scholarly journals Mapping the conformational landscape of a dynamic enzyme by multitemperature and XFEL crystallography

eLife ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel A Keedy ◽  
Lillian R Kenner ◽  
Matthew Warkentin ◽  
Rahel A Woldeyes ◽  
Jesse B Hopkins ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Active Site ◽  
Protein Function ◽  
Conformational Ensemble ◽  
Conformational Heterogeneity ◽  
Time Resolved ◽  
Protein Motions ◽  
Catalytic Function ◽  
Temperature Dependences ◽  
Site Network ◽  
Response To Temperature

Determining the interconverting conformations of dynamic proteins in atomic detail is a major challenge for structural biology. Conformational heterogeneity in the active site of the dynamic enzyme cyclophilin A (CypA) has been previously linked to its catalytic function, but the extent to which the different conformations of these residues are correlated is unclear. Here we compare the conformational ensembles of CypA by multitemperature synchrotron crystallography and fixed-target X-ray free-electron laser (XFEL) crystallography. The diffraction-before-destruction nature of XFEL experiments provides a radiation-damage-free view of the functionally important alternative conformations of CypA, confirming earlier synchrotron-based results. We monitored the temperature dependences of these alternative conformations with eight synchrotron datasets spanning 100-310 K. Multiconformer models show that many alternative conformations in CypA are populated only at 240 K and above, yet others remain populated or become populated at 180 K and below. These results point to a complex evolution of conformational heterogeneity between 180-–240 K that involves both thermal deactivation and solvent-driven arrest of protein motions in the crystal. The lack of a single shared conformational response to temperature within the dynamic active-site network provides evidence for a conformation shuffling model, in which exchange between rotamer states of a large aromatic ring in the middle of the network shifts the conformational ensemble for the other residues in the network. Together, our multitemperature analyses and XFEL data motivate a new generation of temperature- and time-resolved experiments to structurally characterize the dynamic underpinnings of protein function.

scholarly journals Mapping the Conformational Landscape of a Dynamic Enzyme by XFEL and Multitemperature Crystallography

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel A Keedy ◽  
Lillian R Kenner ◽  
Matthew Warkentin ◽  
Rahel Woldeyes ◽  
Michael C Thompson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Protein Function ◽  
Fixed Target ◽  
Time Resolved ◽  
Conformational Ensembles ◽  
Catalytic Function ◽  
Abrupt Changes ◽  
Temperature Dependences ◽  
Conformational Landscape ◽  
Conformational Coupling ◽  
New Generation

Determining the interconverting conformations of dynamic proteins in atomic detail is a major challenge for structural biology. Conformational heterogeneity in the active site of the dynamic enzyme cyclophilin A (CypA) has been previously linked to its catalytic function. Here we compare the conformational ensembles of CypA by fixed-target X-ray free electron laser (XFEL) crystallography and multitemperature synchrotron crystallography. The “diffraction-before-destruction” nature of XFEL experiments provides a radiation-damage-free view of the functionally important alternative conformations of CypA. We monitored the temperature dependences of these alternative conformations with eight synchrotron datasets spanning 100-310 K. Multiconformer models show that many alternative conformations in CypA are populated above, but not below, the glass transition temperature (~200 K) and reveal abrupt changes in protein flexibility that provide all-atom insight into conformational coupling. Together, our XFEL data and multitemperature analyses motivate a new generation of time-resolved experiments to structurally characterize the dynamic underpinnings of protein function.  

scholarly journals Important Role for Phylogenetically Invariant PP2Acα Active Site and C-Terminal Residues Revealed by Mutational Analysis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Genetics ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 156 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
David R H Evans ◽  
Brian A Hemmings
Keyword(s):  
Protein Interactions ◽  
Active Site ◽  
Protein Function ◽  
Mutational Analysis ◽  
Yeast Cells ◽  
Temperature Sensitive ◽  
Active Site Residues ◽  
Catalytic Function

