Comparison of atomic solvation parametric sets: applicability and limitations in protein folding and binding

Membrane Lipids Are an Integral Part of Transmembrane Allosteric Sites in GPCRs: A Case Study of Cannabinoid CB1 Receptor Bound to a Negative Allosteric Modulator, ORG27569, and Analogs

A growing number of G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) structures reveal novel transmembrane lipid-exposed allosteric sites. Ligands must first partition into the surrounding membrane and take lipid paths to these sites. Remarkably, a significant part of the bound ligands appears exposed to the membrane lipids. The experimental structures do not usually account for the surrounding lipids, and their apparent contribution to ligand access and binding is often overlooked and poorly understood. Using classical and enhanced molecular dynamics simulations, we show that membrane lipids are critical in the access and binding of ORG27569 and its analogs at the transmembrane site of cannabinoid CB1 receptor. The observed differences in the binding affinity and cooperativity arise from the functional groups that interact primarily with lipids. Our results demonstrate the significance of incorporating membrane lipids as an integral component of transmembrane sites for accurate characterization, binding-affinity calculations, and lead optimization in drug discovery.

Dramatic Shape Changes Occur as Cytochrome c Folds

Extensive experimental studies on the folding of cytochrome c (Cyt c) make this small protein an ideal target for atomic detailed simulations for the purposes of quantitatively characterizing the structural transitions and the associated time scales for folding to the native state from an ensemble of unfolded states. We use previously generated atomically detailed folding trajectories by the stochastic difference equation in length to calculate the time-dependent changes in the small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) profiles. Excellent agreement is obtained between experiments and simulations for the time-dependent SAXS spectra, allowing us to identify the structures of the folding intermediates, which shows that Cyt c reaches the native state by a sequential folding mechanism. Using the ensembles of structures along the folding pathways, we show that compaction and the sphericity of Cyt c change dramatically from the prolate ellipsoid shape in the unfolded state to the spherical native state. Our data, which are in unprecedented quantitative agreement with all aspects of time-resolved SAXS experiments, show that hydrophobic collapse and amide group protection coincide on the 100 microseconds time scale, which is in accordance with ultrafast hydrogen/deuterium exchange studies. Based on these results, we propose that compaction of polypeptide chains, accompanied by dramatic shape changes, is a universal characteristic of globular proteins, regardless of the underlying folding mechanism.

Recognition of methylated DNA through methyl-CpG binding domain proteins

DNA methylation is a key regulatory control route in epigenetics, involving gene silencing and chromosome inactivation. It has been recognized that methyl-CpG binding domain (MBD) proteins play an important role in interpreting the genetic information encoded by methylated DNA (mDNA). Although the function of MBD proteins has attracted considerable attention and is well characterized, the mechanism underlying mDNA recognition by MBD proteins is still poorly understood. In this article, we demonstrate that the methyl-CpG dinucleotides are recognized at the MBD–mDNA interface by two MBD arginines through an interplay of hydrogen bonding and cation-π interaction. Through molecular dynamics and quantum-chemistry calculations we investigate the methyl-cytosine recognition process and demonstrate that methylation enhances MBD–mDNA binding by increasing the hydrophobic interfacial area and by strengthening the interaction between mDNA and MBD proteins. Free-energy perturbation calculations also show that methylation yields favorable contribution to the binding free energy for MBD–mDNA complex.

Advances in implicit models of water solvent to compute conformational free energy and molecular dynamics of proteins at constant pH

Modern implicit solvent models for macromolecular simulations in water-proton bath are considered. The fundamental quantity that implicit models approximate is the solute potential of mean force, which is obtained by averaging over solvent degrees of freedom. The implicit solvent models suggest practical ways to calculate free energies of macromolecular conformations taking into account equilibrium interactions with water solvent and proton bath, while the explicit solvent approach is unable to do that due to the need to account for a large number of solvent degrees of freedom. The most advanced realizations of the implicit continuum models by different research groups are discussed, their accuracy are examined, and some applications of the implicit solvent models to macromolecular modeling, such as free energy calculations, protein folding, and constant pH molecular dynamics are highlighted.

Probing solvation decay length in order to characterize hydrophobicity-induced bead-bead attractive interactions in polymer chains

In this paper, we quantitatively demonstrate that exponentially decaying attractive potentials can effectively mimic strong hydrophobic interactions between monomer units of a polymer chain dissolved in aqueous solvent. Classical approaches to modeling hydrophobic solvation interactions are based on invariant attractive length scales. However, we demonstrate here that the solvation interaction decay length may need to be posed as a function of the relative separation distances and the sizes of the interacting species (or beads or monomers) to replicate the necessary physical interactions. As an illustrative example, we derive a universal scaling relationship for a given solute-solvent combination between the solvation decay length, the bead radius, and the distance between the interacting beads. With our formalism, the hydrophobic component of the net attractive interaction between monomer units can be synergistically accounted for within the unified framework of a simple exponentially decaying potential law, where the characteristic decay length incorporates the distinctive and critical physical features of the underlying interaction. The present formalism, even in a mesoscopic computational framework, is capable of incorporating the essential physics of the appropriate solute-size dependence and solvent-interaction dependence in the hydrophobic force estimation, without explicitly resolving the underlying molecular level details.

