Protein identification and analysis software performs a central role in the investigation of proteins from two-dimensional (2-D) gels and mass spectrometry. For protein identification, the user matches certain empirically acquired information against a protein database to define a protein as already known or as novel. For protein analysis, information in protein databases can be used to predict certain properties about a protein, which can be useful for its empirical investigation. The two processes are thus complementary. Although there are numerous programs available for those applications, we have developed a set of original tools with a few main goals in mind. Specifically, these are: 1. To utilize the extensive annotation available in the Swiss-Prot database wherever possible, in particular the position-specific annotation in the Swiss-Prot feature tables to take into account posttranslational modifications and protein processing. 2. To develop tools specifically, but not exclusively, applicable to proteins prepared by two dimensional gel electrophoresis and peptide mass fingerprinting experiments. 3. To make all tools available on the World-Wide Web (WWW), and freely usable by the scientific community. In this chapter we give details about protein identification and analysis software that is available through the ExPASy World Wide Web server.

Protein identification and analysis tools in the ExPASy server

The molar absorption coefficient, E, of a protein is usually based on concentrations measured by dry weight, nitrogen, or amino acid analysis. The studies reported here suggest that the Edelhoch method is the best method for measuring E for a protein. (This method is described by Gill and von Hippel [1989, Anal Biochem 182:3193261 and is based on data from Edelhoch [1967, Biochemistry 6:1948-19541.) The absorbance of a protein at 280 nm depends on the content of Trp, Tyr, and cystine (disulfide bonds). The average E values for these chromophores in a sample of 18 well-characterized proteins have been estimated, and the E values in water, propanol, 6 M guanidine hydrochloride (GdnHCI), and 8 M urea have been measured. For Trp, the average E values for the proteins are less than the E values measured in any of the solvents. For Tyr, the average E values for the proteins are intermediate between those measured in 6 M GdnHCl and those measured in propanol. Based on a sample of 116 measured t values for 80 proteins, the t at 280 nm of a folded protein in water, t(280), can best be predicted with this equation:

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/pro.5560041120

How to measure and predict the molar absorption coefficient of a protein.

http://ctrstbio.org.uic.edu/manuals/kellybba.pdf

How to study proteins by circular dichroism

We have cloned six fluorescent proteins homologous to the green fluorescent protein (GFP) from Aequorea victoria. Two of these have spectral characteristics dramatically different from GFP, emitting at yellow and red wavelengths. All the proteins were isolated from nonbioluminescent reef corals, demonstrating that GFP-like proteins are not always functionally linked to bioluminescence. The new proteins share the same beta-can fold first observed in GFP, and this provided a basis for the comparative analysis of structural features important for fluorescence. The usefulness of the new proteins for in vivo labeling was demonstrated by expressing them in mammalian cell culture and in mRNA microinjection assays in Xenopus embryos.

/pdf/fluorescent-proteins-from-nonbioluminescent-anthozoa-species-59juanwyig.pdf

Fluorescent proteins from nonbioluminescent Anthozoa species.

Coordinate induction of phase 2 proteins and elevation of glutathione protect cells against the toxic and carcinogenic effects of electrophiles and oxidants. All inducers react covalently with thiols at rates that are closely related to their potencies. Inducers disrupt the cytoplasmic complex between the actin-bound protein Keap1 and the transcription factor Nrf2, thereby releasing Nrf2 to migrate to the nucleus where it activates the antioxidant response element (ARE) of phase 2 genes and accelerates their transcription. We cloned, overexpressed, and purified murine Keap1 and demonstrated on native gels the formation of complexes of Keap1 with the Neh2 domain of Nrf2 and their concentration-dependent disruption by inducers such as sulforaphane and bis(2-hydroxybenzylidene)acetone. The kinetics, stoichiometry, and order of reactivities of the most reactive of the 25 cysteine thiol groups of Keap1 have been determined by tritium incorporation from [3H]dexamethasone mesylate (an inducer and irreversible modifier of thiols) and by UV spectroscopy with sulforaphane, 2,2′-dipyridyl disulfide and 4,4′-dipyridyl disulfide (titrants of thiol groups), and two closely related Michael reaction acceptors [bis(2- and 4-hydroxybenzylidene)acetones] that differ 100-fold in inducer potency and the UV spectra of which are bleached by thiol addition. With large excesses of these reagents nearly all thiols of Keap1 react, but sequential reaction with three successive single equivalents (per cysteine residue) of dipyridyl disulfides revealed excellent agreement with pseudo-first order kinetics, rapid successive declines in reaction velocity, and the stoichiometric formation of two equivalents of thiopyridone per reacted cysteine. This finding suggests that reaction of cysteine thiols is followed by rapid formation of protein disulfide linkages. The most reactive residues of Keap1 (C257, C273, C288, and C297) were identified by mapping the dexamethasone-modified cysteines by mass spectrometry of tryptic peptides. These residues are located in the intervening region between BTB and Kelch repeat domains of Keap1 and probably are the direct sensors of inducers of the phase 2 system.

https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/99/18/11908.full.pdf

Direct evidence that sulfhydryl groups of Keap1 are the sensors regulating induction of phase 2 enzymes that protect against carcinogens and oxidants

Calculation of protein extinction coefficients from amino acid sequence data

Escherichia coli sigma 70 and NusA proteins. I. Binding interactions with core RNA polymerase in solution and within the transcription complex.

To function as a DNA-RNA helicase in rho-dependent transcript termination, six genetically identical subunits of the Escherichia coli transcription termination protein rho must first assemble into a hexameric complex To help determine the quaternary structure of this complex, the authors have studied the association equilibria of the rho protomers Sedimentation equilibrium, sedimentation velocity, diffusion, X-ray scattering, and neutron-scattering data have been combined to create a phase diagram' of the association states of this protein as a function of protein concentration and ionic environment The results show that rho exists predominantly as a hexamer under approximately physiological conditions and that this hexamer is in equilibrium with both lower and higher states of association that may also have physiological relevance Small-angle X-ray scattering measurements and theoretical calculations indicate that the rho hexamer has a radius of gyration of 50 {plus minus} 3 {angstrom} The radius of gyration measured by small-angle neutron scattering in {sup 2}H{sub 2}O is 47 {plus minus} 3 {angstrom} These scattering studies also support earlier models of rho as a planar hexagon which have been developed on the basis of electron microscopy

Stanley C. Gill

Papers

Calculation of protein extinction coefficients from amino acid sequence data

Escherichia coli sigma 70 and NusA proteins. I. Binding interactions with core RNA polymerase in solution and within the transcription complex.

Physical properties of the Escherichia coli transcription termination factor rho. 1. Association states and geometry of the rho hexamer.

Escherichia coli σ70 and NusA proteins: II. Physical properties and self-association states

Thermodynamic analysis of the transcription cycle in E. coli