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At least 541 records · Page 30

Crystal structure of a putative 3-hydroxypimelyl-CoA dehydrogenase, Hcd1, from Syntrophus aciditrophicus strain SB at 1.78 Å resolution

Syntrophus aciditrophicus strain SB is a model syntroph that degrades benzoate and alicyclic acids. Here, the structure of a putative 3-hydroxypimelyl-CoA dehydrogenase from S. aciditrophicus strain SB (SaHcd1) was resolved at 1.78 Å resolution. SaHcd1 contains sequence motifs and structural features that belong to the short-chain dehydrogenase/reductase (SDR) family of NADPH-dependent oxidoreductases. SaHcd1 is proposed to concomitantly reduce NAD + or NADP + to NADH or NADPH, respectively, while converting 3-hydroxypimelyl-CoA to 3-oxopimeyl-CoA. Further enzymatic studies are needed to confirm the function of SaHcd1.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Crystal structure of a trigonal polymorph of aquadioxidobis(pentane-2,4-dionato-κ 2 O , O ′)uranium(VI)

The title compound, [UO 2 (acac) 2 (H 2 O)] consists of a uranyl(VI) unit ([O=U=O] 2+ ) coordinated to two monoanionic acetylacetonate (acac, C 5 H 7 O 2 ) ligands and one water molecule. The asymmetric unit includes a one-half of a uranium atom, one oxido ion, one-half of a water molecule and one acac ligand. The coordination about the uranium atom is distorted pentagonal–bipyramidal. The acac ligands and O w atom comprise the equatorial plane, while the uranyl O atoms occupy the axial positions. Intermolecular hydrogen bonding between complexes results in the formation of two-dimensional hexagonal void channels along the c- axis direction with a diameter of 6.7 Å. The monoclinic ( P 2 1 / c space group) polymorph was reported by Alcock & Flanders [(1987). Acta Cryst. C 43 , 1480–1483].

Hernandez, Alejandro↗

Crystal structures of metallocene complexes with uranium–germanium bonds

The first structural examples of complexes with uranium–germanium bonds are presented, namely, bis[3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl-2κ C 1 ](hydrido-2κ H )(iodido-1κ I )bis[1,1(η 5 )-pentamethylcyclopentadienyl]germaniumuranium( Ge — U ), [GeU(C 10 H 15 ) 2 (C 8 H 3 F 6 ) 2 HI], and bis[3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl-2κ C 1 ](fluorido-1κ I )(hydrido-2κ H )bis[1,1(η 5 )-pentamethylcyclopentadienyl]germaniumuranium( Ge — U ), [GeU(C 10 H 15 ) 2 (C 8 H 3 F 6 ) 2 FH]. The two complexes both have a long U—Ge bond [distances of 3.0428 (7) and 3.0524 (7) Å].

Tarlton, Michael L.↗

Accelerating crystal structure determination with iterative AlphaFold prediction

Experimental structure determination can be accelerated with artificial intelligence (AI)-based structure-prediction methods such as AlphaFold . Here, an automatic procedure requiring only sequence information and crystallographic data is presented that uses AlphaFold predictions to produce an electron-density map and a structural model. Iterating through cycles of structure prediction is a key element of this procedure: a predicted model rebuilt in one cycle is used as a template for prediction in the next cycle. This procedure was applied to X-ray data for 215 structures released by the Protein Data Bank in a recent six-month period. In 87% of cases our procedure yielded a model with at least 50% of C α atoms matching those in the deposited models within 2 Å. Predictions from the iterative template-guided prediction procedure were more accurate than those obtained without templates. It is concluded that AlphaFold predictions obtained based on sequence information alone are usually accurate enough to solve the crystallographic phase problem with molecular replacement, and a general strategy for macromolecular structure determination that includes AI-based prediction both as a starting point and as a method of model optimization is suggested.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Crystal structures of 40- and 71-substitution variants of hydroxynitrile lyase from rubber tree

Hydroxynitrile lyase fromHevea brasiliensis(HbHNL) and the esterase SABP2 fromNicotiana tabacumshare the α/β-hydrolase fold, a Ser–His–Asp catalytic triad and 44% sequence identity, yet catalyze different reactions. Prior studies showed that three active-site substitutions inHbHNL conferred weak esterase activity. To investigate how regions beyond the active site influence catalytic efficiency and active-site geometry, we engineeredHbHNL variants with increasing numbers of substitutions to match SABP2. Variant HNL16 has all amino acids within 6.5 Å of the active site identical to SABP2, HNL40 those within 10 Å and HNL71 those within 14 Å. HNL16 exhibited poor esterase activity, whereas both HNL40 and HNL71 showed efficient esterase catalysis, demonstrating that residues beyond the immediate active site are critical for functional conversion. X-ray structures of HNL40 and HNL71 reveal a progressive shift in backbone positions toward those of SABP2, with r.m.s.d. values of 0.51 Å (HNL40) and 0.41 Å (HNL71) over the C α atoms, and even smaller r.m.s.d.s within the active-site region. Both HNL40 and HNL71 show a restored oxyanion hole and an additional tunnel connecting the active site to the protein surface. This work demonstrates the essential role of distant, indirectly acting residues to catalysis in α/β-hydrolase enzymes.

Biochemistry & Molecular Biology↗