Relative role of halogen bonds and hydrophobic interactions in inhibition of human protein kinase CK2α by tetrabromobenzotriazole and some C5-substituted analogues

To examine the relative role of halogen bonding and hydrophobic interactions in the inhibition of human CK2alpha by 4,5,6,7-tetrabromobenzotriazole (TBBt), we have synthesized a series of 5-substituted benzotriazoles (Bt) and the corresponding 5-substituted 4,6,7-tribromobenzotriazoles (Br3Bt) and examined their inhibition of human CK2alpha relative to that of TBBt. The various C(5) substituents differ in size (H and CH3), electronegativity (NH2 and NO2), and hydrophobicity (COOH and Cl). Some substituents were halogen bond donors (Cl, Br), while others were fluorine bond donors (F and CF3). Most of the 5-substituted analogues of Br3Bt (with the exception of COOH and NH2) exhibited inhibitory activity comparable to that of TBBt, whereas the 5-substituted analogues of the parent Bt were only weakly active (Br, Cl, NO2, CF3) or inactive. The observed effect of the volume of a ligand molecule pointed to its predominant role in inhibitory activity, indicating that presumed halogen bonding, identified in crystal structures and by molecular modeling, is dominated by hydrophobic interactions. Extended QSAR analysis additionally pointed to the monoanion and a preference for the N(1)-H protomer of the neutral ligand as parameters crucial for prediction of inhibitory activity. This suggests that the monoanions of TBBt and its congeners are the active forms that efficiently bind to CK2alpha, and the binding affinity is coupled with protomeric equilibrium of the neutral ligand.

How conformational transition depends on hydrophobicity of elastin-like polypeptides

The three-dimensional structures of elastin-like polypeptides Val1-Pro2-Gly3-Xaa4-Gly5 were investigated by using the multicanonical Monte Carlo (MC) simulation procedure. By substituting different amino acids in the fourth position of the sequence, the thermodynamical variables are calculated in vacuo and in solvent to determine the hydrophobicity dependence of the conformational transition temperatures of the peptides. Resultant hydrophobicity scale is in good agreement with many hydrophobicity scales.

CUSA and CUDE: GPU-accelerated methods for estimating solvent accessible surface area and desolvation

It is well-established that a linear correlation exists between accessible surface areas and experimentally measured solvation energies. Combining this knowledge with an analytic formula for calculation of solvent accessible surfaces, we derive a simple model of desolvation energy as a differentiable function of atomic positions. Additionally, we find that this algorithm is particularly well suited for hardware acceleration on graphics processing units (GPUs), outperforming the CPU by up to two orders of magnitude. We explore the scaling of this desolvation algorithm and provide implementation details applicable to general pairwise algorithms.

2D depiction of nonbonding interactions for protein complexes

A program called the 2D-GraLab is described for automatically generating schematic representation of nonbonding interactions across the protein binding interfaces. The input file of this program takes the standard PDB format, and the outputs are two-dimensional PostScript diagrams giving intuitive and informative description of the protein-protein interactions and their energetics properties, including hydrogen bond, salt bridge, van der Waals interaction, hydrophobic contact, pi-pi stacking, disulfide bond, desolvation effect, and loss of conformational entropy. To ensure these interaction information are determined accurately and reliably, methods and standalone programs employed in the 2D-GraLab are all widely used in the chemistry and biology community. The generated diagrams allow intuitive visualization of the interaction mode and binding specificity between two subunits in protein complexes, and by providing information on nonbonding energetics and geometric characteristics, the program offers the possibility of comparing different protein binding profiles in a detailed, objective, and quantitative manner. We expect that this 2D molecular graphics tool could be useful for the experimentalists and theoreticians interested in protein structure and protein engineering.

Solvent accessible surface area approximations for rapid and accurate protein structure prediction

The burial of hydrophobic amino acids in the protein core is a driving force in protein folding. The extent to which an amino acid interacts with the solvent and the protein core is naturally proportional to the surface area exposed to these environments. However, an accurate calculation of the solvent-accessible surface area (SASA), a geometric measure of this exposure, is numerically demanding as it is not pair-wise decomposable. Furthermore, it depends on a full-atom representation of the molecule. This manuscript introduces a series of four SASA approximations of increasing computational complexity and accuracy as well as knowledge-based environment free energy potentials based on these SASA approximations. Their ability to distinguish correctly from incorrectly folded protein models is assessed to balance speed and accuracy for protein structure prediction. We find the newly developed “Neighbor Vector” algorithm provides the most optimal balance of accurate yet rapid exposure measures.

Generalized pattern search algorithm for Peptide structure prediction

Finding the near-native structure of a protein is one of the most important open problems in structural biology and biological physics. The problem becomes dramatically more difficult when a given protein has no regular secondary structure or it does not show a fold similar to structures already known. This situation occurs frequently when we need to predict the tertiary structure of small molecules, called peptides. In this research work, we propose a new ab initio algorithm, the generalized pattern search algorithm, based on the well-known class of Search-and-Poll algorithms. We performed an extensive set of simulations over a well-known set of 44 peptides to investigate the robustness and reliability of the proposed algorithm, and we compared the peptide conformation with a state-of-the-art algorithm for peptide structure prediction known as PEPstr. In particular, we tested the algorithm on the instances proposed by the originators of PEPstr, to validate the proposed algorithm; the experimental results confirm that the generalized pattern search algorithm outperforms PEPstr by 21.17% in terms of average root mean-square deviation, RMSD C(alpha).

