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Fuxreiter M. Context-dependent, fuzzy protein interactions: Towards sequence-based insights. Curr Opin Struct Biol 2024; 87:102834. [PMID: 38759297 DOI: 10.1016/j.sbi.2024.102834] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2024] [Revised: 04/11/2024] [Accepted: 04/22/2024] [Indexed: 05/19/2024]
Abstract
Predicting protein interactions in the cellular environment still remains a challenge in the AlphaFold era. Protein interactions, similarly to their structures, sample a continuum from ordered to disordered states, with specific partners in many bound configurations. A multiplicity of binding modes (MBM) enables transition between these states under different cellular conditions. This review focuses on how the cellular environment affects protein interactions, highlighting the molecular mechanisms, biophysical origin, and sequence-based principles of context-dependent, fuzzy interactions. It summarises experimental and computational approaches to address the challenge of interaction heterogeneity and its contribution to a wide range of biological functions. These insights will help in understanding complex cellular processes, involving conversions between protein assembly states, such as from liquid-like droplet state to the amyloid state.
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Affiliation(s)
- Monika Fuxreiter
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Padova, Padova, Italy; Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
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2
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Hadži S, Živič Z, Kovačič M, Zavrtanik U, Haesaerts S, Charlier D, Plavec J, Volkov AN, Lah J, Loris R. Fuzzy recognition by the prokaryotic transcription factor HigA2 from Vibrio cholerae. Nat Commun 2024; 15:3105. [PMID: 38600130 PMCID: PMC11006873 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-47296-3] [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: 05/21/2023] [Accepted: 03/22/2024] [Indexed: 04/12/2024] Open
Abstract
Disordered protein sequences can exhibit different binding modes, ranging from well-ordered folding-upon-binding to highly dynamic fuzzy binding. The primary function of the intrinsically disordered region of the antitoxin HigA2 from Vibrio cholerae is to neutralize HigB2 toxin through ultra-high-affinity folding-upon-binding interaction. Here, we show that the same intrinsically disordered region can also mediate fuzzy interactions with its operator DNA and, through interplay with the folded helix-turn-helix domain, regulates transcription from the higBA2 operon. NMR, SAXS, ITC and in vivo experiments converge towards a consistent picture where a specific set of residues in the intrinsically disordered region mediate electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions while "hovering" over the DNA operator. Sensitivity of the intrinsically disordered region to scrambling the sequence, position-specific contacts and absence of redundant, multivalent interactions, point towards a more specific type of fuzzy binding. Our work demonstrates how a bacterial regulator achieves dual functionality by utilizing two distinct interaction modes within the same disordered sequence.
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Affiliation(s)
- San Hadži
- Structural Biology Brussels, Department of Biotechnology, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050, Brussels, Belgium
- Centre for Structural Biology, VIB, Pleinlaan 2, 1050, Brussels, Belgium
- Department of Physical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, University of Ljubljana, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Zala Živič
- Department of Physical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, University of Ljubljana, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Matic Kovačič
- Slovenian NMR Center, National Institute of Chemistry, Hajdrihova, 19, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Uroš Zavrtanik
- Department of Physical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, University of Ljubljana, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Sarah Haesaerts
- Structural Biology Brussels, Department of Biotechnology, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050, Brussels, Belgium
- Centre for Structural Biology, VIB, Pleinlaan 2, 1050, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Daniel Charlier
- Research group of Microbiology, Department of Biotechnology, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Janez Plavec
- Slovenian NMR Center, National Institute of Chemistry, Hajdrihova, 19, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Alexander N Volkov
- Structural Biology Brussels, Department of Biotechnology, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050, Brussels, Belgium
- Centre for Structural Biology, VIB, Pleinlaan 2, 1050, Brussels, Belgium
- Jean Jeener NMR Centre, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Jurij Lah
- Department of Physical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, University of Ljubljana, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
| | - Remy Loris
- Structural Biology Brussels, Department of Biotechnology, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050, Brussels, Belgium.
- Centre for Structural Biology, VIB, Pleinlaan 2, 1050, Brussels, Belgium.
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3
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Guo X, Peng K, He Y, Xue L. Mechanistic regulation of FOXO transcription factors in the nucleus. Biochim Biophys Acta Rev Cancer 2024; 1879:189083. [PMID: 38309444 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbcan.2024.189083] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2023] [Revised: 01/28/2024] [Accepted: 01/31/2024] [Indexed: 02/05/2024]
Abstract
FOXO proteins represent evolutionarily conserved transcription factors (TFs) that play critical roles in responding to various physiological signals or pathological stimuli, either through transcription-dependent or -independent mechanisms. Dysfunction of these proteins have been implicated in numerous diseases, including cancer. Although the regulation of FOXO TFs shuttling between the cytoplasm and the nucleus has been extensively studied and reviewed, there's still a lack of a comprehensive review focusing on the intricate interactions between FOXO, DNA, and cofactors in the regulation of gene expression. In this review, we aim to summarize recent advances and provide a detailed understanding of the mechanism underlying FOXO proteins binding to target DNA. Additionally, we will discuss the challenges associated with pharmacological approaches in modulating FOXO function, and explore the dynamic association between TF, DNA, and RNA on chromatin. This review will contribute to a better understanding of mechanistic regulations of eukaryotic TFs within the nucleus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaowei Guo
- The Key Laboratory of Model Animals and Stem Cell Biology in Hunan Province, School of Medicine, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, China; The Engineering Research Center of Reproduction and Translational Medicine of Hunan Province, Changsha, China.
| | - Kai Peng
- Institute of Intervention Vessel, Shanghai 10th People's Hospital, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Signaling and Diseases Research, School of Life Science and Technology, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
| | - Yanwen He
- Changsha Stomatological Hospital, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha, Hunan, China
| | - Lei Xue
- Institute of Intervention Vessel, Shanghai 10th People's Hospital, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Signaling and Diseases Research, School of Life Science and Technology, Tongji University, Shanghai, China.
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4
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Awad SI, Smadi OA, Tomeh MF, Alzghoul SM. A guideline for the distance measurement plans of site-directed spin labels for structural prediction of nucleic acids. J Mol Model 2023; 30:16. [PMID: 38157075 DOI: 10.1007/s00894-023-05808-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2023] [Accepted: 12/11/2023] [Indexed: 01/03/2024]
Abstract
CONTEXT AND RESULTS Site-directed spin labeling (SDSL) combined with electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy methods has been successfully used to predict the structures of nucleic acids. These methods measure the distances between spin labels yielding distance equations that are solved using numerical algorithms to provide one or several structural predictions. In this work, the minimum number of SDSL distance measurements and distance measurement types required to predict a unique nucleic acid structure were investigated. Our results indicate that at least six distance measurements should be obtained given that the distance measurements do not connect one SDSL on one arm with more than three SDSLs on the other arm. Moreover, there may be a preference for 1-to-1 SLs distance measurements rather than 1-to-many SLs as the latter was linked to undefined structures discussed in this study. METHODS Pairs of double-helical arms of nucleic acid were simulated using the finite element software Pro/ENGINEER (PTC Inc., Boston, MA). In each simulation, a specific SDSL distance measurement plan was adopted and the resulting structure was tested for movability. Immovable structures indicate that this plan will potentially result in a unique structural prediction of the nucleic acid. All the possible plans for SDSL distance measurements were investigated either by direct measurement or by extrapolation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samer I Awad
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, The Hashemite University, P.O. Box 330127, Zarqa, 13133, Jordan.
| | - Othman A Smadi
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, The Hashemite University, P.O. Box 330127, Zarqa, 13133, Jordan
| | - Mohammed F Tomeh
- Department of Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, The Hashemite University, P.O. Box 330127, Zarqa, 13133, Jordan
| | - Salah M Alzghoul
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, The Hashemite University, P.O. Box 330127, Zarqa, 13133, Jordan
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5
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Guo AD, Yan KN, Hu H, Zhai L, Hu TF, Su H, Chi Y, Zha J, Xu Y, Zhao D, Lu X, Xu YJ, Zhang J, Tan M, Chen XH. Spatiotemporal and global profiling of DNA-protein interactions enables discovery of low-affinity transcription factors. Nat Chem 2023:10.1038/s41557-023-01196-z. [PMID: 37106095 DOI: 10.1038/s41557-023-01196-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2022] [Accepted: 03/30/2023] [Indexed: 04/29/2023]
Abstract
Precise dissection of DNA-protein interactions is essential for elucidating the recognition basis, dynamics and gene regulation mechanism. However, global profiling of weak and dynamic DNA-protein interactions remains a long-standing challenge. Here, we establish the light-induced lysine (K) enabled crosslinking (LIKE-XL) strategy for spatiotemporal and global profiling of DNA-protein interactions. Harnessing unique abilities to capture weak and transient DNA-protein interactions, we demonstrate that LIKE-XL enables the discovery of low-affinity transcription-factor/DNA interactions via sequence-specific DNA baits, determining the binding sites for transcription factors that have been previously unknown. More importantly, we successfully decipher the dynamics of the transcription factor subproteome in response to drug treatment in a time-resolved manner, and find downstream target transcription factors from drug perturbations, providing insight into their dynamic transcriptional networks. The LIKE-XL strategy offers a complementary method to expand the DNA-protein profiling toolbox and map accurate DNA-protein interactomes that were previously inaccessible via non-covalent strategies, for better understanding of protein function in health and disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- An-Di Guo
- State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Ke-Nian Yan
- State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Hao Hu
- State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
| | - Linhui Zhai
- State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
| | - Teng-Fei Hu
- School of Chinese Materia Medica, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China
| | - Haixia Su
- State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
| | - Yijia Chi
- State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Jinyin Zha
- State Key Laboratory of Medical Genomics, National Research Center for Translational Medicine at Shanghai, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Yechun Xu
- State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
| | - Dongxin Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Xiaojie Lu
- State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
| | - Yong-Jiang Xu
- School of Food Science and Technology, Collaborative Innovation Center of Food Safety and Quality Control in Jiangsu Province, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, China
| | - Jian Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Medical Genomics, National Research Center for Translational Medicine at Shanghai, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Minjia Tan
- State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
- Zhongshan Institute for Drug Discovery, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Zhongshan, China.
- College of Pharmacy, Jiangsu Ocean University, Lianyungang, China.
| | - Xiao-Hua Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
- School of Chinese Materia Medica, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China.
- School of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology, Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou, China.
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Caporaletti F, Pietras Z, Morad V, Mårtensson LG, Gabel F, Wallner B, Martel A, Sunnerhagen M. Small-angle x-ray and neutron scattering of MexR and its complex with DNA supports a conformational selection binding model. Biophys J 2023; 122:408-418. [PMID: 36474441 PMCID: PMC9892617 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2022.11.2949] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2022] [Revised: 09/02/2022] [Accepted: 11/29/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
In this work, we used small-angle x-ray and neutron scattering to reveal the shape of the protein-DNA complex of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa transcriptional regulator MexR, a member of the multiple antibiotics resistance regulator (MarR) family, when bound to one of its native DNA binding sites. Several MarR-like proteins, including MexR, repress the expression of efflux pump proteins by binding to DNA on regulatory sites overlapping with promoter regions. When expressed, efflux proteins self-assemble to form multiprotein complexes and actively expel highly toxic compounds out of the host organism. The mutational pressure on efflux-regulating MarR family proteins is high since deficient DNA binding leads to constitutive expression of efflux pumps and thereby supports acquired multidrug resistance. Understanding the functional outcome of such mutations and their effects on DNA binding has been hampered by the scarcity of structural and dynamic characterization of both free and DNA-bound MarR proteins. Here, we show how combined neutron and x-ray small-angle scattering of both states in solution support a conformational selection model that enhances MexR asymmetry in binding to one of its promoter-overlapping DNA binding sites.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesca Caporaletti
- Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology (IFM), Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden; Large Scale Structure, Institute Laue Langevin, Grenoble, France
| | - Zuzanna Pietras
- Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology (IFM), Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
| | - Vivian Morad
- Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology (IFM), Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
| | - Lars-Göran Mårtensson
- Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology (IFM), Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
| | - Frank Gabel
- University Grenoble Alpes, CEA, CNRS, IBS, Grenoble, France
| | - Björn Wallner
- Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology (IFM), Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
| | - Anne Martel
- Large Scale Structure, Institute Laue Langevin, Grenoble, France
| | - Maria Sunnerhagen
- Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology (IFM), Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.
