@article{13362, abstract = {Aggregation of organic molecules can drastically affect their physicochemical properties. For instance, the optical properties of BODIPY dyes are inherently related to the degree of aggregation and the mutual orientation of BODIPY units within these aggregates. Whereas the noncovalent aggregation of various BODIPY dyes has been studied in diverse media, the ill-defined nature of these aggregates has made it difficult to elucidate the structure–property relationships. Here, we studied the encapsulation of three structurally simple BODIPY derivatives within the hydrophobic cavity of a water-soluble, flexible PdII6L4 coordination cage. The cavity size allowed for the selective encapsulation of two dye molecules, irrespective of the substitution pattern on the BODIPY core. Working with a model, a pentamethyl-substituted derivative, we found that the mutual orientation of two BODIPY units in the cage’s cavity was remarkably similar to that in the crystalline state of the free dye, allowing us to isolate and characterize the smallest possible noncovalent H-type BODIPY aggregate, namely, an H-dimer. Interestingly, a CF3-substituted BODIPY, known for forming J-type aggregates, was also encapsulated as an H-dimer. Taking advantage of the dynamic nature of encapsulation, we developed a system in which reversible switching between H- and J-aggregates can be induced for multiple cycles simply by addition and subsequent destruction of the cage. We expect that the ability to rapidly and reversibly manipulate the optical properties of supramolecular inclusion complexes in aqueous media will open up avenues for developing detection systems that operate within biological environments.}, author = {Gemen, Julius and Ahrens, Johannes and Shimon, Linda J. W. and Klajn, Rafal}, issn = {1520-5126}, journal = {Journal of the American Chemical Society}, keywords = {Colloid and Surface Chemistry, Biochemistry, General Chemistry, Catalysis}, number = {41}, pages = {17721--17729}, publisher = {American Chemical Society}, title = {{Modulating the optical properties of BODIPY dyes by noncovalent dimerization within a flexible coordination cage}}, doi = {10.1021/jacs.0c08589}, volume = {142}, year = {2020}, } @article{13364, abstract = {Photochromic molecules undergo reversible isomerization upon irradiation with light at different wavelengths, a process that can alter their physical and chemical properties. For instance, dihydropyrene (DHP) is a deep-colored compound that isomerizes to light-brown cyclophanediene (CPD) upon irradiation with visible light. CPD can then isomerize back to DHP upon irradiation with UV light or thermally in the dark. Conversion between DHP and CPD is thought to proceed via a biradical intermediate; bimolecular events involving this unstable intermediate thus result in rapid decomposition and poor cycling performance. Here, we show that the reversible isomerization of DHP can be stabilized upon confinement within a PdII6L4 coordination cage. By protecting this reactive intermediate using the cage, each isomerization reaction proceeds to higher yield, which significantly decreases the fatigue experienced by the system upon repeated photocycling. Although molecular confinement is known to help stabilize reactive species, this effect is not typically employed to protect reactive intermediates and thus improve reaction yields. We envisage that performing reactions under confinement will not only improve the cyclic performance of photochromic molecules, but may also increase the amount of product obtainable from traditionally low-yielding organic reactions.}, author = {Canton, Martina and Grommet, Angela B. and Pesce, Luca and Gemen, Julius and Li, Shiming and Diskin-Posner, Yael and Credi, Alberto and Pavan, Giovanni M. and Andréasson, Joakim and Klajn, Rafal}, issn = {1520-5126}, journal = {Journal of the American Chemical Society}, keywords = {Colloid and Surface Chemistry, Biochemistry, General Chemistry, Catalysis}, number = {34}, pages = {14557--14565}, publisher = {American Chemical Society}, title = {{Improving fatigue resistance of dihydropyrene by encapsulation within a coordination cage}}, doi = {10.1021/jacs.0c06146}, volume = {142}, year = {2020}, } @article{13365, abstract = {Photoswitchable molecules are employed for many applications, from the development of active materials to the design of stimuli-responsive molecular systems and light-powered molecular machines. To fully exploit their potential, we must learn ways to control the mechanism and kinetics of their photoinduced isomerization. One possible strategy involves confinement of photoresponsive switches such as azobenzenes or spiropyrans within crowded molecular environments, which may allow control over their light-induced conversion. However, the molecular factors that influence