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Ghosh C, Nagpal S, Muñoz V. Molecular simulations integrated with experiments for probing the interaction dynamics and binding mechanisms of intrinsically disordered proteins. Curr Opin Struct Biol 2024; 84:102756. [PMID: 38118365 PMCID: PMC11242915 DOI: 10.1016/j.sbi.2023.102756] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2023] [Revised: 11/28/2023] [Accepted: 11/29/2023] [Indexed: 12/22/2023]
Abstract
Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) exploit their plasticity to deploy a rich panoply of soft interactions and binding phenomena. Advances in tailoring molecular simulations for IDPs combined with experimental cross-validation offer an atomistic view of the mechanisms that control IDP binding, function, and dysfunction. The emerging theme is that unbound IDPs autonomously form transient local structures and self-interactions that determine their binding behavior. Recent results have shed light on whether and how IDPs fold, stay disordered or drive condensation upon binding; how they achieve binding specificity and select among competing partners. The disorder-binding paradigm is now being proactively used by researchers to target IDPs for rational drug design and engineer molecular responsive elements for biosensing applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Catherine Ghosh
- NSF-CREST Center for Cellular and Biomolecular Machines (CCBM), University of California at Merced, Merced, 95343 CA, USA; Department of Bioengineering, University of California at Merced, Merced, 95343 CA, USA. https://twitter.com/cat_ghosh
| | - Suhani Nagpal
- NSF-CREST Center for Cellular and Biomolecular Machines (CCBM), University of California at Merced, Merced, 95343 CA, USA; Department of Bioengineering, University of California at Merced, Merced, 95343 CA, USA; OpenEye, Cadence Molecular Sciences, Boston, 02114 MA, USA
| | - Victor Muñoz
- NSF-CREST Center for Cellular and Biomolecular Machines (CCBM), University of California at Merced, Merced, 95343 CA, USA; Department of Bioengineering, University of California at Merced, Merced, 95343 CA, USA.
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2
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Harnish MT, Lopez D, Morrison CT, Narayanan R, Fernandez EJ, Shen T. Novel Covalent Modifier-Induced Local Conformational Changes within the Intrinsically Disordered Region of the Androgen Receptor. BIOLOGY 2023; 12:1442. [PMID: 37998041 PMCID: PMC10669190 DOI: 10.3390/biology12111442] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2023] [Revised: 10/18/2023] [Accepted: 11/05/2023] [Indexed: 11/25/2023]
Abstract
Intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs) of transcription factors play an important biological role in liquid condensate formation and gene regulation. It is thus desirable to investigate the druggability of IDRs and how small-molecule binders can alter their conformational stability. For the androgen receptor (AR), certain covalent ligands induce important changes, such as the neutralization of the condensate. To understand the specificity of ligand-IDR interaction and potential implications for the mechanism of neutralizing liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS), we modeled and performed computer simulations of ligand-bound peptide segments obtained from the human AR. We analyzed how different covalent ligands affect local secondary structure, protein contact map, and protein-ligand contacts for these protein systems. We find that effective neutralizers make specific interactions (such as those between cyanopyrazole and tryptophan) that alter the helical propensity of the peptide segments. These findings on the mechanism of action can be useful for designing molecules that influence IDR structure and condensate of the AR in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael T. Harnish
- Department of Biochemistry & Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA; (M.T.H.); (D.L.); (C.T.M.); (E.J.F.)
| | - Daniel Lopez
- Department of Biochemistry & Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA; (M.T.H.); (D.L.); (C.T.M.); (E.J.F.)
| | - Corbin T. Morrison
- Department of Biochemistry & Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA; (M.T.H.); (D.L.); (C.T.M.); (E.J.F.)
| | - Ramesh Narayanan
- Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN 38103, USA;
| | - Elias J. Fernandez
- Department of Biochemistry & Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA; (M.T.H.); (D.L.); (C.T.M.); (E.J.F.)
| | - Tongye Shen
- Department of Biochemistry & Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA; (M.T.H.); (D.L.); (C.T.M.); (E.J.F.)
