Microbial biotin protein ligases aid in understanding holocarboxylase synthetase deficiency

Successful treatment with secukinumab of psoriasis-like dermatitis in a patient with holocarboxylase synthetase deficiency

Holocarboxylase synthetase deficiency (HSD) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder of biotin metabolism. Typical manifestations include irreversible metabolic disorders and erythroderma-like dermatitis. Most patients respond well to biotin supplementation. Psoriasis-like phenotype associated with this disease has been rarely reported in the literature and experiences with the use of biologics in patients with HSD are still lacking. We reported a rare case of recurrent psoriasis-like skin lesions in a 6-year-old child with HSD. The patient did not respond to initial therapy with high-dose oral biotin. Immunofluorescence staining showed an increased number of interleukin (IL)-17A+ cells in his skin lesions. Based on this finding, the patient was successfully treated with human anti-IL-17A monoclonal antibody (secukinumab). He did not report any side effects and remained healthy during the 2-year follow-up. We provide a comprehensive review of the reported cases of HSD with psoriasis-like dermatitis to date. The psoriasis-like phenotype of HSD is controversial in treatment and IL-17A inhibitor is an alternative therapeutic option.

The Biotin Biosynthetic Pathway in Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a Validated Target for the Development of Antibacterial Agents

Mycobacterium tuberculosis, responsible for Tuberculosis (TB), remains the leading cause of mortality among infectious diseases worldwide from a single infectious agent, with an estimated 1.7 million deaths in 2016. Biotin is an essential cofactor in M. tuberculosis that is required for lipid biosynthesis and gluconeogenesis. M. tuberculosis relies on de novo biotin biosynthesis to obtain this vital cofactor since it cannot scavenge sufficient biotin from a mammalian host. The biotin biosynthetic pathway in M. tuberculosis has been well studied and rigorously genetically validated providing a solid foundation for medicinal chemistry efforts. This review examines the mechanism and structure of the enzymes involved in biotin biosynthesis and ligation, summarizes the reported genetic validation studies of the pathway, and then analyzes the most promising inhibitors and natural products obtained from structure-based drug design and phenotypic screening.

Clinical, biochemical, and genetic analysis of a Chinese Han pedigree with holocarboxylase synthetase deficiency: a case report

BACKGROUND

Holocarboxylase synthetase (HLCS) deficiency is a rare inborn disorder of biotin metabolism, which results in defects in several biotin-dependent carboxylases and presents with metabolic ketoacidosis and skin lesions.

CASE PRESENTATION

In this paper, we report a Chinese Han pedigree with HLCS deficiency diagnosed by using next-generation sequencing and validated with Sanger sequencing of the HLCS and BTD genes. The Chinese proband carries the common missense mutation c.1522C > T (p.Arg508Trp) in exon 9 of the HLCS gene, which generates an increased K_m value for biotin. A novel frameshift mutation c.1006_1007delGA (p.Glu336Thrfs*15) in exon 6 of the HLCS gene is predicted to be deleterious through PROVEAN and MutationTaster. A novel heterozygous mutation, c.638_642delAACAC (p.His213Profs*4), in the BTD gene is also identified.

CONCLUSIONS

The Chinese proband carries the reported Arg508Trp variant, the novel 2-bp frameshift mutation c.1006_1007delGA (p.Glu336Thrfs*15), which expands the mutational spectrum of the HLCS gene, and the novel heterozygous mutation c.638_642delAACAC (p.His213Profs*4), which expands the mutational spectrum of the BTD gene. Furthermore, reversible hearing damage is rarely reported in patients with HLCS deficiency, which deserves further discussion.

