1
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Perets EA, Konstantinovsky D, Santiago T, Videla PE, Tremblay M, Velarde L, Batista VS, Hammes-Schiffer S, Yan ECY. Beyond the "spine of hydration": Chiral SFG spectroscopy detects DNA first hydration shell and base pair structures. J Chem Phys 2024; 161:095104. [PMID: 39230381 DOI: 10.1063/5.0220479] [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: 05/25/2024] [Accepted: 08/06/2024] [Indexed: 09/05/2024] Open
Abstract
Experimental methods capable of selectively probing water at the DNA minor groove, major groove, and phosphate backbone are crucial for understanding how hydration influences DNA structure and function. Chiral-selective sum frequency generation spectroscopy (chiral SFG) is unique among vibrational spectroscopies because it can selectively probe water molecules that form chiral hydration structures around biomolecules. However, interpreting chiral SFG spectra is challenging since both water and the biomolecule can produce chiral SFG signals. Here, we combine experiment and computation to establish a theoretical framework for the rigorous interpretation of chiral SFG spectra of DNA. We demonstrate that chiral SFG detects the N-H stretch of DNA base pairs and the O-H stretch of water, exclusively probing water molecules in the DNA first hydration shell. Our analysis reveals that DNA transfers chirality to water molecules only within the first hydration shell, so they can be probed by chiral SFG spectroscopy. Beyond the first hydration shell, the electric field-induced water structure is symmetric and, therefore, precludes chiral SFG response. Furthermore, we find that chiral SFG can differentiate chiral subpopulations of first hydration shell water molecules at the minor groove, major groove, and phosphate backbone. Our findings challenge the scientific perspective dominant for more than 40 years that the minor groove "spine of hydration" is the only chiral water structure surrounding the DNA double helix. By identifying the molecular origins of the DNA chiral SFG spectrum, we lay a robust experimental and theoretical foundation for applying chiral SFG to explore the chemical and biological physics of DNA hydration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ethan A Perets
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA
| | - Daniel Konstantinovsky
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA
- Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA
| | - Ty Santiago
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA
| | - Pablo E Videla
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA
| | - Matthew Tremblay
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA
| | - Luis Velarde
- Department of Chemistry, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, New York 14260, USA
| | - Victor S Batista
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA
| | - Sharon Hammes-Schiffer
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA
- Department of Chemistry, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA
| | - Elsa C Y Yan
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA
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2
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Lang X, Shi L, Zhao Z, Min W. Probing the structure of water in individual living cells. Nat Commun 2024; 15:5271. [PMID: 38902250 PMCID: PMC11190263 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-49404-9] [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: 10/16/2023] [Accepted: 06/04/2024] [Indexed: 06/22/2024] Open
Abstract
Water regulates or even governs a wide range of biological processes. Despite its fundamental importance, surprisingly little is known about the structure of intracellular water. Herein we employ a Raman micro-spectroscopy technique to uncover the composition, abundance and vibrational spectra of intracellular water in individual living cells. In three different cell types, we show a small but consistent population (~3%) of non-bulk-like water. It exhibits a weakened hydrogen-bonded network and a more disordered tetrahedral structure. We attribute this population to biointerfacial water located in the vicinity of biomolecules. Moreover, our whole-cell modeling suggests that all soluble (globular) proteins inside cells are surrounded by, on average, one full molecular layer (about 2.6 Angstrom) of biointerfacial water. Furthermore, relative invariance of biointerfacial water is observed among different single cells. Overall, our study not only opens up experimental possibilities of interrogating water structure in vivo but also provides insights into water in life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoqi Lang
- Department of Chemistry, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10027, USA
| | - Lixue Shi
- Shanghai Xuhui Central Hospital, Zhongshan-Xuhui Hospital, and Shanghai Key Laboratory of Medical Epigenetics, International Co-laboratory of Medical Epigenetics and Metabolism, Institutes of Biomedical Sciences, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200032, China
| | - Zhilun Zhao
- Department of Chemistry, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10027, USA
| | - Wei Min
- Department of Chemistry, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10027, USA.
