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Howell, M.

Publications and source records attributed to Howell, M..

35 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Identifying SARS-CoV-2 Antiviral Compounds by Screening for Small Molecule Inhibitors of Nsp3 Papain-like Protease

The COVID-19 pandemic has emerged as the biggest life-threatening disease of this century. Whilst vaccination should provide a long-term solution, this is pitted against the constant threat of mutations in the virus rendering the current vaccines less effective. Consequently, small molecule antiviral agents would be extremely useful to complement the vaccination program. The causative agent of COVID-19 is a novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, which encodes at least nine enzymatic activities that all have drug targeting potential. The papain-like protease (PLpro) contained in the nsp3 protein generates viral non-structural proteins from a polyprotein precursor, and cleaves ubiquitin and ISG protein conjugates. Here we describe the expression and purification of PLpro. We developed a protease assay that was used to screen a custom chemical library from which we identified Dihydrotanshinone I and Ro 08-2750 as compounds that inhibit PLpro in protease and isopeptidase assays and also inhibit viral replication in cell culture-based assays.

biochemistry↗

Identifying SARS-CoV-2 Antiviral Compounds by Screening for Small Molecule Inhibitors of nsp5 Main Protease

The coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), spread around the world with unprecedented health and socio-economic effects for the global population. While different vaccines are now being made available, very few antiviral drugs have been approved. The main viral protease (nsp5) of SARS-CoV-2 provides an excellent target for antivirals, due to its essential and conserved function in the viral replication cycle. We have expressed, purified and developed assays for nsp5 protease activity. We screened the nsp5 protease against a custom chemical library of over 5,000 characterised pharmaceuticals. We identified calpain inhibitor I and three different peptidyl fluoromethylketones (FMK) as inhibitors of nsp5 activity in vitro, with IC50 values in the low micromolar range. By altering the sequence of our peptidomimetic FMK inhibitors to better mimic the substrate sequence of nsp5, we generated an inhibitor with a subnanomolar IC50. Calpain inhibitor I inhibited viral infection in monkey-derived Vero E6 cells, with an EC50 in the low micromolar range. The most potent and commercially available peptidyl-FMK compound inhibited viral growth in Vero E6 cells to some extent, while our custom peptidyl FMK inhibitor offered a marked antiviral improvement.

biochemistry↗

Identifying SARS-CoV-2 Antiviral Compounds by Screening for Small Molecule Inhibitors of Nsp12/7/8 RNA-dependent RNA Polymerase

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) global pandemic has turned into the largest public health and economic crisis in recent history impacting virtually all sectors of society. There is a need for effective therapeutics to battle the ongoing pandemic. Repurposing existing drugs with known pharmacological safety profiles is a fast and cost-effective approach to identify novel treatments. The COVID-19 etiologic agent is the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a single-stranded positive-sense RNA virus. Coronaviruses rely on the enzymatic activity of the replication-transcription complex (RTC) to multiply inside host cells. The RTC core catalytic component is the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) holoenzyme. The RdRp is one of the key druggable targets for CoVs due to its essential role in viral replication, high degree of sequence and structural conservation and the lack of homologs in human cells. Here, we have expressed, purified and biochemically characterised active SARS-CoV-2 RdRp complexes. We developed a novel fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET)-based strand displacement assay for monitoring SARS-CoV-2 RdRp activity suitable for a high-throughput format. As part of a larger research project to identify inhibitors for all the enzymatic activities encoded by SARS-CoV-2, we used this assay to screen a custom chemical library of over 5000 approved and investigational compounds for novel SARS-CoV-2 RdRp inhibitors. We identified 3 novel compounds (GSK-650394, C646 and BH3I-1) and confirmed suramin and suramin-like compounds as in vitro SARS-CoV-2 RdRp activity inhibitors. We also characterised the antiviral efficacy of these drugs in cell-based assays that we developed to monitor SARS-CoV-2 growth.

biochemistry↗

Identifying SARS-CoV-2 Antiviral Compounds by Screening for Small Molecule Inhibitors of Nsp13 Helicase

