scholarly journals Structural basis for a natural circular permutation in proteins

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel G. Nonis ◽  
Joel Haywood ◽  
Jason W. Schmidberger ◽  
Charles S. Bond ◽  
Joshua S. Mylne

AbstractOver 30 years ago, an intriguing post-translational modification was discovered to be responsible for creating concanavalin A (conA), a carbohydrate-binding protein found in the seeds of jack bean (Canavalia ensiformis) and commercially used for carbohydrate chromatography. Biosynthesis of conA involves what was then an unprecedented rearrangement in amino acid sequence, whereby the N-terminal half of the gene-encoded conA precursor is swapped to become the C-terminal half of conA. The cysteine protease, asparaginyl endopeptidase (AEP), was shown to be involved, but its mechanism was not fully elucidated. To understand the structural basis and consequences of conA circular permutation, we generated a recombinant jack bean conA precursor (pro-conA) plus jack bean AEP (CeAEP1) and solved crystal structures for each to 2.1 Å and 2.7 Å respectively. By reconstituting the biosynthesis of conA in vitro, we prove CeAEP1 alone can perform both the cleavage and cleavage-coupled transpeptidation to form conA. CeAEP1 structural analysis reveals how it is capable of carrying out both these reactions. Biophysical assays illustrated that conA is more thermally and pH stable than pro-conA, consistent with fewer intermolecular interactions between subunits in the pro-conA crystal structure. These findings elucidate the consequences of circular permutation in the only post-translation example known to occur in nature.

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominik Layer ◽  
Jürgen Kopp ◽  
Miriam Fontanillo ◽  
Maja Köhn ◽  
Karine Lapouge ◽  
...  

AbstractN-terminal acetylation is one of the most common protein modifications in eukaryotes and is carried out by N-terminal acetyltransferases (NATs). It plays important roles in protein homeostasis, localization, and interactions and is linked to various human diseases. NatB, one of the major co-translationally active NATs, is composed of the catalytic subunit Naa20 and the auxiliary subunit Naa25, and acetylates about 20% of the proteome. Here we show that NatB substrate specificity and catalytic mechanism are conserved among eukaryotes, and that Naa20 alone is able to acetylate NatB substrates in vitro. We show that Naa25 increases the Naa20 substrate affinity, and identify residues important for peptide binding and acetylation activity. We present the first Naa20 crystal structure in complex with the competitive inhibitor CoA-Ac-MDEL. Our findings demonstrate how Naa20 binds its substrates in the absence of Naa25 and support prospective endeavors to derive specific NAT inhibitors for drug development.


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.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Arif Lodhi ◽  
Sulaiman Shams ◽  
Muhammad Iqbal Choudhary ◽  
Atif Lodhi ◽  
Zaheer Ul-Haq ◽  
...  

Urease belongs to a family of highly conserved urea-hydrolyzing enzymes. A common feature of these enzymes is the presence of two Lewis acid nickel ions and reactive cysteine residue in the active sites. In the current study we examined a series of biscoumarins1–10for their mechanisms of inhibition with the nickel containing active sites of Jack bean andBacillus pasteuriiureases. All these compounds competitively inhibited Jack bean urease through interaction with the nickel metallocentre, as deduced from Michaelis-Menten kinetics, UV-visible absorbance spectroscopic, and molecular docking simulation studies. Some of the compounds behaved differently in case ofBacillus pasteuriiurease. We conducted the enzyme kinetics, UV-visible spectroscopy, and molecular docking results in terms of the known protein structure of the enzyme. We also evaluated possible molecular interpretations for the site of biscoumarins binding and found that phenyl ring is the major active pharmacophore. The excellent in vitro potency and selectivity profile of the several compounds described combined with their nontoxicity against the human cells and plants suggest that these compounds may represent a viable lead series for the treatment of urease associated problems.


