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This review reports possibilities on the application of inorganics nanoparticles for cancer diagnoses and treatment. The examples of the nanoparticles use as contrast agent for magnetic resonance imaging, fluorescent biomarkers in a microscopy and fluorescent markers in the living tomography of tumour growth are resulted. The prospects of the of the nanoparticles use (on fullerenes example) are considered as fotosensibilizators, generating singlet oxygen. Also note that it may be possible to use gold nanoparticles as heat-producing therapeutic agents for local tumour cells damage, caused by laser warming-up of nanoparticles on a wave-length plazmon resonance. Information is presented about nanoparticles use for drug delivery. At the same time, on own experimental material accumulation nanoparticles in macrophages, litoral cells of the inguinal lymph node and hepatocytes after their introduction in tumors growth area are investigated. The features of tumors metastasize to sentinel lymph nodes and liver after nanoparticles injection are studied.

The thermal stability of protein enzymes is determined in vitro by measuring the enzymatic activity during incubation at constant temperature. Refolding of thermal inactivated enzymes is carried out both in vitro and in vivo, in the presence of chaperones, usually at temperature optimal for the particular enzyme for the manifestation of enzymatic activity. In the present work thermal stability of enzymes in vitro (using purified preparations) and in vivo (directly in the bacterial cell) has been determined. Bacterial luciferases of Aliivibrio fischeri, Photobacterium leiognathi and Photorhabdus luminescens as protein substrates have been used. It is shown that the thermal stability of the P. luminescens and P. leiognathi luciferases in vivo in the Escherichia coli MG1655 dnaK^(+) and PK202 ΔdnaKJ14 strains is considerable higher than the thermal stability of "cell-free extract" luciferases. When an uncoupler of oxidative phosphorylation the carbonyl-cyanide-3-chlorophenylhydrazone (CCCP) that reduce the intracellular concentration of ATP to a minimum level, and the volatile hydrophobic substance (-)-Limonene (C10H16) as an inhibitor of chaperone-dependent refolding are added to the medium, the thermal stability of luciferases reduces almost to the level which is characteristic for the purified protein preparation. It is shown that the ATP-dependent chaperones ClpA and ClpB are essential for the increase of thermostability of luciferases in bacterial cells. Also, it is shown that the DnaKJE-dependent refolding of thermoinactivated luciferases is practically absent if the protonophore СССР or the hydrophobic substance (-)-Limonene was added to the bacterial suspension. Taking the data presented in this paper into account, it is necessary to consider the presence in bacterial cells of two different groups of ATP-dependent chaperones: 1st group (DnaKJE, GroEL/ES) is able to conduct the refolding both at low temperature after protein thermal inactivation and at high temperature at which protein thermal inactivation occurs; 2nd group (ClpA,ClpB, and possibly still unknown chaperones) is unable to conduct the standard refolding (i.e. at low temperature), but capable due to the hydrolysis energy of ATP of maintaining nonequilibrium stabilization of protein native forms at high temperature.

In the cell, protein folding begins during protein synthesis/translation and thus is a co-translational process. Co-translational protein folding is tightly linked to translation elongation, which is not a uniform process. While there are many reasons for translation non-uniformity, it is generally believed that non-uniform synonymous codon usage is one of the key factors modulating translation elongation rates. Frequent/optimal codons as a rule are translated more rapidly than infrequently used ones and vice versa. Over 30 years ago, it was hypothesized that changes in synonymous codon usage affecting translation elongation rates could impinge on co-translation protein folding and that many synonymous codons are strategically placed within mRNA to ensure a particular translation kinetics facilitating productive step-by-step co-translational folding of proteins. It was suggested that this particular translation kinetics (and, specifically, translation pause sites) may define the window of opportunity for the protein parts to fold locally, particularly at the critical points where folding is far from equilibrium. It was thus hypothesized that synonymous codons may provide a secondary code for protein folding in the cell. Although, mostly accepted now, this hypothesis appeared to be difficult to prove and many convincing results were obtained only relatively recently. Here, I review the progress in the field and explain, why this simple idea appeared to be so challenging to prove.