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3
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Zheng X, Ni Z, Pei Q, Wang M, Tan J, Bai S, Shi F, Ye S. Probing the Molecular Structure and Dynamics of Membrane-Bound Proteins during Misfolding Processes by Sum-Frequency Generation Vibrational Spectroscopy. Chempluschem 2024; 89:e202300684. [PMID: 38380553 DOI: 10.1002/cplu.202300684] [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: 11/23/2023] [Revised: 02/17/2024] [Accepted: 02/20/2024] [Indexed: 02/22/2024]
Abstract
Protein misfolding and amyloid formation are implicated in the protein dysfunction, but the underlying mechanism remains to be clarified due to the lack of effective tools for detecting the transient intermediates. Sum frequency generation vibrational spectroscopy (SFG-VS) has emerged as a powerful tool for identifying the structure and dynamics of proteins at the interfaces. In this review, we summarize recent SFG-VS studies on the structure and dynamics of membrane-bound proteins during misfolding processes. This paper first introduces the methods for determining the secondary structure of interfacial proteins: combining chiral and achiral spectra of amide A and amide I bands and combining amide I, amide II, and amide III spectral features. To demonstrate the ability of SFG-VS in investigating the interfacial protein misfolding and amyloid formation, studies on the interactions between different peptides/proteins (islet amyloid polypeptide, amyloid β, prion protein, fused in sarcoma protein, hen egg-white lysozyme, fusing fusion peptide, class I hydrophobin SC3 and class II hydrophobin HFBI) and surfaces such as lipid membranes are discussed. These molecular-level studies revealed that SFG-VS can provide a unique understanding of the mechanism of interfacial protein misfolding and amyloid formation in real time, in situ and without any exogenous labeling.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoxuan Zheng
- Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China, 96 Jinzhai Road, Hefei, Anhui, 230026, China
| | - Zijian Ni
- Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China, 96 Jinzhai Road, Hefei, Anhui, 230026, China
| | - Quanbing Pei
- Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China, 96 Jinzhai Road, Hefei, Anhui, 230026, China
| | - Mengmeng Wang
- Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China, 96 Jinzhai Road, Hefei, Anhui, 230026, China
| | - Junjun Tan
- Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China, 96 Jinzhai Road, Hefei, Anhui, 230026, China
| | - Shiyu Bai
- Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China, 96 Jinzhai Road, Hefei, Anhui, 230026, China
| | - Fangwen Shi
- Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China, 96 Jinzhai Road, Hefei, Anhui, 230026, China
| | - Shuji Ye
- Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China, 96 Jinzhai Road, Hefei, Anhui, 230026, China
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4
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Konstantinovsky D, Santiago T, Tremblay M, Simpson GJ, Hammes-Schiffer S, Yan ECY. Theoretical basis for interpreting heterodyne chirality-selective sum frequency generation spectra of water. J Chem Phys 2024; 160:055102. [PMID: 38341693 DOI: 10.1063/5.0181718] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2023] [Accepted: 01/08/2024] [Indexed: 02/13/2024] Open
Abstract
Chirality-selective vibrational sum frequency generation (chiral SFG) spectroscopy has emerged as a powerful technique for the study of biomolecular hydration water due to its sensitivity to the induced chirality of the first hydration shell. Thus far, water O-H vibrational bands in phase-resolved heterodyne chiral SFG spectra have been fit using one Lorentzian function per vibrational band, and the resulting fit has been used to infer the underlying frequency distribution. Here, we show that this approach may not correctly reveal the structure and dynamics of hydration water. Our analysis illustrates that the chiral SFG responses of symmetric and asymmetric O-H stretch modes of water have opposite phase and equal magnitude and are separated in energy by intramolecular vibrational coupling and a heterogeneous environment. The sum of the symmetric and asymmetric responses implies that an O-H stretch in a heterodyne chiral SFG spectrum should appear as two peaks with opposite phase and equal amplitude. Using pairs of Lorentzian functions to fit water O-H stretch vibrational bands, we improve spectral fitting of previously acquired experimental spectra of model β-sheet proteins and reduce the number of free parameters. The fitting allows us to estimate the vibrational frequency distribution and thus reveals the molecular interactions of water in hydration shells of biomolecules directly from chiral SFG spectra.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Konstantinovsky
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA
- Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA
| | - Ty Santiago
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA
| | - Matthew Tremblay
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA
| | - Garth J Simpson
- Department of Chemistry, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA
| | - Sharon Hammes-Schiffer
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA
- Department of Chemistry, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA
| | - Elsa C Y Yan
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA
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5
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Bonn M. Concluding remarks for Faraday Discussion on Water at Interfaces. Faraday Discuss 2024; 249:521-525. [PMID: 38099817 PMCID: PMC10845007 DOI: 10.1039/d3fd00153a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2023] [Accepted: 11/14/2023] [Indexed: 02/07/2024]
Abstract
Water at interfaces is a fascinating and multifaceted topic that has garnered significant attention in various scientific fields due to its relevance and implications. This Faraday Discussion explored the complexity of water at different interfaces. Many of the reports highlight the need for a molecular-level understanding. The Discussion was lively and constructive. In these summarizing remarks, I do not aim to be complete, but will rather try to sketch the status of the field, highlight the progress that we as a community have made, and present eclectic examples of where more work needs to be done.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mischa Bonn
- Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, 55128 Mainz, Germany.
