Antonio Ariza

Structure, Function, and Evolution of the Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Virus Nucleocapsid Protein

ABSTRACT Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) is an emerging tick-borne virus of the Bunyaviridae family that is responsible for a fatal human disease for which preventative or therapeutic measures do not exist. We solved the crystal structure of the CCHFV strain Baghdad-12 nucleocapsid protein (N), a potential therapeutic target, at a resolution of 2.1 Å. N comprises a large globular domain composed of both N- and C-terminal sequences, likely involved in RNA binding, and a protruding arm domain with a conserved DEVD caspase-3 cleavage site at its apex. Alignment of our structure with that of the recently reported N protein from strain YL04057 shows a close correspondence of all folds but significant transposition of the arm through a rotation of 180 degrees and a translation of 40 Å. These observations suggest a structural flexibility that may provide the basis for switching between alternative N protein conformations during important functions such as RNA binding and oligomerization. Our structure reveals surfaces likely involved in RNA binding and oligomerization, and functionally critical residues within these domains were identified using a minigenome system able to recapitulate CCHFV-specific RNA synthesis in cells. Caspase-3 cleaves the polypeptide chain at the exposed DEVD motif; however, the cleaved N protein remains an intact unit, likely due to the intimate association of N- and C-terminal fragments in the globular domain. Structural alignment with existing N proteins reveals that the closest CCHFV relative is not another bunyavirus but the arenavirus Lassa virus instead, suggesting that current segmented negative-strand RNA virus taxonomy may need revision.

Specificity of the Trypanothione-Dependent Leishmania Major Glyoxalase I: Structure and Biochemical Comparison with the Human Enzyme.

Trypanothione replaces glutathione in defence against cellular damage caused by oxidants, xenobiotics and methylglyoxal in the trypanosomatid parasites, which cause trypanosomiasis and leishmaniasis. In Leishmania major, the first step in methylglyoxal detoxification is performed by a trypanothione‐dependent glyoxalase I (GLO1) containing a nickel cofactor; all other characterized eukaryotic glyoxalases use zinc. In kinetic studies L. major and human enzymes were active with methylglyoxal derivatives of several thiols, but showed opposite substrate selectivities: N1‐glutathionylspermidine hemithioacetal is 40‐fold better with L. major GLO1, whereas glutathione hemithioacetal is 300‐fold better with human GLO1. Similarly, S‐4‐bromobenzylglutathionylspermidine is a 24‐fold more potent linear competitive inhibitor of L. major than human GLO1 (Kis of 0.54 µM and 12.6 µM, respectively), whereas S‐4‐bromobenzylglutathione is > 4000‐fold more active against human than L. major GLO1 (Kis of 0.13 µM and > 500 µM respectively). The crystal structure of L. major GLO1 reveals differences in active site architecture to both human GLO1 and the nickel‐dependent Escherichia coli GLO1, including increased negative charge and hydrophobic character and truncation of a loop that may regulate catalysis in the human enzyme. These differences correlate with the differential binding of glutathione and trypanothione‐based substrates, and thus offer a route to the rational design of L. major‐specific GLO1 inhibitors.

Nucleocapsid protein structures from orthobunyaviruses reveal insight into ribonucleoprotein architecture and RNA polymerization

All orthobunyaviruses possess three genome segments of single-stranded negative sense RNA that are encapsidated with the virus-encoded nucleocapsid (N) protein to form a ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complex, which is uncharacterized at high resolution. We report the crystal structure of both the Bunyamwera virus (BUNV) N–RNA complex and the unbound Schmallenberg virus (SBV) N protein, at resolutions of 3.20 and 2.75 Å, respectively. Both N proteins crystallized as ring-like tetramers and exhibit a high degree of structural similarity despite classification into different orthobunyavirus serogroups. The structures represent a new RNA-binding protein fold. BUNV N possesses a positively charged groove into which RNA is deeply sequestered, with the bases facing away from the solvent. This location is highly inaccessible, implying that RNA polymerization and other critical base pairing events in the virus life cycle require RNP disassembly. Mutational analysis of N protein supports a correlation between structure and function. Comparison between these crystal structures and electron microscopy images of both soluble tetramers and authentic RNPs suggests the N protein does not bind RNA as a repeating monomer; thus, it represents a newly described architecture for bunyavirus RNP assembly, with implications for many other segmented negative-strand RNA viruses.

