The structure of protein, lipid and water molecules in the crystals represents the functional entity of bR in the purple membrane of the bacteria at atomic resolution. Proton translocation from the Schiff base to the extracellular medium is mediated by a hydrogen-bond network that involves charged residues and water molecules.

Bacteriorhodopsin is the simplest known photon-driven proton pump and as such provides a model for the study of a basic function in bioenergetics. Its seven transmembrane helices encompass a proton translocation pathway containing the chromophore, a retinal molecule covalently bound to lysine 216 through a protonated Schiff base, and a series of proton donors and acceptors. Photoisomerization of the all-trans retinal to the 13-cis configuration initiates the vectorial translocation of a proton from the Schiff base, the primary proton donor, to the extracellular side, followed by reprotonation of the Schiff base from the cytoplasm. Here we describe the high-resolution X-ray structure of an early intermediate in the photocycle of bacteriorhodopsin, which is formed directly after photoexcitation. A key water molecule is dislocated, allowing the primary proton acceptor, Asp 85, to move. Movement of the main-chain Lys 216 locally disrupts the hydrogen-bonding network of helix G, facilitating structural changes later in the photocycle.

Toxoplasma gondii secretes a novel dense granule protein, GRA24, that traffics from the vacuole to the host cell nucleus where it prolongs p38a activation and correlates with proinflammatory cytokine production.

Molecular processes that govern pathogenic features of erythrocyte invasion and cytoadherence in malaria are reliant on Plasmodium-specific Duffy-binding-like domains (DBLs). These cysteine-rich modules recognize diverse host cell-surface receptors during pathogenesis. DBLs of parasite erythrocyte-binding proteins mediate invasion, and those from the antigenically variant P. falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 1 (PfEMP1) have been implicated in cytoadherence. The simian and human malarial parasites, P. knowlesi and P. vivax, invade human erythrocytes exclusively through the host DARC receptor (Duffy antigen receptor for chemokines). Here we present the crystal structure of the P. knowlesi DBL domain (Pkalpha-DBL), which binds to DARC during invasion of human erythrocytes. Pkalpha-DBL retains the overall fold observed in DBLs from P. falciparum erythrocyte-binding antigen (EBA)-175 (ref. 4). Mapping the residues that have previously been implicated in binding highlights a fairly flat but exposed site for DARC recognition in subdomain 2 of Pkalpha-DBL; this is in sharp contrast to receptor recognition by EBA-175 (ref. 4). In Pkalpha-DBL, the residues that contact DARC and the clusters of residues under immune pressure map to opposite surfaces of the DBL, and suggest a possible mechanism for immune evasion by P. vivax. Our comparative structural analysis of Pkalpha-DBL and P. falciparum EBA-175 provides a framework for the understanding of malaria parasite DBLs, and may affect the development of new prophylactic and therapeutic strategies.

Pregnancy-associated malaria (PAM) is a serious consequence of sequestration of Plasmodium falciparum-parasitized erythrocytes (PE) in the placenta through adhesion to chondroitin sulfate A (CSA) present on placental proteoglycans. Recent work implicates var2CSA, a member of the PfEMP1 family, as the mediator of placental sequestration and as a key target for PAM vaccine development. Var2CSA is a 350 kDa transmembrane protein, whose extracellular region includes six Duffy-binding-like (DBL) domains. Due to its size and high cysteine content, the full-length var2CSA extracellular region has not hitherto been expressed in heterologous systems, thus limiting investigations to individual recombinant domains. Here we report for the first time the expression of the full-length var2CSA extracellular region (domains DBL1X to DBL6ε) from the 3D7 parasite strain using the human embryonic kidney 293 cell line. We show that the recombinant extracellular var2CSA region is correctly folded and that, unlike the individual DBL domains, it binds with high affinity and specificity to CSA (K D ¼ 61 nM) and efficiently inhibits PE from binding to CSA. Structural characterization by analytical ultracentrifugation and small-angle x-ray scattering reveals a compact organization of the full-length protein, most likely governed by specific interdomain interactions, rather than an extended structure. Collectively, these data suggest that a high-affinity, CSA-specific binding site is formed by the higher-order structure of the var2CSA extracellular region. These results have important consequences for the development of an effective vaccine and therapeutic inhibitors. malaria | pregnancy | plasmodium | chondroitin | structure

