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  1. Article ; Online: Finding priority bacterial ribosomes for future structural and antimicrobial research based upon global RNA and protein sequence analysis

    Helena B. Cooper / Kurt L. Krause / Paul P. Gardner

    PeerJ, Vol 11, p e

    2023  Volume 14969

    Abstract: Ribosome-targeting antibiotics comprise over half of antibiotics used in medicine, but our fundamental knowledge of their binding sites is derived primarily from ribosome structures of non-pathogenic species. These include Thermus thermophilus, ... ...

    Abstract Ribosome-targeting antibiotics comprise over half of antibiotics used in medicine, but our fundamental knowledge of their binding sites is derived primarily from ribosome structures of non-pathogenic species. These include Thermus thermophilus, Deinococcus radiodurans and the archaean Haloarcula marismortui, as well as the commensal and sometimes pathogenic organism, Escherichia coli. Advancements in electron cryomicroscopy have allowed for the determination of more ribosome structures from pathogenic bacteria, with each study highlighting species-specific differences that had not been observed in the non-pathogenic structures. These observed differences suggest that more novel ribosome structures, particularly from pathogens, are required for a more accurate understanding of the level of diversity of the entire bacterial ribosome, with the potential of leading to innovative advancements in antibiotic research. In this study, high accuracy covariance and hidden Markov models were used to annotate ribosomal RNA and protein sequences respectively from genomic sequence, allowing us to determine the underlying ribosomal sequence diversity using phylogenetic methods. This analysis provided evidence that the current non-pathogenic ribosome structures are not sufficient representatives of some pathogenic bacteria, such as Campylobacter pylori, or of whole phyla such as Bacteroidota (Bacteroidetes).
    Keywords Ribosomes ; Structure ; Homology ; Antibiotic resistance ; Evolution ; Phylogeny ; Medicine ; R ; Biology (General) ; QH301-705.5
    Subject code 540
    Language English
    Publishing date 2023-03-01T00:00:00Z
    Publisher PeerJ Inc.
    Document type Article ; Online
    Database BASE - Bielefeld Academic Search Engine (life sciences selection)

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  2. Article ; Online: Optimisation of Neuraminidase Expression for Use in Drug Discovery by Using HEK293-6E Cells

    Ashley C. Campbell / John J. Tanner / Kurt L. Krause

    Viruses, Vol 13, Iss 1893, p

    2021  Volume 1893

    Abstract: Influenza virus is a highly contagious virus that causes significant human mortality and morbidity annually. The most effective drugs for treating influenza are the neuraminidase inhibitors, but resistance to these inhibitors has emerged, and additional ... ...

    Abstract Influenza virus is a highly contagious virus that causes significant human mortality and morbidity annually. The most effective drugs for treating influenza are the neuraminidase inhibitors, but resistance to these inhibitors has emerged, and additional drug discovery research on neuraminidase and other targets is needed. Traditional methods of neuraminidase production from embryonated eggs are cumbersome, while insect cell derived protein is less reflective of neuraminidase produced during human infection. Herein we describe a method for producing neuraminidase from a human cell line, HEK293-6E, and demonstrate the method by producing the neuraminidase from the 1918 H1N1 pandemic influenza strain. This method produced high levels of soluble neuraminidase expression (>3000 EU/mL), was enhanced by including a secretion signal from a viral chemokine binding protein, and does not require co-expression of additional proteins. The neuraminidase produced was of sufficient quantity and purity to support high resolution crystal structure determination. The structure solved using this protein conformed to the previously reported structure. Notably the glycosylation at three asparagine residues was superior in quality to that from insect cell derived neuraminidase. This method of production of neuraminidase should prove useful in further studies, such as the characterisation of inhibitor binding.
    Keywords neuraminidase ; structural biology ; eukaryotic protein expression ; influenza ; protein purification ; transient transfection ; Microbiology ; QR1-502
    Subject code 572
    Language English
    Publishing date 2021-09-01T00:00:00Z
    Publisher MDPI AG
    Document type Article ; Online
    Database BASE - Bielefeld Academic Search Engine (life sciences selection)

