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Lyons PJ. Inactive metallopeptidase homologs: the secret lives of pseudopeptidases. Front Mol Biosci 2024; 11:1436917. [PMID: 39050735 PMCID: PMC11266112 DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2024.1436917] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2024] [Accepted: 06/25/2024] [Indexed: 07/27/2024] Open
Abstract
Inactive enzyme homologs, or pseudoenzymes, are proteins, found within most enzyme families, that are incapable of performing catalysis. Rather than catalysis, they are involved in protein-protein interactions, sometimes regulating the activity of their active enzyme cousins, or scaffolding protein complexes. Pseudoenzymes found within metallopeptidase families likewise perform these functions. Pseudoenzymes within the M14 carboxypeptidase family interact with collagens within the extracellular space, while pseudopeptidase members of the M12 "a disintegrin and metalloprotease" (ADAM) family either discard their pseudopeptidase domains as unnecessary for their roles in sperm maturation or utilize surface loops to enable assembly of key complexes at neuronal synapses. Other metallopeptidase families contain pseudopeptidases involved in protein synthesis at the ribosome and protein import into organelles, sometimes using their pseudo-active sites for these interactions. Although the functions of these pseudopeptidases have been challenging to study, ongoing work is teasing out the secret lives of these proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter J. Lyons
- Department of Biology, Andrews University, Berrien Springs, MI, United States
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2
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Tian L, Guo T, Wu F, Bai R, Ai S, Wang H, Song Y, Zhu M, Jiang Y, Ma S, Zhuang X, Guo S. The pseudoenzyme ADPRHL1 affects cardiac function by regulating the ROCK pathway. Stem Cell Res Ther 2023; 14:309. [PMID: 37880701 PMCID: PMC10601310 DOI: 10.1186/s13287-023-03507-0] [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: 08/23/2022] [Accepted: 09/21/2023] [Indexed: 10/27/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Pseudoenzymes, catalytically deficient variants of active enzymes, have a wide range of regulatory functions. ADP-ribosylhydrolase-like 1 (ADPRHL1), a pseudoenzyme belonging to a small group of ADP-ribosylhydrolase enzymes that lacks the amino acid residues necessary for catalytic activity, may have a significant role in heart development based on accumulating evidence. However, the specific function of ADPRHL1 in this process has not been elucidated. To investigate the role of ADPRHL1 in the heart, we generated the first in vitro human embryonic stem cell model with an ADPRHL1 knockout. METHOD Using the CRISPR/Cas9 system, we generated ADPRHL1 knockout in the human embryonic stem cell (hESC) H9 line. The cells were differentiated into cardiomyocytes using a chemically defined and xeno-free method. We employed confocal laser microscopy to detect calcium transients and microelectrode array (MEA) to assess the electrophysiological activity of ADPRHL1 deficiency cardiomyocytes. Additionally, we investigated the cellular mechanism of ADPRHL1 by Bulk RNA sequencing and western blot. RESULTS The results indicate that the absence of ADPRHL1 in cardiomyocytes led to adhered abnormally, as well as perturbations in calcium transients and electrophysiological activity. We also revealed that disruption of focal adhesion formation in these cardiomyocytes was due to an excessive upregulation of the ROCK-myosin II pathway. Notably, inhibition of ROCK and myosin II effectively restores focal adhesions in ADPRHL1-deficient cardiomyocytes and improved electrical conduction and calcium activity. CONCLUSIONS Our findings demonstrate that ADPRHL1 plays a critical role in maintaining the proper function of cardiomyocytes by regulating the ROCK-myosin II pathway, suggesting that it may serve as a potential drug target for the treatment of ADPRHL1-related diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lei Tian
