Refine
Year of publication
Document Type
- Article (759)
- Doctoral Thesis (282)
- Preprint (34)
- Conference Proceeding (11)
- Part of a Book (2)
- Other (1)
- Working Paper (1)
Language
- English (1090) (remove)
Has Fulltext
- yes (1090)
Is part of the Bibliography
- no (1090)
Keywords
- crystal structure (37)
- hydrogen bonding (11)
- RNA (10)
- NMR spectroscopy (8)
- structural biology (7)
- Biochemistry (6)
- Membranproteine (6)
- NMR (6)
- Optogenetics (6)
- X-ray crystallography (6)
Institute
- Biochemie und Chemie (1090) (remove)
Crystals of the title compound, C12H8N2·C7H8O2, were obtained during cocrystallization experiments of a compound with two hydrogen-bond donors (2-hydroxybenzyl alcohol) with another compound containing two hydrogen-bond acceptors (phenanthroline). Unexpectedly, the two molecules do not form dimers with two O—H ... N hydrogen bonds connecting the two molecules. However, one of the hydroxy groups forms a bifurcated hydrogen bond to both phenanthroline N atoms, whereas the other hydroxy group forms an O—H ... O hydrogen bond to a symmetry-equivalent 2-hydroxybenzyl alcohol molecule. In addition, the crystal packing is stabilized by Pi – Pi interactions between the two phenanthroline ring systems, with a centroid–centroid distance of 3.570 Å.
The title compound, C6H5NO2·C6H6O2, crystallizes with one pyridinium-2-carboxylate zwitterion and one molecule of benzene-1,2-diol in the asymmetric unit. The crystal structure is characterized by alternating molecules forming zigzag chains running along the a axis: the molecules are connected by O—H ... O and N—H ... (O,O) hydrogen bonds.
Epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor belongs to the broad family of enzymatic receptors called receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs). Generally, the binding of a ligand to these receptors leads to activation of their intracellular kinase activity that sets in motion a cascade of signaling events. In order to ensure appropriate responses to physiological stimuli, the cell is endowed with the ability to regulate signal transduction via numerous mechanisms such as dephosphorylation of the RTK and its substrates as well as downregulation of the RTK. Activation of EGFR is a potent mitogenic (proliferative) and motogenic (cell motility) signal that plays crucial roles during embryonic development and maintenance of adult tissue. EGFR signaling is primarily regulated by ligand-induced receptor internalization with subsequent degradation in lysosomes. While the complex of proteins that are recruited to EGFR after its activation is well understood, proteins that interact with the receptor in the absence of ligand binding are still not systematically studied. With the goal of identifying novel binding partners of non-activated EGFR, a membrane based yeast-two hybrid screen (MYTH) was conducted. MYTH is based on the principle of in vivo reconstitution of the N-terminus (Nub) and C-terminus (Cub) halves of ubiquitin once brought into close proximity. A chimeric protein consisting of EGFR fused to Cub and a transcription factor was used as a bait to screen Nub-tagged cDNA library. Analysis of resultant yeast transformants revealed a total of 87 proteins to interact with EGFR. Of these only 11 were previously shown to bind to EGFR. A majority of the other proteins were shown to interact with the receptor by yeast retransformation. Fifteen were confirmed to bind to EGFR by coimmunoprecipitation assays in mammalian cells. One of the novel EGFR interactors identified in the screen was histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6). This deacetylase is localized in the cytoplasm and known to deacetylate alpha-tubulin, HSP90 and cortactin. The juxtamembrane region of EGFR binds to the Cterminus of HDAC6. Functionally, overexpression of wild type HDAC6 stabilized ligand-induced degradation of the receptor. On the other hand, deacetylase deficient or EGFR binding compromised mutants of HDAC6 were able to stabilize EGFR only partially. Downmodulation of HDAC6 expression by RNAi markedly accelerated degradation of the receptor. Taken together, HDAC6 is a negative regulator of EGFR downregulation that is dependent on its deacetylase activity and ability to bind to the receptor. Imaging studies revealed that HDAC6 does not affect internalization of EGFR from the plasma membrane but rather influences the post-endocytic trafficking of the receptor-ligand complex to lysosomes. Pulse-chase experiments using fluorophoretagged EGF showed that EGFR is transported faster towards the peri-nuclear region and delivered to late endosomes rapidly in HDAC6 depleted cells. HDAC6 is demonstrated to act, at least partly, by regulating the acetylation of alpha-tubulin. Upon EGFR activation, acetylation of alpha-tubulin on lysine 40 is progressively increased as shown by mass spectrometry and immunoblotting. Forced expression of a dominant negative mutant of alpha-tubulin, but not wild type alpha-tubulin, led to reduced speed and processive movement of early endosomes in GFP-Rab5 expressing cells. In a surprising twist, EGFR is able to phosphorylate HDAC6 on Tyr570. Phosphorylation of Tyr570 and Ser568 leads to inactivation of the deacetylase function of HDAC6 as shown by in vivo and in vitro assays. In summary, HDAC6 diminishes EGFR downregulation by slowing the transport of intracellular vesicles. The inhibitory effect is removed once HDAC6 is phosphorylated on key residues. In line with these findings, two recent reports have shown that hyper-acetylation of alpha-tubulin induced by inhibition of HDAC6 increases the transport of brain derived neurotrophic factor and JNK interacting protein-1 in different cell systems. Acetylated microtubules are more efficient in recruiting motor proteins like kinesin-1 and dynein. These findings indicate that HDAC6 plays an important regulatory role in intracellular trafficking pathways. However, several outstanding issues still remain unresolved. How does acetylation of microtubules influence vesicular trafficking? In this regard, the temporal and spatial dynamics of alpha-tubulin acetylation following EGFR activation should be studied. Furthermore, whether HDAC6 affects the trafficking of other endocytic cargos and additional organelles is an interesting question to address.
SIVsmmPBj-derived lentiviral vectors are capable of efficient primary human monocyte transduction, a capacity which is linked to the viral accessory protein Vpx. To enable novel gene therapy approaches targeting monocytes, in this thesis it was aimed to generate enhanced lentiviral vectors that meet the required standards for clinical applications with respect to gene transfer efficiency and safety. The vectors were tested for their suitability in a relevant therapeutic gene transfer approach. At first, it was investigated whether vectors derived from another Vpx-carrying lentivirus reveal the same capacity for monocyte transduction as SIVsmmPBj-derived vectors. A transduction experiment using HIV-2-derived vectors in comparison to PBj-derived vectors revealed a comparable transduction capacity, thus disproving the assumed uniqueness of the PBj vectors. The further generation and analysis of expression constructs for the vpx genes of HIV-2 and SIVmac demonstrated a similar functionality in monocyte transduction as the Vpx of PBj. As VpxPBj, both Vpx proteins facilitated monocyte transduction of a vpx-deficient PBj-derived vector system. For the generation of enhanced SIVsmmPBj and HIV-2 vector systems, only the transfer vectors were optimized, since the packaging vectors available already meet current standards. At first, several modifications were introduced into an available preliminary PBj-derived transfer vector by conventional cloning. The modifications included insertions of cPPT/CTS and WPRE as well as the deletions of the remaining pol sequence, the second exons of tat end rev, and the U3-region within the 3’LTR to generate a SIN vector. Thus, beside safety enhancement, the vector titers were also increased from 9.1x105 TU/ml achieved after concentration with the initial transfer vector up to 1.1x107 TU/ml with the final transfer vector. The PBj vector retained its capability of monocyte transduction when supplemented with Vpx. This conventional method of vector enhancement is time-consuming and may result in only sub-optimal vectors, since it depends on the presence of restriction sites which may not allow deletion of all needless sequences. Moreover, mutations may accumulate during the high number of cloning and amplification steps. Therefore, a new and easier method for lentiviral transfer vector generation was conceived. Three essential segments of the viral genome (5‘ LTR, RRE, ΔU3-3’ LTR) are amplified on the template of the lentiviral wild-type genome and fused by Fusion-PCR. Further necessary elements namely the cPPT/CTS-element, MCS, and PPT are included into the resulting vector by extension of the nucleotide primers used for the PCRs. The amplified and fused vector-scaffold can easily be integrated into a plasmid backbone, followed by insertion of the expression cassette of choice. By applying this approach, two novel lentiviral transfer vectors, based on the non-human SIVsmmPBj and the human HIV-2, were derived. Vector titers achieved for PBj and HIV-2 vectors supplemented with Vpx reached up to 4.0x108 TU/ml and 5.4x108 TU/ml, respectively. The capacity for monocyte transduction was maintained. Thus, safe and efficient, state of the art HIV-2- and PBj-derived vector systems are now available for future gene therapy strategies. Finally, the new vectors were used to set up an approach for gene correction of gp91phox-deficient monocytes for the treatment of X-linked chronic granulomatous disease (xCGD). The administration of autologous, gene-corrected monocytes to counteract systemic and acute infections could lead to a decreased infection load, dissolve granulomas and therefore improve the survival rate of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) which is the current treatment of choice for this disease. First, methods for analysis of gp91phox function were established. Next, they were employed to demonstrate the capacity of monocytes, obtained from healthy humans or mice, for phagocytosis, oxidative burst, and Staphylococcus aureus killing. The in vivo half-life of murine monocytes in the bloodstream and their distribution to specific tissues was determined. Lastly, HIV-1 vectors were used to transfer the gp91phox gene into monocytes from gp91phox-deficient mice. This resulted in the successful restoration of the oxidative burst ability in the cells. In summary, the general suitability of the new vectors for treatment of CGD by monocyte transduction was demonstrated. The results of the mouse experiments provide the foundation for future challenge experiments to evaluate the capability of gene-corrected monocytes to kill off microbes in vivo.
The title compound, C20H22O2, crystallizes with two independent molecules in the asymmetric unit. In each molecule, all the non-H atoms lie in a common plane (r.m.s. deviations of 0.098 and 0.079 Å). There is a [pi]-[pi] stacking interaction in the crystal structure. The central aromatic rings of the two molecules, which are stacked head-to-tail one above the other, are separated by centroid-to-centroid distances of 3.872 (13) and 3.999 (10) Å. Key indicators: single-crystal X-ray study; T = 173 K; mean σ(C–C) = 0.003 A° ; R factor = 0.044; wR factor = 0.101; data-to-parameter ratio = 14.6.
The title compound, C14H20O3, is a synthetic analogue with a long aliphatic side chain of the important food additive and flavoring agent, vanillin. There are two independent molecules in the asymmetric unit, each having an essentially planar conformation (r.m.s. deviations of 0.023 and 0.051Å for all non-H atoms of the two molecules in the asymmetric unit). Key indicators: single-crystal X-ray study; T = 173 K; mean σ(C–C) = 0.002 A°; R factor = 0.049; wR factor = 0.144; data-to-parameter ratio = 15.9.
The title compound, C16H14N4, features an aromatic ring with two 2,2´-dicyanopropyl residues in positions 1 and 3, which are located above and below the ring plane. The two residues differ in their conformation with respect to the aromatic ring: whereas one of the Cmethyl-C-Cmethylene-Caromatic torsion angles is gauche [68.93 (12)°], the other one is fully staggered [177.63 (9)°]. The crystal structure is stabilized by C-H...N hydrogen-bonding interactions. Key indicators: single-crystal X-ray study; T = 173 K; mean σ(C–C) = 0.002 Å; R factor = 0.037; wR factor = 0.101; data-to-parameter ratio = 15.0.
Adamantane-1-thioamide
(2009)
The title compound, C11H17NS, is an important intermediate for the synthesis of biologically active adamantlythiazolo-oxadiazoles. The adamantyl residue is disordered about a twofold rotation axis over two sites with site-occupation factors of 0.817 (3) and 0.183 (3). The crystal structure is stabilized by intermolecular N-H...S hydrogen-bonding interactions. Key indicators: single-crystal X-ray study; T = 173 K; mean &963;(C–C) = 0.002 Å; disorder in main residue; R factor = 0.038; wR factor = 0.103; data-to-parameter ratio = 12.3.
A solid-supported membrane (SSM) is an alkanethiol/lipid hybrid membrane with comparable lipid mobility, conductivity, and capacitance than a black lipid membrane (BLM). However, mechanical perturbations, which usually destroy a BLM, do not influence the life-time of a SSM, which is mechanically so stable that solutions may be rapidly exchanged at its surface. This key property has been utilized in this thesis to characterize electrophysiologically two bacterial secondary active transporters (MelB and LacY) as well as to investigate the specific interactions between ions and lipid membranes. These three different projects are summarized below: (1) The properties of lipid membranes, which represent the most important biological interface between intracellular and extracellular compartments, are essentially modulated by the ionic composition of the surrounding aqueous medium. To investigate specific interactions between ions and lipid membranes, solutions of different ionic composition were exchanged at the surface of a SSM through a flow system. This solution exchange resulted in charge translocations that were interpreted in terms of binding of the ions to the lipid headgroups at the SSM surface. We found that chaotropic anions and kosmotropic cations are attracted to the membrane independent of the membrane composition. In particular, the same behaviour was found for lipid headgroups bearing no charge like monoolein. This general trend is modulated by the electrostatic interaction of the ions with the lipid headgroup charge. Our experimental results are in agreement with recent molecular dynamic simulations of PC membranes. (2) Rapid solution exchange on a solid-supported membrane (SSM) is investigated using fluidic structures and a solid-supported membrane in a wall jet geometry. The flow was analyzed with a new technique based on specific ion interactions with the surface combined with an electrical measurement. The critical parameters affecting the time course of the solution exchange and the transfer function describing the time resolution of the SSM system were determined. The experimental data indicate that the solution transport follows a plug flow geometry while the rise of the surface concentration can be approximated by Hagen Poiseuille flow with ideal mixing at the surface of the SSM. Using an improved cuvette design a solution exchange as fast as 2 ms was achieved at the surface of a solid supported membrane. As an application of the technique the rate constant of a fast electrogenic reaction in the melibiose permease MelB, a bacterial (Escherichia coli) sugar transporter, is determined. For comparison, the kinetics of a conformational transition of the same transporter was measured using stopped-flow tryptophan fluorescence spectroscopy. The relaxation time constant obtained for the charge displacement agrees with that determined in the stopped-flow experiments. This supports the previous proposition that upon sugar binding MelB undergoes an electrogenic conformational transition with a rate constant of k ~ 250 s-1. (3) Electrogenic events due to activity of wild-type lactose permease from Escherichia coli (LacY) were investigated with proteoliposomes containing purified LacY adsorbed on a solid-supported membrane electrode. Downhill sugar/H+ symport into the proteoliposomes generates transient currents. Studies at different lipid to protein ratios and at different pH values, as well as inactivation by N-ethylmaleimide, show that the currents are due specifically to the activity of LacY. From analysis of the currents under different conditions and comparison with biochemical data, it is apparent that the predominant electrogenic event in downhill sugar/H+ symport is H+ release. In contrast, LacY mutants E325A and C154G, which bind ligand normally but are severely defective with respect to lactose/H+ symport, exhibit a minor electrogenic event upon addition of LacY-specific substrates, representing only 6% of the total charge displacement of the wild-type. This activity is due either to substrate binding per se or to a conformational transition following substrate binding. We propose that turnover of LacY involves at least two electrogenic reactions: (i) a minor reaction that occurs upon sugar binding and is due to a conformational transition in LacY; and (ii) a major reaction due to cytoplasmic release of H+ during downhill sugar/H+ symport, which is the limiting step for this mode of transport.
Introduction: Immune paralysis with massive T-cell apoptosis is a central pathogenic event during sepsis and correlates with septic patient mortality. Previous observations implied a crucial role of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) during T-cell apoptosis.
Methods: To elucidate mechanisms of PPARγ-induced T-cell depletion, we used an endotoxin model as well as the caecal ligation and puncture sepsis model to imitate septic conditions in wild-type versus conditional PPARγ knockout (KO) mice.
Results: PPARγ KO mice showed a marked survival advantage compared with control mice. Their T cells were substantially protected against sepsis-induced death and showed a significantly higher expression of the pro-survival factor IL-2. Since PPARγ is described to repress nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT) transactivation and concomitant IL-2 expression, we propose inhibition of NFAT as the underlying mechanism allowing T-cell apoptosis. Corroborating our hypothesis, we observed up-regulation of the pro-apoptotic protein BIM and downregulation of the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 in control mice, which are downstream effector proteins of IL-2 receptor signaling. Application of a neutralizing anti-IL-2 antibody reversed the pro-survival effect of PPARγ-deficient T cells and confirmed IL-2-dependent apoptosis during sepsis.
Conclusion: Apparently antagonizing PPARγ in T cells might improve their survival during sepsis, which concomitantly enhances defence mechanisms and possibly provokes an increased survival of septic patients.
Misregulated receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs), i.e. the epidermal growth factor receptor EGFR or the insulin-like growth factor receptor 1 (IGF-1R), can be involved in the development of cancer. Monoclonal antibodies specifically inhibit the RTKs in cancer therapy. The scope of this thesis is to investigate the molecular basis of the inhibition through the therapeutic antibodies matuzumab (EMD72000) against EGFR and EMD1159476 against IGF-1R. The 3D crystal structure of matuzumab in complex with the EGFR domain III shows an eptiope connected with a novel inhibition mechanism: a non-competitive, sterical inhibition of receptor acitivation. The anti-IGF-1R targeted monoclonal antibody EMD1159476 shows a reduced binding capacity to the receptor in the presence of ligand indicating a competitive inhibition mechanism. The epitope of EMD1159476 is within domain II of the receptor. The results of these molecular interaction studies are important for the clinical therapies with these monoclonal antibodies. The matuzumab-EGFR complex crystal structure shows that a simultaneous binding of matuzumab and cetuximab (Erbitux) is possible. The latter antibody is already in clinical use. A combination of several therapeutic antibodies in cancer treatment might show synergistic effects and benefits for the patients.
