scholarly journals Phosphorylation of Phylogenetically Conserved Amino Acid Residues Confines HBx within Different Cell Compartments of Human Hepatocarcinoma Cells

Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 1254
Author(s):  
Cristian Prieto ◽  
Juan Montecinos ◽  
Gustavo Jiménez ◽  
Constanza Riquelme ◽  
Daniel Garrido ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acids ◽  
Cultured Cells ◽  
Multiple Roles ◽  
Site Directed Mutagenesis ◽  
Amino Acid Residues ◽  
Post Translational Modification ◽  
Cellular Functions ◽  
Human Hepatoma Cells ◽  
Expression Levels ◽  
Nucleocytoplasmic Distribution

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a circular, and partially double-stranded DNA virus. Upon infection, the viral genome is translocated into the cell nucleus, generating the covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) intermediate, and forming a mini chromosome. HBV HBx is a small protein displaying multiple roles in HBV-infected cells, and in different subcellular locations. In the nucleus, the HBx protein is required to initiate and maintain viral transcription from the viral mini chromosome. In contrast, HBx also functions in the cytoplasm, where it is able to alter multiple cellular functions such as mitochondria metabolism, apoptosis and signal transduction pathways. It has been reported that in cultured cells, at low expression levels, the HBx protein is localized in the nucleus, whereas at high expression levels, it accumulates in the cytoplasm. This dynamic subcellular distribution of HBx might be essential to exert its multiple roles during viral infection. However, the mechanism that regulates different subcellular localizations of the HBx protein is unknown. We have previously taken a bioinformatics approach to investigate whether HBx might be regulated via post-translational modification, and we have proposed that the multiple nucleocytoplasmic functions of HBx might be regulated by an evolutionarily conserved mechanism via phosphorylation. In the current study, phylogenetically conserved amino acids of HBx with a high potential of phosphorylation were targeted for site-directed mutagenesis. Two conserved serine (Ser25 and Ser41), and one conserved threonine (Thr81) amino acids were replaced by either alanine or aspartic acid residues to simulate an unphosphorylated or phosphorylated state, respectively. Human hepatoma cells were transfected with increasing amounts of the HBx DNA constructs, and the cells were analyzed by fluorescence microscopy. Together, our results show that the nucleocytoplasmic distribution of the HBx protein could be regulated by phosphorylation since some of the modified proteins were mainly confined to distinct subcellular compartments. Remarkably, both HBx Ser41A, and HBx Thr81D proteins were predominantly localized within the nuclear compartment throughout the different expression levels of HBx mutants.

scholarly journals Targeting Hedgehog Signalling through the Ubiquitylation Process: The Multiple Roles of the HECT-E3 Ligase Itch

Cells ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paola Infante ◽  
Ludovica Lospinoso Severini ◽  
Flavia Bernardi ◽  
Francesca Bufalieri ◽  
Lucia Di Marcotullio
Keyword(s):  
E3 Ligase ◽  
Multiple Roles ◽  
Post Translational Modification ◽  
Therapeutic Approaches ◽  
Cellular Functions ◽  
Hedgehog Signalling ◽  
Promising Target ◽  
Important Pathway ◽  
Multiple Levels

Hedgehog signalling (Hh) is a developmental conserved pathway strongly involved in cancers when deregulated. This important pathway is orchestrated by numerous regulators, transduces through distinct routes and is finely tuned at multiple levels. In this regard, ubiquitylation processes stand as essential for controlling Hh pathway output. Although this post-translational modification governs proteins turnover, it is also implicated in non-proteolytic events, thereby regulating the most important cellular functions. The HECT E3 ligase Itch, well known to control immune response, is emerging to have a pivotal role in tumorigenesis. By illustrating Itch specificities on Hh signalling key components, here we review the role of this HECT E3 ubiquitin ligase in suppressing Hh-dependent tumours and explore its potential as promising target for innovative therapeutic approaches.

scholarly journals Two Highly Similar Chitinases from Marine Vibrio Species have Different Enzymatic Properties