2015 ◽  
Vol 467 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Satoru Yuzawa ◽  
Sachiko Kamakura ◽  
Junya Hayase ◽  
Hideki Sumimoto

The functions of microtubules are controlled in part by tubulin post-translational modification including acetylation of Lys40 in α-tubulin. αTAT1 (α-tubulin acetyltransferase 1), an enzyme evolutionarily conserved among eukaryotes, has recently been identified as the major α-tubulin Lys40 acetyltransferase, in which AcCoA (acetyl-CoA) serves as an acetyl group donor. The regulation and substrate recognition of this enzyme, however, have not been fully understood. In the present study, we show that AcCoA and CoA each form a stable complex with human αTAT1 to maintain the protein integrity both in vivo and in vitro. The invariant residues Arg132 and Ser160 in αTAT1 participate in the stable interaction not only with AcCoA but also with CoA, which is supported by analysis of the present crystal structures of the αTAT1 catalytic domain in complex with CoA. Alanine substitution for Arg132 or Ser160 leads to a drastic misfolding of the isolated αTAT1 catalytic domain in the absence of CoA and AcCoA but not in the presence of excess amounts of either cofactor. A mutant αTAT1 carrying the R132A or S160A substitution is degraded much faster than the wild-type protein when expressed in mammalian Madin–Darby canine kidney cells. Furthermore, alanine-scanning experiments using Lys40-containing peptides reveal that α-tubulin Ser38 is crucial for substrate recognition of αTAT1, whereas Asp39, Ile42, the glycine stretch (amino acid residues 43–45) and Asp46 are also involved. The requirement for substrate selection is totally different from that in various histone acetyltransferases, which appears to be consistent with the inability of αTAT1 to acetylate histones.


2007 ◽  
Vol 81 (20) ◽  
pp. 11489-11498 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dongxiang Liu ◽  
Navid Madani ◽  
Ying Li ◽  
Rong Cao ◽  
Won-Tak Choi ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Chemokines and their receptors play important roles in normal physiological functions and the pathogeneses of a wide range of human diseases, including the entry of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). However, the use of natural chemokines to probe receptor biology or to develop therapeutic drugs is limited by their lack of selectivity and the poor understanding of mechanisms in ligand-receptor recognition. We addressed these issues by combining chemical and structural biology in research into molecular recognition and inhibitor design. Specifically, the concepts of chemical biology were used to develop synthetically and modularly modified (SMM) chemokines that are unnatural and yet have properties improved over those of natural chemokines in terms of receptor selectivity, affinity, and the ability to explore receptor functions. This was followed by using structural biology to determine the structural basis for synthetically perturbed ligand-receptor selectivity. As a proof-of-principle for this combined chemical and structural-biology approach, we report a novel d-amino acid-containing SMM-chemokine designed based on the natural chemokine called viral macrophage inflammatory protein II (vMIP-II). The incorporation of unnatural d-amino acids enhanced the affinity of this molecule for CXCR4 but significantly diminished that for CCR5 or CCR2, thus yielding much more selective recognition of CXCR4 than wild-type vMIP-II. This d-amino acid-containing chemokine also showed more potent and specific inhibitory activity against HIV-1 entry via CXCR4 than natural chemokines. Furthermore, the high-resolution crystal structure of this d-amino acid-containing chemokine and a molecular-modeling study of its complex with CXCR4 provided the structure-based mechanism for the selective interaction between the ligand and chemokine receptors and the potent anti-HIV activity of d-amino acid-containing chemokines.


2012 ◽  
Vol 196 (4) ◽  
pp. 451-467 ◽  
Author(s):  
Veronica Krenn ◽  
Annemarie Wehenkel ◽  
Xiaozheng Li ◽  
Stefano Santaguida ◽  
Andrea Musacchio

The function of the essential checkpoint kinases Bub1 and BubR1 requires their recruitment to mitotic kinetochores. Kinetochore recruitment of Bub1 and BubR1 is proposed to rely on the interaction of the tetratricopeptide repeats (TPRs) of Bub1 and BubR1 with two KI motifs in the outer kinetochore protein Knl1. We determined the crystal structure of the Bub1 TPRs in complex with the cognate Knl1 KI motif and compared it with the structure of the equivalent BubR1TPR–KI motif complex. The interaction developed along the convex surface of the TPR assembly. Point mutations on this surface impaired the interaction of Bub1 and BubR1 with Knl1 in vitro and in vivo but did not cause significant displacement of Bub1 and BubR1 from kinetochores. Conversely, a 62-residue segment of Bub1 that includes a binding domain for the checkpoint protein Bub3 and is C terminal to the TPRs was necessary and largely sufficient for kinetochore recruitment of Bub1. These results shed light on the determinants of kinetochore recruitment of Bub1.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoxue Xie ◽  
Caiping Chen ◽  
Wenting Chen ◽  
Jingwei Jiang ◽  
Lanlan Wang ◽  
...  

