scholarly journals Structural and mechanistic analysis of the arsenate respiratory reductase provides insight into environmental arsenic transformations

2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (37) ◽  
pp. E8614-E8623 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathaniel R. Glasser ◽  
Paul H. Oyala ◽  
Thomas H. Osborne ◽  
Joanne M. Santini ◽  
Dianne K. Newman

Arsenate respiration by bacteria was discovered over two decades ago and is catalyzed by diverse organisms using the well-conserved Arr enzyme complex. Until now, the mechanisms underpinning this metabolism have been relatively opaque. Here, we report the structure of an Arr complex (solved by X-ray crystallography to 1.6-Å resolution), which was enabled by an improved Arr expression method in the genetically tractable arsenate respirerShewanellasp. ANA-3. We also obtained structures bound with the substrate arsenate (1.8 Å), the product arsenite (1.8 Å), and the natural inhibitor phosphate (1.7 Å). The structures reveal a conserved active-site motif that distinguishes Arr [(R/K)GRY] from the closely related arsenite respiratory oxidase (Arx) complex (XGRGWG). Arr activity assays using methyl viologen as the electron donor and arsenate as the electron acceptor display two-site ping-pong kinetics. A Mo(V) species was detected with EPR spectroscopy, which is typical for proteins with a pyranopterin guanine dinucleotide cofactor. Arr is an extraordinarily fast enzyme that approaches the diffusion limit (Km= 44.6 ± 1.6 μM,kcat= 9,810 ± 220 seconds−1), and phosphate is a competitive inhibitor of arsenate reduction (Ki= 325 ± 12 μM). These observations, combined with knowledge of typical sedimentary arsenate and phosphate concentrations and known rates of arsenate desorption from minerals in the presence of phosphate, suggest that (i) arsenate desorption limits microbiologically induced arsenate reductive mobilization and (ii) phosphate enhances arsenic mobility by stimulating arsenate desorption rather than by inhibiting it at the enzymatic level.

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (8) ◽  
pp. eaaw0982 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zheng-Zhong Zhu ◽  
Zuo-Chang Chen ◽  
Yang-Rong Yao ◽  
Cun-Hao Cui ◽  
Shu-Hui Li ◽  
...  

Carboncones, a special family of all-carbon allotropes, are predicted to have unique properties that distinguish them from fullerenes, carbon nanotubes, and graphenes. Owing to the absence of methods to synthesize atomically well-defined carboncones, however, experimental insight into the nature of pure carboncones has been inaccessible. Herein, we describe a facile synthesis of an atomically well-defined carboncone[1,2] (C70H20) and its soluble penta-mesityl derivative. Identified by x-ray crystallography, the carbon skeleton is a carboncone with the largest possible apex angle. Much of the structural strain is overcome in the final step of converting the bowl-shaped precursor into the rigid carboncone under mild reaction conditions. This work provides a research opportunity for investigations of atomically precise single-layered carboncones having even higher cone walls and/or smaller apex angles.


2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (01n04) ◽  
pp. 337-351 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derrick R. Anderson ◽  
Pavlo V. Solntsev ◽  
Hannah M. Rhoda ◽  
Victor N. Nemykin

A presence of bulky 2,6-di-iso-propylphenoxy groups in bis-tert-butylisocyano adduct of 2(3),9(10),16(17),23(24)-tetrachloro-3(2),10(9),17(16),24(23)-tetra(2,6-di-iso-propylphenoxy)-phthalocyaninato iron(II) complex allows separation of two individual positional isomers and a mixture of the remaining two isomers using conventional chromatography. X-ray structures of “[Formula: see text]” and “[Formula: see text]” isomers were confimed by X-ray crystallography. Density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT (TDDFT) calculations of each individual positional isomer allowed insight into their electronic structures and vertical excitation energies, which were correlated with the experimental UV-vis and MCD spectra.


eLife ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ho-Ryun Chung ◽  
Chao Xu ◽  
Alisa Fuchs ◽  
Andreas Mund ◽  
Martin Lange ◽  
...  