Abstract PP2A is a central regulator of eukaryotic signal transduction. The human catalytic subunit PP2Acα functionally replaces the endogenous yeast enzyme, Pph22p, indicating a conservation of function in vivo. Therefore, yeast cells were employed to explore the role of invariant PP2Ac residues. The PP2Acα Y127N substitution abolished essential PP2Ac function in vivo and impaired catalysis severely in vitro, consistent with the prediction from structural studies that Tyr-127 mediates substrate binding and its side chain interacts with the key active site residues His-118 and Asp-88. The V159E substitution similarly impaired PP2Acα catalysis profoundly and may cause global disruption of the active site. Two conditional mutations in the yeast Pph22p protein, F232S and P240H, were found to cause temperature-sensitive impairment of PP2Ac catalytic function in vitro. Thus, the mitotic and cell lysis defects conferred by these mutations result from a loss of PP2Ac enzyme activity. Substitution of the PP2Acα C-terminal Tyr-307 residue by phenylalanine impaired protein function, whereas the Y307D and T304D substitutions abolished essential function in vivo. Nevertheless, Y307D did not reduce PP2Acα catalytic activity significantly in vitro, consistent with an important role for the C terminus in mediating essential protein-protein interactions. Our results identify key residues important for PP2Ac function and characterize new reagents for the study of PP2A in vivo.

scholarly journals Alternative dimerization is required for activity and inhibition of the HEPN ribonuclease RnlA

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriela Garcia-Rodriguez ◽  
Daniel Charlier ◽  
Dorien Wilmaerts ◽  
Jan Michiels ◽  
Remy Loris
Keyword(s):  
Active Site ◽  
Resting State ◽  
Protein Function ◽  
Structural Basis ◽  
Conformational Heterogeneity ◽  
Defense System ◽  
Nucleotide Binding Domain ◽  
Dimer Interface ◽  
Higher Eukaryotes

ABSTRACTThe rnlAB toxin-antitoxin operon from Escherichia coli functions as an anti-phage defense system. RnlA was recently identified as a member of the HEPN (Higher Eukaryotes and Prokaryotes Nucleotide-binding domain) superfamily of ribonucleases. The activity of the toxin RnlA requires tight regulation by the antitoxin RnlB, the mechanism of which remains unknown. Here we show that RnlA exists in an equilibrium between two different homodimer states: an inactive resting state and an active canonical HEPN dimer. Mutants interfering with the transition between states show that canonical HEPN dimerization via the highly conserved RX4-6H motif is required for activity. The antitoxin RnlB binds the canonical HEPN dimer conformation, inhibiting RnlA by blocking access to its active site. Single-alanine substitutions mutants of the highly conserved R255, E258, R318 and H323 show that these residues are involved in catalysis and substrate binding and locate the catalytic site near the dimer interface of the canonical HEPN dimer rather than in a groove located between the HEPN domain and the preceding TBP-like domain. Overall, these findings elucidate the structural basis of the activity and inhibition of RnlA and highlight the crucial role of conformational heterogeneity in protein function.

scholarly journals Fragment binding to the Nsp3 macrodomain of SARS-CoV-2 identified through crystallographic screening and computational docking

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (16) ◽  
pp. eabf8711
Author(s):  
Marion Schuller ◽  
Galen J. Correy ◽  
Stefan Gahbauer ◽  
Daren Fearon ◽  
Taiasean Wu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Active Site ◽  
Nonstructural Protein ◽  
Adenosine Diphosphate ◽  
Titration Calorimetry ◽  
Conformational Heterogeneity ◽  
Time Resolved ◽  
Computational Docking ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Differential Scanning Fluorimetry ◽  
Biophysical Techniques

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) macrodomain within the nonstructural protein 3 counteracts host-mediated antiviral adenosine diphosphate–ribosylation signaling. This enzyme is a promising antiviral target because catalytic mutations render viruses nonpathogenic. Here, we report a massive crystallographic screening and computational docking effort, identifying new chemical matter primarily targeting the active site of the macrodomain. Crystallographic screening of 2533 diverse fragments resulted in 214 unique macrodomain-binders. An additional 60 molecules were selected from docking more than 20 million fragments, of which 20 were crystallographically confirmed. X-ray data collection to ultra-high resolution and at physiological temperature enabled assessment of the conformational heterogeneity around the active site. Several fragment hits were confirmed by solution binding using three biophysical techniques (differential scanning fluorimetry, homogeneous time-resolved fluorescence, and isothermal titration calorimetry). The 234 fragment structures explore a wide range of chemotypes and provide starting points for development of potent SARS-CoV-2 macrodomain inhibitors.

scholarly journals Damaged goods? Evaluating the impact of X-ray damage on conformational heterogeneity in room temperature and cryo-cooled protein crystals

