Exploring serial crystallography for drug discovery.

Structure-based drug design is highly dependent on the availability of structures of the protein of interest in complex with lead compounds. Ideally, this information can be used to guide the chemical optimization of a compound into a pharmaceutical drug candidate. A limitation of the main structural method used today - conventional X-ray crystallography - is that it only provides structural information about the protein complex in its frozen state. Serial crystallography is a relatively new approach that offers the possibility to study protein structures at room temperature (RT). Here, we explore the use of serial crystallography to determine the structures of the pharmaceutical target, soluble epoxide hydrolase. We introduce a new method to screen for optimal microcrystallization conditions suitable for use in serial crystallography and present a number of RT ligand-bound structures of our target protein. From a comparison between the RT structural data and previously published cryo-temperature structures, we describe an example of a temperature-dependent difference in the ligand-binding mode and observe that flexible loops are better resolved at RT. Finally, we discuss the current limitations and potential future advances of serial crystallography for use within pharmaceutical drug discovery.

A polyorchid dog.

The case of a polyorchid Irish Setter is presented here. Castration and intra-abdominal testis removal were performed one year of age when one scrotal and one cryptorchid testis near the right inguinal canal were removed. Later it became apparent that there was still testosterone production. A third testis, abdominal cryptorchid, was found on the right side cranially and right to the bladder. The third testis had a strong cranial suspensory ligament and the tail of the epididymis was elongated. The ductus deferens did not enter the prostate but followed the gubernaculum to the inguinal canal near the stump of the previous operation on the caudal right testis. This suggests that two right cryptorchid testes had common ductus deferens.

The manifold of vitamin B6 dependent enzymes.

Pyridoxal-5'-phosphate (vitamin B6) binding enzymes form a large superfamily that contains at least five different folds. The availability of an increasing number of known three-dimensional structures for members of this superfamily has allowed a detailed structural classification. Most progress has been made with the fold type I or aspartate aminotransferase family.

Crystal structure of diaminopelargonic acid synthase: evolutionary relationships between pyridoxal-5'-phosphate-dependent enzymes.

The three-dimensional structure of diaminopelargonic acid synthase, a vitamin B6-dependent enzyme in the pathway of the biosynthesis of biotin, has been determined to 1.8 A resolution by X-ray crystallography. The structure was solved by multi-wavelength anomalous diffraction techniques using a crystal derivatized with mercury ions. The protein model has been refined to a crystallographic R -value of 17.5% (R -free 22.6%). Each enzyme subunit consists of two domains, a large domain (residues 50-329) containing a seven-stranded predominantly parallel beta-sheet, surrounded by alpha-helices, and a small domain comprising residues 1-49 and 330-429. Two subunits, related by a non-crystallographic dyad in the crystals, form the homodimeric molecule, which contains two equal active sites. Pyridoxal-5'-phosphate is bound in a cleft formed by both domains of one subunit and the large domain of the second subunit. The cofactor is anchored to the enzyme by a covalent linkage to the side-chain of the invariant residue Lys274. The phosphate group interacts with main-chain nitrogen atoms and the side-chain of Ser113, located at the N terminus of an alpha-helix. The pyridine nitrogen forms a hydrogen bond to the side-chain of the invariant residue Asp245. Electron density corresponding to a metal ion, most likely Na(+), was found in a tight turn at the surface of the enzyme. Structure analysis reveals that diaminopelargonic acid synthase belongs to the family of vitamin B6-dependent aminotransferases with the same fold as originally observed in aspartate aminotransferase. A multiple structure alignment of enzymes in this family indicated that they form at least six different subclasses. Striking differences in the fold of the N-terminal part of the polypeptide chain are one of the hallmarks of these subclasses. Diaminopelargonic acid synthase is a member of the aminotransferase subclass III. From the structure of the non-productive complex of the holoenzyme with the substrate 7-keto-8-aminopelargonic acid the location of the active site and residues involved in substrate binding have been identified.

Structure of dethiobiotin synthetase at 0.97 A resolution.

The crystal structure of the 224-residue protein dethiobiotin synthetase from Escherichia coli has been refined using X-ray diffraction data at 0.97 A resolution at 100 K. The model, consisting of 4143 protein atoms including 1859 H atoms and 436 solvent sites, was refined to a final R factor of 11.6% for all reflections, and has an estimated mean standard uncertainty for the atomic positions of 0.022 A, derived from inversion of the blocked matrix. The structure was refined with a full anisotropic model for the atomic displacement parameters using SHELX97. Stereochemical restraints were applied throughout the refinement. In the last cycles, the planarity of the peptide bonds was not restrained, resulting in a mean omega value of 179.6 degrees. Analysis of the most anisotropic regions of the protein shows that they form four clusters of residues. Alternate conformations for the side chains of 15 residues and for the main-chain atoms of six residues from three loops were included in the model. An analysis of C-HcO hydrogen bonds shows that such interactions occur rather frequently in DTBS; in total, 16 such hydrogen bonds were found. In the central beta-sheet, 13 C-HcO bonds between carbonyl O and Calpha H atoms were found. Other interactions of this type involve main-chain-side-chain and side-chain-side-chain C-HcO bonds. The model includes 436 water sites, of which 233 molecules form the first hydration shell. Analysis of the protein-solvent interactions shows that about one third of the accessible surface of the enzyme is not covered by ordered solvent. No difference in propensity for ordered solvent close to hydrophilic or hydrophobic surface areas was found. The comparison of the 100 K structure with the structure of the enzyme determined at room temperature shows several regions with different conformation, including areas in the active site, suggesting that structural transitions can occur during flash freezing. This observation questions one of the basic assumptions in the analysis of enzymatic reaction mechanisms using cryocrystallography.