PHF13 is a chromatin affiliated protein with a functional role in differentiation, cell division, DNA damage response and higher chromatin order. To gain insight into PHF13's ability to modulate these processes, we elucidate the mechanisms targeting PHF13 to chromatin, its genome wide localization and its molecular chromatin context. Size exclusion chromatography, mass spectrometry, X-ray crystallography and ChIP sequencing demonstrate that PHF13 binds chromatin in a multivalent fashion via direct interactions with H3K4me2/3 and DNA, and indirectly via interactions with PRC2 and RNA PolII. Furthermore, PHF13 depletion disrupted the interactions between PRC2, RNA PolII S5P, H3K4me3 and H3K27me3 and resulted in the up and down regulation of genes functionally enriched in transcriptional regulation, DNA binding, cell cycle, differentiation and chromatin organization. Together our findings argue that PHF13 is an H3K4me2/3 molecular reader and transcriptional co-regulator, affording it the ability to impact different chromatin processes.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (40) ◽  
pp. eabb8219
Author(s):  
N. Zeytuni ◽  
S. W. Dickey ◽  
J. Hu ◽  
H. T. Chou ◽  
L. J. Worrall ◽  
...  

Staphylococcus aureus is a major human pathogen that has acquired alarming broad-spectrum antibiotic resistance. One group of secreted toxins with key roles during infection is the phenol-soluble modulins (PSMs). PSMs are amphipathic, membrane-destructive cytolytic peptides that are exported to the host-cell environment by a designated adenosine 5′-triphosphate (ATP)–binding cassette (ABC) transporter, the PSM transporter (PmtABCD). Here, we demonstrate that the minimal Pmt unit necessary for PSM export is PmtCD and provide its first atomic characterization by single-particle cryo-EM and x-ray crystallography. We have captured the transporter in the ATP-bound state at near atomic resolution, revealing a type II ABC exporter fold, with an additional cytosolic domain. Comparison to a lower-resolution nucleotide-free map displaying an “open” conformation and putative hydrophobic inner chamber of a size able to accommodate the binding of two PSM peptides provides mechanistic insight and sets the foundation for therapeutic design.


2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (11) ◽  
pp. 3401 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashutosh Srivastava ◽  
Tetsuro Nagai ◽  
Arpita Srivastava ◽  
Osamu Miyashita ◽  
Florence Tama

Protein structural biology came a long way since the determination of the first three-dimensional structure of myoglobin about six decades ago. Across this period, X-ray crystallography was the most important experimental method for gaining atomic-resolution insight into protein structures. However, as the role of dynamics gained importance in the function of proteins, the limitations of X-ray crystallography in not being able to capture dynamics came to the forefront. Computational methods proved to be immensely successful in understanding protein dynamics in solution, and they continue to improve in terms of both the scale and the types of systems that can be studied. In this review, we briefly discuss the limitations of X-ray crystallography in studying protein dynamics, and then provide an overview of different computational methods that are instrumental in understanding the dynamics of proteins and biomacromolecular complexes.


Author(s):  
Ralf Flaig ◽  
Tibor Koritsánszky ◽  
Rainer Soyka ◽  
Ludger Häming ◽  
Peter Luger

PLoS ONE ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. e0146457 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noella Silva-Martin ◽  
María I. Daudén ◽  
Sebastian Glatt ◽  
Niklas A. Hoffmann ◽  
Panagiotis Kastritis ◽  
...  

2009 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 173-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin L. Owen ◽  
Arwen R. Pearson ◽  
Alke Meents ◽  
Pirmin Boehler ◽  
Vincent Thominet ◽  
...  

X-ray crystallography at third-generation synchrotron sources permits tremendous insight into the three-dimensional structure of macromolecules. Additional information is, however, often required to aid the transition from structure to function. In situ spectroscopic methods such as UV–Vis absorption and (resonance) Raman can provide this, and can also provide a means of detecting X-ray-induced changes. Here, preliminary results are introduced from an on-axis UV–Vis absorption and Raman multimode spectrometer currently being integrated into the beamline environment at X10SA of the Swiss Light Source. The continuing development of the spectrometer is also outlined.


Crystals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 564
Author(s):  
Daniel Duvinage ◽  
Enno Lork ◽  
Simon Grabowsky ◽  
Stefan Mebs ◽  
Jens Beckmann

The reaction of (6-Ph2P-Ace-5-)2P(O)H with (tht)AuCl3 proceeds via elimination of tetrahydrothiophene (tht) and HCl, providing the zwitterionic PPP-pincer complex (6-Ph2P-Ace-5-)2P(O)AuCl2 (1) as yellow crystals. The molecular structure of 1 was established and studied by X-ray crystallography. The electronic structure was computationally analyzed using a comprehensive set of real-space bonding indicators derived from electron and electron-pair densities, providing insight into the relative contributions of covalent and non-covalent forces to the polar-covalent Au–Cl, Au–P, and P–O− bonds; the latter being one of the textbook cases for strongly polarized covalent interactions. Partial spatial complementarity between both bonding aspects is suggested by the electronic properties of the distinctively different Au–Cl bonds.


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