scholarly journals Structure of undecaprenyl pyrophosphate synthase from Acinetobacter baumannii

Author(s):  
Tzu-Ping Ko ◽  
Chi-Hung Huang ◽  
Shu-Jung Lai ◽  
Yeh Chen

Undecaprenyl pyrophosphate (UPP) is an important carrier of the oligosaccharide component in peptidoglycan synthesis. Inhibition of UPP synthase (UPPS) may be an effective strategy in combating the pathogen Acinetobacter baumannii, which has evolved to be multidrug-resistant. Here, A. baumannii UPPS (AbUPPS) was cloned, expressed, purified and crystallized, and its structure was determined by X-ray diffraction. Each chain of the dimeric protein folds into a central β-sheet with several surrounding α-helices, including one at the C-terminus. In the active site, two molecules of citrate interact with the side chains of the catalytic aspartate and serine. These observations may provide a structural basis for inhibitor design against AbUPPS.

2018 ◽  
Vol 74 (12) ◽  
pp. 1684-1691
Author(s):  
Marek L. Główka ◽  
Sylwia Kałużyńska ◽  
Malwina Krause ◽  
Katarzyna Gobis ◽  
Henryk Foks ◽  
...  

Tuberculosis still remains a very important problem, especially its multidrug resistant varieties (MDR-TB). Among the potential tuberculostatics, there are two benzimidazole derivatives, namely 5,6-dimethyl-2-phenylethylbenzo[d]imidazole (1) and (E)-5,6-dimethyl-2-styryl-1H-benzo[d]imidazole (2) which showed significant tuberculostatic activities, better than those of Pyrazinamide and Isoniazyd. Also, the cytotoxicity of 1 appeared promising. The compounds were studied (with the use of X-ray diffraction) in the form of the hemihydrate of 1, C17H18N2·0.5H2O (1a), the methanol hemisolvate of 2, C17H16N2·0.5CH3OH (2a), and the acid oxalate salt of 2, namely (E)-5,6-dimethyl-2-styryl-1H-benzo[d]imidazolium hydrogen oxalate, C17H17N2 +·C2HO4 − (2b). All three structures reveal a similar extended conformation, despite the flexible linker between the two aromatic systems and the different types of strong intermolecular hydrogen bonds. The molecules of 2a are practically planar due to the double bond in the linker, which enables conjugation along the whole molecule, while the molecules of 1a exhibit the possibility of parallel orientations of their aromatic systems, despite the aliphatic (ethyl) linker.


1971 ◽  
Vol 178 (1051) ◽  
pp. 131-149 ◽  

A previous occasion on which the Croonian lecture was directly concerned with the mechanism of muscular contraction was in 1945, when it was delivered by Professor W. T. Astbury. On that occasion he commented that it was a sign of the times that a physicist should be asked to give the Croonian lecture, and went on to say, and I quote: ‘We are at the dawn of a new era, the era of “molecular biology”, as I like to call it, and there is an urgency about the need for more intensive application of physics and chemistry, and specially structural analysis, to biological problems.’ These were very prophetic words, and, as a physicist just entering biology, I was much interested to read them, and to learn about his experiments. The basic experimental finding which Astbury reported (1947) was that there did not seem to be any important change in the wide angle X-ray diagram from muscle upon contraction; hence it followed that muscles did not contract by any process which simply involved the large-scale disorientation of originally well-ordered polypeptide chains, nor by an alteration in chain configuration in the well-ordered parts of the structure. Astbury suggested instead that there might be ‘specifically active foci’ which one could perhaps paraphrase as ‘larger structural units’ (i.e. larger than individual polypeptide chains) concerned in contraction, which might be studied in the electron microscope or by low angle X-ray diffraction.


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.


2001 ◽  
Vol 360 (3) ◽  
pp. 539-548 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allan M. TORRES ◽  
R. Manjunatha KINI ◽  
Nirthanan SELVANAYAGAM ◽  
Philip W. KUCHEL

A high-resolution solution structure of bucandin, a neurotoxin from Malayan krait (Bungarus candidus), was determined by 1H-NMR spectroscopy and molecular dynamics. The average backbone root-mean-square deviation for the 20 calculated structures and the mean structure is 0.47 Å (1 Å = 0.1nm) for all residues and 0.24 Å for the well-defined region that spans residues 23–58. Secondary-structural elements include two antiparallel β-sheets characterized by two and four strands. According to recent X-ray analysis, bucandin adopts a typical three-finger loop motif and yet it has some peculiar characteristics that set it apart from other common α-neurotoxins. The presence of a fourth strand in the second antiparallel β-sheet had not been observed before in three-finger toxins, and this feature was well represented in the NMR structure. Although the overall fold of the NMR structure is similar to that of the X-ray crystal structure, there are significant differences between the two structures that have implications for the pharmacological action of the toxin. These include the extent of the β-sheets, the conformation of the region spanning residues 42–49 and the orientation of some side chains. In comparison with the X-ray structure, the NMR structure shows that the hydrophobic side chains of Trp27 and Trp36 are stacked together and are orientated towards the tip of the middle loop. The NMR study also showed that the two-stranded β-sheet incorporated in the first loop, as defined by residues 1–22, and the C-terminus from Asn59, is probably flexible relative to the rest of the molecule. On the basis of the dispositions of the hydrophobic and hydrophilic side chains, the structure of bucandin is clearly different from those of cytotoxins.


Science ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 368 (6496) ◽  
pp. 1211-1219 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lu Zhang ◽  
Yao Zhao ◽  
Yan Gao ◽  
Lijie Wu ◽  
Ruogu Gao ◽  
...  

