CONFORMATION OF DENTAL SALIVARY MOLECULES

该项目的广泛和长期目标已经并将继续 是对选定的结构功能关系的阐明 唾液分子。 用于研究这些的生物物理学方法 大分子将提供有关分子性质的具体信息 他们的生物学行为。 如果您希望的话，这些数据是必不可少的 了解控制正常状态和患病状态的过程 口腔。 作为我们继续研究的一部分。 三唾液 将检查已证明具有生物活性的分子。 的 第一个是来自人类腮腺唾液的富含脯氨酸的糖蛋白 （PRG）。 PRG 的生物学功能包括咀嚼润滑、 细菌结合、薄膜形成和钙协调。 其次 我们将继续研究一种富含酪氨酸的磷蛋白，称为 statherin。 富酪蛋白的主要生物学功能是调节 唾液和牙齿之间的钙磷酸盐平衡。 最后， 富含脯氨酸的酸性蛋白（aPRP）的结构将是 调查了。 aPRP 与 stathrin 一样，已知具有钙结合作用 蛋白质。 这三种唾液共有的生物学功能 分子是钙配位的。 分子机制和 这些大分子中发生的构象变化需要结合 钙在很大程度上是未知的。 免费和免费的详细结构数据 金属结合的唾液分子及其生物活性成分将 得到。 最初，光学光谱技术（例如 荧光、紫外和可见光、圆二色性）将用于 辨别大块二级和三级结构。 高分辨率核 然后将使用磁共振波谱来阐明空间 这些唾液分子的方向。 比较光谱 使用 40Ca、适当的稀土金属、113 Cd 和 43Ca 进行研究 将进行全面评估金属结合的性质 这些分子中的位点。 最后对汇总数据进行细化 使用计算机建模技术计算核间距离和 从光谱研究中获得的扭转角约束。 的 从这些数据获得的结果将提供具体信息 关于金属蛋白质化学计量，唾液的相互作用 分子与自身（例如双链体或更高阶的自聚集）， 唾液分子与其自身的相互作用（例如双链体或 高阶自聚集），无金属和的构象 金属结合分子，以及金属结合的精细结构 网站。 最终将整理数据以确定这些唾液是否 分子具有共同的钙配位方法。 因此，结果 从这些研究中得出的结果将提供第一个相关性 唾液分子原子构象的生物活性 分辨率。

The broad and long-term objective of this project has been and continues to be the elucidation of the structure function relationships in selected salivary molecules. The biophysical methodologies employed to study these macromolecules will provide specific information as to the molecular nature of their biological behavior. Such data is essential if one wishes to understand the processes governing both the normal and diseased states in the oral cavity. As part of our continuing studies. three salivary molecules with demonstrated biological activities will be examined. The first of these is the proline-rich glycoprotein from human parotid saliva (PRG). The biological functions of PRG include masticatory lubrication, bacterial binding, pellicle formation and calcium coordination. Secondly we will continue studying a tyrosine-rich phosphoprotein called statherin. The primary biological function of statherin is the regulation of the calcium-phosphate equilibrium between saliva and the tooth. Finally, the structure of the acidic proline-rich proteins (aPRP's) will be investigated. The aPRP's like stathrin are known to be calcium binding proteins. The biological function common to all three of these salivary molecules is that of calcium coordination. The molecular mechanism(s) and conformational changes occurring in these macromolecules required to bind calcium is largely unknown. Detailed structural data on the free and metal-bound salivary molecules as well as their bioactive constituents will be obtained. Initially, optical spectroscopic techniques (e.g. fluorescence, ultraviolet & visible, circular dichroism) will be used to discern bulk secondary and tertiary structures. High resolution nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy will then be used to elucidate the spatial orientations of these salivary molecules. Comparative spectroscopic investigations using 40Ca, appropriate rare earth metals, 113 Cd and 43Ca will be conducted to completely evaluate the nature of the metal binding site(s) in these molecules. Lastly, the collective data will be refined using computer modeling techniques with the internuclear distance and torsion angle constraints acquired from the spectroscopic studies. The results obtained from these data will provide specific information regarding metal protein stoichiometry, the interaction of the salivary molecules with themselves(e.g. duplex or higher order self aggregation), the interaction of the salivary molecules with themselves (e.g. duplex or higher order self-aggregation), the conformation(s) of the metal-free and metal-bound molecules, and the refined structures of the metal binding sites. The data will ultimately be collated to ascertain if these salivary molecules have a common method of calcium coordination. Thus, the results derived from these studies will provide the first correlations of biological activity with conformation in salivary molecules at atomic resolution.