Nutritional Provision of Iron Complexes by the Major Allergen Alt a 1 to Human Immune Cells Decreases Its Presentation

Alternaria alternata is a common fungus strongly related with severe allergic asthma, with 80% of affected individuals being sensitized solely to its major allergen Alt a 1. Here, we assessed the function of Alt a 1 as an innate defense protein binding to micronutrients, such as iron-quercetin complexes (FeQ2), and its impact on antigen presentation in vitro. Binding of Alt a 1 to FeQ2 was determined in docking calculations. Recombinant Alt a 1 was generated, and binding ability, as well as secondary and quaternary structure, assessed by UV-VIS, CD, and DLS spectroscopy. Proteolytic functions were determined by casein and gelatine zymography. Uptake of empty apo- or ligand-filled holoAlt a 1 were assessed in human monocytic THP1 cells under the presence of dynamin and clathrin-inhibitors, activation of the Arylhydrocarbon receptor (AhR) using the human reporter cellline AZ-AHR. Human PBMCs were stimulated and assessed for phenotypic changes in monocytes by flow cytometry. Alt a 1 bound strongly to FeQ2 as a tetramer with calculated Kd values reaching pico-molar levels and surpassing affinities to quercetin alone by a factor of 5000 for the tetramer. apoAlt a 1 but not holoAlta 1 showed low enzymatic activity against casein as a hexamer and gelatin as a trimer. Uptake of apo- and holo-Alt a 1 occurred partly clathrin-dependent, with apoAlt a 1 decreasing labile iron in THP1 cells and holoAlt a 1 facilitating quercetin-dependent AhR activation. In human PBMCs uptake of holoAlt a 1 but not apoAlt a 1 significantly decreased the surface expression of the costimulatory CD86, but also of HLADR, thereby reducing effective antigen presentation. We show here for the first time that the presence of nutritional iron complexes, such as FeQ2, significantly alters the function of Alt a 1 and dampens the human immune response, thereby supporting the notion that Alt a 1 only becomes immunogenic under nutritional deprivation.

Backbone distortions in lactam-bridged helical peptides

Side‐chain‐to‐side‐chain cyclization is frequently used to stabilize the α‐helical conformation of short peptides. In a previous study, we incorporated a lactam bridge between the side chains of Lys‐i and Asp‐i+4 in the nonapeptide 1Y, cyclo‐(2,6)‐(Ac‐VKRLQDLQY‐NH₂), an artificial ligand of the inhibitor of DNA binding and cell differentiation (ID) protein with antiproliferative activity on cancer cells. Herein, we show that only the cyclized five‐residue segment adopts a helical turn whereas the C‐terminal residues remain flexible. Moreover, we present nine 1Y analogs arising from different combinations of hydrophobic residues (leucine, isoleucine, norleucine, valine, and tyrosine) at positions 1, 4, 7, and 9. All cyclopeptides except one build a lactam‐bridged helical turn; however, residue‐4 reveals less helix character than the neighboring Arg‐3 and Gln‐5, especially with residue‐4 being isoleucine, valine, and tyrosine. Surprisingly, only two cyclopeptides exhibit helix propagation until the C‐terminus, whereas the others share a remarkable outward tilting of the backbone carbonyl of the lactam‐bridged Asp‐6 (>40° deviation from the orientation parallel to the helix axis), which prevents the formation of the H‐bond between Arg‐3 CO and residue‐7 NH: As a result, the propagation of the helix beyond the lactam‐bridged sequence becomes unfavorable. We conclude that, depending on the amino‐acid sequence, the lactam bridge between Lys‐i and Asp‐i+4 can stabilize a helical turn but deviations from the ideal helix geometry are possible: Indeed, besides the outward tilting of the backbone carbonyls, the residues per turn increased from 3.6 (typical of a regular α‐helix) to 4.2, suggesting a partial helix unwinding.

Disease-related blood-based differential methylation in cystic fibrosis and its representation in lung cancer revealed a regulatory locus in PKP3 in lung epithelial cells

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a monogenic disease, characterized by massive chronic lung inflammation. The observed variability in clinical phenotypes in monozygotic CF twins is likely associated with the extent of inflammation. This study sought to investigate inflammation-related aberrant DNA methylation in CF twins and to determine to what extent acquired methylation changes may be associated with lung cancer.