and control the switching process under realistic conditions and within dynamic molecular regimes often remain difficult to ascertain. As a case study, here we have employed molecular models to probe the isomerization of azobenzene guests within a Pd(II)-based coordination cage host in water. Atomistic molecular dynamics and metadynamics simulations allow us to characterize the flexibility of the cage in the solvent, the (rare) guest encapsulation and release events, and the relative probability/kinetics of light-induced isomerization of azobenzene analogues in these host–guest systems. In this way, we can reconstruct the mechanism of azobenzene switching inside the cage cavity and explore key molecular factors that may control this event. We obtain a molecular-level insight on the effects of crowding and host–guest interactions on azobenzene isomerization. The detailed picture elucidated by this study may enable the rational design of photoswitchable systems whose reactivity can be controlled via host–guest interactions.}, author = {Pesce, Luca and Perego, Claudio and Grommet, Angela B. and Klajn, Rafal and Pavan, Giovanni M.}, issn = {1520-5126}, journal = {Journal of the American Chemical Society}, keywords = {Colloid and Surface Chemistry, Biochemistry, General Chemistry, Catalysis}, number = {21}, pages = {9792--9802}, publisher = {American Chemical Society}, title = {{Molecular factors controlling the isomerization of Azobenzenes in the cavity of a flexible coordination cage}}, doi = {10.1021/jacs.0c03444}, volume = {142}, year = {2020}, } @article{14125, abstract = {Motivation: Recent technological advances have led to an increase in the production and availability of single-cell data. The ability to integrate a set of multi-technology measurements would allow the identification of biologically or clinically meaningful observations through the unification of the perspectives afforded by each technology. In most cases, however, profiling technologies consume the used cells and thus pairwise correspondences between datasets are lost. Due to the sheer size single-cell datasets can acquire, scalable algorithms that are able to universally match single-cell measurements carried out in one cell to its corresponding sibling in another technology are needed. Results: We propose Single-Cell data Integration via Matching (SCIM), a scalable approach to recover such correspondences in two or more technologies. SCIM assumes that cells share a common (low-dimensional) underlying structure and that the underlying cell distribution is approximately constant across technologies. It constructs a technology-invariant latent space using an autoencoder framework with an adversarial objective. Multi-modal datasets are integrated by pairing cells across technologies using a bipartite matching scheme that operates on the low-dimensional latent representations. We evaluate SCIM on a simulated cellular branching process and show that the cell-to-cell matches derived by SCIM reflect the same pseudotime on the simulated dataset. Moreover, we apply our method to two real-world scenarios, a melanoma tumor sample and a human bone marrow sample, where we pair cells from a scRNA dataset to their sibling cells in a CyTOF dataset achieving 90% and 78% cell-matching accuracy for each one of the samples, respectively.}, author = {Stark, Stefan G and Ficek, Joanna and Locatello, Francesco and Bonilla, Ximena and Chevrier, Stéphane and Singer, Franziska and Aebersold, Rudolf and Al-Quaddoomi, Faisal S and Albinus, Jonas and Alborelli, Ilaria and Andani, Sonali and Attinger, Per-Olof and Bacac, Marina and Baumhoer, Daniel and Beck-Schimmer, Beatrice and Beerenwinkel, Niko and Beisel, Christian and Bernasconi, Lara and Bertolini, Anne and Bodenmiller, Bernd and Bonilla, Ximena and Casanova, Ruben and Chevrier, Stéphane and Chicherova, Natalia and D'Costa, Maya and Danenberg, Esther and Davidson, Natalie and gan, Monica-Andreea Dră and Dummer, Reinhard and Engler, Stefanie and Erkens, Martin and Eschbach, Katja and Esposito, Cinzia and Fedier, André and Ferreira, Pedro and Ficek, Joanna and Frei, Anja L and Frey, Bruno and Goetze, Sandra and Grob, Linda and Gut, Gabriele and Günther, Detlef and Haberecker, Martina and Haeuptle, Pirmin and Heinzelmann-Schwarz, Viola and Herter, Sylvia and Holtackers, Rene and Huesser, Tamara and Irmisch, Anja and Jacob, Francis and Jacobs, Andrea and Jaeger, Tim M and Jahn, Katharina and James, Alva R and Jermann, Philip M and Kahles, André and Kahraman, Abdullah and Koelzer, Viktor H and Kuebler, Werner and Kuipers, Jack and Kunze, Christian P and Kurzeder, Christian and Lehmann, Kjong-Van and Levesque, Mitchell and Lugert, Sebastian and Maass, Gerd and Manz, Markus and Markolin, Philipp and Mena, Julien and Menzel, Ulrike and Metzler, Julian M and Miglino, Nicola and Milani, Emanuela