1
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Sosa MB, Leeman JT, Washington LJ, Scheller HV, Chang MCY. Biosynthesis of Strained Amino Acids by a PLP-Dependent Enzyme through Cryptic Halogenation. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2024; 63:e202319344. [PMID: 38519422 DOI: 10.1002/anie.202319344] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2023] [Revised: 03/02/2024] [Accepted: 03/18/2024] [Indexed: 03/24/2024]
Abstract
Amino acids (AAs) are modular building blocks which nature uses to synthesize both macromolecules, such as proteins, and small molecule natural products, such as alkaloids and non-ribosomal peptides. While the 20 main proteinogenic AAs display relatively limited side chain diversity, a wide range of non-canonical amino acids (ncAAs) exist that are not used by the ribosome for protein synthesis, but contain a broad array of structural features and functional groups. In this communication, we report the discovery of the biosynthetic pathway for a new ncAA, pazamine, which contains a cyclopropane ring formed in two steps. In the first step, a chlorine is added onto the C4 position of lysine by a radical halogenase, PazA. The cyclopropane ring is then formed in the next step by a pyridoxal-5'-phosphate-dependent enzyme, PazB, via an SN2-like attack at C4 to eliminate chloride. Genetic studies of this pathway in the native host, Pseudomonas azotoformans, show that pazamine potentially inhibits ethylene biosynthesis in growing plants based on alterations in the root phenotype of Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings. We further show that PazB can be utilized to make an alternative cyclobutane-containing AA. These discoveries may lead to advances in biocatalytic production of specialty chemicals and agricultural biotechnology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Max B Sosa
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720-1460, USA
| | - Jacob T Leeman
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720-1460, USA
| | - Lorenzo J Washington
- Department of Plant & Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720-3102, USA
- Joint BioEnergy Institute, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Henrik V Scheller
- Department of Plant & Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720-3102, USA
- Joint BioEnergy Institute, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Michelle C Y Chang
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720-1460, USA
- Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720-1462, USA
- Department of Molecular & Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720-3200, USA
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2
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Chekan JR, Mydy LS, Pasquale MA, Kersten RD. Plant peptides - redefining an area of ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptides. Nat Prod Rep 2024; 41:1020-1059. [PMID: 38411572 PMCID: PMC11253845 DOI: 10.1039/d3np00042g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2023] [Indexed: 02/28/2024]
Abstract
Covering 1965 to February 2024Plants are prolific peptide chemists and are known to make thousands of different peptidic molecules. These peptides vary dramatically in their size, chemistry, and bioactivity. Despite their differences, all plant peptides to date are biosynthesized as ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptides (RiPPs). Decades of research in plant RiPP biosynthesis have extended the definition and scope of RiPPs from microbial sources, establishing paradigms and discovering new families of biosynthetic enzymes. The discovery and elucidation of plant peptide pathways is challenging due to repurposing and evolution of housekeeping genes as both precursor peptides and biosynthetic enzymes and due to the low rates of gene clustering in plants. In this review, we highlight the chemistry, biosynthesis, and function of the known RiPP classes from plants and recommend a nomenclature for the recent addition of BURP-domain-derived RiPPs termed burpitides. Burpitides are an emerging family of cyclic plant RiPPs characterized by macrocyclic crosslinks between tyrosine or tryptophan side chains and other amino acid side chains or their peptide backbone that are formed by copper-dependent BURP-domain-containing proteins termed burpitide cyclases. Finally, we review the discovery of plant RiPPs through bioactivity-guided, structure-guided, and gene-guided approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan R Chekan
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC, USA.
| | - Lisa S Mydy
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
| | - Michael A Pasquale
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC, USA.
| | - Roland D Kersten
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
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3
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Matabaro E, Witte L, Gherlone F, Vogt E, Kaspar H, Künzler M. Promiscuity of Omphalotin A Biosynthetic Enzymes Allows de novo Production of Non-Natural Multiply Backbone N-Methylated Peptide Macrocycles in Yeast. Chembiochem 2024; 25:e202300626. [PMID: 38059521 DOI: 10.1002/cbic.202300626] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2023] [Revised: 12/01/2023] [Accepted: 12/07/2023] [Indexed: 12/08/2023]
Abstract
Multiple backbone N-methylation and macrocyclization improve the proteolytic stability and oral availability of therapeutic peptides. Chemical synthesis of such peptides is challenging, in particular for the generation of peptide libraries for screening purposes. Enzymatic backbone N-methylation and macrocyclization occur as part of both non-ribosomal and ribosomal peptide biosynthesis, exemplified by the fungal natural products cyclosporin A and omphalotin A, respectively. Omphalotin A, a 9fold backbone N-methylated dodecamer isolated from the agaricomycete Omphalotus olearius, can be produced in Pichia pastoris by coexpression of the ophMA and ophP genes coding for the peptide precursor protein harbouring an autocatalytic peptide α-N-methyltransferase domain, and a peptide macrocyclase, respectively. Since both OphMA and OphP were previously shown to be relatively promiscuous in terms of peptide substrates, we expressed mutant versions of ophMA, encoding OphMA variants with altered core peptide sequences, along with wildtype ophP and assessed the production of the respective peptide macrocycles by the platform by high-performance liquid chromatography, coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). Our results demonstrate the successful production of fifteen non-natural omphalotin-derived macrocycles, containing polar, aromatic and charged residues, and, thus, suggest that the system may be used as biotechnological platform to generate libraries of non-natural multiply backbone N-methylated peptide macrocycles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emmanuel Matabaro
- Institute of Microbiology, Department of Biology, ETH Zürich, Vladimir-Prelog Weg 4, HCI F423, 8093, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Luca Witte
- Institute of Microbiology, Department of Biology, ETH Zürich, Vladimir-Prelog Weg 4, HCI F423, 8093, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Fabio Gherlone
- Institute of Microbiology, Department of Biology, ETH Zürich, Vladimir-Prelog Weg 4, HCI F423, 8093, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Eva Vogt
- Institute of Microbiology, Department of Biology, ETH Zürich, Vladimir-Prelog Weg 4, HCI F423, 8093, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Hannelore Kaspar
- Institute of Microbiology, Department of Biology, ETH Zürich, Vladimir-Prelog Weg 4, HCI F423, 8093, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Markus Künzler
- Institute of Microbiology, Department of Biology, ETH Zürich, Vladimir-Prelog Weg 4, HCI F423, 8093, Zürich, Switzerland
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4
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Sosa MB, Leeman JT, Washington LJ, Scheller HV, Chang MCY. Biosynthesis of Strained Amino Acids Through a PLP-Dependent Enzyme via Cryptic Halogenation. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.12.13.571568. [PMID: 38168212 PMCID: PMC10760155 DOI: 10.1101/2023.12.13.571568] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/05/2024]
Abstract
Amino acids (AAs) are modular and modifiable building blocks which nature uses to synthesize both macromolecules, such as proteins, and small molecule natural products, such as alkaloids and non-ribosomal peptides (NRPs). While the 20 main proteinogenic AAs display relatively limited side-chain diversity, a wide range of non-canonical amino acids (ncAAs) exist that are not used by the ribosome for protein synthesis but contain a broad array of structural features and functional groups not found in proteinogenic AAs. In this communication, we report the discovery of the biosynthetic pathway for a new ncAA, pazamine, which contains a cyclopropane ring formed in two steps. In the first step, a chlorine is added onto the C4 position of lysine by a radical halogenase PazA. The cyclopropane ring is then formed in the next step by a pyridoxal-5'-phosphate-dependent enzyme, PazB, via an SN2-like attack onto C4 to eliminate chloride. Genetic studies of this pathway in the native host, Pseudomonas azotoformans, show that pazamine and its succinylated derivative, pazamide, potentially inhibit ethylene biosynthesis in growing plants based on alterations in the root phenotype of Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings. We further show that PazB can be utilized to make an alternative cyclobutane-containing AA. These discoveries may lead to advances in biocatalytic production of specialty chemicals and agricultural biotechnology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Max B Sosa
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
| | - Jacob T Leeman
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
| | - Lorenzo J Washington
- Department of Plant & Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720 and Joint BioEnergy Institute, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Henrik V Scheller
- Department of Plant & Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720 and Joint BioEnergy Institute, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Michelle C Y Chang
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA and Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA and Department of Molecular & Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
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5
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Batista JM, Nicu VP. Simplified and enhanced VCD analysis of cyclic peptides guided by artificial intelligence. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2023; 25:22111-22116. [PMID: 37560904 DOI: 10.1039/d3cp01986a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/11/2023]
Abstract
Cyclic peptides are privileged structures in medicinal chemistry; however, their solution-state structure characterization is difficult. Vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) spectroscopy is a powerful alternative to NMR, but requires challenging calculations. We present a VCD approach guided by a genetic algorithm, which is simple, more effective, and has a higher conformer resolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- João M Batista
- Federal University of São Paulo, Institute of Science and Technology, R. Talim 330, 12231-280, São José dos Campos-SP, Brazil.