- School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, 100029, China
- Department of Nephrology, Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Capital Medical University, 23 Meishuguanhou Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing, 100010, China
| | - Tianwei Guo
- Beijing Laboratory for Cardiovascular Precision Medicine, The Key Laboratory of Biomedical Engineering for Cardiovascular Disease Research, Ministry of Education, Beijing Anzhen Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100029, China
| | - Fujian Wu
- Translational Medicine Collaborative Innovation Center, The Second Clinical Medical College (Shenzhen People's Hospital), Jinan University, Shenzhen, 518020, China
- Post-Doctoral Scientific Research Station of Basic Medicine, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632, China
| | - Rui Bai
- Fuwai Hospital Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Shenzhen, 518057, Guangdong Province, China
| | - Sinan Ai
- School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, 100029, China
| | - Hongyue Wang
- Department of Cardiology, National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Fuwai Hospital, Beilishi Rd 167, Xicheng District, Beijing City, 100037, China
| | - Yuanxiu Song
- Department of Emergency, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Zhejiang, 310003, China
| | - Min Zhu
- Department of Cardiology, National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Fuwai Hospital, Beilishi Rd 167, Xicheng District, Beijing City, 100037, China
| | - Youxu Jiang
- Department of Cardiology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Jingba Road, Zhengzhou, 450053, China
| | - Shuhong Ma
- Department of Cardiology, National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Fuwai Hospital, Beilishi Rd 167, Xicheng District, Beijing City, 100037, China
| | - Xiaofeng Zhuang
- Department of Cardiology, National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Fuwai Hospital, Beilishi Rd 167, Xicheng District, Beijing City, 100037, China.
| | - Shuzhen Guo
- School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, 100029, China.
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3
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Interactive Analysis of Functional Residues in Protein Families. mSystems 2022; 7:e0070522. [PMID: 36374048 PMCID: PMC9765024 DOI: 10.1128/msystems.00705-22] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
A protein's function depends on functional residues that determine its binding specificity or its catalytic activity, but these residues are typically not considered when annotating a protein's function. To help biologists investigate the functional residues of proteins, we developed two interactive web-based tools, SitesBLAST and Sites on a Tree. Given a protein sequence, SitesBLAST finds homologs that have known functional residues and shows whether the functional residues are conserved. Sites on a Tree shows how functional residues vary across a protein family by showing them on a phylogenetic tree. These tools are available at http://papers.genomics.lbl.gov/sites. IMPORTANCE For most microbes of interest, a genome sequence is available, but the function of its proteins is not known. Instead, proteins' functions are predicted from their similarity to other protein sequences. Within a protein's sequence, a few key residues are most important for function, such as catalyzing a chemical reaction or determining what it binds. But most function prediction tools do not take these key residues into account. We developed interactive tools for identifying functional residues in a protein sequence by comparing it to proteins with known functional residues. Our tools also make it easy to compare key residues across many similar proteins. This should help biologists check if a protein's function is predicted correctly, or to predict if groups of similar proteins have conserved functions.
