The x-ray crystal structure of recombinant trichodiene synthase from Fusarium sporotrichioides has been determined to 2.5-Å resolution, both unliganded and complexed with inorganic pyrophosphate. This reaction product coordinates to three Mg 2؉ ions near the mouth of the active site cleft. A comparison of the liganded and unliganded structures reveals a ligand-induced conformational change that closes the mouth of the active site cleft. Binding of the substrate farnesyl diphosphate similarly may trigger this conformational change, which would facilitate catalysis by protecting reactive carbocationic intermediates in the cyclization cascade. Trichodiene synthase also shares significant structural similarity with other sesquiterpene synthases despite a lack of significant sequence identity. This similarity indicates divergence from a common ancestor early in the evolution of terpene biosynthesis.

The 2.5-Å resolution crystal structure of recombinant aristolochene synthase from the blue cheese mold, Penicillium roqueforti, is the first of a fungal terpenoid cyclase. The structure of the enzyme reveals active site features that participate in the cyclization of the universal sesquiterpene cyclase substrate, farnesyl diphosphate, to form the bicyclic hydrocarbon aristolochene. Metal-triggered carbocation formation initiates the cyclization cascade, which proceeds through multiple complex intermediates to yield one exclusive structural and stereochemical isomer of aristolochene. Structural homology of this fungal cyclase with plant and bacterial terpenoid cyclases, despite minimal amino acid sequence identity, suggests divergence from a common, primordial ancestor in the evolution of terpene biosynthesis.Aristolochene synthase is a terpenoid cyclase from the blue cheese mold, Penicillium roqueforti, that catalyzes the metal-dependent cyclization of farnesyl diphosphate to form the bicyclic hydrocarbon aristolochene (Fig. 1) (1). Farnesyl diphosphate is the universal precursor of myriad cyclic sesquiterpenes, so each sesquiterpene cyclase plays a critical role in governing the structural and stereochemical outcome of its particular cyclization reaction. Accordingly, sesquiterpene cyclase reactions maximize product diversity starting from a minimal substrate pool, indeed, a single substrate, and the structural basis of this catalytic diversity comprises a growing question at the interface of chemistry and biology.Aristolochene synthase is a 38-kDa monomeric sesquiterpene cyclase that has been cloned (2) and overexpressed (3) in Escherichia coli. Numerous enzymological studies of P. roqueforti and Aspergillus terreus aristolochene synthases using stereospecifically labeled substrates (4 -6), a mechanism-based inhibitor (7), and the anomalous substrate (7R)-6,7-dihydrofarnesyldiphosphate (8) indicate a complex cyclization cascade proceeding through at least two discrete intermediates. Aristolochene formation is the first committed step in the biosynthesis of a large group of sesquiterpenoid fungal toxins, the most lethal of which is the novel bis-epoxide PR-toxin (4). Interestingly, the (ϩ)-enantiomer of aristolochene is generated by the fungi P. roqueforti and A. terreus, but the (Ϫ)-enantiomer is generated by the plants Aristolochia indica (9) and Bixa orella (10). Accordingly, each aristolochene synthase must provide a different template for binding the flexible polyisoprenoid substrate and subsequent intermediates in productive conformations leading to correct stereoisomer formation.The diastereomeric sesquiterpene epi-aristolochene (4-epieremophila-9,11-diene) has been identified in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) (11-13) and results from the cyclization of farnesyl diphosphate by epi-aristolochene synthase (Fig. 1) (14). This enzyme catalyzes the cyclization of farnesyl diphosphate by a mechanism similar in some respects to that of P. roqueforti aristolochene synthase despite only 16% amino acid sequence ident...

The X-ray crystal structures of Y305F trichodiene synthase and its complex with coproduct inorganic pyrophosphate (PP(i)) and of Y305F and D100E trichodiene synthases in ternary complexes with PP(i) and aza analogues of the bisabolyl carbocation intermediate are reported. The Y305F substitution in the basic D(302)RRYR motif does not cause large changes in the overall structure in comparison with the wild-type enzyme in either the uncomplexed enzyme or its complex with PP(i). However, the loss of the Y305F-PP(i) hydrogen bond appears to be compensated by a very slight shift in the position of the side chain of R304. The putative bisabolyl carbocation mimic, R-azabisabolene, binds in a conformation and orientation that does not appear to mimic that of the actual carbocation intermediate, suggesting that the avid inhibition by R- and S-azabisabolenes arises more from favorable electrostatic interactions with PP(i) rather than any special resemblance to a reaction intermediate. Greater enclosed active-site volumes result from the Y305F and D100E mutations that appear to confer greater variability in ligand-binding conformations and orientations, which results in the formation of aberrant cyclization products. Because the binding conformations and orientations of R-azabisabolene to Y305F and D100E trichodiene synthases do not correspond to binding conformations required for product formation and because the binding conformations and orientations of diverse substrate and carbocation analogues to other cyclases such as 5-epi-aristolochene synthase and bornyl diphosphate synthase generally do not correspond to catalytically productive complexes, we conclude that the formation of transient carbocation intermediates in terpene cyclization reactions is generally under kinetic rather than thermodynamic control.

