Activation of nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB), a key mediator of inducible transcription in immunity, requires binding of NF-kappaB essential modulator (NEMO) to ubiquitinated substrates. Here, we report that the UBAN (ubiquitin binding in ABIN and NEMO) motif of NEMO selectively binds linear (head-to-tail) ubiquitin chains. Crystal structures of the UBAN motif revealed a parallel coiled-coil dimer that formed a heterotetrameric complex with two linear diubiquitin molecules. The UBAN dimer contacted all four ubiquitin moieties, and the integrity of each binding site was required for efficient NF-kappaB activation. Binding occurred via a surface on the proximal ubiquitin moiety and the canonical Ile44 surface on the distal one, thereby providing specificity for linear chain recognition. Residues of NEMO involved in binding linear ubiquitin chains are required for NF-kappaB activation by TNF-alpha and other agonists, providing an explanation for the detrimental effect of NEMO mutations in patients suffering from X-linked ectodermal dysplasia and immunodeficiency.

In mammalian cells, ceramide is synthesized in the endoplasmic reticulum and transferred to the Golgi apparatus for conversion to sphingomyelin. Ceramide transport occurs in a nonvesicular manner and is mediated by CERT, a cytosolic 68-kDa protein with a C-terminal steroidogenic acute regulatory protein-related lipid transfer (START) domain. The CERT START domain efficiently transfers natural D-erythro-C16-ceramide, but not lipids with longer (C20) amide-acyl chains. The molecular mechanisms of ceramide specificity, both stereo-specific recognition and length limit, are not well understood. Here we report the crystal structures of the CERT START domain in its apo-form and in complex with ceramides having different acyl chain lengths. In these complex structures, one ceramide molecule is buried in a long amphiphilic cavity. At the far end of the cavity, the amide and hydroxyl groups of ceramide form a hydrogen bond network with specific amino acid residues that play key roles in stereo-specific ceramide recognition. At the head of the ceramide molecule, there is no extra space to accommodate additional bulky groups. The two aliphatic chains of ceramide are surrounded by the hydrophobic wall of the cavity, whose size and shape dictate the length limit for cognate ceramides. Furthermore, local high-crystallographic B-factors suggest that the ␣-3 and the ⍀1 loop might work as a gate to incorporate the ceramide into the cavity. Thus, the structures demonstrate the structural basis for the mechanism by which CERT can distinguish ceramide from other lipid types yet still recognize multiple species of ceramides. crystal structure ͉ lipid transport ͉ sphingomyelin ͉ diacylglycerol

Phosphatidylserine (PS) is a relatively minor constituent of biological membranes. Despite its low abundance, PS in the plasma membrane (PM) plays key roles in various phenomena such as the coagulation cascade, clearance of apoptotic cells, and recruitment of signaling molecules. PS also localizes in endocytic organelles, but how this relates to its cellular functions remains unknown. Here we report that PS is essential for retrograde membrane traffic at recycling endosomes (REs). PS was most concentrated in REs among intracellular organelles, and evectin-2 (evt-2), a protein of previously unknown function, was targeted to REs by the binding of its pleckstrin homology (PH) domain to PS. X-ray analysis supported the specificity of the binding of PS to the PH domain. Depletion of evt-2 or masking of intracellular PS suppressed membrane traffic from REs to the Golgi. These findings uncover the molecular basis that controls the RE-to-Golgi transport and identify a unique PH domain that specifically recognizes PS but not polyphosphoinositides. cholera toxin | endocytosis

The MutM [formamidopyrimidine DNA glycosylase (Fpg)] protein is a trifunctional DNA base excision repair enzyme that removes a wide range of oxidatively damaged bases (N-glycosylase activity) and cleaves both the 3¢-and 5¢-phosphodiester bonds of the resulting apurinic/apyrimidinic site (AP lyase activity). The crystal structure of MutM from an extreme thermophile, Thermus thermophilus HB8, was determined at 1.9 A Ê resolution with multiwavelength anomalous diffraction phasing using the intrinsic Zn 2+ ion of the zinc ®nger. MutM is composed of two distinct and novel domains connected by a¯exible hinge. There is a large, electrostatically positive cleft lined by highly conserved residues between the domains. On the basis of the three-dimensional structure and taking account of previous biochemical experiments, we propose a DNA-binding mode and reaction mechanism for MutM. The locations of the putative catalytic residues and the two DNA-binding motifs (the zinc ®nger and the helix±two-turns±helix motifs) suggest that the oxidized base is¯ipped out from double-stranded DNA in the binding mode and excised by a catalytic mechanism similar to that of bifunctional base excision repair enzymes. Keywords: base excision repair/crystal structure/extreme thermophile/MutM protein/Thermus thermophilus HB8 IntroductionIn aerobic organisms, cellular DNA is frequently damaged by activated oxygen species from aerobic energy metabolism or oxidative stress. Highly reactive oxygen accelerates the rate of spontaneous mutation and has, therefore, been implicated as a causative agent for ageing and in the pathogenesis of disease, including cancer (Breimer, 1990;Ames et al., 1995). In particular, the 8-oxoguanine (GO) lesion is one of the most stable products of oxidative DNA damage (Dizdaroglu, 1985). GO can form a pair with adenine as well as with cytosine, resulting in a G:C to T:A transversion (Wood et al., 1990;Shibutani et al., 1991). In Escherichia coli, the GO repair system, composed of the MutM protein [EC 3.2.2.23], also called formamidopyrimidine DNA glycosylase (Fpg), accompanied by MutY and MutT, prevents this mutation (Michaels et al., 1992).The mutM (fpg) gene encoding the MutM protein is highly conserved across a wide range of aerobic bacteria. These enzymes (M r 30 kDa) possess the invariant N-terminal sequence Pro-Glu-Leu-Pro-Glu-Val-, two strictly conserved lysine residues (Lys52 and Lys147) and a zinc ®nger motif (-Cys-X 2 -Cys-X 16 -Cys-X 2 -Cys-) at the C-terminus ( Figure 1C).MutM was originally isolated from E.coli and characterized as a DNA glycosylase that removes 2,6-diamino-4-hydroxy-5-N-methylformamidopyrimidine (Fapy), the imidazole ring-open form of N 7 -methylguanine (Boiteux et al., 1987). More recently, MutM was reported to bind to a wide range of oxidatively damaged bases (see Figure 5C), including GO paired to cytosine (Tchou et al., 1991), formamidopyrimidine (FapyG or FapyA) and 5-hydroxycytosine (5OHC) (Hatahet et al., 1994) and to apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) sites (Castaing et al., 1992). MutM h...

