Drug-resistant bacteria have caused serious medical problems in recent years, and the need for new antibacterial agents is undisputed. Transglycosylase, a multidomain membrane protein essential for cell wall synthesis, is an excellent target for the development of new antibiotics. Here, we determined the X-ray crystal structure of the bifunctional transglycosylase penicillin-binding protein 1b (PBP1b) from Escherichia coli in complex with its inhibitor moenomycin to 2.16-Å resolution. In addition to the transglycosylase and transpeptidase domains, our structure provides a complete visualization of this important antibacterial target, and reveals a domain for protein-protein interaction and a transmembrane helix domain essential for substrate binding, enzymatic activity, and membrane orientation.antibacterial development ͉ antibiotic resistance ͉ membrane protein structure ͉ peptidoglycan synthesis ͉ protein-protein interaction I n the last decade, the prevalence and occasional outbreaks of drug-resistant bacteria, such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE), have posed appalling hurdles in the treatment of bacterial infections (1, 2). New antibacterial agents are, as a result, in desperate demand to combat these pernicious antibiotic-resistant problems that can otherwise cause life-or-death struggles.Bacteria cell wall is a mesh-like structure of cross-linked peptidoglycan, which is essential to scaffold the cytoplasmic membrane and to maintain structural integrity of the cell (3). Cell wall synthesis at the membrane surface is mainly carried out by the membrane-bound enzymes, transpeptidases and transglycosylases, and inhibitors of the transpeptidase are among the most popular antibiotics in clinical use today (3).Escherichia coli PBP1b is a bifunctional transglycosylase, also known as peptidoglycan glycosyltransferase or murein synthase. It contains a transmembrane (TM) helix, 2 enzymatic domains [transglycosylase (TG) and transpeptidase (TP)] (4), and a domain composed of Ϸ100 aa residues between TM and TG with unknown structure and functionality (Fig. 1B). For Ͼ50 years, TP has been the main target for 2 most important classes of antibiotics: ␤-lactams (e.g., penicillin and methicillin) and glycopeptides (e.g., vancomycin). Not too long after they were introduced, resistant bacteria had emerged rapidly and caused serious medical problems. In contrast, resistant strains against moenomycin, the only natural inhibitor to TG from Streptomyces, have rarely been found. The development of new antibiotics against TG has been highly anticipated (5), and not until recently have the molecular structures of TG been available, even with the TM structure undefined.Two crystal structures of transglycosylase, a bifunctional transglycosylase from S. aureus (referred to as SaPBP2) and a transglycosylase domain from Aquifex aeolicus (referred to as AaPGT), have been determined recently with their TM domain or TM and TP domains removed, respectively (6-8). These structur...

A method for performing high-throughput in situ serial X-ray crystallography with soluble and membrane proteins in the lipid cubic phase is described. It works with microgram quantities of protein and lipid (and ligand when present) and is compatible with the most demanding sulfur SAD phasing.

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A method for performing high-throughput in situ serial X-ray crystallography with soluble and membrane proteins in the lipid cubic phase at cryogenic temperatures (100 K) is described. It works with nanogram to single-digit microgram quantities of protein and lipid (and ligand when present), and is compatible with both high-resolution native data collection and experimental phasing without the need for crystal harvesting.

Bacterial transpeptidase and transglycosylase on the surface are essential for cell wall synthesis, and many antibiotics have been developed to target the transpeptidase; however, the problem of antibiotic resistance has arisen and caused a major threat in bacterial infection. The transglycosylase has been considered to be another excellent target, but no antibiotics have been developed to target this enzyme. Here, we determined the crystal structure of the Staphylococcus aureus membrane-bound transglycosylase, monofunctional glycosyltransferase, in complex with a lipid II analog to 2.3 Å resolution. Our results showed that the lipid II-contacting residues are not only conserved in WT and drug-resistant bacteria but also significant in enzymatic activity. Mechanistically, we proposed that K140 and R148 in the donor site, instead of the previously proposed E156, are used to stabilize the pyrophosphate-leaving group of lipid II, and E100 in the acceptor site acts as general base for the 4-OH of GlcNAc to facilitate the transglycosylation reaction. This mechanism, further supported by mutagenesis study and the structure of monofunctional glycosyltransferase in complex with moenomycin in the donor site, provides a direction for antibacterial drugs design.

Lipoproteins serve essential roles in the bacterial cell envelope. The posttranslational modification pathway leading to lipoprotein synthesis involves three enzymes. All are potential targets for the development of new antibiotics. Here we report the crystal structure of the last enzyme in the pathway, apolipoprotein N-acyltransferase, Lnt, responsible for adding a third acyl chain to the lipoprotein’s invariant diacylated N-terminal cysteine. Structures of Lnt from Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli have been solved; they are remarkably similar. Both consist of a membrane domain on which sits a globular periplasmic domain. The active site resides above the membrane interface where the domains meet facing into the periplasm. The structures are consistent with the proposed ping-pong reaction mechanism and suggest plausible routes by which substrates and products enter and leave the active site. While Lnt may present challenges for antibiotic development, the structures described should facilitate design of therapeutics with reduced off-target effects.

The anion channelrhodopsin GtACR1 from the alga Guillardia theta is a potent neuron-inhibiting optogenetics tool. Presented here, its X-ray structure at 2.9 Å reveals a tunnel traversing the protein from its extracellular surface to a large cytoplasmic cavity. The tunnel is lined primarily by small polar and aliphatic residues essential for anion conductance. A disulfide-immobilized extracellular cap facilitates channel closing and the ion path is blocked mid-membrane by its photoactive retinylidene chromophore and further by a cytoplasmic side constriction. The structure also reveals a novel photoactive site configuration that maintains the retinylidene Schiff base protonated when the channel is open. These findings suggest a new channelrhodopsin mechanism, in which the Schiff base not only controls gating, but also serves as a direct mediator for anion flux.

As a protective envelope surrounding the bacterial cell, the peptidoglycan sacculus is a site of vulnerability and an antibiotic target. Peptidoglycan components, assembled in the cytoplasm, are shuttled across the membrane in a cycle that uses undecaprenyl-phosphate. A product of peptidoglycan synthesis, undecaprenyl-pyrophosphate, is converted to undecaprenyl-phosphate for reuse in the cycle by the membrane integral pyrophosphatase, BacA. To understand how BacA functions, we determine its crystal structure at 2.6 Å resolution. The enzyme is open to the periplasm and to the periplasmic leaflet via a pocket that extends into the membrane. Conserved residues map to the pocket where pyrophosphorolysis occurs. BacA incorporates an interdigitated inverted topology repeat, a topology type thus far only reported in transporters and channels. This unique topology raises issues regarding the ancestry of BacA, the possibility that BacA has alternate active sites on either side of the membrane and its possible function as a flippase.