The type VI secretion system (T6SS) is a mechanism that is commonly used by pathogenic bacteria to infect host cells and for survival in competitive environments. This system assembles on a core baseplate and elongates like a phage puncturing device; it is thought to penetrate the target membrane and deliver effectors into the host or competing bacteria. Valine-glycine repeat protein G1 (VgrG1) forms the spike at the tip of the elongating tube formed by haemolysin co-regulated protein 1 (Hcp1); it is structurally similar to the T4 phage (gp27)3-(gp5)3 puncturing complex. Here, the crystal structure of full-length VgrG1 from Pseudomonas aeruginosa is reported at a resolution of 2.0 Å, which through a trimeric arrangement generates a needle-like shape composed of two main parts, the head and the spike, connected via a small neck region. The structure reveals several remarkable structural features pointing to the possible roles of the two main segments of VgrG1: the head as a scaffold cargo domain and the β-roll spike with implications in the cell-membrane puncturing process and as a carrier of cognate toxins.
A dye-decolorizing peroxidase (DyP) from Pleurotus ostreatus (PosDyP4) catalyzes the oxidation of Mn 2+ to Mn 3+ , in the presence of H 2 O 2 , with an efficiency similar to the well known manganese peroxidases and versatile peroxidases from this and other white-rot fungi. PosDyP4 has been overexpressed in Escherichia coli as an active enzyme, and its crystal structure has been solved at 1.56 Å resolution. A combination of substrate diffusion simulations on the solved structure using the PELE software, electron paramagnetic resonance and site-directed mutagenesis led to identification of the residues involved in Mn 2+ oxidation. The oxidation site in PosDyP4 is different to the conserved site in the other Mn-oxidizing peroxidases mentioned above, and it includes four acidic residues (three aspartates and one glutamate) located at the surface of the protein. Moreover, since the Mn 2+ ion is not in direct contact with the heme propionates, a tyrosine residue participates in the electron transfer to the cofactor being the only essential individual residue for PosDyP4 oxidation of the metal ion. The four acidic residues contribute to Mn 2+ binding in different extents, with the glutamate also involved in the initial electron transfer to the key tyrosine, as confirmed by the >50-fold decreased k cat after removing its side-chain carboxylic group. A second electron transfer pathway operates in PosDyP4 for the oxidation of aromatics and dyes starting at a surface tryptophan, as reported in other fungal and prokaryotic DyPs, and connecting with the final part of the Mn 2+ oxidation route. Both tryptophanyl and tyrosyl radicals, potentially involved in catalysis, were detected by electron paramagnetic resonance of the native enzyme and its tryptophan-less variant, respectively.
The so-called dye-decolorizing peroxidases (DyPs) constitute a new family of proteins exhibiting remarkable stability. With the aim of providing them new catalytic activities of biotechnological interest, the heme pocket of one of the few DyPs fully characterized to date (from the fungus Auricularia auricula-judae) was redesigned based on the crystal structure available, and its potential for asymmetric sulfoxidation was evaluated. Chiral sulfoxides are important targets in organic synthesis and enzyme catalysis, due to a variety of applications. Interestingly, one of the DyP variants, F359G, is highly stereoselective in sulfoxidizing methyl-phenyl sulfide and methyl-p-tolyl sulfide (95-99% conversion, with up to 99% excess of the S enantiomer in short reaction times), while the parent DyP has no sulfoxidation activity, and the L357G variant produces both R and S enantiomers. The two variants were crystallized, and their crystal structures were used in molecular simulations to provide a rational explanation for the new catalytic activities. Protein energy landscape exploration (PELE) showed more favorable protein-substrate catalytic complexes for the above variants , with a considerable number of structures near the oxygen atom of the activated heme, which is incorporated into the substrates as shown in 18 O-labeling experiments, and improved affinity with respect to the parent enzyme, explaining their sulfoxidation activity. Additional quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) calculations were performed to elucidate the high stereoselectivity observed for the F359G variant, which correlated with higher reactivity on the substrate molecules adopting proS poses at the active site. Similar computational analyses can help introduce/improve (stereoselective) sulfoxidation activity in related hemeproteins.
Lignin biodegradation has been extensively studied in white-rot fungi, which largely belong to order Polyporales. Among the enzymes that wood-rotting polypores secrete, lignin peroxidases (LiPs) have been labeled as the most efficient. Here, we characterize a similar enzyme (ApeLiP) from a fungus of the order Agaricales (with ~13,000 described species), the soil-inhabiting mushroom Agrocybe pediades. X-ray crystallography revealed that ApeLiP is structurally related to Polyporales LiPs, with a conserved heme-pocket and a solvent-exposed tryptophan. Its biochemical characterization shows that ApeLiP can oxidize both phenolic and non-phenolic lignin model-compounds, as well as different dyes. Moreover, using stopped-flow rapid spectrophotometry and 2D-NMR, we demonstrate that ApeLiP can also act on real lignin. Characterization of a variant lacking the above tryptophan residue shows that this is the oxidation site for lignin and other high redox-potential substrates, and also plays a role in phenolic substrate oxidation. The reduction potentials of the catalytic-cycle intermediates were estimated by stopped-flow in equilibrium reactions, showing similar activation by H2O2, but a lower potential for the rate-limiting step (compound-II reduction) compared to other LiPs. Unexpectedly, ApeLiP was stable from acidic to basic pH, a relevant feature for application considering its different optima for oxidation of phenolic and nonphenolic compounds.
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