The HIV-1-envelope (Env) spike, comprising three gp120 and three gp41 subunits, is a conformational machine that facilitates HIV-1 entry by rearranging from a mature unliganded state, through receptor-bound intermediates, to a postfusion state. As the sole viral antigen on the HIV-1-virion surface, Env is both the target of neutralizing antibodies and a focus of vaccine efforts. Here we report the structure at 3.5-Å resolution for an HIV-1-Env trimer captured in a mature closed state by antibodies PGT122 and 35O22. This structure reveals the prefusion conformation of gp41, indicates rearrangements needed for fusion activation, and defines parameters of immune evasion and immune recognition. Prefusion gp41 encircles N- and C-terminal strands of gp120 with four helices that form a membrane-proximal collar, fastened by insertion of a fusion peptide-proximal methionine into a gp41-tryptophan clasp. Spike rearrangements required for entry likely involve opening the clasp and expelling the termini. N-linked glycosylation and sequence-variable regions cover the prefusion closed spike: we used chronic cohorts to map the prevalence and location of effective HIV-1-neutralizing responses, which were distinguished by their recognition of N-linked glycan and tolerance for epitope-sequence variation.

The HIV-1 envelope (Env) mediates viral entry into host cells. To enable the direct imaging of conformational dynamics within Env, we introduced fluorophores into variable regions of the glycoprotein gp120 subunit and measured single-molecule fluorescence resonance energy transfer within the context of native trimers on the surface of HIV-1 virions. Our observations revealed unliganded HIV-1 Env to be intrinsically dynamic, transitioning between three distinct prefusion conformations, whose relative occupancies were remodeled by receptor CD4 and antibody binding. The distinct properties of neutralization-sensitive and neutralization-resistant HIV-1 isolates support a dynamics-based mechanism of immune evasion and ligand recognition.

Aminoglycoside antibiotics that bind to 30S ribosomal A-site RNA cause misreading of the genetic code and inhibit translocation. The aminoglycoside antibiotic paromomycin binds specifically to an RNA oligonucleotide that contains the 30S subunit A site, and the solution structure of the RNA-paromomycin complex was determined by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The antibiotic binds in the major groove of the model A-site RNA within a pocket created by an A-A base pair and a single bulged adenine. Specific interactions occur between aminoglycoside chemical groups important for antibiotic activity and conserved nucleotides in the RNA. The structure explains binding of diverse aminoglycosides to the ribosome, their specific activity against prokaryotic organisms, and various resistance mechanisms, and provides insight into ribosome function.

Using single-molecule fluorescence spectroscopy, time-resolved conformational changes between fluorescently labeled tRNA have been characterized within surface-immobilized ribosomes proceeding through a complete cycle of translation elongation. Fluorescence resonance energy transfer was used to observe aminoacyl-tRNA (aa-tRNA) stably accommodating into the aminoacyl site (A site) of the ribosome via a multistep, elongation factor-Tu dependent process. Subsequently, tRNA molecules, bound at the peptidyl site and A site, fluctuate between two configurations assigned as classical and hybrid states. The lifetime of classical and hybrid states, measured for complexes carrying aa-tRNA and peptidyl-tRNA at the A site, shows that peptide bond formation decreases the lifetime of the classical-state tRNA configuration by Ϸ6-fold. These data suggest that the growing peptide chain plays a role in modulating fluctuations between hybrid and classical states. Single-molecule fluorescence resonance energy transfer was also used to observe aa-tRNA accommodation coupled with elongation factor G-mediated translocation. Dynamic rearrangements in tRNA configuration are also observed subsequent to the translocation reaction. This work underscores the importance of dynamics in ribosome function and demonstrates single-particle enzymology in a system of more than two components. P rotein synthesis, catalyzed by the ribosome, is rapid, processive, and highly regulated. In bacteria, two RNA-protein subunits consisting of a small 30S subunit and a large 50S subunit assemble around a mRNA template into a roughly spherical 70S particle that translates the nucleotide sequence into a polypeptide chain through repetitive, codon-dependent binding of aminoacylated tRNA.The landmark structures of the 30S (1, 2), 50S (3, 4), and 70S (5) ribosomal particles provide a molecular basis for understanding ribosome function. tRNA molecules bind to the ribosome in a solvent-accessible channel at the subunit interface. Three binding sites for tRNA, called the aminoacyl site (A site), peptidyl site (P site), and exit site (E site), have been identified on both the large and small subunit (Fig. 1). Each tRNA is separated from its neighbor at the elbow region (the site of Ϸ90°b ending) by 25-45 Å (5, 6). The anticodon stem loops of A-and P-site tRNA form Watson-Crick base pairs with adjacent mRNA codons on the 30S subunit (5, 7), whereas the 3Ј CCA terminal residues of A-and P-site tRNAs base-pair with conserved ribosomal RNA (rRNA) loops (8-10) within the 50S subunit peptidyltransferase center, the site of peptide bond formation (11). Additional interactions with rRNA and ribosomal proteins position tRNA molecules on the ribosome (5).The essential components and principal steps of translation have been delineated through genetic, biochemical, and kinetic methods (12). The process of polypeptide elongation has been most extensively characterized (13). Binding of aminoacyl-tRNA (aa-tRNA) to the A site occurs as a ''ternary complex'' with the GTPase elongation ...