5-lipoxygenase (5-LO) is the key enzyme in the formation of inflammatory leukotrienes, which are mediators of inflammation and allergy. The 5-LO catalyses the oxidation of arachidonic acid to 5-HPETE and subsequently to LTA4. The leukotrienes are involved in the development and maintenance of inflammatory diseases, like asthma and allergic rhinitis. Additionally, 5-LO is overexpressed in some cancer types, although its relevance is still not fully understood. 5-LO expressing cells are B- lymphocytes and cells of myeloid origin like monocytes, macrophages and granulocytes. The 5-LO promoter lacks a TATA or CCAT box and covers two CpG islands. These are characteristics of a housekeeping gene, but as the 5-LO is not expressed ubiquitiously, the expression of the 5-LO is tightly regulated. Epigenetic mechanisms were known to be involved in the control of the 5-LO expression. The HDAC inhibitor TsA significantly induced the transcriptional activity of the 5-LO promoter in reporter gene assays as well as on 5-LO mRNA transcript level in MM6 cells. The GC-boxes GC4 and GC5 in the proximal 5-LO promoter were identified to be essential for the TsA effect, as deletion of these element led to an attenuated TsA effect in reporter gene assay. Recruitment of the transcription factors Sp1 and Sp3 and the RNA polymerase II to the 5-LO promoter was detectable after TsA treatment in MM6 cells by chromatin immunoprecipitation assays (ChIP), while the acetylation status of histone H4 remained unchanged. Likewise it is known that DNA methylation leads to silencing of 5-LO expression in-vitro and in-vivo. The 5-LO promoter is densely methylated in the cell line U937, but unmethylated in HL-60 cells and - elucidated in this study - also in MM6 cells. Reporter gene assays with in-vitro methylated 5-LO promoter containing plasmids revealed that the frequency of methylated CpGs is directly proportional to reduction of 5-LO promoter activity. Incubation of U937 cells with 5-AdC, an inhibitor of DNA methyltransferases, was able to reactivate 5-LO transcription and to demethylate CpG dinucleotides. In the first part of this study the mechanism of TsA induced promoter activation was further investigated. I elucidated the mechanism of Sp1 and Sp3 recruitment to the 5-LO promoter after TsA treatment. Immnoprecipitation assay was used to detect a transcription factor complex containing Sp1 or Sp3 interacting with HDAC proteins, which might change its composition after TsA treatment. Besides the posttranslational modifications of the transcription factors Sp1 and Sp3 after TsA treatment were investigated, potentially causing an increased interaction of the proteins with the 5-LO promoter. Both aspects and their response in HDAC inhibition have been described. TsA did not affect the composition of the Sp1/HDAC1/HDAC2 complex. Sp3 was not located in a complex with the HDAC enzymes. Acetylation of Sp1 and Sp3 was detectable, but no change occurred after TsA treatment. Since neither release of the transcription factors off a complex, nor alterations in posttranslational modifications of Sp1 and Sp3 are the reason for the increased Sp1 and Sp3 binding to the 5-LO promoter, I elucidated alterations in the chromatin structure. The acetylation status of the histone proteins H3 and H4, as well as the chromatin marks H3K4me3, representing active chromatin, and H3K9me, representative for repressive state, were investigated. Additionally, the time course of the TsA effect was determined on 5-LO mRNA level using real-time PCR. The acetylation status of the histone proteins on the 5-LO core promoter correlated with the basal 5-LO mRNA transcript expression in MM6, HL-60 and U937 cells. The highest 5-LO mRNA level was detectable in MM6 cells, followed by HL-60 cells. The lowest 5-LO mRNA level was detected in 5-LO promoter methylated U937 cells. The order of the basal 5-LO mRNA expression of the three cell lines correlates with the basal acetylation status of histone proteins H3 and H4. In MM6 cells the highest basal levels in acH3 and acH4 were detected, followed by HL-60 and U937 cells. Moreover, the data obtained in U937 cells revealed that the correlation between DNA methylation and histone hypoacetylation is alike on the 5-LO promoter. TsA treatment induced the 5-LO mRNA level in the three cell lines with different intensity: 5-LO mRNA level in MM6 cells was induced 11-fold, in HL-60 cells 6- fold and in U937 cells 4- fold. The histone acetylation and methylation levels on the 5-LO promoter after TsA incubation were investigated. No increase in acH3 and acH4, but in H3K4me3 was detectable in MM6 cells by ChIP assay. HL-60 cells showed an increase in acH3 and acH4 as well as in H3K4me3. H3K9me was only detectable in untreated U937 cells, but disappeared after TsA treatment, while acH3, acH4 and H3K4me3 increased constantly after TsA treatme nt. A strong correlation between the histone modifications and the time course of the mRNA expression was detectable in all three cell lines. The combination of the posttranslational modifications acH3, acH4 and H3K4me3 led to a fast effect in transcriptional activation and the maxima of acH3 and acH4 were usually associated with the maximum in 5-LO mRNA transcript level. An increase in H3K4me3 alone, as detected in MM6 cells, led to continuous increase in the 5-LO mRNA expression with a late maximum. Additionally, we detected a slight overall decrease in 5-LO promoter methylation in U937 cells after TsA treatment. This fact taken together with the observed histone modifications could explain the 4- fold response in 5-LO mRNA level to TsA treatment of the methylated cell line U937. Another aim of the present study was to identify the specific HDAC enzymes involved in the 5-LO promoter regulation. Reporter gene assays and real-time PCR with selective HDAC inhibitors revealed that HDACs of class I are involved in 5-LO promoter regulation, namely HDAC 1, 2 and 3. The influence of each of the enzymes seemed to depend on the cell type, as inhibition of HDACs 2, 3 strongly induced 5-LO promoter activity in reporter gene assay in HeLa cells, whereas in MM6 cells HDACs 1 and 2, 3 seemed to be responsible for the 5-LO promoter regulation, measured as 5-LO mRNA level. The HDACs of class IIa and class III are not involved in the regulation of 5-LO mRNA expression. The second part of this study investigated the influence of MBD proteins on the methylated 5-LO promoter and the 5-LO mRNA expression. ChIP assays revealed MBD1, 2 and MeCP2 protein binding to the proximal 5-LO promoter in U937 cells. MBD1 was detectable on the 5-LO promoter in unmethylated HL-60 cells, while no MBD protein was located on the 5-LO promoter in MM6 cells. To elucidate the functional role of the MBD proteins, stable knocked down of MBD proteins was established in U937 cells. 5-LO mRNA transcript level was determined in the knock down clones by real-time PCR. The 5-LO transcript level was increased in all knock down samples. MBD2 knock down clones showed the highest effect in activating 5-LO with a 3- and 4.4-fold increase in the 5-LO mRNA level, followed by MBD1 (3.5- fold) and MeCP2 (2.5-fold) knock down clones. A combined participation of these three enzymes in the corepression of the methylated 5-LO promoter is indicated. Taken together, the data reveal that epigenetic mechanisms are strongly involved in the regulation of 5-LO transcription and might function as a crucial control mechanism of 5-LO expression.
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a hematopoietic cell disorder characterized by a block in differentiation and increased proliferation and survival of malignant blasts. Expansion of the malignant cell clone effects the normal production of blood cells and – if left untreated – leads to death. Receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) play an important role in the pathogenesis of AML, as they are either often mutated or overexpressed. In normal hematopoiesis, RTK signal termination is tightly controlled, and involves ubiquitination, internalization, endocytosis and degradation. Cbl proteins are E3 ligases and have been shown to ubiquitinate several activated RTKs, including Flt3 and Kit, targeting them for degradation. Recently, several Cbl mutations have been identified: Cbl-R420Q was identified in an AML patient and Cbl-70Z was identified in a mouse lymphoma model. In this thesis work, the role of these Cbl mutants in Kit signaling and in a mouse transplantation model was studied. Cbl mutants (Cbl-R420Q, Cbl-70Z) have the ability to transform the myeloid 32D cell line in cooperation with Kit WT. Cbl mutants along with Kit promoted interleukin-3 (IL3)-independent proliferation and enhanced the cell survival of 32D cells. In contrast, expression of the Cbl mutants alone did not confer IL3-independent growth. Stem cell factor (SCF, the Kit ligand) dependent growth was enhanced in the presence of Cbl mutants and Cbl mutants promoted colonogenic growth in the presence of Kit. Furthermore, Cbl mutants inhibited the ubiquitination of the activated Kit receptor. In addition, Cbl mutants inhibited the endocytosis of the activated Kit receptor. Retroviral expression of Cbl mutants in transplanted bone marrow induced a generalized mastocytosis, a myeloproliferative disease and, in rare care cases, myeloid leukemia. Splenomegaly was observed in the presence of Cbl mutants. Furthermore, mast cells with variable range of infiltration were noticed in all the vital organs (spleen, liver, bone marrow, lung, kidney, heart) of Cbl (mutant) transplanted mice. Almost all recipients of bone marrow cells transduced with Cbl mutants developed a lethal hematologic disorder with a mean latency of 341 days in the Cbl-R420Q group and 395 days in the Cbl-70Z group. This is the first published report on a hematological disease with Cbl mutants in a mouse model. Co-immunoprecipitation studies indicated that Cbl-70Z binds to Kit, even in the absence of Kit ligand. Cbl-R420Q also bound to Kit in the absence of SCF, albeit to a lesser extent. Association of Cbl mutants to Kit was enhanced in the presence of SCF. Signaling studies demonstrated the constitutive activation of Akt and Erk in the presence of Cbl mutants and Kit. In addition, Cbl mutants enhanced the SCF-dependent Kit, Akt and Erk activation. Cbl-70Z, in association with kinase-dead Kit (Kit-KD) or kinase-dead Flt3 (Flt3-KD), conferred IL3-independent growth and survival to the myeloid 32D cell line. Cbl-R420Q provided only a slight growth advantage in the presence of Kit-KD. As demonstrated by pharmacological inhibition studies, Akt activation was necessary for the transformation mediated by Cbl-70Z and Kit-KD / Flt3-KD. Cbl mutants enhanced the Src family kinases (SFKs) activity. The pharmacological inhibition of SFK activity inhibited the proliferation and colonogenic growth. Interaction was found between Cbl-70Z, SFKs and Kit-KD. The SFK member Fyn was identified to bind to Cbl. In addition, kinase activity of SFKs was necessary for binding to Cbl, since SFKs inhibition by PP-2 abolished the binding between the complex-binding partners. Dasatinib and PP-2, both SFK inhibitors, inhibited the Cbl and Akt phosphorylation indicating that Fyn acts upstream of Akt. Inhibition of Kit with imatinib reduced the proliferation of cells overexpressing Kit WT and Cbl-70Z much stronger compared with cells expressing Kit-KD and Cbl-70Z, but much less than the dual KIT/SFK inhibitor dasatinib. This indicated that Kit kinase activity was required but not essential. The data presented in this thesis work implies that both RTK and SFK inhibition may have to be targeted, in order to effectively prevent transformation. In summary, the present thesis work indicates an important role of Cbl, Kit and SFKs in myeloid transformation and deregulated signal transduction.
There are two independent molecules in the asymmetric unit of the title compound, C19H24S2. In both molecules, the aliphatic segment of the ligand is in an all-trans conformation: the –S–(CH2)5–S–bridging chain is almost planar (r.m.s. deviation for all non-H atoms = 0.0393 and 0.0796 Å in the two molecules) and maximally extended. Their mean planes form dihedral angles of 4.08 (6)/20.47 (6) and 2.22 (6)/58.19 (6)° with the aromatic rings in the two molecules. The crystal packing is purely governed by weak intermolecular forces.
The various OPE mixtures were also tested on sSOI material which consists of a thin strained silicon layer on top of an insulator like silicon dioxide. The OPE A, B and F are able to reveal threading dislocations (TD) in the strained silicon film (chapter 5.11). The TD densities determined for the OPE A correspond very well with those obtained with the Secco diluted reference. The tested OPE mixtures are not able to delineate other crystal defects like stacking faults, pile ups or twins, which also appear in the strained silicon. Some Organic Peracid Etches were also tested on wafers with an epitaxial silicon layer and on silicon substrates. Epitaxially produced silicon layers are nearly defect-free. Etching times were chosen such that only a part of the epitaxial layer was removed. Nevertheless, after very long etching times (> 16 h) isolated pits were found, with defect densities ranging from 104/cm3 to 106/cm3 depending on the etching solution used. No etch pits were found in the remaining epitaxial layer when OPE F was used. Longer etching times appear to favour the formation of artefects. These artefacts could be caused by the formation of gas bubbles, particles or micro scratches at the crystal surface. The OPE C and D are able to reveal vacancy agglomerates (D-defects) in silicon substrates (see under 5.5, 5.6 and 5.11in chapter 5). Due to their low removal rates and the long etching times which favour the formation of artifacts, these solutions are less suited to the delineation of defects in silicon substrates. In the second part of this study the different etch formulations have been compared with each other in respect of their physical properties like removal rates, activation energies, standard potentials and selectivities (chapter 6). The selectivity was determined at etch pits caused by dislocations. The depth of the etch pits, determined by atomic force microscopy (AFM), should be dependent on the selectivity of the corresponding etching solution used. The higher the selectivity of the solution the deeper the etch pit should be. It was assumed that a low removal rate and a high activation energy for the etching process should correspond to a high selectivity. However, the experimental results have shown that it is not possible to predict the selectivity of an etching solution from experimental parameters like removal rate or activation energy. One must bear in mind that selectivity was only determined on one particular type of crystal defect, namely on dislocations. Values for selectivity in the etching solutions can differ for other defect types. Besides the etching solutions used in this study differ considerably from each other in respect of their chemical and physical roperties. They can be divided into three completely different etching systems. The original Secco solution and the diluted variations thereof are hydrofluoric acid-dichromate mixtures with the Cr6+ species as the oxidizing agent. The Jeita and MEMC solutions contain nitric acid, hydrofluoric acid and, as diluents, acetic acid and water. Here the oxidizing agents are various N(III) species which are formed autocatalytically during the etching process. The concentration of acetic acid also plays an important role as it lowers the degree of dissociation of HF and of HNO3. This has an influence on the pH and the standard potential of the etching solution. The Organic Peracid Etches are mixtures of hydrogen peroxide and a short-chain alkanoic acid like acetic acid. Such systems are strictly speaking not aqueous solutions, the reactive species is the peracid formed.Within each system, however, a certain relationship is perceived between the selectivity of the etching solution on the one hand, and the and the activation energy or the removal rate on the other. The decreased activation energy for the etching process of silicon at a dislocation can be calculated from experimental data by using the Arrhenius equation (chapter 6.3). It was found that the strain inside the crystal lattice caused by a dislocation loop leads to an increase of the potential energy of ~ 5 % and, hence, a decrease of the activation energy of ~ 5 % and an increase in the removal rate of ~ 100 %.
The title compound, C20H22O4S2, was synthesized by the reaction of 1,4-dibromobutene with methyl thiosalicylate. The aliphatic segment of this ligand is in an all-trans conformation. The bridging chain, –S-(CH2)4-S–, is almost planar (r.m.s. deviation for all non-H atoms: 0.056 Å) and its mean plane forms dihedral angles of 16.60 (7) and 5.80 (2)° with the aromatic rings. In the crystal, the molecules are linked by weak C—H ... O interactions into chains with graph-set notation C(14) along [0 0 1]. The crystal studied was a racemic twin, the ratio of the twin components being 0.27 (9):0.73 (9).
Ataxia represents a pathological coordination failure that often involves functional disturbances in cerebellar circuits. Purkinje cells (PCs) characterize the only output neurons of the cerebellar cortex and critically participate in regulating motor coordination. Although different genetic mutations are known that cause ataxia, little is known about the underlying cellular mechanisms. Here we show that a mutated axJ gene locus, encoding the ubiquitin-specific protease 14 (Usp14), negatively influences synaptic receptor turnover. AxJ mouse mutants, characterized by cerebellar ataxia, display both increased GABAA receptor (GABAAR) levels at PC surface membranes accompanied by enlarged IPSCs. Accordingly, we identify physical interaction of Usp14 and the GABAAR alpha 1 subunit. Although other currently unknown changes might be involved, our data show that ubiquitin-dependent GABAAR turnover at cerebellar synapses contributes to axJ-mediated behavioural impairment.
Enantioselective carbon-carbon bond-forming reactions, particularly, using organocatalysts represent one of the most important areas in modern synthetic chemistry. New concepts and methods in organocatalysis are emerging continuously, allowing more selective, economically more appealing and environmentally friendlier transformations. Chiral Brønsted-acid catalysts have recently emerged as a new class of organocatalysts for a number of enantioselective carbon-carbon bond-forming reactions. The first part of this thesis focused on the new development of new Brønsted acid-catalyzed enantioselective Nazarov cyclizations. The Nazarov reaction belongs to the group of electrocyclic reactions and is one of the most versatile methods for the synthesis of five-membered rings, which are the key structural elements of numerous natural products. In general, the Nazarov cyclization can be catalyzed by Brønsted or Lewis acids. However, only a few asymmetric variations have been described, of which most require the use of large amounts of chiral metal complexes. The reactivities of Nazarov cyclizations are also depending on the substituents of the divinyl ketone substrates as described in the first chapter. The substrates to study Brønsted acid-catalyzed enantioselective Nazarov cyclization were prepared following the known procedures. The dihydropyran was treated with tBuLi in THF at –78 oC and then the α,β-unsaturated aldehydes 1 were added to the reaction mixture to afford the corresponding alcohols 2 in moderate to good yields. The alcohols 2 were oxidized to divinyl ketones 3 employing Dess-Martin periodinane/pyridine (DMP/py) in CH2Cl2 at room temperature to obtain the divinyl ketones 3 in moderate to good yields (Scheme 1). Scheme 1. Preparation of substrates in order to study Brønsted acid-catalyzed enantioselective Nazarov cyclization and subsequent transformations. At the starting point, an evaluation of suitable Brønsted acid catalysts for the enantioselective Nazarov cyclization of divinyl ketone 3a was performed. The initial reactions conducted with various BINOL-phosphoric acids 4a-4e in toluene at 60 oC provided the mixture of cis and trans cyclopentenones 5a with enantioselectivities of up to 82% ee (Table 1, entries 1-5). Eventually, improved reactivity could be achieved by using the corresponding N-triflylphosphoramides 4f and 4g, which even at 0 oC gave complete conversion after ten minutes. Additionally, it was shown that the use of these catalysts significantly enhanced both the diastereoselectivity (cis/trans ratio up to 7:1) and the enantioselectivity (up to 96% ee; Table 1, entries 6 and 7). Table 1. Evaluation of Brønsted acids 4a-4g in the enantioselective Nazarov cyclization. The scope of the Brønsted acid-catalyzed enantioselective Nazarov cyclization of various divinyl ketones 3 was explored under an optimized reaction condition (Scheme 2). Treatment of divinyl ketones 3 in CHCl3 in the presence of 2 mol% chiral BINOL-Ntriflylphosphoramide 4g at 0 oC for 1-6 h provided the corresponding cyclopentenone 5 in good yields (45-92%) with excellent enantioselectivities (up to 93% ee) (Scheme 2). Furthermore, the isomerization of cis-cyclopentenone under basic condition led to the corresponding trans-cyclopentenone without loss of enantiomeric purity. This efficient method introduced here was not only the first example of an organocatalytic electrocyclic reaction but also represented the first enantioselective activation of a carbonyl group catalyzed by a chiral BINOL phosphoric acid. Compared to the metal-catalyzed reaction, special features of this new Brønsted acid-catalyzed electrocyclization are the lower catalyst loadings (2 mol%), higher enantioselectivities, accessibility to all possible stereoisomers, as well as the mild conditions. ....
This thesis demonstrates the advancement of PELDOR spectroscopy beyond its original design of distance measurements in order to disentangle a maximum amount of information additionally encoded in the PELDOR data. In particular, the successful synthesis of novel polynitroxide radicals is described as well as the extraction of the relative orientation of spin labels, conformational flexibility and the separation of dipolar and exchange coupling via orientation selective PELDOR measurements in combination with PESIM based simulations. Moreover, the method of PELDOR "Spin Counting" was experimentally validated.
In the title compound, C30H34N2O6, the complete molecule is generated by a crystallographic 2/m symmetry operation. The 1-oxyl-3-pyrroline-3-carboxylate group lies on a mirror plane. The dihedral angle between the ring planes of the biphenyl fragment is constrained by symmetry to be zero, resulting in rather short intramolecular H...H contact distances of 2.02 Å. In the crystal, molecules are connected along the a-axis direction by very weak intermolecular methyl-phenyl C-H...[pi] interactions. The C-H bond is not directed to the center of the benzene ring, but mainly to one C atom [C-H...C(x - 1, y, z): H...C = 2.91 Å and C-H...C = 143°]. Key indicators: single-crystal X-ray study; T = 169 K; mean σC–C) = 0.002 Å ; R factor = 0.049; wR factor = 0.126; data-to-parameter ratio = 19.8.