Marine Drugs ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 139
Author(s):  
Xinxin He ◽  
Min Yu ◽  
Yanhong Wu ◽  
Lingman Ran ◽  
Weizhi Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acids ◽  
Amino Acid ◽  
Extracellular Enzymes ◽  
Vibrio Harveyi ◽  
Amino Acid Sequences ◽  
Enzymatic Properties ◽  
Site Directed Mutagenesis ◽  
Amino Acid Residues ◽  
Marine Vibrio ◽  
Key Sites

Chitinase, as one of the most important extracellular enzymes in the marine environment, has great ecological and applied values. In this study, two chitinases (Chi1557 and Chi4668) with 97.33% amino acid sequences identity were individually found in Vibrio rotiferianus and Vibrio harveyi. They both were encoding by 561 amino acids, but differed in 15 amino acids and showed different enzymatic properties. The optimal temperature and pH ranges were 45–50 °C and pH 5.0–7.0 for Chi1557, while ~50 °C and pH 3.0–6.0 for Chi4668. K+, Mg2+, and EDTA increased the enzymatic activity of Chi4668 significantly, yet these factors were inhibitory to Chi1557. Moreover, Chi1557 degraded colloidal chitin to produce (GlcNAc)2 and minor GlcNAc, whereas Chi4668 produce (GlcNAc)2 with minor (GlcNAc)3 and (GlcNAc)4. The Kcat/Km of Chi4668 was ~4.7 times higher than that of Chi1557, indicating that Chi4668 had stronger catalytic activity than Chi1557. Furthermore, site-directed mutagenesis was performed on Chi1557 focusing on seven conserved amino acid residues of family GH18 chitinases. Chi1557 was almost completely inactive after Glu154, Gln219, Tyr221, or Trp312 was individually mutated, retained ~50% activity after Tyr37 was mutated, and increased two times activity after Asp152 was mutated, indicating that these six amino acids were key sites for Chi1557.

scholarly journals A l-Lysine Transporter of High Stereoselectivity of the Amino Acid-Polyamine-Organocation (APC) Superfamily

2013 ◽  
Vol 289 (3) ◽  
pp. 1377-1387 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jagdeep Kaur ◽  
Elena Olkhova ◽  
Viveka Nand Malviya ◽  
Ernst Grell ◽  
Hartmut Michel
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acids ◽  
Amino Acid ◽  
Ligand Binding ◽  
Isothermal Titration Calorimetry ◽  
Functional Characterization ◽  
Homology Model ◽  
Docking Studies ◽  
Site Directed Mutagenesis ◽  
Titration Calorimetry ◽  
Amino Acid Residues

Membrane proteins of the amino acid-polyamine-organocation (APC) superfamily transport amino acids and amines across membranes and play an important role in the regulation of cellular processes. We report the heterologous production of the LysP-related transporter STM2200 from Salmonella typhimurium in Escherichia coli, its purification, and functional characterization. STM2200 is assumed to be a proton-dependent APC transporter of l-lysine. The functional interaction between basic amino acids and STM2200 was investigated by thermoanalytical methods, i.e. differential scanning and isothermal titration calorimetry. Binding of l-lysine to STM2200 in its solubilized monomer form is entropy-driven. It is characterized by a dissociation constant of 40 μm at pH 5.9 and is highly selective; no evidence was found for the binding of l-arginine, l-ornithine, l-2,4-diaminobutyric acid, and l-alanine. d-Lysine is bound 45 times more weakly than its l-chiral form. We thus postulate that STM2200 functions as a specific transport protein. Based on the crystal structure of ApcT (Shaffer, P. L., Goehring, A., Shankaranarayanan, A., and Gouaux, E. (2009) Science 325, 1010–1014), a proton-dependent amino acid transporter of the APC superfamily, a homology model of STM2200 was created. Docking studies allowed identification of possible ligand binding sites. The resulting predictions indicated that Glu-222 and Arg-395 of STM2200 are markedly involved in ligand binding, whereas Lys-163 is suggested to be of structural and functional relevance. Selected variants of STM2200 where these three amino acid residues were substituted using single site-directed mutagenesis showed no evidence for l-lysine binding by isothermal titration calorimetry, which confirmed the predictions. Molecular aspects of the observed ligand specificity are discussed.

scholarly journals Molecular Basis for Immunoglobulin M Specificity to Epitopes inCryptococcus neoformans Polysaccharide That Elicit Protective and Nonprotective Antibodies

