We have constructed models for a series of platinum-DNA adducts that represent the binding of two agents, [Pt2(DTBPA)Cl2](II) and [Pt2(TPXA)Cl2](II), to DNA via inter- and intra-strand cross-linking, and carried out molecular dynamics simulations and DNA conformational dynamics calculations. The effects of trans- and cis-configurations of the centers of these di-nuclear platinum agents, and of ...

Transthyretin (TTR)-containing amyloid fibrils are deposited in cardiac tissue as a natural consequence of aging. A large number of inherited mutations lead to amyloid diseases by accelerating TTR deposition in other organs. Amyloid formation is preceded by a disruption of the quaternary structure of TTR and conformational changes in the monomer. To study conformational changes preceding the fo...

leptin (lep), the expression product of the obese gene produced primarily in the adipose tissue, is related to feed intake, growth and lipid metabolism. the aim of this study was to study the possible association between polymorphism of the lep gene with growth and carcass traits among three iranian sheep breeds of the shal, zandi and zel varieties. a total of 180 purebred animals of the shal, ...

Background: TP53 and the oncogene WRAP53 are adjoining genes, producing p53-WRAP53α sense-antisense RNA couples. WRAP53α is indispensable for p53 mRNA regulation and p53 induction following DNA damage. Up-regulated WRAP53β can induce neoplastic transformation and cancer cell survival. All these, along with the associations of WRAP53 single nu...

Conformational changes of filamin A under stress have been postulated to play crucial roles in signaling pathways of cell responses. Direct observation of conformational changes under stress is beyond the resolution of current experimental techniques. On the other hand, computational studies are mainly limited to either traditional molecular dynamics simulations of short durations and high forc...

The GH gene and BMP15 gene have been used as candidate genes for ­marker-assisted selection in different livestock species. Random blood samples were obtained from 180 Zel sheep breed to study genetic polymorphism of these genes. DNA was extracted from blood samples and a 365 bp fragment from the exon V of the ovine growth hormone gene and a 312 bp region from exon II of BMP15 gene were amplifi...

We have made a detailed study of one of the most surprising sources of polymorphism in B-DNA: the high twist/low twist (HT/LT) conformational change in the d(CpG) base pair step. Using extensive computations, complemented with database analysis, we were able to characterize the twist polymorphism in the d(CpG) step in all the possible tetranucleotide environment. We found that twist polymorphis...

The effects of changes in the conformational state of DNA on the single-strand and double-strand breakage activity of two antitumor antibiotics, bleomycin (BLM) A2 and phleomycin Di, have been studied by the gel electrophoretic analysis of the drugdegraded PM2 phage superhelical DNA pretreated with an inter calating agent, ethidium bromide (EB). Both the single-strand and double-strand breakage...

A synthetic scaffold that mimics a peptide β-strand has been designed and synthesised based on a 1,3-phenyl-linked hydantoin oligomer. The conformational preferences of this oligomer were investigated using molecular modelling and solution NMR experiments and suggest a planar conformation that accurately mimics the i, i + 2 and i + 4 residues of a peptide β-strand.