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a global public health challenge. While the efficacy of vaccines against emerging and future virus variants remains unclear, there is a need for therapeutics. Repurposing existing drugs represents a promising and potentially rapid opportunity to find novel antivirals against SARS-CoV-2. The virus encodes at least nine enzymatic activities that are potential drug targets. Here we have expressed, purified and developed enzymatic assays for SARS-CoV-2 nsp13 helicase, a viral replication protein that is essential for the coronavirus life cycle. We screened a custom chemical library of over 5000 previously characterised pharmaceuticals for nsp13 inhibitors using a FRET-based high-throughput screening (HTS) approach. From this, we have identified FPA-124 and several suramin-related compounds as novel inhibitors of nsp13 helicase activity in vitro. We describe the efficacy of these drugs using assays we developed to monitor SARS-CoV-2 growth in Vero E6 cells.

biochemistry↗

Identification of SARS-CoV-2 Antiviral Compounds by Screening for Small Molecule Inhibitors of the nsp14 RNA Cap Methyltransferase

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented itself as one of the most critical public health challenges of the century, with SARS-CoV-2 being the third member of the Coronaviridae family to cause fatal disease in humans. There is currently only one antiviral compound, remdesivir, that can be used for the treatment of COVID-19. In order to identify additional potential therapeutics, we investigated the enzymatic proteins encoded in the SARS-CoV-2 genome. In this study, we focussed on the viral RNA cap methyltransferases, which play a key role in enabling viral protein translation and facilitating viral escape from the immune system. We expressed and purified both the guanine-N7 methyltransferase nsp14, and the nsp16 2-O-methyltransferase with its activating cofactor, nsp10. We performed an in vitro high-throughput screen for inhibitors of nsp14 using a custom compound library of over 5,000 pharmaceutical compounds that have previously been characterised in either clinical or basic research. We identified 4 compounds as potential inhibitors of nsp14, all of which also show antiviral capacity in a cell based model of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Three of the 4 compounds also exhibited synergistic effects on viral replication with remdesivir.

bioengineering↗

Identifying SARS-CoV-2 Antiviral Compounds by Screening for Small Molecule Inhibitors of Nsp15 Endoribonuclease

SARS-CoV-2 is responsible for COVID-19, a human disease that has caused over 2 million deaths, stretched health systems to near-breaking point and endangered the economies of countries and families around the world. Antiviral treatments to combat COVID-19 are currently lacking. Remdesivir, the only antiviral drug approved for the treatment of COVID-19, can affect disease severity, but better treatments are needed. SARS-CoV-2 encodes 16 non-structural proteins (nsp) that possess different enzymatic activities with important roles in viral genome replication, transcription and host immune evasion. One key aspect of host immune evasion is performed by the uridine-directed endoribonuclease activity of nsp15. Here we describe the expression and purification of nsp15 recombinant protein. We have developed biochemical assays to follow its activity, and we have found evidence for allosteric behaviour. We screened a custom chemical library of over 5000 compounds to identify nsp15 endoribonuclease inhibitors, and we identified and validated NSC95397 as an inhibitor of nsp15 endoribonuclease in vitro. Although NSC95397 did not inhibit SARS-CoV-2 growth in VERO E6 cells, further studies will be required to determine the effect of nsp15 inhibition on host immune evasion.

biochemistry↗

Identifying SARS-CoV-2 Antiviral Compounds by Screening for Small Molecule Inhibitors of Nsp14/nsp10 Exoribonuclease

SARS-CoV-2 is a coronavirus that emerged in 2019 and rapidly spread across the world causing a deadly pandemic with tremendous social and economic costs. Healthcare systems worldwide are under great pressure, and there is urgent need for effective antiviral treatments. The only currently approved antiviral treatment for COVID-19 is remdesivir, an inhibitor of viral genome replication. SARS-CoV-2 proliferation relies on the enzymatic activities of the non-structural proteins (nsp), which makes them interesting targets for the development of new antiviral treatments. With the aim to identify novel SARS-CoV-2 antivirals, we have purified the exoribonuclease/methyltransferase (nsp14) and its cofactor (nsp10) and developed biochemical assays compatible with high-throughput approaches to screen for exoribonuclease inhibitors. We have screened a library of over 5000 commercial compounds and identified patulin and aurintricarboxylic acid (ATA) as inhibitors of nsp14 exoribonuclease in vitro. We found that patulin and ATA inhibit replication of SARS-CoV-2 in a VERO E6 cell-culture model. These two new antiviral compounds will be valuable tools for further coronavirus research as well as potentially contributing to new therapeutic opportunities for COVID-19.

