scholarly journals Michaelis-like complex of SARS-CoV-2 main protease visualized by room-temperature X-ray crystallography

IUCrJ ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel W. Kneller ◽  
Qiu Zhang ◽  
Leighton Coates ◽  
John M. Louis ◽  
Andrey Kovalevsky

SARS-CoV-2 emerged at the end of 2019 to cause an unprecedented pandemic of the deadly respiratory disease COVID-19 that continues to date. The viral main protease (Mpro) is essential for SARS-CoV-2 replication and is therefore an important drug target. Understanding the catalytic mechanism of Mpro, a cysteine protease with a catalytic site comprising the noncanonical Cys145–His41 dyad, can help in guiding drug design. Here, a 2.0 Å resolution room-temperature X-ray crystal structure is reported of a Michaelis-like complex of Mpro harboring a single inactivating mutation C145A bound to the octapeptide Ac-SAVLQSGF-CONH2 corresponding to the nsp4/nsp5 autocleavage site. The peptide substrate is unambiguously defined in subsites S5 to S3′ by strong electron density. Superposition of the Michaelis-like complex with the neutron structure of substrate-free Mpro demonstrates that the catalytic site is inherently pre-organized for catalysis prior to substrate binding. Induced fit to the substrate is driven by P1 Gln binding in the predetermined subsite S1 and rearrangement of subsite S2 to accommodate P2 Leu. The Michaelis-like complex structure is ideal for in silico modeling of the SARS-CoV-2 Mpro catalytic mechanism.

Author(s):  
Qun Wan ◽  
Andrey Y. Kovalevsky ◽  
Mark A. Wilson ◽  
Brad C. Bennett ◽  
Paul Langan ◽  
...  

A crystal ofEscherichia colidihydrofolate reductase (ecDHFR) complexed with folate and NADP+of 4 × 1.3 × 0.7 mm (3.6 mm3) in size was obtained by sequential application of microseeding and macroseeding. A neutron diffraction data set was collected to 2.0 Å resolution using the IMAGINE diffractometer at the High Flux Isotope Reactor within Oak Ridge National Laboratory. A 1.6 Å resolution X-ray data set was also collected from a smaller crystal at room temperature. The neutron and X-ray data were used together for joint refinement of the ecDHFR–folate–NADP+ternary-complex structure in order to examine the protonation state, protein dynamics and solvent structure of the complex, furthering understanding of the catalytic mechanism.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel W. Kneller ◽  
Gwyndalyn Phillips ◽  
Hugh M. O'Neill ◽  
Robert Jedrzejczak ◽  
Lucy Stols ◽  
...  

Abstract The COVID-19 disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus has become a pandemic health crisis. An attractive target for antiviral inhibitors is the main protease 3CL Mpro due to its essential role in processing the polyproteins translated from viral RNA. Here we report the room temperature X-ray structure of unliganded SARS-CoV-2 3CL Mpro, revealing the resting structure of the active site and the conformation of the catalytic site cavity. Comparison with previously reported low-temperature ligand-free and inhibitor-bound structures suggest that the room temperature structure may provide more relevant information at physiological temperatures for aiding in molecular docking studies.


2020 ◽  
Vol 75 (9-10) ◽  
pp. 851-857
Author(s):  
Chong Chen ◽  
Fule Wu ◽  
Jiao Ji ◽  
Ai-Quan Jia ◽  
Qian-Feng Zhang

AbstractTreatment of [(η6-p-cymene)RuCl2]2 with one equivalent of chlorodiphenylphosphine in tetrahydrofuran at reflux afforded a neutral complex [(η6-p-cymene)RuCl2(κ1-P-PPh2OH)] (1). Similarly, the reaction of [Ru(bpy)2Cl2·2H2O] (bpy = 2,2′-bipyridine) and chlorodiphenylphosphine in methanol gave a cationic complex [Ru(bpy)2Cl(κ1-P-PPh2OCH3)](PF6) (2), while treatment of [RuCl2(PPh3)3] with [2-(C5H4N)CH=N(CH2)2N(CH3)2] (L1) in tetrahydrofuran at room temperature afforded a ruthenium(II) complex [Ru(PPh3)Cl2(κ3-N,N,N-L1)] (3). Interaction of the chloro-bridged complex [Ru(CO)2Cl2]n with one equivalent of [Ph2P(o-C6H4)CH=N(CH2)2N(CH3)2] (L2) led to the isolation of [Ru(CO)Cl2(κ3-P,N,N-L2)] (4). The molecular structures of the ruthenium(II) complexes 1–4 have been determined by single-crystal X-ray crystallography. The properties of the ruthenium(II) complex 4 as a hydrogenation catalyst for acetophenone were also tested.


2010 ◽  
Vol 43 (5) ◽  
pp. 1113-1120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Esko Oksanen ◽  
François Dauvergne ◽  
Adrian Goldman ◽  
Monika Budayova-Spano

H atoms play a central role in enzymatic mechanisms, but H-atom positions cannot generally be determined by X-ray crystallography. Neutron crystallography, on the other hand, can be used to determine H-atom positions but it is experimentally very challenging. Yeast inorganic pyrophosphatase (PPase) is an essential enzyme that has been studied extensively by X-ray crystallography, yet the details of the catalytic mechanism remain incompletely understood. The temperature instability of PPase crystals has in the past prevented the collection of a neutron diffraction data set. This paper reports how the crystal growth has been optimized in temperature-controlled conditions. To stabilize the crystals during neutron data collection a Peltier cooling device that minimizes the temperature gradient along the capillary has been developed. This device allowed the collection of a full neutron diffraction data set.


