ALBERT

Description: The current outbreak of Ebola virus in West Africa is unprecedented, causing more cases and fatalities than all previous outbreaks combined, and has yet to be controlled. Several post-exposure interventions have been employed under compassionate use to treat patients repatriated to Europe and the United States. However, the in vivo efficacy of these interventions against the new outbreak strain of Ebola virus is unknown. Here we show that lipid-nanoparticle-encapsulated short interfering RNAs (siRNAs) rapidly adapted to target the Makona outbreak strain of Ebola virus are able to protect 100% of rhesus monkeys against lethal challenge when treatment was initiated at 3 days after exposure while animals were viraemic and clinically ill. Although all infected animals showed evidence of advanced disease including abnormal haematology, blood chemistry and coagulopathy, siRNA-treated animals had milder clinical features and fully recovered, while the untreated control animals succumbed to the disease. These results represent the first, to our knowledge, successful demonstration of therapeutic anti-Ebola virus efficacy against the new outbreak strain in nonhuman primates and highlight the rapid development of lipid-nanoparticle-delivered siRNA as a countermeasure against this highly lethal human disease.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4467030/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4467030/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Thi, Emily P -- Mire, Chad E -- Lee, Amy C H -- Geisbert, Joan B -- Zhou, Joy Z -- Agans, Krystle N -- Snead, Nicholas M -- Deer, Daniel J -- Barnard, Trisha R -- Fenton, Karla A -- MacLachlan, Ian -- Geisbert, Thomas W -- U19 AI109711/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- U19AI109711/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- England -- Nature. 2015 May 21;521(7552):362-5. doi: 10.1038/nature14442. Epub 2015 Apr 22.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Tekmira Pharmaceuticals, Burnaby, British Columbia V5J 5J8, Canada. ; 1] Galveston National Laboratory, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas 77550, USA [2] Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas 77550, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25901685" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Piezo proteins are evolutionarily conserved and functionally diverse mechanosensitive cation channels. However, the overall structural architecture and gating mechanisms of Piezo channels have remained unknown. Here we determine the cryo-electron microscopy structure of the full-length (2,547 amino acids) mouse Piezo1 (Piezo1) at a resolution of 4.8 A. Piezo1 forms a trimeric propeller-like structure (about 900 kilodalton), with the extracellular domains resembling three distal blades and a central cap. The transmembrane region has 14 apparently resolved segments per subunit. These segments form three peripheral wings and a central pore module that encloses a potential ion-conducting pore. The rather flexible extracellular blade domains are connected to the central intracellular domain by three long beam-like structures. This trimeric architecture suggests that Piezo1 may use its peripheral regions as force sensors to gate the central ion-conducting pore.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Ge, Jingpeng -- Li, Wanqiu -- Zhao, Qiancheng -- Li, Ningning -- Chen, Maofei -- Zhi, Peng -- Li, Ruochong -- Gao, Ning -- Xiao, Bailong -- Yang, Maojun -- England -- Nature. 2015 Nov 5;527(7576):64-9. doi: 10.1038/nature15247. Epub 2015 Sep 21.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Tsinghua-Peking Joint Center for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences or Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China. ; Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Protein Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China. ; Department of Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China. ; IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26390154" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Bacteria secrete peptides and proteins to communicate, to poison competitors, and to manipulate host cells. Among the various protein-translocation machineries, the peptidase-containing ATP-binding cassette transporters (PCATs) are appealingly simple. Each PCAT contains two peptidase domains that cleave the secretion signal from the substrate, two transmembrane domains that form a translocation pathway, and two nucleotide-binding domains that hydrolyse ATP. In Gram-positive bacteria, PCATs function both as maturation proteases and exporters for quorum-sensing or antimicrobial polypeptides. In Gram-negative bacteria, PCATs interact with two other membrane proteins to form the type 1 secretion system. Here we present crystal structures of PCAT1 from Clostridium thermocellum in two different conformations. These structures, accompanied by biochemical data, show that the translocation pathway is a large alpha-helical barrel sufficient to accommodate small folded proteins. ATP binding alternates access to the transmembrane pathway and also regulates the protease activity, thereby coupling substrate processing to translocation.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Lin, David Yin-wei -- Huang, Shuo -- Chen, Jue -- Howard Hughes Medical Institute/ -- England -- Nature. 2015 Jul 23;523(7561):425-30. doi: 10.1038/nature14623.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉1] Laboratory of Membrane Biology and Biophysics, The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, New York 10065, USA [2] Howard Hughes Medical Institute, 1230 York Avenue, New York, New York 10065, USA. ; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, 1230 York Avenue, New York, New York 10065, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26201595" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a severe age-related neurodegenerative disorder characterized by accumulation of amyloid-beta plaques and neurofibrillary tangles, synaptic and neuronal loss, and cognitive decline. Several genes have been implicated in AD, but chromatin state alterations during neurodegeneration remain uncharacterized. Here we profile transcriptional and chromatin state dynamics across early and late pathology in the hippocampus of an inducible mouse model of AD-like neurodegeneration. We find a coordinated downregulation of synaptic plasticity genes and regulatory regions, and upregulation of immune response genes and regulatory regions, which are targeted by factors that belong to the ETS family of transcriptional regulators, including PU.1. Human regions orthologous to increasing-level enhancers show immune-cell-specific enhancer signatures as well as immune cell expression quantitative trait loci, while decreasing-level enhancer orthologues show fetal-brain-specific enhancer activity. Notably, AD-associated genetic variants are specifically enriched in increasing-level enhancer orthologues, implicating immune processes in AD predisposition. Indeed, increasing enhancers overlap known AD loci lacking protein-altering variants, and implicate additional loci that do not reach genome-wide significance. Our results reveal new insights into the mechanisms of neurodegeneration and establish the mouse as a useful model for functional studies of AD regulatory regions.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4530583/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4530583/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Gjoneska, Elizabeta -- Pfenning, Andreas R -- Mathys, Hansruedi -- Quon, Gerald -- Kundaje, Anshul -- Tsai, Li-Huei -- Kellis, Manolis -- R01 HG004037/HG/NHGRI NIH HHS/ -- R01 NS078839/NS/NINDS NIH HHS/ -- R01HG004037-07/HG/NHGRI NIH HHS/ -- R01NS078839/NS/NINDS NIH HHS/ -- RC1 HG005334/HG/NHGRI NIH HHS/ -- RC1HG005334/HG/NHGRI NIH HHS/ -- England -- Nature. 2015 Feb 19;518(7539):365-9. doi: 10.1038/nature14252.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉1] The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA [2] Broad Institute of Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA. ; 1] Broad Institute of Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA [2] Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA. ; The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA. ; 1] Broad Institute of Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA [2] Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA [3] Department of Genetics, Department of Computer Science, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25693568" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: 〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Delude, Cathryn M -- England -- Nature. 2015 Nov 5;527(7576):S14-5. doi: 10.1038/527S14a.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26536218" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: 〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Cyranoski, David -- England -- Nature. 2015 Nov 19;527(7578):283-4. doi: 10.1038/527283a.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26581268" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Rising temperatures and lessening fresh water supplies are threatening agricultural productivity and have motivated efforts to improve plant water use and drought tolerance. During water deficit, plants produce elevated levels of abscisic acid (ABA), which improves water consumption and stress tolerance by controlling guard cell aperture and other protective responses. One attractive strategy for controlling water use is to develop compounds that activate ABA receptors, but agonists approved for use have yet to be developed. In principle, an engineered ABA receptor that can be activated by an existing agrochemical could achieve this goal. Here we describe a variant of the ABA receptor PYRABACTIN RESISTANCE 1 (PYR1) that possesses nanomolar sensitivity to the agrochemical mandipropamid and demonstrate its efficacy for controlling ABA responses and drought tolerance in transgenic plants. Furthermore, crystallographic studies provide a mechanistic basis for its activity and demonstrate the relative ease with which the PYR1 ligand-binding pocket can be altered to accommodate new ligands. Thus, we have successfully repurposed an agrochemical for a new application using receptor engineering. We anticipate that this strategy will be applied to other plant receptors and represents a new avenue for crop improvement.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Park, Sang-Youl -- Peterson, Francis C -- Mosquna, Assaf -- Yao, Jin -- Volkman, Brian F -- Cutler, Sean R -- England -- Nature. 2015 Apr 23;520(7548):545-8. doi: 10.1038/nature14123. Epub 2015 Feb 4.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉1] Center for Plant Cell Biology and Department of Botany and Plant Sciences, University of California, Riverside, California 92521, USA [2] Institute for Integrative Genome Biology, Riverside, California 92521, USA. ; Department of Biochemistry, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53226, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25652827" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Blood polymorphonuclear neutrophils provide immune protection against pathogens, but may also promote tissue injury in inflammatory diseases. Although neutrophils are generally considered to be a relatively homogeneous population, evidence for heterogeneity is emerging. Under steady-state conditions, neutrophil heterogeneity may arise from ageing and replenishment by newly released neutrophils from the bone marrow. Aged neutrophils upregulate CXCR4, a receptor allowing their clearance in the bone marrow, with feedback inhibition of neutrophil production via the IL-17/G-CSF axis, and rhythmic modulation of the haematopoietic stem-cell niche. The aged subset also expresses low levels of L-selectin. Previous studies have suggested that in vitro-aged neutrophils exhibit impaired migration and reduced pro-inflammatory properties. Here, using in vivo ageing analyses in mice, we show that neutrophil pro-inflammatory activity correlates positively with their ageing whilst in circulation. Aged neutrophils represent an overly active subset exhibiting enhanced alphaMbeta2 integrin activation and neutrophil extracellular trap formation under inflammatory conditions. Neutrophil ageing is driven by the microbiota via Toll-like receptor and myeloid differentiation factor 88-mediated signalling pathways. Depletion of the microbiota significantly reduces the number of circulating aged neutrophils and dramatically improves the pathogenesis and inflammation-related organ damage in models of sickle-cell disease or endotoxin-induced septic shock. These results identify a role for the microbiota in regulating a disease-promoting neutrophil subset.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4712631/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4712631/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Zhang, Dachuan -- Chen, Grace -- Manwani, Deepa -- Mortha, Arthur -- Xu, Chunliang -- Faith, Jeremiah J -- Burk, Robert D -- Kunisaki, Yuya -- Jang, Jung-Eun -- Scheiermann, Christoph -- Merad, Miriam -- Frenette, Paul S -- R01 CA154947/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- R01 CA173861/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- R01 CA190400/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- R01 DK056638/DK/NIDDK NIH HHS/ -- R01 HL069438/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- R01 HL116340/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- England -- Nature. 2015 Sep 24;525(7570):528-32. doi: 10.1038/nature15367. Epub 2015 Sep 16.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Ruth L. and David S. Gottesman Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Research, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York 10461, USA. ; Department of Cell Biology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York 10461, USA. ; Department of Pediatrics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York 10461, USA. ; Department of Oncological Sciences, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York 10029, USA. ; The Immunology Institute, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York 10029, USA. ; The Institute for Genomics and Multiscale Biology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York 10029, USA. ; Department of Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York 10461, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26374999" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Ribosomes are translational machineries that catalyse protein synthesis. Ribosome structures from various species are known at the atomic level, but obtaining the structure of the human ribosome has remained a challenge; efforts to address this would be highly relevant with regard to human diseases. Here we report the near-atomic structure of the human ribosome derived from high-resolution single-particle cryo-electron microscopy and atomic model building. The structure has an average resolution of 3.6 A, reaching 2.9 A resolution in the most stable regions. It provides unprecedented insights into ribosomal RNA entities and amino acid side chains, notably of the transfer RNA binding sites and specific molecular interactions with the exit site tRNA. It reveals atomic details of the subunit interface, which is seen to remodel strongly upon rotational movements of the ribosomal subunits. Furthermore, the structure paves the way for analysing antibiotic side effects and diseases associated with deregulated protein synthesis.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Khatter, Heena -- Myasnikov, Alexander G -- Natchiar, S Kundhavai -- Klaholz, Bruno P -- England -- Nature. 2015 Apr 30;520(7549):640-5. doi: 10.1038/nature14427. Epub 2015 Apr 22.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉1] Centre for Integrative Biology (CBI), Department of Integrated Structural Biology, IGBMC (Institute of Genetics and of Molecular and Cellular Biology), 1 rue Laurent Fries, 67404 Illkirch, France [2] Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), UMR 7104, 67404 Illkirch, France [3] Institut National de la Sante et de la Recherche Medicale (INSERM) U964, 67404 Illkirch, France [4] Universite de Strasbourg, 67081 Strasbourg, France.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25901680" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: In response to adenosine 5'-diphosphate, the P2Y1 receptor (P2Y1R) facilitates platelet aggregation, and thus serves as an important antithrombotic drug target. Here we report the crystal structures of the human P2Y1R in complex with a nucleotide antagonist MRS2500 at 2.7 A resolution, and with a non-nucleotide antagonist BPTU at 2.2 A resolution. The structures reveal two distinct ligand-binding sites, providing atomic details of P2Y1R's unique ligand-binding modes. MRS2500 recognizes a binding site within the seven transmembrane bundle of P2Y1R, which is different in shape and location from the nucleotide binding site in the previously determined structure of P2Y12R, representative of another P2YR subfamily. BPTU binds to an allosteric pocket on the external receptor interface with the lipid bilayer, making it the first structurally characterized selective G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) ligand located entirely outside of the helical bundle. These high-resolution insights into P2Y1R should enable discovery of new orthosteric and allosteric antithrombotic drugs with reduced adverse effects.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4408927/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4408927/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Zhang, Dandan -- Gao, Zhan-Guo -- Zhang, Kaihua -- Kiselev, Evgeny -- Crane, Steven -- Wang, Jiang -- Paoletta, Silvia -- Yi, Cuiying -- Ma, Limin -- Zhang, Wenru -- Han, Gye Won -- Liu, Hong -- Cherezov, Vadim -- Katritch, Vsevolod -- Jiang, Hualiang -- Stevens, Raymond C -- Jacobson, Kenneth A -- Zhao, Qiang -- Wu, Beili -- U54 GM094618/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- U54GM094618/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- Z01 DK031116-21/Intramural NIH HHS/ -- Z01DK031116-26/DK/NIDDK NIH HHS/ -- ZIA DK031116-26/Intramural NIH HHS/ -- England -- Nature. 2015 Apr 16;520(7547):317-21. doi: 10.1038/nature14287. Epub 2015 Mar 30.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉CAS Key Laboratory of Receptor Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zuchongzhi Road, Pudong, Shanghai 201203, China. ; Molecular Recognition Section, Laboratory of Bioorganic Chemistry, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA. ; Bridge Institute, Department of Chemistry, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089, USA. ; Bridge Institute, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089, USA. ; Drug Discovery and Design Center, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zuchongzhi Road, Pudong, Shanghai 201203, China. ; 1] Bridge Institute, Department of Chemistry, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089, USA [2] Bridge Institute, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089, USA [3] iHuman Institute, ShanghaiTech University, 99 Haike Road, Pudong, Shanghai 201203, China.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25822790" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) constitute the largest family of membrane receptors in eukaryotes. Crystal structures have provided insight into GPCR interactions with ligands and G proteins, but our understanding of the conformational dynamics of activation is incomplete. Metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) are dimeric class C GPCRs that modulate neuronal excitability, synaptic plasticity, and serve as drug targets for neurological disorders. A 'clamshell' ligand-binding domain (LBD), which contains the ligand-binding site, is coupled to the transmembrane domain via a cysteine-rich domain, and LBD closure seems to be the first step in activation. Crystal structures of isolated mGluR LBD dimers led to the suggestion that activation also involves a reorientation of the dimer interface from a 'relaxed' to an 'active' state, but the relationship between ligand binding, LBD closure and dimer interface rearrangement in activation remains unclear. Here we use single-molecule fluorescence resonance energy transfer to probe the activation mechanism of full-length mammalian group II mGluRs. We show that the LBDs interconvert between three conformations: resting, activated and a short-lived intermediate state. Orthosteric agonists induce transitions between these conformational states, with efficacy determined by occupancy of the active conformation. Unlike mGluR2, mGluR3 displays basal dynamics, which are Ca(2+)-dependent and lead to basal protein activation. Our results support a general mechanism for the activation of mGluRs in which agonist binding induces closure of the LBDs, followed by dimer interface reorientation. Our experimental strategy should be widely applicable to study conformational dynamics in GPCRs and other membrane proteins.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4597782/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4597782/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Vafabakhsh, Reza -- Levitz, Joshua -- Isacoff, Ehud Y -- 2PN2EY018241/EY/NEI NIH HHS/ -- PN2 EY018241/EY/NEI NIH HHS/ -- England -- Nature. 2015 Aug 27;524(7566):497-501. doi: 10.1038/nature14679. Epub 2015 Aug 10.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA. ; Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA. ; Physical Bioscience Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26258295" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: The plant hormone jasmonate plays crucial roles in regulating plant responses to herbivorous insects and microbial pathogens and is an important regulator of plant growth and development. Key mediators of jasmonate signalling include MYC transcription factors, which are repressed by jasmonate ZIM-domain (JAZ) transcriptional repressors in the resting state. In the presence of active jasmonate, JAZ proteins function as jasmonate co-receptors by forming a hormone-dependent complex with COI1, the F-box subunit of an SCF-type ubiquitin E3 ligase. The hormone-dependent formation of the COI1-JAZ co-receptor complex leads to ubiquitination and proteasome-dependent degradation of JAZ repressors and release of MYC proteins from transcriptional repression. The mechanism by which JAZ proteins repress MYC transcription factors and how JAZ proteins switch between the repressor function in the absence of hormone and the co-receptor function in the presence of hormone remain enigmatic. Here we show that Arabidopsis MYC3 undergoes pronounced conformational changes when bound to the conserved Jas motif of the JAZ9 repressor. The Jas motif, previously shown to bind to hormone as a partly unwound helix, forms a complete alpha-helix that displaces the amino (N)-terminal helix of MYC3 and becomes an integral part of the MYC N-terminal fold. In this position, the Jas helix competitively inhibits MYC3 interaction with the MED25 subunit of the transcriptional Mediator complex. Our structural and functional studies elucidate a dynamic molecular switch mechanism that governs the repression and activation of a major plant hormone pathway.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4567411/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4567411/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Zhang, Feng -- Yao, Jian -- Ke, Jiyuan -- Zhang, Li -- Lam, Vinh Q -- Xin, Xiu-Fang -- Zhou, X Edward -- Chen, Jian -- Brunzelle, Joseph -- Griffin, Patrick R -- Zhou, Mingguo -- Xu, H Eric -- Melcher, Karsten -- He, Sheng Yang -- R01 AI068718/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- R01 GM102545/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01AI060761/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- Howard Hughes Medical Institute/ -- England -- Nature. 2015 Sep 10;525(7568):269-73. doi: 10.1038/nature14661. Epub 2015 Aug 10.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Laboratory of Structural Sciences and Laboratory of Structural Biology and Biochemistry, Van Andel Research Institute, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49503, USA. ; DOE Plant Research Laboratory, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, USA. ; College of Plant Protection, Nanjing Agricultural University, No. 1 Weigang, 210095, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China. ; Department of Biological Sciences, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan 49008, USA. ; Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, USA. ; Department of Molecular Therapeutics, Translational Research Institute, The Scripps Research Institute, Scripps Florida, Jupiter, Florida 33458, USA. ; College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou 310018, Zhejiang, China. ; Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Biological Chemistry, Life Sciences Collaborative Access Team, Synchrotron Research Center, Northwestern University, Argonne, Illinois 60439, USA. ; Key Laboratory of Receptor Research, VARI-SIMM Center, Center for Structure and Function of Drug Targets, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China. ; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26258305" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: The TRPA1 ion channel (also known as the wasabi receptor) is a detector of noxious chemical agents encountered in our environment or produced endogenously during tissue injury or drug metabolism. These include a broad class of electrophiles that activate the channel through covalent protein modification. TRPA1 antagonists hold potential for treating neurogenic inflammatory conditions provoked or exacerbated by irritant exposure. Despite compelling reasons to understand TRPA1 function, structural mechanisms underlying channel regulation remain obscure. Here we use single-particle electron cryo- microscopy to determine the structure of full-length human TRPA1 to approximately 4 A resolution in the presence of pharmacophores, including a potent antagonist. Several unexpected features are revealed, including an extensive coiled-coil assembly domain stabilized by polyphosphate co-factors and a highly integrated nexus that converges on an unpredicted transient receptor potential (TRP)-like allosteric domain. These findings provide new insights into the mechanisms of TRPA1 regulation, and establish a blueprint for structure-based design of analgesic and anti-inflammatory agents.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4409540/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4409540/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Paulsen, Candice E -- Armache, Jean-Paul -- Gao, Yuan -- Cheng, Yifan -- Julius, David -- R01 GM098672/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01 NS055299/NS/NINDS NIH HHS/ -- R01GM098672/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01NS055299/NS/NINDS NIH HHS/ -- T32 GM008284/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- Howard Hughes Medical Institute/ -- England -- Nature. 2015 Apr 23;520(7548):511-7. doi: 10.1038/nature14367. Epub 2015 Apr 8.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Physiology, University of California, San Francisco, California 94158-2517, USA. ; Keck Advanced Microscopy Laboratory, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California, San Francisco, California 94158-2517, USA. ; 1] Department of Physiology, University of California, San Francisco, California 94158-2517, USA [2] Keck Advanced Microscopy Laboratory, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California, San Francisco, California 94158-2517, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25855297" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: During eukaryotic translation initiation, 43S complexes, comprising a 40S ribosomal subunit, initiator transfer RNA and initiation factors (eIF) 2, 3, 1 and 1A, attach to the 5'-terminal region of messenger RNA and scan along it to the initiation codon. Scanning on structured mRNAs also requires the DExH-box protein DHX29. Mammalian eIF3 contains 13 subunits and participates in nearly all steps of translation initiation. Eight subunits having PCI (proteasome, COP9 signalosome, eIF3) or MPN (Mpr1, Pad1, amino-terminal) domains constitute the structural core of eIF3, to which five peripheral subunits are flexibly linked. Here we present a cryo-electron microscopy structure of eIF3 in the context of the DHX29-bound 43S complex, showing the PCI/MPN core at approximately 6 A resolution. It reveals the organization of the individual subunits and their interactions with components of the 43S complex. We were able to build near-complete polyalanine-level models of the eIF3 PCI/MPN core and of two peripheral subunits. The implications for understanding mRNA ribosomal attachment and scanning are discussed.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4719162/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4719162/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉des Georges, Amedee -- Dhote, Vidya -- Kuhn, Lauriane -- Hellen, Christopher U T -- Pestova, Tatyana V -- Frank, Joachim -- Hashem, Yaser -- R01 GM029169/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01 GM059660/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01 GM29169/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01 GM59660/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- Howard Hughes Medical Institute/ -- England -- Nature. 2015 Sep 24;525(7570):491-5. doi: 10.1038/nature14891. Epub 2015 Sep 7.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉HHMI, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Columbia University, New York, New York 10032, USA. ; Department of Cell Biology, SUNY Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, New York 11203, USA. ; CNRS, Proteomic Platform Strasbourg - Esplanade, Strasbourg 67084, France. ; Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia University, New York, New York 10032, USA. ; CNRS, Architecture et Reactivite de l'ARN, Universite de Strasbourg, Strasbourg 67084, France.