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Chaudhary A, Chaurasia PK, Kushwaha S, Chauhan P, Chawade A, Mani A. Correlating multi-functional role of cold shock domain proteins with intrinsically disordered regions. Int J Biol Macromol 2022; 220:743-753. [PMID: 35987358 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2022.08.100] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2022] [Revised: 07/26/2022] [Accepted: 08/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
Cold shock proteins (CSPs) are an ancient and conserved family of proteins. They are renowned for their role in response to low-temperature stress in bacteria and nucleic acid binding activities. In prokaryotes, cold and non-cold inducible CSPs are involved in various cellular and metabolic processes such as growth and development, osmotic oxidation, starvation, stress tolerance, and host cell invasion. In prokaryotes, cold shock condition reduces cell transcription and translation efficiency. Eukaryotic cold shock domain (CSD) proteins are evolved form of prokaryotic CSPs where CSD is flanked by N- and C-terminal domains. Eukaryotic CSPs are multi-functional proteins. CSPs also act as nucleic acid chaperons by preventing the formation of secondary structures in mRNA at low temperatures. In human, CSD proteins play a crucial role in the progression of breast cancer, colon cancer, lung cancer, and Alzheimer's disease. A well-defined three-dimensional structure of intrinsically disordered regions of CSPs family members is still undetermined. In this article, intrinsic disorder regions of CSPs have been explored systematically to understand the pleiotropic role of the cold shock family of proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amit Chaudhary
- Department of Metallurgical Engineering & Materials Science, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
| | - Pankaj Kumar Chaurasia
- PG Department of Chemistry, L.S. College, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar Bihar University, Muzaffarpur, Bihar 842001, India
| | - Sandeep Kushwaha
- National Institute of Animal Biotechnology, Hyderabad 500032, India.
| | | | - Aakash Chawade
- Department of Plant Breeding, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 230 53 Alnarp, Sweden.
| | - Ashutosh Mani
- Department of Biotechnology, Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology Allahabad, Prayagraj 211004, India.
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8
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Bondos SE, Dunker AK, Uversky VN. Intrinsically disordered proteins play diverse roles in cell signaling. Cell Commun Signal 2022; 20:20. [PMID: 35177069 PMCID: PMC8851865 DOI: 10.1186/s12964-022-00821-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 28.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2021] [Accepted: 12/11/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract Signaling pathways allow cells to detect and respond to a wide variety of chemical (e.g. Ca2+ or chemokine proteins) and physical stimuli (e.g., sheer stress, light). Together, these pathways form an extensive communication network that regulates basic cell activities and coordinates the function of multiple cells or tissues. The process of cell signaling imposes many demands on the proteins that comprise these pathways, including the abilities to form active and inactive states, and to engage in multiple protein interactions. Furthermore, successful signaling often requires amplifying the signal, regulating or tuning the response to the signal, combining information sourced from multiple pathways, all while ensuring fidelity of the process. This sensitivity, adaptability, and tunability are possible, in part, due to the inclusion of intrinsically disordered regions in many proteins involved in cell signaling. The goal of this collection is to highlight the many roles of intrinsic disorder in cell signaling. Following an overview of resources that can be used to study intrinsically disordered proteins, this review highlights the critical role of intrinsically disordered proteins for signaling in widely diverse organisms (animals, plants, bacteria, fungi), in every category of cell signaling pathway (autocrine, juxtacrine, intracrine, paracrine, and endocrine) and at each stage (ligand, receptor, transducer, effector, terminator) in the cell signaling process. Thus, a cell signaling pathway cannot be fully described without understanding how intrinsically disordered protein regions contribute to its function. The ubiquitous presence of intrinsic disorder in different stages of diverse cell signaling pathways suggest that more mechanisms by which disorder modulates intra- and inter-cell signals remain to be discovered. Graphical abstract ![]()
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah E Bondos
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Medicine, Texas A&M Health Science Center, College Station, TX, 77843, USA.
| | - A Keith Dunker
- Center for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA
| | - Vladimir N Uversky
- Department of Molecular Medicine and USF Health Byrd Alzheimer's Research Institute, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, 33612, USA.,Institute for Biological Instrumentation of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Federal Research Center "Pushchino Scientific Center for Biological Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences", Pushchino, Moscow Region, Russia, 142290
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9
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On the Effects of Disordered Tails, Supertertiary Structure and Quinary Interactions on the Folding and Function of Protein Domains. Biomolecules 2022; 12:biom12020209. [PMID: 35204709 PMCID: PMC8961636 DOI: 10.3390/biom12020209] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2021] [Revised: 01/17/2022] [Accepted: 01/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The vast majority of our current knowledge about the biochemical and biophysical properties of proteins derives from in vitro studies conducted on isolated globular domains. However, a very large fraction of the proteins expressed in the eukaryotic cell are structurally more complex. In particular, the discovery that up to 40% of the eukaryotic proteins are intrinsically disordered, or possess intrinsically disordered regions, and are highly dynamic entities lacking a well-defined three-dimensional structure, revolutionized the structure–function paradigm and our understanding of proteins. Moreover, proteins are mostly characterized by the presence of multiple domains, influencing each other by intramolecular interactions. Furthermore, proteins exert their function in a crowded intracellular milieu, transiently interacting with a myriad of other macromolecules. In this review we summarize the literature tackling these themes from both the theoretical and experimental perspectives, highlighting the effects on protein folding and function that are played by (i) flanking disordered tails; (ii) contiguous protein domains; (iii) interactions with the cellular environment, defined as quinary structures. We show that, in many cases, both the folding and function of protein domains is remarkably perturbed by the presence of these interactions, pinpointing the importance to increase the level of complexity of the experimental work and to extend the efforts to characterize protein domains in more complex contexts.
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10
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Racca JD, Chatterjee D, Chen YS, Rai RK, Yang Y, Georgiadis MM, Haas E, Weiss MA. Tenuous transcriptional threshold of human sex determination. II. SRY exploits water-mediated clamp at the edge of ambiguity. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne) 2022; 13:1029177. [PMID: 36568077 PMCID: PMC9771472 DOI: 10.3389/fendo.2022.1029177] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2022] [Accepted: 11/07/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Y-encoded transcription factor SRY initiates male differentiation in therian mammals. This factor contains a high-mobility-group (HMG) box, which mediates sequence-specific DNA binding with sharp DNA bending. A companion article in this issue described sex-reversal mutations at box position 72 (residue 127 in human SRY), invariant as Tyr among mammalian orthologs. Although not contacting DNA, the aromatic ring seals the domain's minor wing at a solvent-exposed junction with a basic tail. A seeming paradox was posed by the native-like biochemical properties of inherited Swyer variant Y72F: its near-native gene-regulatory activity is consistent with the father's male development, but at odds with the daughter's XY female somatic phenotype. Surprisingly, aromatic rings (Y72, F72 or W72) confer higher transcriptional activity than do basic or polar side chains generally observed at solvated DNA interfaces (Arg, Lys, His or Gln). Whereas biophysical studies (time-resolved fluorescence resonance energy transfer and heteronuclear NMR spectroscopy) uncovered only subtle perturbations, dissociation of the Y72F complex was markedly accelerated relative to wild-type. Studies of protein-DNA solvation by molecular-dynamics (MD) simulations of an homologous high-resolution crystal structure (SOX18) suggest that Y72 para-OH anchors a network of water molecules at the tail-DNA interface, perturbed in the variant in association with nonlocal conformational fluctuations. Loss of the Y72 anchor among SRY variants presumably "unclamps" its basic tail, leading to (a) rapid DNA dissociation despite native affinity and (b) attenuated transcriptional activity at the edge of sexual ambiguity. Conservation of Y72 suggests that this water-mediated clamp operates generally among SRY and metazoan SOX domains.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph D. Racca
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, United States
- *Correspondence: Joseph D. Racca, ; Michael A. Weiss,
| | - Deepak Chatterjee
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, United States
| | - Yen-Shan Chen
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, United States
| | - Ratan K. Rai
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, United States
| | - Yanwu Yang
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, United States
| | - Millie M. Georgiadis
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, United States
| | - Elisha Haas
- Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
| | - Michael A. Weiss
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, United States
- *Correspondence: Joseph D. Racca, ; Michael A. Weiss,
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11
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Ozsvar J, Wang R, Tarakanova A, Buehler MJ, Weiss AS. Fuzzy binding model of molecular interactions between tropoelastin and integrin alphaVbeta3. Biophys J 2021; 120:3138-3151. [PMID: 34197806 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2021.04.037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2020] [Revised: 03/30/2021] [Accepted: 04/12/2021] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Tropoelastin is the highly flexible monomer subunit of elastin, required for the resilience of the extracellular matrix in elastic tissues. To elicit biological signaling, multiple sites on tropoelastin bind to cell surface integrins in a poorly understood multifactorial process. We constructed a full atomistic molecular model of the interactions between tropoelastin and integrin αvβ3 using ensemble-based computational methodologies. Conformational changes of integrin αvβ3 associated with outside-in signaling were more frequently facilitated in an ensemble in which tropoelastin bound the integrin's α1 helix rather than the upstream canonical binding site. Our findings support a model of fuzzy binding, whereby many tropoelastin conformations and defined sites cooperatively interact with multiple αvβ3 regions. This model explains prior experimental binding to distinct tropoelastin regions, domains 17 and 36, and points to the cooperative participation of domain 20. Our study highlights the utility of ensemble-based approaches in helping to understand the interactive mechanisms of functionally significant flexible proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jazmin Ozsvar
- Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia; School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
| | - Richard Wang
- Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia; School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
| | - Anna Tarakanova
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut; Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut
| | - Markus J Buehler
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts
| | - Anthony S Weiss
- Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia; School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia; Sydney Nano Institute, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
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12
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Agnarelli A, El Omari K, Duman R, Wagner A, Mancini EJ. Phosphorus and sulfur SAD phasing of the nucleic acid-bound DNA-binding domain of interferon regulatory factor 4. ACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA SECTION F-STRUCTURAL BIOLOGY COMMUNICATIONS 2021; 77:202-207. [PMID: 34196610 PMCID: PMC8248823 DOI: 10.1107/s2053230x21006506] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2021] [Accepted: 06/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Solution of the structure of the DNA-binding domain of interferon regulatory factor 4 bound to its interferon-stimulated response element by native intrinsic phosphorus and sulfur single-wavelength anomalous dispersion methods (native SAD) is described. Pivotal to the regulation of key cellular processes such as the transcription, replication and repair of DNA, DNA-binding proteins play vital roles in all aspects of genetic activity. The determination of high-quality structures of DNA-binding proteins, particularly those in complexes with DNA, provides crucial insights into the understanding of these processes. The presence in such complexes of phosphate-rich oligonucleotides offers the choice of a rapid method for the routine solution of DNA-binding proteins through the use of long-wavelength beamlines such as I23 at Diamond Light Source. This article reports the use of native intrinsic phosphorus and sulfur single-wavelength anomalous dispersion methods to solve the complex of the DNA-binding domain (DBD) of interferon regulatory factor 4 (IRF4) bound to its interferon-stimulated response element (ISRE). The structure unexpectedly shows three molecules of the IRF4 DBD bound to one ISRE. The sole reliance on native intrinsic anomalous scattering elements that belong to DNA–protein complexes renders the method of general applicability to a large number of such protein complexes that cannot be solved by molecular replacement or by other phasing methods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessandro Agnarelli
- School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton BN1 9QG, United Kingdom
| | - Kamel El Omari
- Diamond Light Source, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot OX11 0DE, United Kingdom
| | - Ramona Duman
- Diamond Light Source, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot OX11 0DE, United Kingdom
| | - Armin Wagner
- Diamond Light Source, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot OX11 0DE, United Kingdom
| | - Erika J Mancini
- School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton BN1 9QG, United Kingdom
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13
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Saad D, Paissoni C, Chaves-Sanjuan A, Nardini M, Mantovani R, Gnesutta N, Camilloni C. High Conformational Flexibility of the E2F1/DP1/DNA Complex. J Mol Biol 2021; 433:167119. [PMID: 34181981 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmb.2021.167119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2021] [Revised: 06/17/2021] [Accepted: 06/22/2021] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
The E2F1 transcription factor is a master regulator of cell-cycle progression whose uncontrolled activation contributes to tumor cells growth. E2F1 binds DNA as a heterodimer with DP partners, resulting in a multi-domain quaternary-structure complex composed of DNA binding domains, a coiled coil domain and a marked box domain separated by short linkers. Building on the 3D knowledge of the single domains of E2F and DPs, we characterized the structure and dynamics of the complete E2F1/DP1/DNA complex by a combination of small-angle X-ray scattering and molecular dynamics simulations. It shows an asymmetric contribution of the dynamics of the two proteins. Namely, the coiled-coil domain leans toward the DP1 side of the complex; the DP1 loop between α2 and α3 of the DBD partially populates a helical structure leaning far from the DNA and in the same direction of the coiled-coil domain; and the N-terminal disordered region of DP1, rich in basic residues, contributes to DNA binding stabilization. Intriguingly, tumor mutations in the flexible regions of the complex suggest that perturbation of protein dynamics could affect protein function in a context-dependent way. Our data suggest fundamental contributions of DP proteins in distinct aspects of E2F biology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dana Saad
- Dipartimento di Bioscienze, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 26, 20133 Milano, Italy
| | - Cristina Paissoni
- Dipartimento di Bioscienze, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 26, 20133 Milano, Italy
| | - Antonio Chaves-Sanjuan
- Dipartimento di Bioscienze, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 26, 20133 Milano, Italy
| | - Marco Nardini
- Dipartimento di Bioscienze, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 26, 20133 Milano, Italy
| | - Roberto Mantovani
- Dipartimento di Bioscienze, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 26, 20133 Milano, Italy
| | - Nerina Gnesutta
- Dipartimento di Bioscienze, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 26, 20133 Milano, Italy.
