BASIL2022GV3R8E: Difference between revisions

=Characterization of the 3r8e Protein, a Novel Glucose Kinase=

== Abstract ==

The Protein Data Bank (PDB) contains approximately 188 thousand protein structures, 5000 of which have not been assigned a specific function. As a part of the Biochemistry Authentic Scientific Inquiry Laboratory (BASIL) project, we were tasked with analyzing and determining the function of one of these proteins, PDB ID 3r8e. This protein is a putative kinase, which is of interest due to the key roles kinases play in many cellular processes. Utilizing the modules the BASIL consortium provides, a series of in silico and in vitro experiments were conducted. The 3r8e protein was first studied using a variety of in silico tools, including BLASTp, Pfam, and DALI. Based on our in silico results, glucose was determined to be the most likely substrate for 3r8e and was used for further in vitro characterization of the protein. To confirm the in silico function prediction for the 3r8e protein, bacterial protein overexpression, affinity chromatography purification, coupled kinase activity assays, and SDS PAGE analyses were utilized. Multiple sugar substrates for 3r8e were tested, including glucose. The coupled kinase assay results confirmed that 3r8e likely plays a role in glucose phosphorylation, aligning with our in silico conclusions. Previous and subsequent analysis of protein 3r8e validated our initial in silico and in vitro results. Overall, we have strong preliminary evidence that our protein of interest (POI) is a glucose kinase.