Development and Characterization of Potent Cyclic Acyldepsipeptide Analogues with Increased Antimicrobial Activity

The problem of antibiotic resistance has prompted the search for new antibiotics with novel mechanisms of action. Analogues of the A54556 cyclic acyldepsipeptides (ADEPs) represent an attractive class of antimicrobial agents that act through dysregulation of caseinolytic protease (ClpP). Previous studies have shown that ADEPs are active against Gram-positive bacteria (e.g., MRSA, VRE, PRSP (penicillin-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae)); however, there are currently few studies examining Gram-negative bacteria. In this study, the synthesis and biological evaluation of 14 novel ADEPs against a variety of pathogenic Gram-negative and Gram-positive organisms is outlined. Optimization of the macrocyclic core residues and N-acyl side chain culminated in the development of 26, which shows potent activity against the Gram-negative species Neisseria meningitidis and Neisseria gonorrheae and improved activity against the Gram-positive organisms Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus faecalis in comparison with known analogues. In addition, the co-crystal structure of an ADEP-ClpP complex derived from N. meningitidis was solved.

Nicotinamide mononucleotide adenylyltransferase displays alternate binding modes for nicotinamide nucleotides

Nicotinamide mononucleotide adenylyltransferase (NMNAT) catalyzes the biosynthesis of NAD(+) and NaAD(+). The crystal structure of NMNAT from Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum complexed with NAD(+) and SO4(2-) revealed the active-site residues involved in binding and catalysis. Site-directed mutagenesis was used to further characterize the roles played by several of these residues. Arg11 and Arg136 were implicated in binding the phosphate groups of the ATP substrate. Both of these residues were mutated to lysine individually. Arg47 does not interact with either NMN or ATP substrates directly, but was deemed to play a role in binding as it is proximal to Arg11 and Arg136. Arg47 was mutated to lysine and glutamic acid. Surprisingly, when expressed in Escherichia coli all of these NMNAT mutants trapped a molecule of NADP(+) in their active sites. This NADP(+) was bound in a conformation that was quite different from that displayed by NAD(+) in the native enzyme complex. When NADP(+) was co-crystallized with wild-type NMNAT, the same structural arrangement was observed. These studies revealed a different conformation of NADP(+) in the active site of NMNAT, indicating plasticity of the active site.

Characterization of Vis Toxin, a Novel ADP-Ribosyltransferase from Vibrio splendidus

Vis toxin was identified by a bioinformatics strategy as a putative virulence factor produced by Vibrio splendidus with mono-ADP-ribosyltransferase activity. Vis was purified to homogeneity as a 28 kDa single-domain enzyme and was shown to possess NAD(+)-glycohydrolase [KM(NAD(+)) = 276 ± 12 μM] activity and with an R-S-E-X-E motif; it targets arginine-related compounds [KM(agmatine) = 272 ± 18 mM]. Mass spectrometry analysis revealed that Vis labels l-arginine with ADP-ribose from the NAD(+) substrate at the amino nitrogen of the guanidinium side chain. Vis is toxic to yeast when expressed in the cytoplasm under control of the CUP1 promotor, and catalytic variants lost the ability to kill the yeast host, indicating that the toxin exerts its lethality through its enzyme activity. Several small molecule inhibitors were identified from a virtual screen, and the most potent compounds were found to inhibit the transferase activity of the enzyme with Ki values ranging from 25 to 134 μM. Inhibitor compound M6 bears the necessary attributes of a solid candidate as a lead compound for therapeutic development. Vis toxin was crystallized, and the structures of the apoenzyme (1.4 Å) and the enzyme bound with NAD(+) (1.8 Å) and with the M6 inhibitor (1.5 Å) were determined. The structures revealed that Vis represents a new subgroup within the mono-ADP-ribosyltransferase toxin family.

