Genetic interaction mapping informs integrative structure determination of protein complexes

Determining structures of protein complexes is crucial for understanding cellular functions. Here, we describe an integrative structure determination approach that relies on in vivo measurements of genetic interactions. We construct phenotypic profiles for point mutations crossed against gene deletions or exposed to environmental perturbations, followed by converting similarities between two profiles into an upper bound on the distance between the mutated residues. We determine the structure of the yeast histone H3-H4 complex based on similar to 500,000 genetic interactions of 350 mutants. We then apply the method to subunits Rpb1-Rpb2 of yeast RNA polymerase II and subunits RpoB-RpoC of bacterial RNA polymerase. The accuracy is comparable to that based on chemical cross-links; using restraints from both genetic interactions and cross-links further improves model accuracy and precision. The approach provides an efficient means to augment integrative structure determination with in vivo observations

Molecular modeling of a tandem two pore domain potassium channel reveals a putative binding Site for general anesthetics

[Image: see text] Anesthetics are thought to mediate a portion of their activity via binding to and modulation of potassium channels. In particular, tandem pore potassium channels (K2P) are transmembrane ion channels whose current is modulated by the presence of general anesthetics and whose genetic absence has been shown to confer a level of anesthetic resistance. While the exact molecular structure of all K2P forms remains unknown, significant progress has been made toward understanding their structure and interactions with anesthetics via the methods of molecular modeling, coupled with the recently released higher resolution structures of homologous potassium channels to act as templates. Such models reveal the convergence of amino acid regions that are known to modulate anesthetic activity onto a common three- dimensional cavity that forms a putative anesthetic binding site. The model successfully predicts additional important residues that are also involved in the putative binding site as validated by the results of suggested experimental mutations. Such a model can now be used to further predict other amino acid residues that may be intimately involved in the target-based structure–activity relationships that are necessary for anesthetic binding

ModBase, a database of annotated comparative protein structure models, and associated resources

ModBase (http://salilab.org/modbase) is a database of annotated comparative protein structure models. The models are calculated by ModPipe, an automated modeling pipeline that relies primarily on Modeller for fold assignment, sequence–structure alignment, model building and model assessment (http://salilab.org/modeller/). ModBase currently contains 10 355 444 reliable models for domains in 2 421 920 unique protein sequences. ModBase allows users to update comparative models on demand, and request modeling of additional sequences through an interface to the ModWeb modeling server (http://salilab.org/modweb). ModBase models are available through the ModBase interface as well as the Protein Model Portal (http://www.proteinmodelportal.org/). Recently developed associated resources include the SALIGN server for multiple sequence and structure alignment (http://salilab.org/salign), the ModEval server for predicting the accuracy of protein structure models (http://salilab.org/modeval), the PCSS server for predicting which peptides bind to a given protein (http://salilab.org/pcss) and the FoXS server for calculating and fitting Small Angle X-ray Scattering profiles (http://salilab.org/foxs)

Evolution of enhanced innate immune evasion by SARS-CoV-2

Emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOCs) suggests viral adaptation to enhance human-to-human transmission1,2. Although much effort has focused on characterisation of spike changes in VOCs, mutations outside spike likely contribute to adaptation. Here we used unbiased abundance proteomics, phosphoproteomics, RNAseq and viral replication assays to show that isolates of the Alpha (B.1.1.7) variant3 more effectively suppress innate immune responses in airway epithelial cells, compared to first wave isolates. We found that Alpha has dramatically increased subgenomic RNA and protein levels of N, Orf9b and Orf6, all known innate immune antagonists. Expression of Orf9b alone suppressed the innate immune response through interaction with TOM70, a mitochondrial protein required for RNA sensing adaptor MAVS activation. Moreover, the activity of Orf9b and its association with TOM70 was regulated by phosphorylation. We propose that more effective innate immune suppression, through enhanced expression of specific viral antagonist proteins, increases the likelihood of successful Alpha transmission, and may increase in vivo replication and duration of infection4. The importance of mutations outside Spike in adaptation of SARS-CoV-2 to humans is underscored by the observation that similar mutations exist in the Delta and Omicron N/Orf9b regulatory regions

Identification of a Bacteria-produced Benzisoxazole with Antibiotic Activity against Multi-drug Resistant Acinetobacter baumannii