The products of the reassembly reaction of tetradecameric two-ring quaternary structure of GroEL chaperonin under the pressure of its heptameric co-chaperonin GroES have been visualized by electron microscopy. It has been shown that one-ring heptameric oligomers of GroEL have been formed at the beginning (after ~5 min) of the reaction, while at the final stage of the reaction (after ~70 min), both one-ring heptamers in complex with one GroES and two-rings tetradecamers in complexes with one (asymmetrical complex) or two (symmetrical complex) GroES heptamers are present. The relationship between the data of light scattering, native electrophoresis, and electron microscopy obtained earlier has been discussed.

GroES is a heptameric partner of tetradecameric molecular chaperone GroEL, which ensures the correct folding and assembly of numerous cellular proteins both in vitro and in vivo. This work demonstrates the results of a study of structural aspects of GroES that affect its interaction with GroEL and reassembly. The effect of limited trypsinolysis of GroES on these processes has been studied. It has been shown that limited trypsinolysis of GroES is only strongly pronounced outside the complex with GroEL and results in the cleavage of the peptide bond between Lys20 and Ser21. The N-terminal fragment (~2 kDa) is retained in the GroES particle, which maintains its heptaoligomeric structure but loses the ability to interact with GroEL and dissociates upon a change in the pH from 7 to 8. Trypsin-nicked GroES cannot reassemble after urea-induced unfolding, while the urea-induced unfolding of intact GroES is fully reversible. The reported results indicate the important role of the N-terminal part of GroES subunit in the assembly of its heptameric structure and the interaction with GroEL.

Studies on the process of spontaneous protein folding into a unique native state are an important issue of molecular biology. Apomyoglobin from the sperm whale is a convenient model for these studies in vitro. Here, we present the results of equilibrium and kinetic experiments carried out in a study on the folding and unfolding of eight mutant apomyoglobin forms of with hydrophobic amino acid substitutions on the protein surface. Calculated values of apparent constants of folding/unfolding rates, as well as the data on equilibrium conformational transitions in the urea concentration range of 0-6 М at 11°C are given. Based on the obtained information on the kinetic properties of the studied proteins, a Φ-value analysis of the transition state has been performed and values of urea concentrations corresponding to the midpoint of the transition from the native to intermediate state have been determined for the given forms of mutant apomyoglobin. It has been found that a significant increase in the stability of the native state can be achieved by a small number of amino acid substitutions on the protein surface. It has been shown that the substitution of only one amino acid residue exclusively affects the height of the energy barrier that separates different states of apomyoglobin.

Studying the effect of cysteine bridges on different energy levels of multistage folding proteins will enable a better understanding of the process of folding and functioning of globular proteins. In particular, it will create prospects for directed change in the stability and rate of protein folding. In this work, using the method of differential scanning microcalorimetry, we have studied the effect of three cysteine bridges introduced in different structural elements of the green fluorescent protein on the denaturation enthalpies, activation energies, and heat-capacity increments when this protein passes from native to intermediate and transition states. The studies have allowed us to confirm that, with this protein denaturation, the process hardly damages the structure initially, but then changes occur in the protein structure in the region of 4-6 beta sheets. The cysteine bridge introduced in this region decreases the hydration of the second transition state and increases the hydration of the second intermediate state during the thermal denaturation of the green fluorescent protein.

The paper discusses different methodological approaches to the study of transgenerational alterations of metabolic pathways in soybean and flax seeds in the process of adaptation to chronic irradiation in the Chernobyl alienation zone. A combination of general biological methods and novel approaches, such as genomics, proteomics, cytogenetics, and mutagenesis, allows researchers to analyze an organism’s systemic response and identify the latent chronic irradiation effects in plants from the Chernobyl zone. The proteomic approaches are especially efficient, since they range from the identification of changes in abundance and folding of individual proteins to the characterization of posttranslational modifications, trends of qualitative changes during seed maturation, or protein-protein interactions during plant growth and development under permanent impacts of stress factors. The application of proteomics opens new horizons in the understanding of the hidden mechanisms behind the impact of chronic low-dose radiation on living cells and makes it possible to visualize metabolic network alterations regardless of their transcriptional, translational, or epigenetic nature.