Fixed target matrix for femtosecond time-resolved and in situ serial micro-crystallography

We present a crystallography chip enabling in situ room temperature crystallography at microfocus synchrotron beamlines and X-ray free-electron laser (X-FEL) sources. Compared to other in situ approaches, we observe extremely low background and high diffraction data quality. The chip design is robust and allows fast and efficient loading of thousands of small crystals. The ability to load a large number of protein crystals, at room temperature and with high efficiency, into prescribed positions enables high throughput automated serial crystallography with microfocus synchrotron beamlines. In addition, we demonstrate the application of this chip for femtosecond time-resolved serial crystallography at the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS, Menlo Park, California, USA). The chip concept enables multiple images to be acquired from each crystal, allowing differential detection of changes in diffraction intensities in order to obtain high signal-to-noise and fully exploit the time resolution capabilities of XFELs.

The C-terminal peptide plays a role in the formation of an intermediate form during the transition between xanthine dehydrogenase and xanthine oxidase

Mammalian xanthine oxidoreductase can exist in both dehydrogenase and oxidase forms. Conversion between the two is implicated in such diverse processes as lactation, anti-bacterial activity, reperfusion injury and a growing number of diseases. We have constructed a variant of the rat liver enzyme that lacks the carboxy-terminal amino acids 1316-1331; it appears to assume an intermediate form, exhibiting a mixture of dehydrogenase and oxidase activities. The purified variant protein retained ~ 50-70% of oxidase activity even after prolonged dithiothreitol treatment, supporting a previous prediction that the C-terminal region plays a role in the dehydrogenase to oxidase conversion. In the crystal structure of the protein variant, most of the enzyme stays in an oxidase conformation. After 15 min of incubation with a high concentration of NADH, however, the corresponding X-ray structures showed a dehydrogenase-type conformation. On the other hand, disulfide formation between Cys535 and Cys992, which can clearly be seen in the electron density map of the crystal structure of the variant after removal of dithiothreitol, goes in parallel with the complete conversion to oxidase, resulting in structural changes identical to those observed upon proteolytic cleavage of the linker peptide. These results indicate that the dehydrogenase-oxidase transformation occurs rather readily and the insertion of the C-terminal peptide into the active site cavity of its subunit stabilizes the dehydrogenase form. We propose that the intermediate form can be generated (e.g. in endothelial cells) upon interaction of the C-terminal peptide portion of the enzyme with other proteins or the cell membrane.

DATABASE

Coordinate sets and structure factors for the four crystal structures reported in the present study have been deposited in the Protein Data Bank under the identification numbers 4YRW, 4YTZ, 4YSW, and 4YTY.

Hydrophobic Gating of Ion Permeation in Magnesium Channel CorA

Ion channels catalyze ionic permeation across membranes via water-filled pores. To understand how changes in intracellular magnesium concentration regulate the influx of Mg²⁺ into cells, we examine early events in the relaxation of Mg²⁺ channel CorA toward its open state using massively-repeated molecular dynamics simulations conducted either with or without regulatory ions. The pore of CorA contains a 2-nm-long hydrophobic bottleneck which remained dehydrated in most simulations. However, rapid hydration or “wetting” events concurrent with small-amplitude fluctuations in pore diameter occurred spontaneously and reversibly. In the absence of regulatory ions, wetting transitions are more likely and include a wet state that is significantly more stable and more hydrated. The free energy profile for Mg²⁺ permeation presents a barrier whose magnitude is anticorrelated to pore diameter and the extent of hydrophobic hydration. These findings support an allosteric mechanism whereby wetting of a hydrophobic gate couples changes in intracellular magnesium concentration to the onset of ionic conduction.

This study shows how rapid wetting/dewetting transitions in the pores of ion channels participate in the control of biological ion permeation. Ion channels catalyze ionic permeation across non-polar membranes via water-filled pores. However, non-polar stretches or hydrophobic bottlenecks are present in the pores of many ion channels. To clarify the relationship between channel regulation, pore hydration, and ion permeation, we examine how the slow relaxation of magnesium channel CorA from its closed state towards its open state modulates wetting of its hydrophobic bottleneck. Results provide a quantitative description of wetting and dewetting probabilities and kinetics and a quantitative relationship between the extent of pore hydration and the energetics of ion permeation, consistent with a mechanism of hydrophobic gating.

