Coupled Motions Direct Electrons along Human Microsomal P450 Chains

Directional electron transfer through biological redox chains can be achieved by coupling reaction chemistry to conformational changes in individual redox enzymes

Characterization of Apoptosis-Related Oxidoreductases from Neurospora crassa

The genome from Neurospora crassa presented three open reading frames homologous to the genes coding for human AIF and AMID proteins, which are flavoproteins with oxidoreductase activities implicated in caspase-independent apoptosis. To investigate the role of these proteins, namely within the mitochondrial respiratory chain, we studied their cellular localization and characterized the respective null mutant strains. Efficiency of the respiratory chain was analyzed by oxygen consumption studies and supramolecular organization of the OXPHOS system was assessed through BN-PAGE analysis in the respective null mutant strains. The results demonstrate that, unlike in mammalian systems, disruption of AIF in Neurospora does not affect either complex I assembly or function. Furthermore, the mitochondrial respiratory chain complexes of the mutant strains display a similar supramolecular organization to that observed in the wild type strain. Further characterization revealed that N. crassa AIF appears localized to both the mitochondria and the cytoplasm, whereas AMID was found exclusively in the cytoplasm. AMID2 was detected in both mitochondria and cytoplasm of the amid mutant strain, but was barely discernible in wild type extracts, suggesting overlapping functions for the two proteins

Candidate-gene based GWAS identifies reproducible DNA markers for metabolic pyrethroid resistance from standing genetic variation in East African Anopheles gambiae.

Metabolic resistance to pyrethroid insecticides is widespread in Anopheles mosquitoes and is a major threat to malaria control. DNA markers would aid predictive monitoring of resistance, but few mutations have been discovered outside of insecticide-targeted genes. Isofemale family pools from a wild Ugandan Anopheles gambiae population, from an area where operational pyrethroid failure is suspected, were genotyped using a candidate-gene enriched SNP array. Resistance-associated SNPs were detected in three genes from detoxification superfamilies, in addition to the insecticide target site (the Voltage Gated Sodium Channel gene, Vgsc). The putative associations were confirmed for two of the marker SNPs, in the P450 Cyp4j5 and the esterase Coeae1d by reproducible association with pyrethroid resistance in multiple field collections from Uganda and Kenya, and together with the Vgsc-1014S (kdr) mutation these SNPs explained around 20% of variation in resistance. Moreover, the >20 Mb 2La inversion also showed evidence of association with resistance as did environmental humidity. Sequencing of Cyp4j5 and Coeae1d detected no resistance-linked loss of diversity, suggesting selection from standing variation. Our study provides novel, regionally-validated DNA assays for resistance to the most important insecticide class, and establishes both 2La karyotype variation and humidity as common factors impacting the resistance phenotype

Pyridine-Substituted Desoxyritonavir Is a More Potent Inhibitor of Cytochrome P450 3A4 than Ritonavir

Utilization of the cytochrome P450 3A4 (CYP3A4) inhibitor ritonavir as a pharmacoenhancer for anti-HIV drugs revolutionized the treatment of HIV infection. However, owing to ritonavir-related complications, there is a need for development of new CYP3A4 inhibitors with improved pharmacochemical properties, which requires a full understanding of the CYP3A4 inactivation mechanisms and the unraveling of possible inhibitor binding modes. We investigated the mechanism of CYP3A4 interaction with three desoxyritonavir analogues, containing the heme-ligating imidazole, oxazole, or pyridine group instead of the thiazole moiety (compounds 1, 2, and 3, respectively). Our data show that compound 3 is superior to ritonavir in terms of binding affinity and inhibitory potency owing to greater flexibility and the ability to adopt a conformation that minimizes steric clashing and optimizes protein–ligand interactions. Additionally, Ser119 was identified as a key residue assisting binding of ritonavir-like inhibitors, which emphasizes the importance of polar interactions in the CYP3A4–ligand association

Severe X-linked mitochondrial encephalomyopathy associated with a mutation in apoptosis-inducing factor.

We investigated two male infant patients who were given a diagnosis of progressive mitochondrial encephalomyopathy on the basis of clinical, biochemical, and morphological features. These patients were born from monozygotic twin sisters and unrelated fathers, suggesting an X-linked trait. Fibroblasts from both showed reduction of respiratory chain (RC) cIII and cIV, but not of cI activities.We found a disease-segregating mutation in the X-linked AIFM1 gene, encoding the Apoptosis-Inducing Factor (AIF) mitochondrion-associated 1 precursor that deletes arginine 201 (R201 del). Under normal conditions, mature AIF is a FAD-dependent NADH oxidase of unknown function and is targeted to the mitochondrial intermembrane space (this form is called AIFmit). Upon apoptogenic stimuli, a soluble form (AIFsol) is released by proteolytic cleavage and migrates to the nucleus, where it induces ‘‘parthanatos,’’ i.e., caspase-independent fragmentation of chromosomal DNA. In vitro, the AIFR201 del mutation decreases stability of both AIFmit and AIFsol and increases the AIFsol DNA binding affinity, a prerequisite for nuclear apoptosis. In AIFR201 del fibroblasts, staurosporine-induced parthanatos was markedly increased, whereas re-expression of AIFwt induced recovery of RC activities. Numerous TUNEL-positive, caspase 3-negative nuclei were visualized in patient #1’s muscle, again indicating markedly increased parthanatos in the AIFR201 del critical tissues. We conclude that AIFR201 del is an unstable mutant variant associated with increased parthanatos-linked cell death. Our data suggest a role for AIF in RC integrity and mtDNA maintenance, at least in some tissues. Interestingly, riboflavin supplementation was associated with prolonged improvement of patient #1’s neurological conditions, as well as correction of RC defects in mutant fibroblasts, suggesting that stabilization of the FAD binding in AIFmit is beneficial

Crystal Structures and Functional Characterization of Wild-Type CYP101D1 and Its Active Site Mutants

Although CYP101D1 and P450cam catalyze the same reaction at similar rates and share strikingly similar active site architectures, there are significant functional differences. CYP101D1 thus provides an opportunity to probe what structural and functional features must be shared and what features can differ but maintain the high catalytic efficiency. Crystal structures of the cyanide complex of wild-type CYP101D1 and it active site mutants, D259N and T260A, have been determined. The conformational changes in CYP101D1 upon cyanide binding are very similar to those of P450cam, indicating a similar mechanism for proton delivery during oxygen activation using solvent-assisted proton transfer. The D259N-CN- complex shows a perturbed solvent structure compared to that of the wild type, which is similar to what was observed in the oxy complex of the corresonding D251N mutant in P450cam. As in P450cam, the T260A mutant is highly uncoupled while the D259N mutant gives barely detectable activity. Despite these similarities, CYP101D1 is able to use the P450cam redox partners while P450cam cannot use the CYP101D1 redox partners. Thus, the strict requirement of P450cam for its own redox partner is relaxed in CYP101D1. Differences in the local environment of the essential Asp (Asp259 in CYP101D1) provide a strucutral basis for understanding these functional differences