| | - Carlo Camilloni
- Dipartimento di Bioscienze, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 26, 20133 Milano, Italy.
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14
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Lv G, Zheng X, Duan Y, Wen Y, Zeng B, Ai M, He B. The GRAS gene family in watermelons: identification, characterization and expression analysis of different tissues and root-knot nematode infestations. PeerJ 2021; 9:e11526. [PMID: 34123598 PMCID: PMC8164414 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.11526] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2021] [Accepted: 05/06/2021] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
The family of GRAS plant-specific transcription factor plays diverse roles in numerous biological processes. Despite the identification and characterization of GRAS genes family in dozens of plant species, until now, GRAS members in watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) have not been investigated comprehensively. In this study, using bioinformatic analysis, we identified 37 GRAS genes in the watermelon genome (ClGRAS). These genes are classified into 10 distinct subfamilies based on previous research, and unevenly distributed on 11 chromosomes. Furthermore, a complete analysis was conducted to characterize conserved motifs and gene structures, which revealed the members within same subfamily that have analogous conserved gene structure and motif composition. Additionally, the expression pattern of ClGRAS genes was characterized in fruit flesh and rind tissues during watermelon fruit development and under red light (RL) as well as root knot nematode infestation. Finally, for verification of the availability of public transcriptome data, we also evaluated the expression levels of randomly selected four ClGRAS genes under RL and nematode infection by using qRT-PCR. The qRT-PCR results indicated that several ClGRAS genes were differentially expressed, implying their vital role in RL induction of watermelon resistance against root-knot nematodes. The results obtained in this study could be useful in improving the quality of watermelon.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gongbo Lv
- College of Life Sciences, Jiangxi Science & Technology Normal University, Jiangxi Key Laboratory of Bioprocess Engineering and Co-Innovation Center for In-Vitro Diagnostic Reagents and Devices of Jiangxi Province, Nanchang, Jiangxi, China
| | - Xing Zheng
- College of Life Sciences, Jiangxi Science & Technology Normal University, Jiangxi Key Laboratory of Bioprocess Engineering and Co-Innovation Center for In-Vitro Diagnostic Reagents and Devices of Jiangxi Province, Nanchang, Jiangxi, China
| | - Yitian Duan
- Renmin University of China, School of Information, Beijing, China
| | - Yunyong Wen
- College of Life Sciences, Jiangxi Science & Technology Normal University, Jiangxi Key Laboratory of Bioprocess Engineering and Co-Innovation Center for In-Vitro Diagnostic Reagents and Devices of Jiangxi Province, Nanchang, Jiangxi, China
| | - Bin Zeng
- College of Life Sciences, Jiangxi Science & Technology Normal University, Jiangxi Key Laboratory of Bioprocess Engineering and Co-Innovation Center for In-Vitro Diagnostic Reagents and Devices of Jiangxi Province, Nanchang, Jiangxi, China.,Shenzhen Technology University, College of Pharmacy, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
| | - Mingqiang Ai
- College of Life Sciences, Jiangxi Science & Technology Normal University, Jiangxi Key Laboratory of Bioprocess Engineering and Co-Innovation Center for In-Vitro Diagnostic Reagents and Devices of Jiangxi Province, Nanchang, Jiangxi, China
| | - Bin He
- College of Life Sciences, Jiangxi Science & Technology Normal University, Jiangxi Key Laboratory of Bioprocess Engineering and Co-Innovation Center for In-Vitro Diagnostic Reagents and Devices of Jiangxi Province, Nanchang, Jiangxi, China
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15
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Dettori LG, Torrejon D, Chakraborty A, Dutta A, Mohamed M, Papp C, Kuznetsov VA, Sung P, Feng W, Bah A. A Tale of Loops and Tails: The Role of Intrinsically Disordered Protein Regions in R-Loop Recognition and Phase Separation. Front Mol Biosci 2021; 8:691694. [PMID: 34179096 PMCID: PMC8222781 DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2021.691694] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2021] [Accepted: 05/14/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
R-loops are non-canonical, three-stranded nucleic acid structures composed of a DNA:RNA hybrid, a displaced single-stranded (ss)DNA, and a trailing ssRNA overhang. R-loops perform critical biological functions under both normal and disease conditions. To elucidate their cellular functions, we need to understand the mechanisms underlying R-loop formation, recognition, signaling, and resolution. Previous high-throughput screens identified multiple proteins that bind R-loops, with many of these proteins containing folded nucleic acid processing and binding domains that prevent (e.g., topoisomerases), resolve (e.g., helicases, nucleases), or recognize (e.g., KH, RRMs) R-loops. However, a significant number of these R-loop interacting Enzyme and Reader proteins also contain long stretches of intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs). The precise molecular and structural mechanisms by which the folded domains and IDRs synergize to recognize and process R-loops or modulate R-loop-mediated signaling have not been fully explored. While studying one such modular R-loop Reader, the Fragile X Protein (FMRP), we unexpectedly discovered that the C-terminal IDR (C-IDR) of FMRP is the predominant R-loop binding site, with the three N-terminal KH domains recognizing the trailing ssRNA overhang. Interestingly, the C-IDR of FMRP has recently been shown to undergo spontaneous Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation (LLPS) assembly by itself or in complex with another non-canonical nucleic acid structure, RNA G-quadruplex. Furthermore, we have recently shown that FMRP can suppress persistent R-loops that form during transcription, a process that is also enhanced by LLPS via the assembly of membraneless transcription factories. These exciting findings prompted us to explore the role of IDRs in R-loop processing and signaling proteins through a comprehensive bioinformatics and computational biology study. Here, we evaluated IDR prevalence, sequence composition and LLPS propensity for the known R-loop interactome. We observed that, like FMRP, the majority of the R-loop interactome, especially Readers, contains long IDRs that are highly enriched in low complexity sequences with biased amino acid composition, suggesting that these IDRs could directly interact with R-loops, rather than being “mere flexible linkers” connecting the “functional folded enzyme or binding domains”. Furthermore, our analysis shows that several proteins in the R-loop interactome are either predicted to or have been experimentally demonstrated to undergo LLPS or are known to be associated with phase separated membraneless organelles. Thus, our overall results present a thought-provoking hypothesis that IDRs in the R-loop interactome can provide a functional link between R-loop recognition via direct binding and downstream signaling through the assembly of LLPS-mediated membrane-less R-loop foci. The absence or dysregulation of the function of IDR-enriched R-loop interactors can potentially lead to severe genomic defects, such as the widespread R-loop-mediated DNA double strand breaks that we recently observed in Fragile X patient-derived cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leonardo G Dettori
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY, United States
| | - Diego Torrejon
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY, United States
| | - Arijita Chakraborty
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY, United States
| | - Arijit Dutta
- Department of Biochemistry and Structural Biology, University of Texas Health San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, United States
| | - Mohamed Mohamed
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY, United States
| | - Csaba Papp
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY, United States.,Department of Urology, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY, United States
| | - Vladimir A Kuznetsov
- Department of Urology, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY, United States.,Bioinformatics Institute, ASTAR Biomedical Institutes, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Patrick Sung
- Department of Biochemistry and Structural Biology, University of Texas Health San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, United States
| | - Wenyi Feng
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY, United States
| | - Alaji Bah
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY, United States
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16
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Lin M, Malik FK, Guo JT. A comparative study of protein-ssDNA interactions. NAR Genom Bioinform 2021; 3:lqab006. [PMID: 33655206 PMCID: PMC7902235 DOI: 10.1093/nargab/lqab006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2020] [Revised: 11/24/2020] [Accepted: 01/26/2021] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Single-stranded DNA-binding proteins (SSBs) play crucial roles in DNA replication, recombination and repair, and serve as key players in the maintenance of genomic stability. While a number of SSBs bind single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) non-specifically, the others recognize and bind specific ssDNA sequences. The mechanisms underlying this binding discrepancy, however, are largely unknown. Here, we present a comparative study of protein-ssDNA interactions by annotating specific and non-specific SSBs and comparing structural features such as DNA-binding propensities and secondary structure types of residues in SSB-ssDNA interactions, protein-ssDNA hydrogen bonding and π-π interactions between specific and non-specific SSBs. Our results suggest that protein side chain-DNA base hydrogen bonds are the major contributors to protein-ssDNA binding specificity, while π-π interactions may mainly contribute to binding affinity. We also found the enrichment of aspartate in the specific SSBs, a key feature in specific protein-double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) interactions as reported in our previous study. In addition, no significant differences between specific and non-specific groups with respect of conformational changes upon ssDNA binding were found, suggesting that the flexibility of SSBs plays a lesser role than that of dsDNA-binding proteins in conferring binding specificity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maoxuan Lin
- Department of Bioinformatics and Genomics, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC 28223, USA
| | - Fareeha K Malik
- Department of Bioinformatics and Genomics, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC 28223, USA
- Research Center of Modeling and Simulation, National University of Science and Technology, Islamabad, 44000, Pakistan
| | - Jun-tao Guo
- Department of Bioinformatics and Genomics, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC 28223, USA
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17
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Aditham AK, Markin CJ, Mokhtari DA, DelRosso N, Fordyce PM. High-Throughput Affinity Measurements of Transcription Factor and DNA Mutations Reveal Affinity and Specificity Determinants. Cell Syst 2020; 12:112-127.e11. [PMID: 33340452 DOI: 10.1016/j.cels.2020.11.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2020] [Revised: 08/08/2020] [Accepted: 11/24/2020] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Abstract
Transcription factors (TFs) bind regulatory DNA to control gene expression, and mutations to either TFs or DNA can alter binding affinities to rewire regulatory networks and drive phenotypic variation. While studies have profiled energetic effects of DNA mutations extensively, we lack similar information for TF variants. Here, we present STAMMP (simultaneous transcription factor affinity measurements via microfluidic protein arrays), a high-throughput microfluidic platform enabling quantitative characterization of hundreds of TF variants simultaneously. Measured affinities for ∼210 mutants of a model yeast TF (Pho4) interacting with 9 oligonucleotides (>1,800 Kds) reveal that many combinations of mutations to poorly conserved TF residues and nucleotides flanking the core binding site alter but preserve physiological binding, providing a mechanism by which combinations of mutations in cis and trans could modulate TF binding to tune occupancies during evolution. Moreover, biochemical double-mutant cycles across the TF-DNA interface reveal molecular mechanisms driving recognition, linking sequence to function. A record of this paper's Transparent Peer Review process is included in the Supplemental Information.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arjun K Aditham
- Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA; Stanford ChEM-H, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Craig J Markin
- Department of Biochemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Daniel A Mokhtari
- Department of Biochemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Nicole DelRosso
- Graduate Program in Biophysics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Polly M Fordyce
- Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA; Stanford ChEM-H, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA; Department of Genetics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA; Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, San Francisco, CA 94110, USA.
