scholarly journals Structural basis of the UDP-diacylglucosamine pyrophosphohydrolase LpxH inhibition by sulfonyl piperazine antibiotics

2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (8) ◽  
pp. 4109-4116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jae Cho ◽  
Minhee Lee ◽  
C. Skyler Cochrane ◽  
Caroline G. Webster ◽  
Benjamin A. Fenton ◽  
...  

The UDP-2,3-diacylglucosamine pyrophosphate hydrolase LpxH is an essential lipid A biosynthetic enzyme that is conserved in the majority of gram-negative bacteria. It has emerged as an attractive novel antibiotic target due to the recent discovery of an LpxH-targeting sulfonyl piperazine compound (referred to as AZ1) by AstraZeneca. However, the molecular details of AZ1 inhibition have remained unresolved, stymieing further development of this class of antibiotics. Here we report the crystal structure of Klebsiella pneumoniae LpxH in complex with AZ1. We show that AZ1 fits snugly into the L-shaped acyl chain-binding chamber of LpxH with its indoline ring situating adjacent to the active site, its sulfonyl group adopting a sharp kink, and its N-CF3–phenyl substituted piperazine group reaching out to the far side of the LpxH acyl chain-binding chamber. Intriguingly, despite the observation of a single AZ1 conformation in the crystal structure, our solution NMR investigation has revealed the presence of a second ligand conformation invisible in the crystalline state. Together, these distinct ligand conformations delineate a cryptic inhibitor envelope that expands the observed footprint of AZ1 in the LpxH-bound crystal structure and enables the design of AZ1 analogs with enhanced potency in enzymatic assays. These designed compounds display striking improvement in antibiotic activity over AZ1 against wild-type K. pneumoniae, and coadministration with outer membrane permeability enhancers profoundly sensitizes Escherichia coli to designed LpxH inhibitors. Remarkably, none of the sulfonyl piperazine compounds occupies the active site of LpxH, foretelling a straightforward path for rapid optimization of this class of antibiotics.

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Manoj Kumar ◽  
Prasanth Padala ◽  
Jamal Fahoum ◽  
Fouad Hassouna ◽  
Tomer Tsaban ◽  
...  

AbstractUfmylation is a post-translational modification essential for regulating key cellular processes. A three-enzyme cascade involving E1, E2 and E3 is required for UFM1 attachment to target proteins. How UBA5 (E1) and UFC1 (E2) cooperatively activate and transfer UFM1 is still unclear. Here, we present the crystal structure of UFC1 bound to the C-terminus of UBA5, revealing how UBA5 interacts with UFC1 via a short linear sequence, not observed in other E1-E2 complexes. We find that UBA5 has a region outside the adenylation domain that is dispensable for UFC1 binding but critical for UFM1 transfer. This region moves next to UFC1’s active site Cys and compensates for a missing loop in UFC1, which exists in other E2s and is needed for the transfer. Overall, our findings advance the understanding of UFM1’s conjugation machinery and may serve as a basis for the development of ufmylation inhibitors.


2010 ◽  
Vol 54 (10) ◽  
pp. 4343-4351 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Denis Docquier ◽  
Manuela Benvenuti ◽  
Vito Calderone ◽  
Magdalena Stoczko ◽  
Nicola Menciassi ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Metallo-β-lactamases (MBLs) are important enzymatic factors in resistance to β-lactam antibiotics that show important structural and functional heterogeneity. BJP-1 is a subclass B3 MBL determinant produced by Bradyrhizobium japonicum that exhibits interesting properties. BJP-1, like CAU-1 of Caulobacter vibrioides, overall poorly recognizes β-lactam substrates and shows an unusual substrate profile compared to other MBLs. In order to understand the structural basis of these properties, the crystal structure of BJP-1 was obtained at 1.4-Å resolution. This revealed significant differences in the conformation and locations of the active-site loops, determining a rather narrow active site and the presence of a unique N-terminal helix bearing Phe-31, whose side chain binds in the active site and represents an obstacle for β-lactam substrate binding. In order to probe the potential of sulfonamides (known to inhibit various zinc-dependent enzymes) to bind in the active sites of MBLs, the structure of BJP-1 in complex with 4-nitrobenzenesulfonamide was also obtained (at 1.33-Å resolution), thereby revealing the mode of interaction of these molecules in MBLs. Interestingly, sulfonamide binding resulted in the displacement of the side chain of Phe-31 from its hydrophobic binding pocket, where the benzene ring of the molecule is now found. These data further highlight the structural diversity shown by MBLs but also provide interesting insights in the structure-function relationships of these enzymes. More importantly, we provided the first structural observation of MBL interaction with sulfonamides, which might represent an interesting scaffold for the design of MBL inhibitors.


