1.6 Å x-ray crystal structure of the domain bound to InsP6. InsP6 is bound in a highly basic pocket that is separated from an unusual active site by a ␤-flap structure. Functional studies confirm an intramolecular mechanism of cleavage and highlight specific residues required for InsP6-induced TcdA processing. Analysis of the structural and functional data in the context of sequences from similar and diverse origins highlights a C-terminal extension and a -cation interaction within the ␤-flap that appear to be unique among the large clostridial cytotoxins.Clostridium difficile is a Gram-positive, spore-forming anaerobe that infects the colon and causes a range of disorders, including diarrhea, pseudomembranous colitis, and toxic megacolon (1, 2). Two large toxins, TcdA 2 and TcdB (308 and 270 kDa, respectively) are recognized as the main virulence factors of C. difficile, although their relative importance is the subject of on-going study (3,4). These proteins belong to a class of homologous toxins called large clostridial toxins (LCTs) and have been classified more broadly as AB toxins, wherein a B moiety is involved in the delivery of an enzymatic A moiety into the cytosol of a target cell. In LCTs, the A subunit is an N-terminal glucosyltransferase that inactivates small G-proteins, such as Rho, leading to cell rounding and apoptosis of the intoxicated cell (5, 6). The B subunit corresponds to the remainder of the toxin and is responsible for binding the target cell through a C-terminal receptor-binding domain (7-9) and forming the membrane pore needed for translocation of the A subunit (10, 11). Unlike other known AB toxins, the glucosyltransferase A domains of LCTs are released from the B subunits by an autoproteolytic cleavage event (12). Cleavage is triggered by host inositol phosphates and the reducing environment of the cytosol (12).In LCTs, autoproteolysis has been attributed to a cysteine protease activity located within the N-terminal region of the B subunit (13). This region was identified based on homology with the cysteine protease domain (CPD) found in the multifunctional autoprocessing repeats in toxins (MARTX) toxins from Gram-negative bacteria (14). Autoprocessing in the MARTX toxin from Vibrio cholera (VcRTx) is also stimulated by InsP6 (15). A recent crystal structure of VcRTx CPD bound to InsP6 suggests a novel mechanism of InsP6-induced allosteric activation (16). The CPDs of TcdA and VcRTx share only 19% sequence identity. To gain insight into the mechanistic commonalities between these entirely different toxins and to delineate the LCT-specific modes of InsP6-induced processing, we performed structural and functional analyses on the cysteine protease from TcdA. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURESPlasmid Construction and Point Mutants-The nucleotide sequence coding for amino acids 543-809 of TcdA (TcdA CPD) was amplified from C. difficile strain 10463 genomic DNA. The DNA was cloned into a modified pET27 vector such that the resulting protein contains an N-terminal His 10 tag followed by a 3C proteas...

The function of the human voltage-gated sodium channel Na V 1.5 is regulated in part by intracellular calcium signals. The ubiquitous calcium sensor protein calmodulin (CaM) is an important part of the complex calcium-sensing apparatus in Na V 1.5. CaM interacts with an IQ motif in the large intracellular C-terminal domain of the channel. Using co-expression and copurification, we have been able to isolate a CaM-IQ motif complex and to determine its highresolution structure in absence of calcium using multi-dimensional solution NMR. Under these conditions, the Na V 1.5 IQ motif interacts with the C-terminal domain (C-lobe) of CaM, with the N-terminal domain remaining free in solution. The structure reveals that the C-lobe adopts a semiopen conformation with the IQ motif bound in a narrow hydrophobic groove. Sequence similarities between voltage-gated sodium channels and voltage-gated calcium channels suggest that the structure of the CaM-Na V 1.5 IQ motif complex can serve as a general model for the interaction between CaM and ion channels IQ motifs under conditions of low calcium. The structure also provides insight into the biochemical basis for disease-associated mutations that map to the IQ motif in Na V 1.5.

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Modular polyketide synthases (PKSs) direct the biosynthesis of clinically valuable secondary metabolites in bacteria. The fidelity of chain growth depends on specific recognition between successive subunits in each assembly line: interactions mediated by C- and N-terminal "docking domains" (DDs). We have identified a new family of DDs in trans-acyl transferase PKSs, exemplified by a matched pair from the virginiamycin (Vir) system. In the absence of C-terminal partner (VirA (C)DD) or a downstream catalytic domain, the N-terminal DD (VirFG (N)DD) exhibits multiple characteristics of an intrinsically disordered protein. Fusion of the two docking domains results in a stable fold for VirFG (N)DD and an overall protein-protein complex of unique topology whose structure we support by site-directed mutagenesis. Furthermore, using small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), the positions of the flanking acyl carrier protein and ketosynthase domains have been identified, allowing modeling of the complete intersubunit interface.