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Filip Yabukarski ◽  
Tzanko Doukov ◽  
Daniel A. Mokhtari ◽  
Siyuan Du ◽  
Daniel Herschlag
Keyword(s):  
Protein Function ◽  
Room Temperature ◽  
Proteinase K ◽  
Protein Crystals ◽  
Conformational Ensemble ◽  
Conformational Heterogeneity ◽  
Critical Question ◽  
X Ray ◽  
X Ray Crystallography ◽  
The Impact

X-ray crystallography is a cornerstone of biochemistry. Traditional freezing of protein crystals to cryo-temperatures mitigates X-ray damage and facilitates crystal handling but provides an incomplete window into the ensemble of conformations at the heart of protein function and energetics. Room temperature (RT) X-ray crystallography provides more extensive ensemble information, and recent developments allow conformational heterogeneity, the experimental manifestation of ensembles, to be extracted from single crystal data. However, high sensitivity to X-ray damage at RT raises concerns about data reliability. To systematically address this critical question, we obtained increasingly X-ray-damaged high-resolution datasets (1.02–1.52 Å) from single thaumatin, proteinase K, and lysozyme crystals. Heterogeneity analyses indicated a modest increase in conformational disorder with X-ray damage. Nevertheless, these effects do not alter overall conclusions and can be minimized by limiting the extent of X-ray damage or eliminated by extrapolation to obtain heterogeneity information free from X-ray damage effects. To compare these effects to damage at cryo temperature and to learn more about damage and heterogeneity in cryo-cooled crystals, we carried out an analogous analysis of increasingly damaged proteinase K cryo datasets (0.9–1.16 Å). We found X-ray damage-associated heterogeneity changes that were not observed at RT. This observation and the scarcity of reported X-ray doses and damage extent render it difficult to distinguish real from artifactual conformations, including those occurring as a function of temperature. The ability to aquire reliable heterogeneity information from single crystals at RT provides strong motivation for further development and routine implementation of RT X-ray crystallography to obtain conformational ensemble information.

scholarly journals Mix-and-inject XFEL crystallography reveals gated conformational dynamics during enzyme catalysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (51) ◽  
pp. 25634-25640 ◽  
Author(s):  
Medhanjali Dasgupta ◽  
Dominik Budday ◽  
Saulo H. P. de Oliveira ◽  
Peter Madzelan ◽  
Darya Marchany-Rivera ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Active Site ◽  
Enzyme Catalysis ◽  
Conformational Dynamics ◽  
Catalytic Efficiency ◽  
Enzyme Mechanism ◽  
Time Resolved ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Protein Motions ◽  
X Ray Crystallography ◽  
Active Site Cysteine

How changes in enzyme structure and dynamics facilitate passage along the reaction coordinate is a fundamental unanswered question. Here, we use time-resolved mix-and-inject serial crystallography (MISC) at an X-ray free electron laser (XFEL), ambient-temperature X-ray crystallography, computer simulations, and enzyme kinetics to characterize how covalent catalysis modulates isocyanide hydratase (ICH) conformational dynamics throughout its catalytic cycle. We visualize this previously hypothetical reaction mechanism, directly observing formation of a thioimidate covalent intermediate in ICH microcrystals during catalysis. ICH exhibits a concerted helical displacement upon active-site cysteine modification that is gated by changes in hydrogen bond strength between the cysteine thiolate and the backbone amide of the highly strained Ile152 residue. These catalysis-activated motions permit water entry into the ICH active site for intermediate hydrolysis. Mutations at a Gly residue (Gly150) that modulate helical mobility reduce ICH catalytic turnover and alter its pre-steady-state kinetic behavior, establishing that helical mobility is important for ICH catalytic efficiency. These results demonstrate that MISC can capture otherwise elusive aspects of enzyme mechanism and dynamics in microcrystalline samples, resolving long-standing questions about the connection between nonequilibrium protein motions and enzyme catalysis.

