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Sarma S, Sudarshan TR, Nguyen V, Robang AS, Xiao X, Le JV, Helmicki ME, Paravastu AK, Hall CK. Design of parallel 𝛽-sheet nanofibrils using Monte Carlo search, coarse-grained simulations, and experimental testing. Protein Sci 2024; 33:e5102. [PMID: 39037281 PMCID: PMC11261811 DOI: 10.1002/pro.5102] [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: 11/10/2023] [Revised: 06/20/2024] [Accepted: 06/22/2024] [Indexed: 07/23/2024]
Abstract
Peptide self-assembly into amyloid fibrils provides numerous applications in drug delivery and biomedical engineering applications. We augment our previously-established computational screening technique along with experimental biophysical characterization to discover 7-mer peptides that self-assemble into "parallel β-sheets", that is, β-sheets with N-terminus-to-C-terminus 𝛽-strand vectors oriented in parallel. To accomplish the desired β-strand organization, we applied the PepAD amino acid sequence design software to the Class-1 cross-β spine defined by Sawaya et al. This molecular configuration includes two layers of parallel β-sheets stacked such that N-terminus-to-C-terminus vectors are oriented antiparallel for molecules on adjacent β-sheets. The first cohort of PepAD identified peptides were examined for their fibrillation behavior in DMD/PRIME20 simulations, and the top performing sequence was selected as a prototype for a subsequent round of sequence refinement. The two rounds of design resulted in a library of eight 7-mer peptides. In DMD/PRIME20 simulations, five of these peptides spontaneously formed fibril-like structures with a predominantly parallel 𝛽-sheet arrangement, two formed fibril-like structure with <50% in parallel 𝛽-sheet arrangement and one remained a random coil. Among the eight candidate peptides produced by PepAD and DMD/PRIME20, five were synthesized and purified. All five assembled into amyloid fibrils composed of parallel β-sheets based on Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, circular dichroism, electron microscopy, and thioflavin-T fluorescence spectroscopy measurements.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sudeep Sarma
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular EngineeringNorth Carolina State UniversityRaleighNorth CarolinaUSA
| | - Tarunya Rao Sudarshan
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular EngineeringGeorgia Institute of TechnologyAtlantaGeorgiaUSA
| | - Van Nguyen
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular EngineeringNorth Carolina State UniversityRaleighNorth CarolinaUSA
| | - Alicia S. Robang
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular EngineeringGeorgia Institute of TechnologyAtlantaGeorgiaUSA
| | - Xingqing Xiao
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular EngineeringNorth Carolina State UniversityRaleighNorth CarolinaUSA
- Present address:
Department of Chemistry, School of Chemistry and Chemical EngineeringHainan UniversityHaikou CityHainan ProvincePeople's Republic of China
| | - Justin V. Le
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular EngineeringGeorgia Institute of TechnologyAtlantaGeorgiaUSA
| | - Michael E. Helmicki
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular EngineeringGeorgia Institute of TechnologyAtlantaGeorgiaUSA
| | - Anant K. Paravastu
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular EngineeringGeorgia Institute of TechnologyAtlantaGeorgiaUSA
| | - Carol K. Hall
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular EngineeringNorth Carolina State UniversityRaleighNorth CarolinaUSA
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2
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Xiao X, Robang AS, Sarma S, Le JV, Helmicki ME, Lambert MJ, Guerrero-Ferreira R, Arboleda-Echavarria J, Paravastu AK, Hall CK. Sequence patterns and signatures: Computational and experimental discovery of amyloid-forming peptides. PNAS NEXUS 2022; 1:pgac263. [PMID: 36712347 PMCID: PMC9802472 DOI: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgac263] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2022] [Accepted: 11/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Screening amino acid sequence space via experiments to discover peptides that self-assemble into amyloid fibrils is challenging. We have developed a computational peptide assembly design (PepAD) algorithm that enables the discovery of amyloid-forming peptides. Discontinuous molecular dynamics (DMD) simulation with the PRIME20 force field combined with the FoldAmyloid tool is used to examine the fibrilization kinetics of PepAD-generated peptides. PepAD screening of ∼10,000 7-mer peptides resulted in twelve top-scoring peptides with two distinct hydration properties. Our studies revealed that eight of the twelve in silico discovered peptides spontaneously form amyloid fibrils in the DMD simulations and that all eight have at least five residues that the FoldAmyloid tool classifies as being aggregation-prone. Based on these observations, we re-examined the PepAD-generated peptides in the sequence pool returned by PepAD and extracted five sequence patterns as well as associated sequence signatures for the 7-mer amyloid-forming peptides. Experimental results from Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thioflavin T (ThT) fluorescence, circular dichroism (CD), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) indicate that all the peptides predicted to assemble in silico assemble into antiparallel β-sheet nanofibers in a concentration-dependent manner. This is the first attempt to use a computational approach to search for amyloid-forming peptides based on customized settings. Our efforts facilitate the identification of β-sheet-based self-assembling peptides, and contribute insights towards answering a fundamental scientific question: "What does it take, sequence-wise, for a peptide to self-assemble?".
