Structure of the 70S ribosome from human pathogen Staphylococcus aureus

© 2016 The Author(s).Comparative structural studies of ribosomes from various organisms keep offering exciting insights on how species-specific or environment-related structural features of ribosomes may impact translation specificity and its regulation. Although the importance of such features may be less obvious within more closely related organisms, their existence could account for vital yet species-specific mechanisms of translation regulation that would involve stalling, cell survival and antibiotic resistance. Here, we present the first full 70S ribosome structure from Staphylococcus aureus, a Gram-positive pathogenic bacterium, solved by cryo-electron microscopy. Comparative analysis with other known bacterial ribosomes pinpoints several unique features specific to S. aureus around a conserved core, at both the protein and the RNA levels. Our work provides the structural basis for the many studies aiming at understanding translation regulation in S. aureus and for designing drugs against this often multi-resistant pathogen

Erratum: Structure of the 70S ribosome from human pathogen Staphylococcus aureus (Nucleic Acids Research (2017) DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkw933)

© The Author(s) 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.The authors wish to correct their Funding statement as follows: FUNDING. 'Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique' (CNRS) and the 'Agence Nationale de la Recherche' as part of the 'Investissements d'Avenir' program [LabEx: ANR-10-LABX-0036-NETRNA to P.R., Y.H.; ANR-15-CE11-0021-01 to G.Y.]; 'Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale en France' [FDT20140930867 to I.K; 'European Research Council advanced grant' [294312 to M.Y.]; the 'Russian Science Foundation' [Project No. 16-14-10014 to I.K., M.Y.]. Funding for open access charge: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS). In addition, Marat Yusupov is associated with both affiliations1 and 2. The authors apologise to the readers for this error

Monoclonal antibodies biosimilarity assessment using transient isotachophoresis capillary zone electrophoresis-tandem mass spectrometry

Out of all categories, monoclonal antibody (mAb) therapeutics attract the most interest due to their strong therapeutic potency and specificity. Six of the ten top-selling drugs are antibody-based therapeutics that will lose patent protection soon. The European Medicines Agency has pioneered the regulatory framework for approval of biosimilar products and approved the first biosimilar antibodies by the end of 2013. As highly complex glycoproteins with a wide range of micro-variants, mAbs require extensive characterization through multiple analytical methods for structure assessment rendering manufacturing control and biosimilarity studies particularly product and time-consuming. Here, capillary zone electrophoresis coupled to mass spectrometry by a sheathless interface (CESI-MS) was used to characterize marketed reference mAbs and their respective biosimilar candidate simultaneously over different facets of their primary structure. CESI-MS/MS data were compared between approved mAbs and their biosimilar candidates to prove/disconfirm biosimilarity regarding recent regulation directives. Using only a single sample injection of 200 fmol, CESI-MS/MS data enabled 100% amino acids (AA) sequence characterization, which allows a difference of even one AA between two samples to be distinguished precisely. Simultaneously glycoforms were characterized regarding their structures and position through fragmentation spectra and glycoforms semiquantitative analysis was established, showing the capacity of the developed methodology to detect up to 16 different glycans. Other posttranslational modifications hotspots were characterized while their relative occurrence levels were estimated and compared to biosimilars. These results proved the value of using CESI-MS because the separation selectivity and ionization efficiency provided by the system allowed substantial improvement in the characterization workflow robustness and accuracy. Biosimilarity assessment could be performed routinely with a single injection of each candidate enabling improvements in the biosimilar development pipeline

Differences in hydroxylation and binding of Notch and HIF-1 alpha demonstrate substrate selectivity for factor inhibiting HIF-1 (FIH-1)

