Biomedical subjects

A J Koster

Publications and source records attributed to A J Koster.

23 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMed1994

Predicted secondary structure of the 20 S proteasome and model structure of the putative peptide channel.

Secondary structure prediction has made great progress in recent years due to the incorporation of evolutionary information, and may be close to a point where (in combination with biochemical and low-resolution structural data) it can guide the modelling of tertiary structure in cases where no model building is possible by homology. Towards this goal it is important to gather information on the performance of prediction methods in advance of the publication of new structures. In anticipation of the soon-to-be-released structure of the 20 S proteasome from Thermoplasma acidophilum, we have applied several widely used secondary structure prediction methods to proteasome sequences and have attempted to model the putative channel in the outer proteasome rings (alpha-rings) based on the obtained predictions.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1994

Cryo automated electron tomography: towards high-resolution reconstructions of plastic-embedded structures.

The use of fully automated data collection methods for electron tomography allows a substantial reduction in beam dose. The goal has been to develop new protocols for data collection defining optimal approaches for maintaining data self-consistency and maximizing the useful resolution of the reconstruction. The effects of irradiation and post-cure microwaving were examined for a variety of embedding media (Epon, Epox, Lowicryl) in order to quantify beam damage with the goal of identifying the most beam stable embedding medium. Surprisingly, the substantial dose reduction made possible by automated data collection did not result in a significant decrease in specimen shrinkage even for samples stabilized by pre-irradiation. We believe that the accelerated shrinkage is a direct consequence of the stroboscopic illumination patterns inherent to automated data collection. Furthermore neither the choice of embedding resin nor microwave post-curing greatly affected shrinkage. Finally, cryogenic data collection was investigated as a means to minimize the effects of secondary radiation damage. Minimal pre-irradiation coupled with low-temperature automated data collection greatly reduces shrinkage and should result in high-quality data for three-dimensional reconstructions.

Cryopreservation↗

PubMed1993

Structural features of 26S and 20S proteasomes.

The 26S proteasome is the central protease of the ubiquitin-dependent pathway of protein degradation and has a highly conserved structure from slime molds to humans. The elongated molecule which has a molecular mass of approximately 2,000 kD is formed by a barrel-shaped 20S core complex and two polar 19S complexes. The 20S complex has C2 symmetry and is built by four seven-membered rings of which the outer rings are rotated by 26 degrees relative to the inner rings while the inner rings are in register. The 19S cap complex is asymmetric and therefore considerably less well understood on a structural level. From a comparison of the activity and regulation of the 26S and 20S particles, it can be deduced that the 20S particle contains the protease activity while the 19S complex is supposed to contain isopeptidase, oxidoreductase, ATPase and protein-unfolding activities. In this article we describe the structure of various proteasome complexes as determined by electron microscopy and discuss structural implications of their subunit sequences.

Adenosine Triphosphatases↗

PubMed1992

Automated microscopy for electron tomography.

Instrumentation and methodology for the automatic collection of tomographic tilt series data for the three-dimensional reconstruction of single particles is described. The system consists of a Philips EM 430 TEM, with a Gatan 673 cooled slow-scan CCD camera and a Philips C400 microscope computer control unit attached. The procedure for data collection includes direct digital recording of the images on the CCD camera and the automatic measurement and correction of (a) image shifts resulting from tilting the specimen, (b) variation of defocus and (c) the eucentric height position of the specimen. Experiments are described illustrating the possibilities and limitations of automatic data collection. Data collection at a magnification of 30k shows that the exposure time of the specimen to the beam is reduced by a factor of 10-100 compared to manual operation of the TEM.

Artifacts↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Three-dimensional reconstructions of extracellular matrix polymers using automated electron tomography.

The extracellular matrix is an intricate network of macromolecules which provides support for cells and a framework for tissues. The detailed structure and organisation of most matrix polymers is poorly understood. These polymers have a complex ultrastructure, and it has proved a major challenge both to define their structural organisation and to relate this to their biological function. However, new approaches using automated electron tomography are beginning to reveal important insights into the molecular assembly and structural organisation of two of the most abundant polymer systems in the extracellular matrix. We have generated three-dimensional reconstructions of collagen fibrils from bovine cornea and fibrillin microfibrils from ciliary zonules. Analysis of these data has provided new insights into the organisation and function of these large macromolecular assemblies.

Animals↗