biochemistry↗

Reduced antibody cross-reactivity following infection with B.1.1.7 than with parental SARS-CoV-2 strains

We examined the immunogenicity of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variant B.1.1.7 that arose in the United Kingdom and spread globally. Antibodies elicited by B.1.1.7 infection exhibited significantly reduced recognition and neutralisation of parental strains or of the South Africa B.1.351 variant, than of the infecting variant. The drop in cross-reactivity was more pronounced following B.1.1.7 than parental strain infection, indicating asymmetric heterotypic immunity induced by SARS-CoV-2 variants.

immunology↗

Induction of AmpC-mediated-βlactam resistance requires a single lytic transglycosylase in Agrobacterium tumefaciens

The remarkable ability of Agrobacterium tumefaciens to transfer DNA to plant cells has allowed the generation of important transgenic crops. One challenge of A. tumefaciens-mediated transformation is eliminating the bacteria after plant transformation to prevent detrimental effects to plants and the release of engineered bacteria to the environment. Here we use a reverse genetics approach to identify genes involved in ampicillin resistance with the goal of utilizing these antibiotic-sensitive strains for plant transformations. We show that treating A. tumefaciens C58 with ampicillin led to increased {beta}-lactamase production, a response dependent on the broad-spectrum {beta}-lactamase AmpC and its transcription factor AmpR. Loss of the putative ampD orthologue, atu2113, led to constitutive production of AmpC-dependent {beta}-lactamase activity and ampicillin resistance. Finally, one cell wall remodeling enzyme, MltB3, was necessary for the AmpC-dependent {beta}-lactamase activity and its loss elicited ampicillin and carbenicillin sensitivity in the A. tumefaciens C58 and GV3101 strains. Furthermore, GV3101{Delta} mltB3 transforms plants with comparable efficiency to wildtype but can be cleared with sub-lethal concentrations of ampicillin. The functional characterization of the genes involved in the inducible ampicillin resistance pathway of A. tumefaciens constitutes a major step forward in efforts to reduce the intrinsic antibiotic resistance of this bacterium. IMPORTANCEAgrobacterium tumefaciens, a significant biotechnological tool for production of transgenic plant lines, is highly resistant to a wide variety of antibiotics, posing challenges for various applications. One challenge is the efficient elimination of A. tumefaciens from transformed plant tissue without using levels of antibiotics that are toxic to the plants. Here, we present the functional characterization of genes involved in {beta}-lactam resistance in A. tumefaciens. Knowledge about proteins that promote or inhibit {beta}-lactam resistance will enable the development of strains to improve the efficiency of Agrobacterium-mediated plant genetic transformations. Effective removal of Agrobacterium from transformed plant tissue has the potential to maximize crop yield and food production, improving the outlook for global food security.

microbiology↗

Inherited duplications of PPP2R3B promote naevi and melanoma via a novel C21orf91-driven proliferative phenotype

The majority of the heredity of melanoma remains unexplained, however inherited copy number changes have not yet been systematically studied. The genetic environment is highly relevant to treatment stratification, and new gene discovery is therefore desirable. Using an unbiased whole genome screening approach for copy number we identify here a novel melanoma predisposing factor, familial duplications of gene PPP2R3B, encoding a regulatory unit of critical phosphatase PP2A. Significant correlation between expression of PPP2R3B in tumour tissue and survival in a large melanoma cohort was confirmed, and associated with a non-immunological expression profile. Mechanistically, construction and extensive characterization of a stable, inducible cellular model for PPP2R3B overexpression revealed induction of pigment cell switching towards proliferation and away from migration. Importantly, this was independent of the known microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF)-controlled pigment cell phenotype switch, and was instead driven by uncharacterised gene C21orf91. Bioinformatic studies point to C21orf91as a novel target of MITF, and therefore a potential hub in the control of phenotype switching in melanoma. This study identifies novel germline copy number variants in PPP2R3B predisposing to melanocytic neoplasia, and uncovers a new potential therapeutic target C21orf91 in the control of pigment cell proliferation.

