1
|
Meger AT, Spence MA, Sandhu M, Matthews D, Chen J, Jackson CJ, Raman S. Rugged fitness landscapes minimize promiscuity in the evolution of transcriptional repressors. Cell Syst 2024; 15:374-387.e6. [PMID: 38537640 PMCID: PMC11299162 DOI: 10.1016/j.cels.2024.03.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2023] [Revised: 09/08/2023] [Accepted: 03/05/2024] [Indexed: 04/20/2024]
Abstract
How a protein's function influences the shape of its fitness landscape, smooth or rugged, is a fundamental question in evolutionary biochemistry. Smooth landscapes arise when incremental mutational steps lead to a progressive change in function, as commonly seen in enzymes and binding proteins. On the other hand, rugged landscapes are poorly understood because of the inherent unpredictability of how sequence changes affect function. Here, we experimentally characterize the entire sequence phylogeny, comprising 1,158 extant and ancestral sequences, of the DNA-binding domain (DBD) of the LacI/GalR transcriptional repressor family. Our analysis revealed an extremely rugged landscape with rapid switching of specificity, even between adjacent nodes. Further, the ruggedness arises due to the necessity of the repressor to simultaneously evolve specificity for asymmetric operators and disfavors potentially adverse regulatory crosstalk. Our study provides fundamental insight into evolutionary, molecular, and biophysical rules of genetic regulation through the lens of fitness landscapes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Anthony T Meger
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - Matthew A Spence
- Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Mahakaran Sandhu
- Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Dana Matthews
- Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Jackie Chen
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - Colin J Jackson
- Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia; ARC Centre of Excellence for Innovations in Peptide & Protein Science, Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia; ARC Centre of Excellence for Innovations in Synthetic Biology, Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.
| | - Srivatsan Raman
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA; Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA; Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Brissos V, Borges PT, Sancho F, Lucas MF, Frazão C, Conzuelo F, Martins LO. Flexible active-site loops fine-tune substrate specificity of hyperthermophilic metallo-oxidases. J Biol Inorg Chem 2024; 29:339-351. [PMID: 38227199 PMCID: PMC11111587 DOI: 10.1007/s00775-023-02040-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2023] [Accepted: 11/21/2023] [Indexed: 01/17/2024]
Abstract
Hyperthermophilic ('superheat-loving') archaea found in high-temperature environments such as Pyrobaculum aerophilum contain multicopper oxidases (MCOs) with remarkable efficiency for oxidizing cuprous and ferrous ions. In this work, directed evolution was used to expand the substrate specificity of P. aerophilum McoP for organic substrates. Six rounds of error-prone PCR and DNA shuffling followed by high-throughput screening lead to the identification of a hit variant with a 220-fold increased efficiency (kcat/Km) than the wild-type for 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) (ABTS) without compromising its intrinsic activity for metal ions. The analysis of the X-ray crystal structure reveals four proximal mutations close to the T1Cu active site. One of these mutations is within the 23-residues loop that occludes this site, a distinctive feature of prokaryotic MCOs. The increased flexibility of this loop results in an enlarged tunnel and one additional pocket that facilitates bulky substrate-enzyme interactions. These findings underscore the synergy between mutations that modulate the dynamics of the active-site loop enabling enhanced catalytic function. This study highlights the potential of targeting loops close to the T1Cu for engineering improvements suitable for biotechnological applications.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Vânia Brissos
- Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Av da República, 2780-157, Oeiras, Portugal
| | - Patrícia T Borges
- Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Av da República, 2780-157, Oeiras, Portugal
| | - Ferran Sancho
- Zymvol Biomodeling, C/ Pau Claris, 94, 3B, 08010, Barcelona, Spain
| | | | - Carlos Frazão
- Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Av da República, 2780-157, Oeiras, Portugal
| | - Felipe Conzuelo
- Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Av da República, 2780-157, Oeiras, Portugal
| | - Lígia O Martins
- Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Av da República, 2780-157, Oeiras, Portugal.
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Li ZL, Sun CQ, Qing ZL, Li ZM, Liu HL. Engineering the thermal stability of a polyphosphate kinase by ancestral sequence reconstruction to expand the temperature boundary for an industrially applicable ATP regeneration system. Appl Environ Microbiol 2024; 90:e0157423. [PMID: 38236018 PMCID: PMC10880597 DOI: 10.1128/aem.01574-23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2023] [Accepted: 12/06/2023] [Indexed: 01/19/2024] Open
Abstract
ATP-dependent energy-consuming enzymatic reactions are widely used in cell-free biocatalysis. However, the direct addition of large amounts of expensive ATP can greatly increase cost, and enzymatic production is often difficult to achieve as a result. Although a polyphosphate kinase (PPK)-polyphosphate-based ATP regeneration system has the potential to solve this challenge, the generally poor thermal stability of PPKs limits the widespread use of this method. In this paper, we evaluated the thermal stability of a PPK from Sulfurovum lithotrophicum (SlPPK2). After directed evolution and computation-supported design, we found that SlPPK2 is very recalcitrant and cannot acquire beneficial mutations. Inspired by the usually outstanding stability of ancestral enzymes, we reconstructed the ancestral sequence of the PPK family and used it as a guide to construct three heat-stable variants of SlPPK2, of which the L35F/T144S variant has a half-life of more than 14 h at 60°C. Molecular dynamics simulations were performed on all enzymes to analyze the reasons for the increased thermal stability. The results showed that mutations at these two positions act synergistically from the interior and surface of the protein, leading to a more compact structure. Finally, the robustness of the L35F/T144S variant was verified in the synthesis of nucleotides at high temperature. In practice, the use of this high-temperature ATP regeneration system can effectively avoid byproduct accumulation. Our work extends the temperature boundary of ATP regeneration and has great potential for industrial applications.IMPORTANCEATP regeneration is an important basic applied study in the field of cell-free biocatalysis. Polyphosphate kinase (PPK) is an enzyme tool widely used for energy regeneration during enzymatic reactions. However, the thermal stability of the PPKs reported to date that can efficiently regenerate ATP is usually poor, which greatly limits their application. In this study, the thermal stability of a difficult-to-engineer PPK from Sulfurovum lithotrophicum was improved, guided by an ancestral sequence reconstruction strategy. The optimal variant has a 4.5-fold longer half-life at 60°C than the wild-type enzyme, thus enabling the extension of the temperature boundary for ATP regeneration. The ability of this variant to regenerate ATP was well demonstrated during high-temperature enzymatic production of nucleotides.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Zong-Lin Li
- State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, China
| | - Chuan-Qi Sun
- State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, China
| | - Zhou-Lei Qing
- State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, China
| | - Zhi-Min Li
- State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, China
- Shanghai Collaborative Innovation Center for Biomanufacturing Technology, Shanghai, China
| | - Hong-Lai Liu
- School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, China
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Amaya-Rodriguez CA, Carvajal-Zamorano K, Bustos D, Alegría-Arcos M, Castillo K. A journey from molecule to physiology and in silico tools for drug discovery targeting the transient receptor potential vanilloid type 1 (TRPV1) channel. Front Pharmacol 2024; 14:1251061. [PMID: 38328578 PMCID: PMC10847257 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2023.1251061] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2023] [Accepted: 12/14/2023] [Indexed: 02/09/2024] Open
Abstract
The heat and capsaicin receptor TRPV1 channel is widely expressed in nerve terminals of dorsal root ganglia (DRGs) and trigeminal ganglia innervating the body and face, respectively, as well as in other tissues and organs including central nervous system. The TRPV1 channel is a versatile receptor that detects harmful heat, pain, and various internal and external ligands. Hence, it operates as a polymodal sensory channel. Many pathological conditions including neuroinflammation, cancer, psychiatric disorders, and pathological pain, are linked to the abnormal functioning of the TRPV1 in peripheral tissues. Intense biomedical research is underway to discover compounds that can modulate the channel and provide pain relief. The molecular mechanisms underlying temperature sensing remain largely unknown, although they are closely linked to pain transduction. Prolonged exposure to capsaicin generates analgesia, hence numerous capsaicin analogs have been developed to discover efficient analgesics for pain relief. The emergence of in silico tools offered significant techniques for molecular modeling and machine learning algorithms to indentify druggable sites in the channel and for repositioning of current drugs aimed at TRPV1. Here we recapitulate the physiological and pathophysiological functions of the TRPV1 channel, including structural models obtained through cryo-EM, pharmacological compounds tested on TRPV1, and the in silico tools for drug discovery and repositioning.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Cesar A. Amaya-Rodriguez
- Centro Interdisciplinario de Neurociencia de Valparaíso, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, Chile
- Departamento de Fisiología y Comportamiento Animal, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Exactas y Tecnología, Universidad de Panamá, Ciudad de Panamá, Panamá
| | - Karina Carvajal-Zamorano
- Centro Interdisciplinario de Neurociencia de Valparaíso, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, Chile
| | - Daniel Bustos
- Centro de Investigación de Estudios Avanzados del Maule (CIEAM), Vicerrectoría de Investigación y Postgrado Universidad Católica del Maule, Talca, Chile
- Laboratorio de Bioinformática y Química Computacional, Departamento de Medicina Traslacional, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Católica del Maule, Talca, Chile
| | - Melissa Alegría-Arcos
- Núcleo de Investigación en Data Science, Facultad de Ingeniería y Negocios, Universidad de las Américas, Santiago, Chile
| | - Karen Castillo
- Centro Interdisciplinario de Neurociencia de Valparaíso, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, Chile
- Centro de Investigación de Estudios Avanzados del Maule (CIEAM), Vicerrectoría de Investigación y Postgrado Universidad Católica del Maule, Talca, Chile
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Michel F, Romero‐Romero S, Höcker B. Retracing the evolution of a modern periplasmic binding protein. Protein Sci 2023; 32:e4793. [PMID: 37788980 PMCID: PMC10601554 DOI: 10.1002/pro.4793] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2023] [Revised: 09/20/2023] [Accepted: 09/22/2023] [Indexed: 10/05/2023]
Abstract
Investigating the evolution of structural features in modern multidomain proteins helps to understand their immense diversity and functional versatility. The class of periplasmic binding proteins (PBPs) offers an opportunity to interrogate one of the main processes driving diversification: the duplication and fusion of protein sequences to generate new architectures. The symmetry of their two-lobed topology, their mechanism of binding, and the organization of their operon structure led to the hypothesis that PBPs arose through a duplication and fusion event of a single common ancestor. To investigate this claim, we set out to reverse the evolutionary process and recreate the structural equivalent of a single-lobed progenitor using ribose-binding protein (RBP) as our model. We found that this modern PBP can be deconstructed into its lobes, producing two proteins that represent possible progenitor halves. The isolated halves of RBP are well folded and monomeric proteins, albeit with a lower thermostability, and do not retain the original binding function. However, the two entities readily form a heterodimer in vitro and in-cell. The x-ray structure of the heterodimer closely resembles the parental protein. Moreover, the binding function is fully regained upon formation of the heterodimer with a ligand affinity similar to that observed in the modern RBP. This highlights how a duplication event could have given rise to a stable and functional PBP-like fold and provides insights into how more complex functional structures can evolve from simpler molecular components.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Florian Michel
- Department of BiochemistryUniversity of BayreuthBayreuthGermany
| | | | - Birte Höcker
- Department of BiochemistryUniversity of BayreuthBayreuthGermany
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
St-Jacques AD, Rodriguez JM, Eason MG, Foster SM, Khan ST, Damry AM, Goto NK, Thompson MC, Chica RA. Computational remodeling of an enzyme conformational landscape for altered substrate selectivity. Nat Commun 2023; 14:6058. [PMID: 37770431 PMCID: PMC10539519 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-41762-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2023] [Accepted: 09/13/2023] [Indexed: 09/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Structural plasticity of enzymes dictates their function. Yet, our ability to rationally remodel enzyme conformational landscapes to tailor catalytic properties remains limited. Here, we report a computational procedure for tuning conformational landscapes that is based on multistate design of hinge-mediated domain motions. Using this method, we redesign the conformational landscape of a natural aminotransferase to preferentially stabilize a less populated but reactive conformation and thereby increase catalytic efficiency with a non-native substrate, resulting in altered substrate selectivity. Steady-state kinetics of designed variants reveals activity increases with the non-native substrate of approximately 100-fold and selectivity switches of up to 1900-fold. Structural analyses by room-temperature X-ray crystallography and multitemperature nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy confirm that conformational equilibria favor the target conformation. Our computational approach opens the door to targeted alterations of conformational states and equilibria, which should facilitate the design of biocatalysts with customized activity and selectivity.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Antony D St-Jacques
- Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada
- Center for Catalysis Research and Innovation, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada
| | - Joshua M Rodriguez
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Merced, Merced, CA, 95343, USA
| | - Matthew G Eason
- Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada
- Center for Catalysis Research and Innovation, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada
| | - Scott M Foster
- Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada
- Center for Catalysis Research and Innovation, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada
| | - Safwat T Khan
- Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada
- Center for Catalysis Research and Innovation, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada
| | - Adam M Damry
- Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada
- Center for Catalysis Research and Innovation, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada
| | - Natalie K Goto
- Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada
- Center for Catalysis Research and Innovation, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada
| | - Michael C Thompson
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Merced, Merced, CA, 95343, USA
| | - Roberto A Chica
- Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada.
