I24-Microfocus Macromolecular Crystallography
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Open Access
Abstract: Many of the world's most important food crops such as rice, barley and maize accumulate silicon (Si) to high levels, resulting in better plant growth and crop yields. The first step in Si accumulation is the uptake of silicic acid by the roots, a process mediated by the structurally uncharacterised NIP subfamily of aquaporins, also named metalloid porins. Here, we present the X-ray crystal structure of the archetypal NIP family member from Oryza sativa (OsNIP2;1). The OsNIP2;1 channel is closed in the crystal structure by the cytoplasmic loop D, which is known to regulate channel opening in classical plant aquaporins. The structure further reveals a novel, five-residue extracellular selectivity filter with a large diameter. Unbiased molecular dynamics simulations show a rapid opening of the channel and visualise how silicic acid interacts with the selectivity filter prior to transmembrane diffusion. Our results will enable detailed structure–function studies of metalloid porins, including the basis of their substrate selectivity.
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Oct 2021
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B21-High Throughput SAXS
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Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[13550]
Open Access
Abstract: Lymphostatin (LifA) is a 366 kDa protein expressed by attaching & effacing Escherichia coli. It plays an
important role in intestinal colonisation and inhibits the mitogen- and antigen-stimulated proliferation of
lymphocytes and the synthesis of proinflammatory cytokines. LifA exhibits N-terminal homology with
the glycosyltransferase domain of large clostridial toxins (LCTs). A DTD motif within this region is required
for lymphostatin activity and binding of the sugar donor uridine diphosphate N-acetylglucosamine. As with
LCTs, LifA also contains a cysteine protease motif (C1480, H1581, D1596) that is widely conserved within
the YopT-like superfamily of cysteine proteases. By analogy with LCTs, we hypothesised that the CHD
motif may be required for intracellular processing of the protein to release the catalytic N-terminal domain
after uptake and low pH-stimulated membrane insertion of LifA within endosomes. Here, we created and
validated a C1480A substitution mutant in LifA from enteropathogenic E. coli strain E2348/69. The purified
protein was structurally near-identical to the wild-type protein. In bovine T lymphocytes treated with wildtype
LifA, a putative cleavage product of approximately 140 kDa was detected. Appearance of the putative
cleavage product was inhibited in a concentration-dependent manner by bafilomycin A1 and chloroquine,
which inhibit endosome acidification. The cleavage product was not observed in cells treated with the
C1480A mutant of LifA. Lymphocyte inhibitory activity of the purified C1480A protein was significantly
impaired. The data indicate that an intact cysteine protease motif is required for cleavage of lymphostatin
and its activity against T cells.
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Sep 2021
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I04-Macromolecular Crystallography
I24-Microfocus Macromolecular Crystallography
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Abstract: Mycobacterium tuberculosis is responsible for more than 1.6 million deaths each year. One potential antibacterial target in M. tuberculosis is filamentous temperature sensitive protein Z (FtsZ), which is the bacterial homologue of mammalian tubulin, a validated cancer target. M. tuberculosis FtsZ function is essential, with its inhibition leading to arrest of cell division, elongation of the bacterial cell and eventual cell death. However, the development of potent inhibitors against FtsZ has been a challenge owing to the lack of structural information. Here we report multiple crystal structures of M. tuberculosis FtsZ in complex with a coumarin analogue. The 4-hydroxycoumarin binds exclusively to two novel cryptic pockets in nucleotide-free FtsZ, but not to the binary FtsZ-GTP or GDP complexes. Our findings provide a detailed understanding of the molecular basis for cryptic pocket formation, controlled by the conformational flexibility of the H7 helix, and thus reveal an important structural and mechanistic rationale for coumarin antibacterial activity.
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Jul 2021
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B21-High Throughput SAXS
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Seppe
Leysen
,
Rebecca
Jane Burnley
,
Elizabeth
Rodriguez
,
Lech-Gustav
Milroy
,
Lorenzo
Soini
,
Carolyn J.
