scholarly journals The N Terminus of the PduB Protein Binds the Protein Shell of the Pdu Microcompartment to Its Enzymatic Core

2017 ◽  
Vol 199 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Brent P. Lehman ◽  
Chiranjit Chowdhury ◽  
Thomas A. Bobik

ABSTRACT Bacterial microcompartments (MCPs) are extremely large proteinaceous organelles that consist of an enzymatic core encapsulated within a complex protein shell. A key question in MCP biology is the nature of the interactions that guide the assembly of thousands of protein subunits into a well-ordered metabolic compartment. In this report, we show that the N-terminal 37 amino acids of the PduB protein have a critical role in binding the shell of the 1,2-propanediol utilization (Pdu) microcompartment to its enzymatic core. Several mutations were constructed that deleted short regions of the N terminus of PduB. Growth tests indicated that three of these deletions were impaired MCP assembly. Attempts to purify MCPs from these mutants, followed by gel electrophoresis and enzyme assays, indicated that the protein complexes isolated consisted of MCP shells depleted of core enzymes. Electron microscopy substantiated these findings by identifying apparently empty MCP shells but not intact MCPs. Analyses of 13 site-directed mutants indicated that the key region of the N terminus of PduB required for MCP assembly is a putative helix spanning residues 6 to 18. Considering the findings presented here together with prior work, we propose a new model for MCP assembly. IMPORTANCE Bacterial microcompartments consist of metabolic enzymes encapsulated within a protein shell and are widely used to optimize metabolic process. Here, we show that the N-terminal 37 amino acids of the PduB shell protein are essential for assembly of the 1,2-propanediol utilization microcompartment. The results indicate that it plays a key role in binding the outer shell to the enzymatic core. We propose that this interaction might be used to define the relative orientation of the shell with respect to the core. This finding is of fundamental importance to our understanding of microcompartment assembly and may have application to engineering microcompartments as nanobioreactors for chemical production.

2012 ◽  
Vol 68 (12) ◽  
pp. 1642-1652 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allan Pang ◽  
Mingzhi Liang ◽  
Michael B. Prentice ◽  
Richard W. Pickersgill

Lactobacillus reuterimetabolizes two similar three-carbon molecules, 1,2-propanediol and glycerol, within closed polyhedral subcellular bacterial organelles called bacterial microcompartments (metabolosomes). The outer shell of the propanediol-utilization (Pdu) metabolosome is composed of hundreds of mainly hexagonal protein complexes made from six types of protein subunits that share similar domain structures. The structure of the bacterial microcompartment protein PduB has a tandem structural repeat within the subunit and assembles into a trimer with pseudo-hexagonal symmetry. This trimeric structure forms sheets in the crystal lattice and is able to fit within a polymeric sheet of the major shell component PduA to assemble a facet of the polyhedron. There are three pores within the trimer and these are formed between the tandem repeats within the subunits. The structure shows that each of these pores contains three glycerol molecules that interact with conserved residues, strongly suggesting that these subunit pores channel glycerol substrate into the metabolosome. In addition to the observation of glycerol occupying the subunit channels, the presence of glycerol on the molecular threefold symmetry axis suggests a role in locking closed the central region.


2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (10) ◽  
pp. 2990-2995 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiranjit Chowdhury ◽  
Sunny Chun ◽  
Allan Pang ◽  
Michael R. Sawaya ◽  
Sharmistha Sinha ◽  
...  

Bacterial microcompartments are widespread prokaryotic organelles that have important and diverse roles ranging from carbon fixation to enteric pathogenesis. Current models for microcompartment function propose that their outer protein shell is selectively permeable to small molecules, but whether a protein shell can mediate selective permeability and how this occurs are unresolved questions. Here, biochemical and physiological studies of structure-guided mutants are used to show that the hexameric PduA shell protein of the 1,2-propanediol utilization (Pdu) microcompartment forms a selectively permeable pore tailored for the influx of 1,2-propanediol (the substrate of the Pdu microcompartment) while restricting the efflux of propionaldehyde, a toxic intermediate of 1,2-propanediol catabolism. Crystal structures of various PduA mutants provide a foundation for interpreting the observed biochemical and phenotypic data in terms of molecular diffusion across the shell. Overall, these studies provide a basis for understanding a class of selectively permeable channels formed by nonmembrane proteins.