2001 ◽  
Vol 69 (5) ◽  
pp. 3398-3409 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Nakouzi ◽  
Philippe Valadon ◽  
Joshua Nosanchuk ◽  
Nancy Green ◽  
Arturo Casadevall
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acids ◽  
Protective Efficacy ◽  
Immunoglobulin M ◽  
Site Directed Mutagenesis ◽  
Amino Acid Residues ◽  
Opsonic Activity ◽  
Fine Specificity ◽  
Functional Studies ◽  
Binding Cavity ◽  
V Region

ABSTRACT The protective efficacy of antibodies (Abs) to Cryptococcus neoformans glucuronoxylomannan (GXM) is dependent on Ab fine specificity. Two clonally related immunoglobulin M monoclonal Abs (MAbs) (12A1 and 13F1) differ in fine specificity and protective efficacy, presumably due to variable (V)-region sequence differences resulting from somatic mutations. MAb 12A1 is protective and produces annular immunofluorescence (IF) on serotype D C. neoformans, while MAb 13F1 is not protective and produces punctate IF. To determine the Ab molecular determinants responsible for the IF pattern, site-directed mutagenesis of the MAb 12A1 heavy-chain V region (VH) was followed by serological and functional studies of the various mutants. Changing two selected amino acids in the 12A1 VH binding cavity to the corresponding residues in the 13F1 VH altered the IF pattern from annular to punctate, reduced opsonic efficacy, and abolished recognition by an anti-idiotypic Ab. Analysis of the binding of the various mutants to peptide mimetics revealed that different amino acids were responsible for GXM binding and peptide specificity. The results suggest that V-region motifs associated with annular binding and opsonic activity may be predictive of Ab efficacy against C. neoformans. This has important implications for immunotherapy and vaccine design that are reinforced by the finding that GXM and peptide reactivities are determined by different amino acid residues.

scholarly journals Non-Protein Amino Acids: A Review of the Biosynthesis and Taxonomic Significance

2008 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1934578X0800300 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Arthur Bell ◽  
Alison A. Watson ◽  
Robert J. Nash
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acids ◽  
Amino Acid ◽  
Biosynthetic Pathway ◽  
Amino Acid Residues ◽  
Taxonomic Significance ◽  
Post Translational Modification ◽  
Protein Amino Acid ◽  
Ancestral Form ◽  
Higher Taxa ◽  
Protein Amino Acids

The non-protein amino acids, with which we are concerned here, are not incorporated into the proteins of the organisms that synthesize them nor are their residues formed by the post-translational modification of protein amino acid residues. Non-protein amino acids are of value in the study of relationships between species and higher taxa of organisms because most of them are of restricted distribution. If a particular non-protein amino acid is only known to occur in a limited group of species which are related in other respects then it is probable that these species have all arisen from a common ancestral form in which the biosynthetic pathway to that particular non-protein amino acid already existed.

scholarly journals SumSec: Accurate Prediction of Sumoylation Sites Using Predicted Secondary Structure

Molecules ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (12) ◽  
pp. 3260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdollah Dehzangi ◽  
Yosvany López ◽  
Ghazaleh Taherzadeh ◽  
Alok Sharma ◽  
Tatsuhiko Tsunoda
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acids ◽  
Secondary Structure ◽  
High Sensitivity ◽  
Underlying Mechanism ◽  
Structural Features ◽  
Post Translational Modification ◽  
Cellular Functions ◽  
Sumoylation Site ◽  
Translation Process ◽  
Wide Range

Post Translational Modification (PTM) is defined as the modification of amino acids along the protein sequences after the translation process. These modifications significantly impact on the functioning of proteins. Therefore, having a comprehensive understanding of the underlying mechanism of PTMs turns out to be critical in studying the biological roles of proteins. Among a wide range of PTMs, sumoylation is one of the most important modifications due to its known cellular functions which include transcriptional regulation, protein stability, and protein subcellular localization. Despite its importance, determining sumoylation sites via experimental methods is time-consuming and costly. This has led to a great demand for the development of fast computational methods able to accurately determine sumoylation sites in proteins. In this study, we present a new machine learning-based method for predicting sumoylation sites called SumSec. To do this, we employed the predicted secondary structure of amino acids to extract two types of structural features from neighboring amino acids along the protein sequence which has never been used for this task. As a result, our proposed method is able to enhance the sumoylation site prediction task, outperforming previously proposed methods in the literature. SumSec demonstrated high sensitivity (0.91), accuracy (0.94) and MCC (0.88). The prediction accuracy achieved in this study is 21% better than those reported in previous studies. The script and extracted features are publicly available at: https://github.com/YosvanyLopez/SumSec.

