Author Correction: Structural Features of a Bacteroidetes-Affiliated Cellulase Linked with a Polysaccharide Utilization Locus.

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Mutation analysis in Norwegian families with hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia: founder mutations in ACVRL1.

Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT, Osler-Weber-Rendu disease) is an autosomal dominant inherited disease defined by the presence of epistaxis and mucocutaneous telangiectasias and arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) in internal organs. In most families (~85%), HHT is caused by mutations in the ENG (HHT1) or the ACVRL1 (HHT2) genes. Here, we report the results of genetic testing of 113 Norwegian families with suspected or definite HHT. Variants in ENG and ACVRL1 were found in 105 families (42 ENG, 63 ACVRL1), including six novel variants of uncertain pathogenic significance. Mutation types were similar to previous reports with more missense variants in ACVRL1 and more nonsense, frameshift and splice-site mutations in ENG. Thirty-two variants were novel in this study. The preponderance of ACVRL1 mutations was due to founder mutations, specifically, c.830C>A (p.Thr277Lys), which was found in 24 families from the same geographical area of Norway. We discuss the importance of founder mutations and present a thorough evaluation of missense and splice-site variants.

Structural Features of a Bacteroidetes-Affiliated Cellulase Linked with a Polysaccharide Utilization Locus.

Previous gene-centric analysis of a cow rumen metagenome revealed the first potentially cellulolytic polysaccharide utilization locus, of which the main catalytic enzyme (AC2aCel5A) was identified as a glycoside hydrolase (GH) family 5 endo-cellulase. Here we present the 1.8 Å three-dimensional structure of AC2aCel5A, and characterization of its enzymatic activities. The enzyme possesses the archetypical (ß/α)8-barrel found throughout the GH5 family, and contains the two strictly conserved catalytic glutamates located at the C-terminal ends of ß-strands 4 and 7. The enzyme is active on insoluble cellulose and acts exclusively on linear ß-(1,4)-linked glucans. Co-crystallization of a catalytically inactive mutant with substrate yielded a 2.4 Å structure showing cellotriose bound in the -3 to -1 subsites. Additional electron density was observed between Trp178 and Trp254, two residues that form a hydrophobic "clamp", potentially interacting with sugars at the +1 and +2 subsites. The enzyme's active-site cleft was narrower compared to the closest structural relatives, which in contrast to AC2aCel5A, are also active on xylans, mannans and/or xyloglucans. Interestingly, the structure and function of this enzyme seem adapted to less-substituted substrates such as cellulose, presumably due to the insufficient space to accommodate the side-chains of branched glucans in the active-site cleft.

An iron hydroxide moiety in the 1.35 A resolution structure of hydrogen peroxide derived myoglobin compound II at pH 5.2.

The biological conversions of O(2) and peroxides to water as well as certain incorporations of oxygen atoms into small organic molecules can be catalyzed by metal ions in different clusters or cofactors. The catalytic cycle of these reactions passes through similar metal-based complexes in which one oxygen- or peroxide-derived oxygen atom is coordinated to an oxidized form of the catalytic metal center. In haem-based peroxidases or oxygenases the ferryl (Fe(IV)O) form is important in compound I and compound II, which are two and one oxidation equivalents higher than the ferric (Fe(III)) form, respectively. In this study we report the 1.35 A structure of a compound II model protein, obtained by reacting hydrogen peroxide with ferric myoglobin at pH 5.2. The molecular geometry is virtually unchanged compared to the ferric form, indicating that these reactive intermediates do not undergo large structural changes. It is further suggested that at low pH the dominating compound II resonance form is a hydroxyl radical ferric iron rather than an oxo-ferryl form, based on the short hydrogen bonding to the distal histidine (2.70 A) and the Fe...O distance. The 1.92 A Fe...O distance is in agreement with an EXAFS study of compound II in horseradish peroxidase.

Non-centrosymmetric racemates: space-group frequencies and conformational similarities between crystallographically independent molecules.