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26344199" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: The bacterial ubiD and ubiX or the homologous fungal fdc1 and pad1 genes have been implicated in the non-oxidative reversible decarboxylation of aromatic substrates, and play a pivotal role in bacterial ubiquinone (also known as coenzyme Q) biosynthesis or microbial biodegradation of aromatic compounds, respectively. Despite biochemical studies on individual gene products, the composition and cofactor requirement of the enzyme responsible for in vivo decarboxylase activity remained unclear. Here we show that Fdc1 is solely responsible for the reversible decarboxylase activity, and that it requires a new type of cofactor: a prenylated flavin synthesized by the associated UbiX/Pad1. Atomic resolution crystal structures reveal that two distinct isomers of the oxidized cofactor can be observed, an isoalloxazine N5-iminium adduct and a N5 secondary ketimine species with markedly altered ring structure, both having azomethine ylide character. Substrate binding positions the dipolarophile enoic acid group directly above the azomethine ylide group. The structure of a covalent inhibitor-cofactor adduct suggests that 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition chemistry supports reversible decarboxylation in these enzymes. Although 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition is commonly used in organic chemistry, we propose that this presents the first example, to our knowledge, of an enzymatic 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction. Our model for Fdc1/UbiD catalysis offers new routes in alkene hydrocarbon production or aryl (de)carboxylation.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Payne, Karl A P -- White, Mark D -- Fisher, Karl -- Khara, Basile -- Bailey, Samuel S -- Parker, David -- Rattray, Nicholas J W -- Trivedi, Drupad K -- Goodacre, Royston -- Beveridge, Rebecca -- Barran, Perdita -- Rigby, Stephen E J -- Scrutton, Nigel S -- Hay, Sam -- Leys, David -- BB/K017802/1/Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council/United Kingdom -- BB/M/017702/1/Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council/United Kingdom -- England -- Nature. 2015 Jun 25;522(7557):497-501. doi: 10.1038/nature14560. Epub 2015 Jun 17.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Centre for Synthetic Biology of Fine and Speciality Chemicals, Manchester Institute of Biotechnology, University of Manchester, 131 Princess Street, Manchester M1 7DN, UK. ; Innovation/Biodomain, Shell International Exploration and Production, Westhollow Technology Center, 3333 Highway 6 South, Houston, Texas 77082-3101, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26083754" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: V(D)J recombination in the vertebrate immune system generates a highly diverse population of immunoglobulins and T-cell receptors by combinatorial joining of segments of coding DNA. The RAG1-RAG2 protein complex initiates this site-specific recombination by cutting DNA at specific sites flanking the coding segments. Here we report the crystal structure of the mouse RAG1-RAG2 complex at 3.2 A resolution. The 230-kilodalton RAG1-RAG2 heterotetramer is 'Y-shaped', with the amino-terminal domains of the two RAG1 chains forming an intertwined stalk. Each RAG1-RAG2 heterodimer composes one arm of the 'Y', with the active site in the middle and RAG2 at its tip. The RAG1-RAG2 structure rationalizes more than 60 mutations identified in immunodeficient patients, as well as a large body of genetic and biochemical data. The architectural similarity between RAG1 and the hairpin-forming transposases Hermes and Tn5 suggests the evolutionary conservation of these DNA rearrangements.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4342785/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4342785/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Kim, Min-Sung -- Lapkouski, Mikalai -- Yang, Wei -- Gellert, Martin -- Z01 DK036147-01/Intramural NIH HHS/ -- Z01 DK036147-02/Intramural NIH HHS/ -- Z01 DK036167-01/Intramural NIH HHS/ -- Z01 DK036167-02/Intramural NIH HHS/ -- ZIA DK036147-03/Intramural NIH HHS/ -- ZIA DK036147-04/Intramural NIH HHS/ -- ZIA DK036147-05/Intramural NIH HHS/ -- ZIA DK036147-06/Intramural NIH HHS/ -- ZIA DK036147-07/Intramural NIH HHS/ -- ZIA DK036147-08/Intramural NIH HHS/ -- ZIA DK036167-03/Intramural NIH HHS/ -- ZIA DK036167-04/Intramural NIH HHS/ -- ZIA DK036167-05/Intramural NIH HHS/ -- ZIA DK036167-06/Intramural NIH HHS/ -- ZIA DK036167-07/Intramural NIH HHS/ -- England -- Nature. 2015 Feb 26;518(7540):507-11. doi: 10.1038/nature14174. Epub 2015 Feb 18.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Laboratory of Molecular Biology, NIDDK, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25707801" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Viruses in the Reoviridae, like the triple-shelled human rotavirus and the single-shelled insect cytoplasmic polyhedrosis virus (CPV), all package a genome of segmented double-stranded RNAs (dsRNAs) inside the viral capsid and carry out endogenous messenger RNA synthesis through a transcriptional enzyme complex (TEC). By direct electron-counting cryoelectron microscopy and asymmetric reconstruction, we have determined the organization of the dsRNA genome inside quiescent CPV (q-CPV) and the in situ atomic structures of TEC within CPV in both quiescent and transcribing (t-CPV) states. We show that the ten segmented dsRNAs in CPV are organized with ten TECs in a specific, non-symmetric manner, with each dsRNA segment attached directly to a TEC. The TEC consists of two extensively interacting subunits: an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRP) and an NTPase VP4. We find that the bracelet domain of RdRP undergoes marked conformational change when q-CPV is converted to t-CPV, leading to formation of the RNA template entry channel and access to the polymerase active site. An amino-terminal helix from each of two subunits of the capsid shell protein (CSP) interacts with VP4 and RdRP. These findings establish the link between sensing of environmental cues by the external proteins and activation of endogenous RNA transcription by the TEC inside the virus.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Zhang, Xing -- Ding, Ke -- Yu, Xuekui -- Chang, Winston -- Sun, Jingchen -- Zhou, Z Hong -- 1S10OD018111/OD/NIH HHS/ -- 1S10RR23057/RR/NCRR NIH HHS/ -- AI094386/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- GM071940/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- England -- Nature. 2015 Nov 26;527(7579):531-4. doi: 10.1038/nature15767. Epub 2015 Oct 26.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉California Nanosystems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA. ; Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA. ; Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA. ; Subtropical Sericulture and Mulberry Resources Protection and Safety Engineering Research Center, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Agro-animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding, College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510642, China.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26503045" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Eukaryotic vacuolar H(+)-ATPases (V-ATPases) are rotary enzymes that use energy from hydrolysis of ATP to ADP to pump protons across membranes and control the pH of many intracellular compartments. ATP hydrolysis in the soluble catalytic region of the enzyme is coupled to proton translocation through the membrane-bound region by rotation of a central rotor subcomplex, with peripheral stalks preventing the entire membrane-bound region from turning with the rotor. The eukaryotic V-ATPase is the most complex rotary ATPase: it has three peripheral stalks, a hetero-oligomeric proton-conducting proteolipid ring, several subunits not found in other rotary ATPases, and is regulated by reversible dissociation of its catalytic and proton-conducting regions. Studies of ATP synthases, V-ATPases, and bacterial/archaeal V/A-ATPases have suggested that flexibility is necessary for the catalytic mechanism of rotary ATPases, but the structures of different rotational states have never been observed experimentally. Here we use electron cryomicroscopy to obtain structures for three rotational states of the V-ATPase from the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The resulting series of structures shows ten proteolipid subunits in the c-ring, setting the ATP:H(+) ratio for proton pumping by the V-ATPase at 3:10, and reveals long and highly tilted transmembrane alpha-helices in the a-subunit that interact with the c-ring. The three different maps reveal the conformational changes that occur to couple rotation in the symmetry-mismatched soluble catalytic region to the membrane-bound proton-translocating region. Almost all of the subunits of the enzyme undergo conformational changes during the transitions between these three rotational states. The structures of these states provide direct evidence that deformation during rotation enables the smooth transmission of power through rotary ATPases.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Zhao, Jianhua -- Benlekbir, Samir -- Rubinstein, John L -- MOP 81294/Canadian Institutes of Health Research/Canada -- England -- Nature. 2015 May 14;521(7551):241-5. doi: 10.1038/nature14365.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉1] Molecular Structure and Function Program, The Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute, 686 Bay Street, Toronto, Ontario M5G 0A4, Canada [2] Department of Medical Biophysics, The University of Toronto, Toronto Medical Discovery Tower, MaRS Centre, 101 College Street, Toronto, Ontario M5G 1L7, Canada. ; Molecular Structure and Function Program, The Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute, 686 Bay Street, Toronto, Ontario M5G 0A4, Canada. ; 1] Molecular Structure and Function Program, The Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute, 686 Bay Street, Toronto, Ontario M5G 0A4, Canada [2] Department of Medical Biophysics, The University of Toronto, Toronto Medical Discovery Tower, MaRS Centre, 101 College Street, Toronto, Ontario M5G 1L7, Canada [3] Department of Biochemistry, The University of Toronto, 1 King's College Circle, Medical Sciences Building, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A8, Canada.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25971514" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: 〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉DeWeerdt, Sarah -- England -- Nature. 2015 May 14;521(7551):S10-1. doi: 10.1038/521S10a.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25970451" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: The human lens is comprised largely of crystallin proteins assembled into a highly ordered, interactive macro-structure essential for lens transparency and refractive index. Any disruption of intra- or inter-protein interactions will alter this delicate structure, exposing hydrophobic surfaces, with consequent protein aggregation and cataract formation. Cataracts are the most common cause of blindness worldwide, affecting tens of millions of people, and currently the only treatment is surgical removal of cataractous lenses. The precise mechanisms by which lens proteins both prevent aggregation and maintain lens transparency are largely unknown. Lanosterol is an amphipathic molecule enriched in the lens. It is synthesized by lanosterol synthase (LSS) in a key cyclization reaction of a cholesterol synthesis pathway. Here we identify two distinct homozygous LSS missense mutations (W581R and G588S) in two families with extensive congenital cataracts. Both of these mutations affect highly conserved amino acid residues and impair key catalytic functions of LSS. Engineered expression of wild-type, but not mutant, LSS prevents intracellular protein aggregation of various cataract-causing mutant crystallins. Treatment by lanosterol, but not cholesterol, significantly decreased preformed protein aggregates both in vitro and in cell-transfection experiments. We further show that lanosterol treatment could reduce cataract severity and increase transparency in dissected rabbit cataractous lenses in vitro and cataract severity in vivo in dogs. Our study identifies lanosterol as a key molecule in the prevention of lens protein aggregation and points to a novel strategy for cataract prevention and treatment.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Zhao, Ling -- Chen, Xiang-Jun -- Zhu, Jie -- Xi, Yi-Bo -- Yang, Xu -- Hu, Li-Dan -- Ouyang, Hong -- Patel, Sherrina H -- Jin, Xin -- Lin, Danni -- Wu, Frances -- Flagg, Ken -- Cai, Huimin -- Li, Gen -- Cao, Guiqun -- Lin, Ying -- Chen, Daniel -- Wen, Cindy -- Chung, Christopher -- Wang, Yandong -- Qiu, Austin -- Yeh, Emily -- Wang, Wenqiu -- Hu, Xun -- Grob, Seanna -- Abagyan, Ruben -- Su, Zhiguang -- Tjondro, Harry Christianto -- Zhao, Xi-Juan -- Luo, Hongrong -- Hou, Rui -- Perry, J Jefferson P -- Gao, Weiwei -- Kozak, Igor -- Granet, David -- Li, Yingrui -- Sun, Xiaodong -- Wang, Jun -- Zhang, Liangfang -- Liu, Yizhi -- Yan, Yong-Bin -- Zhang, Kang -- England -- Nature. 2015 Jul 30;523(7562):607-11. doi: 10.1038/nature14650. Epub 2015 Jul 22.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉1] Molecular Medicine Research Center, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China [2] State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510060, China [3] Department of Ophthalmology and Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering Center, Institute for Engineering in Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, USA. ; State Key Laboratory of Membrane Biology, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China. ; 1] Department of Ophthalmology and Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering Center, Institute for Engineering in Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, USA [2] Department of Ophthalmology, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an 710032, China. ; BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China. ; 1] State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510060, China [2] Department of Ophthalmology and Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering Center, Institute for Engineering in Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, USA. ; Department of Ophthalmology and Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering Center, Institute for Engineering in Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, USA. ; 1] Molecular Medicine Research Center, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China [2] Guangzhou KangRui Biological Pharmaceutical Technology Company, Guangzhou 510005, China. ; Molecular Medicine Research Center, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China. ; State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510060, China. ; 1] Department of Ophthalmology and Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering Center, Institute for Engineering in Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, USA [2] CapitalBio Genomics Co., Ltd., Dongguan 523808, China. ; 1] Department of Ophthalmology and Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering Center, Institute for Engineering in Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, USA [2] Department of Ophthalmology, Shanghai First People's Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai JiaoTong University, Shanghai 20080, China. ; Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, USA. ; Guangzhou KangRui Biological Pharmaceutical Technology Company, Guangzhou 510005, China. ; Department of Biochemistry, University of California Riverside, Riverside, California 92521, USA. ; 1] Department of Ophthalmology and Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering Center, Institute for Engineering in Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, USA [2] Department of Nanoengineering, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, USA. ; King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. ; Department of Ophthalmology, Shanghai First People's Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai JiaoTong University, Shanghai 20080, China. ; Department of Ophthalmology, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an 710032, China. ; 1] Molecular Medicine Research Center, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China [2] State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510060, China [3] Department of Ophthalmology and Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering Center, Institute for Engineering in Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, USA [4] Department of Nanoengineering, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, USA [5] Veterans Administration Healthcare System, San Diego, California 92093, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26200341" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: The BCR-ABL1 fusion gene is a driver oncogene in chronic myeloid leukaemia and 30-50% of cases of adult acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. Introduction of ABL1 kinase inhibitors (for example, imatinib) has markedly improved patient survival, but acquired drug resistance remains a challenge. Point mutations in the ABL1 kinase domain weaken inhibitor binding and represent the most common clinical resistance mechanism. The BCR-ABL1 kinase domain gatekeeper mutation Thr315Ile (T315I) confers resistance to all approved ABL1 inhibitors except ponatinib, which has toxicity limitations. Here we combine comprehensive drug sensitivity and resistance profiling of patient cells ex vivo with structural analysis to establish the VEGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor axitinib as a selective and effective inhibitor for T315I-mutant BCR-ABL1-driven leukaemia. Axitinib potently inhibited BCR-ABL1(T315I), at both biochemical and cellular levels, by binding to the active form of ABL1(T315I) in a mutation-selective binding mode. These findings suggest that the T315I mutation shifts the conformational equilibrium of the kinase in favour of an active (DFG-in) A-loop conformation, which has more optimal binding interactions with axitinib. Treatment of a T315I chronic myeloid leukaemia patient with axitinib resulted in a rapid reduction of T315I-positive cells from bone marrow. Taken together, our findings demonstrate an unexpected opportunity to repurpose axitinib, an anti-angiogenic drug approved for renal cancer, as an inhibitor for ABL1 gatekeeper mutant drug-resistant leukaemia patients. This study shows that wild-type proteins do not always sample the conformations available to disease-relevant mutant proteins and that comprehensive drug testing of patient-derived cells can identify unpredictable, clinically significant drug-repositioning opportunities.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Pemovska, Tea -- Johnson, Eric -- Kontro, Mika -- Repasky, Gretchen A -- Chen, Jeffrey -- Wells, Peter -- Cronin, Ciaran N -- McTigue, Michele -- Kallioniemi, Olli -- Porkka, Kimmo -- Murray, Brion W -- Wennerberg, Krister -- England -- Nature. 2015 Mar 5;519(7541):102-5. doi: 10.1038/nature14119. Epub 2015 Feb 9.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), University of Helsinki, 00290 Helsinki, Finland. ; La Jolla Laboratories, Pfizer Worldwide Research &Development, San Diego, California 92121, USA. ; Hematology Research Unit Helsinki, University of Helsinki, and Helsinki University Hospital Comprehensive Cancer Center, Department of Hematology, 00290 Helsinki, Finland.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25686603" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: The metabolism of endothelial cells during vessel sprouting remains poorly studied. Here we report that endothelial loss of CPT1A, a rate-limiting enzyme of fatty acid oxidation (FAO), causes vascular sprouting defects due to impaired proliferation, not migration, of human and murine endothelial cells. Reduction of FAO in endothelial cells did not cause energy depletion or disturb redox homeostasis, but impaired de novo nucleotide synthesis for DNA replication. Isotope labelling studies in control endothelial cells showed that fatty acid carbons substantially replenished the Krebs cycle, and were incorporated into aspartate (a nucleotide precursor), uridine monophosphate (a precursor of pyrimidine nucleoside triphosphates) and DNA. CPT1A silencing reduced these processes and depleted endothelial cell stores of aspartate and deoxyribonucleoside triphosphates. Acetate (metabolized to acetyl-CoA, thereby substituting for the depleted FAO-derived acetyl-CoA) or a nucleoside mix rescued the phenotype of CPT1A-silenced endothelial cells. Finally, CPT1 blockade inhibited pathological ocular angiogenesis in mice, suggesting a novel strategy for blocking angiogenesis.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4413024/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4413024/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Schoors, Sandra -- Bruning, Ulrike -- Missiaen, Rindert -- Queiroz, Karla C S -- Borgers, Gitte -- Elia, Ilaria -- Zecchin, Annalisa -- Cantelmo, Anna Rita -- Christen, Stefan -- Goveia, Jermaine -- Heggermont, Ward -- Godde, Lucica -- Vinckier, Stefan -- Van Veldhoven, Paul P -- Eelen, Guy -- Schoonjans, Luc -- Gerhardt, Holger -- Dewerchin, Mieke -- Baes, Myriam -- De Bock, Katrien -- Ghesquiere, Bart -- Lunt, Sophia Y -- Fendt, Sarah-Maria -- Carmeliet, Peter -- 269073/European Research Council/International -- England -- Nature. 2015 Apr 9;520(7546):192-7. doi: 10.1038/nature14362. Epub 2015 Apr 1.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉1] Laboratory of Angiogenesis and Neurovascular link, Department of Oncology, KU Leuven, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium [2] Laboratory of Angiogenesis and Neurovascular Link, Vesalius Research Center, VIB, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium. ; 1] Laboratory of Cellular Metabolism and Metabolic Regulation, Department of Oncology, KU Leuven, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium [2] Laboratory of Cellular Metabolism and Metabolic Regulation, Vesalius Research Center, VIB, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium. ; Center for Molecular &Vascular Biology, Department of Cardiovascular Research, KU Leuven; Division of Clinical Cardiology, UZ Leuven, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium. ; Laboratory of Lipid Biochemistry and Protein Interactions, KU Leuven, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium. ; 1] Vascular Patterning Laboratory, Department of Oncology, KU Leuven, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium [2] Vascular Patterning Laboratory, Vesalius Research Center, VIB, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium [3] Integrative Vascular Biology Laboratory, Max Delbruck Center for Molecular Medicine, 13125 Berlin, Germany. ; Laboratory of Cell Metabolism, Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, KU Leuven, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium. ; 1] Laboratory of Angiogenesis and Neurovascular link, Department of Oncology, KU Leuven, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium [2] Laboratory of Angiogenesis and Neurovascular Link, Vesalius Research Center, VIB, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium [3] Exercise Physiology Research Group, Department of Kinesiology, KU Leuven, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium. ; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25830893" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Evolutionarily conserved SNARE (soluble N-ethylmaleimide sensitive factor attachment protein receptors) proteins form a complex that drives membrane fusion in eukaryotes. The ATPase NSF (N-ethylmaleimide sensitive factor), together with SNAPs (soluble NSF attachment protein), disassembles the SNARE complex into its protein components, making individual SNAREs available for subsequent rounds of fusion. Here we report structures of ATP- and ADP-bound NSF, and the NSF/SNAP/SNARE (20S) supercomplex determined by single-particle electron cryomicroscopy at near-atomic to sub-nanometre resolution without imposing symmetry. Large, potentially force-generating, conformational differences exist between ATP- and ADP-bound NSF. The 20S supercomplex exhibits broken symmetry, transitioning from six-fold symmetry of the NSF ATPase domains to pseudo four-fold symmetry of the SNARE complex. SNAPs interact with the SNARE complex with an opposite structural twist, suggesting an unwinding mechanism. The interfaces between NSF, SNAPs, and SNAREs exhibit characteristic electrostatic patterns, suggesting how one NSF/SNAP species can act on many different SNARE complexes.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4320033/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4320033/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Zhao, Minglei -- Wu, Shenping -- Zhou, Qiangjun -- Vivona, Sandro -- Cipriano, Daniel J -- Cheng, Yifan -- Brunger, Axel T -- 5-U01AI082051-05/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- P50 GM082250/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- P50GM082250/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01 GM082893/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01 GM098672/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01GM082893/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01GM098672/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R37 MH063105/MH/NIMH NIH HHS/ -- R37MH63105/MH/NIMH NIH HHS/ -- Howard Hughes Medical Institute/ -- England -- Nature. 2015 Feb 5;518(7537):61-7. doi: 10.1038/nature14148. Epub 2015 Jan 12.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA. ; Keck Advanced Microscopy Laboratory, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California, San Francisco, California 94158, USA. ; 1] Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA [2] Department of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Department of Structural Biology, Department of Photon Science, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25581794" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) has a major role in the Earth's nitrogen cycle and is used in energy-efficient wastewater treatment. This bacterial process combines nitrite and ammonium to form dinitrogen (N2) gas, and has been estimated to synthesize up to 50% of the dinitrogen gas emitted into our atmosphere from the oceans. Strikingly, the anammox process relies on the highly unusual, extremely reactive intermediate hydrazine, a compound also used as a rocket fuel because of its high reducing power. So far, the enzymatic mechanism by which hydrazine is synthesized is unknown. Here we report the 2.7 A resolution crystal structure, as well as biophysical and spectroscopic studies, of a hydrazine synthase multiprotein complex isolated from the anammox organism Kuenenia stuttgartiensis. The structure shows an elongated dimer of heterotrimers, each of which has two unique c-type haem-containing active sites, as well as an interaction point for a redox partner. Furthermore, a system of tunnels connects these active sites. The crystal structure implies a two-step mechanism for hydrazine synthesis: a three-electron reduction of nitric oxide to hydroxylamine at the active site of the gamma-subunit and its subsequent condensation with ammonia, yielding hydrazine in the active centre of the alpha-subunit. Our results provide the first, to our knowledge, detailed structural insight into the mechanism of biological hydrazine synthesis, which is of major significance for our understanding of the conversion of nitrogenous compounds in nature.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Dietl, Andreas -- Ferousi, Christina -- Maalcke, Wouter J -- Menzel, Andreas -- de Vries, Simon -- Keltjens, Jan T -- Jetten, Mike S M -- Kartal, Boran -- Barends, Thomas R M -- P41-GM103311/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- England -- Nature. 2015 Nov 19;527(7578):394-7. doi: 10.1038/nature15517. Epub 2015 Oct 19.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Biomolecular Mechanisms, Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany. ; Department of Microbiology, Institute for Water and Wetland Research, Radboud University Nijmegen, 6525 AJ Nijmegen, The Netherlands. ; Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institute, 5232 Villigen, Switzerland. ; Department of Biotechnology, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands. ; Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Laboratory of Microbiology, Gent University, Gent, Belgium.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26479033" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: The extent to which low-frequency (minor allele frequency (MAF) between 1-5%) and rare (MAF 〈/= 1%) variants contribute to complex traits and disease in the general population is mainly unknown. Bone mineral density (BMD) is highly heritable, a major predictor of osteoporotic fractures, and has been previously associated with common genetic variants, as well as rare, population-specific, coding variants. Here we identify novel non-coding genetic variants with large effects on BMD (ntotal = 53,236) and fracture (ntotal = 508,253) in individuals of European ancestry from the general population. Associations for BMD were derived from whole-genome sequencing (n = 2,882 from UK10K (ref. 10); a population-based genome sequencing consortium), whole-exome sequencing (n = 3,549), deep imputation of genotyped samples using a combined UK10K/1000 Genomes reference panel (n = 26,534), and de novo replication genotyping (n = 20,271). We identified a low-frequency non-coding variant near a novel locus, EN1, with an effect size fourfold larger than the mean of previously reported common variants for lumbar spine BMD (rs11692564(T), MAF = 1.6%, replication effect size = +0.20 s.d., Pmeta = 2 x 10(-14)), which was also associated with a decreased risk of fracture (odds ratio = 0.85; P = 2 x 10(-11); ncases = 98,742 and ncontrols = 409,511). Using an En1(cre/flox) mouse model, we observed that conditional loss of En1 results in low bone mass, probably as a consequence of high bone turnover. We also identified a novel low-frequency non-coding variant with large effects on BMD near WNT16 (rs148771817(T), MAF = 1.2%, replication effect size = +0.41 s.d., Pmeta = 1 x 10(-11)). In general, there was an excess of association signals arising from deleterious coding and conserved non-coding variants. These findings provide evidence that low-frequency non-coding variants have large effects on BMD and fracture, thereby providing rationale for whole-genome sequencing and improved imputation reference panels to study the genetic architecture of complex traits and disease in the general population.