An increasing number of therapeutic antibodies targeting tumors that express the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) are in clinical use or late stages of clinical development. Here we investigate the molecular basis for inhibition of EGFR activation by the therapeutic antibody matuzumab (EMD72000). We describe the X-ray crystal structure of the Fab fragment of matuzumab (Fab72000) in complex with isolated domain III from the extracellular region of EGFR. Fab72000 interacts with an epitope on EGFR that is distinct from the ligand-binding region on domain III and from the cetuximab/Erbitux epitope. Matuzumab blocks ligand-induced receptor activation indirectly by sterically preventing the domain rearrangement and local conformational changes that must occur for high-affinity ligand binding and receptor dimerization.

Anthranilate synthase catalyzes the synthesis of anthranilate from chorismate and glutamine and is feedback-inhibited by tryptophan. The enzyme of the hyperthermophile Sulfolobus solfataricus has been crystallized in the absence of physiological ligands, and its three-dimensional structure has been determined at 2.5-Å resolution with x-ray crystallography. It is a heterotetramer of anthranilate synthase (TrpE) and glutamine amidotransferase (TrpG) subunits, in which two TrpG:TrpE protomers associate mainly via the TrpG subunits. The small TrpG subunit (195 residues) has the known ''triad'' glutamine amidotransferase fold. The large TrpE subunit (421 residues) has a novel fold. It displays a cleft between two domains, the tips of which contact the TrpG subunit across its active site. Clusters of catalytically essential residues are located inside the cleft, spatially separated from clustered residues involved in feedback inhibition. The structure suggests a model in which chorismate binding triggers a relative movement of the two domain tips of the TrpE subunit, activating the TrpG subunit and creating a channel for passage of ammonia toward the active site of the TrpE subunit. Tryptophan presumably blocks this rearrangement, thus stabilizing the inactive states of both subunits. The structure of the TrpE subunit is a likely prototype for the related enzymes 4-amino 4-deoxychorismate synthase and isochorismate synthase.Anthranilate synthase (AnthS) from bacteria and yeast is a multifunctional enzyme composed of small TrpG and large TrpE subunits or domains (1). TrpG belongs to the family of ''triad'' glutamine amidotransferases (2, 3), which hydrolyze glutamine and transfer nascent ammonia through an intramolecular channel to a synthase active site.The TrpE subunit is a bifunctional enzyme (4). It catalyzes the synthesis of anthranilate in two steps (Scheme 1): the reversible reaction of chorismate with ammonia to 2-amino 2-deoxyisochorismate (ADIC synthase reaction) followed by the irreversible elimination of pyruvate from ADIC (ADIC lyase reaction). Both reactions require Mg 2ϩ ions, and ADIC is not released into the solvent. The TrpG 2 :TrpE 2 complex mediates communication between three distinct ligandbinding sites on the two subunits (1): (i) chorismate binding to the TrpE subunit activates the release of ammonia from glutamine bound to the TrpG subunit; (ii) nascent ammonia is transferred intramolecularly from the TrpG to the TrpE subunit, in preference to ammonia from the bulk solvent (1), and (iii) tryptophan binding to a distinct site on the TrpE subunit (5) inhibits all partial reactions of the TrpG 2 :TrpE 2 complex. The strictly ordered addition of chorismate before glutamine (6) and the cooperative binding of both chorismate and tryptophan (7) to the complex suggest that conformational changes mediate the communication between the various ligand-binding sites.Here, we report the crystal structure of the unliganded AnthS complex from the hyperthermophile Sulfolobus solfataricus. The TrpE subun...

The nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) are key components of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). A major problem with the first approved NNRTIs was the emergence of mutations in the HIV-1 reverse transcriptase (RT), in particular K103N and Y181C, which led to resistance to the entire class. We adopted an iterative strategy to synthesize and test small molecule inhibitors from a chemical series of pyrazoles against wild-type (wt) RT and the most prevalent NNRTI-resistant mutants. The emerging candidate, lersivirine (UK-453,061), binds the RT enzyme in a novel way (resulting in a unique resistance profile), inhibits over 60% of viruses bearing key RT mutations, with 50% effective concentrations (EC 50 s) within 10-fold of those for wt viruses, and has excellent selectivity against a range of human targets. Altogether lersivirine is a highly potent and selective NNRTI, with excellent efficacy against NNRTI-resistant viruses.

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Indole-3-glycerol phosphate synthase (IGPS) catalyzes the fifth step in the biosynthesis of tryptophan. It belongs to the large and versatile family of (betaalpha)(8)-barrel enzymes but has an unusual N-terminal extension of about 40 residues. Limited proteolysis with trypsin of IGPS from both Sulfolobus solfataricus (sIGPS) and Thermotoga maritima (tIGPS) removes about 25 N-terminal residues and one of the two extra helices contained therein. To assess the role of the extension, the N-terminally truncated variants sIGPSDelta(1-26) and tIGPSDelta(1-25) were produced recombinantly in Escherichia coli, purified, and characterized in comparison to the wild-type enzymes. Both sIGPSDelta(1-26) and tIGPSDelta(1-25) have unchanged oligomerization states and turnover numbers. In contrast, their Michaelis constants for the substrate 1-(o-carboxyphenylamino)-1-deoxyribulose 5-phosphate are increased, and their resistance toward unfolding induced by heat and guanidinium chloride is decreased. sIGPSDelta(1-26) was crystallized, and its X-ray structure was solved at 2.8 A resolution. The comparison with the known structure of sIGPS reveals small differences that account for its reduced substrate affinity and protein stability. The structure of the core of sIGPSDelta(1-26) is, however, unchanged compared to sIGPS, explaining its retained catalytic activity and consistent with the idea that it evolved from the same ancestor as the phosphoribosyl anthranilate isomerase and the alpha-subunit of tryptophan synthase. These (betaalpha)(8)-barrel enzymes catalyze the reactions preceding and following IGPS in tryptophan biosynthesis but lack an N-terminal extension.

A major problem associated with non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) for the treatment of HIV is their lack of resilience to mutations in the reverse transcriptase (RT) enzyme. Using structural overlays of the known inhibitors efavirenz and capravirine complexed in RT as a starting point, and structure-based drug design techniques, we have created a novel series of indazole NNRTIs that possess excellent metabolic stability and mutant resilience.