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Cheryl H Arrowsmith

Publications and source records attributed to Cheryl H Arrowsmith.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Comprehensive mass spectrometry screening-derived atlas of HDAC inhibitors reveals histone-specific acetylation changes.

Histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACis) have emerged as valuable therapeutics for cancer and other diseases; however, their effects on histone post-translational modification remain poorly characterized. Here, we applied quantitative mass spectrometry and high-throughput sequencing to systematically profile site-specific changes in histone modifications in response to a panel of HDACis. This platform enabled mapping of histone modification changes across hundreds of sites, including low-abundance histone marks. Furthermore, an integrative analysis of chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by sequencing (ChIP-seq) and RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) data identified genome-wide binding sites for the low-abundance histone modification of H2A.Z acetylation in HeLa and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells, highlighting the role of H2A.Z acetylation in regulating gene expression across diverse biological pathways, including specific genes involved in tumor suppressor pathways. Our findings provide a functional resource for identifying and quantifying histone modification changes and transcriptional regulation of histone H2A.Z acetylation following pharmacological perturbation.

Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors↗

A covalent chemical probe for Chikungunya nsP2 cysteine protease with antialphaviral activity and proteome-wide selectivity.

Chikungunya is a mosquito-borne viral disease that causes fever and severe joint pain for which there is no direct acting drug treatments. Vinyl sulfone SGC-NSP2PRO-1 (3) was identified as a potent inhibitor of the nsP2 cysteine protease (nsP2pro) that reduced viral titer against infectious isolates of Chikungunya and other alphaviruses. The covalent warhead in 3 captured the active site C478 and inactivated nsP2pro with a kinact/Ki ratio of 5950 M-1 s-1. The vinyl sulfone 3 was inactive across a panel of 23 other cysteine proteases and demonstrated remarkable proteome-wide selectivity by two chemoproteomic methods. A negative control analog SGC-NSP2PRO-1N (4) retained the isoxazole core and covalent warhead but demonstrated > 100-fold decrease in enzyme inhibition. Both 3 and 4 were stable across a wide range of pH in solution and upon prolonged storage as solids. Vinyl sulfone 3 and its negative control 4 will find utility as high-quality chemical probes to study the role of the nsP2pro in cellular studies of alphaviral replication and virulence.

Chikungunya virus↗

Data mining crystallization databases: knowledge-based approaches to optimize protein crystal screens.

Protein crystallization is a major bottleneck in protein X-ray crystallography, the workhorse of most structural proteomics projects. Because the principles that govern protein crystallization are too poorly understood to allow them to be used in a strongly predictive sense, the most common crystallization strategy entails screening a wide variety of solution conditions to identify the small subset that will support crystal nucleation and growth. We tested the hypothesis that more efficient crystallization strategies could be formulated by extracting useful patterns and correlations from the large data sets of crystallization trials created in structural proteomics projects. A database of crystallization conditions was constructed for 755 different proteins purified and crystallized under uniform conditions. Forty-five percent of the proteins formed crystals. Data mining identified the conditions that crystallize the most proteins, revealed that many conditions are highly correlated in their behavior, and showed that the crystallization success rate is markedly dependent on the organism from which proteins derive. Of the proteins that crystallized in a 48-condition experiment, 60% could be crystallized in as few as 6 conditions and 94% in 24 conditions. Consideration of the full range of information coming from crystal screening trials allows one to design screens that are maximally productive while consuming minimal resources, and also suggests further useful conditions for extending existing screens.

Archaeal Proteins↗

Integrating structure, bioinformatics, and enzymology to discover function: BioH, a new carboxylesterase from Escherichia coli.

Structural proteomics projects are generating three-dimensional structures of novel, uncharacterized proteins at an increasing rate. However, structure alone is often insufficient to deduce the specific biochemical function of a protein. Here we determined the function for a protein using a strategy that integrates structural and bioinformatics data with parallel experimental screening for enzymatic activity. BioH is involved in biotin biosynthesis in Escherichia coli and had no previously known biochemical function. The crystal structure of BioH was determined at 1.7 A resolution. An automated procedure was used to compare the structure of BioH with structural templates from a variety of different enzyme active sites. This screen identified a catalytic triad (Ser82, His235, and Asp207) with a configuration similar to that of the catalytic triad of hydrolases. Analysis of BioH with a panel of hydrolase assays revealed a carboxylesterase activity with a preference for short acyl chain substrates. The combined use of structural bioinformatics with experimental screens for detecting enzyme activity could greatly enhance the rate at which function is determined from structure.

