Lanthanide-Binding Tags for 3D X-ray Imaging of Proteins in Cells at Nanoscale Resolution.

We report the application of lanthanide-binding tags (LBTs) for two- and three-dimensional X-ray imaging of individual proteins in cells with a sub-15 nm beam. The method combines encoded LBTs, which are tags of minimal size (ca. 15-20 amino acids) affording high-affinity lanthanide ion binding, and X-ray fluorescence microscopy (XFM).

X-ray Fluorescence Nanotomography of Single Bacteria with a Sub-15 nm Beam.

X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) microscopy is a growing approach for imaging the trace element concentration, distribution, and speciation in biological cells at the nanoscale. Moreover, three-dimensional nanotomography provides the added advantage of imaging subcellular structure and chemical identity in three dimensions without the need for staining or sectioning of cells. To date, technical challenges in X-ray optics, sample preparation, and detection sensitivity have limited the use of XRF nanotomography in this area.

Substrate Binding Mode and Molecular Basis of a Specificity Switch in Oxalate Decarboxylase.

Oxalate decarboxylase (OxDC) catalyzes the conversion of oxalate into formate and carbon dioxide in a remarkable reaction that requires manganese and dioxygen. Previous studies have shown that replacing an active-site loop segment Ser(161)-Glu(162)-Asn(163)-Ser(164) in the N-terminal domain of OxDC with the cognate residues Asp(161)-Ala(162)-Ser-(163)-Asn(164) of an evolutionarily related, Mn-dependent oxalate oxidase gives a chimeric variant (DASN) that exhibits significantly increased oxidase activity. The mechanistic basis for this change in activity has now been investigated using membrane inlet mass spectrometry (MIMS) and isotope effect (IE) measurements.

Assigning the EPR fine structure parameters of the Mn(II) centers in Bacillus subtilis oxalate decarboxylase by site-directed mutagenesis and DFT/MM calculations.

Oxalate decarboxylase (OxDC) catalyzes the Mn-dependent conversion of the oxalate monoanion into CO2 and formate. EPR-based strategies for investigating the catalytic mechanism of decarboxylation are complicated by the difficulty of assigning the signals associated with the two Mn(II) centers located in the N- and C-terminal cupin domains of the enzyme. We now report a mutational strategy that has established the assignment of EPR fine structure parameters to each of these Mn(II) centers at pH 8.