Comparison of force fields for Alzheimer's A β42: A case study for intrinsically disordered proteins

Comparative study of stability and activity of wild-type and mutant human carbonic anhydrase II enzymes using molecular dynamics and docking simulations

The human carbonic anhydrase II (HCA II) enzyme is a cytosolic protein located in the membrane of red blood cells that reversible hydration of carbon dioxide (CO2). Considering the critical role of the HCA II and the effects of some mutations on the activity and stability of the enzyme in humans, several computational methods are used to study the structure and dynamics of the wild-type and the mutant enzymes with three ligands, CO2, 4-nitrophenyl acetate and acetazolamide. Our results of MD simulation of a wild-type enzyme with 4-nitrophenyl acetate show that it created essential effects on the fluctuation of this enzyme and made it more unstable and less compact than the same enzyme without ligand. In the MD of the mutant enzyme with 4-nitrophenyl acetate ligand, no significant difference is observed between with and without ligand. The affinity of the wild-type enzyme to the 4-nitrophenyl acetate is notably higher than the mutant enzyme with the same ligand. Furthermore, results showed that wild-type and mutant enzymes with CO2 are more favorable in stability and flexibility than the same enzymes without ligand. The MD results of wild-type with acetazolamide indicate instability compare without ligand, but in MD of mutant enzyme with acetazolamide show that it more stable and compact than the same enzyme without ligand. Finally, Comparing protein trajectories to assess the impact of ligands on the stability and activity of HCA II enzymes can have medical applications and can in the engineering and design of new variants of carbonic anhydrase enzyme.

Streamlining NMR Chemical Shift Predictions for Intrinsically Disordered Proteins: Design of Ensembles with Dimensionality Reduction and Clustering

By merging advanced dimensionality reduction (DR) and clustering algorithm (CA) techniques, our study advances the sampling procedure for predicting NMR chemical shifts (CS) in intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs), making a significant leap forward in the field of protein analysis/modeling. We enhance NMR CS sampling by generating clustered ensembles that accurately reflect the different properties and phenomena encapsulated by the IDP trajectories. This investigation critically assessed different rapid CS predictors, both neural network (e.g., Sparta+ and ShiftX2) and database-driven (ProCS-15), and highlighted the need for more advanced quantum calculations and the subsequent need for more tractable-sized conformational ensembles. Although neural network CS predictors outperformed ProCS-15 for all atoms, all tools showed poor agreement with HN CSs, and the neural network CS predictors were unable to capture the influence of phosphorylated residues, highly relevant for IDPs. This study also addressed the limitations of using direct clustering with collective variables, such as the widespread implementation of the GROMOS algorithm. Clustered ensembles (CEs) produced by this algorithm showed poor performance with chemical shifts compared to sequential ensembles (SEs) of similar size. Instead, we implement a multiscale DR and CA approach and explore the challenges and limitations of applying these algorithms to obtain more robust and tractable CEs. The novel feature of this investigation is the use of solvent-accessible surface area (SASA) as one of the fingerprints for DR alongside previously investigated α carbon distance/angles or ϕ/ψ dihedral angles. The ensembles produced with SASA tSNE DR produced CEs better aligned with the experimental CS of between 0.17 and 0.36 r2 (0.18-0.26 ppm) depending on the system and replicate. Furthermore, this technique produced CEs with better agreement than traditional SEs in 85.7% of all ensemble sizes. This study investigates the quality of ensembles produced based on different input features, comparing latent spaces produced by linear vs nonlinear DR techniques and a novel integrated silhouette score scanning protocol for tSNE DR.

Wild-Type α-Synuclein Structure and Aggregation: A Comprehensive Coarse-Grained and All-Atom Molecular Dynamics Study

α-Synuclein (α-syn) is a 140 amino acid intrinsically disordered protein (IDP) and the primary component of cytotoxic oligomers implicated in the etiology of Parkinson's disease (PD). While IDPs lack a stable three-dimensional structure, they sample a heterogeneous ensemble of conformations that can, in principle, be assessed through molecular dynamics simulations. However, describing the structure and aggregation of large IDPs is challenging due to force field (FF) accuracy and sampling limitations. To cope with the latter, coarse-grained (CG) FFs emerge as a potential alternative at the expense of atomic detail loss. Whereas CG models can accurately describe the structure of the monomer, less is known about aggregation. The latter is key for assessing aggregation pathways and designing aggregation inhibitor drugs. Herein, we investigate the structure and dynamics of α-syn using different resolution CG (Martini3 and Sirah2) and all-atom (Amber99sb and Charmm36m) FFs to gain insight into the differences and resemblances between these models. The dependence of the magnitude of protein-water interactions and the putative need for enhanced sampling (replica exchange) methods in CG simulations are analyzed to distinguish between force field accuracy and sampling limitations. The stability of the CG models of an α-syn fibril was also investigated. Additionally, α-syn aggregation was studied through umbrella sampling for the CG models and CG/all-atom models for an 11-mer peptide (NACore) from an amyloidogenic domain of α-syn. Our results show that despite the α-syn structures of Martini3 and Sirah2 with enhanced protein-water interactions being similar, major differences exist concerning aggregation. The Martini3 fibril is not stable, and the binding free energy of α-syn and NACore is positive, opposite to Sirah2. Sirah2 peptides in a zwitterionic form, in turn, display termini interactions that are too strong, resulting in end-to-end orientation. Sirah2, with enhanced protein-water interactions and neutral termini, provides, however, a peptide aggregation free energy profile similar to that found with all-atom models. Overall, we find that Sirah2 with enhanced protein-water interactions is suitable for studying protein-protein and protein-drug aggregation.

A Practical Guide to All-Atom and Coarse-Grained Molecular Dynamics Simulations Using Amber and Gromacs: A Case Study of Disulfide-Bond Impact on the Intrinsically Disordered Amyloid Beta

Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) pose challenges to conventional experimental techniques due to their large-scale conformational fluctuations and transient structural elements. This work presents computational methods for studying IDPs at various resolutions using the Amber and Gromacs packages with both all-atom (Amber ff19SB with the OPC water model) and coarse-grained (Martini 3 and SIRAH) approaches. The effectiveness of these methodologies is demonstrated by examining the monomeric form of amyloid-β (Aβ42), an IDP, with and without disulfide bonds at different resolutions. Our results clearly show that the addition of a disulfide bond decreases the β-content of Aβ42; however, it increases the tendency of the monomeric Aβ42 to form fibril-like conformations, explaining the various aggregation rates observed in experiments. Moreover, analysis of the monomeric Aβ42 compactness, secondary structure content, and comparison between calculated and experimental chemical shifts demonstrates that all three methods provide a reasonable choice to study IDPs; however, coarse-grained approaches may lack some atomistic details, such as secondary structure recognition, due to the simplifications used. In general, this study not only explains the role of disulfide bonds in Aβ42 but also provides a step-by-step protocol for setting up, conducting, and analyzing molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, which is adaptable for studying other biomacromolecules, including folded and disordered proteins and peptides.