Side-chain conformational space analysis (SCSA): a multi conformation-based QSAR approach for modeling and prediction of protein-peptide binding affinities

In this article, the concept of multi conformation-based quantitative structure-activity relationship (MCB-QSAR) is proposed, and based upon that, we describe a new approach called the side-chain conformational space analysis (SCSA) to model and predict protein-peptide binding affinities. In SCSA, multi-conformations (rather than traditional single-conformation) have received much attention, and the statistical average information on multi-conformations of side chains is determined using self-consistent mean field theory based upon side chain rotamer library. Thereby, enthalpy contributions (including electrostatic, steric, hydrophobic interaction and hydrogen bond) and conformational entropy effects to the binding are investigated in terms of occurrence probability of residue rotamers. Then, SCSA was applied into the dataset of 419 HLA-A 0201 binding peptides, and nonbonding contributions of each position in peptide ligands are well determined. For the peptides, the hydrogen bond and electrostatic interactions of the two ends are essential to the binding specificity, van der Waals and hydrophobic interactions of all the positions ensure strong binding affinity, and the loss of conformational entropy at anchor positions partially counteracts other favorable nonbonding effects.

Testing the Coulomb/Accessible Surface Area solvent model for protein stability, ligand binding, and protein design

Background

Protein structure prediction and computational protein design require efficient yet sufficiently accurate descriptions of aqueous solvent. We continue to evaluate the performance of the Coulomb/Accessible Surface Area (CASA) implicit solvent model, in combination with the Charmm19 molecular mechanics force field. We test a set of model parameters optimized earlier, and we also carry out a new optimization in this work, using as a target a set of experimental stability changes for single point mutations of various proteins and peptides. The optimization procedure is general, and could be used with other force fields. The computation of stability changes requires a model for the unfolded state of the protein. In our approach, this state is represented by tripeptide structures of the sequence Ala-X-Ala for each amino acid type X. We followed an iterative optimization scheme which, at each cycle, optimizes the solvation parameters and a set of tripeptide structures for the unfolded state. This protocol uses a set of 140 experimental stability mutations and a large set of tripeptide conformations to find the best tripeptide structures and solvation parameters.

Results

Using the optimized parameters, we obtain a mean unsigned error of 2.28 kcal/mol for the stability mutations. The performance of the CASA model is assessed by two further applications: (i) calculation of protein-ligand binding affinities and (ii) computational protein design. For these two applications, the previous parameters and the ones optimized here give a similar performance. For ligand binding, we obtain reasonable agreement with a set of 55 experimental mutation data, with a mean unsigned error of 1.76 kcal/mol with the new parameters and 1.47 kcal/mol with the earlier ones. We show that the optimized CASA model is not inferior to the Generalized Born/Surface Area (GB/SA) model for the prediction of these binding affinities. Likewise, the new parameters perform well for the design of 8 SH3 domain proteins where an average of 32.8% sequence identity relative to the native sequences was achieved. Further, it was shown that the computed sequences have the character of naturally-occuring homologues of the native sequences.

Conclusion

Overall, the two CASA variants explored here perform very well for a wide variety of applications. Both variants provide an efficient solvent treatment for the computational engineering of ligands and proteins.

Joint neighbors approximation of macromolecular solvent accessible surface area

A new method for approximate analytical calculations of solvent accessible surface area (SASA) for arbitrary molecules and their gradients with respect to their atomic coordinates was developed. This method is based on the recursive procedure of pairwise joining of neighboring atoms. Unlike other available methods of approximate SASA calculations, the method has no empirical parameters, and therefore can be used with comparable accuracy in calculations of SASA in folded and unfolded conformations of macromolecules of any chemical nature. As shown by tests with globular proteins in folded conformations, average errors in absolute atomic surface area is around 1 A2, while for unfolded protein conformations it varies from 1.65 to 1.87 A2. Computational times of the method are comparable with those by GETAREA, one of the fastest exact analytical methods available today.

Calculation of short-range interactions between proteins

Macromolecular association is an integral component of numerous cellular and technologically relevant processes. Most molecular theories of such association neglect the explicit solvent structure and rely on continuum concepts such as surface energies for calculating short-range interactions. We present a new such method for calculating the non-electrostatic component of the interaction-free energy, based on formalisms for calculating dispersion interactions between macromolecules. The interactions are separated into a short-ranged component that is treated atomistically, and a longer range component that is treated within the continuum Lifshitz-Hamaker approach. This description avoids the singularities inherent in the continuum dispersion formulation, and its effectiveness in characterizing the shape complementarity between interacting surfaces is shown to be comparable to that of surface area-based methods of similar parametric complexity. An advantage of the new method is that it allows facile calculation of the interaction free energy as a function of intermolecular separation, including steric effects; this makes it suitable for use in simulations of protein solutions.

