The crystal structure of (4S)-limonene synthase from Mentha spicata, a metal ion-dependent monoterpene cyclase that catalyzes the coupled isomerization and cyclization of geranyl diphosphate, is reported at 2.7-Å resolution in two forms liganded to the substrate and intermediate analogs, 2-fluorogeranyl diphosphate and 2-fluorolinalyl diphosphate, respectively. The implications of these findings are described for domain interactions in the homodimer and for changes in diphosphate-metal ion coordination and substrate binding conformation in the course of the multistep reaction.crystal structure ͉ geranyl diphosphate ͉ linalyl diphosphate ͉ monoterpene cyclase ͉ monoterpene synthase

Background: Notch-1 plays a critical role in cell fate decisions by modulating cellular processes under irradiation. Results: Irradiation-induced Notch-1 overexpression promoted survival and EMT in NSCLC, whereas rhamnetin and cirsiliol inhibited these effects via miR-34a-mediated Notch-1 down-regulation. Conclusion: Rhamnetin and cirsiliol suppress Notch-1-mediated radioresistance and EMT phenotypes in NSCLC. Significance: Rhamnetin and cirsiliol can act as novel radiosensitizers by inhibiting radiation-induced Notch-1 signaling.

The cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase (CAD) multigene family in planta encodes proteins catalyzing the reductions of various phenylpropenyl aldehyde derivatives in a substrate versatile manner, and whose metabolic products are the precursors of structural lignins, health-related lignans, and various other metabolites. In Arabidopsis thaliana, the two isoforms, AtCAD5 and AtCAD4, are the catalytically most active being viewed as mainly involved in the formation of guaiacyl/syringyl lignins. In this study, we determined the crystal structures of AtCAD5 in the apo-form and as a binary complex with NADP+, respectively, and modeled that of AtCAD4. Both AtCAD5 and AtCAD4 are dimers with two zinc ions per subunit and belong to the Zn-dependent medium chain dehydrogenase/reductase (MDR) superfamily, on the basis of their overall 2-domain structures and distribution of secondary structural elements. The catalytic Zn2+ ions in both enzymes are tetrahedrally coordinated, but differ from those in horse liver alcohol dehydrogenase since the carboxyl side-chain of Glu70 is ligated to Zn2+ instead of water. Using AtCAD5, site-directed mutagenesis of Glu70 to alanine resulted in loss of catalytic activity, thereby indicating that perturbation of the Zn2+ coordination was sufficient to abolish catalytic activity. The substrate-binding pockets of both AtCAD5 and AtCAD4 were also examined, and found to be significantly different and smaller compared to that of a putative aspen sinapyl alcohol dehydrogenase (SAD) and a putative yeast CAD. While the physiological roles of the aspen SAD and the yeast CAD are uncertain, they nevertheless have a high similarity in the overall 3D structures to AtCAD5 and 4. With the bona fide CAD's from various species, nine out of the twelve residues which constitute the proposed substrate-binding pocket were, however, conserved. This is provisionally considered as indicative of a characteristic fingerprint for the CAD family.

Cancer cells undergo unlimited progression and survival owing to activation of oncogenes. However, support of the tumor microenvironment is essential to the formation of clinically relevant tumors. Recent evidence indicates that the tumor microenvironment is a critical regulator of immune escape, progression, and distant metastasis of cancer. Moreover, the tumor microenvironment is known to be involved in acquired resistance of tumors to various therapies. Despite significant advances in chemotherapy and radiotherapy, occurrence of therapeutic resistance leads to reduced efficacy. This review highlights myeloid cells, cancer-associated fibroblasts, and mesenchymal stem cells consisting of the tumor microenvironment, as well as the relevant signaling pathways that eventually render cancer cells to be therapeutically resistant.

Radiotherapy is one of the major cancer treatment strategies. Exposure to penetrating radiation causes cellular stress, directly or indirectly, due to the generation of reactive oxygen species, DNA damage, and subcellular organelle damage and autophagy. These radiation-induced damage responses cooperatively contribute to cancer cell death, but paradoxically, radiotherapy also causes the activation of damage-repair and survival signaling to alleviate radiation-induced cytotoxic effects in a small percentage of cancer cells, and these activations are responsible for tumor radio-resistance. The present study describes the molecular mechanisms responsible for radiation-induced cellular stress response and radioresistance, and the therapeutic approaches used to overcome radioresistance.

Hydroxycinnamoyltransferase (HCT) from sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) participates in an early step of the phenylpropanoid pathway, exchanging coenzyme A (CoA) esterified to p-coumaric acid with shikimic or quinic acid as intermediates in the biosynthesis of the monolignols coniferyl alcohol and sinapyl alcohol. In order to elucidate the mode of action of this enzyme, we have determined the crystal structures of SbHCT in its apo-form and ternary complex with shikimate and p-coumaroyl-CoA, which was converted to its product during crystal soaking. The structure revealed the roles of threonine-36, serine-38, tyrosine-40, histidine-162, arginine-371, and threonine-384 in catalysis and specificity. Based on the exact chemistry of p-coumaroyl-CoA and shikimic acid in the active site and an analysis of kinetic and thermodynamic data of the wild type and mutants, we propose a role for histidine-162 and threonine-36 in the catalytic mechanism of HCT. Considering the calorimetric data, substrate binding of SbHCT should occur sequentially, with p-coumaroyl-CoA binding prior to the acyl acceptor molecule. While some HCTs can use both shikimate and quinate as an acyl acceptor, SbHCT displays low activity toward quinate. Comparison of the structure of sorghum HCT with the HCT involved in chlorogenic acid synthesis in coffee (Coffea canephora) revealed many shared features. Taken together, these observations explain how CoA-dependent transferases with similar structural features can participate in different biochemical pathways across species.

