Prostate apoptosis response factor-4 (Par-4) is a pro-apoptotic and tumor-suppressive protein. A highly conserved heptad repeat sequence at the Par-4 C-terminus suggests the presence of a leucine zipper (LZ). This C-terminal region is essential for Par-4 self-association and interaction with various effector proteins. We have used nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to fully assign the chemical shift resonances of a peptide comprising the LZ domain of Par-4 at neutral pH. Further, we have investigated the properties of the Par-4 LZ domain and two point mutants under a variety of conditions using NMR, circular dichroism (CD), light scattering, and bioinformatics. Results indicate an environment-dependent conformational equilibrium between a partially ordered monomer (POM) and a predominantly coiled coil dimer (CCD). The combination of techniques used allows the time scales of the equilibrium to be probed and also helps to identify features of the amino acid sequence that may influence the equilibrium. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Research Division:	Biological Sciences
Research Group:	Biochemistry and Cell Biology
Research Field:	Structural Biology (incl. Macromolecular Modelling)
Objective Division:	Expanding Knowledge
Objective Group:	Expanding Knowledge
Objective Field:	Expanding Knowledge in the Biological Sciences
UTAS Author:	Gell, DA (Dr David Gell)
ID Code:	64600
Year Published:	2010
Web of Science® Times Cited:	5
Deposited By:	Menzies Institute for Medical Research
Deposited On:	2010-08-12
Last Modified:	2011-07-27
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