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4
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O’Boyle B, Shrestha S, Kochut K, Eyers PA, Kannan N. Computational tools and resources for pseudokinase research. Methods Enzymol 2022; 667:403-426. [PMID: 35525549 PMCID: PMC9733567 DOI: 10.1016/bs.mie.2022.03.040] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Pseudokinases regulate diverse cellular processes associated with normal cellular functions and disease. They are defined bioinformatically based on the absence of one or more catalytic residues that are required for canonical protein kinase functions. The ability to define pseudokinases based on primary sequence comparison has enabled the systematic mapping and cataloging of pseudokinase orthologs across the tree of life. While these sequences contain critical information regarding pseudokinase evolution and functional specialization, extracting this information and generating testable hypotheses based on integrative mining of sequence and structural data requires specialized computational tools and resources. In this chapter, we review recent advances in the development and application of open-source tools and resources for pseudokinase research. Specifically, we describe the application of an interactive data analytics framework, KinView, for visualizing the patterns of conservation and variation in the catalytic domain motifs of pseudokinases and evolutionarily related canonical kinases using a consistent set of curated alignments organized based on the widely used kinome evolutionary hierarchy. We also demonstrate the application of an integrated Protein Kinase Ontology (ProKinO) and an interactive viewer, ProtVista, for mapping and analyzing primary sequence motifs and annotations in the context of 3D structures and AlphaFold2 models. We provide examples and protocols for generating testable hypotheses on pseudokinase functions both for bench biologists and advanced users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brady O’Boyle
- Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
| | - Safal Shrestha
- Institute of Bioinformatics, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
| | - Krzysztof Kochut
- Department of Computer Science, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
| | - Patrick A Eyers
- Department of Biochemistry and Systems Biology, Institute of Systems, Molecular and Integrative Biology, University of Liverpool, UK
| | - Natarajan Kannan
- Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA,Institute of Bioinformatics, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA,Corresponding author:
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5
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Paul A, Subhadarshini S, Srinivasan N. Pseudokinases repurpose flexibility signatures associated with the protein kinase fold for noncatalytic roles. Proteins 2021; 90:747-764. [PMID: 34708889 DOI: 10.1002/prot.26271] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2021] [Revised: 09/22/2021] [Accepted: 10/18/2021] [Indexed: 01/27/2023]
Abstract
The bilobal protein kinase-like fold in pseudokinases lack one or more catalytic residues, conserved in canonical protein kinases, and are considered enzymatically deficient. Tertiary structures of pseudokinases reveal that their loops topologically equivalent to activation segments of kinases adopt contracted configurations, which is typically extended in active conformation of kinases. Herein, anisotropic network model based normal mode analysis (NMA) was conducted on 51 active conformation structures of protein kinases and 26 crystal structures of pseudokinases. Our observations indicate that although backbone fluctuation profiles are similar for individual kinase-pseudokinase families, low intensity mean square fluctuations in pseudo-activation segment and other sub-structures impart rigidity to pseudokinases. Analyses of collective motions from functional modes reveal that pseudokinases, compared to active kinases, undergo distinct conformational transitions using the same structural fold. All-atom NMA of protein kinase-pseudokinase pairs from each family, sharing high amino acid sequence identities, yielded distinct community clusters, partitioned by residues exhibiting highly correlated fluctuations. It appears that atomic fluctuations from equivalent activation segments guide community membership and network topologies for respective kinase and pseudokinase. Our findings indicate that such adaptations in backbone and side-chain fluctuations render pseudokinases competent for catalysis-independent roles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anindita Paul
- Molecular Biophysics Unit, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Karnataka, India
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6
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Adrain C. Pseudoenzymes: dead enzymes with a lively role in biology. FEBS J 2021; 287:4102-4105. [PMID: 33026715 DOI: 10.1111/febs.15535] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2020] [Accepted: 08/20/2020] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
This Special Issue comprises twelve authoritative reviews that highlight an understudied but rapidly developing area of biology: catalytically inactive enzyme homologs. These pseudoenzymes, sometimes called 'dead enzymes', are found within most enzyme families and generally arose via gene duplication events. Dead enzymes have lost their enzymatic capacity, often via the evolutionary loss of key catalytic residues. However, as this Special Issue highlights, pseudoenzymes are far from being functionally 'dead'. In fact, they fulfill a range of critical biochemical roles, frequently appearing more versatile as biochemical regulators than their catalytic cousins. The functions of dead enzymes from diverse enzyme families often follow recurring themes, including allosteric regulation of their catalytically active counterparts, acting as signaling scaffolds, or as inhibitors that recognize and sequester the substrates of their catalytic homologs. As well as highlighting the breadth and depth of dead enzyme biology, this Special Issue emphasizes the power of pseudoenzymes as key biochemical regulators in health and disease and potentially as more tractable drug targets than some enzymes themselves. We hope you find these reviews enlivening, and we thank the authors for these excellent contributions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Colin Adrain
