I04-Macromolecular Crystallography
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Hugo
Belda
,
David
Bradley
,
Evangelos
Christodoulou
,
Stephanie D.
Nofal
,
Malgorzata
Broncel
,
David
Jones
,
Heledd
Davies
,
M. Teresa
Bertran
,
Andrew G.
Purkiss
,
Roksana W.
Ogrodowicz
,
Dhira
Joshi
,
Nicola
O’reilly
,
Louise
Walport
,
Andrew
Powell
,
David
House
,
Svend
Kjaer
,
Antoine
Claessens
,
Christian R.
Landry
,
Moritz
Treeck
Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[25587]
Open Access
Abstract: Of 250 Plasmodium species, 6 infect humans, with P. falciparum causing over 95% of 600,000 annual malaria-related deaths. Its pathology arises from host cell remodelling driven by over 400 exported parasite proteins, including the FIKK kinase family. About one million years ago, a bird-infecting Plasmodium species crossed into great apes and a single non-exported FIKK kinase gained an export element. This led to a rapid expansion into 15–21 atypical, exported Ser/Thr effector kinases. Here, using genomic and proteomic analyses, we demonstrate FIKK differentiation via changes in subcellular localization, expression timing and substrate motifs, which supports an individual important role in host–pathogen interactions. Structural data and AlphaFold2 predictions reveal fast-evolving loops in the kinase domain that probably enabled rapid functional diversification for substrate preferences. One FIKK evolved exclusive tyrosine phosphorylation, previously thought absent in Plasmodium. Despite divergence of substrate preferences, the atypical ATP binding pocket is conserved and we identified a single compound that inhibits all FIKKs. A pan-specific inhibitor could reduce resistance development and improve malaria control strategies.
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Jun 2025
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I02-Macromolecular Crystallography
I03-Macromolecular Crystallography
I04-1-Macromolecular Crystallography (fixed wavelength)
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Martina
Wirth
,
Stephane
Mouilleron
,
Wenxin
Zhang
,
Eva
Sjøttem
,
Yakubu
Princely Abudu
,
Ashish
Jain
,
Hallvard
Lauritz Olsvik
,
Jack-Ansgar
Bruun
,
Minoo
Razi
,
Harold B. J.
Jefferies
,
Rebecca
Lee
,
Dhira
Joshi
,
Nicola
O'Reilly
,
Terje
Johansen
,
Sharon A.
Tooze
Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[9826]
Open Access
Abstract: Autophagy is a highly conserved degradative pathway, essential for cellular homeostasis and implicated in diseases including cancer and neurodegeneration. Autophagy-related 8 (ATG8) proteins play a central role in autophagosome formation and selective delivery of cytoplasmic cargo to lysosomes by recruiting autophagy adaptors and receptors. The LC3-interacting region (LIR) docking site (LDS) of ATG8 proteins binds to LIR motifs present in autophagy adaptors and receptors. LIR-ATG8 interactions can be highly selective for specific mammalian ATG8 family members (LC3A-C, GABARAP, and GABARAPL1-2) and how this specificity is generated and regulated is incompletely understood.
We have identified a LIR motif in the Golgi protein SCOC (short coiled-coil protein) exhibiting strong binding to GABARAP, GABARAPL1, LC3A and LC3C. The residues within and surrounding the core LIR motif of the SCOC LIR domain were phosphorylated by autophagy-related kinases (ULK1-3, TBK1) increasing specifically LC3 family binding. More distant flanking residues also contributed to ATG8 binding. Loss of these residues was compensated by phosphorylation of serine residues immediately adjacent to the core LIR motif, indicating that the interactions of the flanking LIR regions with the LDS are important and highly dynamic.
Our comprehensive structural, biophysical and biochemical analyses support and provide novel mechanistic insights into how phosphorylation of LIR domain residues regulates the affinity and binding specificity of ATG8 proteins towards autophagy adaptors and receptors.