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6
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Gordon CH, Hendrix E, He Y, Walker MC. AlphaFold Accurately Predicts the Structure of Ribosomally Synthesized and Post-Translationally Modified Peptide Biosynthetic Enzymes. Biomolecules 2023; 13:1243. [PMID: 37627309 PMCID: PMC10452190 DOI: 10.3390/biom13081243] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2023] [Revised: 08/08/2023] [Accepted: 08/10/2023] [Indexed: 08/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptides (RiPPs) are a growing class of natural products biosynthesized from a genetically encoded precursor peptide. The enzymes that install the post-translational modifications on these peptides have the potential to be useful catalysts in the production of natural-product-like compounds and can install non-proteogenic amino acids in peptides and proteins. However, engineering these enzymes has been somewhat limited, due in part to limited structural information on enzymes in the same families that nonetheless exhibit different substrate selectivities. Despite AlphaFold2's superior performance in single-chain protein structure prediction, its multimer version lacks accuracy and requires high-end GPUs, which are not typically available to most research groups. Additionally, the default parameters of AlphaFold2 may not be optimal for predicting complex structures like RiPP biosynthetic enzymes, due to their dynamic binding and substrate-modifying mechanisms. This study assessed the efficacy of the structure prediction program ColabFold (a variant of AlphaFold2) in modeling RiPP biosynthetic enzymes in both monomeric and dimeric forms. After extensive benchmarking, it was found that there were no statistically significant differences in the accuracy of the predicted structures, regardless of the various possible prediction parameters that were examined, and that with the default parameters, ColabFold was able to produce accurate models. We then generated additional structural predictions for select RiPP biosynthetic enzymes from multiple protein families and biosynthetic pathways. Our findings can serve as a reference for future enzyme engineering complemented by AlphaFold-related tools.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Mark C. Walker
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA
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7
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Tyler TJ, Durek T, Craik DJ. Native and Engineered Cyclic Disulfide-Rich Peptides as Drug Leads. Molecules 2023; 28:molecules28073189. [PMID: 37049950 PMCID: PMC10096437 DOI: 10.3390/molecules28073189] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2023] [Revised: 03/27/2023] [Accepted: 03/29/2023] [Indexed: 04/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Bioactive peptides are a highly abundant and diverse group of molecules that exhibit a wide range of structural and functional variation. Despite their immense therapeutic potential, bioactive peptides have been traditionally perceived as poor drug candidates, largely due to intrinsic shortcomings that reflect their endogenous heritage, i.e., short biological half-lives and poor cell permeability. In this review, we examine the utility of molecular engineering to insert bioactive sequences into constrained scaffolds with desired pharmaceutical properties. Applying lessons learnt from nature, we focus on molecular grafting of cyclic disulfide-rich scaffolds (naturally derived or engineered), shown to be intrinsically stable and amenable to sequence modifications, and their utility as privileged frameworks in drug design.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tristan J. Tyler
- Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Innovations in Peptide and Protein Science, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Thomas Durek
- Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Innovations in Peptide and Protein Science, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - David J. Craik
- Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Innovations in Peptide and Protein Science, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
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8
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Abstract
The ability to manipulate the chemical composition of proteins and peptides has been central to the development of improved polypeptide-based therapeutics and has enabled researchers to address fundamental biological questions that would otherwise be out of reach. Protein ligation, in which two or more polypeptides are covalently linked, is a powerful strategy for generating semisynthetic products and for controlling polypeptide topology. However, specialized tools are required to efficiently forge a peptide bond in a chemoselective manner with fast kinetics and high yield. Fortunately, nature has addressed this challenge by evolving enzymatic mechanisms that can join polypeptides using a diverse set of chemical reactions. Here, we summarize how such nature-inspired protein ligation strategies have been repurposed as chemical biology tools that afford enhanced control over polypeptide composition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rasmus Pihl
- Chemical Biology Program, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - Qingfei Zheng
- Department of Radiation Oncology, College of Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
- Center for Cancer Metabolism, James Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Pharmacology, College of Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
| | - Yael David
- Chemical Biology Program, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA.
- Department of Pharmacology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
- Department of Physiology, Biophysics and Systems Biology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
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9
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Abstract
Background Ribosomally-synthesized cyclic peptides are widely found in plants and exhibit useful bioactivities for humans. The identification of cyclic peptide sequences and their precursor proteins is facilitated by the growing number of sequenced genomes. While previous research largely focused on the chemical diversity of these peptides across various species, there is little attention to a broader range of potential peptides that are not chemically identified. Results A pioneering study was initiated to explore the genetic diversity of linusorbs, a group of cyclic peptides uniquely occurring in cultivated flax (Linum usitatissimum). Phylogenetic analysis clustered the 5 known linusorb precursor proteins into two clades and one singleton. Preliminary tBLASTn search of the published flax genome using the whole protein sequence as query could only retrieve its homologues within the same clade. This limitation was overcome using a profile-based mining strategy. After genome reannotation, a hidden Markov Model (HMM)-based approach identified 58 repeats homologous to the linusorb-embedded repeats in 8 novel proteins, implying that they share common ancestry with the linusorb-embedded repeats. Subsequently, we developed a customized profile composed of a random linusorb-like domain (LLD) flanked by 5 conserved sites and used it for string search of the proteome, which extracted 281 LLD-containing repeats (LLDRs) in 25 proteins. Comparative analysis of different repeat categories suggested that the 5 conserved flanking sites among the non-homologous repeats have undergone convergent evolution driven by functional selection. Conclusions The profile-based mining approach is suitable for analyzing repetitive sequences. The 25 LLDR proteins identified herein represent the potential diversity of cyclic peptides within the flax genome and lay a foundation for further studies on the functions and evolution of these protein tandem repeats. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12864-022-08735-x.
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10
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Sarkar S, Gu W, Schmidt EW. Applying Promiscuous RiPP Enzymes to Peptide Backbone N-Methylation Chemistry. ACS Chem Biol 2022; 17:2165-2178. [PMID: 35819062 PMCID: PMC9526446 DOI: 10.1021/acschembio.2c00293] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
The methylation of peptide backbone amides is a hallmark of bioactive natural products, and it also greatly modifies the pharmacology of synthetic peptides. Usually, bioactive N-methylated peptides are cyclic. However, there is very limited knowledge about how post-translational enzymes can be applied to the synthesis of designed N-methylated peptides or peptide libraries. Here, driven by the established ability of some RiPP enzymes to process diverse substrates, we sought to define catalysts for the in vivo and in vitro macrocyclization of backbone-methylated peptides. We developed efficient methods in which short, synthetic N-methylated peptides could be modified using side chain and mainchain macrocyclases, PsnB and PCY1 from plesiocin and orbitide biosynthetic pathways, respectively. Most significantly, a strategy for PsnB cyclase was designed enabling simple in vitro methods compatible with solid-phase peptide synthesis. We show that cyanobactin N-terminal protease PatA is a broadly useful catalyst that is also compatible with N-methylation chemistry, but that cyanobactin macrocyclase PatG is strongly biased against N-methylated substrates. Finally, we sought to marry these macrocyclase tools with an enzyme that N-methylates its core peptide: OphMA from the omphalotin pathway. However, instead, we reveal some limitations of OphMA and demonstrate that it unexpectedly and extensively modified the enzyme itself in vivo. Together, these results demonstrate proof-of-concept for enzymatic synthesis of N-methylated peptide macrocycles.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Eric W. Schmidt
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, United States
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11
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Zhang CH, Shao XX, Wang XB, Shou LL, Liu YL, Xu ZG, Guo ZY. Development of a general bioluminescent activity assay for peptide ligases. FEBS J 2022; 289:5241-5258. [PMID: 35239242 DOI: 10.1111/febs.16416] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2021] [Revised: 01/13/2022] [Accepted: 02/28/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
In recent years, some peptide ligases have been identified, such as bacterial sortases and certain plant asparaginyl or prolyl endopeptidases. Peptide ligases have wide applications in protein labelling and cyclic peptide synthesis. To characterize various known peptide ligases or identify new ones, we propose a general bioluminescent activity assay via the genetic fusion of a recognition motif of peptide ligase(s) to the C-terminus of an inactive large NanoLuc fragment (LgBiT) and the chemical introduction of a nucleophilic motif preferred by the peptide ligase(s) to the N-terminus of the low-affinity SmBiT complementation tag. After the inactive ligation version LgBiT protein was ligated with the low-affinity ligation version SmBiT tag by the expected peptide ligase(s), its luciferase activity would be restored and could be quantified sensitively according to the measured bioluminescence. In the present study, we first validated the bioluminescent activity assay using bacterial sortase A and plant-derived butelase-1. Subsequently, we screened novel peptide ligases from crude extracts of selected plants using two LgBiT-SmBiT ligation pairs. Among 80 common higher plants, we identified that five of them likely express asparaginyl endopeptidase-type peptide ligase and four of them likely express prolyl endopeptidase-type peptide ligase, suggesting that peptide ligases are not so rare in higher plants and more of them await discovery. The present bioluminescent activity assay is ultrasensitive, convenient for use, and resistant to protease interference, and thus would have wide applications for characterizing known peptide ligases or screening new ones from various sources in future studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cong-Hui Zhang
- Research Center for Translational Medicine at East Hospital, School of Life Sciences and Technology, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
| | - Xiao-Xia Shao
- Research Center for Translational Medicine at East Hospital, School of Life Sciences and Technology, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
| | - Xin-Bo Wang
- Research Center for Translational Medicine at East Hospital, School of Life Sciences and Technology, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
| | - Li-Li Shou
- Research Center for Translational Medicine at East Hospital, School of Life Sciences and Technology, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
| | - Ya-Li Liu
- Research Center for Translational Medicine at East Hospital, School of Life Sciences and Technology, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
| | - Zeng-Guang Xu
- Research Center for Translational Medicine at East Hospital, School of Life Sciences and Technology, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
| | - Zhan-Yun Guo
- Research Center for Translational Medicine at East Hospital, School of Life Sciences and Technology, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
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12
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Rodríguez V. Insights into post-translational modification enzymes from RiPPs: A toolkit for applications in peptide synthesis. Biotechnol Adv 2022; 56:107908. [PMID: 35032597 DOI: 10.1016/j.biotechadv.2022.107908] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2021] [Revised: 12/30/2021] [Accepted: 01/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
The increasing length and complexity of peptide drug candidates foster the development of novel strategies for their manufacture, which should include sustainable and efficient technologies. In this context, including enzymatic catalysis in the production of peptide molecules has gained interest. Here, several enzymes from ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptides biosynthesis pathways are reviewed, with attention to their capacity to introduce stability-promoting structural features on peptides, providing an initial framework towards their use in therapeutic peptide production processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vida Rodríguez
- Faculty of Engineering, Science and Technology, Bernardo O'Higgins University, Viel 1497, Santiago, Chile.
