Linking adhesive and structural proteins in the attachment plaque of Mytilus californianus.
AuthorsZhao H, Waite JH,
JournalJ Biol Chem
PubMed ID16844688
'The byssal attachment of California mussels Mytilus californianus provides secure adhesion in the presence of moisture, a feat that still eludes most synthetic polymers. Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry was used to probe the footprints of byssal attachment plaques on glass cover slips for adhesive proteins. Besides the abundant ... More
Conservation of essential design features in coiled coil silks.
'Silks are strong protein fibers produced by a broad array of spiders and insects. The vast majority of known silks are large, repetitive proteins assembled into extended beta-sheet structures. Honeybees, however, have found a radically different evolutionary solution to the need for a building material. The 4 fibrous proteins of ... More
Cement proteins of the tube-building polychaete Phragmatopoma californica.
AuthorsZhao H, Sun C, Stewart RJ, Waite JH,
JournalJ Biol Chem
PubMed ID16227622
The mineralized tube of the sandcastle worm Phragmatopoma californica is made from exogenous mineral particles (sand, shell, etc.) glued together with a cement secreted from the ... More
A highly divergent gene cluster in honey bees encodes a novel silk family.
The pupal cocoon of the domesticated silk moth Bombyx mori is the best known and most extensively studied insect silk. It is not widely known that Apis mellifera larvae also produce silk. We have used a combination of genomic and proteomic techniques to identify four honey bee fiber genes (AmelFibroin1-4) ... More
High throughput immuno-screening of cDNA expression libraries produced by in vitro recombination; exploring the Plasmodium falciparum proteome.
AuthorsKordai Sowa MP, Sharling L, Humphreys G, Cavanagh DR, Gregory WF, Fenn K, Creasey AM, Arnot DE,
JournalMol Biochem Parasitol
PubMed ID14698438
Improved Plasmodium falciparum cDNA expression libraries were constructed by combining mRNA oligo-capping with in vitro recombination and directional cloning of cDNA inserts into a plasmid vector that expresses sequences as thioredoxin fusion proteins. A novel procedure has also been developed for the rapid identification of seropositive clones on high-density filters, ... More