- Center for Catalysis Research and Innovation, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada.
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Lonare S, Sharma M, Dalal V, Gubyad M, Kumar P, Nath Gupta D, Pareek A, Tomar S, Kumar Ghosh D, Kumar P, Kumar Sharma A. Identification and evaluation of potential inhibitor molecules against TcyA from Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus. J Struct Biol 2023; 215:107992. [PMID: 37394197 DOI: 10.1016/j.jsb.2023.107992] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2023] [Revised: 06/19/2023] [Accepted: 06/29/2023] [Indexed: 07/04/2023]
Abstract
Of the two putative amino acid binding periplasmic receptors of ABC transporter family in Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (CLas), cystine binding receptor (CLasTcyA) has been shown to mainly express in phloem of citrus plant and is a target for inhibitor development. The crystal structure of CLasTcyA in complex with substrates has been reported earlier. The present work reports the identification and evaluation of potential candidates for their inhibitory potential against CLasTcyA. Among many compounds, selected through virtual screening, and MD simulation, pimozide, clidinium, sulfasalazine and folic acid showed significantly higher affinities and stability in complex with CLasTcyA. The SPR studies with CLasTcyA revealed significantly higher binding affinities for pimozide and clidinium (Kd, 2.73 nM and 70 nM, respectively) as compared to cystine (Kd, 1.26 µM). The higher binding affinities could be attributed to significantly increased number of interactions in the binding pocket as evident from the crystal structures of CLasTcyA in complex with pimozide and clidinium as compared to cystine. The CLasTcyA possess relatively large binding pocket where bulkier inhibitors fit quite well. In planta studies, carried out to assess the effect of inhibitors on HLB infected Mosambi plants, showed significant reduction in CLas titre in plants treated with inhibitors as compared to control plants. The results showed that pimozide exhibited higher efficiency as compared to clidinium in reducing CLas titre in treated plants. Our results showed that the inhibitor development against critical proteins like CLasTcyA can be an important strategy in management of HLB.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sapna Lonare
- Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee-247667, India
| | - Monica Sharma
- Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee-247667, India
| | - Vikram Dalal
- Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee-247667, India
| | - Mrugendra Gubyad
- Plant Virology Laboratory, ICAR Central Citrus Research Institute, Nagpur, India
| | - Pranav Kumar
- Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee-247667, India
| | - Deena Nath Gupta
- Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee-247667, India
| | - Akshay Pareek
- Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee-247667, India
| | - Shailly Tomar
- Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee-247667, India
| | - Dilip Kumar Ghosh
- Plant Virology Laboratory, ICAR Central Citrus Research Institute, Nagpur, India
| | - Pravindra Kumar
- Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee-247667, India
| | - Ashwani Kumar Sharma
- Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee-247667, India.
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Zuchowski R, Schito S, Neuheuser F, Menke P, Berger D, Hollmann N, Gujar S, Sundermeyer L, Mack C, Wirtz A, Weiergräber OH, Polen T, Bott M, Noack S, Baumgart M. Discovery of novel amino acid production traits by evolution of synthetic co-cultures. Microb Cell Fact 2023; 22:71. [PMID: 37061714 PMCID: PMC10105947 DOI: 10.1186/s12934-023-02078-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2023] [Accepted: 04/02/2023] [Indexed: 04/17/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Amino acid production features of Corynebacterium glutamicum were extensively studied in the last two decades. Many metabolic pathways, regulatory and transport principles are known, but purely rational approaches often provide only limited progress in production optimization. We recently generated stable synthetic co-cultures, termed Communities of Niche-optimized Strains (CoNoS), that rely on cross-feeding of amino acids for growth. This setup has the potential to evolve strains with improved production by selection of faster growing communities. RESULTS Here we performed adaptive laboratory evolution (ALE) with a CoNoS to identify mutations that are relevant for amino acid production both in mono- and co-cultures. During ALE with the CoNoS composed of strains auxotrophic for either L-leucine or L-arginine, we obtained a 23% growth rate increase. Via whole-genome sequencing and reverse engineering, we identified several mutations involved in amino acid transport that are beneficial for CoNoS growth. The L-leucine auxotrophic strain carried an expression-promoting mutation in the promoter region of brnQ (cg2537), encoding a branched-chain amino acid transporter in combination with mutations in the genes for the Na+/H+-antiporter Mrp1 (cg0326-cg0321). This suggested an unexpected link of Mrp1 to L-leucine transport. The L-arginine auxotrophic partner evolved expression-promoting mutations near the transcriptional start site of the yet uncharacterized operon argTUV (cg1504-02). By mutation studies and ITC, we characterized ArgTUV as the only L-arginine uptake system of C. glutamicum with an affinity of KD = 30 nM. Finally, deletion of argTUV in an L-arginine producer strain resulted in a faster and 24% higher L-arginine production in comparison to the parental strain. CONCLUSION Our work demonstrates the power of the CoNoS-approach for evolution-guided identification of non-obvious production traits, which can also advance amino acid production in monocultures. Further rounds of evolution with import-optimized strains can potentially reveal beneficial mutations also in metabolic pathway enzymes. The approach can easily be extended to all kinds of metabolite cross-feeding pairings of different organisms or different strains of the same organism, thereby enabling the identification of relevant transport systems and other favorable mutations.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Rico Zuchowski
- Institute of Bio- and Geosciences, IBG-1: Biotechnology, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany
| | - Simone Schito
- Institute of Bio- and Geosciences, IBG-1: Biotechnology, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany
| | - Friederike Neuheuser
- Institute of Bio- and Geosciences, IBG-1: Biotechnology, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany
| | - Philipp Menke
- Institute of Bio- and Geosciences, IBG-1: Biotechnology, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany
| | - Daniel Berger
- Institute of Bio- and Geosciences, IBG-1: Biotechnology, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany
| | - Niels Hollmann
- Institute of Bio- and Geosciences, IBG-1: Biotechnology, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany
| | - Srushti Gujar
- Institute of Bio- and Geosciences, IBG-1: Biotechnology, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany
- Institute of Biological Information Processing, IBI-7: Structural Biochemistry, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany
- Institut für Physikalische Biologie, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Lea Sundermeyer
- Institute of Bio- and Geosciences, IBG-1: Biotechnology, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany
| | - Christina Mack
- Institute of Bio- and Geosciences, IBG-1: Biotechnology, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany
| | - Astrid Wirtz
- Institute of Bio- and Geosciences, IBG-1: Biotechnology, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany
| | - Oliver H Weiergräber
- Institute of Biological Information Processing, IBI-7: Structural Biochemistry, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany
| | - Tino Polen
- Institute of Bio- and Geosciences, IBG-1: Biotechnology, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany
| | - Michael Bott
- Institute of Bio- and Geosciences, IBG-1: Biotechnology, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany
| | - Stephan Noack
- Institute of Bio- and Geosciences, IBG-1: Biotechnology, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany
| | - Meike Baumgart
- Institute of Bio- and Geosciences, IBG-1: Biotechnology, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany.
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Joho Y, Vongsouthi V, Spence MA, Ton J, Gomez C, Tan LL, Kaczmarski JA, Caputo AT, Royan S, Jackson CJ, Ardevol A. Ancestral Sequence Reconstruction Identifies Structural Changes Underlying the Evolution of Ideonella sakaiensis PETase and Variants with Improved Stability and Activity. Biochemistry 2023; 62:437-450. [PMID: 35951410 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biochem.2c00323] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 22.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
The improved production, recycling, and removal of plastic waste, such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), are pressing environmental and economic issues for society. Biocatalytic (enzymatic) PET depolymerization is potentially a sustainable, low-energy solution to PET recycling, especially when compared with current disposal methods such as landfills, incineration, or gasification. IsPETase has been extensively studied for its use in PET depolymerization; however, its evolution from cutinases is not fully understood, and most engineering studies have neglected the majority of the available sequence space remote from the active site. In this study, ancestral protein reconstruction (ASR) has been used to trace the evolutionary trajectory from ancient serine hydrolases to IsPETase, while ASR and the related design approach, protein repair one-stop shop, were used to identify enzyme variants with improved activity and stability. Kinetic and structural characterization of these variants reveals new insights into the evolution of PETase activity and the role of second-shell mutations around the active site. Among the designed and reconstructed variants, we identified several with melting points 20 °C higher than that of IsPETase and two variants with significantly higher catalytic activity.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yvonne Joho
- Manufacturing, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Clayton, Victoria 3168, Australia.,Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Vanessa Vongsouthi
- Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Matthew A Spence
- Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Jennifer Ton
- Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Chloe Gomez
- Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Li Lynn Tan
- Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Joe A Kaczmarski
- Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.,ARC Centre of Excellence for Innovations in Synthetic Biology, Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Alessandro T Caputo
- Manufacturing, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Clayton, Victoria 3168, Australia
| | - Santana Royan
- Manufacturing, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Clayton, Victoria 3168, Australia
| | - Colin J Jackson
- Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.,ARC Centre of Excellence for Innovations in Peptide & Protein Science, Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.,ARC Centre of Excellence for Innovations in Synthetic Biology, Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Albert Ardevol
- Manufacturing, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Clayton, Victoria 3168, Australia.,CSIRO Synthetic Biology Future Science Platform, GPO Box 1700, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
Jackson C, Anderson A, Alexandrov K. The present and the future of protein biosensor engineering. Curr Opin Struct Biol 2022; 75:102424. [PMID: 35870398 DOI: 10.1016/j.sbi.2022.102424] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2022] [Revised: 06/14/2022] [Accepted: 06/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Protein biosensors play increasingly important roles in cell and neurobiology and have the potential to revolutionise the way clinical and industrial analytics are performed. The gradual transition from multicomponent biosensors to fully integrated single chain allosteric biosensors has brought the field closer to commercial applications. We evaluate various approaches for converting constitutively active protein reporter domains into analyte operated switches. We discuss the paucity of the natural receptors that undergo conformational changes sufficiently large to control the activity of allosteric reporter domains. This problem can be overcome by constructing artificial versions of such receptors. The design path to such receptors involves the construction of Chemically Induced Dimerisation systems (CIDs) that can be configured to operate single and two-component biosensors.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Colin Jackson
- Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia; Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia; Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Innovations in Peptide and Protein Science, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Alisha Anderson
- CSIRO Health & Biosecurity, Black Mountain, Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia
| | - Kirill Alexandrov
- CSIRO-QUT Synthetic Biology Alliance, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, 4001, Australia; Centre for Agriculture and the Bioeconomy, Centre for Genomics and Personalised Health, School of Biology and Environmental Science, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, 4001, Australia; Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, 4001, Australia.
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Zeng B, Zhao S, Zhou R, Zhou Y, Jin W, Yi Z, Zhang G. Engineering and screening of novel β-1,3-xylanases with desired hydrolysate type by optimized ancestor sequence reconstruction and data mining. Comput Struct Biotechnol J 2022; 20:3313-3321. [PMID: 35832630 PMCID: PMC9251504 DOI: 10.1016/j.csbj.2022.06.050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2022] [Revised: 06/22/2022] [Accepted: 06/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/03/2022] Open
Abstract
A novel integrative strategy for engineering β-1,3-xylanases with desired products. AncXyl10 is the first successful example of ASR to shift the hydrolysate types. The hydrolysates of AncXyl10 was only β-1,3-xylobiose and β-1,3-xylotriose. The underlying mechanism laid a new groundwork towards hydrolase engineering.