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4755714/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4755714/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Zheng, Hou-Feng -- Forgetta, Vincenzo -- Hsu, Yi-Hsiang -- Estrada, Karol -- Rosello-Diez, Alberto -- Leo, Paul J -- Dahia, Chitra L -- Park-Min, Kyung Hyun -- Tobias, Jonathan H -- Kooperberg, Charles -- Kleinman, Aaron -- Styrkarsdottir, Unnur -- Liu, Ching-Ti -- Uggla, Charlotta -- Evans, Daniel S -- Nielson, Carrie M -- Walter, Klaudia -- Pettersson-Kymmer, Ulrika -- McCarthy, Shane -- Eriksson, Joel -- Kwan, Tony -- Jhamai, Mila -- Trajanoska, Katerina -- Memari, Yasin -- Min, Josine -- Huang, Jie -- Danecek, Petr -- Wilmot, Beth -- Li, Rui -- Chou, Wen-Chi -- Mokry, Lauren E -- Moayyeri, Alireza -- Claussnitzer, Melina -- Cheng, Chia-Ho -- Cheung, Warren -- Medina-Gomez, Carolina -- Ge, Bing -- Chen, Shu-Huang -- Choi, Kwangbom -- Oei, Ling -- Fraser, James -- Kraaij, Robert -- Hibbs, Matthew A -- Gregson, Celia L -- Paquette, Denis -- Hofman, Albert -- Wibom, Carl -- Tranah, Gregory J -- Marshall, Mhairi -- Gardiner, Brooke B -- Cremin, Katie -- Auer, Paul -- Hsu, Li -- Ring, Sue -- Tung, Joyce Y -- Thorleifsson, Gudmar -- Enneman, Anke W -- van Schoor, Natasja M -- de Groot, Lisette C P G M -- van der Velde, Nathalie -- Melin, Beatrice -- Kemp, John P -- Christiansen, Claus -- Sayers, Adrian -- Zhou, Yanhua -- Calderari, Sophie -- van Rooij, Jeroen -- Carlson, Chris -- Peters, Ulrike -- Berlivet, Soizik -- Dostie, Josee -- Uitterlinden, Andre G -- Williams, Stephen R -- Farber, Charles -- Grinberg, Daniel -- LaCroix, Andrea Z -- Haessler, Jeff -- Chasman, Daniel I -- Giulianini, Franco -- Rose, Lynda M -- Ridker, Paul M -- Eisman, John A -- Nguyen, Tuan V -- Center, Jacqueline R -- Nogues, Xavier -- Garcia-Giralt, Natalia -- Launer, Lenore L -- Gudnason, Vilmunder -- Mellstrom, Dan -- Vandenput, Liesbeth -- Amin, Najaf -- van Duijn, Cornelia M -- Karlsson, Magnus K -- Ljunggren, Osten -- Svensson, Olle -- Hallmans, Goran -- Rousseau, Francois -- Giroux, Sylvie -- Bussiere, Johanne -- Arp, Pascal P -- Koromani, Fjorda -- Prince, Richard L -- Lewis, Joshua R -- Langdahl, Bente L -- Hermann, A Pernille -- Jensen, Jens-Erik B -- Kaptoge, Stephen -- Khaw, Kay-Tee -- Reeve, Jonathan -- Formosa, Melissa M -- Xuereb-Anastasi, Angela -- Akesson, Kristina -- McGuigan, Fiona E -- Garg, Gaurav -- Olmos, Jose M -- Zarrabeitia, Maria T -- Riancho, Jose A -- Ralston, Stuart H -- Alonso, Nerea -- Jiang, Xi -- Goltzman, David -- Pastinen, Tomi -- Grundberg, Elin -- Gauguier, Dominique -- Orwoll, Eric S -- Karasik, David -- Davey-Smith, George -- AOGC Consortium -- Smith, Albert V -- Siggeirsdottir, Kristin -- Harris, Tamara B -- Zillikens, M Carola -- van Meurs, Joyce B J -- Thorsteinsdottir, Unnur -- Maurano, Matthew T -- Timpson, Nicholas J -- Soranzo, Nicole -- Durbin, Richard -- Wilson, Scott G -- Ntzani, Evangelia E -- Brown, Matthew A -- Stefansson, Kari -- Hinds, David A -- Spector, Tim -- Cupples, L Adrienne -- Ohlsson, Claes -- Greenwood, Celia M T -- UK10K Consortium -- Jackson, Rebecca D -- Rowe, David W -- Loomis, Cynthia A -- Evans, David M -- Ackert-Bicknell, Cheryl L -- Joyner, Alexandra L -- Duncan, Emma L -- Kiel, Douglas P -- Rivadeneira, Fernando -- Richards, J Brent -- G1000143/Medical Research Council/United Kingdom -- K01 AR062655/AR/NIAMS NIH HHS/ -- MC_UU_12013/3/Medical Research Council/United Kingdom -- R01 AG005394/AG/NIA NIH HHS/ -- R01 AG005407/AG/NIA NIH HHS/ -- R01 AG027574/AG/NIA NIH HHS/ -- R01 AG027576/AG/NIA NIH HHS/ -- R01 AR035582/AR/NIAMS NIH HHS/ -- R01 AR035583/AR/NIAMS NIH HHS/ -- RC2 AR058973/AR/NIAMS NIH HHS/ -- U01 AG018197/AG/NIA NIH HHS/ -- U01 AG042140/AG/NIA NIH HHS/ -- U01 AG042143/AG/NIA NIH HHS/ -- U01 AR045580/AR/NIAMS NIH HHS/ -- U01 AR045583/AR/NIAMS NIH HHS/ -- U01 AR045614/AR/NIAMS NIH HHS/ -- U01 AR045632/AR/NIAMS NIH HHS/ -- U01 AR045647/AR/NIAMS NIH HHS/ -- U01 AR045654/AR/NIAMS NIH HHS/ -- U01 AR066160/AR/NIAMS NIH HHS/ -- England -- Nature. 2015 Oct 1;526(7571):112-7. doi: 10.1038/nature14878. Epub 2015 Sep 14.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Departments of Medicine, Human Genetics, Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McGill University, Montreal H3A 1A2, Canada. ; Department of Medicine, Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, Jewish General Hospital, McGill University, Montreal H3T 1E2, Canada. ; Institute for Aging Research, Hebrew SeniorLife, Boston, Massachusetts 02131, USA. ; Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA. ; Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA. ; Department of Internal Medicine, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam 3015GE, The Netherlands. ; Analytic and Translational Genetics Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA. ; Developmental Biology Program, Sloan Kettering Institute, New York, New York 10065, USA. ; The University of Queensland Diamantina Institute, Translational Research Institute, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane 4102, Australia. ; Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, New York 10065, USA. ; Tissue Engineering, Regeneration and Repair Program, Hospital for Special Surgery, New York 10021, USA. ; Rheumatology Divison, Hospital for Special Surgery New York, New York 10021, USA. ; School of Clinical Science, University of Bristol, Bristol BS10 5NB, UK. ; MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 2BN, UK. ; Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington 98109, USA. ; Department of Research, 23andMe, Mountain View, California 94041, USA. ; Department of Population Genomics, deCODE Genetics, Reykjavik IS-101, Iceland. ; Department of Biostatistics, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts 02118, USA. ; Centre for Bone and Arthritis Research, Department of Internal Medicine and Clinical Nutrition, Institute of Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg S-413 45, Sweden. ; California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute, San Francisco, California 94158, USA. ; Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Oregon Health &Science University, Portland, Oregon 97239, USA. ; Bone &Mineral Unit, Oregon Health &Science University, Portland, Oregon 97239, USA. ; Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Cambridge CB10 1SA, UK. ; Departments of Pharmacology and Clinical Neurosciences, Umea University, Umea S-901 87, Sweden. ; Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Umea University, Umea SE-901 87, Sweden. ; Centre for Bone and Arthritis Research, Institute of Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg S-413 45, Sweden. ; McGill University and Genome Quebec Innovation Centre, Montreal H3A 0G1, Canada. ; Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam 3015GE, The Netherlands. ; Oregon Clinical and Translational Research Institute, Oregon Health &Science University, Portland, Oregon 97239, USA. ; Department of Medical and Clinical Informatics, Oregon Health &Science University, Portland, Oregon 97239, USA. ; Farr Institute of Health Informatics Research, University College London, London NW1 2DA, UK. ; Department of Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology, King's College London, London SE1 7EH, UK. ; Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA. ; Department of Human Genetics, McGill University, Montreal H3A 1B1, Canada. ; Netherlands Genomics Initiative (NGI)-sponsored Netherlands Consortium for Healthy Aging (NCHA), Leiden 2300RC, The Netherlands. ; Center for Musculoskeletal Research, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14642, USA. ; Department of Biochemistry and Goodman Cancer Research Center, McGill University, Montreal H3G 1Y6, Canada. ; Department of Computer Science, Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas 78212, USA. ; Musculoskeletal Research Unit, University of Bristol, Bristol BS10 5NB, UK. ; Department of Radiation Sciences, Umea University, Umea S-901 87, Sweden. ; School of Public Health, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53726, USA. ; School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 2BN, UK. ; Department of Statistics, deCODE Genetics, Reykjavik IS-101, Iceland. ; Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and the EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam 1007 MB, The Netherlands. ; Department of Human Nutrition, Wageningen University, Wageningen 6700 EV, The Netherlands. ; Department of Internal Medicine, Section Geriatrics, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam 1105, The Netherlands. ; Nordic Bioscience, Herlev 2730, Denmark. ; Cordeliers Research Centre, INSERM UMRS 1138, Paris 75006, France. ; Institute of Cardiometabolism and Nutrition, University Pierre &Marie Curie, Paris 75013, France. ; Departments of Medicine (Cardiovascular Medicine), Centre for Public Health Genomics, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia 22908, USA. ; Department of Genetics, University of Barcelona, Barcelona 08028, Spain. ; U-720, Centre for Biomedical Network Research on Rare Diseases (CIBERER), Barcelona 28029, Spain. ; Department of Human Molecular Genetics, The Institute of Biomedicine of the University of Barcelona (IBUB), Barcelona 08028, Spain. ; Women's Health Center of Excellence Family Medicine and Public Health, University of California - San Diego, San Diego, California 92093, USA. ; Division of Preventive Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA. ; Osteoporosis &Bone Biology Program, Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Sydney 2010, Australia. ; School of Medicine Sydney, University of Notre Dame Australia, Sydney 6959, Australia. ; St. Vincent's Hospital &Clinical School, NSW University, Sydney 2010, Australia. ; Musculoskeletal Research Group, Institut Hospital del Mar d'Investigacions Mediques, Barcelona 08003, Spain. ; Cooperative Research Network on Aging and Fragility (RETICEF), Institute of Health Carlos III, 28029, Spain. ; Department of Internal Medicine, Hospital del Mar, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Barcelona 08193, Spain. ; Neuroepidemiology Section, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA. ; Icelandic Heart Association, Kopavogur IS-201, Iceland. ; Faculty of Medicine, University of Iceland, Reykjavik IS-101, Iceland. ; Genetic epidemiology unit, Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam 3000CA, The Netherlands. ; Department of Orthopaedics, Skane University Hospital Malmo 205 02, Sweden. ; Department of Medical Sciences, University of Uppsala, Uppsala 751 85, Sweden. ; Department of Surgical and Perioperative Sciences, Umea Unviersity, Umea 901 85, Sweden. ; Department of Molecular Biology, Medical Biochemistry and Pathology, Universite Laval, Quebec City G1V 0A6, Canada. ; Axe Sante des Populations et Pratiques Optimales en Sante, Centre de recherche du CHU de Quebec, Quebec City G1V 4G2, Canada. ; Department of Endocrinology and Diabetes, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Nedlands 6009, Australia. ; Department of Medicine, University of Western Australia, Perth 6009, Australia. ; Department of Endocrinology and Internal Medicine, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus C 8000, Denmark. ; Department of Endocrinology, Odense University Hospital, Odense C 5000, Denmark. ; Department of Endocrinology, Hvidovre University Hospital, Hvidovre 2650, Denmark. ; Clinical Gerontology Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 2QQ, UK. ; Medicine and Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB1 8RN, UK. ; Institute of Musculoskeletal Sciences, The Botnar Research Centre, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7LD, UK. ; Department of Applied Biomedical Science, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Malta, Msida MSD 2080, Malta. ; Clinical and Molecular Osteoporosis Research Unit, Department of Clinical Sciences Malmo, Lund University, 205 02, Sweden. ; Department of Medicine and Psychiatry, University of Cantabria, Santander 39011, Spain. ; Department of Internal Medicine, Hospital U.M. Valdecilla- IDIVAL, Santander 39008, Spain. ; Department of Legal Medicine, University of Cantabria, Santander 39011, Spain. ; Centre for Genomic and Experimental Medicine, Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine, Western General Hospital, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH4 2XU, UK. ; Department of Reconstructive Sciences, College of Dental Medicine, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, Connecticut 06030, USA. ; Department of Medicine and Physiology, McGill University, Montreal H4A 3J1, Canada. ; Department of Medicine, Oregon Health &Science University, Portland, Oregon 97239, USA. ; Faculty of Medicine in the Galilee, Bar-Ilan University, Safed 13010, Israel. ; Laboratory of Epidemiology, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA. ; Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA. ; School of Medicine and Pharmacology, University of Western Australia, Crawley 6009, Australia. ; Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, University of Ioannina School of Medicine, Ioannina 45110, Greece. ; Department of Health Services, Policy and Practice, Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, Rhode Island 02903, USA. ; deCODE Genetics, Reykjavik IS-101, Iceland. ; Framingham Heart Study, Framingham, Massachusetts 01702, USA. ; Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill University, Montreal H3A 1A2, Canada. ; Department of Oncology, Gerald Bronfman Centre, McGill University, Montreal H2W 1S6, Canada. ; Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210, USA. ; The Ronald O. Perelman Department of Dermatology and Department of Cell Biology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York 10016, USA. ; Department of Diabetes and Endocrinology, Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, Brisbane 4029, Australia.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26367794" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: 〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Knight, Rob -- England -- Nature. 2015 Feb 26;518(7540):S5. doi: 10.1038/518S5a.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉University of California, San Diego.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25715279" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Diagnosis of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is associated with a dismal prognosis despite current best therapies; therefore new treatment strategies are urgently required. Numerous studies have suggested that epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) contributes to early-stage dissemination of cancer cells and is pivotal for invasion and metastasis of PDAC. EMT is associated with phenotypic conversion of epithelial cells into mesenchymal-like cells in cell culture conditions, although such defined mesenchymal conversion (with spindle-shaped morphology) of epithelial cells in vivo is rare, with quasi-mesenchymal phenotypes occasionally observed in the tumour (partial EMT). Most studies exploring the functional role of EMT in tumours have depended on cell-culture-induced loss-of-function and gain-of-function experiments involving EMT-inducing transcription factors such as Twist, Snail and Zeb1 (refs 2, 3, 7-10). Therefore, the functional contribution of EMT to invasion and metastasis remains unclear, and genetically engineered mouse models to address a causal connection are lacking. Here we functionally probe the role of EMT in PDAC by generating mouse models of PDAC with deletion of Snail or Twist, two key transcription factors responsible for EMT. EMT suppression in the primary tumour does not alter the emergence of invasive PDAC, systemic dissemination or metastasis. Suppression of EMT leads to an increase in cancer cell proliferation with enhanced expression of nucleoside transporters in tumours, contributing to enhanced sensitivity to gemcitabine treatment and increased overall survival of mice. Collectively, our study suggests that Snail- or Twist-induced EMT is not rate-limiting for invasion and metastasis, but highlights the importance of combining EMT inhibition with chemotherapy for the treatment of pancreatic cancer.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Zheng, Xiaofeng -- Carstens, Julienne L -- Kim, Jiha -- Scheible, Matthew -- Kaye, Judith -- Sugimoto, Hikaru -- Wu, Chia-Chin -- LeBleu, Valerie S -- Kalluri, Raghu -- P30 CA016672/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- P30CA16672/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- England -- Nature. 2015 Nov 26;527(7579):525-30. doi: 10.1038/nature16064. Epub 2015 Nov 11.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Cancer Biology, Metastasis Research Center, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas 77054, USA. ; Department of Genomic Medicine, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas 77054, USA. ; Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, USA. ; Department of Bioengineering, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26560028" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Synaptotagmin-1 and neuronal SNARE proteins have central roles in evoked synchronous neurotransmitter release; however, it is unknown how they cooperate to trigger synaptic vesicle fusion. Here we report atomic-resolution crystal structures of Ca(2+)- and Mg(2+)-bound complexes between synaptotagmin-1 and the neuronal SNARE complex, one of which was determined with diffraction data from an X-ray free-electron laser, leading to an atomic-resolution structure with accurate rotamer assignments for many side chains. The structures reveal several interfaces, including a large, specific, Ca(2+)-independent and conserved interface. Tests of this interface by mutagenesis suggest that it is essential for Ca(2+)-triggered neurotransmitter release in mouse hippocampal neuronal synapses and for Ca(2+)-triggered vesicle fusion in a reconstituted system. We propose that this interface forms before Ca(2+) triggering, moves en bloc as Ca(2+) influx promotes the interactions between synaptotagmin-1 and the plasma membrane, and consequently remodels the membrane to promote fusion, possibly in conjunction with other interfaces.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4607316/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4607316/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Zhou, Qiangjun -- Lai, Ying -- Bacaj, Taulant -- Zhao, Minglei -- Lyubimov, Artem Y -- Uervirojnangkoorn, Monarin -- Zeldin, Oliver B -- Brewster, Aaron S -- Sauter, Nicholas K -- Cohen, Aina E -- Soltis, S Michael -- Alonso-Mori, Roberto -- Chollet, Matthieu -- Lemke, Henrik T -- Pfuetzner, Richard A -- Choi, Ucheor B -- Weis, William I -- Diao, Jiajie -- Sudhof, Thomas C -- Brunger, Axel T -- GM095887/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- GM102520/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- MH086403/MH/NIMH NIH HHS/ -- P41 GM103403/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- P41GM103393/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- P50 MH086403/MH/NIMH NIH HHS/ -- R01 GM077071/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01 GM095887/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01 GM102520/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R37 MH063105/MH/NIMH NIH HHS/ -- R37MH63105/MH/NIMH NIH HHS/ -- Howard Hughes Medical Institute/ -- England -- Nature. 2015 Sep 3;525(7567):62-7. doi: 10.1038/nature14975. Epub 2015 Aug 17.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA. ; Departments of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Photon Science, and Structural Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA. ; Physical Biosciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA. ; SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford, California 94305, USA. ; Departments of Structural Biology, Molecular and Cellular Physiology, and Photon Science, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26280336" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: The flipping of membrane-embedded lipids containing large, polar head groups is slow and energetically unfavourable, and is therefore catalysed by flippases, the mechanisms of which are unknown. A prominent example of a flipping reaction is the translocation of lipid-linked oligosaccharides that serve as donors in N-linked protein glycosylation. In Campylobacter jejuni, this process is catalysed by the ABC transporter PglK. Here we present a mechanism of PglK-catalysed lipid-linked oligosaccharide flipping based on crystal structures in distinct states, a newly devised in vitro flipping assay, and in vivo studies. PglK can adopt inward- and outward-facing conformations in vitro, but only outward-facing states are required for flipping. While the pyrophosphate-oligosaccharide head group of lipid-linked oligosaccharides enters the translocation cavity and interacts with positively charged side chains, the lipidic polyprenyl tail binds and activates the transporter but remains exposed to the lipid bilayer during the reaction. The proposed mechanism is distinct from the classical alternating-access model applied to other transporters.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Perez, Camilo -- Gerber, Sabina -- Boilevin, Jeremy -- Bucher, Monika -- Darbre, Tamis -- Aebi, Markus -- Reymond, Jean-Louis -- Locher, Kaspar P -- England -- Nature. 2015 Aug 27;524(7566):433-8. doi: 10.1038/nature14953. Epub 2015 Aug 12.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Institute of Molecular Biology and Biophysics, ETH Zurich, CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland. ; Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Berne, CH-3012 Berne, Switzerland. ; Institute of Microbiology, ETH Zurich, CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26266984" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: In the healthy adult brain synapses are continuously remodelled through a process of elimination and formation known as structural plasticity. Reduction in synapse number is a consistent early feature of neurodegenerative diseases, suggesting deficient compensatory mechanisms. Although much is known about toxic processes leading to synaptic dysfunction and loss in these disorders, how synaptic regeneration is affected is unknown. In hibernating mammals, cooling induces loss of synaptic contacts, which are reformed on rewarming, a form of structural plasticity. We have found that similar changes occur in artificially cooled laboratory rodents. Cooling and hibernation also induce a number of cold-shock proteins in the brain, including the RNA binding protein, RBM3 (ref. 6). The relationship of such proteins to structural plasticity is unknown. Here we show that synapse regeneration is impaired in mouse models of neurodegenerative disease, in association with the failure to induce RBM3. In both prion-infected and 5XFAD (Alzheimer-type) mice, the capacity to regenerate synapses after cooling declined in parallel with the loss of induction of RBM3. Enhanced expression of RBM3 in the hippocampus prevented this deficit and restored the capacity for synapse reassembly after cooling. RBM3 overexpression, achieved either by boosting endogenous levels through hypothermia before the loss of the RBM3 response or by lentiviral delivery, resulted in sustained synaptic protection in 5XFAD mice and throughout the course of prion disease, preventing behavioural deficits and neuronal loss and significantly prolonging survival. In contrast, knockdown of RBM3 exacerbated synapse loss in both models and accelerated disease and prevented the neuroprotective effects of cooling. Thus, deficient synapse regeneration, mediated at least in part by failure of the RBM3 stress response, contributes to synapse loss throughout the course of neurodegenerative disease. The data support enhancing cold-shock pathways as potential protective therapies in neurodegenerative disorders.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4338605/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4338605/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Peretti, Diego -- Bastide, Amandine -- Radford, Helois -- Verity, Nicholas -- Molloy, Colin -- Martin, Maria Guerra -- Moreno, Julie A -- Steinert, Joern R -- Smith, Tim -- Dinsdale, David -- Willis, Anne E -- Mallucci, Giovanna R -- MC_U132692719/Medical Research Council/United Kingdom -- Medical Research Council/United Kingdom -- England -- Nature. 2015 Feb 12;518(7538):236-9. doi: 10.1038/nature14142. Epub 2015 Jan 14.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Medical Research Council Toxicology Unit, Hodgkin Building, University of Leicester, Lancaster Road, Leicester LE1 9HN, UK. ; 1] Medical Research Council Toxicology Unit, Hodgkin Building, University of Leicester, Lancaster Road, Leicester LE1 9HN, UK [2] Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Clifford Allbutt Building, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 0AH, UK.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25607368" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Traumatic brain injury (TBI), characterized by acute neurological dysfunction, is one of the best known environmental risk factors for chronic traumatic encephalopathy and Alzheimer's disease, the defining pathologic features of which include tauopathy made of phosphorylated tau protein (P-tau). However, tauopathy has not been detected in the early stages after TBI, and how TBI leads to tauopathy is unknown. Here we find robust cis P-tau pathology after TBI in humans and mice. After TBI in mice and stress in vitro, neurons acutely produce cis P-tau, which disrupts axonal microtubule networks and mitochondrial transport, spreads to other neurons, and leads to apoptosis. This process, which we term 'cistauosis', appears long before other tauopathy. Treating TBI mice with cis antibody blocks cistauosis, prevents tauopathy development and spread, and restores many TBI-related structural and functional sequelae. Thus, cis P-tau is a major early driver of disease after TBI and leads to tauopathy in chronic traumatic encephalopathy and Alzheimer's disease. The cis antibody may be further developed to detect and treat TBI, and prevent progressive neurodegeneration after injury.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4718588/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4718588/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Kondo, Asami -- Shahpasand, Koorosh -- Mannix, Rebekah -- Qiu, Jianhua -- Moncaster, Juliet -- Chen, Chun-Hau -- Yao, Yandan -- Lin, Yu-Min -- Driver, Jane A -- Sun, Yan -- Wei, Shuo -- Luo, Man-Li -- Albayram, Onder -- Huang, Pengyu -- Rotenberg, Alexander -- Ryo, Akihide -- Goldstein, Lee E -- Pascual-Leone, Alvaro -- McKee, Ann C -- Meehan, William -- Zhou, Xiao Zhen -- Lu, Kun Ping -- P30 AG013846/AG/NIA NIH HHS/ -- P30AG13846/AG/NIA NIH HHS/ -- R01AG029385/AG/NIA NIH HHS/ -- R01AG046319/AG/NIA NIH HHS/ -- R01CA167677/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- R01HL111430/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- S10RR017927/RR/NCRR NIH HHS/ -- T32HD040128/HD/NICHD NIH HHS/ -- U01 NS086659/NS/NINDS NIH HHS/ -- U01NS086659-01/NS/NINDS NIH HHS/ -- England -- Nature. 2015 Jul 23;523(7561):431-6. doi: 10.1038/nature14658. Epub 2015 Jul 15.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉1] Division of Translational Therapeutics, Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA [2] Cancer Research Institute, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA. ; Division of Emergency Medicine, Children's Hospital Boston, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA. ; Alzheimer's Disease Center, CTE Program, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts 02118, USA. ; 1] Division of Translational Therapeutics, Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA [2] Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center, VA Boston Healthcare System, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02130, USA. ; Department of Neurology, Children's Hospital Boston, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA. ; Department of Microbiology, Yokohama City University School of Medicine, Yokohama 236-0004, Japan. ; Department of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA. ; Micheli Center for Sports Injury Prevention, Children's Hospital Boston, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26176913" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Retroviral integration is catalysed by a tetramer of integrase (IN) assembled on viral DNA ends in a stable complex, known as the intasome. How the intasome interfaces with chromosomal DNA, which exists in the form of nucleosomal arrays, is currently unknown. Here we show that the prototype foamy virus (PFV) intasome is proficient at stable capture of nucleosomes as targets for integration. Single-particle cryo-electron microscopy reveals a multivalent intasome-nucleosome interface involving both gyres of nucleosomal DNA and one H2A-H2B heterodimer. While the histone octamer remains intact, the DNA is lifted from the surface of the H2A-H2B heterodimer to allow integration at strongly preferred superhelix location +/-3.5 positions. Amino acid substitutions disrupting these contacts impinge on the ability of the intasome to engage nucleosomes in vitro and redistribute viral integration sites on the genomic scale. Our findings elucidate the molecular basis for nucleosome capture by the viral DNA recombination machinery and the underlying nucleosome plasticity that allows integration.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4530500/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4530500/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Maskell, Daniel P -- Renault, Ludovic -- Serrao, Erik -- Lesbats, Paul -- Matadeen, Rishi -- Hare, Stephen -- Lindemann, Dirk -- Engelman, Alan N -- Costa, Alessandro -- Cherepanov, Peter -- P50 GM082251-06/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01 AI070042/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- R01 AI070042-08/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- England -- Nature. 2015 Jul 16;523(7560):366-9. doi: 10.1038/nature14495. Epub 2015 Jun 10.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Chromatin Structure and Mobile DNA, The Francis Crick Institute, Blanche Lane, South Mimms EN6 3LD, UK. ; 1] Architecture and Dynamics of Macromolecular Machines, Clare Hall Laboratories, The Francis Crick Institute, Blanche Lane, South Mimms EN6 3LD, UK [2] National Institute for Biological Standards and Control, Microscopy and Imaging, Blanche Lane, South Mimms EN6 3QG, UK. ; Department of Cancer Immunology and AIDS, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, 450 Brookline Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA. ; NeCEN, Gorlaeus Laboratory, Einsteinweg 55, Leiden, 2333, the Netherlands. ; Division of Medicine, Imperial College London, St-Mary's Campus, Norfolk Place, London W2 1PG, UK. ; Institute of Virology, Technische Universitat Dresden, Fetscherstr. 