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6
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Somasundaran SM, Kompella SVK, Madapally HV, Vishnu EK, Balasubramanian S, Thomas KG. Red Circularly Polarized Luminescence from Dimeric H-Aggregates of Acridine Orange by Chiral Induction. J Phys Chem Lett 2024; 15:507-513. [PMID: 38190655 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.3c03127] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2024]
Abstract
Understanding the mechanism of chirality transfer from a chiral surface to an achiral molecule is essential for designing molecular systems with tunable chiroptical properties. These aspects are explored herein using l- and d-isomers of alkyl valine amphiphiles, which self-assemble in water as nanofibers possessing a negative surface charge. An achiral chromophore, acridine orange, upon electrostatic binding on these surfaces displays mirror-imaged bisignated circular dichroism and red-emitting circularly polarized luminescence signals with a high dissymmetry factor. Experimental and computational investigations establish that the chiroptical properties emerge from surface-bound asymmetric H-type dimers of acridine orange, further supported by fluorescence lifetime imaging studies. Specifically, atomistic molecular dynamics simulations show that the experimentally observed chiral signatures have their origin in van der Waals interactions between acridine orange dimers and the amphiphile head groups as well as in the extent of solvent exposure of the chromophore.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sanoop Mambully Somasundaran
- School of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Thiruvananthapuram (IISER TVM), Vithura, Thiruvananthapuram 695551, India
| | - Srinath V K Kompella
- Chemistry and Physics of Materials Unit, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), Jakkur, Bangalore 560064, India
| | - Hridya Valia Madapally
- School of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Thiruvananthapuram (IISER TVM), Vithura, Thiruvananthapuram 695551, India
| | - E Krishnan Vishnu
- School of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Thiruvananthapuram (IISER TVM), Vithura, Thiruvananthapuram 695551, India
| | - Sundaram Balasubramanian
- Chemistry and Physics of Materials Unit, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), Jakkur, Bangalore 560064, India
| | - K George Thomas
- School of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Thiruvananthapuram (IISER TVM), Vithura, Thiruvananthapuram 695551, India
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7
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Litman Y, Lan J, Nagata Y, Wilkins DM. Fully First-Principles Surface Spectroscopy with Machine Learning. J Phys Chem Lett 2023; 14:8175-8182. [PMID: 37671886 PMCID: PMC10510433 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.3c01989] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2023] [Accepted: 08/29/2023] [Indexed: 09/07/2023]
Abstract
Our current understanding of the structure and dynamics of aqueous interfaces at the molecular level has grown substantially due to the continuous development of surface-specific spectroscopies, such as vibrational sum-frequency generation (VSFG). As in other vibrational spectroscopies, we must turn to atomistic simulations to extract all of the information encoded in the VSFG spectra. The high computational cost associated with existing methods means that they have limitations in representing systems with complex electronic structure or in achieving statistical convergence. In this work, we combine high-dimensional neural network interatomic potentials and symmetry-adapted Gaussian process regression to overcome these constraints. We show that it is possible to model VSFG signals with fully ab initio accuracy using machine learning and illustrate the versatility of our approach on the water/air interface. Our strategy allows us to identify the main sources of theoretical inaccuracy and establish a clear pathway toward the modeling of surface-sensitive spectroscopy of complex interfaces.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yair Litman
- Yusuf
Hamied Department of Chemistry, University
of Cambridge, Lensfield Road, Cambridge CB2 1EW, U.K.
