The first structure of a flavivirus has been determined by using a combination of cryoelectron microscopy and fitting of the known structure of glycoprotein E into the electron density map. The virus core, within a lipid bilayer, has a less-ordered structure than the external, icosahedral scaffold of 90 glycoprotein E dimers. The three E monomers per icosahedral asymmetric unit do not have quasiequivalent symmetric environments. Difference maps indicate the location of the small membrane protein M relative to the overlaying scaffold of E dimers. The structure suggests that flaviviruses, and by analogy also alphaviruses, employ a fusion mechanism in which the distal beta barrels of domain II of the glycoprotein E are inserted into the cellular membrane.

Structures of prM-containing dengue and yellow fever virus particles were determined to 16 and 25 A Ê resolution, respectively, by cryoelectron microscopy and image reconstruction techniques. The closely similar structures show 60 icosahedrally organized trimeric spikes on the particle surface. Each spike consists of three prM:E heterodimers, where E is an envelope glycoprotein and prM is the precursor to the membrane protein M. The pre-peptide components of the prM proteins in each spike cover the fusion peptides at the distal ends of the E glycoproteins in a manner similar to the organization of the glycoproteins in the alphavirus spikes. Each heterodimer is associated with an E and a prM transmembrane density. These transmembrane densities represent either an EE or prMprM antiparallel coiled coil by which each protein spans the membrane twice, leaving the C-terminus of each protein on the exterior of the viral membrane, consistent with the predicted membrane-spanning domains of the unprocessed polyprotein.

SummaryThe first structure of a flavivirus has been determined by using a comThe first structure of a flavivirus has been determined by using a combination of cryoelectron microscopy and fitting of the known structure of glycoprotein E into the electron density map. The virus core, within a lipid bilayer, has a less-ordered structure than the external, icosahedral scaffold of 90 glycoprotein E dimers. The three E monomers per icosahedral asymmetric unit do not have quasiequivalent symmetric environments. Difference maps indicate the location of the small membrane protein M relative to the overlaying scaffold of E dimers. The structure suggests that flaviviruses, and by analogy also alphaviruses, employ a fusion mechanism in which the distal β barrels of domain II of the glycoprotein E are inserted into the cellular membrane.

The structure of the lipid-enveloped Sindbis virus has been determined by fitting atomic resolution crystallographic structures of component proteins into an 11-Å resolution cryoelectron microscopy map. The virus has T‫4؍‬ quasisymmetry elements that are accurately maintained between the external glycoproteins, the transmembrane helical region, and the internal nucleocapsid core. The crystal structure of the E1 glycoprotein was fitted into the cryoelectron microscopy density, in part by using the known carbohydrate positions as restraints. A difference map showed that the E2 glycoprotein was shaped similarly to E1, suggesting a possible common evolutionary origin for these two glycoproteins. The structure shows that the E2 glycoprotein would have to move away from the center of the trimeric spike in order to expose enough viral membrane surface to permit fusion with the cellular membrane during the initial stages of host infection. The well-resolved E1-E2 transmembrane regions form ␣-helical coiled coils that were consistent with T‫4؍‬ symmetry. The known structure of the capsid protein was fitted into the density corresponding to the nucleocapsid, revising the structure published earlier.

KillerRed is the only known fluorescent protein that demonstrates notable phototoxicity, exceeding that of the other green and red fluorescent proteins by at least 1,000-fold. KillerRed could serve as an instrument to inactivate target proteins or to kill cell populations in photodynamic therapy. However, the nature of KillerRed phototoxicity has remained unclear, impeding the development of more phototoxic variants. Here we present the results of a high resolution crystallographic study of KillerRed in the active fluorescent and in the photobleached non-fluorescent states. A unique and striking feature of the structure is a waterfilled channel reaching the chromophore area from the end cap of the ␤-barrel that is probably one of the key structural features responsible for phototoxicity. A study of the structure-function relationship of KillerRed, supported by structure-based, site-directed mutagenesis, has also revealed the key residues most likely responsible for the phototoxic effect. In particular, Glu 68 and Ser 119, located adjacent to the chromophore, have been assigned as the primary trigger of the reaction chain. The green fluorescent protein (GFP)2 and related proteins have become efficient noninvasive tools in cell biology and biomedicine for visualizing and monitoring the internal processes within cells or whole organisms (1-8). The multicolor labeling technologies, based on fluorescent proteins (FPs), have found important biomedical applications in the studies of various aspects of cancer, including primary tumor growth, tumor cell motility and invasion, metastatic seeding, colonization, and angiogenesis (9 -11).The recent development of the first genetically encoded photosensitizer, KillerRed (SWISS-PROT/TrEMBL data base sequence ID Q2TCH5), a highly phototoxic red fluorescent protein (12, 13), opened a new area of FP application. KillerRed is a red fluorescent protein characterized by excitation and emission maxima at 585 and 610 nm, respectively. This genetic variant was engineered from non-fluorescent and non-phototoxic chromoprotein anm2CP from Hydrozoa jellyfish (sequence ID Q6RYS4). Upon irradiation by green light at the wavelength of 520 -590 nm, KillerRed generates the reactive oxygen species (ROS), accompanied by profound self photobleaching. The ROS-induced phototoxicity of KillerRed is at least 3 orders of magnitude higher than that of other fluorescent proteins exhibiting low background phototoxicity (12). Such a unique property of KillerRed could find use in light-induced inactivation of target proteins and in precise cell killing. Unlike chemical photosensitizers, KillerRed can be directly expressed by a target cell, both individually and in fusion with a target protein. The most exciting future application of KillerRed may be in photodynamic therapy of cancer. This phototoxic agent, precisely delivered to solid tumors by a viral vector, could serve as an intrinsically generated photosensitizer, causing light-induced tumor destruction. Therefore, understanding the relationship between...

