I03-Macromolecular Crystallography
I04-1-Macromolecular Crystallography (fixed wavelength)
I04-Macromolecular Crystallography
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Declan A.
Gray
,
Joshua B. R.
White
,
Abraham O.
Oluwole
,
Parthasarathi
Rath
,
Amy J.
Glenwright
,
Adam
Mazur
,
Michael
Zahn
,
Arnaud
Basle
,
Carl
Morland
,
Sasha L.
Evans
,
Alan
Cartmell
,
Carol V.
Robinson
,
Sebastian
Hiller
,
Neil A.
Ranson
,
David N.
Bolam
,
Bert
Van Den Berg
Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[13587, 18598]
Open Access
Abstract: In Bacteroidetes, one of the dominant phyla of the mammalian gut, active uptake of large nutrients across the outer membrane is mediated by SusCD protein complexes via a “pedal bin” transport mechanism. However, many features of SusCD function in glycan uptake remain unclear, including ligand binding, the role of the SusD lid and the size limit for substrate transport. Here we characterise the β2,6 fructo-oligosaccharide (FOS) importing SusCD from Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron (Bt1762-Bt1763) to shed light on SusCD function. Co-crystal structures reveal residues involved in glycan recognition and suggest that the large binding cavity can accommodate several substrate molecules, each up to ~2.5 kDa in size, a finding supported by native mass spectrometry and isothermal titration calorimetry. Mutational studies in vivo provide functional insights into the key structural features of the SusCD apparatus and cryo-EM of the intact dimeric SusCD complex reveals several distinct states of the transporter, directly visualising the dynamics of the pedal bin transport mechanism.
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Jan 2021
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I04-1-Macromolecular Crystallography (fixed wavelength)
I04-Macromolecular Crystallography
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Mariusz
Madej
,
Joshua B. R.
White
,
Zuzanna
Nowakowska
,
Shaun
Rawson
,
Carsten
Scavenius
,
Jan J.
Enghild
,
Grzegorz P.
Bereta
,
Karunakar
Pothula
,
Ulrich
Kleinekathoefer
,
Arnaud
Basle
,
Neil A.
Ranson
,
Jan
Potempa
,
Bert
Van Den Berg
Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[13587]
Abstract: Porphyromonas gingivalis, an asaccharolytic member of the Bacteroidetes, is a keystone pathogen in human periodontitis that may also contribute to the development of other chronic inflammatory diseases. P. gingivalis utilizes protease-generated peptides derived from extracellular proteins for growth, but how these peptides enter the cell is not clear. Here, we identify RagAB as the outer-membrane importer for these peptides. X-ray crystal structures show that the transporter forms a dimeric RagA2B2 complex, with the RagB substrate-binding surface-anchored lipoprotein forming a closed lid on the RagA TonB-dependent transporter. Cryo-electron microscopy structures reveal the opening of the RagB lid and thus provide direct evidence for a ‘pedal bin’ mechanism of nutrient uptake. Together with mutagenesis, peptide-binding studies and RagAB peptidomics, our work identifies RagAB as a dynamic, selective outer-membrane oligopeptide-acquisition machine that is essential for the efficient utilization of proteinaceous nutrients by P. gingivalis.
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May 2020
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Krios I-Titan Krios I at Diamond
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Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[13452]
Open Access
Abstract: Virus-like particles (VLPs) of the fish virus, Atlantic Cod Nervous necrosis virus (ACNNV), were successfully produced by transient expression of the coat protein in Nicotiana benthamiana plants. VLPs could also be produced in transgenic tobacco BY-2 cells. The protein extracted from plants self-assembled into T = 3 particles, that appeared to be morphologically similar to previously analyzed NNV VLPs when analyzed by high resolution cryo-electron microscopy. Administration of the plant-produced VLPs to sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) showed that they could protect the fish against subsequent virus challenge, indicating that plant-produced vaccines may have a substantial future role in aquaculture.
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Jul 2019
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I04-1-Macromolecular Crystallography (fixed wavelength)
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Oliver W.
Bayfield
,
Evgeny
Klimuk
,
Dennis C.
Winkler
,
Emma L.
Hesketh
,
Maria
Chechik
,
Naiqian
Cheng
,
Eric C.
