TY - JOUR AB - Complex I is one of the major respiratory complexes, conserved from bacteria to mammals. It oxidises NADH, reduces quinone and pumps protons across the membrane, thus playing a central role in the oxidative energy metabolism. In this review we discuss our current state of understanding the structure of complex I from various species of mammals, plants, fungi, and bacteria, as well as of several complex I-related proteins. By comparing the structural evidence from these systems in different redox states and data from mutagenesis and molecular simulations, we formulate the mechanisms of electron transfer and proton pumping and explain how they are conformationally and electrostatically coupled. Finally, we discuss the structural basis of the deactivation phenomenon in mammalian complex I. AU - Kampjut, Domen AU - Sazanov, Leonid A ID - 11167 JF - Current Opinion in Structural Biology KW - Molecular Biology KW - Structural Biology SN - 0959-440X TI - Structure of respiratory complex I – An emerging blueprint for the mechanism VL - 74 ER - TY - JOUR AB - Imbalanced mitochondrial dNTP pools are known players in the pathogenesis of multiple human diseases. Here we show that, even under physiological conditions, dGTP is largely overrepresented among other dNTPs in mitochondria of mouse tissues and human cultured cells. In addition, a vast majority of mitochondrial dGTP is tightly bound to NDUFA10, an accessory subunit of complex I of the mitochondrial respiratory chain. NDUFA10 shares a deoxyribonucleoside kinase (dNK) domain with deoxyribonucleoside kinases in the nucleotide salvage pathway, though no specific function beyond stabilizing the complex I holoenzyme has been described for this subunit. We mutated the dNK domain of NDUFA10 in human HEK-293T cells while preserving complex I assembly and activity. The NDUFA10E160A/R161A shows reduced dGTP binding capacity in vitro and leads to a 50% reduction in mitochondrial dGTP content, proving that most dGTP is directly bound to the dNK domain of NDUFA10. This interaction may represent a hitherto unknown mechanism regulating mitochondrial dNTP availability and linking oxidative metabolism to DNA maintenance. AU - Molina-Granada, David AU - González-Vioque, Emiliano AU - Dibley, Marris G. AU - Cabrera-Pérez, Raquel AU - Vallbona-Garcia, Antoni AU - Torres-Torronteras, Javier AU - Sazanov, Leonid A AU - Ryan, Michael T. AU - Cámara, Yolanda AU - Martí, Ramon ID - 11551 IS - 1 JF - Communications Biology TI - Most mitochondrial dGTP is tightly bound to respiratory complex I through the NDUFA10 subunit VL - 5 ER - TY - JOUR AB - Progress in structural membrane biology has been significantly accelerated by the ongoing 'Resolution Revolution' in cryo electron microscopy (cryo-EM). In particular, structure determination by single particle analysis has evolved into the most powerful method for atomic model building of multisubunit membrane protein complexes. This has created an ever increasing demand in cryo-EM machine time, which to satisfy is in need of new and affordable cryo electron microscopes. Here, we review our experience in using the JEOL CRYO ARM 200 prototype for the structure determination by single particle analysis of three different multisubunit membrane complexes: the Thermus thermophilus V-type ATPase VO complex, the Thermosynechococcus elongatus photosystem I monomer and the flagellar motor LP-ring from Salmonella enterica. AU - Gerle, Christoph AU - Kishikawa, Jun-ichi AU - Yamaguchi, Tomoko AU - Nakanishi, Atsuko AU - Çoruh, Mehmet Orkun AU - Makino, Fumiaki AU - Miyata, Tomoko AU - Kawamoto, Akihiro AU - Yokoyama, Ken AU - Namba, Keiichi AU - Kurisu, Genji AU - Kato, Takayuki ID - 11648 IS - 5 JF - Microscopy KW - Radiology KW - Nuclear Medicine and imaging KW - Instrumentation KW - Structural Biology SN - 2050-5698 TI - Structures of multisubunit membrane complexes with the CRYO ARM 200 VL - 71 ER - TY - JOUR AB - Complex I is the first enzyme in the respiratory chain, which is responsible for energy production in mitochondria and bacteria1. Complex I couples the transfer of two electrons from NADH to quinone and the translocation of four protons across the membrane2, but the coupling mechanism remains contentious. Here we present cryo-electron microscopy structures of Escherichia coli complex I (EcCI) in different redox states, including catalytic turnover. EcCI exists mostly in the open state, in which the quinone cavity is exposed to the cytosol, allowing access for water molecules, which enable quinone movements. Unlike the mammalian paralogues3, EcCI can convert to the closed state only during turnover, showing that closed and open states are genuine turnover intermediates. The open-to-closed transition results in the tightly engulfed quinone cavity being connected to the central axis of the