genomics↗

p62-mediated Selective Autophagy Endows Virus-transformed Cells with Insusceptibility to DNA Damage under Oxidative Stress

DNA damage response (DDR) and selective autophagy both can be activated by reactive oxygen/nitrogen species (ROS/RNS), and both are of paramount importance in cancer development. The selective autophagy receptor and ubiquitin (Ub) sensor p62 plays a key role in their crosstalk. ROS production has been well documented in latent infection of oncogenic viruses including Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV). However, p62-mediated selective autophagy and its interplay with DDR have not been investigated in these settings. In this study, we provide evidence that considerable levels of p62-mediated selective autophagy are constitutively induced, and correlates with ROS-Keap1-NRF2 pathway activity, in virus-transformed cells. Inhibition of autophagy results in p62 accumulation in the nucleus, and promotes ROS-induced DNA damage and cell death, as well as downregulates the DNA repair proteins CHK1 and RAD51. In contrast, MG132-mediated proteasome inhibition, which induces rigorous autophagy, promotes p62 degradation but accumulation of the DNA repair proteins CHK1 and RAD51. However, pretreatment with an autophagy inhibitor offsets the effects of MG132 on CHK1 and RAD51 levels. These findings imply that p62 accumulation in the nucleus in response to autophagy inhibition promotes proteasome-mediated CHK1 and RAD51 protein instability. This claim is further supported by the findings that transient expression of a p62 mutant, which is constitutively localized in the nucleus, in B cell lines with low endogenous p62 levels recaptures the effects of autophagy inhibition on CHK1 and RAD51 protein stability. These results indicate that proteasomal degradation of RAD51 and CHK1 is dependent on p62 accumulation in the nucleus. However, small hairpin RNA (shRNA)-mediated p62 depletion in EBV-transformed lymphoblastic cell lines (LCLs) had no apparent effects on the protein levels of CHK1 and RAD51, likely due to the constitutive localization of p62 in the cytoplasm and incomplete knockdown is insufficient to manifest the effects on its nuclear function. Furthermore, shRNA-mediated p62 depletion in EBV-transformed LCLs results in significant increases of endogenous RNF168-{gamma}H2AX damage foci and chromatin ubiquitination, indicative of activation of RNF168-mediated DNA repair mechanisms. Our results have unveiled a pivotal role for p62-mediated selective autophagy that governs DDR in the setting of oncogenic virus latent infection, and provide a novel insight into virus-mediated oncogenesis. Author SummaryReactive oxygen/nitrogen species (ROS/RNS) can induce both DNA damage response (DDR) and selective autophagy, which play crucial roles in cancer development. The selective autophagy receptor and ubiquitin (Ub) sensor p62 links their crosstalk. However, p62-mediated selective autophagy and its interplay with DDR have not been investigated in latent infection of oncogenic viruses including Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV). In this study, we provide evidence that p62-mediated selective autophagy is constitutively induced in virus-transformed cells, and that its inhibition exacerbates ROS-induced DNA damage, and promotes proteasomal degradation of CHK1 and RAD51 in a manner depending on p62 accumulation in the nucleus. However, rigorous autophagy induction results in accumulation of DNA repair proteins CHK1 and RAD51, and p62 degradation. Further, transient expression of a constitutive nucleus-localizing mutant of p62 recaptured the effects of autophagy inhibition on CHK1 and RAD51 protein stability. These findings support the claim that p62 accumulation in the nucleus in response to autophagy inhibition promotes proteasome-mediated CHK1 and RAD51 protein instability. However, small hairpin RNA (shRNA)-mediated p62 depletion did not affect CHK1 and RAD51 protein levels; rather, shRNA-mediated p62 depletion activates RNF168-dependent DNA repair mechanisms. Our results have unveiled a pivotal role for p62-mediated selective autophagy in regulation of DDR by overriding traditional DDR mechanisms in the setting of oncogenic virus latent infection, and provide a novel insight into the etiology of viral cancers.