74, Dresden 01307, Germany. ; Architecture and Dynamics of Macromolecular Machines, Clare Hall Laboratories, The Francis Crick Institute, Blanche Lane, South Mimms EN6 3LD, UK. ; 1] Chromatin Structure and Mobile DNA, The Francis Crick Institute, Blanche Lane, South Mimms EN6 3LD, UK [2] Division of Medicine, Imperial College London, St-Mary's Campus, Norfolk Place, London W2 1PG, UK.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26061770" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Methane-oxidizing bacteria (methanotrophs) require large quantities of copper for the membrane-bound (particulate) methane monooxygenase. Certain methanotrophs are also able to switch to using the iron-containing soluble methane monooxygenase to catalyse methane oxidation, with this switchover regulated by copper. Methane monooxygenases are nature's primary biological mechanism for suppressing atmospheric levels of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Furthermore, methanotrophs and methane monooxygenases have enormous potential in bioremediation and for biotransformations producing bulk and fine chemicals, and in bioenergy, particularly considering increased methane availability from renewable sources and hydraulic fracturing of shale rock. Here we discover and characterize a novel copper storage protein (Csp1) from the methanotroph Methylosinus trichosporium OB3b that is exported from the cytosol, and stores copper for particulate methane monooxygenase. Csp1 is a tetramer of four-helix bundles with each monomer binding up to 13 Cu(I) ions in a previously unseen manner via mainly Cys residues that point into the core of the bundle. Csp1 is the first example of a protein that stores a metal within an established protein-folding motif. This work provides a detailed insight into how methanotrophs accumulate copper for the oxidation of methane. Understanding this process is essential if the wide-ranging biotechnological applications of methanotrophs are to be realized. Cytosolic homologues of Csp1 are present in diverse bacteria, thus challenging the dogma that such organisms do not use copper in this location.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4561512/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4561512/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Vita, Nicolas -- Platsaki, Semeli -- Basle, Arnaud -- Allen, Stephen J -- Paterson, Neil G -- Crombie, Andrew T -- Murrell, J Colin -- Waldron, Kevin J -- Dennison, Christopher -- 098375/Z/12/Z/Wellcome Trust/United Kingdom -- England -- Nature. 2015 Sep 3;525(7567):140-3. doi: 10.1038/nature14854. Epub 2015 Aug 26.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Institute for Cell and Molecular Biosciences, Medical School, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4HH, UK. ; Diamond Light Source, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot OX11 0DE, UK. ; School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26308900" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Tandem repeat proteins, which are formed by repetition of modular units of protein sequence and structure, play important biological roles as macromolecular binding and scaffolding domains, enzymes, and building blocks for the assembly of fibrous materials. The modular nature of repeat proteins enables the rapid construction and diversification of extended binding surfaces by duplication and recombination of simple building blocks. The overall architecture of tandem repeat protein structures--which is dictated by the internal geometry and local packing of the repeat building blocks--is highly diverse, ranging from extended, super-helical folds that bind peptide, DNA, and RNA partners, to closed and compact conformations with internal cavities suitable for small molecule binding and catalysis. Here we report the development and validation of computational methods for de novo design of tandem repeat protein architectures driven purely by geometric criteria defining the inter-repeat geometry, without reference to the sequences and structures of existing repeat protein families. We have applied these methods to design a series of closed alpha-solenoid repeat structures (alpha-toroids) in which the inter-repeat packing geometry is constrained so as to juxtapose the amino (N) and carboxy (C) termini; several of these designed structures have been validated by X-ray crystallography. Unlike previous approaches to tandem repeat protein engineering, our design procedure does not rely on template sequence or structural information taken from natural repeat proteins and hence can produce structures unlike those seen in nature. As an example, we have successfully designed and validated closed alpha-solenoid repeats with a left-handed helical architecture that--to our knowledge--is not yet present in the protein structure database.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4727831/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4727831/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Doyle, Lindsey -- Hallinan, Jazmine -- Bolduc, Jill -- Parmeggiani, Fabio -- Baker, David -- Stoddard, Barry L -- Bradley, Philip -- R01 GM049857/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01 GM115545/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01GM49857/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R21 GM106117/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R21GM106117/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- Howard Hughes Medical Institute/ -- England -- Nature. 2015 Dec 24;528(7583):585-8. doi: 10.1038/nature16191. Epub 2015 Dec 16.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Division of Basic Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, 1100 Fairview Avenue N., Seattle, Washington 98109, USA. ; Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA. ; Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA. ; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA. ; Division of Public Health Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, 1100 Fairview Avenue N., Seattle, Washington 98019, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26675735" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Phosphorus is required for all life and microorganisms can extract it from their environment through several metabolic pathways. When phosphate is in limited supply, some bacteria are able to use phosphonate compounds, which require specialized enzymatic machinery to break the stable carbon-phosphorus (C-P) bond. Despite its importance, the details of how this machinery catabolizes phosphonates remain unknown. Here we determine the crystal structure of the 240-kilodalton Escherichia coli C-P lyase core complex (PhnG-PhnH-PhnI-PhnJ; PhnGHIJ), and show that it is a two-fold symmetric hetero-octamer comprising an intertwined network of subunits with unexpected self-homologies. It contains two potential active sites that probably couple phosphonate compounds to ATP and subsequently hydrolyse the C-P bond. We map the binding site of PhnK on the complex using electron microscopy, and show that it binds to a conserved insertion domain of PhnJ. Our results provide a structural basis for understanding microbial phosphonate breakdown.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4617613/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4617613/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Seweryn, Paulina -- Van, Lan Bich -- Kjeldgaard, Morten -- Russo, Christopher J -- Passmore, Lori A -- Hove-Jensen, Bjarne -- Jochimsen, Bjarne -- Brodersen, Ditlev E -- MC_U105192715/Medical Research Council/United Kingdom -- England -- Nature. 2015 Sep 3;525(7567):68-72. doi: 10.1038/nature14683. Epub 2015 Aug 17.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University, Gustav Wieds Vej 10c, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark. ; Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Francis Crick Avenue, Cambridge CB2 0QH, UK.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26280334" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Nuclear pore complexes are fundamental components of all eukaryotic cells that mediate nucleocytoplasmic exchange. Determining their 110-megadalton structure imposes a formidable challenge and requires in situ structural biology approaches. Of approximately 30 nucleoporins (Nups), 15 are structured and form the Y and inner-ring complexes. These two major scaffolding modules assemble in multiple copies into an eight-fold rotationally symmetric structure that fuses the inner and outer nuclear membranes to form a central channel of ~60 nm in diameter. The scaffold is decorated with transport-channel Nups that often contain phenylalanine-repeat sequences and mediate the interaction with cargo complexes. Although the architectural arrangement of parts of the Y complex has been elucidated, it is unclear how exactly it oligomerizes in situ. Here we combine cryo-electron tomography with mass spectrometry, biochemical analysis, perturbation experiments and structural modelling to generate, to our knowledge, the most comprehensive architectural model of the human nuclear pore complex to date. Our data suggest previously unknown protein interfaces across Y complexes and to inner-ring complex members. We show that the transport-channel Nup358 (also known as Ranbp2) has a previously unanticipated role in Y-complex oligomerization. Our findings blur the established boundaries between scaffold and transport-channel Nups. We conclude that, similar to coated vesicles, several copies of the same structural building block--although compositionally identical--engage in different local sets of interactions and conformations.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉von Appen, Alexander -- Kosinski, Jan -- Sparks, Lenore -- Ori, Alessandro -- DiGuilio, Amanda L -- Vollmer, Benjamin -- Mackmull, Marie-Therese -- Banterle, Niccolo -- Parca, Luca -- Kastritis, Panagiotis -- Buczak, Katarzyna -- Mosalaganti, Shyamal -- Hagen, Wim -- Andres-Pons, Amparo -- Lemke, Edward A -- Bork, Peer -- Antonin, Wolfram -- Glavy, Joseph S -- Bui, Khanh Huy -- Beck, Martin -- 1R21AG047433-01/AG/NIA NIH HHS/ -- England -- Nature. 2015 Oct 1;526(7571):140-3. doi: 10.1038/nature15381. Epub 2015 Sep 23.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Structural and Computational Biology Unit, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany. ; Department of Chemistry, Chemical Biology and Biomedical Engineering, Stevens Institute of Technology, 507 River St., Hoboken, New Jersey 07030, USA. ; Friedrich Miescher Laboratory of the Max Planck Society, Spemannstrasse 39, 72076 Tubingen, Germany. ; Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H3A 0C7, Canada.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26416747" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: 〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Callaway, Ewen -- England -- Nature. 2015 Jan 15;517(7534):252-3. doi: 10.1038/517252a.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25592511" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: DNA replication in eukaryotes is strictly regulated by several mechanisms. A central step in this replication is the assembly of the heterohexameric minichromosome maintenance (MCM2-7) helicase complex at replication origins during G1 phase as an inactive double hexamer. Here, using cryo-electron microscopy, we report a near-atomic structure of the MCM2-7 double hexamer purified from yeast G1 chromatin. Our structure shows that two single hexamers, arranged in a tilted and twisted fashion through interdigitated amino-terminal domain interactions, form a kinked central channel. Four constricted rings consisting of conserved interior beta-hairpins from the two single hexamers create a narrow passageway that tightly fits duplex DNA. This narrow passageway, reinforced by the offset of the two single hexamers at the double hexamer interface, is flanked by two pairs of gate-forming subunits, MCM2 and MCM5. These unusual features of the twisted and tilted single hexamers suggest a concerted mechanism for the melting of origin DNA that requires structural deformation of the intervening DNA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Li, Ningning -- Zhai, Yuanliang -- Zhang, Yixiao -- Li, Wanqiu -- Yang, Maojun -- Lei, Jianlin -- Tye, Bik-Kwoon -- Gao, Ning -- England -- Nature. 2015 Aug 13;524(7564):186-91. doi: 10.1038/nature14685. Epub 2015 Jul 29.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Protein Sciences, Center for Structural Biology, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China. ; 1] Division of Life Science, Hong Kong Universityof Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China [2] Institute for Advanced Study, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China. ; 1] Division of Life Science, Hong Kong Universityof Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China [2] Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26222030" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Despite progress in the development of drugs that efficiently target cancer cells, treatments for metastatic tumours are often ineffective. The now well-established dependency of cancer cells on their microenvironment suggests that targeting the non-cancer-cell component of the tumour might form a basis for the development of novel therapeutic approaches. However, the as-yet poorly characterized contribution of host responses during tumour growth and metastatic progression represents a limitation to exploiting this approach. Here we identify neutrophils as the main component and driver of metastatic establishment within the (pre-)metastatic lung microenvironment in mouse breast cancer models. Neutrophils have a fundamental role in inflammatory responses and their contribution to tumorigenesis is still controversial. Using various strategies to block neutrophil recruitment to the pre-metastatic site, we demonstrate that neutrophils specifically support metastatic initiation. Importantly, we find that neutrophil-derived leukotrienes aid the colonization of distant tissues by selectively expanding the sub-pool of cancer cells that retain high tumorigenic potential. Genetic or pharmacological inhibition of the leukotriene-generating enzyme arachidonate 5-lipoxygenase (Alox5) abrogates neutrophil pro-metastatic activity and consequently reduces metastasis. Our results reveal the efficacy of using targeted therapy against a specific tumour microenvironment component and indicate that neutrophil Alox5 inhibition may limit metastatic progression.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4700594/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4700594/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Wculek, Stefanie K -- Malanchi, Ilaria -- Cancer Research UK/United Kingdom -- England -- Nature. 2015 Dec 17;528(7582):413-7. doi: 10.1038/nature16140. Epub 2015 Dec 9.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉The Francis Crick Institute, Lincolns Inn Fields Laboratories, 44 Lincolns Inn Fields, London WC2A 3LY, UK.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26649828" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Despite major advances in understanding the molecular and genetic basis of cancer, metastasis remains the cause of 〉90% of cancer-related mortality. Understanding metastasis initiation and progression is critical to developing new therapeutic strategies to treat and prevent metastatic disease. Prevailing theories hypothesize that metastases are seeded by rare tumour cells with unique properties, which may function like stem cells in their ability to initiate and propagate metastatic tumours. However, the identity of metastasis-initiating cells in human breast cancer remains elusive, and whether metastases are hierarchically organized is unknown. Here we show at the single-cell level that early stage metastatic cells possess a distinct stem-like gene expression signature. To identify and isolate metastatic cells from patient-derived xenograft models of human breast cancer, we developed a highly sensitive fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS)-based assay, which allowed us to enumerate metastatic cells in mouse peripheral tissues. We compared gene signatures in metastatic cells from tissues with low versus high metastatic burden. Metastatic cells from low-burden tissues were distinct owing to their increased expression of stem cell, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, pro-survival, and dormancy-associated genes. By contrast, metastatic cells from high-burden tissues were similar to primary tumour cells, which were more heterogeneous and expressed higher levels of luminal differentiation genes. Transplantation of stem-like metastatic cells from low-burden tissues showed that they have considerable tumour-initiating capacity, and can differentiate to produce luminal-like cancer cells. Progression to high metastatic burden was associated with increased proliferation and MYC expression, which could be attenuated by treatment with cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) inhibitors. These findings support a hierarchical model for metastasis, in which metastases are initiated by stem-like cells that proliferate and differentiate to produce advanced metastatic disease.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4648562/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4648562/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Lawson, Devon A -- Bhakta, Nirav R -- Kessenbrock, Kai -- Prummel, Karin D -- Yu, Ying -- Takai, Ken -- Zhou, Alicia -- Eyob, Henok -- Balakrishnan, Sanjeev -- Wang, Chih-Yang -- Yaswen, Paul -- Goga, Andrei -- Werb, Zena -- CA136717/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- CA180039/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- K23 HL116657/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- R01 CA136717/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- R01 CA180039/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- England -- Nature. 2015 Oct 1;526(7571):131-5. doi: 10.1038/nature15260. Epub 2015 Sep 23.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Anatomy, University of California, San Francisco, California 94143, USA. ; Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, California 94143, USA. ; Department of Cell and Tissue Biology, University of California, San Francisco, California 94143, USA. ; Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 70101, Taiwan. ; Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26416748" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Dysfunction of the intramembrane protease gamma-secretase is thought to cause Alzheimer's disease, with most mutations derived from Alzheimer's disease mapping to the catalytic subunit presenilin 1 (PS1). Here we report an atomic structure of human gamma-secretase at 3.4 A resolution, determined by single-particle cryo-electron microscopy. Mutations derived from Alzheimer's disease affect residues at two hotspots in PS1, each located at the centre of a distinct four transmembrane segment (TM) bundle. TM2 and, to a lesser extent, TM6 exhibit considerable flexibility, yielding a plastic active site and adaptable surrounding elements. The active site of PS1 is accessible from the convex side of the TM horseshoe, suggesting considerable conformational changes in nicastrin extracellular domain after substrate recruitment. Component protein APH-1 serves as a scaffold, anchoring the lone transmembrane helix from nicastrin and supporting the flexible conformation of PS1. Ordered phospholipids stabilize the complex inside the membrane. Our structure serves as a molecular basis for mechanistic understanding of gamma-secretase function.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4568306/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4568306/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Bai, Xiao-chen -- Yan, Chuangye -- Yang, Guanghui -- Lu, Peilong -- Ma, Dan -- Sun, Linfeng -- Zhou, Rui -- Scheres, Sjors H W -- Shi, Yigong -- MC_UP_A025_101/Medical Research Council/United Kingdom -- MC_UP_A025_1013/Medical Research Council/United Kingdom -- England -- Nature. 2015 Sep 10;525(7568):212-7. doi: 10.1038/nature14892. Epub 2015 Aug 17.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge CB2 0QH, UK. ; Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Protein Science, Tsinghua-Peking Joint Center for Life Sciences, Center for Structural Biology, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26280335" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: micro-Opioid receptors (microORs) are G-protein-coupled receptors that are activated by a structurally diverse spectrum of natural and synthetic agonists including endogenous endorphin peptides, morphine and methadone. The recent structures of the muOR in inactive and agonist-induced active states (Huang et al., ref. 2) provide snapshots of the receptor at the beginning and end of a signalling event, but little is known about the dynamic sequence of events that span these two states. Here we use solution-state NMR to examine the process of muOR activation using a purified receptor (mouse sequence) preparation in an amphiphile membrane-like environment. We obtain spectra of the muOR in the absence of ligand, and in the presence of the high-affinity agonist BU72 alone, or with BU72 and a G protein mimetic nanobody. Our results show that conformational changes in transmembrane segments 5 and 6 (TM5 and TM6), which are required for the full engagement of a G protein, are almost completely dependent on the presence of both the agonist and the G protein mimetic nanobody, revealing a weak allosteric coupling between the agonist-binding pocket and the G-protein-coupling interface (TM5 and TM6), similar to that observed for the beta2-adrenergic receptor. Unexpectedly, in the presence of agonist alone, we find larger spectral changes involving intracellular loop 1 and helix 8 compared to changes in TM5 and TM6. These results suggest that one or both of these domains may play a role in the initial interaction with the G protein, and that TM5 and TM6 are only engaged later in the process of complex formation. The initial interactions between the G protein and intracellular loop 1 and/or helix 8 may be involved in G-protein coupling specificity, as has been suggested for other family A G-protein-coupled receptors.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Sounier, Remy -- Mas, Camille -- Steyaert, Jan -- Laeremans, Toon -- Manglik, Aashish -- Huang, Weijiao -- Kobilka, Brian K -- Demene, Helene -- Granier, Sebastien -- DA036246/DA/NIDA NIH HHS/ -- R37 DA036246/DA/NIDA NIH HHS/ -- T32 GM008294/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- England -- Nature. 2015 Aug 20;524(7565):375-8. doi: 10.1038/nature14680. Epub 2015 Aug 5.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Institut de Genomique Fonctionnelle, CNRS UMR-5203 INSERM U1191, University of Montpellier, F-34000 Montpellier, France. ; Structural Biology Brussels, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium. ; Structural Biology Research Center, VIB, Pleinlaan 2, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium. ; Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California 94305, USA. ; Centre de Biochimie Structurale, CNRS UMR 5048-INSERM 1054- University of Montpellier, 29 rue de Navacelles, 34090 Montpellier Cedex, France.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26245377" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD) is conserved in all eukaryotes and introduces the first double bond into saturated fatty acyl-CoAs. Because the monounsaturated products of SCD are key precursors of membrane phospholipids, cholesterol esters and triglycerides, SCD is pivotal in fatty acid metabolism. Humans have two SCD homologues (SCD1 and SCD5), while mice have four (SCD1-SCD4). SCD1-deficient mice do not become obese or diabetic when fed a high-fat diet because of improved lipid metabolic profiles and insulin sensitivity. Thus, SCD1 is a pharmacological target in the treatment of obesity, diabetes and other metabolic diseases. SCD1 is an integral membrane protein located in the endoplasmic reticulum, and catalyses the formation of a cis-double bond between the ninth and tenth carbons of stearoyl- or palmitoyl-CoA. The reaction requires molecular oxygen, which is activated by a di-iron centre, and cytochrome b5, which regenerates the di-iron centre. To understand better the structural basis of these characteristics of SCD function, here we crystallize and solve the structure of mouse SCD1 bound to stearoyl-CoA at 2.6 A resolution. The structure shows a novel fold comprising four transmembrane helices capped by a cytosolic domain, and a plausible pathway for lateral substrate access and product egress. The acyl chain of the bound stearoyl-CoA is enclosed in a tunnel buried in the cytosolic domain, and the geometry of the tunnel and the conformation of the bound acyl chain provide a structural basis for the regioselectivity and stereospecificity of the desaturation reaction. The dimetal centre is coordinated by a unique spacial arrangement of nine conserved histidine residues that implies a potentially novel mechanism for oxygen activation. The structure also illustrates a possible route for electron transfer from cytochrome b5 to the di-iron centre.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4689147/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4689147/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Bai, Yonghong -- McCoy, Jason G -- Levin, Elena J -- Sobrado, Pablo -- Rajashankar, Kanagalaghatta R -- Fox, Brian G -- Zhou, Ming -- P41 GM103403/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- P41GM103403/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01 DK088057/DK/NIDDK NIH HHS/ -- R01 GM098878/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01 HL086392/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- R01DK088057/DK/NIDDK NIH HHS/ -- R01GM050853/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01GM098878/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01HL086392/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- U54 GM094584/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- U54GM094584/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- U54GM095315/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- England -- Nature. 2015 Aug 13;524(7564):252-6. doi: 10.1038/nature14549. Epub 2015 Jun 22.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Verna and Marrs McLean Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, USA. ; Department of Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA. ; NE-CAT and Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26098370" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Na(+)-activated K(+) channels are members of the Slo family of large conductance K(+) channels that are widely expressed in the brain, where their opening regulates neuronal excitability. These channels fulfil a number of biological roles and have intriguing biophysical properties, including conductance levels that are ten times those of most other K(+) channels and gating sensitivity to intracellular Na(+). Here we present the structure of a complete Na(+)-activated K(+) channel, chicken Slo2.2, in the Na(+)-free state, determined by cryo-electron microscopy at a nominal resolution of 4.5 angstroms. The channel is composed of a large cytoplasmic gating ring, in which resides the Na(+)-binding site and a transmembrane domain that closely resembles voltage-gated K(+) channels. In the structure, the cytoplasmic domain adopts a closed conformation and the ion conduction pore is also closed. The structure reveals features that can explain the unusually high conductance of Slo channels and how contraction of the cytoplasmic gating ring closes the pore.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Hite, Richard K -- Yuan, Peng -- Li, Zongli -- Hsuing, Yichun -- Walz, Thomas -- MacKinnon, Roderick -- GM43949/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01 GM043949/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- Howard Hughes Medical Institute/ -- England -- Nature. 2015 Nov 12;527(7577):198-203. doi: 10.1038/nature14958. Epub 2015 Oct 5.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Rockefeller University and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, 1230 York Avenue, New York, New York 10065, USA. ; Department of Cell Biology and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, 240 Longwood Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26436452" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate receptors (InsP3Rs) are ubiquitous ion channels responsible for cytosolic Ca(2+) signalling and essential for a broad array of cellular processes ranging from contraction to secretion, and from proliferation to cell death. Despite decades of research on InsP3Rs, a mechanistic understanding of their structure-function relationship is lacking. Here we present the first, to our knowledge, near-atomic (4.7 A) resolution electron cryomicroscopy structure of the tetrameric mammalian type 1 InsP3R channel in its apo-state. At this resolution, we are able to trace unambiguously approximately 85% of the protein backbone, allowing us to identify the structural elements involved in gating and modulation of this 1.3-megadalton channel. Although the central Ca(2+)-conduction pathway is similar to other ion channels, including the closely related ryanodine receptor, the cytosolic carboxy termini are uniquely arranged in a left-handed alpha-helical bundle, directly interacting with the amino-terminal domains of adjacent subunits. This configuration suggests a molecular mechanism for allosteric regulation of channel gating by intracellular signals.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Fan, Guizhen -- Baker, Matthew L -- Wang, Zhao -- Baker, Mariah R -- Sinyagovskiy, Pavel A -- Chiu, Wah -- Ludtke, Steven J -- Serysheva, Irina I -- P41 GM103832/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- P41GM103832/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01 GM072804/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01 GM079429/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01 GM080139/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01GM072804/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01GM079429/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01GM080139/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R21 AR063255/AR/NIAMS NIH HHS/ -- R21 GM100229/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R21AR063255/AR/NIAMS NIH HHS/ -- R21GM100229/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- S10 OD016279/OD/NIH HHS/ -- S10OD016279/OD/NIH HHS/ -- England -- Nature. 2015 Nov 19;527(7578):336-41. doi: 10.1038/nature15249. Epub 2015 Oct 12.