Institute of Organic Chemistry
and Biochemistry of the CAS

Take the step towards a career in organic chemistry and biochemistry...

Publications

All publications
Structural elucidation of recombinant <i>Trichomonas vaginalis </i>20S proteasome bound to covalent inhibitors
Structural elucidation of recombinant Trichomonas vaginalis 20S proteasome bound to covalent inhibitors
Nature Communications 15: 8621 (2024)
The proteasome is a proteolytic enzyme complex essential for protein homeostasis in mammalian cells and protozoan parasites like Trichomonas vaginalis (Tv), the cause of the most common, non-viral sexually transmitted disease. Tv and other protozoan 20S proteasomes have been validated as druggable targets for antimicrobials. However, low yields and purity of the native proteasome have hindered studies of the Tv 20S proteasome (Tv20S). We address this challenge by creating a recombinant protozoan proteasome by expressing all seven α and seven β subunits of Tv20S alongside the Ump-1 chaperone in insect cells. The recombinant Tv20S displays biochemical equivalence to its native counterpart, confirmed by various assays. Notably, the marizomib (MZB) inhibits all catalytic subunits of Tv20S, while the peptide inhibitor carmaphycin-17 (CP-17) specifically targets β2 and β5. Cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) unveils the structures of Tv20S bound to MZB and CP-17 at 2.8 Å. These findings…
Detection of Guanine Quadruplexes by Raman Optical Activity and Quantum-Chemical Interpretation of the Spectra
Chemistry - A European Journal 2024: Early View
An update on proteases and protease inhibitors from trematodes
Advances in Parasitology, in press, Elsevier (2024)

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