Adamski
,
Larissa
Nitschke
,
Rachel
Davis
,
Tomas
Obsil
,
Lucas
Brunsveld
,
Tom
Crabbe
,
Huda
Yahya Zoghbi
,
Christian
Ottmann
,
Jeremy
Martin Davis
Open Access
Abstract: Expansion of the polyglutamine tract in the N-terminus of Ataxin-1 is the main cause of the neurodegenerative disease, spinocerebellar ataxia type 1 (SCA1). However, the C-terminal part of the protein - including its AXH domain and a phosphorylation on residue serine 776 - also plays a crucial role in disease development. This phosphorylation event is known to be crucial for the interaction of Ataxin-1 with the 14-3-3 adaptor proteins and has been shown to indirectly contribute to Ataxin-1 stability. Here we show that 14-3-3 also has a direct anti-aggregation or “chaperone” effect on Ataxin-1. Furthermore, we provide structural and biophysical information revealing how phosphorylated S776 in the intrinsically disordered C-terminus of Ataxin-1 mediates the cytoplasmic interaction with 14-3-3 proteins. Based on these findings, we propose that 14-3-3 exerts the observed chaperone effect by interfering with Ataxin-1 dimerization through its AXH domain, reducing further self-association. The chaperone effect is particularly important in the context of SCA1, as it was previously shown that a soluble form of mutant Ataxin-1 is the major driver of pathology.
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Jul 2021
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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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G. D.
Noske
,
A. M.
Nakamura
,
V. O.
Gawriljuk
,
R. S.
Fernandes
,
G.
M. A. Lima
,
H. V. D.
Rosa
,
H. D.
Pereira
,
A. C. M.
Zeri
,
A. A. F. Z.
Nascimento
,
M. C. L. C.
Freire
,
D.
Fearon
,
A.
Douangamath
,
F.
Von Delft
,
G.
Oliva
,
A. S.
Godoy
Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[27963]
Abstract: SARS-CoV-2 is the causative agent of COVID-19. The dimeric form of the viral Mpro is responsible for the cleavage of the viral polyprotein in 11 sites, including its own N and C-terminus. The lack of structural information for intermediary forms of Mpro is a setback for the understanding its self-maturation process. Herein, we used X-ray crystallography combined with biochemical data to characterize multiple forms of SARS-CoV-2 Mpro. For the immature form, we show that extra N-terminal residues caused conformational changes in the positioning of domain-three over the active site, hampering the dimerization and diminishing its activity. We propose that this form preludes the cis and trans-cleavage of N-terminal residues. Using fragment screening, we probe new cavities in this form which can be used to guide therapeutic development. Furthermore, we characterized a serine site-directed mutant of the Mpro bound to its endogenous N and C-terminal residues during dimeric association stage of the maturation process. We suggest this form is a transitional state during the C-terminal trans-cleavage. This data sheds light in the structural modifications of the SARS-CoV-2 main protease during its self-maturation process.
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Jun 2021
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B21-High Throughput SAXS
I04-1-Macromolecular Crystallography (fixed wavelength)
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Marco
Salamina
,
Bailey C.
Montefiore
,
Mengxi
Liu
,
Daniel J.
Wood
,
Richard
Heath
,
James R.
Ault
,
Lan-Zhen
Wang
,
Svitlana
Korolchuk
,
Arnaud
Basle
,
Martyna
Pastok
,
Judith
Reeks
,
Natalie J.
Tatum
,
Frank
Sobott
,
Stefan T.
Arold
,
Michele
Pagano
,
Martin E. M.
Noble
,
Jane A.
Endicott
Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[13587, 16970]
Open Access
Abstract: The SCFSKP2 ubiquitin ligase relieves G1 checkpoint control of CDK-cyclin complexes by promoting p27KIP1 degradation. We describe reconstitution of stable complexes containing SKP1-SKP2 and CDK1-cyclin B or CDK2-cyclin A/E, mediated by the CDK regulatory subunit CKS1. We further show that a direct interaction between a SKP2 N-terminal motif and cyclin A can stabilize SKP1-SKP2-CDK2-cyclin A complexes in the absence of CKS1. We identify the SKP2 binding site on cyclin A and demonstrate the site is not present in cyclin B or cyclin E. This site is distinct from but overlapping with features that mediate binding of p27KIP1 and other G1 cyclin regulators to cyclin A. We propose that the capacity of SKP2 to engage with CDK2-cyclin A by more than one structural mechanism provides a way to fine tune the degradation of p27KIP1 and distinguishes cyclin A from other G1 cyclins to ensure orderly cell cycle progression.
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Mar 2021
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I04-1-Macromolecular Crystallography (fixed wavelength)
I04-Macromolecular Crystallography
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Diego A.
Leonardo
,
Italo A.
Cavini
,
Fernanda A.
Sala
,
Deborah C.