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  3. Article ; Online: New Zealand glowworm (Arachnocampa luminosa) bioluminescence is produced by a firefly-like luciferase but an entirely new luciferin

    Oliver C. Watkins / Miriam L. Sharpe / Nigel B. Perry / Kurt L. Krause

    Scientific Reports, Vol 8, Iss 1, Pp 1-

    2018  Volume 15

    Abstract: Abstract The New Zealand glowworm, Arachnocampa luminosa, is well-known for displays of blue-green bioluminescence, but details of its bioluminescent chemistry have been elusive. The glowworm is evolutionarily distant from other bioluminescent creatures ... ...

    Abstract Abstract The New Zealand glowworm, Arachnocampa luminosa, is well-known for displays of blue-green bioluminescence, but details of its bioluminescent chemistry have been elusive. The glowworm is evolutionarily distant from other bioluminescent creatures studied in detail, including the firefly. We have isolated and characterised the molecular components of the glowworm luciferase-luciferin system using chromatography, mass spectrometry and 1H NMR spectroscopy. The purified luciferase enzyme is in the same protein family as firefly luciferase (31% sequence identity). However, the luciferin substrate of this enzyme is produced from xanthurenic acid and tyrosine, and is entirely different to that of the firefly and known luciferins of other glowing creatures. A candidate luciferin structure is proposed, which needs to be confirmed by chemical synthesis and bioluminescence assays. These findings show that luciferases can evolve independently from the same family of enzymes to produce light using structurally different luciferins.
    Keywords Medicine ; R ; Science ; Q
    Subject code 540
    Language English
    Publishing date 2018-02-01T00:00:00Z
    Publisher Nature Portfolio
    Document type Article ; Online
    Database BASE - Bielefeld Academic Search Engine (life sciences selection)

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  4. Article ; Online: The cryo-EM structure of the bd oxidase from M. tuberculosis reveals a unique structural framework and enables rational drug design to combat TB

    Schara Safarian / Helen K. Opel-Reading / Di Wu / Ahmad R. Mehdipour / Kiel Hards / Liam K. Harold / Melanie Radloff / Ian Stewart / Sonja Welsch / Gerhard Hummer / Gregory M. Cook / Kurt L. Krause / Hartmut Michel

    Nature Communications, Vol 12, Iss 1, Pp 1-

    2021  Volume 10

    Abstract: M. tuberculosis cytochrome bd oxidase is of interest as a TB drug target. Here, the authors present the 2.5 Å cryo-EM structure of M. tuberculosis cytochrome bd oxidase and identify a disulfide bond within the canonical quinol binding and oxidation ... ...

    Abstract M. tuberculosis cytochrome bd oxidase is of interest as a TB drug target. Here, the authors present the 2.5 Å cryo-EM structure of M. tuberculosis cytochrome bd oxidase and identify a disulfide bond within the canonical quinol binding and oxidation domain (Q-loop) and a menaquinone-9 binding site at heme b 595.
    Keywords Science ; Q
    Language English
    Publishing date 2021-09-01T00:00:00Z
    Publisher Nature Portfolio
    Document type Article ; Online
    Database BASE - Bielefeld Academic Search Engine (life sciences selection)

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  5. Article ; Online: Cryo-electron microscopy structure of the 70S ribosome from Enterococcus faecalis

    Eileen L. Murphy / Kavindra V. Singh / Bryant Avila / Torsten Kleffmann / Steven T. Gregory / Barbara E. Murray / Kurt L. Krause / Reza Khayat / Gerwald Jogl

    Scientific Reports, Vol 10, Iss 1, Pp 1-

    2020  Volume 11

    Abstract: Abstract Enterococcus faecalis is a gram-positive organism responsible for serious infections in humans, but as with many bacterial pathogens, resistance has rendered a number of commonly used antibiotics ineffective. Here, we report the cryo-EM ... ...