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3
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Amith W, Dutagaci B. Complex Conformational Space of the RNA Polymerase II C-Terminal Domain upon Phosphorylation. J Phys Chem B 2023; 127:9223-9235. [PMID: 37870995 PMCID: PMC10626582 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.3c02655] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2023] [Revised: 10/03/2023] [Indexed: 10/25/2023]
Abstract
Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) have been closely studied during the past decade due to their importance in many biological processes. The disordered nature of this group of proteins makes it difficult to observe its full span of the conformational space using either experimental or computational studies. In this article, we explored the conformational space of the C-terminal domain (CTD) of RNA polymerase II (Pol II), which is also an intrinsically disordered low complexity domain, using enhanced sampling methods. We provided a detailed conformational analysis of model systems of CTD with different lengths; first with the last 44 residues of the human CTD sequence and finally the CTD model with 2-heptapeptide repeating units. We then investigated the effects of phosphorylation on CTD conformations by performing simulations at different phosphorylated states. We obtained broad conformational spaces in nonphosphorylated CTD models, and phosphorylation has complex effects on the conformations of the CTD. These complex effects depend on the length of the CTD, spacing between the multiple phosphorylation sites, ion coordination, and interactions with the nearby residues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Weththasinghage
D. Amith
- Department of Molecular and
Cell Biology, University of California,
Merced, Merced, California 95343, United States
| | - Bercem Dutagaci
- Department of Molecular and
Cell Biology, University of California,
Merced, Merced, California 95343, United States
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4
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Pandey S, Raut KK, Clark AM, Baudin A, Djemri L, Libich DS, Ponniah K, Pascal SM. Enhancing the Conformational Stability of the cl-Par-4 Tumor Suppressor via Site-Directed Mutagenesis. Biomolecules 2023; 13:biom13040667. [PMID: 37189414 DOI: 10.3390/biom13040667] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2023] [Revised: 03/28/2023] [Accepted: 04/05/2023] [Indexed: 05/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Intrinsically disordered proteins play important roles in cell signaling, and dysregulation of these proteins is associated with several diseases. Prostate apoptosis response-4 (Par-4), an approximately 40 kilodalton proapoptotic tumor suppressor, is a predominantly intrinsically disordered protein whose downregulation has been observed in various cancers. The caspase-cleaved fragment of Par-4 (cl-Par-4) is active and plays a role in tumor suppression by inhibiting cell survival pathways. Here, we employed site-directed mutagenesis to create a cl-Par-4 point mutant (D313K). The expressed and purified D313K protein was characterized using biophysical techniques, and the results were compared to that of the wild-type (WT). We have previously demonstrated that WT cl-Par-4 attains a stable, compact, and helical conformation in the presence of a high level of salt at physiological pH. Here, we show that the D313K protein attains a similar conformation as the WT in the presence of salt, but at an approximately two times lower salt concentration. This establishes that the substitution of a basic residue for an acidic residue at position 313 alleviates inter-helical charge repulsion between dimer partners and helps to stabilize the structural conformation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samjhana Pandey
- Biomedical Sciences Program, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA 23529, USA
| | - Krishna K Raut
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA 23529, USA
| | - Andrea M Clark
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA 23529, USA
| | - Antoine Baudin
- Greehey Children's Cancer Research Institute, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78229, USA
- Department of Biochemistry and Structural Biology, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78229, USA
| | - Lamya Djemri
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA 23529, USA
| | - David S Libich
- Greehey Children's Cancer Research Institute, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78229, USA
- Department of Biochemistry and Structural Biology, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78229, USA
| | - Komala Ponniah
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA 23529, USA
| | - Steven M Pascal
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA 23529, USA
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5
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Razzokov J, Fazliev S, Makhkamov M, Marimuthu P, Baev A, Kurganov E. Effect of Electric Field on α-Synuclein Fibrils: Revealed by Molecular Dynamics Simulations. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:ijms24076312. [PMID: 37047286 PMCID: PMC10094641 DOI: 10.3390/ijms24076312] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2022] [Revised: 02/24/2023] [Accepted: 03/13/2023] [Indexed: 03/30/2023] Open