S and Moch, Holger and Muenst, Simone and Murri, Riccardo and Ng, Charlotte KY and Nicolet, Stefan and Nowak, Marta and Pedrioli, Patrick GA and Pelkmans, Lucas and Piscuoglio, Salvatore and Prummer, Michael and Ritter, Mathilde and Rommel, Christian and Rosano-González, María L and Rätsch, Gunnar and Santacroce, Natascha and Castillo, Jacobo Sarabia del and Schlenker, Ramona and Schwalie, Petra C and Schwan, Severin and Schär, Tobias and Senti, Gabriela and Singer, Franziska and Sivapatham, Sujana and Snijder, Berend and Sobottka, Bettina and Sreedharan, Vipin T and Stark, Stefan and Stekhoven, Daniel J and Theocharides, Alexandre PA and Thomas, Tinu M and Tolnay, Markus and Tosevski, Vinko and Toussaint, Nora C and Tuncel, Mustafa A and Tusup, Marina and Drogen, Audrey Van and Vetter, Marcus and Vlajnic, Tatjana and Weber, Sandra and Weber, Walter P and Wegmann, Rebekka and Weller, Michael and Wendt, Fabian and Wey, Norbert and Wicki, Andreas and Wollscheid, Bernd and Yu, Shuqing and Ziegler, Johanna and Zimmermann, Marc and Zoche, Martin and Zuend, Gregor and Rätsch, Gunnar and Lehmann, Kjong-Van}, issn = {1367-4811}, journal = {Bioinformatics}, keywords = {Computational Mathematics, Computational Theory and Mathematics, Computer Science Applications, Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, Statistics and Probability}, number = {Supplement_2}, pages = {i919--i927}, publisher = {Oxford University Press}, title = {{SCIM: Universal single-cell matching with unpaired feature sets}}, doi = {10.1093/bioinformatics/btaa843}, volume = {36}, year = {2020}, } @article{10348, abstract = {The endosomal sorting complex required for transport-III (ESCRT-III) catalyzes membrane fission from within membrane necks, a process that is essential for many cellular functions, from cell division to lysosome degradation and autophagy. How it breaks membranes, though, remains unknown. Here, we characterize a sequential polymerization of ESCRT-III subunits that, driven by a recruitment cascade and by continuous subunit-turnover powered by the ATPase Vps4, induces membrane deformation and fission. During this process, the exchange of Vps24 for Did2 induces a tilt in the polymer-membrane interface, which triggers transition from flat spiral polymers to helical filament to drive the formation of membrane protrusions, and ends with the formation of a highly constricted Did2-Ist1 co-polymer that we show is competent to promote fission when bound on the inside of membrane necks. Overall, our results suggest a mechanism of stepwise changes in ESCRT-III filament structure and mechanical properties via exchange of the filament subunits to catalyze ESCRT-III activity.}, author = {Pfitzner, Anna-Katharina and Mercier, Vincent and Jiang, Xiuyun and Moser von Filseck, Joachim and Baum, Buzz and Šarić, Anđela and Roux, Aurélien}, issn = {0092-8674}, journal = {Cell}, keywords = {general biochemistry, genetics and molecular biology}, number = {5}, pages = {1140--1155.e18}, publisher = {Elsevier}, title = {{An ESCRT-III polymerization sequence drives membrane deformation and fission}}, doi = {10.1016/j.cell.2020.07.021}, volume = {182}, year = {2020}, } @article{11055, abstract = {Vascular dysfunctions are a common feature of multiple age-related diseases. However, modeling healthy and pathological aging of the human vasculature represents an unresolved experimental challenge. Here, we generated induced vascular endothelial cells (iVECs) and smooth muscle cells (iSMCs) by direct reprogramming of healthy human fibroblasts from donors of different ages and Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome (HGPS) patients. iVECs induced from old donors revealed upregulation of GSTM1 and PALD1, genes linked to oxidative stress, inflammation and endothelial junction stability, as vascular aging markers. A functional assay performed on PALD1 KD VECs demonstrated a recovery in vascular permeability. We found that iSMCs from HGPS donors overexpressed bone morphogenetic protein (BMP)−4, which plays a key role in both vascular calcification and endothelial barrier damage observed in HGPS. Strikingly, BMP4 concentrations are higher in serum from HGPS vs. age-matched mice. Furthermore, targeting BMP4 with blocking antibody recovered the functionality of the vascular barrier in vitro, hence representing a potential future therapeutic strategy to limit cardiovascular dysfunction in HGPS. These results show that iVECs and iSMCs retain disease-related signatures, allowing modeling of vascular aging and HGPS in vitro.