Comparative structural, kinetic and inhibitor studies of Trypanosoma brucei trypanothione reductase with T. cruzi

As part of a drug discovery programme to discover new treatments for human African trypanosomiasis, recombinant trypanothione reductase from Trypanosoma brucei has been expressed, purified and characterized. The crystal structure was solved by molecular replacement to a resolution of 2.3 Å and found to be nearly identical to the T. cruzi enzyme (root mean square deviation 0.6 Å over 482 Cα atoms). Kinetically, the Km for trypanothione disulphide for the T. brucei enzyme was 4.4-fold lower than for T. cruzi measured by either direct (NADPH oxidation) or DTNB-coupled assay. The Km for NADPH for the T. brucei enzyme was found to be 0.77 μM using an NADPH-regenerating system coupled to reduction of DTNB. Both enzymes were assayed for inhibition at their respective S = Km values for trypanothione disulphide using a range of chemotypes, including CNS-active drugs such as clomipramine, trifluoperazine, thioridazine and citalopram. The relative IC50 values for the two enzymes were found to vary by no more than 3-fold. Thus trypanothione reductases from these species are highly similar in all aspects, indicating that they may be used interchangeably for structure-based inhibitor design and high-throughput screening.

Crystal structure of the essential transcription antiterminator M2-1 protein of human respiratory syncytial virus and implications of its phosphorylation.

Significance Human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV) is the leading cause of lower respiratory tract illness in young children; however, no vaccine exists and current immunoprophylaxis regimes are both expensive and incompletely protective. We report the crystal structure of the HRSV M2-1 transcription factor that is essential for virus gene expression and thus growth. This structure reveals how M2-1 forms an extremely stable tetramer and has allowed us to pinpoint the location of critical regions that regulate M2-1 activity, providing insight into its function. This structure may represent a potent target for new antiviral compounds. The M2-1 protein of the important pathogen human respiratory syncytial virus is a zinc-binding transcription antiterminator that is essential for viral gene expression. We present the crystal structure of full-length M2-1 protein in its native tetrameric form at a resolution of 2.5 Å. The structure reveals that M2-1 forms a disk-like assembly with tetramerization driven by a long helix forming a four-helix bundle at its center, further stabilized by contact between the zinc-binding domain and adjacent protomers. The tetramerization helix is linked to a core domain responsible for RNA binding activity by a flexible region on which lie two functionally critical serine residues that are phosphorylated during infection. The crystal structure of a phosphomimetic M2-1 variant revealed altered charge density surrounding this flexible region although its position was unaffected. Structure-guided mutagenesis identified residues that contributed to RNA binding and antitermination activity, revealing a strong correlation between these two activities, and further defining the role of phosphorylation in M2-1 antitermination activity. The data we present here identify surfaces critical for M2-1 function that may be targeted by antiviral compounds.

Conformational flexibility revealed by the crystal structure of a crenarchaeal RadA

Homologous recombinational repair is an essential mechanism for repair of double-strand breaks in DNA. Recombinases of the RecA-fold family play a crucial role in this process, forming filaments that utilize ATP to mediate their interactions with single- and double-stranded DNA. The recombinase molecules present in the archaea (RadA) and eukaryota (Rad51) are more closely related to each other than to their bacterial counterpart (RecA) and, as a result, RadA makes a suitable model for the eukaryotic system. The crystal structure of Sulfolobus solfataricus RadA has been solved to a resolution of 3.2 Å in the absence of nucleotide analogues or DNA, revealing a narrow filamentous assembly with three molecules per helical turn. As observed in other RecA-family recombinases, each RadA molecule in the filament is linked to its neighbour via interactions of a short β-strand with the neighbouring ATPase domain. However, despite apparent flexibility between domains, comparison with other structures indicates conservation of a number of key interactions that introduce rigidity to the system, allowing allosteric control of the filament by interaction with ATP. Additional analysis reveals that the interaction specificity of the five human Rad51 paralogues can be predicted using a simple model based on the RadA structure.

