Crystallization and preliminary crystallographic investigation of glycosomal pyruvate phosphate dikinase from Trypanosoma brucei.

The PP(i)-dependent glycosomal enzyme pyruvate phosphate dikinase (PPDK) from Trypanosoma brucei is expressed in the insect stage of the parasite. Its precise function there is still unclear, but the enzyme may catalyze the 'reverse reaction' of transfer of phosphate from phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) to generate pyruvate as a means of scavenging large amounts of pyrophosphate. This protein may represent a target for drug design against diseases caused by trypanosomes and related kinetoplastids. The recombinant protein is 918 amino acids long (predicted molecular mass approximately 100 kDa and pI = 8.9). Crystallization conditions for the recombinant PPDK are reported that result in crystals that diffract X-rays to better than 3.0 A resolution. Their space group is P2(1)2(1)2, with unit-cell parameters a = 121.17, b = 153.5, c = 65.46 A, alpha = beta = gamma = 90 degrees. The crystals, like the protein in solution, are sensitive to temperature and fail to diffract or diffract only to low resolution after ageing for two weeks or longer.

Crystallographic studies of the interaction between the ferredoxin-NADP+ reductase and ferredoxin from the cyanobacterium Anabaena: looking for the elusive ferredoxin molecule.

Ferredoxin-NADP(+) reductase (FNR) and its physiological electron donor ferredoxin (Fd) from the cyanobacterium Anabaena PCC7119 have been co-crystallized. The unit-cell parameters are a = b = 63.72, c = 158.02 A and the space group is P2(1)2(1)2(1). The crystal structure has been solved with 2.4 A resolution synchrotron data by molecular replacement, anomalous dispersion and R(min) search methods. For the computations, the crystal was treated as a merohedral twin. The asymmetric unit contains two FNR molecules and one ferredoxin molecule. The packing of the FNR molecules displays a nearly tetragonal symmetry (space group P4(3)2(1)2), whereas the ferredoxin arrangement is orthorhombic. This study provides the first crystallographic model of a dissociable complex between FNR and Fd.

PBR: a heavy-atom refinement and phasing procedure to reduce phase bias when heavy-atom derivatives contain common sites.

A procedure, called PBR (phase-bias reduction), has been developed to properly refine heavy-atom derivatives and to generate less biased heavy-atom phases when these derivatives contain common heavy-atom sites. Two independent events are obtained by splitting the refinement and phasing calculations into two stages, the first in which one of the derivatives having common sites is used together with the native amplitudes and the second in which both derivatives with common sites are used simultaneously, with one of them being used as the native data set. Improved centroid phases and the corresponding figures of merit are obtained by phase combination. This procedure has been used in the structure determination of the iron-cluster-containing protein -pyruvate-ferredoxin oxidoreductase. When the common heavy-atom sites are properly treated by the PBR procedure, the resulting calculated centroid phases are improved with respect to classical heavy-atom refinement centroid phases where all derivatives are refined together. This leads to improved electron-density distributions, since anomalous difference Fourier maps calculated with the PBR-refined centroid phases and corresponding figures of merit show more clearly the positions of the iron sites.

A comparison of two algorithms for electron-density map improvement by introduction of atomicity: skeletonization, and map sorting followed by refinement.

A comparison has been made of two methods for electron-density map improvement by the introduction of atomicity, namely the iterative skeletonization procedure of the CCP4 program DM [Cowtan & Main (1993). Acta Cryst. D49, 148-157] and the pseudo-atom introduction followed by the refinement protocol in the program suite DEMON/ANGEL [Vellieux, Hunt, Roy & Read (1995). J. Appl. Cryst. 28, 347-351]. Tests carried out using the 3.0 A resolution electron density resulting from iterative 12-fold non-crystallographic symmetry averaging and solvent flattening for the Pseudomonas aeruginosa ornithine transcarbamoylase [Villeret, Tricot, Stalon & Dideberg (1995). Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA, 92, 10762-10766] indicate that pseudo-atom introduction followed by refinement performs much better than iterative skeletonization: with the former method, a phase improvement of 15.3 degrees is obtained with respect to the initial density modification phases. With iterative skeletonization a phase degradation of 0.4 degrees is obtained. Consequently, the electron-density maps obtained using pseudo-atom phases or pseudo-atom phases combined with density-modification phases are much easier to interpret. These tests also show that for ornithine transcarbamoylase, where 12-fold non-crystallographic symmetry is present in the P1 crystals, G-function coupling leads to the simultaneous decrease of the conventional R factor and of the free R factor, a phenomenon which is not observed when non-crystallographic symmetry is absent from the crystal. The method is far less effective in such a case, and the results obtained suggest that the map sorting followed by refinement stage should be by-passed to obtain interpretable electron-density distributions.