Osmolytes are molecules with the function among others to align hydrostatic pressure between intracellular and extracellular spaces. Accumulation of osmolytes occurs in the cell in response to stress caused by pressure change, change in temperature, pH, and concentration of inorganic salts. Osmolytes can prevent native proteins denaturation and promote folding of unfolding proteins. Investigation of the osmolytes effect on these processes is essential for understanding the mechanisms of folding and functioning of proteins in vivo. A score of works, devoted to the effect of osmolytes on proteins, are not always consistent with each other. In this review an attempt was made to systemize available array of data on the subject and consider the problem of folding and stability of proteins in solutions in the presence of osmolytes from the single viewpoint.

It is necessary to maintain the safety of the cell proteome for the operation and adequate biological response of tumor cells to changing conditions, which is provided by chaperones and ATP-dependent proteases. Molecular chaperones, which include the small heat shock proteins, carry out folding, refolding and misfolding of proteins, support functional activity of intracellular proteins. Proteases, mainly proteasome, degrade abnormal, damaged and fulfilling its function proteins. The review presents modern data on the role of the proteasome and heat shock proteins in malignant tumors as well as the mechanism of interaction of these systems in the cell.

A protein, differing in origin, may exhibit variable physicochemical behaviour, difference in sequence homology, fold and function. Thus studying structure-function relationship of proteins from altered sources is meaningful in the sense that it may give rise to comparative aspects of their sequence-structure-function relationship. Dihydrofolate reductase is an enzyme involved in cell cycle regulation. It is a significant enzyme as.a target for developing anticancer drugs. Hence, detailed understanding of structure-function relationships of wide variants of the enzyme dihydrofolate reductase would be important for developing an inhibitor or an antagonist against the enzyme involved in the cellular developmental processes. In this communication, we have reported the comparative structure-function relationship between E. coli and human dihydrofolate reductase. The differences in the unfolding behaviour of these two proteins have been investigated to understand various properties of these two proteins like relative' stability differences and variation in conformational changes under identical denaturing conditions. The equilibrium unfolding mechanism of dihydrofolate reductase proteins using guanidine hydrochloride as a denaturant in the presence of various types of osmolytes has been monitored using loss in enzymatic activity, intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence and an extrinsic fluorophore 8-anilino-1-naphthalene-sulfonic acid as probes. It has been observed that osmolytes, such as 1M sucrose, and 30% glycerol, provided enhanced stability to both variants of dihydrofolate reductase. Their level of stabilisation has been observed to be dependent on intrinsic protein stability. It was observed that 100 mM proline does not show any 'significant stabilisation to either of dihydrofolate reductases. In the present study, it has been observed that the human protein is relatively less stable than the E.coli counterpart.

By molecular mechanics method the conformational properties of two molecules of the tachykinin family, human hemokinin-1 and mouse/rat hemokinin-1, each consisting of 11 amino acids, have been investigated. On the basis of a step-by-step approach we determined the energetically favorable spatial structures of these molecules and their fragments represented as a set of conformations characterized by the relatively labile N-terminal tripeptide and conformationally rigid C-terminal segment. It was shown that conformationally conservative C-terminal octapeptide of the molecules preferably forms two conformations with different structural types of the peptide chain. One of these conformations has an alpha-helical structure, and the other forms the chain's turn that led to an alpha helical turn at the C-terminus. As a result of calculations the energetically favorable ranges of the values of the dihedral angles and orientations of all the residues in low energy conformational states of the molecules were shown. Due to conformational analysis of separate fragments it was possible to trace the process of the second structure formation in these molecules. Based on the results obtained the contribution of inter-residues interaction energy was determined and the role of the each residue in the formation of the optimal spatial structures of hemokinin-1 molecules was estimated.

For a long time the presence of knots in a protein structure was not admitted. However, the existence of proteins with various types of knots has now been proven. The functional significance of knotted topology remains unclear despite numerous assumptions. Studing the structure of knots in proteins and their impact on the acquisition of native structure of proteins is important for the understanding of protein folding as a whole. We review the types of knots in the proteins discovered to date, including trefoil knot, figure-of-eight knot, and more complex knots with 5 and 6 crossings of polypeptide chain. We survey the folding of knotted proteins as well.

