Biomedical subjects

Rohini Qamra

Publications and source records attributed to Rohini Qamra.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Multiple gene duplication and rapid evolution in the groEL gene: functional implications.

The chaperonins, GroEL and GroES, are present ubiquitously and provide a paradigm in the understanding of assisted protein folding. Due to its essentiality of function, GroEL exhibits high sequence conservation across species. Complete genome sequencing has shown the occurrence of duplicate or multiple copies of groEL genes in bacteria such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Corynebacterium glutamicum. Monophyly of each bacterial clade in the phylogenetic tree generated for the GroEL protein suggests a lineage-specific duplication. The duplicated groEL gene in Actinobacteria is not accompanied by the operonic groES despite the presence of upstream regulatory elements. Our analysis suggests that in these bacteria the duplicated groEL genes have undergone rapid evolution and divergence to function in a GroES-independent manner. Evaluation of multiple sequence alignment demonstrates that the duplicated genes have acquired mutations at functionally significant positions including those involved in substrate binding, ATP binding, and GroES binding and those involved in inter-ring and intra-ring interactions. We propose that the duplicate groEL genes in different bacterial clades have evolved independently to meet specific requirements of each clade. We also propose that the groEL gene, although essential and conserved, accumulates nonconservative substitutions to exhibit structural and functional variations.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗

PubMed2006

The 2.15 A crystal structure of Mycobacterium tuberculosis chorismate mutase reveals an unexpected gene duplication and suggests a role in host-pathogen interactions.

Chorismate mutase catalyzes the first committed step toward the biosynthesis of the aromatic amino acids, phenylalanine and tyrosine. While this biosynthetic pathway exists exclusively in the cell cytoplasm, the Mycobacterium tuberculosis enzyme has been shown to be secreted into the extracellular medium. The secretory nature of the enzyme and its existence in M. tuberculosis as a duplicated gene are suggestive of its role in host-pathogen interactions. We report here the crystal structure of homodimeric chorismate mutase (Rv1885c) from M. tuberculosis determined at 2.15 A resolution. The structure suggests possible gene duplication within each subunit of the dimer (residues 35-119 and 130-199) and reveals an interesting proline-rich region on the protein surface (residues 119-130), which might act as a recognition site for protein-protein interactions. The structure also offers an explanation for its regulation by small ligands, such as tryptophan, a feature previously unknown in the prototypical Escherichia coli chorismate mutase. The tryptophan ligand is found to be sandwiched between the two monomers in a dimer contacting residues 66-68. The active site in the "gene-duplicated" monomer is occupied by a sulfate ion and is located in the first half of the polypeptide, unlike in the Saccharomyces cerevisiae (yeast) enzyme, where it is located in the later half. We hypothesize that the M. tuberculosis chorismate mutase might have a role to play in host-pathogen interactions, making it an important target for designing inhibitor molecules against the deadly pathogen.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed2006

Cation-mediated interplay of loops in chaperonin-10.

The ubiquitously occurring chaperonins consist of a large tetradecameric Chaperonin-60, forming a cylindrical assembly, and a smaller heptameric Chaperonin-10. For a functional protein folding cycle, Chaperonin-10 caps the cylindrical Chaperonin-60 from one end forming an asymmetric complex. The oligomeric assembly of Chaperonin-10 is known to be highly plastic in nature. In Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the plasticity has been shown to be modulated by reversible binding of divalent cations. Binding of cations confers rigidity to the metal binding loop, and also promotes stability of the oligomeric structure. We have probed the conformational effects of cation binding on the Chaperonin-10 structure through fluorescence studies and molecular dynamics simulations. Fluorescence studies show that cation binding induces reduced exposure and flexibility of the dome loop. The simulations corroborate these results and further indicate a complex landscape of correlated motions between different parts of the molecule. They also show a fascinating interplay between two distantly spaced loops, the metal binding "dome loop" and the GroEL-binding "mobile loop", suggesting an important cation-mediated role in the recognition of Chaperonin-60. In the presence of cations the mobile loop appears poised to dock onto the Chaperonin-60 structure. The divalent metal ions may thus act as key elements in the protein folding cycle, and trigger a conformational switch for molecular recognition.

Bacterial Proteins↗

PubMed2005

The unusual chaperonins of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Heat shock proteins (Hsps), also known as molecular chaperones, are a diverse set of proteins that mediate the correct folding, assembly, transport and degradation of other proteins. In addition, Hsps have been shown to play a variety of important roles in immunity, thereby representing prominent antigens in the humoral and cellular immune response. Chaperonins form a sub-group of molecular chaperones that are found in all domains of life. Chaperonins in all bacteria are encoded by the essential groEL and groES genes, also called cpn60 and cpn10 arranged on the bicistronic groESL operon. Interestingly, Mycobacterium tuberculosis contains two copies of the cpn60 genes. The existence of a duplicate set of cpn60 genes in M. tuberculosis, however, has been perplexing. Cpn10 and Cpn60s of M. tuberculosis have been shown to be highly antigenic in nature, eliciting strong B- and T-cell immune responses. Recent work has shown intriguing structural, biochemical and signaling properties of the M. tuberculosis chaperonins. This review details the recent developments in the study of the M. tuberculosis chaperonins.