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Justin V Le
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA
| | - Michael E Helmicki
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA
| | - Matthew J Lambert
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA
| | - Ricardo Guerrero-Ferreira
- Robert P. Apkarian Integrated Electron Microscopy Core, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
| | - Johana Arboleda-Echavarria
- Robert P. Apkarian Integrated Electron Microscopy Core, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
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3
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Sharma R, Kumari A, Kundu B, Grover A. Amyloid fibrillation of the glaucoma associated myocilin protein is inhibited by epicatechin gallate (ECG). RSC Adv 2022; 12:29469-29481. [PMID: 36320765 PMCID: PMC9562371 DOI: 10.1039/d2ra05061g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2022] [Accepted: 09/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Inherited glaucoma is a recent addition to the inventory of diseases arising due to protein misfolding. Mutations in the olfactomedin (OLF) domain of myocilin are the most common genetic cause behind this disease. Disease associated variants of m-OLF are predisposed to misfold and aggregate in the trabecular meshwork (TM) tissue of the eye. In recent years, the nature of these aggregates was revealed to exhibit the hallmarks of amyloids. Amyloid aggregates are highly stable structures that are formed, often with toxic consequences in a number of debilitating diseases. In spite of its clinical relevance the amyloidogenic nature of m-OLF has not been studied adequately. Here we have studied the amyloid fibrillation of m-OLF and report ECG as an inhibitor against it. Using biophysical and biochemical assays, coupled with advanced microscopic evaluations we show that ECG binds and stabilizes native m-OLF and thus prevents its aggregation into amyloid fibrils. Furthermore, we have used REMD simulations to delineate the stabilizing effects of ECG on the structure of m-OLF. Collectively, we report ECG as a molecular scaffold for designing and testing of novel inhibitors against m-OLF amyloid fibrillation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ritika Sharma
- School of Biotechnology, Jawaharlal Nehru UniversityNew Delhi-110067India+91-8130738032
| | - Anchala Kumari
- Indian Council of Medical Research, International Health DivisionNew Delhi-110029India
| | - Bishwajit Kundu
- Kusuma School of Biological Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology DelhiHauz KhasNew DelhiIndia – 110016
| | - Abhinav Grover
- School of Biotechnology, Jawaharlal Nehru UniversityNew Delhi-110067India+91-8130738032
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4
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He H, Liu Y, Sun Y, Ding F. Misfolding and Self-Assembly Dynamics of Microtubule-Binding Repeats of the Alzheimer-Related Protein Tau. J Chem Inf Model 2021; 61:2916-2925. [PMID: 34032430 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.1c00217] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Pathological aggregation of intrinsically disordered tau protein, driven by the interactions between microtubule-binding (MTB) domains, is associated with Alzheimer's disease. The MTB domain contains either three or four repeats with sequence similarities. Compared to amyloid β, many aspects of the misfolding and aggregation mechanisms of tau are largely unknown. In this study, we systematically investigated the dynamics of monomer misfolding and dimerization of each MTB repeat using atomistic discrete molecular dynamic simulations. Our results revealed that all the four repeat monomers (R1-R4) were very dynamic, featuring frequent conformational conversion and lacking stable conformations. While R1, R2, and R4 monomers occasionally adopted partially helical conformations, R3 monomers frequently formed β-sheets. In dimerization simulations, R3 displayed the strongest aggregation propensity with high β-sheet contents, while R1 was the least prone to aggregation. The R2 and R4 dimers contained both helix and β-sheet structures. The β-sheets in R4 assemblies were dominant with β-hairpin conformation. In R2 and R3 dimers, intermolecular β-sheets were mainly driven by residues around the paired helical filament (PHF) regions. Residues around the PHF6* in R2 and PHF6 in R3 had significantly higher intermolecular contacts than other regions, suggesting that these residues play a key role in the amyloid aggregation of tau. Our results on the structural ensembles and early aggregation dynamics of each tau MTB repeat will help understand the nucleation and fibrillization of tau.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huan He