}, author = {Bersini, Simone and Schulte, Roberta and Huang, Ling and Tsai, Hannah and HETZER, Martin W}, issn = {2050-084X}, journal = {eLife}, keywords = {General Immunology and Microbiology, General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology, General Medicine, General Neuroscience}, publisher = {eLife Sciences Publications}, title = {{Direct reprogramming of human smooth muscle and vascular endothelial cells reveals defects associated with aging and Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome}}, doi = {10.7554/elife.54383}, volume = {9}, year = {2020}, } @article{11056, abstract = {Aging of the circulatory system correlates with the pathogenesis of a large spectrum of diseases. However, it is largely unknown which factors drive the age-dependent or pathological decline of the vasculature and how vascular defects relate to tissue aging. The goal of the study is to design a multianalytical approach to identify how the cellular microenvironment (i.e., fibroblasts) and serum from healthy donors of different ages or Alzheimer disease (AD) patients can modulate the functionality of organ-specific vascular endothelial cells (VECs). Long-living human microvascular networks embedding VECs and fibroblasts from skin biopsies are generated. RNA-seq, secretome analyses, and microfluidic assays demonstrate that fibroblasts from young donors restore the functionality of aged endothelial cells, an effect also achieved by serum from young donors. New biomarkers of vascular aging are validated in human biopsies and it is shown that young serum induces angiopoietin-like-4, which can restore compromised vascular barriers. This strategy is then employed to characterize transcriptional/functional changes induced on the blood–brain barrier by AD serum, demonstrating the importance of PTP4A3 in the regulation of permeability. Features of vascular degeneration during aging and AD are recapitulated, and a tool to identify novel biomarkers that can be exploited to develop future therapeutics modulating vascular function is established.}, author = {Bersini, Simone and Arrojo e Drigo, Rafael and Huang, Ling and Shokhirev, Maxim N. and HETZER, Martin W}, issn = {2366-7478}, journal = {Advanced Biosystems}, keywords = {General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology, Biomedical Engineering, Biomaterials}, number = {5}, publisher = {Wiley}, title = {{Transcriptional and functional changes of the human microvasculature during physiological aging and Alzheimer disease}}, doi = {10.1002/adbi.202000044}, volume = {4}, year = {2020}, } @article{11058, abstract = {Nucleoporin 93 (Nup93) expression inversely correlates with the survival of triple-negative breast cancer patients. However, our knowledge of Nup93 function in breast cancer besides its role as structural component of the nuclear pore complex is not understood. Combination of functional assays and genetic analyses suggested that chromatin interaction of Nup93 partially modulates the expression of genes associated with actin cytoskeleton remodeling and epithelial to mesenchymal transition, resulting in impaired invasion of triple-negative, claudin-low breast cancer cells. Nup93 depletion induced stress fiber formation associated with reduced cell migration/proliferation and impaired expression of mesenchymal-like genes. Silencing LIMCH1, a gene responsible for actin cytoskeleton remodeling and up-regulated upon Nup93 depletion, partially restored the invasive phenotype of cancer cells. Loss of Nup93 led to significant defects in tumor establishment/propagation in vivo, whereas patient samples revealed that high Nup93 and low LIMCH1 expression correlate with late tumor stage. Our approach identified Nup93 as contributor of triple-negative, claudin-low breast cancer cell invasion and paves the way to study the role of nuclear envelope proteins during breast cancer tumorigenesis.}, author = {Bersini, Simone and Lytle, Nikki K and Schulte, Roberta and Huang, Ling and Wahl, Geoffrey M and HETZER, Martin W}, issn = {2575-1077}, journal = {Life Science Alliance}, keywords = {Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis, Plant Science, Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology (miscellaneous), Ecology}, number = {1}, publisher = {Life Science Alliance}, title = {{Nup93 regulates breast tumor growth by modulating cell proliferation and actin cytoskeleton remodeling}}, doi = {10.26508/lsa.201900623}, volume = {3}, year = {2020}, } @article{12190, abstract = {Meiotic crossover frequency varies within genomes, which influences genetic diversity and adaptation. In turn, genetic variation within populations can act to modify crossover frequency in cis and trans. To identify genetic variation that controls meiotic crossover frequency, we screened Arabidopsis accessions using fluorescent recombination reporters. We mapped a genetic modifier of crossover frequency in Col × Bur populations of Arabidopsis to a premature stop codon within TBP-ASSOCIATED FACTOR 4b (TAF4b), which encodes a subunit of the RNA polymerase II general transcription factor TFIID. The Arabidopsis taf4b mutation