An Apicomplexan Actin-Binding Protein Serves as a Connector and Lipid Sensor to Coordinate Motility and Invasion

Apicomplexa exhibit a unique form of substrate-dependent gliding motility central for host cell invasion and parasite dissemination. Gliding is powered by rearward translocation of apically secreted transmembrane adhesins via their interaction with the parasite actomyosin system. We report a conserved armadillo and pleckstrin homology (PH) domain-containing protein, termed glideosome-associated connector (GAC), that mediates apicomplexan gliding motility, invasion, and egress by connecting the micronemal adhesins with the actomyosin system. TgGAC binds to and stabilizes filamentous actin and specifically associates with the transmembrane adhesin TgMIC2. GAC localizes to the apical pole in invasive stages of Toxoplasma gondii and Plasmodium berghei, and apical positioning of TgGAC depends on an apical lysine methyltransferase, TgAKMT. GAC PH domain also binds to phosphatidic acid, a lipid mediator associated with microneme exocytosis. Collectively, these findings indicate a central role for GAC in spatially and temporally coordinating gliding motility and invasion.

Recombinant production of the amino terminal cytoplasmic region of dengue virus non-structural protein 4A for structural studies

Background

Dengue virus (DENV) is a mosquito-transmitted positive single strand RNA virus belonging to the Flaviviridae family. DENV causes dengue fever, currently the world's fastest-spreading tropical disease. Severe forms of the disease like dengue hemorrhagic fever and dengue shock syndrome are life-threatening. There is no specific treatment and no anti-DENV vaccines. Our recent data suggests that the amino terminal cytoplasmic region of the dengue virus non-structural protein 4A (NS4A) comprising amino acid residues 1 to 48 forms an amphipathic helix in the presence of membranes. Its amphipathic character was shown to be essential for viral replication. NMR-based structure-function analysis of the NS4A amino terminal region depends on its milligram-scale production and labeling with NMR active isotopes.

Methodology/Principal Findings

This report describes the optimization of a uniform procedure for the expression and purification of the wild type NS4A(1-48) peptide and a peptide derived from a replication-deficient mutant NS4A(1-48; L6E, M10E) with disrupted amphipathic nature. A codon-optimized, synthetic gene for NS4A(1-48) was expressed as a fusion with a GST-GB1 dual tag in E. coli. Tobacco etch virus (TEV) protease mediated cleavage generated NS4A(1-48) peptides without any artificial overhang. Using the described protocol up to 4 milligrams of the wild type or up to 5 milligrams of the mutant peptide were obtained from a one-liter culture. Isotopic labeling of the peptides was achieved and initial NMR spectra were recorded.

Conclusions/Significance

Small molecules targeting amphipathic helices in the related Hepatitis C virus were shown to inhibit viral replication, representing a new class of antiviral drugs. These findings highlight the need for an efficient procedure that provides large quantities of the amphipathic helix containing NS4A peptides. The double tag strategy presented in this manuscript answers these needs yielding amounts that are sufficient for comprehensive biophysical and structural studies, which might reveal new drug targets.

Indirect enantiomeric separation of 2-arylpropionic acids and structurally related compounds by reversed phase HPLC

A reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic method, using an organic modifier-phosphate buffered mobile phase, for the determination of the enantiomeric composition of 2-arylpropionic acids and other structurally related compounds in microbial media is described. The method is based on the resolution of diastereoisomeric amides formed from the reaction of the arylpropionic acid with either (-)-(S)-alpha-methylbenzylamine or (-)-(S)-1-(naphthen-1-yl)ethylamine in the presence of 1-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-3-ethylcarbodiimide HCl and 1-hydroxybenzotriazole and incorporating an internal standard. The addition of sodium pentanesulphonate to the mobile phase as an ion-pairing agent was necessary to remove unreacted amine to avoid rapid column deterioration. The method provides and efficient, rapid and reproducible means of monitoring the microbial chiral inversion of 2-arylpropionic acids and other structurally related molecules.

A mechanistic investigation of the microbial chiral inversion of 2-phenylpropionic acid by Verticillium lecanii

Previous investigations have described the development of nongrowing suspensions of Verticillium lecanii as a microbial model of the mammalian chiral inversion of the 2-arylpropionic acids (2-APAs). Mechanistic studies in mammals have shown that inversion involves loss of the alpha-methine proton but retention of the original atoms at the beta-methyl position, and a mechanism has been proposed involving enzymatic epimerisation of acyl-CoA thioester derivatives of the substrate. Inversion of the 2-APAs by V. lecanii exhibits extensive intersubstrate variation in the presence, rate, extent, and direction of inversion, which are different from those observed in mammalian systems, possibly indicating differences in the mechanism of inversion between mammalian and microbial cells. This study involved the investigation of proton/deuterium exchange by 1H-nuclear magnetic resonance following incubation of deuterated derivatives of 2-phenylpropionic acid (2-PPA), a model compound, in cell suspensions of V. lecanii and incubation of undeuterated 2-PPA in cell suspensions containing D2O. The results indicated that the inversion of 2-PPA by V. lecanii also involved exchange of the alpha-methine proton but complete retention of the original atoms at the beta-methyl position. No kinetic deuterium isotope effect was observed, indicating that loss of the alpha-methine proton is not the rate-limiting step of the inversion process. This suggests that the observed differences between microbial and mammalian systems probably involve the stereoselective acyl-CoA thioester formation step and not the subsequent epimerisation of the resultant diastereomers.