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18
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Gloaguen E, Mons M, Schwing K, Gerhards M. Neutral Peptides in the Gas Phase: Conformation and Aggregation Issues. Chem Rev 2020; 120:12490-12562. [PMID: 33152238 DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.0c00168] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Combined IR and UV laser spectroscopic techniques in molecular beams merged with theoretical approaches have proven to be an ideal tool to elucidate intrinsic structural properties on a molecular level. It offers the possibility to analyze structural changes, in a controlled molecular environment, when successively adding aggregation partners. By this, it further makes these techniques a valuable starting point for a bottom-up approach in understanding the forces shaping larger molecular systems. This bottom-up approach was successfully applied to neutral amino acids starting around the 1990s. Ever since, experimental and theoretical methods developed further, and investigations could be extended to larger peptide systems. Against this background, the review gives an introduction to secondary structures and experimental methods as well as a summary on theoretical approaches. Vibrational frequencies being characteristic probes of molecular structure and interactions are especially addressed. Archetypal biologically relevant secondary structures investigated by molecular beam spectroscopy are described, and the influences of specific peptide residues on conformational preferences as well as the competition between secondary structures are discussed. Important influences like microsolvation or aggregation behavior are presented. Beyond the linear α-peptides, the main results of structural analysis on cyclic systems as well as on β- and γ-peptides are summarized. Overall, this contribution addresses current aspects of molecular beam spectroscopy on peptides and related species and provides molecular level insights into manifold issues of chemical and biochemical relevance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eric Gloaguen
- CEA, CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay, CEA Paris-Saclay, Bât 522, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Michel Mons
- CEA, CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay, CEA Paris-Saclay, Bât 522, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Kirsten Schwing
- TU Kaiserslautern & Research Center Optimas, Erwin-Schrödinger-Straße 52, D-67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany
| | - Markus Gerhards
- TU Kaiserslautern & Research Center Optimas, Erwin-Schrödinger-Straße 52, D-67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany
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19
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Capturing the Conformational Ensemble of the Mixed Folded Polyglutamine Protein Ataxin-3. Structure 2020; 29:70-81.e5. [PMID: 33065068 DOI: 10.1016/j.str.2020.09.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2020] [Revised: 08/22/2020] [Accepted: 09/24/2020] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
Ataxin-3 is a deubiquitinase involved in protein quality control and other essential cellular functions. It preferentially interacts with polyubiquitin chains of four or more units attached to proteins delivered to the ubiquitin-proteasome system. Ataxin-3 is composed of an N-terminal Josephin domain and a flexible C terminus that contains two or three ubiquitin-interacting motifs (UIMs) and a polyglutamine tract, which, when expanded beyond a threshold, leads to protein aggregation and misfolding and causes spinocerebellar ataxia type 3. The high-resolution structure of the Josephin domain is available, but the structural and dynamical heterogeneity of ataxin-3 has so far hindered the structural description of the full-length protein. Here, we characterize non-expanded and expanded variants of ataxin-3 in terms of conformational ensembles adopted by the proteins in solution by jointly using experimental data from nuclear magnetic resonance and small-angle X-ray scattering with coarse-grained simulations. Our results pave the way to a molecular understanding of polyubiquitin recognition.
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20
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Määttä TA, Rettel M, Sridharan S, Helm D, Kurzawa N, Stein F, Savitski MM. Aggregation and disaggregation features of the human proteome. Mol Syst Biol 2020; 16:e9500. [PMID: 33022891 PMCID: PMC7538195 DOI: 10.15252/msb.20209500] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2020] [Revised: 08/25/2020] [Accepted: 09/09/2020] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Protein aggregates have negative implications in disease. While reductionist experiments have increased our understanding of aggregation processes, the systemic view in biological context is still limited. To extend this understanding, we used mass spectrometry-based proteomics to characterize aggregation and disaggregation in human cells after non-lethal heat shock. Aggregation-prone proteins were enriched in nuclear proteins, high proportion of intrinsically disordered regions, high molecular mass, high isoelectric point, and hydrophilic amino acids. During recovery, most aggregating proteins disaggregated with a rate proportional to the aggregation propensity: larger loss in solubility was counteracted by faster disaggregation. High amount of intrinsically disordered regions were associated with faster disaggregation. However, other characteristics enriched in aggregating proteins did not correlate with the disaggregation rates. In addition, we analyzed changes in protein thermal stability after heat shock. Soluble remnants of aggregated proteins were more thermally stable compared with control condition. Therefore, our results provide a rich resource of heat stress-related protein solubility data and can foster further studies related to protein aggregation diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tomi A Määttä
- Genome Biology UnitEuropean Molecular Biology LaboratoryHeidelbergGermany
- Faculty of BiosciencesCollaboration for Joint PhD Degree between EMBL and Heidelberg UniversityHeidelbergGermany
| | - Mandy Rettel
- Proteomics Core FacilityEuropean Molecular Biology LaboratoryHeidelbergGermany
| | - Sindhuja Sridharan
- Genome Biology UnitEuropean Molecular Biology LaboratoryHeidelbergGermany
| | - Dominic Helm
- Proteomics Core FacilityEuropean Molecular Biology LaboratoryHeidelbergGermany
| | - Nils Kurzawa
- Genome Biology UnitEuropean Molecular Biology LaboratoryHeidelbergGermany
- Faculty of BiosciencesCollaboration for Joint PhD Degree between EMBL and Heidelberg UniversityHeidelbergGermany
| | - Frank Stein
- Proteomics Core FacilityEuropean Molecular Biology LaboratoryHeidelbergGermany
| | - Mikhail M Savitski
- Genome Biology UnitEuropean Molecular Biology LaboratoryHeidelbergGermany
- Proteomics Core FacilityEuropean Molecular Biology LaboratoryHeidelbergGermany
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21
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Brodsky S, Jana T, Mittelman K, Chapal M, Kumar DK, Carmi M, Barkai N. Intrinsically Disordered Regions Direct Transcription Factor In Vivo Binding Specificity. Mol Cell 2020; 79:459-471.e4. [DOI: 10.1016/j.molcel.2020.05.032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 99] [Impact Index Per Article: 24.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2019] [Revised: 03/10/2020] [Accepted: 05/21/2020] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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22
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Chen J, Qi Y, Duan Y, Duan M, Yang M. C1188D mutation abolishes specific recognition between MLL1-CXXC domain and CpG site by inducing conformational switch of flexible N-terminal. Proteins 2020; 88:1401-1412. [PMID: 32519403 DOI: 10.1002/prot.25960] [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: 12/05/2019] [Revised: 05/22/2020] [Accepted: 06/06/2020] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
Mixed lineage leukemia protein (MLL1 protein) recognizes the CpG site via its CXXC domain and is frequently associated with leukemia. The specific recognition is abolished by C1188D mutation, which also prevents MLL-related leukemia. In this paper, multiple molecular dynamic (MD) simulations were performed to investigate the mechanism of recognition and influences of C1188D mutation. Started from fully dissociated DNA and MLL1-CXXC domain, remarkably, the center of mass (COM) of MLL1-CXXC domain quickly concentrates on the vicinity of the CpG site in all 53 short MD simulations. Extended simulations of the wild type showed that the native complex formed in 500 ns among 4 of 53 simulations. In contrast, the C1188D mutant COM distributed broadly around the DNA and the native complex was not observed in any of the extended simulations. Simulations on the apo MLL1-CXXC domain further suggest that the wild type protein remained predominantly in an open form that closely resembles its structure in the native complex whereas C1188D mutant formed predominantly compact structures in which the N- terminal bends to D1188. This conformational switch hinders the formation of encounter complex, thus abolishes the recognition. Our study also provides clues to the study mechanism of recognition, by the CXXC domain from proteins like DNA methyltransferase and ten-eleven translocation enzymes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiawen Chen
- Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance in Biological Systems, National Center for Magnetic Resonances in Wuhan, State Key laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Atomic and Molecular Physics, Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics, Innovation Academy for Precision Measurement Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China
| | - Yanping Qi
- Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance in Biological Systems, National Center for Magnetic Resonances in Wuhan, State Key laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Atomic and Molecular Physics, Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics, Innovation Academy for Precision Measurement Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China.,College of Physical Science and Technology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China
| | - Yong Duan
- Department of Biomedical Engineering and UC Davis Genome Center, University of California at Davis, Davis, California, USA
| | - Mojie Duan
- Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance in Biological Systems, National Center for Magnetic Resonances in Wuhan, State Key laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Atomic and Molecular Physics, Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics, Innovation Academy for Precision Measurement Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China
| | - Minghui Yang
- Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance in Biological Systems, National Center for Magnetic Resonances in Wuhan, State Key laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Atomic and Molecular Physics, Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics, Innovation Academy for Precision Measurement Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China.,Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
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23
