The YEATS domain has been identified as a reader of histone acylation and more recently emerged as a promising anti-cancer therapeutic target. Here, we detail the structural mechanisms for π-π-π stacking involving the YEATS domains of yeast Taf14 and human AF9 and acylated histone H3 peptides and explore DNA-binding activities of these domains. Taf14-YEATS selects for crotonyllysine, forming π stacking with both the crotonyl amide and the alkene moiety, whereas AF9-YEATS exhibits comparable affinities to saturated and unsaturated acyllysines, engaging them through π stacking with the acyl amide. Importantly, AF9-YEATS is capable of binding to DNA, whereas Taf14-YEATS is not. Using a structure-guided approach, we engineered a mutant of Taf14-YEATS that engages crotonyllysine through the aromatic-aliphatic-aromatic π stacking and shows high selectivity for the crotonyl H3K9 modification. Our findings shed light on the molecular principles underlying recognition of acyllysine marks and reveal a previously unidentified DNA-binding activity of AF9-YEATS.

This review presents the last decade of studies on the synthesis of various types of small-molecule inhibitors of the p53– Mouse double minute 2 homolog (MDM2) protein–protein interaction. The main focus is placed on synthetic approaches to such molecules, their cytotoxicity, and MDM2 binding characteristics.

NMR data for natural products containing the epoxy moiety have been revisited and reanalyzed with the help of a recently developed parametric/DFT hybrid computational method, DU8+. More than 20 structures needed revision, which points to challenges in NMR solution structure assignment for molecules possessing this structural feature. Among the revised structures are achicretin 2, acremine P, aromaticane I, artanomalide B, botryosphaerihydrofuran, chloroklotzchin, crithmifolide, crotodichogamoin A, emervaridone C, 9α,15-epoxyafricanane, fischambiguine B, grandilobalide B, guaianolide A, guatterfriesols A and B, juncenolide G, roscotane D, secoafricane 7, taccalonolides AJ and AF, and related compounds.

No abstract

No abstract