Exploring Structural Insights of Aβ42 and α-Synuclein Monomers and Heterodimer: A Comparative Study Using Implicit and Explicit Solvent Simulations

Protein misfolding, aggregation, and fibril formation play a central role in the development of severe neurological disorders, including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. The structural stability of mature fibrils in these diseases is of great importance, as organisms struggle to effectively eliminate amyloid plaques. To address this issue, it is crucial to investigate the early stages of fibril formation when monomers aggregate into small, toxic, and soluble oligomers. However, these structures are inherently disordered, making them challenging to study through experimental approaches. Recently, it has been shown experimentally that amyloid-β 42 (Aβ42) and α-synuclein (α-Syn) can coassemble. This has motivated us to investigate the interaction between their monomers as a first step toward exploring the possibility of forming heterodimeric complexes. In particular, our study involves the utilization of various Amber and CHARMM force-fields, employing both implicit and explicit solvent models in replica exchange and conventional simulation modes. This comprehensive approach allowed us to assess the strengths and weaknesses of these solvent models and force fields in comparison to experimental and theoretical findings, ensuring the highest level of robustness. Our investigations revealed that Aβ42 and α-Syn monomers can indeed form stable heterodimers, and the resulting heterodimeric model exhibits stronger interactions compared to the Aβ42 dimer. The binding of α-Syn to Aβ42 reduces the propensity of Aβ42 to adopt fibril-prone conformations and induces significant changes in its conformational properties. Notably, in AMBER-FB15 and CHARMM36m force fields with the use of explicit solvent, the presence of Aβ42 significantly increases the β-content of α-Syn, consistent with the experiments showing that Aβ42 triggers α-Syn aggregation. Our analysis clearly shows that although the use of implicit solvent resulted in too large compactness of monomeric α-Syn, structural properties of monomeric Aβ42 and the heterodimer were preserved in explicit-solvent simulations. We anticipate that our study sheds light on the interaction between α-Syn and Aβ42 proteins, thus providing the atom-level model required to assess the initial stage of aggregation mechanisms related to Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.

Peptide Self-Assembly into Amyloid Fibrils: Unbiased All-Atom Simulations

Protein self-assembly plays an important role in biological systems, accounting for the formation of mesoscopic structures that can be highly symmetric as in the capsid of viruses or disordered as in molecular condensates or exhibit a one-dimensional fibrillar morphology as in amyloid fibrils. Deposits of the latter in tissues of individuals with degenerative diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's has motivated extensive efforts to understand the sequence of molecular events accounting for their formation. These studies aim to identify on-pathway intermediates that may be the targets for therapeutic intervention. This detailed knowledge of fibril formation remains obscure, in part due to challenges with experimental analyses of these processes. However, important progress is being achieved for short amyloid peptides due to advances in our ability to perform completely unbiased all-atom simulations of the self-assembly process. This perspective discusses recent developments, their implications, and the hurdles that still need to be overcome to further advance the field.

Accurate and Fast Prediction of Intrinsically Disordered Protein by Multiple Protein Language Models and Ensemble Learning

Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) play a vital role in various biological processes and have attracted increasing attention in the past few decades. Predicting IDPs from the primary structures of proteins offers a rapid and facile means of protein analysis without necessitating crystal structures. In particular, machine learning methods have demonstrated their potential in this field. Recently, protein language models (PLMs) are emerging as a promising approach to extracting essential information from protein sequences and have been employed in protein modeling to utilize their advantages of precision and efficiency. In this article, we developed a novel IDP prediction method named IDP-ELM to predict the intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs) as well as their functions including disordered flexible linkers and disordered protein binding. This method utilizes high-dimensional representations extracted from several state-of-the-art PLMs and predicts IDRs by ensemble learning based on bidirectional recurrent neural networks. The performance of the method was evaluated on two independent test data sets from CAID (critical assessment of protein intrinsic disorder prediction) and CAID2, indicating notable improvements in terms of area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUC), Matthew's correlation coefficient (MCC), and F1 score. Moreover, IDP-ELM requires solely protein sequences as inputs and does not entail a time-consuming process of protein profile generation, which is a prerequisite for most existing state-of-the-art methods, enabling an accurate, fast, and convenient tool for proteome-level analysis. The corresponding reproducible source code and model weights are available at https://github.com/xu-shi-jie/idp-elm.

Escherichia coli FtsZ molecular dynamics simulations

Earlier molecular dynamics studies of the FtsZ protein revealed that the protein has high intrinsic flexibility which the crystal structures cannot reveal. However, the input structure in these simulation studies was based on the available crystal structure data and therefore, the effect of the C-terminal Intrinsically Disordered Region (IDR) of FtsZ could not be observed in any of these studies. Recent investigations have revealed that the C-terminal IDR is crucial for FtsZ assembly in vitro and Z ring formation in vivo. Therefore, in this study, we simulated FtsZ with the IDR. Simulations of the FtsZ monomer in different nucleotide bound forms (without nucleotide, GTP, GDP) were performed. In the conformations of FtsZ monomer with GTP, GTP binds variably with the protein. Such a variable interaction with the monomer has not been observed in any previous simulation studies of FtsZ and not observed in crystal structures. We found that central helix bends towards the C-terminal domain in the GTP bound form, hence, making way for polymerization. A nucleotide dependent shift/rotation of the C-terminal domain was observed in simulation time averaged structures.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.

Exploring the Role of Globular Domain Locations on an Intrinsically Disordered Region of p53: A Molecular Dynamics Investigation

The pre-tetramerization loop (PTL) of the human tumor suppressor protein p53 is an intrinsically disordered region (IDR) necessary for the tetramerization process, and its flexibility contributes to the essential conformational changes needed. Although the IDR can be accurately simulated in the traditional manner of molecular dynamics (MD) with the end-to-end distance (EEdist) unhindered, we sought to explore the effects of restraining the EEdist to the values predicted by electron microscopy (EM) and other distances. Simulating the PTL trajectory with a restrained EEdist , we found an increased agreement of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) chemical shifts with experiments. Additionally, we observed a plethora of secondary structures and contacts that only appear when the trajectory is restrained. Our findings expand the understanding of the tetramerization of p53 and provide insight into how mutations could make the protein impotent. In particular, our findings demonstrate the importance of restraining the EEdist in studying IDRs and how their conformations change under different conditions. Our results provide a better understanding of the PTL and the conformational dynamics of IDRs in general, which are useful for further studies regarding mutations and their effects on the activity of p53.

Structure Comparison of Beta Amyloid Peptide Aβ 1-42 Isoforms. Molecular Dynamics Modeling

Beta amyloid peptide Aβ 1-42 (Aβ42) has a unique dual role in the human organism, as both the peptide with an important physiological function and one of the most toxic biological compounds provoking Alzheimer's disease (AD). There are several known Aβ42 isoforms that we discuss here that are highly neurotoxic and lead to the early onset of AD. Aβ42 is an intrinsically disordered protein with no experimentally solved structure under physiological conditions. The objective of this research was to establish the appropriate molecular dynamics (MD) methodology and model a uniform set of structures for the Aβ42 isoforms that form the core of this study. For that purpose, force field selection and verification including convergence testing for MD simulations was made. Replica exchange MD and conventional MD modeling of several Aβ42 and Aβ16 isoforms that have neurotoxic and amyloidogenic effects impacting the severity of Alzheimer's disease were carried out with the optimal force field and solvent parameters. A standardized ensemble of structures for the Aβ42 and Aβ16 isoforms covering 30-50% of the conformational ensembles extracted from the free energy minima was calculated from MD trajectories. The resulting data set of modeled structures includes Aβ42 wild type, isoD7, pS8, D7H, and H6R-Aβ42 and Aβ16 wild type, isoD7, pS8, D7H, and H6R-Aβ16. The representative structures are given in the Supporting Information; they are open for public access. In the study, we also evaluated the differences between the structures of Aβ42 isoforms and speculate on their possible relevance to the known functions. Utilizing several representative structures for a single disordered protein for docking, with their subsequent averaging by conformations, would markedly increase the reliability of docking results.