- Max
Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Jinggang Lan
- Department
of Chemistry, New York University, New York, New York 10003, United States
- Simons
Center for Computational Physical Chemistry at New York University, New York, New York 10003, United States
| | - Yuki Nagata
- Max
Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - David M. Wilkins
- Centre
for Quantum Materials and Technologies School of Mathematics and Physics, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
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8
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Mukherji D, Kremer K. Smart Polymers for Soft Materials: From Solution Processing to Organic Solids. Polymers (Basel) 2023; 15:3229. [PMID: 37571124 PMCID: PMC10421237 DOI: 10.3390/polym15153229] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2023] [Revised: 07/26/2023] [Accepted: 07/27/2023] [Indexed: 08/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Polymeric materials are ubiquitous in our everyday life, where they find a broad range of uses-spanning across common household items to advanced materials for modern technologies. In the context of the latter, so called "smart polymers" have received a lot of attention. These systems are soluble in water below their lower critical solution temperature Tℓ and often exhibit counterintuitive solvation behavior in mixed solvents. A polymer is known as smart-responsive when a slight change in external stimuli can significantly change its structure, functionm and stability. The interplay of different interactions, especially hydrogen bonds, can also be used for the design of lightweight high-performance organic solids with tunable properties. Here, a general scheme for establishing a structure-property relationship is a challenge using the conventional simulation techniques and also in standard experiments. From the theoretical side, a broad range of all-atom, multiscale, generic, and analytical techniques have been developed linking monomer level interaction details with macroscopic material properties. In this review, we briefly summarize the recent developments in the field of smart polymers, together with complementary experiments. For this purpose, we will specifically discuss the following: (1) the solution processing of responsive polymers and (2) their use in organic solids, with a goal to provide a microscopic understanding that may be used as a guiding tool for future experiments and/or simulations regarding designing advanced functional materials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Debashish Mukherji
- Quantum Matter Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada
| | - Kurt Kremer
- Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, 55128 Mainz, Germany;
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9
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Yan ECY, Perets EA, Konstantinovsky D, Hammes-Schiffer S. Detecting Interplay of Chirality, Water, and Interfaces for Elucidating Biological Functions. Acc Chem Res 2023; 56:1494-1504. [PMID: 37163574 PMCID: PMC10344471 DOI: 10.1021/acs.accounts.3c00088] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/12/2023]
Abstract
Chemists have long been fascinated by chirality, water, and interfaces, making tremendous progress in each research area. However, the chemistry emerging from the interplay of chirality, water, and interfaces has been difficult to study due to technical challenges, creating a barrier to elucidating biological functions at interfaces. Most biopolymers (proteins, DNA, and RNA) fold into macroscopic chiral structures to perform biological functions. Their folding requires water, but water behaves differently at interfaces where the bulk water hydrogen-bonding network terminates. A question arises as to how water molecules rearrange to minimize free energy at interfaces while stabilizing the macroscopic folding of biopolymers to support biological function. This question is central to solving many research challenges, including the molecular origin of biological homochirality, folding and insertion of proteins into cell membranes, and the design of heterogeneous biocatalysts. Researchers can resolve these challenges if they have the theoretical tools to accurately predict molecular behaviors of water and biopolymers at various interfaces. However, developing such tools requires validation by the experimental data. These experimental data are scarce because few physical methods can simultaneously distinguish chiral folding of the biopolymers, separate signals of interfaces from the overwhelming background of bulk solvent, and differentiate water in hydration shells of the polymers from water elsewhere.We recently illustrated these very capacities of chirality-sensitive vibrational sum frequency generation spectroscopy (chiral SFG). While chiral SFG theory dictates that the method is surface-specific under the condition of electronic nonresonance, we show the method can distinguish chiral folding of proteins and DNA and probe water structures in the first hydration shell of proteins at interfaces. Using amide I signals, we observe protein folding into β-sheets without background signals from α-helices and disordered structures at interfaces, thereby demonstrating the effect of 2D crowding on protein folding. Also, chiral SFG signals of C-H stretches are silent from single-stranded DNA, but prominent for canonical antiparallel duplexes as well as noncanonical parallel duplexes at interfaces, allowing for sensing DNA secondary structures and hybridization. In establishing chiral SFG for detecting protein hydration structures, we observe an H218O isotopic shift that reveals water contribution to the chiral SFG spectra. Additionally, the phase of the O-H stretching bands flips when the protein chirality is switched from L to D. These experimental results agree with our simulated chiral SFG spectra of water hydrating the β-sheet protein at the vacuum-water interface. The simulations further reveal that over 90% of the total chiral SFG signal comes from water in the first hydration shell. We conclude that the chiral SFG signals originate from achiral water molecules that assemble around the protein into a chiral supramolecular structure with chirality transferred from the protein. As water O-H stretches can reveal hydrogen-bonding interactions, chiral SFG shows promise in probing the structures and dynamics of water-biopolymer interactions at interfaces. Altogether, our work has created an experimental and computational framework for chiral SFG to elucidate biological functions at interfaces, setting the stage for probing the intricate chemical interplay of chirality, water, and interfaces.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elsa C. Y. Yan