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13
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Saemi Yokomichi MA, Leite Silva HR, Eivazian Vianna Nogueira Brandao L, Festozo Vicente E, Batista Junior JM. Conformational preferences induced by cyclization in orbitides: a vibrational CD study. Org Biomol Chem 2022; 20:1306-1314. [DOI: 10.1039/d1ob02170b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Orbitides are bioactive head-to-tail natural cyclic peptides from plant species. Their bioactivity is intrinsically related to the main conformations adopted in solution, whose correct characterization represents an important bottleneck for...
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14
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Chigumba DN, Mydy LS, de Waal F, Li W, Shafiq K, Wotring JW, Mohamed OG, Mladenovic T, Tripathi A, Sexton JZ, Kautsar S, Medema MH, Kersten RD. Discovery and biosynthesis of cyclic plant peptides via autocatalytic cyclases. Nat Chem Biol 2022; 18:18-28. [PMID: 34811516 DOI: 10.1038/s41589-021-00892-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2021] [Accepted: 09/02/2021] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Many bioactive plant cyclic peptides form side-chain-derived macrocycles. Lyciumins, cyclic plant peptides with tryptophan macrocyclizations, are ribosomal peptides (RiPPs) originating from repetitive core peptide motifs in precursor peptides with plant-specific BURP (BNM2, USP, RD22 and PG1beta) domains, but the biosynthetic mechanism for their formation has remained unknown. Here, we characterize precursor-peptide BURP domains as copper-dependent autocatalytic peptide cyclases and use a combination of tandem mass spectrometry-based metabolomics and plant genomics to systematically discover five BURP-domain-derived plant RiPP classes, with mono- and bicyclic structures formed via tryptophans and tyrosines, from botanical collections. As BURP-domain cyclases are scaffold-generating enzymes in plant specialized metabolism that are physically connected to their substrates in the same polypeptide, we introduce a bioinformatic method to mine plant genomes for precursor-peptide-encoding genes by detection of repetitive substrate domains and known core peptide features. Our study sets the stage for chemical, biosynthetic and biological exploration of plant RiPP natural products from BURP-domain cyclases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Desnor N Chigumba
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Lisa S Mydy
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Floris de Waal
- Bioinformatics Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, Netherlands
| | - Wenjie Li
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Khadija Shafiq
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Jesse W Wotring
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Osama G Mohamed
- Natural Products Discovery Core, Life Sciences Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.,Pharmacognosy Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt
| | - Tim Mladenovic
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Ashootosh Tripathi
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.,Natural Products Discovery Core, Life Sciences Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Jonathan Z Sexton
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.,Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Satria Kautsar
- Bioinformatics Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, Netherlands
| | - Marnix H Medema
- Bioinformatics Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, Netherlands.
| | - Roland D Kersten
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
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15
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Zhang D, Wang Z, Hu S, Lescar J, Tam JP, Liu CF. Vypal2: A Versatile Peptide Ligase for Precision Tailoring of Proteins. Int J Mol Sci 2021; 23:ijms23010458. [PMID: 35008882 PMCID: PMC8745061 DOI: 10.3390/ijms23010458] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2021] [Revised: 12/29/2021] [Accepted: 12/29/2021] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The last two decades have seen an increasing demand for new protein-modification methods from the biotech industry and biomedical research communities. Owing to their mild aqueous reaction conditions, enzymatic methods based on the use of peptide ligases are particularly desirable. In this regard, the recently discovered peptidyl Asx-specific ligases (PALs) have emerged as powerful biotechnological tools in recent years. However, as a new class of peptide ligases, their scope and application remain underexplored. Herein, we report the use of a new PAL, VyPAL2, for a diverse range of protein modifications. We successfully showed that VyPAL2 was an efficient biocatalyst for protein labelling, inter-protein ligation, and protein cyclization. The labelled or cyclized protein ligands remained functionally active in binding to their target receptors. We also demonstrated on-cell labelling of protein ligands pre-bound to cellular receptors and cell-surface engineering via modifying a covalently anchored peptide substrate pre-installed on cell-surface glycans. Together, these examples firmly establish Asx-specific ligases, such as VyPAL2, as the biocatalysts of the future for site-specific protein modification, with a myriad of applications in basic research and drug discovery.
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Song I, Kim Y, Yu J, Go SY, Lee HG, Song WJ, Kim S. Molecular mechanism underlying substrate recognition of the peptide macrocyclase PsnB. Nat Chem Biol 2021; 17:1123-1131. [PMID: 34475564 DOI: 10.1038/s41589-021-00855-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2021] [Accepted: 07/08/2021] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
Graspetides, also known as ω-ester-containing peptides (OEPs), are a family of ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptides (RiPPs) bearing side chain-to-side chain macrolactone or macrolactam linkages. Here, we present the molecular details of precursor peptide recognition by the macrocyclase enzyme PsnB in the biosynthesis of plesiocin, a group 2 graspetide. Biochemical analysis revealed that, in contrast to other RiPPs, the core region of the plesiocin precursor peptide noticeably enhanced the enzyme-precursor interaction via the conserved glutamate residues. We obtained four crystal structures of symmetric or asymmetric PsnB dimers, including those with a bound core peptide and a nucleotide, and suggest that the highly conserved Arg213 at the enzyme active site specifically recognizes a ring-forming acidic residue before phosphorylation. Collectively, this study provides insights into the mechanism underlying substrate recognition in graspetide biosynthesis and lays a foundation for engineering new variants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Inseok Song
- Department of Chemistry, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Younghyeon Kim
- Department of Chemistry, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Jaeseung Yu
- Department of Chemistry, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Su Yong Go
- Department of Chemistry, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Hong Geun Lee
- Department of Chemistry, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Woon Ju Song
- Department of Chemistry, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Seokhee Kim
- Department of Chemistry, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea.