- School of Physical Science and Technology, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China
| | - Yuying Liu
- School of Physical Science and Technology, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China
| | - Yunxiang Sun
- School of Physical Science and Technology, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China.,Department of Physics and Astronomy, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina 29634, United States
| | - Feng Ding
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina 29634, United States
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5
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Lieberman RL, Ma MT. Molecular Insights into Myocilin and Its Glaucoma-Causing Misfolded Olfactomedin Domain Variants. Acc Chem Res 2021; 54:2205-2215. [PMID: 33847483 DOI: 10.1021/acs.accounts.1c00060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Numerous human disorders arise due to the inability of a particular protein to adopt its correct three-dimensional structure in the context of the cell, leading to aggregation. A new addition to the list of such protein conformational disorders is the inherited subtype of glaucoma. Different and rare coding mutations in myocilin, found in families throughout the world, are causal for early onset ocular hypertension, a key glaucoma risk factor. Myocilin is expressed at high levels in the trabecular meshwork (TM) extracellular matrix. The TM is the anatomical region of the eye that regulates intraocular pressure, and its dysfunction is associated with most forms of glaucoma. Disease variants, distributed across the 30 kDa olfactomedin domain (mOLF), cause myocilin to be sequestered intracellularly instead of being secreted to the TM extracellular matrix. The working hypothesis is that the intracellular aggregates cause a toxic gain of function: TM cell death is thought to lead to TM matrix dysfunction, hastening elevated intraocular pressure and subsequent vision loss.Our lab has provided molecular underpinnings for myocilin structure and misfolding, placing myocilin-associated glaucoma within the context of amyloid diseases like Alzheimer and diabetes. We have dissected complexities of the modular wild-type (WT) myocilin structure and associated misfolded states. Our data support the model that full-length WT myocilin adopts a Y-shaped dimer-of-dimers conferred by two different coiled-coil regions, generating new hypotheses regarding its mysterious function. The mOLF β-propellers are paired at each tip of the Y. Disease-associated variants aggregate because mOLFs are less stable, leading to facile aggregation under physiological conditions (37 °C, pH 7.2). Mutant myocilin aggregates exhibit numerous characteristics of amyloid in vitro and in cells, and aggregation proceeds from a partially folded state accessed preferentially by disease variants at physiological conditions. Interestingly, destabilization is not a universal consequence of mutation. We identified counterintuitive, stabilizing point variants that adopt a non-native structure and do not aggregate; however, these variants have not been identified in glaucoma patients. An ongoing effort is predicting the consequence of any given mutation. This effort is relevant to interpreting data from large-scale sequencing projects where clinical and family history data are not available. Finally, our work suggests avenues to develop disease-modifying precision medicines for myocilin-associated glaucoma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raquel L. Lieberman
- School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, 901 Atlantic Dr. NW, Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0400, United States
| | - Minh Thu Ma
- School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, 901 Atlantic Dr. NW, Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0400, United States