Engineering acetyl-CoA metabolic shortcut for eco-friendly production of polyketides triacetic acid lactone in Yarrowia lipolytica

Acetyl-CoA is the central metabolic node connecting glycolysis, Krebs cycle and fatty acids synthase. Plant-derived polyketides, are assembled from acetyl-CoA and malonyl-CoA, represent a large family of biological compounds with diversified bioactivity. Harnessing microbial bioconversion is considered as a feasible approach to large-scale production of polyketides from renewable feedstocks. Most of the current polyketide production platform relied on the lengthy glycolytic steps to provide acetyl-CoA, which inherently suffers from complex regulation with metabolically-costly cofactor/ATP requirements. Using the simplest polyketide triacetic acid lactone (TAL) as a testbed molecule, we demonstrate that acetate uptake pathway in oleaginous yeast (Yarrowia lipolytica) could function as an acetyl-CoA shortcut to achieve metabolic optimality in producing polyketides. We identified the metabolic bottlenecks to rewire acetate utilization for efficient TAL production in Y. lipolytica, including generation of the driving force for acetyl-CoA, malonyl-CoA and NADPH. The engineered strain, with the overexpression of endogenous acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC1), malic enzyme (MAE1) and a bacteria-derived cytosolic pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH), affords robust TAL production with titer up to 4.76 g/L from industrial glacier acetic acid in shake flasks, representing 8.5-times improvement over the parental strain. The acetate-to-TAL conversion ratio (0.149 g/g) reaches 31.9% of the theoretical maximum yield. The carbon flux through this acetyl-CoA metabolic shortcut exceeds the carbon flux afforded by the native glycolytic pathways. Potentially, acetic acid could be manufactured in large-quantity at low-cost from Syngas fermentation or heterogenous catalysis (methanol carbonylation). This alternative carbon sources present a metabolic advantage over glucose to unleash intrinsic pathway limitations and achieve high carbon conversion efficiency and cost-efficiency. This work also highlights that low-cost acetic acid could be sustainably upgraded to high-value polyketides by oleaginous yeast species in an eco-friendly and cost-efficient manner.

Using the pimeloyl-CoA synthetase adenylation fold to synthesize fatty acid thioesters

Biotin is an essential vitamin in plants and mammals, functioning as the carbon dioxide carrier within central lipid metabolism. Bacterial pimeloyl-CoA synthetase (BioW) acts as a highly specific substrate-selection gate, ensuring the integrity of the carbon chain in biotin synthesis. BioW catalyzes the condensation of pimelic acid (C7 dicarboxylic acid) with CoASH in an ATP-dependent manner to form pimeloyl-CoA, the first dedicated biotin building block. Multiple structures of Bacillus subtilis BioW together capture all three substrates, as well as the intermediate pimeloyl-adenylate and product pyrophosphate (PP_i), indicating that the enzyme uses an internal ruler to select the correct dicarboxylic acid substrate. Both the catalytic mechanism and the surprising stability of the adenylate intermediate were rationalized through site-directed mutagenesis. Building on this understanding, BioW was engineered to synthesize high-value heptanoyl (C7) and octanoyl (C8) monocarboxylic acid-CoA and C8 dicarboxylic-CoA products, highlighting the enzyme's synthetic potential.

New Series of BPL Inhibitors To Probe the Ribose-Binding Pocket of Staphylococcus aureus Biotin Protein Ligase

Replacing the labile adenosinyl-substituted phosphoanhydride of biotinyl-5'-AMP with a N1-benzyl substituted 1,2,3-triazole gave a new truncated series of inhibitors of Staphylococcus aureus biotin protein ligase (SaBPL). The benzyl group presents to the ribose-binding pocket of SaBPL based on in silico docking. Halogenated benzyl derivatives (12t, 12u, 12w, and 12x) proved to be the most potent inhibitors of SaBPL. These derivatives inhibited the growth of S. aureus ATCC49775 and displayed low cytotoxicity against HepG2 cells.

