An inhibitor of FtsZ with potent and selective anti-staphylococcal activity.

FtsZ is an essential bacterial guanosine triphosphatase and homolog of mammalian beta-tubulin that polymerizes and assembles into a ring to initiate cell division. We have created a class of small synthetic antibacterials, exemplified by PC190723, which inhibits FtsZ and prevents cell division. PC190723 has potent and selective in vitro bactericidal activity against staphylococci, including methicillin- and multi-drug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. The putative inhibitor-binding site of PC190723 was mapped to a region of FtsZ that is analogous to the Taxol-binding site of tubulin. PC190723 was efficacious in an in vivo model of infection, curing mice infected with a lethal dose of S. aureus. The data validate FtsZ as a target for antibacterial intervention and identify PC190723 as suitable for optimization into a new anti-staphylococcal therapy.

Outer sphere mutagenesis of Lactobacillus plantarum manganese catalase disrupts the cluster core. Mechanistic implications.

X-ray crystallography of the nonheme manganese catalase from Lactobacillus plantarum (LPC) [Barynin, V.V., Whittaker, M.M., Antonyuk, S.V., Lamzin, V.S., Harrison, P.M., Artymiuk, P.J. & Whittaker, J.W. (2001) Structure9, 725-738] has revealed the structure of the dimanganese redox cluster together with its protein environment. The oxidized [Mn(III)Mn(III)] cluster is bridged by two solvent molecules (oxo and hydroxo, respectively) together with a micro 1,3 bridging glutamate carboxylate and is embedded in a web of hydrogen bonds involving an outer sphere tyrosine residue (Tyr42). A novel homologous expression system has been developed for production of active recombinant LPC and Tyr42 has been replaced by phenylalanine using site-directed mutagenesis. Spectroscopic and structural studies indicate that disruption of the hydrogen-bonded web significantly perturbs the active site in Y42F LPC, breaking one of the solvent bridges and generating an 'open' form of the dimanganese cluster. Two of the metal ligands adopt alternate conformations in the crystal structure, both conformers having a broken solvent bridge in the dimanganese core. The oxidized Y42F LPC exhibits strong optical absorption characteristic of high spin Mn(III) in low symmetry and lower coordination number. MCD and EPR measurements provide complementary information defining a ferromagnetically coupled electronic ground state for a cluster containing a single solvent bridge, in contrast to the diamagnetic ground state found for the native cluster containing a pair of solvent bridges. Y42F LPC has less than 5% of the catalase activity and much higher Km for H2O2 ( approximately 1.4 m) at neutral pH than WT LPC, although the activity is slightly restored at high pH where the cluster is converted to a diamagnetic form. These studies provide new insight into the contribution of the outer sphere tyrosine to the stability of the dimanganese cluster and the role of the solvent bridges in catalysis by dimanganese catalases.

E. coli aconitase B structure reveals a HEAT-like domain with implications for protein-protein recognition.

The major bifunctional aconitase of Escherichia coli (AcnB) serves as either an enzymic catalyst or a mRNA-binding post-transcriptional regulator, depending on the status of its iron sulfur cluster. AcnB represents a large, distinct group of Gram-negative bacterial aconitases that have an altered domain organization relative to mitochondrial aconitase and other aconitases. Here the 2.4 A structure of E. coli AcnB reveals a high degree of conservation at the active site despite its domain reorganization. It also reveals that the additional domain, characteristic of the AcnB subfamily, is a HEAT-like domain, implying a role in protein protein recognition. This domain packs against the remainder of the protein to form a tunnel leading to the aconitase active site, potentially for substrate channeling.

The structures of Micrococcus lysodeikticus catalase, its ferryl intermediate (compound II) and NADPH complex.

The crystal structure of the bacterial catalase from Micrococcus lysodeikticus has been refined using the gene-derived sequence both at 0.88 A resolution using data recorded at 110 K and at 1.5 A resolution with room-temperature data. The atomic resolution structure has been refined with individual anisotropic atomic thermal parameters. This has revealed the geometry of the haem and surrounding protein, including many of the H atoms, with unprecedented accuracy and has characterized functionally important hydrogen-bond interactions in the active site. The positions of the H atoms are consistent with the enzymatic mechanism previously suggested for beef liver catalase. The structure reveals that a 25 A long channel leading to the haem is filled by partially occupied water molecules, suggesting an inherent facile access to the active site. In addition, the structures of the ferryl intermediate of the catalase, the so-called compound II, at 1.96 A resolution and the catalase complex with NADPH at 1.83 A resolution have been determined. Comparison of compound II and the resting state of the enzyme shows that the binding of the O atom to the iron (bond length 1.87 A) is associated with increased haem bending and is accompanied by a distal movement of the iron and the side chain of the proximal tyrosine. Finally, the structure of the NADPH complex shows that the cofactor is bound to the molecule in an equivalent position to that found in beef liver catalase, but that only the adenine part of NADPH is visible in the present structure.