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L Liljas

Publications and source records attributed to L Liljas.

46 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Structure of RNA in satellite tobacco necrosis virus. A low resolution neutron diffraction study using 1H2O/2H2O solvent contrast variation.

The crystal structure of satellite tobacco necrosis virus has been studied by neutron diffraction at 16 A resolution using the technique of 1H2O/2H2O solvent contrast variation to distinguish between the regions of protein and nucleic acid. The RNA density is essentially localized in a region just inside the protein coat, leading to a significant interaction between the two components. From the appearance of the RNA density we conclude that the protein coat imposes partial icosahedral symmetry on a significant proportion of the nucleic acid. The shape and dimensions of the major part of this density suggests that about 72% of the total RNA could be double-helical in structure. The most important interaction between the two components of the virus occurs between the N-terminal triple-helical arms of the protein subunits and those regions of the RNA density that could have a double-helical secondary structure.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Structure of satellite tobacco necrosis virus after crystallographic refinement at 2.5 A resolution.

The structure of the protein subunit of satellite tobacco necrosis virus has been solved at 3.7 A resolution. We have now crystallographically refined the original model and extended the resolution ot 2.5 A in order to get a model accurate enough to explain the details of the subunit interactions. The refinement was done with a novel method utilizing the icosahedral symmetry of the virus particle. The final model shows a complicated network of interactions, involving salt linkages, hydrogen bonds and hydrophobic contacts. In addition, we have located three different metal ion sites in the protein shell, linking the protein subunits together. These sites are probably occupied by calcium ions. One site is found in a general position near the icosahedral 3-fold axis of the virus. The ligands form an octahedral arrangement, with two main chain carbonyl oxygens (0-61 and 0-64), one carboxylate oxygen (OD1 from Asp194) of the same subunit and a second carboxylate oxygen (OE1 of Glu25) from a 3-fold related subunit. Two water molecules complete the octahedral arrangement. A second site is on the icosahedral 3-fold axis and is liganded by the carboxylate oxygens of the 3-fold related Asp55 residues. The third metal ion site is found on the 5-fold axis, liganded by the five carbonyl oxygens of Thr138 and two water molecules. We are unable to locate the first 11 N-terminal amino acid residues, which point into the virus interior. No interpretable density for RNA has been found, indicating that the nucleic acid of the virus does not have a unique orientation in the crystal.

Amino Acids↗

Structural comparisons of some small spherical plant viruses.

The structures of tomato bushy stunt virus, southern bean mosaic virus and satellite tobacco necrosis virus have been compared quantitatively. The organization of the shell domains of tomato bushy stunt virus and southern bean mosaic virus within the icosahedral envelope is identical. The wedge-shaped end of the subunit is closer to the fivefold or quasi-sixfold axes in all three viruses but the packing about the three- and twofold axes is quite different in satellite tobacco necrosis virus as compared to tomato bushy stunt virus or southern bean mosaic virus. The polypeptide folds of these viruses have greatest similarity in the beta-sheet region of the eight-stranded anti-parallel beta-barrel. The largest differences occur in the connecting segments. There is no clear indication of homologous amino acid sequences between southern bean mosaic virus and satellite tobacco necrosis virus. However, there is some conservation of the following functional groups. (1) Threonines and serines at the hexagonal-pentagonal wedge-shaped end of the subunit. (2) Lysines and arginines at the protein-RNA interface. (3) Hydrophobic residues in the cavity within the anti-parallel beta-barrel. (4) An aspartic acid near a site which binds Ca in tomato bushy stunt virus. (5) Ionic interactions in the contacts between fivefold-related subunits. These virus coat protein structures are not as similar to each other as the alpha and beta chains of hemoglobin but have greater likeness to one another than the NAD-binding domains of dehydrogenases or lysozymes from hen egg-white and T4 phage. The surface domains of tomato bushy stunt virus and southern bean mosaic virus are more like each other than like satellite tobacco necrosis virus. A divergent evolutionary tree is proposed on the basis of these observations.

Amino Acids↗

Aggregates of human erythrocyte membrane sialoglycoproteins in the presence of deoxycholate and dodecyl sulfate.

Gel electrophoresis in the presence of deoxycholate of human erythrocyte membranes solubilized with deoxycholate resolves four glycoprotein zones. Electrophoresis in dodecyl sulfate in a second dimension reveals several components, three of which migrate in the region of PAS-2. One of the zones in deoxycholate gel electrophoresis contains component PAS-3, and this glycoprotein seems to exist as a monomer in deoxycholate, but aggregates partially upon addition of dodecyl sulfate. The major sialoglycoprotein migrates as a diffuse zone in dodecyl sulfate. The major sialoglycoprotein migrates as a diffuse zone in deoxycholate gel electrophoresis, indicating association and dissociation during the electrophoresis. The use of deoxycholate followed by dodecyl sulfate in two-dimentional electrophoresis gave high resolution of membrane proteins and can be used for detection of complexes in one of the detergents.

Deoxycholic Acid↗

The major sialoglycoprotein of the human erythrocyte membrane. Release with a non-ionic detergent and purification.

The major sialoglycoprotein of the human erythrocyte membrane has been selectively released by the non-ionic detergent Tween 20 and further purified in detergent-free buffers by hydroxyapatite chromatography and, finally, by hydrophobic interaction chromatography on pentyl-Sepharose. The purified glycoprotein shows one main zone, PAS-1, and up to three minor zones after staining both for protein and carbohydrate in polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the presence of dodecyl sulfate. The relative staining intensities are concentration dependent. When the purified glycoprotein has been heated to 100 degrees C in dodecyl sulfate, more stain appears in the most rapid zone, PAS-2, and less in the slower zones, indicating a disaggregation of oligomeric forms of this glycoprotein, including a dimer, PAS-1.

Amino Acids↗