Engineering of hydrolases to shift their hydrolysate types has not been attempted so far, though computer-assisted enzyme design has been successful. A novel integrative strategy for engineering and screening the β-1,3-xylanase with desired hydrolysate types was proposed, with the purpose to solve problems that the separation and preparation of β-1,3-xylo-oligosaccharides was in high cost yet in low yield as monosaccharides existed in the hydrolysates. By classifying the hydrolysate types and coding them into numerical values, two robust mathematical models with five selected attributes from molecular docking were established based on LogitBoost and partial least squares regression with overall accuracy of 83.3% and 100%, respectively. Then, they were adopted for efficient screening the potential mutagenesis library of β-1,3-xylanases that only product oligosaccharides. The virtually designed AncXyl10 was selected and experimentally verified to produce only β-1,3-xylobiose (60.38%) and β-1,3-xylotriose (39.62%), which facilitated the preparation of oligosaccharides with high purity. The underlying mechanism of AncXyl10 may associated with the gap processing and ancestral amino acid substitution in the process of ancestral sequence reconstruction. Since many carbohydrate-active enzymes have highly conserved active sites, the strategy and their biomolecular basis will shield a new light for engineering carbohydrates hydrolase to produce specific oligosaccharides.
Collapse
|
12
|
Brissos V, Borges P, Núñez-Franco R, Lucas MF, Frazão C, Monza E, Masgrau L, Cordeiro TN, Martins LO. Distal Mutations Shape Substrate-Binding Sites during Evolution of a Metallo-Oxidase into a Laccase. ACS Catal 2022; 12:5022-5035. [PMID: 36567772 PMCID: PMC9775220 DOI: 10.1021/acscatal.2c00336] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Laccases are in increasing demand as innovative solutions in the biorefinery fields. Here, we combine mutagenesis with structural, kinetic, and in silico analyses to characterize the molecular features that cause the evolution of a hyperthermostable metallo-oxidase from the multicopper oxidase family into a laccase (k cat 273 s-1 for a bulky aromatic substrate). We show that six mutations scattered across the enzyme collectively modulate dynamics to improve the binding and catalysis of a bulky aromatic substrate. The replacement of residues during the early stages of evolution is a stepping stone for altering the shape and size of substrate-binding sites. Binding sites are then fine-tuned through high-order epistasis interactions by inserting distal mutations during later stages of evolution. Allosterically coupled, long-range dynamic networks favor catalytically competent conformational states that are more suitable for recognizing and stabilizing the aromatic substrate. This work provides mechanistic insight into enzymatic and evolutionary molecular mechanisms and spots the importance of iterative experimental and computational analyses to understand local-to-global changes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Vânia Brissos
- Instituto
de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Av da República, 2780-157 Oeiras, Portugal
| | - Patrícia
T. Borges
- Instituto
de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Av da República, 2780-157 Oeiras, Portugal
| | | | | | - Carlos Frazão
- Instituto
de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Av da República, 2780-157 Oeiras, Portugal
| | - Emanuele Monza
- Zymvol
Biomodeling, Carrer Roc
Boronat, 117, 08018 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Laura Masgrau
- Zymvol
Biomodeling, Carrer Roc
Boronat, 117, 08018 Barcelona, Spain,Department
of Chemistry, Universitat Autònoma
de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Spain
| | - Tiago N. Cordeiro
- Instituto
de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Av da República, 2780-157 Oeiras, Portugal
| | - Lígia O. Martins
- Instituto
de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Av da República, 2780-157 Oeiras, Portugal,
| |
Collapse
|
13
|
Gavira JA, Cámara-Artigas A, Neira JL, Torres de Pinedo JM, Sánchez P, Ortega E, Martinez-Rodríguez S. Structural insights into choline-O-sulfatase reveal the molecular determinants for ligand binding. Acta Crystallogr D Struct Biol 2022; 78:669-682. [PMID: 35503214 PMCID: PMC9063841 DOI: 10.1107/s2059798322003709] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2021] [Accepted: 04/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Choline-O-sulfatase (COSe; EC 3.1.6.6) is a member of the alkaline phosphatase (AP) superfamily, and its natural function is to hydrolyze choline-O-sulfate into choline and sulfate. Despite its natural function, the major interest in this enzyme resides in the landmark catalytic/substrate promiscuity of sulfatases, which has led to attention in the biotechnological field due to their potential in protein engineering. In this work, an in-depth structural analysis of wild-type Sinorhizobium (Ensifer) meliloti COSe (SmeCOSe) and its C54S active-site mutant is reported. The binding mode of this AP superfamily member to both products of the reaction (sulfate and choline) and to a substrate-like compound are shown for the first time. The structures further confirm the importance of the C-terminal extension of the enzyme in becoming part of the active site and participating in enzyme activity through dynamic intra-subunit and inter-subunit hydrogen bonds (Asn146A-Asp500B-Asn498B). These residues act as the `gatekeeper' responsible for the open/closed conformations of the enzyme, in addition to assisting in ligand binding through the rearrangement of Leu499 (with a movement of approximately 5 Å). Trp129 and His145 clamp the quaternary ammonium moiety of choline and also connect the catalytic cleft to the C-terminus of an adjacent protomer. The structural information reported here contrasts with the proposed role of conformational dynamics in promoting the enzymatic catalytic proficiency of an enzyme.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jose Antonio Gavira
- Laboratorio de Estudios Cristalográficos, CSIC, Armilla, 18100 Granada, Spain
| | - Ana Cámara-Artigas
- Department of Chemistry and Physics, University of Almería, Agrifood Campus of International Excellence (ceiA3), Research Centre for Agricultural and Food Biotechnology (BITAL), Carretera de Sacramento s/n, Almería, 04120, Spain
| | - Jose Luis Neira
- IDIBE, Universidad Miguel Hernández, 03202 Elche (Alicante), Spain
- Instituto de Biocomputación y Física de Sistemas Complejos, Joint Units IQFR–CSIC–BIFI and GBsC–CSIC–BIFI, Universidad de Zaragoza, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
| | - Jesús M. Torres de Pinedo
- Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular III e Inmunología, Universidad de Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain
| | - Pilar Sánchez
- Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular III e Inmunología, Universidad de Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain
| | - Esperanza Ortega
- Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular III e Inmunología, Universidad de Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain
| | - Sergio Martinez-Rodríguez
- Laboratorio de Estudios Cristalográficos, CSIC, Armilla, 18100 Granada, Spain
- Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular III e Inmunología, Universidad de Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain
| |
Collapse
|
14
|
Gade M, Tan LL, Damry AM, Sandhu M, Brock JS, Delaney A, Villar-Briones A, Jackson CJ, Laurino P. Substrate Dynamics Contribute to Enzymatic Specificity in Human and Bacterial Methionine Adenosyltransferases. JACS AU 2021; 1:2349-2360. [PMID: 34977903 PMCID: PMC8715544 DOI: 10.1021/jacsau.1c00464] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2021] [Indexed: 05/14/2023]
Abstract
Protein conformational changes can facilitate the binding of noncognate substrates and underlying promiscuous activities. However, the contribution of substrate conformational dynamics to this process is comparatively poorly understood. Here, we analyze human (hMAT2A) and Escherichia coli (eMAT) methionine adenosyltransferases that have identical active sites but different substrate specificity. In the promiscuous hMAT2A, noncognate substrates bind in a stable conformation to allow catalysis. In contrast, noncognate substrates sample stable productive binding modes less frequently in eMAT owing to altered mobility in the enzyme active site. Different cellular concentrations of substrates likely drove the evolutionary divergence of substrate specificity in these orthologues. The observation of catalytic promiscuity in hMAT2A led to the detection of a new human metabolite, methyl thioguanosine, that is produced at elevated levels in a cancer cell line. This work establishes that identical active sites can result in different substrate specificity owing to the effects of substrate and enzyme dynamics.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Madhuri Gade
- Protein
Engineering and Evolution Unit, Okinawa
Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, 1919-1 Tancha, Onna 904-0495, Okinawa, Japan
| | - Li Lynn Tan
- Research
School of Chemistry, Australian National
University, Canberra, 2601, Australia
| | - Adam M. Damry
- Research
School of Chemistry, Australian National
University, Canberra, 2601, Australia
| | - Mahakaran Sandhu
- Research
School of Chemistry, Australian National
University, Canberra, 2601, Australia
| | - Joseph S. Brock
- Research
School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra 2601, Australia
| | - Andie Delaney
- Research
School of Chemistry, Australian National
University, Canberra, 2601, Australia
| | - Alejandro Villar-Briones
- Protein
Engineering and Evolution Unit, Okinawa
Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, 1919-1 Tancha, Onna 904-0495, Okinawa, Japan
| | - Colin J. Jackson
- Research
School of Chemistry, Australian National
University, Canberra, 2601, Australia
- Australian
Research Council Centre of Excellence for Innovations in Peptide and
Protein Science, Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra 2601, ACT, Australia
- Australian
Research Council Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology, Research
School of Chemistry, Australian National
University, Canberra 2601, ACT, Australia
| | - Paola Laurino
- Protein
Engineering and Evolution Unit, Okinawa
Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, 1919-1 Tancha, Onna 904-0495, Okinawa, Japan
| |
Collapse
|
15
|
Ford BA, Sullivan GJ, Moore L, Varkey D, Zhu H, Ostrowski M, Mabbutt BC, Paulsen IT, Shah BS. Functional characterisation of substrate-binding proteins to address nutrient uptake in marine picocyanobacteria. Biochem Soc Trans 2021; 49:2465-2481. [PMID: 34882230 PMCID: PMC8786288 DOI: 10.1042/bst20200244] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2021] [Revised: 11/03/2021] [Accepted: 11/16/2021] [Indexed: 12/05/2022]
Abstract
Marine cyanobacteria are key primary producers, contributing significantly to the microbial food web and biogeochemical cycles by releasing and importing many essential nutrients cycled through the environment. A subgroup of these, the picocyanobacteria (Synechococcus and Prochlorococcus), have colonised almost all marine ecosystems, covering a range of distinct light and temperature conditions, and nutrient profiles. The intra-clade diversities displayed by this monophyletic branch of cyanobacteria is indicative of their success across a broad range of environments. Part of this diversity is due to nutrient acquisition mechanisms, such as the use of high-affinity ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters to competitively acquire nutrients, particularly in oligotrophic (nutrient scarce) marine environments. The specificity of nutrient uptake in ABC transporters is primarily determined by the peripheral substrate-binding protein (SBP), a receptor protein that mediates ligand recognition and initiates translocation into the cell. The recent availability of large numbers of sequenced picocyanobacterial genomes indicates both Synechococcus and Prochlorococcus apportion >50% of their transport capacity to ABC transport systems. However, the low degree of sequence homology among the SBP family limits the reliability of functional assignments using sequence annotation and prediction tools. This review highlights the use of known SBP structural representatives for the uptake of key nutrient classes by cyanobacteria to compare with predicted SBP functionalities within sequenced marine picocyanobacteria genomes. This review shows the broad range of conserved biochemical functions of picocyanobacteria and the range of novel and hypothetical ABC transport systems that require further functional characterisation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin A. Ford
- Department of Molecular Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
| | | | - Lisa Moore
- Department of Molecular Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
| | - Deepa Varkey
- Department of Molecular Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
| | - Hannah Zhu
- Department of Molecular Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
| | - Martin Ostrowski
- Climate Change Cluster (C3), University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, Australia
| | - Bridget C. Mabbutt
- Department of Molecular Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
| | - Ian T. Paulsen
- Department of Molecular Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
- ARC Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
| | - Bhumika S. Shah
- Department of Molecular Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
- ARC Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
| |
Collapse
|
16
|
Structural dynamics in the evolution of a bilobed protein scaffold. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2021; 118:2026165118. [PMID: 34845009 PMCID: PMC8694067 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2026165118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/20/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Proteins conduct numerous complex biological functions by use of tailored structural dynamics. The molecular details of how these emerged from ancestral peptides remains mysterious. How does nature utilize the same repertoire of folds to diversify function? To shed light on this, we analyzed bilobed proteins with a common structural core, which is spread throughout the tree of life and is involved in diverse biological functions such as transcription, enzymatic catalysis, membrane transport, and signaling. We show here that the structural dynamics of the structural core differentiate predominantly via terminal additions during a long-period evolution. This diversifies substrate specificity and, ultimately, biological function. Novel biophysical tools allow the structural dynamics of proteins and the regulation of such dynamics by binding partners to be explored in unprecedented detail. Although this has provided critical insights into protein function, the means by which structural dynamics direct protein evolution remain poorly understood. Here, we investigated how proteins with a bilobed structure, composed of two related domains from the periplasmic-binding protein–like II domain family, have undergone divergent evolution, leading to adaptation of their structural dynamics. We performed a structural analysis on ∼600 bilobed proteins with a common primordial structural core, which we complemented with biophysical studies to explore the structural dynamics of selected examples by single-molecule Förster resonance energy transfer and Hydrogen–Deuterium exchange mass spectrometry. We show that evolutionary modifications of the structural core, largely at its termini, enable distinct structural dynamics, allowing the diversification of these proteins into transcription factors, enzymes, and extracytoplasmic transport-related proteins. Structural embellishments of the core created interdomain interactions that stabilized structural states, reshaping the active site geometry, and ultimately altered substrate specificity. Our findings reveal an as-yet-unrecognized mechanism for the emergence of functional promiscuity during long periods of evolution and are applicable to a large number of domain architectures.
