Premium
A Comparison of Nitrophorin 3 Between Wild‐type and Native Forms
Author(s) -
Childers Kenneth Craig
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.26.1_supplement.573.2
Subject(s) - rhodnius prolixus , nitric oxide , dialysis , biochemistry , chemistry , biology , insect , medicine , ecology , endocrinology
Rhodnius prolixus , better known as the kissing bug, is a blood‐sucking insect that utilizes a nitric oxide‐carrying protein as a means to obtain its meal through vasodilation, slowing platelet aggregation and strong histamine binding. The bug stores this nitrophorin protein within its salivary glands at low pH and is activated once released into the victim's blood. At present, four nitrophorin proteins have been discovered and fully sequenced, having been labeled NP1‐NP4 in order of decreasing abundance. NP3 is the only one of the four proteins which has not yet been characterized by x‐ray crystallography. This study will focus specifically on NP3 by comparing its wild‐type and native forms. Thus far, both forms have been cloned and expressed in E. coli and purified with sonication, dialysis and column chromatography. Throughout this procedure, it has been found that, out of all four of the nitrophorin proteins, NP3 remains one of the more difficult to isolate. However, with the recent success in growths of the native and wild‐type forms, the lab remains hopeful that this breakthrough can lead to point mutations within the protein, as they have with the other three nitrophorins. Source of support: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, University of Arizona, Tucson, 85726