In the production of integrated circuits (ICs), photolithography plays a key role in wafer structuring. The basic principle of photolithography is the selective processing of areas (etching, implantation, metallisation etc.) while the others are covered and therefore protected by the resist. After each process step the resist, now modified, has to be removed. In the history of semiconductor manufacturing this has been accomplished with a mixture of H2SO4 and H2O2, H2SO4 and O3 or a plasma etch. As the structure sizes decreased they reached a stage where they had to be exposed to light of shorter wavelengths for the photolithography, going from i-line (365 nm) to DUV (248 nm and 193 nm). This change in wavelength now requires new resists and therewith new stripping methods. Beside the changes in the resist the finer structures are also more sensitive to damages caused by the resist strip. Along with this the demand for cost reduction and environment-friendliness poses a big challenge for modern resist stripping. In this study ozone in deionised water (DI/O3) was the basic chemistry investigated as it is cost efficient in production and disposal as well as environment friendly. Furthermore it is a chemistry known to cause no damage to the wafers. DI/O3 has been successfully applied to strip i-line resists. The challenge now is to find ways and means to make DI/O3 strip even highly implanted DUV resists which currently can only be removed by a plasma etch. To achieve this a detailed understanding of the behaviour of ozone in DI water and the influence of factors both chemical and physical on the stripping efficiency at the different stages in the process is necessary. Along with this, methods which enable the elucidation of resist structures and the changes they undergo during the process of photolithography as well as during the ozone strip have to be developed. This will enable us to understand the mechanisms involved and hence, ideally, develop ozone-based stripping solutions customized for each resist and process step. For this purpose the ozone decomposition in DI water with and without additives was studied via UV-Vis spectroscopy. Radicals generated within the ozone decomposition were trapped and quantified, the resists were studied directly on the wafer with IR and Raman spectroscopy and stripped with DI/O3-mixtures and different setups to find optimum conditions for a complete and damage free resist strip. UV-Vis spectroscopy at 260 nm was used to study ozone decomposition and the factors, both chemical and physical, which influence it. These factors are pH, different additives at the same pH, temperature and mixing of the solution. For the radical determination trapping reactions with MeOH and DMSO both forming CH2O which is further converted to DDL as the detectable species were compared with a variation of the classical iodometric titration acting as an absolute method without the need of calibration. IR spectroscopy proved to be a suitable method for the structural characterisation of the resists and the tracking of the changes undergone during the various processing steps as well as the ozone based stripping. For the stripping with DI/O3 IR spectroscopy delivered well-defined spectra. These displayed significant peak changes which support the assumption of classical ozonolysis as the decomposition mechanism for the unimplanted resist. For the study of the resist crust originating from ion implantation IR was fundamentally unsuitable and was replaced by Raman spectroscopy and microscopy. Raman spectra showed the crust to be of a highly carbon containing structure. Regrettably, the peak assignable to the crust was too broad for the exact composition of the crust to be determined. The wavelength region of the peak corresponds to that of peaks of glassy carbon and highly ordered and conventional graphite. Such a broad peak suggests that the structure of the crust is not uniform but contains more than one carbon modification. As the purpose of all these studies is to enable or improve DI/O3 based resist stripping on unimplanted as well as high-dose implanted resists the removal efficiency of DI/O3 spiked with different additives that alter the pH was studied. For these unimplanted resists the maximum efficiency could be achieved at pH = 5 – 7. Lowering or increasing the pH beyond this range gave poor results. The stripping of highly implanted resists could be achieved only at harsh conditions with a high pH-level of 12 - 13 with a narrow process window showing no stripping at lower pHs and severe damages at higher levels. The principle application of DI/O3 stripping chemistry could be proved but the currently required process time unfortunatelly is too long for commercial application and needs further optimisation.
Based on the commonly used and well-established state-of-the-art DNA sequencing method, i. e. Sanger sequencing, the major target of future research is to develop a fast, cost-effective and gelelectrophoresis-free sequencing method. The aim of the new sequencing technologies is to detect DNA mutations faster and more accurate in order to develop individual therapies for patients (personalized medicine). For this purpose, a lot of novel sequencing techniques like pyrosequencing, mass-spectrometry-assisted sequencing, sequencing by hybridization etc. have been put into practice and already led to commercialized sequencers. The sequencing technology we were mostly interested in is the so-called sequencing-by-synthesis method (SBS). This PhD thesis covers the synthesis of modified nucleosides – the so-called reversible terminators – and their evaluation as reversible terminators. These 3′-modified and dye-labeled nucleotides are incorporated by the polymerase into the DNA-template, then the DNA-synthesis is stopped. After detection of the fluorescent signal, the reversible terminator has to be cleavable in a way (i. e. the polymerase-blocking modification) that the DNA-synthesis can continue. As a result of the polymerase-acceptance tests that have been carried out with the two triphosphates cyanoethoxymethyl(CEM)-dTTP and cyanoethyl(CE)-dTTP as substrates it became clear that the latter one was better incorporated than the first one. Based on this knowledge all four key compounds for the whole reversible terminators possessing the cyanoethyl (CE) group where synthesized within this PhD thesis. Additionally to the synthesis of the modified key compounds, the cleavability of the cyanoethyl function had to be evaluated which is an essential requirement of a reversible terminator for SBS. For addressing this issue, three different CE- and CEM modified monophosphates were created. For each of these three monophosphates an individual synthetic strategy has been developed within this PhD work, each of these strategies and subsequent phosphorylation led to the desired modification. These previously unknown model compounds mimicking the solubility of short oligonucleotides were employed the for qualitative cleavage experiments after their purification and spectroscopical characterization. With these three monophosphates suitable cleavage conditions for a quantitative removal of the CE and the CEM group were examined. In case of the CE function we selectively improved the cleavage conditions while varying the solvent, the reaction temperature as well as the amount of cleaving agent used, in order to make the conditions applicable for an SBS experiment. Due to the fact that the CE function was the most important modification for our SBS experiment, we could even optimize the cleavage efficiency by employing co-solvents like DMSO or DMF. An additional cleavage experiment was carried out by using a short CE-modified oligomer which led to further results that were comparable to the ones obtained from the cleavage experiments of the monomers. One big difference is the required amount of TBAF as cleaving agent for the quantitative removal of the CE-modification from the oligomer. In this case, 7500 equivalents of TBAF are needed for complete CE cleavage at 45 °C compared to the amount of 40 to 80 equivalents TBAF for the monomer (monophosphate). As a conclusion of this result we assume that the amount of cleaving agent and the solubility of the oligomer plays an important role in the CE cleavage efficiency. This assumption was already supported by Saneyoshi et al. who demonstrated for CE-modified RNA oligonucleotides that the CE-cleavage rate is strongly lowered with the increasing of the oligomer length. Thus we could demonstrate that the CE function is quantitatively removable from an oligomer without destroying it. With these results in hands we could prove that the CEM and the CE group are quantitatively cleavable and therefore applicable as blocking groups for reversible terminators. The conditions for the CE cleavage are used for the ArraySBS-“proof-of-principle” which is currently under investigation.
The six-membered ring of the title compound, C11H16NO, has a distorted envelope conformation. The piperidine N atom deviates by 0.128 (1) Å from the plane through its three neighbouring atoms. In the crystal structure, molecules are connected by intermolecular Cethynyl-H...O contacts to form chains extending in the [10\overline{1}] direction. Key indicators: single-crystal X-ray study; T = 167 K; mean σ(C–C) = 0.001 Å ; R factor = 0.040; wR factor = 0.112; data-to-parameter ratio = 27.3.
The five-membered ring of the title compound, C10H14NO, is almost planar [mean deviation from best plane = 0.006 (1) Å]. The N-O bond is in the plane of the five-membered ring. The molecule is positioned about a pseudo-mirror plane at y = 0.375. In the crystal, molecules are connected by intermolecular C-H...O contacts into layers parallel to (010). Key indicators: single-crystal X-ray study; T = 167 K; mean σ(C–C) = 0.002 Å; R factor = 0.062; wR factor = 0.157; data-to-parameter ratio = 27.3.
Na+/H+ antiporters are ubiquitous membrane proteins involved in ion homeostasis and pH sensing. The amino acid sequence of one such antiporter, MjNhaP1, from Methanococcus jannaschii, shows a significant homology to eukaryotic sodium proton exchangers like NHE1 from Homo sapiens and SOS1 of Arabidopsis thaliana than to the well-characterized Escherichia coli NhaA or NhaB. MjNhaP1 shows activity at acidic pH unlike NhaA, which is active at basic pH. 13 transmembrane helices have been predicted to be present in NhaP1. A projection map, calculated by Cryo-EM of 2D crystals of MjNhaP1 grown at pH 4, showed it to be a dimer containing elongated densities in the centre of the dimer and a cluster of density peaks on either side of the dimer core (Vinothkumar et al., 2005). Incubation of 2D crystals at pH 8 on the EM grid resulted in well-defined conformational changes, clearly evident in a difference map as a major change in density distribution within the helix bundle (Vinothkumar et al., 2005). The aim of this dissertation is to understand the working mechanism of MjNhaP1 by determining its three-dimensional structure. The aim was initially approached by structure determination by X-ray crystallography. The limitation for this method was the low expression yield, which was 0.5–0.7mg/ml (Vinothkumar et al., 2005). After various optimization trials, the expression yield of the recombinant protein could be elevated to 2-2.5mg of pure protein per litre of culture by the method of autoinduction (Studier et al., 2005). To obtain well diffracting 3D crystals, purification conditions (Vinothkumar et al., 2005) were modified. 3D crystals were obtained under various conditions, which has so far not diffracted X-Ray beyond 8Å. Parallely, optimization of parameters (Vinothkumar et al., 2005) for 2D crystals formation was carried out. A combination of 1% DDM used for lipid solubilization, and 1% OG in the buffer of the purified protein produced 1-2 μm wide tubular 2D crystals of NhaP1. This batch of crystal proved to be the optimal for data collection at higher tilt angle with the electron microscope. A 3D map showed p22121 symmetry and revealed a tight dimer with an oval shape. The region in the central part of the dimer is composed of several tilted helices forming an interface between both monomers. On either side of the dimer interface, a group of six tightly packed helices form a bundle. This bundle contains three straight helices in the centre of the monomer and three helices in the periphery. Comparison of the structures of E.coli NhaA and M. jannaschii NhaP1 show substantial differences in length and slope of corresponding helices between both antiporters. A 3D model of NhaP1 based on the 3D map revealed 13 helices, which has been named as A-M to distinguish it from the NhaA helices. Overlaying the X-ray structure onto the 3D map revealed that the disrupted helices IV and XI of NhaA superimpose two central helices at similar position in the 3D map of NhaP1. The disrupted helices IV and XI in the X-ray structure of NhaA have been proposed as the putative ion-binding and translocation site (Hunte C et al, 2005; Arkin IT et al, 2007; Screpanti & Hunte (2007). This motif appears to be present also in NhaP1, as suggested by the close fit of NhaA helices IV and XI on the putative helices E and L of the NhaP1 model. These two putative helices E and L in NhaP1 contain the highly conserved TDP and GPRVVP motif, which are crucial for antiporter activity (Hellmer et al., 2002, Hellmer et al., 2003). In the overlay, helix V of NhaA containing the two essential, conserved aspartates D163 and D164 fits the density of the putative helix F of NhaP1, which contains the conserved motif FNDP. The homologous D161 in the FNDP motif of NhaP1 is essential for transport activity as show by mutagenesis (Hellmer at al., 2003). Significant differences are visible in the region of the dimer interface of the 3D map of NhaP1 occupied by helices VI, VII, and VIII in NhaA. This region shows an extra helical density (A) in the 3D map of NhaP1. By alignment of MjNhaP1 sequence with the amino acid sequences of several Na+/H+ exchangers, it was evident that the additional helix (A) is located in the N terminus of NhaP1. In our sequence alignment, a putative hydrophobic segment corresponding to this additional helix A is present in other archaeal and eukaryotic antiporters but not in any of the bacterial ones. The N-terminus of the human Na+/H+ exchanger NHE1 has been predicted to contain a highly hydrophobic signal peptide. This indicates the probability of the N-terminal helix A of NhaP1 to be an uncleaved signal peptide. Besides being a signal sequence targeting NhaP1 to the membrane, the map suggests that this helix might be involved in the formation of dimer contacts between both monomers. A gene duplication event is evident in the 3D map of NhaP1, as not only the helices D, E, F and K, L, M are related by an inverted repeat but also the helices B, C and I, J are related. We present here the three-dimensional architecture of a Na+/H+ antiporter from archaea. The presence of the 13th helix suggests the location of the N-terminus to be located in the cytosol and the C-terminus in the periplasm. This would orient NhaP1 in an inverted manner in the membrane in comparison to NhaA. Further structural information at higher resolution and biochemical and biophysical investigations are required to confirm the topology.
1. Fab co-complexes of proton pumping NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase (complex I) Fab fragments suitable for co-crystallization with complex I were generated using an immobilized papainbased protocol. The binding of the antibody fragments to complex I was verified using Surface Plasmon Resonance and size exclusion chromatography. The binding constants of the antibodies and their respective Fab fragments were found to be in the nanomolar range. This work presents the first report on successful crystallization of complex I (proton pumping NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase) from Yarrowia lipolytica with proteolytic Fab fragments. The quality of the crystals was significantly improved when compared to the initial experiments and the best crystals diffracted X-rays to a resolution of ~7 Å. The activity of complex I remained uninfluenced by antibody fragment binding. The initial diffraction data suggest that the complex I/Fab co-complex crystals represent a space group different to the one observed for the native protein. Ongoing experiments are aimed at further enhancements of the diffraction quality of the crystals. Providing a different space group the CI/Fab co-complexes may become a very useful approach for structure determination of the enzyme. Moreover, the bound Fab offers an additional possibility to generate phase information. The antibody-mediated crystallization represents a valuable tool in structural characterization of the NADH:oxidoreductase subcomplexes or even single subunits. 2. UDP-glucose pyrophosphorylase UDP-glucose pyrophosphorylase from Yarrowia lipolytica displays affinity towards Ni2+ NTA and was first detected in a contaminated sample of complex I. Following, separation from complex I, Ugp1p was purified using anion exchange chromatography. Sequence similarity studies revealed high identity to other known pyrophosphorylases. As indicated by laser-based mass spectrometry method (LILBID) Ugp1p from Y. lipolytica builds octamers similarly to the enzyme from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The initial crystals grew as thin needles favorably in sitting drop setups. The size of the crystals was increased by employment of a micro batch technique. The improved crystals diffracted X-rays to a resolution of 3.2 Å at the synchrotron beamline. Structural characterization is under way using a molecular replacement approach based on the published structure of baker’s yeast UGPase.
P2X receptors represent the third superfamily of ligand gated ion channels with ATP as their natural ligand. Most of the mammalian P2X receptors are non-selective cation channels, which upon activation, mediate membrane depolarization and have physiological roles ranging from fast excitatory synaptic transmission, modulation of pain-sensation, LTP to apoptosis etc. In spite of them being an attractive drug target, their potential as a drug target is limited by the lack of basic understanding of the structure-function relationship of these receptors. In my thesis, I have investigated the behavior of homomeric P2X receptor subunits with the help of photolabeling and fluorescence techniques coupled to electrophysiological measurements using Xenopus laevis oocytes heterologous expression system. Concurrent photolabeling by BzATP and current recordings from the same set of receptors in real time has revealed that the gating process in homomeric P2X receptors is contributed individually by each subunit in an additive manner. Our study for the first time describes the agonist potency of Alexa-ATP (a fluorescent ATP analog) on P2X1 receptors. The use of Alexa-ATP in our experiments elucidated that receptor subunits are not independent but interacting with each other in a cooperative manner. The type of cooperativity, however, depended on the type and concentrations of allosteric/competing ligands. Based on our results, in my thesis we propose an allosteric model for ligand-receptor interactions in P2X receptors. When simulated, the model could replicate our experimental findings thus, further validating our model. Further, correlation between occupancy of P2X1 receptors (determined using binding curve for Alexa-ATP) with the steady-state desensitization suggests that binding of three agonist molecules per receptor are required to desensitize P2X1 receptors. We further extended the approach of fluorescence with electrophysiological measurement to assign the role for different domains in P2X1 receptors with the help of environmental sensitive, cysteine reactive fluorophore (TMRM). Cysteine rich domain-1 of P2X1 receptors (C117-C165) was found to be involved in structural rearrangements after agonist and antagonist binding. In contrast to the present understanding, that the binding of an antagonist cannot induce desensitization in P2X1 receptors and the receptors need to open first before undergoing desensitization, we propose based on our results that a competitive antagonist can also induce desensitization in P2X1 receptors by bypassing the open state. We have attempted to answer few intriguing questions in the field of P2X receptor research and we think that our answers provide many avenues to the basic understanding of functioning of P2X receptors.
Lentiviral vectors mediate gene transfer into dividing and most non-dividing cells. Thereby, they stably integrate the transgene into the host cell genome. For this reason, lentiviral vectors are a promising tool for gene therapy. However, safety and efficiency of lentiviral mediated gene transfer still needs to be optimised. Ideally, cell entry should be restricted to the cell population relevant for a particular therapeutic application. Furthermore, lentiviral vectors able to transduce quiescent lymphocytes are desirable. Although many approaches were followed to engineer retroviral envelope proteins, an effective and universally applicable system for retargeting of lentiviral cell entry is still not available. Just before the experimental work of this thesis was started, retargeting of measles virus (MV) cell entry was achieved. This virus has two types of envelope glycoproteins, the hemagglutinin (H) protein responsible for receptor recognition and the fusion (F) protein mediating membrane fusion. For retargeting, the H protein was mutated in its interaction sites for the native MV receptors and a ligand or a single-chain antibody (scAb) was fused to its ectodomain. It was hypothesised that the retargeting system of MV can be transferred to lentiviral vectors by pseudotyping human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) derived vector particles with the MV glycoproteins. As the unmodified MV glycoproteins did not pseudotype HIV vectors, two F and 15 H protein variants carrying stepwise truncations or amino acid (aa) exchanges in their cytoplasmic tails were screened for their ability to form MV-HIV pseudotypes. The combinations Hcd18/Fcd30, Hcd19/Fcd30 and Hcd24+4A/Fcd30 led to most efficient pseudotype formation with titers above 10exp6 transducing units /ml, using concentrated particles. The F cytoplasmic tail was truncated by 30 aa and the H cytoplasmic tail was truncated by 18, 19 or 24 residues with four added alanines after the start methionine in the latter case. Western blot analysis indicated that particle incorporation of the MV glycoproteins was enhanced upon truncation of their cytoplasmic tails. With the MV-HIV vectors high titers on different cell lines expressing one or both MV receptors were obtained, whereas MV receptor-negative cells remained untransduced. Titers were enhanced using an optimal H to F plasmid ratio (1:7) during vector particle production. Based on the described pseudotyping with the MV glycoprotein variants, HIV vectors retargeted to the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) or the B cell surface marker CD20 were generated. For the production of the retargeted vectors MVaEGFR-HIV and MVaCD20-HIV, Fcd30 together with a native receptor blind Hcd18 protein, displaying at its ectodomain either the ligand EGF or a scAb directed against CD20 were used. With these vectors, gene transfer into target receptor-positive cells was several orders of magnitude more efficient than into control cells. The almost complete absence of background transduction of non-target cells was e.g. demonstrated in mixed cell populations, where the CD20-targeting vector selectively eliminated CD20-positive cells upon suicide gene transfer. Remarkably, transduction of activated primary human CD20-positive B cells was much more efficient with the MVaCD20-HIV vector than with the standard pseudotype vector VSV-G-HIV. Even more surprisingly, MVaCD20-HIV vectors were able to transduce quiescent primary human B cells, which until then had been resistant towards lentiviral gene transfer. The most critical step during the production of MV-HIV pseudotypes was the identification of H cytoplasmic tail mutants that allowed pseudotyping while retaining the fusion helper function. In contrast to previously inefficient targeting strategies, the reason for the success of this novel targeting system must be based on the separation of the receptor recognition and fusion functions onto two different proteins. Furthermore, with the CD20-targeting vector transduction of quiescent B cells was demonstrated for the first time. Own data and literature data suggest that CD20 binding and hyper-cross-linking by the vector particles results in calcium influx and thus activation of quiescent B cells. Alternatively this feature may be based on a residual binding activity of the MV glycoproteins to the native MV receptors that is insufficient for entry but induces cytoskeleton rearrangements dissolving the post-entry block of HIV vectors. Hence, in this thesis efficient retargeting of lentiviral vectors and transduction of quiescent cells was combined. This novel targeting strategy should be easily adaptable to many other target molecules by extending the modified MV H protein with appropriate specific domains or scAbs. It should now be possible to tailor lentiviral vectors for highly selective gene transfer into any desired target cell population with an unprecedented degree of efficiency.
