Pavlina Rezacova

Engineering enzyme stability and resistance to an organic cosolvent by modification of residues in the access tunnel.

Mutations targeting as few as four residues lining the access tunnel extended enzyme’s half-life in 40% dimethyl sulfoxide from minutes to weeks (4,000-fold) and increased its melting temperature by 19 Grades C. Protein crystallography and molecular dynamics revealed that the tunnel residue packing is a key determinant of protein stability and the active-site accessibility for co-solvent molecules (red dots). The broad applicability of this concept was verified by analyzing twenty six proteins with buried active sites from all six enzyme classes.

Molecular Characterization of Clinical Isolates of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Resistant to the Protease Inhibitor Darunavir

ABSTRACT Darunavir is the most recently approved human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) protease (PR) inhibitor (PI) and is active against many HIV type 1 PR variants resistant to earlier-generation PIs. Darunavir shows a high genetic barrier to resistance development, and virus strains with lower sensitivity to darunavir have a higher number of PI resistance-associated mutations than viruses resistant to other PIs. In this work, we have enzymologically and structurally characterized a number of highly mutated clinically derived PRs with high levels of phenotypic resistance to darunavir. With 18 to 21 amino acid residue changes, the PR variants studied in this work are the most highly mutated HIV PR species ever studied by means of enzyme kinetics and X-ray crystallography. The recombinant proteins showed major defects in substrate binding, while the substrate turnover was less affected. Remarkably, the overall catalytic efficiency of the recombinant PRs (5% that of the wild-type enzyme) is still sufficient to support polyprotein processing and particle maturation in the corresponding viruses. The X-ray structures of drug-resistant PRs complexed with darunavir suggest that the impaired inhibitor binding could be explained by change in the PR-inhibitor hydrogen bond pattern in the P2′ binding pocket due to a substantial shift of the aminophenyl moiety of the inhibitor. Recombinant virus phenotypic characterization, enzyme kinetics, and X-ray structural analysis thus help to explain darunavir resistance development in HIV-positive patients.

Structural Basis of HIV-1 and HIV-2 Protease Inhibition by a Monoclonal Antibody

BACKGROUND Since the demonstration that the protease of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV Pr) is essential in the viral life cycle, this enzyme has become one of the primary targets for antiviral drug design. The murine monoclonal antibody 1696 (mAb1696), produced by immunization with the HIV-1 protease, inhibits the catalytic activity of the enzyme of both the HIV-1 and HIV-2 isolates with inhibition constants in the low nanomolar range. The antibody cross-reacts with peptides that include the N terminus of the enzyme, a region that is highly conserved in sequence among different viral strains and that, furthermore, is crucial for homodimerization to the active enzymatic form. RESULTS We report here the crystal structure at 2.7 A resolution of a recombinant single-chain Fv fragment of mAb1696 as a complex with a cross-reactive peptide of the HIV-1 protease. The antibody-antigen interactions observed in this complex provide a structural basis for understanding the origin of the broad reactivity of mAb-1696 for the HIV-1 and HIV-2 proteases and their respective N-terminal peptides. CONCLUSION A possible mechanism of HIV-protease inhibition by mAb1696 is proposed that could help the design of inhibitors aimed at binding inactive monomeric species.

Enzymatic and structural analysis of the I47A mutation contributing to the reduced susceptibility to HIV protease inhibitor lopinavir.

Lopinavir (LPV) is a second‐generation HIV protease inhibitor (PI) designed to overcome resistance development in patients undergoing long‐term antiviral therapy. The mutation of isoleucine at position 47 of the HIV protease (PR) to alanine is associated with a high level of resistance to LPV. In this study, we show that recombinant PR containing a single I47A substitution has the inhibition constant (Ki) value for lopinavir by two orders of magnitude higher than for the wild‐type PR. The addition of the I47A substitution to the background of a multiply mutated PR species from an AIDS patient showed a three‐order‐of‐magnitude increase in Ki in vitro relative to the patient PR without the I47A mutation. The crystal structure of I47A PR in complex with LPV showed the loss of van der Waals interactions in the S2/S2′ subsites. This is caused by the loss of three side‐chain methyl groups due to the I47A substitution and by structural changes in the A47 main chain that lead to structural changes in the flap antiparallel β‐strand. Furthermore, we analyzed possible interaction of the I47A mutation with secondary mutations V32I and I54V. We show that both mutations in combination with I47A synergistically increase the relative resistance to LPV in vitro. The crystal structure of the I47A/I54V PR double mutant in complex with LPV shows that the I54V mutation leads to a compaction of the flap, and molecular modeling suggests that the introduction of the I54V mutation indirectly affects the strain of the bound inhibitor in the PR binding cleft.

Inhibitor binding at the protein interface in crystals of a HIV-1 protease complex.

Depending on the excess of ligand used for complex formation, the HIV-1 protease complexed with a novel phenylnorstatine inhibitor forms crystals of either hexagonal (P6(1)) or orthorhombic (P2(1)2(1)2(1)) symmetry. The orthorhombic form shows an unusual complexity of crystal packing: in addition to one inhibitor molecule that is bound to the enzyme active site, the second inhibitor molecule is bound as an outer ligand at the protein interface. Binding of the outer ligand apparently increases the crystal-quality parameters so that the diffraction data allow solution of the structure of the complex at 1.03 A, the best resolution reported to date. The outer ligand interacts with all four surrounding HIV-1 protease molecules and has a bent conformation owing to its accommodation in the intermolecular space. The parameters of the solved structures of the orthorhombic and hexagonal forms are compared.

