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Highlights of Coronavirus Structural Studies

28 Aug 2020

Potent neutralizing antibodies against multiple epitopes on SARS-CoV-2 spike (Nature)

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic continues, with devasting consequences for human lives and the global economy. The discovery and development of virus-neutralizing monoclonal antibodies could be one approach to treat or prevent infection by this coronavirus. Here Huang, Y.X., Shapiro, L., and Ho, D.D. et.al. report the isolation of sixty-one SARS-CoV-2-neutralizing monoclonal antibodies from five patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 and admitted to hospital with severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).Among these are nineteen antibodies that potently neutralized authentic SARS-CoV-2in vitro, nine of which exhibited very high potency, with 50% virus-inhibitory concentrations of 0.7 to 9 ng ml(-1). Epitope mapping showed that this collection of nineteen antibodies was about equally divided between those directed against the receptor-binding domain (RBD) and those directed against the N-terminal domain (NTD), indicating that both of these regions at the top of the viral spike are immunogenic. In addition, two other powerful neutralizing antibodies recognized quaternary epitopes that overlap with the domains at the top of the spike. Cryo-electron microscopy reconstructions of one antibody that targets the RBD, a second that targets the NTD, and a third that bridges two separate RBDs showed that the antibodies recognize the closed, 'all RBD-down' conformation of the spike. Several of these monoclonal antibodies are promising candidates for clinical development as potential therapeutic and/or prophylactic agents against SARS-CoV-2. 

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Reader's Corner Archive

13 Jul 2020

Structural basis of the activation of a metabotropic GABA receptor

Metabotropic gamma-aminobutyric acid receptors (GABA(B)) are involved in the modulation of synaptic responses in the central nervous system and have been implicated in neuropsychological conditions that range from addiction to psychosis. GABA(B)belongs to class C of the G-protein-coupled receptors, and its functional entity comprises an obligate heterodimer that is composed of the GB1 and GB2 subunits. Each subunit possesses an extracellular Venus flytrap domain, which is connected to a canonical seven-transmembrane domain. In the Nature paper Gati and Cherezov et.al. present four cryo-electron microscopy structures of the human full-length GB1-GB2 heterodimer: one structure of its inactive apo state, two intermediate agonist-bound forms and an active form in which the heterodimer is bound to an agonist and a positive allosteric modulator. The structures reveal substantial differences, which shed light on the complex motions that underlie the unique activation mechanism of GABA(B). Their results show that agonist binding leads to the closure of the Venus flytrap domain of GB1, triggering a series of transitions, first rearranging and bringing the two transmembrane domains into close contact along transmembrane helix 6 and ultimately inducing conformational rearrangements in the GB2 transmembrane domain via a lever-like mechanism to initiate downstream signalling. This active state is stabilized by a positive allosteric modulator binding at the transmembrane dimerization interface. 

13 Jul 2020

Structural basis of DNA targeting by a transposon-encoded CRISPR-Cas system

Bacteria use adaptive immune systems encoded by CRISPR and Cas genes to maintain genomic integrity when challenged by pathogens and mobile genetic elements. Type I CRISPR–Cas systems typically target foreign DNA for degradation via joint action of the ribonucleoprotein complex Cascade and the helicase–nuclease Cas, but nuclease-deficient type I systems lacking Cas3 have been repurposed for RNA-guided transposition by bacterial Tn7-like transposons. How CRISPR- and transposon-associated machineries collaborate during DNA targeting and insertion remains unknown. In the recent Nature publication Sternberg and Fernandez et al. describe structures of a TniQ–Cascade complex encoded by the Vibrio cholerae Tn6677 transposon using cryo-electron microscopy, revealing the mechanistic basis of this functional coupling. The cryo-electron microscopy maps enabled de novo modelling and refinement of the transposition protein TniQ, which binds to the Cascade complex as a dimer in a head-to-tail configuration, at the interface formed by Cas6 and Cas7 near the 3′ end of the CRISPR RNA (crRNA). The natural Cas8–Cas5 fusion protein binds the 5′ crRNA handle and contacts the TniQ dimer via a flexible insertion domain. A target DNA-bound structure reveals critical interactions necessary for protospacer-adjacent motif recognition and R-loop formation. This work lays the foundation for a structural understanding of how DNA targeting by TniQ–Cascade leads to downstream recruitment of additional transposase proteins, and will guide protein engineering efforts to leverage this system for programmable DNA insertions in genome-engineering applications.

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