is a rare variant found in the British Isles, originating in South-West Ireland. Using genetics, genomics, and immunocytology, we demonstrate a genome-wide decrease in taf4b crossovers, with strongest reduction in the sub-telomeric regions. Using RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) from purified meiocytes, we show that TAF4b expression is meiocyte enriched, whereas its paralog TAF4 is broadly expressed. Consistent with the role of TFIID in promoting gene expression, RNA-seq of wild-type and taf4b meiocytes identified widespread transcriptional changes, including in genes that regulate the meiotic cell cycle and recombination. Therefore, TAF4b duplication is associated with acquisition of meiocyte-specific expression and promotion of germline transcription, which act directly or indirectly to elevate crossovers. This identifies a novel mode of meiotic recombination control via a general transcription factor.}, author = {Lawrence, Emma J. and Gao, Hongbo and Tock, Andrew J. and Lambing, Christophe and Blackwell, Alexander R. and Feng, Xiaoqi and Henderson, Ian R.}, issn = {0960-9822}, journal = {Current Biology}, keywords = {General Agricultural and Biological Sciences, General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology}, number = {16}, pages = {2676--2686.e3}, publisher = {Elsevier BV}, title = {{Natural variation in TBP-ASSOCIATED FACTOR 4b controls meiotic crossover and germline transcription in Arabidopsis}}, doi = {10.1016/j.cub.2019.06.084}, volume = {29}, year = {2019}, } @article{12192, abstract = {Transposable elements (TEs), the movement of which can damage the genome, are epigenetically silenced in eukaryotes. Intriguingly, TEs are activated in the sperm companion cell – vegetative cell (VC) – of the flowering plant Arabidopsis thaliana. However, the extent and mechanism of this activation are unknown. Here we show that about 100 heterochromatic TEs are activated in VCs, mostly by DEMETER-catalyzed DNA demethylation. We further demonstrate that DEMETER access to some of these TEs is permitted by the natural depletion of linker histone H1 in VCs. Ectopically expressed H1 suppresses TEs in VCs by reducing DNA demethylation and via a methylation-independent mechanism. We demonstrate that H1 is required for heterochromatin condensation in plant cells and show that H1 overexpression creates heterochromatic foci in the VC progenitor cell. Taken together, our results demonstrate that the natural depletion of H1 during male gametogenesis facilitates DEMETER-directed DNA demethylation, heterochromatin relaxation, and TE activation.}, author = {He, Shengbo and Vickers, Martin and Zhang, Jingyi and Feng, Xiaoqi}, issn = {2050-084X}, journal = {eLife}, keywords = {General Immunology and Microbiology, General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology, General Medicine, General Neuroscience}, publisher = {eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd}, title = {{Natural depletion of histone H1 in sex cells causes DNA demethylation, heterochromatin decondensation and transposon activation}}, doi = {10.7554/elife.42530}, volume = {8}, year = {2019}, } @article{8405, abstract = {Atomic-resolution structure determination is crucial for understanding protein function. Cryo-EM and NMR spectroscopy both provide structural information, but currently cryo-EM does not routinely give access to atomic-level structural data, and, generally, NMR structure determination is restricted to small (<30 kDa) proteins. We introduce an integrated structure determination approach that simultaneously uses NMR and EM data to overcome the limits of each of these methods. The approach enables structure determination of the 468 kDa large dodecameric aminopeptidase TET2 to a precision and accuracy below 1 Å by combining secondary-structure information obtained from near-complete magic-angle-spinning NMR assignments of the 39 kDa-large subunits, distance restraints from backbone amides and ILV methyl groups, and a 4.1 Å resolution EM map. The resulting structure exceeds current standards of NMR and EM structure determination in terms of molecular weight and precision. Importantly, the approach is successful even in cases where only medium-resolution cryo-EM data are available.