Abstract

The silk proteins made by aquatic larvae of the midge, Chironomus tentans, fall intothree size classes. There are four giant (r1000 kD) proteins, spIa-d. Extracts of C. tentans salivary glands showed two SDS-resistant complexes, C1a and C1b, by non-denaturing agarose gel electrophoresis each of which contained spIs plus other silk proteins. Conventional shadowed EM preparations showed discrete lattice-like structures. Very preliminary STEM data indicate that while these thin lattice-like structures are barely visible above background, they have masses of several thousand kD. In addition to mass measurements, these proteins have a large number of cystines (r100) which might be interesting to gold label. While this project has barely begun, it appears that the STEM will be able to help determine the role of these complexes in the assembly of silk fibers.

  Funding Agency

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Center for Research Resources (NCRR)
Type
Biotechnology Resource Grants (P41)
Project #
5P41RR001777-13
Application #
5223577
Study Section
Project Start
Project End
Budget Start
Budget End
Support Year
13
Fiscal Year
1996
Total Cost
Indirect Cost

  Publications

Hind, Geoffrey; Wall, Joseph S; Várkonyi, Zsuzsanna et al. (2014) Membrane crystals of plant light-harvesting complex II disassemble reversibly in light. Plant Cell Physiol 55:1296-303
Garofalo, Robert; Mustanski, Brian; Johnson, Amy et al. (2010) Exploring factors that underlie racial/ethnic disparities in HIV risk among young men who have sex with men. J Urban Health 87:318-323
Joshi, V N; Mitra, D; England, M D et al. (2010) Large Covalently Linked Fluorescent and Gold Nanoparticle Immunoprobes. Microsc Microanal 16:966-967
Ackerson, Christopher J; Powell, Richard D; Hainfeld, James F (2010) Site-specific biomolecule labeling with gold clusters. Methods Enzymol 481:195-230
Hu, Minghui; Qian, Luping; Brinas, Raymond P et al. (2008) Gold nanoparticle-protein arrays improve resolution for cryo-electron microscopy. J Struct Biol 161:83-91
Garofalo, Robert; Mustanski, Brian; Donenberg, Geri (2008) Parents know and parents matter;is it time to develop family-based HIV prevention programs for young men who have sex with men? J Adolesc Health 43:201-4
Brinas, Raymond P; Hu, Minghui; Qian, Luping et al. (2008) Gold nanoparticle size controlled by polymeric Au(I) thiolate precursor size. J Am Chem Soc 130:975-82
Hu, Minghui; Zhang, Yian-Biao; Qian, Luping et al. (2008) Three-dimensional structure of human chromatin accessibility complex hCHRAC by electron microscopy. J Struct Biol 164:263-9
Mustanski, Brian; Garofalo, Robert; Herrick, Amy et al. (2007) Psychosocial health problems increase risk for HIV among urban young men who have sex with men: preliminary evidence of a syndemic in need of attention. Ann Behav Med 34:37-45
Garofalo, Robert; Mustanski, Brian S; McKirnan, David J et al. (2007) Methamphetamine and young men who have sex with men: understanding patterns and correlates of use and the association with HIV-related sexual risk. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 161:591-6

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