Blood-based genome-wide DNA methylation analysis was performed to compare the DNA methylomes of monozygotic twins, from the European CF Twin and Sibling Study with various degrees of disease severity. Putatively inflammation-related and differentially methylated positions were selected from a large lung cancer case-control study and investigated in blood by targeted bisulphite next-generation-sequencing. An inflammation-related locus located in the Plakophilin-3 (PKP3) gene was functionally analysed regarding promoter and enhancer activity in presence and absence of methylation using luciferase reporter assays.

We confirmed in a unique cohort that monozygotic twins, even if clinically discordant, have only minor differences in global DNA methylation patterns and blood cell composition. Further, we determined the most differentially methylated positions, a high proportion of which are blood cell-type-specific, whereas others may be acquired and thus have potential relevance in the context of inflammation as lung cancer risk factors. We identified a sequence in the gene body of PKP3 which is hypermethylated in blood from CF twins with severe phenotype and highly variably methylated in lung cancer patients and controls, independent of known clinical parameters, and showed that this region exhibits methylation-dependent promoter activity in lung epithelial cells.

TopMatch-web: pairwise matching of large assemblies of protein and nucleic acid chains in 3D

Frequently, the complete functional units of biological molecules are assemblies of protein and nucleic acid chains. Stunning examples are the complex structures of ribosomes. Here, we present TopMatch-web, a computational tool for the study of the three-dimensional structure, function and evolution of such molecules. The unique feature of TopMatch is its ability to match the protein as well as nucleic acid chains of complete molecular assemblies simultaneously. The resulting structural alignments are visualized instantly using the high-performance molecular viewer NGL. We use the mitochondrial ribosomes of human and yeast as an example to demonstrate the capabilities of TopMatch-web. The service responds immediately, enabling the interactive study of many pairwise alignments of large molecular assemblies in a single session. TopMatch-web is freely accessible at https://topmatch.services.came.sbg.ac.at.

Synergistic cross-talk of hedgehog and interleukin-6 signaling drives growth of basal cell carcinoma

Persistent activation of hedgehog (HH)/GLI signaling accounts for the development of basal cell carcinoma (BCC), a very frequent nonmelanoma skin cancer with rising incidence. Targeting HH/GLI signaling by approved pathway inhibitors can provide significant therapeutic benefit to BCC patients. However, limited response rates, development of drug resistance, and severe side effects of HH pathway inhibitors call for improved treatment strategies such as rational combination therapies simultaneously inhibiting HH/GLI and cooperative signals promoting the oncogenic activity of HH/GLI. In this study, we identified the interleukin‐6 (IL6) pathway as a novel synergistic signal promoting oncogenic HH/GLI via STAT3 activation. Mechanistically, we provide evidence that signal integration of IL6 and HH/GLI occurs at the level of cis‐regulatory sequences by co‐binding of GLI and STAT3 to common HH‐IL6 target gene promoters. Genetic inactivation of Il6 signaling in a mouse model of BCC significantly reduced in vivo tumor growth by interfering with HH/GLI‐driven BCC proliferation. Our genetic and pharmacologic data suggest that combinatorial HH‐IL6 pathway blockade is a promising approach to efficiently arrest cancer growth in BCC patients.

What's new?

Persistent activation of hedgehog (HH)/GLI signaling represents the main driver signal for the development of basal cell carcinoma (BCC), a common non‐melanoma skin cancer with rising incidence. Small molecule hedgehog pathway inhibitors are successfully used for the treatment of hedgehog‐driven BCC, but frequent drug resistance calls for improved strategies. Here, the authors identified the interleukin‐6 pathway as a novel synergistic signal promoting oncogenic HH/GLI via STAT3 activation. The synergistic interaction was required for the in vivo growth of hedgehog‐driven BCC. The study thus provides a rationale for effective combination treatments simultaneously targeting oncogenic hedgehog and interleukin‐6 signaling in BCC patients.

Nanoparticle-allergen interactions mediate human allergic responses: protein corona characterization and cellular responses

Background

Engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) interact with different biomolecules as soon as they are in contact, resulting in the formation of a biomolecule ‘corona’. Hence, the ‘corona’ defines the biological identity of the ENMs and could affect the response of the immune system to ENM exposure. With up to 40 % of the world population suffering from type I allergy, a possible modulation of allergen effects by binding to ENMs is highly relevant with respect to work place and consumer safety. Therefore, the aim of this present study was to gain an insight into the interactions of gold nanoparticles with different seasonally and perennially occurring outdoor and indoor allergens.

