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Yan K, Stanley M, Kowalski B, Raimi OG, Ferenbach AT, Wei P, Fang W, van Aalten DMF. Genetic validation of Aspergillus fumigatus phosphoglucomutase as a viable therapeutic target in invasive aspergillosis. J Biol Chem 2022; 298:102003. [PMID: 35504355 PMCID: PMC9168620 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbc.2022.102003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2022] [Revised: 04/27/2022] [Accepted: 04/28/2022] [Indexed: 02/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Aspergillus fumigatus is the causative agent of invasive aspergillosis, an infection with mortality rates of up to 50%. The glucan-rich cell wall of A. fumigatus is a protective structure that is absent from human cells and is a potential target for antifungal treatments. Glucan is synthesized from the donor uridine diphosphate glucose, with the conversion of glucose-6-phosphate to glucose-1-phosphate by the enzyme phosphoglucomutase (PGM) representing a key step in its biosynthesis. Here, we explore the possibility of selectively targeting A. fumigatus PGM (AfPGM) as an antifungal treatment strategy. Using a promoter replacement strategy, we constructed a conditional pgm mutant and revealed that pgm is required for A. fumigatus growth and cell wall integrity. In addition, using a fragment screen, we identified the thiol-reactive compound isothiazolone fragment of PGM as targeting a cysteine residue not conserved in the human ortholog. Furthermore, through scaffold exploration, we synthesized a para-aryl derivative (ISFP10) and demonstrated that it inhibits AfPGM with an IC50 of 2 μM and exhibits 50-fold selectivity over the human enzyme. Taken together, our data provide genetic validation of PGM as a therapeutic target and suggest new avenues for inhibiting AfPGM using covalent inhibitors that could serve as tools for chemical validation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kaizhou Yan
- Centre for Gene Regulation and Expression, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee, United Kingdom
| | - Mathew Stanley
- Centre for Gene Regulation and Expression, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee, United Kingdom
| | - Bartosz Kowalski
- Centre for Gene Regulation and Expression, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee, United Kingdom
| | - Olawale G Raimi
- Centre for Gene Regulation and Expression, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee, United Kingdom
| | - Andrew T Ferenbach
- Centre for Gene Regulation and Expression, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee, United Kingdom
| | - Pingzhen Wei
- National Engineering Research Center for Non-Food Biorefinery, Guangxi Academy of Sciences, Nanning, China
| | - Wenxia Fang
- National Engineering Research Center for Non-Food Biorefinery, Guangxi Academy of Sciences, Nanning, China
| | - Daan M F van Aalten
- Centre for Gene Regulation and Expression, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee, United Kingdom.
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Gustafsson R, Eckhard U, Ye W, Enbody ED, Pettersson M, Jemth P, Andersson L, Selmer M. Structure and Characterization of Phosphoglucomutase 5 from Atlantic and Baltic Herring-An Inactive Enzyme with Intact Substrate Binding. Biomolecules 2020; 10:E1631. [PMID: 33287293 PMCID: PMC7761743 DOI: 10.3390/biom10121631] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2020] [Revised: 11/27/2020] [Accepted: 11/30/2020] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Phosphoglucomutase 5 (PGM5) in humans is known as a structural muscle protein without enzymatic activity, but detailed understanding of its function is lacking. PGM5 belongs to the alpha-D-phosphohexomutase family and is closely related to the enzymatically active metabolic enzyme PGM1. In the Atlantic herring, Clupea harengus, PGM5 is one of the genes strongly associated with ecological adaptation to the brackish Baltic Sea. We here present the first crystal structures of PGM5, from the Atlantic and Baltic herring, differing by a single substitution Ala330Val. The structure of PGM5 is overall highly similar to structures of PGM1. The structure of the Baltic herring PGM5 in complex with the substrate glucose-1-phosphate shows conserved substrate binding and active site compared to human PGM1, but both PGM5 variants lack phosphoglucomutase activity under the tested conditions. Structure comparison and sequence analysis of PGM5 and PGM1 from fish and mammals suggest that the lacking enzymatic activity of PGM5 is related to differences in active-site loops that are important for flipping of the reaction intermediate. The Ala330Val substitution does not alter structure or biophysical properties of PGM5 but, due to its surface-exposed location, could affect interactions with protein-binding partners.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert Gustafsson
- Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, BMC, Box 596, SE-751 24 Uppsala, Sweden; (R.G.); (U.E.)
| | - Ulrich Eckhard
- Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, BMC, Box 596, SE-751 24 Uppsala, Sweden; (R.G.); (U.E.)
| | - Weihua Ye
- Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology, Uppsala University, BMC, Box 582, SE-751 23 Uppsala, Sweden; (W.Y.); (E.D.E.); (M.P.); (P.J.); (L.A.)
| | - Erik D. Enbody
- Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology, Uppsala University, BMC, Box 582, SE-751 23 Uppsala, Sweden; (W.Y.); (E.D.E.); (M.P.); (P.J.); (L.A.)
| | - Mats Pettersson
- Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology, Uppsala University, BMC, Box 582, SE-751 23 Uppsala, Sweden; (W.Y.); (E.D.E.); (M.P.); (P.J.); (L.A.)
| | - Per Jemth
- Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology, Uppsala University, BMC, Box 582, SE-751 23 Uppsala, Sweden; (W.Y.); (E.D.E.); (M.P.); (P.J.); (L.A.)
| | - Leif Andersson
- Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology, Uppsala University, BMC, Box 582, SE-751 23 Uppsala, Sweden; (W.Y.); (E.D.E.); (M.P.); (P.J.); (L.A.)
- Department of Veterinary Integrative Biosciences, Texas A & M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
- Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SE-75007 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Maria Selmer
- Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, BMC, Box 596, SE-751 24 Uppsala, Sweden; (R.G.); (U.E.)
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Bauer JA, Pavlović J, Bauerová-Hlinková V. Normal Mode Analysis as a Routine Part of a Structural Investigation. Molecules 2019; 24:molecules24183293. [PMID: 31510014 PMCID: PMC6767145 DOI: 10.3390/molecules24183293] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2019] [Revised: 08/30/2019] [Accepted: 08/30/2019] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Normal mode analysis (NMA) is a technique that can be used to describe the flexible states accessible to a protein about an equilibrium position. These states have been shown repeatedly to have functional significance. NMA is probably the least computationally expensive method for studying the dynamics of macromolecules, and advances in computer technology and algorithms for calculating normal modes over the last 20 years have made it nearly trivial for all but the largest systems. Despite this, it is still uncommon for NMA to be used as a component of the analysis of a structural study. In this review, we will describe NMA, outline its advantages and limitations, explain what can and cannot be learned from it, and address some criticisms and concerns that have been voiced about it. We will then review the most commonly used techniques for reducing the computational cost of this method and identify the web services making use of these methods. We will illustrate several of their possible uses with recent examples from the literature. We conclude by recommending that NMA become one of the standard tools employed in any structural study.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jacob A Bauer
- Institute of Molecular Biology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 21, 845 51 Bratislava, Slovakia.
| | - Jelena Pavlović
- Institute of Molecular Biology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 21, 845 51 Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Vladena Bauerová-Hlinková
- Institute of Molecular Biology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 21, 845 51 Bratislava, Slovakia
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