There are 80 spikes on the surface of Sindbis virus arranged as an icosahedral surface lattice. Each spike consists of three copies of each of the glycoproteins E1 and E2. There are two glycosylation sites on E1 and two on E2. These four sites have been located by removal of the glycosylation recognition motifs using site-specific mutagenesis, followed by cryoelectron microscopy. The positions of these sites have demonstrated that E2 forms the protruding spikes and that E1 must be long and narrow, lying flat on the viral surface, forming an icosahedral scaffold analogous to the arrangement of the E glycoprotein in flaviviruses. This arrangement of E1 leads to both dimeric and trimeric intermolecular contacts, consistent with the observed structural changes that occur on fusion with host cell membranes, suggesting a similar fusion mechanism for alpha- and flaviviruses.

The far-red fluorescent protein mKate ( ex , 588 nm; em , 635 nm; chromophore-forming triad Met 63 -Tyr 64 -Gly 65 ), originating from wild-type red fluorescent progenitor eqFP578 (sea anemone Entacmaea quadricolor), is monomeric and characterized by the pronounced pH dependence of fluorescence, relatively high brightness, and high photostability. The protein has been crystallized at a pH ranging from 2 to 9 in three space groups, and four structures have been determined by x-ray crystallography at the resolution of 1.75-2.6 Å . The pH-dependent fluorescence of mKate has been shown to be due to reversible cis-trans isomerization of the chromophore phenolic ring. In the non-fluorescent state at pH 2.0, the chromophore of mKate is in the trans-isomeric form. Green fluorescent proteins (GFP)2 and GFP-like proteins (FP) have become important noninvasive tools for visualization and monitoring of the internal processes within cells or whole organisms, such as gene expression, monitoring the cellular pH, ion concentration, embryogenesis, inflammatory processes, tracking protein trafficking, the migration of parasites within a host, etc (1-13). Fluorescent proteins can be used to visualize many types of cancer processes, including primary tumor growth, tumor cell motility and invasion, metastatic seeding and colonization, angiogenesis, and interactions between the tumor and its host microenvironment (14 -16). FPs might be very useful in real-time testing of the efficacy of cancer drugs in animal models of human cancer.The extensive spectral diversity of fluorescent proteins arises mostly from variations in the chemical structure of the mature chromophore and in the stereochemistry of its adjacent environment. The FP chromophore forms autocatalytically in vivo and in vitro from three residues, Xxx-Tyr-Gly, without need for any cofactors or enzymes, except for molecular oxygen (17). In most cases, the post-translational modification results in a blue/green emitting state, characterized by formation of an imidazolinone heterocycle with a p-hydroxybenzylidene substituent. Often, the reaction chain propagates further with formation of an additional N-acylimine double bond, which extends the conjugation of the chromophore electronic system and results in a bathochromic shift in spectra (18 -22).Proteins that emit red, and especially far-red light, are of particular interest (13). The longer wavelength light extends the range of fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET)-based applications and causes fewer damaging events to proteins and DNA because of its lower energy. The most favorable "optical window" for the visualization in living tissues is ϳ650 -1100 nm (23). Light with wavelength longer than 1100 nm is absorbed by water. Detection of fluorescence from proteins with emission peaks much shorter than 650 nm encounters the problem of interfering cellular autofluorescence. At present the brightest red fluorescent proteins have emission maxima too far from the preferred "optical window." Besides, their excitation maxima...

From a single domain of cyanobacteriochrome (CBCR) we developed a near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent protein (FP), termed miRFP670nano, with excitation at 645 nm and emission at 670 nm. This is the first CBCR-derived NIR FP evolved to efficiently bind endogenous biliverdin chromophore and brightly fluoresce in mammalian cells. miRFP670nano is a monomer with molecular weight of 17 kDa that is 2-fold smaller than bacterial phytochrome (BphP)-based NIR FPs and 1.6-fold smaller than GFP-like FPs. Crystal structure of the CBCR-based NIR FP with biliverdin reveals a molecular basis of its spectral and biochemical properties. Unlike BphP-derived NIR FPs, miRFP670nano is highly stable to denaturation and degradation and can be used as an internal protein tag. miRFP670nano is an effective FRET donor for red-shifted NIR FPs, enabling engineering NIR FRET biosensors spectrally compatible with GFP-like FPs and blue–green optogenetic tools. miRFP670nano unlocks a new source of diverse CBCR templates for NIR FPs.