Antigens, Bacterial↗

PubMed2005

Crystallization and preliminary X-ray crystallographic studies of Mycobacterium tuberculosis chorismate mutase.

Chorismate mutase catalyzes the first committed step in the biosynthesis of the aromatic amino acids phenylalanine and tyrosine in bacteria, fungi and higher plants. The recent re-annotation of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis genome has revealed the presence of a duplicate set of genes coding for chorismate mutase. The mycobacterial gene Rv1885c bears <20% sequence homology to other bacterial chorismate mutases, thus serving as a potential target for the development of inhibitors specific to the pathogen. The M. tuberculosis chorismate mutase was crystallized in space group C2 and the crystals diffracted to a resolution of 2.2 A. Matthews coefficient and self-rotation function calculations revealed the presence of two monomers in the asymmetric unit.

Chorismate Mutase↗

PubMed2004

Mycobacterium tuberculosis GroEL homologues unusually exist as lower oligomers and retain the ability to suppress aggregation of substrate proteins.

Chaperonin-60s are large double ring oligomeric proteins with a central cavity where unfolded polypeptides undergo productive folding. In conjunction with their co-chaperonin, Chaperonin-60s bind non-native polypeptides and facilitate their refolding in an ATP-dependent manner. The ATPase activity of Chaperonin-60 is tightly regulated by the 10 kDa co-chaperonin. In contrast to most other bacterial species, Mycobacterium tuberculosis genome carries a duplicate set of cpn60 genes, one of which occurs on the groESL operon (cpn60.1), while the other is separately arranged on the chromosome (cpn60.2). Biophysical characterization of the mycobacterial proteins showed that these proteins exist as lower oligomers and not tetradecamers, an unexpected property much different from the other known Chaperonin-60s. Failure of the M.tuberculosis chaperonins to oligomerize can be attributed to amino acid mutations at the oligomeric interface. Rates of ATP hydrolysis of the M.tuberculosis chaperonins showed that these proteins possess a very weak ATPase activity. Both the M.tuberculosis chaperonins were partially active in refolding substrate proteins. Interestingly, their refolding activity was seen to be independent of the co-chaperonin and ATP. We hypothesize that the ATP independent chaperones might offer benefit to the pathogen by promoting its existence in the latent phase of its life cycle.

Alanine↗

PubMed2004

Crystal structure of the 65-kilodalton heat shock protein, chaperonin 60.2, of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Chaperonin 60s are a ubiquitous class of proteins that promote folding and assembly of other cellular polypeptides in an ATP-dependent manner. The oligomeric state of chaperonin 60s has been shown to be crucial to their role as molecular chaperones. Chaperonin 60s are also known to be important stimulators of the immune system. Mycobacterium tuberculosis possesses a duplicate set of chaperonin 60s, both of which have been shown to be potent cytokine stimulators. The M. tuberculosis chaperonin 60s are present in the extracellular milieu at concentrations that are extremely low for the formation of an oligomer. Here we present the crystal structure of one of the chaperonin 60s of M. tuberculosis, also called Hsp65 or chaperonin 60.2, at 3.2-A resolution. We were able to crystallize the protein in its dimeric state. The unusual dimerization of the protein leads to exposure of certain hydrophobic patches on the surface of the protein, and we hypothesize that this might have relevance in binding to immunogenic peptides, as it does in the eukaryotic homologs.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗

PubMed2002

Identification of conserved residue patterns in small beta-barrel proteins.

Our abilities to predict three-dimensional conformation of a polypeptide, given its amino acid sequence, remain limited despite advances in structure analysis. Analysis of structures and sequences of protein families with similar secondary structural elements, but varying topologies, might help in addressing this problem. We have studied the small beta-barrel class of proteins characterized by four strands (n = 4) and a shear number of 8 (S = 8) to understand the principles of barrel formation. Multiple alignments of the various protein sequences were generated for the analysis. Positional entropy, as a measure of residue conservation, indicated conservation of non-polar residues at the core positions. The presence of a type II beta-turn among the various barrel proteins considered was another strikingly invariant feature. A conserved glycyl-aspartyl dipeptide at the beta-turn appeared to be important in guiding the protein sequence into the barrel fold. Molecular dynamics simulations of the type II beta-turn peptide suggested that aspartate is a key residue in the folding of the protein sequence into the barrel. Our study suggests that the conserved type II beta-turn and the non-polar residues in the barrel core are crucial for the folding of the protein's primary sequence into the beta-barrel conformation.

Amino Acid Sequence↗