A connected set algorithm for the identification of spatially contiguous regions in crystallographic envelopes.

A simple algorithm is described for the identification of spatially contiguous regions in crystallographic envelopes. In a single pass through the grid points of the envelope map, the occupied points are assigned to a series of locally contiguous sets based on consideration of the connections within single voxels. A spatially contiguous region is identified as the union of all of the locally contiguous sets that share an element in common. Therefore, chains of spatial connectivity are traced implicitly by performing simple set operations. This algorithm has been implemented in the program CNCTDENV as part of the DEMON/ANGEL suite of density-modification programs.

X-ray structure of the ferredoxin:NADP+ reductase from the cyanobacterium Anabaena PCC 7119 at 1.8 A resolution, and crystallographic studies of NADP+ binding at 2.25 A resolution.

The crystal structure of the ferredoxin:NADP+ reductase (FNR) from the cyanobacterium Anabaena PCC 7119 has been determined at 2.6 A resolution by multiple isomorphous replacement and refined using 15.0 A to 1.8 A data, collected at 4 degrees C, to an R-factor of 0.172. The model includes 303 residues, the flavin adenine dinucleotide cofactor (FAD), one sulfate ion located at the putative NADP+ binding site and 328 water molecule sites. The structure of Anabaena FNR, including FAD, a network of intrinsic water molecules and a large hydrophobic cavity in the C-terminal domain, resembles that of the spinach enzyme. The major differences concern the additional short alpha-helix (residues 172 to 177 in Anabaena FNR) and residues Arg 100 and Arg 233 which binds NADP+ instead of Lys 116 and Lys 244 in the spinach enzyme. Crystals of a complex of Anabaena FNR with NADP+ were obtained. The model of the complex has been refined using 15 A to 2.25 A X-ray data, collected at -170 degrees C, to an R-factor of 0.186. This model includes 295 residues, FAD, the full NADP+ (with an occupancy of 0.8) and 444 water molecules. The 2'-5' adenine moiety of NADP+ binds to the protein as 2'-phospho-5'-AMP to the spinach FNR. The nicotinamide moiety is turned towards the surface of the protein instead of stacking onto the FAD isoalloxazine ring as would be required for hydride transfer. The model of the complex agrees with previous biochemical studies as residues Arg 100 and Arg 233 are involved in NADP+ binding and residues Arg77, Lys 53 and Lys 294, located on the FAD side of the enzyme, remain free to interact with ferredoxin and flavodoxin, the physiological partners of ferredoxin: NADP reductase.

Crystal structure of recombinant triosephosphate isomerase from Bacillus stearothermophilus. An analysis of potential thermostability factors in six isomerases with known three-dimensional structures points to the importance of hydrophobic interactions.

The structure of the thermostable triosephosphate isomerase (TIM) from Bacillus stearothermophilus complexed with the competitive inhibitor 2-phosphoglycolate was determined by X-ray crystallography to a resolution of 2.8 A. The structure was solved by molecular replacement using XPLOR. Twofold averaging and solvent flattening was applied to improve the quality of the map. Active sites in both the subunits are occupied by the inhibitor and the flexible loop adopts the "closed" conformation in either subunit. The crystallographic R-factor is 17.6% with good geometry. The two subunits have an RMS deviation of 0.29 A for 248 C alpha atoms and have average temperature factors of 18.9 and 15.9 A2, respectively. In both subunits, the active site Lys 10 adopts an unusual phi, psi combination. A comparison between the six known thermophilic and mesophilic TIM structures was conducted in order to understand the higher stability of B. stearothermophilus TIM. Although the ratio Arg/(Arg+Lys) is higher in B. stearothermophilus TIM, the structure comparisons do not directly correlate this higher ratio to the better stability of the B. stearothermophilus enzyme. A higher number of prolines contributes to the higher stability of B. stearothermophilus TIM. Analysis of the known TIM sequences points out that the replacement of a structurally crucial asparagine by a histidine at the interface of monomers, thus avoiding the risk of deamidation and thereby introducing a negative charge at the interface, may be one of the factors for adaptability at higher temperatures in the TIM family. Analysis of buried cavities and the areas lining these cavities also contributes to the greater thermal stability of the B. stearothermophilus enzyme. However, the most outstanding result of the structure comparisons appears to point to the hydrophobic stabilization of dimer formation by burying the largest amount of hydrophobic surface area in B. stearothermophilus TIM compared to all five other known TIM structures.

