S2P intramembrane protease RseP degrades small membrane proteins and suppresses the cytotoxicity of intrinsic toxin HokB.

The site2protease (S2P) family of intramembrane proteases (IMPs) is conserved in all kingdoms of life and cleaves transmembrane proteins within the membrane to regulate and maintain various cellular activities. RseP, an S2P peptidase, is involved in the regulation of gene expression through the regulated cleavage of the two target membrane proteins (RseA and FecR) and in membrane quality control through the proteolytic elimination of remnant signal peptides. RseP is expected to have additional substrates and to be involved in other cellular processes.

Novel presynaptic assay system revealed that metformin ameliorates exaggerated synaptic release and Munc18-1 accumulation in presynapses of neurons from Fragile X syndrome mouse model.

Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is a developmental disorder characterized by intellectual disability and autistic-like behaviors. These symptoms are supposed to result from dysregulated translation in pre- and postsynapses, resulting in aberrant synaptic plasticity. Although most drug development research on FXS has focused on aberrant postsynaptic functions by excess translation in postsynapses, the effect of drug candidates on FXS in presynaptic release is largely unclear.

Recombinant production of antibody antigen-binding fragments with an N-terminal human growth hormone tag in mammalian cells.

Antigen-binding fragments (Fabs) of antibodies are both key biopharmaceuticals and valuable tools for basic life science. To streamline the production of diverse Fabs by capitalizing on standard and highly optimized protein production protocols, we here explore a method to prepare recombinant Fabs as secreted fusion proteins with an N-terminal human growth hormone domain and an octa-histidine tag. These tagged Fabs can be purified with standard immobilized metal chelate affinity chromatography.

Hybrid in vitro/in silico analysis of low-affinity protein-protein interactions that regulate signal transduction by Sema6D.

Semaphorins constitute a large family of secreted and membrane-bound proteins that signal through cell-surface receptors, plexins. Semaphorins generally use low-affinity protein-protein interactions to bind with their specific plexin(s) and regulate distinct cellular processes such as neurogenesis, immune response, and organogenesis. Sema6D is a membrane-bound semaphorin that interacts with class A plexins.

Mechanistic insights into intramembrane proteolysis by site-2 protease homolog RseP.

Site-2 proteases are a conserved family of intramembrane proteases that cleave transmembrane substrates to regulate signal transduction and maintain proteostasis. Here, we elucidated crystal structures of inhibitor-bound forms of bacterial site-2 proteases including RseP. Structure-based chemical modification and cross-linking experiments indicated that the RseP domains surrounding the active center undergo conformational changes to expose the substrate-binding site, suggesting that RseP has a gating mechanism to regulate substrate entry.

Moving toward generalizable NZ-1 labeling for 3D structure determination with optimized epitope-tag insertion.

Antibody labeling has been conducted extensively for structure determination using both X-ray crystallography and electron microscopy (EM). However, establishing target-specific antibodies is a prerequisite for applying antibody-assisted structural analysis. To expand the applicability of this strategy, an alternative method has been developed to prepare an antibody complex by inserting an exogenous epitope into the target.

Structural studies of reelin N-terminal region provides insights into a unique structural arrangement and functional multimerization.

The large, secreted glycoprotein reelin regulates embryonic brain development as well as adult brain functions. Although reelin binds to its receptors via its central part, the N-terminal region directs multimer formation and is critical for efficient signal transduction. In fact, the inhibitory antibody CR-50 interacts with the N-terminal region and prevents higher-order multimerization and signalling.

Application of the NZ-1 Fab as a crystallization chaperone for PA tag-inserted target proteins.

An antibody fragment that recognizes the tertiary structure of a target protein with high affinity can be utilized as a crystallization chaperone. Difficulties in establishing conformation-specific antibodies, however, limit the applicability of antibody fragment-assisted crystallization. Here, we attempted to establish an alternative method to promote the crystallization of target proteins using an already established anti-tag antibody.

Fragile X mental retardation protein regulates accumulation of the active zone protein Munc18-1 in presynapses via local translation in axons during synaptogenesis.

Fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP), a causative gene (FMR1) product of Fragile X syndrome (FXS), is an RNA-binding protein to regulate local protein synthesis in dendrites for postsynaptic functions. However, involvement of FMRP in local protein synthesis in axons for presynaptic functions remains unclear. Here we investigated role of FMRP in local translation of the active zone protein Munc18-1 during presynapse formation.

How multi-scale structural biology elucidated context-dependent variability in ectodomain conformation along with the ligand capture and release cycle for LDLR family members.

The low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) and its homologs capture and internalize lipoproteins into the cell. Due to the fact that LDLR family members possess a modular ectodomain that undergoes dynamic conformational changes, multi-scale structural analysis has been performed so as to understand the ligand capture and release mechanism. For example, crystallographic analyses have provided models for both the entire ectodomain and high-resolution structures of individual modules.

Structural basis for ligand capture and release by the endocytic receptor ApoER2.

Apolipoprotein E receptor 2 (ApoER2) is a close homologue of low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) that mediates the endocytosis of ligands, including LDL particles. LDLR family members have been presumed to explore a large conformational space to capture ligands in the extended conformation at the cell surface. Ligands are subsequently released through a pH-titrated structural transition to a self-docked, contracted-closed conformation.

3D structural analysis of protein O-mannosyl kinase, POMK, a causative gene product of dystroglycanopathy.

Orchestration of the multiple enzymes engaged in O-mannose glycan synthesis provides a matriglycan on α-dystroglycan (α-DG) which attracts extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins such as laminin. Aberrant O-mannosylation of α-DG leads to severe congenital muscular dystrophies due to detachment of ECM proteins from the basal membrane. Phosphorylation at C6-position of O-mannose catalyzed by protein O-mannosyl kinase (POMK) is a crucial step in the biosynthetic pathway of O-mannose glycan.

Immunoaffinity Purification of the Glycosylated Extracellular Fragment of Mouse Plexin A2 Produced in a Mammalian Expression System.

Plexins are type I membrane proteins that function as receptors for semaphorins. All of the known plexins contain a large globular domain, termed the sema domain, in the N-terminal extracellular region, which interacts with semaphorins during signal transduction. Here, we describe procedures for protein production and purification that we utilized in the crystallographic study of the mouse Plexin A2 (mPlxnA2) extracellular fragment, including the sema domain.

Roles of the membrane-reentrant β-hairpin-like loop of RseP protease in selective substrate cleavage.

Molecular mechanisms underlying substrate recognition and cleavage by Escherichia coli RseP, which belongs to S2P family of intramembrane-cleaving proteases, remain unclear. We examined the function of a conserved region looped into the membrane domain of RseP to form a β-hairpin-like structure near its active site in substrate recognition and cleavage. We observed that mutations disturbing the possible β-strand conformation of the loop impaired RseP proteolytic activity and that some of these mutations resulted in the differential cleavage of different substrates.

Structural basis for amyloidogenic peptide recognition by sorLA.

SorLA is a neuronal sorting receptor considered to be a major risk factor for Alzheimer's disease. We have recently reported that it directs lysosomal targeting of nascent neurotoxic amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides by directly binding Aβ. Here, we determined the crystal structure of the human sorLA domain responsible for Aβ capture, Vps10p, in an unbound state and in complex with two ligands.

PA tag: a versatile protein tagging system using a super high affinity antibody against a dodecapeptide derived from human podoplanin.

Peptide-based epitope tagging technology is universally used in nearly all kind of research projects that involve biochemical characterization of a target protein, but not many systems are fully compatible with purification purpose. By utilizing an anti-human podoplanin antibody NZ-1, we constructed a novel epitope tag system. NZ-1 possesses exceptionally high affinity toward a dodecapeptide dubbed "PA tag", with a characteristic slow dissociation kinetics.

A structure-based model of substrate discrimination by a noncanonical PDZ tandem in the intramembrane-cleaving protease RseP.