Methods

Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) were conjugated with the major allergens of birch pollen (Bet v 1), timothy grass pollen (Phl p 5) and house dust mite (Der p 1). The AuNP-allergen conjugates were characterized by means of TEM negative staining, dynamic light scattering (DLS), z-potential measurements and hyperspectral imaging. Furthermore, 3D models were constructed, based on the characterization data, to visualize the interaction between the allergens and the AuNPs surface. Differences in the activation of human basophil cells derived from birch/grass pollen- and house dust mite-allergic patients in response to free allergen and AuNP-allergen conjugates were determined using the basophil activation assay (BAT). Potential allergen corona replacement during BAT was controlled for using Western blotting. The protease activity of AuNP-Der p 1 conjugates compared to free Der p 1 was assessed, by an enzymatic activity assay and a cellular assay pertaining to lung type II alveolar epithelial cell tight junction integrity.

Results

The formation of a stable corona was found for all three allergens used. Our data suggest, that depending on the allergen, different effects are observed after binding to ENMs, including enhanced allergic responses against Der p 1 and also, for some patients, against Bet v 1. Moreover elevated protease activity of AuNP-Der p 1 conjugates compared to free Der p 1 was found.

Conclusion

In summary, this study presents that conjugation of allergens to ENMs can modulate the human allergic response, and that protease activity can be increased.

Graphical Abstract

Structure-based characterization of multiprotein complexes

Multiprotein complexes govern virtually all cellular processes. Their 3D structures provide important clues to their biological roles, especially through structural correlations among protein molecules and complexes. The detection of such correlations generally requires comprehensive searches in databases of known protein structures by means of appropriate structure-matching techniques. Here, we present a high-speed structure search engine capable of instantly matching large protein oligomers against the complete and up-to-date database of biologically functional assemblies of protein molecules. We use this tool to reveal unseen structural correlations on the level of protein quaternary structure and demonstrate its general usefulness for efficiently exploring complex structural relationships among known protein assemblies.

Detection of spatial correlations in protein structures and molecular complexes

Protein structures are frequently related by spectacular and often surprising similarities. Structural correlations among protein chains are routinely detected by various structure-matching techniques, but the comparison of oligomers and molecular complexes is largely uncharted territory. Here we solve the structure-matching problem for oligomers and large molecular aggregates, including the largest molecular complexes known today. We provide several challenging examples that cannot be handled by conventional structure-matching techniques and we report on a number of remarkable correlations. The examples cover the cell-puncturing device of bacteriophage T4, the secretion system of P. aeruginosa, members of the dehydrogenase family, DNA clamps, ferredoxin iron-storage cages, and virus capsids.

Effective techniques for protein structure mining

Retrieval and characterization of protein structure relationships are instrumental in a wide range of tasks in structural biology. The classification of protein structures (COPS) is a web service that provides efficient access to structure and sequence similarities for all currently available protein structures. Here, we focus on the application of COPS to the problem of template selection in homology modeling.

COPS--a novel workbench for explorations in fold space

The COPS (Classification Of Protein Structures) web server provides access to the complete repertoire of known protein structures and protein structural domains. The COPS classification encodes pairwise structural similarities as quantified metric relationships. The resulting metrical structure is mapped to a hierarchical tree, which is largely equivalent to the structure of a file browser. Exploiting this relationship we implemented the Fold Space Navigator, a tool that makes navigation in fold space as convenient as browsing through a file system. Moreover, pairwise structural similarities among the domains can be visualized and inspected instantaneously. COPS is updated weekly and stays concurrent with the PDB repository. The server also exposes the COPS classification pipeline. Newly determined structures uploaded to the server are chopped into domains, the locations of the new domains in the classification tree are determined, and their neighborhood can be immediately explored through the Fold Space Navigator. The COPS web server is accessible at http://cops.services.came.sbg.ac.at/.

A discrete view on fold space

The database of known protein structures contains an overwhelming number of structural similarities that frequently point to intriguing biological relationships. The similarities are often difficult to spot, and once detected their comprehension needs proper visualization. Here we introduce the new concept of a Fold Space Navigator, a user interface enabling the efficient navigation through fold space and the instantaneous visualization of pairwise structure similarities.

AVAILABILITY

The Fold Space Navigator is accessible as a public web service at http://services.came.sbg.ac.at

A note on difficult structure alignment problems

Progress in structural biology depends on several key technologies. In particular tools for alignment and superposition of protein structures are indispensable. Here we describe the use of the TopMatch web service, an effective computational tool for protein structure alignment, for the visualization of structural similarities, and for highlighting relationships found in protein classifications. We provide several instructive examples.

AVAILABILITY

TopMatch is available as a public web service at http://services.came.sbg.ac.at.

