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Binding of eIF3 in complex with eIF5 and eIF1 to the 40S ribosomal subunit is accompanied by dramatic structural changes
Zeman, Jakub ; Valášek, Leoš (advisor) ; Štefl, Richard (referee) ; Man, Petr (referee)
In eukaryotic translation, eukaryotic initiation factors (eIFs) are at least as important as the ribosome itself. Some of these factors play different roles throughout the entire process to ensure proper assembly of the preinitiation complex on mRNA, accurate selection of the initiation codon, errorless production of the encoded polypeptide and its proper termination. Perhaps, the most important factor integrating signals from others and coordinating their functions on the ribosome is eIF3. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, eIF3 is formed by five subunits. All these subunits contain structural motifs responsible for contact with ribosomal proteins and RNAs. In addition to these highly structured parts, the rest of eIF3 is unstructured and very flexible. Therefore, despite the recent progress thanks to the use of a cryo-electron microscopy, a precise structure and position of eIF3 on the 40S ribosomal subunit are still not known. Also, the presence of eIF3 on 80S during early elongation and its role in reinitiation and readthrough are not fully understood. In order to crack mysteries of yeast eIF3, we used x-ray crystallography, chemical cross- linking coupled to mass spectrometry, and various biochemical and genetic assays. We demonstrated that eIF3 is very compactly packed when free in solution. This...
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Structural studies of transcription factors implicated in regulation of metabolism of pancreatic beta cells
Duchoslav, Vojtěch ; Maloy Řezáčová, Pavlína (advisor) ; Vaněk, Ondřej (referee)
Nkx6.1 is a homeodomain protein (37.8 kDa) and an important transcription factor, which regulates transcription of key genes in pancreatic ß-cells. Insufficient expression of this protein leads to reduced glucose uptake from blood as a consequence of suppressed transcription of the glucose transporter Glut2 and impaired glucose metabolism. Furthermore, the proliferation of pancreatic ß-cells is suppressed due to insufficient transcription of Cyclin D2, a protein regulating the mitosis. Moreover, the biosynthesis of insulin is impaired duet he diminished transcription of the genes coding for Ero1lb a Slc30a8, which as a consequence leads to reduced production of the mature insulin. Nkx6.1 could play a role in the pathogenesis of the type 2 diabetes , where ß-cells show diminished ability to compensate high demand for insulin. This malfunction is the cause of an insufficient ability to secrete insulin and death of pancreatic cells. Perhaps driven by misregulation of transcription of the genes that are involved in the mentioned processes. Nkx6.1 recognizes a strictly conserved 8-base pair DNA sequence (TTAATTAC). Its binding to DNA is regulated by an acidic domain at the C-terminus. Within the bachelor thesis, the resonances were assigned to the backbone atoms of the Nkx6.1 protein using nuclear...
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Regulation of purine nucleotide metabolism as a pharmacological target
Brinsa, Vítězslav ; Maloy Řezáčová, Pavlína (advisor) ; Hlouchová, Klára (referee)
Purine nucleotides are essential basic building blocks for DNA and RNA synthesis. They can also serve as energy storage and transfer unit and play an important role in cell signalling and regulation of variety of biochemical processes. It is crucial for the cells to maintain a sufficient supply of purine nucleotides in order to secure its survival and cell division. Level of purine nucleotide pool in the human body is regulated via purine nucleotide metabolism, which consists of three coordinated processes: de novo synthesis pathway, salvage pathway and degradation pathway of purine nucleotides. Regulation of those three pathways is under control of various mechanisms including regulation on the level of enzyme expression, allosteric regulation of enzyme activity or forming a multienzime complexes, i. e. purinosomes in the de novo synthesis pathway. Phosphoribosyl pyrophosphate synthetase I (PRS-I) and cytosolic purine 5'-nucleotidase (cN-II) play an important role in purine nucleotide metabolism. These enzymes contribute significantly to the purine nucleotide pool regulation by means of their allostericaly regulated activity. Malfunctions of their catalytic activity are connected with various pathologies such as gout, hyperuricosuria, neurological dysfunctions and acute lymphoblastic leukaemia...
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Recombinant preparation of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA)
Herynek, Štěpán ; Vaněk, Ondřej (advisor) ; Hlouchová, Klára (referee)
Natural killer (NK) cells are cells of native immunity. Their task is to recognize and destroy tumor cells or, for example, viruses infected cells. NK cells use a number of surface receptors to recognize affected cells. These receptors may be activating, i.e., activate the cytotoxic response of NK cells leading to the induction of apoptosis in the target cell, or inhibitory ones, which, on the other hand, inhibit NK cell response. Whether a cytotoxic response occurs depends on both types of NK receptors. The NKp44 receptor belongs to the family of immunoglobulin receptors and it is one of the activating receptors. Its properties are very unique among other receptors. Other activating receptors of the immunoglobulin receptor family are NKp46 and NKp30. Recently, the interaction between the NKp44 receptor and the proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) has been described. PCNA is a clamp protein that plays a key role in DNA replication and repair as it anchors replication proteins. This work focuses on the production and optimization of a production of PCNA and on the preparation of expression vectors for the later production of NKp44 and NKp46. Interaction of NKp44 and PCNA will be investigated later. For the same reason, the expression vector for the NKp46 protein is also prepared in this work....
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Structural biology of the enzymes involved in mercaptopurine metabolism
Soldánová, Anna ; Maloy Řezáčová, Pavlína (advisor) ; Novotný, Marian (referee)
Mercaptopurine (6-mercaptopurine) together with azathioprine and 6-thioguanine belong to a group of widely used chemotherapeutics and immunosuppressants. However, insufficient therapy outcome or severe adverse effects such as myelosuppression are still being reported. Technological progress in DNA and RNA sequencing facilitates effective identification of causative genes responsible for the therapy failure, i.e., description of genetic variants for enzymes involved in metabolism of physiological purines as well as thiopurine drugs. Variants of these enzymes may substantially alter concentrations of cytotoxic forms of thiopurines, which affect therapy success rates. Currently, a number of mutations in genes that play role in thiopurine metabolism have been annotated. Nevertheless, molecular mechanisms underlying the effect of these mutations are not fully elucidated. Knowledge of 3D structure for these enzymes may shed light on the effect of the genetic variants to protein function and mechanisms modulating therapeutic efficacy of thiopurines. This thesis focuses mainly on biochemical and structural characterization of thiopurine-S-methyltransferase, fosfatase NUDT15 and cytosolic 5′-nucleotidase II. It summarizes current state of knowledge and emphasizes the importance of structural biology methods for...
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