It is shown that the native globular actin (G-actin) is the thermodynamically unstable (quasi-stationary) form of the protein. This state is stabilized by Mg2+ (in vitro replaced by Ca2+). In vivo this state occurs as a result of complex energy-consuming post-translational folding processes including chaperone Hsp70, prefoldin and CCT complex, providing the formation of the native structure stabilized by Ca2+ and ATP. Structures formed by actin polypeptide chain constantly form complexes with their partners (chaperones Hsp70, prefoldin and chaperonin CCT in folding process, with an Mg ion and ATP in the native state, with numerous actin-binding proteins during the formation and functioning of the cell cytoskeleton, with myosin and other proteins of the muscle contraction in the muscle cells). Actin denaturation is accompanied by self-association of molecules, so the inactivated actin is the thermodynamically stable compact structure consisting of 14-16 protein molecules. Apparently, proteins with quasi-stationary native state are widespread in nature. The emergence of these states is energy-consuming and is conjugated with the inability of the polypeptide chain to form the native compact structure without assistants (complex machinery of protein folding in the cell) and without interaction with their natural partners, in particular with metal ions.

Heat shock caused a more active formation of the "dormant" forms (minibodies), as well as increased production of extracellular membrane vesicles by Acholeplasma laidlawii PG-8A cells. Raise of the amount of the minibodies that have increased resistance to biogenic and abiogenic stress factors and pathogenicity may lead to more successful persistence of mycoplasmas in their hosts. Increased production of the extracellular membrane vesicles containing virulence factors by Acholeplasma laidlawii cells during stress may be an additional burden for the infected organism. It has been recently revealed that the vesicles of A. laidlawii contain appreciable quantities of small heat shock protein IbpA (Hsp20). In this paper, using immune-electron microscopy, have shown that at elevated temperature IbpA is associated with A. laidlawii minibodies. Perhaps, IbpA contributes to increased resistance and pathogenicity of the minibodies, keeping their proteins and polypeptides, including protein virulence factors in the folding-competent state.

In the present study, two possible mechanisms of protein folding are analized. One of them is based on the hypothesis that at the first step of protein folding a nucleus is formed and then the remaining part of the molecule or domain is folded around it. For example, β-proteins containing 3β-corners can fold in this way. According to the other mechanism, the three-dimensional structure of proteins is formed as a result of interactions between "ready-made" building blocks. Analysis of structural features of the 3β-corners and features of their amino asid sequences enable us to conclude that the 3β-corner can fold into its unique structure per se and can act as a nucleus or "ready-made" building block in protein folding. The larger protein structures can be obtained by stepwise addition of β-strands to the 3β-corner in accordance with a restricted set of rules as shown in the corresponding structural tree, which is available at http://strees.protres.ru/. On the other hand, complementary interactions of the two 3β-corners can result in formation of the fold that is observed in the serine protease domain and similar proteins.

In review provides information about the function oft the body of chaperones and their role in the development of pathological processes, including--atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease. Marked comminications systems chaperones to the immune and endocrine systems, and inflammation.

Export and accumulation of various forms of invertase (EC 3.2.1.26) in the cell wall and culture liquid of the yeast Candida utilis was investigated. It was found that the high-molecular-weight CW-form of invertase is present in the cell wall. This form is not exported into the culture liquid, and it is by a third more glycosylated than the previously described exported S-form. It was shown that one of the two liquid forms of invertase exported into the culture-the glycosylated S-form--is retained in the cell wall, while the other one--the nonglycosylated F-form--was not detected in the cell wall. Based on these results, as well as data on the distribution dynamics of the enzyme in the culture liquid and in the cell wall during different growth stages of a yeast culture, we suggested that the nonglycosylated form was exported into the culture liquid via the zone of abnormal cell wall permeability and the glycosylated forms of this enzyme (both exported and nonexported) did not use this pathway (the degree of N-glycosylation is an important factor determining the final localization of the enzyme).