}, author = {Gauto, Diego F. and Estrozi, Leandro F. and Schwieters, Charles D. and Effantin, Gregory and Macek, Pavel and Sounier, Remy and Sivertsen, Astrid C. and Schmidt, Elena and Kerfah, Rime and Mas, Guillaume and Colletier, Jacques-Philippe and Güntert, Peter and Favier, Adrien and Schoehn, Guy and Schanda, Paul and Boisbouvier, Jerome}, issn = {2041-1723}, journal = {Nature Communications}, keywords = {General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology, General Physics and Astronomy, General Chemistry}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{Integrated NMR and cryo-EM atomic-resolution structure determination of a half-megadalton enzyme complex}}, doi = {10.1038/s41467-019-10490-9}, volume = {10}, year = {2019}, } @article{8407, author = {Schanda, Paul}, issn = {1090-7807}, journal = {Journal of Magnetic Resonance}, keywords = {Nuclear and High Energy Physics, Biophysics, Biochemistry, Condensed Matter Physics}, pages = {180--186}, publisher = {Elsevier}, title = {{Relaxing with liquids and solids – A perspective on biomolecular dynamics}}, doi = {10.1016/j.jmr.2019.07.025}, volume = {306}, year = {2019}, } @article{8408, abstract = {Aromatic residues are located at structurally important sites of many proteins. Probing their interactions and dynamics can provide important functional insight but is challenging in large proteins. Here, we introduce approaches to characterize dynamics of phenylalanine residues using 1H-detected fast magic-angle spinning (MAS) NMR combined with a tailored isotope-labeling scheme. Our approach yields isolated two-spin systems that are ideally suited for artefact-free dynamics measurements, and allows probing motions effectively without molecular-weight limitations. The application to the TET2 enzyme assembly of ~0.5 MDa size, the currently largest protein assigned by MAS NMR, provides insights into motions occurring on a wide range of time scales (ps-ms). We quantitatively probe ring flip motions, and show the temperature dependence by MAS NMR measurements down to 100 K. Interestingly, favorable line widths are observed down to 100 K, with potential implications for DNP NMR. Furthermore, we report the first 13C R1ρ MAS NMR relaxation-dispersion measurements and detect structural excursions occurring on a microsecond time scale in the entry pore to the catalytic chamber and at a trimer interface that was proposed as exit pore. We show that the labeling scheme with deuteration at ca. 50 kHz MAS provides superior resolution compared to 100 kHz MAS experiments with protonated, uniformly 13C-labeled samples.}, author = {Gauto, Diego F. and Macek, Pavel and Barducci, Alessandro and Fraga, Hugo and Hessel, Audrey and Terauchi, Tsutomu and Gajan, David and Miyanoiri, Yohei and Boisbouvier, Jerome and Lichtenecker, Roman and Kainosho, Masatsune and Schanda, Paul}, issn = {0002-7863}, journal = {Journal of the American Chemical Society}, keywords = {Colloid and Surface Chemistry, Biochemistry, General Chemistry, Catalysis}, number = {28}, pages = {11183--11195}, publisher = {American Chemical Society}, title = {{Aromatic ring dynamics, thermal activation, and transient conformations of a 468 kDa enzyme by specific 1H–13C labeling and fast magic-angle spinning NMR}}, doi = {10.1021/jacs.9b04219}, volume = {141}, year = {2019}, } @article{8413, abstract = {NMR relaxation dispersion methods provide a holistic way to observe microsecond time-scale protein backbone motion both in solution and in the solid state. Different nuclei (1H and 15N) and different relaxation dispersion techniques (Bloch–McConnell and near-rotary-resonance) give complementary information about the amplitudes and time scales of the conformational dynamics and provide comprehensive insights into the mechanistic details of the structural rearrangements. In this paper, we exemplify the benefits of the combination of various solution- and solid-state relaxation dispersion methods on a microcrystalline protein (α-spectrin SH3 domain), for which we are able to identify and model the functionally relevant conformational rearrangements around the ligand recognition loop occurring on multiple microsecond time scales. The observed loop motions suggest that the SH3 domain exists in a binding-competent conformation in dynamic equilibrium with a sterically impaired ground-state conformation both in solution and in crystalline form. This inherent plasticity between the interconverting macrostates is compatible with a conformational-preselection model and provides new insights into the recognition mechanisms of SH3 domains.}, author = {Rovó, Petra and Smith, Colin A. and Gauto, Diego and de Groot, Bert L. and Schanda, Paul and Linser, Rasmus}, issn = {0002-7863}, journal = {Journal of the American Chemical Society}, keywords = {Colloid and Surface Chemistry, Biochemistry, General Chemistry, Catalysis}, number = {2}, pages = {858--869}, publisher = {American Chemical Society}, title = {{Mechanistic insights into microsecond time-scale motion of solid proteins using complementary 15N and 1H relaxation dispersion techniques}}, doi = {10.1021/jacs.8b09258}, volume = {141}, year = {2019}, } @article{9018, abstract = {Anti-silencing function 1 (ASF1) is a conserved H3-H4 histone chaperone involved in histone dynamics during replication, transcription, and DNA repair. Overexpressed in proliferating tissues including many tumors, ASF1 has emerged as