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Structural Biology Imaging Center, The University of Texas Medical School at Houston, 6431 Fannin Street, Houston, Texas 77030, USA. ; National Center for Macromolecular Imaging, Verna and Marrs McLean Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26458101" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Ubiquinone (also known as coenzyme Q) is a ubiquitous lipid-soluble redox cofactor that is an essential component of electron transfer chains. Eleven genes have been implicated in bacterial ubiquinone biosynthesis, including ubiX and ubiD, which are responsible for decarboxylation of the 3-octaprenyl-4-hydroxybenzoate precursor. Despite structural and biochemical characterization of UbiX as a flavin mononucleotide (FMN)-binding protein, no decarboxylase activity has been detected. Here we report that UbiX produces a novel flavin-derived cofactor required for the decarboxylase activity of UbiD. UbiX acts as a flavin prenyltransferase, linking a dimethylallyl moiety to the flavin N5 and C6 atoms. This adds a fourth non-aromatic ring to the flavin isoalloxazine group. In contrast to other prenyltransferases, UbiX is metal-independent and requires dimethylallyl-monophosphate as substrate. Kinetic crystallography reveals that the prenyltransferase mechanism of UbiX resembles that of the terpene synthases. The active site environment is dominated by pi systems, which assist phosphate-C1' bond breakage following FMN reduction, leading to formation of the N5-C1' bond. UbiX then acts as a chaperone for adduct reorientation, via transient carbocation species, leading ultimately to formation of the dimethylallyl C3'-C6 bond. Our findings establish the mechanism for formation of a new flavin-derived cofactor, extending both flavin and terpenoid biochemical repertoires.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉White, Mark D -- Payne, Karl A P -- Fisher, Karl -- Marshall, Stephen A -- Parker, David -- Rattray, Nicholas J W -- Trivedi, Drupad K -- Goodacre, Royston -- Rigby, Stephen E J -- Scrutton, Nigel S -- Hay, Sam -- Leys, David -- BB/K017802/1/Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council/United Kingdom -- BB/M017702/1/Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council/United Kingdom -- England -- Nature. 2015 Jun 25;522(7557):502-6. doi: 10.1038/nature14559. Epub 2015 Jun 17.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Centre for Synthetic Biology of Fine and Speciality Chemicals, Manchester Institute of Biotechnology, The University of Manchester, Manchester M1 7DN, UK. ; Innovation/Biodomain, Shell International Exploration and Production, Westhollow Technology Center, 3333 Highway 6 South, Houston, Texas 77082-3101, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26083743" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Multiple sclerosis involves an aberrant autoimmune response and progressive failure of remyelination in the central nervous system. Prevention of neural degeneration and subsequent disability requires remyelination through the generation of new oligodendrocytes, but current treatments exclusively target the immune system. Oligodendrocyte progenitor cells are stem cells in the central nervous system and the principal source of myelinating oligodendrocytes. These cells are abundant in demyelinated regions of patients with multiple sclerosis, yet fail to differentiate, thereby representing a cellular target for pharmacological intervention. To discover therapeutic compounds for enhancing myelination from endogenous oligodendrocyte progenitor cells, we screened a library of bioactive small molecules on mouse pluripotent epiblast stem-cell-derived oligodendrocyte progenitor cells. Here we show seven drugs function at nanomolar doses selectively to enhance the generation of mature oligodendrocytes from progenitor cells in vitro. Two drugs, miconazole and clobetasol, are effective in promoting precocious myelination in organotypic cerebellar slice cultures, and in vivo in early postnatal mouse pups. Systemic delivery of each of the two drugs significantly increases the number of new oligodendrocytes and enhances remyelination in a lysolecithin-induced mouse model of focal demyelination. Administering each of the two drugs at the peak of disease in an experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis mouse model of chronic progressive multiple sclerosis results in striking reversal of disease severity. Immune response assays show that miconazole functions directly as a remyelinating drug with no effect on the immune system, whereas clobetasol is a potent immunosuppressant as well as a remyelinating agent. Mechanistic studies show that miconazole and clobetasol function in oligodendrocyte progenitor cells through mitogen-activated protein kinase and glucocorticoid receptor signalling, respectively. Furthermore, both drugs enhance the generation of human oligodendrocytes from human oligodendrocyte progenitor cells in vitro. Collectively, our results provide a rationale for testing miconazole and clobetasol, or structurally modified derivatives, to enhance remyelination in patients.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4528969/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4528969/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Najm, Fadi J -- Madhavan, Mayur -- Zaremba, Anita -- Shick, Elizabeth -- Karl, Robert T -- Factor, Daniel C -- Miller, Tyler E -- Nevin, Zachary S -- Kantor, Christopher -- Sargent, Alex -- Quick, Kevin L -- Schlatzer, Daniela M -- Tang, Hong -- Papoian, Ruben -- Brimacombe, Kyle R -- Shen, Min -- Boxer, Matthew B -- Jadhav, Ajit -- Robinson, Andrew P -- Podojil, Joseph R -- Miller, Stephen D -- Miller, Robert H -- Tesar, Paul J -- F30 CA183510/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- F30CA183510/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- NS026543/NS/NINDS NIH HHS/ -- NS030800/NS/NINDS NIH HHS/ -- NS085246/NS/NINDS NIH HHS/ -- P30 CA043703/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- P30CA043703/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- R01 NS026543/NS/NINDS NIH HHS/ -- R01 NS030800/NS/NINDS NIH HHS/ -- R21 NS085246/NS/NINDS NIH HHS/ -- T32 GM007250/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- T32 GM008056/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- T32GM008056/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- UL1 TR000439/TR/NCATS NIH HHS/ -- England -- Nature. 2015 Jun 11;522(7555):216-20. doi: 10.1038/nature14335. Epub 2015 Apr 20.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, USA. ; Department of Neurosciences, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, USA. ; 1] Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, USA [2] Department of Pathology, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, USA [3] Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio 44195, USA. ; PerkinElmer, 940 Winter Street, Waltham, Massachusetts 02451, USA. ; Center for Proteomics and Bioinformatics, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, USA. ; Drug Discovery Center, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, Ohio 45237, USA. ; National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, 9800 Medical Center Drive, Rockville, Maryland 20850, USA. ; Department of Microbiology-Immunology and Interdepartmental Immunobiology Center, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, 303 E. Chicago Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60611, USA. ; 1] Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, USA [2] Department of Neurosciences, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25896324" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: To contend with hazards posed by environmental fluoride, microorganisms export this anion through F(-)-specific ion channels of the Fluc family. Since the recent discovery of Fluc channels, numerous idiosyncratic features of these proteins have been unearthed, including strong selectivity for F(-) over Cl(-) and dual-topology dimeric assembly. To understand the chemical basis for F(-) permeation and how the antiparallel subunits convene to form a F(-)-selective pore, here we solve the crystal structures of two bacterial Fluc homologues in complex with three different monobody inhibitors, with and without F(-) present, to a maximum resolution of 2.1 A. The structures reveal a surprising 'double-barrelled' channel architecture in which two F(-) ion pathways span the membrane, and the dual-topology arrangement includes a centrally coordinated cation, most likely Na(+). F(-) selectivity is proposed to arise from the very narrow pores and an unusual anion coordination that exploits the quadrupolar edges of conserved phenylalanine rings.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Stockbridge, Randy B -- Kolmakova-Partensky, Ludmila -- Shane, Tania -- Koide, Akiko -- Koide, Shohei -- Miller, Christopher -- Newstead, Simon -- 102890/Z/13/Z/Wellcome Trust/United Kingdom -- K99 GM111767/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- K99-GM-111767/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01 GM107023/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01-GM107023/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- U54 GM087519/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- U54-GM087519/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- England -- Nature. 2015 Sep 24;525(7570):548-51. doi: 10.1038/nature14981. Epub 2015 Sep 7.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Biochemistry, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts 02454, USA. ; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA. ; Department of Physiology, Anatomy, and Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK. ; Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26344196" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: DNA methylation is an important epigenetic modification. Ten-eleven translocation (TET) proteins are involved in DNA demethylation through iteratively oxidizing 5-methylcytosine (5mC) into 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC), 5-formylcytosine (5fC) and 5-carboxylcytosine (5caC). Here we show that human TET1 and TET2 are more active on 5mC-DNA than 5hmC/5fC-DNA substrates. We determine the crystal structures of TET2-5hmC-DNA and TET2-5fC-DNA complexes at 1.80 A and 1.97 A resolution, respectively. The cytosine portion of 5hmC/5fC is specifically recognized by TET2 in a manner similar to that of 5mC in the TET2-5mC-DNA structure, and the pyrimidine base of 5mC/5hmC/5fC adopts an almost identical conformation within the catalytic cavity. However, the hydroxyl group of 5hmC and carbonyl group of 5fC face towards the opposite direction because the hydroxymethyl group of 5hmC and formyl group of 5fC adopt restrained conformations through forming hydrogen bonds with the 1-carboxylate of NOG and N4 exocyclic nitrogen of cytosine, respectively. Biochemical analyses indicate that the substrate preference of TET2 results from the different efficiencies of hydrogen abstraction in TET2-mediated oxidation. The restrained conformation of 5hmC and 5fC within the catalytic cavity may prevent their abstractable hydrogen(s) adopting a favourable orientation for hydrogen abstraction and thus result in low catalytic efficiency. Our studies demonstrate that the substrate preference of TET2 results from the intrinsic value of its substrates at their 5mC derivative groups and suggest that 5hmC is relatively stable and less prone to further oxidation by TET proteins. Therefore, TET proteins are evolutionarily tuned to be less reactive towards 5hmC and facilitate the generation of 5hmC as a potentially stable mark for regulatory functions.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Hu, Lulu -- Lu, Junyan -- Cheng, Jingdong -- Rao, Qinhui -- Li, Ze -- Hou, Haifeng -- Lou, Zhiyong -- Zhang, Lei -- Li, Wei -- Gong, Wei -- Liu, Mengjie -- Sun, Chang -- Yin, Xiaotong -- Li, Jie -- Tan, Xiangshi -- Wang, Pengcheng -- Wang, Yinsheng -- Fang, Dong -- Cui, Qiang -- Yang, Pengyuan -- He, Chuan -- Jiang, Hualiang -- Luo, Cheng -- Xu, Yanhui -- Howard Hughes Medical Institute/ -- England -- Nature. 2015 Nov 5;527(7576):118-22. doi: 10.1038/nature15713. Epub 2015 Oct 28.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Shanghai Medical College of Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China. ; Key Laboratory of Molecular Medicine, Ministry of Education, Department of Systems Biology for Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Shanghai Medical College of Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China. ; State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Collaborative Innovation Center of Genetics and Development, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China. ; Drug Discovery and Design Center, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201203, China. ; Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China. ; Laboratory of Structural Biology, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China. ; MOE Laboratory of Protein Science, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China. ; Department of Chemistry, University of California-Riverside, Riverside, California 92521-0403, USA. ; Theoretical Chemistry Institute, Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1101 University Avenue, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA. ; Department of Chemistry and Institute for Biophysical Dynamics, The University of Chicago, 929 East 57th Street, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA. ; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, The University of Chicago, 929 East 57th Street, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26524525" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Copy number variations have been frequently associated with developmental delay, intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorders. MECP2 duplication syndrome is one of the most common genomic rearrangements in males and is characterized by autism, intellectual disability, motor dysfunction, anxiety, epilepsy, recurrent respiratory tract infections and early death. The broad range of deficits caused by methyl-CpG-binding protein 2 (MeCP2) overexpression poses a daunting challenge to traditional biochemical-pathway-based therapeutic approaches. Accordingly, we sought strategies that directly target MeCP2 and are amenable to translation into clinical therapy. The first question that we addressed was whether the neurological dysfunction is reversible after symptoms set in. Reversal of phenotypes in adult symptomatic mice has been demonstrated in some models of monogenic loss-of-function neurological disorders, including loss of MeCP2 in Rett syndrome, indicating that, at least in some cases, the neuroanatomy may remain sufficiently intact so that correction of the molecular dysfunction underlying these disorders can restore healthy physiology. Given the absence of neurodegeneration in MECP2 duplication syndrome, we propose that restoration of normal MeCP2 levels in MECP2 duplication adult mice would rescue their phenotype. By generating and characterizing a conditional Mecp2-overexpressing mouse model, here we show that correction of MeCP2 levels largely reverses the behavioural, molecular and electrophysiological deficits. We also reduced MeCP2 using an antisense oligonucleotide strategy, which has greater translational potential. Antisense oligonucleotides are small, modified nucleic acids that can selectively hybridize with messenger RNA transcribed from a target gene and silence it, and have been successfully used to correct deficits in different mouse models. We find that antisense oligonucleotide treatment induces a broad phenotypic rescue in adult symptomatic transgenic MECP2 duplication mice (MECP2-TG), and corrected MECP2 levels in lymphoblastoid cells from MECP2 duplication patients in a dose-dependent manner.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Sztainberg, Yehezkel -- Chen, Hong-mei -- Swann, John W -- Hao, Shuang -- Tang, Bin -- Wu, Zhenyu -- Tang, Jianrong -- Wan, Ying-Wooi -- Liu, Zhandong -- Rigo, Frank -- Zoghbi, Huda Y -- 1U54HD083092/HD/NICHD NIH HHS/ -- 5P30HD024064/HD/NICHD NIH HHS/ -- 5R01NS057819/NS/NINDS NIH HHS/ -- P30 HD024064/HD/NICHD NIH HHS/ -- R01 NS057819/NS/NINDS NIH HHS/ -- Howard Hughes Medical Institute/ -- England -- Nature. 2015 Dec 3;528(7580):123-6. doi: 10.1038/nature16159. Epub 2015 Nov 25.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, USA. ; Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, Texas 77030, USA. ; The Cain Foundation Laboratories, Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, Texas 77030, USA. ; Department of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, USA. ; Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, USA. ; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, USA. ; Isis Pharmaceuticals, 2855 Gazelle Court, Carlsbad, California 92010, USA. ; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26605526" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Many acute and chronic anaemias, including haemolysis, sepsis and genetic bone marrow failure diseases such as Diamond-Blackfan anaemia, are not treatable with erythropoietin (Epo), because the colony-forming unit erythroid progenitors (CFU-Es) that respond to Epo are either too few in number or are not sensitive enough to Epo to maintain sufficient red blood cell production. Treatment of these anaemias requires a drug that acts at an earlier stage of red cell formation and enhances the formation of Epo-sensitive CFU-E progenitors. Recently, we showed that glucocorticoids specifically stimulate self-renewal of an early erythroid progenitor, burst-forming unit erythroid (BFU-E), and increase the production of terminally differentiated erythroid cells. Here we show that activation of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPAR-alpha) by the PPAR-alpha agonists GW7647 and fenofibrate synergizes with the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) to promote BFU-E self-renewal. Over time these agonists greatly increase production of mature red blood cells in cultures of both mouse fetal liver BFU-Es and mobilized human adult CD34(+) peripheral blood progenitors, with a new and effective culture system being used for the human cells that generates normal enucleated reticulocytes. Although Ppara(-/-) mice show no haematological difference from wild-type mice in both normal and phenylhydrazine (PHZ)-induced stress erythropoiesis, PPAR-alpha agonists facilitate recovery of wild-type but not Ppara(-/-) mice from PHZ-induced acute haemolytic anaemia. We also show that PPAR-alpha alleviates anaemia in a mouse model of chronic anaemia. Finally, both in control and corticosteroid-treated BFU-E cells, PPAR-alpha co-occupies many chromatin sites with GR; when activated by PPAR-alpha agonists, additional PPAR-alpha is recruited to GR-adjacent sites and presumably facilitates GR-dependent BFU-E self-renewal. Our discovery of the role of PPAR-alpha agonists in stimulating self-renewal of early erythroid progenitor cells suggests that the clinically tested PPAR-alpha agonists we used may improve the efficacy of corticosteroids in treating Epo-resistant anaemias.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4498266/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4498266/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Lee, Hsiang-Ying -- Gao, Xiaofei -- Barrasa, M Inmaculada -- Li, Hu -- Elmes, Russell R -- Peters, Luanne L -- Lodish, Harvey F -- 2 P01 HL032262-25/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- DK100692/DK/NIDDK NIH HHS/ -- P01 HL032262/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- R01 DK100692/DK/NIDDK NIH HHS/ -- England -- Nature. 2015 Jun 25;522(7557):474-7. doi: 10.1038/nature14326. Epub 2015 May 11.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Nine Cambridge Center, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA. ; Center for Individualized Medicine, Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota 55905, USA. ; The Jackson Laboratory, 600 Main Street, Bar Harbor, Maine 04609, USA. ; 1] Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Nine Cambridge Center, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA [2] Departments of Biology and Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25970251" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: At least 120 non-olfactory G-protein-coupled receptors in the human genome are 'orphans' for which endogenous ligands are unknown, and many have no selective ligands, hindering the determination of their biological functions and clinical relevance. Among these is GPR68, a proton receptor that lacks small molecule modulators for probing its biology. Using yeast-based screens against GPR68, here we identify the benzodiazepine drug lorazepam as a non-selective GPR68 positive allosteric modulator. More than 3,000 GPR68 homology models were refined to recognize lorazepam in a putative allosteric site. Docking 3.1 million molecules predicted new GPR68 modulators, many of which were confirmed in functional assays. One potent GPR68 modulator, ogerin, suppressed recall in fear conditioning in wild-type but not in GPR68-knockout mice. The same approach led to the discovery of allosteric agonists and negative allosteric modulators for GPR65. Combining physical and structure-based screening may be broadly useful for ligand discovery for understudied and orphan GPCRs.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Huang, Xi-Ping -- Karpiak, Joel -- Kroeze, Wesley K -- Zhu, Hu -- Chen, Xin -- Moy, Sheryl S -- Saddoris, Kara A -- Nikolova, Viktoriya D -- Farrell, Martilias S -- Wang, Sheng -- Mangano, Thomas J -- Deshpande, Deepak A -- Jiang, Alice -- Penn, Raymond B -- Jin, Jian -- Koller, Beverly H -- Kenakin, Terry -- Shoichet, Brian K -- Roth, Bryan L -- GM59957/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- GM71896/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- P01 HL114471/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- R01 DA017204/DA/NIDA NIH HHS/ -- R01 DA027170/DA/NIDA NIH HHS/ -- U01 MH104974/MH/NIMH NIH HHS/ -- U19MH082441/MH/NIMH NIH HHS/ -- U54 HD079124/HD/NICHD NIH HHS/ -- England -- Nature. 2015 Nov 26;527(7579):477-83. doi: 10.1038/nature15699. Epub 2015 Nov 9.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Pharmacology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27599-7365, USA. ; National Institute of Mental Health Psychoactive Drug Screening Program (NIMH PDSP), School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-7365, USA. ; Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of California at San Francisco, Byers Hall, 1700 4th Street, San Francisco, California 94158-2550, USA. ; Center for Integrative Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery (CICBDD), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-7363, USA. ; Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-7360, USA. ; Department of Psychiatry and Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities (CIDD), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-7146, USA. ; Center for Translational Medicine and Department of Medicine, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19107, USA. ; Department of Genetics, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-7264, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26550826" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Negative-sense RNA viruses, such as influenza, encode large, multidomain RNA-dependent RNA polymerases that can both transcribe and replicate the viral RNA genome. In influenza virus, the polymerase (FluPol) is composed of three polypeptides: PB1, PB2 and PA/P3. PB1 houses the polymerase active site, whereas PB2 and PA/P3 contain, respectively, cap-binding and endonuclease domains required for transcription initiation by cap-snatching. Replication occurs through de novo initiation and involves a complementary RNA intermediate. Currently available structures of the influenza A and B virus polymerases include promoter RNA (the 5' and 3' termini of viral genome segments), showing FluPol in transcription pre-initiation states. Here we report the structure of apo-FluPol from an influenza C virus, solved by X-ray crystallography to 3.9 A, revealing a new 'closed' conformation. The apo-FluPol forms a compact particle with PB1 at its centre, capped on one face by PB2 and clamped between the two globular domains of P3. Notably, this structure is radically different from those of promoter-bound FluPols. The endonuclease domain of P3 and the domains within the carboxy-terminal two-thirds of PB2 are completely rearranged. The cap-binding site is occluded by PB2, resulting in a conformation that is incompatible with transcription initiation. Thus, our structure captures FluPol in a closed, transcription pre-activation state. This reveals the conformation of newly made apo-FluPol in an infected cell, but may also apply to FluPol in the context of a non-transcribing ribonucleoprotein complex. Comparison of the apo-FluPol structure with those of promoter-bound FluPols allows us to propose a mechanism for FluPol activation. Our study demonstrates the remarkable flexibility of influenza virus RNA polymerase, and aids our understanding of the mechanisms controlling transcription and genome replication.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Hengrung, Narin -- El Omari, Kamel -- Serna Martin, Itziar -- Vreede, Frank T -- Cusack, Stephen -- Rambo, Robert P -- Vonrhein, Clemens -- Bricogne, Gerard -- Stuart, David I -- Grimes, Jonathan M -- Fodor, Ervin -- 075491/Z/04/Wellcome Trust/United Kingdom -- 092931/Z/10/Z/Wellcome Trust/United Kingdom -- G1000099/Medical Research Council/United Kingdom -- G1100138/Medical Research Council/United Kingdom -- MR/K000241/1/Medical Research Council/United Kingdom -- England -- Nature. 2015 Nov 5;527(7576):114-7. doi: 10.1038/nature15525. Epub 2015 Oct 26.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3RE, UK. ; Division of Structural Biology, Henry Wellcome Building for Genomic Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7BN, UK. ; European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Grenoble Outstation and University Grenoble Alpes-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique-EMBL Unit of Virus Host-Cell Interactions, 71 Avenue des Martyrs, CS 90181, 38042 Grenoble Cedex 9, France. ; Diamond Light Source Ltd, Harwell Science &Innovation Campus, Didcot OX11 0DE, UK. ; Global Phasing Ltd, Sheraton House, Castle Park, Cambridge CB3 0AX, UK.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26503046" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Visualizing the physical basis for molecular behaviour inside living cells is a great challenge for biology. RNAs are central to biological regulation, and the ability of RNA to adopt specific structures intimately controls every step of the gene expression program. However, our understanding of physiological RNA structures is limited; current in vivo RNA structure profiles include only two of the four nucleotides that make up RNA. Here we present a novel biochemical approach, in vivo click selective 2'-hydroxyl acylation and profiling experiment (icSHAPE), which enables the first global view, to our knowledge, of RNA secondary structures in living cells for all four bases. icSHAPE of the mouse embryonic stem cell transcriptome versus purified RNA folded in vitro shows that the structural dynamics of RNA in the cellular environment distinguish different classes of RNAs and regulatory elements. Structural signatures at translational start sites and ribosome pause sites are conserved from in vitro conditions, suggesting that these RNA elements are programmed by sequence. In contrast, focal structural rearrangements in vivo reveal precise interfaces of RNA with RNA-binding proteins or RNA-modification sites that are consistent with atomic-resolution structural data. Such dynamic structural footprints enable accurate prediction of RNA-protein interactions and N(6)-methyladenosine (m(6)A) modification genome wide. These results open the door for structural genomics of RNA in living cells and reveal key physiological structures controlling gene expression.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4376618/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4376618/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Spitale, Robert C -- Flynn, Ryan A -- Zhang, Qiangfeng Cliff -- Crisalli, Pete -- Lee, Byron -- Jung, Jong-Wha -- Kuchelmeister, Hannes Y -- Batista, Pedro J -- Torre, Eduardo A -- Kool, Eric T -- Chang, Howard Y -- F30 CA189514/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- F30CA189514/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- P50 HG007735/HG/NHGRI NIH HHS/ -- P50HG007735/HG/NHGRI NIH HHS/ -- R01 HG004361/HG/NHGRI NIH HHS/ -- R01HG004361/HG/NHGRI NIH HHS/ -- T32 CA009302/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- T32AR007422/AR/NIAMS NIH HHS/ -- Howard Hughes Medical Institute/ -- England -- Nature. 2015 Mar 26;519(7544):486-90. doi: 10.1038/nature14263. Epub 2015 Mar 18.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Program in Epithelial Biology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California 94305, USA. ; Department of Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25799993" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: The mechanochemical protein dynamin is the prototype of the dynamin superfamily of large GTPases, which shape and remodel membranes in diverse cellular processes. Dynamin forms predominantly tetramers in the cytosol, which oligomerize at the neck of clathrin-coated vesicles to mediate constriction and subsequent scission of the membrane. Previous studies have described the architecture of dynamin dimers, but the molecular determinants for dynamin assembly and its regulation have remained unclear. Here we present the crystal structure of the human dynamin tetramer in the nucleotide-free state. Combining structural data with mutational studies, oligomerization measurements and Markov state models of molecular dynamics simulations, we suggest a mechanism by which oligomerization of dynamin is linked to the release of intramolecular autoinhibitory interactions. We elucidate how mutations that interfere with tetramer formation and autoinhibition can lead to the congenital muscle disorders Charcot-Marie-Tooth neuropathy and centronuclear myopathy, respectively. Notably, the bent shape of the tetramer explains how dynamin assembles into a right-handed helical oligomer of defined diameter, which has direct implications for its function in membrane constriction.