Huw T. Jenkins

Human C4b-binding Protein, Structural Basis for Interaction with Streptococcal M Protein, a Major Bacterial Virulence Factor

Human C4b-binding protein (C4BP) protects host tissue, and those pathogens able to hijack this plasma glycoprotein, from complement-mediated destruction. We now show that the first two complement control protein (CCP) modules of the C4BP α-chain, plus the four residues connecting them, are necessary and sufficient for binding a bacterial virulence factor, the Streptococcus pyogenes M4 (Arp4) protein. Structure determination by NMR reveals two tightly coupled CCP modules in an elongated arrangement within this region of C4BP. Chemical shift perturbation studies demonstrate that the N-terminal, hypervariable region of M4 binds to a site including strand 1 of CCP module 2. This interaction is accompanied by an intermodular reorientation within C4BP. We thus provide a detailed picture of an interaction whereby a pathogen evades complement.

Kinked β-strands mediate high-affinity recognition of mRNA targets by the germ-cell regulator DAZL

A defect in germ-cell (sperm and oocyte) development is the leading cause of male and female infertility. Control of translation through the binding of deleted in azoospermia (DAZ)-like (DAZL) to the 3′-UTRs of mRNAs, via a highly conserved RNA recognition motif (RRM), has been shown to be essential in germ-cell development. Crystal structures of the RRM from murine DAZL (Dazl), both alone and in complex with RNA sequences from the 3′-UTRs of mRNAs regulated by Dazl, reveal high-affinity sequence-specific recognition of a GUU triplet involving an extended, kinked, pair of β-strands. Recognition of the GUU triplet is maintained, whereas the identity and position of bases flanking this triplet varies. The Dazl RRM is thus able to recognize GUU triplets in different sequence contexts. Mutation of bases within the GUU triplet reduces the affinity of binding. Together with the demonstration that multiple Dazl RRMs can bind to a single RNA containing multiple GUU triplets, these structures suggest that the number of DAZL molecules bound to GUU triplets in the 3′-UTR provides a method for modulating the translation of a target RNA. The conservation of RNA binding and structurally important residues between members of the DAZ family, together with the demonstration that mutation of these residues severely impairs RNA binding, indicate that the mode of RNA binding revealed by these structures is conserved in proteins essential for gamete development from flies to humans.

Ribosome clearance by FusB-type proteins mediates resistance to the antibiotic fusidic acid

Resistance to the antibiotic fusidic acid (FA) in the human pathogen Staphylococcus aureus usually results from expression of FusB-type proteins (FusB or FusC). These proteins bind to elongation factor G (EF-G), the target of FA, and rescue translation from FA-mediated inhibition by an unknown mechanism. Here we show that the FusB family are two-domain metalloproteins, the C-terminal domain of which contains a four-cysteine zinc finger with a unique structural fold. This domain mediates a high-affinity interaction with the C-terminal domains of EF-G. By binding to EF-G on the ribosome, FusB-type proteins promote the dissociation of stalled ribosome⋅EF-G⋅GDP complexes that form in the presence of FA, thereby allowing the ribosomes to resume translation. Ribosome clearance by these proteins represents a highly unusual antibiotic resistance mechanism, which appears to be fine-tuned by the relative abundance of FusB-type protein, ribosomes, and EF-G.

Major reorientation of tRNA substrates defines specificity of dihydrouridine synthases

Significance RNA-binding proteins use diverse mechanisms for generating specificity toward distinct RNA molecules. Different subfamilies of bacterial dihydrouridine synthases (Dus) modify specific uridines in tRNA, but the mechanism for selection of the target nucleotide is unknown. We solved crystal structures of the U16-specific Dus from Escherichia coli complexed with two different tRNAs. These structures reveal that the tRNA is bound in a completely different orientation from that observed in a U20-specific enzyme. The major reorientation of the substrate tRNA, driven by unique amino acid “binding signatures” and plasticity in the position of the C-terminal recognition domain, appears to be an evolutionary innovation to the known strategies that define specificity of enzymes toward tRNA. The reduction of specific uridines to dihydrouridine is one of the most common modifications in tRNA. Increased levels of the dihydrouridine modification are associated with cancer. Dihydrouridine synthases (Dus) from different subfamilies selectively reduce distinct uridines, located at spatially unique positions of folded tRNA, into dihydrouridine. Because the catalytic center of all Dus enzymes is conserved, it is unclear how the same protein fold can be reprogrammed to ensure that nucleotides exposed at spatially distinct faces of tRNA can be accommodated in the same active site. We show that the Escherichia coli DusC is specific toward U16 of tRNA. Unexpectedly, crystal structures of DusC complexes with tRNAPhe and tRNATrp show that Dus subfamilies that selectively modify U16 or U20 in tRNA adopt identical folds but bind their respective tRNA substrates in an almost reverse orientation that differs by a 160° rotation. The tRNA docking orientation appears to be guided by subfamily-specific clusters of amino acids (“binding signatures”) together with differences in the shape of the positively charged tRNA-binding surfaces. tRNA orientations are further constrained by positional differences between the C-terminal “recognition” domains. The exquisite substrate specificity of Dus enzymes is therefore controlled by a relatively simple mechanism involving major reorientation of the whole tRNA molecule. Such reprogramming of the enzymatic specificity appears to be a unique evolutionary solution for altering tRNA recognition by the same protein fold.