The Inhibition Effect of Epigallocatechin-3-Gallate on the Co-Aggregation of Amyloid-β and Human Islet Amyloid Polypeptide Revealed by Replica Exchange Molecular Dynamics Simulations

Alzheimer's disease and Type 2 diabetes are two epidemiologically linked diseases which are closely associated with the misfolding and aggregation of amyloid proteins amyloid-β (Aβ) and human islet amyloid polypeptide (hIAPP), respectively. The co-aggregation of the two amyloid proteins is regarded as the fundamental molecular mechanism underlying their pathological association. The green tea extract epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) has been extensively demonstrated to inhibit the amyloid aggregation of Aβ and hIAPP proteins. However, its potential role in amyloid co-aggregation has not been thoroughly investigated. In this study, we employed the enhanced-sampling replica exchange molecular dynamics simulation (REMD) method to investigate the effect of EGCG on the co-aggregation of Aβ and hIAPP. We found that EGCG molecules substantially diminish the β-sheet structures within the amyloid core regions of Aβ and hIAPP in their co-aggregates. Through hydrogen-bond, π-π and cation-π interactions targeting polar and aromatic residues of Aβ and hIAPP, EGCG effectively attenuates both inter-chain and intra-chain interactions within the co-aggregates. All these findings indicated that EGCG can effectively inhibit the co-aggregation of Aβ and hIAPP. Our study expands the potential applications of EGCG as an anti-amyloidosis agent and provides therapeutic options for the pathological association of amyloid misfolding disorders.

Atomistic molecular simulations of Aβ-Zn conformational ensembles

The amyloid-forming Aβ peptide is able to interact with metal cations to form very stable complexes that influence fibril formation and contribute to the onset of Alzheimer's disease. Multiple structures of peptides derived from Aβ in complex with different metals have been resolved experimentally to provide an atomic-level description of the metal-protein interactions. However, Aβ is intrinsically disordered, and hence more amenable to an ensemble description. Molecular dynamics simulations can now reach the timescales needed to generate ensembles for these type of complexes. However, this requires accurate force fields both for the protein and the protein-metal interactions. Here we use state-of-the-art methods to generate force field parameters for the Zn(II) cations in a set of complexes formed by different Aβ variants and combine them with the Amber99SB*-ILDN optimized force field. Upon comparison of NMR experiments with the simulation results, further optimized with a Bayesian/Maximum entropy approach, we provide an accurate description of the molecular ensembles for most Aβ-metal complexes. We find that the resulting conformational ensembles are more heterogeneous than the NMR models deposited in the Protein Data Bank.

Bacterial Lectin FimH and Its Aggregation Hot-Spots: An Alternative Strategy against Uropathogenic Escherichia coli

Type I fimbriae are the main adhesive organelles of uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC), consisting of four different subunits. Their component with the most important role in establishing bacterial infections is the FimH adhesin located at the fimbrial tip. This two-domain protein mediates adhesion to host epithelial cells through interaction with terminal mannoses on epithelial glycoproteins. Here, we propose that the amyloidogenic potential of FimH can be exploited for the development of therapeutic agents against Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs). Aggregation-prone regions (APRs) were identified via computational methods, and peptide-analogues corresponding to FimH lectin domain APRs were chemically synthesized and studied with the aid of both biophysical experimental techniques and molecular dynamic simulations. Our findings indicate that these peptide-analogues offer a promising set of antimicrobial candidate molecules since they can either interfere with the folding process of FimH or compete for the mannose-binding pocket.

Mechanistic insights into the conformational switch in profilin-1 subject to collective effects of mutation and histidine tautomerism

Mutations and histidine (His) tautomerism in profilin-1 (PFN1) are associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The conformational changes in PFN1 caused by the collective effects of G117V mutation and His tautomeric isomers εε, εδ, δε, and δδ were clarified using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The predominant structural variations were seen in α-helices, β-sheets, turns, and coils and the His tautomer's unique degree of disruption was seen in these conformations. The content of α-helices was 23.2 % in the εε and δδ isomers, but the observed α-helices in the isomers εδ and δε were 20.3 % and 21.7 % respectively. The percentage of β-sheet was found to be higher (34.1) in the εε isomer than in the εδ, δε, and δδ isomers, and the values were 30.4, 29.7, and 31.9, respectively. Intermolecular water dynamics analysis discloses that His 133 can form an intramolecular H-bond interaction (N^α-H---N^δ), confirming the experimental observations in the simulations of εε, δε, and δδ isomers of G117V PFN1 mutant. It was concluded that these solvent molecules are crucial for aggregation and must be considered in future research on the PFN1 associated with ALS. Overall, the study offers a thorough microscopic understanding of the pathogenic mechanisms behind conformational changes that cause aggregation illnesses like ALS.

Insights into the Mixture of Aβ24 and Aβ42 Peptides from Atomistic Simulations

Amyloid-β (Aβ) oligomers play a central role in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Plaques of AD patients consist of Aβ40 and Aβ42 peptides and truncated Aβ peptides. The Aβ24 peptide, identified in human AD brains, was found to impair Aβ42 clearance through the brain-blood barrier. The Aβ24 peptide was also shown to reduce Aβ42 aggregation kinetics in pure buffer, but the underlying mechanism is unknown at atomistic level. In this study, we explored the conformational ensemble of the equimolar mixture of Aβ24 and Aβ42 by replica exchange molecular dynamics simulations and compared it to our previous results on the pure Aβ42 dimer. Our simulations demonstrate that the truncation at residue 24 changes the secondary, tertiary, and quaternary structures of the dimer, offering an explanation of the slower aggregation kinetics of the mixture.

Modeling structural interconversion in Alzheimers' amyloid beta peptide with classical and intrinsically disordered protein force fields

A comprehensive understanding of the aggregation mechanism in amyloid beta 42 (Aβ42) peptide is imperative for developing therapeutic drugs to prevent or treat Alzheimer's disease. Because of the high flexibility and lack of native tertiary structures of Aβ42, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations may help elucidate the peptide's dynamics with atomic details and collectively improve ensembles not seen in experiments. We applied microsecond-timescale MD simulations to investigate the dynamics and conformational changes of Aβ42 by using a newly developed Amber force field (ff14IDPSFF). We compared the ff14IDPSFF and the regular ff14SB force field by examining the conformational changes of two distinct Aβ42 monomers in explicit solvent. Conformational ensembles obtained by simulations depend on the force field and initial structure, Aβ42^α-helix or Aβ42^β-strand. The ff14IDPSFF sampled a high ratio of disordered structures and diverse β-strand secondary structures; in contrast, ff14SB favored helicity during the Aβ42^α-helix simulations. The conformations obtained from Aβ42^β-strand simulations maintained a balanced content in the disordered and helical structures when simulated by ff14SB, but the conformers clearly favored disordered and β-sheet structures simulated by ff14IDPSFF. The results obtained with ff14IDPSFF qualitatively reproduced the NMR chemical shifts well. In-depth peptide and cluster analysis revealed some characteristic features that may be linked to early onset of the fibril-like structure. The C-terminal region (mainly M35-V40) featured in-registered anti-parallel β-strand (β-hairpin) conformations with tested systems. Our work should expand the knowledge of force field and structure dependency in MD simulations and reveals the underlying structural mechanism-function relationship in Aβ42 peptides. Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.