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Lin M, Guo JT. New insights into protein-DNA binding specificity from hydrogen bond based comparative study. Nucleic Acids Res 2020; 47:11103-11113. [PMID: 31665426 PMCID: PMC6868434 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkz963] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2019] [Revised: 10/06/2019] [Accepted: 10/10/2019] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Knowledge of protein-DNA binding specificity has important implications in understanding DNA metabolism, transcriptional regulation and developing therapeutic drugs. Previous studies demonstrated hydrogen bonds between amino acid side chains and DNA bases play major roles in specific protein-DNA interactions. In this paper, we investigated the roles of individual DNA strands and protein secondary structure types in specific protein-DNA recognition based on side chain-base hydrogen bonds. By comparing the contribution of each DNA strand to the overall binding specificity between DNA-binding proteins with different degrees of binding specificity, we found that highly specific DNA-binding proteins show balanced hydrogen bonding with each of the two DNA strands while multi-specific DNA binding proteins are generally biased towards one strand. Protein-base pair hydrogen bonds, in which both bases of a base pair are involved in forming hydrogen bonds with amino acid side chains, are more prevalent in the highly specific protein-DNA complexes than those in the multi-specific group. Amino acids involved in side chain-base hydrogen bonds favor strand and coil secondary structure types in highly specific DNA-binding proteins while multi-specific DNA-binding proteins prefer helices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maoxuan Lin
- Department of Bioinformatics and Genomics, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC 28223, USA
| | - Jun-Tao Guo
- Department of Bioinformatics and Genomics, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC 28223, USA
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24
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Probing Surfaces in Dynamic Protein Interactions. J Mol Biol 2020; 432:2949-2972. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jmb.2020.02.032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2019] [Revised: 02/22/2020] [Accepted: 02/24/2020] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
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25
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Sequence-Based Prediction of Fuzzy Protein Interactions. J Mol Biol 2020; 432:2289-2303. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jmb.2020.02.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 64] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2019] [Revised: 01/24/2020] [Accepted: 02/14/2020] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
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26
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Xu X, Feng G, Huang L, Yang Z, Liu Q, Shuai Y, Zhang X. Genome-wide identification, structural analysis and expression profiles of GRAS gene family in orchardgrass. Mol Biol Rep 2020; 47:1845-1857. [PMID: 32026320 DOI: 10.1007/s11033-020-05279-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2019] [Accepted: 01/24/2020] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
The GRAS gene family is a family of transcription factors that regulates plant growth and development. Despite being well-studied in many plant species, little is known about this gene family in orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata L.), one of the top four economically important perennial forage grasses cultivated worldwide. We identified 46 GRAS genes in orchardgrass and analyzed their characteristics by phylogenetic, gene structural, motifs and expression patterns analysis. The phylogenetic analysis of eight species revealed that DgGRAS family had the evolutional conservation and closer homology relationship with the GRAS family of rice, barley and Brachypodium distachyon. Moreover, 46 DgGRAS proteins were divided into eight subfamilies based on the tree topology and rice or Arabidopsis classification, and LISCL subfamily was the largest one. Besides, we found that the motif 15 may be unique to the orchardgrass LISCL subfamily, and the motif 6 and motif 17 had indispensable functions in the orchardgrass LISCL subfamily. We further analyzed the expression profiles of DgGRAS genes at mature and seeding stage. And we found that DgGRAS17 played an important role in the growth and development no matter what stage it was at. DgGRAS5, DgGRAS28, DgGRAS31, DgGRAS42 and DgGRAS44 got involved in processes of the growth and development at seeding stage instead of mature stage. These results indicated that the major expression patterns and detailed functions of the DgGRAS genes varied with developmental stages. Taken together, this is the first systematic analysis of the GRAS gene family in the orchardgrass genome and the results provide insights into the potential functions of GRAS genes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoheng Xu
- Department of Grassland Science, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
| | - Guangyan Feng
- Department of Grassland Science, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
| | - Linkai Huang
- Department of Grassland Science, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
| | - Zhongfu Yang
- Department of Grassland Science, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
| | - Qiuxu Liu
- Department of Grassland Science, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
| | - Yang Shuai
- Department of Grassland Science, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
| | - Xinquan Zhang
- Department of Grassland Science, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
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27
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Simon I. Macromolecular Interactions of Disordered Proteins. Int J Mol Sci 2020; 21:ijms21020504. [PMID: 31941113 PMCID: PMC7014052 DOI: 10.3390/ijms21020504] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2020] [Revised: 01/08/2020] [Accepted: 01/10/2020] [Indexed: 02/03/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- István Simon
- Institute of Enzymology, RCNS, Lorand Eotvos Research Network, Center of Excellence of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Magyar Tudósok krt. 2., H-1117 Budapest, Hungary
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28
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The functional diversity of structural disorder in plant proteins. Arch Biochem Biophys 2019; 680:108229. [PMID: 31870661 DOI: 10.1016/j.abb.2019.108229] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2019] [Revised: 12/05/2019] [Accepted: 12/17/2019] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
Structural disorder in proteins is a widespread feature distributed in all domains of life, particularly abundant in eukaryotes, including plants. In these organisms, intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) perform a diversity of functions, participating as integrators of signaling networks, in transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation, in metabolic control, in stress responses and in the formation of biomolecular condensates by liquid-liquid phase separation. Their roles impact the perception, propagation and control of various developmental and environmental cues, as well as the plant defense against abiotic and biotic adverse conditions. In this review, we focus on primary processes to exhibit a broad perspective of the relevance of IDPs in plant cell functions. The information here might help to incorporate this knowledge into a more dynamic view of plant cells, as well as open more questions and promote new ideas for a better understanding of plant life.
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29
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Meyer NH, Dellago H, Tam-Amersdorfer C, Merle DA, Parlato R, Gesslbauer B, Almer J, Gschwandtner M, Leon A, Franzmann TM, Grillari J, Kungl AJ, Zangger K, Falsone SF. Structural Fuzziness of the RNA-Organizing Protein SERF Determines a Toxic Gain-of-interaction. J Mol Biol 2019; 432:930-951. [PMID: 31794729 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmb.2019.11.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2019] [Revised: 11/13/2019] [Accepted: 11/14/2019] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
The mechanisms by which protein complexes convert from functional to pathogenic are the subject of intensive research. Here, we report how functionally unfavorable protein interactions can be induced by structural fuzziness, i.e., by persisting conformational disorder in protein complexes. We show that extreme disorder in the bound state transforms the intrinsically disordered protein SERF1a from an RNA-organizing factor into a pathogenic enhancer of alpha-synuclein (aSyn) amyloid toxicity. We demonstrate that SERF1a promotes the incorporation of RNA into nucleoli and liquid-like artificial RNA-organelles by retaining an unusually high degree of conformational disorder in the RNA-bound state. However, this type of structural fuzziness also determines an undifferentiated interaction with aSyn. RNA and aSyn both bind to one identical, positively charged site of SERF1a by an analogous electrostatic binding mode, with similar binding affinities, and without any observable disorder-to-order transition. The absence of primary or secondary structure discriminants results in SERF1a being unable to select between nucleic acid and amyloidogenic protein, leading the pro-amyloid aSyn:SERF1a interaction to prevail in the cytosol under conditions of cellular stress. We suggest that fuzzy disorder in SERF1a complexes accounts for an adverse gain-of-interaction which favors toxic binding to aSyn at the expense of nontoxic RNA binding, thereby leading to a functionally distorted and pathogenic process. Thus, structural fuzziness constitutes a direct link between extreme conformational flexibility, amyloid aggregation, and the malfunctioning of RNA-associated cellular processes, three signatures of neurodegenerative proteinopathies.
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Affiliation(s)
- N Helge Meyer
- Division of Experimental Allergology and Immunodermatology, University of Oldenburg, Carl-von-Ossietzky-Straße 9-11, 26129 Oldenburg, Germany
| | - Hanna Dellago
- Christian Doppler Laboratory on Biotechnology of Skin Aging, Department of Biotechnology, BOKU - University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, Muthgasse 18, 1190 Wien, Austria
| | - Carmen Tam-Amersdorfer
- Institute of Pathophysiology and Immunology, Medical University of Graz, Heinrichstr. 31, 8010 Graz, Austria
| | - David A Merle
- Department of Ophthalmology, Medical University of Graz, Auenbruggerplatz 4, 8036 Graz, Austria
| | - Rosanna Parlato
- Institute of Applied Physiology, University of Ulm, Albert-Einstein-Allee 11, 89081 Ulm, Germany; Department of Medical Cell Biology, Institute of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 307, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Bernd Gesslbauer
- Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Graz, Schubertstr. 1, 8010 Graz, Austria
| | - Johannes Almer
- Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Graz, Schubertstr. 1, 8010 Graz, Austria
| | - Martha Gschwandtner
- Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Graz, Schubertstr. 1, 8010 Graz, Austria
| | - A Leon
- Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Graz, Schubertstr. 1, 8010 Graz, Austria
| | - Titus M Franzmann
- Biotechnology Center of the TU Dresden, Tatzberg 47/49, 01307 Dresden, Germany
| | - Johannes Grillari
- Christian Doppler Laboratory on Biotechnology of Skin Aging, Department of Biotechnology, BOKU - University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, Muthgasse 18, 1190 Wien, Austria; Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Experimental and Clinical Traumatology, Donaueschingenstr. 13, 1200 Vienna, Austria; Austrian Cluster for Tissue Regeneration, Austria
| | - Andreas J Kungl
- Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Graz, Schubertstr. 1, 8010 Graz, Austria
| | - Klaus Zangger
- Institute of Chemistry, University of Graz, Heinrichstr. 28, 8010 Graz, Austria
| | - S Fabio Falsone
- Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Graz, Schubertstr. 1, 8010 Graz, Austria; Steiermärkische Krankenanstaltengesellschaft m.b.H. (KAGes), Stiftingtalstraße 4-6, 8010, Graz, Austria.