- Patrick G. Johnston Centre for Cancer Research, Queen's University, Belfast, UK.,Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência (IGC), Oeiras, Portugal
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7
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Wang LL, Liao C, Li XQ, Dai R, Ren QW, Shi HL, Wang XP, Feng XS, Chao X. Systems Pharmacology-Based Identification of Mechanisms of Action of Bolbostemma paniculatum for the Treatment of Hepatocellular Carcinoma. Med Sci Monit 2021; 27:e927624. [PMID: 33436534 PMCID: PMC7812697 DOI: 10.12659/msm.927624] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Traditional Chinese medicine has widely used Bolbostemma paniculatum to treat diseases, including cancer, but its underlying mechanisms remain unclear. The present study aimed to elucidate the potential pharmacological mechanisms of “Tu Bei Mu” (TBM), the Chinese name for Bolbostemmatis Rhizoma, the dry tuber of B. paniculatum, for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Material/Methods The active components and putative therapeutic targets of TBM were explored using SwissTargetPrediction, Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform (TCMSP), and Search Tool for Interactions of Chemicals (STITCH). The HCC-related target database was built using DrugBank, DisGeNet, Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM), and Therapeutic Target Database (TTD). A protein–protein interaction network of the common targets was constructed, based on the matches between TBM potential targets and HCC-related targets, using Cytoscape software. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses of the cluster networks were used to elucidate the biological functions of TBM. Results Pharmacological network diagrams of the TBM compound-target network and HCC-related target network were successfully constructed. A total of 22 active components, 191 predicted biological targets of TBM, and 3775 HCC-related targets were identified. Through construction of an HCC-related target database and a protein–protein interaction network of the common targets, TBM was predicted to be effective in treating HCC mainly through the PI3K-Akt, HIF-1, p53, and PPAR signaling pathways. Conclusions The PI3K/Akt, HIF1, p53, and PPAR pathways may play vital roles in TBM treatment of HCC. Also, the potential anti-cancer effect of TBM on HCC appears to stem from the synergetic effect of multiple targets and mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lan-Lan Wang
- College of Basic Medicine, Shaanxi University of Chinese Medicine, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China (mainland)
| | - Chen Liao
- Department of Pharmacology, Yunnan University of Chinese Medicine, Kunming, Yunnan, China (mainland)
| | - Xiao-Qiang Li
- Key Laboratory of Gastrointestinal Pharmacology of Chinese Materia Medica of the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China (mainland)
| | - Rong Dai
- Department of Pharmacology, Yunnan University of Chinese Medicine, Kunming, Yunnan, China (mainland)
| | - Qing-Wei Ren
- The Second Affiliated Hospital of Shaanxi University of Chinese Medicine, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China (mainland)
| | - Hai-Long Shi
- College of Basic Medicine, Shaanxi University of Chinese Medicine, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China (mainland)
| | - Xiao-Ping Wang
- College of Basic Medicine, Shaanxi University of Chinese Medicine, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China (mainland)
| | - Xue-Song Feng
- College of Basic Medicine, Shaanxi University of Chinese Medicine, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China (mainland)
| | - Xu Chao
- College of Basic Medicine, Shaanxi University of Chinese Medicine, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China (mainland).,The Second Affiliated Hospital of Shaanxi University of Chinese Medicine, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China (mainland)
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8
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Abstract
The aim of the UniProt Knowledgebase is to provide users with a comprehensive, high-quality and freely accessible set of protein sequences annotated with functional information. In this article, we describe significant updates that we have made over the last two years to the resource. The number of sequences in UniProtKB has risen to approximately 190 million, despite continued work to reduce sequence redundancy at the proteome level. We have adopted new methods of assessing proteome completeness and quality. We continue to extract detailed annotations from the literature to add to reviewed entries and supplement these in unreviewed entries with annotations provided by automated systems such as the newly implemented Association-Rule-Based Annotator (ARBA). We have developed a credit-based publication submission interface to allow the community to contribute publications and annotations to UniProt entries. We describe how UniProtKB responded to the COVID-19 pandemic through expert curation of relevant entries that were rapidly made available to the research community through a dedicated portal. UniProt resources are available under a CC-BY (4.0) license via the web at https://www.uniprot.org/.
