VMXm-Versatile Macromolecular Crystallography microfocus
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Lennart
Brewitz
,
Leo
Dumjahn
,
Yilin
Zhao
,
C. David
Owen
,
Stephen M.
Laidlaw
,
Tika R.
Malla
,
Dung
Nguyen
,
Petra
Lukacik
,
Eidarus
Salah
,
Adam D.
Crawshaw
,
Anna J.
Warren
,
Jose
Trincao
,
Claire
Strain-Damerell
,
Miles W.
Carroll
,
Martin A.
Walsh
,
Christopher J.
Schofield
Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[27088]
Open Access
Abstract: Nirmatrelvir (PF-07321332) is a nitrile-bearing small-molecule inhibitor that, in combination with ritonavir, is used to treat infections by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). Nirmatrelvir interrupts the viral life cycle by inhibiting the SARS-CoV-2 main protease (Mpro), which is essential for processing viral polyproteins into functional nonstructural proteins. We report studies which reveal that derivatives of nirmatrelvir and other Mpro inhibitors with a nonactivated terminal alkyne group positioned similarly to the electrophilic nitrile of nirmatrelvir can efficiently inhibit isolated Mpro and SARS-CoV-2 replication in cells. Mass spectrometric and crystallographic evidence shows that the alkyne derivatives inhibit Mpro by apparent irreversible covalent reactions with the active site cysteine (Cys145), while the analogous nitriles react reversibly. The results highlight the potential for irreversible covalent inhibition of Mpro and other nucleophilic cysteine proteases by alkynes, which, in contrast to nitriles, can be functionalized at their terminal position to optimize inhibition and selectivity, as well as pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic properties.
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Feb 2023
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I24-Microfocus Macromolecular Crystallography
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Richard J.
Gildea
,
James
Beilsten-Edmands
,
Danny
Axford
,
Sam
Horrell
,
Pierre
Aller
,
James
Sandy
,
Juan
Sanchez-Weatherby
,
C. David
Owen
,
Petra
Lukacik
,
Claire
Strain-Damerell
,
Robin L.
Owen
,
Martin A.
Walsh
,
Graeme
Winter
Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[26986, 27088]
Open Access
Abstract: In macromolecular crystallography, radiation damage limits the amount of data that can be collected from a single crystal. It is often necessary to merge data sets from multiple crystals; for example, small-wedge data collections from micro-crystals, in situ room-temperature data collections and data collection from membrane proteins in lipidic mesophases. Whilst the indexing and integration of individual data sets may be relatively straightforward with existing software, merging multiple data sets from small wedges presents new challenges. The identification of a consensus symmetry can be problematic, particularly in the presence of a potential indexing ambiguity. Furthermore, the presence of non-isomorphous or poor-quality data sets may reduce the overall quality of the final merged data set. To facilitate and help to optimize the scaling and merging of multiple data sets, a new program, xia2.multiplex, has been developed which takes data sets individually integrated with DIALS and performs symmetry analysis, scaling and merging of multi-crystal data sets. xia2.multiplex also performs analysis of various pathologies that typically affect multi-crystal data sets, including non-isomorphism, radiation damage and preferential orientation. After the description of a number of use cases, the benefit of xia2.multiplex is demonstrated within a wider autoprocessing framework in facilitating a multi-crystal experiment collected as part of in situ room-temperature fragment-screening experiments on the SARS-CoV-2 main protease.