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30
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Krüger A, Stier A, Fischbach A, Bürkle A, Hauser K, Mangerich A. Interactions of p53 with poly(ADP-ribose) and DNA induce distinct changes in protein structure as revealed by ATR-FTIR spectroscopy. Nucleic Acids Res 2019; 47:4843-4858. [PMID: 30892621 PMCID: PMC6511852 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkz175] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2019] [Revised: 02/22/2019] [Accepted: 03/08/2019] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Due to multiple domains and in part intrinsically disordered regions, structural analyses of p53 remain a challenging task, particularly in complex with DNA and other macromolecules. Here, we applied a novel attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopic approach to investigate changes in secondary structure of full-length p53 induced by non-covalent interactions with DNA and poly(ADP-ribose) (PAR). To validate our approach, we confirmed a positive regulatory function of p53’s C-terminal domain (CTD) with regard to sequence-specific DNA binding and verified that the CTD mediates p53–PAR interaction. Further, we demonstrate that DNA and PAR interactions result in distinct structural changes of p53, indicating specific binding mechanisms via different domains. A time-dependent analysis of the interplay of DNA and PAR binding to p53 revealed that PAR represents p53’s preferred binding partner, which efficiently controls p53–DNA interaction. Moreover, we provide infrared spectroscopic data on PAR pointing to the absence of regular secondary structural elements. Finally, temperature-induced melting experiments via CD spectroscopy show that DNA binding stabilizes the structure of p53, while PAR binding can shift the irreversible formation of insoluble p53 aggregates to higher temperatures. In conclusion, this study provides detailed insights into the dynamic interplay of p53 binding to DNA and PAR at a formerly inaccessible molecular level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Annika Krüger
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz 78464, Germany.,Department of Chemistry, University of Konstanz, Konstanz 78464, Germany.,Konstanz Research School Chemical Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz 78464, Germany.,Zukunftskolleg, University of Konstanz, Konstanz 78464, Germany
| | - Anna Stier
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz 78464, Germany
| | - Arthur Fischbach
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz 78464, Germany.,Konstanz Research School Chemical Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz 78464, Germany.,Zukunftskolleg, University of Konstanz, Konstanz 78464, Germany
| | - Alexander Bürkle
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz 78464, Germany
| | - Karin Hauser
- Department of Chemistry, University of Konstanz, Konstanz 78464, Germany
| | - Aswin Mangerich
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz 78464, Germany
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31
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Popa SC, Shin JA. The Intrinsically Disordered Loop in the USF1 bHLHZ Domain Modulates Its DNA-Binding Sequence Specificity in Hereditary Asthma. J Phys Chem B 2019; 123:9862-9871. [PMID: 31670516 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.9b06719] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
USF1, a basic region/helix-loop-helix/leucine zipper (bHLHZ) transcription factor, binds to the E-box in the PAI-1 (plasminogen activator inhibitor) promoter. Two alleles containing the E-box control PAI-1 transcription; these alleles are termed "4G" and "5G" based on the G tract flanking E-box. USF1-governed transcription of PAI-1 is elevated in heritable asthma sufferers: the 4G/4G genotype has the highest plasma levels of PAI-1. While USF1 uses its basic region to bind E-box, we found that it uses its 12 amino-acid loop to recognize the flanking sequence and discern the single-nucleotide difference between the alleles. We used the bacterial one-hybrid and electrophoretic mobility shift assays to assess protein-DNA recognition, and circular dichroism to examine protein secondary structure. We mutated Ser233 and Thr234 in the USF1 bHLHZ loop to Ala to generate S233A and T234A. Interestingly, USF1 bHLHZ, S233A, and T234A prefer the 5G sequence (USF1 bHLHZ Kd values 4.1 ± 0.3 nM and 7.0 ± 0.4 nM for 5G and 4G, respectively), whereas studies in stimulated human mast cells showed a preference for 4G. We replaced the 8 amino-acid loop of transcription factor Max bHLHZ with the 12 amino-acid USF1 loop: this mutant now distinguishes the 4G/5G polymorphism-while Max bHLHZ does not-confirming that USF1 differentiation of the 4G/5G is driven by the loop.
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Affiliation(s)
- Serban C Popa
- Department of Chemistry , University of Toronto , 3359 Mississauga Road , Mississauga , Ontario L5L 1C6 , Canada
| | - Jumi A Shin
- Department of Chemistry , University of Toronto , 3359 Mississauga Road , Mississauga , Ontario L5L 1C6 , Canada
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32
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How B-DNA Dynamics Decipher Sequence-Selective Protein Recognition. J Mol Biol 2019; 431:3845-3859. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jmb.2019.07.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2019] [Revised: 07/09/2019] [Accepted: 07/10/2019] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
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33
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Zhou J, Oldfield CJ, Yan W, Shen B, Dunker AK. Intrinsically disordered domains: Sequence ➔ disorder ➔ function relationships. Protein Sci 2019; 28:1652-1663. [PMID: 31299122 DOI: 10.1002/pro.3680] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2019] [Revised: 05/29/2019] [Accepted: 07/03/2019] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
Disordered domains are long regions of intrinsic disorder that ideally have conserved sequences, conserved disorder, and conserved functions. These domains were first noticed in protein-protein interactions that are distinct from the interactions between two structured domains and the interactions between structured domains and linear motifs or molecular recognition features (MoRFs). So far, disordered domains have not been systematically characterized. Here, we present a bioinformatics investigation of the sequence-disorder-function relationships for a set of probable disordered domains (PDDs) identified from the Pfam database. All the Pfam seed proteins from those domains with at least one PDD sequence were collected. Most often, if a set contains one PDD sequence, then all members of the set are PDDs or nearly so. However, many seed sets have sequence collections that exhibit diverse proportions of predicted disorder and structure, thus giving the completely unexpected result that conserved sequences can vary substantially in predicted disorder and structure. In addition to the induction of structure by binding to protein partners, disordered domains are also induced to form structure by disulfide bond formation, by ion binding, and by complex formation with RNA or DNA. The two new findings, (a) that conserved sequences can vary substantially in their predicted disorder content and (b) that homologues from a single domain can evolve from structure to disorder (or vice versa), enrich our understanding of the sequence ➔ disorder ensemble ➔ function paradigm.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jianhong Zhou
- Center for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana.,School of Biology & Basic Medical Sciences, Soochow University, Suzhou, China
| | | | - Wenying Yan
- School of Biology & Basic Medical Sciences, Soochow University, Suzhou, China
| | - Bairong Shen
- Institutes for Systems Genetics, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - A Keith Dunker
- Center for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana
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34
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Kolonko M, Greb-Markiewicz B. bHLH-PAS Proteins: Their Structure and Intrinsic Disorder. Int J Mol Sci 2019; 20:ijms20153653. [PMID: 31357385 PMCID: PMC6695611 DOI: 10.3390/ijms20153653] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2019] [Revised: 07/15/2019] [Accepted: 07/16/2019] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The basic helix–loop–helix/Per-ARNT-SIM (bHLH–PAS) proteins are a class of transcriptional regulators, commonly occurring in living organisms and highly conserved among vertebrates and invertebrates. These proteins exhibit a relatively well-conserved domain structure: the bHLH domain located at the N-terminus, followed by PAS-A and PAS-B domains. In contrast, their C-terminal fragments present significant variability in their primary structure and are unique for individual proteins. C-termini were shown to be responsible for the specific modulation of protein action. In this review, we present the current state of knowledge, based on NMR and X-ray analysis, concerning the structural properties of bHLH–PAS proteins. It is worth noting that all determined structures comprise only selected domains (bHLH and/or PAS). At the same time, substantial parts of proteins, comprising their long C-termini, have not been structurally characterized to date. Interestingly, these regions appear to be intrinsically disordered (IDRs) and are still a challenge to research. We aim to emphasize the significance of IDRs for the flexibility and function of bHLH–PAS proteins. Finally, we propose modern NMR methods for the structural characterization of the IDRs of bHLH–PAS proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marta Kolonko
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Wybrzeże Wyspiańskiego 27, 50-370 Wroclaw, Poland
| | - Beata Greb-Markiewicz
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Wybrzeże Wyspiańskiego 27, 50-370 Wroclaw, Poland.
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35
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Jakubec D, Vondrášek J. Can All-Atom Molecular Dynamics Simulations Quantitatively Describe Homeodomain-DNA Binding Equilibria? J Chem Theory Comput 2019; 15:2635-2648. [PMID: 30807142 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.8b01144] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
We systematically investigate the applicability of a molecular dynamics-based setup for the calculations of standard binding free energies of biologically relevant protein-DNA complexes. The free energies are extracted from a potential of mean force calculated using umbrella sampling simulations. Two protein-DNA systems derived from a homeodomain transcription factor complex are studied in order to investigate the binding of both disordered and globular proteins. Free energies and trajectories obtained using two modern molecular mechanical force fields are compared to each other and to experimental data. The temperature dependence of the calculated standard binding free energies is investigated by performing all simulations over a range of temperatures. We show that the values of standard binding free energies obtained from these simulations are overestimated compared to experimental results. Significant differences are observed between the two protein-DNA systems and between the two force fields, which are explained by different propensities to form inter- and intramolecular contacts. The number of protein-DNA contacts increases with increasing temperature, in agreement with the experimentally known temperature dependence of enthalpies of binding. However, conclusions about the temperature dependence of the standard binding free energies cannot be made with confidence, as the differences among the values are on the order of statistical uncertainty.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Jakubec
- Bioinformatics Group, Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry , Czech Academy of Sciences , 166 10 Praha 6, Czech Republic.,Department of Physical and Macromolecular Chemistry, Faculty of Science , Charles University , 128 43 Praha 2, Czech Republic
| | - Jiří Vondrášek
- Bioinformatics Group, Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry , Czech Academy of Sciences , 166 10 Praha 6, Czech Republic
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36
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Chu X, Wang J. Position-, disorder-, and salt-dependent diffusion in binding-coupled-folding of intrinsically disordered proteins. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2019; 21:5634-5645. [PMID: 30793144 PMCID: PMC6589441 DOI: 10.1039/c8cp06803h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Successful extensions of protein-folding energy landscape theory to intrinsically disordered proteins' (IDPs') binding-coupled-folding transition can enormously simplify this biomolecular process into diffusion along a limited number of reaction coordinates, and the dynamics subsequently is described by Kramers' rate theory. As the critical pre-factor, the diffusion coefficient D has direct implications on the binding kinetics. Here, we employ a structure-based model (SBM) to calculate D in the binding-folding of an IDP prototype. We identify a strong position-dependent D during binding by applying a reaction coordinate that directly measures the fluctuations in a Cartesian configuration space. Using the malleability of the SBM, we modulate the degree of conformational disorder in an isolated IDP and determine complex effects of intrinsic disorder on D varying for different binding stages. Here, D tends to increase with disorder during initial binding but shows a non-monotonic relationship with disorder in terms of a decrease-followed-by-increase in D during the late binding stage. The salt concentration, which correlates with electrostatic interactions via Debye-Hückel theory in our SBM, also modulates D in a stepwise way. The speeding up of diffusion by electrostatic interactions is observed during the formation of the encounter complex at the beginning of binding, while the last diffusive binding dynamics is hindered by non-native salt bridges. Because D describes the diffusive speed locally, which implicitly reflects the roughness of the energy landscape, we are eventually able to portray the binding energy landscape, including that from IDPs' binding, then to binding with partial folding, and finally to rigid docking, as well as that under different environmental salt concentrations. Our theoretical results provide key mechanistic insights into IDPs' binding-folding, which is internally conformation- and externally salt-controlled with respect to diffusion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiakun Chu
- Department of Chemistry, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA
| | - Jin Wang
- Department of Chemistry, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA
- State Key Laboratory of Electroanalytical Chemistry, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, Jilin 130022, China
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37
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Jang Y, Son H, Lee SW, Hwang W, Jung SR, Byl JAW, Osheroff N, Lee S. Selection of DNA Cleavage Sites by Topoisomerase II Results from Enzyme-Induced Flexibility of DNA. Cell Chem Biol 2019; 26:502-511.e3. [PMID: 30713098 DOI: 10.1016/j.chembiol.2018.12.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2018] [Revised: 10/04/2018] [Accepted: 12/04/2018] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
Topoisomerase II cleaves DNA at preferred sequences with different efficiencies; however, the mechanism of cleavage site selection is not known. Here we used single-molecule fluorescence assays that monitor several critical steps of DNA-topoisomerase II interactions, including binding/dissociation, bending/straightening, and cleavage/religation, and reveal that the cleavage site is selected mainly during the bending step. Furthermore, despite the sensitivity of the bending rate to the DNA sequence, it is not an intrinsic property of the DNA itself. Rather, it is determined by protein-DNA interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yunsu Jang
- Advanced Photonics Research Institute, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, Gwangju 61005, South Korea
| | - Heyjin Son
- Advanced Photonics Research Institute, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, Gwangju 61005, South Korea
| | - Sang-Wook Lee
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, National Center for Creative Research Initiatives, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, South Korea
| | - Wonseok Hwang
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, National Center for Creative Research Initiatives, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, South Korea
| | - Seung-Ryoung Jung
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, National Center for Creative Research Initiatives, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, South Korea
| | - Jo Ann W Byl
- Department of Biochemistry, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232-0146, USA
| | - Neil Osheroff
- Department of Biochemistry, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232-0146, USA; Department of Medicine (Hematology/Oncology), Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232-0146, USA; VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare System, Nashville, TN 37212, USA.
| | - Sanghwa Lee
- Advanced Photonics Research Institute, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, Gwangju 61005, South Korea.
