I04-1-Macromolecular Crystallography (fixed wavelength)
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Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[18812]
Open Access
Abstract: The Hbl toxin is a three-component haemolytic complex produced by Bacillus cereus sensu lato strains and implicated as a cause of diarrhoea in B. cereus food poisoning. While the structure of the HblB component of this toxin is known, the structures of the other components are unresolved. Here, we describe the expression of the recombinant HblL1 component and the elucidation of its structure to 1.36 Å. Like HblB, it is a member of the alpha-helical pore-forming toxin family. In comparison to other members of this group, it has an extended hydrophobic beta tongue region that may be involved in pore formation. Molecular docking was used to predict possible interactions between HblL1 and HblB, and suggests a head to tail dimer might form, burying the HblL1 beta tongue region.
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Mar 2021
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I04-1-Macromolecular Crystallography (fixed wavelength)
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Husam Sabah
Auhim
,
Bella L.
Grigorenko
,
Tessa K.
Harris
,
Ozan E.
Aksakal
,
Igor V.
Polyakov
,
Colin
Berry
,
Gabriel Dos Passos
Gomes
,
Igor V.
Alabugin
,
Pierre J.
Rizkallah
,
Alexander V.
Nemukhin
,
D. Dafydd
Jones
Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[18812]
Open Access
Abstract: Fluorescent proteins (FPs) have revolutionised the life sciences, but the mechanism of chromophore maturation is still not fully understood. Here we show that incorporation of a photo-responsive non-canonical amino acid within the chromophore stalls maturation of Venus, a yellow FP, at an intermediate stage; a crystal structure indicates the presence of O2 located above a dehydrated enolate form of the imidazolone ring, close to the strictly conserved Gly67 that occupies a twisted conformation. His148 adopts an “open” conformation so forming a channel that allows O2 access to the immature chromophore. Absorbance spectroscopy supported by QM/MM simulations suggests that the first oxidation step involves formation of a hydroperoxyl intermediate in conjunction with dehydrogenation of the methylene bridge. A fully conjugated mature chromophore is formed through release of H2O2, both in vitro and in vivo. The possibility of interrupting and photochemically restarting chromophore maturation and the mechanistic insights open up new approaches for engineering optically controlled fluorescent proteins.
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Mar 2021
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I03-Macromolecular Crystallography
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Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[18812]
Open Access
Abstract: The human adenovirus (HAdV) phylogenetic tree is diverse, divided across seven species and comprising over 100 individual types. Species D HAdV are rarely isolated with low rates of pre-existing immunity, making them appealing for therapeutic applications. Several species D vectors have been developed as vaccines against infectious diseases where they induce robust immunity in pre-clinical models and early phase clinical trials. However, many aspects of the basic virology of species D HAdV, including their basic receptor usage and means of cell entry, remain understudied.
Here, we investigated HAdV-D49, which previously has been studied for vaccine and vascular gene transfer applications. We generated a pseudotyped HAdV-C5 presenting the HAdV-D49 fiber knob protein (HAdV-C5/D49K). This pseudotyped vector was efficient at infecting cells devoid of all known HAdV receptors, indicating HAdV-D49 uses an unidentified cellular receptor. Conversely, a pseudotyped vector presenting the fiber knob protein of the closely related HAdV-D30 (HAdV-C5/D30K), differing in four amino acids to HAdV-D49, failed to demonstrate the same tropism. These four amino acid changes resulted in a change in isoelectric point of the knob protein, with HAdV-D49K possessing a basic apical region compared to a more acidic region in HAdV-D30K. Structurally and biologically we demonstrate that HAdV-D49 knob protein is unable to engage CD46, while potential interaction with CAR is extremely limited by extension of the DG loop. HAdV-C5/49K efficiently transduced cancer cell lines of pancreatic, breast, lung, oesophageal and ovarian origin, indicating it may have potential for oncolytic virotherapy applications, especially for difficult to transduce tumor types.