Collapse
|
17
|
Orton HW, Qianzhu H, Abdelkader EH, Habel EI, Tan YJ, Frkic RL, Jackson CJ, Huber T, Otting G. Through-Space Scalar 19F- 19F Couplings between Fluorinated Noncanonical Amino Acids for the Detection of Specific Contacts in Proteins. J Am Chem Soc 2021; 143:19587-19598. [PMID: 34780162 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.1c10104] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Fluorine atoms are known to display scalar 19F-19F couplings in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra when they are sufficiently close in space for nonbonding orbitals to overlap. We show that fluorinated noncanonical amino acids positioned in the hydrophobic core or on the surface of a protein can be linked by scalar through-space 19F-19F (TSJFF) couplings even if the 19F spins are in the time average separated by more than the van der Waals distance. Using two different aromatic amino acids featuring CF3 groups, O-trifluoromethyl-tyrosine and 4-trifluoromethyl-phenylalanine, we show that 19F-19F TOCSY experiments are sufficiently sensitive to detect TSJFF couplings between 2.5 and 5 Hz in the 19 kDa protein PpiB measured on a two-channel 400 MHz NMR spectrometer with a regular room temperature probe. A quantitative J evolution experiment enables the measurement of TSJFF coupling constants that are up to five times smaller than the 19F NMR line width. In addition, a new aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase was identified for genetic encoding of N6-(trifluoroacetyl)-l-lysine (TFA-Lys) and 19F-19F TOCSY peaks were observed between two TFA-Lys residues incorporated into the proteins AncCDT-1 and mRFP despite high solvent exposure and flexibility of the TFA-Lys side chains. With the ready availability of systems for site-specific incorporation of fluorinated amino acids into proteins by genetic encoding, 19F-19F interactions offer a straightforward way to probe the spatial proximity of selected sites without any assignments of 1H NMR resonances.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Henry W Orton
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Innovations in Peptide & Protein Science, Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Haocheng Qianzhu
- Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Elwy H Abdelkader
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Innovations in Peptide & Protein Science, Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Edan I Habel
- Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Yi Jiun Tan
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Innovations in Peptide & Protein Science, Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Rebecca L Frkic
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Innovations in Peptide & Protein Science, Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Colin J Jackson
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Innovations in Peptide & Protein Science, Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Thomas Huber
- Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Gottfried Otting
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Innovations in Peptide & Protein Science, Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
| |
Collapse
|
18
|
Abstract
Cyclic diguanylate (c-di-GMP) signal transduction systems provide bacteria with the ability to sense changing cell status or environmental conditions and then execute suitable physiological and social behaviors in response. In this review, we provide a comprehensive census of the stimuli and receptors that are linked to the modulation of intracellular c-di-GMP. Emerging evidence indicates that c-di-GMP networks sense light, surfaces, energy, redox potential, respiratory electron acceptors, temperature, and structurally diverse biotic and abiotic chemicals. Bioinformatic analysis of sensory domains in diguanylate cyclases and c-di-GMP-specific phosphodiesterases as well as the receptor complexes associated with them reveals that these functions are linked to a diverse repertoire of protein domain families. We describe the principles of stimulus perception learned from studying these modular sensory devices, illustrate how they are assembled in varied combinations with output domains, and summarize a system for classifying these sensor proteins based on their complexity. Biological information processing via c-di-GMP signal transduction not only is fundamental to bacterial survival in dynamic environments but also is being used to engineer gene expression circuitry and synthetic proteins with à la carte biochemical functionalities.
Collapse
|
19
|
Sugiura S, Nakano S, Niwa M, Hasebe F, Matsui D, Ito S. Catalytic mechanism of ancestral L-lysine oxidase assigned by sequence data mining. J Biol Chem 2021; 297:101043. [PMID: 34358565 PMCID: PMC8405998 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbc.2021.101043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2021] [Revised: 07/26/2021] [Accepted: 08/02/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
A large number of protein sequences are registered in public databases such as PubMed. Functionally uncharacterized enzymes are included in these databases, some of which likely have potential for industrial applications. However, assignment of the enzymes remained difficult tasks for now. In this study, we assigned a total of 28 original sequences to uncharacterized enzymes in the FAD-dependent oxidase family expressed in some species of bacteria including Chryseobacterium, Flavobacterium, and Pedobactor. Progenitor sequence of the assigned 28 sequences was generated by ancestral sequence reconstruction, and the generated sequence exhibited L-lysine oxidase activity; thus, we named the enzyme AncLLysO. Crystal structures of ligand-free and ligand-bound forms of AncLLysO were determined, indicating that the enzyme recognizes L-Lys by hydrogen bond formation with R76 and E383. The binding of L-Lys to AncLLysO induced dynamic structural change at a plug loop formed by residues 251 to 254. Biochemical assays of AncLLysO variants revealed the functional importance of these substrate recognition residues and the plug loop. R76A and E383D variants were also observed to lose their activity, and the kcat/Km value of G251P and Y253A mutations were approximately 800- to 1800-fold lower than that of AncLLysO, despite the indirect interaction of the substrates with the mutated residues. Taken together, our data demonstrate that combinational approaches to sequence classification from database and ancestral sequence reconstruction may be effective not only to find new enzymes using databases of unknown sequences but also to elucidate their functions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sayaka Sugiura
- Graduate Division of Nutritional and Environmental Sciences, University of Shizuoka, Suruga-ku, Shizuoka, Japan
| | - Shogo Nakano
- Graduate Division of Nutritional and Environmental Sciences, University of Shizuoka, Suruga-ku, Shizuoka, Japan; PREST, Japan Science and Technology Agency, Kawaguchi, Japan.
| | - Masazumi Niwa
- Graduate Division of Nutritional and Environmental Sciences, University of Shizuoka, Suruga-ku, Shizuoka, Japan
| | - Fumihito Hasebe
- Graduate Division of Nutritional and Environmental Sciences, University of Shizuoka, Suruga-ku, Shizuoka, Japan
| | - Daisuke Matsui
- Department of Biotechnology, College of Life Sciences, Ritsumeikan University, Kusatsu, Shiga, Japan
| | - Sohei Ito
- Graduate Division of Nutritional and Environmental Sciences, University of Shizuoka, Suruga-ku, Shizuoka, Japan
| |
Collapse
|
20
|
Abstract
Some have hypothesized that ancestral proteins were, on average, less specific than their descendants. If true, this would provide a universal axis along which to organize protein evolution and suggests that reconstructed ancestral proteins may be uniquely powerful tools for protein engineering. Ancestral sequence reconstruction studies are one line of evidence used to support this hypothesis. Previously, we performed such a study, investigating the evolution of peptide-binding specificity for the paralogs S100A5 and S100A6. The modern proteins appeared more specific than their last common ancestor (ancA5/A6), as each paralog bound a subset of the peptides bound by ancA5/A6. In this study, we revisit this transition, using quantitative phage display to measure the interactions of 30,533 random peptides with human S100A5, S100A6, and ancA5/A6. This unbiased screen reveals a different picture. While S100A5 and S100A6 do indeed bind to a subset of the peptides recognized by ancA5/A6, they also acquired new peptide partners outside of the set recognized by ancA5/A6. Our previous work showed that ancA5/A6 had lower specificity than its descendants when measured against biological targets; our new work shows that ancA5/A6 has similar specificity to the modern proteins when measured against a random set of peptide targets. This demonstrates that altered biological specificity does not necessarily indicate altered intrinsic specificity, and sounds a cautionary note for using ancestral reconstruction studies with biological targets as a means to infer global evolutionary trends in specificity.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Lucas C Wheeler
- Institute of Molecular Biology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA.,Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA.,Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA
| | - Michael J Harms
- Institute of Molecular Biology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA.,Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA
| |
Collapse
|
21
|
Spence MA, Kaczmarski JA, Saunders JW, Jackson CJ. Ancestral sequence reconstruction for protein engineers. Curr Opin Struct Biol 2021; 69:131-141. [PMID: 34023793 DOI: 10.1016/j.sbi.2021.04.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2020] [Revised: 03/22/2021] [Accepted: 04/07/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
In addition to its value in the study of molecular evolution, ancestral sequence reconstruction (ASR) has emerged as a useful methodology for engineering proteins with enhanced properties. Proteins generated by ASR often exhibit unique or improved activity, stability, and/or promiscuity, all of which are properties that are valued by protein engineers. Comparison between extant proteins and evolutionary intermediates generated by ASR also allows protein engineers to identify substitutions that have contributed to functional innovation or diversification within protein families. As ASR becomes more widely adopted as a protein engineering approach, it is important to understand the applications, limitations, and recent developments of this technique. This review highlights recent exemplifications of ASR, as well as technical aspects of the reconstruction process that are relevant to protein engineering.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Matthew A Spence
- Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Joe A Kaczmarski
- Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Jake W Saunders
- Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Colin J Jackson
- Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia; ARC Centre of Excellence for Innovations in Peptide & Protein Science, Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia; ARC Centre of Excellence for Innovations in Synthetic Biology, Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.
| |
Collapse
|
22
|
Scossa F, Fernie AR. Ancestral sequence reconstruction - An underused approach to understand the evolution of gene function in plants? Comput Struct Biotechnol J 2021; 19:1579-1594. [PMID: 33868595 PMCID: PMC8039532 DOI: 10.1016/j.csbj.2021.03.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2021] [Revised: 03/04/2021] [Accepted: 03/06/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Whilst substantial research effort has been placed on understanding the interactions of plant proteins with their molecular partners, relatively few studies in plants - by contrast to work in other organisms - address how these interactions evolve. It is thought that ancestral proteins were more promiscuous than modern proteins and that specificity often evolved following gene duplication and subsequent functional refining. However, ancestral protein resurrection studies have found that some modern proteins have evolved de novo from ancestors lacking those functions. Intriguingly, the new interactions evolved as a consequence of just a few mutations and, as such, acquisition of new functions appears to be neither difficult nor rare, however, only a few of them are incorporated into biological processes before they are lost to subsequent mutations. Here, we detail the approach of ancestral sequence reconstruction (ASR), providing a primer to reconstruct the sequence of an ancestral gene. We will present case studies from a range of different eukaryotes before discussing the few instances where ancestral reconstructions have been used in plants. As ASR is used to dig into the remote evolutionary past, we will also present some alternative genetic approaches to investigate molecular evolution on shorter timescales. We argue that the study of plant secondary metabolism is particularly well suited for ancestral reconstruction studies. Indeed, its ancient evolutionary roots and highly diverse landscape provide an ideal context in which to address the focal issue around the emergence of evolutionary novelties and how this affects the chemical diversification of plant metabolism.
