Development of autotaxin inhibitors: A series of tetrazole cinnamides.

A series of inhibitors of Autotaxin (ATX) have been developed from a high throughput screening hit, 1a, which shows an alternative binding mode to known catalytic site inhibitors. Selectivity over the hERG channel and microsomal clearance were dependent on the lipophilicity of the compounds, and this was optimised by reduction of clogD whilst maintaining high affinity ATX inhibition. Compound 15a shows good oral exposure, and concentration dependent inhibition of formation of LPA in vivo, as shown in pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) experiments.

Conformational plasticity of ligand-bound and ternary GPCR complexes studied by 19F NMR of the ß1-adrenergic receptor.

G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are allosteric signaling proteins that transmit an extracellular stimulus across the cell membrane. Using 19F NMR and site-specific labelling, we investigate the response of the cytoplasmic region of transmembrane helices 6 and 7 of the ß1-adrenergic receptor to agonist stimulation and coupling to a Gs-protein-mimetic nanobody. Agonist binding shows the receptor in equilibrium between two inactive states and a pre-active form, increasingly populated with higher ligand efficacy. Nanobody coupling leads to a fully active ternary receptor complex present in amounts correlating directly with agonist efficacy, consistent with partial agonism. While for different agonists the helix 6 environment in the active-state ternary complexes resides in a well-defined conformation, showing little conformational mobility, the environment of the highly conserved NPxxY motif on helix 7 remains dynamic adopting diverse, agonist-specific conformations, implying a further role of this region in receptor function. An inactive nanobody-coupled ternary receptor form is also observed.

Development of a biochemical and biophysical suite for integral membrane protein targets: A review.

The generation of integral membrane proteins (IMPs) in heterologous systems and their characterization remains a major challenge in biomedical research. Significant efforts have been invested both in academia and in the pharmaceutical industry to establish technologies for the expression, isolation and characterization of IMPs. Here we summarize some of the key aspects, which are important to support structure-based drug design (SBDD) in drug discovery projects. We furthermore include timeline estimates and an overview of the target selection and biophysical screening approaches.

Transcriptomic analysis reveals reduced transcriptional activity in the malaria parasite Plasmodium cynomolgi during progression into dormancy.

Relapses of Plasmodium dormant liver hypnozoites compromise malaria eradication efforts. New radical cure drugs are urgently needed, yet the vast gap in knowledge of hypnozoite biology impedes drug discovery. We previously unraveled the transcriptome of 6 to 7 day-old P. cynomolgi liver stages, highlighting pathways associated with hypnozoite dormancy (Voorberg-van der Wel et al., 2017). We now extend these findings by transcriptome profiling of 9 to 10 day-old liver stage parasites, thus revealing for the first time the maturation of the dormant stage over time. Although progression of dormancy leads to a 10-fold decrease in transcription and expression of only 840 genes, including genes associated with housekeeping functions, we show that pathways involved in quiescence, energy metabolism and maintenance of genome integrity remain the prevalent pathways active in mature hypnozoites.

Insight into partial agonism by observing multiple equilibria for ligand-bound and Gs-mimetic nanobody-bound ß1-adrenergic receptor.

A complex conformational energy landscape determines G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) signalling via intracellular binding partners (IBPs), e.g., Gs and ß-arrestin. Using 13C methyl methionine NMR for the ß1-adrenergic receptor, we identify ligand efficacy-dependent equilibria between an inactive and pre-active state and, in complex with Gs-mimetic nanobody, between more and less active ternary complexes. Formation of a basal activity complex through ligand-free nanobody-receptor interaction reveals structural differences on the cytoplasmic receptor side compared to the full agonist-bound nanobody-coupled form, suggesting that ligand-induced variations in G-protein interaction underpin partial agonism. Significant differences in receptor dynamics are observed ranging from rigid nanobody-coupled states to extensive µs-to-ms timescale dynamics when bound to a full agonist. We suggest that the mobility of the full agonist-bound form primes the GPCR to couple to IBPs. On formation of the ternary complex, ligand efficacy determines the quality of the interaction between the rigidified receptor and an IBP and consequently the signalling level.

Isotope labeling of proteins in insect cells.

Protein targets of contemporary research are often membrane proteins, multiprotein complexes, secreted proteins, or other proteins of human origin. These are difficult to express in the standard expression host used for most nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) studies, Escherichia coli. Insect cells represent an attractive alternative, since they have become a well-established expression system and simple solutions have been developed for generation of viruses to efficiently introduce the target protein DNA into cells. Insect cells enable production of a larger fraction of the human proteome in a properly folded way than bacteria, as insect cells have a very similar set of cytosolic chaperones and a closely related secretory pathway. Here, the limited and defined glycosylation pattern that insect cells produce is an advantage for structural biology studies. For these reasons, insect cells have been established as the most widely used eukaryotic expression host for crystallographic studies. In the past decade, significant advancements have enabled amino acid type-specific as well as uniform isotope labeling of proteins in insect cells, turning them into an attractive expression host for NMR studies.