Characterization of the Conformations of Amyloid Beta 42 in Solution That May Mediate Its Initial Hydrophobic Aggregation

Intrinsically disordered peptides, such as amyloid β42 (Aβ42), lack a well-defined structure in solution. Aβ42 can undergo abnormal aggregation and amyloidogenesis in the brain, forming fibrillar plaques, a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease. The insoluble fibrillar forms of Aβ42 exhibit well-defined, cross β-sheet structures at the molecular level and are less toxic than the soluble, intermediate disordered oligomeric forms. However, the mechanism of initial interaction of monomers and subsequent oligomerization is not well understood. The structural disorder of Aβ42 adds to the challenges of determining the structural properties of its monomers, making it difficult to understand the underlying molecular mechanism of pathogenic aggregation. Certain regions of Aβ42 are known to exhibit helical propensity in different physiological conditions. NMR spectroscopy has shown that the Aβ42 monomer at lower pH can adopt an α-helical conformation and as the pH is increased, the peptide switches to β-sheet conformation and aggregation occurs. CD spectroscopy studies of aggregation have shown the presence of an initial spike in the amount of α-helical content at the start of aggregation. Such an increase in α-helical content suggests a mechanism wherein the peptide can expose critical non-polar residues for interaction, leading to hydrophobic aggregation with other interacting peptides. We have used molecular dynamics simulations to characterize in detail the conformational landscape of monomeric Aβ42 in solution to identify molecular properties that may mediate the early stages of oligomerization. We hypothesized that conformations with α-helical structure have a higher probability of initiating aggregation because they increase the hydrophobicity of the peptide. Although random coil conformations were found to be the most dominant, as expected, α-helical conformations are thermodynamically accessible, more so than β-sheet conformations. Importantly, for the first time α-helical conformations are observed to increase the exposure of aromatic and hydrophobic residues to the aqueous solvent, favoring their hydrophobically driven interaction with other monomers to initiate aggregation. These findings constitute a first step toward characterizing the mechanism of formation of disordered, low-order oligomers of Aβ42.

Impact of A2T and D23N mutations on C99 homodimer conformations

The proteolytic cleavage of C99 by γ-secretase is the last step in the production of amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides. Previous studies have shown that membrane lipid composition, cholesterol concentration, and mutation in the transmembrane helix modified the structures and fluctuations of C99. In this study, we performed atomistic molecular dynamics simulations of the homodimer of the 55-residue congener of the C-terminal domain of the amyloid protein precursor, C99(1-55), in a POPC-cholesterol lipid bilayer, and we compared the conformational ensemble of WT sequence to those of the A2T and D23N variants. These mutations are particularly interesting as the protective Alzheimer's disease (AD) A2T mutation is known to decrease Aβ production, whereas the early onset AD D23N mutation does not affect Aβ production. We found noticeable differences in the structural ensembles of the three sequences. In particular, A2T varies from both WT and D23N by having long-range effects on the population of the extracellular justamembrane helix, the interface between the G29xxx-G33xxx-G37 motifs and the fluctuations of the transmembrane helical topologies.

Histidine tautomerism dependent conformational transitions driven aggregation of profilin-1: Implications in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Aggregation of profilin-1 (PFN1) causes a fatal neurodegenerative disease, familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (fALS). Histidine (His) tautomerism has been linked to the formation of fibril aggregation causing neurodegenerative disease. Characterization of intermediate species that form during aggregation is crucial, however, this has proven very challenging for experimentalists due to their transient nature. Hence, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations have been performed on the His tautomeric isomers εε, εδ, δε, and δδ of PFN1 to explain the structural changes and to correlate them with its aggregation propensity. MD simulations show that His133 presumably plays a major role in the aggregation of PFN1 upon His tautomerism compared to His119. Further, the formation of a new 3₁₀-helix is observed in εε and δε but 3₁₀-helix is not observed in δδ and εδ isomers. In addition, our findings unveil that β-sheet dominating conformations are observed in His119(δ)-His133(δ) δδ isomer of PFN1 with significant antiparallel β-sheets between residues T15-G23, S29-A33, L63-L65, Q68-S76, F83-T89, T97-T105, and K107-K115, suggesting a novel aggregation mechanism possibly occur for the formation of PFN1 aggregates. Overall, these results propose that MD simulations of PFN1 His tautomers can provide a detailed microscopic understanding of the aggregation mechanisms which are hard to probe through experiments.

Allosteric Binding Sites of Ab Peptides on the Acetylcholine Synthesizing Enzyme ChAT as Deduced by In Silico Molecular Modeling

The native function of amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides is still unexplored. However, several recent reports suggest a prominent role of Aβ peptides in acetylcholine homeostasis. To clarify this role of Aβ, we have reported that Aβ peptides at physiological concentrations can directly enhance the catalytic efficiency of the key cholinergic enzyme, choline acetyltransferase (ChAT), via an allosteric interaction. In the current study, we further aimed to elucidate the underlying ChAT-Aβ interaction mechanism using in silico molecular docking and dynamics analysis. Docking analysis suggested two most probable binding clusters on ChAT for Aβ40 and three for Aβ42. Most importantly, the docking results were challenged with molecular dynamic studies of 100 ns long simulation in triplicates (100 ns × 3 = 300 ns) and were analyzed for RMSD, RMSF, RoG, H-bond number and distance, SASA, and secondary structure assessment performed together with principal component analysis and the free-energy landscape diagram, which indicated that the ChAT-Aβ complex system was stable throughout the simulation time period with no abrupt motion during the evolution of the simulation across the triplicates, which also validated the robustness of the simulation study. Finally, the free-energy landscape analysis confirmed the docking results and demonstrated that the ChAT-Aβ complexes were energetically stable despite the unstructured nature of C- and N-terminals in Aβ peptides. Overall, this study supports the reported in vitro findings that Aβ peptides, particularly Aβ42, act as endogenous ChAT-Potentiating-Ligand (CPL), and thereby supports the hypothesis that one of the native biological functions of Aβ peptides is the regulation of acetylcholine homeostasis.

Modeling the Structure and Interactions of Intrinsically Disordered Peptides with Multiple Replica, Metadynamics-Based Sampling Methods and Force-Field Combinations

Intrinsically disordered proteins play a key role in many biological processes, including the formation of biomolecular condensates within cells. A detailed characterization of their configurational ensemble and structure-function paradigm is crucial for understanding their biological activity and for exploiting them as building blocks in material sciences. In this work, we incorporate bias-exchange metadynamics and parallel-tempering well-tempered metadynamics with CHARMM36m and CHARMM22* to explore the structural and thermodynamic characteristics of a short archetypal disordered sequence derived from a DEAD-box protein. The conformational landscapes emerging from our simulations are largely congruent across methods and force fields. Nevertheless, differences in fine details emerge from varying combinations of force-fields and sampling methods. For this protein, our analysis identifies features that help to explain the low propensity of this sequence to undergo self-association in vitro, which are common to all force-field/sampling method combinations. Overall, our work demonstrates the importance of using multiple force-field and sampling method combinations for accurate structural and thermodynamic information in the study of disordered proteins.