FIH-1, factor inhibiting hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1), regulates oxygen sensing by hydroxylating an asparagine within HIF-alpha. It also hydroxylates asparagines in many proteins containing ankyrin repeats, including Notch1-3, p105 and I?B?. Relative binding affinity and hydroxylation rate are crucial determinants of substrate selection and modification. We determined the contributions of substrate sequence composition and length and of oxygen concentration to the FIH-1-binding and/or hydroxylation of Notch1-4 and compared them with those for HIF-1alpha. We also demonstrated hydroxylation of two asparagines in Notch2 and 3, corresponding to Sites 1 and 2 of Notch1, by mass spectrometry for the first time. Our data demonstrate that substrate length has a much greater influence on FIH-1-dependent hydroxylation of Notch than of HIF-1alpha, predominantly through binding affinity rather than maximal reaction velocity. The K(m) value of FIH-1 for Notch1, < 0.2 microM, is at least 250-fold lower than that of 50 microM for HIF-1alpha. Site 1 of Notch1-3 appeared the preferred site of FIH-1 hydroxylation in these substrates. Interestingly, binding of Notch4 to FIH-1 was observed with an affinity almost 10-fold lower than for Notch1-3, but no hydroxylation was detected. Importantly, we demonstrate that the K(m) of FIH-1 for oxygen at the preferred Site 1 of Notch1-3, 10-19 microM, is an order of magnitude lower than that for Site 2 or HIF-1alpha. Hence, at least during in vitro hydroxylation, Notch is likely to become efficiently hydroxylated by FIH-1 even under relatively severe hypoxic conditions, where HIF-1alpha hydroxylation would be reduced.Sarah E. Wilkins, Jaana Hyvärinen, Johana Chicher, Jeffrey J. Gorman, Daniel J. Peet, Rebecca L. Bilton and Peppi Koivunenhttp://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/395/description#descriptio

Definition of a RACK1 interaction network in Drosophila melanogaster using SWATH-MS

Receptor for Activated protein C kinase 1 (RACK1) is a scaffold protein that has been found in association with several signaling complexes, and with the 40S subunit of the ribosome. Using the model organism Drosophila melanogaster, we recently showed that RACK1 is required at the ribosome for internal ribosome entry site (IRES)-mediated translation of viruses. Here, we report a proteomic characterization of the interactome of RACK1 in Drosophila S2 cells. We carried out Label-Free quantitation using both Data-Dependent and Data-Independent Acquisition (DDA and DIA, respectively) and observed a significant advantage for the Sequential Window Acquisition of all THeoretical fragment-ion spectra (SWATH) method, both in terms of identification of interactants and quantification of low abundance proteins. These data represent the first SWATH spectral library available for Drosophila and will be a useful resource for the community. A total of 52 interacting proteins were identified, including several molecules involved in translation such as structural components of the ribosome, factors regulating translation initiation or elongation, and RNA binding proteins. Among these 52 proteins, 15 were identified as partners by the SWATH strategy only. Interestingly, these 15 proteins are significantly enriched for the functions translation and nucleic acid binding. This enrichment reflects the engagement of RACK1 at the ribosome and highlights the added value of SWATH analysis. A functional screen did not reveal any protein sharing the interesting properties of RACK1, which is required for IRES-dependent translation and not essential for cell viability. Intriguingly however, 10 of the RACK1 partners identified restrict replication of Cricket paralysis virus (CrPV), an IRES-containing virus

The Arabidopsis mTERF-repeat MDA1 protein plays a dual function in transcription and stabilization of specific chloroplast transcripts within the psbE and ndhH operons

Summary The mTERF gene family encodes for nucleic acid binding proteins that are predicted to regulate organellar gene expression in eukaryotes. Despite the implication of this gene family in plant development and response to abiotic stresses, a precise molecular function was assigned to only a handful number of its ~30 members in plants. Using a reverse genetics approach in Arabidopsis thaliana and combining molecular and biochemical techniques, we revealed new functions for the chloroplast mTERF protein, MDA1. We demonstrated that MDA1 associates in vivo with components of the plastid-encoded RNA polymerase and transcriptional active chromosome complexes. MDA1 protein binds in vivo and in vitro with specificity to 27-bp DNA sequences near the 5’-end of psbE and ndhA chloroplast genes to stimulate their transcription and additionally promote the stabilization of the 5’-ends of processed psbE and ndhA mRNAs. Finally, we provided evidence that MDA1 function in gene transcription likely coordinates RNA folding and the action of chloroplast RNA binding proteins on mRNA stabilization. Our results provide examples for the unexpected implication of DNA binding proteins and gene transcription in the regulation of mRNA stability in chloroplasts blurring the boundaries between DNA and RNA metabolism in this organelle