Large amplitude intramolecular motions in non-rigid molecules are a fundamental issue in chemistry and biology. The conventional approaches for study these motions by far-infrared and microwave spectroscopy are not applicable when the molecule is non-polar. Therefore, in the current thesis an alternative approach for the investigation of large amplitude intramolecular motions was developed and tested. This new method is based on femtosecond rotational degenerate four-wave mixing spectroscopy (fs DFWM), which is a particular implementation of rotational coherence spectroscopy. The method was successfully applied for the investigation of pseudorotation in pyrrolidine and the ring-puckering vibration in cyclopentene. Another important subject is the photophysics of molecules and molecular clusters which have an ultrashort lifetime of their electronically excited state (photoreactivity). These ultrashort lifetimes often represent a protective mechanism causing photostability. The photoreactivity is usually the manifestation either of an “elementary” reaction, such as proton or electron transfer, which occurs in the excited state or of a fast non-radiative deactivation processes, such as internal conversion via conical intersection of the electronically excited and ground state. Due to a short-lived excited state, the conventional vibrational spectroscopic methods, such as IR depletion detected by resonance two-photon ionization spectroscopy (IR/R2PI), are not applicable for the structural investigation of these systems. Therefore, new approach, termed IR depletion detected by multiphoton ionization with femtosecond laser pulses (IR/fsMPI), was developed for studying the structure of photoreactive microsolvated molecules. The IR/fsMPI technique was applied for investigating the clusters of 1H-pyrrolo[3,2-h]quinoline with water/methanol as well as adenine- and 9-methyl-adenine-hydrates. In addition, the excited state dynamics of bifunctional azaaromatic molecule 7-(2'-pyridyl)indole (7PyIn) was studied by femtosecond pump-probe resonance excitation multiphoton ionization technique (fs REMPI). Under electronic excitation of this molecule a fast proton transfer (phototautomerization) takes place, which is followed by radiationless excited state deactivation process. The fs REMPI spectra lead to the conclusion that the phototautomerization in 7PyIn is coupled with a twisting of the molecule, and that the twisting provides an efficient channel for ultrafast radiationless excited state deactivation. This pattern of excited-state tautomerization/deactivation might be quite general.
By adopting a variety of shapes, proteins can perform a wide number of functions in the cell, from being structural elements or enabling communication with the environment to performing complex enzymatic reactions needed to sustain metabolism. The number of proteins in the cell is limited by the number of genes encoding them. However, several mechanisms exist to increase the overall number of protein functions. One of them are post-translational modifications, i.e. covalent attachment of various molecules onto proteins. Ubiquitin was the first protein to be found to modify other proteins, and, faithful to its evocative name, it is involved in nearly all the activities of a cell. Ubiquitylation of proteins was believed for a long time only to be responsible for proteasomal degradation of modified proteins. However, with the discovery of various types of ubiquitylation, such as mono-, multiple- or poly-ubiquitylation, new functions of this post-translational modification emerged. Mono-ubiquitylation has been implicated in endocytosis, chromatin remodelling and DNA repair, while poly-ubiquitylation influences the half-life of proteins or modulates signal transduction pathways. DNA damage repair and tolerance are example of pathways extensively regulated by ubiquitylation. PCNA, a protein involved in nearly all types of DNA transaction, can undergo both mono- and poly-ubiquitylation. These modifications are believed to change the spectrum of proteins that interact with PCNA. Monoubiquitylation of PCNA is induced by stalling of replication forks when replicative polymerases (pols) encounter an obstacle, such as DNA damage or tight DNA-protein complexes. It is believed that monoubiquitylation of PCNA stimulates the exchange between replicative pols to one of polymerases that can synthesize DNA across various lesions, a mechanism of damage tolerance known as translesion synthesis (TLS). Our work has helped to understand why monoubiqutylation of PCNA favours this polymerase switch. We have identified two novel domains with the ability to bind Ub non-covalently. These domains are present in all the members of Y polymerases performing TLS, and were named Ub-binding zinc finger (UBZ) (in polη and polκ) and Ub-binding motif (UBM) (in polι and Rev1). We have shown that these domains enable Y polymerases to preferentially gain access to PCNA upon stalling of replication, when the action of translesion polymerases is required. While the region of direct interaction between Y pols and PCNA had been known (BRCT domain in Rev1 and PIP box motif (PIP) in three others members), we propose that Ub-binding domains (UBDs) in translesion Y pols enhance the PIP- or BRCT-domain-mediated interaction between these polymerases and PCNA by binding to the Ub moiety attached onto PCNA. Following these initial studies, we have also discovered that Y polymerases themselves undergo monoubiquitylation and that their UBDs mediate this modification. This auto-ubiquitylation is believed to lead to an intramolecular interaction between UBD and Ub attached in cis onto the UBD-containing protein. We have mapped monoubiquitylation sites in polη in the C-terminal portion of the protein containing the nuclear localization signal (NLS) and the PIP box. Beside PIP, the NLS motif is also involved in direct interaction of polη with PCNA. Based on these findings, we propose that monoubiquitylation of either NLS or PIP masks them from potential interaction with PCNA. Lastly, using several functional assays, we have demonstrated the importance of all these three motifs in the C-terminus of polη (UBZ, NLS and PIP) for efficient TLS. We have also constructed a mimic of monoubiquitylated polη by genetically fusing polη with Ub. Interestingly, this chimera is deficient in TLS as compared to the wild-type protein. Altogether, these studies demonstrate that the C-terminus of polη constitutes a regulatory module involved in multiple-site interaction with monoubiquitylated PCNA, and that monoubiquitylation of this region inhibits the interaction between polη and PCNA. Our work has also revealed that the UBDs of Y pols as well as of other proteins implicated in DNA damage repair and tolerance, such as the Werner helicase-interacting protein 1 (Wrnip1), are required for their proper sub-nuclear localization. All these proteins localize to discrete focal structures inside the nucleus and mutation of their UBDs results in inability to accumulate in these foci. Interestingly, by exchanging UBDs between different proteins we have learned that each UBD seems to have a distinct functional role, surprisingly not limited to Ubbinding ability. In fact, swapping the UBZ of Wrnip1 with the UBM of polι abolished the localization of Wrnip1 to foci despite preserving the Ub-binding ability of the chimeric protein. In summary, this work provides an overview of how post-translation modification of proteins by Ub can regulate several DNA transactions. Firstly, key regulators (e.g. PCNA) can be differentially modified by Ub. Secondly, specialized UBDs (e.g. UBM, UBZ) embedded only in a subset of proteins act as modules able to recognize these modifications. Thirdly, by means of mediating auto-ubiquitylation, UBDs can modulate the behaviour of host proteins by allowing for either in cis or in trans Ub-UBD interactions.
High-resolution NMR structure of an RNA model system : the 14-mer cUUCGg tetraloop hairpin RNA
(2009)
We present a high-resolution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) solution structure of a 14-mer RNA hairpin capped by cUUCGg tetraloop. This short and very stable RNA presents an important model system for the study of RNA structure and dynamics using NMR spectroscopy, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and RNA force-field development. The extraordinary high precision of the structure (root mean square deviation of 0.3 Å) could be achieved by measuring and incorporating all currently accessible NMR parameters, including distances derived from nuclear Overhauser effect (NOE) intensities, torsion-angle dependent homonuclear and heteronuclear scalar coupling constants, projection-angle-dependent cross-correlated relaxation rates and residual dipolar couplings. The structure calculations were performed with the program CNS using the ARIA setup and protocols. The structure quality was further improved by a final refinement in explicit water using OPLS force field parameters for non-bonded interactions and charges. In addition, the 2'-hydroxyl groups have been assigned and their conformation has been analyzed based on NOE contacts. The structure currently defines a benchmark for the precision and accuracy amenable to RNA structure determination by NMR spectroscopy. Here, we discuss the impact of various NMR restraints on structure quality and discuss in detail the dynamics of this system as previously determined.
Photo-initiated processes, like photo-excitation and -deexcitation, internal conversion, excitation energy transfer and electron transfer, are of importance in many areas of physics, chemistry and biology. For the understanding of such processes, detailed knowledge of excitation energies, potential energy surfaces and excited state properties of the involved molecules is an essential prerequisite. To obtain these informations, quantum chemical calculations are required. Several quantum chemical methods exist which allow for the calculation of excited states. Most of these methods are computationally costly what makes them only applicable to small molecules. However, many biological systems where photo-processes are of interest like light-harvesting complexes in photosynthesis or the reception of light in the human eye by rhodopsin are quite large. For large systems, however, only few theoretical methods remain applicable. The currently most widely used method is time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT), which can treat systems of up to 200–300 atoms with the excitation energies of some excited states exhibiting errors of less than 0.5 eV. Yet, TD-DFT has several drawbacks. The most severe failure of TD-DFT is the false description of charge transfer states which is particularly problematic in case of larger systems where it yields a multitude of artificially low-lying charge transfer states. But also Rydberg states and states with large double excitation character are not described correctly. Still, if these deficiencies are kept in mind during the interpretation of results, TD-DFT is a useful tool for the calculation of excited states. In my thesis, TD-DFT is applied in investigations of excitation energy and electron transfer processes in light-harvesting complexes. Since light-harvesting complexes, which consist of thousands of atoms, are by far too large to be calculated, model complexes for the processes of interest are constructed from available crystal structures. The model complexes are used to calculate potential energy curves along meaningful reaction coordinates. Artificial charge transfer states are corrected with the help of the so-called ∆DFT method. The resulting potential energy curves are then interpreted by comparison with experimental results. For the light-harvesting complex LH2 from purple bacteria the experimentally observed formation of carotenoid radical cations is studied. It is shown that the carotenoid radical cation is formed most likely via the optically forbidden S1 state of the carotenoid. In light-harvesting complex LHC-II of green plants the fast component of the so-called non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) is investigated. Two of several different hypotheses on the mechanism of NPQ, which have been proposed recently, are studied in detail. The first one suggests that NPQ proceeds via simple replacement of violaxanthin by zeaxanthin in the binding pocket in LHC-II. However, the calculated potential energy curves exhibit no difference between violaxanthin and zeaxanthin in the binding pocket. In combination with experimental results it is thus shown that simple replacement alone does not mediate NPQ in LHC-II. The second hypothesis proposes conformational changes of LHC-II that lead to quenching at the central lutein and chlorophyll molecules during NPQ. My TD-DFT calculations demonstrate that if this mechanism is operative, only the lutein 1 which is one of two central luteins present in LHC-II can take part in the quenching process. This is corroborated by recent experiments. Though several conclusions can be drawn from the investigations using TD-DFT, the interpretability of the results is limited due to the deficiencies of the method and of the models. To overcome the methodological deficiencies, more accurate methods have to be employed. Therefore, the so-called algebraic diagrammatic construction scheme (ADC) is implemented. ADC is a widely overlooked ab initio method for the calculation of excited states, which is based on propagator theory. Its theoretical derivation proceeds via perturbation expansion of the polarization propagator, which describes electronic excitations. This yields separate schemes for every order of perturbation theory. The second order scheme ADC(2), which is employed here, is the equivalent to the Møller-Plesset ground state method MP(2), but for excited states. It represents the computationally cheapest excited state method which can correctly describe doubly excited states, as well as Rydberg and charge transfer states. The quality of ADC(2) results is demonstrated in calculations on linear polyenes which serve as model systems for the larger carotenoid molecules. The calculations show that ADC(2) describes the three lowest excited states of polyenes sufficiently well, particularly the optically forbidden S1 state which is known to possess large double excitation character. Yet, the applicability of the method is limited compared to TD-DFT due to the much larger computational requirements. To facilitate the calculation of larger systems with ADC(2) a new variant of the method is developed and implemented. The variant employs the short-range behavior of electron correlation to reduce the computational effort. As a first step, the working equations of ADC(2) are transformed into a basis of local orbitals. In this basis negligible contributions of the equations which are due to electron correlation can be identified based on the distances of local orbitals. A so-called “bumping” scheme is implemented which removes the negligible parts during a calculation. This way, the computation times as well as the disk space requirements can be reduced. With the “bumping” scheme several new parameters are introduced that regulate the amount of “bumping” and thereby the speed and the accuracy of computations. To determine useful values for the parameters an evaluation is performed using the linear polyene octatetraene as test molecule. From the evaluation an optimal set of parameter values is obtained, so that the computation times become minimal, while the errors in the excitation energies due to the “bumping” do not exceed 0.15 eV. With further calculations on various molecules of different sizes it is tested if these parameter values are universal, i.e. if they can be used for all molecules. The test calculations show that the errors in the excitation energies are below 0.15 eV for all test systems. Additionally, no trend is visible for the errors that their magnitude might depend on the system. In contrast, the amount of disregarded contributions in the calculations increases drastically with growing system size. Thus, the local variant of ADC(2) can be used in future to reliably calculate excited states of systems which are not accessible with conventional ADC(2).
In Philadelphia Chromosome (Ph) positive ALL and CML the fusion between BCR and ABL leads to the BCR/ABL fusion proteins, which induces the leukemic phenotype because of the constitutive activation of multiple signaling pathways down-stream to the aberrant BCR/ABL fusion tyrosine kinase. Targeted inhibition of BCR/ABL by ABL-kinase inhibitors induces apoptosis in BCR/ABL transformed cells and leads to complete remission in Ph positive leukemia patients. However, a large portion of patients with advanced Ph+ leukemia relapse and acquire resistance. Kinase domain (KD) mutations interfering with inhibitor binding represent the major mechanism of acquired resistance in patients with Ph+ leukemia. Tetramerization of BCR/ABL through the N-terminal coiled-coil region (CC) of BCR is essential for the ABL-kinase activation. Targeting the CC-domain forces BCR/ABL into a monomeric conformation, reduces its kinase activity and increases the sensitivity for Imatinib. Here we show that i.) targeting the tetramerization by a peptide representing the Helix-2 of the CC efficiently reduced the autophosphorylation of both WT BCR/ABL and its mutants; ii.) Helix-2 inhibited the transformation potential of BCR/ABL independently of the presence of mutations; iii.) Helix-2 efficiently cooperated with Imatinib as revealed by their effects on the transformation potential and the factor-independence related to BCR/ABL with the exception of mutant T315I. These findings suggest that BCR/ABL harboring the T315I mutation have a transformation potential which is at least partially independent from its kinase activity. Targeted inhibition of BCR/ABL by small molecule inhibitors reverses the transformation potential of BCR/ABL. We definitively proved that targeting the tetramerization of BCR/ABL mediated by the N-terminal coiled-coil domain (CC) using competitive peptides, representing the Helix-2 of the CC, represents a valid therapeutic approach for treating Ph+ leukemia. To further develop competitive peptides for targeting BCR/ABL, we created a membrane permeable Helix-2 peptide (MPH-2) by fusing the Helix-2 peptide with a peptide transduction tag. In this study, we report that the MPH-2: (i) interacted with BCR/ABL in vivo; (ii) efficiently inhibited the autophosphorylation of BCR/ABL; (iii) suppressed the growth and viability of Ph+ leukemic cells; and (iv) was efficiently transduced into mononuclear cells (MNC) in an in vivo mouse model. The T315I mutation confers resistance against all actually approved ABL-kinase inhibitors and competitive peptides. It seems not only to decrease affinity for kinase inhibitors but to confer additional features to the leukemogenic potential of BCR/ABL. To determine the role of T315I in resistance to the inhibition of oligomerization and in the leukemogenic potential of BCR/ABL, we investigated its influence on loss-of-function mutants with regard to the capacity to mediate factor-independence. Thus we studied the effects of T315I on BCR/ABL mutants lacking functional domains in the BCR portion indispensable for the oncogenic activity of BCR/ABL such as the N-terminal coiled coil (CC), the tyrosine phosphorylation site Y177 and the serine/threonine kinase domain (ST), as well as on the ABL portion of BCR/ABL (#ABL-T315I) with or without the inhibitory SH3 (delta SH3-ABL) domain. Here we report that i.) T315I restored the capacity to mediate factor independence of oligomerization_deficient p185BCR/ABL; ii.) resistance of p185-T315I against inhibition of the oligomerization depends on the phosphorylation at Y177; iii.) autophosphorylation at Y177 is not affected by the oligomerization inhibition, but phosphorylation at Y177 of endogenous BCR parallels the effects of T315I; iv.) the effects of T315I are associated with an intact ABL_kinase activity; v.) the presence of T315I is associated with an increased ABL_kinase activity also in mutants unable to induce Y177 phosphorylation of endogenous BCR; vi.) there is no direct relationship between the ABL-kinase activity and the capacity to mediate factor_independence induced by T315I as revealed by the #ABL-T315I mutant, which was unable to induce Y177 phosphorylation of BCR only in the presence of the SH3 domain. In contrast to its physiological counterpart c-ABL, the BCR/ABL kinase is constitutively activated, inducing the leukemic phenotype. The N-terminus of c-ABL (Cap region) contributes to the regulation of its kinase function. It is myristoylated, and the myristate residue binds to a hydrophobic pocket in the kinase domain known as the myristoyl binding pocket in a process called “capping”, which results in an auto-inhibited conformation. Because the cap region is replaced by the N-terminus of BCR, BCR/ABL “escapes” this auto-inhibition. Allosteric inhibition by myristate “mimics”, such as GNF-2, is able to inhibit unmutated BCR/ABL, but not the BCR/ABL that harbors the “gatekeeper” mutation T315I. Here we investigated the possibility of increasing the efficacy of allosteric inhibition by blocking BCR/ABL oligomerization. We demonstrate that inhibition of oligomerization was able not only to increase the efficacy of GNF-2 on unmutated BCR/ABL, but also to overcome the resistance of BCR/ABL-T315I to allosteric inhibition. These results strongly suggest that the response to allosteric inhibition by GNF-2 is inversely related to the degree of oligomerization of BCR/ABL. Taken together these data suggest that the inhibition of tetramerization inhibits BCR/ABL-mediated transformation and can contribute to overcome Imatinib-resistance. The study provides the first evidence that an efficient peptide transduction system facilitates the employ-ment of competitive peptides to target the oligomerization interface of BCR/ABL in vivo. Further the data show that T315I confers additional leukemogenic activity to BCR/ABL, which might explain the clinical behavior of patients with BCR/ABL -T315I-positive blasts. In summary, our observations establish a new approach for the molecular targeting of BCR/ABL and its resistant mutants represented by the combination of oligomerization and allosteric inhibitors.
