Improving single molecule force spectroscopy through automated real-time data collection and quantification of experimental conditions

Novel perspective for protein-drug interaction analysis: atomic force microscope

Proteins are major drug targets, and drug-target interaction identification and analysis are important factors for drug discovery. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is a powerful tool making it possible to image proteins with nanometric resolution and probe intermolecular forces under physiological conditions. We review recent studies conducted in the field of target protein drug discovery using AFM-based analysis technology, including drug-driven changes in nanomechanical properties of protein morphology and interactions. Underlying mechanisms (including thermodynamic and kinetic parameters) of the drug-target interaction and drug-modulating protein-protein interaction (PPI) on the surfaces of models or living cells are discussed. Furthermore, challenges and the outlook for the field are likewise discussed. Overall, this insight into the mechanical properties of protein-drug interactions provides an unprecedented information framework for rational drug discovery in the pharmaceutical field.

Reconstruction of mechanical unfolding and refolding pathways of proteins with atomic force spectroscopy and computer simulations

Most proteins in proteomes are large, typically consist of more than one domain and are structurally complex. This often makes studying their mechanical unfolding pathways challenging. Proteins composed of tandem repeat domains are a subgroup of multi-domain proteins that, when stretched, display a saw-tooth pattern in their mechanical unfolding force extension profiles due to their repetitive structure. However, the assignment of force peaks to specific repeats undergoing mechanical unraveling is complicated because all repeats are similar and they interact with their neighbors and form a contiguous tertiary structure. Here, we describe in detail a combination of experimental and computational single-molecule force spectroscopy methods that proved useful for examining the mechanical unfolding and refolding pathways of ankyrin repeat proteins. Specifically, we explain and delineate the use of atomic force microscope-based single molecule force spectroscopy (SMFS) to record the mechanical unfolding behavior of ankyrin repeat proteins and capture their unusually strong refolding propensity that is responsible for generating impressive refolding force peaks. We also describe Coarse Grain Steered Molecular Dynamic (CG-SMD) simulations which complement the experimental observations and provide insights in understanding the unfolding and refolding of these proteins. In addition, we advocate the use of novel coiled-coils-based mechanical polypeptide probes which we developed to demonstrate the vectorial character of folding and refolding of these repeat proteins. The combination of AFM-based SMFS on native and CC-equipped proteins with CG-SMD simulations is powerful not only for ankyrin repeat polypeptides, but also for other repeat proteins and more generally to various multidomain, non-repetitive proteins with complex topologies.

Unraveling the Mechanical Unfolding Pathways of a Multidomain Protein: Phosphoglycerate Kinase

Phosphoglycerate kinase (PGK) is a highly conserved enzyme that is crucial for glycolysis. PGK is a monomeric protein composed of two similar domains and has been the focus of many studies for investigating interdomain interactions within the native state and during folding. Previous studies used traditional biophysical methods (such as circular dichroism, tryptophan fluorescence, and NMR) to measure signals over a large ensemble of molecules, which made it difficult to observe transient changes in stability or structure during unfolding and refolding of single molecules. Here, we unfold single molecules of PGK using atomic force spectroscopy and steered molecular dynamic computer simulations to examine the conformational dynamics of PGK during its unfolding process. Our results show that after the initial forced separation of its domains, yeast PGK (yPGK) does not follow a single mechanical unfolding pathway; instead, it stochastically follows two distinct pathways: unfolding from the N-terminal domain or unfolding from the C-terminal domain. The truncated yPGK N-terminal domain unfolds via a transient intermediate, whereas the structurally similar isolated C-terminal domain has no detectable intermediates throughout its mechanical unfolding process. The N-terminal domain in the full-length yPGK displays a strong unfolding intermediate 13% of the time, whereas the truncated domain (yPGKNT) transitions through the intermediate 81% of the time. This effect indicates that the mechanical properties of yPGK cannot be simply deduced from the mechanical properties of its constituents. We also find that Escherichia coli PGK is significantly less mechanically stable as compared to yPGK, contrary to bulk unfolding measurements. Our results support the growing body of observations that the folding behavior of multidomain proteins is difficult to predict based solely on the studies of isolated domains.

Ligand Binding Stabilizes Cellulosomal Cohesins as Revealed by AFM-based Single-Molecule Force Spectroscopy

The cohesin-dockerin receptor-ligand family is the key element in the formation of multi-enzyme lignocellulose-digesting extracellular complexes called cellulosomes. Changes in a receptor protein upon binding of a ligand - commonly referred to as allostery - are not just essential for signalling, but may also alter the overall mechanical stability of a protein receptor. Here, we measured the change in mechanical stability of a library of cohesin receptor domains upon binding of their dockerin ligands in a multiplexed atomic force microscopy-based single-molecule force spectroscopy experiment. A parallelized, cell-free protein expression and immobilization protocol enables rapid mechanical phenotyping of an entire library of constructs with a single cantilever and thus ensures high throughput and precision. Our results show that dockerin binding increases the mechanical stability of every probed cohesin independently of its original folding strength. Furthermore, our results indicate that certain cohesins undergo a transition from a multitude of different folds or unfolding pathways to a single stable fold upon binding their ligand.

