Faculty Bibliography

Coregulator proteins (CoRegs) are part of multi-protein complexes that transiently assemble with transcription factors and chromatin modifiers to regulate gene expression. In this study we analyzed data from 3,290 immuno-precipitations (IP) followed by mass spectrometry (MS) applied to human cell lines aimed at identifying CoRegs complexes. Using the semi-quantitative spectral counts, we scored binary protein-protein and domain-domain associations with several equations. Unlike previous applications, our methods scored prey-prey protein-protein interactions regardless of the baits used. We also predicted domain-domain interactions underlying predicted protein-protein interactions. The quality of predicted protein-protein and domain-domain interactions was evaluated using known binary interactions from the literature, whereas one protein-protein interaction, between STRN and CTTNBP2NL, was validated experimentally; and one domain-domain interaction, between the HEAT domain of PPP2R1A and the Pkinase domain of STK25, was validated using molecular docking simulations. The scoring schemes presented here recovered known, and predicted many new, complexes, protein-protein, and domain-domain interactions. The networks that resulted from the predictions are provided as a web-based interactive application at http://maayanlab.net/HT-IP-MS-2-PPI-DDI/

Tagetitoxin (Tgt) inhibits multisubunit chloroplast, bacterial, and some eukaryotic RNA polymerases (RNAPs). A crystallographic structure of Tgt bound to bacterial RNAP apoenzyme shows that Tgt binds near the active site but does not explain why Tgt acts only at certain sites. To understand the Tgt mechanism, we constructed a structural model of Tgt bound to the transcription elongation complex. In this model, Tgt interacts with the beta' subunit trigger loop (TL), stabilizing it in an inactive conformation. We show that (i) substitutions of the Arg residue of TL contacted by Tgt confer resistance to inhibitor; (ii) Tgt inhibits RNAP translocation, which requires TL movements; and (iii) paused complexes and a "slow" enzyme, in which the TL likely folds into an altered conformation, are resistant to Tgt. Our studies highlight the role of TL as a target through which accessory proteins and antibiotics can alter the elongation complex dynamics.

The V3 epitope is a known target for HIV-1 neutralizing antibodies (NAbs), and V3-scaffold fusion proteins used as boosting immunogens after gp120 DNA priming were previously shown to induce NAbs in rabbits. Here, we evaluated whether the breadth and potency of the NAb response could be improved when boosted with rationally designed V3-scaffold immunogens. Rabbits were primed with codon-optimized clade C gp120 DNA and boosted with one of five V3-cholera toxin B fusion proteins (V3-CTBs) or with double combinations of these. The inserts in these immunogens were designed to display V3 epitopes shared by the majority of global HIV-1 isolates. Double combinations of V3-CTB immunogens generally induced more broad and potent NAbs than did boosts with single V3-CTB immunogens, with the most potent and broad NAbs elicited with the V3-CTB carrying the consensus V3 of clade C (V3(C)-CTB), or with double combinations of V3-CTB immunogens that included V3(C)-CTB. Neutralization of tier 1 and 2 pseudoviruses from clades AG, B, and C and of peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC)-grown primary viruses from clades A, AG, and B was achieved, demonstrating that priming with gp120 DNA followed by boosts with V3-scaffold immunogens effectively elicits cross-clade NAbs. Focusing on the V3 region is a first step in designing a vaccine targeting protective epitopes, a strategy with potential advantages over the use of Env, a molecule that evolved to protect the virus by poorly inducing NAbs and by shielding the epitopes that are most critical for infectivity

Despite the frequent observation of masking of HIV-1 neutralization epitopes, its extent has not been previously systematically assessed either for multiple epitopes presented by individual viruses or for individual epitopes across multiple viral strains. Using a recently developed method to identify amino acid sequence motifs required for recognition by HIV-1-neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), we visualized the patterns of masking of specific epitopes targeted by mAbs in a diverse panel of HIV-1 isolates. We also calculated a specific masking intensity score for each virus based on the observed neutralization activity of mAbs against the epitopes in the virus. Finally, we combined these data with estimates of the conservation of each mAb-targeted epitope in circulating HIV-1 strains to estimate the effective neutralization potential (E(N)) for each mAb. Focusing on the V3 loop of gp120 as a prototype neutralization domain, we found that the V3 loop epitope targeted by mAb 2219 is one of the least masked mAbs and it has the highest E(N). Interestingly, although the V3 loop epitope targeted by mAb 3074 is present in over 87% of all viruses, it is 82.2% masked, so its E(N) is lower than that for mAb 2219. Notably, 50% of the viruses that mAb 3074 is able to neutralize are classified as subtype C viruses, while 70% or more of the viruses neutralized by mAbs 2219, 2557 or 447-52D are classified as subtype B. Thus, neutralization epitopes (in this case, in the V3 loop) have differential patterns of masking and also display distinct patterns of distribution among circulating HIV-1 viruses. Both factors combine to contribute to the practical vaccine value of any single epitope/mAb. Here we have developed a quantitative score for this value. These results have important implications for rational design of vaccines designed to induce neutralizing Abs by revealing epitopes that are minimally masked and maximally reactive with neutralizing Abs

