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Difference in amino acid distribution in sequences of structured and unstructured proteins
Sotáková, Patrícia ; Vondrášek, Jiří (advisor) ; Sanchez Rocha, Alma Carolina (referee)
Disordered proteins are a topic of growing interest. With ongoing research describing the relationship between sequence and structure, this work aims to investigate features in an amino acid sequence that could indicate finger- prints of structured or disordered proteins. These fingerprints could deepen our understanding of disordered regions or protein folding. Furthermore, this knowledge could help design new deep-learning predictors of protein dis- order or protein domain recognition. Statistical analysis was performed on sequences obtained from Protein Data Bank and DisProt database, including a comparison of protein sequences with artificial ones generated under the assumption of amino acid pairwise independence. Subsequently, we identified triples of two amino acids and their distance that are significantly different in occurrence to the artificial set. Based on this analysis, we sorted the triples into the following categories: overestimated, random, and underesti- mated. Observed pairs with abnormal frequency in a given distance can be interpreted as a fingerprint of secondary structure, motif, domain, or other unknown identification of disordered proteins depending on the dataset. A simple example of a sequence fingerprint was observed in the PDB dataset; the abundance of histidines in...
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Analysis of Zika and Dengue virus proteases
Novotný, Pavel ; Konvalinka, Jan (advisor) ; Vondrášek, Jiří (referee)
in English Zika and Dengue flaviviruses are transmitted by mosquitoes in human populations living in tropical areas. They cause fevers which in the case of Dengue can lead to life threatening haemorrhagic form. There is a possible relationship between pregnant women being infected by Zika virus and higher risk of microcephaly in new-borns. The infection is currently treated mainly symptomatically. However, there is an effort to develop compounds which block viral life cycle and viral spread through organism. Viral enzymes, such as flaviviral proteases, are regarded as suitable targets for this effort. These serine proteases with chymotrypsin fold are heterodimers which consist of flaviviral non- structural proteins NS2B and NS3. NS3 domain also contains a helicase, which can be removed by gene recombination for study purposes. NS2B is a transmembrane protein, but only a hydrophilic 40 amino acid peptide is important for the interaction with NS3 domain. This peptide has a chaperon function and participates in substrate binding to the active site. In this study, six variants of recombinant proteins containing activating peptide of NS2B and protease domain of NS3 were expressed and purified. Four variants were characterized in enzymologic studies including testing of possible inhibitors. A dipeptide...
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The study of the association behavior of the amphiphilic copolymers in solutions containing low molar compounds by means of computer simulations.
Šindelka, Karel ; Limpouchová, Zuzana (advisor) ; Slavíček, Petr (referee) ; Vondrášek, Jiří (referee)
Title: The study of the association behaviour of the amphiphilic copolymers in solutions containing low molar compounds by means of computer simulations. Author: Mgr. Karel Šindelka Department: Faculty of Science, Charles University Supervisor: Doc. Ing. Zuzana Limpouchová, Csc. Abstract This doctoral thesis focuses on the study of electrostatic self- and co-assembly in complex polymer solutions containing polyelectrolyte (PE) block copolymers together with surfactants, neutral homopolymers, or oppositely charged PEs using the dissipative particle dynamics (DPD). It was shown that the electro- static self-assembly depends not only on the cooperative interactions of oppo- sitely charged PE chains, but also on the amphiphilicity of PE species or on the polymer block compatibility, among other properties. PEs with incompatible blocks create well-defined core-shell structures, while large ill-defined crew-cut aggregates form from PEs with compatible blocks In non-stoichiometric mixtures of PEs with incompatible blocks, co-assembled nanoparticles are smaller than in stoichiometric mixtures and are charged. The destabilization of larger aggregates depends on how the PE charge surplus is introduced: the effect is strongest when the density of the surplus PE charge on the PE chains is increased and weakest when the...
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Identification and modeling of gene expression regulatory networks during streptomycetes germination
Straková, Eva ; Vohradský, Jiří (advisor) ; Stopka, Pavel (referee) ; Vondrášek, Jiří (referee)
Streptomycetes have been studied mostly as producers of antibiotics and for fundamentals of complex bacterial cell development. Here, transcriptomic and proteomic approaches were applied to systems study of Streptomyces coelicolor germination as a developmental transition from dormancy to the vegetative stage. The time dynamics of the gene expression levels represented by mRNA and intracellular protein accumulation and synthesis were measured throughout 5.5 h of germination at 13 time points by employing both DNA microarray and two-dimensional gel electrophoresis techniques. Using a numerical model of gene expression, genetic networks were reconstructed and functional groups of genes controlled by the sigma factors were identified. Modeling of the regulatory interactions provided a set of parameters allowing simulate kinetics of gene expression control among the sigma factors and their target genes. Particularly regulons of two sigma factors, SigR and HrdD, were identified. The analysis assigned their key role during the germination process. Analysis of global trends in the gene/protein expression revealed that the full capability of regulatory mechanisms responding to the environmental cues is reached within the first hour of germination, and identified the basic gene/protein functional groups...
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Intermolecular interactions in proteins
Kysilka, Jiří ; Vondrášek, Jiří (advisor) ; Ettrich, Rüdiger (referee) ; Banáš, Pavel (referee)
Intermolecular Interactions in Proteins - Abstract Mgr. Jiří Kysilka Non-covalent interactions are responsible for the protein folding and the molecular recognition during the protein interaction with other molecules, including various ligands, other proteins and solvent molecules. In order to understand these processes, exhibited by protein molecules, a proper description of non-covalent interactions is needful. Most methods that are computationally available for the systems of biological interest have difficulties handling with the dispersion term. In this thesis, a density functional theory / coupled clusters (DFT/CC) correction scheme is utilized for a set of small molecules, interacting with a graphitic surface. The results serve as a benchmark for the interaction of the functional groups of proteins with hydrophobic environment. In the following part of this thesis, the role of non-covalent interactions in proteins was studied for the processes of protein-protein interaction and protein hydration. Interaction interfaces has been localized in a set of 69 protein dimers and their composition has been characterized. Interfaces has been shown to prefer branched-chain hydrophobic amino acids (Ile, Leu, Val), aromatic amino acids (Phe, Tyr) and exclude the charged amino acids except of Arg. It was...
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Interaction preferences in protein - DNA complexes
Jakubec, Dávid ; Vondrášek, Jiří (advisor) ; Berka, Karel (referee)
Interaction preferences in protein - DNA complexes Dávid Jakubec Abstract Interactions of proteins with DNA lie at the basis of many fundamental bio- logical processes. Despite ongoing efforts, the rules governing the recognition of specific nucleic acid sequences have still not been universally elucidated. In this work, I attempt to explore the recognition process by splitting the intricate network of contacts at the protein - DNA interface into contribu- tions of individual amino acid - nucleotide pairs. These pairs are extracted from existing high-resolution structures of protein - DNA complexes and in- vestigated by bioinformatics and computational-chemistry based methods. Criteria of specificity based on the coupling of observed geometrical prefer- ences and the respective interaction energies are introduced. The application of these criteria is used to expand the library of amino acid - nucleotide pairs potentially significant for direct sequence recognition. Electrostatic poten- tial maps are calculated for individual nucleotides as well as for selected complexes to investigate the physical basis of the observed specificity. 1
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