The mitophagy receptor Nix interacts with LC3/GABARAP proteins, targeting mitochondria into autophagosomes for degradation. Here we present evidence for phosphorylation-driven regulation of the Nix:LC3B interaction. Isothermal titration calorimetry and NMR indicate a ~100 fold enhanced affinity of the serine 34/35-phosphorylated Nix LC3-interacting region (LIR) to LC3B and formation of a very rigid complex compared to the non-phosphorylated sequence. Moreover, the crystal structure of LC3B in complex with the Nix LIR peptide containing glutamic acids as phosphomimetic residues and NMR experiments revealed that LIR phosphorylation stabilizes the Nix:LC3B complex via formation of two additional hydrogen bonds between phosphorylated serines of Nix LIR and Arg11, Lys49 and Lys51 in LC3B. Substitution of Lys51 to Ala in LC3B abrogates binding of a phosphomimetic Nix mutant. Functionally, serine 34/35 phosphorylation enhances autophagosome recruitment to mitochondria in HeLa cells. Together, this study provides cellular, biochemical and biophysical evidence that phosphorylation of the LIR domain of Nix enhances mitophagy receptor engagement.

A new mutant, which was sensitive to both methyl-methanesulfonate (MMS) and ultra-violet light (UV) and defective in meiotic recombination, was isolated from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The gene, ESR1, was cloned by complementation of the MMS sensitivity of the mutant and found to be essential for cell growth, as the deleted haploid strain was lethal. The ESR1 gene was adjacent to the CKS1 gene on chromosome II and encoded a putative 2368-amino acid protein with a molecular weight of 273 k. The ESR1 transcript was 8.0 kb long and was induced during meiosis. The predicted Esr1 protein had a mosaic structure composed of homologous regions and showed amino acid sequence similarities to Schizosaccharomyces pombe rad3+ protein, which monitors completion of DNA repair synthesis, and cut1+ protein, which is required for spindle pole body (SPB) duplication. The Esr1 protein was also similar to phosphatidylinositol (PI) 3-kinases, including Saccharomyces cerevisiae TOR2 (and DRR1), which are involved in G1 progression. These results suggest that ESR1 is multi-functional throughout mitosis and meiosis.

Hrs has an essential role in sorting of monoubiquitinated receptors to multivesicular bodies for lysosomal degradation, through recognition of ubiquitinated receptors by its ubiquitin-interacting motif (UIM). Here, we present the structure of a complex of Hrs-UIM and ubiquitin at 1.7-A resolution. Hrs-UIM forms a single alpha-helix, which binds two ubiquitin molecules, one on either side. These two ubiquitin molecules are related by pseudo two-fold screw symmetry along the helical axis of the UIM, corresponding to a shift by two residues on the UIM helix. Both ubiquitin molecules interact with the UIM in the same manner, using the Ile44 surface, with equal binding affinities. Mutational experiments show that both binding sites of Hrs-UIM are required for efficient degradative protein sorting. Hrs-UIM belongs to a new subclass of double-sided UIMs, in contrast to its yeast homolog Vps27p, which has two tandem single-sided UIMs.

GGAs are critical for trafficking soluble proteins from the trans-Golgi network (TGN) to endosomes/lysosomes through interactions with TGN-sorting receptors, ADP-ribosylation factor (ARF) and clathrin. ARF-GTP bound to TGN membranes recruits its effector GGA by binding to the GAT domain, thus facilitating recognition of GGA for cargo-loaded receptors. Here we report the X-ray crystal structures of the human GGA1-GAT domain and the complex between ARF1-GTP and the N-terminal region of the GAT domain. When unbound, the GAT domain forms an elongated bundle of three a-helices with a hydrophobic core. Structurally, this domain, combined with the preceding VHS domain, resembles CALM, an AP180 homolog involved in endocytosis. In the complex with ARF1-GTP, a helix-loop-helix of the N-terminal part of GGA1-GAT interacts with the switches 1 and 2 of ARF1 predominantly in a hydrophobic manner. These data reveal a molecular mechanism underlying membrane recruitment of adaptor proteins by ARF-GTP.