Project description:Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) accounts for 1% of birth defects, and while large-scale genetic studies have uncovered genes associated with CHDs, identifying causal mutations remains a challenge. We hypothesized that genetic determinants for CHDs could be found in the protein interactomes of GATA4 and TBX5, two cardiac transcription factors (TFs) associated with CHDs. Defining their interactomes in human cardiac progenitors via affinity purification-mass spectrometry and integrating the results with genetic data from the Pediatric Cardiac Genomic Consortium (PCGC) revealed an enrichment of de novo variants among proteins that interact with GATA4 or TBX5. A consolidative score designed to prioritize TF interactome members based on distinctive variant, gene and proband features identified numerous likely CHD-causing genes, including the epigenetic reader GLYR1. GLYR1 and GATA4 widely co-occupied cardiac developmental genes resulting in co-activation and the GLYR1 variant associated with CHD disrupted interaction with GATA4. This integrative proteomic and genetic approach provides a framework for prioritizing and interrogating the contribution of genetic variants in CHD and can be extended to other genetic diseases.
Project description:Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) is present in 1% of live births, and while large-scale genetic studies have uncovered genes associated with CHDs, identifying causal mutations remains a challenge. We hypothesized that genetic determinants for CHDs could be found in the protein interactomes of GATA4 and TBX5, two cardiac transcription factors (TFs) that cause CHDs. Defining their interactomes in human cardiac progenitors via affinity purification-mass spectrometry and integrating the results with genetic data from the Pediatric Cardiac Genomic Consortium (PCGC) revealed an enrichment of de novo variants among proteins that interact with GATA4 or TBX5. A consolidative score designed to prioritize TF interactome members based on distinctive variant, gene, and proband features identified numerous likely CHD-causing genes, including the epigenetic reader GLYR1. GLYR1 and GATA4 widely co-occupied cardiac developmental genes, resulting in co-activation, and the GLYR1 variant associated with CHD disrupted interaction with GATA4. This integrative proteomic and genetic approach provides a framework for prioritizing and interrogating the contribution of genetic variants in CHD and can be extended to other genetic diseases.
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.