Publications by Year: 2021

2021
Katherine J. Susa, Shaun Rawson, Andrew C. Kruse, and Stephen C. Blacklow. 1/15/2021. “Cryo-EM structure of the B cell co-receptor CD19 bound to the tetraspanin CD81.” Science, 371, 6526, Pp. 300–305. Publisher's VersionAbstract
A core component of the immune system are B cells, which are activated by infection and then mature to provide long-lived immunity. Activation is initiated when a cell surface B cell receptor, in association with its coreceptor, recognizes an antigen. Susa et al. report a structure of the B cell receptor CD81 in complex with its co receptor, CD19. CD81 alone binds to cholesterol, but the conformational changes associated with binding to CD19 occlude the cholesterol-binding pocket. Regulating cholesterol binding could play a role in the activation mechanism. The structure also provides a basis for the design of immunotherapies.Science, this issue p. 300Signaling through the CD19-CD81 co-receptor complex, in combination with the B cell receptor, is a critical determinant of B cell development and activation. It is unknown how CD81 engages CD19 to enable co-receptor function. Here, we report a 3.8-angstrom structure of the CD19-CD81 complex bound to a therapeutic antigen-binding fragment, determined by cryo–electron microscopy (cryo-EM). The structure includes both the extracellular domains and the transmembrane helices of the complex, revealing a contact interface between the ectodomains that drives complex formation. Upon binding to CD19, CD81 opens its ectodomain to expose a hydrophobic CD19-binding surface and reorganizes its transmembrane helices to occlude a cholesterol binding pocket present in the apoprotein. Our data reveal the structural basis for CD19-CD81 complex assembly, providing a foundation for rational design of therapies for B cell dysfunction.
Tobias Herrmann, Raúl Torres, Eric N. Salgado, Cristina Berciu, Daniel Stoddard, Daniela Nicastro, Simon Jenni, and Stephen C. Harrison. 1/13/2021. “Functional refolding of the penetration protein on a non-enveloped virus.” Nature, 590, 7847, Pp. 666-670. Publisher's VersionAbstract
A non-enveloped virus requires a membrane lesion to deliver its genome into a target cell1. For rotaviruses, membrane perforation is a principal function of the viral outer-layer protein, VP42,3. Here we describe the use of electron cryomicroscopy to determine how VP4 performs this function and show that when activated by cleavage to VP8* and VP5*, VP4 can rearrange on the virion surface from an `upright' to a `reversed' conformation. The reversed structure projects a previously buried `foot' domain outwards into the membrane of the host cell to which the virion has attached. Electron cryotomograms of virus particles entering cells are consistent with this picture. Using a disulfide mutant of VP4, we have also stabilized a probable intermediate in the transition between the two conformations. Our results define molecular mechanisms for the first steps of the penetration of rotaviruses into the membranes of target cells and suggest similarities with mechanisms postulated for other viruses.
Tianshu Xiao, Jianming Lu, Jun Zhang, Rebecca I. Johnson, Lindsay G. A. McKay, Nadia Storm, Christy L. Lavine, Hanqin Peng, Yongfei Cai, Sophia Rits-Volloch, Shen Lu, Brian D. Quinlan, Michael Farzan, Michael S. Seaman, Anthony Griffiths, and Bing Chen. 1/11/2021. “A trimeric human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 as an anti-SARS-CoV-2 agent.” Nature Structural & Molecular Biology. Publisher's VersionAbstract
Effective intervention strategies are urgently needed to control the COVID-19 pandemic. Human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is a membrane-bound carboxypeptidase that forms a dimer and serves as the cellular receptor for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). ACE2 is also a key negative regulator of the renin–angiotensin system that modulates vascular functions. We report here the properties of a trimeric ACE2 ectodomain variant, engineered using a structure-based approach. The trimeric ACE2 variant has a binding affinity of \textasciitilde60þinspace}pM for the spike protein of SARS‑CoV‑2 (compared with 77þinspace}nM for monomeric ACE2 and 12–22þinspace}nM for dimeric ACE2 constructs), and its peptidase activity and the ability to block activation of angiotensin II receptor type 1 in the renin–angiotensin system are preserved. Moreover, the engineered ACE2 potently inhibits SARS‑CoV‑2 infection in cell culture. These results suggest that engineered, trimeric ACE2 may be a promising anti-SARS-CoV-2 agent for treating COVID-19.
L. Robert Hollingsworth, Liron David, Yang Li, Andrew R. Griswold, Jianbin Ruan, Humayun Sharif, Pietro Fontana, Elizabeth L. Orth-He, Tian-Min Fu, Daniel A. Bachovchin, and Hao Wu. 1/8/2021. “Mechanism of filament formation in UPA-promoted CARD8 and NLRP1 inflammasomes.” Nature Communications, 12, 1, Pp. 189. Publisher's VersionAbstract
NLRP1 and CARD8 are related cytosolic sensors that upon activation form supramolecular signalling complexes known as canonical inflammasomes, resulting in caspase−1 activation, cytokine maturation and/or pyroptotic cell death. NLRP1 and CARD8 use their C-terminal (CT) fragments containing a caspase recruitment domain (CARD) and the UPA (conserved in UNC5, PIDD, and ankyrins) subdomain for self-oligomerization, which in turn form the platform to recruit the inflammasome adaptor ASC (apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a CARD) or caspase-1, respectively. Here, we report cryo-EM structures of NLRP1-CT and CARD8-CT assemblies, in which the respective CARDs form central helical filaments that are promoted by oligomerized, but flexibly linked, UPAs surrounding the filaments. Through biochemical and cellular approaches, we demonstrate that the UPA itself reduces the threshold needed for NLRP1-CT and CARD8-CT filament formation and signalling. Structural analyses provide insights on the mode of ASC recruitment by NLRP1-CT and the contrasting direct recruitment of caspase-1 by CARD8-CT. We also discover that subunits in the central NLRP1CARD filament dimerize with additional exterior CARDs, which roughly doubles its thickness and is unique among all known CARD filaments. Finally, we engineer and determine the structure of an ASCCARD–caspase-1CARD octamer, which suggests that ASC uses opposing surfaces for NLRP1, versus caspase-1, recruitment. Together these structures capture the architecture and specificity of the active NLRP1 and CARD8 inflammasomes in addition to key heteromeric CARD-CARD interactions governing inflammasome signalling.

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