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6
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Luettmer-Strathmann J, Adeli Koudehi M, Paudyal N. Five-Site Model for Brownian Dynamics Simulations of a Molecular Walker in Three Dimensions. J Phys Chem B 2021; 125:4726-4733. [PMID: 33909422 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.1c02114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Motor proteins play an important role in many biological processes and have inspired the development of synthetic analogues. Molecular walkers, such as kinesin, dynein, and myosin V, fulfill a diverse set of functions including transporting cargo along tracks, pulling molecules through membranes, and deforming fibers. The complexity of molecular motors and their environment makes it difficult to model the detailed dynamics of molecular walkers over long time scales. In this work, we present a simple, three-dimensional model for a molecular walker on a bead-spring substrate. The walker is represented by five spherically symmetric particles that interact through common intermolecular potentials and can be simulated efficiently in Brownian dynamics simulations. The movement of motor protein walkers entails energy conversion through ATP hydrolysis while artificial motors typically rely on a local conversion of energy supplied through external fields. We model energy conversion through rate equations for mechanochemical states that couple positional and chemical degrees of freedom and determine the walker conformation through interaction potential parameters. We perform Brownian dynamics simulations for two scenarios: In the first, the model walker transports cargo by walking on a substrate whose ends are fixed. In the second, a tethered motor pulls a mobile substrate chain against a variable force. We measure relative displacements and determine the effects of cargo size and retarding force on the efficiency of the walker. We find that, while the efficiency of our model walker is less than for the biological system, our simulations reproduce trends observed in single-molecule experiments on kinesin. In addition, the model and simulation method presented here can be readily adapted to biological and synthetic systems with multiple walkers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jutta Luettmer-Strathmann
- Department of Physics, The University of Akron, Akron, Ohio 44325-4001, United States.,Department of Chemistry, The University of Akron, Akron, Ohio 44325-4001, United States
| | - Maral Adeli Koudehi
- Department of Physics, The University of Akron, Akron, Ohio 44325-4001, United States
| | - Nabina Paudyal
- Department of Physics, The University of Akron, Akron, Ohio 44325-4001, United States
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7
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Gao Y, Saccuzzo EG, Hill SE, Huard DJE, Robang AS, Lieberman RL, Paravastu AK. Structural Arrangement within a Peptide Fibril Derived from the Glaucoma-Associated Myocilin Olfactomedin Domain. J Phys Chem B 2021; 125:2886-2897. [PMID: 33683890 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.0c11460] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Myocilin-associated glaucoma is a new addition to the list of diseases linked to protein misfolding and amyloid formation. Single point variants of the ∼257-residue myocilin olfactomedin domain (mOLF) lead to mutant myocilin aggregation. Here, we analyze the 12-residue peptide P1 (GAVVYSGSLYFQ), corresponding to residues 326-337 of mOLF, previously shown to form amyloid fibrils in vitro and in silico. We applied solid-state NMR structural measurements to test the hypothesis that P1 fibrils adopt one of three predicted structures. Our data are consistent with a U-shaped fibril arrangement for P1, one that is related to the U-shape predicted previously in silico. Our data are also consistent with an antiparallel fibril arrangement, likely driven by terminal electrostatics. Our proposed structural model is reminiscent of fibrils formed by the Aβ(1-40) Iowa mutant peptide, but with a different arrangement of molecular turn regions. Taken together, our results strengthen the connection between mOLF fibrils and the broader amylome and contribute to our understanding of the fundamental molecular interactions governing fibril architecture and stability.