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The 2.4 A resolution X-ray crystal structure of D100E trichodiene synthase and the 2.6 A resolution structure of its complex with inorganic pyrophosphate are reported. The D100E amino acid substitution in the so-called "aspartate-rich" motif does not result in large changes to the overall structure of the enzyme. In the pyrophosphate complex, however, pyrophosphate coordinates two Mg(2+) ions at the mouth of the active site without causing large changes in the structure of the enzyme. This contrasts with pyrophosphate binding in the wild-type enzyme, where pyrophosphate coordinates three Mg(2+) ions and triggers a significant conformational change that closes the mouth of the active site and optimizes packing density in the enzyme-substrate complex. The attenuation of active site closure in D100E trichodiene synthase compromises enzyme-substrate packing density and confers additional spatial and conformational degrees of freedom on the substrate and carbocation intermediates, which in turn results in the formation of five alternate sesquiterpene products in addition to trichodiene. By extension, then, the diversity of terpene cyclases in biology may have evolved in part by amino acid substitutions that fine-tune structural changes dependent on metal-diphosphate complexation that govern the formation of the active site template and enzyme-substrate packing density.

SUMMARYStriated muscle contraction is regulated by the movement of tropomyosin over the thin filament surface, which blocks or exposes myosin binding sites on actin. Findings suggest that electrostatic contacts, particularly those between K326, K328, and R147 on actin and tropomyosin, establish an energetically favorable F-actin-tropomyosin configuration, with tropomyosin positioned in a location that impedes actomyosin associations and promotes relaxation. Here, we provide data that directly support a vital role for these actin residues, termed the A-triad, in tropomyosin positioning in intact functioning muscle. By examining the effects of an A295S α-cardiac actin hypertrophic cardiomyopathy-causing mutation, over a range of increasingly complex in silico, in vitro, and in vivo Drosophila muscle models, we propose that subtle A-triad-tropomyosin perturbation can destabilize thin filament regulation, which leads to hypercontractility and triggers disease. Our efforts increase understanding of basic thin filament biology and help unravel the mechanistic basis of a complex cardiac disorder.

Often considered an archetypal dimeric coiled coil, tropomyosin nonetheless exhibits distinctive "noncanonical" core residues located at the hydrophobic interface between its component α-helices. Notably, a charged aspartate, D137, takes the place of nonpolar residues otherwise present. Much speculation has been offered to rationalize potential local coiled-coil instability stemming from D137 and its effect on regulatory transitions of tropomyosin over actin filaments. Although experimental approaches such as electron cryomicroscopy reconstruction are optimal for defining average tropomyosin positions on actin filaments, to date, these methods have not captured the dynamics of tropomyosin residues clustered around position 137 or elsewhere. In contrast, computational biochemistry, involving molecular dynamics simulation, is a compelling choice to extend the understanding of local and global tropomyosin behavior on actin filaments at high resolution. Here, we report on molecular dynamics simulation of actin-free and actin-associated tropomyosin, showing noncanonical residue D137 as a locus for tropomyosin twist variation, with marked effects on actin-tropomyosin interactions. We conclude that D137-sponsored coiled-coil twisting is likely to optimize electrostatic side-chain contacts between tropomyosin and actin on the assembled thin filament, while offsetting disparities between tropomyosin pseudorepeat and actin subunit periodicities. We find that D137 has only minor local effects on tropomyosin coiled-coil flexibility, (i.e., on its flexural mobility). Indeed, D137-associated overtwisting may actually augment tropomyosin stiffness on actin filaments. Accordingly, such twisting-induced stiffness of tropomyosin is expected to enhance cooperative regulatory translocation of the tropomyosin cable over actin.

Key Points Question Can rare genetic variants for Alzheimer disease be identified using nonstatistical approaches? Findings In this genetic association study, variants with high functional effect were observed in participants with Alzheimer disease but not in controls in NOTCH3 , a gene previously associated with cerebral autosomal-dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL), and TREM2 (Q33X) that in homozygous form causes Nasu-Hakola disease. Meaning Different mutations in the same gene or variable dose of a particular mutation may be associated with dissimilar types of dementia.