Orotidine Monophosphate Decarboxylase--A Fascinating Workhorse Enzyme with Therapeutic Potential

Orotidine 5'-monophosphate decarboxylase (ODCase) is known as one of the most proficient enzymes. The enzyme catalyzes the last reaction step of the de novo pyrimidine biosynthesis, the conversion from orotidine 5'-monophosphate (OMP) to uridine 5'-monophosphate. The enzyme is found in all three domains of life, Bacteria, Eukarya and Archaea. Multiple sequence alignment of 750 putative ODCase sequences resulted in five distinct groups. While the universally conserved DxKxxDx motif is present in all the groups, depending on the groups, several characteristic motifs and residues can be identified. Over 200 crystal structures of ODCases have been determined so far. The structures, together with biochemical assays and computational studies, elucidated that ODCase utilized both transition state stabilization and substrate distortion to accelerate the decarboxylation of its natural substrate. Stabilization of the vinyl anion intermediate by a conserved lysine residue at the catalytic site is considered the largest contributing factor to catalysis, while bending of the carboxyl group from the plane of the aromatic pyrimidine ring of OMP accounts for substrate distortion. A number of crystal structures of ODCases complexed with potential drug candidate molecules have also been determined, including with 6-iodo-uridine, a potential antimalarial agent.

The structure of SAV1646 from Staphylococcus aureus belonging to a new `ribosome-associated' subfamily of bacterial proteins

The crystal structure of the SAV1646 protein from the pathogenic microorganism Staphylococcus aureus has been determined at 1.7 Å resolution. The 106-amino-acid protein forms a two-layer sandwich with α/β topology. The protein molecules associate as dimers in the crystal and in solution, with the monomers related by a pseudo-twofold rotation axis. A sequence-homology search identified the protein as a member of a new subfamily of yet uncharacterized bacterial `ribosome-associated' proteins with at least 13 members to date. A detailed analysis of the crystal protein structure along with the genomic structure of the operon containing the sav1646 gene allowed a tentative functional model of this protein to be proposed. The SAV1646 dimer is assumed to form a complex with ribosomal proteins L21 and L27 which could help to complete the assembly of the large subunit of the ribosome.

X-ray structure of a Hg2+ complex of mercuric reductase (MerA) and quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical study of Hg2+ transfer between the C-terminal and buried catalytic site cysteine pairs

Mercuric reductase, MerA, is a key enzyme in bacterial mercury resistance. This homodimeric enzyme captures and reduces toxic Hg²⁺ to Hg⁰, which is relatively unreactive and can exit the cell passively. Prior to reduction, the Hg²⁺ is transferred from a pair of cysteines (C558′ and C559′ using Tn501 numbering) at the C-terminus of one monomer to another pair of cysteines (C136 and C141) in the catalytic site of the other monomer. Here, we present the X-ray structure of the C-terminal Hg²⁺ complex of the C136A/C141A double mutant of the Tn501 MerA catalytic core and explore the molecular mechanism of this Hg transfer with quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical (QM/MM) calculations. The transfer is found to be nearly thermoneutral and to pass through a stable tricoordinated intermediate that is marginally less stable than the two end states. For the overall process, Hg²⁺ is always paired with at least two thiolates and thus is present at both the C-terminal and catalytic binding sites as a neutral complex. Prior to Hg²⁺ transfer, C141 is negatively charged. As Hg²⁺ is transferred into the catalytic site, a proton is transferred from C136 to C559′ while C558′ becomes negatively charged, resulting in the net transfer of a negative charge over a distance of ∼7.5 Å. Thus, the transport of this soft divalent cation is made energetically feasible by pairing a competition between multiple Cys thiols and/or thiolates for Hg²⁺ with a competition between the Hg²⁺ and protons for the thiolates.

