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The receptor activator of nuclear factor-[kappa]B (RANK) and its ligand RANKL, which belong to the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptor-ligand family, mediate osteoclastogenesis. The crystal structure of the RANKL ectodomain (eRANKL) in complex with the RANK ectodomain (eRANK) combined with biochemical assays of RANK mutants indicated that three RANK loops (Loop1, Loop2, and Loop3) bind to the interface of a trimeric eRANKL. Loop3 is particularly notable in that it is structurally distinctive from other TNF-family receptors and forms extensive contacts with RANKL. The disulfide bond (C125-C127) at the tip of Loop3 is important for determining the unique topology of Loop3, and docking E126 close to RANKL, which was supported by the inability of C127A or E126A mutants of RANK to bind to RANKL. Inhibitory activity of RANK mutants, which contain loops of osteoprotegerin (OPG), a soluble decoy receptor to RANKL, confirmed that OPG shares the similar binding mode with RANK and OPG. Loop3 plays a key role in RANKL binding. Peptide inhibitors designed to mimic Loop3 blocked the RANKL-induced differentiation of osteoclast precursors, suggesting that they could be developed as therapeutic agents for the treatment of osteoporosis and bone-related diseases. Furthermore, some of the RANK mutations associated with autosomal recessive osteopetrosis (ARO) resulted in reduced RANKL-binding activity and failure to induce osteoclastogenesis. These results, together with structural interpretation of eRANK-eRANKL interaction, provided molecular understanding for pathogenesis of ARO. doi/ 10.1073/pnas.1011686107

The receptor activator of nuclear factor κB (RANK) and its ligand RANKL are key regulators of osteoclastogenesis and well-recognized targets in developing treatments for bone disorders associated with excessive bone resorption, such as osteoporosis. Our previous work on the structure of the RANK-RANKL complex revealed that Loop3 of RANK, specifically the non-canonical disulfide bond at the tip, performs a crucial role in specific recognition of RANKL. It also demonstrated that peptide mimics of Loop3 were capable of interfering with the function of RANKL in osteoclastogenesis. Here, we reported the structure-based design of a smaller peptide with enhanced inhibitory efficiency. The kinetic analysis and osteoclast differentiation assay showed that in addition to the sharp turn induced by the disulfide bond, two consecutive arginine residues were also important for binding to RANKL and inhibiting osteoclastogenesis. Docking and molecular dynamics simulations proposed the binding mode of the peptide to the RANKL trimer, showing that the arginine residues provide electrostatic interactions with RANKL and contribute to stabilizing the complex. These findings provided useful information for the rational design of therapeutics for bone diseases associated with RANK/RANKL function.

Escherichia coli SdiA is a quorum-sensing (QS) receptor that responds to autoinducers produced by other bacterial species to control cell division and virulence. Crystal structures reveal that E. coli SdiA, which is composed of an N-terminal ligand-binding domain and a C-terminal DNA-binding domain (DBD), forms a symmetrical dimer. Although each domain shows structural similarity to other QS receptors, SdiA differs from them in the relative orientation of the two domains, suggesting that its ligand-binding and DNA-binding functions are independent. Consistently, in DNA gel-shift assays the binding affinity of SdiA for the ftsQP2 promoter appeared to be insensitive to the presence of autoinducers. These results suggest that autoinducers increase the functionality of SdiA by enhancing the protein stability rather than by directly affecting the DNA-binding affinity. Structural analyses of the ligand-binding pocket showed that SdiA cannot accommodate ligands with long acyl chains, which was corroborated by isothermal titration calorimetry and thermal stability analyses. The formation of an intersubunit disulfide bond that might be relevant to modulation of the DNA-binding activity was predicted from the proximal position of two Cys residues in the DBDs of dimeric SdiA. It was confirmed that the binding affinity of SdiA for the uvrY promoter was reduced under oxidizing conditions, which suggested the possibility of regulation of SdiA by multiple independent signals such as quorum-sensing inducers and the oxidation state of the cell.

