scholarly journals Molecular mechanism of DRP1 assembly studied in vitro by cryo-electron microscopy

PLoS ONE ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. e0179397 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaustuv Basu ◽  
Driss Lajoie ◽  
Tristan Aumentado-Armstrong ◽  
Jin Chen ◽  
Roman I. Koning ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Molecular Mechanism ◽  
Cryo Electron Microscopy

scholarly journals Mechanism of SARS-CoV-2 polymerase stalling by remdesivir

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Goran Kokic ◽  
Hauke S. Hillen ◽  
Dimitry Tegunov ◽  
Christian Dienemann ◽  
Florian Seitz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Rna Polymerase ◽  
Binding Site ◽  
Molecular Mechanism ◽  
Active Center ◽  
Rna Synthesis ◽  
Active Form ◽  
Nucleoside Triphosphate ◽  
Rna Dependent Rna Polymerase ◽  
Cryo Electron Microscopy

AbstractRemdesivir is the only FDA-approved drug for the treatment of COVID-19 patients. The active form of remdesivir acts as a nucleoside analog and inhibits the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) of coronaviruses including SARS-CoV-2. Remdesivir is incorporated by the RdRp into the growing RNA product and allows for addition of three more nucleotides before RNA synthesis stalls. Here we use synthetic RNA chemistry, biochemistry and cryo-electron microscopy to establish the molecular mechanism of remdesivir-induced RdRp stalling. We show that addition of the fourth nucleotide following remdesivir incorporation into the RNA product is impaired by a barrier to further RNA translocation. This translocation barrier causes retention of the RNA 3ʹ-nucleotide in the substrate-binding site of the RdRp and interferes with entry of the next nucleoside triphosphate, thereby stalling RdRp. In the structure of the remdesivir-stalled state, the 3ʹ-nucleotide of the RNA product is matched and located with the template base in the active center, and this may impair proofreading by the viral 3ʹ-exonuclease. These mechanistic insights should facilitate the quest for improved antivirals that target coronavirus replication.

scholarly journals Structural insight into TPX2-stimulated microtubule assembly

eLife ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rui Zhang ◽  
Johanna Roostalu ◽  
Thomas Surrey ◽  
Eva Nogales
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Mechanism ◽  
Structural Information ◽  
Microtubule Assembly ◽  
Cryo Electron Microscopy ◽  
Interaction Mode ◽  
In Vitro Reconstitution ◽  
Assembly Factor ◽  
Ran Gtp ◽  
Mitosis And Meiosis

During mitosis and meiosis, microtubule (MT) assembly is locally upregulated by the chromatin-dependent Ran-GTP pathway. One of its key targets is the MT-associated spindle assembly factor TPX2. The molecular mechanism of how TPX2 stimulates MT assembly remains unknown because structural information about the interaction of TPX2 with MTs is lacking. Here, we determine the cryo-electron microscopy structure of a central region of TPX2 bound to the MT surface. TPX2 uses two flexibly linked elements (’ridge’ and ‘wedge’) in a novel interaction mode to simultaneously bind across longitudinal and lateral tubulin interfaces. These MT-interacting elements overlap with the binding site of importins on TPX2. Fluorescence microscopy-based in vitro reconstitution assays reveal that this interaction mode is critical for MT binding and facilitates MT nucleation. Together, our results suggest a molecular mechanism of how the Ran-GTP gradient can regulate TPX2-dependent MT formation.

scholarly journals Cryo-EM structure and polymorphism of Aβ amyloid fibrils purified from Alzheimer’s brain tissue

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marius Kollmer ◽  
William Close ◽  
Leonie Funk ◽  
Jay Rasmussen ◽  
Aref Bsoul ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Brain Tissue ◽  
Amyloid Fibrils ◽  
Structural Basis ◽  
Amyloid Angiopathy ◽  
Cryo Electron Microscopy ◽  
Aβ Amyloid ◽  
Cerebral Amyloid ◽  
Aβ Fibrils

Abstract The formation of Aβ amyloid fibrils is a neuropathological hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease and cerebral amyloid angiopathy. However, the structure of Aβ amyloid fibrils from brain tissue is poorly understood. Here we report the purification of Aβ amyloid fibrils from meningeal Alzheimer’s brain tissue and their structural analysis with cryo-electron microscopy. We show that these fibrils are polymorphic but consist of similarly structured protofilaments. Brain derived Aβ amyloid fibrils are right-hand twisted and their peptide fold differs sharply from previously analyzed Aβ fibrils that were formed in vitro. These data underscore the importance to use patient-derived amyloid fibrils when investigating the structural basis of the disease.

