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Transition metals, such as zinc, are essential micronutrients in all organisms, but also highly toxic in excessive amounts. Heavy-metal transporting P-type (P_IB) ATPases are crucial for homeostasis, conferring cellular detoxification and redistribution through transport of these ions across cellular membranes. No structural information is available for the P_IB-4-ATPases, the subclass with the broadest cargo scope, and hence even their topology remains elusive. Here we present structures and complementary functional analyses of an archetypal P_IB-4-ATPase, sCoaT from Sulfitobacter sp. NAS14-1. The data disclose the architecture, devoid of classical so-called heavy metal binding domains, and provides fundamentally new insights into the mechanism and diversity of heavy metal transporters. We reveal several novel P-type ATPase features, including a dual role in heavy-metal release and as an internal counter ion of an invariant Page 2 histidine. We also establish that the turn-over of P_IB-ATPases is potassium independent, contrasting to many other P-type ATPases. Combined with new inhibitory compounds, our results open up for efforts in e.g. drug discovery, since P_IB-4-ATPases function as virulence factors in many pathogens.

Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) is an emerging virus that causes serious illness in humans and livestock. There are no approved vaccines or treatments for humans. The purpose of the study was to identify inhibitory compounds of RVFV infection without any preconceived idea of the mechanism of action. A whole-cell-based high-throughput drug screening assay was developed to screen 28,437 small chemical compounds targeting RVFV infection. To accomplish both speed and robustness, a replication-competent NSs-deleted RVFV expressing a fluorescent reporter gene was developed. Inhibition of fluorescence intensity was quantified by spectrophotometry and related to virus infection in human lung epithelial cells (A549). Cell toxicity was assessed by the Resazurin cell viability assay. After primary screening, 641 compounds were identified that inhibited RVFV infection by 80%, with 50% cell viability at 50 mu M concentration. These compounds were subjected to a second screening regarding dose-response profiles, and 63 compounds with 60% inhibition of RVFV infection at 3.12 mu M compound concentration and 50% cell viability at 25 mu M were considered hits. Of these, six compounds with high inhibitory activity were identified. In conclusion, the high-throughput assay could efficiently and safely identify several promising compounds that inhibited RVFV infection.

Small molecules are used in the G-quadruplex (G4) research field in vivo and in vitro, and there are increasing demands for ligands that selectively stabilize different G4 structures. Thioflavin T (ThT) emits an enhanced fluorescence signal when binding to G4 structures. Herein, we show that ThT can be competitively displaced by the binding of small molecules to G4 structures and develop a ThT-displacement high-throughput screening assay to find novel and selective G4-binding compounds. We screened approximately 28 000 compounds by using three different G4 structures and identified eight novel G4 binders. Analysis of the structural conformation and stability of the G4 structures in presence of these compounds demonstrated that the four compounds enhance the thermal stabilization of the structures without affecting their structural conformation. In addition, all four compounds also increased the G4-structure block of DNA synthesis by Taq DNA polymerase. Also, two of these compounds showed selectivity between certain Schizosaccharomyces pombe G4 structures, thus suggesting that these compounds or their analogues can be used as selective tools for G4 DNA studies.

D-Luciferin is widely used as a substrate in luciferase catalysed bioluminescence assays for in vitro studies. However, little is known about cross reactivity and potential interference of D-luciferin with other enzymes. We serendipitously found that firefly luciferin inhibited the CDK2/Cyclin A protein kinase. Inhibition profiling of D-luciferin over a 103-protein kinase panel showed significant inhibition of a small set of protein kinases, in particular the DYRK-family, but also other members of the CMGC-group, including ERK8 and CK2. Inhibition profiling on a 16-member focused library derived from D-luciferin confirms that D-luciferin represents a DYRK-selective chemotype of fragment-like molecular weight. Thus, observation of its inhibitory activity and the initial SAR information reported here promise to be useful for further design of protein kinase inhibitors with related scaffolds.

A coupled luminescence assay was applied to monitor pyrophosphate (PPi) production by either purified barley UDP-glucose pyrophosphorylase (UGPase) or purified Leishmania UDP-sugar pyrophosphorylase (USPase). In the assay, the PPi produced by the pyrophosphorylases was converted to ATP by ATP-sulfurylase, and the ATP produced was linked to luminescent light formation through the action of firefly luciferase. The assay allowed for a quantitative measurement of UGPase and USPase activities, down to a pmol per min level. The activities were linear with time and proportional to the amount of the enzyme added, and were neither affected by Pi nor by DTT. For UGPase, K-m values with UTP and Glc-1-P were 0.14 and 0.26 mM, respectively, whereas for USPase the respective K-m values with UTP, Glc-1-P and Gal-1-P were 0.4, 2.9 and 3.9 mM. Possible applications of the luminescence-based assay for not only UDP-sugar producing pyrophosphorylases, but also other types of pyrophosphorylases are discussed.