Inference of macromolecular assemblies from crystalline state

We discuss basic physical-chemical principles underlying the formation of stable macromolecular complexes, which in many cases are likely to be the biological units performing a certain physiological function. We also consider available theoretical approaches to the calculation of macromolecular affinity and entropy of complexation. The latter is shown to play an important role and make a major effect on complex size and symmetry. We develop a new method, based on chemical thermodynamics, for automatic detection of macromolecular assemblies in the Protein Data Bank (PDB) entries that are the results of X-ray diffraction experiments. As found, biological units may be recovered at 80-90% success rate, which makes X-ray crystallography an important source of experimental data on macromolecular complexes and protein-protein interactions. The method is implemented as a public WWW service.

Estimating protein-ligand binding free energy: atomic solvation parameters for partition coefficient and solvation free energy calculation

Solvation energy calculation is one of the main difficulties for the estimation of protein-ligand binding free energy and the correct scoring in docking studies. We have developed a new solvation energy estimation method for protein-ligand binding based on atomic solvation parameter (ASP), which has been shown to improve the power of protein-ligand binding free energy predictions. The ASP set, designed to handle both proteins and organic compounds and derived from experimental n-octanol/water partition coefficient (log P) data, contains 100 atom types (united model that treats hydrogen atoms implicitly) or 119 atom types (all-atom model that treats hydrogen atoms explicitly). By using this unified ASP set, an algorithm was developed for solvation energy calculation and was further integrated into a score function for predicting protein-ligand binding affinity. The score function reproduced the absolute binding free energies of a test set of 50 protein-ligand complexes with a standard error of 8.31 kJ/mol. As a byproduct, a conformation-dependent log P calculation algorithm named ASPLOGP was also implemented. The predictive results of ASPLOGP for a test set of 138 compounds were r = 0.968, s = 0.344 for the all-atom model and r = 0.962, s = 0.367 for the united model, which were better than previous conformation-dependent approaches and comparable to fragmental and atom-based methods. ASPLOGP also gave good predictive results for small peptides. The score function based on the ASP model can be applied widely in protein-ligand interaction studies and structure-based drug design.

Packing-based difference of structural features between thermophilic and mesophilic proteins

Twenty pairs of thermophilic and mesophilic proteins were compared in terms of residue packing distribution to obtain structural features related to protein thermostability. Based on residue packing concept, structural features of residues such as residue packing distribution, inner/outer position, secondary structure and water solvation were investigated. The statistical tests revealed that higher frequency in well-packed state of residues, lower frequency in exposed state and higher frequency in well-packed state of inner positioned residues, and higher frequency in well-packed state of 3/10 helix residues could be general structural features thermophilic proteins have.

H-bonding in protein hydration revisited

H-bonding between protein surface polar/charged groups and water is one of the key factors of protein hydration. Here, we introduce an Accessible Surface Area (ASA) model for computationally efficient estimation of a free energy of water-protein H-bonding at any given protein conformation. The free energy of water-protein H-bonds is estimated using empirical formulas describing probabilities of hydrogen bond formation that were derived from molecular dynamics simulations of water molecules at the surface of a small protein, Crambin, from the Abyssinian cabbage (Crambe abyssinica) seed. The results suggest that atomic solvation parameters (ASP) widely used in continuum hydration models might be dependent on ASA for polar/charged atoms under consideration. The predictions of the model are found to be in qualitative agreement with the available experimental data on model compounds. This model combines the computational speed of ASA potential, with the high resolution of more sophisticated solvation methods.

From the cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor celecoxib to a novel class of 3-phosphoinositide-dependent protein kinase-1 inhibitors

The blockade of Akt activation through the inhibition of 3-phosphoinositide-dependent kinase-1 (PDK-1) represents a major signaling mechanism whereby celecoxib mediates apoptosis. Celecoxib, however, is a weak PDK-1 inhibitor (IC(50), 48 microM), requiring at least 30 microM to exhibit discernable effects on the growth of tumor cells in vitro. Here, we report the structure-based optimization of celecoxib to develop PDK-1 inhibitors with greater potency in enzyme inhibition and growth inhibition. Kinetics of PDK-1 inhibition by celecoxib with respect to ATP suggest that celecoxib derivatives inhibit PDK-1 by competing with ATP for binding, a mechanism reminiscent to that of many kinase inhibitors. Structure-activity analysis together with molecular modeling was used to generate compounds that were tested for their potency in inhibiting PDK-1 kinase activity and in inducing apoptosis in PC-3 prostate cancer cells. Docking of potent compounds into the ATP-binding site of PDK-1 was performed for lead optimization, leading to two compounds, OSU-03012 and OSU-03013, with IC(50) values in PDK-1 inhibition and apoptosis induction in the low microM range. Exposure of PC-3 cells to these agents led to Akt dephosphorylation and inhibition of p70 S6 kinase activity. Moreover, overexpression of constitutively active forms of PDK-1 and Akt partially protected OSU-03012-induced apoptosis. Screening in a panel of 60 cell lines and more extensive testing in PC-3 cells indicated that the mean concentration for total growth inhibition was approximately 3 microM for both agents. Considering the conserved role of PDK-1/Akt signaling in promoting tumorigenesis, these celecoxib analogs are of translational relevance for cancer prevention and therapy.

