Transforming an esterase into an enantioselective catecholase through bioconjugation of a versatile metal-chelating inhibitor.

Metal complexes introduced into protein scaffolds can generate versatile biomimetic catalysts endowed with a variety of catalytic properties. Here, we synthesized and covalently bound a bipyridinyl derivative to the active centre of an esterase to generate a biomimetic catalyst that shows catecholase activity and enantioselective catalytic oxidation of (+)-catechin.

Structural and functional variation of chitin-binding domains of a lytic polysaccharide monooxygenase from Cellvibrio japonicus.

Among the extensive repertoire of carbohydrate-active enzymes, lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases (LPMOs) have a key role in recalcitrant biomass degradation. LPMOs are copper-dependent enzymes that catalyze oxidative cleavage of glycosidic bonds in polysaccharides such as cellulose and chitin. Several LPMOs contain carbohydrate-binding modules (CBMs) that are known to promote LPMO efficiency.

A trimodular bacterial enzyme combining hydrolytic activity with oxidative glycosidic bond cleavage efficiently degrades chitin.

Findings from recent studies have indicated that enzymes containing more than one catalytic domain may be particularly powerful in the degradation of recalcitrant polysaccharides such as chitin and cellulose. Some known multicatalytic enzymes contain several glycoside hydrolase domains and one or more carbohydrate-binding modules (CBMs). Here, using bioinformatics and biochemical analyses, we identified an enzyme, 1381 from the actinobacterium , that uniquely combines two different polysaccharide-degrading activities.

A role of the Lowe syndrome protein OCRL in early steps of the endocytic pathway.

Mutations in the inositol 5-phosphatase OCRL are responsible for Lowe syndrome, whose manifestations include mental retardation and renal Fanconi syndrome. OCRL has been implicated in membrane trafficking, but disease mechanisms remain unclear. We show that OCRL visits late-stage, endocytic clathrin-coated pits and binds the Rab5 effector APPL1 on peripheral early endosomes.

Endocytosis and synaptic removal of NR3A-containing NMDA receptors by PACSIN1/syndapin1.

A key step in glutamatergic synapse maturation is the replacement of developmentally expressed N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) with mature forms that differ in subunit composition, electrophysiological properties and propensity to elicit synaptic plasticity. However, the mechanisms underlying the removal and replacement of synaptic NMDARs are poorly understood. Here we demonstrate that NMDARs containing the developmentally regulated NR3A subunit undergo rapid endocytosis from the dendritic plasma membrane in cultured rat hippocampal neurons.

An enzymatic cascade of Rab5 effectors regulates phosphoinositide turnover in the endocytic pathway.

Generation and turnover of phosphoinositides (PIs) must be coordinated in a spatial- and temporal-restricted manner. The small GTPase Rab5 interacts with two PI 3-kinases, Vps34 and PI3Kbeta, suggesting that it regulates the production of 3-PIs at various stages of the early endocytic pathway. Here, we discovered that Rab5 also interacts directly with PI 5- and PI 4-phosphatases and stimulates their activity.

Characterization of Endophilin B1b, a brain-specific membrane-associated lysophosphatidic acid acyl transferase with properties distinct from endophilin A1.

We have characterized mammalian endophilin B1, a novel member of the endophilins and a representative of their B subgroup. The endophilins B show the same domain organization as the endophilins A, which contain an N-terminal domain responsible for lipid binding and lysophosphatidic acid acyl transferase activity, a central coiled-coil domain for oligomerization, a less conserved linker region, and a C-terminal Src homology 3 (SH3) domain. The endophilin B1 gene gives rise to at least three splice variants, endophilin B1a, which shows a widespread tissue distribution, and endophilins B1b and B1c, which appear to be brain-specific.

PACSIN 1 interacts with huntingtin and is absent from synaptic varicosities in presymptomatic Huntington's disease brains.

Huntington's disease (HD) is caused by a pathological expansion of a CAG repeat in the first exon of the gene coding for huntingtin, resulting in an abnormally long polyglutamine stretch. Despite its widespread expression, mutant huntingtin leads to selective neuronal loss in the striatum and cortex. Here we report that the neurospecific phosphoprotein PACSIN 1, which has been implicated as playing a central role in synaptic vesicle recycling, interacts with huntingtin via its C-terminal SH3 domain.