cancer biology↗

Activation of SEDS-PBP cell wall synthases by an essential regulator of bacterial division

Bacterial growth and division require insertion of new peptidoglycan (PG) into the existing cell wall by PG synthase enzymes. Emerging evidence suggests that many PG synthases require activation to function, however it is unclear how activation of division-specific PG synthases occurs. The FtsZ cytoskeleton has been implicated as a regulator of PG synthesis during division, but the mechanisms through which it acts are unknown. Here we show that FzlA, an essential regulator of constriction in Caulobacter crescentus, links FtsZ to PG synthesis to promote division. We find that hyperactive mutants of the PG synthases FtsW and FtsI specifically render fzlA, but not other division genes, non-essential. However, FzlA is still required to maintain proper constriction rate and efficiency in a hyperactive PG synthase background. Intriguingly, loss of fzlA in the presence of hyperactivated FtsWI causes cells to rotate about the division plane during constriction and sensitizes cells to cell wall-specific antibiotics. We demonstrate that FzlA-dependent signaling to division-specific PG synthesis is conserved in another -proteobacterium, Agrobacterium tumefaciens. These data establish that FzlA links FtsZ to cell wall remodeling, serving both to activate and spatially orient PG synthesis during division. Overall, our findings support the paradigm that activation of SEDS-PBP PG synthases is a broadly conserved requirement for bacterial morphogenesis.

microbiology↗

An Artificial Intelligence Workflow for Defining Host-Pathogen Interactions

For image-based infection biology, accurate unbiased quantification of host-pathogen interactions is essential, yet often performed manually or using limited enumeration employing simple image analysis algorithms based on image segmentation. Host protein recruitment to pathogens is often refractory to accurate automated assessment due to its heterogeneous nature. An intuitive intelligent image analysis program to assess host protein recruitment within general cellular pathogen defense is lacking. We present HRMAn (Host Response to Microbe Analysis), an open-source image analysis platform based on machine learning algorithms and deep learning. We show that HRMAn has the capability to learn phenotypes from the data, without relying on researcher-based assumptions. Using Toxoplasma gondii and Salmonella typhimurium we demonstrate HRMAns capacity to recognize, classify and quantify pathogen killing, replication and cellular defense responses.

microbiology↗

Patient-specific detection of cancer genes reveals recurrently perturbed processes in esophageal adenocarcinoma

The identification of somatic alterations with a cancer promoting role is challenging in highly unstable and heterogeneous cancers, such as esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC). Here we developed a machine learning algorithm to identify cancer genes in individual patients considering all types of damaging alterations simultaneously (mutations, copy number alterations and structural rearrangements). Analysing 261 EACs from the OCCAMS Consortium, we discovered a large number of novel cancer genes that, together with well-known drivers, help promote cancer. Validation using 107 additional EACs confirmed the robustness of the approach. Unlike known drivers whose alterations recur across patients, the large majority of the newly discovered cancer genes are rare or patient-specific. Despite this, they converge towards perturbing cancer-related processes, including intracellular signalling, cell cycle regulation, proteasome activity and Toll-like receptor signalling. Recurrence of process perturbation, rather than individual genes, divides EACs into six clusters that differ in their molecular and clinical features and suggest patient stratifications for personalised treatments. By experimentally mimicking or reverting alterations of predicted cancer genes, we validated their contribution to cancer progression and revealed EAC acquired dependencies, thus demonstrating their potential as therapeutic targets.

cancer biology↗

Truncation and Motif Based Pan-Cancer Analysis Highlights Novel Tumor Suppressing Kinases.