Dykeman
,
Leonid
Minakhin
,
Neil A.
Ranson
,
Konstantin
Severinov
,
Alasdair C.
Steven
,
Alfred A.
Antson
Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[13587]
Open Access
Abstract: Understanding molecular events during virus assembly and genome packaging is important for understanding viral life cycles, and the functioning of other protein–nucleic acid machines. The model system developed for the thermophilic bacteriophage P23-45 offers advantages over other systems. Cryo-EM reconstructions reveal modifications to a canonical capsid protein fold, resulting in capsids that are abnormally large for this virus class. Structural information on the portal protein, through which the genome is packaged, demonstrates that the capsid influences the portal’s conformation. This has implications for understanding how processes inside and outside the capsid can be coordinated.
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Feb 2019
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Krios I-Titan Krios I at Diamond
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Nikesh
Patel
,
Simon J.
White
,
Rebecca F.
Thompson
,
Richard
Bingham
,
Eva U.
Weiß
,
Daniel P.
Maskell
,
Adam
Zlotnick
,
Eric C.
Dykeman
,
Roman
Tuma
,
Reidun
Twarock
,
Neil A.
Ranson
,
Peter G.
Stockley
Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[11164]
Abstract: Formation of the hepatitis B virus nucleocapsid is an essential step in the viral lifecycle, but its assembly is not fully understood. We report the discovery of sequence-specific interactions between the viral pre-genome and the hepatitis B core protein that play roles in defining the nucleocapsid assembly pathway. Using RNA SELEX and bioinformatics, we identified multiple regions in the pre-genomic RNA with high affinity for core protein dimers. These RNAs form stem-loops with a conserved loop motif that trigger sequence-specific assembly of virus-like particles (VLPs) at much higher fidelity and yield than in the absence of RNA. The RNA oligos do not interact with preformed RNA-free VLPs, so their effects must occur during particle assembly. Asymmetric cryo-electron microscopy reconstruction of the T = 4 VLPs assembled in the presence of one of the RNAs reveals a unique internal feature connected to the main core protein shell via lobes of density. Biophysical assays suggest that this is a complex involving several RNA oligos interacting with the C-terminal arginine-rich domains of core protein. These core protein–RNA contacts may play one or more roles in regulating the organization of the pre-genome during nucleocapsid assembly, facilitating subsequent reverse transcription and acting as a nucleation complex for nucleocapsid assembly.
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Jun 2017
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Krios I-Titan Krios I at Diamond
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Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[12877, 13590]
Open Access
Abstract: The β-barrel assembly machinery (BAM) is a ∼203 kDa complex of five proteins (BamA–E), which is essential for viability in E. coli. BAM promotes the folding and insertion of β-barrel proteins into the outer membrane via a poorly understood mechanism. Several current models suggest that BAM functions through a ‘lateral gating’ motion of the β-barrel of BamA. Here we present a cryo-EM structure of the BamABCDE complex, at 4.9 Å resolution. The structure is in a laterally open conformation showing that gating is independent of BamB binding. We describe conformational changes throughout the complex and interactions between BamA, B, D and E, and the detergent micelle that suggest communication between BAM and the lipid bilayer. Finally, using an enhanced reconstitution protocol and functional assays, we show that for the outer membrane protein OmpT, efficient folding in vitro requires lateral gating in BAM.
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Sep 2016
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Krios I-Titan Krios I at Diamond
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Open Access
Abstract: Transmission electron microscopy (EM) is a versatile technique that can be used to image biological specimens ranging from intact eukaryotic cells to individual proteins greater than 150 kDa. There are several strategies for preparing samples for imaging by EM, including negative staining and cryogenic freezing. In the last few years, cryo-EM has undergone a ’resolution revolution’, owing to both advances in imaging hardware, image processing software, and improvements in sample preparation, leading to growing number of researchers using cryo-EM as a research tool. However, cryo-EM is still a rapidly growing field, with unique challenges. Here, we summarise considerations for imaging of a range of specimens from macromolecular complexes to cells using EM.
