Chemistry & biology最新文献

We are exposed to a growing number of chemicals in our environment, most of which have not been characterized in terms of their toxicological potential or mechanisms. Here, we employ a chemoproteomic platform to map the cysteine reactivity of environmental chemicals using reactivity-based probes to mine for hyper-reactive hotspots across the proteome. We show that environmental contaminants such as monomethylarsonous acid and widely used pesticides such as chlorothalonil and chloropicrin possess common reactivity with a distinct set of proteins. Many of these proteins are involved in key metabolic processes, suggesting that these targets may be particularly sensitive to environmental electrophiles. We show that the widely used fungicide chlorothalonil specifically inhibits several metabolic enzymes involved in fatty acid metabolism and energetics, leading to dysregulated lipid metabolism in mice. Our results underscore the utility of using reactivity-based chemoproteomic platforms to uncover novel mechanistic insights into the toxicity of environmental chemicals.

The molecular architecture of the mature N-glycome is dynamic, with consequences for both normal and pathologic processes. Elucidating cellular mechanisms that modulate the N-linked glycome is, therefore, crucial. The unfolded protein response (UPR) is classically responsible for maintaining proteostasis in the secretory pathway by defining levels of chaperones and quality control proteins. Here, we employ chemical biology methods for UPR regulation to show that stress-independent activation of the UPR's XBP1s transcription factor also induces a panel of N-glycan maturation-related enzymes. The downstream consequence is a distinctive shift toward specific hybrid and complex N-glycans on N-glycoproteins produced from XBP1s-activated cells, which we characterize by mass spectrometry. Pulse-chase studies attribute this shift specifically to altered N-glycan processing, rather than to changes in degradation or secretion rates. Our findings implicate XBP1s in a new role for N-glycoprotein biosynthesis, unveiling an important link between intracellular stress responses and the molecular architecture of extracellular N-glycoproteins.

Here, we report a widely and generally applicable strategy to obtain reliable information in high-throughput protein screenings of enzyme mutant libraries. The method is based on the usage of the split-GFP technology for the normalization of the expression level of each individual protein variant combined with activity measurements, thus resolving the important problems associated with the different solubility of each mutant and allowing the detection of previously invisible variants. The small size of the employed protein tag (16 amino acids) required for the reconstitution of the GFP fluorescence reduces possible interferences such as enzyme activity variations or solubility disturbances to a minimum. Specific enzyme activity measurements without purification, in situ soluble protein expression monitoring, and data normalization are the powerful outputs of this methodology, thus enabling the accurate identification of improved protein variants during high-throughput screening by substantially reducing the occurrence of false negatives and false positives.

Potent-selective peptidomimetic inhibitors of tissue transglutaminase (TG2) were developed through a combination of protein-ligand docking and molecular dynamic techniques. Derivatives of these inhibitors were made with the aim of specific TG2 targeting to the intra- and extracellular space. A cell-permeable fluorescently labeled derivative enabled detection of in situ cellular TG2 activity in human umbilical cord endothelial cells and TG2-transduced NIH3T3 cells, which could be enhanced by treatment of cells with ionomycin. Reaction of TG2 with this fluorescent inhibitor in NIH3T3 cells resulted in loss of binding of TG2 to cell surface syndecan-4 and inhibition of translocation of the enzyme into the extracellular matrix, with a parallel reduction in fibronectin deposition. In human umbilical cord endothelial cells, this same fluorescent inhibitor also demonstrated a reduction in fibronectin deposition, cell motility, and cord formation in Matrigel. Use of the same inhibitor in a mouse model of hypertensive nephrosclerosis showed over a 40% reduction in collagen deposition.

Resistance to existing classes of antibiotics drives the need for discovery of novel compounds with unique mechanisms of action. Nargenicin A1, a natural product with limited antibacterial spectrum, was rediscovered in a whole-cell antisense assay. Macromolecular labeling in both Staphylococcus aureus and an Escherichia coli tolC efflux mutant revealed selective inhibition of DNA replication not due to gyrase or topoisomerase IV inhibition. S. aureus nargenicin-resistant mutants were selected at a frequency of ∼1 × 10(-9), and whole-genome resequencing found a single base-pair change in the dnaE gene, a homolog of the E. coli holoenzyme α subunit. A DnaE single-enzyme assay was exquisitely sensitive to inhibition by nargenicin, and other in vitro characterization studies corroborated DnaE as the target. Medicinal chemistry efforts may expand the spectrum of this novel mechanism antibiotic.