The arabinosyltransferases EmbA, EmbB, and EmbC are involved in Mycobacterium tuberculosis cell wall synthesis and are recognized as targets for the anti-tuberculosis drug ethambutol. In this study, we determined cryo–electron microscopy and x-ray crystal structures of mycobacterial EmbA-EmbB and EmbC-EmbC complexes in the presence of their glycosyl donor and acceptor substrates and with ethambutol. These structures show how the donor and acceptor substrates bind in the active site and how ethambutol inhibits arabinosyltransferases by binding to the same site as both substrates in EmbB and EmbC. Most drug-resistant mutations are located near the ethambutol binding site. Collectively, our work provides a structural basis for understanding the biochemical function and inhibition of arabinosyltransferases and the development of new anti-tuberculosis agents.


2014 ◽  
Vol 70 (a1) ◽  
pp. C437-C437
Author(s):  
Aruna Bitra ◽  
Ruchi Anand

Guanine deaminases (GDs) are important enzymes involved in both purine metabolism and nucleotide anabolism pathways. Here we present the molecular and catalytic mechanism of NE0047 and use the information obtained to engineer specific enzyme activities. NE0047 from Nitrosomonas europaea was found to be a high fidelity guanine deaminase (catalytic efficiency of 1.2 × 105 M–1 s–1). However; it exhibited secondary activity towards the structurally non-analogous triazine based compound ammeline. The X-ray structure of NE0047 in the presence of the substrate analogue 8-azaguanine help establish that the enzyme exists as a biological dimer and both the proper closure of the C-terminal loop and cross talk via the dimeric interface is crucial for conferring catalytic activity. It was further ascertained that the highly conserved active site residues Glu79 and Glu143 facilitate the deamination reaction by serving as proton shuttles. Moreover, to understand the structural basis of dual substrate specificity, X-ray structures of NE0047 in complex with a series of nucleobase analogs, nucleosides and substrate ammeline were determined. The crystal structures demonstrated that any substitutions in the parent substrates results in the rearrangement of the ligand in a catalytically unfavorable orientation and also impede the closure of catalytically important loop, thereby abrogating activity. However, ammeline was able to adopt a catalytically favorable orientation which, also allowed for proper loop closure. Based on the above knowledge of the crystal structures and the catalytic mechanism, the active site was subsequently engineered to fine-tune NE0047 activity. The mutated versions of the enzyme were designed so that they can function either exclusively as a GD or serve as specific ammeline deaminases. For example, mutations in the active site E143D and N66A confer the enzyme to be an unambiguous GD with no secondary activity towards ammeline. On the other hand, the N66Q mutant of NE0047 only deaminates ammeline. Additionally, a series of crystal structures of the mutant versions were solved that shed light on the structural basis of this differential selectivity.


1998 ◽  
Vol 333 (3) ◽  
pp. 811-816 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio PÁRRAGA ◽  
Isabel GARCÍA-SÁEZ ◽  
Sinead B. WALSH ◽  
Timothy J. MANTLE ◽  
Miquel COLL

The structure of mouse liver glutathione S-transferase P1-1 complexed with its substrate glutathione (GSH) has been determined by X-ray diffraction analysis. No conformational changes in the glutathione moiety or in the protein, other than small adjustments of some side chains, are observed when compared with glutathione adduct complexes. Our structure confirms that the role of Tyr-7 is to stabilize the thiolate by hydrogen bonding and to position it in the right orientation. A comparison of the enzyme–GSH structure reported here with previously described structures reveals rearrangements in a well-defined network of water molecules in the active site. One of these water molecules (W0), identified in the unliganded enzyme (carboxymethylated at Cys-47), is displaced by the binding of GSH, and a further water molecule (W4) is displaced following the binding of the electrophilic substrate and the formation of the glutathione conjugate. The possibility that one of these water molecules participates in the proton abstraction from the glutathione thiol is discussed.


2015 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shivendra Pratap ◽  
Madhusudhanarao Katiki ◽  
Preet Gill ◽  
Pravindra Kumar ◽  
Dasantila Golemi-Kotra

ABSTRACTCarbapenem-hydrolyzing class D β-lactamases (CHDLs) are a subgroup of class D β-lactamases, which are enzymes that hydrolyze β-lactams. They have attracted interest due to the emergence of multidrug-resistantAcinetobacter baumannii, which is not responsive to treatment with carbapenems, the usual antibiotics of choice for this bacterium. Unlike other class D β-lactamases, these enzymes efficiently hydrolyze carbapenem antibiotics. To explore the structural requirements for the catalysis of carbapenems by these enzymes, we determined the crystal structure of the OXA-58 CHDL ofA. baumanniifollowing acylation of its active-site serine by a 6α-hydroxymethyl penicillin derivative that is a structural mimetic for a carbapenem. In addition, several point mutation variants of the active site of OXA-58, as identified by the crystal structure analysis, were characterized kinetically. These combined studies confirm the mechanistic relevance of a hydrophobic bridge formed over the active site. This structural feature is suggested to stabilize the hydrolysis-productive acyl-enzyme species formed from the carbapenem substrates of this enzyme. Furthermore, our structural studies provide strong evidence that the hydroxyethyl group of carbapenems samples different orientations in the active sites of CHDLs, and the optimum orientation for catalysis depends on the topology of the active site allowing proper closure of the active site. We propose that CHDLs use the plasticity of the active site to drive the mechanism of carbapenem hydrolysis toward efficiency.


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