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Related Concept Videos

Plasticity00:58

Plasticity

Plasticity is the property where an object loses its elasticity and undergoes irreversible deformation, even after the deformation forces are eliminated. If a material deforms irreversibly without increasing stress or load, then this is called ideal plasticity. For example, when a force is applied to an aluminum rod, it changes its shape, but it does not return to its original shape once the force is removed. Plastic deformation or ductility is thus a permanent deformation or change in the...
Plastic Deformations01:19

Plastic Deformations

Plastic deformation represents a fundamental concept in materials science, which explains the irreversible change in the shape of a material when it experiences stress beyond its elastic capability. This phenomenon is important in structural engineering, especially in designing and analyzing cantilever beams—structures that are securely fixed at one end and bear loads at the opposite end. When these beams are subjected to loads within their elastic range, they will return to their original...
Plastic Deformations01:14

Plastic Deformations

It is essential to understand how structural members behave under plastic deformation when the bending stress exceeds the material's yield strength. This state of deformation permanently alters the shape of the member, in contrast to the linear elastic behavior observed before yielding. The strain at any point in the member is expressed in terms of maximum strain. Notably, the neutral axis, which coincides with the centroid during elastic bending, shifts away from the centroid under plastic...
Neuroplasticity01:01

Neuroplasticity

Neuroplasticity reflects the brain's remarkable capacity to adapt and evolve, responding dynamically to learning, experiences, or injury by reorganizing its neural circuitry. This reorganization involves creating new neural connections and refining old ones through a series of biological processes that contribute to the brain's lifelong development and adaptability.
¹H NMR of Conformationally Flexible Molecules: Temporal Resolution00:52

¹H NMR of Conformationally Flexible Molecules: Temporal Resolution

At room temperature, the chair conformer of cyclohexane undergoes rapid ring flipping between two equivalent chair conformers at a rate of approximately 105 times per second. These two chair conformers are in equilibrium. The rapid ring flipping results in the interconversion of the axial proton to an equatorial proton and an equatorial to the axial proton. Such interconversions are too rapid and cannot be detected on the NMR timescale. Hence, the NMR spectrometer cannot distinguish between the...
¹H NMR of Conformationally Flexible Molecules: Variable-Temperature NMR01:15

¹H NMR of Conformationally Flexible Molecules: Variable-Temperature NMR

The axial and equatorial protons in cyclohexane can be distinguished by performing a variable-temperature NMR experiment. In this process, except for one proton, the remaining eleven protons are replaced by deuterium. The deuterium substitution avoids the possible peak splitting caused by the spin-spin coupling between the adjacent protons. The remaining proton flips between the axial and equatorial positions.

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Monitoring Conformational Dynamics of Single Unmodified Proteins using Plasmonic Nanotweezers
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Conformational plasticity of proNGF.

Francesca Paoletti1, Francesca Malerba, Geoff Kelly

  • 1European Brain Research Institute, Rome, Italy.

Plos One
|August 6, 2011
PubMed
Summary

Nerve Growth Factor precursor (proNGF) adopts a compact structure, unlike mature NGF. This unique conformation influences its function and protects it from degradation, revealing distinct biological roles.

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Area of Science:

  • Biochemistry
  • Neuroscience
  • Structural Biology

Background:

  • Nerve Growth Factor (NGF) is crucial for neuronal survival and function.
  • Its precursor, proNGF, possesses distinct biological activities, including chaperone-like and apoptotic properties.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To compare the structural properties of NGF and proNGF using biophysical techniques.
  • To elucidate the role of the pro-peptide in proNGF structure and function.

Main Methods:

  • Small Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS).
  • Complementary biophysical techniques to analyze protein structure and dynamics.

Main Results:

  • proNGF exhibits a compact globular conformation in solution, contrasting with intrinsically unfolded features previously suggested.
  • The pro-peptide influences the mature NGF's chemical environment and confers protection against proteolytic digestion.
  • proNGF unfolding follows a two-step mechanism.

Conclusions:

  • proNGF's distinct structural properties, including its compact conformation and stability, support its unique functional roles separate from mature NGF.
  • These findings rationalize the different biological activities observed for proNGF and NGF.