Molecular insights into biogenesis of glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchor proteins.

Eukaryotic cells are coated with an abundance of glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchor proteins (GPI-APs) that play crucial roles in fertilization, neurogenesis, and immunity. The removal of a hydrophobic signal peptide and covalent attachment of GPI at the new carboxyl terminus are catalyzed by an endoplasmic reticulum membrane GPI transamidase complex (GPI-T) conserved among all eukaryotes. Here, we report the cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) structure of the human GPI-T at a global 2.

Architecture of Dispatched, a Transmembrane Protein Responsible for Hedgehog Release.

The evolutionarily conserved Hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway is crucial for programmed cell differentiation and proliferation. Dispatched (Disp) is a 12-transmembrane protein that plays a critical role in the Hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway by releasing the dually lipidated ligand HhN from the membrane, a prerequisite step to the downstream signaling cascade. In this study, we focus on the Disp from water bear, a primitive animal known as the most indestructible on Earth.

Cryo-EM study of patched in lipid nanodisc suggests a structural basis for its clustering in caveolae.

The 12-transmembrane protein Patched (Ptc1) acts as a suppressor for Hedgehog (Hh) signaling by depleting sterols in the cytoplasmic membrane leaflet that are required for the activation of downstream regulators. The positive modulator Hh inhibits Ptc1's transporter function by binding to Ptc1 and its co-receptors, which are locally concentrated in invaginated microdomains known as caveolae. Here, we reconstitute the mouse Ptc1 into lipid nanodiscs and determine its structure using single-particle cryoelectron microscopy.

Structural insights into the committed step of bacterial phospholipid biosynthesis.

The membrane-integral glycerol 3-phosphate (G3P) acyltransferase PlsY catalyses the committed and essential step in bacterial phospholipid biosynthesis by acylation of G3P, forming lysophosphatidic acid. It contains no known acyltransferase motifs, lacks eukaryotic homologs, and uses the unusual acyl-phosphate as acyl donor, as opposed to acyl-CoA or acyl-carrier protein for other acyltransferases. Previous studies have identified several PlsY inhibitors as potential antimicrobials.

Indentification of vincamine indole alkaloids producing endophytic fungi isolated from Nerium indicum, Apocynaceae.

Vincamine, a monoterpenoid indole alkaloid which had been marketed as nootropic drugs for the treatment of cerebral insufficiencies, is widely found in plants of the Apocynaceae family. Nerium indicum is a plant belonging to the Apocynaceae family. So, the purpose of this research was designed to investigate the vincamine alkaloids producing endophytic fungi from Nerium indicum, Apocynaceae.