The aim of the study was to investigate the role of the CX3C chemokine FKN in the role of platelet adhesion. The presence of the FKN receptor CX3CR1 in platelets is demonstrated and G-protein dependent activation of platelets with soluble FKN results in the increased adhesion of platelets to collagen and fibrinogen under flow 228 and adhesion of leucocytes to firmly attached platelets 231. Whether membrane-bound FKN is capable to promote the direct adhesion of platelets in flowing blood analogue to leucocytes was completely unknown. The adhesion mechanisms of FKN in mediating the adhesion of leucocytes under flow are well characterised and represent a novel unique mechanism of leucocyte capture and firm adhesion: FKN is responsible for immediate arrest of flowing CX3CR1 expressing leucocytes without the participation of additional adhesion receptors and ligands. This is in contrast to the classical leucocyte adhesion pathways, which are multistep processes involving leucocyte arrest, rolling and subsequent cell activation prior to firm arrest. In leucocytes, the FKN – CX3CR1 axis is sufficient to allow rapid arrest of leucocytes at low shear flow conditions 67, 101, 115, 122, 261. The set of data from this study demonstrates that immobilised FKN was capable to mediate the adhesion of platelets under low shear conditions, whereas there was no interaction in the absence of shear flow. In the presence of vWf in the adhesion matrix, FKN mediated the potent increased adhesion of platelets. This was in parts due to the activation of flowing platelets via CX3CR1 and the augmented translocation of platelets on FKN via the vWf receptor GPIbα. With respect to platelet activation, the function of endothelial FKN was comparable to leucocytes: in both cell types, the FKN dependent activation is mediated by its cognate receptor CX3CR1. This is in contrast to the adhesive capacity: in leucocytes, FKN dependent adhesion is mediated by CX3CR1, whereas in platelets, the adhesive capacity was mostly mediated by the vWf receptor GPIbα with only minor contribution from CX3CR1. In platelets, activation and adhesion by FKN were mediated by two distinct receptors, whereas in leucocytes, CX3CR1 is solely responsible for FKN dependent activation and adhesion. The presented results point out to a role of platelets in early stage of atherosclerosis. The in vivo expression of both, FKN and vWf is regulated by TNF-α, which is released in early stages of inflammation. The presence of vWf and FKN in the endothelial lining of blood vessels during these conditions is sufficient to initiate the capturing and translocation of platelets on the tunica interna. The rolling of platelets on the endothelium can induce endothelial damage and inflammation of the vessel, which might advance to the generation of clinically significant atherosclerotic plaques and fibrous atheroma.
We developed the Pharmacophore Alignment Search Tool (PhAST), a text-based technique for rapid hit and lead structure searching in large compound databases. For each molecule, a two-dimensional graph of potential pharmacophoric points (PPPs) is created, which has an identical topology as the original molecule with implicit hydrogen atoms. Each vertex is coloured by a symbol representing the corresponding PPP. The vertices of the graph are canonically labelled. The symbols associated with the vertices are combined to a so-called PhAST-Sequence beginning with the vertex with the lowest canonical label. Due to the canonical labelling the created PhAST-Sequence is characteristic for each molecule. For similarity assessment, PhAST-Sequences are compared using the sequence identity in their global pairwise alignment. The alignment score lies between 0 (no similarity) and 1 (identical PhAST-Sequences). In order to use global pairwise sequence alignment, a score matrix for pharmacophoric symbols was developed and gap penalties were optimized. PhAST performed comparably and sometimes superior to other similarity search tools (CATS2D, MOE pharmacophore quadruples) in retrospective virtual screenings using the COBRA collection of drugs and lead structures. Most importantly, the PhAST alignment technique allows for the computation of significance estimates that help prioritize a virtual hit list.
Shape complementarity is a compulsory condition for molecular recognition. In our 3D ligand-based virtual screening approach called SQUIRREL, we combine shape-based rigid body alignment with fuzzy pharmacophore scoring. Retrospective validation studies demonstrate the superiority of methods which combine both shape and pharmacophore information on the family of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs). We demonstrate the real-life applicability of SQUIRREL by a prospective virtual screening study, where a potent PPARalpha agonist with an EC50 of 44 nM and 100-fold selectivity against PPARgamma has been identified...
The representation of small molecules as molecular graphs is a common technique in various fields of cheminformatics. This approach employs abstract descriptions of topology and properties for rapid analyses and comparison. Receptor-based methods in contrast mostly depend on more complex representations impeding simplified analysis and limiting the possibilities of property assignment. In this study we demonstrate that ligand-based methods can be applied to receptor-derived binding site analysis. We introduce the new method PocketGraph that translates representations of binding site volumes into linear graphs and enables the application of graph-based methods to the world of protein pockets. The method uses the PocketPicker algorithm for characterization of binding site volumes and employs a Growing Neural Gas procedure to derive graph representations of pocket topologies. Self-organizing map (SOM) projections revealed a limited number of pocket topologies. We argue that there is only a small set of pocket shapes realized in the known ligand-receptor complexes.
For a virtual screening study, we introduce a combination of machine learning techniques, employing a graph kernel, Gaussian process regression and clustered cross-validation. The aim was to find ligands of peroxisome-proliferator activated receptor gamma (PPAR-y). The receptors in the PPAR family belong to the steroid-thyroid-retinoid superfamily of nuclear receptors and act as transcription factors. They play a role in the regulation of lipid and glucose metabolism in vertebrates and are linked to various human processes and diseases. For this study, we used a dataset of 176 PPAR-y agonists published by Ruecker et al. ...
A new method to bridge the gap between ligand and receptor-based methods in virtual screening (VS) is presented. We introduce a structure-derived virtual ligand (VL) model as an extension to a previously published pseudo-ligand technique [1]: LIQUID [2] fuzzy pharmacophore virtual screening is combined with grid-based protein binding site predictions of PocketPicker [3]. This approach might help reduce bias introduced by manual selection of binding site residues and introduces pocket shape information to the VL. It allows for a combination of several protein structure models into a single "fuzzy" VL representation, which can be used to scan screening compound collections for ligand structures with a similar potential pharmacophore. PocketPicker employs an elaborate grid-based scanning procedure to determine buried cavities and depressions on the protein's surface. Potential binding sites are represented by clusters of grid probes characterizing the shape and accessibility of a cavity. A rule-based system is then applied to project reverse pharmacophore types onto the grid probes of a selected pocket. The pocket pharmacophore types are assigned depending on the properties and geometry of the protein residues surrounding the pocket with regard to their relative position towards the grid probes. LIQUID is used to cluster representative pocket probes by their pharmacophore types describing a fuzzy VL model. The VL is encoded in a correlation vector, which can then be compared to a database of pre-calculated ligand models. A retrospective screening using the fuzzy VL and several protein structures was evaluated by ten fold cross-validation with ROC-AUC and BEDROC metrics, obtaining a significant enrichment of actives. Future work will be devoted to prospective screening using a novel protein target of Helicobacter pylori and compounds from commercial providers.
Two methods for the fast, fragment-based combinatorial molecule assembly were developed. The software COLIBREE® (Combinatorial Library Breeding) generates candidate structures from scratch, based on stochastic optimization [1]. Result structures of a COLIBREE design run are based on a fixed scaffold and variable linkers and side-chains. Linkers representing virtual chemical reactions and side-chain building blocks obtained from pseudo-retrosynthetic dissection of large compound databases are exchanged during optimization. The process of molecule design employs a discrete version of Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) [2]. Assembled compounds are scored according to their similarity to known reference ligands. Distance to reference molecules is computed in the space of the topological pharmacophore descriptor CATS [3]. In a case study, the approach was applied to the de novo design of potential peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR gamma) selective agonists. In a second approach, we developed the formal grammar Reaction-MQL [4] for the in silico representation and application of chemical reactions. Chemical transformation schemes are defined by functional groups participating in known organic reactions. The substructures are specified by the linear Molecular Query Language (MQL) [5]. The developed software package contains a parser for Reaction-MQL-expressions and enables users to design, test and virtually apply chemical reactions. The program has already been used to create combinatorial libraries for virtual screening studies. It was also applied in fragmentation studies with different sets of retrosynthetic reactions and various compound libraries.
There is a renewed interest in pseudoreceptor models which enable computational chemists to bridge the gap of ligand- and receptor-based drug design. We developed a pseudoreceptor model for the histamine H4 receptor (H4R) based on five potent antagonists representing different chemotypes. Here we present the selection of potential ligand binding pockets that occur during molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of a homology-based receptor model. We present a method for prioritizing receptor models according to their match with the consensus ligand-binding mode represented by the pseudoreceptor. In this way, ligand information can be transferred to receptor-based modelling. We use Geometric Hashing to match three-dimensional points in Cartesion space. This allows for the rapid translation- and rotation-free comparison of atom coordinates, which also permits partial matching. The only prerequisite is a hash table, which uses distance triplets as hash keys. Each time a distance triplet occurring in the candidate point set which corresponds to an existing key, the match is represented by a vote of the respective key. Finally, the global match of both point sets can be easily extracted by selection of voted distance triplets. The results revealed a preferred ligand-binding pocket in H4R, which would not have been identified using an unrefined homology model of the protein. The key idea was to rely on ligand information by pseudoreceptor modelling.
A generic drug product (World Health Organization (WHO) terminology: multisource product) is usually marketed and manufactured after the expiry date of the innovator’s patent. Generic drugs are less expensive than the innovator products because generic manufacturers do not have to amortize the investment costs of research, development, marketing, and promotion. Multisource products must contain the same active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) as the original formulation and have to be shown to be interchangeable with the original formulation. Multisource products have to be shown bioequivalent to the innovator counterpart with respect to pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties. Multisource products are therefore identical in dose, strength, route of administration, safety, efficacy, and intended use. Bioequivalence can be demonstrated by in vitro dissolution, pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamic or clinical studies. Since 2000, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) allows the approval of certain multisource products solely on the basis of in vitro studies, i.e. by waiving in vivo studies in humans (“Biowaiver”), based on the Biopharmaceutics Classification Scheme (BCS). The BCS characterizes APIs by their solubility and permeability in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT). The different BCS Classes I-IV (Class I: high solubility, high permeability; Class II: low solubility, high permeability; Class III: high solubility, low permeability and Class IV: low solubility, low permeability) result from all possible combinations of high and low solubility with high and low permeability. Since the adoption of the BCS by the FDA in 1995, the BCS criteria have been under continuous development. In 2006, the WHO has released the most recent bioequivalence guidance including relaxed criteria for bioequivalence studies based on modified BCS criteria. According to this guidance, APIs belonging to the BCS classes I – and under defined conditions - II and III – are eligible for a biowaiver-based approval. The principal objective of this work was to characterize the first-line anti tuberculosis APIs, isoniazid, pyrazinamide, ethambutol dihydrochloride and rifampicin, according to their physicochemical, biopharmaceutical, pharmacokinetic and pharmacological properties and to classify them according to the BCS. Ethambutol dihydrochloride and isoniazid were classified as borderline BCS class I/III APIs. Pyrazinamide was classified as a BCS class III and rifampicin as a BCS class II API. Based on the BCS classification and the additional criteria defined in the WHO bioequivalence guidance, the possibility of biowaiver-based approval for immediate release (immediate release) solid oral dosage forms containing the first-line antituberculosis drugs was evaluated. A biowaiver-based approval with defined constraints was recommended for immediate release solid oral dosage forms containing isoniazid (interaction with reducing sugars), pyrazinamide and ethambutol dihydrochloride (relative narrow therapeutic index). Rifampicin was classified as a BCS class II API, and it was concluded that rifampicin containing solid oral immediate release drug products as well as Scale-Up and Post-Approval Changes (SUPAC) changes should not be approved by a biowaiver on the following basis: (i) its solubility and dissolution are highly variable due to polymorphism and instability, (ii) concomitant intake of food and antacids reduces its absorption and bioavailability, (iii) no in vitro predictive dissolution test has been found which correlates to in vivo absorption and (iv) several publications reporting cases of non-bioequivalent and bioinequivalent rifampicin products have been located in the literature. Thus, it is recommended that bioequivalence of rifampicin containing solid oral immediate release drug products should be established by in vivo pharmacokinetic studies in humans. This risk-benefit benefit assessment of a biowaiver-based approval was presented as a poster at the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) 2005 and subsequently published as “Biowaiver Monographs” in the Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences. Based on the assessment of the dissolution properties of the antituberculosis drugs for a biowaiver approval, quality control dissolution methodologies for the International Pharmacopoeia (Pharm. Int.) were developed, presented at the WHO expert meeting and adopted in the Pharm. Int. (http://www.who.int/medicines/publications/pharmprep/OMS_TRS_948.pdf). Additionally, preliminary biowaiver recommendations were also developed for four firstline antimalarial drugs listed on the WHO Essential Medicines List (EML): Quinine, as both the hydrochloride and sulphate, and proguanil hydrochloride were classified as borderline BCS class I/III APIs. Since quinine is a narrow therapeutic index drug and many cases of non-bioequivalence have been reported in the literature, a biowaiverbased approval was not recommended. For solid oral immediate release dosage forms containing proguanil a biowaiver-based approval was recommended under the condition that they dissolve very rapidly. Primaquine phosphate was classified as a BCS class I API. Therefore, a biowaiver-based approval was recommended for immediate release solid oral dosage forms containing primaquine phosphate. Mefloquine hydrochloride was classified as a basic, BCS class IV/II API, making it ineligible for the biowaiver. Additionally, reports of non-bioequivalence and a narrow therapeutic index were found in the scientific literature. Consequently, bioequivalence of solid oral immediate release dosage forms containing mefloquine hydrochloride should be established by in vivo pharmacokinetic studies. The results for quinine hydrochloride and sulphate, proguanil hydrochloride, primaquine diphosphate and mefloquine hydrochloride were presented as a poster at the Pharmaceutical Sciences World Congress (PSWC) 2007 and published as a WHO Collaborating Center Report in June 2006. The aim of this project was to collect, evaluate, generate and publish relevant information for a biowaiver-based approval of essential medicines in order to provide a summary to local regulatory authorities. This information complements the selected list of essential medicines by providing information about the biopharmaceutical properties and pharmaceutical quality of solid oral immediate release dosage forms containing these APIs. The aim of the biowaiver project, inspired by the WHO and brought in life by the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP), is to enable access to essential medicines in standardized quality at an affordable price. In this work, a significant contribution to this aim in the form of four biowaiver monographs for the antituberculosis drugs and several reports on the antimalarials has been achieved.
The transcription factor p63 is part of the p53 protein family, which consists of three members, p53, p63 and p73. P63 shares structural similarity with all family members, but is associated to different biological functions than p53 or p73. While p53 is mainly linked to tumor suppression and p73 is connected with neuronal development, p63 has been connected to critical biological roles within ectodermal development and skin stem cell biology as well as supervision of the genetic stability of oocytes. Due to its gene structure p63 is expressed as at least six different isoforms, three of them containing a N-terminal transactivation domain. The isoforms that are of biological relevance both have a C-terminal inhibitory domain that negatively regulates the transcriptional activity. This inhibitory domain is supposed to contain two individual components of which one is internally binding and masking the transactivation domain while the other one can be sumoylated. To further investigate this domain a mutational analysis with the help of transactivation assays in SAOS2 cells was carried out to identify the critical amino acids within the inhibitory domain and the impact on transcriptional activity of TAp63alpha, the p63-isoform which is essential for the integrity of the female germline. The results of these experiments show that a stretch of approximately 13 amino acids seems to be important for the regulation of transcriptional activity in TAp63alpha, due to the increased transcriptional activity occurring in this region after mutation. Additional experiments showed that this mechanism is distinct from sumoylation, which seems to have only implications for the intracellular level of TAp63alpha. As a conclusion, the C-terminus of the Tap63alpha is essential for two different mechanisms, which control the transcriptional activity of the protein. Both regulatory elements are independent from each other and can now be restricted to certain amino acids. Activation of the wild type protein might take place in the identified region via post-translational modification. Furthermore an inhibition assay was carried out to test if the same region might have implications on the second biological relevant isoform deltaNp63alpha. The results show that the same amino acids which show an impact on transcriptional activity in Tap63alpha lead to a significant change in functional behaviour of deltaNp63alpha. There is a possibility that both proteins are regulated with opposite effects via the same mechanisms, based at the C-terminus of the p63alpha-isoforms. In both cases a modification of these residues could lead to a more opened conformation of the protein with consequences on promoter binding, which can be even important for deltaNp63alpha with respect to promoter squelching. Both alpha-isoforms seem to be regulated via the C-terminus and to elucidate if that is also the case for TAp63gamma a deletion analysis was carried out. The results show that there are also amino acids within the C-terminus of TAp63gamma, which have implications on the transcriptional activity of the protein. Therefore the C-terminus seems to play a major role for regulation of diverse p63 isoforms.
Protein kinases are targets for drug development. Dysregulation of kinase activity leads to various diseases, e.g. cancer, inflammation, diabetes. Human polo-like kinase 1 (Plk1), a serine/threonine kinase, is a cancer-relevant gene and a potential drug target which attracts increasing attention in the field of cancer therapy. Plk1 is a key player in mitosis and modulates entry into mitosis and the spindle checkpoint at the meta-/anaphase transition. Plk1 overexpression is observed in various human tumors, and it is a negative prognostic factor for cancer patients. The same catalytical mechanism and the same co-substrate (ATP) lead to the problem of inhibitor selectivity. A strategy to solve this problem is represented by targeting the inactive conformation of kinases. Kinases undergo conformational changes between active and inactive conformation and thus an additional hydrophobic pocket is created in the inactive conformation where the surrounding amino acids are less conserved. A "homology model" of the inactive conformation of Plk1 was constructed, as the crystal structure in its inactive conformation is unknown. A crystal structure of Aurora A kinase served as template structure. With this homology model a receptor-based pharmacophore search was performed using SYBYL7.3 software. The raw hits were filtered using physico-chemical properties. The resulting hits were docked using Gold3.2 software, and 13 candidates for biological testing were manually selected. Three compounds of the 13 tested exhibit anti-proliferative effects in HeLa cancer cells. The most potent inhibitor, SBE13, was further tested in various other cancer cell lines of different origins and displayed EC50 values between 12 microM and 39 microM. Cancer cells incubated with SBE13 showed induction of apoptosis, detected by PARP (Poly-Adenosyl-Ribose-Polymerase) cleavage, caspase 9 activation and DAPI staining of apoptotic nuclei.
Background: Microarray analysis still remains a powerful tool to identify new components of the transcriptosome and it has helped to increase the knowledge of targets triggered by stress conditions such as hypoxia and nitric oxide. However, analysis of transcriptional regulatory events remain elusive due to the contribution of altered mRNA stability to gene expression patterns, as well as changes in the half-life of mRNAs, which influence mRNA expression levels and their turn over rates. To circumvent these problems, we have focused on the analysis of newly transcribed (nascent) mRNAs by nuclear run on (NRO), followed by microarray analysis. Result: We identified 188 genes that were significantly regulated by hypoxia, 81 genes were affected by nitric oxide, and 292 genes were induced by the co-treatment of macrophages with both NO and hypoxia. Fourteen genes (Bnip3, Ddit4, Vegfa, Trib3, Atf3, Cdkn1a, Scd1, D4Ertd765e, Sesn2, Son, Nnt, Lst1, Hps6 and Fxyd5) were common to hypoxia and/or nitric oxide treatments, but with different levels of expression. We observed that 166 transcripts were regulated only when cells were co-treated with hypoxia and NO but not with either treatment alone, pointing to the importance of a crosstalk between hypoxia and NO. In addition, both array and proteomics data supported a consistent repression of hypoxia regulated targets by NO. Conclusion: By eliminating the interference of steady state mRNA in gene expression profiling, we increased the sensitivity of mRNA analysis and identified previously unknown hypoxia-induced targets. Gene analysis profiling corroborated the interplay between NO- and hypoxia-induced signalling.
Riboswitches are a novel class of genetic control elements that function through the direct interaction of small metabolite molecules with structured RNA elements. The ligand is bound with high specificity and affinity to its RNA target and induces conformational changes of the RNA's secondary and tertiary structure upon binding. To elucidate the molecular basis of the remarkable ligand selectivity and affinity of one of these riboswitches, extensive all-atom molecular dynamics simulations in explicit solvent ({approx}1 µs total simulation length) of the aptamer domain of the guanine sensing riboswitch are performed. The conformational dynamics is studied when the system is bound to its cognate ligand guanine as well as bound to the non-cognate ligand adenine and in its free form. The simulations indicate that residue U51 in the aptamer domain functions as a general docking platform for purine bases, whereas the interactions between C74 and the ligand are crucial for ligand selectivity. These findings either suggest a two-step ligand recognition process, including a general purine binding step and a subsequent selection of the cognate ligand, or hint at different initial interactions of cognate and noncognate ligands with residues of the ligand binding pocket. To explore possible pathways of complex dissociation, various nonequilibrium simulations are performed which account for the first steps of ligand unbinding. The results delineate the minimal set of conformational changes needed for ligand release, suggest two possible pathways for the dissociation reaction, and underline the importance of long-range tertiary contacts for locking the ligand in the complex.