The symbiotic fungus Paxillus involutus serves a critical role in maintaining forest ecosystems, which are carbon sinks of global importance. P. involutus produces involutin and other 2,5-diarylcyclopentenone pigments that presumably assist in the oxidative degradation of lignocellulose via Fenton chemistry. Their precise biosynthetic pathways, however, remain obscure. Using a combination of biochemical, genetic, and transcriptomic analyses, in addition to stable-isotope labeling with synthetic precursors, we show that atromentin is the key intermediate. Atromentin is made by tridomain synthetases of high similarity: InvA1, InvA2, and InvA5. An inactive atromentin synthetase, InvA3, gained activity after a domain swap that replaced its native thioesterase domain with that of InvA5. The found degree of multiplex biosynthetic capacity is unprecedented with fungi, and highlights the great importance of the metabolite for the producer.

Nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) are the macromolecular turnstiles between the cytoplasm and the nucleus that control the trafficking of proteins, RNAs and viruses. The giant NPC structures are extremely complex. Here, I highlight several recent findings on NPC architectures, and briefly discuss how chemical biologists might use this information to design synthetic devices and improve strategies for nuclear drug delivery.

A33853, which shows excellent bioactivity against Leishmania, is a benzoxazole-family compound formed from two moieties of 3-hydroxyanthranilic acid and one 3-hydroxypicolinic acid. In this study, we have identified the gene cluster responsible for the biosynthesis of A33853 in Streptomyces sp. NRRL12068 through genome mining and heterologous expression. Bioinformatics analysis and functional characterization of the orfs contained in the gene cluster revealed that the biosynthesis of A33853 is directed by a group of unusual enzymes. In particular, BomK, annotated as a ketosynthase, was found to catalyze the amide bond formation between 3-hydroxypicolinic and 3-hydroxyanthranilic acid during the assembly of A33853. BomJ, a putative ATP-dependent coenzyme A ligase, and BomN, a putative amidohydrolase, were further proposed to be involved in the benzoxazole formation in A33853 according to gene deletion experiments. Finally, we have successfully utilized mutasynthesis to generate two analogs of A33853, which were reported previously to possess excellent anti-leishmanial activity.

Altered phosphodiesterase (PDE)-cyclic AMP (cAMP) activity is frequently associated with anxiety disorders, but current therapies act by reducing neuronal excitability rather than targeting PDE-cAMP-mediated signaling pathways. Here, we report the novel repositioning of anti-cancer MEK inhibitors as anxiolytics in a zebrafish model of anxiety-like behaviors. PDE inhibitors or activators of adenylate cyclase cause behaviors consistent with anxiety in larvae and adult zebrafish. Small-molecule screening identifies MEK inhibitors as potent suppressors of cAMP anxiety behaviors in both larvae and adult zebrafish, while causing no anxiolytic behavioral effects on their own. The mechanism underlying cAMP-induced anxiety is via crosstalk to activation of the RAS-MAPK signaling pathway. We propose that targeting crosstalk signaling pathways can be an effective strategy for mental health disorders, and advance the repositioning of MEK inhibitors as behavior stabilizers in the context of increased cAMP.

Trypanosoma brucei, the causal agent for sleeping sickness, depends on ergosterol for growth. Here, we describe the effects of a mechanism-based inhibitor, 26-fluorolanosterol (26FL), which converts in vivo to a fluorinated substrate of the sterol C24-methyltransferase essential for sterol methylation and function of ergosterol, and missing from the human host. 26FL showed potent inhibition of ergosterol biosynthesis and growth of procyclic and bloodstream forms while having no effect on cholesterol biosynthesis or growth of human epithelial kidney cells. During exposure of cloned TbSMT to 26-fluorocholesta-5,7,24-trienol, the enzyme is gradually killed as a consequence of the covalent binding of the intermediate C25 cation to the active site (kcat/kinact = 0.26 min(-1)/0.24 min(-1); partition ratio of 1.08), whereas 26FL is non-productively bound. These results demonstrate that poisoning of ergosterol biosynthesis by a 26-fluorinated Δ(24)-sterol is a promising strategy for developing a new treatment for trypanosomiasis.