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Ogden DS, Moradi M. Atomic-level characterization of the conformational transition pathways in SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2022:2022.11.29.518406. [PMID: 36482979 PMCID: PMC9727763 DOI: 10.1101/2022.11.29.518406] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronaviruses 1 and 2 (SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2) derive transmissibility from spike protein activation in the receptor binding domain (RBD) and binding to the host cell angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). However, the mechanistic details that describe the large-scale conformational changes associated with spike protein activation or deactivation are still somewhat unknown. Here, we have employed an extensive set of nonequilibrium all-atom molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, utilizing a novel protocol, for the SARS-CoV-1 (CoV-1) and SARS-CoV-2 (CoV-2) prefusion spike proteins in order to characterize the conformational pathways associated with the active-to-inactive transition. Our results indicate that both CoV-1 and CoV-2 spike proteins undergo conformational transitions along pathways unique to each protein. We have identified a number of key residues that form various inter-domain saltbridges, suggesting a multi-stage conformational change along the pathways. We have also constructed the free energy profiles along the transition pathways for both CoV-1 and CoV-2 spike proteins. The CoV-2 spike protein must overcome larger free energy barriers to undergo conformational changes towards protein activation or deactivation, when compared to CoV-1.
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Pang YT, Acharya A, Lynch DL, Pavlova A, Gumbart JC. SARS-CoV-2 spike opening dynamics and energetics reveal the individual roles of glycans and their collective impact. Commun Biol 2022; 5:1170. [PMID: 36329138 PMCID: PMC9631587 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-022-04138-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2021] [Accepted: 10/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
The trimeric spike (S) glycoprotein, which protrudes from the SARS-CoV-2 viral envelope, binds to human ACE2, initiated by at least one protomer's receptor binding domain (RBD) switching from a "down" (closed) to an "up" (open) state. Here, we used large-scale molecular dynamics simulations and two-dimensional replica exchange umbrella sampling calculations with more than a thousand windows and an aggregate total of 160 μs of simulation to investigate this transition with and without glycans. We find that the glycosylated spike has a higher barrier to opening and also energetically favors the down state over the up state. Analysis of the S-protein opening pathway reveals that glycans at N165 and N122 interfere with hydrogen bonds between the RBD and the N-terminal domain in the up state, while glycans at N165 and N343 can stabilize both the down and up states. Finally, we estimate how epitope exposure for several known antibodies changes along the opening path. We find that the BD-368-2 antibody's epitope is continuously exposed, explaining its high efficacy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yui Tik Pang
- School of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, 30332, USA
| | - Atanu Acharya
- School of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, 30332, USA.,BioInspired Syracuse and Department of Chemistry, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, 13244, USA
| | - Diane L Lynch
- School of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, 30332, USA
| | - Anna Pavlova
- School of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, 30332, USA
| | - James C Gumbart
- School of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, 30332, USA.
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Fakharzadeh A, Zhang J, Roland C, Sagui C. Novel eGZ-motif formed by regularly extruded guanine bases in a left-handed Z-DNA helix as a major motif behind CGG trinucleotide repeats. Nucleic Acids Res 2022; 50:4860-4876. [PMID: 35536254 PMCID: PMC9122592 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkac339] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2022] [Revised: 04/19/2022] [Accepted: 05/05/2022] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The expansion of d(CGG) trinucleotide repeats (TRs) lies behind several important neurodegenerative diseases. Atypical DNA secondary structures have been shown to trigger TR expansion: their characterization is important for a molecular understanding of TR disease. CD spectroscopy experiments in the last decade have unequivocally demonstrated that CGG runs adopt a left-handed Z-DNA conformation, whose features remain uncertain because it entails accommodating GG mismatches. In order to find this missing motif, we have carried out molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to explore all the possible Z-DNA helices that potentially form after the transition from B- to Z-DNA. Such helices combine either CpG or GpC Watson-Crick steps in Z-DNA form with GG-mismatch conformations set as either intrahelical or extrahelical; and participating in BZ or ZZ junctions or in alternately extruded conformations. Characterization of the stability and structural features (especially overall left-handedness, higher-temperature and steered MD simulations) identified two novel Z-DNA helices: the most stable one displays alternately extruded Gs, and is followed by a helix with symmetrically extruded ZZ junctions. The G-extrusion favors a seamless stacking of the Watson-Crick base pairs; extruded Gs favor syn conformations and display hydrogen-bonding and stacking interactions. Such conformations could have the potential to hijack the MMR complex, thus triggering further expansion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ashkan Fakharzadeh
- Department of Physics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-8202, USA
| | - Jiahui Zhang
- Department of Physics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-8202, USA