The functions of the evolutionary conservative complex NAC (Nascent polypepetide Associated Complex) and its subunits are discussed. The heterodimeric NAC protein contains alpha- and beta-subunits and is found to be reversibly bounded to the ribosome in all eukaryotes, from yeast to humans. NAC contacts the nascent polypeptide and protects it from proteolysis. NAC participates in polypeptide chain folding and modulates protein secretion and transmembrane protein formation. Mutations and deletions of genes, encoding NAC subunits are lethal in early development of multicellular eukaryotes. NAC is involved in the ribosome biogenesis. The beta-subunit interacts with caspase-3 and may be involved in the regulation of the apoptotic pathway. The variants of NAC proteins can be considered as chaperone complexes, involved in the response of the cell and the organism to stress factors, as well as regulators of apoptosis. The genes encoding beta-subunits are rapidly evolved, their duplications cause the formation of tissue specific beta-subunit variants with a different number of putative caspase cleavage sites. The homodimer of alpha-subunits is shown to be the RNA/DNA binding protein and acts as a transcriptional cofactor. The diversity in the functioning of NAC is a prime example of a protein that performs a variety of biological functions (moonlighting protein).

Frediction of the three-dimensional structure of a protein from its amino acid sequence can be considered as a global optimization problem. In this paper, the Chaotic Artificial Bee Colony (CABC) algorithm was introduced and applied to 3D protein structure prediction. Based on the 3D off-lattice AB model, the CABC algorithm combines global search and local search of the Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) algorithm with the Chaotic search algorithm to avoid the problem of premature convergence and easily trapping the local optimum solution. The experiments carried out with the popular Fibonacci sequences demonstrate that the proposed algorithm provides an effective and high-performance method for protein structure prediction.

With a number of experimental methods (circular dichroism, viscosity, intrinsic fluorescence and fluorescence labelling) the conformational folding-unfolding transitions in a compact monomeric form of the Caf1(13-149) subunit were studied under the action of guanidine hydrochloride in the temperature range from 5 to 45 degrees C. It has been shown that transitions always occur between two major states (unfolded and compact). It has made it possible to determine all main thermodynamic functions that characterize the compact state of the Caf1(13-149) subunit: temperature stability T(m), the free energy of stabilization deltaG(st), enthalpy deltaH(tr) and heat capacity jump deltaC collapse of the structure. Data obtained have been confirmed by an independent experiment on melting of fluorescently labeled proteins.

Envelope proteins of HCV play a major role in virus lifecycle. These proteins are main components of the virion. They are involved in virus assembly. Envelope proteins are modified by N-linked glycosylation which is supposed to play a role in their stability, in the assembly of the functional HCV glycoprotein heterodimer, protein folding and viral entry. The role of N-linked glycosylation sites in HCV E1 protein in structural proteins assembly was analyzed by site-directed mutagenesis in a model system--insect cells producing three viral structural proteins with formation of virus-like particles. Removing of single N-linked glycosylation sites in HCV E1 protein does not affect the efficiency of its expression in insect Sf9 cells. E1 electrophoretic mobility is increasing in parallel with decreasing the number of glycosylation sites. The destroying of glycosylation sites N1 or N5 in E1 influences the assembly of noncovalent glycoprotein heterodimer E1E2--the prototype of natural complex incorporated in virion. The lack of glycans in N1 and N5 sites of E1 was shown to affect the efficiency of its expression in mammalian HEK293 T cells.

It was shown that selective interactions between helical segments of macromolecules can realize in globular proteins in the segments characterized by the same periodicities of charge distribution i.e. between conformationally conservative oligopeptides. It was found that in the macromolecules of alpha-helical proteins conformationally conservative oligopeptides are disposed at a distance being characteristic of direct interactions. For representatives of many structural families of alpha-type proteins specific disposition of conformationally conservative segments is observed. This disposition is inherent to a particular structural family. Disposition of conformationally conservative segments is not related to homology of the amino acid sequence but reflects peculiarities of native 3D-architectures of protein globules.

Here, we review the problems of neurotrophic factors' folding, the role of its precursors (proneurotrophins) and the contribution of elements deleted during its maturation (propeptides) in biological functioning of these growth factors.