Insights into the binding of PARP inhibitors to the catalytic domain of human tankyrase-2

The poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) family represents a new class of therapeutic targets with diverse potential disease indications. PARP1 and PARP2 inhibitors have been developed for breast and ovarian tumors manifesting double-stranded DNA-repair defects, whereas tankyrase 1 and 2 (TNKS1 and TNKS2, also known as PARP5a and PARP5b, respectively) inhibitors have been developed for tumors with elevated β-catenin activity. As the clinical relevance of PARP inhibitors continues to be actively explored, there is heightened interest in the design of selective inhibitors based on the detailed structural features of how small-molecule inhibitors bind to each of the PARP family members. Here, the high-resolution crystal structures of the human TNKS2 PARP domain in complex with 16 various PARP inhibitors are reported, including the compounds BSI-201, AZD-2281 and ABT-888, which are currently in Phase 2 or 3 clinical trials. These structures provide insight into the inhibitor-binding modes for the tankyrase PARP domain and valuable information to guide the rational design of future tankyrase-specific inhibitors.

Binding to large enzyme pockets: small-molecule inhibitors of trypanothione reductase

The causative agents of the parasitic disease human African trypanosomiasis belong to the family of trypanosomatids. These parasitic protozoa exhibit a unique thiol redox metabolism that is based on the flavoenzyme trypanothione reductase (TR). TR was identified as a potential drug target and features a large active site that allows a multitude of possible ligand orientations, which renders rational structure-based inhibitor design highly challenging. Herein we describe the synthesis, binding properties, and kinetic analysis of a new series of small-molecule inhibitors of TR. The conjunction of biological activities, mutation studies, and virtual ligand docking simulations led to the prediction of a binding mode that was confirmed by crystal structure analysis. The crystal structures revealed that the ligands bind to the hydrophobic wall of the so-called "mepacrine binding site". The binding conformation and potency of the inhibitors varied for TR from Trypanosoma brucei and T. cruzi.

Structural insights into Noonan/LEOPARD syndrome-related mutants of protein-tyrosine phosphatase SHP2 (PTPN11)

Background

The ubiquitous non-receptor protein tyrosine phosphatase SHP2 (encoded by PTPN11) plays a key role in RAS/ERK signaling downstream of most, if not all growth factors, cytokines and integrins, although its major substrates remain controversial. Mutations in PTPN11 lead to several distinct human diseases. Germ-line PTPN11 mutations cause about 50% of Noonan Syndrome (NS), which is among the most common autosomal dominant disorders. LEOPARD Syndrome (LS) is an acronym for its major syndromic manifestations: multiple Lentigines, Electrocardiographic abnormalities, Ocular hypertelorism, Pulmonary stenosis, Abnormalities of genitalia, Retardation of growth, and sensorineural Deafness. Frequently, LS patients have hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and they might also have an increased risk of neuroblastoma (NS) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Consistent with the distinct pathogenesis of NS and LS, different types of PTPN11 mutations cause these disorders.

Results

Although multiple studies have reported the biochemical and biological consequences of NS- and LS-associated PTPN11 mutations, their structural consequences have not been analyzed fully. Here we report the crystal structures of WT SHP2 and five NS/LS-associated SHP2 mutants. These findings enable direct structural comparisons of the local conformational changes caused by each mutation.

Conclusions

Our structural analysis agrees with, and provides additional mechanistic insight into, the previously reported catalytic properties of these mutants. The results of our research provide new information regarding the structure-function relationship of this medically important target, and should serve as a solid foundation for structure-based drug discovery programs.