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8
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Patterson-Orazem AC, Hill SE, Wang Y, Dominic IM, Hall CK, Lieberman RL. Differential Misfolding Properties of Glaucoma-Associated Olfactomedin Domains from Humans and Mice. Biochemistry 2019; 58:1718-1727. [PMID: 30802039 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biochem.8b01309] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Mutations in myocilin, predominantly within its olfactomedin (OLF) domain, are causative for the heritable form of open angle glaucoma in humans. Surprisingly, mice expressing Tyr423His mutant myocilin, corresponding to a severe glaucoma-causing mutation (Tyr437His) in human subjects, exhibit a weak, if any, glaucoma phenotype. To address possible protein-level discrepancies between mouse and human OLFs, which might lead to this outcome, biophysical properties of mouse OLF were characterized for comparison with those of human OLF. The 1.55 Å resolution crystal structure of mouse OLF reveals an asymmetric 5-bladed β-propeller that is nearly indistinguishable from previous structures of human OLF. Wild-type and selected mutant mouse OLFs mirror thermal stabilities of their human OLF counterparts, including characteristic stabilization in the presence of calcium. Mouse OLF forms thioflavin T-positive aggregates with a similar end-point morphology as human OLF, but amyloid aggregation kinetic rates of mouse OLF are faster than human OLF. Simulations and experiments support the interpretation that kinetics of mouse OLF are faster because of a decreased charge repulsion arising from more neutral surface electrostatics. Taken together, phenotypic differences observed in mouse and human studies of mutant myocilin could be a function of aggregation kinetics rates, which would alter the lifetime of putatively toxic protofibrillar intermediates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Athéna C Patterson-Orazem
- School of Chemistry & Biochemistry , Georgia Institute of Technology , Atlanta , Georgia 30332-0400 , United States
| | - Shannon E Hill
- School of Chemistry & Biochemistry , Georgia Institute of Technology , Atlanta , Georgia 30332-0400 , United States
| | - Yiming Wang
- Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering , North Carolina State University , Raleigh , North Carolina 27695-7905 , United States
| | - Iramofu M Dominic
- School of Chemistry & Biochemistry , Georgia Institute of Technology , Atlanta , Georgia 30332-0400 , United States
| | - Carol K Hall
- Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering , North Carolina State University , Raleigh , North Carolina 27695-7905 , United States
| | - Raquel L Lieberman
- School of Chemistry & Biochemistry , Georgia Institute of Technology , Atlanta , Georgia 30332-0400 , United States
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9
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Wang H, Li M, Zhang Z, Xue H, Chen X, Ji Y. Physiological function of myocilin and its role in the pathogenesis of glaucoma in the trabecular meshwork (Review). Int J Mol Med 2018; 43:671-681. [PMID: 30483726 PMCID: PMC6317685 DOI: 10.3892/ijmm.2018.3992] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2018] [Accepted: 11/16/2018] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Myocilin is highly expressed in the trabecular meshwork (TM), which plays an important role in the regulation of intraocular pressure (IOP). Myocilin abnormalities may cause dysfunction of the TM, potentially leading to increased IOP. High IOP is a well‑known primary risk factor for glaucoma. Myocilin mutations are common among glaucoma patients, and they are implicated in juvenile‑onset open‑angle glaucoma (JOAG) and adult‑onset primary open‑angle glaucoma (POAG). Aggregation of aberrant mutant myocilins is closely associated with glaucoma pathogenesis. The aim of the present review was to discuss the recent findings regarding the major physiological functions of myocilin, such as intra‑ and extracellular proteolytic processes. We also aimed to discuss the risk factors associated with myocilin and the development of glaucoma, such as misfolded/mutant myocilin, imbalance of myocilin and extracellular proteins, and instability of mutant myocilin associated with temperature. Finally, we further outlined certain issues that are yet to be resolved, which may represent the basis for future studies on the role of myocilin in glaucoma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hongwei Wang
- Department of Ophthalmology, Jingjiang People's Hospital, Jingjiang, Jiangsu 214500, P.R. China
| | - Mingzhe Li
- Department of Ophthalmology, Shanghai Pudong Hospital, Fudan University Pudong Medical Center, Shanghai 201399, P.R. China
| | - Zhenzhen Zhang
- Department of Ophthalmology, Ninth People's Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200011, P.R. China
| | - Haifeng Xue
- Public Health School, Qiqihar Medical University, Qiqihar, Heilongjiang 161006, P.R. China
| | - Xing Chen
- Department of Science and Education, Jingjiang People's Hospital, Jingjiang, Jiangsu 214500, P.R. China
| | - Yong Ji
- Department of General Surgery, Jingjiang People's Hospital, Jingjiang, Jiangsu 214500, P.R. China
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