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Jun 2021
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I04-1-Macromolecular Crystallography (fixed wavelength)
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Yuguang
Zhao
,
Laura-Nadine
Schuhmacher
,
Morgan
Roberts
,
Satoshi
Kakugawa
,
Ganka
Bineva-Todd
,
Steve
Howell
,
Nicola
O'Reilly
,
Christine
Perret
,
Ambrosius P.
Snijders
,
Jean-Paul
Vincent
,
E. Yvonne
Jones
Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[14744]
Open Access
Abstract: Objectives: The only proteins known to be modified by O-linked lipidation are Wnts and ghrelin, and enzymatic removal of this post-translational modification inhibits ligand activity. Indeed, the Wnt-deacylase activity of Notum is the basis of its ability to act as a feedback inhibitor of Wnt signalling. Whether Notum also deacylates ghrelin has not been determined. Methods: We used mass-spectrometry to assay ghrelin deacylation by Notum and co-crystallisation to reveal enzyme-substrate interactions at the atomic level. CRISPR/Cas technology was used to tag endogenous Notum and assess its localisation in mice while liver-specific Notum knock-out mice allowed us to investigate the physiological role of Notum in modulating the level of ghrelin deacylation. Results: Mass-spectrometry detected the removal of octanoyl from ghrelin by purified active Notum, but not by an inactive mutant. The 2.2 Å resolution crystal structure of the Notum-ghrelin complex shows the octanoyl lipid is accommodated in the hydrophobic pocket of Notum. The knock-in allele expressing HA-tagged Notum reveals that Notum is produced in the liver and present in the bloodstream, albeit at a low level. Liver-specific inactivation of Notum in animals fed with a high fat diet leads to a small but significant increase in acylated ghrelin in the circulation, while no such increase is seen in wildtype animals on the same diet. Conclusions: Overall our data demonstrate Notum can act as a ghrelin deacylase, and that this may be physiologically relevant under high fat diet conditions. Our work therefore adds Notum to the list of enzymes, including butylcholineasterase and other carboxylesterases, that modulate the acylation state of ghrelin. The contribution of multiple enzymes could help tune the activity of this important hormone to a wide range of physiological conditions.
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Feb 2021
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I02-Macromolecular Crystallography
I03-Macromolecular Crystallography
I04-1-Macromolecular Crystallography (fixed wavelength)
I04-Macromolecular Crystallography
I24-Microfocus Macromolecular Crystallography
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Roman O.
Fedoryshchak
,
Magdalena
Přechová
,
Abbey
Butler
,
Rebecca
Lee
,
Nicola
O'Reilly
,
Helen R
Flynn
,
Ambrosius P
Snijders
,
Noreen
Eder
,
Sila
Ultanir
,
Stephane
Mouilleron
,
Richard
Treisman
Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[9826, 9826, 18566]
Open Access
Abstract: PPP-family phosphatases such as PP1 have little intrinsic specificity. Cofactors can target PP1 to substrates or subcellular locations, but it remains unclear how they might confer sequence-specificity on PP1. The cytoskeletal regulator Phactr1 is a neuronally-enriched PP1 cofactor that is controlled by G-actin. Structural analysis showed that Phactr1 binding remodels PP1's hydrophobic groove, creating a new composite surface adjacent to the catalytic site. Using phosphoproteomics, we identified mouse fibroblast and neuronal Phactr1/PP1 substrates, which include cytoskeletal components and regulators. We determined high-resolution structures of Phactr1/PP1 bound to the dephosphorylated forms of its substrates IRSp53 and spectrin aII. Inversion of the phosphate in these holoenzyme-product complexes supports the proposed PPP-family catalytic mechanism. Substrate sequences C-terminal to the dephosphorylation site make intimate contacts with the composite Phactr1/PP1 surface, which are required for efficient dephosphorylation. Sequence specificity explains why Phactr1/PP1 exhibits orders-of-magnitude enhanced reactivity towards its substrates, compared to apo-PP1 or other PP1 holoenzymes.