Refined 3.2 A structure of glycosomal holo glyceraldehyde phosphate dehydrogenase from Trypanosoma brucei brucei.

The three-dimensional crystal structure of the enzyme glyceraldehyde phosphate dehydrogenase from the kinetoplastid Trypanosoma brucei brucei has been determined at 3.2 A resolution from a 37% complete data set collected using the Laue method. The crystals used in the structure determination contain one and a half tetrameric enzyme molecules in the asymmetric unit, i.e. six identical subunits. Initial phasing was carried out by the method of molecular replacement using the refined coordinates of holo glyceraldehyde phosphate dehydrogenase from Bacillus stearothermophilus as a search model. The initial electron-density distribution, obtained from the molecular-replacement solution, was greatly improved by a procedure consisting of 36 cycles of iterative non-crystallographic density averaging. During the averaging procedure, the missing reflections (63% of the data) were gradually introduced as map-inversion structure factors. At completion of the procedure, the R-factor between averaged map-inversion amplitudes and observed structure-factor amplitudes was 19.0% for all data between 7.0 and 3.2 A resolution, and that between the map-inversion amplitudes and later recorded structure-factor amplitudes was 41.9%. After model building into the resulting averaged electron-density map, refinement by molecular-dynamics procedures with X-PLOR provided the current model, which has an R-factor of 17.6% for 34 835 reflections between 7.0 and 3.2 A resolution. The refined model, comprising 2735 protein atoms plus one NAD(+) molecule and two sulfate ions per subunit, has r.m.s. deviations from ideality of 0.02 A for bond lengths and 3.6 degrees for bond angles. All subunits, located either within the tetrameric molecule or within the half tetramer present in the asymmetric unit, are related to each other by almost exact twofold symmetry. The overall structure of the glycosomal glyceraldehyde phosphate dehydrogenase subunit and its quaternary arrangement in the tetrameric molecule are similar to that of the enzyme of lobster and Bacillus stearothermophilus (with r.m.s. differences between equivalent Calpha positions of 0.71 and 0.64 A, respectively). The main differences between the structures is the presence of three insertions, plus the substitution of a beta-strand by a short alpha-helix, both occurring at the surface of the glycosomal enzyme subunit.

Structure of glycosomal glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase from Trypanosoma brucei determined from Laue data.

The three-dimensional structure of glycosomal glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase [D-glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate:NAD+ oxidoreductase (phosphorylating), EC 1.12.1.12] from the sleeping-sickness parasite Trypanosoma brucei was solved by molecular replacement at 3.2-A resolution with an x-ray data set collected by the Laue method. For data collection, three crystals were exposed to the polychromatic synchrotron x-ray beam for a total of 20.5 sec. The structure was solved by using the Bacillus stearothermophilus enzyme model [Skarzynski, T., Moody, P. C. E. & Wonacott, A. J. (1987) J. Mol. Biol. 193, 171-187] with a partial data set which was 37% complete. The crystals contain six subunits per asymmetric unit, which allowed us to overcome the absence of > 60% of the reflections by 6-fold density averaging. After molecular dynamics refinement, the current molecular model has an R factor of 17.6%. Comparing the structure of the trypanosome enzyme with that of the homologous human muscle enzyme, which was determined at 2.4-A resolution, reveals important structural differences in the NAD binding region. These are of great interest for the design of specific inhibitors of the parasite enzyme.

Three-dimensional structure of the quinoprotein methylamine dehydrogenase from Paracoccus denitrificans determined by molecular replacement at 2.8 A resolution.