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Feb 2016
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Abstract: Cowpea mosaic virus is a plant-infecting member of the Picornavirales and is of major interest in the development of biotechnology applications. Despite the availability of >100 crystal structures of Picornavirales capsids, relatively little is known about the mechanisms of capsid assembly and genome encapsidation. Here we have determined cryo-electron microscopy reconstructions for the wild-type virus and an empty virus-like particle, to 3.4 Å and 3.0 Å resolution, respectively, and built de novo atomic models of their capsids. These new structures reveal the C-terminal region of the small coat protein subunit, which is essential for virus assembly and which was missing from previously determined crystal structures, as well as residues that bind to the viral genome. These observations allow us to develop a new model for genome encapsidation and capsid assembly.
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Dec 2015
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I04-1-Macromolecular Crystallography (fixed wavelength)
I04-Macromolecular Crystallography
I24-Microfocus Macromolecular Crystallography
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Antonio
Ariza
,
Sian
Tanner
,
Cheryl T.
Walter
,
Kyle C.
Dent
,
Dale A.
Shepherd
,
Weining
Wu
,
Susan V.
Matthews
,
Julian A.
Hiscox
,
Todd J.
Green
,
Ming
Luo
,
Richard M.
Elliott
,
Anthony R.
Fooks
,
Alison E.
Ashcroft
,
Nicola J.
Stonehouse
,
Neil A.
Ranson
,
John N.
Barr
,
Thomas A.
Edwards
Open Access
Abstract: All orthobunyaviruses possess three genome segments of single-stranded negative sense RNA that are encapsidated with the virus-encoded nucleocapsid (N) protein to form a ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complex, which is uncharacterized at high resolution. We report the crystal structure of both the Bunyamwera virus (BUNV) N–RNA complex and the unbound Schmallenberg virus (SBV) N protein, at resolutions of 3.20 and 2.75 Å, respectively. Both N proteins crystallized as ring-like tetramers and exhibit a high degree of structural similarity despite classification into different orthobunyavirus serogroups. The structures represent a new RNA-binding protein fold. BUNV N possesses a positively charged groove into which RNA is deeply sequestered, with the bases facing away from the solvent. This location is highly inaccessible, implying that RNA polymerization and other critical base pairing events in the virus life cycle require RNP disassembly. Mutational analysis of N protein supports a correlation between structure and function. Comparison between these crystal structures and electron microscopy images of both soluble tetramers and authentic RNPs suggests the N protein does not bind RNA as a repeating monomer; thus, it represents a newly described architecture for bunyavirus RNP assembly, with implications for many other segmented negative-strand RNA viruses.
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Apr 2013
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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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Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[8367]
Open Access
Abstract: We have examined the roles of RNA–coat protein (CP) interactions in the assembly of satellite tobacco necrosis virus (STNV). The viral genomic RNA encodes only the CP, which comprises a ?-barrel domain connected to a positively charged N-terminal extension. In the previous crystal structures of this system, the first 11 residues of the protein are disordered. Using variants of an RNA aptamer sequence isolated against the CP, B3, we have studied the sequence specificity of RNA-induced assembly. B3 consists of a stem–loop presenting the tetra-loop sequence ACAA. There is a clear preference for RNAs encompassing this loop sequence, as measured by the yield of T = 1 capsids, which is indifferent to sequences within the stem. The B3-containing virus-like particle has been crystallised and its structure was determined to 2.3 Å. A lower-resolution map encompassing density for the RNA has also been calculated. The presence of B3 results in increased ordering of the N-terminal helices located at the particle 3-fold axes, which extend by roughly one and a half turns to encompass residues 8–11, including R8 and K9. Under assembly conditions, STNV CP in the absence of RNA is monomeric and does not self-assemble. These facts suggest that a plausible model for assembly initiation is the specific RNA-induced stabilisation of a trimeric capsomere. The basic nature of the helical extension suggests that electrostatic repulsion between CPs prevents assembly in the absence of RNA and that this barrier is overcome by correct placement of appropriately orientated helical RNA stems. Such a mechanism would be consistent with the data shown here for assembly with longer RNA fragments, including an STNV genome. The results are discussed in light of a first stage of assembly involving compaction of the genomic RNA driven by multiple RNA packaging signal–CP interactions.
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Jan 2013
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