membrane arm, a source of substrate protons. Consistently, the proportion of the closed state increases with increasing pH. We propose a detailed but straightforward and robust mechanism comprising a ‘domino effect’ series of proton transfers and electrostatic interactions: the forward wave (‘dominoes stacking’) primes the pump, and the reverse wave (‘dominoes falling’) results in the ejection of all pumped protons from the distal subunit NuoL. This mechanism explains why protons exit exclusively from the NuoL subunit and is supported by our mutagenesis data. We contend that this is a universal coupling mechanism of complex I and related enzymes. AU - Kravchuk, Vladyslav AU - Petrova, Olga AU - Kampjut, Domen AU - Wojciechowska-Bason, Anna AU - Breese, Zara AU - Sazanov, Leonid A ID - 12138 IS - 7928 JF - Nature KW - Multidisciplinary SN - 0028-0836 TI - A universal coupling mechanism of respiratory complex I VL - 609 ER - TY - JOUR AB - The COVID−19 pandemic not only resulted in a global crisis, but also accelerated vaccine development and antibody discovery. Herein we report a synthetic humanized VHH library development pipeline for nanomolar-range affinity VHH binders to SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VoC) receptor binding domains (RBD) isolation. Trinucleotide-based randomization of CDRs by Kunkel mutagenesis with the subsequent rolling-cycle amplification resulted in more than 1011 diverse phage display library in a manageable for a single person number of electroporation reactions. We identified a number of nanomolar-range affinity VHH binders to SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VoC) receptor binding domains (RBD) by screening a novel synthetic humanized antibody library. In order to explore the most robust and fast method for affinity improvement, we performed affinity maturation by CDR1 and CDR2 shuffling and avidity engineering by multivalent trimeric VHH fusion protein construction. As a result, H7-Fc and G12x3-Fc binders were developed with the affinities in nM and pM range respectively. Importantly, these affinities are weakly influenced by most of SARS-CoV-2 VoC mutations and they retain moderate binding to BA.4\5. The plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT) resulted in IC50 = 100 ng\ml and 9.6 ng\ml for H7-Fc and G12x3-Fc antibodies, respectively, for the emerging Omicron BA.1 variant. Therefore, these VHH could expand the present landscape of SARS-CoV-2 neutralization binders with the therapeutic potential for present and future SARS-CoV-2 variants. AU - Dormeshkin, Dmitri AU - Shapira, Michail AU - Dubovik, Simon AU - Kavaleuski, Anton AU - Katsin, Mikalai AU - Migas, Alexandr AU - Meleshko, Alexander AU - Semyonov, Sergei ID - 12252 JF - Frontiers in Immunology KW - Immunology KW - Immunology and Allergy KW - COVID-19 KW - SARS-CoV-2 KW - synthetic library KW - RBD KW - neutralization nanobody KW - VHH SN - 1664-3224 TI - Isolation of an escape-resistant SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing nanobody from a novel synthetic nanobody library VL - 13 ER - TY - JOUR AB - From a simple thought to a multicellular movement AU - Amberg, Nicole AU - Stouffer, Melissa A AU - Vercellino, Irene ID - 12282 IS - 8 JF - Journal of Cell Science SN - 0021-9533 TI - Operation STEM fatale – how an equity, diversity and inclusion initiative has brought us to reflect on the current challenges in cell biology and science as a whole VL - 135 ER - TY - JOUR AB - Mica-titania pearlescent pigments (MTs) were previously coated with organic molecules to obtain combination pigments (CPs) for achieving certain improvements or functionalities. Anthocyanins (ACNs) are molecules that can be extracted from natural resources and exhibit color changes via pH modifications of the enclosing medium. The purpose of the study was to produce a new series of CPs by depositing ACNs on MTs at different pH values, to observe the changes in color, and to associate these changes to thermogravimetrically determined deposition efficiencies in light of spectral differences. The extraction and deposition methods were based on aqueous chemistry and were straightforward. The ACN deposition generally increased with increasing pH and correlated with the consistency between the charges of the MT surfaces and the dominant ACN species at a specific pH value. The fluorescence of the CPs was inversely correlated with the deposition quantities invoking the possibility of a quenching effect. AU - Çoruh, Mehmet Orkun AU - Gündüz, Güngör AU - Çolak, Üner AU - Maviş, Bora ID - 10945 IS - 2 JF - Colorants SN - 2079-6447 TI - pH-dependent coloring of combination effect pigments with anthocyanins from Brassica oleracea var. capitata F. rubra VL - 1 ER - TY - JOUR AB - Nanobodies (VHH) from camelid antibody libraries hold great promise as