SER-CAT Outstanding Science Award - 2021
Endogenous DNA 3' Blocks Are Vulnerabilities for BRCA1 and BRCA2 Deficiency and Are Reversed by the APE2 Nuclease.
The 2021 SER-CAT Outstanding Science Award will be presented to Dr. R. Scott Williams, of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Durham, NC, USA, for his outstanding work entitled: Endogenous DNA 3' Blocks Are Vulnerabilities for BRCA1 and BRCA2 Deficiency and Are Reversed by the APE2 Nuclease.
Award will be presented by: SER-CAT Director Professor Bi-Cheng Wang.
- Authors: Alejandro Alvarez-Quilon, Jessica L Wojtaszek, Marie-Claude Mathieu, Tejas Patel, C Denise Appel, Nicole Hustedt, Silvia Emma Rossi, Bret D Wallace, Dheva Setiaputra, Salome Adam, Yota Ohashi, Henrique Melo, Tiffany Cho, Christian Gervais, Ivan M Munoz, Eric Grazzini, Jordan T F Young, John Rouse, Michael Zinda, R Scott Williams, Daniel Durocher.
- Mol Cell. 2020 Jun 18;78(6):1152-1165.e8. doi: 10.1016/j.molcel.2020.05.021.
SER-CAT Young Investigator Award - 2021
Disruption of evolutionarily correlated tRNA elements impairs accurate decoding.
The 2021 SER-CAT Young Investigator Award will be presented to Ha An Nguyen, of Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA, for her outstanding work entitled: Disruption of evolutionarily correlated tRNA elements impairs accurate decoding.
Award will be presented by: SER-CAT Director Professor Bi-Cheng Wang.
- Authors: Ha An Nguyen, S Sunita, Christine M Dunham.
- Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2020 Jul 14;117(28):16333-16338. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2004170117.
User Science Highlight
Structural Basis for a Dual Function ATP Grasp Ligase That Installs Single and Bicyclic ω-Ester Macrocycles in a New Multicore RiPP Natural Product.
Among the ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptide (RiPP) natural products, "graspetides" (formerly known as microviridins) contain macrocyclic esters and amides that are formed by ATP-grasp ligase tailoring enzymes using the side chains of Asp/Glu as acceptors and Thr/Ser/Lys as donors. Graspetides exhibit diverse patterns of macrocylization and connectivities exemplified by microviridins, that have a caged tricyclic core, and thuringin and plesiocin that feature a "hairpin topology" with cross-strand ω-ester bonds...
- Authors: Gengxiang Zhao, Dalibor Kosek, ..., Eugene V Koonin, Fred Dyda, Carole A Bewley.
- J Am Chem Soc. 2021 Jun 2;143(21):8056-8068. doi: 10.1021/jacs.1c02316. Epub 2021 May 24.
User Science Highlight
Structural basis of malaria RIFIN binding by LILRB1-containing antibodies.
Some Plasmodium falciparum repetitive interspersed families of polypeptides (RIFINs)-variant surface antigens that are expressed on infected erythrocytes bind to the inhibitory receptor LAIR1, and insertion of DNA that encodes LAIR1 into immunoglobulin genes generates RIFIN-specific antibodies. Here we address the general relevance of this finding by searching for antibodies that incorporate LILRB1, another inhibitory receptor that binds to β2 microglobulin and RIFINs through their apical domains...
- Authors: Yiwei Chen, Kai Xu, ..., Peter D Kwong, Antonio Lanzavecchia.
- Nature. 2021 Apr;592(7855):639-643. doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-03378-6. Epub 2021 Mar 31.
User Science Highlight
High-fidelity DNA ligation enforces accurate Okazaki fragment maturation during DNA replication.
DNA ligase 1 (LIG1, Cdc9 in yeast) finalizes eukaryotic nuclear DNA replication by sealing Okazaki fragments using DNA end-joining reactions that strongly discriminate against incorrectly paired DNA substrates. Whether intrinsic ligation fidelity contributes to the accuracy of replication of the nuclear genome is unknown. Here, we show that an engineered low-fidelity LIG1Cdc9 variant confers a novel mutator phenotype...
- Authors: Jessica S Williams, Percy P Tumbale, Mercedes E Arana, Julian A Rana, R Scott Williams, Thomas A Kunkel.
- Nat Commun. 2021 Jan 20;12(1):482. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-20800-1.
User Science Highlight
ADP-ribose and analogues bound to the deMARylating macrodomain from the bat coronavirus HKU4.
Macrodomains are proteins that recognize and hydrolyze ADP ribose (ADPR) modifications of intracellular proteins. Macrodomains are implicated in viral genome replication and interference with host cell immune responses. They are important to the infectious cycle of Coronaviridae and Togaviridae viruses. We describe crystal structures of the conserved macrodomain from the bat coronavirus (CoV) HKU4 in complex with ligands. The structures reveal a binding cavity that accommodates ADPR...
- Authors: Robert G Hammond, Norbert Schormann, Robert Lyle McPherson, Anthony K L Leung, Champion C S Deivanayagam, Margaret A Johnson.
- Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2021 Jan 12;118(2):e2004500118. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2004500118.
18th Annual SER-CAT Symposium; 2021
The 18th Annual SER-CAT Symposium was held March 18-19th 2021, and was hosted by the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, of Memphis TN. The meeting was a two day St. Jude/SER-CAT Structural Biology Symposium, placing emphasis upon:
- Remote use of SER-CAT beamlines
- Use of Partner ALS beamlines during the APS Dark Period
- Invited speakers, whose major contributions to biology and human disease research are propelled by X-ray Crystallography
- Posters and pre-recorded talks
The St. Jude – SER–CAT Structural Biology Symposium website remains live; full agenda is available on website.
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Award Nomination Packages
Information packages, for nominating Outstanding Science or Young Investigator for SER-CAT Annual Awards.