DL-Allylglycine (DL-2-amino-4-pentenoic acid, C5H9NO2) yields crystals with Pca2(1) symmetry and two crystallographically independent yet pseudo-inversion-related enantiomers. The distribution among the common space groups of other crystalline racemates with more than one molecule in the asymmetric unit has been established. The conformational similarities between crystallographically independent enantiomers in 114 non-centrosymmetric racemates were quantified using the r.m.s. deviation for a molecular superposition. The analysis shows that in the majority of crystals the conformations of the crystallographically independent molecules are very similar with mean r.m.s. deviation = 0.190 A. In almost 80% of the structures the mean r.m.s. deviations is in the interval 0-0.2 A. It is estimated that racemates constitute 23% of the centrosymmetric organic structures in the Cambridge Structural Database.

Structural relationships in crystals accommodating different stereoisomers of 2-amino-3-methylpentanoic acid.

A reinvestigation of the crystal structure of the 1:1 mixture of the two racemates DL-isoleucine and DL-allo-isoleucine, with a detailed analysis of interatomic distances between alternative side-chain positions, reveals a systematic distribution of the four stereoisomers in this crystal. Two different molecular chains exist in the crystal and each such chain accommodates a single diastereomeric pair only (L-isoleucine:D-allo-isoleucine or D-isoleucine:L-allo-isoleucine). The crystal is built up by a stacking of such chains in two dimensions and three different packing modes for the two types of chains are discussed. Crystallization experiments of the two individual racemates in the 1:1 mixture of DL-isoleucine:DL-allo-isoleucine have been undertaken. The structure of the racemate DL-isoleucine is presented. The molecular arrangements in this racemate and the 1:1 DL-isoleucine:DL-allo-isoleucine mixture are closely related. Furthermore, the spontaneous resolution of enantiomers upon crystallization of the other racemate, DL-allo-isoleucine, is rationalized on the basis of the aforementioned analysis of interatomic distances in the 1:1 DL-isoleucine:DL-allo-isoleucine complex. Structural data for a new L-isoleucine: D-allo-isoleucine complex are also given.

Molecular aggregation in crystalline 1:1 complexes of hydrophobic D- and L-amino acids. I. The L-isoleucine series.

The amino acid L-isoleucine has been cocrystallized with seven selected D-amino acids including D-methionine [L-isoleucine-D-methionine (1/1), C(6)H(13)NO(2).C(5)H(11)NO(2)S, amino-acid side chain R = -CH(2)-CH(2)-S-CH(3)] and a homologous series from D-alanine [L-isoleucine-D-alanine (1/1), C(6)H(13)NO(2).C(3)H(7)NO(2), R = -CH(3)] through D-alpha-aminobutyric acid [L-isoleucine-D-alpha-aminobutyric acid (1/1), C(6)H(13)NO(2).C(4)H(9)NO(2), R = -CH(2)-CH(3)] and D-norvaline [L-isoleucine-D-norvaline (1/1), C(6)H(13)NO(2).C(5)H(11)NO(2), R = -CH(2)-CH(2)-CH(3)] to D-norleucine [L-isoleucine-D-norleucine (1/1), C(6)H(13)NO(2).C(6)H(13)NO(2), R = -CH(2)-CH(2)-CH(2)-CH(3)] with linear side chains, and D-valine [L-isoleucine-D-valine (1/1), C(6)H(13)NO(2).C(5)H(11)NO(2), R = -CH-(CH(3))(2)] and D-leucine [L-isoleucine-D-leucine (1/1), C(6)H(13)NO(2).C(6)H(13)NO(2), R = -CH(2)-CH-(CH(3))(2)] with branched side chains. All the crystal structures are divided into distinct hydrophilic and hydrophobic layers. In the five complexes with amino acids with linear side chains the polar parts of the D- and L-amino acids are related by pseudo-glide-plane symmetry, and four of them have remarkably similar molecular arrangements. The D-valine and D-leucine complexes, on the other hand, are structurally quite different with the polar parts of the D- and L-amino acids related by pseudo-inversion. Differences in the hydrogen-bond pattern in the two molecular arrangements are discussed.

Glycyl-L-leucyl-L-tyrosine dihydrate 2-propanol solvate.

The asymmetric unit (C17H25N3O5.C3H8O.2H2O) consists of two crystallographically independent peptide molecules, A and B, with different conformations, chi 1(2) being trans and gauche- for the Leu residues in molecules A and B, respectively. The backbone conformation of both peptide molecules resembles that of the beta-pleated sheet arrangement found in proteins. Comparison with two other structures containing the tripeptide Gly-L-Leu-L-Tyr reveals almost identical molecular conformations, and in one instance also a common packing pattern.