AFM-Based Single-Molecule Force Spectroscopy of Proteins

Single-molecule force spectroscopy by AFM (AFM-SMFS) is an experimental methodology that allows unequivocal sensitivity and control for investigating and manipulating the mechanical properties of single molecules. The past 20 years of AFM-SMFS has provided numerous breakthroughs in the understanding of the mechanical properties and force-induced structural rearrangements of sugars, DNA, and proteins. Here, we focus on the application of AFM-SMFS to study proteins, since AFM-SMFS has succeeded in providing abundant information about protein folding pathways, kinetics, interactions, and misfolding. In this chapter we describe the experimental procedures for conducting a SMFS-AFM experiment-including purification of protein samples, setup and calibration of the AFM instrumentation, and the thorough and unbiased analysis of resulting AFM data.

Single-molecule Force Spectroscopy Reveals the Calcium Dependence of the Alternative Conformations in the Native State of a βγ-Crystallin Protein

Although multidomain proteins predominate the proteome of all organisms and are expected to display complex folding behaviors and significantly greater structural dynamics as compared with single-domain proteins, their conformational heterogeneity and its impact on their interaction with ligands are poorly understood due to a lack of experimental techniques. The multidomain calcium-binding βγ-crystallin proteins are particularly important because their deterioration and misfolding/aggregation are associated with melanoma tumors and cataracts. Here we investigate the mechanical stability and conformational dynamics of a model calcium-binding βγ-crystallin protein, Protein S, and elaborate on its interactions with calcium. We ask whether domain interactions and calcium binding affect Protein S folding and potential structural heterogeneity. Our results from single-molecule force spectroscopy show that the N-terminal (but not the C-terminal) domain is in equilibrium with an alternative conformation in the absence of Ca(2+), which is mechanically stable in contrast to other proteins that were observed to sample a molten globule under similar conditions. Mutagenesis experiments and computer simulations reveal that the alternative conformation of the N-terminal domain is caused by structural instability produced by the high charge density of a calcium binding site. We find that this alternative conformation in the N-terminal domain is diminished in the presence of calcium and can also be partially eliminated with a hitherto unrecognized compensatory mechanism that uses the interaction of the C-terminal domain to neutralize the electronegative site. We find that up to 1% of all identified multidomain calcium-binding proteins contain a similarly highly charged site and therefore may exploit a similar compensatory mechanism to prevent structural instability in the absence of ligand.

Probing fibronectin-antibody interactions using AFM force spectroscopy and lateral force microscopy

The first experiment showing the effects of specific interaction forces using lateral force microscopy (LFM) was demonstrated for lectin-carbohydrate interactions some years ago. Such measurements are possible under the assumption that specific forces strongly dominate over the non-specific ones. However, obtaining quantitative results requires the complex and tedious calibration of a torsional force. Here, a new and relatively simple method for the calibration of the torsional force is presented. The proposed calibration method is validated through the measurement of the interaction forces between human fibronectin and its monoclonal antibody. The results obtained using LFM and AFM-based classical force spectroscopies showed similar unbinding forces recorded at similar loading rates. Our studies verify that the proposed lateral force calibration method can be applied to study single molecule interactions.

Direct observation of multimer stabilization in the mechanical unfolding pathway of a protein undergoing oligomerization

Understanding how protein oligomerization affects the stability of monomers in self-assembled structures is crucial to the development of new protein-based nanomaterials and protein cages for drug delivery. Here, we use single-molecule force spectroscopy (AFM-SMFS), protein engineering, and computer simulations to evaluate how dimerization and tetramerization affects the stability of the monomer of Streptavidin, a model homotetrameric protein. The unfolding force directly relates to the folding stability, and we find that monomer of Streptavidin is mechanically stabilized by 40% upon dimerization, and that it is stabilized an additional 24% upon tetramerization. We also find that biotin binding increases stability by another 50% as compared to the apo-tetrameric form. We used the distribution of unfolding forces to extract properties of the underlying energy landscape and found that the distance to the transition state is decreased and the barrier height is increased upon multimerization. Finally, we investigated the origin of the strengthening by ligand binding. We found that, rather than being strengthened through intramolecular contacts, it is strengthened due to the contacts provided by the biotin-binding loop that crosses the interface between the dimers.

Optimizing the calculation of energy landscape parameters from single-molecule protein unfolding experiments

Single-molecule force spectroscopy using an atomic force microscope (AFM) can be used to measure the average unfolding force of proteins in a constant velocity experiment. In combination with Monte Carlo simulations and through the application of the Zhurkov-Bell model, information about the parameters describing the underlying unfolding energy landscape of the protein can be obtained. Using this approach, we have completed protein unfolding experiments on the polyprotein (I27)(5) over a range of pulling velocities. In agreement with previous work, we find that the observed number of protein unfolding events observed in each approach-retract cycle varies between one and five, due to the nature of the interactions between the polyprotein, the AFM tip, and the substrate, and there is an unequal unfolding probability distribution. We have developed a Monte Carlo simulation that incorporates the impact of this unequal unfolding probability distribution on the median unfolding force and the calculation of the protein unfolding energy landscape parameters. These results show that while there is a significant, unequal unfolding probability distribution, the unfolding energy landscape parameters obtained from use of the Zhurkov-Bell model are not greatly affected. This result is important because it demonstrates that the minimum acceptance criteria typically used in force extension experiments are justified and do not skew the calculation of the unfolding energy landscape parameters. We further validate this approach by determining the error in the energy landscape parameters for two extreme cases, and we provide suggestions for methods that can be employed to increase the level of accuracy in single-molecule experiments using polyproteins.