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Brewster RC, Labeaga IC, Soden CE, Jarvis AG. Macrocylases as synthetic tools for ligand synthesis: enzymatic synthesis of cyclic peptides containing metal-binding amino acids. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2021; 8:211098. [PMID: 34737880 PMCID: PMC8564625 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.211098] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2021] [Accepted: 10/07/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Improving the sustainability of synthesis is a major goal in green chemistry, which has been greatly aided by the development of asymmetric transition metal catalysis. Recent advances in asymmetric catalysis show that the ability to control the coordination sphere of substrates can lead to improvements in enantioselectivity and activity, in a manner resembling the operation of enzymes. Peptides can be used to mimic enzyme structures and their secondary interactions and they are easily accessible through solid-phase peptide synthesis. Despite this, cyclic peptides remain underexplored as chiral ligands for catalysis due to synthetic complications upon macrocyclization. Here, we show that the solid-phase synthesis of peptides containing metal-binding amino acids, bipyridylalanine (1), phenyl pyridylalanine (2) and N,N-dimethylhistidine (3) can be combined with peptide macrocylization using peptide cyclase 1 (PCY1) to yield cyclic peptides under mild conditions. High conversions of the linear peptides were observed (approx. 90%) and the Cu-bound cyclo(FSAS(1)SSKP) was shown to be a competent catalyst in the Friedel-Crafts/conjugate addition of indole. This study shows that PCY1 can tolerate peptides containing amino acids with classic inorganic and organometallic ligands as side chains, opening the door to the streamlined and efficient development of cyclic peptides as metal ligands.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard C. Brewster
- EaStCHEM School of Chemistry, University of Edinburgh, Joseph Black Building, David Brewster Rd, Edinburgh EH9 3FJ, Scotland
| | - Irati Colmenero Labeaga
- EaStCHEM School of Chemistry, University of Edinburgh, Joseph Black Building, David Brewster Rd, Edinburgh EH9 3FJ, Scotland
| | - Catriona E. Soden
- EaStCHEM School of Chemistry, University of Edinburgh, Joseph Black Building, David Brewster Rd, Edinburgh EH9 3FJ, Scotland
| | - Amanda G. Jarvis
- EaStCHEM School of Chemistry, University of Edinburgh, Joseph Black Building, David Brewster Rd, Edinburgh EH9 3FJ, Scotland
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18
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Liu D, Rubin GM, Dhakal D, Chen M, Ding Y. Biocatalytic synthesis of peptidic natural products and related analogues. iScience 2021; 24:102512. [PMID: 34041453 PMCID: PMC8141463 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2021.102512] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Peptidic natural products (PNPs) represent a rich source of lead compounds for the discovery and development of therapeutic agents for the treatment of a variety of diseases. However, the chemical synthesis of PNPs with diverse modifications for drug research is often faced with significant challenges, including the unavailability of constituent nonproteinogenic amino acids, inefficient cyclization protocols, and poor compatibility with other functional groups. Advances in the understanding of PNP biosynthesis and biocatalysis provide a promising, sustainable alternative for the synthesis of these compounds and their analogues. Here we discuss current progress in using native and engineered biosynthetic enzymes for the production of both ribosomally and nonribosomally synthesized peptides. In addition, we highlight new in vitro and in vivo approaches for the generation and screening of PNP libraries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dake Liu
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Center for Natural Products, Drug Discovery and Development (CNPD3), University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA
| | - Garret M. Rubin
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Center for Natural Products, Drug Discovery and Development (CNPD3), University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA
| | - Dipesh Dhakal
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Center for Natural Products, Drug Discovery and Development (CNPD3), University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA
| | - Manyun Chen
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Center for Natural Products, Drug Discovery and Development (CNPD3), University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA
| | - Yousong Ding
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Center for Natural Products, Drug Discovery and Development (CNPD3), University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA
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19
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Nonis SG, Haywood J, Mylne JS. Plant asparaginyl endopeptidases and their structural determinants of function. Biochem Soc Trans 2021; 49:965-976. [PMID: 33666219 PMCID: PMC8106488 DOI: 10.1042/bst20200908] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2020] [Revised: 02/09/2021] [Accepted: 02/10/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Asparaginyl endopeptidases (AEPs) are versatile enzymes that in biological systems are involved in producing three different catalytic outcomes for proteins, namely (i) routine cleavage by bond hydrolysis, (ii) peptide maturation, including macrocyclisation by a cleavage-coupled intramolecular transpeptidation and (iii) circular permutation involving separate cleavage and transpeptidation reactions resulting in a major reshuffling of protein sequence. AEPs differ in their preference for cleavage or transpeptidation reactions, catalytic efficiency, and preference for asparagine or aspartate target residues. We look at structural analyses of various AEPs that have laid the groundwork for identifying important determinants of AEP function in recent years, with much of the research impetus arising from the potential biotechnological and pharmaceutical applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samuel G. Nonis
- School of Molecular Sciences, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, Perth 6009, Australia
- The ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, Perth 6009, Australia
| | - Joel Haywood
- School of Molecular Sciences, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, Perth 6009, Australia
- The ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, Perth 6009, Australia
| | - Joshua S. Mylne
- School of Molecular Sciences, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, Perth 6009, Australia
- The ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, Perth 6009, Australia
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20
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Weerasinghe NW, Habibi Y, Uggowitzer KA, Thibodeaux CJ. Exploring the Conformational Landscape of a Lanthipeptide Synthetase Using Native Mass Spectrometry. Biochemistry 2021; 60:1506-1519. [PMID: 33887902 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biochem.1c00085] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Lanthipeptides are ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptide (RiPP) natural products. These genetically encoded peptides are biosynthesized by multifunctional enzymes (lanthipeptide synthetases) that possess relaxed substrate specificity and catalyze iterative rounds of post-translational modification. Recent evidence has suggested that some lanthipeptide synthetases are structurally dynamic enzymes that are allosterically activated by precursor peptide binding and that conformational sampling of the enzyme-peptide complex may play an important role in defining the efficiency and sequence of biosynthetic events. These "biophysical" processes, while critical for defining the activity and function of the synthetase, remain very challenging to study with existing methodologies. Herein, we show that native mass spectrometry coupled to ion mobility (native IM-MS) provides a powerful and sensitive means for investigating the conformational landscapes and intermolecular interactions of lanthipeptide synthetases. Namely, we demonstrate that the class II lanthipeptide synthetase (HalM2) and its noncovalent complex with the cognate HalA2 precursor peptide can be delivered into the gas phase in a manner that preserves native structures and intermolecular enzyme-peptide contacts. Moreover, gas phase ion mobility studies of the natively folded ions demonstrate that peptide binding and mutations to dynamic structural elements of HalM2 alter the conformational landscape of the enzyme. Cumulatively, these data support previous claims that lanthipeptide synthetases are structurally dynamic enzymes that undergo functionally relevant conformational changes in response to precursor peptide binding. This work establishes native IM-MS as a versatile approach for characterizing intermolecular interactions and for unraveling the relationships between protein structure and biochemical function in RiPP biosynthetic systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nuwani W Weerasinghe
- Department of Chemistry and Centre de Recherche en Biologie Structurale, McGill University, 801 Sherbrooke Street West, Montréal, Québec H3A 0B8, Canada
| | - Yeganeh Habibi
- Department of Chemistry and Centre de Recherche en Biologie Structurale, McGill University, 801 Sherbrooke Street West, Montréal, Québec H3A 0B8, Canada
| | - Kevin A Uggowitzer
- Department of Chemistry and Centre de Recherche en Biologie Structurale, McGill University, 801 Sherbrooke Street West, Montréal, Québec H3A 0B8, Canada
| | - Christopher J Thibodeaux
- Department of Chemistry and Centre de Recherche en Biologie Structurale, McGill University, 801 Sherbrooke Street West, Montréal, Québec H3A 0B8, Canada
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21
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Naudin EA, McEwen AG, Tan SK, Poussin-Courmontagne P, Schmitt JL, Birck C, DeGrado WF, Torbeev V. Acyl Transfer Catalytic Activity in De Novo Designed Protein with N-Terminus of α-Helix As Oxyanion-Binding Site. J Am Chem Soc 2021; 143:3330-3339. [PMID: 33635059 PMCID: PMC8012002 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.0c10053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
The design of catalytic proteins with functional sites capable of specific chemistry is gaining momentum and a number of artificial enzymes have recently been reported, including hydrolases, oxidoreductases, retro-aldolases, and others. Our goal is to develop a peptide ligase for robust catalysis of amide bond formation that possesses no stringent restrictions to the amino acid composition at the ligation junction. We report here the successful completion of the first step in this long-term project by building a completely de novo protein with predefined acyl transfer catalytic activity. We applied a minimalist approach to rationally design an oxyanion hole within a small cavity that contains an adjacent thiol nucleophile. The N-terminus of the α-helix with unpaired hydrogen-bond donors was exploited as a structural motif to stabilize negatively charged tetrahedral intermediates in nucleophilic addition-elimination reactions at the acyl group. Cysteine acting as a principal catalytic residue was introduced at the second residue position of the α-helix N-terminus in a designed three-α-helix protein based on structural informatics prediction. We showed that this minimal set of functional elements is sufficient for the emergence of catalytic activity in a de novo protein. Using peptide-αthioesters as acyl-donors, we demonstrated their catalyzed amidation concomitant with hydrolysis and proved that the environment at the catalytic site critically influences the reaction outcome. These results represent a promising starting point for the development of efficient catalysts for protein labeling, conjugation, and peptide ligation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elise A Naudin
- Institut de Science et d'Ingénierie Supramoléculaires (ISIS), International Center for Frontier Research in Chemistry (icFRC), University of Strasbourg, CNRS (UMR 7006), Strasbourg 67000, France
| | - Alastair G McEwen
- Integrated Structural Biology Platform, Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire (IGBMC), CNRS (UMR 7104), INSERM (U1258), University of Strasbourg, Illkirch 67404, France
| | - Sophia K Tan
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and the Cardiovascular Research Institute, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94158-9001, United States
| | - Pierre Poussin-Courmontagne
- Integrated Structural Biology Platform, Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire (IGBMC), CNRS (UMR 7104), INSERM (U1258), University of Strasbourg, Illkirch 67404, France
| | - Jean-Louis Schmitt
- Institut de Science et d'Ingénierie Supramoléculaires (ISIS), International Center for Frontier Research in Chemistry (icFRC), University of Strasbourg, CNRS (UMR 7006), Strasbourg 67000, France
| | - Catherine Birck
- Integrated Structural Biology Platform, Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire (IGBMC), CNRS (UMR 7104), INSERM (U1258), University of Strasbourg, Illkirch 67404, France
| | - William F DeGrado
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and the Cardiovascular Research Institute, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94158-9001, United States
| | - Vladimir Torbeev
- Institut de Science et d'Ingénierie Supramoléculaires (ISIS), International Center for Frontier Research in Chemistry (icFRC), University of Strasbourg, CNRS (UMR 7006), Strasbourg 67000, France
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22
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Montalbán-López M, Scott TA, Ramesh S, Rahman IR, van Heel AJ, Viel JH, Bandarian V, Dittmann E, Genilloud O, Goto Y, Grande Burgos MJ, Hill C, Kim S, Koehnke J, Latham JA, Link AJ, Martínez B, Nair SK, Nicolet Y, Rebuffat S, Sahl HG, Sareen D, Schmidt EW, Schmitt L, Severinov K, Süssmuth RD, Truman AW, Wang H, Weng JK, van Wezel GP, Zhang Q, Zhong J, Piel J, Mitchell DA, Kuipers OP, van der Donk WA. New developments in RiPP discovery, enzymology and engineering. Nat Prod Rep 2021; 38:130-239. [PMID: 32935693 PMCID: PMC7864896 DOI: 10.1039/d0np00027b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 414] [Impact Index Per Article: 138.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Covering: up to June 2020Ribosomally-synthesized and post-translationally modified peptides (RiPPs) are a large group of natural products. A community-driven review in 2013 described the emerging commonalities in the biosynthesis of RiPPs and the opportunities they offered for bioengineering and genome mining. Since then, the field has seen tremendous advances in understanding of the mechanisms by which nature assembles these compounds, in engineering their biosynthetic machinery for a wide range of applications, and in the discovery of entirely new RiPP families using bioinformatic tools developed specifically for this compound class. The First International Conference on RiPPs was held in 2019, and the meeting participants assembled the current review describing new developments since 2013. The review discusses the new classes of RiPPs that have been discovered, the advances in our understanding of the installation of both primary and secondary post-translational modifications, and the mechanisms by which the enzymes recognize the leader peptides in their substrates. In addition, genome mining tools used for RiPP discovery are discussed as well as various strategies for RiPP engineering. An outlook section presents directions for future research.