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Jun 2022
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I03-Macromolecular Crystallography
I04-Macromolecular Crystallography
VMXi-Versatile Macromolecular Crystallography in situ
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Open Access
Abstract: The human gut symbiont Ruminococcus gnavus displays a strain-specific repertoire of glycoside hydrolases (GHs) contributing to its spatial location in the gut. Sequence similarity networks showed that R. gnavus GH98 (RgGH98) sequence fell in a cluster different from sequences of GH98 enzymes functionally characterised to date. We heterologously expressed and purified RgGH98, and determined its substrate and linkage specificity. We showed that RgGH98 is specific for blood group A antigen (BgA), as also confirmed by isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) and saturation transfer difference (STD) NMR, revealing affinity for blood group A over blood group B and H antigens. The molecular basis of RgGH98 specificity was further investigated using a combination of site-directed mutagenesis and X-ray crystallography. The crystal structure of the complex between RgGH98 and BgA trisaccharide and RgGH98 inactive mutant with BgA tetrasaccharide identified residues involved in RgGH98 unique specificity. RNAseq and qPCR analysis showed that the gene encoding RgGH98 is part of an operon that is overexpresssed in vitro when R. gnavusis grown on mucin as sole carbon source. We showed that RgGH98 releases BgA trisaccharide from mucin and that pretreatment of mucin with RgGH98 conferred other R. gnavusstrains lacking this enzyme the ability to grow through BgA metabolism and access to the underlying mucin glycan chain. These data further support that the GH repertoire of R. gnavus strains enables them to colonise different nutritional niches in the gut and provide a source of enzymes with unique specificities for potential applications in diagnostic or therapeutics.
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May 2022
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I03-Macromolecular Crystallography
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Tika R.
Malla
,
Lennart
Brewitz
,
Dorian-Gabriel
Muntean
,
Hiba
Aslam
,
C. David
Owen
,
Eidarus
Salah
,
Anthony
Tumber
,
Petra
Lukacik
,
Claire
Strain-Damerell
,
Halina
Mikolajek
,
Martin
Walsh
,
Christopher J.
Schofield
Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[27088]
Open Access
Abstract: The SARS-CoV-2 main protease (Mpro) is a medicinal chemistry target for COVID-19 treatment. Given the clinical efficacy of β-lactams as inhibitors of bacterial nucleophilic enzymes, they are of interest as inhibitors of viral nucleophilic serine and cysteine proteases. We describe the synthesis of penicillin derivatives which are potent Mpro inhibitors and investigate their mechanism of inhibition using mass spectrometric and crystallographic analyses. The results suggest that β-lactams have considerable potential as Mpro inhibitors via a mechanism involving reaction with the nucleophilic cysteine to form a stable acyl–enzyme complex as shown by crystallographic analysis. The results highlight the potential for inhibition of viral proteases employing nucleophilic catalysis by β-lactams and related acylating agents.
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May 2022
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Abstract: The two SARS-CoV-2 proteases, i.e. the main protease (M pro ) and the papain-like protease (PL pro ), which hydrolyze the viral polypeptide chain giving functional non-structural proteins, are essential for viral replication and are medicinal chemistry targets. We report a high-throughput mass spectrometry (MS)-based assay which directly monitors PL pro catalysis in vitro . The assay was applied to investigate the effect of reported small-molecule PL pro inhibitors and selected M pro inhibitors on PL pro catalysis. The results reveal that some, but not all, PL pro inhibitor potencies differ substantially from those obtained using fluorescence-based assays. Some substrate-competing M pro inhibitors, notably PF-07321332 (nirmatrelvir) which is in clinical development, do not inhibit PL pro . Less selective M pro inhibitors, e.g. auranofin, inhibit PL pro , highlighting the potential for dual PL pro /M pro inhibition. MS-based PL pro assays, which are orthogonal to widely employed fluorescence-based assays, are of utility in validating inhibitor potencies, especially for inhibitors operating by non-covalent mechanisms.
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Jan 2022
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Open Access
Abstract: PAS domains are omnipresent building blocks of multidomain proteins in all domains of life. Bacteria possess a variety of PAS domains in intracellular proteins and the related Cache domains in periplasmic or extracellular proteins. PAS and Cache domains are predominant in sensory systems, often carry cofactors or bind ligands, and serve as dimerization domains in protein association. To aid our understanding of the wide distribution of these domains, we analyzed the proteome of the opportunistic human pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 in silico. The ability of this bacterium to survive under different environmental conditions, to switch between planktonic and sessile/biofilm lifestyle, or to evade stresses, notably involves c-di-GMP regulatory proteins or depends on sensory pathways involving multidomain proteins that possess PAS or Cache domains. Maximum likelihood phylogeny was used to group PAS and Cache domains on the basis of amino acid sequence. Conservation of cofactor- or ligand-coordinating amino acids aided by structure-based comparison was used to inform function. The resulting classification presented here includes PAS domains that are candidate binders of carboxylic acids, amino acids, fatty acids, flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD), 4-hydroxycinnamic acid, and heme. These predictions are put in context to previously described phenotypic data, often generated from deletion mutants. The analysis predicts novel functions for sensory proteins and sheds light on functional diversification in a large set of proteins with similar architecture.