Biotin Protein Ligase Is a Target for New Antibacterials

There is a desperate need for novel antibiotic classes to combat the rise of drug resistant pathogenic bacteria, such as Staphylococcus aureus. Inhibitors of the essential metabolic enzyme biotin protein ligase (BPL) represent a promising drug target for new antibacterials. Structural and biochemical studies on the BPL from S. aureus have paved the way for the design and development of new antibacterial chemotherapeutics. BPL employs an ordered ligand binding mechanism for the synthesis of the reaction intermediate biotinyl-5′-AMP from substrates biotin and ATP. Here we review the structure and catalytic mechanism of the target enzyme, along with an overview of chemical analogues of biotin and biotinyl-5′-AMP as BPL inhibitors reported to date. Of particular promise are studies to replace the labile phosphoroanhydride linker present in biotinyl-5′-AMP with alternative bioisosteres. A novel in situ click approach using a mutant of S. aureus BPL as a template for the synthesis of triazole-based inhibitors is also presented. These approaches can be widely applied to BPLs from other bacteria, as well as other closely related metabolic enzymes and antibacterial drug targets.

The Role of Biotin in Bacterial Physiology and Virulence: a Novel Antibiotic Target for Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Biotin is an essential cofactor for enzymes present in key metabolic pathways such as fatty acid biosynthesis, replenishment of the tricarboxylic acid cycle, and amino acid metabolism. Biotin is synthesized de novo in microorganisms, plants, and fungi, but this metabolic activity is absent in mammals, making biotin biosynthesis an attractive target for antibiotic discovery. In particular, biotin biosynthesis plays important metabolic roles as the sole source of biotin in all stages of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis life cycle due to the lack of a transporter for scavenging exogenous biotin. Biotin is intimately associated with lipid synthesis where the products form key components of the mycobacterial cell membrane that are critical for bacterial survival and pathogenesis. In this review we discuss the central role of biotin in bacterial physiology and highlight studies that demonstrate the importance of its biosynthesis for virulence. The structural biology of the known biotin synthetic enzymes is described alongside studies using structure-guided design, phenotypic screening, and fragment-based approaches to drug discovery as routes to new antituberculosis agents.

Mechanisms of biotin-regulated gene expression in microbes

Biotin is an essential micronutrient that acts as a co-factor for biotin-dependent metabolic enzymes. In bacteria, the supply of biotin can be achieved by de novo synthesis or import from exogenous sources. Certain bacteria are able to obtain biotin through both mechanisms while others can only fulfill their biotin requirement through de novo synthesis. Inability to fulfill their cellular demand for biotin can have detrimental consequences on cell viability and virulence. Therefore understanding the transcriptional mechanisms that regulate biotin biosynthesis and transport will extend our knowledge about bacterial survival and metabolic adaptation during pathogenesis when the supply of biotin is limited. The most extensively characterized protein that regulates biotin synthesis and uptake is BirA. In certain bacteria, such as Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, BirA is a bi-functional protein that serves as a transcriptional repressor to regulate biotin biosynthesis genes, as well as acting as a ligase to catalyze the biotinylation of biotin-dependent enzymes. Recent studies have identified two other proteins that also regulate biotin synthesis and transport, namely BioQ and BioR. This review summarizes the different transcriptional repressors and their mechanism of action. Moreover, the ability to regulate the expression of target genes through the activity of a vitamin, such as biotin, may have biotechnological applications in synthetic biology.

Structural characterization of Staphylococcus aureus biotin protein ligase and interaction partners: an antibiotic target

The essential metabolic enzyme biotin protein ligase (BPL) is a potential target for the development of new antibiotics required to combat drug-resistant pathogens. Staphylococcus aureus BPL (SaBPL) is a bifunctional protein, possessing both biotin ligase and transcription repressor activities. This positions BPL as a key regulator of several important metabolic pathways. Here, we report the structural analysis of both holo- and apo-forms of SaBPL using X-ray crystallography. We also present small-angle X-ray scattering data of SaBPL in complex with its biotin-carboxyl carrier protein substrate as well as the SaBPL:DNA complex that underlies repression. This has revealed the molecular basis of ligand (biotinyl-5'-AMP) binding and conformational changes associated with catalysis and repressor function. These data provide new information to better understand the bifunctional activities of SaBPL and to inform future strategies for antibiotic discovery.