Endorepellin, the C-terminal region of perlecan, inhibits angiogenesis by disrupting actin cytoskeleton and focal adhesions. The C-terminal laminin-like globular domain (LG3) of endorepellin directs most of this antiangiogenic activity. To investigate the angiostatic mechanism and to identify structural determinants, we have solved crystal structures of the LG3 domain in both apo- and calcium-bound forms at resolutions of 1.5 Å and 2.8 Å, respectively. The conserved core has the jellyroll fold characteristic of LG domains. The calcium-induced structural changes seem very restricted, and the calcium binding site appears to be preformed, suggesting that the bound calcium ion, rather than structural rearrangements, contributes to antiangiogenesis. We have identified H4268 on the EF loop as a key residue for the biochemical function of LG3, since its mutation abolishes antiangiogenic activity, and mutant LG3 can no longer form a direct interaction with integrin. Taken together, we propose that these two distinct structural elements contribute to the angiostatic effect of endorepellin., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Endoglin, an accessory membrane receptor of transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta)1, modulates the cellular response to TGF-beta via its interaction with type I and II TGF-beta receptors. It has been considered a promising target for the development of therapeutics and cancer markers. We have established stable CHO cell lines that efficiently secrete soluble endoglin (s-endoglin) fused with human growth hormone. Two oligomeric forms were observed in a homogeneous preparation of s-endoglin, as a dimer and a tetramer. The dimeric s-endoglin enhanced TGF-beta responsiveness in U937 cells, thus proving its potential for therapeutic applications. Small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) experiments revealed elongated conformations of both dimeric and tetrameric s-endoglins in solution, suggesting that s-endoglin might undergo conformational adaptations upon TGF-beta binding. The current results provide important references and material for high-resolution structural studies and for medical applications of s-endoglin.

To elucidate the molecular basis underlying their broad substrate specificity and reaction mechanism of the enzymes belonging to the haloacid dehalogenase (HAD) superfamily, TON_0559, a putative HAD subfamily protein from a hyperthermophilic archaeon Thermococcus onnurineus NA1, was expressed, purified and crystallized. X-ray diffraction data were collected to 2.0 A resolution. The space group is C2, with unit cell parameters a = 121.2 A, b = 62.9 A, c = 37.5 A and beta= 106.5 degrees .

Inorganic pyrophosphatase (PPase) is a ubiquitous cytosolic enzyme which catalyzes the hydrolysis of inorganic pyrophosphate (PPi) to orthophosphate (Pi). The crystal structure of inorganic pyrophosphatase from Helicobacter pylori (H-PPase) has been solved by MAD and refined to an R factor of 20.6% at 2.6 A resolution. The crystallographic asymmetric unit contains a homohexameric H-PPase arranged as a dimer of trimers. While most of the structural elements of PPases are highly conserved in H-PPase, some unique structural features are localized in the flexible loops near the active site, suggesting that the structural flexibility of these loops is required for the catalytic efficiency of PPase.

We describe the development of an efficient expression system suitable for the stable expression of recombinant genes in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells using the human interferon beta SAR element. The insertion of two copies of the human interferon beta SAR element at the 5' and 3' flanking regions of the beta-galactosidase reporter gene increased the frequency of beta-galactosidase positive colonies by up to 75% and enhanced beta-galactosidase expression by 15- to 20-fold after G418 selection or 30- to 40-fold at the initial stage of the MTX selection procedure. Deletion analysis showed that the whole DNA regions of the human interferon beta SAR element are required for beta-galactosidase expression enhancement. The developed expression system was also highly effective at enhancing the stable expression of two therapeutically important proteins, namely, erythropoietin (EPO) and hepatocyte growth factor (HGF). We isolated stable colonies with expression levels of 47 microg/10(6) cells/day for EPO and 13 microg/10(6) cells/day for HGF, suggesting that the developed expression system based on the human beta SAR element is suitable for expressing high levels of recombinant proteins in CHO cells.