scholarly journals Structure and assembly of the mouse ASC inflammasome by combined NMR spectroscopy and cryo-electron microscopy

2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (43) ◽  
pp. 13237-13242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorenzo Sborgi ◽  
Francesco Ravotti ◽  
Venkata P. Dandey ◽  
Mathias S. Dick ◽  
Adam Mazur ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Nmr Spectroscopy ◽  
Specific Binding ◽  
3D Structure ◽  
High Mobility ◽  
Atomic Resolution ◽  
Receptor Protein ◽  
Filament Formation ◽  
Cryo Electron Microscopy

Inflammasomes are multiprotein complexes that control the innate immune response by activating caspase-1, thus promoting the secretion of cytokines in response to invading pathogens and endogenous triggers. Assembly of inflammasomes is induced by activation of a receptor protein. Many inflammasome receptors require the adapter protein ASC [apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a caspase-recruitment domain (CARD)], which consists of two domains, the N-terminal pyrin domain (PYD) and the C-terminal CARD. Upon activation, ASC forms large oligomeric filaments, which facilitate procaspase-1 recruitment. Here, we characterize the structure and filament formation of mouse ASC in vitro at atomic resolution. Information from cryo-electron microscopy and solid-state NMR spectroscopy is combined in a single structure calculation to obtain the atomic-resolution structure of the ASC filament. Perturbations of NMR resonances upon filament formation monitor the specific binding interfaces of ASC-PYD association. Importantly, NMR experiments show the rigidity of the PYD forming the core of the filament as well as the high mobility of the CARD relative to this core. The findings are validated by structure-based mutagenesis experiments in cultured macrophages. The 3D structure of the mouse ASC-PYD filament is highly similar to the recently determined human ASC-PYD filament, suggesting evolutionary conservation of ASC-dependent inflammasome mechanisms.

scholarly journals Maturation of the Human Papillomavirus 16 Capsid

mBio ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Giovanni Cardone ◽  
Adam L. Moyer ◽  
Naiqian Cheng ◽  
Cynthia D. Thompson ◽  
Israel Dvoretzky ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Disulfide Bonds ◽  
Mammalian Cells ◽  
Structural Integrity ◽  
Regular Structure ◽  
Human Papillomaviruses ◽  
Cryo Electron Microscopy ◽  
Cross Links ◽  
Risk Of Cancer

ABSTRACTPapillomaviruses are a family of nonenveloped DNA viruses that infect the skin or mucosa of their vertebrate hosts. The viral life cycle is closely tied to the differentiation of infected keratinocytes. Papillomavirus virions are released into the environment through a process known as desquamation, in which keratinocytes lose structural integrity prior to being shed from the surface of the skin. During this process, virions are exposed to an increasingly oxidative environment, leading to their stabilization through the formation of disulfide cross-links between neighboring molecules of the major capsid protein, L1. We used time-lapse cryo-electron microscopy and image analysis to study the maturation of HPV16 capsids assembled in mammalian cells and exposed to an oxidizing environment after cell lysis. Initially, the virion is a loosely connected procapsid that, underin vitroconditions, condenses over several hours into the more familiar 60-nm-diameter papillomavirus capsid. In this process, the procapsid shrinks by ~5% in diameter, its pentameric capsomers change in structure (most markedly in the axial region), and the interaction surfaces between adjacent capsomers are consolidated. A C175S mutant that cannot achieve normal inter-L1 disulfide cross-links shows maturation-related shrinkage but does not achieve the fully condensed 60-nm form. Pseudoatomic modeling based on a 9-Å resolution reconstruction of fully mature capsids revealed C-terminal disulfide-stabilized “suspended bridges” that form intercapsomeric cross-links. The data suggest a model in which procapsids exist in a range of dynamic intermediates that can be locked into increasingly mature configurations by disulfide cross-linking, possibly through a Brownian ratchet mechanism.IMPORTANCEHuman papillomaviruses (HPVs) cause nearly all cases of cervical cancer, a major fraction of cancers of the penis, vagina/vulva, anus, and tonsils, and genital and nongenital warts. HPV types associated with a high risk of cancer, such as HPV16, are generally transmitted via sexual contact. The nonenveloped virion of HPVs shows a high degree of stability, allowing the virus to persist in an infectious form in environmental fomites. In this study, we used cryo-electron microscopy to elucidate the structure of the HPV16 capsid at different stages of maturation. The fully mature capsid adopts a rigid, highly regular structure stabilized by intermolecular disulfide bonds. The availability of a pseudoatomic model of the fully mature HPV16 virion should help guide understanding of antibody responses elicited by HPV capsid-based vaccines.