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Reubold, Thomas F -- Faelber, Katja -- Plattner, Nuria -- Posor, York -- Ketel, Katharina -- Curth, Ute -- Schlegel, Jeanette -- Anand, Roopsee -- Manstein, Dietmar J -- Noe, Frank -- Haucke, Volker -- Daumke, Oliver -- Eschenburg, Susanne -- England -- Nature. 2015 Sep 17;525(7569):404-8. doi: 10.1038/nature14880. Epub 2015 Aug 24.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Institut fur Biophysikalische Chemie, Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1, 30625 Hannover, Germany. ; Max-Delbruck-Centrum fur Molekulare Medizin, Kristallographie, Robert-Rossle-Strasse 10, 13125 Berlin, Germany. ; Institut fur Mathematik, Freie Universitat Berlin, Arnimallee 6, 14195 Berlin, Germany. ; Leibniz-Institut fur Molekulare Pharmakologie, Robert-Rossle-Strasse 10, 13125 Berlin, Germany. ; Forschungseinrichtung Strukturanalyse, Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1, 30625 Hannover, Germany. ; Institut fur Chemie und Biochemie, Freie Universitat Berlin, Takustrasse 6, 14195 Berlin, Germany.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26302298" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: It is estimated that more than 170 million people are infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) worldwide. Clinical trials have demonstrated that, for the first time in human history, the potential exists to eradicate a chronic viral disease using combination therapies that contain only direct-acting antiviral agents. HCV non-structural protein 5A (NS5A) is a multifunctional protein required for several stages of the virus replication cycle. NS5A replication complex inhibitors, exemplified by daclatasvir (DCV; also known as BMS-790052 and Daklinza), belong to the most potent class of direct-acting anti-HCV agents described so far, with in vitro activity in the picomolar (pM) to low nanomolar (nM) range. The potency observed in vitro has translated into clinical efficacy, with HCV RNA declining by ~3-4 log10 in infected patients after administration of single oral doses of DCV. Understanding the exceptional potency of DCV was a key objective of this study. Here we show that although DCV and an NS5A inhibitor analogue (Syn-395) are inactive against certain NS5A resistance variants, combinations of the pair enhance DCV potency by 〉1,000-fold, restoring activity to the pM range. This synergistic effect was validated in vivo using an HCV-infected chimaeric mouse model. The cooperative interaction of a pair of compounds suggests that NS5A protein molecules communicate with each other: one inhibitor binds to resistant NS5A, causing a conformational change that is transmitted to adjacent NS5As, resensitizing resistant NS5A so that the second inhibitor can act to restore inhibition. This unprecedented synergistic anti-HCV activity also enhances the resistance barrier of DCV, providing additional options for HCV combination therapy and new insight into the role of NS5A in the HCV replication cycle.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Sun, Jin-Hua -- O'Boyle, Donald R 2nd -- Fridell, Robert A -- Langley, David R -- Wang, Chunfu -- Roberts, Susan B -- Nower, Peter -- Johnson, Benjamin M -- Moulin, Frederic -- Nophsker, Michelle J -- Wang, Ying-Kai -- Liu, Mengping -- Rigat, Karen -- Tu, Yong -- Hewawasam, Piyasena -- Kadow, John -- Meanwell, Nicholas A -- Cockett, Mark -- Lemm, Julie A -- Kramer, Melissa -- Belema, Makonen -- Gao, Min -- England -- Nature. 2015 Nov 12;527(7577):245-8. doi: 10.1038/nature15711. Epub 2015 Nov 4.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Virology, Bristol-Myers Squibb Research and Development, 5 Research Parkway, Wallingford, Connecticut 06492, USA. ; Computer-Assisted Drug Design, Bristol-Myers Squibb Research and Development, 5 Research Parkway, Wallingford, Connecticut 06492, USA. ; Pharmaceutical Candidate Optimization, Bristol-Myers Squibb Research and Development, 5 Research Parkway, Wallingford, Connecticut 06492, USA. ; Leads Discovery and Optimization, Bristol-Myers Squibb Research and Development, 5 Research Parkway, Wallingford, Connecticut 06492, USA. ; Discovery Chemistry, Bristol-Myers Squibb Research and Development, 5 Research Parkway, Wallingford, Connecticut 06492, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26536115" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Cas9 is an RNA-guided DNA endonuclease that targets foreign DNA for destruction as part of a bacterial adaptive immune system mediated by clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR). Together with single-guide RNAs, Cas9 also functions as a powerful genome engineering tool in plants and animals, and efforts are underway to increase the efficiency and specificity of DNA targeting for potential therapeutic applications. Studies of off-target effects have shown that DNA binding is far more promiscuous than DNA cleavage, yet the molecular cues that govern strand scission have not been elucidated. Here we show that the conformational state of the HNH nuclease domain directly controls DNA cleavage activity. Using intramolecular Forster resonance energy transfer experiments to detect relative orientations of the Cas9 catalytic domains when associated with on- and off-target DNA, we find that DNA cleavage efficiencies scale with the extent to which the HNH domain samples an activated conformation. We furthermore uncover a surprising mode of allosteric communication that ensures concerted firing of both Cas9 nuclease domains. Our results highlight a proofreading mechanism beyond initial protospacer adjacent motif (PAM) recognition and RNA-DNA base-pairing that serves as a final specificity checkpoint before DNA double-strand break formation.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Sternberg, Samuel H -- LaFrance, Benjamin -- Kaplan, Matias -- Doudna, Jennifer A -- T32GM007232/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- Howard Hughes Medical Institute/ -- England -- Nature. 2015 Nov 5;527(7576):110-3. doi: 10.1038/nature15544. Epub 2015 Oct 28.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA. ; Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA. ; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA. ; Innovative Genomics Initiative, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA. ; Physical Biosciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26524520" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Activation of the mu-opioid receptor (muOR) is responsible for the efficacy of the most effective analgesics. To shed light on the structural basis for muOR activation, here we report a 2.1 A X-ray crystal structure of the murine muOR bound to the morphinan agonist BU72 and a G protein mimetic camelid antibody fragment. The BU72-stabilized changes in the muOR binding pocket are subtle and differ from those observed for agonist-bound structures of the beta2-adrenergic receptor (beta2AR) and the M2 muscarinic receptor. Comparison with active beta2AR reveals a common rearrangement in the packing of three conserved amino acids in the core of the muOR, and molecular dynamics simulations illustrate how the ligand-binding pocket is conformationally linked to this conserved triad. Additionally, an extensive polar network between the ligand-binding pocket and the cytoplasmic domains appears to play a similar role in signal propagation for all three G-protein-coupled receptors.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4639397/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4639397/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Huang, Weijiao -- Manglik, Aashish -- Venkatakrishnan, A J -- Laeremans, Toon -- Feinberg, Evan N -- Sanborn, Adrian L -- Kato, Hideaki E -- Livingston, Kathryn E -- Thorsen, Thor S -- Kling, Ralf C -- Granier, Sebastien -- Gmeiner, Peter -- Husbands, Stephen M -- Traynor, John R -- Weis, William I -- Steyaert, Jan -- Dror, Ron O -- Kobilka, Brian K -- R01GM083118/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R37 DA036246/DA/NIDA NIH HHS/ -- R37DA036246/DA/NIDA NIH HHS/ -- T32 GM008294/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- England -- Nature. 2015 Aug 20;524(7565):315-21. doi: 10.1038/nature14886. Epub 2015 Aug 5.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, 279 Campus Drive, Stanford, California 94305, USA. ; Department of Computer Science, Stanford University, 318 Campus Drive, Stanford, California 94305, USA. ; Institute for Computational and Mathematical Engineering, Stanford University, 475 Via Ortega, Stanford, California 94305, USA. ; Structural Biology Brussels, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium. ; Structural Biology Research Center, VIB, Pleinlaan 2, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium. ; Department of Pharmacology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA. ; Department of Chemistry and Pharmacy, Friedrich Alexander University, Schuhstrasse 19, 91052 Erlangen, Germany. ; Institut de Genomique Fonctionnelle, CNRS UMR-5203 INSERM U1191, University of Montpellier, F-34000 Montpellier, France. ; Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK. ; Department of Structural Biology, Stanford University School of Medicine, 299 Campus Drive, Stanford, California 94305, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26245379" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Metastatic disease remains the primary cause of death for patients with breast cancer. The different steps of the metastatic cascade rely on reciprocal interactions between cancer cells and their microenvironment. Within this local microenvironment and in distant organs, immune cells and their mediators are known to facilitate metastasis formation. However, the precise contribution of tumour-induced systemic inflammation to metastasis and the mechanisms regulating systemic inflammation are poorly understood. Here we show that tumours maximize their chance of metastasizing by evoking a systemic inflammatory cascade in mouse models of spontaneous breast cancer metastasis. We mechanistically demonstrate that interleukin (IL)-1beta elicits IL-17 expression from gamma delta (gammadelta) T cells, resulting in systemic, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF)-dependent expansion and polarization of neutrophils in mice bearing mammary tumours. Tumour-induced neutrophils acquire the ability to suppress cytotoxic T lymphocytes carrying the CD8 antigen, which limit the establishment of metastases. Neutralization of IL-17 or G-CSF and absence of gammadelta T cells prevents neutrophil accumulation and downregulates the T-cell-suppressive phenotype of neutrophils. Moreover, the absence of gammadelta T cells or neutrophils profoundly reduces pulmonary and lymph node metastases without influencing primary tumour progression. Our data indicate that targeting this novel cancer-cell-initiated domino effect within the immune system--the gammadelta T cell/IL-17/neutrophil axis--represents a new strategy to inhibit metastatic disease.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4475637/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4475637/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Coffelt, Seth B -- Kersten, Kelly -- Doornebal, Chris W -- Weiden, Jorieke -- Vrijland, Kim -- Hau, Cheei-Sing -- Verstegen, Niels J M -- Ciampricotti, Metamia -- Hawinkels, Lukas J A C -- Jonkers, Jos -- de Visser, Karin E -- 11-0677/Worldwide Cancer Research/United Kingdom -- 615300/European Research Council/International -- England -- Nature. 2015 Jun 18;522(7556):345-8. doi: 10.1038/nature14282. Epub 2015 Mar 30.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Division of Immunology, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Plesmanlaan 121, Amsterdam, 1066 CX, The Netherlands. ; 1] Department of Molecular Cell Biology, Leiden University Medical Center, Albinusdreef 2, Leiden, 2300 RC, The Netherlands [2] Centre for Biomedical Genetics, Leiden University Medical Center, Albinusdreef 2, Leiden, 2300 RC, The Netherlands. ; Division of Molecular Pathology, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Plesmanlaan 121, Amsterdam, 1066 CX, The Netherlands.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25822788" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: The central dogma of gene expression (DNA to RNA to protein) is universal, but in different domains of life there are fundamental mechanistic differences within this pathway. For example, the canonical molecular signals used to initiate protein synthesis in bacteria and eukaryotes are mutually exclusive. However, the core structures and conformational dynamics of ribosomes that are responsible for the translation steps that take place after initiation are ancient and conserved across the domains of life. We wanted to explore whether an undiscovered RNA-based signal might be able to use these conserved features, bypassing mechanisms specific to each domain of life, and initiate protein synthesis in both bacteria and eukaryotes. Although structured internal ribosome entry site (IRES) RNAs can manipulate ribosomes to initiate translation in eukaryotic cells, an analogous RNA structure-based mechanism has not been observed in bacteria. Here we report our discovery that a eukaryotic viral IRES can initiate translation in live bacteria. We solved the crystal structure of this IRES bound to a bacterial ribosome to 3.8 A resolution, revealing that despite differences between bacterial and eukaryotic ribosomes this IRES binds directly to both and occupies the space normally used by transfer RNAs. Initiation in both bacteria and eukaryotes depends on the structure of the IRES RNA, but in bacteria this RNA uses a different mechanism that includes a form of ribosome repositioning after initial recruitment. This IRES RNA bridges billions of years of evolutionary divergence and provides an example of an RNA structure-based translation initiation signal capable of operating in two domains of life.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4352134/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4352134/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Colussi, Timothy M -- Costantino, David A -- Zhu, Jianyu -- Donohue, John Paul -- Korostelev, Andrei A -- Jaafar, Zane A -- Plank, Terra-Dawn M -- Noller, Harry F -- Kieft, Jeffrey S -- GM-103105/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- GM-17129/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- GM-59140/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- GM-81346/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- GM-97333/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01 GM097333/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01 GM106105/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- Howard Hughes Medical Institute/ -- England -- Nature. 2015 Mar 5;519(7541):110-3. doi: 10.1038/nature14219. Epub 2015 Feb 4.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉1] Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine, Aurora, Colorado 80045, USA [2] Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine, Aurora, Colorado 80045, USA. ; Center for Molecular Biology of RNA and Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, Sinsheimer Labs, University of California at Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California 95064, USA. ; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine, Aurora, Colorado 80045, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25652826" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Threats to genomic integrity arising from DNA damage are mitigated by DNA glycosylases, which initiate the base excision repair pathway by locating and excising aberrant nucleobases. How these enzymes find small modifications within the genome is a current area of intensive research. A hallmark of these and other DNA repair enzymes is their use of base flipping to sequester modified nucleotides from the DNA helix and into an active site pocket. Consequently, base flipping is generally regarded as an essential aspect of lesion recognition and a necessary precursor to base excision. Here we present the first, to our knowledge, DNA glycosylase mechanism that does not require base flipping for either binding or catalysis. Using the DNA glycosylase AlkD from Bacillus cereus, we crystallographically monitored excision of an alkylpurine substrate as a function of time, and reconstructed the steps along the reaction coordinate through structures representing substrate, intermediate and product complexes. Instead of directly interacting with the damaged nucleobase, AlkD recognizes aberrant base pairs through interactions with the phosphoribose backbone, while the lesion remains stacked in the DNA duplex. Quantum mechanical calculations revealed that these contacts include catalytic charge-dipole and CH-pi interactions that preferentially stabilize the transition state. We show in vitro and in vivo how this unique means of recognition and catalysis enables AlkD to repair large adducts formed by yatakemycin, a member of the duocarmycin family of antimicrobial natural products exploited in bacterial warfare and chemotherapeutic trials. Bulky adducts of this or any type are not excised by DNA glycosylases that use a traditional base-flipping mechanism. Hence, these findings represent a new model for DNA repair and provide insights into catalysis of base excision.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Mullins, Elwood A -- Shi, Rongxin -- Parsons, Zachary D -- Yuen, Philip K -- David, Sheila S -- Igarashi, Yasuhiro -- Eichman, Brandt F -- R01 ES019625/ES/NIEHS NIH HHS/ -- R01CA067985/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- R01ES019625/ES/NIEHS NIH HHS/ -- S10RR026915/RR/NCRR NIH HHS/ -- T32 ES007028/ES/NIEHS NIH HHS/ -- T32ES07028/ES/NIEHS NIH HHS/ -- England -- Nature. 2015 Nov 12;527(7577):254-8. doi: 10.1038/nature15728. Epub 2015 Oct 28.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Biological Sciences and Center for Structural Biology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37232, USA. ; Department of Chemistry, University of California, Davis, California 95616, USA. ; Biotechnology Research Center, Toyama Prefectural University, 5180 Kurokawa, Imizu, Toyama 939-0398, Japan.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26524531" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Adiponectin stimulation of its receptors, AdipoR1 and AdipoR2, increases the activities of 5' AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR), respectively, thereby contributing to healthy longevity as key anti-diabetic molecules. AdipoR1 and AdipoR2 were predicted to contain seven transmembrane helices with the opposite topology to G-protein-coupled receptors. Here we report the crystal structures of human AdipoR1 and AdipoR2 at 2.9 and 2.4 A resolution, respectively, which represent a novel class of receptor structure. The seven-transmembrane helices, conformationally distinct from those of G-protein-coupled receptors, enclose a large cavity where three conserved histidine residues coordinate a zinc ion. The zinc-binding structure may have a role in the adiponectin-stimulated AMPK phosphorylation and UCP2 upregulation. Adiponectin may broadly interact with the extracellular face, rather than the carboxy-terminal tail, of the receptors. The present information will facilitate the understanding of novel structure-function relationships and the development and optimization of AdipoR agonists for the treatment of obesity-related diseases, such as type 2 diabetes.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4477036/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4477036/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Tanabe, Hiroaki -- Fujii, Yoshifumi -- Okada-Iwabu, Miki -- Iwabu, Masato -- Nakamura, Yoshihiro -- Hosaka, Toshiaki -- Motoyama, Kanna -- Ikeda, Mariko -- Wakiyama, Motoaki -- Terada, Takaho -- Ohsawa, Noboru -- Hato, Masakatsu -- Ogasawara, Satoshi -- Hino, Tomoya -- Murata, Takeshi -- Iwata, So -- Hirata, Kunio -- Kawano, Yoshiaki -- Yamamoto, Masaki -- Kimura-Someya, Tomomi -- Shirouzu, Mikako -- Yamauchi, Toshimasa -- Kadowaki, Takashi -- Yokoyama, Shigeyuki -- 062164/Z/00/Z/Wellcome Trust/United Kingdom -- 089809/Wellcome Trust/United Kingdom -- BB/G02325/1/Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council/United Kingdom -- BB/G023425/1/Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council/United Kingdom -- England -- Nature. 2015 Apr 16;520(7547):312-6. doi: 10.1038/nature14301. Epub 2015 Apr 8.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉1] RIKEN Systems and Structural Biology Center, 1-7-22 Suehiro-cho, Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama 230-0045, Japan [2] Department of Biophysics and Biochemistry and Laboratory of Structural Biology, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan [3] Division of Structural and Synthetic Biology, RIKEN Center for Life Science Technologies, 1-7-22 Suehiro-cho, Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama 230-0045, Japan [4] RIKEN Structural Biology Laboratory, 1-7-22 Suehiro-cho, Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama 230-0045, Japan. ; 1] RIKEN Systems and Structural Biology Center, 1-7-22 Suehiro-cho, Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama 230-0045, Japan [2] RIKEN Structural Biology Laboratory, 1-7-22 Suehiro-cho, Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama 230-0045, Japan. ; 1] Department of Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan [2] Department of Integrated Molecular Science on Metabolic Diseases, 22nd Century Medical and Research Center, The University of Tokyo, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan. ; 1] Department of Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan [2] Department of Integrated Molecular Science on Metabolic Diseases, 22nd Century Medical and Research Center, The University of Tokyo, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan [3] PRESTO, Japan Science and Technology Agency, Kawaguchi, Saitama 332-0012, Japan. ; 1] RIKEN Systems and Structural Biology Center, 1-7-22 Suehiro-cho, Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama 230-0045, Japan [2] Division of Structural and Synthetic Biology, RIKEN Center for Life Science Technologies, 1-7-22 Suehiro-cho, Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama 230-0045, Japan [3] RIKEN Structural Biology Laboratory, 1-7-22 Suehiro-cho, Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama 230-0045, Japan. ; 1] RIKEN Systems and Structural Biology Center, 1-7-22 Suehiro-cho, Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama 230-0045, Japan [2] Division of Structural and Synthetic Biology, RIKEN Center for Life Science Technologies, 1-7-22 Suehiro-cho, Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama 230-0045, Japan. ; RIKEN Systems and Structural Biology Center, 1-7-22 Suehiro-cho, Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama 230-0045, Japan. ; Department of Cell Biology, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Yoshida-Konoe-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan. ; 1] Department of Cell Biology, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Yoshida-Konoe-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan [2] JST, Research Acceleration Program, Membrane Protein Crystallography Project, Yoshida-Konoe-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8501, Japan. ; 1] RIKEN Systems and Structural Biology Center, 1-7-22 Suehiro-cho, Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama 230-0045, Japan [2] Department of Cell Biology, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Yoshida-Konoe-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan [3] JST, Research Acceleration Program, Membrane Protein Crystallography Project, Yoshida-Konoe-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8501, Japan [4] Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, Chiba University, Yayoi-cho, Inage, Chiba 263-8522, Japan. ; 1] RIKEN Systems and Structural Biology Center, 1-7-22 Suehiro-cho, Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama 230-0045, Japan [2] Department of Cell Biology, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Yoshida-Konoe-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan [3] JST, Research Acceleration Program, Membrane Protein Crystallography Project, Yoshida-Konoe-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8501, Japan [4] Division of Molecular Biosciences, Membrane Protein Crystallography Group, Imperial College, London SW7 2AZ, UK [5] Diamond Light Source, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Chilton, Didcot, Oxfordshire OX11 0DE, UK [6] RIKEN SPring-8 Center, Harima Institute, Kouto, Sayo, Hyogo 679-5148, Japan. ; RIKEN SPring-8 Center, Harima Institute, Kouto, Sayo, Hyogo 679-5148, Japan. ; 1] Department of Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan [2] Department of Integrated Molecular Science on Metabolic Diseases, 22nd Century Medical and Research Center, The University of Tokyo, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan [3] CREST, Japan Science and Technology Agency, Kawaguchi, Saitama 332-0012, Japan. ; 1] RIKEN Systems and Structural Biology Center, 1-7-22 Suehiro-cho, Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama 230-0045, Japan [2] Department of Biophysics and Biochemistry and Laboratory of Structural Biology, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan [3] RIKEN Structural Biology Laboratory, 1-7-22 Suehiro-cho, Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama 230-0045, Japan.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25855295" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: The anaphase-promoting complex (APC/C) is a multimeric RING E3 ubiquitin ligase that controls chromosome segregation and mitotic exit. Its regulation by coactivator subunits, phosphorylation, the mitotic checkpoint complex and interphase early mitotic inhibitor 1 (Emi1) ensures the correct order and timing of distinct cell-cycle transitions. Here we use cryo-electron microscopy to determine atomic structures of APC/C-coactivator complexes with either Emi1 or a UbcH10-ubiquitin conjugate. These structures define the architecture of all APC/C subunits, the position of the catalytic module and explain how Emi1 mediates inhibition of the two E2s UbcH10 and Ube2S. Definition of Cdh1 interactions with the APC/C indicates how they are antagonized by Cdh1 phosphorylation. The structure of the APC/C with UbcH10-ubiquitin reveals insights into the initiating ubiquitination reaction. Our results provide a quantitative framework for the design of future experiments to investigate APC/C functions in vivo.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4608048/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4608048/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Chang, Leifu -- Zhang, Ziguo -- Yang, Jing -- McLaughlin, Stephen H -- Barford, David -- A8022/Cancer Research UK/United Kingdom -- MC_UP_1201/6/Medical Research Council/United Kingdom -- Cancer Research UK/United Kingdom -- England -- Nature. 2015 Jun 25;522(7557):450-4. doi: 10.1038/nature14471. Epub 2015 Jun 15.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Francis Crick Avenue, Cambridge CB2 0QH, UK.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26083744" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Fructose is a major component of dietary sugar and its overconsumption exacerbates key pathological features of metabolic syndrome. The central fructose-metabolising enzyme is ketohexokinase (KHK), which exists in two isoforms: KHK-A and KHK-C, generated through mutually exclusive alternative splicing of KHK pre-mRNAs. KHK-C displays superior affinity for fructose compared with KHK-A and is produced primarily in the liver, thus restricting fructose metabolism almost exclusively to this organ. Here we show that myocardial hypoxia actuates fructose metabolism in human and mouse models of pathological cardiac hypertrophy through hypoxia-inducible factor 1alpha (HIF1alpha) activation of SF3B1 and SF3B1-mediated splice switching of KHK-A to KHK-C. Heart-specific depletion of SF3B1 or genetic ablation of Khk, but not Khk-A alone, in mice, suppresses pathological stress-induced fructose metabolism, growth and contractile dysfunction, thus defining signalling components and molecular underpinnings of a fructose metabolism regulatory system crucial for pathological growth.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Mirtschink, Peter -- Krishnan, Jaya -- Grimm, Fiona -- Sarre, Alexandre -- Horl, Manuel -- Kayikci, Melis -- Fankhauser, Niklaus -- Christinat, Yann -- Cortijo, Cedric -- Feehan, Owen -- Vukolic, Ana -- Sossalla, Samuel -- Stehr, Sebastian N -- Ule, Jernej -- Zamboni, Nicola -- Pedrazzini, Thierry -- Krek, Wilhelm -- England -- Nature. 2015 Jun 25;522(7557):444-9. doi: 10.1038/nature14508. Epub 2015 Jun 17.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Institute of Molecular Health Sciences, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland. ; Department of Medicine, University of Lausanne, 1011 Lausanne, Switzerland. ; Institute of Molecular Systems Biology, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland. ; MRC-Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 0QH, UK. ; Universitatsmedizin Gottingen, Klinik fur Kardiologie und Pneumologie, D-37075 Gottingen, and DZHK (German Centre for Cardiovascular Research), Partner Site Gottingen, Germany. ; Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, University Hospital Jena, 07747 Jena, Germany.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26083752" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: The E3 ubiquitin ligase PARKIN (encoded by PARK2) and the protein kinase PINK1 (encoded by PARK6) are mutated in autosomal-recessive juvenile Parkinsonism (AR-JP) and work together in the disposal of damaged mitochondria by mitophagy. PINK1 is stabilized on the outside of depolarized mitochondria and phosphorylates polyubiquitin as well as the PARKIN ubiquitin-like (Ubl) domain. These phosphorylation events lead to PARKIN recruitment to mitochondria, and activation by an unknown allosteric mechanism. Here we present the crystal structure of Pediculus humanus PARKIN in complex with Ser65-phosphorylated ubiquitin (phosphoUb), revealing the molecular basis for PARKIN recruitment and activation. The phosphoUb binding site on PARKIN comprises a conserved phosphate pocket and harbours residues mutated in patients with AR-JP. PhosphoUb binding leads to straightening of a helix in the RING1 domain, and the resulting conformational changes release the Ubl domain from the PARKIN core; this activates PARKIN. Moreover, phosphoUb-mediated Ubl release enhances Ubl phosphorylation by PINK1, leading to conformational changes within the Ubl domain and stabilization of an open, active conformation of PARKIN. We redefine the role of the Ubl domain not only as an inhibitory but also as an activating element that is restrained in inactive PARKIN and released by phosphoUb. Our work opens up new avenues to identify small-molecule PARKIN activators.