Abstract
During sclerotization of puparial proteins, tyrosine, lysine, and histidine were converted to highly basic aromatic metabolites. Peptides generated from the sclerotized cuticle with N-bromosuccinimide included the basic derivatives among the hydrolysis products. The absorbance maxima of the aromatic metabolites were 25 nm lower than those of the conventional tyrosyl peptides, with phenolic character poorly expressed or absent. Post-translational modification of the structural proteins preceded visual expression of tanning because aromatic conjugates also were present prior to pupariation. These results are consistent with a crosslinking mechanism favoring covalent bonding between protein chains.
Keywords: sclerotization, arylation, amino acid modification, protein bridging
Full text
PDF
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- KARLSON P., SEKERIS C. E., SEKERI K. E. [On tyrosine metabolism in insects. VI. Identification of N-acetyl-3,4-dihydroxy-beta-phenylethylamine (N-acetyl-dopamine) as a tyrosine metabolite]. Hoppe Seylers Z Physiol Chem. 1962 May 4;327:86–94. doi: 10.1515/bchm2.1962.327.1.86. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Lipke H., Geoghegan T. The composition of peptidochitodextrins from sarcophagid puparial cases. Biochem J. 1971 Dec;125(3):703–716. doi: 10.1042/bj1250703. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Lipke H., Strout K., Henzel W., Sugumaran M. Structural proteins of sarcophagid larval exoskeleton. Composition and distribution of radioactivity derived from [7-14C]dopamine. J Biol Chem. 1981 May 10;256(9):4241–4246. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Seligman M., Blechl A., Blechl J., Herman P., Fraenkel G. Role of ecdysone, pupariation factors, and cyclic AMP in formation and tanning of the puparium of the fleshfly Sarcophaga bullata. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1977 Oct;74(10):4697–4701. doi: 10.1073/pnas.74.10.4697. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Weith H. L., Wiebers J. L., Gilham P. T. Synthesis of cellulose derivatives containing the dihydroxyboryl group and a study of their capacity to form specific complexes with sugars and nucleic acid components. Biochemistry. 1970 Oct 27;9(22):4396–4401. doi: 10.1021/bi00824a021. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Witkop B. Chemical cleavage of proteins. Selective fragmentations and modifications reveal structure. Science. 1968 Oct 18;162(3851):318–326. doi: 10.1126/science.162.3851.318. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]