Clostridium botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs) cleave neuronal proteins responsible for neurotransmitter release, causing the neuroparalytic disease botulism. BoNT serotypes B, D, F and G cleave and inactivate vesicle-associated membrane protein (VAMP), each at a unique peptide bond. The specificity of BoNTs depends on the mode of substrate recognition. We have investigated the mechanism of substrate recognition of BoNT F by determining the crystal structures of its complex with two substrate-based inhibitors, VAMP 22-58/Gln58D-cysteine and 27-58/Gln58D-cysteine. The inhibitors bind to BoNT F in the canonical direction (as seen for BoNTs A and E substrates) but are positioned specifically via three major exosites away from the active site. The cysteine sulfur of the inhibitors interacts with the zinc and exists as sulfinic acid in the inhibitor VAMP 27-58/Gln58D-cysteine. Arg133 and Arg171, which form part of two separate exosites, are crucial for substrate binding and catalysis.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nsmb.1626 | DOI Listing |
EMBO J
January 2025
Department of Molecular and Cellular Oncology, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.
Mitochondrial metabolism requires the chaperoned import of disulfide-stabilized proteins via CHCHD4/MIA40 and its enigmatic interaction with oxidoreductase Apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF). By crystallizing human CHCHD4's AIF-interaction domain with an activated AIF dimer, we uncover how NADH allosterically configures AIF to anchor CHCHD4's β-hairpin and histidine-helix motifs to the inner mitochondrial membrane. The structure further reveals a similarity between the AIF-interaction domain and recognition sequences of CHCHD4 substrates.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEMBO J
January 2025
The Hormel Institute, University of Minnesota, Austin, MN, 55912, USA.
ABCB1 is a broad-spectrum efflux pump central to cellular drug handling and multidrug resistance in humans. However, how it is able to recognize and transport a wide range of diverse substrates remains poorly understood. Here we present cryo-EM structures of lipid-embedded human ABCB1 in conformationally distinct apo-, substrate-bound, inhibitor-bound, and nucleotide-trapped states at 3.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTalanta
January 2025
School of Life Science, Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou, 221116, China.
Sensitive and accurate detection and imaging of different microRNAs (miRNAs) in cancer cells hold great promise for early disease diagnosis. Herein, a DNA tetrahedral scaffold (DTS)-corbelled autonomous-motion (AM) molecular machine based fluorescent sensing platform was designed for simultaneous detection of two types of miRNAs (miRNA-21 and miRNA-155) in HeLa cells. Locking-strand-silenced DNAzymes (P:L duplex) were firstly grafted at the loop of target-analogue-embedded double-stem hairpin substrates (TDHS) of DTS, making the sensor in a "signal off" state due to the closely distance between modified fluorophores (FAM and Cy5) with the corresponding quenchers (BHQ1 and BHQ2).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Chem Inf Model
January 2025
Institute of Biophysics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Kralovopolska 135, 612 00 Brno, Czech Republic.
RNA recognition motifs (RRMs) are a key class of proteins that primarily bind single-stranded RNAs. In this study, we applied standard atomistic molecular dynamics simulations to obtain insights into the intricate binding dynamics between uridine-rich RNAs and TbRGG2 RRM using the recently developed OL3-Stafix AMBER force field, which improves the description of single-stranded RNA molecules. Complementing structural experiments that unveil a primary binding mode with a single uridine bound, our simulations uncover two supplementary binding modes in which adjacent nucleotides encroach upon the binding pocket.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRSC Chem Biol
December 2024
Enamine Ltd 78 Winston Churchill Street Kyiv 02094 Ukraine +380 67 656-4026 https://www.enamine.net.
Sortase A-mediated ligation (SML) or "sortagging" has become a popular technology to selectively introduce structurally diverse protein modifications. Despite the great progress in the optimization of the reaction conditions and design of miscellaneous C- or N-terminal protein modification strategies, the reported yields of conjugates are highly variable. In this study, we have systematically investigated C-terminal protein sortagging efficiency using a combination of several rationally selected and modified acceptor proteins and a panel of incoming surrogate non-peptidic amine nucleophile substrates varying in the structural features of their amino linker parts and cargo molecules.
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