Pocket analysis of the full-length cholix toxin. An assessment of the structure-dynamics of the apo catalytic domain

A Structural Approach to Anti-Virulence: A Discovery Pipeline

The anti-virulence strategy is designed to prevent bacterial virulence factors produced by pathogenic bacteria from initiating and sustaining an infection. One family of bacterial virulence factors is the mono-ADP-ribosyltransferase toxins, which are produced by pathogens as tools to compromise the target host cell. These toxins are bacterial enzymes that exploit host cellular NAD+ as the donor substrate to modify an essential macromolecule acceptor target in the host cell. This biochemical reaction modifies the target macromolecule (often protein or DNA) and functions in a binary fashion to turn the target activity on or off by blocking or impairing a critical process or pathway in the host. A structural biology approach to the anti-virulence method to neutralize the cytotoxic effect of these factors requires the search and design of small molecules that bind tightly to the enzyme active site and prevent catalytic function essentially disarming the pathogen. This method requires a high-resolution structure to serve as the model for small molecule inhibitor development, which illuminates the path to drug development. This alternative strategy to antibiotic therapy represents a paradigm shift that may circumvent multi-drug resistance in the offending microbe through anti-virulence therapy. In this report, the rationale for the anti-virulence structural approach will be discussed along with recent efforts to apply this method to treat honey bee diseases using natural products.

Development of Anti-Virulence Therapeutics against Mono-ADP-Ribosyltransferase Toxins

Mono-ADP-ribosyltransferase toxins are often key virulence factors produced by pathogenic bacteria as tools to compromise the target host cell. These toxins are enzymes that use host cellular NAD⁺ as the substrate to modify a critical macromolecule target in the host cell machinery. This post-translational modification of the target macromolecule (usually protein or DNA) acts like a switch to turn the target activity on or off resulting in impairment of a critical process or pathway in the host. One approach to stymie bacterial pathogens is to curtail the toxic action of these factors by designing small molecules that bind tightly to the enzyme active site and prevent catalytic function. The inactivation of these toxins/enzymes is targeted for the site of action within the host cell and small molecule therapeutics can function as anti-virulence agents by disarming the pathogen. This represents an alternative strategy to antibiotic therapy with the potential as a paradigm shift that may circumvent multi-drug resistance in the offending microbe. In this review, work that has been accomplished during the past two decades on this approach to develop anti-virulence compounds against mono-ADP-ribosyltransferase toxins will be discussed.

Cell Death Signaling Pathway Induced by Cholix Toxin, a Cytotoxin and eEF2 ADP-Ribosyltransferase Produced by Vibrio cholerae

Pathogenic microorganisms produce various virulence factors, e.g., enzymes, cytotoxins, effectors, which trigger development of pathologies in infectious diseases. Cholera toxin (CT) produced by O1 and O139 serotypes of Vibrio cholerae (V. cholerae) is a major cytotoxin causing severe diarrhea. Cholix cytotoxin (Cholix) was identified as a novel eukaryotic elongation factor 2 (eEF2) adenosine-diphosphate (ADP)-ribosyltransferase produced mainly in non-O1/non-O139 V. cholerae. The function and role of Cholix in infectious disease caused by V. cholerae remain unknown. The crystal structure of Cholix is similar to Pseudomonas exotoxin A (PEA) which is composed of an N-terminal receptor-recognition domain and a C-terminal ADP-ribosyltransferase domain. The endocytosed Cholix catalyzes ADP-ribosylation of eEF2 in host cells and inhibits protein synthesis, resulting in cell death. In a mouse model, Cholix caused lethality with severe liver damage. In this review, we describe the mechanism underlying Cholix-induced cytotoxicity. Cholix-induced apoptosis was regulated by mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and protein kinase C (PKC) signaling pathways, which dramatically enhanced tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) production in human liver, as well as the amount of epithelial-like HepG2 cancer cells. In contrast, Cholix induced apoptosis in hepatocytes through a mitochondrial-dependent pathway, which was not stimulated by TNF-α. These findings suggest that sensitivity to Cholix depends on the target cell. A substantial amount of information on PEA is provided in order to compare/contrast this well-characterized mono-ADP-ribosyltransferase (mART) with Cholix.

