分类: 生物学 >> 生物物理学 提交时间: 2016-05-18
摘要: Photo-induced electron transfer (PET) is ubiquitous for photosynthesis and fluorescent sensor design. However, genetically coded PET sensors are underdeveloped, due to the lack of methods to site-specifically install PET probes on proteins. Here we describe a family of acid and Mn(III) turn-on fluorescent protein (FP) sensors, named iLovU, based on PET and the genetic incorporation of superior PET quenchers in the fluorescent flavoprotein iLov. Using the iLovU PET sensors, we monitored the cytoplasmic acidification process, and achieved Mn(III) fluorescence sensing for the first time. The iLovU sensors should be applicable for studying pH changes in living cells, monitoring biogentic Mn(III) in the environment, and screening for efficient manganese peroxidase, which is highly desirable for lignin degradation and biomass conversion. Our work establishes a platform for many more protein PET sensors, facilitates the de novo design of metalloenzymes harboring redox active residues, and expands our ability to probe protein conformational dynamics.
分类: 生物学 >> 生物物理学 >> 细胞生物学 提交时间: 2016-05-12
摘要: Multidrug resistance is a serious threat to public health. Proton motive force-driven antiporters from the major facilitator superfamily (MFS) constitute a major group of multidrug-resistance transporters. Currently, no reports on crystal structures of MFS antiporters in complex with their substrates exist. The E. coli MdfA transporter is a well-studied model system for biochemical analyses of multidrug-resistance MFS antiporters. Here, we report three crystal structures of MdfA-ligand complexes at resolutions up to 2.0 angstrom, all in the inward-facing conformation. The substrate-binding site sits proximal to the conserved acidic residue, D34. Our mutagenesis studies support the structural observations of the substrate-binding mode and the notion that D34 responds to substrate binding by adjusting its protonation status. Taken together, our data unveil the substrate-binding mode of MFS antiporters and suggest a mechanism of transport via this group of transporters.
分类: 生物学 >> 生物物理学 提交时间: 2016-05-18
摘要: Autotransporters deliver virulence factors to the bacterial surface by translocating an effector passenger domain through a membrane-anchored barrel structure. Although passenger domains are diverse, those found in enteric bacteria autotransporters, including AIDA-I in diffusely adhering Escherichia coli (DAEC) and TibA in enterotoxigenic E. coli, are commonly glycosylated. We show that AIDA-I is heptosylated within the bacterial cytoplasm by autotransporter adhesin heptosyltransferase (AAH) and its paralogue AAH2. AIDA-I heptosylation determines DAEC adhesion to host cells. AAH/AAH2 define a bacterial autotransporter heptosyltransferase (BAHT) family that contains ferric ion and adopts a dodecamer assembly. Structural analyses of the heptosylated TibA passenger domain reveal 35 heptose conjugates forming patterned and solenoid-like arrays on the surface of a beta helix. Additionally, CARC, the AIDA-like autotransporter from Citrobacter rodentium, is essential for colonization in mice and requires heptosylation by its cognate BAHT. Our study establishes a bacterial glycosylation system that regulates virulence and is essential for pathogenesis.
分类: 生物学 >> 生物物理学 >> 生物物理、生物化学与分子生物学 提交时间: 2016-05-12
摘要: MutM (Formamidopyrimidine-DNA glycosylase, Fpg), a bifunctional base excision repair enzyme (DNA glycosylase/AP lyase), is involved in the repair of many kinds of DNA damage, including the formation of 8-oxoguanine, 5-formyluracil, and C/C mismatches, through recognizing DNA damage and removing damaged bases. The mechanisms of MutM involvement, however, with the exception of 8-oxoG, are poorly understood. Here, we identified proteins which interact with MutM in Mycobacterium smegmatis using methods of tandem affinity purification and mass spectrometry and used Far-western and GST pull-down analysis to validate the interactions between MutM and DEAD-box rna helicase, RpsC, and UvrA. Results demonstrated that tandem affinity purification is a suitable method for identifying MutM interacting proteins and provided insights into the mechanism by which MutM is involved in DNA damage repair.
