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abstracts
Helicobacter pylori infection causes a variety of gastrointestinal diseases including peptic ulcers and gastric cancer. The colonization of this bacterium in the gastric mucosa is required for the survival in the stomach. Its colonization of the gastric mucosa of human stomach depends on its motility, which is facilitated by the helical cell shape. In H. pylori, crosslinking relaxation or trimming of peptidoglycan muropeptide affects the helical shape. Among several cell shape-determining peptidoglycan hydrolases identified in H. pylori, Csd4 is a Zn2+-dependent D,L-carboxypeptidase that cleaves the bond between the γ-D-Glu and mDAP bond of the uncrosslinked tripeptide of peptidoglycan (L-Ala-γ-D-Glu-mDAP) to produce L-Ala-γ-D-Glu dipeptide and mDAP, promoting the helical cell shape. Inhibition of D,L-carboxypeptidase activity of Csd4 may represent a novel therapeutic approach. We report here the crystal structures of H. pylori Csd4 in three different states: the ligand-free form, the substrate-bound form, and the product-bound form. H. pylori Csd4 consists of three domains: an N-terminal D,L-carboxypeptidase domain, a novel β-barrel domain, and a C-terminal immunoglobulin-like domain. Our ligand-bound structures provide structural basis of peptidoglycan recognition by D,L-carboxypeptidase. H. pylori Csd4 recognizes primarily the terminal mDAP of the tripeptide substrate and undergoes a significant structural change upon binding either mDAP or mDAP-containing tripeptide.
abstracts
Human cytosolic aspartyl-tRNA synthetase (DRS) catalyzes the attachment of the amino acid aspartic acid to its cognate tRNA and it is a component of the multi-tRNA synthetase complex (MSC) which has been known to be involved in unexpected signaling pathways. Here, we report the crystal structure of DRS at 2.25 Å resolution. DRS is a homodimer with a dimer interface 3,750.5 Å2 which comprises of 16.6% of the monomeric surface area. Our structure reveals the C-terminal end of the N-helix which is considered as a unique addition in DRS, and its conformation further supports the switching model of the N-helix for the transfer of tRNAAsp to elongation factor 1α. From our analyses of the crystal structure and post-translational modification of DRS, we suggest that the phosphorylation of Ser146 provokes the separation of DRS from the MSC and provides the binding site for an interaction partner with unforeseen functions.