Balancing the Stability-Activity Trade-off by Fine-Tuning Dehalogenase Access Tunnels.

A variant of the haloalkane dehalogenase DhaA with greatly enhanced stability and tolerance of organic solvents but reduced activity was created by mutating four residues in the access tunnel. To create a stabilised enzyme with superior catalytic activity, two of the four originally modified residues were randomised. The resulting mutant F 176 G exhibited 32‐ and 10‐times enhanced activity towards 1,2‐dibromoethane in buffer and 40 % DMSO, respectively, upon retaining high stability. Structural and molecular dynamics analyses demonstrated that the new variant exhibited superior activity because the F 176 G mutation increased the radius of the tunnel’s mouth and the mobility of α‐helices lining the tunnel. The new variant’s tunnel was open in 48 % of trajectories, compared to 58 % for the wild‐type, but only 0.02 % for the original four‐point variant. Delicate balance between activity and stability of enzymes can be manipulated by fine‐tuning the diameter and dynamics of their access tunnels.

The crystal structure of the secreted aspartic protease 1 from Candida parapsilosis in complex with pepstatin A

Opportunistic pathogens of the genus Candida cause infections representing a major threat to long-term survival of immunocompromised patients. Virulence of the Candida pathogens is enhanced by production of extracellular proteolytic enzymes and secreted aspartic proteases (Saps) are therefore studied as potential virulence factors and possible targets for therapeutic drug design. Candida parapsilosis is less invasive than C. albicans, however, it is one of the leading causative agents of yeast infections. We report three-dimensional crystal structure of Sapp1p from C. parapsilosis in complex with pepstatin A, the classical inhibitor of aspartic proteases. The structure of Sapp1p was determined from protein isolated from its natural source and represents the first structure of Sap from C. parapsilosis. Overall fold and topology of Sapp1p is very similar to the archetypic fold of monomeric aspartic protease family and known structures of Sap isoenzymes from C. albicans and Sapt1p from C. tropicalis. Structural comparison revealed noticeable differences in the structure of loops surrounding the active site. This resulted in differential character, shape, and size of the substrate binding site explaining divergent substrate specificities and inhibitor affinities. Determination of structures of Sap isoenzymes from various species might contribute to the development of new Sap-specific inhibitors.

Structural and functional analysis of a novel haloalkane dehalogenase with two halide‐binding sites

The crystal structure of the novel haloalkane dehalogenase DbeA from Bradyrhizobium elkanii USDA94 revealed the presence of two chloride ions buried in the protein interior. The first halide-binding site is involved in substrate binding and is present in all structurally characterized haloalkane dehalogenases. The second halide-binding site is unique to DbeA. To elucidate the role of the second halide-binding site in enzyme functionality, a two-point mutant lacking this site was constructed and characterized. These substitutions resulted in a shift in the substrate-specificity class and were accompanied by a decrease in enzyme activity, stability and the elimination of substrate inhibition. The changes in enzyme catalytic activity were attributed to deceleration of the rate-limiting hydrolytic step mediated by the lower basicity of the catalytic histidine.

Crystallization and preliminary crystallographic characterization of the iron-regulated outer membrane lipoprotein FrpD from Neisseria meningitidis

Fe-regulated protein D (FrpD) is a Neisseria meningitidis outer membrane lipoprotein that may be involved in the anchoring of the secreted repeat in toxins (RTX) protein FrpC to the outer bacterial membrane. However, the function and biological roles of the FrpD and FrpC proteins remain unknown. Native and selenomethionine-substituted variants of recombinant FrpD43-271 protein were crystallized using the sitting-drop vapour-diffusion method. Diffraction data were collected to a resolution of 2.25 A for native FrpD43-271 protein and to a resolution of 2.00 A for selenomethionine-substituted FrpD43-271 (SeMet FrpD43-271) protein. The crystals of native FrpD43-271 protein belonged to the hexagonal space group P6(2) or P6(4), while the crystals of SeMet FrpD43-271 protein belonged to the primitive orthorhombic space group P2(1)2(1)2(1).

Crystallization and preliminary X-ray analysis of a novel haloalkane dehalogenase DbeA from Bradyrhizobium elkani USDA94

A novel enzyme, DbeA, belonging to the haloalkane dehalogenase family (EC 3.8.1.5) was isolated from Bradyrhizobium elkani USDA94. This haloalkane dehalogenase is closely related to the DbjA enzyme from B. japonicum USDA110 (71% sequence identity), but has different biochemical properties. DbeA is generally less active and has a higher specificity towards brominated and iodinated compounds than DbjA. In order to understand the altered activity and specificity of DbeA, its mutant variant DbeA1, which carries the unique fragment of DbjA, was also constructed. Both wild-type DbeA and DbeA1 were crystallized using the sitting-drop vapour-diffusion method. The crystals of DbeA belonged to the primitive orthorhombic space group P2(1)2(1)2(1), while the crystals of DbeA1 belonged to the monoclinic space group C2. Diffraction data were collected to 2.2 A resolution for both DbeA and DbeA1 crystals.