    Abstract Abstract Enterococcus faecalis is a gram-positive organism responsible for serious infections in humans, but as with many bacterial pathogens, resistance has rendered a number of commonly used antibiotics ineffective. Here, we report the cryo-EM structure of the E. faecalis 70S ribosome to a global resolution of 2.8 Å. Structural differences are clustered in peripheral and solvent exposed regions when compared with Escherichia coli, whereas functional centres, including antibiotic binding sites, are similar to other bacterial ribosomes. Comparison of intersubunit conformations among five classes obtained after three-dimensional classification identifies several rotated states. Large ribosomal subunit protein bL31, which forms intersubunit bridges to the small ribosomal subunit, assumes different conformations in the five classes, revealing how contacts to the small subunit are maintained throughout intersubunit rotation. A tRNA observed in one of the five classes is positioned in a chimeric pe/E position in a rotated ribosomal state. The 70S ribosome structure of E. faecalis now extends our knowledge of bacterial ribosome structures and may serve as a basis for the development of novel antibiotic compounds effective against this pathogen.
    Keywords Medicine ; R ; Science ; Q
    Subject code 500
    Language English
    Publishing date 2020-10-01T00:00:00Z
    Publisher Nature Publishing Group
    Document type Article ; Online
    Database BASE - Bielefeld Academic Search Engine (life sciences selection)

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  6. Article ; Online: Deriving Immune Modulating Drugs from Viruses—A New Class of Biologics

    Jordan R. Yaron / Liqiang Zhang / Qiuyun Guo / Michelle Burgin / Lauren N. Schutz / Enkidia Awo / Lyn Wise / Kurt L. Krause / Cristhian J. Ildefonso / Jacek M. Kwiecien / Michael Juby / Masmudur M. Rahman / Hao Chen / Richard W. Moyer / Antonio Alcami / Grant McFadden / Alexandra R. Lucas

    Journal of Clinical Medicine, Vol 9, Iss 972, p

    2020  Volume 972

    Abstract: Viruses are widely used as a platform for the production of therapeutics. Vaccines containing live, dead and components of viruses, gene therapy vectors and oncolytic viruses are key examples of clinically-approved therapeutic uses for viruses. Despite ... ...

    Abstract Viruses are widely used as a platform for the production of therapeutics. Vaccines containing live, dead and components of viruses, gene therapy vectors and oncolytic viruses are key examples of clinically-approved therapeutic uses for viruses. Despite this, the use of virus-derived proteins as natural sources for immune modulators remains in the early stages of development. Viruses have evolved complex, highly effective approaches for immune evasion. Originally developed for protection against host immune responses, viral immune-modulating proteins are extraordinarily potent, often functioning at picomolar concentrations. These complex viral intracellular parasites have “performed the R&D”, developing highly effective immune evasive strategies over millions of years. These proteins provide a new and natural source for immune-modulating therapeutics, similar in many ways to penicillin being developed from mold or streptokinase from bacteria. Virus-derived serine proteinase inhibitors (serpins), chemokine modulating proteins, complement control, inflammasome inhibition, growth factors (e.g., viral vascular endothelial growth factor) and cytokine mimics (e.g., viral interleukin 10) and/or inhibitors (e.g., tumor necrosis factor) have now been identified that target central immunological response pathways. We review here current development of virus-derived immune-modulating biologics with efficacy demonstrated in pre-clinical or clinical studies, focusing on pox and herpesviruses-derived immune-modulating therapeutics.
    Keywords virus ; immune modulation ; protein ; serpin ; chemokine binding protein ; chemokine ; Medicine ; R
    Language English
    Publishing date 2020-03-01T00:00:00Z
    Publisher MDPI AG
    Document type Article ; Online
    Database BASE - Bielefeld Academic Search Engine (life sciences selection)

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  7. Article ; Online: Inherent structural disorder and dimerisation of murine norovirus NS1-2 protein.

