CarD, an essential transcription regulator in Mycobacterium tuberculosis, directly interacts with the RNA polymerase (RNAP). We used a combination of in vivo and in vitro approaches to establish that CarD is a global regulator that stimulates the formation of RNAP-holoenzyme open promoter (RPo) complexes. We determined the X-ray crystal structure of Thermus thermophilus CarD, allowing us to generate a structural model of the CarD/RPo complex. On the basis of our structural and functional analyses, we propose that CarD functions by forming protein/protein and protein/DNA interactions that bridge the RNAP to the promoter DNA. CarD appears poised to interact with a DNA structure uniquely presented by the RPo: the splayed minor groove at the double-stranded/singlestranded DNA junction at the upstream edge of the transcription bubble. Thus, CarD uses an unusual mechanism for regulating transcription, sensing the DNA conformation where transcription bubble formation initiates. mycobacteria | ribosomal RNA (rRNA) | transcription activator | initiation

Summary Caspase-8 activation can be triggered by death receptor-mediated formation of the death-inducing signaling complex (DISC) and by the inflammasome adaptor ASC. Caspase-8 assembles with FADD at the DISC and with ASC at the inflammasome through its tandem death effector domain (tDED), which is regulated by the tDED-containing cellular inhibitor cFLIP and the viral inhibitor MC159. Here we present the caspase-8 tDED filament structure determined by cryo-electron microscopy. Extensive assembly interfaces not predicted by the previously proposed linear DED chain model were uncovered, and further confirmed by structure-based mutagenesis in filament formation in vitro, and Fas-induced apoptosis and ASC-mediated caspase-8 recruitment in cells. Structurally, the two DEDs in caspase-8 use quasi-equivalent contacts to enable assembly. Using the tDED filament structure as a template, structural analyses reveal the interaction surfaces between FADD and caspase-8, and the distinct mechanisms of regulation by cFLIP and MC159 through comingling and capping, respectively.

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A recently discovered new class of 40 kDa glycoproteins forms a major component of the secretory proteins in the dry secretions of non-lactating animals. These proteins are implicated as protective signalling factors that determine which cells are to survive during the processes of drastic tissue remodelling. In order to understand its role in the remodelling of mammary glands, the detailed three-dimensional structure of the bovine signalling glycoprotein (SPC-40) has been determined using X-ray crystallography. SPC-40 was purified from bovine dry secretions and crystallized using the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion method. The crystals belong to the orthorhombic space group P2(1)2(1)2(1), with unit-cell parameters a = 62.6, b = 67.4, c = 106.9 Angstrom. The protein was also cloned in order to determine its complete amino-acid sequence. Its three-dimensional structure has been determined using data to 2.1 Angstrom resolution. The amino-acid sequence determination of SPC-40 reveals two potential N-glycosylation sites at Asn39 and Asn345, but electron density for a glycan chain was only present at Asn39. The protein adopts a conformation with the classical (beta/alpha)(8)-barrel fold of triosephosphate isomerase (TIM barrel; residues 1-237 and 310-360) with the insertion of a small alpha+beta domain (residues 240-307) similar to that observed in chitinases. However, the substitution of Leu for Glu in the consensus catalytic sequence in SPC-40 caused a loss of chitinase activity. Furthermore, the chitin-binding groove in SPC-40 is considerably distorted owing to unfavourable conformations of several residues, including Trp78, Tyr120, Asp186 and Arg242. Three surface loops, His188-His197, Phe202-Arg212 and Tyr244-Pro260, have exceptionally high B factors, suggesting large-scale flexibility. Fluorescence studies indicate that various sugars bind to SPC-40 with low affinities.