A number of neurodegenerative disorders have recently been coalesced into a group of proteinopathies because of the similarity of molecular mechanisms underlying their pathogenesis. A key step in the development of proteinopathies is a structural change that triggers aggregation of proteins, which are intrinsically prone to form aggregates due to their physical and chemical properties. Present review is devoted to the recent progress in the field of proteinopathies with specific focus on properties of aggregate-prone proteins, main stages of the development of molecular pathology and the role of cellular clearance systems in progression of neurodegeneration. Recent modifications in the nomenclature of neurodegenerative diseases will also be addressed.

Yersinia pseudotuberculosis outer membrane (OM) recombinant mutant OmpF porins with deletions of the external loops L1, L6 and L8 were obtained using site-directed mutagenesis of the recombinant plasmid including ompF gene. Heterologeous expression of the mutant proteins was carried out in strain Rosetta of Escherichia coli (Novagen, USA), porins with the deletions were isolated from the inclusion bodies. Mutant proteins in oligomeric form were obtained as result of dialysis and ion-exchange chromatography. Spatial structure of the mutant proteins was demonstrated to have special features in comparison with that of the full-structured OmpF porin on the level of both secondary and tertiary structure. Lacking of the loops L1, L6 and L8 didn't affect the conductivity level of Y pseudotuberculosis porin channel as shown using bilayer lipid membrane (BLM) technique. Lacking of the loops mentioned above has a significant influence on the antigenic structure of the mutant porins as demonstrated with use of immunoblotting technique and ELISA.

pFh fragments from the hinge region of human IgG3 Kuc and Sur can fold into compact form, resulting the formation of proteins with secondary (super-secondary) structure, which is represented almost exclusively double poly-L-proline helix. It was demonstrated by several methods that the thermal denaturation of compact form pFh fragment (hinge region) IgG3 Kuc and Sur occurs in two stages. The "two-state" model described the disintegration of the compact structure with preservation of the secondary structure (double poly-L-proline helix). In the second stage melts itself helix consisting of four cooperative units, which are formed by the sections with a high content of proline residues. Poliproline conformation of secondary structure and large number of disulfide bonds is responsible for high specific enthalpy of denaturation and high thermal stability.

Domains of fifteen recently found families of hypothetical glycoside hydrolases (GHL1-GHL15) have been used for iterative screening of the protein database. Evolutionary connections between representatives of these families were revealed. Also, their relationship with members of the following known families of protein domains were found: GH5, GH13, GH13_33, GH17, GH18, GH20, GH27, GH29, GH31, GH35, GH36A, GH36B, GH36C, GH36D, GH36E, GH36F, GH36G, GH36H, GH36J, GH36K, GH39, GH42, GH53, GH66, GH97, GH101, GH107, GH112, GH114, COG1082, COG1306, COG1649, COG2342, DUF3111, and PF00962. The unclassified homologues were grouped into 35 new families of hypothetical glycoside hydrolases: GHL16-GHL50. Position of GHL1-GHL15 families in the hierarchical classification of glycoside hydrolases and their homologues is discussed. Several new superfamilies of protein domains are suggested.

This review article focuses on discussing the role of the heat shock proteins (HSP) in myocardial protection against ischemia-reperfusion injury. In the present time, it has also been recognized that HSP may responsible for the increase in cardiac tolerance to ischemia-reperfusion after heat shock or after delayed ischemic preconditioning. The enhancement of the HSP expression in transgenic mice promotes an elevation of cardiac resistance to ischemia-reperfusion. The same effect is induced by transfection of the HSP genes. It has been established that deletion of the HSP70.1 and HSP70.3 genes abolishes a cardioprotective effect of delayed preconditioning. The mechanism by which HSP protect the heart against ischemia-reperfusion remains obscure. It has been proposed that HSP protect the heart via refolding proteins, an increase in 5'-nucleotidase activity, an improvement of Ca(2+)-pump function in sarcoplasmic reticulum during ischemia-reperfusion.