Collapse
Key Words
- APR, ancestral protein resurrection
- ASR, ancestral sequence reconstruction
- Ancestral sequence reconstruction
- CDS, coding sequence
- Evolution
- GR, glucocorticoid receptor
- GWAS, genome wide association study
- Genomics
- InDel, insertion/deletion
- MCMC, Markov Chain Monte Carlo
- ML, maximum likelihood
- MP, maximum parsimony
- MR, mineralcorticoid receptor
- MSA, multiple sequence alignment
- Metabolism
- NJ, neighbor-joining
- Phylogenetics
- Plants
- SFS, site frequency spectrum
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Federico Scossa
- Max-Planck-Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology (MPI-MP), 14476 Potsdam-Golm, Germany
- Council for Agricultural Research and Economics (CREA), Research Centre for Genomics and Bioinformatics (CREA-GB), Rome, Italy
| | - Alisdair R. Fernie
- Max-Planck-Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology (MPI-MP), 14476 Potsdam-Golm, Germany
- Center of Plant Systems Biology and Biotechnology (CPSBB), Plovdiv, Bulgaria
| |
Collapse
|
23
|
Bioinformatics analysis and biochemical characterisation of ABC transporter-associated periplasmic substrate-binding proteins ModA and MetQ from Helicobacter pylori strain SS1. Biophys Chem 2021; 272:106577. [PMID: 33756269 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpc.2021.106577] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2021] [Revised: 02/23/2021] [Accepted: 03/06/2021] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
The human gastric pathogen Helicobacter pylori relies on the uptake of host-provided nutrients for its proliferation and pathogenicity. ABC transporters that mediate import of small molecules into the cytoplasm of H. pylori employ their cognate periplasmic substrate-binding proteins (SBPs) for ligand capture in the periplasm. The genome of the mouse-adapted strain SS1 of H. pylori encodes eight ABC transporter-associated SBPs, but little is known about their specificity or structure. In this study, we demonstrated that the SBP annotated as ModA binds molybdate (MoO42-, KD = 3.8 nM) and tungstate (WO42-, KD = 7.8 nM). In addition, we showed that MetQ binds D-methionine (KD = 9.5 μM), but not L-methionine, which suggests the existence of as yet unknown pathway for L-methionine uptake. Homology modelling has led to identification of the ligand-binding residues.
Collapse
|
24
|
Kröger P, Shanmugaratnam S, Ferruz N, Schweimer K, Höcker B. A comprehensive binding study illustrates ligand recognition in the periplasmic binding protein PotF. Structure 2021; 29:433-443.e4. [PMID: 33406388 DOI: 10.1016/j.str.2020.12.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2020] [Revised: 10/28/2020] [Accepted: 12/08/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Periplasmic binding proteins (PBPs) are ubiquitous receptors in gram-negative bacteria. They sense solutes and play key roles in nutrient uptake. Escherichia coli's putrescine receptor PotF has been reported to bind putrescine and spermidine. We reveal that several similar biogenic polyamines are recognized by PotF. Using isothermal titration calorimetry paired with X-ray crystallography of the different complexes, we unveil PotF's binding modes in detail. The binding site for PBPs is located between two lobes that undergo a large conformational change upon ligand recognition. Hence, analyzing the influence of ligands on complex formation is crucial. Therefore, we solved crystal structures of an open and closed apo state and used them as a basis for molecular dynamics simulations. In addition, we accessed structural behavior in solution for all complexes by 1H-15N HSQC NMR spectroscopy. This combined analysis provides a robust framework for understanding ligand binding for future developments in drug design and protein engineering.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Pascal Kröger
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Bayreuth, Universitätsstrasse 30, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany
| | - Sooruban Shanmugaratnam
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Bayreuth, Universitätsstrasse 30, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany
| | - Noelia Ferruz
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Bayreuth, Universitätsstrasse 30, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany
| | - Kristian Schweimer
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Bayreuth, Universitätsstrasse 30, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany; Northern Bavarian NMR Center, University of Bayreuth, Universitätsstrasse 30, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany
| | - Birte Höcker
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Bayreuth, Universitätsstrasse 30, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany.
| |
Collapse
|
25
|
Kaczmarski JA, Mahawaththa MC, Feintuch A, Clifton BE, Adams LA, Goldfarb D, Otting G, Jackson CJ. Altered conformational sampling along an evolutionary trajectory changes the catalytic activity of an enzyme. Nat Commun 2020; 11:5945. [PMID: 33230119 PMCID: PMC7683729 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-19695-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2020] [Accepted: 10/21/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Several enzymes are known to have evolved from non-catalytic proteins such as solute-binding proteins (SBPs). Although attention has been focused on how a binding site can evolve to become catalytic, an equally important question is: how do the structural dynamics of a binding protein change as it becomes an efficient enzyme? Here we performed a variety of experiments, including propargyl-DO3A-Gd(III) tagging and double electron-electron resonance (DEER) to study the rigid body protein dynamics of reconstructed evolutionary intermediates to determine how the conformational sampling of a protein changes along an evolutionary trajectory linking an arginine SBP to a cyclohexadienyl dehydratase (CDT). We observed that primitive dehydratases predominantly populate catalytically unproductive conformations that are vestiges of their ancestral SBP function. Non-productive conformational states, including a wide-open state, are frozen out of the conformational landscape via remote mutations, eventually leading to extant CDT that exclusively samples catalytically relevant compact states. These results show that remote mutations can reshape the global conformational landscape of an enzyme as a mechanism for increasing catalytic activity.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Joe A Kaczmarski
- Research School of Chemistry, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia
| | - Mithun C Mahawaththa
- Research School of Chemistry, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia
| | - Akiva Feintuch
- Department of Chemical and Biological Physics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, 76100, Israel
| | - Ben E Clifton
- Research School of Chemistry, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia.,Protein Engineering and Evolution Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, 1919-1 Tancha, Onna-son, Okinawa, 904-0412, Japan
| | - Luke A Adams
- Medicinal Chemistry, Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash University, Parkville, VIC, 3052, Australia
| | - Daniella Goldfarb
- Department of Chemical and Biological Physics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, 76100, Israel.
| | - Gottfried Otting
- Research School of Chemistry, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia. .,Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Innovations in Peptide and Protein Science, Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, 2601, ACT, Australia.
| | - Colin J Jackson
- Research School of Chemistry, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia. .,Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Innovations in Peptide and Protein Science, Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, 2601, ACT, Australia. .,Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology, Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, 2601, ACT, Australia.
| |
Collapse
|
26
|
Woodcock CB, Horton JR, Zhang X, Blumenthal RM, Cheng X. Beta class amino methyltransferases from bacteria to humans: evolution and structural consequences. Nucleic Acids Res 2020; 48:10034-10044. [PMID: 32453412 PMCID: PMC7544214 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkaa446] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2020] [Revised: 05/12/2020] [Accepted: 05/14/2020] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
S-adenosyl-l-methionine dependent methyltransferases catalyze methyl transfers onto a wide variety of target molecules, including DNA and RNA. We discuss a family of methyltransferases, those that act on the amino groups of adenine or cytosine in DNA, have conserved motifs in a particular order in their amino acid sequence, and are referred to as class beta MTases. Members of this class include M.EcoGII and M.EcoP15I from Escherichia coli, Caulobacter crescentus cell cycle-regulated DNA methyltransferase (CcrM), the MTA1-MTA9 complex from the ciliate Oxytricha, and the mammalian MettL3-MettL14 complex. These methyltransferases all generate N6-methyladenine in DNA, with some members having activity on single-stranded DNA as well as RNA. The beta class of methyltransferases has a unique multimeric feature, forming either homo- or hetero-dimers, allowing the enzyme to use division of labor between two subunits in terms of substrate recognition and methylation. We suggest that M.EcoGII may represent an ancestral form of these enzymes, as its activity is independent of the nucleic acid type (RNA or DNA), its strandedness (single or double), and its sequence (aside from the target adenine).
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Clayton B Woodcock
- Department of Epigenetics and Molecular Carcinogenesis, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - John R Horton
- Department of Epigenetics and Molecular Carcinogenesis, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Xing Zhang
- Department of Epigenetics and Molecular Carcinogenesis, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Robert M Blumenthal
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, and Program in Bioinformatics, The University of Toledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences, Toledo, OH 43614, USA
| | - Xiaodong Cheng
- Department of Epigenetics and Molecular Carcinogenesis, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| |
Collapse
|
27
|
Zamora RA, Ramirez-Sarmiento CA, Castro-Fernández V, Villalobos P, Maturana P, Herrera-Morande A, Komives EA, Guixé V. Tuning of Conformational Dynamics Through Evolution-Based Design Modulates the Catalytic Adaptability of an Extremophilic Kinase. ACS Catal 2020. [DOI: 10.1021/acscatal.0c01300] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Ricardo A. Zamora
- Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Las Palmeras 3425, Ñuñoa, Santiago 7800003, Chile
| | - Cesar A. Ramirez-Sarmiento
- Institute for Biological and Medical Engineering, Schools of Engineering, Medicine and Biological Sciences, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. Avenida Vicuña Mackenna 4860, Macul, Santiago 6904411, Chile
| | - Víctor Castro-Fernández
- Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Las Palmeras 3425, Ñuñoa, Santiago 7800003, Chile
| | - Pablo Villalobos
- Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Las Palmeras 3425, Ñuñoa, Santiago 7800003, Chile
| | - Pablo Maturana
- Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Las Palmeras 3425, Ñuñoa, Santiago 7800003, Chile
| | - Alejandra Herrera-Morande
- Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Las Palmeras 3425, Ñuñoa, Santiago 7800003, Chile
| | - Elizabeth A. Komives
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92092-0378, United States
| | - Victoria Guixé
- Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Las Palmeras 3425, Ñuñoa, Santiago 7800003, Chile
| |
Collapse
|
28
|
Chen PC, Masiewicz P, Perez K, Hennig J. Structure-based screening of binding affinities via small-angle X-ray scattering. IUCRJ 2020; 7:644-655. [PMID: 32695411 PMCID: PMC7340254 DOI: 10.1107/s2052252520004169] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2019] [Accepted: 03/26/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Protein-protein and protein-ligand interactions often involve conformational changes or structural rearrangements that can be quantified by solution small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). These scattering intensity measurements reveal structural details of the bound complex, the number of species involved and, additionally, the strength of interactions if carried out as a titration. Although a core part of structural biology workflows, SAXS-based titrations are not commonly used in drug discovery contexts. This is because prior knowledge of expected sample requirements, throughput and prediction accuracy is needed to develop reliable ligand screens. This study presents the use of the histidine-binding protein (26 kDa) and other periplasmic binding proteins to benchmark ligand screen performance. Sample concentrations and exposure times were varied across multiple screening trials at four beamlines to investigate the accuracy and precision of affinity prediction. The volatility ratio between titrated scattering curves and a common apo reference is found to most reliably capture the extent of structural and population changes. This obviates the need to explicitly model scattering intensities of bound complexes, which can be strongly ligand-dependent. Where the dissociation constant is within 102 of the protein concentration and the total exposure times exceed 20 s, the titration protocol presented at 0.5 mg ml-1 yields affinities comparable to isothermal titration calorimetry measurements. Estimated throughput ranges between 20 and 100 ligand titrations per day at current synchrotron beamlines, with the limiting step imposed by sample handling and cleaning procedures.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Po-chia Chen
- Structural and Computational Biology Unit, EMBL Heidelberg, Meyerhofstrasse 1, 69126 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Pawel Masiewicz
- Structural and Computational Biology Unit, EMBL Heidelberg, Meyerhofstrasse 1, 69126 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Kathryn Perez
- Protein Expression and Purification Core Facility, EMBL Heidelberg, Meyerhofstrasse 1, 69126 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Janosch Hennig
- Structural and Computational Biology Unit, EMBL Heidelberg, Meyerhofstrasse 1, 69126 Heidelberg, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
29
|
Lai JS, Rost B, Kobe B, Bodén M. Evolutionary model of protein secondary structure capable of revealing new biological relationships. Proteins 2020; 88:1251-1259. [PMID: 32394426 DOI: 10.1002/prot.25898] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2019] [Revised: 10/24/2019] [Accepted: 04/27/2020] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Ancestral sequence reconstruction has had recent success in decoding the origins and the determinants of complex protein functions. However, phylogenetic analyses of remote homologues must handle extreme amino acid sequence diversity resulting from extended periods of evolutionary change. We exploited the wealth of protein structures to develop an evolutionary model based on protein secondary structure. The approach follows the differences between discrete secondary structure states observed in modern proteins and those hypothesized in their immediate ancestors. We implemented maximum likelihood-based phylogenetic inference to reconstruct ancestral secondary structure. The predictive accuracy from the use of the evolutionary model surpasses that of comparative modeling and sequence-based prediction; the reconstruction extracts information not available from modern structures or the ancestral sequences alone. Based on a phylogenetic analysis of a sequence-diverse protein family, we showed that the model can highlight relationships that are evolutionarily rooted in structure and not evident in amino acid-based analysis.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jhih-Siang Lai