Author(s):  
Neha Vithani ◽  
Vaibhav Bais ◽  
Balaji Prakash

N-Acetylglucosamine-1-phosphate uridyltransferase (GlmU), a bifunctional enzyme exclusive to prokaryotes, belongs to the family of sugar nucleotidyltransferases (SNTs). The enzyme binds GlcNAc-1-P and UTP, and catalyzes a uridyltransfer reaction to synthesize UDP-GlcNAc, an important precursor for cell-wall biosynthesis. As many SNTs are known to utilize a broad range of substrates, substrate specificity in GlmU was probed using biochemical and structural studies. The enzymatic assays reported here demonstrate that GlmU is specific for its natural substrates UTP and GlcNAc-1-P. The crystal structure of GlmU bound to ATP and GlcNAc-1-P provides molecular details for the inability of the enzyme to utilize ATP for the nucleotidyltransfer reaction. ATP binding results in an inactive pre-catalytic enzyme–substrate complex, where it adopts an unusual conformation such that the reaction cannot be catalyzed; here, ATP is shown to be bound together with three Mg2+ions. Overall, this structure represents the binding of an inhibitory molecule at the active site and can potentially be used to develop new inhibitors of the enzyme. Further, similar to DNA/RNA polymerases, GlmU was recently recognized to utilize two metal ions, MgA2+and MgB2+, to catalyze the uridyltransfer reaction. Interestingly, displacement of MgB2+from its usual catalytically competent position, as noted in the crystal structure of RNA polymerase in an inactive state, was considered to be a key factor inhibiting the reaction. Surprisingly, in the current structure of GlmU MgB2+is similarly displaced; this raises the possibility that an analogous inhibitory mechanism may be operative in GlmU.


2016 ◽  
Vol 114 (3) ◽  
pp. 486-491 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irina F. Sevrioukova ◽  
Thomas L. Poulos

Human cytochrome P450 3A4 (CYP3A4) is a major hepatic and intestinal enzyme that oxidizes more than 60% of administered therapeutics. Knowledge of how CYP3A4 adjusts and reshapes the active site to regioselectively oxidize chemically diverse compounds is critical for better understanding structure–function relations in this important enzyme, improving the outcomes for drug metabolism predictions, and developing pharmaceuticals that have a decreased ability to undergo metabolism and cause detrimental drug–drug interactions. However, there is very limited structural information on CYP3A4–substrate interactions available to date. Despite the vast variety of drugs undergoing metabolism, only the sedative midazolam (MDZ) serves as a marker substrate for the in vivo activity assessment because it is preferentially and regioselectively oxidized by CYP3A4. We solved the 2.7 Å crystal structure of the CYP3A4–MDZ complex, where the drug is well defined and oriented suitably for hydroxylation of the C1 atom, the major site of metabolism. This binding mode requires H-bonding to Ser119 and a dramatic conformational switch in the F–G fragment, which transmits to the adjacent D, E, H, and I helices, resulting in a collapse of the active site cavity and MDZ immobilization. In addition to providing insights on the substrate-triggered active site reshaping (an induced fit), the crystal structure explains the accumulated experimental results, identifies possible effector binding sites, and suggests why MDZ is predominantly metabolized by the CYP3A enzyme subfamily.


2005 ◽  
Vol 201 (3) ◽  
pp. 441-452 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyun-Joo Nam ◽  
Florence Poy ◽  
Haruo Saito ◽  
Christin A. Frederick

CD45 is the prototypic member of transmembrane receptor-like protein tyrosine phosphatases (RPTPs) and has essential roles in immune functions. The cytoplasmic region of CD45, like many other RPTPs, contains two homologous protein tyrosine phosphatase domains, active domain 1 (D1) and catalytically impaired domain 2 (D2). Here, we report crystal structure of the cytoplasmic D1D2 segment of human CD45 in native and phosphotyrosyl peptide-bound forms. The tertiary structures of D1 and D2 are very similar, but doubly phosphorylated CD3ζ immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motif peptide binds only the D1 active site. The D2 “active site” deviates from the other active sites significantly to the extent that excludes any possibility of catalytic activity. The relative orientation of D1 and D2 is very similar to that observed in leukocyte common antigen–related protein with both active sites in an open conformation and is restrained through an extensive network of hydrophobic interactions, hydrogen bonds, and salt bridges. This crystal structure is incompatible with the wedge model previously suggested for CD45 regulation.