Affordable uniform isotope labeling with (2)H, (13)C and (15)N in insect cells.

For a wide range of proteins of high interest, the major obstacle for NMR studies is the lack of an affordable eukaryotic expression system for isotope labeling. Here, a simple and affordable protocol is presented to produce uniform labeled proteins in the most prevalent eukaryotic expression system for structural biology, namely Spodoptera frugiperda insect cells. Incorporation levels of 80% can be achieved for (15)N and (13)C with yields comparable to expression in full media. For (2)H,(15)N and (2)H,(13)C,(15)N labeling, incorporation is only slightly lower with 75 and 73%, respectively, and yields are typically twofold reduced. The media were optimized for isotope incorporation, reproducibility, simplicity and cost. High isotope incorporation levels for all labeling patterns are achieved by using labeled algal amino acid extracts and exploiting well-known biochemical pathways. The final formulation consists of just five commercially available components, at costs 12-fold lower than labeling media from vendors. The approach was applied to several cytosolic and secreted target proteins.

Structure of the human RECQ1 helicase reveals a putative strand-separation pin.

RecQ-like helicases, which include 5 members in the human genome, are important in maintaining genome integrity. We present a crystal structure of a truncated form of the human RECQ1 protein with Mg-ADP. The truncated protein is active in DNA fork unwinding but lacks other activities of the full-length enzyme: disruption of Holliday junctions and DNA strand annealing. The structure of human RECQ1 resembles that of Escherichia coli RecQ, with some important differences. All structural domains are conserved, including the 2 RecA-like domains and the RecQ-specific zinc-binding and winged-helix (WH) domains. However, the WH domain is positioned at a different orientation from that of the E. coli enzyme. We identify a prominent beta-hairpin of the WH domain as essential for DNA strand separation, which may be analogous to DNA strand-separation features of other DNA helicases. This hairpin is significantly shorter in the E. coli enzyme and is not required for its helicase activity, suggesting that there are significant differences between the modes of action of RecQ family members.

Baculovirus expression vector system: an emerging host for high-throughput eukaryotic protein expression.

The increasing demand for production and characterization of diverse groups of recombinant proteins necessitates the analysis of several constructs and fusion tags in a variety of expression systems. The challenge is to screen multiple clones quickly for the desired properties. When using a eukaryotic system, such as baculovirus-mediated expression in insect cells, the total time required and the volume of culture needed to obtain reasonable results are limiting factors. This chapter focuses on addressing these issues by describing rapid small-scale expression as a mode of screening. The method allows the rapid identification of the best clone before scaling-up and the production of heterologous protein.

Structure and mechanism of chitin deacetylase from the fungal pathogen Colletotrichum lindemuthianum.

The fungal pathogen Colletotrichum lindemuthianum secretes an endo-chitin de-N-acetylase (ClCDA) to modify exposed hyphal chitin during penetration and infection of plants. Although a significant amount of biochemical data is available on fungal chitin de-N-acetylases, no structural data exist. Here we describe the 1.8 A crystal structure of a ClCDA product complex and the analysis of the reaction mechanism using Hammett linear free energy relationships, subsite probing, and atomic absorption spectroscopy studies. The structural data in combination with biochemical data reveal that ClCDA consists of a single domain encompassing a mononuclear metalloenzyme which employs a conserved His-His-Asp zinc-binding triad closely associated with the conserved catalytic base (aspartic acid) and acid (histidine) to carry out acid/base catalysis. The data presented here indicate that ClCDA possesses a highly conserved substrate-binding groove, with subtle alterations that influence substrate specificity and subsite affinity. Strikingly, the structure also shows that the hexahistidine purification tag appears to form a tight interaction with the active site groove. The enzyme requires occupancy of at least the 0 and +1 subsites by (GlcNAc)(2) for activity and proceeds through a tetrahedral oxyanion intermediate.

Expression of chitin deacetylase from Colletotrichum lindemuthianum in Pichia pastoris: purification and characterization.

The chitin deacetylase gene from Colletotrichum lindemuthianum UPS9 was isolated and cloned in Pichia pastoris as a tagged protein with six added terminal histidine residues. The expressed enzyme was recovered from the culture supernatant and further characterized. A single-step purification based on specific binding of the histidine residues was achieved. The purified enzyme has a molecular mass of 25 kDa and is not glycosylated as determined by mass spectrometry. The activity of the recombinant chitin deacetylase on chitinous substrates was investigated. With chitotetraose as substrate, the optimum temperature and pH for enzyme activity are 60 degrees C and 8.0, respectively. The specific activity of the pure protein is 72 U/mg. One unit of enzyme activity is defined as the amount of enzyme that produces 1 micromol of acetate per minute under the assay conditions employed. The enzyme activity is enhanced in the presence of Co2+ ions. A possible use of the recombinant chitin deacetylase for large-scale biocatalytic conversion of chitin to chitosan is discussed.