Research Overview

My colleagues and I are interested in relationships of protein structure to biological activity, the mechanisms of enzymes and other biologically active proteins in the development of procedures, particularly chemical modification procedures, for studying such problems. We are currently investigating the effects of certain nitrosating agents on proteins. Several vasodilatory drugs and the potent mutagen, nitrous acids, are include among the agents that we are studying. We are characterizing the chemical and physical effects of those substances on proteins and attempting to determine how they might be used to identify amino acid residues required for the biological activities of certain enzymes and other proteins. As the hypotensive effects of many, and perhaps all, nitorvasodilatory drugs are accompanied by a rapid nitrosation of proteins, we are trying to determine how or whether those chemical events may be related to the pharmacological effects of those drugs.

Recent Publications

G.E. Means, H. Zhang, and M. Le (1999) "The Chemistry of Protein Functional Groups", in Protein: A Comprehensive Treatise, Vol. 11, (G. Allen, ed.), JAI Press, London, pp 23-59.

H. Zhang, M. Le, and G.E. Means (1998) "A Kinetic Approach to Characterize the Electrostatic Environments of Thiol Groups in Proteins." Bioorganic Chem. 26, 356-364.

M. Le and G.E., Means (1998) "NAD+/NADH recycling by coimrnobilized lactate dehydrogenase and glutamate dehydrogenase." Enzyme and Microbial Technol. 23, 49-57.

G.E. Means and R.E. Feeney (1998) "Chemical Modifications ofProteins: A Review." J. Food Biochemistry 22, 399-426.

M. Le, H. Zhang and G.E. Means (1997) "The Decomposition of S-Nitrosated Dithiols: A Model for Vicinal Nitrosothiols in Enzymes." Bioorg. Med. Chem. Letters 7, 1393-1398.

M.S. Studebaker, H. Zhang and G. E. Means (1996) "5-Nitrosothio-2-nitrobenzoate: A Reagent for the Nitrosation of Thiol Groups in Proteins." Analyt. Biochem. 237, 193-197 (1996).

Hao Zhang and G. E. Means (1996) "S-Nitrosation of Serum Albumin: Spectrophotometric Determination of its Nitrosation by Simple S-Nitrosothiols." Analyt. Biochem. 237,141-144 (1996).