Localization of inhibitory antibodies to the biotin domain of human pyruvate carboxylase

Pyruvate carboxylase [EC 6.4.1.1] plays an important anaplerotic role in many species by catalyzing the carboxylation of pyruvate to oxaloacetate. To extend our understanding about the structure and function of pyruvate carboxylase (PC), a series of monoclonal antibodies were raised against sheep liver PC and those displaying inhibitory activity were further characterized. The binding epitopes of two monoclonal antibodies that displayed strong inhibitory activity were mapped. Six overlapping fragments of the human enzyme were expressed as thioredoxin fusion proteins in Escherichia coli and subjected to Western blot analysis. Both monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) recognized fragments encompassing the enzyme's C-terminal region, known to contain the structured biotin domain. Through deletion analysis, this domain was determined to be a minimal size of 80 amino acids. Further deletions that disrupted the conformation of the domain abolished antibody binding, indicating these antibodies recognized discontinuous epitopes. To further define the critical residues required for antibody recognition, a model of the domain was produced and an alanine scan performed on selected surface-exposed residues. Our results show that residues encompassing the biotin attachment site, but not biotin itself, are critical for the binding of both antibodies. These data provide a mechanism to explain the inhibitory activity of the antibodies.

Biotin analogues with antibacterial activity are potent inhibitors of biotin protein ligase

There is a desperate need to develop new antibiotic agents to combat the rise of drug-resistant bacteria, such as clinically important Staphylococcus aureus. The essential multifunctional enzyme, biotin protein ligase (BPL), is one potential drug target for new antibiotics. We report the synthesis and characterization of a series of biotin analogues with activity against BPLs from S. aureus, Escherichia coli, and Homo sapiens. Two potent inhibitors with K i < 100 nM were identified with antibacterial activity against a panel of clinical isolates of S. aureus (MIC 2-16 μg/mL). Compounds with high ligand efficiency and >20-fold selectivity between the isozymes were identified and characterized. The antibacterial mode of action was shown to be via inhibition of BPL. The bimolecular interactions between the BPL and the inhibitors were defined by surface plasmon resonance studies and X-ray crystallography. These findings pave the way for second-generation inhibitors and antibiotics with greater potency and selectivity.

Selective inhibition of biotin protein ligase from Staphylococcus aureus

There is a well documented need to replenish the antibiotic pipeline with new agents to combat the rise of drug resistant bacteria. One strategy to combat resistance is to discover new chemical classes immune to current resistance mechanisms that inhibit essential metabolic enzymes. Many of the obvious drug targets that have no homologous isozyme in the human host have now been investigated. Bacterial drug targets that have a closely related human homologue represent a new frontier in antibiotic discovery. However, to avoid potential toxicity to the host, these inhibitors must have very high selectivity for the bacterial enzyme over the human homolog. We have demonstrated that the essential enzyme biotin protein ligase (BPL) from the clinically important pathogen Staphylococcus aureus could be selectively inhibited. Linking biotin to adenosine via a 1,2,3 triazole yielded the first BPL inhibitor selective for S. aureus BPL over the human equivalent. The synthesis of new biotin 1,2,3-triazole analogues using click chemistry yielded our most potent structure (K(i) 90 nM) with a >1100-fold selectivity for the S. aureus BPL over the human homologue. X-ray crystallography confirmed the mechanism of inhibitor binding. Importantly, the inhibitor showed cytotoxicity against S. aureus but not cultured mammalian cells. The biotin 1,2,3-triazole provides a novel pharmacophore for future medicinal chemistry programs to develop this new antibiotic class.