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23
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Enzymatic methylation of the amide bond. Curr Opin Struct Biol 2020; 65:79-88. [DOI: 10.1016/j.sbi.2020.06.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/29/2020] [Revised: 05/13/2020] [Accepted: 06/04/2020] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
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24
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Fisher MF, Payne CD, Chetty T, Crayn D, Berkowitz O, Whelan J, Rosengren KJ, Mylne JS. The genetic origin of evolidine, the first cyclopeptide discovered in plants, and related orbitides. J Biol Chem 2020; 295:14510-14521. [PMID: 32817170 PMCID: PMC7573267 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.ra120.014781] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2020] [Revised: 08/11/2020] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Cyclic peptides are reported to have antibacterial, antifungal, and other bioactivities. Orbitides are a class of cyclic peptides that are small, head-to-tail cyclized, composed of proteinogenic amino acids and lack disulfide bonds; they are also known in several genera of the plant family Rutaceae. Melicope xanthoxyloides is the Australian rain forest tree of the Rutaceae family in which evolidine, the first plant cyclic peptide, was discovered. Evolidine (cyclo-SFLPVNL) has subsequently been all but forgotten in the academic literature, so to redress this we used tandem MS and de novo transcriptomics to rediscover evolidine and decipher its biosynthetic origin from a short precursor just 48 residues in length. We also identified another six M. xanthoxyloides orbitides using the same techniques. These peptides have atypically diverse C termini consisting of residues not recognized by either of the known proteases plants use to macrocyclize peptides, suggesting new cyclizing enzymes await discovery. We examined the structure of two of the novel orbitides by NMR, finding one had a definable structure, whereas the other did not. Mining RNA-seq and whole genome sequencing data from other species of the Rutaceae family revealed that a large and diverse family of peptides is encoded by similar sequences across the family and demonstrates how powerful de novo transcriptomics can be at accelerating the discovery of new peptide families.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark F Fisher
- The University of Western Australia, School of Molecular Sciences & The ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology, Crawley, Australia
| | - Colton D Payne
- The University of Queensland, Faculty of Medicine, School of Biomedical Sciences, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Thaveshini Chetty
- The University of Western Australia, School of Molecular Sciences & The ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology, Crawley, Australia
| | - Darren Crayn
- Australian Tropical Herbarium, James Cook University, Cairns, Queensland, Australia
| | - Oliver Berkowitz
- Department of Animal, Plant and Soil Sciences, School of Life Sciences & ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology, AgriBio, The Centre for AgriBioscience, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia
| | - James Whelan
- Department of Animal, Plant and Soil Sciences, School of Life Sciences & ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology, AgriBio, The Centre for AgriBioscience, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia
| | - K Johan Rosengren
- The University of Queensland, Faculty of Medicine, School of Biomedical Sciences, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Joshua S Mylne
- The University of Western Australia, School of Molecular Sciences & The ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology, Crawley, Australia
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25
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Rubin GM, Ding Y. Recent advances in the biosynthesis of RiPPs from multicore-containing precursor peptides. J Ind Microbiol Biotechnol 2020; 47:659-674. [PMID: 32617877 PMCID: PMC7666021 DOI: 10.1007/s10295-020-02289-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2020] [Accepted: 06/22/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptides (RiPPs) compose a large structurally and functionally diverse family of natural products. The biosynthesis system of RiPPs typically involves a precursor peptide comprising of a leader and core motif and nearby processing enzymes that recognize the leader and act on the core for producing modified peptides. Interest in RiPPs has increased substantially in recent years as improvements in genome mining techniques have dramatically improved access to these peptides and biochemical and engineering studies have supported their applications. A less understood, intriguing feature in the RiPPs biosynthesis is the precursor peptides of multiple RiPPs families produced by bacteria, fungi and plants carrying multiple core motifs, which we term "multicore". Herein, we present the prevalence of the multicore systems, their biosynthesis and engineering for applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Garret M Rubin
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, and Center for Natural Products, Drug Discovery and Development, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32610, USA
| | - Yousong Ding
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, and Center for Natural Products, Drug Discovery and Development, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32610, USA.
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26
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Yamada K, Basak AK, Goto-Yamada S, Tarnawska-Glatt K, Hara-Nishimura I. Vacuolar processing enzymes in the plant life cycle. THE NEW PHYTOLOGIST 2020; 226:21-31. [PMID: 31679161 DOI: 10.1111/nph.16306] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2019] [Accepted: 10/14/2019] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
Vacuolar processing enzyme (VPE) is a cysteine-type endopeptidase that has a substrate-specificity for asparagine or aspartic acid residues and cleaves peptide bonds at their carboxyl-terminal side. Various vacuolar proteins are synthesized as larger proprotein precursors, and VPE is an important initiator of maturation and activation of these proteins. It mediates programmed cell death (PCD) by provoking vacuolar rupture and initiating the proteolytic cascade leading to PCD. Vacuolar processing enzyme also possesses a peptide ligation activity, which is responsible for producing cyclic peptides in several plant species. These unique functions of VPE support developmental and environmental responses in plants. The number of VPE homologues is higher in angiosperm species, indicating that there has been differentiation and specialization of VPE function over the course of evolution. Angiosperm VPEs are separated into two major types: the γ-type VPEs, which are expressed mainly in vegetative organs, and the β-type VPEs, whose expression occurs mainly in storage organs; in eudicots, the δ-type VPEs are further separated within γ-type VPEs. This review also considers the importance of processing and peptide ligation by VPE in vacuolar protein maturation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kenji Yamada
- Małopolska Centre of Biotechnology, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, 30-387, Poland
| | - Arpan Kumar Basak
- Małopolska Centre of Biotechnology, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, 30-387, Poland
- Institute of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, 30-387, Poland
| | - Shino Goto-Yamada
- Małopolska Centre of Biotechnology, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, 30-387, Poland
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27
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Structural determinants for peptide-bond formation by asparaginyl ligases. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2019; 116:11737-11746. [PMID: 31123145 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1818568116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Asparaginyl endopeptidases (AEPs) are cysteine proteases which break Asx (Asn/Asp)-Xaa bonds in acidic conditions. Despite sharing a conserved overall structure with AEPs, certain plant enzymes such as butelase 1 act as a peptide asparaginyl ligase (PAL) and catalyze Asx-Xaa bond formation in near-neutral conditions. PALs also serve as macrocyclases in the biosynthesis of cyclic peptides. Here, we address the question of how a PAL can function as a ligase rather than a protease. Based on sequence homology of butelase 1, we identified AEPs and PALs from the cyclic peptide-producing plants Viola yedoensis (Vy) and Viola canadensis (Vc) of the Violaceae family. Using a crystal structure of a PAL obtained at 2.4-Å resolution coupled to mutagenesis studies, we discovered ligase-activity determinants flanking the S1 site, namely LAD1 and LAD2 located around the S2 and S1' sites, respectively, which modulate ligase activity by controlling the accessibility of water or amine nucleophile to the S-ester intermediate. Recombinantly expressed VyPAL1-3, predicted to be PALs, were confirmed to be ligases by functional studies. In addition, mutagenesis studies on VyPAL1-3, VyAEP1, and VcAEP supported our prediction that LAD1 and LAD2 are important for ligase activity. In particular, mutagenesis targeting LAD2 selectively enhanced the ligase activity of VyPAL3 and converted the protease VcAEP into a ligase. The definition of structural determinants required for ligation activity of the asparaginyl ligases presented here will facilitate genomic identification of PALs and engineering of AEPs into PALs.
