Collagen IV-derived peptide binds hydrophobic cavity of Legionella pneumophila Mip and interferes with bacterial epithelial transmigration.

The Legionella virulence factor Mip (macrophage infectivity potentiator) contributes to bacterial dissemination within infected lung tissue. The Mip protein, which belongs to the enzyme family of FK506-binding proteins (FKBP), binds specifically to collagen IV. We identified a surface-exposed Mip-binding sequence in the NC1 domain of human collagen IV α1. The corresponding collagen IV-derived peptide (P290) co-precipitated with Mip and competitively inhibited the Mip-collagen IV binding. Transmigration of Legionella pneumophila across a barrier of NCI-H292 lung epithelial cells and extracellular matrix was efficiently inhibited by P290. This significantly reduced transmigration was comparable to the inefficient transmigration of PPIase-negative Mip mutant or rapamycin-treated L. pneumophila. Based on NMR data and docking studies a model for the mode of interaction of P290 and Mip was developed. The amino acids of the hydrophobic cavity of Mip, D142 and to a lesser extent Y185 were identified to be part of the interaction surface. In the complex structure of Mip(77-213) and P290, both amino acid residues form hydrogen bonds to P290. Utilizing modelling, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and structural data of human PPIase FKBP12, the most related human orthologue of Mip, we were able to propose optimized P290 variants with increased binding specificity and selectivity for the putative bacterial drug target Mip.

The novel antimalarial compound dioncophylline C forms a complex with heme in solution.

A structural model of the complex formed between the novel antimalarial compound dioncophylline C (DioC) and its presumed target ferriprotoporphyrin IX heme (FPIX) is presented. The complex structure was calculated with molecular dynamics (MD) simulations using intermolecular distance restraints between DioC and the iron center in FPIX, determined from NMR paramagnetic relaxation. Besides the spin state of the iron and longitudinal relaxation rates of hydrogen nuclei in DioC, the effective correlation time of paramagnetic relaxation was determined from NMR measurements at three different magnetic field strengths. The derived structural model shows high similarity to complexes formed by FPIX and antimalarials of the quinoline family (chloroquine, quinine, quinidine, and amodiaquine). The conformation of DioC is sterically stabilized by a water molecule coordinated to iron in FPIX. This structural feature may provide an important hint at possibilities for a further optimization of novel naphthylisoquinoline alkaloid (NIQ) antimalarial drugs.