- School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Burkhard Rost
- Department of Informatics, Institute of Advanced Studies (TUM-IAS), School of Life Sciences (WZW), Technical University of Munich (TUM), Garching, Bavaria, Germany
| | - Bostjan Kobe
- School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.,Australian Infectious Diseases Research Centre, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.,Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Mikael Bodén
- School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.,Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| |
Collapse
|
30
|
Copley SD. The physical basis and practical consequences of biological promiscuity. Phys Biol 2020; 17:10.1088/1478-3975/ab8697. [PMID: 32244231 PMCID: PMC9291633 DOI: 10.1088/1478-3975/ab8697] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Proteins interact with metabolites, nucleic acids, and other proteins to orchestrate the myriad catalytic, structural and regulatory functions that support life from the simplest microbes to the most complex multicellular organisms. These molecular interactions are often exquisitely specific, but never perfectly so. Adventitious "promiscuous" interactions are ubiquitous due to the thousands of macromolecules and small molecules crowded together in cells. Such interactions may perturb protein function at the molecular level, but as long as they do not compromise organismal fitness, they will not be removed by natural selection. Although promiscuous interactions are physiologically irrelevant, they are important because they can provide a vast reservoir of potential functions that can provide the starting point for evolution of new functions, both in nature and in the laboratory.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Shelley D Copley
- Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology and Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, UNITED STATES
| |
Collapse
|
31
|
Marcus K, Mattos C. Water in Ras Superfamily Evolution. J Comput Chem 2020; 41:402-414. [PMID: 31483874 DOI: 10.1002/jcc.26060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2019] [Revised: 07/17/2019] [Accepted: 08/16/2019] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Abstract
The Ras GTPase superfamily of proteins coordinates a diverse set of cellular outcomes, including cell morphology, vesicle transport, and cell proliferation. Primary amino acid sequence analysis has identified Specificity determinant positions (SDPs) that drive diversified functions specific to the Ras, Rho, Rab, and Arf subfamilies (Rojas et al. 2012, J Cell Biol 196:189-201). The inclusion of water molecules in structural and functional adaptation is likely to be a major response to the selection pressures that drive evolution, yet hydration patterns are not included in phylogenetic analysis. This article shows that conserved crystallographic water molecules coevolved with SDP residues in the differentiation of proteins within the Ras superfamily of small GTPases. The patterns of water conservation between protein subfamilies parallel those of sequence-based evolutionary trees. Thus, hydration patterns have the potential to help elucidate functional significance in the evolution of amino acid residues observed in phylogenetic analysis of homologous proteins. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kendra Marcus
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Northeastern University, 360 Huntington Ave, Boston, Massachusetts, 02115
| | - Carla Mattos
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Northeastern University, 360 Huntington Ave, Boston, Massachusetts, 02115
| |
Collapse
|
32
|
Chandler PG, Broendum SS, Riley BT, Spence MA, Jackson CJ, McGowan S, Buckle AM. Strategies for Increasing Protein Stability. Methods Mol Biol 2020; 2073:163-181. [PMID: 31612442 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4939-9869-2_10] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
The stability of wild-type proteins is often a hurdle to their practical use in research, industry, and medicine. The route to engineering stability of a protein of interest lies largely with the available data. Where high-resolution structural data is available, rational design, based on fundamental principles of protein chemistry, can improve protein stability. Recent advances in computational biology and the use of nonnatural amino acids have also provided novel rational methods for improving protein stability. Likewise, the explosion of sequence and structural data available in public databases, in combination with improvements in freely available computational tools, has produced accessible phylogenetic approaches. Trawling modern sequence databases can identify the thermostable homologs of a target protein, and evolutionary data can be quickly generated using available phylogenetic tools. Grafting features from those thermostable homologs or ancestors provides stability improvement through a semi-rational approach. Further, molecular techniques such as directed evolution have shown great promise in delivering designer proteins. These strategies are well documented and newly accessible to the molecular biologist, allowing for rapid enhancements of protein stability.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Peter G Chandler
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia
| | - Sebastian S Broendum
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia
| | - Blake T Riley
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia
| | - Matthew A Spence
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia
| | - Colin J Jackson
- Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Sheena McGowan
- Department of Microbiology, Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia
| | - Ashley M Buckle
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia.
| |
Collapse
|
33
|
Damry AM, Mayer MM, Broom A, Goto NK, Chica RA. Origin of conformational dynamics in a globular protein. Commun Biol 2019; 2:433. [PMID: 31799435 PMCID: PMC6879633 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-019-0681-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2019] [Accepted: 11/06/2019] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Protein structures are dynamic, undergoing motions that can play a vital role in function. However, the link between primary sequence and conformational dynamics remains poorly understood. Here, we studied how conformational dynamics can arise in a globular protein by evaluating the impact of individual core-residue substitutions in DANCER-3, a streptococcal protein G domain β1 variant that we previously designed to undergo a specific mode of conformational exchange that has never been observed in the wild-type protein. Using a combination of solution NMR experiments and molecular dynamics simulations, we demonstrate that only two mutations are necessary to create this conformational exchange, and that these mutations work synergistically, with one destabilizing the native structure and the other allowing two new conformational states to be accessed on the energy landscape. Overall, our results show how dynamics can appear in a stable globular fold, a critical step in the molecular evolution of dynamics-linked functions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Adam M. Damry
- Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences, University of Ottawa, 10 Marie-Curie, Ottawa, ON Canada K1N 6N5
| | - Marc M. Mayer
- Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences, University of Ottawa, 10 Marie-Curie, Ottawa, ON Canada K1N 6N5
| | - Aron Broom
- Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences, University of Ottawa, 10 Marie-Curie, Ottawa, ON Canada K1N 6N5
| | - Natalie K. Goto
- Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences, University of Ottawa, 10 Marie-Curie, Ottawa, ON Canada K1N 6N5
| | - Roberto A. Chica
- Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences, University of Ottawa, 10 Marie-Curie, Ottawa, ON Canada K1N 6N5
| |
Collapse
|
34
|
Thomas A, Cutlan R, Finnigan W, van der Giezen M, Harmer N. Highly thermostable carboxylic acid reductases generated by ancestral sequence reconstruction. Commun Biol 2019; 2:429. [PMID: 31799431 PMCID: PMC6874671 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-019-0677-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2019] [Accepted: 11/04/2019] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Carboxylic acid reductases (CARs) are biocatalysts of industrial importance. Their properties, especially their poor stability, render them sub-optimal for use in a bioindustrial pipeline. Here, we employed ancestral sequence reconstruction (ASR) - a burgeoning engineering tool that can identify stabilizing but enzymatically neutral mutations throughout a protein. We used a three-algorithm approach to reconstruct functional ancestors of the Mycobacterial and Nocardial CAR1 orthologues. Ancestral CARs (AncCARs) were confirmed to be CAR enzymes with a preference for aromatic carboxylic acids. Ancestors also showed varied tolerances to solvents, pH and in vivo-like salt concentrations. Compared to well-studied extant CARs, AncCARs had a Tm up to 35 °C higher, with half-lives up to nine times longer than the greatest previously observed. Using ancestral reconstruction we have expanded the existing CAR toolbox with three new thermostable CAR enzymes, providing access to the high temperature biosynthesis of aldehydes to drive new applications in biocatalysis.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Adam Thomas
- Living Systems Institute, Stocker Road, Exeter, EX4 4QD UK
- Present Address: Department of Biosciences, Geoffrey Pope Building, Stocker Road, Exeter, EX4 4QD UK
| | - Rhys Cutlan
- Living Systems Institute, Stocker Road, Exeter, EX4 4QD UK
- Present Address: Department of Biosciences, Geoffrey Pope Building, Stocker Road, Exeter, EX4 4QD UK
| | - William Finnigan
- Present Address: Department of Biosciences, Geoffrey Pope Building, Stocker Road, Exeter, EX4 4QD UK
| | - Mark van der Giezen
- Present Address: Department of Biosciences, Geoffrey Pope Building, Stocker Road, Exeter, EX4 4QD UK
- Centre for Organelle Research, University of Stavanger, Richard Johnsens gate 4, Stavanger, 4021 Norway
| | - Nicholas Harmer
- Living Systems Institute, Stocker Road, Exeter, EX4 4QD UK
- Present Address: Department of Biosciences, Geoffrey Pope Building, Stocker Road, Exeter, EX4 4QD UK
| |
Collapse
|
35
|
Nakano S, Minamino Y, Hasebe F, Ito S. Deracemization and Stereoinversion to Aromatic d-Amino Acid Derivatives with Ancestral l-Amino Acid Oxidase. ACS Catal 2019. [DOI: 10.1021/acscatal.9b03418] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Shogo Nakano
- Graduate School of Integrated Pharmaceutical and Nutritional Sciences, University of Shizuoka, 52-1 Yada, Suruga-ku, Shizuoka 422-8526, Japan
| | - Yuki Minamino
- Graduate School of Integrated Pharmaceutical and Nutritional Sciences, University of Shizuoka, 52-1 Yada, Suruga-ku, Shizuoka 422-8526, Japan
| | - Fumihito Hasebe
- Graduate School of Integrated Pharmaceutical and Nutritional Sciences, University of Shizuoka, 52-1 Yada, Suruga-ku, Shizuoka 422-8526, Japan
| | - Sohei Ito
- Graduate School of Integrated Pharmaceutical and Nutritional Sciences, University of Shizuoka, 52-1 Yada, Suruga-ku, Shizuoka 422-8526, Japan
| |
Collapse
|
36
|
Vergara R, Romero‐Romero S, Velázquez‐López I, Espinoza‐Pérez G, Rodríguez‐Hernández A, Pulido NO, Sosa‐Peinado A, Rodríguez‐Romero A, Fernández‐Velasco DA. The interplay of protein–ligand and water‐mediated interactions shape affinity and selectivity in the LAO binding protein. FEBS J 2019; 287:763-782. [DOI: 10.1111/febs.15019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2019] [Revised: 06/25/2019] [Accepted: 07/24/2019] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Renan Vergara
- Laboratorio de Fisicoquímica e Ingeniería de Proteínas, Departamento de Bioquímica, Facultad de Medicina Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México Ciudad de México México
| | - Sergio Romero‐Romero
- Laboratorio de Fisicoquímica e Ingeniería de Proteínas, Departamento de Bioquímica, Facultad de Medicina Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México Ciudad de México México
| | - Isabel Velázquez‐López
- Laboratorio de Fisicoquímica e Ingeniería de Proteínas, Departamento de Bioquímica, Facultad de Medicina Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México Ciudad de México México
| | - Georgina Espinoza‐Pérez
- Laboratorio de Química de Biomacromoléculas 3, Departamento de Química de Biomacromoléculas, Instituto de Química Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México Ciudad de México México
| | - Annia Rodríguez‐Hernández
- Laboratorio de Química de Biomacromoléculas 3, Departamento de Química de Biomacromoléculas, Instituto de Química Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México Ciudad de México México
| | - Nancy O. Pulido
- Laboratorio de Fisicoquímica e Ingeniería de Proteínas, Departamento de Bioquímica, Facultad de Medicina Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México Ciudad de México México
| | - Alejandro Sosa‐Peinado
- Laboratorio de Fisicoquímica e Ingeniería de Proteínas, Departamento de Bioquímica, Facultad de Medicina Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México Ciudad de México México
| | - Adela Rodríguez‐Romero
- Laboratorio de Química de Biomacromoléculas 3, Departamento de Química de Biomacromoléculas, Instituto de Química Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México Ciudad de México México
| | - Daniel Alejandro Fernández‐Velasco
- Laboratorio de Fisicoquímica e Ingeniería de Proteínas, Departamento de Bioquímica, Facultad de Medicina Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México Ciudad de México México
| |
Collapse
|
37
|
Structural and evolutionary approaches to the design and optimization of fluorescence-based small molecule biosensors. Curr Opin Struct Biol 2019; 57:31-38. [DOI: 10.1016/j.sbi.2019.01.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2018] [Revised: 01/10/2019] [Accepted: 01/23/2019] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
|
38
|
Berezovsky IN. Towards descriptor of elementary functions for protein design. Curr Opin Struct Biol 2019; 58:159-165. [PMID: 31352188 DOI: 10.1016/j.sbi.2019.06.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2019] [Accepted: 06/18/2019] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
We review studies of the protein evolution that help to formulate rules for protein design. Acknowledging the fundamental importance of Dayhoff's provision on the emergence of functional proteins from short peptides, we discuss multiple evidences of the omnipresent partitioning of protein globules into structural/functional units, using which greatly facilitates the engineering and design efforts. Closed loops and elementary functional loops, which are descendants of ancient ring-like peptides that formed fist protein domains in agreement with Dayhoff's hypothesis, can be considered as basic units of protein structure and function. We argue that future developments in protein design approaches should consider descriptors of the elementary functions, which will help to complement designed scaffolds with functional signatures and flexibility necessary for their functions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Igor N Berezovsky
- Bioinformatics Institute (BII), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A⁎STAR), 30 Biopolis Street, #07-01, Matrix 138671, Singapore; Department of Biological Sciences (DBS), National University of Singapore (NUS), 8 Medical Drive, 117579, Singapore.