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28
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Luo S, Dong SH. Recent Advances in the Discovery and Biosynthetic Study of Eukaryotic RiPP Natural Products. Molecules 2019; 24:molecules24081541. [PMID: 31003555 PMCID: PMC6514808 DOI: 10.3390/molecules24081541] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2019] [Revised: 04/15/2019] [Accepted: 04/18/2019] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Natural products have played indispensable roles in drug development and biomedical research. Ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptides (RiPPs) are a group of fast-expanding natural products attribute to genome mining efforts in recent years. Most RiPP natural products were discovered from bacteria, yet many eukaryotic cyclic peptides turned out to be of RiPP origin. This review article presents recent advances in the discovery of eukaryotic RiPP natural products, the elucidation of their biosynthetic pathways, and the molecular basis for their biosynthetic enzyme catalysis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shangwen Luo
- State Key Laboratory of Applied Organic Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China.
| | - Shi-Hui Dong
- State Key Laboratory of Applied Organic Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China.
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29
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Bobeica SC, Dong SH, Huo L, Mazo N, McLaughlin MI, Jiménez-Osés G, Nair SK, van der Donk WA. Insights into AMS/PCAT transporters from biochemical and structural characterization of a double Glycine motif protease. eLife 2019; 8:42305. [PMID: 30638446 PMCID: PMC6363468 DOI: 10.7554/elife.42305] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2018] [Accepted: 01/12/2019] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The secretion of peptides and proteins is essential for survival and ecological adaptation of bacteria. Dual-functional ATP-binding cassette transporters export antimicrobial or quorum signaling peptides in Gram-positive bacteria. Their substrates contain a leader sequence that is excised by an N-terminal peptidase C39 domain at a double Gly motif. We characterized the protease domain (LahT150) of a transporter from a lanthipeptide biosynthetic operon in Lachnospiraceae and demonstrate that this protease can remove the leader peptide from a diverse set of peptides. The 2.0 Å resolution crystal structure of the protease domain in complex with a covalently bound leader peptide demonstrates the basis for substrate recognition across the entire class of such transporters. The structural data also provide a model for understanding the role of leader peptide recognition in the translocation cycle, and the function of degenerate, non-functional C39-like domains (CLD) in substrate recruitment in toxin exporters in Gram-negative bacteria.
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Affiliation(s)
- Silvia C Bobeica
- Roger Adams Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, United States
| | - Shi-Hui Dong
- Roger Adams Laboratory, Department of Biochemistry, University of llinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, United States
| | - Liujie Huo
- Roger Adams Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, United States
| | - Nuria Mazo
- Departamento de Química, Centro de Investigación en Síntesis Química, Universidad de La Rioja, La Rioja, Spain
| | - Martin I McLaughlin
- Roger Adams Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, United States
| | - Gonzalo Jiménez-Osés
- Departamento de Química, Centro de Investigación en Síntesis Química, Universidad de La Rioja, La Rioja, Spain.,CICbioGUNE, Derio, Spain
| | - Satish K Nair
- Roger Adams Laboratory, Department of Biochemistry, University of llinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, United States.,Center for Biophysics and Computational Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, United States
| | - Wilfred A van der Donk
- Roger Adams Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, United States.,Roger Adams Laboratory, Department of Biochemistry, University of llinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, United States.,Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, United States
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30
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Hemu X, Zhang X, Bi X, Liu CF, Tam JP. Butelase 1-Mediated Ligation of Peptides and Proteins. Methods Mol Biol 2019; 2012:83-109. [PMID: 31161505 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4939-9546-2_6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Structurally, butelase 1 is a cysteine protease of the asparaginyl endoprotease (AEP) family, but functionally, it displays intense Asn/Asp-specific (Asx) ligase activity and is virtually devoid of protease activity. Butelase 1 recognizes specifically a C-terminal Asx-containing tripeptide motif, Asx-His-Val, to form an Asx-Xaa peptide bond (Xaa = any amino acid), either intramolecularly or intermolecularly, resulting in cyclic peptides or site-specific modified peptides/proteins, respectively. Our work in the past 4 years has validated that butelase 1 is a potent and versatile tool for peptide and protein modification. Here we describe our protocols using butelase 1 for efficient and site-specific peptide and protein ligation, N-terminal labeling, preparation of thioesters, and bioconjugation of dendrimers. Additionally, we provide an example using butelase 1 for protein cyclization in combination with genetic code expansion in order to incorporate unnatural building blocks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xinya Hemu
- School of Biological Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Xiaohong Zhang
- School of Biological Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Xiaobao Bi
- School of Biological Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Chuan-Fa Liu
- School of Biological Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore
| | - James P Tam
- School of Biological Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore.
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31
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Zhang R, Li C, Wang J, Yang Y, Yan Y. Microbial production of small medicinal molecules and biologics: From nature to synthetic pathways. Biotechnol Adv 2018; 36:2219-2231. [DOI: 10.1016/j.biotechadv.2018.10.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2018] [Revised: 10/02/2018] [Accepted: 10/15/2018] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
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32
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Ramalho SD, Wang CK, King GJ, Byriel KA, Huang YH, Bolzani VS, Craik DJ. Synthesis, Racemic X-ray Crystallographic, and Permeability Studies of Bioactive Orbitides from Jatropha Species. JOURNAL OF NATURAL PRODUCTS 2018; 81:2436-2445. [PMID: 30345754 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.8b00447] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Orbitides are small cyclic peptides with a diverse range of therapeutic bioactivities. They are produced by many plant species, including those of the Jatropha genus. Here, the objective was to provide new structural information on orbitides to complement the growing knowledge base on orbitide sequences and activities by focusing on three Jatropha orbitides: ribifolin (1), pohlianin C (7), and jatrophidin (12). To determine three-dimensional structures, racemic crystallography, an emerging structural technique that enables rapid crystallization of biomolecules by combining equal amounts of the two enantiomers, was used. The high-resolution structure of ribifolin (0.99 Å) was elucidated from its racemate and showed it was identical to the structure crystallized from its l-enantiomer only (1.35 Å). Racemic crystallography was also used to elucidate high-resolution structures of pohlianin C (1.20 Å) and jatrophidin (1.03 Å), for which there was difficulty forming crystals without using racemic mixtures. The structures were used to interpret membrane permeability data in PAMPA and a Caco-2 cell assay, showing they had poor permeability. Overall, the results show racemic crystallography can be used to obtain high-resolution structures of orbitides and is useful when enantiopure samples are difficult to crystallize or solution structures from NMR are of low resolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Suelem D Ramalho
- Institute of Chemistry , São Paulo State University-UNESP , Araraquara , São Paulo 14800-060 , Brazil
| | - Conan K Wang
- Institute for Molecular Bioscience , The University of Queensland , Brisbane , Queensland 4072 , Australia
| | - Gordon J King
- Institute for Molecular Bioscience , The University of Queensland , Brisbane , Queensland 4072 , Australia
| | - Karl A Byriel
- Institute for Molecular Bioscience , The University of Queensland , Brisbane , Queensland 4072 , Australia
| | - Yen-Hua Huang
- Institute for Molecular Bioscience , The University of Queensland , Brisbane , Queensland 4072 , Australia
| | - Vanderlan S Bolzani
- Institute of Chemistry , São Paulo State University-UNESP , Araraquara , São Paulo 14800-060 , Brazil
| | - David J Craik
- Institute for Molecular Bioscience , The University of Queensland , Brisbane , Queensland 4072 , Australia
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33
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Gene-guided discovery and engineering of branched cyclic peptides in plants. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2018; 115:E10961-E10969. [PMID: 30373830 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1813993115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The plant kingdom contains vastly untapped natural product chemistry, which has been traditionally explored through the activity-guided approach. Here, we describe a gene-guided approach to discover and engineer a class of plant ribosomal peptides, the branched cyclic lyciumins. Initially isolated from the Chinese wolfberry Lycium barbarum, lyciumins are protease-inhibiting peptides featuring an N-terminal pyroglutamate and a macrocyclic bond between a tryptophan-indole nitrogen and a glycine α-carbon. We report the identification of a lyciumin precursor gene from L. barbarum, which encodes a BURP domain and repetitive lyciumin precursor peptide motifs. Genome mining enabled by this initial finding revealed rich lyciumin genotypes and chemotypes widespread in flowering plants. We establish a biosynthetic framework of lyciumins and demonstrate the feasibility of producing diverse natural and unnatural lyciumins in transgenic tobacco. With rapidly expanding plant genome resources, our approach will complement bioactivity-guided approaches to unlock and engineer hidden plant peptide chemistry for pharmaceutical and agrochemical applications.