The emergence of multi-drug resistant pathogenic bacteria represents a serious and growing threat to national healthcare systems. Most pressing is an immediate need for the development of novel antibacterial agents to treat Gram-negative multi-drug resistant infections, including the opportunistic, hospital-derived pathogen, Acinetobacter baumannii. Herein we report a naturally occurring 1,2-benzisoxazole with minimum inhibitory concentrations as low as 6.25 μg ml−1 against clinical strains of multi-drug resistant A. baumannii and investigate its possible mechanisms of action. This molecule represents a new chemotype for antibacterial agents against A. baumannii and is easily accessed in two steps via de novo synthesis. In vitro testing of structural analogs suggest that the natural compound may already be optimized for activity against this pathogen. Our results demonstrate that supplementation of 4-hydroxybenzoate in minimal media was able to reverse 1,2-benzisoxazole’s antibacterial effects in A. baumannii. A search of metabolic pathways involving 4-hydroxybenzoate coupled with molecular modeling studies implicates two enzymes, chorismate pyruvate-lyase and 4-hydroxybenzoate octaprenyltransferase, as promising leads for the target of 3,6-dihydroxy-1,2-benzisoxazole

Genetic interactions and functional analyses of the fission yeast gsk3 and amk2 single and double mutants defective in TORC1-dependent processes

The Target of Rapamycin (TOR) signalling network plays important roles in aging and disease. The AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and the Gsk3 kinase inhibit TOR during stress. We performed genetic interaction screens using synthetic genetic arrays (SGA) with gsk3 and amk2 as query mutants, the latter encoding the regulatory subunit of AMPK. We identified 69 negative and 82 positive common genetic interactors, with functions related to cellular growth and stress. The 120 gsk3-specific negative interactors included genes functioning in translation and ribosomes. The 215 amk2-specific negative interactors included genes functioning in chromatin silencing and DNA damage repair. Both amk2- and gsk3-specific interactors were enriched in phenotype categories related to abnormal cell size and shape. We also performed SGA screen with the amk2 gsk3 double mutant as a query. Mutants sensitive to 5-fluorouracil, an anticancer drug are under-represented within the 305 positive interactors specific for the amk2 gsk3 query. The triple-mutant SGA screen showed higher number of negative interactions than the double mutant SGA screens and uncovered additional genetic network information. These results reveal common and specialized roles of AMPK and Gsk3 in mediating TOR-dependent processes, indicating that AMPK and Gsk3 act in parallel to inhibit TOR function in fission yeast

Structure and mechanism of Zn^(2+)- transporting P-type ATPases

Zinc is an essential micronutrient for all living organisms. It is required for signalling and proper functioning of a range of proteins involved in, for example, DNA binding and enzymatic catalysis. In prokaryotes and photosynthetic eukaryotes, Zn2+-transporting P-type ATPases of class IB (ZntA) are crucial for cellular redistribution and detoxification of Zn2+ and related elements. Here we present crystal structures representing the phosphoenzyme ground state (E2P) and a dephosphorylation intermediate (E2·P_i) of ZntA from Shigella sonnei, determined at 3.2 Å and 2.7 Å resolution, respectively. The structures reveal a similar fold to Cu^+-ATPases, with an amphipathic helix at the membrane interface. A conserved electronegative funnel connects this region to the intramembranous high-affinity ion-binding site and may promote specific uptake of cellular Zn^(2+) ions by the transporter. The E2P structure displays a wide extracellular release pathway reaching the invariant residues at the high-affinity site, including C392, C394 and D714. The pathway closes in the E2·P_i state, in which D714 interacts with the conserved residue K693, which possibly stimulates Zn^(2+) release as a built-in counter ion, as has been proposed for H^+-ATPases. Indeed, transport studies in liposomes provide experimental support for ZntA activity without counter transport. These findings suggest a mechanistic link between P_(IB)-type Zn^(2+)-ATPases and P_(III)-type H^+-ATPases and at the same time show structural features of the extracellular release pathway that resemble P_(II)-type ATPases such as the sarcoplasmic/endoplasmic reticulum Ca^(2+)-ATPase (SERCA) and Na^+, K^+-ATPase. These findings considerably increase our understanding of zinc transport in cells and represent new possibilities for biotechnology and biomedicine

Adventures in time and space: Splicing efficiency and RNA polymerase II elongation rate

Control of pre-mRNA splicing is a critical part of the eukaryotic gene expression process. Extensive evidence indicates that transcription and splicing are spatiotemporally coordinated and that most splicing events occur co-transcriptionally. A kinetic co