Importance of solvent accessibility and contact surfaces in modeling side-chain conformations in proteins

Contact surface area and chemical properties of atoms are used to concurrently predict conformations of multiple amino acid side chains on a fixed protein backbone. The combination of surface complementarity and solvent-accessible surface accounts for van der Waals forces and solvation free energy. The scoring function is particularly suitable for modeling partially buried side chains. Both iterative and stochastic searching approaches are used. Our programs (Sccomp-I and Sccomp-S), with relatively fast execution times, correctly predict chi1 angles for 92-93% of buried residues and 82-84% for all residues, with an RMSD of approximately 1.7 A for side chain heavy atoms. We find that the differential between the atomic solvation parameters and the contact surface parameters (including those between noncomplementary atoms) is positive; i.e., most protein atoms prefer surface contact with other protein atoms rather than with the solvent. This might correspond to the driving force for maximizing packing of the protein. The influence of the crystal packing, completeness of rotamer library and precise positioning of Cbeta atoms on the accuracy of side-chain prediction are examined. The Sccomp-S and Sccomp-I programs can be accessed through the Web (http://sgedg.weizmann.ac.il/sccomp.html) and are available for several platforms.

Calculation of affinities of peptides for proteins

Several methodologies were employed to calculate the Gibbs standard free energy of binding for a collection of protein-ligand complexes, where the ligand is a peptide and the protein is representative for various protein families. Almost 40 protein-ligand complexes were employed for a continuum approach, which considers the protein and the peptide at the atomic level, but includes solvent as a polarizable continuum. Five protein-ligand complexes were employed for an all-atom approach that relies on a combination of the double decoupling method with thermodynamic integration and molecular dynamics. These affinities were also computed by means of the linear interaction energy method. Although it generally proved rather difficult to predict the absolute free energies correctly, for some protein families the experimental ranking order was correctly reproduced by the continuum and all-atom approach. Considerable attention has also been given to correctly analyze the affinities of charged peptides, where it is required to judge the effect of one or more ions that are being decoupled in an all-atom approach to preserve electroneutrality. The various methods are further judged upon their merits.

Metropolis simulations of Met-Enkephalin with solvent-accessible area parametrizations

We investigate the solvent-accessible area method by means of Metropolis simulations of the brain peptide Met-Enkephalin at 300 K. For the energy function ECEPP/2 nine atomic solvation parameter (ASP) sets are studied. The simulations are compared with one another, with simulations with a distance dependent electrostatic permittivity epsilon(r), and with vacuum simulations (epsilon=2). Parallel tempering and the biased Metropolis techniques RM1 are employed and their performance is evaluated. The measured observables include energy and dihedral probability densities, integrated autocorrelation times, and acceptance rates. Two of the ASP sets turn out to be unsuitable for these simulations. For all other systems selected configurations are minimized in the search for global energy minima, which are found for vacuum and the epsilon(r) system, but for none of the ASP models. Other observables show a remarkable dependence on the ASPs. In particular, we find three ASP sets for which the autocorrelations at 300 K are considerably smaller than those for vacuum simulations.

Discrimination of native loop conformations in membrane proteins: decoy library design and evaluation of effective energy scoring functions

The recent determination of crystal structures for several important membrane proteins opens the way for comparative modeling of their membrane-spanning regions. However, the ability to predict correctly the structures of loop regions, which may be critical, for example, in ligand binding, remains a considerable challenge. To meet this challenge, accurate scoring methods have to discriminate between candidate conformations of an unknown loop structure. Some success in loop prediction has been reported for globular proteins; however, the proximity of membrane protein loops to the lipid bilayer casts doubt on the applicability of the same scoring methods to this problem. In this work, we develop "decoy libraries" of non-native folds generated, using the structures of two membrane proteins, with molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo techniques over a range of temperatures. We introduce a new approach for decoy library generation by constructing a flat distribution of conformations covering a wide range of Calpha-root-mean-square deviation (RMSD) from the native structure; this removes possible bias in subsequent scoring stages. We then score these decoy conformations with effective energy functions, using increasingly more cpu-intensive implicit solvent models, including (1) simple Coulombic electrostatics with constant or distance-dependent dielectrics; (2) atomic solvation parameters; (3) the effective energy function (EEF1) of Lazaridis and Karplus; (4) generalized Born/Analytical Continuum Solvent; and (5) finite-difference Poisson-Boltzmann energy functions. We show that distinction of native-like membrane protein loops may be achieved using effective energies with the assumption of a homogenous environment; thus, the absence of the adjacent lipid bilayer does not affect the scoring ability. In particular, the Analytical Continuum Solvent and finite-difference Poisson-Boltzmann energy functions are seen to be the most powerful scoring functions. Interestingly, the use of the uncharged states of ionizable sidechains is shown to aid prediction, particularly for the simplest energy functions.