During the extracytoplasmic stress response in Escherichia coli, the intramembrane protease RseP cleaves the anti-σ(E) protein RseA only after the membrane-anchored protease DegS truncates the periplasmic part of RseA that suppresses the action of RseP. Here we analyzed the three-dimensional structure of the two tandemly arranged PSD-95/Dlg/ZO-1 (PDZ) domains (PDZ tandem) present in the periplasmic region of RseP and revealed that the two putative ligand-binding grooves constitute a single pocket-like structure that would lie just above the active center sequestrated within the membrane. Complete removal of the PDZ tandem from RseP led to the intramembrane cleavage of RseA without prior truncation by DegS.

Higher-order architecture of cell adhesion mediated by polymorphic synaptic adhesion molecules neurexin and neuroligin.

Polymorphic adhesion molecules neurexin and neuroligin (NL) mediate asymmetric trans-synaptic adhesion, which is crucial for synapse development and function. It is not known whether or how individual synapse function is controlled by the interactions between variants and isoforms of these molecules with differing ectodomain regions. At a physiological concentration of Ca(2+), the ectodomain complex of neurexin-1 β isoform (Nrx1β) and NL1 spontaneously assembled into crystals of a lateral sheet-like superstructure topologically compatible with transcellular adhesion.

Crystal structure of α5β1 integrin ectodomain: atomic details of the fibronectin receptor.

Integrin α5β1 is a major cellular receptor for the extracellular matrix protein fibronectin and plays a fundamental role during mammalian development. A crystal structure of the α5β1 integrin headpiece fragment bound by an allosteric inhibitory antibody was determined at a 2.9-Å resolution both in the absence and presence of a ligand peptide containing the Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) sequence.

Structural basis for variant-specific neuroligin-binding by α-neurexin.

Neurexins (Nrxs) are presynaptic membrane proteins with a single membrane-spanning domain that mediate asymmetric trans-synaptic cell adhesion by binding to their postsynaptic receptor neuroligins. α-Nrx has a large extracellular region comprised of multiple copies of laminin, neurexin, sex-hormone-binding globulin (LNS) domains and epidermal growth factor (EGF) modules, while that of β-Nrx has but a single LNS domain. It has long been known that the larger α-Nrx and the shorter β-Nrx show distinct binding behaviors toward different isoforms/variants of neuroligins, although the underlying mechanism has yet to be elucidated.

Crystallization and preliminary crystallographic analysis of human LR11 Vps10p domain.

Low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) relative with 11 binding repeats (LR11; also known as sorLA) is genetically associated with late-onset Alzheimer's disease and is thought to be involved in neurodegenerative processes. LR11 contains a vacuolar protein-sorting 10 protein (Vps10p) domain. As this domain has been implicated in protein-protein interaction in other receptors, its structure and function are of great biological interest.

Structural basis for semaphorin signalling through the plexin receptor.

Semaphorins and their receptor plexins constitute a pleiotropic cell-signalling system that is used in a wide variety of biological processes, and both protein families have been implicated in numerous human diseases. The binding of soluble or membrane-anchored semaphorins to the membrane-distal region of the plexin ectodomain activates plexin's intrinsic GTPase-activating protein (GAP) at the cytoplasmic region, ultimately modulating cellular adhesion behaviour. However, the structural mechanism underlying the receptor activation remains largely unknown.

Structural basis for specific recognition of reelin by its receptors.

Apolipoprotein E receptor 2 (ApoER2) and very-low-density lipoprotein receptor, members of the low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) protein family, function as neuronal receptors for a secreted glycoprotein reelin during brain development. In both receptors, the first LDLR class A (LA1) module is sufficient to bind reelin. Analysis of a 2.

Structure of the F-spondin reeler domain reveals a unique beta-sandwich fold with a deformable disulfide-bonded loop.

F-spondin is a secreted and extracellular matrix-attached protein that has been implicated in axonal pathfinding during neural development as well as in vascular remodelling in adult tissues. F-spondin is composed of a reeler, a spondin and six thrombospondin type 1 repeat domains. The reeler domain shares homology with the amino-terminal domain of reelin, a large secreted glycoprotein that guides migrating neurons during cortical development.