therapeutic agents and components of immunoassay systems. Synthetic antibody libraries that could be designed and generated once and for various applications could yield binders to virtually any targets, even for non-immunogenic or toxic ones, in a short term. One of the most difficult tasks is to obtain antibodies with a high affinity and specificity to polyglycosylated proteins. It requires antibody libraries with extremely high functional diversity and the use of sophisticated selection techniques. Here we report a development of a novel sandwich immunoassay involving a combination of the synthetic library-derived VHH-Fc fusion protein as a capture antibody and the immune single-chain fragment variable (scFv) as a tracer for the detection of pregnancy-associated glycoprotein (PAG) of cattle (Bos taurus). We succeeded in the generation of a number of specific scFv antibodies against PAG from the mouse immune library. Subsequent selection using the immobilized scFv-Fc capture antibody allowed to isolate 1.9 nM VHH binder from the diverse synthetic library without any overlapping with the capture antibody binding site. The prototype sandwich ELISA based on the synthetic VHH and the immune scFv was established. This is the first successful example of the combination of synthetic and immune antibody libraries in a single sandwich immunoassay. Thus, our approach could be used for the express isolation of antibody pairs and the development of sandwich immunoassays for challenging antigens. AU - Dormeshkin, Dmitri AU - Shapira, Michail AU - Karputs, Alena AU - Kavaleuski, Anton AU - Kuzminski, Ivan AU - Stepanova, Elena AU - Gilep, Andrei ID - 11462 JF - Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology SN - 0175-7598 TI - Combining of synthetic VHH and immune scFv libraries for pregnancy-associated glycoproteins ELISA development VL - 106 ER - TY - JOUR AB - N-1-naphthylphthalamic acid (NPA) is a key inhibitor of directional (polar) transport of the hormone auxin in plants. For decades, it has been a pivotal tool in elucidating the unique polar auxin transport-based processes underlying plant growth and development. Its exact mode of action has long been sought after and is still being debated, with prevailing mechanistic schemes describing only indirect connections between NPA and the main transporters responsible for directional transport, namely PIN auxin exporters. Here we present data supporting a model in which NPA associates with PINs in a more direct manner than hitherto postulated. We show that NPA inhibits PIN activity in a heterologous oocyte system and that expression of NPA-sensitive PINs in plant, yeast, and oocyte membranes leads to specific saturable NPA binding. We thus propose that PINs are a bona fide NPA target. This offers a straightforward molecular basis for NPA inhibition of PIN-dependent auxin transport and a logical parsimonious explanation for the known physiological effects of NPA on plant growth, as well as an alternative hypothesis to interpret past and future results. We also introduce PIN dimerization and describe an effect of NPA on this, suggesting that NPA binding could be exploited to gain insights into structural aspects of PINs related to their transport mechanism. AU - Abas, Lindy AU - Kolb, Martina AU - Stadlmann, Johannes AU - Janacek, Dorina P. AU - Lukic, Kristina AU - Schwechheimer, Claus AU - Sazanov, Leonid A AU - Mach, Lukas AU - Friml, Jiří AU - Hammes, Ulrich Z. ID - 8993 IS - 1 JF - PNAS SN - 00278424 TI - Naphthylphthalamic acid associates with and inhibits PIN auxin transporters VL - 118 ER - TY - JOUR AB - Cryo-EM grid preparation is an important bottleneck in protein structure determination, especially for membrane proteins, typically requiring screening of a large number of conditions. We systematically investigated the effects of buffer components, blotting conditions and grid types on the outcome of grid preparation of five different membrane protein samples. Aggregation was the most common type of problem which was addressed by changing detergents, salt concentration or reconstitution of proteins into nanodiscs or amphipols. We show that the optimal concentration of detergent is between 0.05 and 0.4% and that the presence of a low concentration of detergent with a high critical micellar concentration protects the proteins from denaturation at the air-water interface. Furthermore, we discuss the strategies for achieving an adequate ice thickness, particle coverage and orientation distribution on free ice and on support films. Our findings provide a clear roadmap for comprehensive screening of conditions for cryo-EM grid preparation of membrane proteins. AU - Kampjut, Domen AU - Steiner, Julia AU - Sazanov, Leonid A ID - 9205 IS - 3 JF - iScience TI - Cryo-EM grid optimization for membrane proteins VL - 24 ER -