Interatomic potentials and solvation parameters from protein engineering data for buried residues

Van der Waals (vdW) interaction energies between different atom types, energies of hydrogen bonds (H-bonds), and atomic solvation parameters (ASPs) have been derived from the published thermodynamic stabilities of 106 mutants with available crystal structures by use of an originally designed model for the calculation of free-energy differences. The set of mutants included substitutions of uncharged, inflexible, water-inaccessible residues in alpha-helices and beta-sheets of T4, human, and hen lysozymes and HI ribonuclease. The determined energies of vdW interactions and H-bonds were smaller than in molecular mechanics and followed the "like dissolves like" rule, as expected in condensed media but not in vacuum. The depths of modified Lennard-Jones potentials were -0.34, -0.12, and -0.06 kcal/mole for similar atom types (polar-polar, aromatic-aromatic, and aliphatic-aliphatic interactions, respectively) and -0.10, -0.08, -0.06, -0.02, and nearly 0 kcal/mole for different types (sulfur-polar, sulfur-aromatic, sulfur-aliphatic, aliphatic-aromatic, and carbon-polar, respectively), whereas the depths of H-bond potentials were -1.5 to -1.8 kcal/mole. The obtained solvation parameters, that is, transfer energies from water to the protein interior, were 19, 7, -1, -21, and -66 cal/moleA(2) for aliphatic carbon, aromatic carbon, sulfur, nitrogen, and oxygen, respectively, which is close to the cyclohexane scale for aliphatic and aromatic groups but intermediate between octanol and cyclohexane for others. An analysis of additional replacements at the water-protein interface indicates that vdW interactions between protein atoms are reduced when they occur across water.

Heat capacity of folding of proteins corrected for disulfide cross-links

The heat capacities (DeltaC(p,f)) for the temperature-induced folding of proteins: barnase, lysozyme T4, papain, trypsin, ribonuclease T1, chymotrypsin, lysozyme and ribonuclease A have been calculated from the change in solvent accessible surface area between the native state and extended polypeptide chain. To visualize the effect of disulfide cross-links on molar heat capacity, loops of varying number of alanine residues and extended alanine chains with terminal cystein are modeled. The difference in DeltaC(p) values between the extended state and the loop conformation of proteins is linearly related to the number of residues in the loop. Corrections to the heat capacity of folding (DeltaC(p,f)) are applied for proteins with cross-links based on this observation. There is good correlation between corrected values of DeltaC(p,f) and experimental values.

Comparative structural analysis of psychrophilic and meso- and thermophilic enzymes

Enzymes adapted to cold display structures comparable with those of their meso- and thermophilic homologs but are characterized by a higher catalytic efficiency at low temperatures and by thermolability at moderate temperatures. To identify the structural factors responsible of such features, we undertook a systematic comparative analysis of several structural properties in a data set consisting of 7 cold active enzymes belonging to different structural families and 28 related structures from meso/thermophiles representing most of the structural information now available. Only high-resolution and high-quality structures were considered. Properties were calculated and then compared for each pair of 3D structures displaying different temperatures of adaptation using a temperature-weighting scheme. The significance of the resulting differences was evaluated with a statistical method. Results reveal that each protein family adopts different structural strategies to adapt to low temperatures. However, some common trends are observed: the number of ion pairs, the side-chain contribution to the exposed surface, and the apolar fraction of the buried surface show a consistent decrease with decreasing optimal temperatures.

[L29M] substitution in the interface of subunit-subunit interactions enhances Escherichia coli RecA protein properties important for its recombinogenic activity

Genetic analysis of RecA protein chimeras and their ancestors, RecAEc (from Escherichia coli) and RecAPa (Pseudomonas aeruginosa) had allowed us to place these proteins with respect to their recombinogenic activities in the following order: RecAPa>RecAX21>RecAX20=RecAEc. While RecAX20 differs from RecAEc in five amino acid residues with two substitutions ([S25A] and [I26V]) at the interface of subunit interactions in the RecA polymer, RecAX20 and RecAX21 differ only by a single substitution [L29M] present at the interface. Here, we present an analysis of the biochemical properties considered important for the recombinogenic activity of all four RecA proteins. While RecAX20 was very similar to RecAEc by all activities analysed, RecAX21 differed from RecAEc in several respects. These differences included an increased affinity for double-stranded DNA, a more active displacement of SSB protein from single-stranded DNA (ssDNA), a decreased end-dependent RecAX21 protein dissociation from a presynaptic complex, and a greater accumulation of intermediate products relative to the final product in the strand-exchange reaction. RecAPa was more tolerant than RecAX21 only to the end-dependent RecA protein dissociation. In addition, RecAPa was more resistant to temperature and salt concentrations in its ability to form a presynaptic RecAPa::ATP::ssDNA filament. Calculations of conformational energy revealed that the [L29M] substitution in RecAX21 polymer caused an increase in its flexibility. This led us to conclude that even a small change in the flexibility of the RecA presynaptic complex could profoundly affect its recombinogenic properties.