    Estelle S Baker / Sylvia R Luckner / Kurt L Krause / Paul R Lambden / Ian N Clarke / Vernon K Ward

    PLoS ONE, Vol 7, Iss 2, p e

    2012  Volume 30534

    Abstract: Human noroviruses are highly infectious viruses that cause the majority of acute, non-bacterial epidemic gastroenteritis cases worldwide. The first open reading frame of the norovirus RNA genome encodes for a polyprotein that is cleaved by the viral ... ...

    Abstract Human noroviruses are highly infectious viruses that cause the majority of acute, non-bacterial epidemic gastroenteritis cases worldwide. The first open reading frame of the norovirus RNA genome encodes for a polyprotein that is cleaved by the viral protease into six non-structural proteins. The first non-structural protein, NS1-2, lacks any significant sequence similarity to other viral or cellular proteins and limited information is available about the function and biophysical characteristics of this protein. Bioinformatic analyses identified an inherently disordered region (residues 1-142) in the highly divergent N-terminal region of the norovirus NS1-2 protein. Expression and purification of the NS1-2 protein of Murine norovirus confirmed these predictions by identifying several features typical of an inherently disordered protein. These were a biased amino acid composition with enrichment in the disorder promoting residues serine and proline, a lack of predicted secondary structure, a hydrophilic nature, an aberrant electrophoretic migration, an increased Stokes radius similar to that predicted for a protein from the pre-molten globule family, a high sensitivity to thermolysin proteolysis and a circular dichroism spectrum typical of an inherently disordered protein. The purification of the NS1-2 protein also identified the presence of an NS1-2 dimer in Escherichia coli and transfected HEK293T cells. Inherent disorder provides significant advantages including structural flexibility and the ability to bind to numerous targets allowing a single protein to have multiple functions. These advantages combined with the potential functional advantages of multimerisation suggest a multi-functional role for the NS1-2 protein.
    Keywords Medicine ; R ; Science ; Q
    Subject code 612 ; 572
    Language English
    Publishing date 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z
    Publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
    Document type Article ; Online
    Database BASE - Bielefeld Academic Search Engine (life sciences selection)

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  8. Article ; Online: New classes of alanine racemase inhibitors identified by high-throughput screening show antimicrobial activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

    Karen G Anthony / Ulrich Strych / Kacheong R Yeung / Carolyn S Shoen / Oriana Perez / Kurt L Krause / Michael H Cynamon / Paul A Aristoff / Raymond A Koski

    PLoS ONE, Vol 6, Iss 5, p e

    2011  Volume 20374

    Abstract: In an effort to discover new drugs to treat tuberculosis (TB) we chose alanine racemase as the target of our drug discovery efforts. In Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of TB, alanine racemase plays an essential role in cell wall synthesis ...

    Abstract In an effort to discover new drugs to treat tuberculosis (TB) we chose alanine racemase as the target of our drug discovery efforts. In Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of TB, alanine racemase plays an essential role in cell wall synthesis as it racemizes L-alanine into D-alanine, a key building block in the biosynthesis of peptidoglycan. Good antimicrobial effects have been achieved by inhibition of this enzyme with suicide substrates, but the clinical utility of this class of inhibitors is limited due to their lack of target specificity and toxicity. Therefore, inhibitors that are not substrate analogs and that act through different mechanisms of enzyme inhibition are necessary for therapeutic development for this drug target.To obtain non-substrate alanine racemase inhibitors, we developed a high-throughput screening platform and screened 53,000 small molecule compounds for enzyme-specific inhibitors. We examined the 'hits' for structural novelty, antimicrobial activity against M. tuberculosis, general cellular cytotoxicity, and mechanism of enzyme inhibition. We identified seventeen novel non-substrate alanine racemase inhibitors that are structurally different than any currently known enzyme inhibitors. Seven of these are active against M. tuberculosis and minimally cytotoxic against mammalian cells.This study highlights the feasibility of obtaining novel alanine racemase inhibitor lead compounds by high-throughput screening for development of new anti-TB agents.
    Keywords Medicine ; R ; Science ; Q
    Language English
    Publishing date 2011-01-01T00:00:00Z
    Publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
    Document type Article ; Online
    Database BASE - Bielefeld Academic Search Engine (life sciences selection)

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