Characterization of Amyloidogenic Peptide Aggregability in Helical Subspace

Prototypical amyloidogenic peptides amyloid-β (Aβ) and α-synuclein (αS) can undergo helix-helix associations via partially folded helical conformers, which may influence pathological progression to Alzheimer's (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD), respectively. At the other extreme, stable folded helical conformers have been reported to resist self-assembly and amyloid formation. Experimental characterisation of such disparities in aggregation profiles due to subtle differences in peptide stabilities is precluded by the conformational heterogeneity of helical subspace. The diverse physical models used in molecular simulations allow sampling distinct regions of the phase space and are extensive in capturing the ensemble of rich helical subspace. Robust and powerful computational predictive methods utilizing network theory and free energy mapping can model the origin of helical population shifts in amyloidogenic peptides, which highlight their inherent aggregability. In this chapter, we discuss computational models, methods, design rules, and strategies to identify the driving force behind helical self-assembly and the molecular origin of aggregation resistance in helical intermediates of Aβ42 and αS. By extensive multiscale mapping of intrapeptide interactions, we show that the computational models can capture features that are otherwise imperceptible to experiments. Our models predict that targeting terminal residues may allow modulation and control of initial pathogenic aggregability of amyloidogenic peptides.

Controlling the self-assembly of human calcitonin: a theoretical approach using molecular dynamics simulations

Human calcitonin (hCT) is a 32-residue amino acid poly-peptide hormone which is secreted by the C-cells (also known as parafollicular cells) of thyroid glands. It acts to inhibit osteoclast cell hormones by reducing the cell function and regulating calcium and phosphate in blood. hCT has a high tendency to assemble into protofilaments with β-sheet conformations. Amyloid fibril formation of hCT reduces its bio-activity and limits its application as a therapeutic drug. Salmon calcitonin (sCT), which also carries the same disulfide bridge at the N and C-terminus, but differs at the 16 residue position from hCT, has less propensity to aggregate than hCT. Human calcitonin has much higher bio-activity than sCT if its aggregation propensity is reduced. Substituting the key residues which are responsible for the aggregation of hCT, is one of the ways to reduce its aggregation and fibril formation. hCT analogues with less aggregation tendency can be exploited as therapeutic drugs. In this work, we study the amyloidogenic behavior of hCT and its peptide based derivatives i.e., sCT, phCT, N17H hCT, Y12L hCT and DM hCT, through classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Our study reveals that sCT is the least aggregation prone derivative, and the double mutation at position 12 and 17 can reduce the aggregation propensity of this peptide. Also, we have applied these mutant variants of hCT as peptide inhibitors in the self-aggregation of hCT. This study could help in understanding and preparing peptide-based inhibitors for hCT fibrillation and their applications as therapeutic drugs.

Molecular insight into the early stage of amyloid-β(1-42) Homodimers aggregation influenced by histidine tautomerism

Aggregated amyloid β-peptide (Aβ) in small oligomeric forms inside the brain causes synaptic function disruption and the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Histidine is an important amino acid that may lead to structural changes. Aβ42 monomer chain includes 3 histidine residues that considering two ε and δ tautomers 8 isomers, including (εεε) and (εδδ) could be formed. Molecular dynamics simulation on homodimerization of (εεε) (the most common type of tautomers) and (εδδ) tautomers with different initial configurations using monomer chains from our previous work were performed to uncover the tautomeric behavior of histidine on Aβ42 aggregation in a physiological pH which is still largely unknown and impossible to observe experimentally. We found a higher propensity of forming β-sheet in (εδδ) homodimers and specifically in a greater amount from Aβ42 than from Aβ40. A smaller amount of β-sheet formation was observed for (εεε) homodimers compared with (εδδ). Additionally, interactions in (εδδ) homodimers may indicate the importance of the hydrophobic core and C-/N-terminals during oligomerization. Our findings indicate the important role of the tautomeric effect of histidine and (εδδ) homodimers at the early stage of Aβ aggregation.

Molecular structure of a prevalent amyloid-β fibril polymorph from Alzheimer's disease brain tissue

Amyloid-β (Aβ) fibrils exhibit self-propagating, molecular-level polymorphisms that may contribute to variations in clinical and pathological characteristics of Alzheimer's disease (AD). We report the molecular structure of a specific fibril polymorph, formed by 40-residue Aβ peptides (Aβ40), that is derived from cortical tissue of an AD patient by seeded fibril growth. The structure is determined from cryogenic electron microscopy (cryoEM) images, supplemented by mass-per-length (MPL) measurements and solid-state NMR (ssNMR) data. Previous ssNMR studies with multiple AD patients had identified this polymorph as the most prevalent brain-derived Aβ40 fibril polymorph from typical AD patients. The structure, which has 2.8-Å resolution according to standard criteria, differs qualitatively from all previously described Aβ fibril structures, both in its molecular conformations and its organization of cross-β subunits. Unique features include twofold screw symmetry about the fibril growth axis, despite an MPL value that indicates three Aβ40 molecules per 4.8-Å β-sheet spacing, a four-layered architecture, and fully extended conformations for molecules in the central two cross-β layers. The cryoEM density, ssNMR data, and MPL data are consistent with β-hairpin conformations for molecules in the outer cross-β layers. Knowledge of this brain-derived fibril structure may contribute to the development of structure-specific amyloid imaging agents and aggregation inhibitors with greater diagnostic and therapeutic utility.

Thermodynamics and kinetics of the amyloid-β peptide revealed by Markov state models based on MD data in agreement with experiment

The amlyoid-β peptide (Aβ) is closely linked to the development of Alzheimer's disease. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations have become an indispensable tool for studying the behavior of this peptide at the atomistic level. General key aspects of MD simulations are the force field used for modeling the peptide and its environment, which is important for accurate modeling of the system of interest, and the length of the simulations, which determines whether or not equilibrium is reached. In this study we address these points by analyzing 30-μs MD simulations acquired for Aβ40 using seven different force fields. We assess the convergence of these simulations based on the convergence of various structural properties and of NMR and fluorescence spectroscopic observables. Moreover, we calculate Markov state models for the different MD simulations, which provide an unprecedented view of the thermodynamics and kinetics of the amyloid-β peptide. This further allows us to provide answers for pertinent questions, like: which force fields are suitable for modeling Aβ? (a99SB-UCB and a99SB-ILDN/TIP4P-D); what does Aβ peptide really look like? (mostly extended and disordered) and; how long does it take MD simulations of Aβ to attain equilibrium? (at least 20-30 μs). We believe the analyses presented in this study will provide a useful reference guide for important questions relating to the structure and dynamics of Aβ in particular, and by extension other similar disordered proteins.

Folding and self-assembly of short intrinsically disordered peptides and protein regions

Proteins and peptide fragments are highly relevant building blocks in self-assembly for nanostructures with plenty of applications. Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) and protein regions (IDRs) are defined by the absence of a well-defined secondary structure, yet IDPs/IDRs show a significant biological activity. Experimental techniques and computational modelling procedures for the characterization of IDPs/IDRs are discussed. Directed self-assembly of IDPs/IDRs allows reaching a large variety of nanostructures. Hybrid materials based on the derivatives of IDPs/IDRs show a promising performance as alternative biocides and nanodrugs. Cell mimicking, in vivo compartmentalization, and bone regeneration are demonstrated for IDPs/IDRs in biotechnological applications. The exciting possibilities of IDPs/IDRs in nanotechnology with relevant biological applications are shown.