Crystal structure of two quaternary complexes of dethiobiotin synthetase, enzyme-MgADP-AlF3-diaminopelargonic acid and enzyme-MgADP-dethiobiotin-phosphate; implications for catalysis.

The crystal structures of two complexes of dethiobiotin synthetase, enzyme-diaminopelargonic acid-MgADP-AlF3 and enzyme-dethiobiotin-MgADP-Pi, respectively, have been determined to 1.8 A resolution. In dethiobiotin synthetase, AlF3 together with carbamylated diaminopelargonic acid mimics the phosphorylated reaction intermediate rather than the transition state complex for phosphoryl transfer. Observed differences in the binding of substrate, diaminopelargonic acid, and the product, dethiobiotin, suggest considerable displacements of substrate atoms during the ring closure step of the catalytic reaction. In both complexes, two metal ions are observed at the active site, providing evidence for a two-metal mechanism for this enzyme.

Snapshot of a phosphorylated substrate intermediate by kinetic crystallography.

The ATP-dependent enzyme dethiobiotin synthetase from Escherichia coli catalyses the formation of dethiobiotin from CO2 and 7, 8-diaminopelargonic acid. The reaction is initiated by the formation of a carbamate and proceeds through a phosphorylated intermediate, a mixed carbamic phosphoric anhydride. Here, we report the crystal structures at 1.9- and 1.6-A resolution, respectively, of the enzyme-MgATP-diaminopelargonic acid and enzyme-MgADP-carbamic-phosphoric acid anhydride complexes, observed by using kinetic crystallography. Reaction initiation by addition of either NaHCO3 or diaminopelargonic acid to crystals already containing cosubstrates resulted in the accumulation of the phosphorylated intermediate at the active site. The phosphoryl transfer step shows inversion of the configuration at the phosphorus atom, consistent with an in-line attack by the carbamate oxygen onto the phosphorus atom of ATP. A key feature in the structure of the complex of the enzyme with the reaction intermediate is two magnesium ions, bridging the phosphates at the cleavage site. These magnesium ions compensate the negative charges at both phosphate groups after phosphoryl transfer and contribute to the stabilization of the reaction intermediate.

Purification and preliminary X-ray crystallographic studies of recombinant 7,8-diaminopelargonic acid synthase from Escherichia coli.

Recombinant 7,8-diaminopelargonic acid synthase from Escherichia coli, a pyridoxal-phosphate-dependent aminotransferase, has been crystallized in space groups P21 and C2. Both crystal forms were obtained at pH 7.3 with 21% polyethylene glycol and 10% 2-propanol as precipitants. The cell dimensions were a = 130, b = 57.5, c = 117 A, beta = 110 degrees for the C2 crystals, and a = 58.4, b = 55.6, c = 121 A, beta = 96.9 degrees for the P21 crystals, which diffract to at least 2.6 and 2.0 A resolution, respectively.

Efficacy of two therapy regimens for treatment of experimentally induced Escherichia coli mastitis in cows.

The objective of the study was to monitor the effect of two therapy regimens on experimental Escherichia coli mastitis. Single udder quarters of 12 cows that were at least 30 d postpartum were inoculated with 1500 cfu of E. coli. The inoculation was repeated in the contralateral quarter after a 3- to 4-wk interval. Initially, half of the cows were treated with antimicrobials, and the remaining half were left untreated. At the second inoculation, the cows that were originally treated were not treated, and vice versa. Therapy began 12 h after inoculation and consisted of parenteral trimethoprim-sulfadiazine (6 cows) or intramammary colistin sulfate (6 cows). Clinical signs, daily milk yield, bacterial count, and endotoxin content of the milk were recorded. Milk SCC, NAGase activity, and trypsin inhibitor capacity were also monitored. The response to bacterial challenge varied greatly among cows. Bacteria were eliminated from the quarters within 7 d in all but 1 cow. Treatment did not significantly affect the elimination rate of bacteria or any of the measured parameters. Significant positive correlations existed among milk bacterial counts, endotoxin concentrations, and clinical signs at the acute stage of the infection. Based on these findings, antimicrobial therapy of E. coli mastitis during lactation apparently is no more beneficial than no treatment.