A porphodimethene chemical inhibitor of uroporphyrinogen decarboxylase

Uroporphyrinogen decarboxylase (UROD) catalyzes the conversion of uroporphyrinogen to coproporphyrinogen during heme biosynthesis. This enzyme was recently identified as a potential anticancer target; its inhibition leads to an increase in reactive oxygen species, likely mediated by the Fenton reaction, thereby decreasing cancer cell viability and working in cooperation with radiation and/or cisplatin. Because there is no known chemical UROD inhibitor suitable for use in translational studies, we aimed to design, synthesize, and characterize such a compound. Initial in silico-based design and docking analyses identified a potential porphyrin analogue that was subsequently synthesized. This species, a porphodimethene (named PI-16), was found to inhibit UROD in an enzymatic assay (IC50 = 9.9 µM), but did not affect porphobilinogen deaminase (at 62.5 µM), thereby exhibiting specificity. In cellular assays, PI-16 reduced the viability of FaDu and ME-180 cancer cells with half maximal effective concentrations of 22.7 µM and 26.9 µM, respectively, and only minimally affected normal oral epithelial (NOE) cells. PI-16 also combined effectively with radiation and cisplatin, with potent synergy being observed in the case of cisplatin in FaDu cells (Chou-Talalay combination index <1). This work presents the first known synthetic UROD inhibitor, and sets the foundation for the design, synthesis, and characterization of higher affinity and more effective UROD inhibitors.

Structure and immunogenicity of a peptide vaccine, including the complete HIV-1 gp41 2F5 epitope: implications for antibody recognition mechanism and immunogen design

The membrane-proximal external region (MPER) of gp41 harbors the epitope recognized by the broadly neutralizing anti-HIV 2F5 antibody, a research focus in HIV-1 vaccine development. In this work, we analyze the structure and immunogenic properties of MPERp, a peptide vaccine that includes the following: (i) the complete sequence protected from proteolysis by the 2F5 paratope; (ii) downstream residues postulated to establish weak contacts with the CDR-H3 loop of the antibody, which are believed to be crucial for neutralization; and (iii) an aromatic rich anchor to the membrane interface. MPERp structures solved in dodecylphosphocholine micelles and 25% 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoro-2-propanol (v/v) confirmed folding of the complete 2F5 epitope within continuous kinked helices. Infrared spectroscopy (IR) measurements demonstrated the retention of main helical conformations in immunogenic formulations based on alum, Freund's adjuvant, or two different types of liposomes. Binding to membrane-inserted MPERp, IR, molecular dynamics simulations, and characterization of the immune responses further suggested that packed helical bundles partially inserted into the lipid bilayer, rather than monomeric helices adsorbed to the membrane interface, could encompass effective MPER peptide vaccines. Together, our data constitute a proof-of-concept to support MPER-based peptides in combination with liposomes as stand-alone immunogens and suggest new approaches for structure-aided MPER vaccine development.

Substrate distortion contributes to the catalysis of orotidine 5'-monophosphate decarboxylase

Orotidine 5'-monophosphate decarboxylase (ODCase) accelerates the decarboxylation of orotidine 5'-monophosphate (OMP) to uridine 5'-monophosphate (UMP) by 17 orders of magnitude. Eight new crystal structures with ligand analogues combined with computational analyses of the enzyme's short-lived intermediates and the intrinsic electronic energies to distort the substrate and other ligands improve our understanding of the still controversially discussed reaction mechanism. In their respective complexes, 6-methyl-UMP displays significant distortion of its methyl substituent bond, 6-amino-UMP shows the competition between the K72 and C6 substituents for a position close to D70, and the methyl and ethyl esters of OMP both induce rotation of the carboxylate group substituent out of the plane of the pyrimidine ring. Molecular dynamics and quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics computations of the enzyme-substrate complex also show the bond between the carboxylate group and the pyrimidine ring to be distorted, with the distortion contributing a 10-15% decrease of the ΔΔG(⧧) value. These results are consistent with ODCase using both substrate distortion and transition-state stabilization, primarily exerted by K72, in its catalysis of the OMP decarboxylation reaction.

Opsin, a structural model for olfactory receptors?