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Dec 2021
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I03-Macromolecular Crystallography
I04-Macromolecular Crystallography
I24-Microfocus Macromolecular Crystallography
VMXi-Versatile Macromolecular Crystallography in situ
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Haiyang
Wu
,
Emmanuelle H.
Crost
,
C. David
Owen
,
Wouter
Van Bakel
,
Ana
Martínez Gascueña
,
Dimitrios
Latousakis
,
Thomas
Hicks
,
Samuel
Walpole
,
Paulina A.
Urbanowicz
,
Didier
Ndeh
,
Serena
Monaco
,
Laura
Sánchez Salom
,
Ryan
Griffiths
,
Raven S.
Reynolds
,
Anna
Colvile
,
Daniel I. R.
Spencer
,
Martin
Walsh
,
Jesus
Angulo
,
Nathalie
Juge
Open Access
Abstract: The human gut symbiont Ruminococcus gnavus displays strain-specific repertoires of glycoside hydrolases (GHs) contributing to its spatial location in the gut. Sequence similarity network analysis identified strain-specific differences in blood-group endo-β-1,4-galactosidase belonging to the GH98 family. We determined the substrate and linkage specificities of GH98 from R. gnavus ATCC 29149, RgGH98, against a range of defined oligosaccharides and glycoconjugates including mucin. We showed by HPAEC-PAD and LC-FD-MS/MS that RgGH98 is specific for blood group A tetrasaccharide type II (BgA II). Isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) and saturation transfer difference (STD) NMR confirmed RgGH98 affinity for blood group A over blood group B and H antigens. The molecular basis of RgGH98 strict specificity was further investigated using a combination of glycan microarrays, site-directed mutagenesis, and X-ray crystallography. The crystal structures of RgGH98 in complex with BgA trisaccharide (BgAtri) and of RgGH98 E411A with BgA II revealed a dedicated hydrogen network of residues, which were shown by site-directed mutagenesis to be critical to the recognition of the BgA epitope. We demonstrated experimentally that RgGH98 is part of an operon of 10 genes that is overexpresssed in vitro when R. gnavus ATCC 29149 is grown on mucin as sole carbon source as shown by RNAseq analysis and RT-qPCR confirmed RgGH98 expression on BgA II growth. Using MALDI-ToF MS, we showed that RgGH98 releases BgAtri from mucin and that pretreatment of mucin with RgGH98 confered R. gnavus E1 the ability to grow, by enabling the E1 strain to metabolise BgAtri and access the underlying mucin glycan chain. These data further support that the GH repertoire of R. gnavus strains enable them to colonise different nutritional niches in the human gut and has potential applications in diagnostic and therapeutics against infection.
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Dec 2021
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I04-1-Macromolecular Crystallography (fixed wavelength)
I04-Macromolecular Crystallography
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Petra
Lukacik
,
C. David
Owen
,
Gemma
Harris
,
Jani Reddy
Bolla
,
Sarah
Picaud
,
Irfan
Alibay
,
Joanne E.
Nettleship
,
Louise E.
Bird
,
Raymond
Owens
,
Philip C.
Biggin
,
Panagis
Filippakopoulos
,
Carol V.
Robinson
,
Martin A.