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Wauer, Tobias -- Simicek, Michal -- Schubert, Alexander -- Komander, David -- U105192732/Medical Research Council/United Kingdom -- England -- Nature. 2015 Aug 20;524(7565):370-4. doi: 10.1038/nature14879. Epub 2015 Jul 10.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Francis Crick Avenue, Cambridge CB2 0QH, UK.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26161729" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: 〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Chakradhar, Shraddha -- England -- Nature. 2015 May 14;521(7551):S16. doi: 10.1038/521S16a.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25970454" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: The six-electron reduction of sulfite to sulfide is the pivot point of the biogeochemical cycle of the element sulfur. The octahaem cytochrome c MccA (also known as SirA) catalyses this reaction for dissimilatory sulfite utilization by various bacteria. It is distinct from known sulfite reductases because it has a substantially higher catalytic activity and a relatively low reactivity towards nitrite. The mechanistic reasons for the increased efficiency of MccA remain to be elucidated. Here we show that anoxically purified MccA exhibited a 2- to 5.5-fold higher specific sulfite reductase activity than the enzyme isolated under oxic conditions. We determined the three-dimensional structure of MccA to 2.2 A resolution by single-wavelength anomalous dispersion. We find a homotrimer with an unprecedented fold and haem arrangement, as well as a haem bound to a CX15CH motif. The heterobimetallic active-site haem 2 has a Cu(I) ion juxtaposed to a haem c at a Fe-Cu distance of 4.4 A. While the combination of metals is reminiscent of respiratory haem-copper oxidases, the oxidation-labile Cu(I) centre of MccA did not seem to undergo a redox transition during catalysis. Intact MccA tightly bound SO2 at haem 2, a dehydration product of the substrate sulfite that was partially turned over due to photoreduction by X-ray irradiation, yielding the reaction intermediate SO. Our data show the biometal copper in a new context and function and provide a chemical rationale for the comparatively high catalytic activity of MccA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Hermann, Bianca -- Kern, Melanie -- La Pietra, Luigi -- Simon, Jorg -- Einsle, Oliver -- England -- Nature. 2015 Apr 30;520(7549):706-9. doi: 10.1038/nature14109. Epub 2015 Feb 2.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Lehrstuhl Biochemie, Institut fur Biochemie, Albert-Ludwigs-Universitat Freiburg, Albertstrasse 21, 79104 Freiburg, Germany. ; Microbial Energy Conversion &Biotechnology, Department of Biology, Technische Universitat Darmstadt, Schnittspahnstrasse 10, 64287 Darmstadt, Germany. ; 1] Lehrstuhl Biochemie, Institut fur Biochemie, Albert-Ludwigs-Universitat Freiburg, Albertstrasse 21, 79104 Freiburg, Germany [2] BIOSS Centre for Biological Signalling Studies, Schanzlestrasse 1, 79104 Freiburg, Germany.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25642962" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Single particle electron cryomicroscopy (cryo-EM) has recently made significant progress in high-resolution structure determination of macromolecular complexes due to improvements in electron microscopic instrumentation and computational image analysis. However, cryo-EM structures can be highly non-uniform in local resolution and all structures available to date have been limited to resolutions above 3 A. Here we present the cryo-EM structure of the 70S ribosome from Escherichia coli in complex with elongation factor Tu, aminoacyl-tRNA and the antibiotic kirromycin at 2.65-2.9 A resolution using spherical aberration (Cs)-corrected cryo-EM. Overall, the cryo-EM reconstruction at 2.9 A resolution is comparable to the best-resolved X-ray structure of the E. coli 70S ribosome (2.8 A), but provides more detailed information (2.65 A) at the functionally important ribosomal core. The cryo-EM map elucidates for the first time the structure of all 35 rRNA modifications in the bacterial ribosome, explaining their roles in fine-tuning ribosome structure and function and modulating the action of antibiotics. We also obtained atomic models for flexible parts of the ribosome such as ribosomal proteins L9 and L31. The refined cryo-EM-based model presents the currently most complete high-resolution structure of the E. coli ribosome, which demonstrates the power of cryo-EM in structure determination of large and dynamic macromolecular complexes.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Fischer, Niels -- Neumann, Piotr -- Konevega, Andrey L -- Bock, Lars V -- Ficner, Ralf -- Rodnina, Marina V -- Stark, Holger -- England -- Nature. 2015 Apr 23;520(7548):567-70. doi: 10.1038/nature14275. Epub 2015 Feb 23.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉3D Electron Cryomicroscopy Group, Max-Planck-Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Am Fassberg 11, 37077 Gottingen, Germany. ; Abteilung Molekulare Strukturbiologie, Institut fur Mikrobiologie und Genetik, GZMB, Georg-August Universitat Gottingen, Justus-von Liebig Weg 11, 37077 Gottingen, Germany. ; 1] Molecular and Radiation Biophysics Department, B.P. Konstantinov Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute of National Research Centre 'Kurchatov Institute', 188300 Gatchina, Russia [2] St Petersburg Polytechnic University, Polytechnicheskaya, 29, 195251 St Petersburg, Russia [3] Department of Physical Biochemistry, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Am Fassberg 11, 37077 Gottingen, Germany. ; Department of Theoretical and Computational Biophysics, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Am Fassberg 11, 37077 Gottingen, Germany. ; Department of Physical Biochemistry, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Am Fassberg 11, 37077 Gottingen, Germany. ; 1] 3D Electron Cryomicroscopy Group, Max-Planck-Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Am Fassberg 11, 37077 Gottingen, Germany [2] Department of 3D Electron Cryomicroscopy, Institute of Microbiology and Genetics, Georg-August Universitat, 37077 Gottingen, Germany.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25707802" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) allosterically activate heterotrimeric G proteins and trigger GDP release. Given that there are approximately 800 human GPCRs and 16 different Galpha genes, this raises the question of whether a universal allosteric mechanism governs Galpha activation. Here we show that different GPCRs interact with and activate Galpha proteins through a highly conserved mechanism. Comparison of Galpha with the small G protein Ras reveals how the evolution of short segments that undergo disorder-to-order transitions can decouple regions important for allosteric activation from receptor binding specificity. This might explain how the GPCR-Galpha system diversified rapidly, while conserving the allosteric activation mechanism.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Flock, Tilman -- Ravarani, Charles N J -- Sun, Dawei -- Venkatakrishnan, A J -- Kayikci, Melis -- Tate, Christopher G -- Veprintsev, Dmitry B -- Babu, M Madan -- MC_U105185859/Medical Research Council/United Kingdom -- MC_U105197215/Medical Research Council/United Kingdom -- England -- Nature. 2015 Aug 13;524(7564):173-9. doi: 10.1038/nature14663. Epub 2015 Jul 6.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Francis Crick Avenue, Cambridge CB2 0QH, UK. ; 1] Laboratory of Biomolecular Research, Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232 Villigen, Switzerland [2] Department of Biology, ETH Zurich, 8039 Zurich, Switzerland.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26147082" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: There is an urgent need for new drugs to treat malaria, with broad therapeutic potential and novel modes of action, to widen the scope of treatment and to overcome emerging drug resistance. Here we describe the discovery of DDD107498, a compound with a potent and novel spectrum of antimalarial activity against multiple life-cycle stages of the Plasmodium parasite, with good pharmacokinetic properties and an acceptable safety profile. DDD107498 demonstrates potential to address a variety of clinical needs, including single-dose treatment, transmission blocking and chemoprotection. DDD107498 was developed from a screening programme against blood-stage malaria parasites; its molecular target has been identified as translation elongation factor 2 (eEF2), which is responsible for the GTP-dependent translocation of the ribosome along messenger RNA, and is essential for protein synthesis. This discovery of eEF2 as a viable antimalarial drug target opens up new possibilities for drug discovery.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4700930/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4700930/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Baragana, Beatriz -- Hallyburton, Irene -- Lee, Marcus C S -- Norcross, Neil R -- Grimaldi, Raffaella -- Otto, Thomas D -- Proto, William R -- Blagborough, Andrew M -- Meister, Stephan -- Wirjanata, Grennady -- Ruecker, Andrea -- Upton, Leanna M -- Abraham, Tara S -- Almeida, Mariana J -- Pradhan, Anupam -- Porzelle, Achim -- Martinez, Maria Santos -- Bolscher, Judith M -- Woodland, Andrew -- Norval, Suzanne -- Zuccotto, Fabio -- Thomas, John -- Simeons, Frederick -- Stojanovski, Laste -- Osuna-Cabello, Maria -- Brock, Paddy M -- Churcher, Tom S -- Sala, Katarzyna A -- Zakutansky, Sara E -- Jimenez-Diaz, Maria Belen -- Sanz, Laura Maria -- Riley, Jennifer -- Basak, Rajshekhar -- Campbell, Michael -- Avery, Vicky M -- Sauerwein, Robert W -- Dechering, Koen J -- Noviyanti, Rintis -- Campo, Brice -- Frearson, Julie A -- Angulo-Barturen, Inigo -- Ferrer-Bazaga, Santiago -- Gamo, Francisco Javier -- Wyatt, Paul G -- Leroy, Didier -- Siegl, Peter -- Delves, Michael J -- Kyle, Dennis E -- Wittlin, Sergio -- Marfurt, Jutta -- Price, Ric N -- Sinden, Robert E -- Winzeler, Elizabeth A -- Charman, Susan A -- Bebrevska, Lidiya -- Gray, David W -- Campbell, Simon -- Fairlamb, Alan H -- Willis, Paul A -- Rayner, Julian C -- Fidock, David A -- Read, Kevin D -- Gilbert, Ian H -- 079838/Wellcome Trust/United Kingdom -- 091625/Wellcome Trust/United Kingdom -- 098051/Wellcome Trust/United Kingdom -- 100476/Wellcome Trust/United Kingdom -- R01 AI090141/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- R01 AI103058/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- England -- Nature. 2015 Jun 18;522(7556):315-20. doi: 10.1038/nature14451.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Drug Discovery Unit, Division of Biological Chemistry and Drug Discovery, College of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 5EH, UK. ; Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, New York 10032, USA. ; Malaria Programme, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Cambridge CB10 1SA, UK. ; Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College, London SW7 2AZ, UK. ; University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine, 9500 Gilman Drive 0760, La Jolla, California 92093, USA. ; Global Health and Tropical Medicine Division, Menzies School of Health Research, Charles Darwin University, PO Box 41096, Casuarina, Darwin, Northern Territory 0811, Australia. ; Department of Global Health, College of Public Health University of South Florida, 3720 Spectrum Boulevard, Suite 304, Tampa, Florida 33612, USA. ; GlaxoSmithKline, Tres Cantos Medicines Development Campus-Diseases of the Developing World, Severo Ochoa 2, Tres Cantos 28760, Madrid, Spain. ; TropIQ Health Sciences, Geert Grooteplein 28, Huispost 268, 6525 GA Nijmegen, The Netherlands. ; Centre for Drug Candidate Optimisation, Monash University, 381 Royal Parade, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia. ; Eskitis Institute, Brisbane Innovation Park, Nathan Campus, Griffith University, Queensland 4111, Australia. ; Malaria Pathogenesis Laboratory, Eijkman Institute for Molecular Biology, Jalan Diponegoro 69, 10430 Jakarta, Indonesia. ; Medicines for Malaria Venture, PO Box 1826, 20 route de Pre-Bois, 1215 Geneva 15, Switzerland. ; Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Socinstrasse 57, 4051 Basel, Switzerland. ; 1] Global Health and Tropical Medicine Division, Menzies School of Health Research, Charles Darwin University, PO Box 41096, Casuarina, Darwin, Northern Territory 0811, Australia [2] Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7LJ, UK. ; 1] Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, New York 10032, USA [2] Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, New York 10032, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26085270" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Development of functional nanoparticles can be encumbered by unanticipated material properties and biological events, which can affect nanoparticle effectiveness in complex, physiologically relevant systems. Despite the advances in bottom-up nanoengineering and surface chemistry, reductionist functionalization approaches remain inadequate in replicating the complex interfaces present in nature and cannot avoid exposure of foreign materials. Here we report on the preparation of polymeric nanoparticles enclosed in the plasma membrane of human platelets, which are a unique population of cellular fragments that adhere to a variety of disease-relevant substrates. The resulting nanoparticles possess a right-side-out unilamellar membrane coating functionalized with immunomodulatory and adhesion antigens associated with platelets. Compared to uncoated particles, the platelet membrane-cloaked nanoparticles have reduced cellular uptake by macrophage-like cells and lack particle-induced complement activation in autologous human plasma. The cloaked nanoparticles also display platelet-mimicking properties such as selective adhesion to damaged human and rodent vasculatures as well as enhanced binding to platelet-adhering pathogens. In an experimental rat model of coronary restenosis and a mouse model of systemic bacterial infection, docetaxel and vancomycin, respectively, show enhanced therapeutic efficacy when delivered by the platelet-mimetic nanoparticles. The multifaceted biointerfacing enabled by the platelet membrane cloaking method provides a new approach in developing functional nanoparticles for disease-targeted delivery.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Hu, Che-Ming J -- Fang, Ronnie H -- Wang, Kuei-Chun -- Luk, Brian T -- Thamphiwatana, Soracha -- Dehaini, Diana -- Nguyen, Phu -- Angsantikul, Pavimol -- Wen, Cindy H -- Kroll, Ashley V -- Carpenter, Cody -- Ramesh, Manikantan -- Qu, Vivian -- Patel, Sherrina H -- Zhu, Jie -- Shi, William -- Hofman, Florence M -- Chen, Thomas C -- Gao, Weiwei -- Zhang, Kang -- Chien, Shu -- Zhang, Liangfang -- R01DK095168/DK/NIDDK NIH HHS/ -- R01EY25090/EY/NEI NIH HHS/ -- R01HL108735/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- R25CA153915/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- England -- Nature. 2015 Oct 1;526(7571):118-21. doi: 10.1038/nature15373. Epub 2015 Sep 16.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of NanoEngineering, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, USA. ; Moores Cancer Center, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, USA. ; Department of Bioengineering, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, USA. ; Institute of Engineering in Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, USA. ; Shiley Eye Institute, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, USA. ; Department of Pathology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90033, USA. ; Veterans Administration Healthcare System, San Diego, California 92093, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26374997" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: 〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Ledford, Heidi -- England -- Nature. 2015 Jan 15;517(7534):253-4. doi: 10.1038/517253a.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25592512" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: B cells are selected for an intermediate level of B-cell antigen receptor (BCR) signalling strength: attenuation below minimum (for example, non-functional BCR) or hyperactivation above maximum (for example, self-reactive BCR) thresholds of signalling strength causes negative selection. In approximately 25% of cases, acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) cells carry the oncogenic BCR-ABL1 tyrosine kinase (Philadelphia chromosome positive), which mimics constitutively active pre-BCR signalling. Current therapeutic approaches are largely focused on the development of more potent tyrosine kinase inhibitors to suppress oncogenic signalling below a minimum threshold for survival. We tested the hypothesis that targeted hyperactivation--above a maximum threshold--will engage a deletional checkpoint for removal of self-reactive B cells and selectively kill ALL cells. Here we find, by testing various components of proximal pre-BCR signalling in mouse BCR-ABL1 cells, that an incremental increase of Syk tyrosine kinase activity was required and sufficient to induce cell death. Hyperactive Syk was functionally equivalent to acute activation of a self-reactive BCR on ALL cells. Despite oncogenic transformation, this basic mechanism of negative selection was still functional in ALL cells. Unlike normal pre-B cells, patient-derived ALL cells express the inhibitory receptors PECAM1, CD300A and LAIR1 at high levels. Genetic studies revealed that Pecam1, Cd300a and Lair1 are critical to calibrate oncogenic signalling strength through recruitment of the inhibitory phosphatases Ptpn6 (ref. 7) and Inpp5d (ref. 8). Using a novel small-molecule inhibitor of INPP5D (also known as SHIP1), we demonstrated that pharmacological hyperactivation of SYK and engagement of negative B-cell selection represents a promising new strategy to overcome drug resistance in human ALL.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4441554/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4441554/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Chen, Zhengshan -- Shojaee, Seyedmehdi -- Buchner, Maike -- Geng, Huimin -- Lee, Jae Woong -- Klemm, Lars -- Titz, Bjorn -- Graeber, Thomas G -- Park, Eugene -- Tan, Ying Xim -- Satterthwaite, Anne -- Paietta, Elisabeth -- Hunger, Stephen P -- Willman, Cheryl L -- Melnick, Ari -- Loh, Mignon L -- Jung, Jae U -- Coligan, John E -- Bolland, Silvia -- Mak, Tak W -- Limnander, Andre -- Jumaa, Hassan -- Reth, Michael -- Weiss, Arthur -- Lowell, Clifford A -- Muschen, Markus -- 101880/Wellcome Trust/United Kingdom -- CA180794/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- CA180820/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- R01 AI068150/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- R01 AI113272/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- R01 CA137060/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- R01 CA139032/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- R01 CA157644/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- R01 CA169458/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- R01 CA172558/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- R01CA137060/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- R01CA139032/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- R01CA157644/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- R01CA169458/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- R01CA172558/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- U01 CA157937/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- U10 CA180794/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- U10 CA180820/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- U10 CA180827/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- U10 CA180886/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- U24 CA114737/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- U24 CA196172/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- Howard Hughes Medical Institute/ -- England -- Nature. 2015 May 21;521(7552):357-61. doi: 10.1038/nature14231. Epub 2015 Mar 23.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, California 94143, USA. ; Crump Institute for Molecular Imaging, Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA. ; Rosalind Russell-Ephraim P. Engleman Medical Research Center for Arthritis, Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, San Francisco, California 94143, USA. ; Department of Internal Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas 75390, USA. ; Department of Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York 10466, USA. ; Division of Pediatric Oncology and Center for Childhood Cancer Research, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Philadelphia 19104, USA. ; University of New Mexico Cancer Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87102, USA. ; Departments of Medicine and Pharmacology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, New York 10065, USA. ; Pediatric Hematology-Oncology, University of California, San Francisco, California 94143, USA. ; Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90033, USA. ; Receptor Cell Biology Section, Laboratory of Immunogenetics, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, Maryland 20852, USA. ; Autoimmunity and Functional Genomics Section, Laboratory of Immunogenetics, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, Maryland 20852, USA. ; The Campbell Family Institute for Breast Cancer Research, University Health Network, 620 University Avenue, Toronto, Ontario M5G 2M9, Canada. ; Department of Anatomy, University of California, San Francisco, California 94143, USA. ; Institute of Immunology, University Clinics Ulm, 89081 Ulm, Germany. ; BIOSS Centre for Biological Signalling Studies and Faculty of Biology, Albert-Ludwigs-Universitat Freiburg, and MPI of Immunbiologie and Epigenetics, 79104 Freiburg, Germany.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25799995" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Biomolecular self-assemblies are of great interest to nanotechnologists because of their functional versatility and their biocompatibility. Over the past decade, sophisticated single-component nanostructures composed exclusively of nucleic acids, peptides and proteins have been reported, and these nanostructures have been used in a wide range of applications, from drug delivery to molecular computing. Despite these successes, the development of hybrid co-assemblies of nucleic acids and proteins has remained elusive. Here we use computational protein design to create a protein-DNA co-assembling nanomaterial whose assembly is driven via non-covalent interactions. To achieve this, a homodimerization interface is engineered onto the Drosophila Engrailed homeodomain (ENH), allowing the dimerized protein complex to bind to two double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) molecules. By varying the arrangement of protein-binding sites on the dsDNA, an irregular bulk nanoparticle or a nanowire with single-molecule width can be spontaneously formed by mixing the protein and dsDNA building blocks. We characterize the protein-DNA nanowire using fluorescence microscopy, atomic force microscopy and X-ray crystallography, confirming that the nanowire is formed via the proposed mechanism. This work lays the foundation for the development of new classes of protein-DNA hybrid materials. Further applications can be explored by incorporating DNA origami, DNA aptamers and/or peptide epitopes into the protein-DNA framework presented here.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Mou, Yun -- Yu, Jiun-Yann -- Wannier, Timothy M -- Guo, Chin-Lin -- Mayo, Stephen L -- England -- Nature. 2015 Sep 10;525(7568):230-3. doi: 10.1038/nature14874. Epub 2015 Sep 2.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA. ; Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA. ; Division of Engineering and Applied Science, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26331548" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Mutations or amplification of the MET proto-oncogene are involved in the pathogenesis of several tumours, which rely on the constitutive engagement of this pathway for their growth and survival. However, MET is expressed not only by cancer cells but also by tumour-associated stromal cells, although its precise role in this compartment is not well characterized. Here we show that MET is required for neutrophil chemoattraction and cytotoxicity in response to its ligand hepatocyte growth factor (HGF). Met deletion in mouse neutrophils enhances tumour growth and metastasis. This phenotype correlates with reduced neutrophil infiltration to both the primary tumour and metastatic sites. Similarly, Met is necessary for neutrophil transudation during colitis, skin rash or peritonitis. Mechanistically, Met is induced by tumour-derived tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha or other inflammatory stimuli in both mouse and human neutrophils. This induction is instrumental for neutrophil transmigration across an activated endothelium and for inducible nitric oxide synthase production upon HGF stimulation. Consequently, HGF/MET-dependent nitric oxide release by neutrophils promotes cancer cell killing, which abates tumour growth and metastasis. After systemic administration of a MET kinase inhibitor, we prove that the therapeutic benefit of MET targeting in cancer cells is partly countered by the pro-tumoural effect arising from MET blockade in neutrophils. Our work identifies an unprecedented role of MET in neutrophils, suggests a potential 'Achilles' heel' of MET-targeted therapies in cancer, and supports the rationale for evaluating anti-MET drugs in certain inflammatory diseases.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4594765/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4594765/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Finisguerra, Veronica -- Di Conza, Giusy -- Di Matteo, Mario -- Serneels, Jens -- Costa, Sandra -- Thompson, A A Roger -- Wauters, Els -- Walmsley, Sarah -- Prenen, Hans -- Granot, Zvi -- Casazza, Andrea -- Mazzone, Massimiliano -- 098516/Wellcome Trust/United Kingdom -- 308459/European Research Council/International -- G0802255/Medical Research Council/United Kingdom -- Wellcome Trust/United Kingdom -- England -- Nature. 2015 Jun 18;522(7556):349-53. doi: 10.1038/nature14407. Epub 2015 May 18.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉1] Laboratory of Molecular Oncology and Angiogenesis, Vesalius Research Center, VIB, Leuven B3000, Belgium [2] Laboratory of Molecular Oncology and Angiogenesis, Vesalius Research Center, Department of Oncology, KU Leuven, Leuven B3000, Belgium. ; 1] Laboratory of Molecular Oncology and Angiogenesis, Vesalius Research Center, VIB, Leuven B3000, Belgium [2] Laboratory of Molecular Oncology and Angiogenesis, Vesalius Research Center, Department of Oncology, KU Leuven, Leuven B3000, Belgium [3] Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS), School of Health Sciences, University of Minho, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal [4] ICVS/3B's - PT Government Associate Laboratory, 4710-057 Braga/Guimaraes, Portugal. ; Department of Infection and Immunity, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2RX, UK. ; 1] Respiratory Division, University Hospital Gasthuisberg, Leuven B3000, Belgium [2] Laboratory of Translational Genetics, Vesalius Research Center, VIB, Leuven B3000, Belgium [3] Laboratory of Translational Genetics, Vesalius Research Center, Department of Oncology, KU Leuven, Leuven B3000, Belgium. ; Digestive Oncology Unit, University Hospital Gasthuisberg, Department of Oncology, KU Leuven, Leuven B3000, Belgium. ; Department of Developmental Biology and Cancer Research, The Institute for Medical Research Israel-Canada, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91120, Israel.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25985180" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Tumour-specific mutations are ideal targets for cancer immunotherapy as they lack expression in healthy tissues and can potentially be recognized as neo-antigens by the mature T-cell repertoire. Their systematic targeting by vaccine approaches, however, has been hampered by the fact that every patient's tumour possesses a unique set of mutations ('the mutanome') that must first be identified. Recently, we proposed a personalized immunotherapy approach to target the full spectrum of a patient's individual tumour-specific mutations. Here we show in three independent murine tumour models that a considerable fraction of non-synonymous cancer mutations is immunogenic and that, unexpectedly, the majority of the immunogenic mutanome is recognized by CD4(+) T cells. Vaccination with such CD4(+) immunogenic mutations confers strong antitumour activity. Encouraged by these findings, we established a process by which mutations identified by exome sequencing could be selected as vaccine targets solely through bioinformatic prioritization on the basis of their expression levels and major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II-binding capacity for rapid production as synthetic poly-neo-epitope messenger RNA vaccines. We show that vaccination with such polytope mRNA vaccines induces potent tumour control and complete rejection of established aggressively growing tumours in mice. Moreover, we demonstrate that CD4(+) T cell neo-epitope vaccination reshapes the tumour microenvironment and induces cytotoxic T lymphocyte responses against an independent immunodominant antigen in mice, indicating orchestration of antigen spread. Finally, we demonstrate an abundance of mutations predicted to bind to MHC class II in human cancers as well by employing the same predictive algorithm on corresponding human cancer types. Thus, the tailored immunotherapy approach introduced here may be regarded as a universally applicable blueprint for comprehensive exploitation of the substantial neo-epitope target repertoire of cancers, enabling the effective targeting of every patient's tumour with vaccines produced 'just in time'.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Kreiter, Sebastian -- Vormehr, Mathias -- van de Roemer, Niels -- Diken, Mustafa -- Lower, Martin -- Diekmann, Jan -- Boegel, Sebastian -- Schrors, Barbara -- Vascotto, Fulvia -- Castle, John C -- Tadmor, Arbel D -- Schoenberger, Stephen P -- Huber, Christoph -- Tureci, Ozlem -- Sahin, Ugur -- England -- Nature. 