Amyloid Oligomers: A Joint Experimental/Computational Perspective on Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's Disease, Type II Diabetes, and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Protein misfolding and aggregation is observed in many amyloidogenic diseases affecting either the central nervous system or a variety of peripheral tissues. Structural and dynamic characterization of all species along the pathways from monomers to fibrils is challenging by experimental and computational means because they involve intrinsically disordered proteins in most diseases. Yet understanding how amyloid species become toxic is the challenge in developing a treatment for these diseases. Here we review what computer, in vitro, in vivo, and pharmacological experiments tell us about the accumulation and deposition of the oligomers of the (Aβ, tau), α-synuclein, IAPP, and superoxide dismutase 1 proteins, which have been the mainstream concept underlying Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), type II diabetes (T2D), and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) research, respectively, for many years.

Effects of Ions and Small Compounds on the Structure of Aβ42 Monomers

Aggregation of amyloid-β (Aβ) proteins in the brain is a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease. This phenomenon can be promoted or inhibited by adding small molecules to the solution where Aβ is embedded. These molecules affect the ensemble of conformations sampled by Aβ monomers even before aggregation starts. Here, we perform extensive all-atom replica exchange molecular dynamics (REMD) simulations to provide a comparative study of the ensemble of conformations sampled by Aβ₄₂ monomers in solutions that promote (i.e., aqueous solution containing NaCl) and inhibit (i.e., aqueous solutions containing scyllo-inositol or 4-aminophenol) aggregation. Simulations performed in pure water are used as our reference. We find that secondary-structure content is only affected in an antagonistic manner by promoters and inhibitors at the C-terminus and the central hydrophilic core. Moreover, the end of the C-terminus binds more favorably to the central hydrophobic core region of Aβ₄₂ in NaCl adopting a type of strand-loop-strand structure that is disfavored by inhibitors. Nonpolar residues that form the dry core of larger aggregates of Aβ₄₂ (e.g., PDB ID 2BEG) are found at close proximity in these strand-loop-strand structures, suggesting that their formation could play an important role in initiating nucleation. In the presence of inhibitors, the C-terminus binds the central hydrophilic core with a higher probability than in our reference simulation. This sensitivity of the C-terminus, which is affected in an antagonistic manner by inhibitors and promoters, provides evidence for its critical role in accounting for aggregation.

Conformational Preferences of an Intrinsically Disordered Protein Domain: A Case Study for Modern Force Fields

Molecular simulations of intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) are challenging because they require sampling a very large number of relevant conformations, corresponding to a multitude of shallow minima in a flat free energy landscape. However, in the presence of a binding partner, the free energy landscape of an IDP can be dominated by few deep minima. This characteristic imposes high demands on the accuracy of the force field used to describe the molecular interactions. Here, as a model system for an IDP that is unstructured in solution but folds upon binding to a structured interaction partner, the transactivation domain of c-Myb was studied both in the unbound (free) form and when bound to the KIX domain. Six modern biomolecular force fields were systematically tested and compared in terms of their ability to describe the structural ensemble of the IDP. The protein force field/water model combinations included in this study are AMBER ff99SB-disp with its corresponding water model that was derived from TIP4P-D, CHARMM36m with TIP3P, ff15ipq with SPC/E_b, ff99SB*-ILDNP with TIP3P and TIP4P-D, and FB15 with TIP3P-FB water. Comparing the results from REST2-enhanced sampling simulations with experimental CD spectra and secondary chemical shifts reveals that the ff99SB-disp force field can realistically capture the broad and mildly helical structural ensemble of free c-Myb. The structural ensembles yielded by CHARMM36m, ff99SB*-ILDNP together with TIP4P-D water, and FB15 are also mildly helical; however, each of these force fields can be assigned a specific subset of c-Myb residues for which the simulations could not reproduce the experimental secondary chemical shifts. In addition, microsecond-timescale MD simulations of the KIX/c-Myb complex show that most force fields used preserve a stable helix fold of c-Myb in the complex. Still, all force fields predict a KIX/c-Myb complex interface that differs slightly from the structures provided by NMR because several NOE-derived distances between KIX and c-Myb were exceeded in the simulations. Taken together, the ff99SB-disp force field in the first place but also CHARMM36m, ff99SB*-ILDNP together with TIP4P-D water, and FB15 can be suitable choices for future simulation studies of the coupled folding and binding mechanism of the KIX/c-Myb complex and potentially also other IDPs.

Assessing SIRAH's Capability to Simulate Intrinsically Disordered Proteins and Peptides

The challenges posed by intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) to atomistic and coarse-grained (CG) simulations are boosting efforts to develop and reparametrize current force fields. An assessment of the dynamical behavior of IDPs' and unstructured peptides with the CG SIRAH force field suggests that the current version achieves a fair description of IDPs' conformational flexibility. Moreover, we found a remarkable capability to capture the effect of point mutations in loosely structured peptides.

Molecular simulations of IDPs: From ensemble generation to IDP interactions leading to disorder-to-order transitions

Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) lack a well-defined three-dimensional structure but do exhibit some dynamical and structural ordering. The structural plasticity of IDPs indicates that entropy-driven motions are crucial for their function. Many IDPs undergo function-related disorder-to-order transitions upon by their interaction with specific binding partners. Approaches that are based on both experimental and theoretical tools enable the biophysical characterization of IDPs. Molecular simulations provide insights into IDP structural ensembles and disorder-to-order transition mechanisms. However, such studies depend strongly on the chosen force field parameters and simulation techniques. In this chapter, we provide an overview of IDP characteristics, review all-atom force fields recently developed for IDPs, and present molecular dynamics-based simulation methods that allow IDP ensemble generation as well as the characterization of disorder-to-order transitions. In particular, we introduce metadynamics, replica exchange molecular dynamics simulations, and also kinetic models resulting from Markov State modeling, and provide various examples for the successful application of these simulation methods to IDPs.

A lowly populated, transient β-sheet structure in monomeric Aβ1-42 identified by multinuclear NMR of chemical denaturation

Chemical denaturation is a well-established approach for probing the equilibrium between folded and unfolded states of proteins. We demonstrate applicability of this method to the detection of a small population of a transiently folded structural element in a system that is often considered to be intrinsically fully disordered. The ¹H^N, ¹⁵N, ¹³C^α, and ¹³C' chemical shifts of Aβ^1-40 and Aβ^1-42 peptides and their M35-oxidized variants were monitored as a function of urea concentration and compared to analogous urea titrations of synthetic pentapeptides of homologous sequence. Fitting of the chemical shift titrations yields a 10 ± 1% population for a structured element at the C-terminus of Aβ^1-42 that folds with a cooperativity of m = 0.06 kcal/mol·M. The fit also yields the chemical shifts of the folded state and, using a database search, for Aβ^1-42 these shifts identified an antiparallel intramolecular β-sheet for residues I32-A42, linked by a type I' β-turn at G37 and G38. The structure is destabilized by oxidation of M35. Paramagnetic relaxation rates and two previously reported weak, medium-range NOE interactions are consistent with this transient β-sheet. Introduction of the requisite A42C mutation and tagging with MTSL resulted in a small stabilization of this β-sheet. Chemical shift analysis suggests a C-terminal β-sheet may be present in Aβ^1-40 too, but the turn type at G37 is not type I'. The approach to derive Transient Structure from chemical Denaturation by NMR (TSD-NMR), demonstrated here for Aβ peptides, provides a sensitive tool for identifying the presence of lowly populated, transiently ordered elements in proteins that are considered to be intrinsically disordered, and permits extraction of structural data for such elements.