2019 ◽  
Vol 166 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yulong Ma ◽  
Chunli Pan ◽  
Qihai Wang

AbstractThe lipids containing cyclopropane-fatty-acid (CFA) protect bacteria from adverse conditions such as acidity, freeze-drying desiccation and exposure to pollutants. CFA is synthesized when cyclopropane-fatty-acyl-phospholipid synthase (CFA synthase, CFAS) transfers a methylene group from S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) across the cis double bonds of unsaturated fatty acyl chains. Here, we reported a 2.7-Å crystal structure of CFAS from Lactobacillus acidophilus. The enzyme is composed of N- and C-terminal domain, which belong to the sterol carrier protein and methyltransferase superfamily, respectively. A phospholipid in the substrate binding site and a bicarbonate ion (BCI) acting as a general base in the active site were discovered. To elucidate the mechanism, a docking experiment using CFAS from L. acidophilus and SAM was carried out. The analysis of this structure demonstrated that three groups, the carbons from the substrate, the BCI and the methyl of S(CHn)3 group, were close enough to form a cyclopropane ring with the help of amino acids in the active site. Therefore, the structure supports the hypothesis that CFAS from L. acidophilus catalyzes methyl transfer via a carbocation mechanism. These findings provide a structural basis to more deeply understand enzymatic cyclopropanation.


Open Biology ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (10) ◽  
pp. 120120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamara Basta ◽  
Yap Boum ◽  
Julien Briffotaux ◽  
Hubert F. Becker ◽  
Isabelle Lamarre-Jouenne ◽  
...  

Nature has established two mechanistically and structurally unrelated families of thymidylate synthases that produce de novo thymidylate or dTMP, an essential DNA precursor. Representatives of the alternative flavin-dependent thymidylate synthase family, ThyX, are found in a large number of microbial genomes, but are absent in humans. We have exploited the nucleotide binding pocket of ThyX proteins to identify non-substrate-based tight-binding ThyX inhibitors that inhibited growth of genetically modified Escherichia coli cells dependent on thyX in a manner mimicking a genetic knockout of thymidylate synthase. We also solved the crystal structure of a viral ThyX bound to 2-hydroxy-3-(4-methoxybenzyl)-1,4-naphthoquinone at a resolution of 2.6 Å. This inhibitor was found to bind within the conserved active site of the tetrameric ThyX enzyme, at the interface of two monomers, partially overlapping with the dUMP binding pocket. Our studies provide new chemical tools for investigating the ThyX reaction mechanism and establish a novel mechanistic and structural basis for inhibition of thymidylate synthesis. As essential ThyX proteins are found e.g. in Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Helicobacter pylori , our studies have also potential to pave the way towards the development of new anti-microbial compounds.


2006 ◽  
Vol 50 (7) ◽  
pp. 2516-2521 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Sauvage ◽  
Eveline Fonzé ◽  
Birgit Quinting ◽  
Moreno Galleni ◽  
Jean-Marie Frère ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT β-Lactamases are the main cause of bacterial resistance to penicillins and cephalosporins. Class A β-lactamases, the largest group of β-lactamases, have been found in many bacterial strains, including mycobacteria, for which no β-lactamase structure has been previously reported. The crystal structure of the class A β-lactamase from Mycobacterium fortuitum (MFO) has been solved at 2.13-Å resolution. The enzyme is a chromosomally encoded broad-spectrum β-lactamase with low specific activity on cefotaxime. Specific features of the active site of the class A β-lactamase from M. fortuitum are consistent with its specificity profile. Arg278 and Ser237 favor cephalosporinase activity and could explain its broad substrate activity. The MFO active site presents similarities with the CTX-M type extended-spectrum β-lactamases but lacks a specific feature of these enzymes, the VNYN motif (residues 103 to 106), which confers on CTX-M-type extended-spectrum β-lactamases a more efficient cefotaximase activity.


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