The Toxin-Antitoxin System DarTG Catalyzes Reversible ADP-Ribosylation of DNA.

Summary The discovery and study of toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems helps us advance our understanding of the strategies prokaryotes employ to regulate cellular processes related to the general stress response, such as defense against phages, growth control, biofilm formation, persistence, and programmed cell death. Here we identify and characterize a TA system found in various bacteria, including the global pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The toxin of the system (DarT) is a domain of unknown function (DUF) 4433, and the antitoxin (DarG) a macrodomain protein. We demonstrate that DarT is an enzyme that specifically modifies thymidines on single-stranded DNA in a sequence-specific manner by a nucleotide-type modification called ADP-ribosylation. We also show that this modification can be removed by DarG. Our results provide an example of reversible DNA ADP-ribosylation, and we anticipate potential therapeutic benefits by targeting this enzyme-enzyme TA system in bacterial pathogens such as M. tuberculosis.

Synthesis of Dimeric Adp-Ribose and its Structure with Human Poly(Adp-Ribose) Glycohydrolase.

Poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation is a common post-translational modification that mediates a wide variety of cellular processes including DNA damage repair, chromatin regulation, transcription, and apoptosis. The difficulty associated with accessing poly(ADP-ribose) (PAR) in a homogeneous form has been an impediment to understanding the interactions of PAR with poly(ADP-ribose) glycohydrolase (PARG) and other binding proteins. Here we describe the chemical synthesis of the ADP-ribose dimer, and we use this compound to obtain the first human PARG substrate-enzyme cocrystal structure. Chemical synthesis of PAR is an attractive alternative to traditional enzymatic synthesis and fractionation, allowing access to products such as dimeric ADP-ribose, which has been detected but never isolated from natural sources. Additionally, we describe the synthesis of an alkynylated dimer and demonstrate that this compound can be used to synthesize PAR probes including biotin and fluorophore-labeled compounds. The fluorescently labeled ADP-ribose dimer was then utilized in a general fluorescence polarization-based PAR-protein binding assay. Finally, we use intermediates of our synthesis to access various PAR fragments, and evaluation of these compounds as substrates for PARG reveals the minimal features for substrate recognition and enzymatic cleavage. Homogeneous PAR oligomers and unnatural variants produced from chemical synthesis will allow for further detailed structural and biochemical studies on the interaction of PAR with its many protein binding partners.

Identification of a Class of Protein ADP-Ribosylating Sirtuins in Microbial Pathogens

Summary Sirtuins are an ancient family of NAD+-dependent deacylases connected with the regulation of fundamental cellular processes including metabolic homeostasis and genome integrity. We show the existence of a hitherto unrecognized class of sirtuins, found predominantly in microbial pathogens. In contrast to earlier described classes, these sirtuins exhibit robust protein ADP-ribosylation activity. In our model organisms, Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pyogenes, the activity is dependent on prior lipoylation of the target protein and can be reversed by a sirtuin-associated macrodomain protein. Together, our data describe a sirtuin-dependent reversible protein ADP-ribosylation system and establish a crosstalk between lipoylation and mono-ADP-ribosylation. We propose that these posttranslational modifications modulate microbial virulence by regulating the response to host-derived reactive oxygen species.

Structural Insights into the Function of ZRANB3 in Replication Stress Response

Strategies to resolve replication blocks are critical for the maintenance of genome stability. Among the factors implicated in the replication stress response is the ATP-dependent endonuclease ZRANB3. Here, we present the structure of the ZRANB3 HNH (His-Asn-His) endonuclease domain and provide a detailed analysis of its activity. We further define PCNA as a key regulator of ZRANB3 function, which recruits ZRANB3 to stalled replication forks and stimulates its endonuclease activity. Finally, we present the co-crystal structures of PCNA with two specific motifs in ZRANB3: the PIP box and the APIM motif. Our data provide important structural insights into the PCNA-APIM interaction, and reveal unexpected similarities between the PIP box and the APIM motif. We propose that PCNA and ATP-dependency serve as a multi-layered regulatory mechanism that modulates ZRANB3 activity at replication forks. Importantly, our findings allow us to interpret the functional significance of cancer associated ZRANB3 mutations.