Negative transcriptional control of biotin metabolism genes by the TetR-type regulator BioQ in biotin-auxotrophic Corynebacterium glutamicum ATCC 13032

Genomic context analysis in actinobacteria revealed that biotin biosynthesis and transport (bio) genes are co-localized in several genomes with a gene encoding a transcription regulator of the TetR protein family, now named BioQ. Comparative analysis of the upstream regions of bio genes identified the common 13-bp palindromic motif TGAAC-N3-GTTAC as candidate BioQ-binding site. To verify the role of BioQ in controlling the transcription of bio genes, a deletion in the bioQ coding region (cg2309) was constructed in Corynebacterium glutamicum ATCC 13032, resulting in the mutant strain C. glutamicum IB2309. Comparative whole-genome DNA microarray hybridizations and subsequent expression analyses by real-time reverse transcriptase PCR revealed enhanced transcript levels of all bio genes in C. glutamicum IB2309, when compared with the wild-type strain ATCC 13032. Accordingly, the BioQ protein of C. glutamicum acts as a repressor of ten genes that are organized in four transcription units: bioA-bioD, cg2884-cg2883, bioB-cg0096-cg0097, and bioY-bioM-bioN. DNA band shift assays with an intein-tagged BioQ protein demonstrated the specific binding of the purified protein to DNA fragments containing the candidate BioQ-binding sites, which were located within the mapped promoter regions of bioA, cg2884, bioB, and bioY. These data confirmed the direct regulatory role of BioQ in the control of biotin biosynthesis and transport genes in C. glutamicum. Differential expression of bio genes in C. glutamicum IB2309 was moreover complemented by bioQ genes cloned from other corynebacterial genomes.

Early evolution of the biotin-dependent carboxylase family

Background

Biotin-dependent carboxylases are a diverse family of carboxylating enzymes widespread in the three domains of life, and thus thought to be very ancient. This family includes enzymes that carboxylate acetyl-CoA, propionyl-CoA, methylcrotonyl-CoA, geranyl-CoA, acyl-CoA, pyruvate and urea. They share a common catalytic mechanism involving a biotin carboxylase domain, which fixes a CO₂ molecule on a biotin carboxyl carrier peptide, and a carboxyl transferase domain, which transfers the CO₂ moiety to the specific substrate of each enzyme. Despite this overall similarity, biotin-dependent carboxylases from the three domains of life carrying their reaction on different substrates adopt very diverse protein domain arrangements. This has made difficult the resolution of their evolutionary history up to now.

Results

Taking advantage of the availability of a large amount of genomic data, we have carried out phylogenomic analyses to get new insights on the ancient evolution of the biotin-dependent carboxylases. This allowed us to infer the set of enzymes present in the last common ancestor of each domain of life and in the last common ancestor of all living organisms (the cenancestor). Our results suggest that the last common archaeal ancestor had two biotin-dependent carboxylases, whereas the last common bacterial ancestor had three. One of these biotin-dependent carboxylases ancestral to Bacteria most likely belonged to a large family, the CoA-bearing-substrate carboxylases, that we define here according to protein domain composition and phylogenetic analysis. Eukaryotes most likely acquired their biotin-dependent carboxylases through the mitochondrial and plastid endosymbioses as well as from other unknown bacterial donors. Finally, phylogenetic analyses support previous suggestions about the existence of an ancient bifunctional biotin-protein ligase bound to a regulatory transcription factor.

Conclusions

The most parsimonious scenario for the early evolution of the biotin-dependent carboxylases, supported by the study of protein domain composition and phylogenomic analyses, entails that the cenancestor possessed two different carboxylases able to carry out the specific carboxylation of pyruvate and the non-specific carboxylation of several CoA-bearing substrates, respectively. These enzymes may have been able to participate in very diverse metabolic pathways in the cenancestor, such as in ancestral versions of fatty acid biosynthesis, anaplerosis, gluconeogenesis and the autotrophic fixation of CO₂.