Walsh
Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[4990, 5073, 4988]
Open Access
Abstract: Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) is a significant pathogen in respiratory disease and otitis media. Important for NTHi survival, colonization and persistence in vivo is the Sap (sensitivity to antimicrobial peptides) ABC transporter system. Current models propose a direct role for Sap in heme and antimicrobial peptide (AMP) transport. Here, the crystal structure of SapA, the periplasmic component of Sap, in a closed, ligand bound conformation, is presented. Phylogenetic and cavity volume analysis predicts that the small, hydrophobic SapA central ligand binding cavity is most likely occupied by a hydrophobic di- or tri- peptide. The cavity is of insufficient volume to accommodate heme or folded AMPs. Crystal structures of SapA have identified surface interactions with heme and dsRNA. Heme binds SapA weakly (Kd 282 μM) through a surface exposed histidine, while the dsRNA is coordinated via residues which constitute part of a conserved motif (estimated Kd 4.4 μM). The RNA affinity falls within the range observed for characterized RNA/protein complexes. Overall, we describe in molecular-detail the interactions of SapA with heme and dsRNA and propose a role for SapA in the transport of di- or tri-peptides.
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Oct 2021
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NONE-No attached Diamond beamline
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H. T. Henry
Chan
,
Marc A.
Moesser
,
Rebecca K.
Walters
,
Tika R.
Malla
,
Rebecca M.
Twidale
,
Tobias
John
,
Helen M.
Deeks
,
Tristan
Johnston-Wood
,
Victor
Mikhailov
,
Richard B.
Sessions
,
William
Dawson
,
Eidarus
Salah
,
Petra
Lukacik
,
Claire
Strain-Damerell
,
C. David
Owen
,
Takahito
Nakajima
,
Katarzyna
Świderek
,
Alessio
Lodola
,
Vicent
Moliner
,
David R.
Glowacki
,
James
Spencer
,
Martin A.
Walsh
,
Christopher J.
Schofield
,
Luigi
Genovese
,
Deborah K.
Shoemark
,
Adrian J.
Mulholland
,
Fernanda
Duarte
,
Garrett M.
Morris
Open Access
Abstract: The main protease (Mpro) of SARS-CoV-2 is central to viral maturation and is a promising drug target, but little is known about structural aspects of how it binds to its 11 natural cleavage sites. We used biophysical and crystallographic data and an array of biomolecular simulation techniques, including automated docking, molecular dynamics (MD) and interactive MD in virtual reality, QM/MM, and linear-scaling DFT, to investigate the molecular features underlying recognition of the natural Mpro substrates. We extensively analysed the subsite interactions of modelled 11-residue cleavage site peptides, crystallographic ligands, and docked COVID Moonshot-designed covalent inhibitors. Our modelling studies reveal remarkable consistency in the hydrogen bonding patterns of the natural Mpro substrates, particularly on the N-terminal side of the scissile bond. They highlight the critical role of interactions beyond the immediate active site in recognition and catalysis, in particular plasticity at the S2 site. Building on our initial Mpro-substrate models, we used predictive saturation variation scanning (PreSaVS) to design peptides with improved affinity. Non-denaturing mass spectrometry and other biophysical analyses confirm these new and effective ‘peptibitors’ inhibit Mpro competitively. Our combined results provide new insights and highlight opportunities for the development of Mpro inhibitors as anti-COVID-19 drugs.
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Oct 2021
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B24-Cryo Soft X-ray Tomography
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Open Access
Abstract: Chlamydiae are strict intracellular pathogens residing within a specialised membrane-bound compartment called the inclusion. Therefore, each infected cell can, be considered as a single entity where bacteria form a community within the inclusion. It remains unclear as to how the population of bacteria within the inclusion influences individual bacterium. The life cycle of Chlamydia involves transitioning between the invasive elementary bodies (EBs) and replicative reticulate bodies (RBs). We have used cryo-soft X-ray tomography to observe individual inclusions, an approach that combines 40 nm spatial resolution and large volume imaging (up to 16 µm). Using semi-automated segmentation pipeline, we considered each inclusion as an individual bacterial niche. Within each inclusion, we identifyed and classified different forms of the bacteria and confirmed the recent finding that RBs have a variety of volumes (small, large and abnormal). We demonstrate that the proportions of these different RB forms depend on the bacterial concentration in the inclusion. We conclude that each inclusion operates as an autonomous community that influences the characteristics of individual bacteria within the inclusion.
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Aug 2021
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