Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Hongwen Chen, Shahbaz Ahmed, Hongtu Zhao, Nadia Elghobashi-Meinhardt, Yaxin Dai, Jae Hun Kim, Jeffrey G. McDonald, Xiaochun Li, Chia-Hsueh Lee
Summary: Sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) is a crucial lipid molecule that regulates various physiological processes. Spinster homolog 2 (Spns2) is a transporter protein responsible for exporting S1P and initiating lipid signaling cascades. Understanding the transport mechanism of Spns2 and its inhibition has important implications for the development of therapeutic interventions. This study provides valuable insights into the structural basis of S1P transport by Spns2 and presents a novel inhibitor that attenuates its activity.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Emmanuel W. Smith, Simon Lattmann, Zhehui Barry Liu, Bilal Ahsan, Daniela Rhodes
Summary: This study reports the structures of POT1 bound by TPP1, revealing the flexibility of the OB1 and OB2 folds in DNA binding. It is found that POT1 has strong DNA binding capacity and can adapt to different binding sites. These findings suggest that the structural flexibility of POT1 enhances its binding to telomeric repeats and increases telomere protection.
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Anas Khawaja, Miriam Cipullo, Annika Krueger, Joanna Rorbach
Summary: This review summarizes the biogenesis of mitochondrial ribosomal subunits, mtSSU and mtLSU, based on structural findings, and discusses potential crosstalk between mtSSU and mtLSU assembly pathways as well as coordination between mitoribosome biogenesis and other processes involved in mitochondrial gene expression.
TRENDS IN BIOCHEMICAL SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jana Omar, Efrat Rosenbaum, Adi Efergan, Bayan Abu Sneineh, Adva Yeheskel, Yuto Maruta, Mitsunori Fukuda, Ronit Sagi-Eisenberg
Summary: This study reveals that Rab12 negatively regulates MC exocytosis by interacting with RILP family effectors. By investigating the interactions between Rab12 and RILP, RILP-L1, and RILP-L2, the researchers proposed a model for the Rab12-RILP complex, providing insights into the regulation of MC secretory granule transport and offering potential tools for understanding Rab12 functions.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Liia R. Valeeva, Liliia R. Abdulkina, Inna A. Agabekian, Eugene Shakirov
Summary: Telomeres are essential in protecting and maintaining eukaryotic chromosomes, and abnormalities in telomere biology can lead to genetic diseases. Recent discoveries have shown that factors involved in ribosome assembly and rRNA maturation also play roles in telomere biology, and key proteins and enzymes in telomere biology have unexpected functions in rRNA transcription and maturation. These findings suggest a potential cross-talk mechanism explaining the pleiotropic symptoms of telomeropathies and ribosomopathies.
BIOCHEMISTRY AND CELL BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Cell Biology
Jue Lin, Elissa Epel
Summary: Short telomeres may increase the risk of degenerative diseases, with stress-induced telomere damage being an important pathway. The initial setting point of telomere length at birth appears to be influential, possibly affected by stress. Intergenerational stress effects on telomeres include prenatal stress and direct inheritance of short telomeres.
AGEING RESEARCH REVIEWS
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Zhisen Yang, Jing Xia, Jingjing Hong, Chenxi Zhang, Hong Wei, Wei Ying, Chunqiao Sun, Lianghanxiao Sun, Yanbo Mao, Yongxiang Gao, Shutang Tan, Jiri Friml, Dianfan Li, Xin Liu, Linfeng Sun
Summary: This study reports different conformational structures of Arabidopsis thaliana PIN1, revealing the substrate recognition and transport mechanisms of PIN proteins. These findings are of great significance for understanding the directional auxin transport process in plant development.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Azadeh Shahsavar, Peter Stohler, Gleb Bourenkov, Iwan Zimmermann, Martin Siegrist, Wolfgang Guba, Emmanuel Pinard, Steffen Sinning, Markus A. Seeger, Thomas R. Schneider, Roger J. P. Dawson, Poul Nissen
Summary: This study utilized synthetic single-domain antibodies and serial synchrotron crystallography to determine the structure of GlyT1 in complex with an inhibitor, revealing that the inhibitor locks GlyT1 in an inward-open conformation and binds at the intracellular gate of the release pathway. These findings define the mechanism of inhibition and provide insights for the rational design of new, clinically efficacious GlyT1 inhibitors.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Lucy Button, Bryony Rogers, Emily Thomas, Alice Bradfield, Rafah Alnafakh, Josephine Drury, Dharani K. Hapangama
Summary: This study aimed to explore the risk of relapse in endometrial cancer after surgery and found that telomere/telomerase associated proteins may play an important role in prognosis, particularly NHP2.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Ashish Kumar, Reafa A. Hossain, Samantha A. Yost, Wei Bu, Yuanyuan Wang, Altaira D. Dearborn, Arash Grakoui, Jeffrey Cohen, Joseph Marcotrigiano
Summary: The study shows that low pH enhances the binding of CD81-LEL to E2, leading to a conformational change in E2 in preparation for membrane fusion.
