Search Results (29)
Speciation of aluminium in human serum by CIM® (Convective Interaction Media) monolithic chromatography and mass spectrometry
The toxicity, biological availability and mobility of aluminium (Al) depend on its chemical form. In order to understand toxicity and transport of Al in human body it is important to identify and quantify Al species present in human serum. This led to the development of sensitive and selective analytical methods …
Regulation of cysteine proteases cathepsins B, S and K and their role in inflammatory processes
Proteases are responsible for enzymatic cleavage of peptide bonds, which is a basic requirement for completion of diverse biological processes.The proteolytic activity of proteases must be rigorously controlled to avoid inappropriate degradation of proteins. Imbalance in regulation of proteolytic activity can be found in a wide range of diseases. Degradation …
Calculating electrostatic potential around proteins
X-rays are diffracted on electron clouds and thereby provide a mean to observe 3-dimensional structure of molecules at atomic level. Using medium resolution diffraction data (2Å and lower) we have shown that averaging of electron density maps generated from sets of randomly distributed atoms and can reduce noise and model …
Role and significance of cysteine cathepsins in different models of apoptosis
Programmed cell death is a highly organized process by which multicellular organisms eliminate damaged, superfluous and potentially harmful cells. Apoptosis is the most studied form of programmed cell death. It is characterized by typical morphological and biochemical changes which are a consequence of activation of cysteine proteases, caspases. Apoptosis is …
Development of an alternative approach to membrane protein structure determination based on the analysis of local rotational conformational spaces
The problem of structure determination of membrane proteins is addressed with a new combination of site-directed spin labelling (SDSL) electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy and structure modelling of a protein and its conformational spaces. This new approach is aimed at structural characterization of membrane proteins and intrinsically disordered proteins. In …
PURY: A Topology and geometry parameter library for small molecules
The number and variety of macromolecular structures in complexes with "hetero" ligands is growing. The need for fast delivery of correct geometric parameters for their refinement, which is often crucial for understanding the biological relevance of the structure, is growing correspondingly. The current standard for describing protein structures is the …
Modular gene dynamics and network theory at mesoscopic scale
Complex dynamical systems are often modeled as networks, with nodes representing dynamical units which interact through the network’s links. Gene regulatory networks, responsible for the production of proteins inside a cell, are an example of system that can be described as a network of interacting genes. The behavior of a …
Self-assembly properties of Mo6S9-xIx nanowires with different (bio)materials
This thesis presents a study of different nanoscale functional properties of Mo6S9-XIx nanowires and demonstrates a straight-forward functionalization route based on self-assembly. In order to ascertain their basic functional properties, studies of dispersion and electromobility under different conditions were performed. It was found that the nanowire bundles, due to their …
Expression and characterization of cysteine peptidases metacaspases and autophagins from the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi
Cysteine peptidases have been demonstrated to be important virulence factors of protozoan parasites, including Trypanosoma cruzi. With genome sequence determination the existence of several novel families of cysteine peptidases can be envisioned in this parasite. We focused on two families, metacaspases from the clan CD and autophagins (or Atg4 proteases) …