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9
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Bateman A, Martin MJ, Orchard S, Magrane M, Agivetova R, Ahmad S, Alpi E, Bowler-Barnett EH, Britto R, Bursteinas B, Bye-A-Jee H, Coetzee R, Cukura A, Da Silva A, Denny P, Dogan T, Ebenezer T, Fan J, Castro LG, Garmiri P, Georghiou G, Gonzales L, Hatton-Ellis E, Hussein A, Ignatchenko A, Insana G, Ishtiaq R, Jokinen P, Joshi V, Jyothi D, Lock A, Lopez R, Luciani A, Luo J, Lussi Y, MacDougall A, Madeira F, Mahmoudy M, Menchi M, Mishra A, Moulang K, Nightingale A, Oliveira CS, Pundir S, Qi G, Raj S, Rice D, Lopez MR, Saidi R, Sampson J, Sawford T, Speretta E, Turner E, Tyagi N, Vasudev P, Volynkin V, Warner K, Watkins X, Zaru R, Zellner H, Bridge A, Poux S, Redaschi N, Aimo L, Argoud-Puy G, Auchincloss A, Axelsen K, Bansal P, Baratin D, Blatter MC, Bolleman J, Boutet E, Breuza L, Casals-Casas C, de Castro E, Echioukh KC, Coudert E, Cuche B, Doche M, Dornevil D, Estreicher A, Famiglietti ML, Feuermann M, Gasteiger E, Gehant S, Gerritsen V, Gos A, Gruaz-Gumowski N, Hinz U, Hulo C, Hyka-Nouspikel N, Jungo F, Keller G, Kerhornou A, Lara V, Le Mercier P, Lieberherr D, Lombardot T, Martin X, Masson P, Morgat A, Neto TB, Paesano S, Pedruzzi I, Pilbout S, Pourcel L, Pozzato M, Pruess M, Rivoire C, Sigrist C, Sonesson K, Stutz A, Sundaram S, Tognolli M, Verbregue L, Wu CH, Arighi CN, Arminski L, Chen C, Chen Y, Garavelli JS, Huang H, Laiho K, McGarvey P, Natale DA, Ross K, Vinayaka CR, Wang Q, Wang Y, Yeh LS, Zhang J, Ruch P, Teodoro D. UniProt: the universal protein knowledgebase in 2021. Nucleic Acids Res 2021; 49:D480-D489. [PMID: 33237286 PMCID: PMC7778908 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkaa1100] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3784] [Impact Index Per Article: 1261.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2020] [Revised: 10/21/2020] [Accepted: 11/02/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
The aim of the UniProt Knowledgebase is to provide users with a comprehensive, high-quality and freely accessible set of protein sequences annotated with functional information. In this article, we describe significant updates that we have made over the last two years to the resource. The number of sequences in UniProtKB has risen to approximately 190 million, despite continued work to reduce sequence redundancy at the proteome level. We have adopted new methods of assessing proteome completeness and quality. We continue to extract detailed annotations from the literature to add to reviewed entries and supplement these in unreviewed entries with annotations provided by automated systems such as the newly implemented Association-Rule-Based Annotator (ARBA). We have developed a credit-based publication submission interface to allow the community to contribute publications and annotations to UniProt entries. We describe how UniProtKB responded to the COVID-19 pandemic through expert curation of relevant entries that were rapidly made available to the research community through a dedicated portal. UniProt resources are available under a CC-BY (4.0) license via the web at https://www.uniprot.org/.