分类: 生物学 >> 生物物理学 提交时间: 2016-05-12
摘要: The aim of this study was to characterize the quinolone resistance of Salmonella enterica serovar Indiana isolated from chickens in China. A total of 293 Salmonella strains were isolated from chicken farms and slaughterhouses in Shandong province of China, and 130 (44.4%) were characterized as Salmonella enterica Indiana (chicken farms, n = 52 strains; slaughter houses, n = 78 strains). All isolate serotypes were tested with the Kauffmann-White classification system and examined for susceptibility to the quinolones: nalidixic acid, enrofloxacin, norfloxacin, and ciprofloxacin. The resistance of the Salmonella Indiana strains to nalidixic acid, enrofloxacin, norfloxacin, and ciprofloxacin were 100, 73.1, 71.2, and 82.7%, and 100, 59.0, 79.5, and 80.2%, respectively. Selected quinolone resistant strains were evaluated for mutations in genes (gyrA, gyrB, parC, and marA) by DNA sequencing. The gyrA mutation was found in all isolates, the parC mutation was only found in some isolates, and the gyrB and marA mutations were not observed. Quinolone resistance was evaluated in the representative isolates by screening for the quinolone resistance determinants, qnrA, qnrB, qnrS, qepA, and aac (6')-Ib-cr using PCR technology. The quinolone resistance determinants in Salmonella, qnrA, qnrB, qnrS, and qepA were negative by PCR, but aac(6')-Ib-cr had high detection rates of 90.4 and 96.2% in chicken farms and slaughterhouses, respectively. Salmonella Indiana containing the gyrA mutation was prevalent in farms and slaughterhouses and possessed a high frequency of the quinolone resistance determinant aac(6')-Ib-cr. These bacteria may have originated from the same source.
分类: 生物学 >> 生物物理学 提交时间: 2016-05-15
摘要: Shiga-like toxins (Stxs), produced by pathogenic Escherichia coli, are a major virulence factor involved in severe diseases in human and animals. These toxins are ribosome-inactivating proteins, and treatment for diseases caused by them is not available. Therefore, there is an urgent need for agents capable of effectively targeting this lethal toxin. In this study, we identified baicalin, a flavonoid compound used in Chinese traditional medicine, as a compound against Shiga-like toxin 2 (Stx2). We found that baicalin significantly improves renal function and reduces Stx2-induced lethality in mice. Further experiments revealed that baicalin induces the formation of oligomers by the toxin by direct binding. We also identified the residues important for such interactions and analyzed their roles in binding baicalin by biophysical and biochemical analyses. Our results establish baicalin as a candidate compound for the development of therapeutics against diseases caused by Stxs.
分类: 生物学 >> 生物物理学 提交时间: 2016-05-12
摘要: The prokaryotic mechanosensitive channel of large conductance (MscL) is a pressure-relief valve protecting the cell from lysing during acute osmotic downshock. When the membrane is stretched, MscL responds to the increase of membrane tension and opens a nonselective pore to about 30 angstrom wide, exhibiting a large unitary conductance of similar to 3 nS. A fundamental step toward understanding the gating mechanism of MscL is to decipher the molecular details of the conformational changes accompanying channel opening. By applying fusion-protein strategy and controlling detergent composition, we have solved the structures of an archaeal MscL homolog from Methanosarcina acetivorans trapped in the closed and expanded intermediate states. The comparative analysis of these two new structures reveals significant conformational rearrangements in the different domains of MscL. The large changes observed in the tilt angles of the two transmembrane helices (TM1 and TM2) fit well with the helix-pivoting model derived from the earlier geometric analyses based on the previous structures. Meanwhile, the periplasmic loop region transforms from a folded structure, containing an.-shaped loop and a short beta-hairpin, to an extended and partly disordered conformation during channel expansion. Moreover, a significant rotating and sliding of the N-terminal helix (N-helix) is coupled to the tilting movements of TM1 and TM2. The dynamic relationships between the N-helix and TM1/TM2 suggest that the N-helix serves as a membrane-anchored stopper that limits the tilts of TM1 and TM2 in the gating process. These results provide direct mechanistic insights into the highly coordinated movement of the different domains of the MscL channel when it expands.
分类: 生物学 >> 生物物理学 提交时间: 2016-05-12
摘要: Tetrapyrroles, including haem and chlorophyll, play vital roles for various biological processes, such as respiration and photosynthesis, and their biosynthesis is critical for virtually all organisms. In photosynthetic organisms, magnesium chelatase (MgCh) catalyses insertion of magnesium into the centre of protoporphyrin IX, the branch-point precursor for both haem and chlorophyll, leading tetrapyrrole biosynthesis into the magnesium branch1,2. This reaction needs a cooperated action of the three subunits of MgCh: the catalytic subunit ChlH and two AAA(+) subunits, ChlI and ChlD ( refs 3-5). To date, the mechanism of MgCh awaits further elucidation due to a lack of high-resolution structures, especially for the similar to 150 kDa catalytic subunit. Here we report the crystal structure of ChlH from the photosynthetic cyanobacterium Synechocystis PCC 6803, solved at 2.5 angstrom resolution. The active site is buried deeply inside the protein interior, and the surrounding residues are conserved throughout evolution. This structure helps to explain the loss of function reported for the cch and gun5 mutations of the ChlH subunit, and to provide the molecular basis of substrate channelling during the magnesium-chelating process. The structure advances our understanding of the holoenzyme of MgCh, a metal chelating enzyme other than ferrochelatase.