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34
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Ongpipattanakul C, Nair SK. Molecular Basis for Autocatalytic Backbone N-Methylation in RiPP Natural Product Biosynthesis. ACS Chem Biol 2018; 13:2989-2999. [PMID: 30204409 DOI: 10.1021/acschembio.8b00668] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
N-methylation of nucleic acids, proteins, and peptides is a chemical modification with significant impact on biological regulation. Despite the simplicity of the structural change, N-methylation can influence diverse functions including epigenetics, protein complex formation, and microtubule stability. While there are limited examples of N-methylation of the α-amino group of bacterial and eukaryotic proteins, there are no examples of catalysts that carry out post-translation methylation of backbone amides in proteins or peptides. Recent studies have identified enzymes that catalyze backbone N-methylation on a peptide substrate, a reaction with little biochemical precedent, in a family of ribosomally synthesized natural products produced in basidiomycetes. Here, we describe the crystal structures of Dendrothele bispora dbOphMA, a methyltransferase that catalyzes multiple N-methylations on the peptide backbone. We further carry out biochemical studies of this catalyst to determine the molecular details that promote this unusual chemical transformation. The structural and biochemical framework described here could facilitate biotechnological applications of catalysts for the rapid production of backbone N-methylated peptides.
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35
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Ongpipattanakul C, Nair SK. Biosynthetic Proteases That Catalyze the Macrocyclization of Ribosomally Synthesized Linear Peptides. Biochemistry 2018; 57:3201-3209. [PMID: 29553721 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biochem.8b00114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Circular peptides have long been sought after as scaffolds for drug design as they demonstrate protein-like properties in the context of small, constrained peptides. Traditional routes toward the production of cyclic peptides rely on synthesis or semisynthetic methods, which restrict their use as platforms for the production of large, structurally diverse chemical libraries. Here, we discuss the biosynthetic routes toward the N-C macrocyclization of linear peptide precursors, specifically, those transformations that are catalyzed by peptidases. While canonical peptidases catalyze the proteolysis of linear peptides, the biosynthetic macrocyclases couple proteolytic cleavage with cyclization to produce macrocyclic compounds. In this Perspective, we explore the different structural features that impart on each of these biosynthetic proteases the distinct ability to perform macrocyclization and focus on their potential use in biotechnology.
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36
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Ludewig H, Czekster CM, Oueis E, Munday ES, Arshad M, Synowsky SA, Bent AF, Naismith JH. Characterization of the Fast and Promiscuous Macrocyclase from Plant PCY1 Enables the Use of Simple Substrates. ACS Chem Biol 2018; 13:801-811. [PMID: 29377663 PMCID: PMC5859912 DOI: 10.1021/acschembio.8b00050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Abstract
Cyclic ribosomally derived peptides possess diverse bioactivities and are currently of major interest in drug development. However, it can be chemically challenging to synthesize these molecules, hindering the diversification and testing of cyclic peptide leads. Enzymes used in vitro offer a solution to this; however peptide macrocyclization remains the bottleneck. PCY1, involved in the biosynthesis of plant orbitides, belongs to the class of prolyl oligopeptidases and natively displays substrate promiscuity. PCY1 is a promising candidate for in vitro utilization, but its substrates require an 11 to 16 residue C-terminal recognition tail. We have characterized PCY1 both kinetically and structurally with multiple substrate complexes revealing the molecular basis of recognition and catalysis. Using these insights, we have identified a three residue C-terminal extension that replaces the natural recognition tail permitting PCY1 to operate on synthetic substrates. We demonstrate that PCY1 can macrocyclize a variety of substrates with this short tail, including unnatural amino acids and nonamino acids, highlighting PCY1's potential in biocatalysis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hannes Ludewig
- Biomedical Sciences Research Complex, University of St. Andrews, North Haugh, St. Andrews, KY16 9ST, United Kingdom
| | - Clarissa M. Czekster
- Biomedical Sciences Research Complex, University of St. Andrews, North Haugh, St. Andrews, KY16 9ST, United Kingdom
| | - Emilia Oueis
- Biomedical Sciences Research Complex, University of St. Andrews, North Haugh, St. Andrews, KY16 9ST, United Kingdom
| | - Elizabeth S. Munday
- EaStChem, School of Chemistry, University of St. Andrews, North Haugh, St. Andrews, KY16 9ST, United Kingdom
| | - Mohammed Arshad
- Institute of Mechanical, Process and Energy Engineering, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, EH14 4AS, United Kingdom
| | - Silvia A. Synowsky
- Biomedical Sciences Research Complex, University of St. Andrews, North Haugh, St. Andrews, KY16 9ST, United Kingdom
| | - Andrew F. Bent
- Biomedical Sciences Research Complex, University of St. Andrews, North Haugh, St. Andrews, KY16 9ST, United Kingdom
| | - James H. Naismith
- Biomedical Sciences Research Complex, University of St. Andrews, North Haugh, St. Andrews, KY16 9ST, United Kingdom
- Biotherapy Centre, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
- Research Complex at Harwell, Didcot, OX11 0FA, United Kingdom
- Division of Structural Biology, University of Oxford, Roosevelt Drive, Headington, Oxford OX3 7BN, United Kingdom
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37
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Fisher MF, Zhang J, Taylor NL, Howard MJ, Berkowitz O, Debowski AW, Behsaz B, Whelan J, Pevzner PA, Mylne JS. A family of small, cyclic peptides buried in preproalbumin since the Eocene epoch. PLANT DIRECT 2018; 2:e00042. [PMID: 30417166 PMCID: PMC6223261 DOI: 10.1002/pld3.42] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/13/2023]
Abstract
Orbitides are cyclic ribosomally-synthesized and post-translationally modified peptides (RiPPs) from plants; they consist of standard amino acids arranged in an unbroken chain of peptide bonds. These cyclic peptides are stable and range in size and topologies making them potential scaffolds for peptide drugs; some display valuable biological activities. Recently two orbitides whose sequences were buried in those of seed storage albumin precursors were said to represent the first observable step in the evolution of larger and hydrophilic bicyclic peptides. Here, guided by transcriptome data, we investigated peptide extracts of 40 species specifically for the more hydrophobic orbitides and confirmed 44 peptides by tandem mass spectrometry, as well as obtaining solution structures for four of them by NMR. Acquiring transcriptomes from the phylogenetically important Corymboideae family confirmed the precursor genes for the peptides (called PawS1-Like or PawL1) are confined to the Asteroideae, a subfamily of the huge plant family Asteraceae. To be confined to the Asteroideae indicates these peptides arose during the Eocene epoch around 45 Mya. Unlike other orbitides, all PawL-derived Peptides contain an Asp residue, needed for processing by asparaginyl endopeptidase. This study has revealed what is likely to be a very large new family of orbitides, uniquely buried alongside albumin and processed by asparaginyl endopeptidase.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark F. Fisher
- School of Molecular SciencesThe University of Western Australia, CrawleyPerthWAAustralia
- ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy BiologyThe University of Western AustraliaCrawleyPerthWAAustralia
| | - Jingjing Zhang
- School of Molecular SciencesThe University of Western Australia, CrawleyPerthWAAustralia
- ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy BiologyThe University of Western AustraliaCrawleyPerthWAAustralia
| | - Nicolas L. Taylor
- School of Molecular SciencesThe University of Western Australia, CrawleyPerthWAAustralia
- ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy BiologyThe University of Western AustraliaCrawleyPerthWAAustralia
| | - Mark J. Howard
- School of Molecular SciencesThe University of Western Australia, CrawleyPerthWAAustralia
- Centre for Microscopy, Characterisation and AnalysisThe University of Western AustraliaCrawleyPerthWAAustralia
| | - Oliver Berkowitz
- Department of Animal, Plant and Soil SciencesSchool of Life Sciences & ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy BiologyAgriBioThe Centre for AgriBioscienceLa Trobe UniversityBundooraVic.Australia
| | - Aleksandra W. Debowski
- School of Molecular SciencesThe University of Western Australia, CrawleyPerthWAAustralia
- Marshall Centre for Infectious Disease Research and TrainingSchool of Biomedical SciencesThe University of Western AustraliaCrawleyPerthWAAustralia
| | - Bahar Behsaz
- Department of Computer Science & EngineeringUniversity of CaliforniaLa JollaSan DiegoCAUSA
| | - James Whelan
- Department of Animal, Plant and Soil SciencesSchool of Life Sciences & ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy BiologyAgriBioThe Centre for AgriBioscienceLa Trobe UniversityBundooraVic.Australia
| | - Pavel A. Pevzner
- Department of Computer Science & EngineeringUniversity of CaliforniaLa JollaSan DiegoCAUSA
| | - Joshua S. Mylne
- School of Molecular SciencesThe University of Western Australia, CrawleyPerthWAAustralia
- ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy BiologyThe University of Western AustraliaCrawleyPerthWAAustralia
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38