Receptor-ligand interaction: Olfactory receptors (ORs) are G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), which detect signaling molecules such as hormones and odorants. The structure of opsin, the GPCR employed in vision, with a detergent molecule bound deep in its orthosteric ligand-binding pocket provides a template for OR homology modeling, thus enabling investigation of the structural basis of the mechanism of odorant-receptor recognition.

The structure and regulation of magnesium selective ion channels

The magnesium ion (Mg(2+)) is the most abundant divalent cation within cells. In man, Mg(2+)-deficiency is associated with diseases affecting the heart, muscle, bone, immune, and nervous systems. Despite its impact on human health, little is known about the molecular mechanisms that regulate magnesium transport and storage. Complete structural information on eukaryotic Mg(2+)-transport proteins is currently lacking due to associated technical challenges. The prokaryotic MgtE and CorA magnesium transport systems have recently succumbed to structure determination by X-ray crystallography, providing first views of these ubiquitous and essential Mg(2+)-channels. MgtE and CorA are unique among known membrane protein structures, each revealing a novel protein fold containing distinct arrangements of ten transmembrane-spanning α-helices. Structural and functional analyses have established that Mg(2+)-selectivity in MgtE and CorA occurs through distinct mechanisms. Conserved acidic side-chains appear to form the selectivity filter in MgtE, whereas conserved asparagines coordinate hydrated Mg(2+)-ions within the selectivity filter of CorA. Common structural themes have also emerged whereby MgtE and CorA sense and respond to physiologically relevant, intracellular Mg(2+)-levels through dedicated regulatory domains. Within these domains, multiple primary and secondary Mg(2+)-binding sites serve to staple these ion channels into their respective closed conformations, implying that Mg(2+)-transport is well guarded and very tightly regulated. The MgtE and CorA proteins represent valuable structural templates to better understand the related eukaryotic SLC41 and Mrs2-Alr1 magnesium channels. Herein, we review the structure, function and regulation of MgtE and CorA and consider these unique proteins within the expanding universe of ion channel and transporter structural biology.

Resolution of structural heterogeneity in dynamic crystallography

Dynamic behavior of proteins is critical to their function. X-ray crystallography, a powerful yet mostly static technique, faces inherent challenges in acquiring dynamic information despite decades of effort. Dynamic `structural changes' are often indirectly inferred from `structural differences' by comparing related static structures. In contrast, the direct observation of dynamic structural changes requires the initiation of a biochemical reaction or process in a crystal. Both the direct and the indirect approaches share a common challenge in analysis: how to interpret the structural heterogeneity intrinsic to all dynamic processes. This paper presents a real-space approach to this challenge, in which a suite of analytical methods and tools to identify and refine the mixed structural species present in multiple crystallographic data sets have been developed. These methods have been applied to representative scenarios in dynamic crystallography, and reveal structural information that is otherwise difficult to interpret or inaccessible using conventional methods.

N-terminal helix-cap in α-helix 2 modulates β-state misfolding in rabbit and hamster prion proteins

Susceptibility of a particular species to prion disease is affected by small differences in the sequence of PrP and correlates with the propensity of its PrP to assume the β-state. A helix-cap motif in the β2-α2-loop of native α-helical rabbit PrP, a resistant species, contains sequence differences that influence intra- and interspecies transmission. To determine the effect the helix-cap motif on β-state refolding propensity, we mutated S170N, S174N, and S170N/S174N of the rabbit PrP helix-cap to resemble that of hamster PrP and conversely, N170S, N174S, and N170S/N174S of hamster PrP to resemble the helix-cap of rabbit PrP. High-resolution crystal structures (1.45-1.6 Å) revealed that these mutations ablate hydrogen-bonding interactions within the helix-cap motif in rabbit PrP(C). They also alter the β-state-misfolding propensity of PrP; the serine mutations in hamster PrP decrease the propensity up to 35%, whereas the asparagine mutations in rabbit PrP increase it up to 42%. Rapid dilution of rabbit and hamster into β-state buffer conditions causes quick conversion to β-state monomers. Kinetic monitoring using size-exclusion chromatography showed that the monomer population decreases exponentially mirrored by an increase in an octameric species. The monomer-octamer transition rates are faster for hamster than for rabbit PrP. The N170S/N174S mutant of hamster PrP has a smaller octamer component at the endpoint compared to the wild-type, whereas the kinetics of octamer formation in mutant and wild-type rabbit PrP are comparable. These findings demonstrate that the sequence of the β2-α2 helix-cap affects refolding to the β-state and subsequently, may influence susceptibility to prion disease.