Bacterial virulence systems are attractive targets for development of new antibacterial agents. Yersinia spp. utilize the type III secretion (T3S) system to secrete and translocate Yersinia outer proteins (Yop effectors) into the cytosol of the target cell and thereby overcome host defenses to successfully establish an infection. Thus, the Yop effectors constitute attractive targets for drug development. In the present study we apply small molecule screening to identify inhibitors of one of the secreted proteins YopH, a tyrosine phosphatase required for virulence. Characterization of seven inhibitors indicated that both competitive and noncompetitive inhibitors were identified with IC50 values of 6–20 μM.

The firefly luciferin-luciferase reaction has been used to set up an assay for protein kinase based on measuring ATP consumption rate as the first-order rate constant for the kinase reaction. The assay obviates the problems encountered with previous bioluminescent protein kinase assays such as interference with the luciferase reaction from library compounds, nonlinear standard curves, and limited dynamic ranges. In the assay described in the present paper luciferase and luciferin are present during the entire kinase reaction, and the light emission can be measured continuously. In an HTS situation the light emission is measured only twice, i.e., initially and after a predetermined time. After a fivefold reduction of the ATP concentration a Z' value of 0.96 was obtained. Light emission data from samples with kinase are normalized with light emission data from blanks without kinase. First-order rate constants for the kinase reaction calculated from normalized light emission are not affected by a moderate degree of inactivation of luciferase and luciferin during the measuring time. The constants have the same value at all ATP concentrations much lower than the K(m) of the luciferase and the kinase. These factors make the assay very robust and influenced neither by ATP concentration nor by luciferase inhibition. The measuring time depends on the kinase activity and can be varied from minutes to more than 8 h provided the kinase is stable and the evaporation of water from the wells is acceptable. The assay is linear with respect to kinase activity over three orders of magnitude. The new reagents also allowed us to determine K(m) values for ATP and for Kemptide.

A new adenosine nucleotide analog suitable for the Pyrosequencing method is presented. The new analog, 7-deaza-2'-deoxyadenosine-5'-triphosphate (c7dATP), has virtually the same low substrate specificity for luciferase as the currently used analog, 2'-deoxyadenosine-5'-O-(1-thiotriphosphate) (dATPalphaS). The inhibitory effect dATPalphaS displays on the nucleotide degrading activity of apyrase was reduced significantly by substituting the c7dATP for the dATPalphaS. Both analogs show high stability after long time storage at + 8 degrees C. Furthermore, with the new nucleotide a read length of up to 100 bases was obtained for several templates from fungi, bacteria and viruses.

Pyrosequencing is a DNA sequencing technique based on the bioluminometric detection of inorganic pyrophosphate, which is released when nucleotides are incorporated into a target DNA. Since the technique is based on an enzymatic cascade, the choice of enzymes is a critical factor for efficient performance of the sequencing reaction. In this study we have analyzed the performance of an alternative DNA polymerase, Sequenase, on the sequencing performance of the Pyrosequencing technology. Compared to the Klenow fragment of DNA polymerase I, Sequenase could read through homopolymeric regions with more than five T bases. In addition, Sequenase reduces remarkably interference from primer-dimers and loop structures that give rise to false sequence signals. By using Sequenase, synchronized extensions and longer reads can be obtained on challenging templates, thereby opening new avenues for applications of Pyrosequencing technology.

To date, the Pyrosequencing trade mark technology has been performed at 28 degrees C due to the low thermostability of the firefly luciferase. In this study, firefly luciferase was stabilized in the presence of glycine betaine, allowing DNA sequencing at 37 degrees C. By increasing the temperature to 37 degrees C, false signals due to primer-dimers and loop-structures were decreased significantly. In addition, a combination of (i) replacing the natural dGTP with 7'deaza-dGTP in the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), (ii) 1.6 M glycine betaine, and (iii) an increase of the temperature to 37 degrees C enabled us to sequence a DNA template with the initial sequence 3'-ATGGCCCGGGGGGGAGCTCCA em leader 5'. Furthermore, we describe a method to analyze if a primer forms a primer-dimer with extendable 3'-ends.