Biotin↗

Structure and function of the PWI motif: a novel nucleic acid-binding domain that facilitates pre-mRNA processing.

The PWI motif is a highly conserved domain of unknown function in the SRm160 splicing and 3'-end cleavage-stimulatory factor, as well as in several other known or putative pre-mRNA processing components. We show here that the PWI motif is a new type of RNA/DNA-binding domain that has an equal preference for single- and double-stranded nucleic acids. Deletion of the motif prevents SRm160 from binding RNA and stimulating 3'-end cleavage, and its substitution with a heterologous RNA-binding domain restores these functions. The NMR solution structure of the SRm160-PWI motif reveals a novel, four-helix bundle and represents the first example of an alpha-helical fold that can bind single-stranded (ss)RNA. Structure-guided mutagenesis indicates that the same surface is involved in RNA and DNA binding and requires the cooperative action of a highly conserved, adjacent basic region. Thus, the PWI motif is a novel type of nucleic acid-binding domain that likely has multiple important functions in pre-mRNA processing, including SRm160-dependent stimulation of 3'-end formation.

Amino Acid Motifs↗

Structure of Escherichia coli ribose-5-phosphate isomerase: a ubiquitous enzyme of the pentose phosphate pathway and the Calvin cycle.

Ribose-5-phosphate isomerase A (RpiA; EC 5.3.1.6) interconverts ribose-5-phosphate and ribulose-5-phosphate. This enzyme plays essential roles in carbohydrate anabolism and catabolism; it is ubiquitous and highly conserved. The structure of RpiA from Escherichia coli was solved by multiwavelength anomalous diffraction (MAD) phasing, and refined to 1.5 A resolution (R factor 22.4%, R(free) 23.7%). RpiA exhibits an alpha/beta/(alpha/beta)/beta/alpha fold, some portions of which are similar to proteins of the alcohol dehydrogenase family. The two subunits of the dimer in the asymmetric unit have different conformations, representing the opening/closing of a cleft. Active site residues were identified in the cleft using sequence conservation, as well as the structure of a complex with the inhibitor arabinose-5-phosphate at 1.25 A resolution. A mechanism for acid-base catalysis is proposed.

Aldose-Ketose Isomerases↗

Structural proteomics: toward high-throughput structural biology as a tool in functional genomics.

Structural proteomics is the determination of atomic resolution three-dimensional protein structures on a genome-wide scale in order to better understand the relationship between protein sequence, structure, and function. Here we describe our ongoing structural proteomics project on the nonmembrane proteins of the archeaon, Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum. This article provides a snapshot of an ongoing pilot project in an emerging area of multidisciplinary research that involves bioinformatics, molecular biology, biochemistry, and instrumental methods such as NMR spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography. An assessment of the technical challenges in this type of large-scale project along with a comparison of the efficiency of sample production for both X-ray crystallography and NMR spectroscopy will be discussed. Examples of new insights into protein function and the relationship between structure and sequence will also be presented.

Bacterial Proteins↗

1H(C) and 1H(N) total NOE correlations in a single 3D NMR experiment. 15N and 13C time-sharing in t1 and t2 dimensions for simultaneous data acquisition.

Simultaneous data acquisition in time-sharing (TS) multi-dimensional NMR experiments has been shown an effective means to reduce experimental time, and thus to accelerate structure determination of proteins. This has been accomplished by spin evolution time-sharing of the X and Y heteronuclei, such as (15)N and (13)C, in one of the time dimensions. In this work, we report a new 3D TS experiment, which allows simultaneous (13)C and (15)N spin labeling coherence in both t(1) and t(2) dimensions to give four NOESY spectra in a single 3D experiment. These spectra represent total NOE correlations between (1)H(N) and (1)H(C) resonances. This strategy of double time-sharing (2TS) results in an overall four-fold reduction in experimental time compared with its conventional counterpart. This 3D 2TS CN-CN-H HSQC-NOESY-HSQC pulse sequence also demonstrates improvements in water suppression, (15)N spectral resolution and sensitivity, which were developed based on 2D TS CN-H HSQC and 3D TS H-CN-H NOESY-HSQC experiments. Combining the 3D TS and the 3D 2TS NOESY experiments, NOE assignment ambiguities and errors are considerably reduced. These results will be useful for rapid protein structure determination to complement the effort of discerning the functions of diverse genomic proteins.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