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Dec 2020
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I02-Macromolecular Crystallography
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Jacob R.
Pope
,
Rachel L.
Johnson
,
W. David
Jamieson
,
Harley L.
Worthy
,
Senthilkumar
Kailasam
,
Rochelle D.
Ahmed
,
Ismail
Taban
,
Husam Sabah
Auhim
,
Daniel W.
Watkins
,
Pierre J.
Rizkallah
,
Oliver K.
Castell
,
Dafydd
Jones
Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[10462]
Open Access
Abstract: Fluorescent proteins (FPs) are commonly used in pairs to monitor dynamic biomolecular events through changes in proximity via distance dependent processes such as Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET). The impact of FP association is assessed by predicting dimerization sites in silico and stabilizing the dimers by bio‐orthogonal covalent linkages. In each tested case dimerization changes inherent fluorescence, including FRET. GFP homodimers demonstrate synergistic behavior with the dimer being brighter than the sum of the monomers. The homodimer structure reveals the chromophores are close with favorable transition dipole alignments and a highly solvated interface. Heterodimerization (GFP with Venus) results in a complex with ≈87% FRET efficiency, significantly below the 99.7% efficiency predicted. A similar efficiency is observed when the wild‐type FPs are fused to a naturally occurring protein–protein interface system. GFP complexation with mCherry results in loss of mCherry fluorescence. Thus, simple assumptions used when monitoring interactions between proteins via FP FRET may not always hold true, especially under conditions whereby the protein–protein interactions promote FP interaction.
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Nov 2020
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Open Access
Abstract: The CD8 T cell response to the HLA-A2-restricted epitope LLWNGPMAV (LLW) of the non-structural protein 4b of Yellow Fever Virus (YFV) is remarkably immunodominant, highly prevalent and powerful in YFV-vaccinated humans. Here we used a combinatorial peptide library screening in the context of an A2/LLW-specific CD8 T cell clone to identify a superagonist that features a methionine to isoleucine substitution at position 7. Based on in silico modeling, the functional enhancement of this LLW-7I mutation was associated with alterations in the structural dynamics of the peptide in the major histocompatibility complex (pMHC) binding with the T cell receptor (TCR). While the TCR off-rate of LLW-7I pMHC is comparable to the wild type peptide, the rigidity of the 7I peptide seems to confer less entropy loss upon TCR binding. This LLW-7I superagonist is an example of improved functionality in human CD8 T cells associated with optimized ligand rigidity for TCR binding and not with changes in TCR:pMHC off-rate kinetics.
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Sep 2020
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I03-Macromolecular Crystallography
I04-Macromolecular Crystallography
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Alexander
Greenshields-watson
,
Meriem
Attaf
,
Bruce J.
Maclachlan
,
Thomas
Whalley
,
Cristina
Rius
,
Aaron
Wall
,
Angharad
Lloyd
,
Hywel
Hughes
,
Kathryn E.
Strange
,
Georgina H.
Mason
,
Andrea J.
Schauenburg
,
Sarah L.
Hulin-curtis
,
James
Geary
,
Yuan
Chen
,
Sarah N.
Lauder
,
Kathryn
Smart
,
Dhanasekaran
Vijaykrishna
,
Miguel L.
Grau
,
Mikhail
Shugay
,
Robert
Andrews
,
Garry
Dolton
,
Pierre J.
Rizkallah
,
Awen M.
Gallimore
,
Andrew K.
Sewell
,
Andrew J.
Godkin
,
David K.
Cole
Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[10462, 14843]
Open Access
Abstract: T cell recognition of peptides presented by human leukocyte antigens (HLAs) is mediated by the highly variable T cell receptor (TCR). Despite this built-in TCR variability, individuals can mount immune responses against viral epitopes by using identical or highly related TCRs expressed on CD8+ T cells. Characterization of these TCRs has extended our understanding of the molecular mechanisms that govern the recognition of peptide-HLA. However, few examples exist for CD4+ T cells. Here, we investigate CD4+ T cell responses to the internal proteins of the influenza A virus that correlate with protective immunity. We identify five internal epitopes that are commonly recognized by CD4+ T cells in five HLA-DR1+ subjects and show conservation across viral strains and zoonotic reservoirs. TCR repertoire analysis demonstrates several shared gene usage biases underpinned by complementary biochemical features evident in a structural comparison. These epitopes are attractive targets for vaccination and other T cell therapies.
