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Query: EC:1.5.1.3 (
dihydrofolate reductase
)
5,819
document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)
Reassembly of enzymes from peptide fragments has been used as a strategy for understanding the evolution, folding, and role of individual subdomains in catalysis and regulation of activity. We demonstrate an oligomerization-assisted enzyme reassembly strategy whereby fragments are covalently linked to independently folding and interacting domains whose interactions serve to promote efficient refolding and complementation of fragments, forming active enzyme. We show that active murine
dihydrofolate reductase
(E.C. 1.5.1.3) can be reassembled from complementary N- and C-terminal fragments when fused to homodimerizing GCN4 leucine zipper-forming sequences as well as heterodimerizing protein partners. Reassembly is detected by an in vivo selection assay in Escherichia coli and in vitro. The effects of mutations that disrupt fragment affinity or enzyme activity were assessed. The steady-state kinetic parameters for the reassembled mutant (Phe-31 --> Ser) were determined; they are not significantly different from the full-length mutant. The strategy described here provides a general approach for protein dissection and domain swapping studies, with the capacity both for rapid in vivo screening as well as in vitro characterization. Further, the strategy suggests a simple in vivo enzyme-based detection system for protein-protein interactions, which we illustrate with two examples:
ras
-GTPase and raf-
ras
-binding domain and FK506-binding protein-rapamycin complexed with the target of rapamycin TOR2.
...
PMID:Oligomerization domain-directed reassembly of active dihydrofolate reductase from rationally designed fragments. 977 Apr 53
Using an inducible transcription system which allows the regulated expression of C/EBP isoforms in tissue culture cells, we have found that the ectopic expression of C/EBPalpha, at a level comparable to that found in normal liver tissue, has a pronounced antimitogenic effect in mouse L cells and NIH 3T3 cells. The inhibition of cell division by C/EBPalpha in mouse cells cannot be reversed by simian virus 40 T antigen, by oncogenic
ras
, or by adenovirus E1a protein. When expressed in thymidine kinase-deficient L cells or 3T3 cells, C/EBPalpha is detected in a protein complex which binds to the E2F binding sites found in the promoters of the genes for E2F-1 and
dihydrofolate reductase
(
DHFR
). Bacterially expressed C/EBPalpha has no affinity for these E2F sites, but when recombinant C/EBPalpha is added to nuclear extracts from mouse fibroblasts, a new E2F binding activity appears, which contains the C/EBPalpha protein. Using an E2F-DP1-responsive promoter linked to a reporter gene, it can be shown that C/EBPalpha directly inhibits the induction of this promoter by E2F-DP1 in transient-transfection assays. Furthermore, C/EBPalpha can be shown to inhibit the S-phase induction of the E2F and
DHFR
promoters in permanent cell lines. These findings delineate a straightforward mechanism for C/EBPalpha-mediated cell growth arrest through repression of E2F-DP-mediated S-phase transcription.
...
PMID:C/EBPalpha inhibits cell growth via direct repression of E2F-DP-mediated transcription. 1091 81
RING3 is a novel, nuclear-localized, serine-threonine kinase that has elevated activity in human leukemias. RING3 transforms NIH/3T3 cells and is activated by mitogenic signals, all of which suggest that it may play a role in cell cycle-responsive transcription. We tested this hypothesis with transient transfection of RING3 into fibroblasts and assayed transactivation of the promoters of cyclin D11 cyclin A, cyclin E, and
dihydrofolate reductase
(dhfr) genes. RING3 transactivates these promoters in a manner dependent on
ras
signaling. A kinase-deficient point mutant of RING3 does not transactivate. Mutational analysis of the dhfr promoter reveals that transactivation also depends on the presence of a functional E2F binding site. Furthermore, ectopic expression of Rb protein, a negative regulator of E2F activity, suppresses the RING3-dependent transactivation of this promoter. Consistent with a potential role of E2F in RING3-dependent transcription, anti-RING3 immunoaffinity chromatography or recombinant RING3 protein affinity chromatography of nuclear extracts copurified a protein complex that contains E2F-1 and E2F-2. These data suggest that RING3 is a potentially important regulator of E2F-dependent cell cycle genes.
...
PMID:RING3 kinase transactivates promoters of cell cycle regulatory genes through E2F. 1096 46
Dichlorobenzoprim and methylbenzoprim were the lead compounds to emerge from investigations on a series of lipophilic 2,4-diamino-5-aryl-6-ethylpyrimidines synthesized and evaluated for their inhibition of
dihydrofolate reductase
(
DHFR
). Here the results of further mechanism-of-action studies are summarized. As expected, growth inhibitory activity of these compounds in the National Cancer Institute 60-cell-line screen correlated positively with
DHFR
enzyme inhibitory activity. Interestingly, two other aspects of their activity have been revealed. First, as evidenced by reversal experiments using hypoxanthine and thymidine, the two compounds, dichlorobenzoprim and methylbenzoprim, have been shown to exert an additional non-folate mechanism. Secondly, by exploitation of the COMPARE algorithm, a positive correlation has been established between the activity of certain members of this series and the existence of a mutation in the Ki-
ras
gene of non-small-cell lung and colon cancer cell lines. These observations have suggested that modification of the lead structures may offer opportunities to generate novel molecules without
DHFR
-inhibitory activity, but which may interact with new molecular targets for anti-cancer drug design.
...
