AbrB is a key transition-state regulator of Bacillus subtilis. Based on the conservation of a betaalphabeta structural unit, we proposed a beta barrel fold for its DNA binding domain, similar to, but topologically distinct from, double-psi beta barrels. However, the NMR structure revealed a novel fold, the "looped-hinge helix." To understand this discrepancy, we undertook a bioinformatics study of AbrB and its homologs; these form a large superfamily, which includes SpoVT, PrlF, MraZ, addiction module antidotes (PemI, MazE), plasmid maintenance proteins (VagC, VapB), and archaeal PhoU homologs. MazE and MraZ form swapped-hairpin beta barrels. We therefore reexamined the fold of AbrB by NMR spectroscopy and found that it also forms a swapped-hairpin barrel. The conservation of the core betaalphabeta element supports a common evolutionary origin for swapped-hairpin and double-psi barrels, which we group into a higher-order class, the cradle-loop barrels, based on the peculiar shape of their ligand binding site.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.str.2005.03.017 | DOI Listing |
Org Biomol Chem
January 2025
Laboratory of Advanced Computation and Theory for Materials and Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, National Institute of Technology Warangal (NITW), Warangal, Telangana-506004, India.
The optical control of physiological processes with high precision using photoswitches is an emerging strategy for non-invasive diagnosis and therapies, providing innovative solutions to complex biomedical challenges. Light-responsive cyclic conjugated-dienes (cCDs) have long been recognized for their 4π-photocyclization; however, photoswitching behaviour in medium-sized cCDs has recently been reported, representing a pioneering discovery in the field. Reinforced by previous experimental evidence corroborating the Woodward-Hoffmann rules, this report provides insight into the origin of the exotic dual photoexcitation mechanism devised to achieve thermo-reversible photoswitching in large cCDs with cyclodeca-1,3-diene as a prototype.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEMBO Rep
January 2025
Killer Cell Biology Laboratory, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Cytotoxic lymphocytes are crucial to our immune system, primarily eliminating virus-infected or cancerous cells via perforin/granzyme killing. Perforin forms transmembrane pores in the plasma membrane, allowing granzymes to enter the target cell cytosol and trigger apoptosis. The prowess of cytotoxic lymphocytes to efficiently eradicate target cells has been widely harnessed in immunotherapies against haematological cancers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Mass Spectrom
January 2025
Graduate School of Medical Life Science, Yokohama City University, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan.
In our previous work, the sodiation of melittin, cytochrome c, and ubiquitin in a 1 mM NaOH water/methanol solution was studied by electrospray mass spectrometry. It was suggested that the α-helix is more resistant to sodiation than the β-sheet. In this study, sodiation of enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) composed of a β-barrel was studied in 1% CHCOOH (AcOH) or 1 mM NaOH water/methanol solution by electrospray mass spectrometry.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiochemistry
January 2025
Molecular Biophysics Laboratory, Department of Biological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhopal 462066, India.
The mitochondrial outer membrane (OMM) β-barrel proteins link the mitochondrion with the cytosol, endoplasmic reticulum, and other cellular membranes, establishing cellular homeostasis. Their active insertion and assembly in the outer mitochondrial membrane is achieved in an energy-independent yet highly effective manner by the Sorting and Assembly Machinery (SAM) of the OMM. The core SAM constituent is the 16-stranded transmembrane β-barrel Sam50.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCell Chem Biol
December 2024
Department of Molecular Biology and Center for Computational and Integrative Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA. Electronic address:
The surge of antimicrobial resistance threatens efficacy of current antibiotics, particularly against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a highly resistant gram-negative pathogen. The asymmetric outer membrane (OM) of P. aeruginosa combined with its array of efflux pumps provide a barrier to xenobiotic accumulation, thus making antibiotic discovery challenging.
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