scholarly journals An Oncometabolite Isomer Rapidly Induces A Pathophysiological Protein Modification

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah E. Bergholtz ◽  
Chloe A. Briney ◽  
Susana S. Najera ◽  
Minervo Perez ◽  
W. Marston Linehan ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTMetabolites regulate protein function via covalent and non-covalent interactions. However, manipulating these interactions in living cells remains a major challenge. Here we report a chemical strategy for inducing cysteine S-succination, a non-enzymatic posttranslational modification derived from the oncometabolite fumarate. Using a combination of antibody-based detection and kinetic assays we benchmark the in vitro and cellular reactivity of two novel S-succination “agonists,” maleate and 2-bromosuccinate. Cellular assays reveal maleate to be a more potent and less toxic inducer of S-succination which can activate KEAP1-NRF2 signaling in living cells. By enabling the cellular reconstitution of an oncometabolite-protein interaction with physiochemical accuracy and minimal toxicity, this study provides a methodological basis for better understanding the signaling role of metabolites in disease.

2011 ◽  
Vol 436 (3) ◽  
pp. 581-590 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Castaño-Miquel ◽  
Josep Seguí ◽  
L. Maria Lois

Protein modification by SUMO (small ubiquitin-related modifier) has emerged as an essential regulatory mechanism in eukaryotes. Even though the molecular mechanisms of SUMO conjugation/deconjugation are conserved, the number of SUMO machinery components and their degree of conservation are specific to each organism. In the present paper, we show data contributing to the notion that the four expressed Arabidopsis SUMO paralogues, AtSUMO1, 2, 3 and 5, have functionally diverged to a higher extent than their human orthologues. We have explored the degree of conservation of these paralogues and found that the surfaces involved in E1-activating enzyme recognition, and E2-conjugating enzyme and SIM (SUMO-interacting motif) non-covalent interactions are well conserved in AtSUMO1/2 isoforms, whereas AtSUMO3 shows a lower degree of conservation, and AtSUMO5 is the most divergent isoform. These differences are functionally relevant, since AtSUMO3 and 5 are deficient in establishing E2 non-covalent interactions, which has not been reported for any naturally occurring SUMO orthologue. In addition, AtSUMO3 is less efficiently conjugated than AtSUMO1/2, and AtSUMO5 shows the lowest conjugation level. A mutagenesis analysis revealed that decreases in conjugation rate and thioester-bond formation are the result of the non-conserved residues involved in E1-activating enzyme recognition that are present in AtSUMO3 and 5. The results of the present study support a role for the E1-activating enzyme in SUMO paralogue discrimination, providing a new mechanism to favour conjugation of the essential AtSUMO1/2 paralogues.


2021 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 2249-2263
Author(s):  
Pretam Kumar ◽  
Snehasis Banerjee ◽  
Anu Radha ◽  
Tahira Firdoos ◽  
Subash Chandra Sahoo ◽  
...  

The H-bond, spodium bond and CH⋯π interactions playing an important role in the supramolecular organization of two mercury(ii) diphenyldithiophosphate complexes have been discussed.


Author(s):  
Sascha Jähnigen ◽  
Daniel Sebastiani ◽  
Rodolphe Vuilleumier

We present a computational study of vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) in solutions of (S)-lactic acid, relying on ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) and full solvation with bulk water. We discuss...


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alister T. Boags ◽  
Firdaus Samsudin ◽  
Syma Khalid

SUMMARYWe present a molecular modeling and simulation study of the of the E. coli cell envelope, with a particular focus on the role of TolR, a native protein of the E. coli inner membrane in interactions with the cell wall. TolR has been proposed to bind to peptidoglycan, but the only structure of this protein thus far is in a conformation in which the putative peptidoglycan binding domain is not accessible. We show that a model of the extended conformation of the protein in which this domain is exposed, binds peptidoglycan largely through electrostatic interactions. We show that non-covalent interactions of TolR and OmpA with the cell wall, from the inner membrane and outer membrane sides respectively, maintain the position of the cell wall even in the absence of Braun’s lipoprotein. When OmpA is truncated to remove the peptidoglycan binding domain, TolR is able to pull the cell wall down towards the inner membrane. The charged residues that mediate the cell-wall interactions of TolR in our simulations, are conserved across a number of species of Gram-negative bacteria.


2017 ◽  
Vol 85 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan L. Portman ◽  
Qiongying Huang ◽  
Michelle L. Reniere ◽  
Anthony T. Iavarone ◽  
Daniel A. Portnoy

ABSTRACT Cholesterol-dependent cytolysins (CDCs) represent a family of homologous pore-forming proteins secreted by many Gram-positive bacterial pathogens. CDCs mediate membrane binding partly through a conserved C-terminal undecapeptide, which contains a single cysteine residue. While mutational changes to other residues in the undecapeptide typically have severe effects, mutation of the cysteine residue to alanine has minor effects on overall protein function. Thus, the role of this highly conserved reactive cysteine residue remains largely unknown. We report here that the CDC listeriolysin O (LLO), secreted by the facultative intracellular pathogen Listeria monocytogenes, was posttranslationally modified by S-glutathionylation at this conserved cysteine residue and that either endogenously synthesized or exogenously added glutathione was sufficient to form this modification. When recapitulated with purified protein in vitro, this modification completely ablated the activity of LLO, and this inhibitory effect was fully reversible by treatment with reducing agents. A cysteine-to-alanine mutation in LLO rendered the protein completely resistant to inactivation by S-glutathionylation, and a mutant expressing this mutation retained full hemolytic activity. A mutant strain of L. monocytogenes expressing the cysteine-to-alanine variant of LLO was able to infect and replicate within bone marrow-derived macrophages indistinguishably from the wild type in vitro, yet it was attenuated 4- to 6-fold in a competitive murine infection model in vivo. This study suggests that S-glutathionylation may represent a mechanism by which CDC-family proteins are posttranslationally modified and regulated and help explain an evolutionary pressure to retain the highly conserved undecapeptide cysteine.


1951 ◽  
Vol 93 (5) ◽  
pp. 415-426 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert S. Siffert

The role of alkaline phosphatase in osteogenesis has been investigated by histochemical techniques with particular attention to its relationship to phosphate metabolism and matrix elaboration. The upper tibial epiphysis mainly, and other epiphyses as well of growing rabbits, and the costochondral junctions of newborn human beings were studied, as were bone grafts in growing rabbits. The findings in the newborn human beings were identical with those in the rabbits. Phosphatase activity and free phosphate localization do not universally coincide. The enzyme appears to be intimately related to preosseous cellular metabolism and to the elaboration of a bone matrix that is chemically calcifiable. It remains possible, however, that phosphatase may be in some way involved in making inorganic salts available to the calcifiable matrix. If this function does exist it is a secondary one, since the elaboration of bone matrix, which is always associated with phosphatase activity, can and does occur in the absence of calcification. Calcification may occur later, in the absence of the enzyme. There is evidence to suggest that cartilage matrix is utilized in the formation of bone matrix. Phosphatase is physiologically active only in the presence of living cells. Where it is demonstrable in the absence of living cells, as in the cartilage remnants of the metaphysis, it appears to be physiologically inactive. Since phosphatase is temporarily inactivated in weakly acid media, and readily reactivated by alkaline solutions it is possible that the enzyme might survive in a physiologically inactive state in weakly acid tissues, and yet remain capable of histochemical demonstration in vitro in an alkaline medium. Phosphatase is not related to the disappearance of chondroitin sulfate.


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