2015 Apr 30;520(7549):692-6. doi: 10.1038/nature14426. Epub 2015 Apr 22.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉TRON - Translational Oncology at the University Medical Center of Johannes Gutenberg University, Freiligrathstrasse 12, 55131 Mainz, Germany. ; Research Center for Immunotherapy (FZI), Langenbeckstrasse 1, Building 708, 55131 Mainz, Germany. ; 1] TRON - Translational Oncology at the University Medical Center of Johannes Gutenberg University, Freiligrathstrasse 12, 55131 Mainz, Germany [2] Biopharmaceutical New Technologies (BioNTech) Corporation, An der Goldgrube 12, 55131 Mainz, Germany. ; La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, 9420 Athena Circle, La Jolla, California 92037, USA. ; 1] TRON - Translational Oncology at the University Medical Center of Johannes Gutenberg University, Freiligrathstrasse 12, 55131 Mainz, Germany [2] Research Center for Immunotherapy (FZI), Langenbeckstrasse 1, Building 708, 55131 Mainz, Germany [3] Biopharmaceutical New Technologies (BioNTech) Corporation, An der Goldgrube 12, 55131 Mainz, Germany.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25901682" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: 〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Bourzac, Katherine -- England -- Nature. 2015 Jun 25;522(7557):S50-2. doi: 10.1038/522S50a.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26107095" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Prevailing dogma holds that cell-cell communication through Notch ligands and receptors determines binary cell fate decisions during progenitor cell divisions, with differentiated lineages remaining fixed. Mucociliary clearance in mammalian respiratory airways depends on secretory cells (club and goblet) and ciliated cells to produce and transport mucus. During development or repair, the closely related Jagged ligands (JAG1 and JAG2) induce Notch signalling to determine the fate of these lineages as they descend from a common proliferating progenitor. In contrast to such situations in which cell fate decisions are made in rapidly dividing populations, cells of the homeostatic adult airway epithelium are long-lived, and little is known about the role of active Notch signalling under such conditions. To disrupt Jagged signalling acutely in adult mammals, here we generate antibody antagonists that selectively target each Jagged paralogue, and determine a crystal structure that explains selectivity. We show that acute Jagged blockade induces a rapid and near-complete loss of club cells, with a concomitant gain in ciliated cells, under homeostatic conditions without increased cell death or division. Fate analyses demonstrate a direct conversion of club cells to ciliated cells without proliferation, meeting a conservative definition of direct transdifferentiation. Jagged inhibition also reversed goblet cell metaplasia in a preclinical asthma model, providing a therapeutic foundation. Our discovery that Jagged antagonism relieves a blockade of cell-to-cell conversion unveils unexpected plasticity, and establishes a model for Notch regulation of transdifferentiation.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Lafkas, Daniel -- Shelton, Amy -- Chiu, Cecilia -- de Leon Boenig, Gladys -- Chen, Yongmei -- Stawicki, Scott S -- Siltanen, Christian -- Reichelt, Mike -- Zhou, Meijuan -- Wu, Xiumin -- Eastham-Anderson, Jeffrey -- Moore, Heather -- Roose-Girma, Meron -- Chinn, Yvonne -- Hang, Julie Q -- Warming, Soren -- Egen, Jackson -- Lee, Wyne P -- Austin, Cary -- Wu, Yan -- Payandeh, Jian -- Lowe, John B -- Siebel, Christian W -- England -- Nature. 2015 Dec 3;528(7580):127-31. doi: 10.1038/nature15715. Epub 2015 Nov 18.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Discovery Oncology, Genentech, Inc., 1 DNA Way, South San Francisco, California 94080, USA. ; Department of Antibody Engineering, Genentech, Inc., 1 DNA Way, South San Francisco, California 94080, USA. ; Department of Structural Biology, Genentech, Inc., 1 DNA Way, South San Francisco, California 94080, USA. ; Department of Pathology, Genentech, Inc., 1 DNA Way, South San Francisco, California 94080, USA. ; Department of Translational Immunology, Genentech, Inc., 1 DNA Way, South San Francisco, California 94080, USA. ; Department of Discovery Immunology, Genentech, Inc., 1 DNA Way, South San Francisco, California 94080, USA. ; Department of Molecular Biology, Genentech, Inc., 1 DNA Way, South San Francisco, California 94080, USA. ; Departments of Protein Chemistry, Genentech, Inc., 1 DNA Way, South San Francisco, California 94080, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26580007" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Disruption of epithelial polarity is a key event in the acquisition of neoplastic growth. JNK signalling is known to play an important part in driving the malignant progression of many epithelial tumours, although the link between loss of polarity and JNK signalling remains elusive. In a Drosophila genome-wide genetic screen designed to identify molecules implicated in neoplastic growth, we identified grindelwald (grnd), a gene encoding a transmembrane protein with homology to members of the tumour necrosis factor receptor (TNFR) superfamily. Here we show that Grnd mediates the pro-apoptotic functions of Eiger (Egr), the unique Drosophila TNF, and that overexpression of an active form of Grnd lacking the extracellular domain is sufficient to activate JNK signalling in vivo. Grnd also promotes the invasiveness of Ras(V12)/scrib(-/-) tumours through Egr-dependent Matrix metalloprotease-1 (Mmp1) expression. Grnd localizes to the subapical membrane domain with the cell polarity determinant Crumbs (Crb) and couples Crb-induced loss of polarity with JNK activation and neoplastic growth through physical interaction with Veli (also known as Lin-7). Therefore, Grnd represents the first example of a TNFR that integrates signals from both Egr and apical polarity determinants to induce JNK-dependent cell death or tumour growth.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Andersen, Ditte S -- Colombani, Julien -- Palmerini, Valentina -- Chakrabandhu, Krittalak -- Boone, Emilie -- Rothlisberger, Michael -- Toggweiler, Janine -- Basler, Konrad -- Mapelli, Marina -- Hueber, Anne-Odile -- Leopold, Pierre -- England -- Nature. 2015 Jun 25;522(7557):482-6. doi: 10.1038/nature14298. Epub 2015 Apr 15.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉1] University of Nice-Sophia Antipolis, Institute of Biology Valrose, Parc Valrose, 06108 Nice, France [2] CNRS, Institute of Biology Valrose, Parc Valrose, 06108 Nice, France [3] INSERM, Institute of Biology Valrose, Parc Valrose, 06108 Nice, France [4] Genetics and Physiology of Growth laboratory, Institute of Biology Valrose, Parc Valrose, 06108 Nice, France. ; Department of Experimental Oncology, European Institute of Oncology, Via Adamello 16, 20139 Milan, Italy. ; 1] University of Nice-Sophia Antipolis, Institute of Biology Valrose, Parc Valrose, 06108 Nice, France [2] CNRS, Institute of Biology Valrose, Parc Valrose, 06108 Nice, France [3] INSERM, Institute of Biology Valrose, Parc Valrose, 06108 Nice, France [4] Death receptors Signalling and Cancer Therapy laboratory, Institute of Biology Valrose, Parc Valrose, 06108 Nice, France. ; Institute of Molecular Life Sciences, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25874673" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Developmental disabilities, including attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), intellectual disability (ID), and autism spectrum disorders (ASD), affect one in six children in the USA. Recently, gene mutations in patched domain containing 1 (PTCHD1) have been found in ~1% of patients with ID and ASD. Individuals with PTCHD1 deletion show symptoms of ADHD, sleep disruption, hypotonia, aggression, ASD, and ID. Although PTCHD1 is probably critical for normal development, the connection between its deletion and the ensuing behavioural defects is poorly understood. Here we report that during early post-natal development, mouse Ptchd1 is selectively expressed in the thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN), a group of GABAergic neurons that regulate thalamocortical transmission, sleep rhythms, and attention. Ptchd1 deletion attenuates TRN activity through mechanisms involving small conductance calcium-dependent potassium currents (SK). TRN-restricted deletion of Ptchd1 leads to attention deficits and hyperactivity, both of which are rescued by pharmacological augmentation of SK channel activity. Global Ptchd1 deletion recapitulates learning impairment, hyper-aggression, and motor defects, all of which are insensitive to SK pharmacological targeting and not found in the TRN-restricted deletion mouse. This study maps clinically relevant behavioural phenotypes onto TRN dysfunction in a human disease model, while also identifying molecular and circuit targets for intervention.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4875756/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4875756/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Wells, Michael F -- Wimmer, Ralf D -- Schmitt, L Ian -- Feng, Guoping -- Halassa, Michael M -- F31 MH098641/MH/NIMH NIH HHS/ -- R00 NS078115/NS/NINDS NIH HHS/ -- R01 MH097104/MH/NIMH NIH HHS/ -- R01 MH107680/MH/NIMH NIH HHS/ -- R01MH097104/MH/NIMH NIH HHS/ -- R01MH10768/MH/NIMH NIH HHS/ -- England -- Nature. 2016 Apr 7;532(7597):58-63. doi: 10.1038/nature17427. Epub 2016 Mar 23.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Neurobiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710, USA. ; McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA. ; Neuroscience Institute, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, New York 10016, USA. ; Department of Neuroscience and Physiology, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, New York 10016, USA. ; Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA. ; Department of Psychiatry, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, New York 10016, USA. ; Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, New York 1003, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27007844" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Phytosulfokine (PSK) is a disulfated pentapeptide that has a ubiquitous role in plant growth and development. PSK is perceived by its receptor PSKR, a leucine-rich repeat receptor kinase (LRR-RK). The mechanisms underlying the recognition of PSK, the activation of PSKR and the identity of the components downstream of the initial binding remain elusive. Here we report the crystal structures of the extracellular LRR domain of PSKR in free, PSK- and co-receptor-bound forms. The structures reveal that PSK interacts mainly with a beta-strand from the island domain of PSKR, forming an anti-beta-sheet. The two sulfate moieties of PSK interact directly with PSKR, sensitizing PSKR recognition of PSK. Supported by biochemical, structural and genetic evidence, PSK binding enhances PSKR heterodimerization with the somatic embryogenesis receptor-like kinases (SERKs). However, PSK is not directly involved in PSKR-SERK interaction but stabilizes PSKR island domain for recruitment of a SERK. Our data reveal the structural basis for PSKR recognition of PSK and allosteric activation of PSKR by PSK, opening up new avenues for the design of PSKR-specific small molecules.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Wang, Jizong -- Li, Hongju -- Han, Zhifu -- Zhang, Heqiao -- Wang, Tong -- Lin, Guangzhong -- Chang, Junbiao -- Yang, Weicai -- Chai, Jijie -- England -- Nature. 2015 Sep 10;525(7568):265-8. doi: 10.1038/nature14858. Epub 2015 Aug 26.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Protein Science, Center for Structural Biology, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua-Peking Joint Center for Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China. ; State Key Laboratory of Molecular Developmental Biology, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China. ; School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26308901" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Eukaryotic cells restrict protein synthesis under various stress conditions, by inhibiting the eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2B (eIF2B). eIF2B is the guanine nucleotide exchange factor for eIF2, a heterotrimeric G protein consisting of alpha-, beta- and gamma-subunits. eIF2B exchanges GDP for GTP on the gamma-subunit of eIF2 (eIF2gamma), and is inhibited by stress-induced phosphorylation of eIF2alpha. eIF2B is a heterodecameric complex of two copies each of the alpha-, beta-, gamma-, delta- and epsilon-subunits; its alpha-, beta- and delta-subunits constitute the regulatory subcomplex, while the gamma- and epsilon-subunits form the catalytic subcomplex. The three-dimensional structure of the entire eIF2B complex has not been determined. Here we present the crystal structure of Schizosaccharomyces pombe eIF2B with an unprecedented subunit arrangement, in which the alpha2beta2delta2 hexameric regulatory subcomplex binds two gammaepsilon dimeric catalytic subcomplexes on its opposite sides. A structure-based in vitro analysis by a surface-scanning site-directed photo-cross-linking method identified the eIF2alpha-binding and eIF2gamma-binding interfaces, located far apart on the regulatory and catalytic subcomplexes, respectively. The eIF2gamma-binding interface is located close to the conserved 'NF motif', which is important for nucleotide exchange. A structural model was constructed for the complex of eIF2B with phosphorylated eIF2alpha, which binds to eIF2B more strongly than the unphosphorylated form. These results indicate that the eIF2alpha phosphorylation generates the 'nonproductive' eIF2-eIF2B complex, which prevents nucleotide exchange on eIF2gamma, and thus provide a structural framework for the eIF2B-mediated mechanism of stress-induced translational control.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Kashiwagi, Kazuhiro -- Takahashi, Mari -- Nishimoto, Madoka -- Hiyama, Takuya B -- Higo, Toshiaki -- Umehara, Takashi -- Sakamoto, Kensaku -- Ito, Takuhiro -- Yokoyama, Shigeyuki -- England -- Nature. 2016 Mar 3;531(7592):122-5. doi: 10.1038/nature16991. Epub 2016 Feb 22.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan. ; RIKEN Systems and Structural Biology Center, Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama 230-0045, Japan. ; RIKEN Center for Life Science Technologies, Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama 230-0045, Japan. ; RIKEN Structural Biology Laboratory, Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama 230-0045, Japan.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26901872" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: In all domains of life, DNA synthesis occurs bidirectionally from replication origins. Despite variable rates of replication fork progression, fork convergence often occurs at specific sites. Escherichia coli sets a 'replication fork trap' that allows the first arriving fork to enter but not to leave the terminus region. The trap is set by oppositely oriented Tus-bound Ter sites that block forks on approach from only one direction. However, the efficiency of fork blockage by Tus-Ter does not exceed 50% in vivo despite its apparent ability to almost permanently arrest replication forks in vitro. Here we use data from single-molecule DNA replication assays and structural studies to show that both polarity and fork-arrest efficiency are determined by a competition between rates of Tus displacement and rearrangement of Tus-Ter interactions that leads to blockage of slower moving replisomes by two distinct mechanisms. To our knowledge this is the first example where intrinsic differences in rates of individual replisomes have different biological outcomes.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Elshenawy, Mohamed M -- Jergic, Slobodan -- Xu, Zhi-Qiang -- Sobhy, Mohamed A -- Takahashi, Masateru -- Oakley, Aaron J -- Dixon, Nicholas E -- Hamdan, Samir M -- England -- Nature. 2015 Sep 17;525(7569):394-8. doi: 10.1038/nature14866. Epub 2015 Aug 31.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Division of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal 23955, Saudi Arabia. ; Centre for Medical &Molecular Bioscience, Illawarra Health &Medical Research Institute and University of Wollongong, New South Wales 2522, Australia.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26322585" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Catalysis in biology is restricted to RNA (ribozymes) and protein enzymes, but synthetic biomolecular catalysts can also be made of DNA (deoxyribozymes) or synthetic genetic polymers. In vitro selection from synthetic random DNA libraries identified DNA catalysts for various chemical reactions beyond RNA backbone cleavage. DNA-catalysed reactions include RNA and DNA ligation in various topologies, hydrolytic cleavage and photorepair of DNA, as well as reactions of peptides and small molecules. In spite of comprehensive biochemical studies of DNA catalysts for two decades, fundamental mechanistic understanding of their function is lacking in the absence of three-dimensional models at atomic resolution. Early attempts to solve the crystal structure of an RNA-cleaving deoxyribozyme resulted in a catalytically irrelevant nucleic acid fold. Here we report the crystal structure of the RNA-ligating deoxyribozyme 9DB1 (ref. 14) at 2.8 A resolution. The structure captures the ligation reaction in the post-catalytic state, revealing a compact folding unit stabilized by numerous tertiary interactions, and an unanticipated organization of the catalytic centre. Structure-guided mutagenesis provided insights into the basis for regioselectivity of the ligation reaction and allowed remarkable manipulation of substrate recognition and reaction rate. Moreover, the structure highlights how the specific properties of deoxyribose are reflected in the backbone conformation of the DNA catalyst, in support of its intricate three-dimensional organization. The structural principles underlying the catalytic ability of DNA elucidate differences and similarities in DNA versus RNA catalysts, which is relevant for comprehending the privileged position of folded RNA in the prebiotic world and in current organisms.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Ponce-Salvatierra, Almudena -- Wawrzyniak-Turek, Katarzyna -- Steuerwald, Ulrich -- Hobartner, Claudia -- Pena, Vladimir -- England -- Nature. 2016 Jan 14;529(7585):231-4. doi: 10.1038/nature16471. Epub 2016 Jan 6.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Max Planck Research Group Nucleic Acid Chemistry, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Am Fassberg 11, 37077 Gottingen, Germany. ; Research Group Macromolecular Crystallography, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Am Fassberg 11, 37077 Gottingen, Germany. ; Institute for Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry, Georg-August-University Gottingen, Tammannstr. 2, 37077 Gottingen, Germany.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26735012" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: RNA polymerase (Pol) II produces messenger RNA during transcription of protein-coding genes in all eukaryotic cells. The Pol II structure is known at high resolution from X-ray crystallography for two yeast species. Structural studies of mammalian Pol II, however, remain limited to low-resolution electron microscopy analysis of human Pol II and its complexes with various proteins. Here we report the 3.4 A resolution cryo-electron microscopy structure of mammalian Pol II in the form of a transcribing complex comprising DNA template and RNA transcript. We use bovine Pol II, which is identical to the human enzyme except for seven amino-acid residues. The obtained atomic model closely resembles its yeast counterpart, but also reveals unknown features. Binding of nucleic acids to the polymerase involves 'induced fit' of the mobile Pol II clamp and active centre region. DNA downstream of the transcription bubble contacts a conserved 'TPSA motif' in the jaw domain of the Pol II subunit RPB5, an interaction that is apparently already established during transcription initiation. Upstream DNA emanates from the active centre cleft at an angle of approximately 105 degrees with respect to downstream DNA. This position of upstream DNA allows for binding of the general transcription elongation factor DSIF (SPT4-SPT5) that we localize over the active centre cleft in a conserved position on the clamp domain of Pol II. Our results define the structure of mammalian Pol II in its functional state, indicate that previous crystallographic analysis of yeast Pol II is relevant for understanding gene transcription in all eukaryotes, and provide a starting point for a mechanistic analysis of human transcription.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Bernecky, Carrie -- Herzog, Franz -- Baumeister, Wolfgang -- Plitzko, Jurgen M -- Cramer, Patrick -- England -- Nature. 2016 Jan 28;529(7587):551-4. doi: 10.1038/nature16482. Epub 2016 Jan 20.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Department of Molecular Biology, Am Fassberg 11, 37077 Gottingen, Germany. ; Gene Center Munich, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat Munchen, Feodor-Lynen-Strasse 25, 81377 Munich, Germany. ; Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry, Department of Molecular Structural Biology, Am Klopferspitz 18, 82152 Martinsried, Germany.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26789250" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: All Gram-negative bacteria, mitochondria and chloroplasts have outer membrane proteins (OMPs) that perform many fundamental biological processes. The OMPs in Gram-negative bacteria are inserted and folded into the outer membrane by the beta-barrel assembly machinery (BAM). The mechanism involved is poorly understood, owing to the absence of a structure of the entire BAM complex. Here we report two crystal structures of the Escherichia coli BAM complex in two distinct states: an inward-open state and a lateral-open state. Our structures reveal that the five polypeptide transport-associated domains of BamA form a ring architecture with four associated lipoproteins, BamB-BamE, in the periplasm. Our structural, functional studies and molecular dynamics simulations indicate that these subunits rotate with respect to the integral membrane beta-barrel of BamA to induce movement of the beta-strands of the barrel and promote insertion of the nascent OMP.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Gu, Yinghong -- Li, Huanyu -- Dong, Haohao -- Zeng, Yi -- Zhang, Zhengyu -- Paterson, Neil G -- Stansfeld, Phillip J -- Wang, Zhongshan -- Zhang, Yizheng -- Wang, Wenjian -- Dong, Changjiang -- G1100110/1/Medical Research Council/United Kingdom -- WT106121MA/Wellcome Trust/United Kingdom -- England -- Nature. 2016 Mar 3;531(7592):64-9. doi: 10.1038/nature17199. Epub 2016 Feb 22.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Biomedical Research Centre, Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK. ; Diamond Light Source, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, Oxfordshire OX11 0DE, UK. ; Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK. ; Jiangsu Province Key Laboratory of Anesthesiology, Xuzhou Medical College, Xuzhou 221004, China. ; Key Laboratory of Bio-resources and Eco-environment, Ministry of Education, Sichuan Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064, China. ; Laboratory of Department of Surgery, the First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, 58 Zhongshan Road II, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510080, China.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26901871" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: HKU1 is a human betacoronavirus that causes mild yet prevalent respiratory disease, and is related to the zoonotic SARS and MERS betacoronaviruses, which have high fatality rates and pandemic potential. Cell tropism and host range is determined in part by the coronavirus spike (S) protein, which binds cellular receptors and mediates membrane fusion. As the largest known class I fusion protein, its size and extensive glycosylation have hindered structural studies of the full ectodomain, thus preventing a molecular understanding of its function and limiting development of effective interventions. Here we present the 4.0 A resolution structure of the trimeric HKU1 S protein determined using single-particle cryo-electron microscopy. In the pre-fusion conformation, the receptor-binding subunits, S1, rest above the fusion-mediating subunits, S2, preventing their conformational rearrangement. Surprisingly, the S1 C-terminal domains are interdigitated and form extensive quaternary interactions that occlude surfaces known in other coronaviruses to bind protein receptors. These features, along with the location of the two protease sites known to be important for coronavirus entry, provide a structural basis to support a model of membrane fusion mediated by progressive S protein destabilization through receptor binding and proteolytic cleavage. These studies should also serve as a foundation for the structure-based design of betacoronavirus vaccine immunogens.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4860016/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4860016/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Kirchdoerfer, Robert N -- Cottrell, Christopher A -- Wang, Nianshuang -- Pallesen, Jesper -- Yassine, Hadi M -- Turner, Hannah L -- Corbett, Kizzmekia S -- Graham, Barney S -- McLellan, Jason S -- Ward, Andrew B -- R56 AI118016/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- Intramural NIH HHS/ -- England -- Nature. 2016 Mar 3;531(7592):118-21. doi: 10.1038/nature17200.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Integrative Structural and Computational Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, California 92037, USA. ; Department of Biochemistry, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire 03755, USA. ; Viral Pathogenesis Laboratory, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Building 40, Room 2502, 40 Convent Drive, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26935699" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Two-pore channels (TPCs) contain two copies of a Shaker-like six-transmembrane (6-TM) domain in each subunit and are ubiquitously expressed in both animals and plants as organellar cation channels. Here we present the crystal structure of a vacuolar two-pore channel from Arabidopsis thaliana, AtTPC1, which functions as a homodimer. AtTPC1 activation requires both voltage and cytosolic Ca(2+). Ca(2+) binding to the cytosolic EF-hand domain triggers conformational changes coupled to the pair of pore-lining inner helices from the first 6-TM domains, whereas membrane potential only activates the second voltage-sensing domain, the conformational changes of which are coupled to the pair of inner helices from the second 6-TM domains. Luminal Ca(2+) or Ba(2+) can modulate voltage activation by stabilizing the second voltage-sensing domain in the resting state and shift voltage activation towards more positive potentials. Our Ba(2+)-bound AtTPC1 structure reveals a voltage sensor in the resting state, providing hitherto unseen structural insight into the general voltage-gating mechanism among voltage-gated channels.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4841471/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4841471/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Guo, Jiangtao -- Zeng, Weizhong -- Chen, Qingfeng -- Lee, Changkeun -- Chen, Liping -- Yang, Yi -- Cang, Chunlei -- Ren, Dejian -- Jiang, Youxing -- GM079179/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- NS055293/NS/NINDS NIH HHS/ -- NS074257/NS/NINDS NIH HHS/ -- R01 GM079179/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- Howard Hughes Medical Institute/ -- England -- Nature. 2016 Mar 10;531(7593):196-201. doi: 10.1038/nature16446. Epub 2015 Dec 21.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Physiology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas 75390-9040, USA. ; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas 75390-9040, USA. ; Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26689363" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Many biopolymers, including polysaccharides, must be translocated across at least one membrane to reach their site of biological function. Cellulose is a linear glucose polymer synthesized and secreted by a membrane-integrated cellulose synthase. Here, in crystallo enzymology with the catalytically active bacterial cellulose synthase BcsA-BcsB complex reveals structural snapshots of a complete cellulose biosynthesis cycle, from substrate binding to polymer translocation. Substrate- and product-bound structures of BcsA provide the basis for substrate recognition and demonstrate the stepwise elongation of cellulose. Furthermore, the structural snapshots show that BcsA translocates cellulose via a ratcheting mechanism involving a 'finger helix' that contacts the polymer's terminal glucose. Cooperating with BcsA's gating loop, the finger helix moves 'up' and 'down' in response to substrate binding and polymer elongation, respectively, thereby pushing the elongated polymer into BcsA's transmembrane channel. This mechanism is validated experimentally by tethering BcsA's finger helix, which inhibits polymer translocation but not elongation.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4843519/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4843519/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Morgan, Jacob L W -- McNamara, Joshua T -- Fischer, Michael -- Rich, Jamie -- Chen, Hong-Ming -- Withers, Stephen G -- Zimmer, Jochen -- 1R01GM101001/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- P41 GM103403/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01 GM101001/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- S10 RR029205/RR/NCRR NIH HHS/ -- England -- Nature. 2016 Mar 17;531(7594):329-34. doi: 10.1038/nature16966. Epub 2016 Mar 9.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉University of Virginia School of Medicine, Center for Membrane Biology, Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics, 480 Ray C. Hunt Drive, Charlottesville, Virginia 22908, USA. ; Department of Chemistry, University of British Columbia, 2036 Main Mall, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z1, Canada.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26958837" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