The process of globular structure formation from a long molecular chain has been examined. In the course of this process, various regions of the chain interact with one another. We classify the bonds formed during this process as "correct" and "erroneous" ones. The term "correct" bonds implies the bonds characteristic for a completely formed native globular structure. All other bonds can be treated as "erroneous". It was demonstrated that the process of globule formation may proceed actually without the formation and the following decay of "erroneous" bonds. Our model permits one to avoid the examination of numerous "erroneous" variants since, between the regions of the chain that form "correct" bonds, long-distance interactions characterized simultaneously by high selectivity take place. The existence of interactions of this kind facilitates the drawing together and subsequent interaction of just these regions of the chain that yield "correct" bonds. Based on the data bank analysis, it was demonstrated that the model elaborated is valid not only for abstract structures but also for real polypeptide chains capable of forming protein globules and superhelical fibrils.

It has been shown by a variety of methods (circular dichroism, viscosimetry, intrinsic fluorescence, and fluorescence of labels) that, as in the case of small globular proteins the folding-unfolding transition in the Caf1(13-149) subunit under the action of two denaturants (urea and 1,3-dimethylurea) occurs between two major states (unfolded and compact). However, the free energy of the compact structure is only 8/9-9/2 kJ/mol (similar values for single-domain small proteins are in the range of 21-63 kJ/mol).

A fluorescence assay to check the folding of potassium Kv channels expressed in vitro has been developed. For this aim, the fluorescently labeled channel blocker, recombinant agitoxin of yellow scorpion was employed. The level of expression of various Kv channels in vitro has been tested. It has been demonstrated that Kv2 channels form clusters on the cell surface, which are not associated with actin filaments. On the other hand, Kv10 channels form larger clusters, which are associated with actin, indicating the principal differences in the organization of cytoplasmic domains of Kv2 and Kv10 channels.

Transglutaminasc (protein-glutamine gamma-glutamyltransferase, EC 2.3.2.13, TG) catalyzes reactions of the acyl transfer, which introduce the epsilon-(gamma-glutamyl)lysine bonds between proteins to create polymers of high mol. mass. Properties of the TG enzyme are described. Its structure is considered: there are characterized items of the TG life cycle and stability, its biological (physiological) role, and significance in pathology and medicine as well as obtaining of the purified enzyme preparations and their use. There are compared TG from different sources: of animal and microbial origin. Mechanism of catalysis of microbial TG is discussed. There are presented characteristics of isoenzymes from different biological sources.

The interaction of apomyoglobin and its mutant forms with phospholipid membranes was studied using tryptophan fluorescence and CD in the far UV-region. It is shown that a negatively charged phospholipid membrane can have a double effect on the structure of protein molecule upon their interaction: it denatures the native structure of the protein to its intermediate state similar to that in solution, acting as a moderately denaturing reagent. On the other hand, it can structure the unfolded protein to the same intermediate state stabilizing its structure. The kinetics of interaction between the protein and its mutant forms and the phospholipid membrane depends on the charge of the membrane surface. Here the rate of this interaction depends on the phospholipids vesicle concentration and the protein molecule stability increasing with a decrease of the latter. The importance of the obtained results for the folding of membrane proteins and the choice of the pathway for target delivery of protein drugs are discussed.

It has been shown by the methods of hydrodynamics (equilibrium ultracentrifugation, velocity sedimentation, intrinsic viscosity) that a fragment of the structural protein Cafl (Cafl 13.149) from the pili-like fibril Yersinia pestis is in the monomeric state and is capable of forming the compact ternary structure spontaneously, without the involvement of chaperone or other subunits. This happens despite the fact that some information about the ternary structure of this protein is provided in fibrils by the "sticky" segment Alal-Thr12 of the neighboring subunit. As previously shown, it is this segment of another molecule in the norm that is an important element of the ternary structure of the subunit itself since it interacts with the acceptor cleft and participates in the formation of the hydrophobic core.