scholarly journals Defining key residues of the Swi1 prion domain in prion formation and maintenance

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dustin K. Goncharoff ◽  
Raudel Cabral ◽  
Sarah V. Applebey ◽  
Manasa Pagadala ◽  
Zhiqiang Du ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acid ◽  
De Novo ◽  
Neurological Diseases ◽  
Low Complexity ◽  
Small Region ◽  
Site Directed Mutagenesis ◽  
Amino Acid Residues ◽  
Cellular Functions ◽  
Alternative Protein ◽  
Key Residues

Prions are self-perpetuating, alternative protein conformations associated with neurological diseases and normal cellular functions. Saccharomyces cerevisiae contains many endogenous prions – providing a powerful system to study prionization. Previously, we demonstrated that Swi1, a component of the SWI/SNF chromatin-remodeling complex, can form the prion [SWI+]. A small region, Swi11-38, with a unique amino-acid composition of low complexity, acts as a prion domain and supports [SWI+] propagation. Here, we further examine Swi11-38 through site-directed mutagenesis. We found that mutations of the two phenylalanine residues or threonine tract inhibit Swi11-38 aggregation. In addition, mutating both phenylalanines can abolish de novo prion formation by Swi11-38 whereas mutating only one phenylalanine does not. Replacement of half or the entire eight-threonine tract with alanines has the same effect, possibly disrupting a core region of Swi11-38 aggregates. We also show that Swi11-38 and its prion-fold-maintaining mutants form high-molecular-weight, SDS-resistant aggregates whereas the double phenylalanine mutants eliminate these protein species. These results indicate the necessity of the large hydrophobic residues and threonine tract in Swi11-38 in prionogenesis – possibly acting as important aggregatable regions. Our findings thus highlight the importance of specific amino-acid residues in the Swi1 prion domain in prion formation and maintenance.

scholarly journals Amino acid residues 24-31 but not palmitoylation of cysteines 30 and 45 are required for membrane anchoring of glutamic acid decarboxylase, GAD65

1994 ◽  
Vol 124 (6) ◽  
pp. 927-934 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y Shi ◽  
B Veit ◽  
S Baekkeskov
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acids ◽  
Glutamic Acid ◽  
Beta Cells ◽  
Glutamic Acid Decarboxylase ◽  
Pancreatic Beta Cells ◽  
Terminal Region ◽  
Site Directed Mutagenesis ◽  
Acid Decarboxylase ◽  
Post Translational Modification ◽  
Membrane Anchoring

The smaller isoform of the GABA synthesizing enzyme glutamic acid decarboxylase, GAD65, is synthesized as a soluble protein that undergoes post-translational modification(s) in the NH2-terminal region to become anchored to the membrane of small synaptic-like microvesicles in pancreatic beta cells, and synaptic vesicles in GABA-ergic neurons. A soluble hydrophilic form, a soluble hydrophobic form, and a hydrophobic firmly membrane-anchored form have been detected in beta cells. A reversible and hydroxylamine sensitive palmitoylation has been shown to distinguish the firmly membrane-anchored form from the soluble yet hydrophobic form, suggesting that palmitoylation of cysteines in the NH2-terminal region is involved in membrane anchoring. In this study we use site-directed mutagenesis to identify the first two cysteines in the NH2-terminal region, Cys 30 and Cys 45, as the sites of palmitoylation of the GAD65 molecule. Mutation of Cys 30 and Cys 45 to Ala results in a loss of palmitoylation but does not significantly alter membrane association of GAD65 in COS-7 cells. Deletion of the first 23 amino acids at the NH2 terminus of the GAD65 30/45A mutant also does not affect the hydrophobicity and membrane anchoring of the GAD65 protein. However, deletion of an additional eight amino acids at the NH2 terminus results in a protein which is hydrophilic and cytosolic. The results suggest that amino acids 24-31 are required for hydrophobic modification and/or targeting of GAD65 to membrane compartments, whereas palmitoylation of Cys 30 and Cys 45 may rather serve to orient or fold the protein at synaptic vesicle membranes.