Crystal structures of seryl-tRNA synthetase from Thermus thermophilus complexed with two different analogs of seryl adenylate have been determined at 2.5 A resolution. The first complex is between the enzyme and seryl-hydroxamate-AMP (adenosine monophosphate), produced enzymatically in the crystal from adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and serine hydroxamate, and the second is with a synthetic analog of seryl adenylate (5'-O-[N-(L-seryl)-sulfamoyl]adenosine), which is a strong inhibitor of the enzyme. Both molecules are bound in a similar fashion by a network of hydrogen bond interactions in a deep hydrophilic cleft formed by the antiparallel beta sheet and surrounding loops of the synthetase catalytic domain. Four regions in the primary sequence are involved in the interactions, including the motif 2 and 3 regions of class 2 synthetases. Apart from the specific recognition of the serine side chain, the interactions are likely to be similar in all class 2 synthetases.

Malaria parasites inevitably develop drug resistance to anti-malarials over time. Hence the immediacy for discovering new chemical scaffolds to include in combination malaria drug therapy. The desirable attributes of new chemotherapeutic agents currently include activity against both liver and blood stage malaria parasites. One such recently discovered compound called cladosporin abrogates parasite growth via inhibition of Plasmodium falciparum lysyl-tRNA synthetase (PfKRS), an enzyme central to protein translation. Here, we present crystal structure of ternary PfKRS-lysine-cladosporin (PfKRS-K-C) complex that reveals cladosporin's remarkable ability to mimic the natural substrate adenosine and thereby colonize PfKRS active site. The isocoumarin fragment of cladosporin sandwiches between critical adenine-recognizing residues while its pyran ring fits snugly in the ribose-recognizing cavity. PfKRS-K-C structure highlights ample space within PfKRS active site for further chemical derivatization of cladosporin. Such derivatives may be useful against additional human pathogens that retain high conservation in cladosporin chelating residues within their lysyl-tRNA synthetase.

Posttranslational histone modifications modulate chromatin-templated processes in various biological systems. H4K20 methylation is considered to have an evolutionarily ancient role in DNA repair and genome integrity, while its function in heterochromatin function and gene expression is thought to have arisen later during evolution. Here, we identify and characterize H4K20 methylases of the Set8 family in Plasmodium and Toxoplasma, two medically important members of the protozoan phylum Apicomplexa. Remarkably, parasite Set8-related proteins display H4K20 mono-, di-, and trimethylase activities, in striking contrast to the monomethylase-restricted human Set8. Structurally, few residues forming the substrate-specific channel dictate enzyme methylation multiplicity. These enzymes are cell cycle regulated and focally enriched at pericentric and telomeric heterochromatin in both parasites. Collectively, our findings provide new insights into the evolution of Set8-mediated biochemical pathways, suggesting that the heterochromatic function of the marker is not restricted to metazoans. Thus, these lower eukaryotes have developed a diverse panel of biological stages through their high capacity to differentiate, and epigenetics only begins to emerge as a strong determinant of their biology.The fundamental unit of chromatin, termed the nucleosome, is subject to a dizzying array of posttranslational modifications, which work alone or in combination to constitute a histone code that regulates chromatin structure and function (18). Among these modifications, lysine methylations index chromatin regions, facilitating epigenetic organization of eukaryotic genomes. In contrast to other histone-modifying enzymes, histone lysine (K) methyltransferases (HKMTs) are enzymes devoted to the methylation of highly specific lysine residues which either promote gene activation (H3K4, H3K79, and H3K36) or generate a repressed chromatin state (H3K9, H3K27, and H4K20). With just one exception (Dot1p), these enzymes belong to the SET family. The SET domain, which initially took its name from the Drosophila genes Su(var)3-9, enhancer of zeste, and trithorax, is crucial for the catalytic activity of HKMTs (3, 9, 24). While lysine methylation mainly occurs on histone H3 tails, the only lysine residue of histone H4 shown to be methylated in vivo is lysine 20. Methylation of H4K20 is involved in a diverse array of nuclear processes, including gene silencing (12, 26), pericentric heterochromatin formation (37), mitotic regulation in metazoans (20, 21), and DNA damage checkpoint control in the cell cycle of Schizosaccharomyces pombe (35).A number of different SET proteins have been identified as being able to methylate H4K20, including metazoan Set8 (also named Pr-Set7) (12, 26), Drosophila ASH1 (2), murine NSD1 (30), mammalian SUV4-20H1/2 (37), and its S. pombe ortholog SET9 (35). The modification is evidently absent in several simple eukaryotes, such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae and the ciliated protozoan Tetrahymena thermophila (26). H4K20 methylati...