Probing Structural and Motional Features of the C-Terminal Part of the Human Centrin 2/P17-XPC Microcrystalline Complex by Solid-State NMR Spectroscopy

International audienceAn insight into structural and motional features of the C-terminal part of the Human Centrin 2 in complex with the peptide P17-XPC was obtained by using complementary solid-state NMR methods. We demonstrate that the experimental conditions and procedures of sample crystallization determine not only the quality of solid-state NMR spectra but can also dramatically modify the dynamic state of water molecules and the internal mobility of the protein. Two-dimensional (2D) 13C - 13C and 15N - 15N correlation spectra reveal intra- and inter-residue dipolar connectivities and provide partial, site-specific assignments of 13C and 15N resonance signals. The secondary structure of the C-ter HsCen2 /P17-XPC complex in a microcrystalline state appears similar to that found in solution. Conformational flexibility is probed through relaxation-compensated measurements of dipolar order parameters that exploit the dynamics of cross-polarization in multidimensional experiments. The extracted dipolar coupling constants and relevant order parameters reveal increased backbone flexibility of the loops except for residues involved in coordination with the Ca2+ cation that stabilizes the hydrophobic pocket containing the peptide P17-XPC

Maternal effort is state dependent: Energetic limitation or regulation?

Rehling A, Trillmich F. Maternal effort is state dependent: Energetic limitation or regulation? ETHOLOGY. 2008;114(4):318-326.Many small altricial rodents have a postpartum oestrus and are often simultaneously pregnant and lactating. Negative influences of concurrent pregnancy and lactation on both lactational performance and the litter in utero are commonly observed and have been interpreted as resulting from high simultaneous energetic demands of gestation and lactation. We studied these effects in the precocial guinea-pig (Cavia aperea f. porcellus) that, like many altricial rodents, has a postpartum oestrus, but in which the peaks of energy expenditure on lactation and gestation are widely separated. This life history allowed to investigate whether physiological regulation other than by energetic limitations may be responsible for allocation conflicts arising when lactation and gestation overlap. By comparing simultaneously pregnant and lactating females with lactating non-pregnant females, we show that females in the former group nurse less and wean earlier than females of the latter group. In a comparison of litter size, litter mass, and pup mortality of females that had not been lactating during pregnancy with females that had been simultaneously pregnant and lactating, we show that the latter do not reduce investment in the following litter. In our study, energetic constraints on ad libitum fed females are unlikely and we therefore suggest that the results must be explained by regulatory constraints on lactational effort. We point out that this explanation has not been excluded for the effects observed in altricial small mammals