Critical roles of amino acids Ser231, His107 and Asp156 of Staphylococcus sciuri exfoliative toxin C (ExhC) in the induction of skin exfoliations in neonate mice

Biologia ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 66 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Haihua Li ◽  
Fei He ◽  
Ziding Zhang ◽  
Shijun Zheng
Keyword(s):  
Active Site ◽  
Cultured Cells ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Site Directed Mutagenesis ◽  
Dimensional Structure ◽  
Amino Acid Residues ◽  
Newborn Mice ◽  
Exfoliative Toxin ◽  
Human Infections

AbstractStaphylococcus sciuri is a rare pathogen in humans, but it can cause a wide array of human infections. Recently a strain of S. sciuri (HBXX06) carrying exfoliative toxin C (ExhC) was reported to cause fatal exudative epidermitis in piglets and might be considered as a potential zoonotic agent. However, little is known regarding the pathogenicity of this bacterium. In this study, we predicted the three-dimensional structure of S. sciuri HBXX06 ExhC and replaced Ser231 or His107 or Asp156 in the active site of ExhC by site-directed mutagenesis, and examined the effects of mutant ExhC on BHK-21 cells and newborn mice as models. Interestingly, we found that mutant ExhC lost its exfoliative effects on newborn mice but could still induce necrosis in cultured cells if any one of the three amino acid residues in the active site was replaced. These results suggest that Ser231, His107 and Asp156 of ExhC play a critical role in the induction of skin exfoliation in neonate mice, which may help to further understand the mechanisms underlying the actions of exfoliative toxins.

scholarly journals Amino Acids in Positions 48, 52, and 73 Differentiate the Substrate Specificities of the Highly Homologous Chlorocatechol 1,2-Dioxygenases CbnA and TcbC

2005 ◽  
Vol 187 (15) ◽  
pp. 5427-5436 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shenghao Liu ◽  
Naoto Ogawa ◽  
Toshiya Senda ◽  
Akira Hasebe ◽  
Kiyotaka Miyashita
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acids ◽  
Amino Acid ◽  
Ralstonia Eutropha ◽  
Site Directed Mutagenesis ◽  
Directed Mutagenesis ◽  
Amino Acid Residues ◽  
Sequence Comparisons ◽  
Substrate Specificities ◽  
High Conservation ◽  
The Difference

ABSTRACT Chlorocatechol 1,2-dioxygenase (CCD) is the first-step enzyme of the chlorocatechol ortho-cleavage pathway, which plays a central role in the degradation of various chloroaromatic compounds. Two CCDs, CbnA from the 3-chlorobenzoate-degrader Ralstonia eutropha NH9 and TcbC from the 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene-degrader Pseudomonas sp. strain P51, are highly homologous, having only 12 different amino acid residues out of identical lengths of 251 amino acids. But CbnA and TcbC are different in substrate specificities against dichlorocatechols, favoring 3,5-dichlorocatechol (3,5-DC) and 3,4-dichlorocatechol (3,4-DC), respectively. A study of chimeric mutants constructed from the two CCDs indicated that the N-terminal parts of the enzymes were responsible for the difference in the substrate specificities. Site-directed mutagenesis studies further identified the amino acid in position 48 (Leu in CbnA and Val in TcbC) as critical in differentiating the substrate specificities of the enzymes, which agreed well with molecular modeling of the two enzymes. Mutagenesis studies also demonstrated that Ile-73 of CbnA and Ala-52 of TcbC were important for their high levels of activity towards 3,5-DC and 3,4-DC, respectively. The importance of Ile-73 for 3,5-DC specificity determination was also shown with other CCDs such as TfdC from Burkholderia sp. NK8 and TfdC from Alcaligenes sp. CSV90 (identical to TfdC from R. eutropha JMP134), which convert 3,5-DC preferentially. Together with amino acid sequence comparisons indicating high conservation of Leu-48 and Ile-73 among CCDs, these results suggested that TcbC of strain P51 had diverged from other CCDs to be adapted to conversion of 3,4-DC.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document