Burkholderia cepacia AC1100 completely degrades 2,4,5-trichlorophenol, in which an FADH 2 -dependent monooxygenase (TftD) and an NADH:FAD oxidoreductase (TftC) catalyze the initial steps. TftD oxidizes 2,4,5-trichlorophenol (2,4,5-TCP) to 2,5-dichloro-p-benzoquinone, which is chemically reduced to 2,5-dichloro-p-hydroquinone (2,5-DiCHQ). Then, TftD oxidizes the latter to 5-chloro-2-hydroxy-p-benzoquinone. In those processes, TftC provides all the required FADH 2 . We have determined the crystal structures of dimeric TftC and tetrameric TftD at 2.0 and 2.5 Å resolution, respectively. The structure of TftC was similar to those of related flavin reductases. The stacked nicotinamide:isoalloxazine rings in TftC and sequential reaction kinetics suggest that the reduced FAD leaves TftC after NADH oxidation. The structure of TftD was also similar to the known structures of FADH 2 -dependent monooxygenases. Its His-289 residue in the re-side of the isoalloxazine ring is within hydrogen bonding distance with a hydroxyl group of 2,5-Di-CHQ. An H289A mutation resulted in the complete loss of activity toward 2,5-DiCHQ and a significant decrease in catalytic efficiency toward 2,4,5-TCP. Thus, His-289 plays different roles in the catalysis of 2,4,5-TCP and 2,5-DiCHQ. The results support that free FADH 2 is generated by TftC, and TftD uses FADH 2 to separately transform 2,4,5-TCP and 2,5-DiCHQ. Additional experimental data also support the diffusion of FADH 2 between TftC and TftD without direct physical interaction between the two enzymes.

Calsequestrin, the major calcium storage protein of both cardiac and skeletal muscle, binds and releases large numbers of Ca 2؉ ions for each contraction and relaxation cycle. Here we show that two crystal structures for skeletal and cardiac calsequestrin are nearly superimposable not only for their subunits but also their front-to-front-type dimers. Ca 2؉ binding curves were measured using atomic absorption spectroscopy. This method enables highly accurate measurements even for Ca 2؉ bound to polymerized protein. The binding curves for both skeletal and cardiac calsequestrin were complex, with binding increases that correlated with protein dimerization, tetramerization, and oligomerization. The Ca 2؉ binding capacities of skeletal and cardiac calsequestrin are directly compared for the first time, with ϳ80 Ca 2؉ ions bound per skeletal calsequestrin and ϳ60 Ca 2؉ ions per cardiac calsequestrin, as compared with net charges for these molecules of ؊80 and ؊69, respectively. Deleting the negatively charged and disordered C-terminal 27 amino acids of cardiac calsequestrin results in a 50% reduction of its calcium binding capacity and a loss of Ca 2؉ -dependent tetramer formation. Based on the crystal structures of rabbit skeletal muscle calsequestrin and canine cardiac calsequestrin, Ca 2؉ binding capacity data, and previous lightscattering data, a mechanism of Ca 2؉ binding coupled with polymerization is proposed.Calsequestrin (CSQ) 1 binds and releases large quantities of Ca 2ϩ through its high capacity (40 -50 mol of Ca 2ϩ ion per molecule) and relatively low affinity interactions with Ca 2ϩ (K d ϭ 1 mM) (1). Because of this Ca 2ϩ -buffering capacity of CSQ in the lumenal space, the concentration of free Ca 2ϩ in the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) can be maintained below the inhibitory level of the Ca 2ϩ pump (1 mM), and simultaneously, the SR can maintain the ability to rapidly deliver a high capacity Ca 2ϩ signal to the cytoplasm. Even though the lumenal space is minuscule compared with the extracellular space, the high concentrations (ϳ100 mg/ml) of CSQ make the SR an efficient storage compartment for Ca 2ϩ (2).CSQ is associated physically with the RyR protein by a nucleation event that involves CSQ binding to the basic lumenal domains of triadin (3) or junctin (4). These two proteins interact with RyR in the junctional face region of the SR, and this network of interacting proteins assures that high concentrations of Ca 2ϩ are stored very near to the site of Ca 2ϩ release. Ca 2ϩ release from CSQ through the Ca 2ϩ release channel is regulatory but not limiting.The Ca 2ϩ binding and dissociation mechanisms of CSQ are not yet clearly understood. Ca 2ϩ binding sites in CSQ are supposed to be very different from those in the Ca 2ϩ pump (sarco(endo)plasmic reticulum calcium ATPase (SERCA)), calmodulin, and troponin C. CSQ sites need to be made and broken but not over the low cytosolic Ca 2ϩ concentration range or with the same stoichiometry and precision as those formed and subsequently disrupted in the Ca 2ϩ pump or...