The structure of Pneumocystis carinii dihydrofolate reductase to 1.9 A resolution.

BACKGROUND: The fungal pathogen Pneumocystis carinii causes a pneumonia which is an opportunistic infection of AIDS patients. Current therapy includes the dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) inhibitor trimethoprim which is selective but only a relatively weak inhibitor of the enzyme for P. carinii. Determination of the three-dimensional structure of the enzyme should form the basis for design of more potent and selective therapeutic agents for treatment of the disease. RESULTS: The structure of P. carinii DHFR in complex with reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate and trimethoprim has accordingly been solved by X-ray crystallography. The structure of the ternary complex has been refined at 1.86 A resolution (R = 0.181). A similar ternary complex with piritrexim (which is a tighter binding, but less selective inhibitor) has also been solved, as has the binary complex holoenzyme, both at 2.5 A resolution. CONCLUSIONS: These structures show how two drugs interact with a fungal DHFR. A comparison of the three-dimensional structure of this relatively large DHFR with bacterial or mammalian enzyme-inhibitor complexes determined previously highlights some additional secondary structure elements in this particular enzyme species. These comparisons provide further insight into the principles governing DHFR-inhibitor interaction, in which the volume of the active site appears to determine the strength of inhibitor binding.

Preliminary crystallographic data for Pneumocystis carinii dihydrofolate reductase.

Dihydrofolate reductase from Pneumocystis carinii has been crystallized in a form suitable for high resolution X-ray diffraction studies. Recombinant enzyme that had been refolded following solubilization in guanidinium hydrochloride was crystallized as both a ternary complex with the cofactor NADPH and the inhibitor trimethoprim as well as a binary complex with NADPH. The two types of complex crystallized isomorphously from polyethylene glycol using sitting-drop vapour diffusion. The crystals were of space group P2(1) with unit cell parameters, a = 69.9 A, b = 43.6 A, c = 37.6 A, beta = 117.7 degrees, with one molecule per asymmetric unit. The crystals diffracted to 1.8 A resolution.

Comparison of Rift Valley fever virus replication in North American livestock and wildlife cell lines.

Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) causes disease outbreaks across Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, resulting in high morbidity and mortality among young domestic livestock, frequent abortions in pregnant animals, and potentially severe or fatal disease in humans. The possibility of RVFV spreading to the United States or other countries worldwide is of significant concern to animal and public health, livestock production, and trade. The mechanism for persistence of RVFV during inter-epidemic periods may be through mosquito transovarial transmission and/or by means of a wildlife reservoir. Field investigations in endemic areas and previous in vivo studies have demonstrated that RVFV can infect a wide range of animals, including indigenous wild ruminants of Africa. Yet no predominant wildlife reservoir has been identified, and gaps in our knowledge of RVFV permissive hosts still remain. In North America, domestic goats, sheep, and cattle are susceptible hosts for RVFV and several competent vectors exist. Wild ruminants such as deer might serve as a virus reservoir and given their abundance, wide distribution, and overlap with livestock farms and human populated areas could represent an important risk factor. The objective of this study was to assess a variety of cell lines derived from North American livestock and wildlife for susceptibility and permissiveness to RVFV. Results of this study suggest that RVFV could potentially replicate in native deer species such as white-tailed deer, and possibly a wide range of non-ruminant animals. This work serves to guide and support future animal model studies and risk model assessment regarding this high-consequence zoonotic pathogen.

2.0 A X-ray structure of the ternary complex of 7,8-dihydro-6-hydroxymethylpterinpyrophosphokinase from Escherichia coli with ATP and a substrate analogue.

The X-ray crystal structure of 7,8-dihydro-6-hydroxymethylpterinpyrophosphokinase (PPPK) in a ternary complex with ATP and a pterin analogue has been solved to 2.0 A resolution, giving, for the first time, detailed information of the PPPK/ATP intermolecular interactions and the accompanying conformational change. The first 100 residues of the 158 residue peptide contain a betaalpha betabeta alphabeta motif present in several other proteins including nucleoside diphosphate kinase. Comparative sequence examination of a wide range of prokaryotic and lower eukaryotic species confirms the conservation of the PPPK active site, indicating the value of this de novo folate biosynthesis pathway enzyme as a potential target for the development of novel broad-spectrum anti-infective agents.