1984 ◽  
Vol 49 (8) ◽  
pp. 1846-1853 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karel Hauzer ◽  
Tomislav Barth ◽  
Linda Servítová ◽  
Karel Jošt

A post-proline endopeptidase (EC 3.4.21.26) was isolated from pig kidneys using a modified method described earlier. The enzyme was further purified by ion exchange chromatography on DEAE-Sephacel. The final product contained about 95% of post-proline endopeptidase. The enzyme molecule consisted of one peptide chain with a relative molecular mass of 65 600 to 70 000, containing a large proportion of acidic and alifatic amino acids (glutamic acid, aspartic acid and leucine) and the N-terminus was formed by aspartic acid or asparagine. In order to prevent losses of enzyme activity, thiol compounds has to be added.


Life ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 338
Author(s):  
Jessica Swanson ◽  
Rennos Fragkoudis ◽  
Philippa C. Hawes ◽  
Joseph Newman ◽  
Alison Burman ◽  
...  

The picornavirus foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) is the causative agent of the economically important disease of livestock, foot-and-mouth disease (FMD). VP4 is a highly conserved capsid protein, which is important during virus entry. Previous published work has shown that antibodies targeting the N-terminus of VP4 of the picornavirus human rhinovirus are broadly neutralising. In addition, previous studies showed that immunisation with the N-terminal 20 amino acids of enterovirus A71 VP4 displayed on the hepatitis B core (HBc) virus-like particles (VLP) can induce cross-genotype neutralisation. To investigate if a similar neutralising response against FMDV VP4 could be generated, HBc VLPs displaying the N-terminus of FMDV VP4 were designed. The N-terminal 15 amino acids of FMDV VP4 was inserted into the major immunodominant region. HBc VLPs were also decorated with peptides of the N-terminus of FMDV VP4 attached using a HBc-spike binding tag. Both types of VLPs were used to immunise mice and the resulting serum was investigated for VP4-specific antibodies. The VLP with VP4 inserted into the spike, induced VP4-specific antibodies, however the VLPs with peptides attached to the spikes did not. The VP4-specific antibodies could recognise native FMDV, but virus neutralisation was not demonstrated. This work shows that the HBc VLP presents a useful tool for the presentation of FMDV capsid epitopes.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maximilian Fichtner ◽  
Stefan Schuster ◽  
Heiko Stark

AbstractAging research is a very popular field of research in which the deterioration or decline of various physiological features is studied. Here we consider the molecular level, which can also have effects on the macroscopic level. The proteinogenic amino acids differ in their susceptibilities to non-enzymatic modification. Some of these modifications can lead to protein damage and thus can affect the form and function of proteins. For this, it is important to know the distribution of amino acids between the protein shell/surface and the core. This was investigated in this study for all known structures of peptides and proteins available in the PDB. As a result, it is shown that the shell contains less susceptible amino acids than the core with the exception of thermophilic organisms. Furthermore, proteins could be classified according to their susceptibility. This can then be used in applications such as phylogeny, aging research, molecular medicine, and synthetic biology.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Debasree Chanda ◽  
Gangothri M. Venkataswamy ◽  
Lagamawwa V. Hipparagi ◽  
Nanishankar V. Harohally

2008 ◽  
Vol 411 (3) ◽  
pp. 523-530 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary S. Laco ◽  
Yves Pommier