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38
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Towards a Stochastic Paradigm: From Fuzzy Ensembles to Cellular Functions. Molecules 2018; 23:molecules23113008. [PMID: 30453632 PMCID: PMC6278454 DOI: 10.3390/molecules23113008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2018] [Revised: 11/11/2018] [Accepted: 11/16/2018] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
The deterministic sequence → structure → function relationship is not applicable to describe how proteins dynamically adapt to different cellular conditions. A stochastic model is required to capture functional promiscuity, redundant sequence motifs, dynamic interactions, or conformational heterogeneity, which facilitate the decision-making in regulatory processes, ranging from enzymes to membraneless cellular compartments. The fuzzy set theory offers a quantitative framework to address these problems. The fuzzy formalism allows the simultaneous involvement of proteins in multiple activities, the degree of which is given by the corresponding memberships. Adaptation is described via a fuzzy inference system, which relates heterogeneous conformational ensembles to different biological activities. Sequence redundancies (e.g., tandem motifs) can also be treated by fuzzy sets to characterize structural transitions affecting the heterogeneous interaction patterns (e.g., pathological fibrillization of stress granules). The proposed framework can provide quantitative protein models, under stochastic cellular conditions.
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39
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Fernández-Zapata J, Pérez-Castaño R, Aranda J, Colizzi F, Polanco MC, Orozco M, Padmanabhan S, Elías-Arnanz M. Plasticity in oligomerization, operator architecture, and DNA binding in the mode of action of a bacterial B 12-based photoreceptor. J Biol Chem 2018; 293:17888-17905. [PMID: 30262667 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.ra118.004838] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2018] [Revised: 09/20/2018] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Newly discovered bacterial photoreceptors called CarH sense light by using 5'-deoxyadenosylcobalamin (AdoCbl). They repress their own expression and that of genes for carotenoid synthesis by binding in the dark to operator DNA as AdoCbl-bound tetramers, whose light-induced disassembly relieves repression. High-resolution structures of Thermus thermophilus CarHTt have provided snapshots of the dark and light states and have revealed a unique DNA-binding mode whereby only three of four DNA-binding domains contact an operator comprising three tandem direct repeats. To gain further insights into CarH photoreceptors and employing biochemical, spectroscopic, mutational, and computational analyses, here we investigated CarHBm from Bacillus megaterium We found that apoCarHBm, unlike monomeric apoCarHTt, is an oligomeric molten globule that forms DNA-binding tetramers in the dark only upon AdoCbl binding, which requires a conserved W-X 9-EH motif. Light relieved DNA binding by disrupting CarHBm tetramers to dimers, rather than to monomers as with CarHTt CarHBm operators resembled that of CarHTt, but were larger by one repeat and overlapped with the -35 or -10 promoter elements. This design persisted in a six-repeat, multipartite operator we discovered upstream of a gene encoding an Spx global redox-response regulator whose photoregulated expression links photooxidative and general redox responses in B. megaterium Interestingly, CarHBm recognized the smaller CarHTt operator, revealing an adaptability possibly related to the linker bridging the DNA- and AdoCbl-binding domains. Our findings highlight a remarkable plasticity in the mode of action of B12-based CarH photoreceptors, important for their biological functions and development as optogenetic tools.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jesús Fernández-Zapata
- From the Instituto de Química Física "Rocasolano," Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 28006 Madrid
| | - Ricardo Pérez-Castaño
- Departamento de Genética y Microbiología, Área de Genética (Unidad Asociada al Instituto de Química Física "Rocasolano," Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas), Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Murcia, Murcia 30100
| | - Juan Aranda
- Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Barcelona; Joint BSC-IRB Research Program in Computational Biology, Baldiri Reixac 10-12, 08028 Barcelona
| | - Francesco Colizzi
- Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Barcelona; Joint BSC-IRB Research Program in Computational Biology, Baldiri Reixac 10-12, 08028 Barcelona
| | - María Carmen Polanco
- Departamento de Genética y Microbiología, Área de Genética (Unidad Asociada al Instituto de Química Física "Rocasolano," Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas), Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Murcia, Murcia 30100
| | - Modesto Orozco
- Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Barcelona; Joint BSC-IRB Research Program in Computational Biology, Baldiri Reixac 10-12, 08028 Barcelona; Department of Biochemistry and Biomedicine, University of Barcelona, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
| | - S Padmanabhan
- From the Instituto de Química Física "Rocasolano," Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 28006 Madrid.
| | - Montserrat Elías-Arnanz
- Departamento de Genética y Microbiología, Área de Genética (Unidad Asociada al Instituto de Química Física "Rocasolano," Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas), Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Murcia, Murcia 30100.
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40
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Bie L, Du L, Yuan Q, Gao J. How a single 5-methylation of cytosine regulates the recognition of C/EBPβ transcription factor: a molecular dynamic simulation study. J Mol Model 2018; 24:159. [PMID: 29892907 DOI: 10.1007/s00894-018-3678-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2017] [Accepted: 05/15/2018] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
CpG methylation can regulate gene expression by altering the specific binding of protein and DNA. In order to understand how a single 5mC regulates protein-DNA interactions, we have compared the structures and dynamics of CEBP/βprotein-DNA complexes before and after methylation, and the results indicate that even a single 5mC can regulate protein-DNA recognition by steric-hindrance effect of methyl group and changing the hydrogen bond interactions. The interactions between the methyl group, mCpG motif, and the conserved residue arginine make the protein read out the variation of local environment, which further enhances the specific recognition and affects the base pair stacking. The stacking interactions can propagate along the backbone of DNA and lead to long-range allosteric effects, including obvious conformational variations for DNA base pairs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lihua Bie
- Agricultural Bioinformatics Key Laboratory of Hubei Province, College of Informatics, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, People's Republic of China
| | - Likai Du
- Agricultural Bioinformatics Key Laboratory of Hubei Province, College of Informatics, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, People's Republic of China
| | - Qiaoxia Yuan
- College of Engineering, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, People's Republic of China.
| | - Jun Gao
- Agricultural Bioinformatics Key Laboratory of Hubei Province, College of Informatics, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, People's Republic of China.
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41
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Stowell JAW, Wagstaff JL, Hill CH, Yu M, McLaughlin SH, Freund SMV, Passmore LA. A low-complexity region in the YTH domain protein Mmi1 enhances RNA binding. J Biol Chem 2018; 293:9210-9222. [PMID: 29695507 PMCID: PMC6005420 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.ra118.002291] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2018] [Revised: 04/19/2018] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Mmi1 is an essential RNA-binding protein in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe that eliminates meiotic transcripts during normal vegetative growth. Mmi1 contains a YTH domain that binds specific RNA sequences, targeting mRNAs for degradation. The YTH domain of Mmi1 uses a noncanonical RNA-binding surface that includes contacts outside the conserved fold. Here, we report that an N-terminal extension that is proximal to the YTH domain enhances RNA binding. Using X-ray crystallography, NMR, and biophysical methods, we show that this low-complexity region becomes more ordered upon RNA binding. This enhances the affinity of the interaction of the Mmi1 YTH domain with specific RNAs by reducing the dissociation rate of the Mmi1-RNA complex. We propose that the low-complexity region influences RNA binding indirectly by reducing dynamic motions of the RNA-binding groove and stabilizing a conformation of the YTH domain that binds to RNA with high affinity. Taken together, our work reveals how a low-complexity region proximal to a conserved folded domain can adopt an ordered structure to aid nucleic acid binding.
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Affiliation(s)
- James A W Stowell
- From the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge CB2 0QH, United Kingdom
| | - Jane L Wagstaff
- From the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge CB2 0QH, United Kingdom
| | - Chris H Hill
- From the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge CB2 0QH, United Kingdom
| | - Minmin Yu
- From the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge CB2 0QH, United Kingdom
| | | | - Stefan M V Freund
- From the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge CB2 0QH, United Kingdom
| | - Lori A Passmore
- From the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge CB2 0QH, United Kingdom
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Fuxreiter M. Fuzziness in Protein Interactions-A Historical Perspective. J Mol Biol 2018; 430:2278-2287. [PMID: 29477337 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmb.2018.02.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 100] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2018] [Revised: 02/09/2018] [Accepted: 02/16/2018] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
The proposal that coupled folding to binding is not an obligatory mechanism for intrinsically disordered (ID) proteins was put forward 10 years ago. The notion of fuzziness implies that conformational heterogeneity can be maintained upon interactions of ID proteins, which has a functional impact either on regulated assembly or activity of the corresponding complexes. Here I review how the concept has evolved in the past decade, via increasing experimental data providing insights into the mechanisms, pathways and regulatory modes. The effects of structural diversity and transient contacts on protein assemblies have been collected and systematically analyzed (Fuzzy Complexes Database, http://protdyn-database.org). Fuzziness has also been exploited as a framework to decipher molecular organization of higher-order protein structures. Quantification of conformational heterogeneity opens exciting future perspectives for drug discovery from small molecule-ID protein interactions to supramolecular assemblies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Monika Fuxreiter
- MTA-DE Laboratory of Protein Dynamics, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary.
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Chu X, Muñoz V. Roles of conformational disorder and downhill folding in modulating protein-DNA recognition. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2018; 19:28527-28539. [PMID: 29044255 DOI: 10.1039/c7cp04380e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
Abstract
Transcription factors are thought to efficiently search for their target DNA site via a combination of conventional 3D diffusion and 1D diffusion along the DNA molecule mediated by non-specific electrostatic interactions. This process requires the DNA-binding protein to quickly exchange between a search competent and a target recognition mode, but little is known as to how these two binding modes are encoded in the conformational properties of the protein. Here, we investigate this issue on the engrailed homeodomain (EngHD), a DNA-binding domain that folds ultrafast and exhibits a complex conformational behavior consistent with the downhill folding scenario. We explore the interplay between folding and DNA recognition using a coarse-grained computational model that allows us to manipulate the folding properties of the protein and monitor its non-specific and specific binding to DNA. We find that conformational disorder increases the search efficiency of EngHD by promoting a fast gliding search mode in addition to sliding. When gliding, EngHD remains loosely bound to DNA moving linearly along its length. A partially disordered EngHD also binds more dynamically to the target site, reducing the half-life of the specific complex via a spring-loaded mechanism. These findings apply to all conditions leading to partial disorder. However, we also find that at physiologically relevant temperatures EngHD is well folded and can only obtain the conformational flexibility required to accelerate 1D diffusion when it folds/unfolds within the downhill scenario (crossing a marginal free energy barrier). In addition, the conformational flexibility of native downhill EngHD enables its fast reconfiguration to lock into the specific binding site upon arrival, thereby affording finer control of the on- and off-rates of the specific complex. Our results provide key mechanistic insights into how DNA-binding domains optimize specific DNA recognition through the control of their conformational dynamics and folding mechanism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiakun Chu
- IMDEA Nanosciences, Faraday 9, Campus de Cantoblanco, Madrid, 28049, Spain
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Grytz CM, Kazemi S, Marko A, Cekan P, Güntert P, Sigurdsson ST, Prisner TF. Determination of helix orientations in a flexible DNA by multi-frequency EPR spectroscopy. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2018; 19:29801-29811. [PMID: 29090294 DOI: 10.1039/c7cp04997h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
Distance measurements are performed between a pair of spin labels attached to nucleic acids using Pulsed Electron-Electron Double Resonance (PELDOR, also called DEER) spectroscopy which is a complementary tool to other structure determination methods in structural biology. The rigid spin label Ç, when incorporated pairwise into two helical parts of a nucleic acid molecule, allows the determination of both the mutual orientation and the distance between those labels, since Ç moves rigidly with the helix to which it is attached. We have developed a two-step protocol to investigate the conformational flexibility of flexible nucleic acid molecules by multi-frequency PELDOR. In the first step, a library with a broad collection of conformers, which are in agreement with topological constraints, NMR restraints and distances derived from PELDOR, was created. In the second step, a weighted structural ensemble of these conformers was chosen, such that it fits the multi-frequency PELDOR time traces of all doubly Ç-labelled samples simultaneously. This ensemble reflects the global structure and the conformational flexibility of the two-way DNA junction. We demonstrate this approach on a flexible bent DNA molecule, consisting of two short helical parts with a five adenine bulge at the center. The kink and twist motions between both helical parts were quantitatively determined and showed high flexibility, in agreement with a Förster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) study on a similar bent DNA motif. The approach presented here should be useful to describe the relative orientation of helical motifs and the conformational flexibility of nucleic acid structures, both alone and in complexes with proteins and other molecules.