Abstract
The self-association of amylogenic proteins to the fibril form is considered a pivotal factor in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson’s disease (PD). PD causes unintended or uncontrollable movements in its common symptoms. α-synuclein is the major cause of PD development and thus has been the main target of numerous studies to suppress and sequester its expression or effectively degrade it. Nonetheless, to date, there are no efficient and proven ways to prevent pathological protein aggregation. Recent investigations proposed applying an external electric field to interrupt the fibrils. This method is a non-invasive approach that has a certain benefit over others. We performed molecular dynamics (MD) simulations by applying an electric field on highly toxic fibrils of α-synuclein to gain a molecular-level insight into fibril disruption mechanisms. The results revealed that the applied external electric field induces substantial changes in the conformation of the α-synuclein fibrils. Furthermore, we show the threshold value for electric field strength required to completely disrupt the α-synuclein fibrils by opening the hydrophobic core of the fibril. Thus, our findings might serve as a valuable foundation to better understand molecular-level mechanisms of the α-synuclein fibrils disaggregation process under an applied external electric field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jamoliddin Razzokov
- Institute of Fundamental and Applied Research, National Research University TIIAME, Kori Niyoziy 39, Tashkent 100000, Uzbekistan
- R&D Center, New Uzbekistan University, Mustaqillik Avenue 54, Tashkent 100007, Uzbekistan
- Institute of Material Sciences, Academy of Sciences, Chingiz Aytmatov 2b, Tashkent 100084, Uzbekistan
- Department of Physics, National University of Uzbekistan, Universitet 4, Tashkent 100174, Uzbekistan
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +998-90-116-23-20
| | - Sunnatullo Fazliev
- Max Planck School Matter to Life, Jahnstrasse 29, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Faculty of Engineering Sciences, Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 205, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Mukhriddin Makhkamov
- Laboratory of Experimental Biophysics, Centre for Advanced Technologies, Tashkent 100174, Uzbekistan
| | - Parthiban Marimuthu
- Pharmaceutical Science Laboratory (PSL–Pharmacy) and Structural Bioinformatics Laboratory (SBL–Biochemistry), Faculty of Science and Engineering, Åbo Akademi University, FI-20520 Turku, Finland
| | - Artyom Baev
- Laboratory of Experimental Biophysics, Centre for Advanced Technologies, Tashkent 100174, Uzbekistan
- Department of Biophysics, Biological Faculty, National University of Uzbekistan, Universitet 4, Tashkent 100174, Uzbekistan
| | - Erkin Kurganov
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
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Baidya L, Reddy G. pH Induced Switch in the Conformational Ensemble of Intrinsically Disordered Protein Prothymosin-α and Its Implications for Amyloid Fibril Formation. J Phys Chem Lett 2022; 13:9589-9598. [PMID: 36206480 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.2c01972] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Aggregation of intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) can lead to neurodegenerative diseases. Although there is experimental evidence that acidic pH promotes IDP monomer compaction leading to aggregation, the general mechanism is unclear. We studied the pH effect on the conformational ensemble of prothymosin-α (proTα), which is involved in multiple essential functions, and probed its role in aggregation using computer simulations. We show that compaction in the proTα dimension at low pH is due to the protein's collapse in the intermediate region (E41-D80) rich in glutamic acid residues, enhancing its β-sheet content. We observed by performing dimer simulations that the conformations with high β-sheet content could act as aggregation-prone (N*) states and nucleate the aggregation process. The simulations initiated using N* states form dimers within a microsecond time scale, whereas the non-N* states do not form dimers within this time scale. This study contributes to understanding the general principles of pH-induced IDP aggregation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lipika Baidya
- Solid State and Structural Chemistry Unit, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, Karnataka560012, India
| | - Govardhan Reddy
- Solid State and Structural Chemistry Unit, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, Karnataka560012, India
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Zheng J, Nurit H, Zhang L, Wei T, Shao Q. Editorial: Computational data-driven design and modeling of biomolecules and biomimetics. Biophys Chem 2022; 289:106877. [PMID: 36007359 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpc.2022.106877] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jie Zheng
- Dept. of Chemical, Biomolecular, and Corrosion Engineering, University of Akron, United States of America.