Mendonça
,
Higor
V. D. Rosa
,
Patricia S.
Kumagai
,
Edson
Crusca Jr
,
Napoleao F.
Valadares
,
Ivo A.
Marques
,
Jose
Brandao-Neto
,
Claudia E.
Munte
,
Hans R.
Kalbitzer
,
Nicolas
Soler
,
Isabel
Uson
,
Ingemar
André
,
Ana
P. U. Araujo
,
Humberto
D'Muniz Pereira
,
Richard C.
Garratt
Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[6397, 23570, 25296]
Abstract: Septins are an example of subtle molecular recognition whereby different paralogues must correctly assemble into functional filaments important for essential cellular events such as cytokinesis. Most possess C-terminal domains capable of forming coiled coils which are believed to be involved in filament formation and bundling. Here, we report an integrated structural approach which aims to unravel their architectural diversity and in so doing provide direct structural information for the coiled-coil regions of five human septins. Unexpectedly, we encounter dimeric structures presenting both parallel and antiparallel arrangements which are in consonance with molecular modelling suggesting that both are energetically accessible. These sequences therefore code for two metastable states of different orientations which employ different but overlapping interfaces. The antiparallel structures present a mixed coiled-coil interface, one side of which is dominated by a continuous chain of core hydrophilic residues. This unusual type of coiled coil could be used to expand the toolkit currently available to the protein engineer for the design of previously unforeseen coiled-coil based assemblies. Within a physiological context, our data provide the first atomic details related to the assumption that the parallel orientation is likely formed between septin monomers from the same filament whilst antiparallelism may participate in the widely described interfilament cross-bridges necessary for higher order structures and thereby septin function.
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Feb 2021
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Krios I-Titan Krios I at Diamond
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Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[14769]
Open Access
Abstract: The Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC) protein complex (TSCC), comprising TSC1, TSC2, and TBC1D7, is widely recognised as a key integration hub for cell growth and intracellular stress signals upstream of the mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1). The TSCC negatively regulates mTORC1 by acting as a GTPase-activating protein (GAP) towards the small GTPase Rheb. Both human TSC1 and TSC2 are important tumour suppressors, and mutations in them underlie the disease tuberous sclerosis.
We used single-particle cryo-EM to reveal the organisation and architecture of the complete human TSCC. We show that TSCC forms an elongated scorpion-like structure, consisting of a central “body”, with a “pincer” and a “tail” at the respective ends. The “body” is composed of a flexible TSC2 HEAT repeat dimer, along the surface of which runs the TSC1 coiled-coil backbone, breaking the symmetry of the dimer. Each end of the body is structurally distinct, representing the N- and C-termini of TSC1; a “pincer” is formed by the highly flexible N-terminal TSC1 core domains and a barbed “tail” makes up the TSC1 coiled-coil-TBC1D7 junction. The TSC2 GAP domain is found abutting the centre of the body on each side of the dimerisation interface, poised to bind a pair of Rheb molecules at a similar separation to the pair in activated mTORC1.
Our architectural dissection reveals the mode of association and topology of the complex, casts light on the recruitment of Rheb to the TSCC, and also hints at functional higher order oligomerisation, which has previously been predicted to be important for Rheb-signalling suppression.
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Jan 2021
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I24-Microfocus Macromolecular Crystallography
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Open Access
Abstract: The folding of disulfide bond containing proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is a complex process that requires protein folding factors, some of which are protein-specific. The ER resident saposin-like protein pERp1 (MZB1, CNPY5) is crucial for the correct folding of IgA, IgM and integrins. pERp1 also plays a role in ER calcium homeostasis and plasma cell mobility. As an important factor for proper IgM maturation and hence immune function, pERp1 is upregulated in many auto-immune diseases. This makes it a potential therapeutic target. pERp1 belongs to the CNPY family of ER resident saposin-like proteins. To date, five of these proteins have been identified. All are implicated in protein folding and all contain a saposin-like domain. All previously structurally characterized saposins are involved in lipid binding. However, there are no reports of CNPY family members interacting with lipids, suggesting a novel function for the saposin fold. However, the molecular mechanisms of their function remain elusive. To date, no structure of any CNPY protein has been reported. Here, we present the high-resolution (1.4 Å) crystal structure of human pERp1 and confirm that it has a saposin-fold with unique structural elements not present in other saposin-fold structures. The implications for the role of CNPY proteins in protein folding in the ER are discussed.
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Jan 2021
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