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Jul 2020
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I02-Macromolecular Crystallography
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Rory M.
Crean
,
Bruce J.
Maclachlan
,
Florian
Madura
,
Thomas
Whalley
,
Pierre J.
Rizkallah
,
Christopher J.
Holland
,
Catriona
Mcmurran
,
Stephen
Harper
,
Andrew
Godkin
,
Andrew K.
Sewell
,
Christopher R.
Pudney
,
Marc W.
Van Der Kamp
,
David K.
Cole
Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[6232]
Open Access
Abstract: Immuno-oncology approaches that utilise T cell receptors (TCRs) are becoming highly attractive because of their potential to target virtually all cellular proteins, including cancer specific epitopes, via the recognition of peptide-human leukocyte antigen complexes (pHLA) presented at the cell surface. However, because natural TCRs generally recognise cancer derived pHLAs with very weak affinities, efforts have been made to enhance their binding strength, in some cases by several million-fold. Here, we investigated the mechanisms underpinning human TCR affinity enhancement by comparing the crystal structures of engineered enhanced affinity TCRs with that of their wildtype progenitors. Additionally, we performed molecular dynamics simulations to better understand the energetic mechanisms driving the affinity enhancements. These data demonstrate that supra-physiological binding affinities can be achieved without altering native TCR-pHLA binding modes via relatively subtle modifications to the interface contacts, often driven through the addition of buried hydrophobic residues. Individual energetic components of the TCR-pHLA interaction governing affinity enhancements were distinct and highly variable for each TCR, often resulting from additive, or knock-on, effects beyond the mutated residues. This comprehensive analysis of affinity enhanced TCRs has important implications for the future rational design of engineered TCRs as efficacious and safe drugs for cancer treatment.We demonstrate that the native TCR-pHLA conformation is compatible with supra-physiological binding affinities via subtle modifications to the interface contacts, often driven through the addition of buried hydrophobic residues. This comprehensive analysis of affinity enhanced TCRs has important implications for the future rational design of engineered TCRs for cancer therapy.
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Jul 2020
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I04-1-Macromolecular Crystallography (fixed wavelength)
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Christopher J.
Holland
,
Rory M.
Crean
,
Johanne M.
Pentier
,
Ben
De Wet
,
Angharad
Lloyd
,
Velupillai
Srikannathasan
,
Nikolai
Lissin
,
Katy A.
Lloyd
,
Thomas H.
Blicher
,
Paul J.
Conroy
,
Miriam
Hock
,
Robert J.
Pengelly
,
Thomas E.
Spinner
,
Brian
Cameron
,
Elizabeth A.
Potter
,
Anitha
Jeyanthan
,
Peter E.
Molloy
,
Malkit
Sami
,
Milos
Aleksic
,
Nathaniel
Liddy
,
Ross A.
Robinson
,
Stephen
Harper
,
Marco
Lepore
,
Chris R.
Pudney
,
Marc W.
Van Der Kamp
,
Pierre J.
Rizkallah
,
Bent K.
Jakobsen
,
Annelise
Vuidepot
,
David K.