CopA uses ATP to pump Cu(+) across cell membranes. X-ray crystallography has defined atomic structures of several related P-type ATPases. We have determined a structure of CopA at 10 A resolution by cryo-electron microscopy of a new crystal form and used computational molecular docking to study the interactions between the N-terminal metal-binding domain (NMBD) and other elements of the molecule. We found that the shorter-chain lipids used to produce these crystals are associated with movements of the cytoplasmic domains, with a novel dimer interface and with disordering of the NMBD, thus offering evidence for the transience of its interaction with the other cytoplasmic domains. Docking identified a binding site that matched the location of the NMBD in our previous structure by cryo-electron microscopy, allowing a more detailed view of its binding configuration and further support for its role in autoinhibition

Misregulated beta-catenin responsive transcription (CRT) has been implicated in the genesis of various malignancies, including colorectal carcinomas, and it is a key therapeutic target in combating various cancers. Despite significant effort, successful clinical implementation of CRT inhibitory therapeutics remains a challenging goal. This is, in part, because of the challenge of identifying inhibitory compounds that specifically modulate the nuclear transcriptional activity of beta-catenin while not affecting its cytoskeletal function in stabilizing adherens junctions at the cell membrane. Here, we report an RNAi-based modifier screening strategy for the identification of CRT inhibitors. Our data provide support for the specificity of these inhibitory compounds in antagonizing the transcriptional function of nuclear beta-catenin. We show that these inhibitors efficiently block Wnt/beta-catenin-induced target genes and phenotypes in various mammalian and cancer cell lines. Importantly, these Wnt inhibitors are specifically cytotoxic to human colon tumor biopsy cultures as well as colon cancer cell lines that exhibit deregulated Wnt signaling

A specific response of human serum neutralizing antibodies (nAb) to a conformational epitope as a result of vaccination of human subjects with the surface envelope glycoprotein (gp120) of HIV-1 has not previously been documented. Here, we used computational analysis to assess the epitope-specific responses of human subjects, which were immunized with recombinant gp120 immunogens in the VAX003 and VAX004 clinical trials. Our computational methodology-a variation of sieve analysis-compares the occurrence of specific nAb targeted conformational 3D epitopes on viruses from infected individuals who received vaccination to the occurrence of matched epitopes in the viruses infecting placebo subjects. We specifically studied seven crystallographically defined nAb targeted conformational epitopes in the V3 loop, an immunogenic region of gp120. Of the six epitopes present in the immunogens and targeted by known monoclonal neutralizing antibodies, only the one targeted by the anti-V3 nAb 2219 exhibited a significant reduction in occurrence in vaccinated subjects compared to the placebo group. This difference occurred only in the VAX003 Thailand cohort. No difference was seen between vaccinated and placebo groups for the occurrence of an epitope that was not present in the immunogen. Thus, it can be theorized that a specific 2219-like human neutralizing antibody immune response to AIDSVAX immunization occurred in the VAX003 cohort, and that this response protected subjects from a narrow subset of HIV-1 viruses circulating in Thailand in the 1990s and bearing the conformational epitope targeted by the neutralizing antibody 2219

Preferential usage of immunoglobulin (Ig) genes that encode antibodies (Abs) against various pathogens is rarely observed and the nature of their dominance is unclear in the context of stochastic recombination of Ig genes. The hypothesis that restricted usage of Ig genes predetermines the antibody specificity was tested in this study of 18 human anti-V3 monoclonal Abs (mAbs) generated from unrelated individuals infected with various subtypes of HIV-1, all of which preferentially used pairing of the VH5-51 and VL lambda genes. Crystallographic analysis of five VH5-51/VL lambda-encoded Fabs complexed with various V3 peptides revealed a common three dimensional (3D) shape of the antigen-binding sites primarily determined by the four complementarity determining regions (CDR) for the heavy (H) and light (L) chains: specifically, the H1, H2, L1 and L2 domains. The CDR H3 domain did not contribute to the shape of the binding pocket, as it had different lengths, sequences and conformations for each mAb. The same shape of the binding site was further confirmed by the identical backbone conformation exhibited by V3 peptides in complex with Fabs which fully adapted to the binding pocket and the same key contact residues, mainly germline-encoded in the heavy and light chains of five Fabs. Finally, the VH5-51 anti-V3 mAbs recognized an epitope with an identical 3D structure which is mimicked by a single mimotope recognized by the majority of VH5-51-derived mAbs but not by other V3 mAbs. These data suggest that the identification of preferentially used Ig genes by neutralizing mAbs may define conserved epitopes in the diverse virus envelopes. This will be useful information for designing vaccine immunogen inducing cross-neutralizing Abs