Project description:To gain unbiased insight into the association of NIPP1 with regulatory, coding and intergenic regions of the human genome, DamID experiments and subsequent analysis by ENCODE arrays were performed. The DamID method uses fusions of the bacterial Dam DNA methylase and the protein of interest, to direct the enzymatic activity to the protein’s genomic binding sites, where the DNA is methylated. Methylated DNA is then extracted, enriched and further analysed by microarray. The PP1 (Protein Phosphatase 1) interacting protein NIPP1 has been implicated to play a role in regulation of gene expression through PRC2 function, but also has a function in splicing. The array analysis was performed to obtain a general picture of the sites of chromatin association of NIPP1 and specifically their spatial relation to coding regions as well as to identify target regions to be analysed in more detail. In addition, a PP1 binding deficient mutant (NIPP1-RATA) was analysed, thus allowing to distinguish PP1 dependent and independent sites of association with the genome by microarray analysis. NIPP1-WT is referred to as FDN and the mutant referred to as RATA in the following descriptions.
Project description:Kynureninase is a member of a large family of catalytically diverse but structurally homologous pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP) dependent enzymes known as the aspartate aminotransferase superfamily or alpha-family. The Homo sapiens and other eukaryotic constitutive kynureninases preferentially catalyze the hydrolytic cleavage of 3-hydroxy-l-kynurenine to produce 3-hydroxyanthranilate and l-alanine, while l-kynurenine is the substrate of many prokaryotic inducible kynureninases. The human enzyme was cloned with an N-terminal hexahistidine tag, expressed, and purified from a bacterial expression system using Ni metal ion affinity chromatography. Kinetic characterization of the recombinant enzyme reveals classic Michaelis-Menten behavior, with a Km of 28.3 +/- 1.9 microM and a specific activity of 1.75 micromol min-1 mg-1 for 3-hydroxy-dl-kynurenine. Crystals of recombinant kynureninase that diffracted to 2.0 A were obtained, and the atomic structure of the PLP-bound holoenzyme was determined by molecular replacement using the Pseudomonas fluorescens kynureninase structure (PDB entry 1qz9) as the phasing model. A structural superposition with the P. fluorescens kynureninase revealed that these two structures resemble the "open" and "closed" conformations of aspartate aminotransferase. The comparison illustrates the dynamic nature of these proteins' small domains and reveals a role for Arg-434 similar to its role in other AAT alpha-family members. Docking of 3-hydroxy-l-kynurenine into the human kynureninase active site suggests that Asn-333 and His-102 are involved in substrate binding and molecular discrimination between inducible and constitutive kynureninase substrates.