No abstract

SUMMARY Ras proteins recruit and activate effectors, including Raf, that transmit receptor-initiated signals. Monomeric Ras can bind Raf; however, activation of Raf requires its dimerization. It has been suspected that dimeric Ras may promote dimerization and activation of Raf. Here we show that the GTP-bound catalytic domain of K-Ras4B, a highly oncogenic splice variant of the K-Ras isoform, forms stable homodimers. We observe two major dimer interfaces. The first, highly populated β-sheet dimer interface is at the Switch I and effector binding regions, overlapping Raf’s, PI3K’s, RalGDS’ and additional effectors’ binding surfaces. This interface has to be inhibitory to such effectors. The second, helical interface also overlaps some effectors’ binding sites. This interface may promote Raf‘s activation. Our data reveal how Ras self-association can regulate effector binding and activity, and suggest that disruption of the helical dimer interface by drugs may abate Raf’s signaling in cancer.

Riboswitches are structural RNA elements that are generally located in the 5′ untranslated region of messenger RNA. During regulation of gene expression, ligand binding to the aptamer domain of a riboswitch triggers a signal to the downstream expression platform1–3. A complete understanding of the structural basis of this mechanism requires the ability to study structural changes over time4. Here we use femtosecond X-ray free electron laser (XFEL) pulses5,6 to obtain structural measurements from crystals so small that diffusion of a ligand can be timed to initiate a reaction before diffraction. We demonstrate this approach by determining four structures of the adenine riboswitch aptamer domain during the course of a reaction, involving two unbound apo structures, one ligand-bound intermediate, and the final ligand-bound conformation. These structures support a reaction mechanism model with at least four states and illustrate the structural basis of signal transmission. The three-way junction and the P1 switch helix of the two apo conformers are notably different from those in the ligand-bound conformation. Our time-resolved crystallographic measurements with a 10-second delay captured the structure of an intermediate with changes in the binding pocket that accommodate the ligand. With at least a 10-minute delay, the RNA molecules were fully converted to the ligand-bound state, in which the substantial conformational changes resulted in conversion of the space group. Such notable changes in crystallo highlight the important opportunities that micro- and nanocrystals may offer in these and similar time-resolved diffraction studies. Together, these results demonstrate the potential of ‘mix-and-inject’ time-resolved serial crystallography to study biochemically important interactions between biomacromolecules and ligands, including those that involve large conformational changes.

SUMMARY Nuclear export of unspliced and singly spliced viral mRNA is a critical step in the HIV life cycle. The structural basis by which the virus selects its own mRNA among more abundant host cellular RNAs for export has been a mystery for more than 25 years. Here, we describe an unusual topological structure that the virus uses to recognize its own mRNA. The viral Rev response element (RRE) adopts an “A”-like structure in which the two legs constitute two tracks of binding sites for the viral Rev protein and position the two primary known Rev-binding sites ~55 Å apart, matching the distance between the two RNA-binding motifs in the Rev dimer. Both the legs of the “A” and the separation between them are required for optimal RRE function. This structure accounts for the specificity of Rev for the RRE and thus the specific recognition of the viral RNA.

A comparative study of thermodynamic and kinetic aspects of Cu(II) and Ni(II) binding at the N-terminal binding site of human and bovine serum albumins (HSA and BSA, respectively) and short peptide analogues was performed using potentiometry and spectroscopic techniques. It was found that while qualitative aspects of interaction (spectra and structures of complexes, order of reactions) could be reproduced, the quantitative parameters (stability and rate constants) could not. The N-terminal site in HSA is much more similar to BSA than to short peptides reproducing the HSA sequence. A very strong influence of phosphate ions on the kinetics of Ni(II) interaction was found. This study demonstrates the limitations of short peptide modelling of Cu(II) and Ni(II) transport by albumins.

Proteasome–ubiquitin receptor hRpn13/Adrm1 binds and activates deubiquitinating enzyme Uch37/UCHL5 and is targeted by bis-benzylidine piperidone RA190, which restricts cancer growth in mice xenografts. Here, we solve the structure of hRpn13 with a segment of hRpn2 that serves as its proteasome docking site; a proline-rich C-terminal hRpn2 extension stretches across a narrow canyon of the ubiquitin-binding hRpn13 Pru domain blocking an RA190-binding surface. Biophysical analyses in combination with cell-based assays indicate that hRpn13 binds preferentially to hRpn2 and proteasomes over RA190. hRpn13 also exists outside of proteasomes where it may be RA190 sensitive. RA190 does not affect hRpn13 interaction with Uch37, but rather directly binds and inactivates Uch37. hRpn13 deletion from HCT116 cells abrogates RA190-induced accumulation of substrates at proteasomes. We propose that RA190 targets hRpn13 and Uch37 through parallel mechanisms and at proteasomes, RA190-inactivated Uch37 cannot disassemble hRpn13-bound ubiquitin chains.