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Sep 2020
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I03-Macromolecular Crystallography
I04-1-Macromolecular Crystallography (fixed wavelength)
I04-Macromolecular Crystallography
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Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[19946]
Abstract: A relatively small number of proteins have been suggested to act as morphogens—signalling molecules that spread within tissues to organize tissue repair and the specification of cell fate during development. Among them are Wnt proteins, which carry a palmitoleate moiety that is essential for signalling activity1,2,3. How a hydrophobic lipoprotein can spread in the aqueous extracellular space is unknown. Several mechanisms, such as those involving lipoprotein particles, exosomes or a specific chaperone, have been proposed to overcome this so-called Wnt solubility problem4,5,6. Here we provide evidence against these models and show that the Wnt lipid is shielded by the core domain of a subclass of glypicans defined by the Dally-like protein (Dlp). Structural analysis shows that, in the presence of palmitoleoylated peptides, these glypicans change conformation to create a hydrophobic space. Thus, glypicans of the Dlp family protect the lipid of Wnt proteins from the aqueous environment and serve as a reservoir from which Wnt proteins can be handed over to signalling receptors.
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Jul 2020
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I03-Macromolecular Crystallography
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Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[9424]
Open Access
Abstract: CDC7 is an essential Ser/Thr kinase that acts upon the replicative helicase throughout the S phase of the cell cycle and is activated by DBF4. Here, we present crystal structures of a highly active human CDC7-DBF4 construct. The structures reveal a zinc-finger domain at the end of the kinase insert 2 that pins the CDC7 activation loop to motif M of DBF4 and the C lobe of CDC7. These interactions lead to ordering of the substrate-binding platform and full opening of the kinase active site. In a co-crystal structure with a mimic of MCM2 Ser40 phosphorylation target, the invariant CDC7 residues Arg373 and Arg380 engage phospho-Ser41 at substrate P+1 position, explaining the selectivity of the S-phase kinase for Ser/Thr residues followed by a pre-phosphorylated or an acidic residue. Our results clarify the role of DBF4 in activation of CDC7 and elucidate the structural basis for recognition of its preferred substrates.
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Jun 2020
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I04-1-Macromolecular Crystallography (fixed wavelength)
I04-Macromolecular Crystallography
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Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[13775]
Open Access
Abstract: Autophagy is an essential recycling and quality control pathway. Mammalian ATG8 proteins drive autophagosome formation and selective removal of protein aggregates and organelles by recruiting autophagy receptors and adaptors that contain a LC3-interacting region (LIR) motif. LIR motifs can be highly selective for ATG8 subfamily proteins (LC3s/GABARAPs), however the molecular determinants regulating these selective interactions remain elusive. Here we show that residues within the core LIR motif and adjacent C-terminal region as well as ATG8 subfamily-specific residues in the LIR docking site are critical for binding of receptors and adaptors to GABARAPs. Moreover, rendering GABARAP more LC3B-like impairs autophagy receptor degradation. Modulating LIR binding specificity of the centriolar satellite protein PCM1, implicated in autophagy and centrosomal function, alters its dynamics in cells. Our data provides new mechanistic insight into how selective binding of LIR motifs to GABARAPs is achieved, and elucidate the overlapping and distinct functions of ATG8 subfamily proteins.
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May 2019
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I02-Macromolecular Crystallography
I03-Macromolecular Crystallography
I04-Macromolecular Crystallography
I24-Microfocus Macromolecular Crystallography
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Åsa Birna
Birgisdottir
,
Stephane
Mouilleron
,
Zambarlal
Bhujabal
,
Martina
Wirth
,
Eva
Sjøttem
,
Gry
Evjen
,
Wenxin
Zhang
,
Rebecca
Lee
,
Nicola
O’reilly
,
Sharon A.