| | - Christopher Roland
- Department of Physics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-8202, USA
| | - Celeste Sagui
- Department of Physics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-8202, USA
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Ramanathan A, Ma H, Parvatikar A, Chennubhotla SC. Artificial intelligence techniques for integrative structural biology of intrinsically disordered proteins. Curr Opin Struct Biol 2021; 66:216-224. [PMID: 33421906 DOI: 10.1016/j.sbi.2020.12.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2020] [Revised: 12/01/2020] [Accepted: 12/03/2020] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
We outline recent developments in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) techniques for integrative structural biology of intrinsically disordered proteins (IDP) ensembles. IDPs challenge the traditional protein structure-function paradigm by adapting their conformations in response to specific binding partners leading them to mediate diverse, and often complex cellular functions such as biological signaling, self-organization and compartmentalization. Obtaining mechanistic insights into their function can therefore be challenging for traditional structural determination techniques. Often, scientists have to rely on piecemeal evidence drawn from diverse experimental techniques to characterize their functional mechanisms. Multiscale simulations can help bridge critical knowledge gaps about IDP structure-function relationships-however, these techniques also face challenges in resolving emergent phenomena within IDP conformational ensembles. We posit that scalable statistical inference techniques can effectively integrate information gleaned from multiple experimental techniques as well as from simulations, thus providing access to atomistic details of these emergent phenomena.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arvind Ramanathan
- Data Science & Learning Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL 60439, United States; Consortium for Advanced Science and Engineering (CASE), University of Chicago, Hyde Park, IL, United States.
| | - Heng Ma
- Data Science & Learning Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL 60439, United States
| | - Akash Parvatikar
- Department of Computational and Systems Biology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, United States
| | - S Chakra Chennubhotla
- Department of Computational and Systems Biology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, United States
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Molecular Dynamics-Based Thermodynamic and Kinetic Characterization of Membrane Protein Conformational Transitions. Methods Mol Biol 2021; 2302:289-309. [PMID: 33877634 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-1394-8_16] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are routinely used to study structural dynamics of membrane proteins. However, conventional MD is often unable to sample functionally important conformational transitions of membrane proteins such as those involved in active membrane transport or channel activation process. Here we describe a combination of multiple MD based techniques that allows for a rigorous characterization of energetics and kinetics of large-scale conformational changes in membrane proteins. The methodology is based on biased, nonequilibrium, collective-variable based simulations including nonequilibrium pulling, string method with swarms of trajectories, bias-exchange umbrella sampling, and rate estimation techniques.
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Shirts MR, Ferguson AL. Statistically Optimal Continuous Free Energy Surfaces from Biased Simulations and Multistate Reweighting. J Chem Theory Comput 2020; 16:4107-4125. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.0c00077] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Michael R. Shirts
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado 80309, United States
| | - Andrew L. Ferguson
- Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
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Immadisetty K, Hettige J, Moradi M. Lipid-Dependent Alternating Access Mechanism of a Bacterial Multidrug ABC Exporter. ACS CENTRAL SCIENCE 2019; 5:43-56. [PMID: 30693324 PMCID: PMC6346382 DOI: 10.1021/acscentsci.8b00480] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2018] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
By undergoing conformational changes, active membrane transporters alternate between an inward-facing (IF) and an outward-facing (OF) state to transport their substrates across cellular membrane. The conformational landscape of membrane transporters, however, could be influenced by their environment, and the dependence of the alternating access mechanism on the lipid composition has not been understood at the molecular level. We have performed an extensive set of microsecond-level all-atom molecular dynamics (MD) simulations on bacterial ATP binding cassette (ABC) exporter Sav1866 in six different phosphocholine (PC) and phosphoethanolamine (PE) lipid membrane environments. This study mainly focuses on the energetically downhill OF-to-IF conformational transition of Sav1866 upon the ATP hydrolysis. We observe that the transporter undergoes large-scale conformational changes in the PE environment, particularly in the POPE lipids, resulting in an IF-occluded conformation, a transition that does not occur when the transporter is embedded in any of the PC lipid bilayers. We propose that the PE lipids facilitate the closing of the protein on the periplasmic side due to their highly polar headgroups that mediate the interaction of the two transmembrane (TM) bundles by a network of lipid-lipid and lipid-protein hydrogen bonds. POPE lipids in particular facilitate the closure of periplasmic gate by promoting a hinge formation in TM helices and an interbundle salt bridge formation. This study explains how the alternating access mechanism and the flippase activity in ABC exporters could be lipid-dependent.
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