A major challenge in cancer genomics is identifying driver mutations from the large number of neutral passenger mutations within a given tumor. Here, we utilize motifs critical for kinase activity to functionally filter genomic data to identify driver mutations that would otherwise be lost within mutational noise. In the first step of our screen, we define a putative tumor suppressing kinome by identifying kinases with truncation mutations occurring within or before the kinase domain. We aligned these kinase sequences and, utilizing data from the Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia and The Cancer Genome Atlas databases, identified amino acids that represent predicted hotspots for loss-of-function mutations. The functional consequences of new LOF mutations were validated and the top 15 hotspot LOF residues were used in a pan-cancer analysis to define the tumor-suppressing kinome. A ranked list revealed MAP2K7 as a candidate tumor suppressor in gastric cancer, despite the mutational frequency of MAP2K7 falling within the mutational noise for this cancer type. The majority of mutations in MAP2K7 abolished catalytic activity compared to the wild type kinase, consistent with a tumor suppressive role for MAP2K7 in gastric cancer. Furthermore, reactivation of the JNK pathway in gastric cancer cells harboring LOF mutations in MAP2K7 or JNK1 suppresses clonogenicity and growth in soft agar, demonstrating the functional importance of inactivating the JNK pathway in gastric cancer. In summary, our data highlights a broadly applicable strategy to identify functional cancer driver mutations leading us to define the JNK pathway as tumor suppressive in gastric cancer.\n\nSummaryA unique computational pan-cancer analysis pinpoints novel tumor suppressing kinases, and highlights the power of functional genomics by defining the JNK pathway as tumor suppressive in gastric cancer.

cancer biology↗

Actin and Src-family kinases regulate nuclear YAP1 and its export

The transcriptional regulator YAP1 is critical for the pathological activation of fibroblasts. In normal fibroblasts YAP1 is predominantly located in the cytoplasm, while in activated cancer-associated fibroblasts it exhibits nuclear localization and promotes the expression of many genes required for pro-tumorigenic functions. Here, we investigate the dynamics of YAP1 shuttling in normal and activated fibroblasts, using EYFP-YAP1, quantitative photo-bleaching methods, and mathematical modeling. We find that both 14-3-3 and TEAD binding modulate YAP1 shuttling, but neither affects nuclear import. Instead, we find that YAP1 serine phosphorylation is required for nuclear export. Furthermore, YAP1 nuclear accumulation in activated fibroblasts results from Src and actomyosin-dependent suppression of phosphorylated YAP1 export. Finally, we show that nuclear constrained YAP1, upon XPO1 depletion, remains sensitive to blockade of actomyosin function. Together, these data place nuclear export at the center of YAP1 regulation and indicate that the cytoskeleton can regulate YAP1 within the nucleus.

molecular biology↗

Repeat associated mechanisms of genome evolution and function revealed by the Mus caroli and Mus pahari genomes

Understanding the mechanisms driving lineage-specific evolution in both primates and rodents has been hindered by the lack of sister clades with a similar phylogenetic structure having high-quality genome assemblies. Here, we have created chromosome-level assemblies of the Mus caroli and Mus pahari genomes. Together with the Mus musculus and Rattus norvegicus genomes, this set of rodent genomes is similar in divergence times to the Hominidae (human-chimpanzee-gorilla-orangutan). By comparing the evolutionary dynamics between the Muridae and Hominidae, we identified punctate events of chromosome reshuffling that shaped the ancestral karyotype of Mus musculus and Mus caroli between 3 to 6 MYA, but that are absent in the Hominidae. In fact, Hominidae show between four-and seven-fold lower rates of nucleotide change and feature turnover in both neutral and functional sequences suggesting an underlying coherence to the Muridae acceleration. Our system of matched, high-quality genome assemblies revealed how specific classes of repeats can play lineage-specific roles in related species. For example, recent LINE activity has remodeled protein-coding loci to a greater extent across the Muridae than the Hominidae, with functional consequences at the species level such as reproductive isolation. Furthermore, we charted a Muridae-specific retrotransposon expansion at unprecedented resolution, revealing how a single nucleotide mutation transformed a specific SINE element into an active CTCF binding site carrier specifically in Mus caroli. This process resulted in thousands of novel, species-specific CTCF binding sites. Our results demonstrate that the comparison of matched phylogenetic sets of genomes will be an increasingly powerful strategy for understanding mammalian biology.

genomics↗