In Vivo Consequences of Putative Active Site Mutations in Yeast DNA Polymerases α, ε, δ, and ζ

Genetics ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 159 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Youri I Pavlov ◽  
Polina V Shcherbakova ◽  
Thomas A Kunkel
Keyword(s):  
Active Site ◽  
Dna Polymerases ◽  
Base Substitution ◽  
Loss Of Function ◽  
Chromosomal Dna ◽  
Strong Base ◽  
Dna Mismatch ◽  
Catalytic Function ◽  
Base Substitutions

Abstract Several amino acids in the active site of family A DNA polymerases contribute to accurate DNA synthesis. For two of these residues, family B DNA polymerases have conserved tyrosine residues in regions II and III that are suggested to have similar functions. Here we replaced each tyrosine with alanine in the catalytic subunits of yeast DNA polymerases α, δ, ε, and ζ and examined the consequences in vivo. Strains with the tyrosine substitution in the conserved SL/MYPS/N motif in region II in Polδ or Polε are inviable. Strains with same substitution in Rev3, the catalytic subunit of Polζ, are nearly UV immutable, suggesting severe loss of function. A strain with this substitution in Polα (pol1-Y869A) is viable, but it exhibits slow growth, sensitivity to hydroxyurea, and a spontaneous mutator phenotype for frameshifts and base substitutions. The pol1-Y869A/pol1-Y869A diploid exhibits aberrant growth. Thus, this tyrosine is critical for the function of all four eukaryotic family B DNA polymerases. Strains with a tyrosine substitution in the conserved NS/VxYG motif in region III in Polα, -δ, or -ε are viable and a strain with the homologous substitution in Rev3 is UV mutable. The Polα mutant has no obvious phenotype. The Polε (pol2-Y831A) mutant is slightly sensitive to hydroxyurea and is a semidominant mutator for spontaneous base substitutions and frameshifts. The Polδ mutant (pol3-Y708A) grows slowly, is sensitive to hydroxyurea and methyl methanesulfonate, and is a strong base substitution and frameshift mutator. The pol3-Y708A/pol3-Y708A diploid grows slowly and aberrantly. Mutation rates in the Polα, -δ, and -ε mutant strains are increased in a locus-specific manner by inactivation of PMS1-dependent DNA mismatch repair, suggesting that the mutator effects are due to reduced fidelity of chromosomal DNA replication. This could result directly from relaxed base selectivity of the mutant polymerases due to the amino acid changes in the polymerase active site. In addition, the alanine substitutions may impair catalytic function to allow a different polymerase to compete at the replication fork. This is supported by the observation that the pol3-Y708A mutation is recessive and its mutator effect is partially suppressed by disruption of the REV3 gene.

Sirtuin-dependent reversible lysine acetylation controls the activity of acetyl-Coenzyme A synthetase in Campylobacter jejuni

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria L. Jeter ◽  
Jorge C. Escalante-Semerena
Keyword(s):  
Campylobacter Jejuni ◽  
Posttranslational Modifications ◽  
Active Site ◽  
Protein Function ◽  
Metabolic Enzyme ◽  
Lysine Acetylation ◽  
Class Iii ◽  
Acetyl Coa

Posttranslational modifications are mechanisms for rapid control of protein function used by cells from all domains of life. Acetylation of the epsilon amino group ( N ε ) of an active-site lysine of the AMP-forming acetyl-CoA synthetase (Acs) enzyme is the paradigm for the posttranslational control of the activity of metabolic enzymes. In bacteria, the alluded active-site lysine of Acs enzymes can be modified by a number of different GCN5-type N -acetyltransferases (GNATs). Acs activity is lost as a result of acetylation, and restored by deacetylation. Using a heterologous host, we show that Campylobacter jejuni NCTC11168 synthesizes enzymes that control Acs function by reversible lysine acetylation (RLA). This work validates the function of gene products encoded by the cj1537c , cj1715, and cj1050c loci, namely the AMP-forming acetate:CoA ligase ( Cj Acs), a type IV GCN5-type lysine acetyltransferase (GNAT, hereafter Cj LatA), and a NAD + -dependent (class III) sirtuin deacylase ( Cj CobB), respectively. To our knowledge, these are the first in vivo and in vitro data on C. jejuni enzymes that control the activity of Cj Acs. IMPORTANCE This work is important because it provides the experimental evidence needed to support the assignment of function to three key enzymes, two of which control the reversible posttranslational modification of an active-site lysyl residue of the central metabolic enzyme acetyl-CoA synthetase ( Cj Acs). We can now generate Campylobacter jejuni mutant strains defective in these functions, so we can establish the conditions in which this mode of regulation of Cj Acs is triggered in this bacterium. Such knowledge may provide new therapeutic strategies for the control of this pathogen.

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