Human Top1 (topoisomerase I) relaxes supercoiled DNA during cell division and transcription. Top1 is composed of 765 amino acids and contains an unstructured N-terminal domain of 200 amino acids, and a structured functional domain of 565 amino acids that binds and relaxes supercoiled DNA. In the present study we examined the region spanning the junction of the N-terminal domain and functional domain (junction region). Analysis of several published Top1 structures revealed that three tryptophan residues formed a network of aromatic stacking interactions and electrostatic interactions that anchored the N-terminus of the functional domain to sub-domains containing the nose cone and active site. Mutation of the three tryptophan residues (Trp203/Trp205/Trp206) to an alanine residue, either individually or together, in silico revealed that the individual tryptophan residue's contribution to the tryptophan ‘anchor’ was additive. When the three tryptophan residues were mutated to alanine in vitro, the resulting mutant Top1 differed from wild-type Top1 in that it lacked processivity, exhibited resistance to camptothecin and was inactivated by urea. The results indicated that the tryptophan anchor stabilized the N-terminus of the functional domain and prevented the loss of Top1 structure and function.


2001 ◽  
Vol 75 (14) ◽  
pp. 6329-6336 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Arazi ◽  
Y. M. Shiboleth ◽  
A. Gal-On

ABSTRACT Systematic deletion and peptide tagging of the amino-terminal domain (NT, ∼43 amino acids) of an attenuated zucchini yellow mosaic potyvirus (ZYMV-AGII) coat protein (CP) were used to elucidate its role in viral systemic infection. Deletion mutants truncated by 8, 13, and 33 amino acid residues from the CP-NT 5′ end were systemically infectious and produced symptoms similar to those of the AGII virus. Tagging these deletion mutants with either human c-Myc (Myc) or hexahistidine peptides maintained viral infectivity. Similarly, addition of these peptides to the intact AGII CP-NT did not affect viral life cycle. To determine which parts, if any, of the CP-NT are essential for viral systemic infection, a series of Myc-tagged mutants with 8 to 43 amino acids removed from the CP-NT were constructed. All Myc-tagged CP-NT deletion mutants, including those from which virtually all the viral CP-NT had been eliminated, were able to encapsidate and cause systemic infection. Furthermore, chimeric viruses with deletions of up to 33 amino acids from CP-NT produced symptoms indistinguishable from those caused by the parental AGII virus. In contrast to CP-NT Myc fusion, addition of the foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) immunogenic epitope to AGII CP-NT did not permit systemic infection. However, fusion of the Myc peptide to the N terminus of the FMDV peptide restored the capability of the virus to spread systemically. We have demonstrated that all CP-NT fused peptides were exposed on the virion surface, masking natural CP immunogenic determinants. Our findings demonstrate that CP-NT is not essential for ZYMV spread and that it can be replaced by an appropriate foreign peptide while maintaining systemic infectivity.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew J. Henley ◽  
Brian M. Linhares ◽  
Brittany S. Morgan ◽  
Tomasz Cierpicki ◽  
Carol A. Fierke ◽  
...  

AbstractA key functional event in eukaryotic gene activation is the formation of dynamic protein-protein interaction networks between transcriptional activators and transcriptional coactivators. Seemingly incongruent with the tight regulation of transcription, many biochemical and biophysical studies suggest that activators use nonspecific hydrophobic and/or electrostatic interactions to bind to coactivators, with few if any specific contacts. Here a mechanistic dissection of a set of representative dynamic activator•coactivator complexes, comprised of the ETV/PEA3 family of activators and the coactivator Med25, reveals a different molecular recognition model. The data demonstrate that small sequence variations within an activator family significantly redistribute the conformational ensemble of the complex while not affecting overall affinity, and distal residues within the activator—not often considered as contributing to binding—play a key role in mediating conformational redistribution. The ETV/PEA3•Med25 ensembles are directed by specific contacts between the disordered activator and the Med25 interface, which is facilitated by structural shifts of the coactivator binding surface. Taken together, these data highlight the critical role coactivator plasticity plays in recognition of disordered activators, and indicates that molecular recognition models of disordered proteins must consider the ability of the binding partners to mediate specificity.


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