a promising therapeutic target. Here, we combine structural, computational, and biochemical approaches to design peptides that inhibit the ASF1-histone interaction. Starting from the structure of the human ASF1-histone complex, we developed a rational design strategy combining epitope tethering and optimization of interface contacts to identify a potent peptide inhibitor with a dissociation constant of 3 nM. When introduced into cultured cells, the inhibitors impair cell proliferation, perturb cell-cycle progression, and reduce cell migration and invasion in a manner commensurate with their affinity for ASF1. Finally, we find that direct injection of the most potent ASF1 peptide inhibitor in mouse allografts reduces tumor growth. Our results open new avenues to use ASF1 inhibitors as promising leads for cancer therapy.}, author = {Bakail, May M and Gaubert, Albane and Andreani, Jessica and Moal, Gwenaëlle and Pinna, Guillaume and Boyarchuk, Ekaterina and Gaillard, Marie-Cécile and Courbeyrette, Regis and Mann, Carl and Thuret, Jean-Yves and Guichard, Bérengère and Murciano, Brice and Richet, Nicolas and Poitou, Adeline and Frederic, Claire and Le Du, Marie-Hélène and Agez, Morgane and Roelants, Caroline and Gurard-Levin, Zachary A. and Almouzni, Geneviève and Cherradi, Nadia and Guerois, Raphael and Ochsenbein, Françoise}, issn = {2451-9456}, journal = {Cell Chemical Biology}, keywords = {Clinical Biochemistry, Molecular Medicine, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Pharmacology, Drug Discovery}, number = {11}, pages = {1573--1585.e10}, publisher = {Elsevier}, title = {{Design on a rational basis of high-affinity peptides inhibiting the histone chaperone ASF1}}, doi = {10.1016/j.chembiol.2019.09.002}, volume = {26}, year = {2019}, } @article{9060, abstract = {Molecular motors are essential to the living, generating fluctuations that boost transport and assist assembly. Active colloids, that consume energy to move, hold similar potential for man-made materials controlled by forces generated from within. Yet, their use as a powerhouse in materials science lacks. Here we show a massive acceleration of the annealing of a monolayer of passive beads by moderate addition of self-propelled microparticles. We rationalize our observations with a model of collisions that drive active fluctuations and activate the annealing. The experiment is quantitatively compared with Brownian dynamic simulations that further unveil a dynamical transition in the mechanism of annealing. Active dopants travel uniformly in the system or co-localize at the grain boundaries as a result of the persistence of their motion. Our findings uncover the potential of internal activity to control materials and lay the groundwork for the rise of materials science beyond equilibrium.}, author = {Ramananarivo, Sophie and Ducrot, Etienne and Palacci, Jérémie A}, issn = {2041-1723}, journal = {Nature Communications}, keywords = {General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology, General Physics and Astronomy, General Chemistry}, number = {1}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{Activity-controlled annealing of colloidal monolayers}}, doi = {10.1038/s41467-019-11362-y}, volume = {10}, year = {2019}, } @article{13371, abstract = {Diamondoid nanoporous crystals represent a synthetically challenging class of materials that typically have been obtained from tetrahedral building blocks. In this issue of Chem, Stoddart and coworkers demonstrate that it is possible to generate diamondoid frameworks from a hexacationic building block lacking a tetrahedral symmetry. These results highlight the great potential of self-assembly for rapidly transforming small molecules into structurally complex functional materials.}, author = {Białek, Michał J. and Klajn, Rafal}, issn = {2451-9294}, journal = {Chem}, keywords = {Materials Chemistry, Biochemistry (medical), General Chemical Engineering, Environmental Chemistry, Biochemistry, General Chemistry}, number = {9}, pages = {2283--2285}, publisher = {Elsevier}, title = {{Diamond grows up}}, doi = {10.1016/j.chempr.2019.08.012}, volume = {5}, year = {2019}, } @article{13373, abstract = {The reversible photoisomerization of azobenzene has been utilized to construct a plethora of systems in which optical, electronic, catalytic, and other properties can be controlled by light. However, owing to azobenzene’s hydrophobic nature, most of these examples have been realized only in organic solvents, and systems operating in water are relatively scarce. Here, we show that by coadsorbing the inherently hydrophobic azobenzenes with water-solubilizing ligands on the same nanoparticulate platforms, it is possible to render them essentially water-soluble. To this end, we developed a modified nanoparticle functionalization procedure allowing us to precisely