Type III effector NleH2 from Escherichia coli O157:H7 str. Sakai features an atypical protein kinase domain.

The crystal structure of a C-terminal domain of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli type III effector NleH2 has been determined to 2.6 Å resolution. The structure resembles those of protein kinases featuring the catalytic, activation, and glycine-rich loop motifs and ATP-binding site. The position of helix αC and the lack of a conserved arginine within an equivalent HRD motif suggested that the NleH2 kinase domain's active conformation might not require phosphorylation. The activation segment markedly contributed to the dimerization interface of NleH2, which can also accommodate the NleH1-NleH2 heterodimer. The C-terminal PDZ-binding motif of NleH2 provided bases for interaction with host proteins.

Crystal structures of putative phosphoglycerate kinases from B. anthracis and C. jejuni.

Phosphoglycerate kinase (PGK) is indispensable during glycolysis for anaerobic glucose degradation and energy generation. Here we present comprehensive structure analysis of two putative PGKs from Bacillus anthracis str. Sterne and Campylobacter jejuni in the context of their structural homologs. They are the first PGKs from pathogenic bacteria reported in the Protein Data Bank. The crystal structure of PGK from Bacillus anthracis str. Sterne (BaPGK) has been determined at 1.68 Å while the structure of PGK from Campylobacter jejuni (CjPGK) has been determined at 2.14 Å resolution. The proteins' monomers are composed of two domains, each containing a Rossmann fold, hinged together by a helix which can be used to adjust the relative position between two domains. It is also shown that apo-forms of both BaPGK and CjPGK adopt open conformations as compared to the substrate and ATP bound forms of PGK from other species.

Structural and biochemical study of effector molecule recognition by the E.coli glyoxylate and allantoin utilization regulatory protein AllR.

The interaction of Escherichia coli AllR regulator with operator DNA is disrupted by the effector molecule glyoxylate. This is a general, yet uncharacterized regulatory mechanism for the large IclR family of transcriptional regulators to which AllR belongs. The crystal structures of the C-terminal effector-binding domain of AllR regulator and its complex with glyoxylate were determined at 1.7 and 1.8 A, respectively. Residues involved in glyoxylate binding were explored in vitro and in vivo. Altering the residues Cys217, Ser234 and Ser236 resulted in glyoxylate-independent repression by AllR. Sequence analysis revealed low conservation of amino acid residues participating in effector binding among IclR regulators, which reflects potential chemical diversity of effector molecules, recognized by members of this family. Comparing the AllR structure to that of Thermotoga maritima TM0065, the other representative of the IclR family that has been structurally characterized, indicates that both proteins assume similar quaternary structures as a dimer of dimers. Mutations in the tetramerization region, which in AllR involve the Cys135-Cys142 region, resulted in dissociation of AllR tetramer to dimers in vitro and were functionally inactive in vivo. Glyoxylate does not appear to function through the inhibition of tetramerization. Using sedimentation velocity, glyoxylate was shown to conformationally change the AllR tetramer as well as monomer and dimer resulting in altered outline of AllR molecules.

Function-biased choice of additives for optimization of protein crystallization - the case of the putative thioesterase PA5185 from Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1.

The crystal structure of PA5185, a putative thioesterase from Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain PAO1, was solved using multi-wavelength anomalous diffraction to 2.4 Å. Analysis of the structure and information about the putative function of the protein were used to optimize crystallization conditions. The crystal growth was optimized by applying additives with chemical similarity to a fragment of a putative PA5185 substrate (CoA or its derivative). Using new crystallization conditions containing this function-biased set of additives, several new crystal forms were produced and structures of three of them (in three different space groups) were determined. One of the new crystal forms had an improved resolution limit of 1.9 Å, and another displayed an alternative conformation of the highly-conserved loop containing Asn26, which could play a physiological role. Surprisingly, none of the additives were ordered in the crystal structures. Application of function-biased additives could be used as a standard optimization protocol for producing improved diffraction, or new crystal forms, which may lead to better understanding of the biological functions of proteins.

A novel family of sequence-specific endoribonucleases associated with the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats.

Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPRs) together with the associated CAS proteins protect microbial cells from invasion by foreign genetic elements using presently unknown molecular mechanisms. All CRISPR systems contain proteins of the CAS2 family, suggesting that these uncharacterized proteins play a central role in this process. Here we show that the CAS2 proteins represent a novel family of endoribonucleases. Six purified CAS2 proteins from diverse organisms cleaved single-stranded RNAs preferentially within U-rich regions. A representative CAS2 enzyme, SSO1404 from Sulfolobus solfataricus, cleaved the phosphodiester linkage on the 3'-side and generated 5'-phosphate- and 3'-hydroxyl-terminated oligonucleotides. The crystal structure of SSO1404 was solved at 1.6A resolution revealing the first ribonuclease with a ferredoxin-like fold. Mutagenesis of SSO1404 identified six residues (Tyr-9, Asp-10, Arg-17, Arg-19, Arg-31, and Phe-37) that are important for enzymatic activity and suggested that Asp-10 might be the principal catalytic residue. Thus, CAS2 proteins are sequence-specific endoribonucleases, and we propose that their role in the CRISPR-mediated anti-phage defense might involve degradation of phage or cellular mRNAs.