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Ubiquitin activity-based probes have proven invaluable in elucidating structural mechanisms in the ubiquitin system by stabilizing transient macromolecular complexes of deubiquitinases, ubiquitin-activating enzymes, and the assemblies of ubiquitin-conjugating enzymes with ubiquitin ligases of the RING-Between-RING and RING-Cysteine-Relay families. Here, we demonstrate that an activity-based probe, ubiquitin-propargylamine, allows for the preparative reconstitution and structural analysis of the interactions between ubiquitin and certain HECT ligases. We present a crystal structure of the ubiquitin-linked HECT domain of HUWE1 that defines a catalytically critical conformation of the C-terminal tail of the ligase for the transfer of ubiquitin to an acceptor protein. Moreover, we observe that ubiquitin-propargylamine displays selectivity among HECT domains, thus corroborating the notion that activity-based probes may provide entry points for the development of specific, active site-directed inhibitors and reporters of HECT ligase activities.

This article investigates a theoretical tension in cultural models theory between their sharedness and their origin in social and culturally mediated experiences. To address this tension empirically, this article presents a mixed-methods analysis of the shared understanding of a typology of emotion in Chuuk Lagoon. Based on a review of contemporary theory, one would expect that while people in Chuuk would have distinct cultural models for specific culturally meaningful paradigmatic emotions, the shared model for the entire typology of emotion would be structured by two universal dimensions of core affect (arousal and hedonic quality). But this theoretical literature ignores the importance of an intersubjective dimension of prereflective experience. This dimension may be culturally muted in industrial, educated, and rich contexts where most prior research has been conducted but culturally emphasized in places like Chuuk. The mixed-methods analysis finds that an intersubjective dimension along with a hedonic quality dimension structures the shared model of a typology for affect and emotion in Chuuk, while the arousal dimension found elsewhere is muted. Thus, shared models of affect and emotion are cultural models both in terms of specific, culturally elaborated emotions and in terms of the cultural emphasis given to underlying affective and intersubjective dimensions.

Metalloproteins comprise over one-third of proteins, with approximately half of all enzymes requiring metal to function. Accurate identification of these metal atoms and their environment is a prerequisite to understanding biological mechanism. Using ion beam analysis through particle induced X-ray emission (PIXE), we have quantitatively identified the metal atoms in 30 previously structurally characterized proteins using minimal sample volume and a high-throughput approach. Over half of these metals had been misidentified in the deposited structural models. Some of the PIXE detected metals not seen in the models were explainable as artifacts from promiscuous crystallization reagents. For others, using the correct metal improved the structural models. For multinuclear sites, anomalous diffraction signals enabled the positioning of the correct metals to reveal previously obscured biological information. PIXE is insensitive to the chemical environment, but coupled with experimental diffraction data deposited alongside the structural model it enables validation and potential remediation of metalloprotein models, improving structural and, more importantly, mechanistic knowledge.

Protein kinases catalyse phospho transfer reactions from ATP to serine, threonine or tyrosine residues in target substrates and provide key mechanisms for control of cellular signalling processes. The crystal structures of 12 protein kinases are now known. These include structures of kinases in the active state in ternary complexes with ATP (or analogues) and inhibitor or peptide substrates (e.g. cyclic AMP dependent protein kinase, phosphorylase kinase and insulin receptor tyrosine kinase); kinases in both active and inactive states (e.g. CDK2/cyclin A, insulin receptor tyrosine kinase and MAPK); kinases in the active state (e.g. casein kinase 1, Lck); and kinases in inactive states (e.g. twitchin kinase, calcium calmodulin kinase 1, FGF receptor kinase, c‐Src and Hck). This paper summarises the detailed information obtained with active phosphorylase kinase ternary complex and reviews the results with reference to other kinase structures for insights into mechanisms for substrate recognition and control.

Bacteriocins are toxic polypeptides made by bacteria to kill their competitors, making them interesting as potential antibiotics. Here, we reveal unsuspected commonalities in bacteriocin uptake pathways, through molecular and cellular dissection of the import pathway for the pore-forming bacteriocin pyocin S5 (PyoS5), which targets Pseudomonas aeruginosa. In addition to its C-terminal pore-forming domain, PyoS5 is composed of two tandemly repeated helical domains that we also identify in other pyocins. Functional analyses demonstrate that they have distinct roles in the import process. One recognizes conserved sugars projected from the surface, while the other recognizes a specific outer membrane siderophore transporter, FptA, in the case of PyoS5. Through engineering of Escherichia colicells, we show that pyocins can be readily repurposed to kill other species. This suggests basic ground rules for the outer membrane translocation step that likely apply to many bacteriocins targeting Gram-negative bacteria.