B7 family members and their receptors play key roles in regulating T cell responses, and constitute very attractive targets for developing immunotherapeutic drugs. V-Set and Immunoglobulin domain containing 3 (VSIG3), a ligand for the novel B7 family immune checkpoint V-domain immunoglobulin suppressor of T cell activation (VISTA), can significantly inhibit T cell functions. Inhibitors targeting the VISTA/VSIG3 pathway are of great significance in tumor immunology. Here, we show the crystal structure of the extracellular domain (ECD) of the human VSIG3 protein at 2.64 angstrom resolution, and we produce recombinant human VSIG-3 ECD in both CHO cells and E. coli. Furthermore, we demonstrated the interaction of VISTA and VSIG3 by coimmunoprecipitation (Co-IP). Based on protein-protein docking for VISTA and VSIG3, we report a small molecule inhibitor of VSIG3 K284-3046 and evaluate its biological activities in vitro. This study was the first to reveal the crystal structure of VSIG3, and provides the structural basis for designing antibodies or compounds for the unique VSIG3/VISTA coinhibitory pathway in the treatment of cancers, autoimmune diseases and may be beneficial of designing vaccines.


Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (16) ◽  
pp. 5053
Author(s):  
Alina K. Bakunova ◽  
Alena Yu. Nikolaeva ◽  
Tatiana V. Rakitina ◽  
Tatiana Y. Isaikina ◽  
Maria G. Khrenova ◽  
...  

Among industrially important pyridoxal-5’-phosphate (PLP)-dependent transaminases of fold type IV D-amino acid transaminases are the least studied. However, the development of cascade enzymatic processes, including the synthesis of D-amino acids, renewed interest in their study. Here, we describe the identification, biochemical and structural characterization of a new D-amino acid transaminase from Haliscomenobacter hydrossis (Halhy). The new enzyme is strictly specific towards D-amino acids and their keto analogs; it demonstrates one of the highest rates of transamination between D-glutamate and pyruvate. We obtained the crystal structure of the Halhy in the holo form with the protonated Schiff base formed by the K143 and the PLP. Structural analysis revealed a novel set of the active site residues that differ from the key residues forming the active sites of the previously studied D-amino acids transaminases. The active site of Halhy includes three arginine residues, one of which is unique among studied transaminases. We identified critical residues for the Halhy catalytic activity and suggested functions of the arginine residues based on the comparative structural analysis, mutagenesis, and molecular modeling simulations. We suggested a strong positive charge in the O-pocket and the unshaped P-pocket as a structural code for the D-amino acid specificity among transaminases of PLP fold type IV. Characteristics of Halhy complement our knowledge of the structural basis of substrate specificity of D-amino acid transaminases and the sequence-structure-function relationships in these enzymes.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
zhucheng chen ◽  
li wang ◽  
kangjing chen

Chromatin remodeler ALC1 (amplification in liver cancer 1) is crucial for repairing damaged DNA. It is autoinhibited and activated by nucleosomal epitopes. However, the mechanisms by which ALC1 is regulated remain unclear. Here we report the crystal structure of human ALC1 and the cryoEM structure bound to the nucleosome. The structure shows the macro domain of ALC1 binds to lobe 2 of the ATPase motor, sequestering two elements for nucleosome recognition, explaining the autoinhibition mechanism of the enzyme. The H4 tail competes with the macro domain for lobe 2-binding, explaining the requirement for this nucleosomal epitope for ALC1 activation. A dual-arginine-anchor motif of ALC1 recognizes the acidic pocket of the nucleosome, which is critical for chromatin remodeling in vitro. Together, our findings illustrate the structures of ALC1 and shed light on its regulation mechanisms, paving the way for the discovery of drugs targeting ALC1 for the treatment of cancer.


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