Explore the vast range of titles available.

β-lactamases are a major cause of rapidly emerging and spreading antibiotic resistance. Currently β-lactamase inhibitors (BLIs) in clinical use act only on Ambler Class A, C and some class D lactamases. The urgent need to identify new BLIs recently lead to FDA approval of boron-based compounds BLIs, e.g. Vaborbactam. The boron-based proteasome inhibitors Bortezomib and Ixazomib are used in cancer therapy as multiple myeloma drugs but they also bind to Ser-/Thr- proteases. In this study we show the crystal structures of the β-lactamase CTX-M-14 with covalently bound Bortezomib and Ixazomib at high resolutions of 1.3 and 1.1 Å, respectively. Ixazomib is well defined in electron density whereas Bortezomib show some disorder which corresponds to weaker inhibition efficiency observed for Ixazomib. Both inhibitors mimic the deacylation transition state of β-lactam hydrolysis, because they replace the deacylating water molecule. We further investigate differences in binding of Bortezomib/Ixazomib to CTX-M-14 and its target proteases as well as known β-lactamase drugs. Our findings can help to use Bortezomib/Ixazomib as lead compounds for development of new BLIs.

Previously, we reported the isolation of a quorum quenching protein (QQ), designated GqqA, from Komagataeibacter europaeus CECT 8546 that is highly homologous to prephenate dehydratases (PDT) (Valera et al. in Microb Cell Fact 15, 88. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12934-016-0482-y , 2016). GqqA strongly interfered with N-acyl-homoserine lactone (AHL) quorum sensing signals from Gram-negative bacteria and affected biofilm formation in its native host strain Komagataeibacter europaeus . Here we present and discuss data identifying GqqA as a novel acylase. ESI–MS–MS data showed unambiguously that GqqA hydrolyzes the amide bond of the acyl side-chain of AHL molecules, but not the lactone ring. Consistent with this observation the protein sequence does not carry a conserved Zn 2+ binding motif, known to be essential for metal-dependent lactonases, but in fact harboring the typical periplasmatic binding protein domain (PBP domain), acting as catalytic domain. We report structural details for the native structure at 2.5 Å resolution and for a truncated GqqA structure at 1.7 Å. The structures obtained highlight that GqqA acts as a dimer and complementary docking studies indicate that the lactone ring of the substrate binds within a cleft of the PBP domain and interacts with polar residues Y16, S17 and T174. The biochemical and phylogenetic analyses imply that GqqA represents the first member of a novel type of QQ family enzymes.

The bacterial chalcone isomerase (CHI) from Eubacterium ramulus catalyses the first step in a flavanone-degradation pathway by a reverse Michael addition. The overall fold and the constitution of the active site of the enzyme completely differ from the well-characterised chalcone isomerase of plants. For (+)-taxifolin, CHI catalyses the intramolecular ring contraction to alphitonin. In this study, Fwe perform crystal structure analyses of CHI and its active site mutant His33Ala in the presence of the substrate taxifolin at 2.15 and 2.8 Å resolution, respectively. The inactive enzyme binds the substrate (+)-taxifolin as well defined, whereas the electron density maps of the native CHI show a superposition of substrate, product alphitonin, and most probably also the reaction intermediate taxifolin chalcone. Evidently, His33 mediates the stereospecific acid-base reaction by abstracting a proton from the flavonoid scaffold. The stereospecificity of the product is discussed.

The emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance represent a growing threat to public health. Of particular concern is the appearance of β-lactamases, which are capable to hydrolyze and inactivate the most important class of antibiotics, the β-lactams. Effective β-lactamase inhibitors and mechanistic insights into their action are central in overcoming this type of resistance, and in this context boronate-based β-lactamase inhibitors were just recently approved to treat multidrug-resistant bacteria. Using boric acid as a simplified inhibitor model, time-resolved serial crystallography was employed to obtain mechanistic insights into binding to the active site serine of β-lactamase CTX-M-14, identifying a reaction time frame of 80–100 ms. In a next step, the subsequent 1,2-diol boric ester formation with glycerol in the active site was monitored proceeding in a time frame of 100–150 ms. Furthermore, the displacement of the crucial anion in the active site of the β-lactamase was verified as an essential part of the binding mechanism of substrates and inhibitors. In total, 22 datasets of β-lactamase intermediate complexes with high spatial resolution of 1.40–2.04 Å and high temporal resolution range of 50–10,000 ms were obtained, allowing a detailed analysis of the studied processes. Mechanistic details captured here contribute to the understanding of molecular processes and their time frames in enzymatic reactions. Moreover, we could demonstrate that time-resolved crystallography can serve as an additional tool for identifying and investigating enzymatic reactions. Boronate-based ß-lactamase inhibitors play an important role in treating multidrug-resistant bacteria infection, however, the molecular mechanism of inhibition remains unclear. Here, the authors use time-resolved serial crystallography to investigate the binding process by using boric acid as a model against β-lactamase CTX-M-14, revealing the binding to the active site serine within 80–100 ms, a subsequent 1,2-diol boric ester formation with glycerol within 100–150 ms, as well as the displacement of the sulfate anion in the active site.