Trafficking and chromatin dynamics of holocarboxylase synthetase during development of Drosophila melanogaster

This work examines the cellular localization of holocarboxylase synthetase (HCS) and its association to chromatin during different stages of development of Drosophila melanogaster. While HCS is well known for its role in the attachment of biotin to biotin-dependent carboxylase, it also regulates the transcription of HCS and carboxylases genes by triggering a cGMP-dependent signal transduction cascade. Further, its presence in the nucleus of cells suggests additional regulatory roles, but the mechanism involved has remained elusive. In this study, we show in D. melanogaster that HCS migrates to the nucleus at the gastrulation stage. In polytene chromosomes, it is associated to heterochromatin bands where it co-localizes with histone 3 trimethylated at lysine 9 (H3K9met3) but not with the euchromatin mark histone 3 acetylated at lysine 9 (H3K9ac). Further, we demonstrate the association of HCS with the hsp70 promoter by immunofluorescence and chromatin immuno-precipitation (ChIP) of associated DNA sequences. We demonstrate the occupancy of HCS to the core promoter region of the transcriptionally inactive hsp70 gene. On heat-shock activation of the hsp70 promoter, HCS is displaced and the promoter region becomes enriched with the TFIIH subunits XPD and XPB and elongating RNA pol II, the latter also demonstrated using ChIP assays. We suggest that HCS may have a role in the repression of gene expression through a mechanism involving its trafficking to the nucleus and interaction with heterochromatic sites coincident with H3K9met3.

Holocarboxylase synthetase: correlation of protein localisation with biological function

Holocarboxylase synthetase (HCS) governs the cellular fate of the essential micronutrient biotin (Vitamin H or B7). HCS is responsible for attaching biotin onto the biotin-dependent enzymes that reside in the cytoplasm and mitochondria. Evidence for an alternative role, viz the regulation of gene expression, has also been reported. Recent immunohistochemical studies reported HCS is primarily nuclear, inconsistent with the location of HCS activity. Improved understanding of biotin biology demands greater knowledge about HCS. Here, we investigated the localisation of HCS and its isoforms. Three variants were observed that differ at the N-terminus. All HCS isoforms were predominantly non-nuclear, consistent with the distribution of biotin protein ligase activity. Unlike the longer constructs, the Met(58) isoform was also detected in the nucleus--a novel observation suggesting shuttling activity between nucleus and cytoplasm. We resolved that the previous controversies in the literature are due to specificity and detection limitations that arise when using partially purified antibodies.

Structural and functional studies of the biotin protein ligase from Aquifex aeolicus reveal a critical role for a conserved residue in target specificity

Biotin protein ligase (BPL; EC 6.3.4.15) catalyses the formation of biotinyl-5'-AMP from biotin and ATP, and the succeeding biotinylation of the biotin carboxyl carrier protein. We describe the crystal structures, at 2.4 A resolution, of the class I BPL from the hyperthermophilic bacteria Aquifex aeolicus (AaBPL) in its ligand-free form and in complex with biotin and ATP. The solvent-exposed beta- and gamma-phosphates of ATP are located in the inter-subunit cavity formed by the N- and C-terminal domains. The Arg40 residue from the conserved GXGRXG motif is shown to interact with the carboxyl group of biotin and to stabilise the alpha- and beta-phosphates of the nucleotide. The structure of the mutant AaBPL R40G in both the ligand-free and biotin-bound forms reveals that the mutated loop has collapsed, thus hindering ATP binding. Isothermal titration calorimetry indicated that the presence of biotin is not required for ATP binding to wild-type AaBPL in the absence of Mg(2+), and the binding of biotin and ATP has been determined to occur via a random but cooperative process. The affinity for biotin is relatively unaffected by the R40G mutation. In contrast, the thermodynamic data indicate that binding of ATP to AaBPL R40G is very weak in the absence or in the presence of biotin. The AaBPL R40G mutant remains catalytically active but shows poor substrate specificity; mass spectrometry and Western blot studies revealed that the mutant biotinylates both the target A. aeolicus BCCPDelta67 fragment and BSA, and is subject to self-biotinylation.