Perdeuteration, large crystal growth and neutron data collection of Leishmania mexicana triose-phosphate isomerase E65Q variant

Triose Phosphate Isomerase Structure-Based Virtual Screening and In Vitro Biological Activity of Natural Products as Leishmania mexicana Inhibitors

Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a public health problem affecting more than 98 countries worldwide. No vaccine is available to prevent the disease, and available medical treatments cause serious side effects. Additionally, treatment failure and parasite resistance have made the development of new drugs against CL necessary. In this work, a virtual screening of natural products from the BIOFACQUIM and Selleckchem databases was performed using the method of molecular docking at the triosephosphate isomerase (TIM) enzyme interface of Leishmania mexicana (L. mexicana). Finally, the in vitro leishmanicidal activity of selected compounds against two strains of L. mexicana, their cytotoxicity, and selectivity index were determined. The top ten compounds were obtained based on the docking results. Four were selected for further in silico analysis. The ADME-Tox analysis of the selected compounds predicted favorable physicochemical and toxicological properties. Among these four compounds, S-8 (IC50 = 55 µM) demonstrated a two-fold higher activity against the promastigote of both L. mexicana strains than the reference drug glucantime (IC50 = 133 µM). This finding encourages the screening of natural products as new anti-leishmania agents.

Enhancing protein perdeuteration by experimental evolution of Escherichia coli K-12 for rapid growth in deuterium-based media

Deuterium is a natural low abundance stable hydrogen isotope that in high concentrations negatively affects growth of cells. Here, we have studied growth of Escherichia coli MG1655, a wild-type laboratory strain of E. coli K-12, in deuterated glycerol minimal medium. The growth rate and final biomass in deuterated medium is substantially reduced compared to cells grown in ordinary medium. By using a multi-generation adaptive laboratory evolution-based approach, we have isolated strains that show increased fitness in deuterium-based growth media. Whole-genome sequencing identified the genomic changes in the obtained strains and show that there are multiple routes to genetic adaptation to growth in deuterium-based media. By screening a collection of single-gene knockouts of nonessential genes, no specific gene was found to be essential for growth in deuterated minimal medium. Deuteration of proteins is of importance for NMR spectroscopy, neutron protein crystallography, neutron reflectometry, and small angle neutron scattering. The laboratory evolved strains, with substantially improved growth rate, were adapted for recombinant protein production by T7 RNA polymerase overexpression systems and shown to be suitable for efficient production of perdeuterated soluble and membrane proteins for structural biology applications.

Recent Advances in the Development of Triose Phosphate Isomerase Inhibitors as Antiprotozoal Agents

BACKGROUND

Parasitic diseases caused by protozoa such as Chagas disease, leishmaniasis, malaria, African trypanosomiasis, amebiasis, trichomoniasis, and giardiasis are considered serious public health problems in developing countries. Drug-resistance among parasites justifies the search for new therapeutic drugs and the identification of new targets becomes a valuable approach. In this scenario, glycolysis pathway which consists of the conversion of glucose into pyruvate plays an important role in the protozoa energy supply and it is therefore considered as a promising target. In this pathway, triose phosphate isomerase (TIM) plays an essential role in efficient energy production. Furthermore, protozoa TIM show structural differences with human enzyme counterparts suggesting the possibility of obtaining selective inhibitors. Therefore, TIM is considered a valid approach to develop new antiprotozoal agents, inhibiting the glycolysis in the parasite.

OBJECTIVE

In this review, we discuss the drug design strategies, structure-activity relationship, and binding modes of outstanding TIM inhibitors against Trypanosoma cruzi, Trypanosoma brucei, Plasmodium falciparum, Giardia lamblia, Leishmania mexicana, Trichomonas vaginalis, and Entamoeba histolytica.

RESULTS

TIM inhibitors showed mainly aromatic systems and symmetrical structure, where the size and type of heteroatom are important for enzyme inhibition. This inhibition is mainly based on the interaction with i) the interfacial region of TIM inducing changes on the quaternary and tertiary structure or ii) with the TIM catalytic region were the main pathways that disabled the catalytic activity of the enzyme.

CONCLUSION

Benzothiazole, benzoxazole, benzimidazole, and sulfhydryl derivatives stand out as TIM inhibitors. In silico and in vitro studies demonstrate that the inhibitors bind mainly at the TIM dimer interface. In this review, the development of new TIM inhibitors as antiprotozoal drugs is demonstrated as an important pharmaceutical strategy that may lead to new therapies for these ancient parasitic diseases.