scholarly journals Structural identification of individual helical amyloid filaments by integration of cryo-electron microscopy-derived maps in comparative morphometric atomic force microscopy image analysis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liisa Lutter ◽  
Youssra Al-Hilaly ◽  
Christopher J. Serpell ◽  
Mick F. Tuite ◽  
Claude M. Wischik ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Atomic Force Microscopy ◽  
Image Analysis ◽  
Structural Analysis ◽  
Amyloid Fibrils ◽  
Structural Identification ◽  
Force Microscopy ◽  
Atomic Force ◽  
Cryo Electron Microscopy

The presence of amyloid fibrils is a hallmark of more than 50 human disorders, including neurodegenerative diseases and systemic amyloidoses. A key unresolved challenge in understanding the involvement of amyloid in disease is to explain the relationship between individual structural polymorphs of amyloid fibrils, in potentially mixed populations, and the specific pathologies with which they are associated. Although cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) and solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (ssNMR) spectroscopy methods have been successfully employed in recent years to determine the structures of amyloid fibrils with high resolution detail, they rely on ensemble averaging of fibril structures in the entire sample or significant subpopulations. Here, we report a method for structural identification of individual fibril structures imaged by atomic force microscopy (AFM) by integration of high-resolution maps of amyloid fibrils determined by cryo-EM in comparative AFM image analysis. This approach was demonstrated using the hitherto structurally unresolved amyloid fibrils formed in vitro from a fragment of tau (297-391), termed 'dGAE'. Our approach established unequivocally that dGAE amyloid fibrils bear no structural relationship to heparin-induced tau fibrils formed in vitro. Furthermore, our comparative analysis resulted in the prediction that dGAE fibrils are closely related structurally to the paired helical filaments (PHFs) isolated from Alzheimer's disease (AD) brain tissue characterised by cryo-EM. These results show the utility of individual particle structural analysis using AFM, provide a workflow of how cryo-EM data can be incorporated into AFM image analysis and facilitate an integrated structural analysis of amyloid polymorphism.

scholarly journals Mechanism of SARS-CoV-2 polymerase inhibition by remdesivir

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Goran Kokic ◽  
Hauke S. Hillen ◽  
Dimitry Tegunov ◽  
Christian Dienemann ◽  
Florian Seitz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Rna Polymerase ◽  
Binding Site ◽  
Molecular Mechanism ◽  
Nucleoside Analogue ◽  
Rna Synthesis ◽  
Active Form ◽  
Nucleoside Triphosphate ◽  
Rna Dependent Rna Polymerase ◽  
Cryo Electron Microscopy

Remdesivir is the only FDA-approved drug for the treatment of COVID-19 patients1–4. The active form of remdesivir acts as a nucleoside analogue and inhibits the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) of coronaviruses including SARS-CoV-25–7. Remdesivir is incorporated by the RdRp into the growing RNA product and allows for addition of three more nucleotides before RNA synthesis stalls6,8. Here we use synthetic RNA chemistry, biochemistry and cryo-electron microscopy to establish the molecular mechanism of remdesivir-induced RdRp stalling. We show that addition of the fourth nucleotide following remdesivir incorporation into the RNA product is impaired by a barrier to further RNA translocation. This translocation barrier causes retention of the RNA 3’-nucleotide in the substrate-binding site of the RdRp and interferes with entry of the next nucleoside triphosphate, thereby stalling RdRp. In the structure of the remdesivir-stalled state, the 3’-nucleotide of the RNA product is matched with the template base, and this may prevent proofreading by the viral 3’-exonuclease that recognizes mismatches9,10. These mechanistic insights should facilitate the quest for improved antivirals that target coronavirus replication.

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