In previous investigations an impact of cellular copper homeostasis on ageing of the ascomycete Podospora anserina has been demonstrated. Here we provide new data indicating that mitochondria play a major role in this process. Determination of copper in the cytosolic fraction using total reflection X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy analysis and eGfp reporter gene studies indicate an age-related increase of cytosolic copper levels. We show that components of the mitochondrial matrix (i.e. eGFP targeted to mitochondria) become released from the organelle during ageing. Decreasing the accessibility of mitochondrial copper in P. anserina via targeting a copper metallothionein to the mitochondrial matrix was found to result in a switch from a copper-dependent cytochrome-c oxidase to a copper-independent alternative oxidase type of respiration and results in lifespan extension. In addition, we demonstrate that increased copper concentrations in the culture medium lead to the appearance of senescence biomarkers in human diploid fibroblasts (HDFs). Significantly, expression of copper-regulated genes is induced during in vitro ageing in medium devoid of excess copper suggesting that cytosolic copper levels also increase during senescence of HDFs. These data suggest that the identified molecular pathway of age-dependent copper dynamics may not be restricted to P. anserina but may be conserved from lower eukaryotes to humans.
The title compound, C25H22O5, was obtained by a dehydrogenative carbonylation reaction. It crystallizes with one half-molecule in the asymmetric unit. The molecules have crystallographic C2 symmetry and the two atoms of the carbonyl group are located on the rotation axis. The methoxy groups are coplanar with the benzene ring to which they are attached [C-C-O-C = 1.0 (6)°]. The two furan rings are inclined at 17.3 (3)° with respect to each other and the dihedral angle between the furan ring and the benzene ring is 75.83 (12)°. The crystal structure is stabilized by C-H...O hydrogen bonds. Key indicators: single-crystal X-ray study; T = 183 K; mean ( σ(C–C) = 0.006 Å; R factor = 0.081; wR factor = 0.195; data-to-parameter ratio = 13.4.
The Mg centre in the title compound, [MgBr2(C2H7N)3], is pentacoordinated in a trigonal-bipyramidal mode with the two Br atoms in axial positions and the N atoms of the dimethylamine ligands in equatorial positions. The MgII centre is located on a crystallographic twofold rotation axis. The crystal structure is stabilized by N—H⋯Br hydrogen bonds. The N atom and H atoms of one dimethylamine ligand are disordered over two equally occupied positions.
In the title compound, C11H14O4, an intermediate for the synthesis of a new kind of estrogen receptor modulator, all non-H atoms lie on a common plane (r.m.s. deviation = 0.0472 Å). All C-C bonds in the side chain are in a trans conformation, and the hydroxyl group is also trans to the methylene chain. In the crystal structure, molecules form centrosymmetric dimers showing a head-to-head arrangement which is stabilized by O-H...O hydrogen bonds. A weak C-H...O contact is also present.
The complete molecule of the title compound, C18H24N2O2, is generated by a crystallographic inversion centre. The torsion angles in the hexamethylene chain are consistent with an antiperiplanar conformation, whereas the conformation of the O—CH2—CH2—CH2 unit is gauche. The three-dimensional crystal packing is stabilized by N—H⋯O and N—H⋯N hydrogen bonding.
The title compound, C17H18N2O6, crystallizes with two molecules in the asymmetric unit. In both molecules, one of the C-C bonds of the pentamethylene chain connecting the two aromatic rings is in a trans conformation and another displays a gauche conformation. The aromatic rings within each molecule are nearly coplanar [dihedral angles = 3.36 (9) and 4.50 (9)°] and the nitro groups are twisted slightly out of the planes of their attached rings [dihedral angles = 8.16 (3)/6.6 (2) and 4.9 (4)/3.8 (3)°]. Key indicators: single-crystal X-ray study; T = 173 K; mean σ(C–C) = 0.003 Å; R factor = 0.040; wR factor = 0.101; data-to-parameter ratio = 13.5.
In the title compound, C27H20F6N2O2, the dihedral angles between the planes of the aromatic rings connected by the ether O atoms are 84.13 (8) and 75.06 (9)°. The crystal structure is stabilized by N-H...O and N-H...F hydrogen bonds. Key indicators: single-crystal X-ray study; T = 173 K; mean σ(C–C) = 0.004 Å; R factor = 0.037; wR factor = 0.088; data-to-parameter ratio = 8.2.
4-(4-Nitrophenoxy)biphenyl
(2009)
The two phenyl rings of the biphenyl unit of the title compound, C18H13NO3, are almost coplanar [dihedral angle 6.70 (9)°]. The nitrophenyl ring, on the other hand, is significantly twisted out of the plane of the these two rings, making dihedral angles of 68.83 (4)° with the middle ring and 62.86 (4)° with the end ring. The nitro group is twisted by 12.1 (2)° out of the plane of the phenyl ring to which it is attached. Key indicators: single-crystal X-ray study; T = 173 K; mean σ(C–C) = 0.002 A° ; R factor = 0.040; wR factor = 0.118; data-to-parameter ratio = 12.8.
6-(4-Nitrophenoxy)hexanol
(2009)
The title compound, C12H17NO4, features an almost planar molecule (r.m.s. deviation for all non-H atoms = 0.070 Å). All methylene C-C bonds adopt an antiperiplanar conformation. In the crystal structure the molecules lie in planes parallel to (1\overline{1}2) and the packing is stabilized by O-H...O hydrogen bonds. Key indicators: single-crystal X-ray study; T = 173 K; mean σ(C–C) = 0.003 Å; R factor = 0.066; wR factor = 0.185; data-to-parameter ratio = 13.2.
The title compound, C14H11NO4, crystallizes with two molecules in the asymmetric unit. The major conformational difference between these two molecules is the dihedral angle between the aromatic rings, namely 36.99 (5) and 55.04 (5)°. The nitro groups are coplanar with the phenyl rings to which they are attached, the O—N—C—C torsion angles being -1.9 (3) and 1.0 (3)° in the two molecules.
Aptamers that can be regulated with light allow precise control of protein activity in space and time and hence of biological function in general. In a previous study, we showed that the activity of the thrombin-binding aptamer HD1 can be turned off by irradiation using a light activatable "caged" intramolecular antisense-domain. However, the activity of the presented aptamer in its ON state was only mediocre. Here we studied the nature of this loss in activity in detail and found that switching from 5'- to 3'-extensions affords aptamers that are even more potent than the unmodified HD1. In particular we arrived at derivatives that are now more active than the aptamer NU172 that is currently in phase 2 clinical trials as an anticoagulant. As a result, we present light-regulatable aptamers with a superior activity in their ON state and an almost digital ON/OFF behavior upon irradiation.
The membrane-bound heterotrimeric nitrate reductase A (NarGHI) catalyzes the oxidation of quinols in the cytoplasmic membrane of Escherichia coli and reduces nitrate to nitrite in the cytoplasm. The enzyme strongly stabilizes a menasemiquinone intermediate at a quinol oxidation site (Q(D)) located in the vicinity of the distal heme b(D). Here molecular details of the interaction between the semiquinone radical and the protein environment have been provided using advanced multifrequency pulsed EPR methods. (14)N and (15)N ESEEM and HYSCORE measurements carried out at X-band ( approximately 9.7 GHz) on the wild-type enzyme or the enzyme uniformly labeled with (15)N nuclei reveal an interaction between the semiquinone and a single nitrogen nucleus. The isotropic hyperfine coupling constant A(iso)((14)N) approximately 0.8 MHz shows that it occurs via an H-bond to one of the quinone carbonyl group. Using (14)N ESEEM and HYSCORE spectroscopies at a lower frequency (S-band, approximately 3.4 GHz), the (14)N nuclear quadrupolar parameters of the interacting nitrogen nucleus (kappa = 0.49, eta = 0.50) were determined and correspond to those of a histidine N(delta), assigned to the heme b(D) ligand His-66 residue. Moreover S-band (15)N ESEEM spectra enabled us to directly measure the anisotropic part of the nitrogen hyperfine interaction (T((15)N) = 0.16 MHz). A distance of approximately 2.2 Abetween the carbonyl oxygen and the nitrogen could then be calculated. Mechanistic implications of these results are discussed in the context of the peculiar properties of the menasemiquinone intermediate stabilized at the Q(D) site of NarGHI.
We previously proposed that the dimeric cytochrome bc(1) complex exhibits half-of-the-sites reactivity for ubiquinol oxidation and rapid electron transfer between bc(1) monomers (Covian, R., Kleinschroth, T., Ludwig, B., and Trumpower, B. L. (2007) J. Biol. Chem. 282, 22289-22297). Here, we demonstrate the previously proposed half-of-the-sites reactivity and intermonomeric electron transfer by characterizing the kinetics of ubiquinol oxidation in the dimeric bc(1) complex from Paracoccus denitrificans that contains an inactivating Y147S mutation in one or both cytochrome b subunits. The enzyme with a Y147S mutation in one cytochrome b subunit was catalytically fully active, whereas the activity of the enzyme with a Y147S mutation in both cytochrome b subunits was only 10-16% of that of the enzyme with fully wild-type or heterodimeric cytochrome b subunits. Enzyme with one inactive cytochrome b subunit was also indistinguishable from the dimer with two wild-type cytochrome b subunits in rate and extent of reduction of cytochromes b and c(1) by ubiquinol under pre-steady-state conditions in the presence of antimycin. However, the enzyme with only one mutated cytochrome b subunit did not show the stimulation in the steady-state rate that was observed in the wild-type dimeric enzyme at low concentrations of antimycin, confirming that the half-of-the-sites reactivity for ubiquinol oxidation can be regulated in the wild-type dimer by binding of inhibitor to one ubiquinone reduction site.
In mitochondrial respiration, the soluble protein cytochrome c accepts an electron from the membrane bound cytochrome bc1. The interaction between cytochrome bc1 and cytochrome c is highly transient in nature, enabling turnover numbers greater than 160 s-1. Yeast cytochrome bc1 has been successfully crystallised with bound cytochrome c with the help of an antibody fragment (Lange and Hunte 2002; Solmaz and Hunte 2008). In all crystal structures of the complex, the homodimeric cytochrome bc1 binds only one cytochrome c, with the binding site located on subunit cytochrome c1. Univalent cytochrome c binding is correlated with conformational changes of the Rieske protein head domain and subunit QCR6p. The interface of the complex is small. The haem moieties are centrally located in a mainly non-polar contact site that includes a cation–! interaction and is surrounded by complementary charged residues. The crystal structure is in agreement with the general architecture of the interfaces of transient redox complexes and also reveals several interesting features unique to the cytochrome bc1. On the basis of the crystal structures, an extensive thermodynamic and kinetic characterisation of the interaction was carried out in this work to challenge the static snapshot of the bound proteins in the crystal structure as the relevant physiological electron transfer. The thermodynamic parameters of the interaction between the redox partners were determined using isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC). The association constant for cytochrome bc1 and cytochrome c in oxidised state under physiological ionic strength of 120 mM at 25 °C, was determined to be 5 " 103 M-1 by direct ITC titration. So, the partners interact with an affinity of 200 #M. In spite of the low affinity the complex has a life time ($ = 1/koff) of 5 #second, sufficiently long to enable the theoretically calculated electron transfer rates of 1.0 " 106 to 2.6 " 107 s%1 with a lifetime ($ = 1/rate) of 1-0.04 μseconds and experimentally determined rate of 7.7 " 104 s%1 with a lifetime of 13 μseconds. The low affinity makes it difficult to ascertain the stoichiometry of binding. The enthalpy of the interaction is endothermic, which is consistent with the nature of an interface where hydrophobic interactions are dominant. The enthalpy and entropy is 3.6 kJmol-1 and 83 kJmol-1K-1, respectively. The importance of key interface residues was also investigated. The role of the interface residue G89 of cytochrome c which might have a role in the dissociation of the complex has been probed by site-directed mutagenesis. The interface contains a cation-! interaction between F230 of cytochrome bc1 and R19 of cytochrome c, which is thought to provide the specificity to the interaction between the otherwise promiscuous partners. To analyse the role of this interaction pair in electron transfer, F230L and F230W mutants were used to measure direct electron transfer rates by flash photolysis and steady state kinetics. The findings indicate that another ! system can work as functional substitution of F230, while deleting the ! system has a deleterious effect on the complex formation. The inability of F230L to achieve the transient and steady state turnover rates as wild type protein indicates a scenario where the variant achieves an altered bound state with inefficient electron transfer pathways and higher edge-to-edge distance. The role of supernumerary subunit QCR6p in complex formation was investigated by steady state kinetics measurements. Subunit QCR6p does not interact directly with cytochrome c but is positioned in such a way that it could electrostatically steer cytochrome c in a reactive ensemble. The highly acidic and disordered N-terminus of QCR6p could interact with a patch of conserved lysine residues on cytochrome c. The role of subunit QCR6p has been assessed using QCR6p deleted cytochrome bc1 and a lysine variant of cytochrome c. The results show that QCR6p not only affects the kinetics of the interaction but is also important for the stability of cytochrome bc1. The kinetic and thermodynamic data obtained during this study provide evidence for the functional importance of non-catalytic cytochrome bc1 subunit QCR6p, show that the entropy driven interaction is indeed of low affinity and highly transient in nature and indicate that the interface is well suited to ensure the high turnover of the electron transfer chain where cytochrome c interacts with multiple partners using overlapping interfaces. The suggested role of the cation-! interaction as a highly specific interaction has been validated.
Flavins are employed to transform physical input into biological output signals. In this function, flavins catalyze a variety of light-induced reactions and redox processes. However, nature also provides flavoproteins with the ability to uncouple the mediation of signals. Such proteins are the riboflavin-binding proteins (RfBPs) with their function to store riboflavin for fast delivery of FMN and FAD. Here we present in vitro and in vivo data showing that the recently discovered archaeal dodecin is an RfBP, and we reveal that riboflavin storage is not restricted to eukaryotes. However, the function of the prokaryotic RfBP dodecin seems to be adapted to the requirement of a monocellular organism. While in eukaryotes RfBPs are involved in trafficking riboflavin, and dodecin is responsible for the flavin homeostasis of the cell. Although only 68 amino acids in length, dodecin is of high functional versatility in neutralizing riboflavin to protect the cellular environment from uncontrolled flavin reactivity. Besides the predominant ultrafast quenching of excited states, dodecin prevents light-induced riboflavin reactivity by the selective degradation of riboflavin to lumichrome. Coordinated with the high affinity for lumichrome, the directed degradation reaction is neutral to the cellular environment and provides an alternative pathway for suppressing uncontrolled riboflavin reactivity. Intriguingly, the different structural and functional properties of a homologous bacterial dodecin suggest that dodecin has different roles in different kingdoms of life.
Background: Nitric oxide (NO) is an essential vasodilator. In vascular diseases, oxidative stress attenuates NO signaling by both chemical scavenging of free NO and oxidation and down-regulation of its major intracellular receptor, the alpha/beta heterodimeric heme-containing soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC). Oxidation can also induce loss of sGC's heme and responsiveness to NO.
Results: sGC activators such as BAY 58-2667 bind to oxidized/heme-free sGC and reactivate the enzyme to exert disease-specific vasodilation. Here we show that oxidation-induced down-regulation of sGC protein extends to isolated blood vessels. Mechanistically, degradation was triggered through sGC ubiquitination and proteasomal degradation. The heme-binding site ligand, BAY 58-2667, prevented sGC ubiquitination and stabilized both alpha and beta subunits.
Conclusion: Collectively, our data establish oxidation-ubiquitination of sGC as a modulator of NO/cGMP signaling and point to a new mechanism of action for sGC activating vasodilators by stabilizing their receptor, oxidized/heme-free sGC.
PERIOD proteins are central components of the Drosophila and mammalian circadian clocks. The crystal structure of a Drosophila PERIOD (dPER) fragment comprising two PER-ARNT-SIM (PAS) domains (PAS-A and PAS-B) and two additional C-terminal alpha-helices (alphaE and alphaF) has revealed a homodimer mediated by intermolecular interactions of PAS-A with tryptophane 482 in PAS-B and helix alphaF. Here we present the crystal structure of a monomeric PAS domain fragment of dPER lacking the alphaF helix. Moreover, we have solved the crystal structure of a PAS domain fragment of the mouse PERIOD homologue mPER2. The mPER2 structure shows a different dimer interface than dPER, which is stabilized by interactions of the PAS-B beta-sheet surface including tryptophane 419 (equivalent to Trp482dPER). We have validated and quantitatively analysed the homodimer interactions of dPER and mPER2 by site-directed mutagenesis using analytical gel filtration, analytical ultracentrifugation, and co-immunoprecipitation experiments. Furthermore we show, by yeast-two-hybrid experiments, that the PAS-B beta-sheet surface of dPER mediates interactions with TIMELESS (dTIM). Our study reveals quantitative and qualitative differences between the homodimeric PAS domain interactions of dPER and its mammalian homologue mPER2. In addition, we identify the PAS-B beta-sheet surface as a versatile interaction site mediating mPER2 homodimerization in the mammalian system and dPER-dTIM heterodimer formation in the Drosophila system.
Single crystals of the title compound, C10H11NO4, an intermediate in the industrial synthesis of yellow azo pigments, were obtained from the industrial production. The molecules crystallize as centrosymmetic dimers connected by two symmetry-related N—H⋯O=C hydrogen bonds. Each molecule also contains an intramolecular N—H⋯O=C hydrogen bond. The dimers form stacks along the a-axis direction. Neighbouring stacks are arranged into a herringbone structure.
The light-harvesting complex of photosystem II (LHC-II) is the major antenna complex in plant photosynthesis. It accounts for roughly 30% of the total protein in plant chloroplasts, which makes it arguably the most abundant membrane protein on Earth, and binds about half of plant chlorophyll (Chl). The complex assembles as a trimer in the thylakoid membrane and binds a total of 54 pigment molecules, including 24 Chl a, 18 Chl b, 6 lutein (Lut), 3 neoxanthin (Neo) and 3 violaxanthin (Vio). LHC-II has five key roles in plant photosynthesis. It: (1) harvests sunlight and transmits excitation energy to the reaction centres of photosystems II and I, (2) regulates the amount of excitation energy reaching each of the two photosystems, (3) has a structural role in the architecture of the photosynthetic supercomplexes, (4) contributes to the tight appression of thylakoid membranes in chloroplast grana, and (5) protects the photosynthetic apparatus from photo damage by non photochemical quenching (NPQ). A major fraction of NPQ is accounted for its energy-dependent component qE. Despite being critical for plant survival and having been studied for decades, the exact details of how excess absorbed light energy is dissipated under qE conditions remain enigmatic. Today it is accepted that qE is regulated by the magnitude of the pH gradient (ΔpH) across the thylakoid membrane. It is also well documented that the drop in pH in the thylakoid lumen during high-light conditions activates the enzyme violaxanthin de-epoxidase (VDE), which converts the carotenoid Vio into zeaxanthin (Zea) as part of the xanthophyll cycle. Additionally, studies with Arabidopsis mutants revealed that the photosystem II subunit PsbS is necessary for qE. How these physiological responses switch LHC-II from the active, energy transmitting to the quenched, energy-dissipating state, in which the solar energy is not transmitted to the photosystems but instead dissipated as heat, remains unclear and is the subject of this thesis. From the results obtained during this doctoral work, five main conclusions can be drawn concerning the mechanism of qE: 1. Substitution of Vio by Zea in LHC-II is not sufficient for efficient dissipation of excess excitation energy. 2. Aggregation quenching of LHC-II does not require Vio, Neo nor a specific Chl pair. 3. With one exception, the pigment structure in LHC-II is rigid. 4. The two X-ray structures of LHC-II show the same energy transmitting state of the complex. 5. Crystalline LHC-II resembles the complex in the thylakoid membrane. Models of the aggregation quenching mechanism in vitro and the qE mechanism in vivo are presented as a corollary of this doctoral work. LHC-II aggregation quenching in vitro is attributed to the formation of energy sinks on the periphery of LHC-II through random interaction with other trimers, free pigments or impurities. A similar but unrelated process is proposed to occur in the thylakoid membrane, by which excess excitation energy is dissipated upon specific interaction between LHC-II and a PsbS monomer carrying Zea. At the end of this thesis, an innovative experimental model for the analysis of all key aspects of qE is proposed in order to finally solve the qE enigma, one of the last unresolved problems in photosynthesis research.
