Jae-Hee Jeong

Structure of Putrescine Aminotransferase from Escherichia Coli Provides Insights Into the Substrate Specificity Among Class III Aminotransferases.

YgjG is a putrescine aminotransferase enzyme that transfers amino groups from compounds with terminal primary amines to compounds with an aldehyde group using pyridoxal-5′-phosphate (PLP) as a cofactor. Previous biochemical data show that the enzyme prefers primary diamines, such as putrescine, over ornithine as a substrate. To better understand the enzymes substrate specificity, crystal structures of YgjG from Escherichia coli were determined at 2.3 and 2.1 Å resolutions for the free and putrescine-bound enzymes, respectively. Sequence and structural analyses revealed that YgjG forms a dimer that adopts a class III PLP-dependent aminotransferase fold. A structural comparison between YgjG and other class III aminotransferases revealed that their structures are similar. However, YgjG has an additional N-terminal helical structure that partially contributes to a dimeric interaction with the other subunit via a helix-helix interaction. Interestingly, the YgjG substrate-binding site entrance size and charge distribution are smaller and more hydrophobic than other class III aminotransferases, which suggest that YgjG has a unique substrate binding site that could accommodate primary aliphatic diamine substrates, including putrescine. The YgjG crystal structures provide structural clues to putrescine aminotransferase substrate specificity and binding.

Structural and functional analysis of the Lmo2642 cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase from Listeria monocytogenes

Listeria monocytogenes is a facultative intracellular pathogen invading humans and animals with the highest fatality rate among the food‐borne pathogens. The Listeria pathogenic processes, such as cell entry and escape from phagosomes, depend on the actions of diverse bacterial factors, including lipoproteins. Here, we report the crystal structure of Lmo2642, a conserved putative lipoprotein containing a Ser/Thr phosphatase domain. The protein consists of two distinct domains: a catalytic domain that belongs to the metallophosphoesterase superfamily and an auxiliary α‐helical bundle domain. The active site in the catalytic domain of Lmo2642 contains a dinuclear metal center in which Mn2+ and Fe3+ are preferentially positioned at the site1 and site2, respectively. On the basis of the structural analysis and enzymatic assays, we identified the biochemical activity of the protein as a cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase toward 2′,3′‐ and 3′,5′‐cyclic nucleotides. Considering the cNMP phosphodiesterase activity and the putative surface localization of Lmo2642, we speculate that Lmo2642 has some potential roles in the host‐pathogen interactions by changing the cAMP concentration of host cells during L. monocytogenes infection. Proteins 2011.

Crystal structure of TRAF1 TRAF domain and its implications in the TRAF1-mediated intracellular signaling pathway.

TNF-receptor associated factor (TRAF) proteins are key adaptor molecules containing E3 ubiquitin ligase activity that play a critical role in immune cell signaling. TRAF1 is a unique family of TRAF lacking the N-terminal RING finger domain. TRAF1 is an important scaffold protein that participates in TNFR2 signaling in T cells as a negative or positive regulator via direct interaction with TRAF2, which has recently been identified as a pro-apoptotic regulator in neuronal cell death. Here, we report the first crystal structure of the TRAF1 TRAF domain containing both the TRAF-N coiled-coil domain and the TRAF-C domain. Our structure reveals both similarities and differences with other TRAF family members, which may be functionally relevant to TRAFs. We also found that the TRAF-N coiled-coil domain of TRAF1 is critical for the trimer formation and stability of the protein. Finally, we found that conserved surface residues on the TRAF1 TRAF domain that might be binding hot spots that are critical for interaction with signaling molecules.

Structural insights into the histidine trimethylation activity of EgtD from Mycobacterium smegmatis.

EgtD is an S-adenosyl-l-methionine (SAM)-dependent histidine N,N,N-methyltransferase that catalyzes the formation of hercynine from histidine in the ergothioneine biosynthetic process of Mycobacterium smegmatis. Ergothioneine is a secreted antioxidant that protects mycobacterium from oxidative stress. Here, we present three crystal structures of EgtD in the apo form, the histidine-bound form, and the S-adenosyl-l-homocysteine (SAH)/histidine-bound form. The study revealed that EgtD consists of two distinct domains: a typical methyltransferase domain and a unique substrate binding domain. The histidine binding pocket of the substrate binding domain primarily recognizes the imidazole ring and carboxylate group of histidine rather than the amino group, explaining the high selectivity for histidine and/or (mono-, di-) methylated histidine as substrates. In addition, SAM binding to the MTase domain induced a conformational change in EgtD to facilitate the methyl transfer reaction. The structural analysis provides insights into the putative catalytic mechanism of EgtD in a processive trimethylation reaction.

Molecular basis for TANK recognition by TRAF1 revealed by the crystal structure of TRAF1/TANK complex

Tumor necrosis factor receptor‐associated factor 1 (TRAF1) is a multifunctional adaptor protein involved in important processes of cellular signaling, including innate immunity and apoptosis. TRAF family member‐associated NF‐kappaB activator (TANK) has been identified as a competitive intracellular inhibitor of TRAF2 function. Although TRAF recognition by various receptors has been studied extensively in the field of TRAF‐mediated biology, molecular and functional details of TANK recognition and interaction with TRAF1 have not been studied. In this study, we report the crystal structure of the TRAF1/TANK peptide complex. Quantitative interaction experiments showed that TANK peptide interacts with both TRAF1 and TRAF2 with similar affinity in a micromolar range. Our structural study also reveals that TANK binds TRAF1 using a minor minimal consensus motif for TRAF binding, Px(Q/E)xT.