Scabin, a Novel DNA-acting ADP-ribosyltransferase from Streptomyces scabies

A bioinformatics strategy was used to identify Scabin, a novel DNA-targeting enzyme from the plant pathogen 87.22 strain of Streptomyces scabies Scabin shares nearly 40% sequence identity with the Pierisin family of mono-ADP-ribosyltransferase toxins. Scabin was purified to homogeneity as a 22-kDa single-domain enzyme and was shown to possess high NAD(+)-glycohydrolase (Km (NAD) = 68 ± 3 μm; kcat = 94 ± 2 min(-1)) activity with an RSQXE motif; it was also shown to target deoxyguanosine and showed sigmoidal enzyme kinetics (K0.5(deoxyguanosine) = 302 ± 12 μm; kcat = 14 min(-1)). Mass spectrometry analysis revealed that Scabin labels the exocyclic amino group on guanine bases in either single-stranded or double-stranded DNA. Several small molecule inhibitors were identified, and the most potent compounds were found to inhibit the enzyme activity with Ki values ranging from 3 to 24 μm PJ34, a well known inhibitor of poly-ADP-ribosyltransferases, was shown to be the most potent inhibitor of Scabin. Scabin was crystallized, representing the first structure of a DNA-targeting mono-ADP-ribosyltransferase enzyme; the structures of the apo-form (1.45 Å) and with two inhibitors (P6-E, 1.4 Å; PJ34, 1.6 Å) were solved. These x-ray structures are also the first high resolution structures of the Pierisin subgroup of the mono-ADP-ribosyltransferase toxin family. A model of Scabin with its DNA substrate is also proposed.

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

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

The Father, Son and Cholix Toxin: The Third Member of the DT Group Mono-ADP-Ribosyltransferase Toxin Family

The cholix toxin gene (chxA) was first identified in V. cholerae strains in 2007, and the protein was identified by bioinformatics analysis in 2008. It was identified as the third member of the diphtheria toxin group of mono-ADP-ribosyltransferase toxins along with P. aeruginosa exotoxin A and C. diphtheriae diphtheria toxin. Our group determined the structure of the full-length, three-domain cholix toxin at 2.1 Å and its C-terminal catalytic domain (cholix_c) at 1.25 Å resolution. We showed that cholix toxin is specific for elongation factor 2 (diphthamide residue), similar to exotoxin A and diphtheria toxin. Cholix toxin possesses molecular features required for infection of eukaryotes by receptor-mediated endocytosis, translocation to the host cytoplasm and inhibition of protein synthesis. More recently, we also solved the structure of full-length cholix toxin in complex with NAD⁺ and proposed a new kinetic model for cholix enzyme activity. In addition, we have taken a computational approach that revealed some important properties of the NAD⁺-binding pocket at the residue level, including the role of crystallographic water molecules in the NAD⁺ substrate interaction. We developed a pharmacophore model of cholix toxin, which revealed a cationic feature in the side chain of cholix toxin active-site inhibitors that may determine the active pose. Notably, several recent reports have been published on the role of cholix toxin as a major virulence factor in V. cholerae (non-O1/O139 strains). Additionally, FitzGerald and coworkers prepared an immunotoxin constructed from domains II and III as a cancer treatment strategy to complement successful immunotoxins derived from P. aeruginosa exotoxin A.

A comparative structure-function analysis of active-site inhibitors of Vibrio cholerae cholix toxin

Cholix toxin from Vibrio cholerae is a novel mono-ADP-ribosyltransferase (mART) toxin that shares structural and functional properties with Pseudomonas aeruginosa exotoxin A and Corynebacterium diphtheriae diphtheria toxin. Herein, we have used the high-resolution X-ray structure of full-length cholix toxin in the apo form, NAD(+) bound, and 10 structures of the cholix catalytic domain (C-domain) complexed with several strong inhibitors of toxin enzyme activity (NAP, PJ34, and the P-series) to study the binding mode of the ligands. A pharmacophore model based on the active pose of NAD(+) was compared with the active conformation of the inhibitors, which revealed a cationic feature in the side chain of the inhibitors that may determine the active pose. Moreover, a conformational search was conducted for the missing coordinates of one of the main active-site loops (R-loop). The resulting structural models were used to evaluate the interaction energies and for 3D-QSAR modeling. Implications for a rational drug design approach for mART toxins were derived.