This thesis presents a 5.9 Å map of yeast FAS obtained by cryo-electron microscopy using single particle analysis (SPA). The EM-map has been analyzed both by quantitative and qualitative analysis to aid in understanding of the structure and dynamics of yeast FAS. This study approaches the factors limiting the resolution in EM (>20 Å) and further discusses the possibilities of achieving higher-resolutions (<10 Å) in cryo-EM by single particle analysis. Here, SPA is highlighted as a powerful tool for understanding the structure and dynamics of macro-molecular complexes at near native conditions. Though SPA has been used over the last four decades, the low-resolution range (20-30 Å) of the method has limited its use in structural biology. Over the last decade, sub nanometer resolution (<10 Å) structures solved by SPA have been reported --both in studies involving symmetric particles, such as GroEL (D7) and asymmetric particles, such as ribosomes (C1). Recently, near-atomic resolution in the range of 3.8-4.2 Å has been achieved in cases of highly symmetric icosahedral viral capsid structures as well. The yeast FAS structure (D3) presented here is one of two low symmetry structures submitted to the EM-database in a resolution range of 5-6 Å; the other being GroEL (D7). Fatty acid synthase (FAS) is the key enzyme for the biosynthesis of fatty acids in living organisms. There are two types of FAS, namely the type II FAS system in prokaryotes, consisting of a set of individual enzymes, and type I FAS found in eukaryotes as a multienzyme complex. Yeast fatty acid synthase (FAS) is a 2.6 MDa barrel-shaped multienzyme complex, which carries out cyclic synthesis of fatty acids. By electron cryomicroscopy of single particles we obtained a 3D map of yeast FAS at 5.9 Å resolution. Compared to the crystal structures of fungal FAS, the EM map reveals major differences and new features that indicate a considerably different arrangement of the complex in solution, as well as a high degree of variance inside the barrel. Distinct density regions in the reaction chambers next to each of the catalytic domains fit well with the substratebinding acyl carrier protein (ACP) domain. In each case, this resulted in the expected distance of ~18 Å from the ACP substrate binding site to the active site of the catalytic domains. The multiple, partially occupied positions of the ACP within the reaction chamber provide direct insight into the proposed substrate-shuttling mechanism of fatty acid synthesis in this large cellular machine.
Reciprocal t(9;22) ABL/BCR fusion proteins: leukemogenic potential and effects on B cell commitment
(2009)
Background: t(9;22) is a balanced translocation, and the chromosome 22 breakpoints (Philadelphia chromosome – Ph+) determine formation of different fusion genes that are associated with either Ph+ acute lymphatic leukemia (Ph+ ALL) or chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). The "minor" breakpoint in Ph+ ALL encodes p185BCR/ABL from der22 and p96ABL/BCR from der9. The "major" breakpoint in CML encodes p210BCR/ABL and p40ABL/BCR. Herein, we investigated the leukemogenic potential of the der9-associated p96ABL/BCR and p40ABL/BCR fusion proteins and their roles in the lineage commitment of hematopoietic stem cells in comparison to BCR/ABL. Methodology: All t(9;22) derived proteins were retrovirally expressed in murine hematopoietic stem cells (SL cells) and human umbilical cord blood cells (UCBC). Stem cell potential was determined by replating efficiency, colony forming - spleen and competitive repopulating assays. The leukemic potential of the ABL/BCR fusion proteins was assessed by in a transduction/transplantation model. Effects on the lineage commitment and differentiation were investigated by culturing the cells under conditions driving either myeloid or lymphoid commitment. Expression of key factors of the B-cell differentiation and components of the preB-cell receptor were determined by qRT-PCR. Principal Findings: Both p96ABL/BCR and p40ABL/BCR increased proliferation of early progenitors and the short term stem cell capacity of SL-cells and exhibited own leukemogenic potential. Interestingly, BCR/ABL gave origin exclusively to a myeloid phenotype independently from the culture conditions whereas p96ABL/BCR and to a minor extent p40ABL/BCR forced the B-cell commitment of SL-cells and UCBC. Conclusions/Significance: Our here presented data establish the reciprocal ABL/BCR fusion proteins as second oncogenes encoded by the t(9;22) in addition to BCR/ABL and suggest that ABL/BCR contribute to the determination of the leukemic phenotype through their influence on the lineage commitment.
Bacterial porin disrupts mitochondrial membrane potential and sensitizes host cells to apoptosis
(2009)
The bacterial PorB porin, an ATP-binding beta-barrel protein of pathogenic Neisseria gonorrhoeae, triggers host cell apoptosis by an unknown mechanism. PorB is targeted to and imported by host cell mitochondria, causing the breakdown of the mitochondrial membrane potential (delta psi m). Here, we show that PorB induces the condensation of the mitochondrial matrix and the loss of cristae structures, sensitizing cells to the induction of apoptosis via signaling pathways activated by BH3-only proteins. PorB is imported into mitochondria through the general translocase TOM but, unexpectedly, is not recognized by the SAM sorting machinery, usually required for the assembly of beta-barrel proteins in the mitochondrial outer membrane. PorB integrates into the mitochondrial inner membrane, leading to the breakdown of delta psi m. The PorB channel is regulated by nucleotides and an isogenic PorB mutant defective in ATP-binding failed to induce delta psi m loss and apoptosis, demonstrating that dissipation of delta psi m is a requirement for cell death caused by neisserial infection.
The CUG-binding protein 1 (CUG-BP1) is a member of the CUG-BP1 and ETR-like factors (CELF) family or the Bruno-like family and is involved in the control of splicing, translation and mRNA degradation. Several target RNA sequences of CUG-BP1 have been predicted, such as the CUG triplet repeat, the GU-rich sequences and the AU-rich element of nuclear pre-mRNAs and/or cytoplasmic mRNA. CUG-BP1 has three RNA-recognition motifs (RRMs), among which the third RRM (RRM3) can bind to the target RNAs on its own. In this study, we solved the solution structure of the CUG-BP1 RRM3 by hetero-nuclear NMR spectroscopy. The CUG-BP1 RRM3 exhibited a noncanonical RRM fold, with the four-stranded b-sheet surface tightly associated with the N-terminal extension. Furthermore, we determined the solution structure of the CUG-BP1 RRM3 in the complex with (UG)3 RNA, and discovered that the UGU trinucleotide is specifically recognized through extensive stacking interactions and hydrogen bonds within the pocket formed by the b-sheet surface and the N-terminal extension. This study revealed the unique mechanism that enables the CUG-BP1 RRM3 to discriminate the short RNA segment from other sequences, thus providing the molecular basis for the comprehension of the role of the RRM3s in the CELF/Bruno-like family.
This thesis describes the structural characterization of interactions between biological relevant ribonucleic acid biomacromolecules (RNAs) and selected ligands to optimize the methodologies for the design of pharmacological lead compounds. To achieve this aim, not only the structures of the RNA, the ligand and their complexes need to be known, but also information about the inherent dynamics, especially of the target RNA, are necessary. To determine the structure and dynamics of these molecules and their complexes, liquid state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) is a suitable and powerful method. The necessity for these investigations arises from the lack of knowledge in RNA-ligand interactions, e.g. for the development of new medicinal drugs targeting crucial RNA sequences. In the first chapters of this thesis (Chapters II to IV), an introduction into RNA research is given with a focus on RNA structural features (Chapter II), into the interacting molecules, the biology of the specific RNA targets and the further development of their ligands (Chapter III) and into the NMR theory and methodologies used within this thesis (Chapter IV). Chapter II begins with a description of RNA characteristics and functions, placing the focus on the increasing attention that these biomacromolecules have attracted in recent years due to their diverse biological functionalities. This is followed by a detailed description of general structural features of RNA molecules. The biological functions of the RNAs investigated in this thesis (Human immunodeficiency virus PSI- and TAR-RNA and Coxsackievirus B3 Stemloop D in the 5’-cloverleaf element), together with their known structural characteristics are introduced in Chapter III. Furthermore, a description of the investigated ligands is given, focusing on the methods how their affinity and specificity were determined. The introduction is completed in Chapter IV, where the relevant NMR theory and methodologies are explained. First, kinetics and thermodynamics of ligand binding are summarized from an NMR point of view. Subsequently, a detailed description of the resonance assignment procedures for RNAs and peptidic ligands is given. This procedure mainly concentrates on the assignment of the proton resonances, which are essential for the later structure calculation from NMR restraints. The procedure for NMR structure calculation of RNA and its complexes follows with a short introduction into the programs ARIA and HADDOCK. The final part of this chapter explains the relaxation theory and the methodology to extract dynamic information from autocorrelated relaxation rates via the model-free formalism. In the Chapters V to VII of this thesis, the original publications are included and grouped into three topics. Chapter V comprehends the publications on the investigations of HIV PSI-RNA and its hexapeptidic ligand. These three publications[1-3] focus on the characterization of the ligand and its binding properties, its structure and the optimization of its composition aiming to improve its usage for further spectroscopic investigations.
The use of chemically synthesized short interfering RNAs (siRNAs) is currently the method of choice to manipulate gene expression in mammalian cell culture, yet improvements of siRNA design is expectably required for successful application in vivo. Several studies have aimed at improving siRNA performance through the introduction of chemical modifications but a direct comparison of these results is difficult. We have directly compared the effect of 21 types of chemical modifications on siRNA activity and toxicity in a total of 2160 siRNA duplexes. We demonstrate that siRNA activity is primarily enhanced by favouring the incorporation of the intended antisense strand during RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC) loading by modulation of siRNA thermodynamic asymmetry and engineering of siRNA 3-overhangs. Collectively, our results provide unique insights into the tolerance for chemical modifications and provide a simple guide to successful chemical modification of siRNAs with improved activity, stability and low toxicity.
The 3,5-methoxy groups in the title compound, C16H23NO4, are almost coplanar with the aromatic ring, whereas the 4-methoxy group is bent out of this plane. The three CH3—O—C—C torsion angles are -1.51 (18), 0.73 (19) and 75.33 (15)°. The cyclohexane ring adopts a chair conformation. In the crystal, molecules are connected by intermolecular N—H ... O hydrogen bonds into chains running along the b axis.
The asymmetric unit of the title compound, [K(C3H3N2)(C12H24O6)], is composed of a potassium cation bonded to the six O atoms of a crown ether molecule and the two N atoms of a pyrazolate anion. The K...O distances range from 2.8416 (8) to 3.0025 (8) Å, and the two K...N distances are 2.7441 (11) and 2.7654 (11) Å. The K cation is displaced by 0.8437 (4) Å from the best plane through the six O atoms. The latter plane is almost perpendicular to the plane of the pyrazolate ring [dihedral angle 83.93 (3)°]. Key indicators: single-crystal X-ray study; T = 173 K; mean σ(C–C) = 0.002 A°; R factor = 0.026; wR factor = 0.066; data-to-parameter ratio = 16.5.
9,9-Dimethyl-9-silafluorene
(2009)
The title compound, C14H14Si, crystallizes with two almost identical molecules (r.m.s. deviation = 0.080 Å for all non-H atoms) in the asymmetric unit. All atoms of the silafluorene moiety lie in a common plane (r.m.s. deviations = 0.049 and 0.035 Å for the two molecules in the asymmetric unit). The Si-Cmethyl bonds are significantly shorter [1.865 (4)-1.868 (4) Å] than the Si-Caromatic bonds [1.882 (3)-1.892 (3) Å]. Owing to strain in the five-membered ring, the endocyclic C-Si-C angles are reduced to 91.05 (14) and 91.21 (14)°. Key indicators: single-crystal X-ray study; T = 173 K; mean σ(C–C) = 0.005 A°; R factor = 0.061; wR factor = 0.157; data-to-parameter ratio = 16.3.
In the title compound, C17H12F2N2OS, the planar thiazole ring (r.m.s. deviation = 0.012 Å) makes dihedral angles of 15.08 (9) and 81.81 (6)° with the 4-fluorophenyl and 2-fluorophenyl rings, respectively. The 2-fluorophenyl ring is disordered over two orientations with site-occupancy factors of 0.810 (3) and 0.190 (3). The structure contains intermolecular C-H...O hydrogen bonds. Key indicators: single-crystal X-ray study; T = 173 K; mean σ(C–C) = 0.003 Å; disorder in main residue; R factor = 0.034; wR factor = 0.082; data-to-parameter ratio = 16.1.
In the title compound, C16H16BrNO4, the dihedral between the planes of the aromatic rings is 7.74 (18)°. The amide group is tilted with respect to the bromo- and methoxy-substituted aromatic rings by 36.3 (8) and 35.2 (8)°, respectively. The meta-methoxy groups are essentially in-plane with the aromatic ring [dihedral angles CH3-O-C-C = -4.6 (4) and -2.5 (4)°]. The para-methoxy group is markedly displaced from the ring plane [dihedral angle CH3-O-C-C = -72.5 (4)°]. The crystal packing is stabilized by N-H...O hydrogen bonds linking the molecules into chains running along the b axis. Key indicators: single-crystal X-ray study; T = 173 K; mean σ(C–C) = 0.004 Å; R factor = 0.033; wR factor = 0.076; data-to-parameter ratio = 14.6.
4-Chloro-N-m-tolylbenzamide
(2009)
In the title compound, C14H12ClNO, the dihedral angle between the two aromatic rings is 11.29 (15)°. The crystal packing is stabilized by N-H...O hydrogen bonds linking the molecules into chains running along the c axis. Key indicators: single-crystal X-ray study; T = 173 K; mean σ(C–C) = 0.004 Å; R factor = 0.066; wR factor = 0.178; data-to-parameter ratio = 13.7.
2-Chloro-5-nitroaniline
(2009)
The molecule of the title compound, C6H5ClN2O2, is close to being planar (rms deviation = 0.032 Å for all non-H atoms), with a maximum deviation of -0.107 (3) Å for an O atom. In the crystal structure, intermolecular N-H...O and N-H...N interactions link the molecules into a three-dimensional network. Key indicators: single-crystal X-ray study; T = 173 K; mean σ(C–C) = 0.002 A°; R factor = 0.023; wR factor = 0.061; data-to-parameter ratio = 11.8.
The title compound, C21H16N2O2, was derived from 1-(2-hydroxyphenyl)-3-(-methoxyphenyl)propane-1,3-dione. The molecular structure of the title compound is stabilized by an intramolecular O-H...N hydrogen bond. The dihedral angle between the hydroxyphenyl ring involved in this intramolecular hydrogen bond and the pyrazole ring is significantly smaller [10.07 (6)°] than the dihedral angle between the pyrazole and the other hydroxyphenyl ring [36.64 (5)°]. The benzene ring makes a dihedral angle of 54.95 (3)° with the pyrazole ring. The crystal packing is stabilized by O-H...O and O-H...N hydrogen bonds. Key indicators: single-crystal X-ray study; T = 173 K; mean σ(C–C) = 0.002 Å; R factor = 0.039; wR factor = 0.101; data-to-parameter ratio = 16.2.
In the molecule of the title compound, C14H16ClN3O, the benzene and pyrazole rings are oriented at a dihedral angle of 3.50 (3)°. In the crystal structure, intermolecular N-H...O hydrogen bonds link the molecules into chains. A [pi]-[pi] contact between the benzene and pyrazole rings [centroid-centroid distance = 3.820 (3) Å] may further stabilize the structure. Key indicators: single-crystal X-ray study; T = 173 K; mean σ(C–C) = 0.002 Å; R factor = 0.031; wR factor = 0.086; data-to-parameter ratio = 14.1.
Orthopoxviruses are large DNA viruses that replicate within the cytoplasm of infected cells encoding over a hundred different proteins. The orthopoxviral 68k ankyrin‐like protein (68k‐ank) is highly conserved among orthopoxviruses, and this study aimed at elucidating the function of 68k‐ank. The 68k‐ank protein is composed of four ankyrin repeats (ANK) and an F‐box‐like domain; both motifs are known proteinprotein interaction domains. The F‐box is found in cellular F‐box proteins (FBP), crucial components of cellular E3 ubiquitin (Ub) ligases. With yeast‐two‐hybrid screens and subsequent co‐immunoprecipitation analyses, it was possible to identify S‐phase kinase‐associated protein 1a (Skp1a) as a cellular counterpart of 68k‐ank via binding to the F‐box‐like domain. Additionally, Cullin‐1 was co‐precipitated, suggesting the formation of a viral‐cellular SCF E3 Ub ligase complex. Modified Vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA) ‐ being attenuated and unable to replicate in most mammalian cell lines due to a block in morphogenesis – nevertheless, expresses its complete genetic information attributing to its properties as promising vector vaccine. Conservation of 68k‐ank as the only ANK protein encoded by MVA implied a substantial role of this viral factor. Hence, its function in the viral life cycle was assessed by studying a 68k‐ank knock‐out MVA. A mutant phenotype manifested in nonpermissive mammalian cells characterized by a block succeeding viral early gene expression and by a reduced ability of the virus to shutoff host protein synthesis. Studies with MVA encoding a 68k‐ank F‐box‐like domain truncated protein revealed that viral‐cellular SCF complex formation and maintenance of viral gene expression are two distinct, unrelated functions fulfilled by 68k‐ank. Moreover, K1, a well‐described VACV host range factor of the ANK protein family, is able to complement 68k‐ank function. This suggests that gene expression of MVA putatively depends on the ANKs encoded in 68k‐ank. In addition to the important findings in vitro, first virulence studies with the mouse pox agent, ectromelia virus (ECTV) deleted of the 68k‐ank ortholog (C11) suggested that this factor contributes to ECTV virulence in vivo.