Emergence of Barrel Motif in Amyloid-β Trimer: A Computational Study

Amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides form assemblies that are pathological hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease. Aβ oligomers are soluble, mobile, and toxic forms of the peptide that act in the extracellular space before assembling into protofibrils and fibrils. Therefore, oligomers play an important role in the mechanism of Alzheimer's disease. Since it is difficult to determine by experiment the atomic structures of oligomers, which accumulate fast and are polymorphic, computer simulation is a useful tool to investigate elusive oligomers' structures. In this work, we report extended all-atom molecular dynamics simulations, both canonical and replica exchange, of Aβ(1-42) trimer starting from two different initial conformations: (i) the pose produced by the best docking of a monomer aside of a dimer (simulation 1), representing oligomers freshly formed by assembling monomers, and (ii) a configuration extracted from an experimental mature fibril structure (simulation 2), representing settled oligomers in equilibrium with extended fibrils. We showed that in simulation 1, regions with small β-barrels are populated, indicating the chance of spontaneous formation of domains resembling channel-like structures. These structural domains are alternative to those more representative of mature fibrils (simulation 2), the latter showing a stable bundle of C-termini that is not sampled in simulation 1. Moreover, trimer of Aβ(1-42) can form internal pores that are large enough to be accessed by water molecules and Ca2+ ions.

Molecular Insight into the Effects of Enhanced Hydrophobicity on Amyloid-like Aggregation

Generally, hydrophobic amino acids provide hydrophobic interactions during peptide aggregation. However, besides the hydrophobic amino acids, some hydrophilic amino acids, such as glutamine, are also considered to be essential elements in many self-aggregating peptides. For example, huntingtin contains polyglutamine at its N-terminus and the yeast prion Sup35 protein has the GNNQQNY sequence, a peptide well-known for its ability for amyloid fibril formation. However, despite the frequent emergence of glutamine in self-assembling systems, the molecular mechanism of amyloid formation involving this unique amino acid has not been well documented. It is still not clear how this hydrophilic amino acid is responsible for the hydrophobic interaction in the self-association process. Therefore, in this study, we have carried out classical molecular dynamics simulations of the GNNQQNY peptide and its derivatives in pure water. We quantify the propensity for the formation of β-sheet conformation with an increasing glutamine number in the peptide sequence. In addition, we assess the importance of the hydrophobicity of the dimethanediyl group present in glutamine (as well as in glutamic acid) for the self-association of the peptides through nonpolar solvent medium simulations.

Current Challenges and Limitations in the Studies of Intrinsically Disordered Proteins in Neurodegenerative Diseases by Computer Simulations

Experiments face challenges in the analysis of intrinsically disordered proteins in solution due to fast conformational changes and enhanced aggregation propensity. Computational studies complement experiments, being widely used in the analyses of intrinsically disordered proteins, especially those positioned at the centers of neurodegenerative diseases. However, recent investigations - including our own - revealed that computer simulations face significant challenges and limitations themselves. In this review, we introduced and discussed some of the scientific challenges and limitations of computational studies conducted on intrinsically disordered proteins. We also outlined the importance of future developments in the areas of computational chemistry and computational physics that would be needed for generating more accurate data for intrinsically disordered proteins from computer simulations. Additional theoretical strategies that can be developed are discussed herein.

Structural Characteristics of Monomeric Aβ42 on Fibril in the Early Stage of Secondary Nucleation Process

Amyloid-β (Aβ) aggregates are believed to be one of the main causes of Alzheimer's disease. Aβ peptides form fibrils having cross β-sheet structures mainly through primary nucleation, secondary nucleation, and elongation. In particular, self-catalyzed secondary nucleation is of great interest. Here, we investigate the adsorption of Aβ42 peptides to the Aβ42 fibril to reveal a role of adsorption as a part of secondary nucleation. We performed extensive molecular dynamics simulations based on replica exchange with solute tempering 2 (REST2) to two systems: a monomeric Aβ42 in solution and a complex of an Aβ42 peptide and Aβ42 fibril. Results of our simulations show that the Aβ42 monomer is extended on the fibril. Furthermore, we find that the hairpin structure of the Aβ42 monomer decreases but the helix structure increases by adsorption to the fibril surface. These structural changes are preferable for forming fibril-like aggregates, suggesting that the fibril surface serves as a catalyst in the secondary nucleation process. In addition, the stabilization of the helix structure of the Aβ42 monomer on the fibril indicates that the strategy of a secondary nucleation inhibitor design for Aβ40 can also be used for Aβ42.

DSS1 allosterically regulates the conformation of the tower domain of BRCA2 that has dsDNA binding specificity for homologous recombination

DSS1 is an evolutionary conserved, small intrinsically disordered protein that regulates various cellular functions. Although several studies have elucidated the role of DSS1 in stabilizing BRCA2 and its importance in homologous recombination repair (HRR), yet the structural mechanism behind the stability and HRR remains elusive. In this study, using molecular dynamics simulation we show that DSS1 stabilizes linearly arranged DNA/DSS1 binding domains of BRCA2 with many native contacts. These contacts are absent in the complexes with two missense DSS1 mutants associated with germline breast cancer and somatic mouth carcinoma. Most importantly, our protein energy-based network models show DSS1 allosterically regulates the conformation of the distant tower domain of BRCA2 that has dsDNA binding specificity for HRR. We further postulate that the unique conformation of the tower domain with kinked-helices might be responsible for DNA strand invasion and initiation of HRR. Induced conformation of the tower domain by the kinked-helices is absent in the unbound BRCA2, as well as in the two mutant DSS1-BRCA2 complexes. This suggests that DSS1 allosterically regulates the tower domain conformations of BRCA2 that affects dsDNA binding, essential for HRR. Our results add a new dimension to the function of DSS1 and its role in regulating HRR.

Impact of Mutations on the Conformational Transition from α-Helix to β-Sheet Structures in Arctic-Type Aβ40: Insights from Molecular Dynamics Simulations

The amyloid-β (Aβ) protein aggregation into toxic oligomers and fibrils has been recognized as a key player in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. Recent experiments reported that a double alanine mutation (L17A/F19A) in the central hydrophobic core (CHC) region of [G22]Aβ₄₀ (familial Arctic mutation) diminished the self-assembly propensity of [G22]Aβ₄₀. However, the molecular mechanism behind the decreased aggregation tendency of [A17/A19/G22]Aβ₄₀ is not well understood. Herein, we carried out molecular dynamics simulations to elucidate the structure and dynamics of [G22]Aβ₄₀ and [A17/A19/G22]Aβ₄₀. The results for the secondary structure analysis reveal a significantly increased amount of the helical content in the CHC and C-terminal region of [A17/A19/G22]Aβ₄₀ as compared to [G22]Aβ₄₀. The bending free-energy analysis of D23-K28 salt bridge suggests that the double alanine mutation in the CHC region of [G22]Aβ₄₀ has the potential to reduce the fibril formation rate by 0.57 times of [G22]Aβ₄₀. Unlike [G22]Aβ₄₀, [A17/A19/G22]Aβ₄₀ largely sampled helical conformation, as determined by the minimum energy conformations extracted from the free-energy landscape. The present study provided atomic level details into the experimentally observed diminished aggregation tendency of [A17/A19/G22]Aβ₄₀ as compared to [G22]Aβ₄₀.