The three-dimensional structure of the quinoprotein methylamine dehydrogenase from Paracoccus dentrificans (PD-MADH) has been determined at 2.8 A resolution by the molecular replacement method combined with map averaging procedures, using data collected from an area detector. The structure of methylamine dehydrogenase from Thio-bacillus versutus, which contains an "X-ray" sequence, was used as the starting search model. MADH consists of 2 heavy (H) and 2 light (L) subunits related by a molecular 2-fold axis. The H subunit is folded into seven four-stranded beta segments, forming a disk-shaped structure, arranged with pseudo-7-fold symmetry. A 31-residue elongated tail exists at the N-terminus of the H subunit in MADH from T. versutus but is partially digested in this crystal form of MADH from P. denitrificans, leaving the H subunit about 18 residues shorter. Each L subunit contains 127 residues arranged into 10 beta-strands connected by turns. The active site of the enzyme is located in the L subunit and is accessible via a hydrophobic channel between the H and L subunits. The redox cofactor of MADH, tryptophan tryptophylquinone is highly unusual. It is formed from two covalently linked tryptophan side chains at positions 57 and 107 of the L subunit, one of which contains an orthoquinone.

Crystal structure of an electron-transfer complex between methylamine dehydrogenase and amicyanin.

The crystal structure of the complex between the quinoprotein methylamine dehydrogenase (MADH) and the type I blue copper protein amicyanin, both from Paracoccus denitrificans, has been determined at 2.5-A resolution using molecular replacement. The search model was MADH from Thiobacillus versutus. The amicyanin could be located in an averaged electron density difference map and the model improved by refinement and model building procedures. Nine beta-strands are observed within the amicyanin molecule. The copper atom is located between three antiparallel strands and is about 2.5 A below the protein surface. The major intermolecular interactions occur between amicyanin and the light subunit of MADH where the interface is largely hydrophobic. The copper atom of amicyanin and the redox cofactor of MADH are about 9.4 A apart. One of the copper ligands, His 95, lies between the two redox centers and may facilitate electron transfer between them.

Crystallographic investigations of the tryptophan-derived cofactor in the quinoprotein methylamine dehydrogenase.

A model of tryptophan tryptophylquinone (TTQ), recently proposed by McIntire et al. (Science (1991) 252, 817-824) to be the prosthetic group of the quinoprotein methylamine dehydrogenase, has been compared with electron density maps of this dehydrogenase from Thiobacillus versutus and Paracoccus denitrificans. The comparison shows that the TTQ model can be neatly accommodated, providing strong supportive evidence that TTQ is indeed the cofactor for this group of quinoproteins.

The cytosolic and glycosomal glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase from Trypanosoma brucei. Kinetic properties and comparison with homologous enzymes.

The protozoan haemoflagellate Trypanosoma brucei has two NAD-dependent glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase isoenzymes, each with a different localization within the cell. One isoenzyme is found in the cytosol, as in other eukaryotes, while the other is found in the glycosome, a microbody-like organelle that fulfils an essential role in glycolysis. The kinetic properties of the purified glycosomal and cytosolic isoenzymes were compared with homologous enzymes from other organisms. Both trypanosome enzymes had pH/activity profiles similar to that of other glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenases, with optimal activity around pH 8.5-9. Only the yeast enzyme showed its maximal activity at a lower pH. The glycosomal enzyme was more sensitive to changes in ionic strength below 0.1 M, while the cytosolic enzyme resembled more the enzymes from rabbit muscle, human erythrocytes and yeast. The affinity for NAD of the glycosomal enzyme was 5-10-fold lower than that of the cytosolic, as well as the other enzymes. A similar, but less pronounced, difference was found for its affinity for NADH. These differences are explained by a number of amino acid substitutions in the NAD-binding domain of the glycosomal isoenzyme. In addition, the effects of suramin, gossypol, agaricic acid and pentalenolactone on the trypanosome enzymes were studied. The trypanocidal drug suramin inhibited both enzymes, but in a different manner. Inhibition of the cytosolic enzyme was competitive with NAD, while in the case of the glycosomal isoenzyme, with NAD as substrate, the drug had an effect both on Km and Vmax. The most potent inhibitor was pentalenolactone, which at micromolar concentrations inhibited the glycosomal enzyme and the enzymes from yeast and Bacillus stearothermophilus in a reversible manner, while the rabbit muscle enzyme was irreversibly inhibited.

Structure determination of quinoprotein methylamine dehydrogenase from Thiobacillus versutus.