CIDE domains form functionally important higher-order assemblies for DNA fragmentation

Significance Cell death-inducing DFF45-like effector (CIDE) domains, initially identified in apoptotic nucleases, form a highly conserved family with diverse functions ranging from cell death to lipid homeostasis and synaptic regulation. Through structural determination of two CIDE family proteins, Drep2 and Drep4, we found that CIDE domains can form helical oligomers. Our results reveal that such higher-order structures not only are conserved in the CIDE family, but also are critically important for both DNA fragmentation and lipid droplet fusion. Therefore, our findings identify the CIDE domain as a scaffolding component for higher-order structure assembly. Our results expand the importance of higher-order structures from the established field of immune signaling to broader biological functions. Cell death-inducing DFF45-like effector (CIDE) domains, initially identified in apoptotic nucleases, form a family with diverse functions ranging from cell death to lipid homeostasis. Here we show that the CIDE domains of Drosophila and human apoptotic nucleases Drep2, Drep4, and DFF40 all form head-to-tail helical filaments. Opposing positively and negatively charged interfaces mediate the helical structures, and mutations on these surfaces abolish nuclease activation for apoptotic DNA fragmentation. Conserved filamentous structures are observed in CIDE family members involved in lipid homeostasis, and mutations on the charged interfaces compromise lipid droplet fusion, suggesting that CIDE domains represent a scaffold for higher-order assembly in DNA fragmentation and other biological processes such as lipid homeostasis.

Crystallization and preliminary X-ray crystallographic analysis of YgjG from Escherichia coli.

Putrescine, one of the polyamines that are found in virtually all living organisms, has been implicated as an important biological material. The protein YgjG is involved in the putrescine-degradation pathway in Escherichia coli. The enzyme is a putrescine:2-oxoglutarate aminotransferase that belongs to the class III aminotransferases. In this study, YgjG from E. coli was overexpressed, purified and crystallized using the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion method. Diffraction data were collected to 2.1 Å resolution using synchrotron radiation. The crystal belonged to the primitive orthorhombic space group P2(1)2(1)2(1), with unit-cell parameters a = 121.1, b = 129.5, c = 131.3 Å, and is estimated to contain four molecules of YgjG per asymmetric unit.

Crystal Structure of C-Terminal Coiled-Coil Domain of SYCP1 Reveals Non-Canonical Anti-Parallel Dimeric Structure of Transverse Filament at the Synaptonemal Complex.

The synaptonemal complex protein 1 (SYCP1) is the main structural element of transverse filaments (TFs) of the synaptonemal complex (SC), which is a meiosis-specific complex structure formed at the synapse of homologue chromosomes to hold them together. The N-terminal domain of SYCP1 is known to be located within the central elements (CEs), whereas the C-terminal domain is located toward lateral elements (LEs). SYCP1 is a well-known meiosis marker that is also known to be a prognostic marker in the early stage of several cancers including breast, gliomas, and ovarian cancers. The structure of SC, especially the TF structure formed mainly by SYCP1, remains unclear without any structural information. To elucidate a molecular basis of SC formation and function, we first solved the crystal structure of C-terminal coiled-coil domain of SYCP1. The coiled-coil domain of SYCP1 forms asymmetric, anti-parallel dimers in solution.

Structure of the hypothetical protein Ton 1535 from Thermococcus onnurineus NA1 reveals unique structural properties by a left‐handed helical turn in normal α‐solenoid protein

The crystal structure of Ton1535, a hypothetical protein from Thermococcus onnurineus NA1, was determined at 2.3 Å resolution. With two antiparallel α‐helices in a helix‐turn‐helix motif as a repeating unit, Ton1535 consists of right‐handed coiled N‐ and C‐terminal regions that are stacked together using helix bundles containing a left‐handed helical turn. One left‐handed helical turn in the right‐handed coiled structure produces two unique structural properties. One is the presence of separated concave grooves rather than one continuous concave groove, and the other is the contribution of α‐helices on the convex surfaces of the N‐terminal region to the extended surface of the concave groove of the C‐terminal region and vice versa. Proteins 2014; 82:1072–1078.

Crystallization and preliminary X-ray crystallographic analysis of PBPD2 from Listeria monocytogenes.

Penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs), which mediate the peptidoglycan biosynthetic pathway in the bacterial cell wall, have been intensively investigated as a target for the design of antibiotics. In this study, PBPD2, a low-molecular-weight PBP encoded by lmo2812 from Listeria monocytogenes, was overexpressed in Escherichia coli, purified and crystallized at 295 K using the sitting-drop vapour-diffusion method. The crystal belonged to the primitive orthorhombic space group P212121, with unit-cell parameters a = 37.7, b = 74.7, c = 75.1 Å, and diffracted to 1.55 Å resolution. There was one molecule in the asymmetric unit. The preliminary structure was determined by the molecular-replacement method.