Molecular dynamics study of peptide-bilayer adsorption

Two 6-ns simulations of the somatostatin analog sandostatin and a 1-palmityl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (POPC) bilayer are presented. In the first simulation, the peptide was placed in a region of bulk water density and allowed to spontaneously move toward and bind to the bilayer surface. An attractive force between the peptide and bilayer drove the binding process, which was opposed by a significant frictional force caused by the solvent (water). During the approach of the peptide toward the bilayer the area of the interacting surface between the species was inversely proportional to the distance between them, supporting the application of such a relationship in continuum calculations of peptide-bilayer binding free energies. In the second simulation, the N-terminus of the surface-bound peptide was deprotonated. Consistent with experiment, this strengthened interactions between the peptide and the bilayer. Details of both peptide-bilayer complexes, including the orientation, percent buried surface area, and orientation of the lipid headgroups are in good agreement with those obtained from experiment. The location of the different side chains in the bilayer is in direct correlation with an interfacial hydrophobicity scale developed using model peptides. The aromatic side chains of the Phe and Trp residues all lie flat with respect to the bilayer surface in both complexes. Changes in lipid and water ordering due to peptide binding suggest a possible domination of lipophobic over hydrophobic effects, as proposed by other workers. Where appropriate, peptide and lipid properties in the bound states are compared with separate simulations of sandostatin and the bilayer in water, respectively, so as to monitor the response of the system to the binding process.

Crystal structure of Hsc20, a J-type Co-chaperone from Escherichia coli

Hsc20 is a 20 kDa J-protein that regulates the ATPase activity and peptide-binding specificity of Hsc66, an hsp70-class molecular chaperone. We report herein the crystal structure of Hsc20 from Escherichia coli determined to a resolution of 1.8 A using a combination of single isomorphous replacement (SIR) and multi-wavelength anomalous diffraction (MAD). The overall structure of Hsc20 consists of two distinct domains, an N-terminal J-domain containing residues 1-75 connected by a short loop to a C-terminal domain containing residues 84-171. The structure of the J-domain, involved in interactions with Hsc66, resembles the alpha-topology of J-domain fragments of Escherichia coli DnaJ and human Hdj1 previously determined by solution NMR methods. The C-terminal domain, implicated in binding and targeting proteins to Hsc66, consists of a three-helix bundle in which two helices comprise an anti-parallel coiled-coil. The two domains make contact through an extensive hydrophobic interface ( approximately 650 A(2)) suggesting that their relative orientations are fixed. Thus, Hsc20, in addition to its role in the regulation of the ATPase activity of Hsc66, may also function as a rigid scaffold to facilitate positioning of the protein substrates targeted to Hsc66.

Prediction of amino acid sequence from structure

We have developed a method for the prediction of an amino acid sequence that is compatible with a three-dimensional backbone structure. Using only a backbone structure of a protein as input, the algorithm is capable of designing sequences that closely resemble natural members of the protein family to which the template structure belongs. In general, the predicted sequences are shown to have multiple sequence profile scores that are dramatically higher than those of random sequences, and sometimes better than some of the natural sequences that make up the superfamily. As anticipated, highly conserved but poorly predicted residues are often those that contribute to the functional rather than structural properties of the protein. Overall, our analysis suggests that statistical profile scores of designed sequences are a novel and valuable figure of merit for assessing and improving protein design algorithms.

Effective use of sequence correlation and conservation in fold recognition

Protein families are a rich source of information; sequence conservation and sequence correlation are two of the main properties that can be derived from the analysis of multiple sequence alignments. Sequence conservation is related to the direct evolutionary pressure to retain the chemical characteristics of some positions in order to maintain a given function. Sequence correlation is attributed to the small sequence adjustments needed to maintain protein stability against constant mutational drift. Here, we showed that sequence conservation and correlation were each frequently informative enough to detect incorrectly folded proteins. Furthermore, combining conservation, correlation, and polarity, we achieved an almost perfect discrimination between native and incorrectly folded proteins. Thus, we made use of this information for threading by evaluating the models suggested by a threading method according to the degree of proximity of the corresponding correlated, conserved, and apolar residues. The results showed that the fold recognition capacity of a given threading approach could be improved almost fourfold by selecting the alignments that score best under the three different sequence-based approaches.

Position dependence of amino acid intrinsic helical propensities II: non-charged polar residues: Ser, Thr, Asn, and Gln

The assumption that the intrinsic alpha-helical propensities of the amino acids are position independent was critical in several helix/coil transition theories. In the first paper of these series, we reported that this is not the case for Gly and nonpolar aliphatic amino acids (Val, Leu, Met, and Ile). Here we have analyzed the helical intrinsic propensities of noncharged polar residues (Ser, Thr, Asn, and Gln) at different positions of a model polyalanine-based peptide. We found that Thr is more favorable (by approximately 0.3 kcal/mol) at positions N1 and N2 than in the helix center, although for Ser, Asn, and Gln the differences are smaller (+/-0.2 kcal/mol), and in many cases within the experimental error. There is a reasonable agreement (+/-0.2 kcal/mol) between the calculated free energies, using the ECEPP/2 force field equipped with a hydration potential, and the experimental data, except at position N1.

Local water bridges and protein conformational stability

Recent studies have pointed out the important role of local water structures in protein conformational stability. Here, we present an accurate and computationally effective way to estimate the free energy contribution of the simplest water structure motif--the water bridge. Based on the combination of empirical parameters for accessible protein surface area and the explicit consideration of all possible water bridges with the protein, we introduce an improved protein solvation model. We find that accounting for water bridge formation in our model is essential to understand the conformational behavior of polypeptides in water. The model formulation, in fact, does not depend on the polypeptide nature of the solute and is therefore applicable to other flexible biomolecules (i.e., DNAs, RNAs, polysaccharides, etc.).