Structural studies on bioactive compounds. Part 26. Hydrogen bonding in the crystal structure of the N-methylformamide solvate of the immunomodulatory agent 2-amino-5-bromo-6-phenylpyrimidin-4-one (bropirimine): implications for the design of novel anti-tumour strategies.

The immunomodulatory agent bropirimine crystallizes from N-methylformamide (NMF) as a triply hydrogen-bonded duplex in the manner of a Watson-Crick guanine:cytosine base pair. The stoichiometry of the solvate is bropirimine:NMF (2:1) and all NMF molecules are in the Z-rotomeric form. The intermolecular hydrogen bonding is disrupted when the solvate is dissolved in deuteriated dimethyl sulphoxide at 37 degrees C. Bropirimine and other molecules which possess the 2-aminopyrimidin-4-one fragment are potentially capable of recognizing guanine or cytosine residues in single-stranded RNA or DNA by Watson-Crick bonding or double-stranded DNA by Hoogsteen bonds. The immunomodulatory properties of these compounds might be triggered by these encounters.

Large-scale isolation of covalently closed circular DNA using gel filtration chromatography.

The isolation of covalently closed circular (ccc) DNA free of contamination by RNA and other forms of DNA is fundamental to molecular biology. A variety of methods have been explored but CsCl density-gradient centrifugation remains the method most widely used for preparative scale resolution. The process is expensive, time-consuming, requires the use of large amounts of the carcinogen ethidium bromide, and is subject to considerable variation in yield and purity. To avoid these problems, we have devised a procedure for the preparation of cell lysates which results in consistently good yields of biologically active ccc DNA minimally contaminated with chromosomal DNA fragments and RNA. Lysates are deproteinized, precipitated with CaCl2 to remove rRNA, concentrated by ethanol precipitation, and applied to a Sephacryl S-1000 column which resolves chromosomal fragments, open circular plasmid DNA, and residual RNA from the ccc DNA. We have found that substituting the gel filtration column for CsCl density-gradient centrifugation results in substantially better purification as well as reducing processing time, cost, and degree of difficulty. The time required from harvest of cells to final recovery of DNA is about 16 h. We have used the method to isolate plasmids from 4.4 to 12 kb and, with slight modifications, recombinant M13 replicative form DNAs.

Crystal structure of the anti-bacterial sulfonamide drug target dihydropteroate synthase.

Sulfonamides were amongst the first clinically useful antibacterial agents to be discovered. The identification of sulfanilamide as the active component of the dye Prontosil rubrum led to the synthesis of clinically useful analogues. Today sulfamethoxazole (in combination with trimethoprim), is used to treat urinary tract infections caused by bacteria such as Escherichia coli and is also a first-line treatment for pneumonia caused by the fungus Pneumocystis carinii, a common condition in AIDS patients. The site of action is the de novo folate biosynthesis enzyme dihydropteroate synthase (DHPS) where sulfonamides act as analogues of one of the substrates, para-aminobenzoic acid (pABA). We report here the crystal structure of E.coli DHPS at 2.0 A resolution refined to an R-factor of 0.185. The single domain of 282 residues forms an eight-stranded alpha/beta-barrel. The 7,8-dihydropterin pyrophosphate (DHPPP) substrate binds in a deep cleft in the barrel, whilst sulfanilamide binds closer to the surface. The DHPPP ligand site is highly conserved amongst prokaryotic and eukaryotic DHPSs.

Evidence of a molecular barrier limiting susceptibility of humans, cattle and sheep to chronic wasting disease.

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) of deer and elk, and little is known about its transmissibility to other species. An important factor controlling interspecies TSE susceptibility is prion protein (PrP) homology between the source and recipient species/genotypes. Furthermore, the efficiency with which the protease-resistant PrP (PrP-res) of one species induces the in vitro conversion of the normal PrP (PrP-sen) of another species to the protease-resistant state correlates with the cross-species transmissibility of TSE agents. Here we show that the CWD-associated PrP-res (PrP(CWD)) of cervids readily induces the conversion of recombinant cervid PrP-sen molecules to the protease-resistant state in accordance with the known transmissibility of CWD between cervids. In contrast, PrP(CWD)-induced conversions of human and bovine PrP-sen were much less efficient, and conversion of ovine PrP-sen was intermediate. These results demonstrate a barrier at the molecular level that should limit the susceptibility of these non-cervid species to CWD.