| | - Haspel Nurit
- Dept. of Computer Science, University of Massachusetts Boston, United States of America
| | - Liqun Zhang
- Dept. of Chemical Engineering, Tennessee Technological University, United States of America
| | - Tao Wei
- Dept. of Chemical Engineering, Howard University, United States of America
| | - Qing Shao
- Dept. of Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Kentucky, United States of America
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8
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Su J, Sun T, Wang Y, Shen Y. Conformational Dynamics of Glucagon-like Peptide-2 with Different Electric Field. Polymers (Basel) 2022; 14:polym14132722. [PMID: 35808767 PMCID: PMC9269336 DOI: 10.3390/polym14132722] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2022] [Revised: 06/30/2022] [Accepted: 07/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Molecular dynamics (MD) simulation was used to study the influence of electric field on Glucagon-like Peptide-2 (GLP-2). Different electric field strengths (0 V/nm ≤ E ≤ 1 V/nm) were mainly carried out on GLP-2. The structural changes in GLP-2 were analyzed by the Root Mean Square Deviation (RMSD), Root Mean Square Fluctuation (RMSF), Radius of Gyration (Rg), Solvent Accessible Surface Area (SASA), Secondary Structure and the number of hydrogen bonds. The stable α—helix structure of GLP-2 was unwound and transformed into an unstable Turn and Coil structure since the stability of the GLP-2 protein structure was reduced under the electric field. Our results show that the degree of unwinding of the GLP-2 structure was not linearly related to the electric field intensity. E = 0.5 V/nm was a special point where the degree of unwinding of the GLP-2 structure reached the maximum at this electric field strength. Under a weak electric field, E < 0.5 V/nm, the secondary structure of GLP-2 becomes loose, and the entropy of the chain increases. When E reaches a certain value (E > 0.5 V/nm), the electric force of the charged residues reaches equilibrium, along the z-direction. Considering the confinement of moving along another direction, the residue is less free. Thus, entropy decreases and enthalpy increases, which enhance the interaction of adjacent residues. It is of benefit to recover hydrogen bonds in the middle region of the protein. These investigations, about the effect of an electric field on the structure of GLP-2, can provide some theoretical basis for the biological function of GLP-2 in vivo.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Tingting Sun
- Correspondence: (T.S.); (Y.W.); Tel.: +86-571-8507-0705 (T.S. & Y.W.)
| | - Yan Wang
- Correspondence: (T.S.); (Y.W.); Tel.: +86-571-8507-0705 (T.S. & Y.W.)
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9
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Pham B, Cheng Z, Lopez D, Lindsay RJ, Foutch D, Majors RT, Shen T. Statistical Analysis of Protein-Ligand Interaction Patterns in Nuclear Receptor RORγ. Front Mol Biosci 2022; 9:904445. [PMID: 35782874 PMCID: PMC9240913 DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2022.904445] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2022] [Accepted: 05/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The receptor RORγ belongs to the nuclear receptor superfamily that senses small signaling molecules and regulates at the gene transcription level. Since RORγ has a high basal activity and plays an important role in immune responses, inhibitors targeting this receptor have been a focus for many studies. The receptor-ligand interaction is complex, and often subtle differences in ligand structure can determine its role as an inverse agonist or an agonist. We examined more than 130 existing RORγ crystal structures that have the same receptor complexed with different ligands. We reported the features of receptor-ligand interaction patterns and the differences between agonist and inverse agonist binding. Specific changes in the contact interaction map are identified to distinguish active and inactive conformations. Further statistical analysis of the contact interaction patterns using principal component analysis reveals a dominant mode which separates allosteric binding vs. canonical binding and a second mode which may indicate active vs. inactive structures. We also studied the nature of constitutive activity by performing a 100-ns computer simulation of apo RORγ. Using constitutively active nuclear receptor CAR as a comparison, we identified a group of conserved contacts that have similar contact strength between the two receptors. These conserved contact interactions, especially a couple key contacts in H11–H12 interaction, can be considered essential to the constitutive activity of RORγ. These protein-ligand and internal protein contact interactions can be useful in the development of new drugs that direct receptor activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bill Pham
- Department of Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, United States
| | - Ziju Cheng
- Department of Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, United States
| | - Daniel Lopez
- Department of Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, United States
| | - Richard J. Lindsay
- UT-ORNL Graduate School of Genome Science and Technology, Knoxville, TN, United States
| | - David Foutch
- UT-ORNL Graduate School of Genome Science and Technology, Knoxville, TN, United States
| | - Rily T. Majors
- Department of Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, United States
| | - Tongye Shen
- Department of Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, United States
- *Correspondence: Tongye Shen,
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A modular approach to map out the conformational landscapes of unbound intrinsically disordered proteins. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022; 119:e2113572119. [PMID: 35658083 PMCID: PMC9191344 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2113572119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
SignificanceIntrinsically disordered proteins have the unique ability to morph in response to multiple partners and thereby process sophisticated inputs and outputs. It is, however, a mystery whether their response is passive, that is, entirely determined by the partner, or controlled via an internal, yet unknown, folding mechanism. Here we introduce an approach to examine this key question and demonstrate its potential by dissecting the conformational properties of the partially disordered protein NCBD and obtaining important clues about how it performs its biological function.