fine-tune the amount of azobenzene on the functionalized nanoparticles. Molecular dynamics simulations helped us to identify two distinct supramolecular architectures (depending on the length of the background ligand) on these nanoparticles, which can explain their excellent aqueous solubilities. Azobenzenes adsorbed on these water-soluble nanoparticles exhibit highly reversible photoisomerization upon exposure to UV and visible light. Importantly, the mixed-monolayer approach allowed us to systematically investigate how the background ligand affects the switching properties of azobenzene. We found that the nature of the background ligand has a profound effect on the kinetics of azobenzene switching. For example, a hydroxy-terminated background ligand is capable of accelerating the back-isomerization reaction by more than 6000-fold. These results pave the way toward the development of novel light-responsive nanomaterials operating in aqueous media and, in the long run, in biological environments.}, author = {Chu, Zonglin and Han, Yanxiao and Bian, Tong and De, Soumen and Král, Petr and Klajn, Rafal}, issn = {1520-5126}, journal = {Journal of the American Chemical Society}, keywords = {Colloid and Surface Chemistry, Biochemistry, General Chemistry, Catalysis}, number = {5}, pages = {1949--1960}, publisher = {American Chemical Society}, title = {{Supramolecular control of azobenzene switching on nanoparticles}}, doi = {10.1021/jacs.8b09638}, volume = {141}, year = {2019}, } @article{11060, abstract = {The inner nuclear membrane (INM) is a subdomain of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) that is gated by the nuclear pore complex. It is unknown whether proteins of the INM and ER are degraded through shared or distinct pathways in mammalian cells. We applied dynamic proteomics to profile protein half-lives and report that INM and ER residents turn over at similar rates, indicating that the INM’s unique topology is not a barrier to turnover. Using a microscopy approach, we observed that the proteasome can degrade INM proteins in situ. However, we also uncovered evidence for selective, vesicular transport-mediated turnover of a single INM protein, emerin, that is potentiated by ER stress. Emerin is rapidly cleared from the INM by a mechanism that requires emerin’s LEM domain to mediate vesicular trafficking to lysosomes. This work demonstrates that the INM can be dynamically remodeled in response to environmental inputs.}, author = {Buchwalter, Abigail and Schulte, Roberta and Tsai, Hsiao and Capitanio, Juliana and HETZER, Martin W}, issn = {2050-084X}, journal = {eLife}, keywords = {General Immunology and Microbiology, General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology, General Medicine, General Neuroscience}, publisher = {eLife Sciences Publications}, title = {{Selective clearance of the inner nuclear membrane protein emerin by vesicular transport during ER stress}}, doi = {10.7554/elife.49796}, volume = {8}, year = {2019}, } @article{8436, abstract = {The exchange of metabolites between the mitochondrial matrix and the cytosol depends on β-barrel channels in the outer membrane and α-helical carrier proteins in the inner membrane. The essential translocase of the inner membrane (TIM) chaperones escort these proteins through the intermembrane space, but the structural and mechanistic details remain elusive. We have used an integrated structural biology approach to reveal the functional principle of TIM chaperones. Multiple clamp-like binding sites hold the mitochondrial membrane proteins in a translocation-competent elongated form, thus mimicking characteristics of co-translational membrane insertion. The bound preprotein undergoes conformational dynamics within the chaperone binding clefts, pointing to a multitude of dynamic local binding events. Mutations in these binding sites cause cell death or growth defects associated with impairment of carrier and β-barrel protein biogenesis. Our work reveals how a single mitochondrial “transfer-chaperone” system is able to guide α-helical and β-barrel membrane proteins in a “nascent chain-like” conformation through a ribosome-free compartment.}, author = {Weinhäupl, Katharina and Lindau, Caroline and Hessel, Audrey and Wang, Yong and Schütze, Conny and Jores, Tobias and Melchionda, Laura and Schönfisch, Birgit and Kalbacher, Hubert and Bersch, Beate and Rapaport, Doron and Brennich, Martha and Lindorff-Larsen, Kresten and Wiedemann, Nils and Schanda, Paul}, issn = {0092-8674}, journal = {Cell}, keywords = {General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology}, number = {5}, pages = {1365--1379.e25}, publisher = {Elsevier}, title = {{Structural basis of membrane protein chaperoning through the mitochondrial intermembrane space}}, doi = {10.1016/j.cell.2018.10.039}, volume = {175}, year = {2018}, }