ALKBH5-mediated m6A demethylation of FOXM1 mRNA promotes progression of uveal melanoma.

In this study, we found that ALKBH5, a key component of the N6-methyladenosine (m6A) methyltransferase complex, was significantly elevated in uveal melanoma (UM) cell lines and that ALKBH5 downregulation inhibited tumor growth in vivo. High ALKBH5 expression predicted worse outcome in patients with UM. EP300-induced H3K27 acetylation activation increased ALKBH5 expression. Downregulation of ALKBH5 inhibited UM cell proliferation, migration, and invasion and increased apoptosis in vitro. Besides, ALKBH5 may promote UM metastasis by inducing epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) via demethylation of FOXM1 mRNA, which increases its expression and stability. In sum, our study indicates that AKLBH5-induced m6A demethylation of FOXM1 mRNA promotes UM progression. Therefore, AKLBH5 is a potential prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target in UM.

Thiostrepton Variants Containing a Contracted Quinaldic Acid Macrocycle Result from Mutagenesis of the Second Residue.

The thiopeptides are a family of ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptide metabolites, and the vast majority of thiopeptides characterized to date possess one highly modified macrocycle. A few members, including thiostrepton A, harbor a second macrocycle that incorporates a quinaldic acid moiety and the four N-terminal residues of the peptide. The antibacterial properties of thiostrepton A are well established, and its recently discovered ability to inhibit the proteasome has additional implications for the development of antimalarial and anticancer therapeutics. We have conducted the saturation mutagenesis of Ala2 in the precursor peptide, TsrA, to examine which variants can be transformed into a mature thiostrepton analogue. Although the thiostrepton biosynthetic system is somewhat restrictive toward substitutions at the second residue, eight thiostrepton Ala2 analogues were isolated. The TsrA Ala2Ile and Ala2Val variants were largely channeled through an alternate processing pathway wherein the first residue of the core peptide, Ile1, is removed, and the resulting thiostrepton analogues bear quinaldic acid macrocycles abridged by one residue. This is the first report revealing that quinaldic acid loop size is amenable to alteration during the course of thiostrepton biosynthesis. Both the antibacterial and proteasome inhibitory properties of the thiostrepton Ala2 analogues were examined. While the identity of the residue at the second position of the core peptide influences thiostrepton biosynthesis, our report suggests it may not be crucial for antibacterial and proteasome inhibitory properties of the full-length variants. In contrast, the contracted quinaldic acid loop can, to differing degrees, affect both types of biological activity.

Recent advances in thiopeptide antibiotic biosynthesis.

Thiopeptides, or thiazolylpeptides, are a family of highly modified peptide antibiotics first discovered several decades ago. Dozens of thiopeptides have since been identified, but, until recently, the biosynthetic genes responsible for their production remained elusive. The biosynthetic systems for a handful of thiopeptide metabolites were identified in the first portion of 2009. The surprising finding that these metabolites arise from the enzymatic tailoring of a simple, linear, ribosomally-synthesized precursor peptide led to a renewed appreciation of the architectural complexity accessible by posttranslational modification. This recent progress toward understanding thiopeptide antibiotic biosynthesis benefits the discovery of novel thiopeptides by either directed screening techniques or by mining available microbial genome sequences. Furthermore, access to the biosynthetic machinery now opens an avenue to the biosynthetic engineering of thiopeptide analogs. This Highlight discusses the genetic and biochemical insights revealed by these initial reports of the biosynthetic gene clusters for thiopeptide metabolites.

Thiostrepton biosynthesis: prototype for a new family of bacteriocins.

Thiopeptide antibiotics are a group of highly modified peptide metabolites. The defining scaffold for the thiopeptides is a macrocycle containing a dehydropiperidine or pyridine ring, dehydrated amino acids, and multiple thiazole or oxazole rings. Some members of the thiopeptides, such as thiostrepton, also contain either a quinaldic acid or indolic acid substituent derived from tryptophan. Although the amino acid precursors of these metabolites are well-established, the biogenesis of these complex peptides has remained elusive. Whole-genome scanning of Streptomyces laurentii permitted identification of a thiostrepton prepeptide, TsrA, and involvement of TsrA in thiostrepton biosynthesis was confirmed by mutagenesis. A gene cluster responsible for thiostrepton biosynthesis is reported, and the encoded gene products are discussed. The disruption of a gene encoding an amidotransferase, tsrT, led to the loss of thiostrepton production and the detection of a new metabolite, contributing further support to the identification of the tsr cluster. The tsr locus also appears to possess the gene products needed to convert tryptophan to the quinaldic acid moiety, and an aminotransferase was found to catalyze an early step in this pathway. This work establishes that the thiopeptides are a type of bacteriocin, a family of genetically encoded antimicrobial peptides, and are subjected to extensive posttranslational modification during maturation of the prepeptide.

Crotonyl-coenzyme A reductase provides methylmalonyl-CoA precursors for monensin biosynthesis by Streptomyces cinnamonensis in an oil-based extended fermentation.

It is demonstrated that crotonyl-CoA reductase (CCR) plays a significant role in providing methylmalonyl-CoA for monensin biosynthesis in oil-based 10-day fermentations of Streptomyces cinnamonensis. Under these conditions S. cinnamonensis L1, a derivative of a high-titre producing industrial strain C730.1 in which ccr has been insertionally inactivated, produces only 15 % of the monensin yield. Labelling of the coenzyme A pools using [3H]-beta-alanine and analysis of intracellular acyl-CoAs in the L1 and C730.1 strains demonstrated that loss of ccr led to lower levels of the monensin precursor methymalonyl-CoA, relative to coenzyme A. Expression of a heterologous ccr gene from Streptomyces collinus fully restored monensin production to the L1 mutant. Using C730.1 and an oil-based extended fermentation an exceptionally efficient and comparably intact incorporation of ethyl [3,4-13C2]acetoacetate into both the ethylmalonyl-CoA- and methylmalonyl-CoA-derived positions of monensin was observed. No labelling of the malonyl-CoA-derived positions was observed. The opposite result was observed when the incorporation study was carried out with the L1 strain, demonstrating that ccr insertional inactivation has led to a reversal of carbon flux from an acetoacetyl-CoA intermediate. These results dramatically contrast similar analyses of the L1 mutant in glucose-soybean medium which indicate a role in providing ethylmalonyl-CoA but not methylmalonyl-CoA, thus causing a change in the ratio of monensin A and monensin B analogues, but not the overall monensin titre. These results demonstrate that the relative contributions of different pathways and enzymes to providing polyketide precursors are thus dependent upon the fermentation conditions. Furthermore, the generally accepted pathways for providing methylmalonyl-CoA for polyketide production may not be significant for the S. cinnamonensis high-titre monensin producer in oil-based extended fermentations. An alternative pathway, leading from the fatty acid catabolite acetyl-CoA, via the CCR-catalysed reaction is proposed.