The highly thermostable esterase from the hyperthermophilic archaeon Pyrobaculum calidifontis VA1 (PestE) shows high enantioselectivity (E>100) in the kinetic resolution of racemic chiral carboxylic acids, but little selectivity towards acetates of tertiary alcohols (E=2-4). To explain these unique properties, its crystal structure has been determined at 2.0 Å resolution. The enzyme is a member of the hormone-sensitive lipase group (group H) of the esterase/lipase superfamily on the basis of the amino acid sequence identity. The PestE structure shows a canonical α/β-hydrolase fold as core domain with a cap structure at the C-terminal end of the β-sheet. A tetramer in the crystal packing is formed of two dimers; the dimeric form is observed in solution. Conserved dimers and even tetramers are found in other group H proteins. The amino acid residues Ser157, His284, and Asp254 form the catalytic triad, which is typically found in α/β-hydrolases. The oxyanion hole is composed of Gly85 and Gly86 within the conserved sequence motif HGGG(M,F,W) (amino acid residues 83-87) and Ala158. With the elucidated structure, experimental results about enantioselectivity towards the two model substrate classes (as exemplified for 3-phenylbutanoic acid ethyl ester and 1,1,1-trifluoro-2-phenylbut-3-yn-2-yl acetate) could be explained by molecular modeling. For both enantiomers of the tertiary alcohol, orientations in two binding pockets were obtained without significant energy differences corresponding to the observed low enantioselectivity due to missing steric repulsions. In contrast, for the carboxylic acid ester, two different orientations with significant energy differences for each enantiomer were found matching the high E values.[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]

Enzymology and structural and functional characterization of some FAD-dependent monooxygenases provide insights into degradation of tetracycline antibiotics, but also show unexpected features of substrate recognition, reaction mechanism, and competitive inhibition.

The tetracycline repressor (TetR) regulates the most abundant resistance mechanism against the antibiotic tetracycline in gram-negative bacteria. The TetR protein and its mutants are commonly used as control elements to regulate gene expression in higher eukaryotes. We present the crystal structure of the TetR homodimer in complex with its palindromic DNA operator at 2.5 Å resolution. Comparison to the structure of TetR in complex with the inducer tetracycline-Mg 2+ allows the mechanism of induction to be deduced. Inducer binding in the repressor core initiates conformational changes starting with C-terminal unwinding and shifting of the short helix α6 in each monomer. This forces a pendulum-like motion of helix α4, which increases the separation of the attached DNA binding domains by 3 Å, abolishing the affinity of TetR for its operator DNA.

A haloalkane dehalogenase (DppA) from Plesiocystis pacifica SIR-1 was identified by sequence comparison in the NCBI database, cloned, functionally expressed in Escherichia coli, purified, and biochemically characterized. The three-dimensional (3D) structure was determined by X-ray crystallography and has been refined at 1.95 Å resolution to an R-factor of 21.93%. The enzyme is composed of an α/β-hydrolase fold and a cap domain and the overall fold is similar to other known haloalkane dehalogenases. Active site residues were identified as Asp123, His278, and Asp249 and Trp124 and Trp163 as halide-stabilizing residues. DppA, like DhlA from Xanthobacter autotrophicus GJ10, is a member of the haloalkane dehalogenase subfamily HLD-I. As a consequence, these enzymes have in common the relative position of their catalytic residues within the structure and also show some similarities in the substrate specificity. The enzyme shows high preference for 1-bromobutane and does not accept chlorinated alkanes, halo acids, or halo alcohols. It is a monomeric protein with a molecular mass of 32.6 kDa and exhibits maximum activity between 33 and 37°C with a pH optimum between pH 8 and 9. The K^sub m^ and k^sub cat^ values for 1-bromobutane were 24.0 mM and 8.08 s^sup -1^. Furthermore, from the 3D-structure of DppA, it was found that the enzyme possesses a large and open active site pocket. Docking experiments were performed to explain the experimentally determined substrate preferences.[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]

Herpesviruses encode a characteristic serine protease with a unique fold and an active site that comprises the unusual triad Ser-His-His. The protease is essential for viral replication and as such constitutes a promising drug target. In solution, a dynamic equilibrium exists between an inactive monomeric and an active dimeric form of the enzyme, which is believed to play a key regulatory role in the orchestration of proteolysis and capsid assembly. Currently available crystal structures of herpesvirus proteases correspond either to the dimeric state or to complexes with peptide mimetics that alter the dimerization interface. In contrast, the structure of the native monomeric state has remained elusive. Here, we present the three-dimensional structures of native monomeric, active dimeric, and diisopropyl fluorophosphate-inhibited dimeric protease derived from pseudorabies virus, an alphaherpesvirus of swine. These structures, solved by X-ray crystallography to respective resolutions of 2.05, 2.10 and 2.03 Å, allow a direct comparison of the main conformational states of the protease. In the dimeric form, a functional oxyanion hole is formed by a loop of 10 amino-acid residues encompassing two consecutive arginine residues (Arg136 and Arg137); both are strictly conserved throughout the herpesviruses. In the monomeric form, the top of the loop is shifted by approximately 11 Å, resulting in a complete disruption of the oxyanion hole and loss of activity. The dimerization-induced allosteric changes described here form the physical basis for the concentration-dependent activation of the protease, which is essential for proper virus replication. Small-angle X-ray scattering experiments confirmed a concentration-dependent equilibrium of monomeric and dimeric protease in solution.