ProSA-web: interactive web service for the recognition of errors in three-dimensional structures of proteins

A major problem in structural biology is the recognition of errors in experimental and theoretical models of protein structures. The ProSA program (Protein Structure Analysis) is an established tool which has a large user base and is frequently employed in the refinement and validation of experimental protein structures and in structure prediction and modeling. The analysis of protein structures is generally a difficult and cumbersome exercise. The new service presented here is a straightforward and easy to use extension of the classic ProSA program which exploits the advantages of interactive web-based applications for the display of scores and energy plots that highlight potential problems spotted in protein structures. In particular, the quality scores of a protein are displayed in the context of all known protein structures and problematic parts of a structure are shown and highlighted in a 3D molecule viewer. The service specifically addresses the needs encountered in the validation of protein structures obtained from X-ray analysis, NMR spectroscopy and theoretical calculations. ProSA-web is accessible at https://prosa.services.came.sbg.ac.at

QSCOP--SCOP quantified by structural relationships

The database SCOP (Structural Classification Of Proteins) has become a major resource in bioinformatics and protein science. A particular strength of SCOP is the flexibility of its rules enabling the preservation of the many details spotted by experts in the classification process. Here we endow classic SCOP Families with quantified structural information and comment on the structural diversity found in the SCOP hierarchy.

AVAILABILITY

Quantified SCOP (QSCOP) is available as a public WEB service. http://services.came.sbg.ac.at.

Protein sequence randomization: efficient estimation of protein stability using knowledge-based potentials

Modifications of the amino acid sequence generally affect protein stability. Here, we use knowledge-based potentials to estimate the stability of protein structures under sequence variation. Calculations on a variety of protein scaffolds result in a clear distinction of known mutable regions from arbitrarily chosen control patches. For example, randomly changing the sequence of an antibody paratope yields a significantly lower number of destabilized mutants as compared to the randomization of comparable regions on the protein surface. The technique is computationally efficient and can be used to screen protein structures for regions that are amenable to molecular tinkering by preserving the stability of the mutated proteins.

Assessment of the CASP4 fold recognition category

We present the assessment of the CASP4 fold recognition category. The tasks we had to execute include the splitting of multidomain targets into single domains, the classification of target domains in terms of prediction categories, the numerical evaluation of predictions, the mapping of numerical scores to quality indices, the ranking of predictors, the selection of top-performing groups, and the analysis and critical discussion of the state of the art in this field. The 125 fold recognition groups were assessed by a total score that summarizes their performance over all targets and a quality score reflecting the average quality of the submitted models. Most of the top-performing groups achieved respectable results on both scores simultaneously. Several groups submitted models that were much closer to the respective target structures than any of the known folds in the Protein Data Bank. The CASP4 assessment included the automated servers of the parallel CAFASP experiment. For the total score, the highest rank achieved by a fully automated server is 12. Two thirds of the predictors have rather low scores.

Characterization of novel proteins based on known protein structures

The genome sciences face the challenge to characterize structure and function of a vast number of novel genes. Sequence search techniques are used to infer functional and structural information from similarities to experimentally characterized genes or proteins. The persistent goal is to refine these techniques and to develop alternative and complementary methods to increase the range of reliable inference.Here, we focus on the structural and functional assignments that can be inferred from the known three-dimensional structures of proteins. The study uses all structures in the Protein Data Bank that were known by the end of 1997. The protein structures released in 1998 were then characterized in terms of functional and structural similarity to the previously known structures, yielding an estimate of the maximum amount of information on novel protein sequences that can be obtained from inference techniques. The 147 globular proteins corresponding to 196 domains released in 1998 have no clear sequence similarity to previously known structures. However, 75 % of the domains have extensive structure similarity to previously known folds, and most importantly, in two out of three cases similarity in structure coincides with related function. In view of this analysis, full utilization of existing structure data bases would provide information for many new targets even if the relationship is not accessible from sequence information alone. Currently, the most sophisticated techniques detect of the order of one-third of these relationships.

Sustained performance of knowledge-based potentials in fold recognition

We describe the results obtained using fold recognition techniques in our third participation in the CASP experiment. The approach relies on knowledge-based potentials for alignment production and fold identification. As indicated by the increase in alignment quality and fold identification reliability, the predictions improved from CASP1 to CASP3. In particular, we identified structural relationships in which no known evolutionary link exists. Our predictions are based on single sequences rather than multiple sequence alignments. Additionally, we voluntarily submitted only a single model for each target because, in our view, submission of a single model is the most stringent test. We describe the methods used, the strategy adopted in the predictions, and the prediction results and discuss future work.