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Chakrabarti P, Chakravarty D. Intrinsically disordered proteins/regions and insight into their biomolecular interactions. Biophys Chem 2022; 283:106769. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bpc.2022.106769] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2021] [Revised: 01/26/2022] [Accepted: 01/26/2022] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
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12
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Lan-Mark S, Miller Y. Insights into the Interactions that Trigger the Primary Nucleation of Polymorphic α-Synuclein Dimers. ACS Chem Neurosci 2022; 13:370-378. [PMID: 35044156 DOI: 10.1021/acschemneuro.1c00754] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Parkinson's disease is associated with the accumulation of α-synuclein (AS) aggregates that include polymorphic AS oligomers and polymorphic fibrils. There have been advances in solving the polymorphic state of AS fibrils, both by experimental techniques and molecular modeling tools. Yet, the polymorphic AS oligomers are now considered as the neurotoxic species, thus current and future studies making efforts to solve their structures at the molecular level. Importantly, it is crucial to explore the specific interactions between AS monomers within the dimer that stabilize the dimer and yield nucleation. Herein, we present a first work that probes at the molecular level the specific interactions between monomers in polymorphic AS dimers are derived from AS fibrils by applying molecular modeling tools. Our work reveals that both N-terminal and the non-amyloidogenic component domains play a role in the dimerization of all polymorphic AS dimers. In addition, helices along the N-terminal of AS monomers impede the contacts between AS monomers, thus preventing the nucleation or the dimerization of AS. This work provides insights into several mechanisms of the production of polymorphic AS dimers. Thus, the findings obtained in this work may assist in developing new therapeutic strategies for inhibiting the formation of the early-stage neurotoxic AS dimers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sapir Lan-Mark
- Department of Chemistry Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Be’er Sheva 84105, Israel
- The Ilse Katz Institute for Nanoscale Science & Technology Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Be’er Sheva 84105, Israel
| | - Yifat Miller
- Department of Chemistry Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Be’er Sheva 84105, Israel
- The Ilse Katz Institute for Nanoscale Science & Technology Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Be’er Sheva 84105, Israel
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13
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Shukla S, Agarwal P, Kumar A. Disordered regions tune order in chromatin organization and function. Biophys Chem 2022; 281:106716. [PMID: 34844028 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpc.2021.106716] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2021] [Revised: 11/10/2021] [Accepted: 11/10/2021] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
Intrinsically disordered proteins or hybrid proteins with ordered domains and disordered regions (both collectively designated as IDP(R)s) defy the well-established structure-function paradigm due to their ability to perform multiple biological functions even in the absence of a well-defined 3D structure. IDP(R)s have a unique ability to exist as a functional heterogeneous ensemble, where they adopt multiple thermodynamically stable conformations with low energy barriers between states. The resultant structural plasticity or conformational adaptability provides them with a high functional diversity and ease of regulation. Hence, IDP(R)s are highly efficient biological machinery to mediate intricate cellular functions such as signaling, gene expression, and assembly of complex structures. One such structure is the nucleoprotein complex known as Chromatin. Interestingly, the proteins involved in shaping up the structure and function of chromatin are abundant in disordered regions, which serve more than just as mere flexible linkers. The disordered regions are involved in crucial processes such as gene expression regulation, chromatin architecture maintenance, and liquid-liquid phase separation initiation. This review is an attempt to explore the advantages and the functional and regulatory roles of intrinsic disorder in several Chromatin Associated Proteins from a mechanistic standpoint.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shivangi Shukla
- Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Powai, Mumbai, India
| | - Prakhar Agarwal
- Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Powai, Mumbai, India
| | - Ashutosh Kumar
- Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Powai, Mumbai, India.
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