Fluorescence-Labeled Amyloid Beta Monomer: A Molecular Dynamical Study

The aggregation process of the Amyloidβ (Aβ) peptide is one of the central questions in Alzheimers’s research. Fluorescence-labeled single-molecule detection is a novel technique concerning the early stage investigation of Aβ aggregation, where the labeling dyes are covalently bound to the Aβ monomer. As the influence of the dye on the conformational space of the Aβ monomer can be significant, its effect on the seeding process is an open question. The applied fluorescent molecule continuously switches between an active (ON) and an inactive (OFF) state, where the latter supports an extra rotational restriction at many commercially available dyes. However, only a few theoretical studies simulated the Aβ monomer in the presence of a dye and none of them considered the difference between the ON and the OFF states. Therefore, we examined the impact of a selected fluorescence dye (Alexa 568) on the conformational space of the monomeric Aβ(1–42) peptide in its ON and OFF state by replica exchange molecular dynamic simulations. Investigations on secondary structure elements as well as dye-peptide contact analysis for the monomers are presented. Experimental and theoretical NMR shifts were contrasted to qualify the calculation protocol and theoretical values of the labeled and the non-labeled peptide were also compared. We found that the first five residues have higher helical propensity in the presence of the dye, and electrostatic properties could strongly affect the connection between the dye and the peptide parts.

Identification of an α-MoRF in the Intrinsically Disordered Region of the Escargot Transcription Factor

Molecular recognition features (MoRFs) are common in intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) and intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs). MoRFs are in constant order-disorder structural transitions and adopt well-defined structures once they are bound to their targets. Here, we study Escargot (Esg), a transcription factor in Drosophila melanogaster that regulates multiple cellular functions, and consists of a disordered N-terminal domain and a group of zinc fingers at its C-terminal domain. We analyzed the N-terminal domain of Esg with disorder predictors and identified a region of 45 amino acids with high probability to form ordered structures, which we named S2. Through 54 μs of molecular dynamics (MD) simulations using CHARMM36 and implicit solvent (generalized Born/surface area (GBSA)), we characterized the conformational landscape of S2 and found an α-MoRF of ∼16 amino acids stabilized by key contacts within the helix. To test the importance of these contacts in the stability of the α-MoRF, we evaluated the effect of point mutations that would impair these interactions, running 24 μs of MD for each mutation. The mutations had mild effects on the MoRF, and in some cases, led to gain of residual structure through long-range contacts of the α-MoRF and the rest of the S2 region. As this could be an effect of the force field and solvent model we used, we benchmarked our simulation protocol by carrying out 32 μs of MD for the (AAQAA)₃ peptide. The results of the benchmark indicate that the global amount of helix in shorter peptides like (AAQAA)₃ is reasonably predicted. Careful analysis of the runs of S2 and its mutants suggests that the mutation to hydrophobic residues may have nucleated long-range hydrophobic and aromatic interactions that stabilize the MoRF. Finally, we have identified a set of residues that stabilize an α-MoRF in a region still without functional annotations in Esg.

Structural ensemble and biological activity of DciA intrinsically disordered region

DciA is a newly discovered bacterial protein involved in loading the replicative helicase DnaB onto DNA at the initiation step of chromosome replication. Its three-dimensional structure is composed of a folded N-terminal domain (residues 1-111) resembling K Homology domains and a long disordered C-terminal tail (residues 112-157) which structure-activity relationship remains to be elucidated. In the present study on Vibrio cholerae DciA, we emphasize the importance of its disordered region to load DnaB onto DNA using surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and isothermal titration microcalorimetry (ITC). Then we characterize the conformational ensemble of the full-length protein using a combination of circular dichroism (CD), small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The atomic-level structural ensemble generated by MD simulations is in very good agreement with SAXS data. From initial conformations of the C-terminal tail without any secondary structure, our simulations bring to light several transient helical structures in this segment, which might be molecular recognition features (MoRFs) for the binding to DnaB and its recruitment and loading onto DNA.

Structural analyses and force fields comparison for NACore (68-78) and SubNACore (69-77) fibril segments of Parkinson's disease

The α-synuclein fibrils are a pathological hallmark of Parkinson's disease (PD) and are abundant in the brains of PD patients. These amyloid fibrils can aggregate into distinct polymorphism under different physical conditions. Therefore, these different fibril polymorph formations should be considered in drug design studies targeting amyloid fibrils. Recently, the atomic structures of two small fibril segments of α-synuclein, named NACore (68-78) and SubNACore (69-77), have been crystallized. These segments are critical for cytotoxicity and fibril formation. Therefore, elucidation of interface interactions between pair sheets of the NACore and SubNACore is significant for the clarification of the mechanism of fibril formation in PD. In this context, molecular dynamics (MD) simulation technique is a convenient tool to investigate interface interactions of these segments at the atomic level. However, the accuracy of these simulations depends on the utilized force fields. Therefore, we have tested the dependence of interface interactions and stabilities of these small amyloid fibrils on various force fields. From the results of triple long (100 ns) MD simulations, we inferred for the stability investigations of the NACore and SubNACore that CHARMM27 and GROMOS53A6 are the most convenient force fields whereas AMBER99SB-ILDN is the most unfavorable one. Consequently, it is expected that our findings will guide the selection of the appropriate force field for simulations between these segments and possible inhibitors of this disease.

Long-range Regulation of Partially Folded Amyloidogenic Peptides

Neurodegeneration involves abnormal aggregation of intrinsically disordered amyloidogenic peptides (IDPs), usually mediated by hydrophobic protein-protein interactions. There is mounting evidence that formation of α-helical intermediates is an early event during self-assembly of amyloid-β42 (Aβ42) and α-synuclein (αS) IDPs in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease pathogenesis, respectively. However, the driving force behind on-pathway molecular assembly of partially folded helical monomers into helical oligomers assembly remains unknown. Here, we employ extensive molecular dynamics simulations to sample the helical conformational sub-spaces of monomeric peptides of both Aβ42 and αS. Our computed free energies, population shifts, and dynamic cross-correlation network analyses reveal a common feature of long-range intra-peptide modulation of partial helical folds of the amyloidogenic central hydrophobic domains via concerted coupling with their charged terminal tails (N-terminus of Aβ42 and C-terminus of αS). The absence of such inter-domain fluctuations in both fully helical and completely unfolded (disordered) states suggests that long-range coupling regulates the dynamicity of partially folded helices, in both Aβ42 and αS peptides. The inter-domain coupling suggests a form of intra-molecular allosteric regulation of the aggregation trigger in partially folded helical monomers. This approach could be applied to study the broad range of amyloidogenic peptides, which could provide a new path to curbing pathogenic aggregation of partially folded conformers into oligomers, by inhibition of sites far from the hydrophobic core.

Environment-Specific Force Field for Intrinsically Disordered and Ordered Proteins

The need for accurate and efficient force fields for modeling 3D structures of macrobiomolecules and in particular intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) has increased with recent findings to associate IDPs and human diseases. However, most conventional protein force fields and recent IDP-specific force fields are limited in reproducing accurate structural features of IDPs. Here, we present an environmental specific precise force field (ESFF1) based on CMAP corrections of 71 different sequence environments to improve the accuracy and efficiency of MD simulation for both IDPs and folded proteins. MD simulations of 84 different short peptides, IDPs, and structured proteins show that ESFF1 can accurately reproduce spectroscopic properties for different peptides and proteins whether they are disordered or ordered. The successful ab initio folding of five fast-folding proteins further supports the reliability of ESFF1. The extensive analysis documented here shows that ESFF1 is able to achieve a reasonable balance between ordered and disordered states in protein simulations.