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Isolation and crystallization of copper resistance protein B (CopB) from Acinetobacter baumannii

Nayeri, Niloofar LU ; Górecki, Kamil LU ; Lindkvist-Petersson, Karin LU ; Gourdon, Pontus LU and Li, Ping LU (2025) In Protein Expression and Purification 227.
Abstract

Acinetobacter baumannii (A. baumannii) is an opportunistic, Gram-negative human pathogen, which is predominantly found in hospital patients. Its antimicrobial resistance is escalating, leading to less efficient treatments, and an increasing interest in identifying new therapeutic drugs. Metals as antimicrobials are vital in healthcare and agriculture, and copper-containing surfaces are known to reduce microbial counts, also in clinical settings. Indeed, copper (Cu) is an essential element required for survival in all organisms from bacteria to humans, but nevertheless elevated levels are highly toxic for cells. Through different regulatory mechanisms, cells maintain Cu homeostasis, and ion channels and transporters are critical in this... (More)

Acinetobacter baumannii (A. baumannii) is an opportunistic, Gram-negative human pathogen, which is predominantly found in hospital patients. Its antimicrobial resistance is escalating, leading to less efficient treatments, and an increasing interest in identifying new therapeutic drugs. Metals as antimicrobials are vital in healthcare and agriculture, and copper-containing surfaces are known to reduce microbial counts, also in clinical settings. Indeed, copper (Cu) is an essential element required for survival in all organisms from bacteria to humans, but nevertheless elevated levels are highly toxic for cells. Through different regulatory mechanisms, cells maintain Cu homeostasis, and ion channels and transporters are critical in this process. Precise understanding of such ion transport requires insight into the protein structures of the involved proteins, which will also provide information important for applied sciences. Considering the medical significance of A. baumannii and the possibility to exploit Cu to handle such infections, channels and transporters represent appealing targets. Here we approached the putative outer membrane CopB (Copper resistance protein B) from A. baumannii that is postulated to conduct Cu, with characterization of its structure and function as well as to enable rational drug-design. To this end, we demonstrate in this work procedures to produce purified sample and to recover diffracting protein crystals of CopB. The protein was overproduced in E. coli and membrane extracted in a range of detergents. The solubilized protein was subjected to crystallization, which yielded hits that scatter X-rays to low resolution. Our findings have the potential to pave the way for subsequent drug discovery.

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; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Acinetobacter baumannii, Copper, Copper resistance protein B (CopB), Protein crystallization, Protein production, Protein purification
in
Protein Expression and Purification
volume
227
article number
106635
publisher
Academic Press
external identifiers
  • pmid:39608619
  • scopus:85210123954
ISSN
1046-5928
DOI
10.1016/j.pep.2024.106635
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
0ba98059-c245-48e6-90d8-cf965ba9b963
date added to LUP
2025-02-21 13:17:32
date last changed
2025-03-07 14:06:20
@article{0ba98059-c245-48e6-90d8-cf965ba9b963,
  abstract     = {{<p>Acinetobacter baumannii (A. baumannii) is an opportunistic, Gram-negative human pathogen, which is predominantly found in hospital patients. Its antimicrobial resistance is escalating, leading to less efficient treatments, and an increasing interest in identifying new therapeutic drugs. Metals as antimicrobials are vital in healthcare and agriculture, and copper-containing surfaces are known to reduce microbial counts, also in clinical settings. Indeed, copper (Cu) is an essential element required for survival in all organisms from bacteria to humans, but nevertheless elevated levels are highly toxic for cells. Through different regulatory mechanisms, cells maintain Cu homeostasis, and ion channels and transporters are critical in this process. Precise understanding of such ion transport requires insight into the protein structures of the involved proteins, which will also provide information important for applied sciences. Considering the medical significance of A. baumannii and the possibility to exploit Cu to handle such infections, channels and transporters represent appealing targets. Here we approached the putative outer membrane CopB (Copper resistance protein B) from A. baumannii that is postulated to conduct Cu, with characterization of its structure and function as well as to enable rational drug-design. To this end, we demonstrate in this work procedures to produce purified sample and to recover diffracting protein crystals of CopB. The protein was overproduced in E. coli and membrane extracted in a range of detergents. The solubilized protein was subjected to crystallization, which yielded hits that scatter X-rays to low resolution. Our findings have the potential to pave the way for subsequent drug discovery.</p>}},
  author       = {{Nayeri, Niloofar and Górecki, Kamil and Lindkvist-Petersson, Karin and Gourdon, Pontus and Li, Ping}},
  issn         = {{1046-5928}},
  keywords     = {{Acinetobacter baumannii; Copper; Copper resistance protein B (CopB); Protein crystallization; Protein production; Protein purification}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Academic Press}},
  series       = {{Protein Expression and Purification}},
  title        = {{Isolation and crystallization of copper resistance protein B (CopB) from Acinetobacter baumannii}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pep.2024.106635}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.pep.2024.106635}},
  volume       = {{227}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}