Biology subjects

Loo, J.

Publications and source records attributed to Loo, J..

5 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Visual exoproteomics of Clostridium thermocellum during anaerobic biomass-degradation identifies functional spirosomes

Visual proteomics enables the study of low-abundance proteins and identification of unknown complexes from heterogeneous samples by complementing high-resolution cryogenic electron microscopy (cryoEM) with external inputs on protein identity such as mass spectrometry. Using this approach, we interrogated the exoproteome of the anaerobic cellulose-degrading bacterium Clostridium thermocellum as it carried out biomass degradation. Mass spectrometry indicated a broad exoproteome composition, including cellulose degrading machinery CelA and CipA. A focus on large exoproteome assemblies revealed abundant protein filaments and pleomorphic vesicular structures. Analysis of the most abundant protein filaments yielded an [~]4 {square} resolution native structure that, aided by mass spectrometry, de novo modeling, and structural searching, was found to be the aldehyde-alcohol dehydrogenase (AdhE) spirosome. AdhE contained both NAD+ and Fe in their expected binding sites and biochemical and structural analyses of enriched spirosome preparations indicated they were functional. Altered NADH solution concentrations triggered conformational changes in the exoproteomic spirosomes, and the constituent AdhE remained capable of ethanol production. Although the basis for functional extracellular spirosome accumulation in live anaerobic C. thermocellum cultures remains unclear, their abundance in crude exoproteomes suggests their presence could influence biomass fueled C. thermocellum growth.

biochemistry↗

bioRxiv2025

Leveraging bioorthogonal conjugation for alpha synuclein fibril surveillance

Alpha synuclein (-syn) amyloid fibrils are associated with various neurodegenerative diseases. To better understand the molecular and cellular basis for -syn fibril persistence and spread, we implemented a fluorophore labeling strategy to surveil pre-formed -syn fibrils in solution and in cells. We leveraged amber codon mediated incorporation of a tetrazine-based artificial amino acid (TetV2.0) to install a cyclooctene-conjugated Janeliaflour, JF549, at four sites on human -syn: residues 4, 60, 96 and 136. Fast coupling occurred under mild buffer conditions and in the presence of the disease-associated cofactor and cytotoxic lipid, psychosine. Labeled fibrils retained their polymorphic features, seeded the growth of new fibrils in vitro, and induced the seeding of positive puncta in -syn FRET biosensor HEK293T cells. This allowed simultaneous tracking of exogenous and endogenous -syn aggregates in biosensor cells, and their localization within the cells. In doing so, our approach facilitates more detailed mechanistic investigation of -syn aggregates.

biochemistry↗

bioRxiv2025

Combining MicroED and native mass spectrometry for structural discovery of enzyme-biosynthetic inhibitor complexes

With the goal of accelerating the discovery of small molecule-protein complexes, we leverage fast, low-dose, event based electron counting microcrystal electron diffraction (MicroED) data collection and native mass spectrometry. This approach resolves structures of the epoxide-based cysteine protease inhibitor, and natural product, E-64, and its biosynthetic analogs bound to the model cysteine protease, papain. The combined structural power of MicroED and the analytical capabilities of native mass spectrometry (ED-MS) allows assignment of papain structures bound to E-64-like ligands with data obtained from crystal slurries soaked with mixtures of known inhibitors, and crude biosynthetic reactions. ED-MS further discriminates the highest-affinity ligand soaked into microcrystals from a broad inhibitor cocktail, and identifies multiple similarly high-affinity ligands soaked into microcrystals simultaneously. This extends to libraries of printed ligands dispensed directly onto TEM grids and later soaked with papain microcrystal slurries. ED-MS identifies papain binding to its preferred natural products, by showing that two analogues of E-64 outcompete others in binding to papain crystals, and by detecting papain bound to E-64 and an analogue from crude biosynthetic reactions, without purification. This illustrates the utility of ED-MS for natural product ligand discovery and for structure-based screening of small molecule binders to macromolecular targets.

biophysics↗

bioRxiv2023

The Basal and Major Pilins in the Corynebacterium diphtheriae SpaA Pilus Adopt Similar Structures that Competitively React with the Pilin Polymerase

Many species of pathogenic gram-positive bacteria display covalently crosslinked protein polymers (called pili or fimbriae) that mediate microbial adhesion to host tissues. These structures are assembled by pilus-specific sortase enzymes that join the pilin components together via lysine-isopeptide bonds. The archetypal SpaA pilus from Corynebacterium diphtheriae is built by the CdSrtA pilus-specific sortase, which crosslinks lysine residues within the SpaA and SpaB pilins to build the shaft and base of the pilus, respectively. Here, we show that CdSrtA crosslinks SpaB to SpaA via a K139(SpaB)-T494(SpaA) lysine-isopeptide bond. Despite sharing only limited sequence homology, an NMR structure of SpaB reveals striking similarities with the N-terminal domain of SpaA (NSpaA) that is also crosslinked by CdSrtA. In particular, both pilins contain similarly positioned reactive lysine residues and adjacent disordered AB loops that are predicted to be involved in the recently proposed "latch" mechanism of isopeptide bond formation. Competition experiments using an inactive SpaB variant and additional NMR studies suggest that SpaB terminates SpaA polymerization by outcompeting NSpaA for access to a shared thioester enzyme-substrate reaction intermediate.

biochemistry↗

bioRxiv2019

Spontaneous polyploids and antimutators compete during the evolution of mutator cells

Heterozygous mutations affecting DNA polymerase (Pol) exonuclease domains and homozygous inactivation of mismatch repair (MMR) each generate "mutator" phenotypes capable of driving tumorigenesis. Cancers with both defects exhibit an explosive increase in mutation burden that appears to reach a threshold, consistent with selection acting against further mutation accumulation. In haploid yeast, simultaneous defects in polymerase proofreading and MMR select for "antimutator" mutants that suppress the mutator phenotype. We report here that spontaneous polyploids also escape this "error-induced extinction" and routinely out-compete antimutators in evolved haploid cultures. We performed similar experiments to explore how diploid yeast adapt to the mutator phenotype. We first evolved cells with homozygous mutations affecting proofreading and MMR, which we anticipated would favor tetraploid emergence. While tetraploids arose with a low frequency, in most cultures, a single antimutator clone rose to prominence carrying biallelic mutations affecting the polymerase mutator alleles. Variation in mutation rate between subclones from the same culture suggests there exists continued selection pressure for additional antimutator alleles. We then evolved diploid yeast modeling MMR-deficient cancers with the most common heterozygous exonuclease domain mutation (POLE-P286R). Although these cells grew robustly, within 120 generations, all subclones carried truncating or nonsynonymous mutations in the POLE-P286R homologous allele (pol2-P301R) that suppressed the mutator phenotype as much as 100-fold. Independent adaptive events in the same culture were common. Our findings suggest that analogous tumor cell populations may adapt to the threat of extinction by polyclonal mutations that neutralize the POLE mutator allele and preserve intra-tumoral genetic diversity for future adaptation.

cancer biology↗