Article
Cell Biology
Wenbo Feng, Qingtong Zhou, Xianyue Chen, Antao Dai, Xiaoqing Cai, Xiao Liu, Fenghui Zhao, Yan Chen, Chenyu Ye, Yingna Xu, Zhaotong Cong, Hao Li, Shi Lin, Dehua Yang, Ming-Wei Wang
Summary: Members of the melanocortin receptor (MCR) family play important roles in various cellular processes. This study focuses on understanding the subtype selectivity of MCRs in response to different melanocortin peptides. The cryo-electron microscopy structures reveal that the structural differences in the C-terminus of the agonists contribute to subtype selectivity. Furthermore, a potent synthetic agonist is found to achieve the same potency as the natural agonist by rebalancing the recognition site and mimicking the intra-peptide salt bridge. These findings provide insights into ligand recognition and subtype selectivity among MCRs.
Review
Microbiology
Patrick T. West, Rachael B. Chanin, Ami S. Bhatt
Summary: Structural variation in bacterial genomes plays a crucial role in bacterial evolution, regulating gene expression and promoting niche adaptation. However, the study of variation in bacterial genomes and metagenomes has been insufficient. Recent advances in genome sequencing technology and the development of new bioinformatic pipelines hold promise in further understanding microbial genomics.
CURRENT OPINION IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Man Pan, Qingyun Zheng, Tian Wang, Lujun Liang, Junxiong Mao, Chong Zuo, Ruichao Ding, Huasong Ai, Yuan Xie, Dong Si, Yuanyuan Yu, Lei Liu, Minglei Zhao
Summary: This study reveals the mechanism of the N-degron pathway mediated by Ubr1, including key structural elements involved in the initiation and elongation steps of ubiquitination.
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Veronika Obsilova, Tomas Obsil
Summary: Signal transduction cascades efficiently transmit chemical and/or physical signals from the extracellular environment to intracellular compartments, thereby eliciting an appropriate cellular response. 14-3-3 proteins, as a family of highly conserved scaffolding molecules, play a crucial role in modulating the function of other proteins primarily through phosphorylation-dependent mechanisms. They participate in key cellular processes such as cell-cycle control, apoptosis, signal transduction, energy metabolism, and protein trafficking. However, our understanding of the molecular mechanisms by which 14-3-3 proteins regulate their binding partners remains insufficient, despite intensive research into their protein-protein interactions. This review article aims to provide an overview of recent structural studies of 14-3-3 protein complexes in order to further explore the regulatory mechanisms of these proteins.
FRONTIERS IN MOLECULAR BIOSCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Gaurika Garg, Christian Dienemann, Lucas Farnung, Juliane Schwarz, Andreas Linden, Henning Urlaub, Patrick Cramer
Summary: We provide mechanistic insights into the three major steps of human co-transcriptional pre-mRNA capping based on six different cryo-EM structures. The human mRNA capping enzyme, RNGTT, first docks to the Pol II stalk to position its triphosphatase domain near the RNA exit site. The capping enzyme then moves onto the Pol II surface, and its guanylyltransferase receives the pre-mRNA 5'-diphosphate end.