The crystal structure of quinoprotein methylamine dehydrogenase from Thiobacillus versutus (EC 1.4.99.3, Mr = 123,500) has been solved to 2.25 A resolution. The crystals of space group P3(1)21 (a = b = 129.8, c = 104.3 A) contain half a tetrameric enzyme molecule in the asymmetric unit, with a solvent content of ca 70%. The procedure used to solve this structure involved multiple isomorphous-replacement phasing, complemented by phase extension using solvent flattening, and phase combination with partial-model phases. The use of solvent flattening was essential to generate good quality electron density maps into which initial models were built. These partial models were refined using molecular-dynamics procedures. Refined model phases were then combined with solvent-flattening phases to generate improved electron density distributions. In the absence of an amino-acid sequence for this enzyme, the current 2.25 A resolution electron density map was interpreted to provide a model for the complete molecule. The crystallographic R factor for this model, which lacks any water molecules, is 28.6% for data between 6.0 and 2.25 A resolution.

Structure of quinoprotein methylamine dehydrogenase at 2.25 A resolution.

The three-dimensional structure of quinoprotein methylamine dehydrogenase from Thiobacillus versutus has been determined at 2.25 A resolution by a combination of multiple isomorphous replacement, phase extension by solvent flattening and partial structure phasing using molecular dynamics refinement. In the resulting map, the polypeptide chain for both subunits could be followed and an X-ray sequence was established. The tetrameric enzyme, made up of two heavy (H) and two light (L) subunits, is a flat parallellepiped with overall dimensions of approximately 76 x 61 x 45 A. The H subunit, comprising 370 residues, is made up of two distinct segments: the first 31 residues form an extension which embraces one of the L subunits; the remaining residues are found in a disc-shaped domain. This domain is formed by a circular arrangement of seven topologically identical four-stranded antiparallel beta-sheets, with approximately 7-fold symmetry. In spite of distinct differences, this arrangement is reminiscent of the structure found in influenza virus neuraminidase. The L subunit consists of 121 residues, out of which 53 form a beta-sheet scaffold of a central three-stranded antiparallel sheet flanked by two shorter two-stranded antiparallel sheets. The remaining residues are found in segments of irregular structure. This subunit is stabilized by six disulphide bridges, plus two covalent bridges involving the quinone co-factor and residues 57 and 107 of this subunit. The active site is located in a channel at the interface region between the H and L subunits, and the electron density in this part of the molecule suggests that the co-factor of this enzyme is not pyrrolo quinoline quinone (PQQ) itself, but might be instead a precursor of PQQ.

Purification, crystallization and preliminary X-ray investigation of quinoprotein methylamine dehydrogenase from Thiobacillus versutus.

The enzyme methylamine dehydrogenase or primary-amine:(acceptor) oxidoreductase (deaminating) (EC 1.4.99.3) was purified from the bacterium Thiobacillus versutus to homogeneity, as judged by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The native enzyme has a Mr of 123 500 and contains four subunits arranged in a alpha 2 beta 2 configuration, the light and heavy subunits having a Mr of 12900 and 47500 respectively. The isoelectric point is 3.9. The purified enzyme was crystallized from 37--42% saturated ammonium sulphate in 0.1 M sodium acetate buffer, pH 5.0. The space group is P3(1)21 or P3(2)21, with one alpha 2 beta 2 molecule in the asymmetric unit. The cell dimensions are: a = b = 13.01 nm; c = 10.40 nm. The X-ray diffraction pattern extends to at least 0.25-nm resolution.

[Alcoholic coma by accidental poisoning in children]. / Le coma alcoolique par intoxication accidentelle chez l'enfant.

Among comas of toxic origin, in children, alcoholic coma due to accidental poisoning is uncommon compared with comas due to drugs or household products. It is however important to make an early diagnosis, for this is a severe from of poisoning, liable to cause irreversible cerebral lesions if not treated very quickly. It almost always causes a flask coma, without localising signs, hypothermia and hypoglycemia, but hypoglycemic comas are not always of alcoholic origin, and only measurement of blood alcohol gives a definite diagnosis.

[3 recent cases of Noonan's syndrome]. / A propos de trois observations récentes de syndrome de Noonan.

In the present state of our knowledge of cytogenetics, it seems logical to distinguish Noonan's syndrome from Turner's syndrome, thanks to the following arguments: Althought there are minor differences in the morphotype, the small size and the mental retardation are the same in both cases. However there are two lines of evidence: The first, inconstant, concerns the lesser intensity of the gonad changes, especially in the female sex, explaining the relative frequency of the familial forms of the syndrome, of Noonan, which are then trasmitted as autosomic dominants with variable penetrance. The second, constant and formal until now, concern the chromosome abnormalities. Present in Turner's syndrome, which they help to define in both sexes, they are always absent in Noonan's syndrome, in boys as in girls.