The transporter associated with antigen processing-like (TAPL) acts as a lysosomal ATP-dependent polypeptide transporter with broad length selectivity. To characterize in detail its substrate specificity, a procedure for solubilization, purification and functional reconstitution of human TAPL was developed. TAPL was expressed in Sf9 insect cells with the baculovirus expression system and solubilized from crude membranes. By intensive screening of detergents, the mild non-ionic detergents digitonin and dodecylmaltoside were found to be ideal for solubilization with respect to efficiency, long term stability, and functionality of TAPL. TAPL was isolated in a two-step procedure with a yield of 500 micro g/L cell culture and, subsequently, reconstituted into proteoliposomes. The KM(pep) for the peptide RRYCfKSTEL (f refers to fluorescence label) and KM(ATP) were determined to be 10.5 ± 2.3 micro M and 97.6 ± 27.5 micro M, respectively, which are in the same range as the Michaelis-Menten constants determined in the membranes. The peptide transport activity of the reconstituted TAPL strongly depends on the lipid composition. Interestingly, the E. coli lipids are prefered over other tested natural lipids extracts. Moreover, phosphatidylcholine, the most abundant phospholipid in eukaryotic cells influenced TAPL activity in a dose dependent manner. In addition, some negatively charged lipids like DOPA and DOPS increased peptide transport activity with preference for DOPS. However, DOPE or egg PG which are also negatively charged had no effect. It seems not only the charge but also the specific head group of phospholipids that has impact on the function of TAPL. With the help of combinatorial peptide libraries containing D-amino acid residues at defined positions as well as bulky fluorescein labeled peptides, the key positions of the peptides were localized to the N- and C-terminal residues with respect to peptide transport. The C-terminal position has the strongest selectivity since modification at this position shows strongest impact on peptide transport. Additionally, positions 2 and 3 of the peptide also have weak influence on peptide selectivity. Subsequently, the residue preferences at the key positions were systematically investigated by combinatorial peptide libraries with defined residues at certain positions. At both ends, TAPL favors positively charged, aromatic, or hydrophobic residues and disfavors negatively charged residues as well as asparagine and methionine. The residue preferences at the key positions are valid for peptide substrates with different length, indicating a general rule for TAPL selectivity. Besides specific interactions of both terminal residues, electrostatic interactions are important, since peptides with positive net charge are more efficiently transported than negatively charged ones. By size exclusion chromatography (SEC) and blue native PAGE, TAPL purified in the presence of digitonin or dodecylmaltoside had an apparent molecular weight of 200 kDa which is close to the theoretical molecular mass of the TAPL homodimer (172 kDa). The purified and reconstituted TAPL showed specific ATP hydrolysis activity which can be inhibited by orthovanadate. TAPL in proteoliposomes showed 6-fold higher ATP hydrolysis than digitonin solubilized protein, indicating the phospholipids impact on TAPL function. However, no peptide substrate stimulated ATPase activity was observed. For site-specific labeling of TAPL, eight cysteines in each half transporter were replaced by alanine or valine. The TAPL cys-less mutant showed the same peptide transport activity as TAPL wt. Based on the functional TAPL cys-less mutant, seven single cysteine mutants were introduced into strategic positions. All single cysteine mutants in the TMD did not influence peptide transport, whereas the mutant L701C, which is close to the conserved H-loop motif, displayed impaired transport. TAPL orthologs Haf-4 and Haf-9 from Caenorhabditis elegans possess around 40% sequence identities with TAPL and 50% with each other. Both proteins are putative half transporters and reported to be involved in the intestinal granule formation (Bauer, 2006; Kawai et al., 2009). To further understand the physiological functions of these two proteins, they were expressed in Sf9 insect cells. Haf-4 and Haf-9 showed weak but specific ATP- and peptide-dependent peptide transport activity for the given peptide RRYCfKSTEL. Therefore, it was proposed that the physiological roles for Haf-4 and Haf-9 might be related to their peptide transport activity. Besides forming functional homodimeric complex as estimated by the peptide transport activities, both half transporter could also form heteromers which was confirmed by coimmunoprecipitation. However, the heteromers showed decreased transport activity.
Modelling protein flexibility and plasticity is computationally challenging but important for understanding the function of biological systems. Furthermore, it has great implications for the prediction of (macro) molecular complex formation. Recently, coarse-grained normal mode approaches have emerged as efficient alternatives for investigating large-scale conformational changes for which more accurate methods like MD simulation are limited due to their computational burden. We have developed a Normal Mode based Simulation (NMSim) approach for efficient conformation generation of macromolecules. Combinations of low energy normal modes are used to guide a simulation pathway, whereas an efficient constraints correction approach is applied to generate stereochemically allowed conformations. Non-covalent bonds like hydrogen bonds and hydrophobic tethers and phi-psi favourable regions are also modelled as constraints. Conformations from our approach were compared with a 10 ns MD trajectory of lysozyme. A 2-D RMSD plot shows a good overlap of conformational space, and rms fluctuations of residues show a correlation coefficient of 0.78 between the two sets of conformations. Furthermore, a comparison of NMSim simulations starting from apo structures of different proteins show that ligand-bound conformations can be sampled for those cases where conformational changes are mainly correlated, e.g., domain-like motion in adenylate kinase. Efforts are currently being made to also model localized but functionally important motions for protein binding pockets and protein-protein interfaces using relevant normal mode selection criteria and implicit rotamer basin creation.
We have investigated the role of reactive oxygen species and thiol-oxidizing agents in the induction of cell death and have shown that adenocarcinoma gastric (AGS) cells respond differently to the oxidative challenge according to the signaling pathways activated. In particular, apoptosis in AGS cells is induced via the mitochondrial pathway upon treatment with thiol-oxidizing agents, such as diamide. Apoptosis is associated with persistent oxidative damage, as evidenced by the increase in carbonylated proteins and the expression/activation of DNA damage-sensitive proteins histone H2A.X and DNA-dependent protein kinase. Resistance to hydrogen peroxide is instead associated with Keap1 oxidation and rapid translocation of Nrf2 into the nucleus. Sensitivity to diamide and resistance to hydrogen peroxide are correlated with GSH redox changes, with diamide severely increasing GSSG, and hydrogen peroxide transiently inducing protein-GSH mixed disulfides. We show that p53 is activated in response to diamide treatment by the oxidative induction of the Trx1/p38(MAPK) signaling pathway. Similar results were obtained with another carcinoma cell line, CaCo2, indicating that these findings are not limited to AGS cells. Our data suggest that thiol-oxidizing agents could be exploited as inducers of apoptosis in tumor histotypes resistant to ROS-producing chemotherapeutics.
Macrophages ingesting apoptotic cells attenuate inflammatory responses, such as reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation. In atherosclerosis, ongoing inflammation and accumulation of apoptotic/necrotic material are observed, suggesting defects of phagocytes in recognizing or responding to dying cells. Modified lipoproteins such as oxidized LDL (oxLDL) are known to promote inflammation and to interfere with apoptotic cell clearance. Here, we studied the impact of cells exposed to oxLDL on their ability to interfere with the oxidative burst in phagocytes. In contrast to apoptotic cells, cells dying in response to or in the presence of oxLDL failed to suppress ROS generation despite efficiently being taken up by phagocytes. In addition, apoptotic cells, but not oxLDL-treated cells, inhibited phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase, which is important for NADPH oxidase activation. oxLDL treatment did not interfere with activation of the antiinflammatory transcriptional regulator peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma by apoptotic cells. Moreover, cells exposed to oxLDL failed to suppress lipopolysaccharide- induced proinflammatory cytokine expression, whereas apoptotic cells attenuated these phagocyte responses. Thus, the presence of oxLDL during cell death impaired the ability of apoptotic cells to act antiinflammatory with regard to oxidative burst inhibition and cytokine expression in phagocytes.
Specific functions of biological systems often require conformational transitions of macromolecules. Thus, being able to describe and predict conformational changes of biological macromolecules is not only important for understanding their impact on biological function, but will also have implications for the modelling of (macro)molecular complex formation and in structure-based drug design approaches. The “conformational selection model” provides the foundation for computational investigations of conformational fluctuations of the unbound protein state. These fluctuations may reveal conformational states adopted by the bound proteins. The aim of this work is to incorporate directional information in a geometry-based approach, in order to sample biologically relevant conformational space extensively. Interestingly, coarse-grained normal mode (CGNM) approaches, e.g., the elastic network model (ENM) and rigid cluster normal mode analysis (RCNMA), have emerged recently and provide directions of intrinsic motions in terms of harmonic modes (also called normal modes). In my previous work and in other studies it has been shown that conformational changes upon ligand binding occur along a few low-energy modes of unbound proteins and can be efficiently calculated by CGNM approaches. In order to explore the validity and the applicability of CGNM approaches, a large-scale comparison of essential dynamics (ED) modes from molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and normal modes from CGNM was performed over a dataset of 335 proteins. Despite high coarse-graining, low frequency normal modes from CGNM correlate very well with ED modes in terms of directions of motions (average maximal overlap is 0.65) and relative amplitudes of motions (average maximal overlap is 0.73). In order to exploit the potential of CGNM approaches, I have developed a three-step approach for efficient exploration of intrinsic motions of proteins. The first two steps are based on recent developments in rigidity and elastic network theory. Initially, static properties of the protein are determined by decomposing the protein into rigid clusters using the graph-theoretical approach FIRST at an all-atom representation of the protein. In a second step, dynamic properties of the molecule are revealed by the rotations-translations of blocks approach (RTB) using an elastic network model representation of the coarse-grained protein. In the final step, the recently introduced idea of constrained geometric simulations of diffusive motions in proteins is extended for efficient sampling of conformational space. Here, the low-energy (frequency) normal modes provided by the RCNMA approach are used to guide the backbone motions. The NMSim approach was validated on hen egg white lysozyme by comparing it to previously mentioned simulation methods in terms of residue fluctuations, conformational space explorations, essential dynamics, sampling of side-chain rotamers, and structural quality. Residue fluctuations in NMSim generated ensemble is found to be in good agreement with MD fluctuations with a correlation coefficient of around 0.79. A comparison of different geometry-based simulation approaches shows that FRODA is restricted in sampling the backbone conformational space. CONCOORD is restricted in sampling the side-chain conformational space. NMSim sufficiently samples both the backbone and the side-chain conformations taking experimental structures and conformations from the state of the art MD simulation as reference. The NMSim approach is also applied to a dataset of proteins where conformational changes have been observed experimentally, either in domain or functionally important loop regions. The NMSim simulations starting from the unbound structures are able to reach conformations similar to ligand bound conformations (RMSD < 2.4 Å) in 4 out of 5 cases of domain moving proteins. In these four cases, good correlation coefficients (R > 0.7) between the RMS fluctuations derived from NMSim generated structures and two experimental structures are observed. Furthermore, intrinsic fluctuations in NMSim simulation correlate with the region of loop conformational changes observed upon ligand binding in 2 out of 3 cases. The NMSim generated pathway of conformational change from the unbound structure to the ligand bound structure of adenylate kinase is validated by a comparison to experimental structures reflecting different states of the pathway as proposed by previous studies. Interestingly, the generated pathway confirms that the LID domain closure precedes the closing of the NMPbind domain, even if no target conformation is provided in NMSim. Hence, the results in this study show that, incorporating directional information in the geometry-based approach NMSim improves the sampling of biologically relevant conformational space and provides a computationally efficient alternative to state of the art MD simulations.
Solid state NMR is a emerging method for the study of membrane proteins, which has received much interest in recent years. Limiting the study of many pharmacologically relevant targets, are the often long measuring times, required to obtain especially higher dimensional solid state NMR spectra of good quality. To address this problem, multiple methods where developed in this work, which can be categorized into two groups. The first set of methods aims at the quality of certain spectra, by implementing a spectral filter, which increases the fidelity of the measured data. The second set of methods, addresses the problem of long measuring times directly, by increasing the sensitivity per unit time, as could be shown, for example, on homo- and heteronuclear singlequantum-singlequantum correlation experiments. The gains in measuring time for the latter group of methods are typically in the order of 2-3, but some experiments allow multiple methods to be employed simultaneously, which can lead to a decrease in measuring time of a factor of up to 8. It is important to mention, that none of the methods introduced in this work require any equipment in addition to the conventional setup present in most sold state NMR laboratories and no changes or addition to the samples under study are required. Therefore the gains reported in this work come at no extra cost and require only minimal implementation effort on the side of the user.
X-ray structure of the Na+-coupled Glycine-Betaine symporter BetP from Corynebacterium glutamicum
(2009)
Cellular membranes are important sites of interaction between cells and their environment. Among the multitude of macromolecular complexes embedded in these membranes, transporters play a particularly important role. These integral membrane proteins perform a number of vital functions that enable cell adaptation to changing environmental conditions. Osmotic stress is a major external stimulus for cells. Bacteria are frequently exposed to either hyperosmotic or hypoosmotic stress. Typical conditions for soil bacteria, such as Corynebacterium glutamicum, vary between dryness and sudden rainfall. Physical stimuli caused by osmotic stress have to be sensed and used to activate appropriate response mechanisms. Hypoosmotic stress causes immediate and uncontrolled influx of water. Cells counteract by instantly opening mechanosensitive channels, which act as emergency valves leading to fast efflux of small solutes out of the cell, therebydiminishing the osmotic gradient across the cell membrane. Hyperosmotic stress, on the other hand, results in water efflux. This is counterbalanced by an accumulation of small, osmotically active solutes in the cytoplasm, the so-called compatible solutes. They comprise a large variety of substances, including amino acids (proline), amino acid derivatives (betaine, ectoine), oligosaccharides (trehalose), and heterosides (glucosylglycerol). Osmoregulated transporters sense intracellular osmotic pressure and respond to hyperosmotic stress by facilitating the inward translocation of compatible solutes across the cell membrane, to restore normal hydration levels. This work presents the first X-ray structure of a member of the Betaine-Choline-Carnitine-Transporter (BCCT) family, BetP. This Na+-coupled symporter from Corynebacterium glutamicum is a highly effective osmoregulated and specific uptake system for glycine-betaine. X-ray structure determination was achieved using single wavelength anomalous dispersion (SAD) of selenium atoms. Selenium was incorporated into the protein during its expression in methione auxotrophic E. coli cells, grown in media supplemented with selenomethionine. SAD data with anomalous signal up to 5 Å led to the detection of 39 selenium sites, which were used to calculate the initial electron density map of the protein. Medium resolution and high data anisotropy made the structure determination of BetP a challenging task. A specific strategy for data anisotropy correction and a combination of various crystallographic programs were necessary to obtain an interpretable electron density map suitable for model building. The crystal structure of BetP shows a trimer with glycine-betaine bound in a three-fold cation-pi interaction built by conserved tryptophan residues. The bound substrate is occluded from both sides of the membrane and aromatic side chains line its transport pathway. Very interestingly, the structure reveals that the alpha-helical C-terminal domain, for which a chemo- and osmosensory function was elucidated by biochemical methods, interacts with cytoplasmic loops of an adjacent monomer. These unexpected monomer-monomer interactions are thought to be crucial for the activation mechanism of BetP, and a new atomic model combing biochemical results with the crystal structure is proposed. BetP is shown to have the same overall fold as three unrelated Na+-coupled symporters. While these were crystallised in either the outward- or inward-facing conformation, BetP reveals a unique intermediate state, opening new perspectives on the alternating access mechanism of transport.
Both the genomes of the epsilonproteobacteria Wolinella succinogenes and Campylobacter jejuni contain operons (sdhABE) that encode for so far uncharacterized enzyme complexes annotated as ‘non-classical’ succinate:quinone reductases (SQRs). However, the role of such an enzyme ostensibly involved in aerobic respiration in an anaerobic organism such as W. succinogenes has hitherto been unknown. We have established the first genetic system for the manipulation and production of a member of the non-classical succinate:quinone oxidoreductase family. Biochemical characterization of the W. succinogenes enzyme reveals that the putative SQR is in fact a novel methylmenaquinol:fumarate reductase (MFR) with no detectable succinate oxidation activity, clearly indicative of its involvement in anaerobic metabolism. We demonstrate that the hydrophilic subunits of the MFR complex are, in contrast to all other previously characterized members of the superfamily, exported into the periplasm via the twin-arginine translocation (tat)-pathway. Furthermore we show that a single amino acid exchange (Ala86→His) in the flavoprotein of that enzyme complex is the only additional requirement for the covalent binding of the otherwise non-covalently bound FAD. Our results provide an explanation for the previously published puzzling observation that the C. jejuni sdhABE operon is upregulated in an oxygen-limited environment as compared with microaerophilic laboratory conditions.
[MesnacnacZn(μ-H)]2 (1) was synthesized by reaction of MesnacnacZnI with either an equimolar amount of KNH(iPr)BH3 or an excess of NaH and characterized by multinuclear NMR and IR spectroscopy as well as X-ray diffraction. Two polymorphs of 1 were found and their structures determined on single crystals.
The archaeal ATP synthase is a multisubunit complex that consists of a catalytic A(1) part and a transmembrane, ion translocation domain A(0). The A(1)A(0) complex from the hyperthermophile Pyrococcus furiosus was isolated. Mass analysis of the complex by laser-induced liquid bead ion desorption (LILBID) indicated a size of 730 +/- 10 kDa. A three-dimensional map was generated by electron microscopy from negatively stained images. The map at a resolution of 2.3 nm shows the A(1) and A(0) domain, connected by a central stalk and two peripheral stalks, one of which is connected to A(0), and both connected to A(1) via prominent knobs. X-ray structures of subunits from related proteins were fitted to the map. On the basis of the fitting and the LILBID analysis, a structural model is presented with the stoichiometry A(3)B(3)CDE(2)FH(2)ac(10).
The transporter associated with antigen processing (TAP) is an essential machine of the adaptive immune system that translocates antigenic peptides from the cytosol into the endoplasmic reticulum lumen for loading of major histocompatibility class I molecules. To examine this ABC transport complex in mechanistic detail, we have established, after extensive screening and optimization, the solubilization, purification, and reconstitution for TAP to preserve its function in each step. This allowed us to determine the substrate-binding stoichiometry of the TAP complex by fluorescence cross-correlation spectroscopy. In addition, the TAP complex shows strict coupling between peptide binding and ATP hydrolysis, revealing no basal ATPase activity in the absence of peptides. These results represent an optimal starting point for detailed mechanistic studies of the transport cycle of TAP by single molecule experiments to analyze single steps of peptide translocation and the stoichiometry between peptide transport and ATP hydrolysis.
The molecular conformation of the title compound, C18H18N2O3S, is stabilized by an intramolecular N—H ... O hydrogen bond. The crystal packing shows centrosymmetric dimers connected by N—H ... S hydrogen bonds. The terminal ethoxy substituents are statistically disordered [occupancy ratio 0.527 (5):0.473 (5)].
In the crystal of the title compound [systematic name: 2-(3,5-diamino-6-chloropyrazin-2-ylcarbonyl)guanidinium chloride methanol disolvate], C6H9ClN7O+·Cl-·2CH3OH , the components are connected by N—H ... N, N—H ... Cl, N—H ... O, O—H ... Cl and O—H ... O hydrogen bonds into a three-dimensional network. The dihedral angle between the aromatic ring and the guanidine residue is 6.0 (2)°.
The title compound (also know as azorellanone), C20H32O2, is built up from three fused carbocycles, one five-membered ring and two six-membered rings. The five membered-ring has an envelope conformation, whereas the six-membered rings have a distorted half-chair and a twist–boat conformation. In the crystal, molecules are linked by O—H ... O interactions into zigzag chains with graph-set notation C(8) along [010]. The absolute configuration was assigned on the basis of earlier chemical studies.
The title compound, C15H14N2O4, has a trans–gauche [O/C/C/C–O/C/C/C] (TG) conformation. The angle between the planes of aromatic rings is 76.4 (3)°. The crystal structure is stabilized by van der Waals interactions and C—H ... O hydrogen bonds. The crystal used was a non-merohedral twin with a fractional contribution of the minor component of 0.443 (5).
17-Acetoxymulinic acid
(2010)
The title compound, [systematic name: 5a-acetoxymethyl-3-isopropyl-8-methyl-1,2,3,3a,4,5,5a,6,7,10,10a,10b-dodecahydro-7,10-endo-epidioxycyclohepta[e]indene-3a-carboxylic acid], C22H32O6 (I), is closely related to methyl 5a-acetoxymethyl-3-isopropyl-8-methyl-1,2,3,3a,4,5,5a,6,7,10,10a,10b-dodecahydro-7,10-endo-epidioxycyclohepta[e]indene-3a-carboxylate, (II) [Brito et al., (2008 [triangle]). Acta Cryst. E64, o1209]. There are two molecules in the asymmetric unit, which are linked by two strong intramolecular O—H ... O hydrogen bonds with graph-set motif R 2 2(8). In both (I) and (II), the conformation of the three fused rings are almost identical. The five-membered ring has an envelope conformation, the six-membered ring has a chair conformation and the seven-membered ring has a boat conformation. The most obvious differences between the two compounds is the observed disorder of the acetoxymethyl fragments in both molecules of the asymmetric unit of (I). This disorder is not observed in (II). The crystal structure and the molecular conformation is stabilized by intermolecular C—H ... O hydrogen bonds. The ability to form hydrogen bonds is different in the two compounds. The crystal studied was a non-merohedral twin, the ratio of the twin components being 0.28 (1):0.72 (1)