A solvent model for simulations of peptides in bilayers. I. Membrane-promoting alpha-helix formation

We describe an efficient solvation model for proteins. In this model atomic solvation parameters imitating the hydrocarbon core of a membrane, water, and weak polar solvent (octanol) were developed. An optimal number of solvation parameters was chosen based on analysis of atomic hydrophobicities and fitting experimental free energies of gas-cyclohexane, gas-water, and octanol-water transfer for amino acids. The solvation energy term incorporated into the ECEPP/2 potential energy function was tested in Monte Carlo simulations of a number of small peptides with known energies of bilayer-water and octanol-water transfer. The calculated properties were shown to agree reasonably well with the experimental data. Furthermore, the solvation model was used to assess membrane-promoting alpha-helix formation. To accomplish this, all-atom models of 20-residue homopolypeptides-poly-Leu, poly-Val, poly-Ile, and poly-Gly in initial random coil conformation-were subjected to nonrestrained Monte Carlo conformational search in vacuo and with the solvation terms mimicking the water and hydrophobic parts of the bilayer. All the peptides demonstrated their largest helix-forming tendencies in a nonpolar environment, where the lowest-energy conformers of poly-Leu, Val, Ile revealed 100, 95, and 80% of alpha-helical content, respectively. Energetic and conformational properties of Gly in all environments were shown to be different from those observed for residues with hydrophobic side chains. Applications of the solvation model to simulations of peptides and proteins in the presence of membrane, along with limitations of the approach, are discussed.

Isolated transmembrane helices arranged across a membrane: computational studies

A computational procedure for predicting the arrangement of an isolated helical fragment across a membrane was developed. The procedure places the transmembrane helical segment into a model triple-phase system 'water-octanol-water'; pulls the segment through the membrane, varying its 'global' position as a rigid body; optimizes the intrahelical and solvation energies in each global position by 'local' coordinates (dihedral angles of side chains); and selects the lowest energy global position for the segment. The procedure was applied to 45 transmembrane helices from the photosynthetic reaction center from Rhodopseudomonas viridis, cytochrome c oxidase from Paracoccus denitrificans and bacteriorhodopsin. In two thirds of the helical fragments considered, the procedure has predicted the vertical shifts of the fragments across the membrane with an accuracy of -0.15 +/- 3.12 residues compared with the experimental data. The accuracy for the remaining 15 fragments was 2.17 +/- 3.07 residues, which is about half of a helix turn. The procedure predicts the actual membrane boundaries of transmembrane helical fragments with greater accuracy than existing statistical methods. At the same time, the procedure overestimates the tilt values for the helical fragments.

Scoring functions: a view from the bench

Computational approaches to drug design are presently hindered by the complexity of the physical chemistry which underlies weak, non-covalent interactions between protein targets and small molecule ligands. Although a number of programs are now available for the design of novel potential ligands, it remains a key problem to rank these rapidly and reliably by estimated binding affinity. Such a step is necessary to select only the most promising candidates for synthesis and experimental characterisation. To calculate ligand affinity quickly and reliably is an extremely difficult problem, but it may well prove possible to estimate sufficiently accurately given an appropriate set of parameters to 'score' individual protein-ligand interactions. Improvements in the situation will require a wider set of thermodynamically characterised systems than is currently available.

Free energy of burying hydrophobic residues in the interface between protein subunits

We have obtained an experimental estimate of the free energy change associated with variations at the interface between protein subunits, a subject that has raised considerable interest since the concept of accessible surface area was introduced by Lee and Richards [Lee, B. & Richards, F. M. (1971) J. Mol. Biol. 55, 379-400]. We determined by analytical ultracentrifugation the dimer-tetramer equilibrium constant of five single and three double mutants of human Hb. One mutation is at the stationary alpha1 beta1 interface, and all of the others are at the sliding alpha1 beta2 interface where cleavage of the tetramer into dimers and ligand-linked allosteric changes are known to occur. A surprisingly good linear correlation between the change in the free energy of association of the mutants and the change in buried hydrophobic surface area was obtained, after corrections for the energetic cost of losing steric complementarity at the alphabeta dimer interface. The slope yields an interface stabilization free energy of -15 +/- 1.2 cal/mol upon burial of 1 A2 of hydrophobic surface, in very good agreement with the theoretical estimate given by Eisenberg and McLachlan [Eisenberg, D. & McLachlan, A. D. (1986) Nature (London) 319, 199-203].

Towards structural models of molecular recognition in olfactory receptors

The G protein coupled receptors (GPCR) are an important class of proteins that act as signal transducers through the cytoplasmic membrane. Understanding the structure and activation mechanism of these proteins is crucial for understanding many different aspects of cellular signalling. The olfactory receptors correspond to the largest family of GPCRs. Very little is known about how the structures of the receptors govern the specificity of interaction which enables identification of particular odorant molecules. In this paper, we review recent developments in two areas of molecular modelling: methods for modelling the configuration of trans-membrane helices and methods for automatic docking of ligands into receptor structures. We then show how a subset of these methods can be combined to construct a model of a rat odorant receptor interacting with lyral for which experimental data are available. This modelling can help us make progress towards elucidating the specificity of interactions between receptors and odorant molecules.