A novel member of the split betaalphabeta fold: Solution structure of the hypothetical protein YML108W from Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

As part of the Northeast Structural Genomics Consortium pilot project focused on small eukaryotic proteins and protein domains, we have determined the NMR structure of the protein encoded by ORF YML108W from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. YML108W belongs to one of the numerous structural proteomics targets whose biological function is unknown. Moreover, this protein does not have sequence similarity to any other protein. The NMR structure of YML108W consists of a four-stranded beta-sheet with strand order 2143 and two alpha-helices, with an overall topology of betabetaalphabetabetaalpha. Strand beta1 runs parallel to beta4, and beta2:beta1 and beta4:beta3 pairs are arranged in an antiparallel fashion. Although this fold belongs to the split betaalphabeta family, it appears to be unique among this family; it is a novel arrangement of secondary structure, thereby expanding the universe of protein folds.

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Biomolecular↗

Refolding out of guanidine hydrochloride is an effective approach for high-throughput structural studies of small proteins.

Low in vivo solubility of recombinant proteins expressed in Escherichia coli can seriously hinder the purification of structural samples for large-scale proteomic NMR and X-ray crystallography studies. Previous results from our laboratory have shown that up to one half of all bacterial and archaeal proteins are insoluble when overexpressed in E. coli. Although a number of strategies may be used to increase in vivo protein solubility, there are no generally applicable methods, and the expression of each insoluble recombinant protein must be individually optimized. For this reason, we have tested a generic denaturation/refolding protein purification procedure to assess the number of structural samples that could be generated by using this methodology. Our results show that a denaturation/refolding protocol is appropriate for many small proteins (<or=18 kD) that are normally soluble in vivo. In addition, refolding the purified proteins by using dialysis against a single buffer allowed us to obtain soluble protein samples of 58% of small proteins that were found in the insoluble fraction in vivo, and 10% of the initial number of proteins provided good heteronuclear single quantum coherence (HSQC) NMR spectra. We conclude that a denaturation/refolding protocol is an efficient way to generate structural samples for high-throughput studies of small proteins.

Biophysical Phenomena↗

Myxoma virus immunomodulatory protein M156R is a structural mimic of eukaryotic translation initiation factor eIF2alpha.

Phosphorylation of the translation initiation factor eIF2 on Ser51 of its alpha subunit is a key event for regulation of protein synthesis in all eukaryotes. M156R, the product of the myxoma virus M156R open reading frame, has sequence similarity to eIF2alpha as well as to a family of viral proteins that bind to the interferon-induced protein kinase PKR and inhibit phosphorylation of eIF2alpha. In this study, we demonstrate that, like eIF2alpha. M156R is an efficient substrate for phosphorylation by PKR and can compete with eIF2alpha. To gain insights into the substrate specificity of the eIF2alpha kinases, we have determined the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) structure of M156R, the first structure of a myxoma virus protein. The fold consists of a five-stranded antiparallel beta-barrel with two of the strands connected by a loop and an alpha-helix. The similarity between M156R and the beta-barrel structure in the N terminus of eIF2alpha suggests that the viral homologs mimic eIF2alpha structure in order to compete for binding to PKR. A homology-modeled structure of the well-studied vaccinia virus K3L was generated on the basis of alignment with M156R. Comparison of the structures of the K3L model, M156R, and human eIF2alpha indicated that residues important for binding to PKR are located at conserved positions on the surface of the beta-barrel and in the mobile loop, identifying the putative PKR recognition motif.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

The solution structure of the bacteriophage lambda head-tail joining protein, gpFII.

The bacteriophage lambda FII protein (gpFII) is a 117 residue structural protein found in the phage particle that is required for the joining of phage heads and tails at the last step of morphogenesis. We have performed biophysical experiments to show that gpFII is stable, monomeric, and reversibly folded. We have also determined the atomic resolution structure of gpFII using NMR spectroscopy. gpFII is shown to possess a novel fold consisting of seven beta-strands and a short alpha-helix. It also displays two large unstructured regions at the N terminus (residues 1-24) and in a large loop near the middle of the protein (residues 46-62). We speculate that these unstructured regions become structured when gpFII assembles into the phage particle, and that these conformational changes play an important role in regulating the assembly pathway. Alignment of the gpFII sequence with those of homologues from other lambdoid phages has allowed us to putatively identify distinct surfaces on the gpFII structure that mediate binding to the phage head and tail.

Amino Acid Sequence↗