Tooze
,
Trond
Lamark
,
Terje
Johansen
Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[9826, 13775]
Open Access
Abstract: Autophagosome formation depends on a carefully orchestrated interplay between membrane-associated protein complexes. Initiation of macroautophagy/autophagy is mediated by the ULK1 (unc-51 like autophagy activating kinase 1) protein kinase complex and the autophagy-specific class III phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase complex I (PtdIns3K-C1). The latter contains PIK3C3/VPS34, PIK3R4/VPS15, BECN1/Beclin 1 and ATG14 and phosphorylates phosphatidylinositol to generate phosphatidylinositol 3-phosphate (PtdIns3P). Here, we show that PIK3C3, BECN1 and ATG14 contain functional LIR motifs and interact with the Atg8-family proteins with a preference for GABARAP and GABARAPL1. High resolution crystal structures of the functional LIR motifs of these core components of PtdIns3K-C1were obtained. Variation in hydrophobic pocket 2 (HP2) may explain the specificity for the GABARAP family. Mutation of the LIR motif in ATG14 did not prevent formation of the PtdIns3K-C1 complex, but blocked colocalization with MAP1LC3B/LC3B and impaired mitophagy. The ULK-mediated phosphorylation of S29 in ATG14 was strongly dependent on a functional LIR motif in ATG14. GABARAP-preferring LIR motifs in PIK3C3, BECN1 and ATG14 may, via coincidence detection, contribute to scaffolding of PtdIns3K-C1 on membranes for efficient autophagosome formation.
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Mar 2019
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I02-Macromolecular Crystallography
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M. Teresa
Bertran
,
Stephane
Mouilleron
,
Yanxiang
Zhou
,
Rakhi
Bajaj
,
Federico
Uliana
,
Ganesan Senthil
Kumar
,
Audrey
Van Drogen
,
Rebecca
Lee
,
Jennifer J.
Banerjee
,
Simon
Hauri
,
Nicola
O’reilly
,
Matthias
Gstaiger
,
Rebecca
Page
,
Wolfgang
Peti
,
Nicolas
Tapon
Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[9826]
Open Access
Abstract: Serine/threonine phosphatases such as PP1 lack substrate specificity and associate with a large array of targeting subunits to achieve the requisite selectivity. The tumour suppressor ASPP (apoptosis-stimulating protein of p53) proteins associate with PP1 catalytic subunits and are implicated in multiple functions from transcriptional regulation to cell junction remodelling. Here we show that Drosophila ASPP is part of a multiprotein PP1 complex and that PP1 association is necessary for several in vivo functions of Drosophila ASPP. We solve the crystal structure of the human ASPP2/PP1 complex and show that ASPP2 recruits PP1 using both its canonical RVxF motif, which binds the PP1 catalytic domain, and its SH3 domain, which engages the PP1 C-terminal tail. The ASPP2 SH3 domain can discriminate between PP1 isoforms using an acidic specificity pocket in the n-Src domain, providing an exquisite mechanism where multiple motifs are used combinatorially to tune binding affinity to PP1.
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Feb 2019
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I03-Macromolecular Crystallography
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Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[9826]
Open Access
Abstract: The interactions between a retrovirus and host cell chromatin that underlie integration and provirus expression are poorly understood. The prototype foamy virus (PFV) structural protein GAG associates with chromosomes via a chromatin-binding sequence (CBS) located within its C-terminal region. Here, we show that the PFV CBS is essential and sufficient for a direct interaction with nucleosomes and present a crystal structure of the CBS bound to a mononucleosome. The CBS interacts with the histone octamer, engaging the H2A–H2B acidic patch in a manner similar to other acidic patch-binding proteins such as herpesvirus latency-associated nuclear antigen (LANA). Substitutions of the invariant arginine anchor residue in GAG result in global redistribution of PFV and macaque simian foamy virus (SFVmac) integration sites toward centromeres, dampening the resulting proviral expression without affecting the overall efficiency of integration. Our findings underscore the importance of retroviral structural proteins for integration site selection and the avoidance of genomic junkyards.
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May 2017
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