Cole
Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[17077, 14843]
Abstract: Tumor-associated peptide–human leukocyte antigen complexes (pHLAs) represent the largest pool of cell surface–expressed cancer-specific epitopes, making them attractive targets for cancer therapies. Soluble bispecific molecules that incorporate an anti-CD3 effector function are being developed to redirect T cells against these targets using 2 different approaches. The first achieves pHLA recognition via affinity-enhanced versions of natural TCRs (e.g., immune-mobilizing monoclonal T cell receptors against cancer [ImmTAC] molecules), whereas the second harnesses an antibody-based format (TCR-mimic antibodies). For both classes of reagent, target specificity is vital, considering the vast universe of potential pHLA molecules that can be presented on healthy cells. Here, we made use of structural, biochemical, and computational approaches to investigate the molecular rules underpinning the reactivity patterns of pHLA-targeting bispecifics. We demonstrate that affinity-enhanced TCRs engage pHLA using a comparatively broad and balanced energetic footprint, with interactions distributed over several HLA and peptide side chains. As ImmTAC molecules, these TCRs also retained a greater degree of pHLA selectivity, with less off-target activity in cellular assays. Conversely, TCR-mimic antibodies tended to exhibit binding modes focused more toward hot spots on the HLA surface and exhibited a greater degree of crossreactivity. Our findings extend our understanding of the basic principles that underpin pHLA selectivity and exemplify a number of molecular approaches that can be used to probe the specificity of pHLA-targeting molecules, aiding the development of future reagents.
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Apr 2020
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I02-Macromolecular Crystallography
I03-Macromolecular Crystallography
I04-Macromolecular Crystallography
I24-Microfocus Macromolecular Crystallography
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Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[14843]
Abstract: Calpain is a Ca2+-activated, heterodimeric cysteine protease consisting of a large catalytic subunit and a small regulatory subunit. Dysregulation of this enzyme is involved in a range of pathological conditions such as cancer, Alzheimer's disease and rheumatoid arthritis, and thus calpain I is a drug target with potential therapeutic applications. Difficulty in the production of this enzyme has hindered structural and functional investigations in the past, although heterodimeric calpain I can be generated by Escherichia coli expression in low yield. Here, an unexpected structure discovered during crystallization trials of heterodimeric calpain I (CAPN1C115S + CAPNS1ΔGR) is reported. A novel co-crystal structure of the PEF(S) domain from the dissociated regulatory small subunit of calpain I and the RNA-binding chaperone Hfq, which was likely to be overproduced as a stress response to the recombinant expression conditions, was obtained, providing unexpected insight in the chaperone function of Hfq.
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Feb 2020
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I02-Macromolecular Crystallography
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Bruce J.
Maclachlan
,
Garry
Dolton
,
Athanasios
Papakyriakou
,
Alexander
Greenshields-watson
,
Georgina H.
Mason
,
Andrea
Schauenburg
,
Matthieu
Besneux
,
Barbara
Szomolay
,
Tim
Elliott
,
Andrew K.
Sewell
,
Awen
Gallimore
,
Pierre
Rizkallah
,
David K.
Cole
,
Andrew
Godkin
Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[10462]
Abstract: CD4+ T-cells recognize peptide antigens, in the context of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class II molecules (HLA-II), which through peptide flanking residues (PFRs) can extend beyond the limits of the HLA-binding. The role of the PFRs during antigen recognition is not fully understood; however, recent studies have indicated that these regions can influence TCR affinity and pHLA-II stability. Here, using various biochemical approaches including peptide sensitivity ELISA and ELISpot assays, peptide binding assays and HLA-II tetramer staining, we focused on CD4+ T-cell responses against a tumor antigen, 5T4 oncofetal trophoblast glycoprotein (5T4), which have been associated with improved control of colorectal cancer. Despite their weak T-cell receptor (TCR) binding affinity, we found that anti-5T4 CD4+ T-cells are polyfunctional and that their PFRs are essential for TCR recognition of the core bound nonamer. The high-resolution (1.95 Å) crystal structure of HLA-DR1 presenting the immunodominant 20-mer peptide 5T4111-130, combined with molecular dynamic simulations, revealed how PFRs explore the HLA-proximal space to contribute to antigen reactivity. These findings advance our understanding of what constitutes an HLA-II epitope and indicate that PFRs can tune weak-affinity TCR-pHLA-II interactions.
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Oct 2019
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