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10
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Martin SJ. The FEBS Journal in 2021: a sharp reminder that science really matters. FEBS J 2021; 288:4-9. [PMID: 33393713 DOI: 10.1111/febs.15679] [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: 12/17/2020] [Revised: 12/18/2020] [Accepted: 12/18/2020] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
The FEBS Journal, a leading multidisciplinary journal in the life sciences, continues to grow in visibility and impact. Here, the Editor-in-Chief Seamus Martin discusses developments at the journal over the past year and the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on research activities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seamus J Martin
- The FEBS Journal Editorial Office, Cambridge, UK.,Department of Genetics, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Ireland
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11
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Stiegler AL, Boggon TJ. The pseudoGTPase group of pseudoenzymes. FEBS J 2020; 287:4232-4245. [PMID: 32893973 PMCID: PMC7544640 DOI: 10.1111/febs.15554] [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: 06/11/2020] [Revised: 08/21/2020] [Accepted: 09/01/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Pseudoenzymes are emerging as significant mediators and regulators of signal transduction. These proteins maintain enzyme folds and topologies, but are disrupted in the conserved motifs required for enzymatic activity. Among the pseudoenzymes, the pseudoGTPase group of atypical GTPases has recently expanded and includes the Rnd and RGK groups, RhoH and the RhoBTB proteins, mitochondrial RhoGTPase and centaurin-γ groups, CENP-M, dynein LIC, Entamoeba histolytica RabX3, leucine-rich repeat kinase 2, and the p190RhoGAP proteins. The wide range of cellular functions associated with pseudoGTPases includes cell migration and adhesion, membrane trafficking and cargo transport, mitosis, mitochondrial activity, transcriptional control, and autophagy, placing the group in an expanding portfolio of signaling pathways. In this review, we examine how the pseudoGTPases differ from canonical GTPases and consider their mechanistic and functional roles in signal transduction. We review the amino acid differences between the pseudoGTPases and discuss how these proteins can be classified based on their ability to bind nucleotide and their enzymatic activity. We discuss the molecular and structural consequences of amino acid divergence from canonical GTPases and use comparison with the well-studied pseudokinases to illustrate the classifications. PseudoGTPases are fast becoming recognized as important mechanistic components in a range of cellular roles, and we provide a concise discussion of the currently identified members of this group. ENZYMES: small GTPases; EC number: EC 3.6.5.2.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amy L. Stiegler
- Department of Pharmacology, Yale University School of Medicine, 333 Cedar Street, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA
| | - Titus J. Boggon
- Department of Pharmacology, Yale University School of Medicine, 333 Cedar Street, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA
- Departments of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University School of Medicine, 333 Cedar Street, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA
- Yale Cancer Center, Yale University School of Medicine, 333 Cedar Street, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA
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12
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Paul A, Srinivasan N. Genome-wide and structural analyses of pseudokinases encoded in the genome of Arabidopsis thaliana provide functional insights. Proteins 2020; 88:1620-1638. [PMID: 32667690 DOI: 10.1002/prot.25981] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2020] [Revised: 05/26/2020] [Accepted: 07/12/2020] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Protein Kinase-Like Non-Kinases (PKLNKs), commonly known as "pseudokinases", are homologous to eukaryotic Ser/Thr/Tyr protein kinases (PKs) but lack the crucial aspartate residue in the catalytic loop, indispensable for phosphotransferase activity. Therefore, they are predicted to be "catalytically inactive" enzyme homologs. Analysis of protein-kinase like sequences from Arabidopsis thaliana led to the identification of more than 120 pseudokinases lacking catalytic aspartate, majority of which are closely related to the plant-specific receptor-like kinase family. These pseudokinases engage in different biological processes, enabled by their diverse domain architectures and specific subcellular localizations. Structural comparison of pseudokinases with active and inactive conformations of canonical PKs, belonging to both plant and animal origin, revealed unique structural differences. The currently available crystal structures of pseudokinases show that the loop topologically equivalent to activation segment of PKs adopts a distinct-folded conformation, packing against the pseudoenzyme core, in contrast to the extended