Jarrod B. French

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Name: French, Jarrod
Organization: Stony Brook University , USA
Department: Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology
Title: Assistant(PhD)
Co-reporter:Tony Jun Huang;Doory Kim;Huayun Deng;Sara A. Jones;Haibei Hu;Raymond J. Pugh;Ye Fang;Hong Zhao;Anthony M. Pedley;Chung Yu Chan;Youxin Zhang;Xiaowei Zhuang;Stephen J. Benkovic
Science 2016 Volume 351(Issue 6274) pp:733-737
Publication Date(Web):12 Feb 2016
DOI:10.1126/science.aac6054

Spatial control of cellular enzymes

Purine is a building block of DNA and also a component of ATP that is used as an energy source in the cell. Enzymes involved in purine biosynthesis organize into dynamic bodies called purinosomes. French et al. found that purinosomes colocalize with mitochondria, organelles that generate ATP (see the Perspective by Ma and Jones). Dysregulation of mitochondria caused an increase in the number of purinosomes. This suggests a synergy, with the purinosomes supplying the purine required for ATP production and in turn using ATP in the biosynthetic pathway. A master regulator of cellular metabolism, mTOR, appears to mediate the association of purinosomes and mitochondria. This could make purine and ATP synthesis responsive to changes in the metabolic needs of the cell.

Science, this issue p. 733; see also p. 670

Co-reporter:Iva Chitrakar, Deborah M. Kim-Holzapfel, Weijie Zhou, Jarrod B. French
Journal of Structural Biology (March 2017) Volume 197(Issue 3) pp:354-364
Publication Date(Web):1 March 2017
DOI:10.1016/j.jsb.2017.01.003
The recent discovery of several forms of higher order protein structures in cells has shifted the paradigm of how we think about protein organization and metabolic regulation. These dynamic and controllable protein assemblies, which are composed of dozens or hundreds of copies of an enzyme or related enzymes, have emerged as important players in myriad cellular processes. We are only beginning to appreciate the breadth of function of these types of macromolecular assemblies. These higher order structures, which can be assembled in response to varied cellular stimuli including changing metabolite concentrations or signaling cascades, give the cell the capacity to modulate levels of biomolecules both temporally and spatially. This provides an added level of control with distinct kinetics and unique features that can be harnessed as a subtle, yet powerful regulatory mechanism. Due, in large part, to advances in structural methods, such as crystallography and cryo-electron microscopy, and the advent of super-resolution microscopy techniques, a rapidly increasing number of these higher order structures are being identified and characterized. In this review, we detail what is known about the structure, function and control mechanisms of these mesoscale protein assemblies, with a particular focus on those involved in purine and pyrimidine metabolism. These structures have important implications both for our understanding of fundamental cellular processes and as fertile ground for new targets for drug discovery and development.
3-FLUORO-2-(METHYLSULFANYL)PYRIDINE
2,3-difluoro-l-tyrosine
Benzenemethanol, 2-nitro-a-2-propenyl-
3-(3-Hydroxypropyl)phthalide
3-Butyn-1-ol, 4-(2-bromophenyl)-
2-FLUORO-L-TYROSINE
2,2-DIFLUOROINDENE-1,3-DIONE
L-Tyrosine,3,5-difluoro-
Benzenebutanoic acid,2-carboxy-g-oxo-