2013 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 1225-1238
Author(s):  
Iliana Medina-Ramírez ◽  
Cynthia Floyd ◽  
Joel Mague ◽  
Mark Fink

AbstractThe reaction of R3M (M=Ga, In) with HESiR′3 (E=O, S; R′3=Ph3, iPr3, Et3, tBuMe2) leads to the formation of (Me2GaOSiPh3)2(1); (Me2GaOSitBuMe2)2(2); (Me2GaOSiEt3)2(3); (Me2InOSiPh3)2(4); (Me2InOSitBuMe2)2(5); (Me2InOSiEt3)2(6); (Me2GaSSiPh3)2(7); (Et2GaSSiPh3)2(8); (Me2GaSSiiPr3)2(9); (Et2GaSSiiPr3)2(10); (Me2InSSiPh3)3(11); (Me2InSSiiPr3)n(12), in high yields at room temperature. The compounds have been characterized by multinuclear NMR and in most cases by X-ray crystallography. The molecular structures of (1), (4), (7) and (8) have been determined. Compounds (3), (6) and (10) are liquids at room temperature. In the solid state, (1), (4), (7) and (9) are dimers with central core of the dimer being composed of a M2E2 four-membered ring. VT-NMR studies of (7) show facile redistribution between four- and six-membered rings in solution. The thermal decomposition of (1)–(12) was examined by TGA and range from 200 to 350°C. Bulk pyrolysis of (1) and (2) led to the formation of Ga2O3; (4) and (5) In metal; (7)–(10) GaS and (11)–(12) InS powders, respectively.


2017 ◽  
Vol 73 (8) ◽  
pp. 702-709 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hisashi Naitow ◽  
Yoshinori Matsuura ◽  
Kensuke Tono ◽  
Yasumasa Joti ◽  
Takashi Kameshima ◽  
...  

Serial femtosecond crystallography (SFX) with an X-ray free-electron laser is used for the structural determination of proteins from a large number of microcrystals at room temperature. To examine the feasibility of pharmaceutical applications of SFX, a ligand-soaking experiment using thermolysin microcrystals has been performed using SFX. The results were compared with those from a conventional experiment with synchrotron radiation (SR) at 100 K. A protein–ligand complex structure was successfully obtained from an SFX experiment using microcrystals soaked with a small-molecule ligand; both oil-based and water-based crystal carriers gave essentially the same results. In a comparison of the SFX and SR structures, clear differences were observed in the unit-cell parameters, in the alternate conformation of side chains, in the degree of water coordination and in the ligand-binding mode.


Lab on a Chip ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deepshika Gilbile ◽  
Megan L. Shelby ◽  
Artem Y. Lyubimov ◽  
Jennifer L. Wierman ◽  
Diana C. F. Monteiro ◽  
...  

This work presents our development of versatile, inexpensive, and robust polymer microfluidic chips for routine and reliable room temperature serial X-ray crystallography measurements.


Biomolecules ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 370 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda Cerofolini ◽  
Marco Fragai ◽  
Enrico Ravera ◽  
Christoph A. Diebolder ◽  
Ludovic Renault ◽  
...  

With the recent technological and computational advancements, structural biology has begun to tackle more and more difficult questions, including complex biochemical pathways and transient interactions among macromolecules. This has demonstrated that, to approach the complexity of biology, one single technique is largely insufficient and unable to yield thorough answers, whereas integrated approaches have been more and more adopted with successful results. Traditional structural techniques (X-ray crystallography and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR)) and the emerging ones (cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), Small Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS)), together with molecular modeling, have pros and cons which very nicely complement one another. In this review, three examples of synergistic approaches chosen from our previous research will be revisited. The first shows how the joint use of both solution and solid-state NMR (SSNMR), X-ray crystallography, and cryo-EM is crucial to elucidate the structure of polyethylene glycol (PEG)ylated asparaginase, which would not be obtainable through any of the techniques taken alone. The second deals with the integrated use of NMR, X-ray crystallography, and SAXS in order to elucidate the catalytic mechanism of an enzyme that is based on the flexibility of the enzyme itself. The third one shows how it is possible to put together experimental data from X-ray crystallography and NMR restraints in order to refine a protein model in order to obtain a structure which simultaneously satisfies both experimental datasets and is therefore closer to the ‘real structure’.


2008 ◽  
Vol 61 (10) ◽  
pp. 805 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rakesh Naduvile Veedu ◽  
Paul V. Bernhardt ◽  
Rainer Koch ◽  
Curt Wentrup

As determined by X-ray crystallography, Meldrum’s acid derivatives 5, 6, and 8 feature dihedral angles around the central C5=C7 double bond of 14–35°, whereas for the anion 9 this angle is 90°. Density functional theory and MP2 calculations are in agreement with the experimental X-ray data for compounds 5–8, but for anion 9 an angle of only ~65° is predicted. It is concluded that a part of the torsion is due to packing forces in the crystal. It is further concluded that these molecules undergo rapid rotation about the central CC bonds at room temperature (calculated activation barriers 5–14 kcal mol–1).


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