Time-resolved ß-lactam cleavage by L1 metallo-ß-lactamase.

Serial x-ray crystallography can uncover binding events, and subsequent chemical conversions occurring during enzymatic reaction. Here, we reveal the structure, binding and cleavage of moxalactam antibiotic bound to L1 metallo-ß-lactamase (MBL) from Stenotrophomonas maltophilia. Using time-resolved serial synchrotron crystallography, we show the time course of ß-lactam hydrolysis and determine ten snapshots (20, 40, 60, 80, 100, 150, 300, 500, 2000 and 4000 ms) at 2.20 Å resolution. The reaction is initiated by laser pulse releasing Zn2+ ions from a UV-labile photocage. Two metal ions bind to the active site, followed by binding of moxalactam and the intact ß-lactam ring is observed for 100 ms after photolysis. Cleavage of ß-lactam is detected at 150 ms and the ligand is significantly displaced. The reaction product adjusts its conformation reaching steady state at 2000 ms corresponding to the relaxed state of the enzyme. Only small changes are observed in the positions of Zn2+ ions and the active site residues. Mechanistic details captured here can be generalized to other MBLs.

To automate or not to automate: this is the question.

New protocols and instrumentation significantly boost the outcome of structural biology, which has resulted in significant growth in the number of deposited Protein Data Bank structures. However, even an enormous increase of the productivity of a single step of the structure determination process may not significantly shorten the time between clone and deposition or publication. For example, in a medium size laboratory equipped with the LabDB and HKL-3000 systems, we show that automation of some (and integration of all) steps of the X-ray structure determination pathway is critical for laboratory productivity. Moreover, we show that the lag period after which the impact of a technology change is observed is longer than expected.

Potential use of buccal smears for rapid diagnosis of autosomal trisomy or chromosomal sex in newborn infants using DNA probes.

Buccal smears from 3 women and 1 man were probed with alpha satellite DNA probes for chromosomes 8, 18, X, and Y. Buccal smears were also collected from an adolescent phenotypic female with uterine agenesis, as well as from newborn infants with suspected trisomy 18 and trisomy 21. The clinical cases were confirmed with conventional cytogenetic studies of peripheral lymphocytes. Overall probe efficiency at detecting expected chromosome number in interphase cells was found to be 71% +/- 6.8%. Higher than expected n-1 signal numbers may be due to karyopyknotic intermediate epithelial cells present in all collected samples. Overall probe efficiency was found to be consistent using alpha satellite and cosmid probes, both of which accurately reflected the modal copy number of the target chromosomes. False trisomy was less than 1%. This study suggests DNA probes can be used in buccal smears for rapid diagnosis of trisomies and chromosomal sex in newborns, but because of high rates of false hypoploid signals, probed buccal smear specimens may not be accurate at diagnosing mosaicism.