PMID:Investigations on the biological properties of the lipophilic DHFR-inhibitory benzoprims reveal non-folate modes of action and opportunities for anti-cancer drug design. 1196 9
The antisense method is one of the most promising anti-cancer methods, however, the design of antisense oligonucleotides is difficult because many factors affecting their activitiy and stability must be considered. Recently, the oligonucleotide stabilities related to the antisense effects were quantitatively investigated based on nearest-neighbor parameters. We demonstrated that DeltaG(o) (37, hyb), a free energy change for the hybridization of antisense oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs) with target RNAs is related to the RNase H cleavage of TAg (SV40 large T antigen) mRNA, the expression of a rabbit globin mRNA, and the protein function encoded by hMDR1 (human multidrug resistance-1) mRNA, while DeltaG(o) (37, hp), a free-energy change for hairpin formations of the antisense ODNs significantly affected the arrest efficiency of the
DHFR
(
dihydrofolate reductase
) mRNA transcription, the expression of the proalpha1(I) chain of human, and the hybridization extent for HIV-1 alpha-1. For
ras
RNA (Ha-
ras
mRNA), DeltaG(o) (37, sc), a free energy change for the conformational change of the mRNA required for antisense ODN binding showed the best correlation with the equilibrium constants for the hybridization with their target RNA. On the other hand, the antisense effects ifor the HSV-1 IE5 (herpes simplex virus type 1 immediate early pre-mRNA5) showed less of a relationship to the hybridization stability of the antisense ODNs with the target pre-mRNA, because the antisense ODNs targeting the pre-mRNA must collapse its secondary structure around the splicing site to cancel out the expected antisense effects. Based on these results, we illustrate a new concept for the design of antisense ODNs based on DeltaG(o) (37, hyb), DeltaG(o) (37, hp), and DeltaG(o) (37, sc).
...
PMID:A new concept for the design of antisense oligonucleotides based on nucleic acid thermostability. 1267 72
Benzimidazole-N-oxide modifications of potent lipophilic
dihydrofolate reductase
(
DHFR
) inhibitors (e.g., methylbenzoprim 1 and dichlorobenzoprim 2) have been prepared by base-promoted cyclization of the nitrophenylbenzylamino groups to explore the possibility that abrogation of
DHFR
-inhibitory activity might reveal clues to an alternative anti-
ras
mechanism. Examples of the new series had only low growth inhibitory activities (GI(50) generally >50 microM) against colon HCT116 and lung HT29 cell lines but, unlike methylbenzoprim, this activity was unaffected by hypoxanthine/thymidine rescue.
...
PMID:Structural studies on bioactive compounds. 39. Biological consequences of the structural modification of DHFR-inhibitory 2,4-diamino-6-(4-substituted benzylamino-3-nitrophenyl)-6-ethylpyrimidines ('benzoprims'). 1526 50
The protein-engineering field is mainly concerned with the design of novel enzyme activities or folds and with understanding the fundamental sequence determinants of protein folding and stability. Much effort has been put into the design of methods to generate and screen libraries of polypeptides. Screening for the ability of proteins to bind with high affinity and/or specificity is most often approached with phage display technologies. In this chapter, we present an alternative to phage display, performed totally in vivo, based on the
dihydrofolate reductase
(
DHFR
) protein-fragment complementation assay (PCA). We describe the application of the
DHFR
PCA to the selection of degenerated sequences of the
ras
-binding domain (RBD) of raf for correct folding and binding to
ras
. Our screening system allows for enrichment of the libraries for the best-behaving sequences through iterative competition experiments, without the discrete library screening and expansion steps that are necessary in in vitro approaches. Moreover, the selected clones can be processed rapidly to purification by Ni-nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA) affinity chromatography in 96-well plates. Our methods are particularly suitable for the designing and screening of libraries aimed at studying sequence folding and binding determinants. Finally, it can be adapted for library-against-library screening, thus, allowing for coevolution of interacting proteins simultaneously.
...
PMID:Synthesis of degenerated libraries of the ras-binding domain of raf and rapid selection of fast-folding and stable clones with the dihydrofolate reductase protein fragment complementation assay. 1704 Dec 70
Mouse-human chimeric antibodies (cAbs) against hepatitis C virus (HCV) core,
NS3
(nonstructural), NS4, and NS5 antigens were developed as quality control (QC) reagents to replace the use of human sera/plasma for Abbott HCV immunoassays. The cAb retains the mouse monoclonal antibody (MAb) specificity and affinity but still reacts in the existing HCV assay format, which measures human anti-HCV immunoglobulin. Mouse heavy-chain (V(H)) and light-chain (V(L)) variable regions of anti-HCV core,
NS3
, NS4, and NS5 antigens were PCR amplified from hybridoma lines and then cloned with human IgG1 heavy-chain (C(H)) and light-chain (C(L)) constant regions, respectively. A single mammalian expression plasmid containing both heavy-chain and light-chain immunoglobulin genes was constructed and transfected into
dihydrofolate reductase
(
DHFR
)-deficient Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. The transfected CHO cells were selected using hypoxanthine- and thymidine-free medium and screened by an enzyme immunoassay (EIA). The clone secreting the highest level of antibody was isolated from the CHO transfectants and further subcloned. Each cAb-expressing CHO cell line was weaned into serum-free medium, and the cAb was purified by protein A affinity chromatography. The levels of cAb production for the various CHO cell lines varied from 10 to 20 mg/liter. Purified anti-HCV cAbs were tested with Abbott HCV immunoassays and showed reactivity. Moreover, yeast surface display combined with alanine-scanning mutagenesis was used to map the epitope at the individual amino acid level. Our results suggest that these HCV cAbs are ideal controls, calibrators, and/or QC reagents for HCV assay standardization.
...
PMID:Generation and characterization of chimeric antibodies against NS3, NS4, NS5, and core antigens of hepatitis C virus. 2042 24
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