The key stage of the infection of the Escherichia coli cell with bacteriophage T4, the binding to the surface of the host cell, is determined by the specificity of the long tail fiber proteins of the phage, in particular, gp37. The assembly and oligomerization of this protein under natural conditions requires the participation of at least two additional protein factors, gp57A and gp38, which strongly hinders the production of the recombinant form of gp37. To overcome this problem, a modern protein engineering strategy was used, which involves the construction of a chimeric protein containing a carrier protein that drives the correct folding of the target protein. For this purpose, the trimeric beta-helical domain of another protein of phage T4, gp5, was used. It was shown that this domain, represented as a rigid trimeric polypeptide prism, has properties favorable for use as a protein carrier. A fragment of protein gp37 containing five pentapeptides repeats, Gly-X-His-X-His, which determine the binding to the receptors on the bacterial cell surface, was fused in a continuous reading frame to the C-terminus of the domain of gp5. The resulting chimeric protein forms a trimer that has the native conformation of gp37 and exhibits biological activity.

The review presents data on diversity, structure, functions and gene expression of the high conserved family of heat shock proteins 90 kDa (Hsp90). They are specialized molecular chaperones that fulfill the folding, maintenance of structural integrity and conformational regulation of a subset of proteins involved in important cellular processes, such as transduction of signals, cell cycle control etc. A composition and functioning of the Hsp90 chaperone machine are considered. Hsp90s play a significant role in growth and development of organisms carrying out conformational regulation of many regulatory proteins and protecting cells under stress. The review summarizes the results of investigations of different organisms, mainly animals and yeasts, with emphasis on the facts on Hsp90s in plants.

Chaperones are unique remodeling proteins that participate in a great number of intracellular processes and are involved in the correction of protein structure, the prevention of the aggregation of misfolded proteins, the destruction of protein aggregates, and also the unfolding of native protein targets for their translocation across a membrane. In addition to this, Chaperones assist in the dismantling of active oligomers into inactive unfolded monomers for their subsequent photolytic degradation and the assembly of folded subunits into protein assemblies and specific complexes. Data on the structure and functioning of molecular chaperones from five basic families are summarized in the review.

The data on the effect of temperature on the kinetics of collagen fibril formation at physiological pH values and ionic strength in the temperature range 26-39 degrees C have been analyzed. The temperature of 35 degrees C optimal for collagen fibril formation has been defined as the turning point for halfmaximal turbidity and collagen molecule microunfolding values, which corresponds to the temperature of the first transition on the heat absorption curve. The temperature range (32-35 degrees C) in which collagen microunfolding stimulates fibril formation has been determined.

Conditions were found at the analytical level for the solubilization of a recombinant insulin precursor from inclusion bodies in different buffer systems at a wide pH range in the presence of different reducing (dithiothreitol, dithioerythritol) and chaotropic agents (urea, guanidine hydrochloride) and the subsequent renaturation with the use of redox pairs (cysteine-cystine, oxidized glutathione-reduced glutathione, and others). The scaling of the method for the production of the active substance of genetically engineered human insulin has been performed.

The paper describes creation and analysis of a database 3Dfold_test. This database consists of a large set of pairs of spatially-similar structures of protein domains and of an accompanying, much larger control set of "decoys", i.e., spatially-dissimilar protein structures, having approximately the same size and compactness as each member of a pair of spatially-similar proteins. The database 3Dfold_test can be found at the site http://phys.protres.ru/resources/prediction analogy/3Dfold/.

The paper describes results of testing of "recognition ability" of different substitution matrices and various pseudo-potentials (taken from literature or designed by us) to recognize protein structures and produce the sequence-to-structure alignments. Numerical estimates of "identifying power" of various matrices and pseudo-potentials are obtained for different levels of similarity between amino acid sequences of spatially-similar proteins. It is shown that substitution matrices work much better than pseudo-potentials at a high level of similarity of sequences of spatially-similar proteins, but some pseudo-potentials overcome substitution matrices at a low level of sequence similarity.

A database of 926 (alpha + beta)-proteins and (alpha + beta)-domains containing abCd-units (among them 401 are nonhomologous) has been compiled from the Protein Data Bank (total 2636 PDB entries). A novel structural tree for this structural class of proteins that is composed of 286 possible polypeptide chain folds has been constructed. The structural classification of (alpha + beta)-proteins containing abCd-unit based on the structural tree has been developed. Both the database and the structural tree are accessible at the web-site (http://strees.protres.ru/).