Knowledge of the structure and dynamics of RNA molecules is critical to understand their many biological functions. Furthermore, synthetic RNAs have applications as therapeutics and molecular sensors. Both research and technological applications of RNA would be significantly enhanced by methods that enable incorporation of modified or labeled nucleotides into specifically designated positions or regions of RNA. However, the synthesis of tens of milligrams of such RNAs using existing methods has been impossible. We have developed a hybrid solid-liquid phase transcription method and automated robotic platform for the synthesis of RNAs with position-selective labeling. We demonstrate its utility by successfully preparing various isotope- or fluorescently-labeled versions of the 71-nucleotide aptamer domain of an adenine riboswitch1 for nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy or single molecule Förster resonance-energy transfer (smFRET), respectively. Those RNAs include molecules that were selectively isotope-labeled in specific loops, linkers, a helix, several discrete positions, or a single internal position, as well as RNA molecules that were fluorescently-labeled in and near kissing loops. These selectively labeled RNAs have the same fold as those transcribed using conventional methods, but greatly simplified the interpretation of NMR spectra. The single-position isotope-labeled and fluorescently-labeled RNA samples revealed multiple conformational states of the adenine riboswitch. Lastly, we describe a robotic platform and the operation that automates this technology. Our selective labeling method may be useful for studying RNA structure and dynamics and for making RNA sensors for a variety of applications including cell-biological studies, substance detection2 and disease diagnostics3,4.

The immunoglobulin (Ig) constant CH2 domain is critical for antibody effector functions. Isolated CH2 domains are promising as scaffolds for construction of libraries containing diverse binders that could also confer some effector functions. However, previous work has shown that an isolated murine CH2 domain is relatively unstable to thermally induced unfolding. To explore unfolding mechanisms of isolated human CH2 and increase its stability ␥1 CH2 was cloned and a panel of cysteine mutants was constructed. Human ␥1 CH2 unfolded at a higher temperature (T m ‫؍‬ 54.1°C, as measured by circular dichroism) than that previously reported for a mouse CH2 (41°C). One mutant (m01) was remarkably stable (T m ‫؍‬ 73.8°C). Similar results were obtained by differential scanning calorimetry. This mutant was also significantly more stable than the wild-type CH2 against urea induced unfolding (50% unfolding at urea concentration of 6.8 M versus 4.2 M). The m01 was highly soluble and monomeric. The existence of the second disulfide bond in m01 and its correct position were demonstrated by mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, respectively. The loops were on average more flexible than the framework in both CH2 and m01, and the overall secondary structure was not affected by the additional disulfide bond. These data suggest that a human CH2 domain is relatively stable to unfolding at physiological temperature, and that both CH2 and the highly stable mutant m01 are promising new scaffolds for the development of therapeutics against human diseases. Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs)2 with high affinity and specificity are now well established therapeutics and invaluable tools for biological research. It appears that their use will continue to expand in both targets and disease indications. However, a fundamental problem for full-size mAbs that limits their applications is their poor penetration into tissues (e.g. solid tumors) and poor or absent binding to regions on the surface of some molecules (e.g. on the HIV envelope glycoprotein) that are accessible by molecules of smaller size. Antibody fragments, e.g. Fabs (ϳ60 kDa) or single chain Fv fragments (scFvs) (20ϳ30 kDa), are significantly smaller than full-size antibodies (ϳ150 kDa), and have been used as imaging reagents and candidate therapeutics. Even smaller fragments of antibodies are of great interest and advantageous for pharmaceutical applications including cancer targeting and imaging.During the last decade a large amount of work has been aimed at developing of small size binders with scaffolds based on various highly stable human and non-human molecules (1-8). A promising direction is the development of binders based on the heavy or light chain variable region of an antibody; these fragments ranging in size from 11 kDa to 15 kDa were called "domain antibodies" or "dAbs" (7, 9). A unique kind of antibodies composed only of heavy chains are naturally formed in camels, dromedaries, and llamas, and their variable regions can also recognize antigens as sin...