| |
Collapse
|
39
|
Following the Evolutionary Track of a Highly Specific l-Arginine Oxidase by Reconstruction and Biochemical Analysis of Ancestral and Native Enzymes. Appl Environ Microbiol 2019; 85:AEM.00459-19. [PMID: 30979835 DOI: 10.1128/aem.00459-19] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2019] [Accepted: 03/27/2019] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Following the evolutionary track of enzymes can help elucidate how enzymes attain their characteristic functions, such as thermal adaptation and substrate selectivity, during the evolutionary process. Ancestral sequence reconstruction (ASR) is effective for following evolutionary processes if sufficient sequence data are available. Selecting sequences from the data to generate a curated sequence library is necessary for the successful design of artificial proteins by ASR. In this study, we tried to follow the evolutionary track of l-arginine oxidase (AROD), a flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD)-dependent amino acid oxidase (LAAO) that exhibits high specificity for l-arginine. The library was generated by selecting sequences in which the 15th, 50th, 332nd, and 580th residues are Gly, Ser, Trp, and Thr, respectively. We excluded sequences that are either extremely short or long and those with a low degree of sequence identity. Three ancestral ARODs (AncARODn0, AncARODn1, and AncARODn2) were designed using the library. Subsequently, we expressed the ancestral ARODs as well as native Oceanobacter kriegii AROD (OkAROD) in bacteria. AncARODn0 is phylogenetically most remote from OkAROD, whereas AncARODn2 is most similar to OkAROD. Thermal stability was gradually increased by extending AROD sequences back to the progenitor, while the temperature at which the residual activity is half of the maximum measured activity (T 1/2) of AncARODn0 was >20°C higher than that of OkAROD. Remarkably, only AncARODn0 exhibited broad substrate selectivity similar to that of conventional promiscuous LAAO. Taken together, our findings led us to infer that AROD may have evolved from a highly thermostable and promiscuous LAAO.IMPORTANCE In this study, we attempted to infer the molecular evolution of a recently isolated FAD-dependent l-arginine oxidase (AROD) that oxidizes l-arginine to 2-ketoarginine. Utilizing 10 candidate AROD sequences, we obtained a total of three ancestral ARODs. In addition, one native AROD was obtained by cloning one of the candidate ARODs. The candidate sequences were selected utilizing a curation method defined in this study. All the ARODs were successfully expressed in Escherichia coli for analysis of their biochemical functions. The catalytic activity of our bacterially expressed ancestral ARODs suggests that our ASR was successful. The ancestral AROD that is phylogenetically most remote from a native AROD has the highest thermal stability and substrate promiscuity. Our findings led us to infer that AROD evolved from a highly thermostable and promiscuous LAAO. As an application, we can design artificial ARODs with improved functions compared with those of native ones.
Collapse
|
40
|
Trudeau DL, Tawfik DS. Protein engineers turned evolutionists-the quest for the optimal starting point. Curr Opin Biotechnol 2019; 60:46-52. [PMID: 30611116 DOI: 10.1016/j.copbio.2018.12.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 73] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2018] [Revised: 11/22/2018] [Accepted: 12/03/2018] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
The advent of laboratory directed evolution yielded a fruitful crosstalk between the disciplines of molecular evolution and bio-engineering. Here, we outline recent developments in both disciplines with respect to how one can identify the best starting points for directed evolution, such that highly efficient and robust tailor-made enzymes can be obtained with minimal optimization. Directed evolution studies have highlighted essential features of engineer-able enzymes: highly stable, mutationally robust enzymes with the capacity to accept a broad range of substrates. Robust, evolvable enzymes can be inferred from the natural sequence record. Broad substrate spectrum relates to conformational plasticity and can also be predicted by phylogenetic analyses and/or by computational design. Overall, an increasingly powerful toolkit is becoming available for identifying optimal starting points including network analyses of enzyme superfamilies and other bioinformatics methods.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Devin L Trudeau
- Department of Biomolecular Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, 234 Herzl Street, Rehovot 7610001, Israel
| | - Dan S Tawfik
- Department of Biomolecular Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, 234 Herzl Street, Rehovot 7610001, Israel.
| |
Collapse
|
41
|
High-Throughput Reconstruction of Ancestral Protein Sequence, Structure, and Molecular Function. Methods Mol Biol 2019; 1851:135-170. [PMID: 30298396 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4939-8736-8_8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Ancestral protein sequence reconstruction is a powerful technique for explicitly testing hypotheses about the evolution of molecular function, allowing researchers to meticulously dissect how historical changes in protein sequence impacted functional repertoire by altering the protein's 3D structure. These techniques have provided concrete, experimentally validated insights into ancient evolutionary processes and help illuminate the complex relationship between protein sequence, structure, and function. Inferring the protein family phylogenies on which ancestral sequence reconstruction depends and reconstructing the sequences, themselves, are amenable to high-throughput computational analysis. However, determining the structures of ancestral-reconstructed proteins and characterizing their functions typically rely on time-consuming and expensive laboratory analyses, limiting most current studies to examining a relatively small number of specific hypotheses. For this reason, we have little detailed, unbiased information about how molecular function evolves across large protein family phylogenies. Here we describe a generalized protocol that integrates ancestral sequence reconstruction with structural homology modeling and structure-based molecular affinity prediction to characterize historical changes in protein function across families with thousands of individual sequences. We highlight key steps in the analysis protocol requiring particularly careful attention to avoid introducing potential errors as well as steps for which computationally efficient subroutines can be substituted for more intensive approaches, allowing researchers to scale the analysis up or down, depending on available resources and requirements for reproducibility and scientific rigor. In our view, this approach provides a compelling compliment to more laboratory-intensive procedures, generating important contextual information that can help guide detailed experiments.
Collapse
|
42
|
Diep P, Mahadevan R, Yakunin AF. Heavy Metal Removal by Bioaccumulation Using Genetically Engineered Microorganisms. Front Bioeng Biotechnol 2018; 6:157. [PMID: 30420950 PMCID: PMC6215804 DOI: 10.3389/fbioe.2018.00157] [Citation(s) in RCA: 100] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2018] [Accepted: 10/09/2018] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Wastewater effluents from mines and metal refineries are often contaminated with heavy metal ions, so they pose hazards to human and environmental health. Conventional technologies to remove heavy metal ions are well-established, but the most popular methods have drawbacks: chemical precipitation generates sludge waste, and activated carbon and ion exchange resins are made from unsustainable non-renewable resources. Using microbial biomass as the platform for heavy metal ion removal is an alternative method. Specifically, bioaccumulation is a natural biological phenomenon where microorganisms use proteins to uptake and sequester metal ions in the intracellular space to utilize in cellular processes (e.g., enzyme catalysis, signaling, stabilizing charges on biomolecules). Recombinant expression of these import-storage systems in genetically engineered microorganisms allows for enhanced uptake and sequestration of heavy metal ions. This has been studied for over two decades for bioremediative applications, but successful translation to industrial-scale processes is virtually non-existent. Meanwhile, demands for metal resources are increasing while discovery rates to supply primary grade ores are not. This review re-thinks how bioaccumulation can be used and proposes that it can be developed for bioextractive applications-the removal and recovery of heavy metal ions for downstream purification and refining, rather than disposal. This review consolidates previously tested import-storage systems into a biochemical framework and highlights efforts to overcome obstacles that limit industrial feasibility, thereby identifying gaps in knowledge and potential avenues of research in bioaccumulation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Alexander F. Yakunin
- BioZone - Centre for Applied Biosciences and Bioengineering, Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
43
|
Paiardini A, Mantoni F, Giardina G, Paone A, Janson G, Leoni L, Rampioni G, Cutruzzolà F, Rinaldo S. A novel bacterial l-arginine sensor controlling c-di-GMP levels in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Proteins 2018; 86:1088-1096. [PMID: 30040157 DOI: 10.1002/prot.25587] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2018] [Revised: 07/17/2018] [Accepted: 07/18/2018] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
Abstract
Nutrients such as amino acids play key roles in shaping the metabolism of microorganisms in natural environments and in host-pathogen interactions. Beyond taking part to cellular metabolism and to protein synthesis, amino acids are also signaling molecules able to influence group behavior in microorganisms, such as biofilm formation. This lifestyle switch involves complex metabolic reprogramming controlled by local variation of the second messenger 3', 5'-cyclic diguanylic acid (c-di-GMP). The intracellular levels of this dinucleotide are finely tuned by the opposite activity of dedicated diguanylate cyclases (GGDEF signature) and phosphodiesterases (EAL and HD-GYP signatures), which are usually allosterically controlled by a plethora of environmental and metabolic clues. Among the genes putatively involved in controlling c-di-GMP levels in P. aeruginosa, we found that the multidomain transmembrane protein PA0575, bearing the tandem signature GGDEF-EAL, is an l-arginine sensor able to hydrolyse c-di-GMP. Here, we investigate the basis of arginine recognition by integrating bioinformatics, molecular biophysics and microbiology. Although the role of nutrients such as l-arginine in controlling the cellular fate in P. aeruginosa (including biofilm, pathogenicity and virulence) is already well established, we identified the first l-arginine sensor able to link environment sensing, c-di-GMP signaling and biofilm formation in this bacterium.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- A Paiardini
- Department of Biochemical Sciences "A. Rossi Fanelli", Sapienza University of Rome (I), Roma, Italy.,Istituto Pasteur Italia-Fondazione Cenci Bolognetti, Roma, Italy
| | - F Mantoni
- Department of Biochemical Sciences "A. Rossi Fanelli", Sapienza University of Rome (I), Roma, Italy.,Istituto Pasteur Italia-Fondazione Cenci Bolognetti, Roma, Italy
| | - G Giardina
- Department of Biochemical Sciences "A. Rossi Fanelli", Sapienza University of Rome (I), Roma, Italy.,Istituto Pasteur Italia-Fondazione Cenci Bolognetti, Roma, Italy
| | - A Paone
- Department of Biochemical Sciences "A. Rossi Fanelli", Sapienza University of Rome (I), Roma, Italy
| | - G Janson
- Department of Biochemical Sciences "A. Rossi Fanelli", Sapienza University of Rome (I), Roma, Italy
| | - L Leoni
- Department of Science, University Roma Tre (I), Roma, Italy
| | - G Rampioni
- Department of Science, University Roma Tre (I), Roma, Italy
| | - F Cutruzzolà
- Department of Biochemical Sciences "A. Rossi Fanelli", Sapienza University of Rome (I), Roma, Italy.,Istituto Pasteur Italia-Fondazione Cenci Bolognetti, Roma, Italy
| | - S Rinaldo