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Affiliation(s)
- C M Grytz
- Institute of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, Goethe University, Max-von-Laue-Str. 7, 60438 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
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Moriyama K, Yoshizawa-Sugata N, Masai H. Oligomer formation and G-quadruplex binding by purified murine Rif1 protein, a key organizer of higher-order chromatin architecture. J Biol Chem 2018; 293:3607-3624. [PMID: 29348174 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.ra117.000446] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2017] [Revised: 12/21/2017] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Rap1-interacting protein 1 (Rif1) regulates telomere length in budding yeast. We previously reported that, in metazoans and fission yeast, Rif1 also plays pivotal roles in controlling genome-wide DNA replication timing. We proposed that Rif1 may assemble chromatin compartments that contain specific replication-timing domains by promoting chromatin loop formation. Rif1 also is involved in DNA lesion repair, restart after replication fork collapse, anti-apoptosis activities, replicative senescence, and transcriptional regulation. Although multiple physiological functions of Rif1 have been characterized, biochemical and structural information on mammalian Rif1 is limited, mainly because of difficulties in purifying the full-length protein. Here, we expressed and purified the 2418-amino-acid-long, full-length murine Rif1 as well as its partially truncated variants in human 293T cells. Hydrodynamic analyses indicated that Rif1 forms elongated or extended homo-oligomers in solution, consistent with the presence of a HEAT-type helical repeat segment known to adopt an elongated shape. We also observed that the purified murine Rif1 bound G-quadruplex (G4) DNA with high specificity and affinity, as was previously shown for Rif1 from fission yeast. Both the N-terminal (HEAT-repeat) and C-terminal segments were involved in oligomer formation and specifically bound G4 DNA, and the central intrinsically disordered polypeptide segment increased the affinity for G4. Of note, pulldown assays revealed that Rif1 simultaneously binds multiple G4 molecules. Our findings support a model in which Rif1 modulates chromatin loop structures through binding to multiple G4 assemblies and by holding chromatin fibers together.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kenji Moriyama
- From the Genome Dynamics Project, Department of Genome Medicine, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science, 2-1-6 Kamikitazawa, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo 156-8506, Japan
| | - Naoko Yoshizawa-Sugata
- From the Genome Dynamics Project, Department of Genome Medicine, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science, 2-1-6 Kamikitazawa, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo 156-8506, Japan
| | - Hisao Masai
- From the Genome Dynamics Project, Department of Genome Medicine, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science, 2-1-6 Kamikitazawa, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo 156-8506, Japan
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Khare H, Dey D, Madhu C, Senapati D, Raghothama S, Govindaraju T, Ramakumar S. Conformational heterogeneity in tails of DNA-binding proteins is augmented by proline containing repeats. MOLECULAR BIOSYSTEMS 2017; 13:2531-2544. [PMID: 29104984 DOI: 10.1039/c7mb00412e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
A cationic terminal extension or tail is a common feature of many DNA-binding proteins. We show that a particular type of tail rich in proline, alanine and lysine belongs to the class of 'flexible disorder' and consists of characteristic pentapeptide repeats. Our designed peptides, (AAKKA)1-4 and (PAKKA)1-4, represent the tails of several bacterial DNA-binding proteins. Enhanced conformational sampling of these representative peptides using accelerated molecular dynamic simulations supported by circular dichroism spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance studies demonstrates the role of frequent and interspersed prolines in augmenting conformational heterogeneity of the peptide backbone. Analysis of circular variance of backbone dihedral angles indicates alternating regions of relative rigidity and flexibility along the peptide sequence due to prolines. Preferred placement of lysines in the regions of higher backbone flexibility might improve DNA-binding by conformational selection. Our results could be relevant for rational de novo design of disordered peptides.
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Affiliation(s)
- Harshavardhan Khare
- Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru 560012, India.
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Yruela I, Oldfield CJ, Niklas KJ, Dunker AK. Evidence for a Strong Correlation Between Transcription Factor Protein Disorder and Organismic Complexity. Genome Biol Evol 2017; 9:1248-1265. [PMID: 28430951 PMCID: PMC5434936 DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evx073] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/17/2017] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Studies of diverse phylogenetic lineages reveal that protein disorder increases in concert with organismic complexity but that differences nevertheless exist among lineages. To gain insight into this phenomenology, we analyzed all of the transcription factor (TF) families for which sequences are known for 17 species spanning bacteria, yeast, algae, land plants, and animals and for which the number of different cell types has been reported in the primary literature. Although the fraction of disordered residues in TF sequences is often moderately or poorly correlated with organismic complexity as gauged by cell-type number (r2 < 0.5), an unbiased and phylogenetically broad analysis shows that organismic complexity is positively and strongly correlated with the total number of TFs, the number of their spliced variants and their total disordered residues content (r2 > 0.8). Furthermore, the correlation between the fraction of disordered residues and cell-type number becomes stronger when confined to the TF families participating in cell cycle, cell size, cell division, cell differentiation, or cell proliferation, and other important developmental processes. The data also indicate that evolutionarily simpler organisms allow for the detection of subtle differences in the conserved IDRs of TFs as well as changes in variable IDRs, which can influence the DNA recognition and multifunctionality of TFs through direct or indirect mechanisms. Although strong correlations cannot be taken as evidence for cause-and-effect relationships, we interpret our data to indicate that increasing TF disorder likely was an important factor contributing to the evolution of organismic complexity and not merely a concurrent unrelated effect of increasing organismic complexity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Inmaculada Yruela
- Estación Experimental de Aula Dei, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (EEAD-CSIC), Zaragoza, Spain.,Grupo de Bioquímica, Biofísica y Biología Computacional (BIFI, UNIZAR), Unidad Asociada al CSIC, Zaragoza, Spain
| | - Christopher J Oldfield
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Center for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN
| | - Karl J Niklas
- School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
| | - A Keith Dunker
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Center for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN
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Identification and expression of GRAS family genes in maize (Zea mays L.). PLoS One 2017; 12:e0185418. [PMID: 28957440 PMCID: PMC5619761 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0185418] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2017] [Accepted: 09/12/2017] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
GRAS transcriptional factors have diverse functions in plant growth and development, and are named after the first three transcription factors, namely, GAI (GIBBERELLIC ACID INSENSITIVE), RGA (REPRESSOR OF GAI) and SCR (SCARECROW) identified in this family. Knowledge of the GRAS gene family in maize remains was largely unknown, and their characterization is necessary to understand their importance in the maize life cycle. This study identified 86 GRAS genes in maize, and further characterized with phylogenetics, gene structural analysis, genomic loci, and expression patterns. The 86 GRAS genes were divided into 8 groups (SCL3, HAM, LS, SCR, DELLA, SHR, PAT1 and LISCL) by phylogenetic analysis. Most of the maize GRAS genes contain one exon (80.23%) and closely related members in the phylogenetic tree had similar structure and motif composition. Different motifs especially in the N-terminus might be the sources of their functional divergence. Segmental- and tandem-duplication occurred in this family leading to expansion of maize GRAS genes and the expression patterns of the duplicated genes in the heat map according to the published microarray data were very similar. Quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR) results demonstrated that the expression level of genes in different tissues were different, suggesting their differential roles in plant growth and development. The data set expands our knowledge to understanding the function of GRAS genes in maize, an important crop plant in the world.
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A Comprehensive Survey of the Roles of Highly Disordered Proteins in Type 2 Diabetes. Int J Mol Sci 2017; 18:ijms18102010. [PMID: 28934129 PMCID: PMC5666700 DOI: 10.3390/ijms18102010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2017] [Revised: 09/04/2017] [Accepted: 09/12/2017] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a chronic and progressive disease that is strongly associated with hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) related to either insulin resistance or insufficient insulin production. Among the various molecular events and players implicated in the manifestation and development of diabetes mellitus, proteins play several important roles. The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) database has information on 34 human proteins experimentally shown to be related to the T2DM pathogenesis. It is known that many proteins associated with different human maladies are intrinsically disordered as a whole, or contain intrinsically disordered regions. The presented study shows that T2DM is not an exception to this rule, and many proteins known to be associated with pathogenesis of this malady are intrinsically disordered. The multiparametric bioinformatics analysis utilizing several computational tools for the intrinsic disorder characterization revealed that IRS1, IRS2, IRS4, MAFA, PDX1, ADIPO, PIK3R2, PIK3R5, SoCS1, and SoCS3 are expected to be highly disordered, whereas VDCC, SoCS2, SoCS4, JNK9, PRKCZ, PRKCE, insulin, GCK, JNK8, JNK10, PYK, INSR, TNF-α, MAPK3, and Kir6.2 are classified as moderately disordered proteins, and GLUT2, GLUT4, mTOR, SUR1, MAPK1, IKKA, PRKCD, PIK3CB, and PIK3CA are predicted as mostly ordered. More focused computational analyses and intensive literature mining were conducted for a set of highly disordered proteins related to T2DM. The resulting work represents a comprehensive survey describing the major biological functions of these proteins and functional roles of their intrinsically disordered regions, which are frequently engaged in protein–protein interactions, and contain sites of various posttranslational modifications (PTMs). It is also shown that intrinsic disorder-associated PTMs may play important roles in controlling the functions of these proteins. Consideration of the T2DM proteins from the perspective of intrinsic disorder provides useful information that can potentially lead to future experimental studies that may uncover latent and novel pathways associated with the disease.
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50
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Miskei M, Gregus A, Sharma R, Duro N, Zsolyomi F, Fuxreiter M. Fuzziness enables context dependence of protein interactions. FEBS Lett 2017; 591:2682-2695. [DOI: 10.1002/1873-3468.12762] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2017] [Revised: 07/20/2017] [Accepted: 07/20/2017] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Marton Miskei
- MTA-DE Laboratory of Protein Dynamics; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; University of Debrecen; Hungary
| | - Andrea Gregus
- MTA-DE Laboratory of Protein Dynamics; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; University of Debrecen; Hungary
| | - Rashmi Sharma
- MTA-DE Laboratory of Protein Dynamics; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; University of Debrecen; Hungary
| | - Norbert Duro
- MTA-DE Laboratory of Protein Dynamics; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; University of Debrecen; Hungary
| | - Fruzsina Zsolyomi
- MTA-DE Laboratory of Protein Dynamics; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; University of Debrecen; Hungary
| | - Monika Fuxreiter
- MTA-DE Laboratory of Protein Dynamics; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; University of Debrecen; Hungary
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