分类: 生物学 >> 生物物理学 提交时间: 2016-05-12
摘要: While a conserved tyrosine (Tyr) is found in oxidases, the roles of phenol ring pK(a) and reduction potential in O-2 reduction have not been defined despite many years of research on numerous oxidases and their models. These issues represent major challenges in our understanding of O-2 reduction mechanism in bioenergetics. Through genetic incorporation of unnatural amino acid analogs of Tyr, with progressively decreasing pKa of the phenol ring and increasing reduction potential, in the active site of a functional model of oxidase in myoglobin, a linear dependence of both the O-2 reduction activity and the fraction of H2O formation with the pKa of the phenol ring has been established. By using these unnatural amino acids as spectroscopic probe, we have provided conclusive evidence for the location of a Tyr radical generated during reaction with H2O2, by the distinctive hyperfine splitting patterns of the halogenated tyrosines and one of its deuterated derivatives incorporated at the 33 position of the protein. These results demonstrate for the first time that enhancing the proton donation ability of the Tyr enhances the oxidase activity, allowing the Tyr analogs to augment enzymatic activity beyond that of natural Tyr.
分类: 生物学 >> 生物物理学 提交时间: 2016-05-12
摘要: Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the causative agent of human tuberculosis, remains one of the most prevalent human pathogens and a major cause of mortality worldwide. Metabolic network is a central mediator and defining feature of the pathogenicity of Mtb. Increasing evidence suggests that lysine succinylation dynamically regulates enzymes in carbon metabolism in both bacteria and human cells; however, its extent and function in Mtb remain unexplored. Here, we performed a global succinylome analysis of the virulent Mtb strain H37Rv by using high accuracy nano-LC-MS/MS in combination with the enrichment of succinylated peptides from digested cell lysates and subsequent peptide identification. In total, 1545 lysine succinylation sites on 626 proteins were identified in this pathogen. The identified succinylated proteins are involved in various biological processes and a large proportion of the succinylation sites are present on proteins in the central metabolism pathway. Site-specific mutations showed that succinylation is a negative regulatory modification on the enzymatic activity of acetylCoA synthetase. Molecular dynamics simulations demonstrated that succinylation affects the conformational stability of acetyl-CoA synthetase, which is critical for its enzymatic activity. Further functional studies showed that CobB, a sirtuin-like deacetylase in Mtb, functions as a desuccinylase of acetyl-CoA synthetase in in vitro assays. Together, our findings reveal widespread roles for lysine succinylation in regulating metabolism and diverse processes in Mtb. Our data provide a rich resource for functional analyses of lysine succinylation and facilitate the dissection of metabolic networks in this life-threatening pathogen.
分类: 生物学 >> 生物物理学 >> 生物物理、生物化学与分子生物学 提交时间: 2016-05-11
摘要: Adverse cellular conditions often lead to nonproductive translational stalling and arrest of ribosomes on mRNAs. Here, we used fast kinetics and cryo-EM to characterize Escherichia coil HflX, a GTPase with unknown function. Our data reveal that HflX is a heat shock-induced ribosome-splitting factor capable of dissociating vacant as well as mRNA-associated ribosomes with deacylated tRNA in the peptidyl site. Structural data demonstrate that the N-terminal effector domain of HflX binds to the peptidyl transferase center in a strikingly similar manner as that of the class I release factors and induces dramatic conformational changes in central intersubunit bridges, thus promoting subunit dissociation. Accordingly, loss of HflX results in an increase in stalled ribosomes upon heat shock, These results suggest a primary role of HflX in rescuing translationally arrested ribosomes under stress conditions.
分类: 生物学 >> 生物物理学 >> 生物物理、生物化学与分子生物学 提交时间: 2016-05-11
摘要: Major facilitator superfamily (MFS) is a large class of secondary active transporters widely expressed across all life kingdoms. Although a common 12-transmembrane helix-bundle architecture is found in most MFS crystal structures available, a common mechanism of energy coupling remains to be elucidated. Here, we discuss several models for energy-coupling in the transport process of the transporters, largely based on currently available structures and the results of their biochemical analyses. Special attention is paid to the interaction between protonation and the negative-inside membrane potential. Also, functional roles of the conserved sequence motifs are discussed in the context of the 3D structures. We anticipate that in the near future, a unified picture of the functions of MFS transporters will emerge from the insights gained from studies of the common architectures and conserved motifs.