- Department of Biochemical Sciences "A. Rossi Fanelli", Sapienza University of Rome (I), Roma, Italy.,Istituto Pasteur Italia-Fondazione Cenci Bolognetti, Roma, Italy
| |
Collapse
|
44
|
Lim SA, Marqusee S. The burst-phase folding intermediate of ribonuclease H changes conformation over evolutionary history. Biopolymers 2018; 109:e23086. [PMID: 29152711 PMCID: PMC6047922 DOI: 10.1002/bip.23086] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2017] [Revised: 10/23/2017] [Accepted: 10/30/2017] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
The amino acid sequence encodes the energy landscape of a protein. Therefore, we expect evolutionary mutations to change features of the protein energy landscape, including the conformations adopted by a polypeptide as it folds to its native state. Ribonucleases H (RNase H) from Escherichia coli and Thermus thermophilus both fold via a partially folded intermediate in which the core region of the protein (helices A-D and strands 4-5) is structured. Strand 1, however, uniquely contributes to the T. thermophilus RNase H folding intermediate (Icore+1 ), but not the E. coli RNase H intermediate (Icore ) (Rosen & Marqusee, PLoS One 2015). We explore the origin of this difference by characterizing the folding intermediate of seven ancestral RNases H spanning the evolutionary history of these two homologs. Using fragment models with or without strand 1 and FRET probes to characterize the folding intermediate of each ancestor, we find a distinct evolutionary trend across the family-the involvement of strand 1 in the folding intermediate is an ancestral feature that is maintained in the thermophilic lineage and is gradually lost in the mesophilic lineage. Evolutionary sequence changes indeed modulate the conformations present on the folding landscape and altered the folding trajectory of RNase H.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Shion An Lim
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States
- Institute for Quantitative Biosciences (QB3), University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States
| | - Susan Marqusee
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States
- Institute for Quantitative Biosciences (QB3), University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States
| |
Collapse
|
45
|
Monitoring hippocampal glycine with the computationally designed optical sensor GlyFS. Nat Chem Biol 2018; 14:861-869. [DOI: 10.1038/s41589-018-0108-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2017] [Accepted: 06/21/2018] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
|
46
|
Maria-Solano MA, Serrano-Hervás E, Romero-Rivera A, Iglesias-Fernández J, Osuna S. Role of conformational dynamics in the evolution of novel enzyme function. Chem Commun (Camb) 2018; 54:6622-6634. [PMID: 29780987 PMCID: PMC6009289 DOI: 10.1039/c8cc02426j] [Citation(s) in RCA: 93] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2018] [Accepted: 05/10/2018] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
The free energy landscape concept that describes enzymes as an ensemble of differently populated conformational sub-states in dynamic equilibrium is key for evaluating enzyme activity, enantioselectivity, and specificity. Mutations introduced in the enzyme sequence can alter the populations of the pre-existing conformational states, thus strongly modifying the enzyme ability to accommodate alternative substrates, revert its enantiopreferences, and even increase the activity for some residual promiscuous reactions. In this feature article, we present an overview of the current experimental and computational strategies to explore the conformational free energy landscape of enzymes. We provide a series of recent publications that highlight the key role of conformational dynamics for the enzyme evolution towards new functions and substrates, and provide some perspectives on how conformational dynamism should be considered in future computational enzyme design protocols.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Miguel A. Maria-Solano
- CompBioLab Group
, Institut de Química Computacional i Catàlisi and Departament de Química
, Universitat de Girona
,
Carrer Maria Aurèlia Capmany, 69
, 17003 Girona
, Catalonia
, Spain
.
| | - Eila Serrano-Hervás
- CompBioLab Group
, Institut de Química Computacional i Catàlisi and Departament de Química
, Universitat de Girona
,
Carrer Maria Aurèlia Capmany, 69
, 17003 Girona
, Catalonia
, Spain
.
| | - Adrian Romero-Rivera
- CompBioLab Group
, Institut de Química Computacional i Catàlisi and Departament de Química
, Universitat de Girona
,
Carrer Maria Aurèlia Capmany, 69
, 17003 Girona
, Catalonia
, Spain
.
| | - Javier Iglesias-Fernández
- CompBioLab Group
, Institut de Química Computacional i Catàlisi and Departament de Química
, Universitat de Girona
,
Carrer Maria Aurèlia Capmany, 69
, 17003 Girona
, Catalonia
, Spain
.
| | - Sílvia Osuna
- CompBioLab Group
, Institut de Química Computacional i Catàlisi and Departament de Química
, Universitat de Girona
,
Carrer Maria Aurèlia Capmany, 69
, 17003 Girona
, Catalonia
, Spain
.
- ICREA
,
Pg. Lluís Companys 23
, 08010 Barcelona
, Spain
| |
Collapse
|
47
|
Nakano S, Motoyama T, Miyashita Y, Ishizuka Y, Matsuo N, Tokiwa H, Shinoda S, Asano Y, Ito S. Benchmark Analysis of Native and Artificial NAD +-Dependent Enzymes Generated by a Sequence-Based Design Method with or without Phylogenetic Data. Biochemistry 2018; 57:3722-3732. [PMID: 29787243 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biochem.8b00339] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
The expansion of protein sequence databases has enabled us to design artificial proteins by sequence-based design methods, such as full-consensus design (FCD) and ancestral-sequence reconstruction (ASR). Artificial proteins with enhanced activity levels compared with native ones can potentially be generated by such methods, but successful design is rare because preparing a sequence library by curating the database and selecting a method is difficult. Utilizing a curated library prepared by reducing conservation energies, we successfully designed two artificial l-threonine 3-dehydrogenases (SDR-TDH) with higher activity levels than native SDR-TDH, FcTDH-N1, and AncTDH, using FCD and ASR, respectively. The artificial SDR-TDHs had excellent thermal stability and NAD+ recognition compared to native SDR-TDH from Cupriavidus necator (CnTDH); the melting temperatures of FcTDH-N1 and AncTDH were about 10 and 5 °C higher than that of CnTDH, respectively, and the dissociation constants toward NAD+ of FcTDH-N1 and AncTDH were 2- and 7-fold lower than that of CnTDH, respectively. Enzymatic efficiency of the artificial SDR-TDHs were comparable to that of CnTDH. Crystal structures of FcTDH-N1 and AncTDH were determined at 2.8 and 2.1 Å resolution, respectively. Structural and MD simulation analysis of the SDR-TDHs indicated that only the flexibility at specific regions was changed, suggesting that multiple mutations introduced in the artificial SDR-TDHs altered their flexibility and thereby affected their enzymatic properties. Benchmark analysis of the SDR-TDHs indicated that both FCD and ASR can generate highly functional proteins if a curated library is prepared appropriately.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Shogo Nakano
- Graduate Division of Nutritional and Environmental Sciences , University of Shizuoka , 52-1 Yada , Suruga-ku, Shizuoka 422-8526 , Japan.,Asano Active Enzyme Molecule Project , ERATO, JST , 5180 Kurokawa , Imizu, Toyama 939-0398 , Japan
| | - Tomoharu Motoyama
- Graduate Division of Nutritional and Environmental Sciences , University of Shizuoka , 52-1 Yada , Suruga-ku, Shizuoka 422-8526 , Japan
| | - Yurina Miyashita
- Department of Chemistry , Rikkyo University , Nishi-ikebukuro , Toshima-ku, Tokyo 171-8501 , Japan
| | - Yuki Ishizuka
- Graduate Division of Nutritional and Environmental Sciences , University of Shizuoka , 52-1 Yada , Suruga-ku, Shizuoka 422-8526 , Japan
| | - Naoya Matsuo
- Department of Chemistry , Rikkyo University , Nishi-ikebukuro , Toshima-ku, Tokyo 171-8501 , Japan
| | - Hiroaki Tokiwa
- Department of Chemistry , Rikkyo University , Nishi-ikebukuro , Toshima-ku, Tokyo 171-8501 , Japan
| | - Suguru Shinoda
- Asano Active Enzyme Molecule Project , ERATO, JST , 5180 Kurokawa , Imizu, Toyama 939-0398 , Japan.,Biotechnology Research Center and Department of Biotechnology , Toyama Prefectural University , 5180 Kurokawa , Imizu, Toyama 939-0398 , Japan
| | - Yasuhisa Asano
- Asano Active Enzyme Molecule Project , ERATO, JST , 5180 Kurokawa , Imizu, Toyama 939-0398 , Japan.,Biotechnology Research Center and Department of Biotechnology , Toyama Prefectural University , 5180 Kurokawa , Imizu, Toyama 939-0398 , Japan
| | - Sohei Ito
- Graduate Division of Nutritional and Environmental Sciences , University of Shizuoka , 52-1 Yada , Suruga-ku, Shizuoka 422-8526 , Japan.,Asano Active Enzyme Molecule Project , ERATO, JST , 5180 Kurokawa , Imizu, Toyama 939-0398 , Japan
| |
Collapse
|
48
|
Campbell EC, Correy GJ, Mabbitt PD, Buckle AM, Tokuriki N, Jackson CJ. Laboratory evolution of protein conformational dynamics. Curr Opin Struct Biol 2018; 50:49-57. [DOI: 10.1016/j.sbi.2017.09.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2017] [Accepted: 09/25/2017] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
|
49
|
Evolution of cyclohexadienyl dehydratase from an ancestral solute-binding protein. Nat Chem Biol 2018; 14:542-547. [PMID: 29686357 DOI: 10.1038/s41589-018-0043-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 59] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2017] [Accepted: 03/01/2018] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
The emergence of enzymes through the neofunctionalization of noncatalytic proteins is ultimately responsible for the extraordinary range of biological catalysts observed in nature. Although the evolution of some enzymes from binding proteins can be inferred by homology, we have a limited understanding of the nature of the biochemical and biophysical adaptations along these evolutionary trajectories and the sequence in which they occurred. Here we reconstructed and characterized evolutionary intermediate states linking an ancestral solute-binding protein to the extant enzyme cyclohexadienyl dehydratase. We show how the intrinsic reactivity of a desolvated general acid was harnessed by a series of mutations radiating from the active site, which optimized enzyme-substrate complementarity and transition-state stabilization and minimized sampling of noncatalytic conformations. Our work reveals the molecular evolutionary processes that underlie the emergence of enzymes de novo, which are notably mirrored by recent examples of computational enzyme design and directed evolution.
Collapse
|
50
|
Risso VA, Sanchez-Ruiz JM, Ozkan SB. Biotechnological and protein-engineering implications of ancestral protein resurrection. Curr Opin Struct Biol 2018; 51:106-115. [PMID: 29660672 DOI: 10.1016/j.sbi.2018.02.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2018] [Revised: 02/18/2018] [Accepted: 02/20/2018] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
Abstract
Approximations to the sequences of ancestral proteins can be derived from the sequences of their modern descendants. Proteins encoded by such reconstructed sequences can be prepared in the laboratory and subjected to experimental scrutiny. These 'resurrected' ancestral proteins often display remarkable properties, reflecting ancestral adaptations to intra-cellular and extra-cellular environments that differed from the environments hosting modern/extant proteins. Recent experimental and computational work has specifically discussed high stability, substrate and catalytic promiscuity, conformational flexibility/diversity and altered patterns of interaction with other sub-cellular components. In this review, we discuss these remarkable properties as well as recent attempts to explore their biotechnological and protein-engineering potential.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Valeria A Risso
- Departamento de Quimica Fisica, Facultad de Ciencias, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain
| | - Jose M Sanchez-Ruiz
- Departamento de Quimica Fisica, Facultad de Ciencias, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain.
| | - S Banu Ozkan
- Department of Physics and Center for Biological Physics, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85281, United States.
| |
Collapse
|