Using single-molecule methods we observed the stepwise movement of aminoacyl-tRNA (aa-tRNA) into the ribosome during selection and kinetic proofreading using single-molecule fluorescence resonance energy transfer (smFRET). Intermediate states in the pathway of tRNA delivery were observed using antibiotics and nonhydrolyzable GTP analogs. We identified three unambiguous FRET states corresponding to initial codon recognition, GTPase-activated and fully accommodated states. The antibiotic tetracycline blocks progression of aa-tRNA from the initial codon recognition state, whereas cleavage of the sarcin-ricin loop impedes progression from the GTPase-activated state. Our data support a model in which ribosomal recognition of correct codon-anticodon pairs drives rotational movement of the incoming complex of EF-Tu-GTP-aa-tRNA toward peptidyl-tRNA during selection on the ribosome. We propose a mechanistic model of initial selection and proofreading.

We present the first comprehensive analysis of a diploid human genome that combines single-molecule sequencing with single-molecule genome maps. Our hybrid assembly markedly improves upon the contiguity observed from traditional shotgun sequencing approaches, with scaffold N50 values approaching 30 Mb, and we identified complex structural variants (SVs) missed by other high-throughput approaches. Furthermore, by combining Illumina short-read data with long reads, we phased both single-nucleotide variants and SVs, generating haplotypes with over 99% consistency with previous trio-based studies. Our work shows that it is now possible to integrate single-molecule and high-throughput sequence data to generate de novo assembled genomes that approach reference quality.

During protein synthesis, the ribosome controls the movement of transfer RNA (tRNA) and messenger RNA (mRNA) by means of large-scale structural rearrangements. We describe structures of the intact bacterial ribosome from Escherichia coli that reveal how the ribosome binds tRNA in two functionally distinct states, determined to a resolution of ~3.2 Å by x-ray crystallography. One state positions tRNA in the peptidyl-tRNA binding site. The second, a fully rotated state, is stabilized by ribosome recycling factor (RRF) and binds tRNA in a highly bent conformation in a hybrid peptidyl/exit (P/E) site. The structures help to explain how the ratchet-like motion of the two ribosomal subunits contributes to the mechanisms of translocation, termination, and ribosome recycling.

As the sole viral antigen on the HIV-1-virion surface, trimeric Env is a focus of vaccine efforts. Here we present the structure of the ligand-free HIV-1-Env trimer, fix its conformation, and determine its receptor interactions. Epitope analyses revealed trimeric ligand-free Env to be structurally compatible with broadly neutralizing antibodies, but not poorly neutralizing ones. We coupled these compatibility considerations with binding antigenicity to engineer conformationally fixed Envs, including a 201C-433C (DS) variant, specifically recognized by broadly neutralizing antibodies. DS-Env retained nanomolar affinity for the CD4 receptor, with which it formed an asymmetric intermediate: a closed trimer bound by a single CD4 without the typical antigenic hallmarks of CD4 induction. Antigenicity-guided structural design can thus be used both to delineate mechanism and to fix conformation, with DS-Env trimers in virus-like particle and soluble formats providing a new generation of vaccine antigens.