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Haywood J, Schmidberger JW, James AM, Nonis SG, Sukhoverkov KV, Elias M, Bond CS, Mylne JS. Structural basis of ribosomal peptide macrocyclization in plants. eLife 2018; 7:32955. [PMID: 29384475 PMCID: PMC5834244 DOI: 10.7554/elife.32955] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2017] [Accepted: 01/26/2018] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Constrained, cyclic peptides encoded by plant genes represent a new generation of drug leads. Evolution has repeatedly recruited the Cys-protease asparaginyl endopeptidase (AEP) to perform their head-to-tail ligation. These macrocyclization reactions use the substrates amino terminus instead of water to deacylate, so a peptide bond is formed. How solvent-exposed plant AEPs macrocyclize is poorly understood. Here we present the crystal structure of an active plant AEP from the common sunflower, Helianthus annuus. The active site contained electron density for a tetrahedral intermediate with partial occupancy that predicted a binding mode for peptide macrocyclization. By substituting catalytic residues we could alter the ratio of cyclic to acyclic products. Moreover, we showed AEPs from other species lacking cyclic peptides can perform macrocyclization under favorable pH conditions. This structural characterization of AEP presents a logical framework for engineering superior enzymes that generate macrocyclic peptide drug leads. Most proteins are long, chain-like molecules that have two ends respectively called the N-terminus and C-terminus. However, certain proteins can close on themselves to become circular. This requires a chemical reaction between the N- and C-termini, which creates a strong bond between the two extremities. To go through this ‘cyclization’ process, a straight protein attaches to a certain type of protease, a class of enzyme that usually cuts proteins into smaller pieces. In plants that are distantly related, the same group of enzymes – called AEPs – has been selected to perform cyclization. Here, Haywood et al. study an AEP enzyme from sunflowers: they identify what about this enzyme’s structure is important to drive the complex chemical reaction that results in the protein being cyclized rather than simply cut. Using a technique called X-ray crystallography to see the positions of individual atoms in the enzyme, Haywood et al. caught a snapshot of the enzyme. Its structure explained how the enzyme’s shape can guide cyclization. In particular, the part of the enzyme that binds to the proteins, the active site, was relatively flat and open, but also flexible: this helped the N and C-termini react with each other and close the protein. Further experiments artificially mutated specific areas of the enzyme, which helped determine exactly which elements guide this succession of chemical reactions. The activity of AEPs is influenced by their local environment, such as acidity. In fact, Haywood et al. showed that certain AEPs, which do not normally carry out cyclization, can start performing this role when exposed to a different level of acidity. The pharmaceutical industry is increasingly interested in circular proteins, as these are stable, easily used by the body, and can be genetically customized to act only on specific targets. If the cyclization process is better understood, and then harnessed, new drug compounds could be produced.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joel Haywood
- School of Molecular Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.,The ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Australia
| | - Jason W Schmidberger
- School of Molecular Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.,The ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Australia
| | - Amy M James
- School of Molecular Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.,The ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Australia
| | - Samuel G Nonis
- School of Molecular Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.,The ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Australia
| | - Kirill V Sukhoverkov
- School of Molecular Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.,The ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Australia
| | - Mikael Elias
- Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biophysics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, United States
| | - Charles S Bond
- School of Molecular Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia
| | - Joshua S Mylne
- School of Molecular Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.,The ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Australia
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39
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Sgambelluri RM, Smith MO, Walton JD. Versatility of Prolyl Oligopeptidase B in Peptide Macrocyclization. ACS Synth Biol 2018; 7:145-152. [PMID: 28866879 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.7b00264] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Cyclic peptides are promising compounds for new chemical biological tools and therapeutics due to their structural diversity, resistance to proteases, and membrane permeability. Amatoxins, the toxic principles of poisonous mushrooms, are biosynthesized on ribosomes as 35mer precursor peptides, which are ultimately converted to hydroxylated bicyclic octapeptides. The initial cyclization steps, catalyzed by a dedicated prolyl oligopeptidase (POPB), involves removal of the 10-amino acid leader sequence from the precursor peptide and transpeptidation to produce a monocyclic octapeptide intermediate. The utility of POPB as a general catalyst for peptide cyclization was systematically characterized using a range of precursor peptide substrates produced either in E. coli or chemically. Substrates produced in E. coli were expressed either individually or in mixtures produced by codon mutagenesis. A total of 127 novel peptide substrates were tested, of which POPB could cyclize 100. Peptides of 7-16 residues were cyclized at least partially. Synthetic 25mer precursor peptide substrates containing modified amino acids including d-Ala, β-Ala, N-methyl-Ala, and 4-hydroxy-Pro were also successfully cyclized. Although a phalloidin heptapeptide with all L amino acids was not cyclized, partial cyclization was seen when l-Thr at position #5 was replaced with the naturally occurring D amino acid. POPB should have broad applicability as a general catalyst for macrocyclization of peptides containing 7 to at least 16 amino acids, with an optimum of 8-9 residues.
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Affiliation(s)
- R. Michael Sgambelluri
- Department
of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, ‡Department of Energy-Plant Research
Laboratory, and §Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, United States
| | - Miranda O. Smith
- Department
of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, ‡Department of Energy-Plant Research
Laboratory, and §Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, United States
| | - Jonathan D. Walton
- Department
of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, ‡Department of Energy-Plant Research
Laboratory, and §Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, United States
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40
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Oueis E, Stevenson H, Jaspars M, Westwood NJ, Naismith JH. Bypassing the proline/thiazoline requirement of the macrocyclase PatG. Chem Commun (Camb) 2017; 53:12274-12277. [PMID: 29090689 PMCID: PMC5708355 DOI: 10.1039/c7cc06550g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2017] [Accepted: 09/13/2017] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
Biocatalysis is a fast developing field in which an enzyme's natural capabilities are harnessed or engineered for synthetic chemistry. The enzyme PatG is an extremely promiscuous macrocyclase enzyme tolerating both non-natural amino acids and non-amino acids within the substrate. It does, however, require a proline or thiazoline at the C-terminal position of the core peptide which means the final product must contain this group. Here, we show guided by structural insight we have identified two synthetic routes, triazole and a double cysteine, that circumvent this requirement. With the triazole, we show PatGmac can macrocyclise substrates that do not contain any amino acids in the final product.
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Affiliation(s)
- E. Oueis
- Biomedical Science Research Complex & School of Chemistry , University of St Andrews , BSRC , North Haugh , St Andrews , KY16 9ST , UK .
| | - H. Stevenson
- Biomedical Science Research Complex & School of Chemistry , University of St Andrews , BSRC , North Haugh , St Andrews , KY16 9ST , UK .
| | - M. Jaspars
- Marine Biodiscovery Centre , Department of Chemistry , University of Aberdeen , Old Aberdeen , AB24 3UE , UK
| | - N. J. Westwood
- Biomedical Science Research Complex & School of Chemistry , University of St Andrews , BSRC , North Haugh , St Andrews , KY16 9ST , UK .
| | - J. H. Naismith
- Biomedical Science Research Complex & School of Chemistry , University of St Andrews , BSRC , North Haugh , St Andrews , KY16 9ST , UK .
- State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy , Sichuan University , China
- Division of Structural Biology , Oxford University , OX3 7BN , UK
- Research Complex at Harwell , Didicot, Oxon , OX11 0FA , UK
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41
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Characterization of a dual function macrocyclase enables design and use of efficient macrocyclization substrates. Nat Commun 2017; 8:1045. [PMID: 29051530 PMCID: PMC5648786 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-00862-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2017] [Accepted: 08/02/2017] [Indexed: 01/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Peptide macrocycles are promising therapeutic molecules because they are protease resistant, structurally rigid, membrane permeable, and capable of modulating protein-protein interactions. Here, we report the characterization of the dual function macrocyclase-peptidase enzyme involved in the biosynthesis of the highly toxic amanitin toxin family of macrocycles. The enzyme first removes 10 residues from the N-terminus of a 35-residue substrate. Conformational trapping of the 25 amino-acid peptide forces the enzyme to release this intermediate rather than proceed to macrocyclization. The enzyme rebinds the 25 amino-acid peptide in a different conformation and catalyzes macrocyclization of the N-terminal eight residues. Structures of the enzyme bound to both substrates and biophysical analysis characterize the different binding modes rationalizing the mechanism. Using these insights simpler substrates with only five C-terminal residues were designed, allowing the enzyme to be more effectively exploited in biotechnology.
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