Opportunities for New Therapies Based on the Natural Regulators of Complement Activation

While the complement system is an essential component of immunity, shutting down all or part of it could be beneficial in a wide range of clinical situations. Designer, small‐molecule, protease inhibitors and antagonists of protein‐protein interactions are under development, while an approach based on a humanized monoclonal antibody to the C5 component works effectively against the later stages of complement activation and is close to completing clinical trials. The cobra venom factor depletes plasma of essential complement components, and a humanized (nonimmunogenic) version is being sought. Perhaps the most promising approach to comprehensive complement downregulation, however, is the exploitation of innate regulators of complement activation, with two products in clinical trials. The potential for more efficacious complement blockers of this kind is growing because of better targeting, but a deeper knowledge at the atomic level of mechanisms of action of these regulators is needed to underpin a rational approach to design of still more potent complement inhibitors.

CCP4i2: the new graphical user interface to the CCP4 program suite

CCP4i2 is a graphical user interface to the CCP4 (Collaborative Computational Project, Number 4) software suite and a Python language framework for software automation.

DNA recognition for virus assembly through multiple sequence-independent interactions with a helix-turn-helix motif

The helix-turn-helix (HTH) motif features frequently in protein DNA-binding assemblies. Viral pac site-targeting small terminase proteins possess an unusual architecture in which the HTH motifs are displayed in a ring, distinct from the classical HTH dimer. Here we investigate how such a circular array of HTH motifs enables specific recognition of the viral genome for initiation of DNA packaging during virus assembly. We found, by surface plasmon resonance and analytical ultracentrifugation, that individual HTH motifs of the Bacillus phage SF6 small terminase bind the packaging regions of SF6 and related SPP1 genome weakly, with little local sequence specificity. Nuclear magnetic resonance chemical shift perturbation studies with an arbitrary single-site substrate suggest that the HTH motif contacts DNA similarly to how certain HTH proteins contact DNA non-specifically. Our observations support a model where specificity is generated through conformational selection of an intrinsically bent DNA segment by a ring of HTHs which bind weakly but cooperatively. Such a system would enable viral gene regulation and control of the viral life cycle, with a minimal genome, conferring a major evolutionary advantage for SPP1-like viruses.

Structural basis and functional effects of the interaction between complement inhibitor C4b-binding protein and DNA

Human C4b-binding protein (C4BP) is a soluble, multiple-subunit inhibitor of complement that circulates in blood. Recently C4BP was shown to bind DNA, reduce DNA release from necrotic cells and limit DNA-mediated complement activation in solution. Herein we employed nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to measure chemical shift perturbations and used them to restrain the computational docking of a B-form 10-base-pair DNA molecule onto the solution structure of C4BP alpha-chain complement control protein (CCP) domains 1-2 (C4BP12). Six amino acid residues located on one face of the interdomain junction - Val(38), Ser(40), Thr(43), Tyr(62), Lys(63) and Arg(64) - exhibited the largest chemical shift changes. In the model, the DNA lies in a cleft formed by the interdomain interface. The double-helix is perpendicular to the long axis of C4BP12 consistent with the multiple arms of C4BP binding to adjacent sites on a longer DNA molecule. The DNA lies in a region previously shown to bind C4b and heparin and these molecules (but not C3b) inhibited the DNA-C4BP interaction. Nonetheless, crucial C4BP functions such as cofactor activity for factor I cleavage of C4b and C3b, and decay acceleration of the classical C3 convertase appeared not to be affected by the presence of DNA. Taken together these results reinforce the case for the occupation of some of the seven arms of C4BP in a multivalent interaction with DNA or surface bound glycosaminoglycans while other arms engage C4b or C3b.

Automating tasks in protein structure determination with the clipper python module: Automating Tasks in Protein Structure Determination

Scripting programming languages provide the fastest means of prototyping complex functionality. Those with a syntax and grammar resembling human language also greatly enhance the maintainability of the produced source code. Furthermore, the combination of a powerful, machine‐independent scripting language with binary libraries tailored for each computer architecture allows programs to break free from the tight boundaries of efficiency traditionally associated with scripts. In the present work, we describe how an efficient C++ crystallographic library such as Clipper can be wrapped, adapted and generalized for use in both crystallographic and electron cryo‐microscopy applications, scripted with the Python language. We shall also place an emphasis on best practices in automation, illustrating how this can be achieved with this new Python module.

Viral genome packaging terminase cleaves DNA using the canonical RuvC-like two-metal catalysis mechanism.

Abstract Bacteriophages and large dsDNA viruses encode sophisticated machinery to translocate their DNA into a preformed empty capsid. An essential part of this machine, the large terminase protein, processes viral DNA into constituent units utilizing its nuclease activity. Crystal structures of the large terminase nuclease from the thermophilic bacteriophage G20c show that it is most similar to the RuvC family of the RNase H-like endonucleases. Like RuvC proteins, the nuclease requires either Mn2+, Mg2+ or Co2+ ions for activity, but is inactive with Zn2+ and Ca2+. High resolution crystal structures of complexes with different metals reveal that in the absence of DNA, only one catalytic metal ion is accommodated in the active site. Binding of the second metal ion may be facilitated by conformational variability, which enables the two catalytic aspartic acids to be brought closer to each other. Structural comparison indicates that in common with the RuvC family, the location of the two catalytic metals differs from other members of the RNase H family. In contrast to a recently proposed mechanism, the available data do not support binding of the two metals at an ultra-short interatomic distance. Thus we postulate that viral terminases cleave DNA by the canonical RuvC-like mechanism.