Evolving Escherichia coli Host Strains for Efficient Deuterium Labeling of Recombinant Proteins Using Sodium Pyruvate-d3

Labeling of proteins with deuterium (2H) is often necessary for structural biology techniques, such as neutron crystallography, NMR spectroscopy, and small-angle neutron scattering. Perdeuteration in which all protium (1H) atoms are replaced by deuterium is a costly process. Typically, expression hosts are grown in a defined medium with heavy water as the solvent, which is supplemented with a deuterated carbon source. Escherichia coli, which is the most widely used host for recombinant protein production, can utilize several compounds as a carbon source. Glycerol-d₈ is often used as a carbon source for deuterium labelling due to its lower cost compered to glucose-d₇. In order to expand available options for recombinant protein deuteration, we investigated the possibility of producing a deuterated carbon source in-house. E. coli can utilize pyruvate as a carbon source and pyruvate-d₃ can be made by a relatively simple procedure. To circumvent the very poor growth of E. coli in minimal media with pyruvate as sole carbon source, adaptive laboratory evolution for strain improvement was applied. E. coli strains with enhanced growth in minimal pyruvate medium was subjected to whole genome sequencing and the genetic changes were revealed. One of the evolved strains was adapted for the widely used T7 RNA polymerase overexpression systems. Using the improved strain E. coli DAP1(DE3) and in-house produced deuterated carbon source (pyruvic acid-d₄ and sodium pyruvate-d₃), we produce deuterated (>90%) triose-phosphate isomerase, at quantities sufficient enough for large volume crystal production and subsequent analysis by neutron crystallography.

Neutron structures of Leishmania mexicana triosephosphate isomerase in complex with reaction-intermediate mimics shed light on the proton-shuttling steps

Triosephosphate isomerase (TIM) is a key enzyme in glycolysis that catalyses the interconversion of glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate and dihydroxy-acetone phosphate. This simple reaction involves the shuttling of protons mediated by protolysable side chains. The catalytic power of TIM is thought to stem from its ability to facilitate the deprotonation of a carbon next to a carbonyl group to generate an enediolate intermediate. The enediolate intermediate is believed to be mimicked by the inhibitor 2-phosphoglycolate (PGA) and the subsequent enediol intermediate by phosphoglycolohydroxamate (PGH). Here, neutron structures of Leishmania mexicana TIM have been determined with both inhibitors, and joint neutron/X-ray refinement followed by quantum refinement has been performed. The structures show that in the PGA complex the postulated general base Glu167 is protonated, while in the PGH complex it remains deprotonated. The deuteron is clearly localized on Glu167 in the PGA-TIM structure, suggesting an asymmetric hydrogen bond instead of a low-barrier hydrogen bond. The full picture of the active-site protonation states allowed an investigation of the reaction mechanism using density-functional theory calculations.

Triosephosphate isomerase: the perfect enzyme, but how does it work?

Insights are offered on the study by Kelpšas et al. [IUCrJ (2021). 8, 633-643], who have combined neutron and X-ray crystallography then QM (quantum mechanics) calculations on triosephosphate isomerase (TIM). The authors dissect three possible enzyme mechanisms of TIM that have arisen in the decades since the first X-ray crystal structure of this enzyme was published in 1975.

Semi-empirical model to estimate ideal conditions for the growth of large protein crystals

A large high-quality crystal is required to specify the positions of H atoms in neutron structural analysis. Consequently, several methods have been proposed for obtaining such large crystals, and theoretical considerations for growing them have been presented. However, further investigation is required to obtain a numerical model that can provide quantitative experimental conditions for obtaining a single large crystal. In the case of protein crystallization experiments, the amount of sample is often limited. Therefore, it is more realistic to make a rough estimation from a small number of experiments. This paper proposes a method of estimating the optimum experimental conditions for the growth of large protein crystals by performing a small number of experiments using a micro-batch method and reporting a numerical model based on nucleation theory and a linear approximation of the crystal-growth rate. Specifically, micro-batch experiments are performed to provide the empirical parameters for the model and to help to estimate the conditions for the growth of a crystal of a predetermined size using a certain sample concentration and volume. This method is offered as a step on the path towards efficiently and rationally producing large crystals that can be subjected to neutron diffraction without depending on luck or on performing many experiments. It is expected to contribute to drug design and the elucidation of protein molecular functions and mechanisms by obtaining positional information on H atoms in the protein molecule, which is an advantage of neutron diffraction.

Strain improvement of Escherichia coli K-12 for recombinant production of deuterated proteins

Deuterium isotope labelling is important for structural biology methods such as neutron protein crystallography, nuclear magnetic resonance and small angle neutron scattering studies of proteins. Deuterium is a natural low abundance stable hydrogen isotope that in high concentrations negatively affect growth of cells. The generation time for Escherichia coli K-12 in deuterated medium is substantially increased compared to cells grown in hydrogenated (protiated) medium. By using a mutagenesis plasmid based approach we have isolated an E. coli strain derived from E. coli K-12 substrain MG1655 that show increased fitness in deuterium based growth media, without general adaptation to media components. By whole-genome sequencing we identified the genomic changes in the obtained strain and show that it can be used for recombinant production of perdeuterated proteins in amounts typically needed for structural biology studies.