The asparaginyl hydroxylase factor inhibiting HIF-1alpha is an essential regulator of metabolism

Factor inhibiting HIF-1α (FIH) is an asparaginyl hydroxylase. Hydroxylation of HIF-α proteins by FIH blocks association of HIFs with the transcriptional coactivators CBP/p300, thus inhibiting transcriptional activation. We have created mice with a null mutation in the FIH gene and found that it has little or no discernable role in mice in altering classical aspects of HIF function, e.g., angiogenesis, erythropoiesis, or development. Rather, it is an essential regulator of metabolism: mice lacking FIH exhibit reduced body weight, elevated metabolic rate, hyperventilation, and improved glucose and lipid homeostasis and are resistant to high-fat-diet-induced weight gain and hepatic steatosis. Neuron-specific loss of FIH phenocopied some of the major metabolic phenotypes of the global null animals: those mice have reduced body weight, increased metabolic rate, and enhanced insulin sensitivity and are also protected against high-fat-diet-induced weight gain. These results demonstrate that FIH acts to a significant degree through the nervous system to regulate metabolism.Na Zhang, Zhenxing Fu, Sarah Linke, Johana Chicher, Jeffrey J. Gorman, DeeAnn Visk, Gabriel G. Haddad, Lorenz Poellinger, Daniel J. Peet, Frank Powell, Randall S. Johnso

Cell transfection of purified cytolethal distending toxin B subunits allows comparing their nuclease activity while plasmid degradation assay does not.

The Cytolethal Distending Toxin (CDT) is produced by many pathogenic bacteria. CDT is known to induce genomic DNA damage to host eukaryotic cells through its catalytic subunit, CdtB. CdtB is structurally homologous to DNase I and has a nuclease activity, dependent on several key residues. Yet some differences between various CdtB subunit activities, and discrepancies between biochemical and cellular data, have been observed. To better characterise the role of CdtB in the induction of DNA damage, we affinity-purified wild-type and mutants of CdtB, issued from E. coli and H. ducreyi, under native and denaturing conditions. We then compared their nuclease activity by a classic in vitro assay using plasmid DNA, and two different eukaryotic assays-the first assay where host cells were transfected with a plasmid encoding CdtB, the second assay where host cells were directly transfected with purified CdtB. We show here that in vitro nuclease activities are difficult to quantify, whereas CdtB activities in host cells can be easily interpreted and confirmed the loss of function of the catalytic mutant. Our results highlight the importance of performing multiple assays while studying the effects of bacterial genotoxins, and indicate that the classic in vitro assay should be complemented with cellular assays

The Arabidopsis mTERF‐repeat MDA1 protein plays a dual function in transcription and stabilization of specific chloroplast transcripts within the psbE

Summary The mTERF gene family encodes for nucleic acid binding proteins that are predicted to regulate organellar gene expression in eukaryotes. Despite the implication of this gene family in plant development and response to abiotic stresses, a precise molecular function was assigned to only a handful number of its ~30 members in plants. Using a reverse genetics approach in Arabidopsis thaliana and combining molecular and biochemical techniques, we revealed new functions for the chloroplast mTERF protein, MDA1. We demonstrated that MDA1 associates in vivo with components of the plastid-encoded RNA polymerase and transcriptional active chromosome complexes. MDA1 protein binds in vivo and in vitro with specificity to 27-bp DNA sequences near the 5’-end of psbE and ndhA chloroplast genes to stimulate their transcription and additionally promote the stabilization of the 5’-ends of processed psbE and ndhA mRNAs. Finally, we provided evidence that MDA1 function in gene transcription likely coordinates RNA folding and the action of chloroplast RNA binding proteins on mRNA stabilization. Our results provide examples for the unexpected implication of DNA binding proteins and gene transcription in the regulation of mRNA stability in chloroplasts blurring the boundaries between DNA and RNA metabolism in this organelle