| 1. |
- Altincekic, Nadide, et al.
(författare)
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Targeting the Main Protease (Mpro, nsp5) by Growth of Fragment Scaffolds Exploiting Structure-Based Methodologies
- 2024
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Ingår i: ACS Chemical Biology. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1554-8929 .- 1554-8937. ; 19:2, s. 563-574
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The main protease Mpro, nsp5, of SARS-CoV-2 (SCoV2) is one of its most attractive drug targets. Here, we report primary screening data using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) of four different libraries and detailed follow-up synthesis on the promising uracil-containing fragment Z604 derived from these libraries. Z604 shows time-dependent binding. Its inhibitory effect is sensitive to reducing conditions. Starting with Z604, we synthesized and characterized 13 compounds designed by fragment growth strategies. Each compound was characterized by NMR and/or activity assays to investigate their interaction with Mpro. These investigations resulted in the four-armed compound 35b that binds directly to Mpro. 35b could be cocrystallized with Mpro revealing its noncovalent binding mode, which fills all four active site subpockets. Herein, we describe the NMR-derived fragment-to-hit pipeline and its application for the development of promising starting points for inhibitors of the main protease of SCoV2.
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| 2. |
- Gustavsson, Emil, 1987, et al.
(författare)
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Modulation of Structural Heterogeneity Controls Phytochrome Photoswitching
- 2020
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Ingår i: Biophysical Journal. - : Elsevier BV. - 0006-3495 .- 1542-0086. ; 118:2, s. 415-421
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Phytochromes sense red/far-red light and control many biological processes in plants, fungi, and bacteria. Although the crystal structures of dark- and light-adapted states have been determined, the molecular mechanisms underlying photoactivation remain elusive. Here, we demonstrate that the conserved tongue region of the PHY domain of a 57-kDa photosensory module of Deinococcus radiodurans phytochrome changes from a structurally heterogeneous dark state to an ordered, light-activated state. The results were obtained in solution by utilizing a laser-triggered activation approach detected on the atomic level with high-resolution protein NMR spectroscopy. The data suggest that photosignaling of phytochromes relies on careful modulation of structural heterogeneity of the PHY tongue.
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| 3. |
- Isaksson, Linnéa, et al.
(författare)
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Signaling Mechanism of Phytochromes in Solution.
- 2021
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Ingår i: Structure. - : Elsevier BV. - 1878-4186 .- 0969-2126. ; 29:2, s. 151-160
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Phytochrome proteins guide the red/far-red photoresponse of plants, fungi, and bacteria. Crystal structures suggest that the mechanism of signal transduction from the chromophore to the output domains involves refolding of the so-called PHY tongue. It is currently not clear how the two other notable structural features of the phytochrome superfamily, the so-called helical spine and a knot in the peptide chain, are involved in photoconversion. Here, we present solution NMR data of the complete photosensory core module from Deinococcus radiodurans. Photoswitching between the resting and the active states induces changes in amide chemical shifts, residual dipolar couplings, and relaxation dynamics. All observables indicate a photoinduced structural change in the knot region and lower part of the helical spine. This implies that a conformational signal is transduced from the chromophore to the helical spine through the PAS and GAF domains. The discovered pathway underpins functional studies of plant phytochromes and may explain photosensing by phytochromes under biological conditions.
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| 4. |
- Jensen, Maja, 1978, et al.
(författare)
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Survivin prevents the polycomb repressor complex 2 from methylating histone 3 lysine 27
- 2023
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Ingår i: Iscience. ; 26:7
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study investigates the role of survivin in epigenetic control of gene transcription through interaction with the polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2). PRC2 is responsible for silencing gene expression by trimethylating lysine 27 on histone 3. We observed differential expression of PRC2 subunits in CD4(+) T cells with varying levels of survivin expression, and ChIP-seq results indicated that survivin colocalizes with PRC2 along DNA. Inhibition of survivin resulted in a significant increase in H3K27 trimethylation, implying that survivin prevents PRC2 from functioning. Peptide microarray showed that survivin interacts with peptides from PRC2 subunits, and machine learning revealed that amino acid composition contains relevant information for predicting survivin interaction. NMR and BLI experiments supported the interaction of survivin with PRC2 subunit EZH2. Finally, protein-protein docking revealed that the survivin-EZH2 interaction interface overlaps with catalytic residues of EZH2, potentially inhibiting its H3K27 methylation activity. These findings suggest that survivin inhibits PRC2 function.
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| 5. |
- Wallerstein, Johan, et al.
(författare)
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Entropy-Entropy Compensation between the Protein, Ligand, and Solvent Degrees of Freedom Fine-Tunes Affinity in Ligand Binding to Galectin-3C
- 2021
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Ingår i: Jacs Au. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 2691-3704. ; 1:4, s. 484-500
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Molecular recognition is fundamental to biological signaling. A central question is how individual interactions between molecular moieties affect the thermodynamics of ligand binding to proteins and how these effects might propagate beyond the immediate neighborhood of the binding site. Here, we investigate this question by introducing minor changes in ligand structure and characterizing the effects of these on ligand affinity to the carbohydrate recognition domain of galectin-3, using a combination of isothermal titration calorimetry, X-ray crystallography, NMR relaxation, and computational approaches including molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and grid inhomogeneous solvation theory (GIST). We studied a congeneric series of ligands with a fluorophenyl-triazole moiety, where the fluorine substituent varies between the ortho, meta, and para positions (denoted O, M, and P). The M and P ligands have similar affinities, whereas the O ligand has 3-fold lower affinity, reflecting differences in binding enthalpy and entropy. The results reveal surprising differences in conformational and solvation entropy among the three complexes. NMR backbone order parameters show that the O-bound protein has reduced conformational entropy compared to the M and P complexes. By contrast, the bound ligand is more flexible in the O complex, as determined by F-19 NMR relaxation, ensemble-refined X-ray diffraction data, and MD simulations. Furthermore, GIST calculations indicate that the O-bound complex has less unfavorable solvation entropy compared to the other two complexes. Thus, the results indicate compensatory effects from ligand conformational entropy and water entropy, on the one hand, and protein conformational entropy, on the other hand. Taken together, these different contributions amount to entropy-entropy compensation among the system components involved in ligand binding to a target protein.
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