked by bumetanide, a selective inhibitor of Na(+)-K(+)-2Cl(-) cotransporter iso...