and inhibitory geometries observed for active and inactive states, respectively, of catalytic PKs. Salt-bridge between ATP-binding Lys and DFG-Asp as well as hydrophobic interactions between the conserved nonpolar residue C-terminal to the equivalent DFG motif and nonpolar residues in C-helix mediate such a conformation in pseudokinases. This results in enhanced solvent accessibility of the pseudocatalytic loop in pseudokinases that can possibly serve as an interacting surface while associating with other proteins. Specifically, our analysis identified several residues that may be involved in pseudokinase regulation and hints at the repurposing of pseudocatalytic residues to achieve mechanistic control over noncatalytic functions of pseudoenzymes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anindita Paul
- Molecular Biophysics Unit, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
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13
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Differential effects of 'resurrecting' Csp pseudoproteases during Clostridioides difficile spore germination. Biochem J 2020; 477:1459-1478. [PMID: 32242623 PMCID: PMC7200643 DOI: 10.1042/bcj20190875] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2019] [Revised: 03/31/2020] [Accepted: 04/03/2020] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
Clostridioides difficile is a spore-forming bacterial pathogen that is the leading cause of hospital-acquired gastroenteritis. C. difficile infections begin when its spore form germinates in the gut upon sensing bile acids. These germinants induce a proteolytic signaling cascade controlled by three members of the subtilisin-like serine protease family, CspA, CspB, and CspC. Notably, even though CspC and CspA are both pseudoproteases, they are nevertheless required to sense germinants and activate the protease, CspB. Thus, CspC and CspA are part of a growing list of pseudoenzymes that play important roles in regulating cellular processes. However, despite their importance, the structural properties of pseudoenzymes that allow them to function as regulators remain poorly understood. Our recently solved crystal structure of CspC revealed that its pseudoactive site residues align closely with the catalytic triad of CspB, suggesting that it might be possible to ‘resurrect' the ancestral protease activity of the CspC and CspA pseudoproteases. Here, we demonstrate that restoring the catalytic triad to these pseudoproteases fails to resurrect their protease activity. We further show that the pseudoactive site substitutions differentially affect the stability and function of the CspC and CspA pseudoproteases: the substitutions destabilized CspC and impaired spore germination without affecting CspA stability or function. Thus, our results surprisingly reveal that the presence of a catalytic triad does not necessarily predict protease activity. Since homologs of C. difficile CspA occasionally carry an intact catalytic triad, our results indicate that bioinformatic predictions of enzyme activity may underestimate pseudoenzymes in rare cases.
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14
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UniprotR: Retrieving and visualizing protein sequence and functional information from Universal Protein Resource (UniProt knowledgebase). J Proteomics 2019; 213:103613. [PMID: 31843688 DOI: 10.1016/j.jprot.2019.103613] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2019] [Revised: 11/26/2019] [Accepted: 12/13/2019] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
UniprotR is a software package designed to easily retrieve, cluster and visualize protein data from UniProt knowledgebase (UniProtKB) using R language. The package is implemented mainly to process, parse and illustrate proteomics data in a handy and time-saving approach allowing researchers to summarize all required protein information available at UniProtKB in a readable data frame, Excel CSV file, and/or graphical output. UniprotR generates a set of graphics including gene ontology, chromosomal location, protein scoring and status, protein networking, sequence phylogenetic tree, and physicochemical properties. In addition, the package supports clustering of proteins based on primary gene name or chromosomal location, facilitating additional downstream analysis. SIGNIFICANCE: In this work, we implemented a robust package for retrieving and visualizing information from multiple sources such UniProtKB, SWISS-MODEL, and STRING. UniprotR Contains functions that enable retrieving and cluster data in a handy way and visualize data in publishable graphs to facilitate researcher's work and fulfill their needs. UniprotR will aid in saving time for downstream data analysis instead of manual time consuming data analysis. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: UniprotR released as free open source code under the license of GPLv3, and available in CRAN (The Comprehensive R Archive Network) and GitHub. (https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/UniprotR/index.html). (https://github.com/Proteomicslab57357/UniprotR).
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