Atomic resolution structure of the orotidine 5'-monophosphate decarboxylase product complex combined with surface plasmon resonance analysis: implications for the catalytic mechanism

Orotidine 5'-monophosphate decarboxylase (ODCase) accelerates the decarboxylation of its substrate by 17 orders of magnitude. One argument brought forward against steric/electrostatic repulsion causing substrate distortion at the carboxylate substituent as part of the catalysis has been the weak binding affinity of the decarboxylated product (UMP). The crystal structure of the UMP complex of ODCase at atomic resolution (1.03 Å) shows steric competition between the product UMP and the side chain of a catalytic lysine residue. Surface plasmon resonance analysis indicates that UMP binds 5 orders of magnitude more tightly to a mutant in which the interfering side chain has been removed than to wild-type ODCase. These results explain the low affinity of UMP and counter a seemingly very strong argument against a contribution of substrate distortion to the catalytic reaction mechanism of ODCase.

Novel cytidine-based orotidine-5'-monophosphate decarboxylase inhibitors with an unusual twist

Orotidine-5'-monophosphate decarboxylase (ODCase) is an interesting enzyme with an unusual catalytic activity and a potential drug target in Plasmodium falciparum, which causes malaria. ODCase has been shown to exhibit unusual and interesting interactions with a variety of nucleotide ligands. Cytidine-5'-monophosphate (CMP) is a poor ligand of ODCase, and CMP binds to the active site of ODCase with an unusual orientation and conformation. We designed N3- and N4-modified CMP derivatives as novel ligands to ODCase. These novel CMP derivatives and their corresponding nucleosides were evaluated against Plasmodium falciparum ODCase and parasitic cultures, respectively. These derivatives exhibited improved inhibition of the enzyme catalytic activity, displayed interesting binding conformations and unusual molecular rearrangements of the ligands. These findings with the modified CMP nucleotides underscored the potential of transformation of poor ligands to ODCase into novel inhibitors of this drug target.

Protein conformational gating of enzymatic activity in xanthine oxidoreductase

In mammals, xanthine oxidoreductase can exist as xanthine dehydrogenase (XDH) and xanthine oxidase (XO). The two enzymes possess common redox active cofactors, which form an electron transfer (ET) pathway terminated by a flavin cofactor. In spite of identical protein primary structures, the redox potential difference between XDH and XO for the flavin semiquinone/hydroquinone pair (E(sq/hq)) is ~170 mV, a striking difference. The former greatly prefers NAD(+) as ultimate substrate for ET from the iron-sulfur cluster FeS-II via flavin while the latter only accepts dioxygen. In XDH (without NAD(+)), however, the redox potential of the electron donor FeS-II is 180 mV higher than that for the acceptor flavin, yielding an energetically uphill ET. On the basis of new 1.65, 2.3, 1.9, and 2.2 Å resolution crystal structures for XDH, XO, the NAD(+)- and NADH-complexed XDH, E(sq/hq) were calculated to better understand how the enzyme activates an ET from FeS-II to flavin. The majority of the E(sq/hq) difference between XDH and XO originates from a conformational change in the loop at positions 423-433 near the flavin binding site, causing the differences in stability of the semiquinone state. There was no large conformational change observed in response to NAD(+) binding at XDH. Instead, the positive charge of the NAD(+) ring, deprotonation of Asp429, and capping of the bulk surface of the flavin by the NAD(+) molecule all contribute to altering E(sq/hq) upon NAD(+) binding to XDH.