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
| | - Ethan A. Perets
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
| | - Daniel Konstantinovsky
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
- Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
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10
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Konstantinovsky D, Yan ECY, Hammes-Schiffer S. Characterizing Interfaces by Voronoi Tessellation. J Phys Chem Lett 2023; 14:5260-5266. [PMID: 37265175 PMCID: PMC10344600 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.3c01159] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
The chemistry of interfaces differs markedly from that of the bulk. Calculation of interfacial properties depends strongly on the definition of the interface, which can lead to ambiguous results that vary between studies. There is a need for a method that can explicitly define the interfaces and boundaries in molecular systems. Voronoi tessellation offers an attractive solution to this problem through its ability to determine neighbors among specified groups of atoms. Here we discuss three cases where Voronoi tessellation combined with modeling of vibrational sum frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopy yields relevant insights: the breakdown of the air-water interface into clear and intuitive molecular layers, the study of the hydration shell in biological systems, and the acceleration of difficult spectral calculations where intermolecular vibrational couplings dominate. The utility of Voronoi tessellation has broad applications that extend beyond any single type of spectroscopy or system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Konstantinovsky
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA 06511
- Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA 06511
| | - Elsa C. Y. Yan
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA 06511
| | - Sharon Hammes-Schiffer
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA 06511
- Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA 06511
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11
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Pinto ÉSM, Krause MJ, Dorn M, Feltes BC. The nucleotide excision repair proteins through the lens of molecular dynamics simulations. DNA Repair (Amst) 2023; 127:103510. [PMID: 37148846 DOI: 10.1016/j.dnarep.2023.103510] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2022] [Revised: 04/07/2023] [Accepted: 04/23/2023] [Indexed: 05/08/2023]
Abstract
Mutations that affect the proteins responsible for the nucleotide excision repair (NER) pathway can lead to diseases such as xeroderma pigmentosum, trichothiodystrophy, Cockayne syndrome, and Cerebro-oculo-facio-skeletal syndrome. Hence, understanding their molecular behavior is needed to elucidate these diseases' phenotypes and how the NER pathway is organized and coordinated. Molecular dynamics techniques enable the study of different protein conformations, adaptable to any research question, shedding light on the dynamics of biomolecules. However, as important as they are, molecular dynamics studies focused on DNA repair pathways are still becoming more widespread. Currently, there are no review articles compiling the advancements made in molecular dynamics approaches applied to NER and discussing: (i) how this technique is currently employed in the field of DNA repair, focusing on NER proteins; (ii) which technical setups are being employed, their strengths and limitations; (iii) which insights or information are they providing to understand the NER pathway or NER-associated proteins; (iv) which open questions would be suited for this technique to answer; and (v) where can we go from here. These questions become even more crucial considering the numerous 3D structures published regarding the NER pathway's proteins in recent years. In this work, we tackle each one of these questions, revising and critically discussing the results published in the context of the NER pathway.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Mathias J Krause
- Institute for Applied and Numerical Mathematics, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany
| | - Márcio Dorn
- Center for Biotechnology, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, RS, Brazil; Institute of Informatics, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil; National Institute of Science and Technology - Forensic Science, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
| | - Bruno César Feltes
- Institute of Informatics, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
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12
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Konstantinovsky D, Perets EA, Santiago T, Olesen K, Wang Z, Soudackov AV, Yan ECY, Hammes-Schiffer S. Design of an Electrostatic Frequency Map for the NH Stretch of the Protein Backbone and Application to Chiral Sum Frequency Generation Spectroscopy. J Phys Chem B 2023; 127:2418-2429. [PMID: 36916645 PMCID: PMC10409516 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.3c00217] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/15/2023]
Abstract
We develop an electrostatic map for the vibrational NH stretch (amide A) of the protein backbone with a focus on vibrational chiral sum frequency generation spectroscopy (chiral SFG). Chiral SFG has been used to characterize protein secondary structure at interfaces using the NH stretch and to investigate chiral water superstructures around proteins using the OH stretch. Interpretation of spectra has been complicated because the NH stretch and OH stretch overlap spectrally. Although an electrostatic map for water OH developed by Skinner and co-workers was used previously to calculate the chiral SFG response of water structures around proteins, a map for protein NH that is directly responsive to biological complexity has yet to be developed. Here, we develop such a map, linking the local electric field to vibrational frequencies and transition dipoles. We apply the map to two protein systems and achieve much better agreement with experiment than was possible in our previous studies. We show that couplings between NH and OH vibrations are crucial to the line shape, which informs the interpretation of chiral SFG spectra, and that the chiral NH stretch response is sensitive to small differences in structure. This work increases the utility of the NH stretch in biomolecular spectroscopy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Konstantinovsky
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, United States
- Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, United States
| | - Ethan A. Perets
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, United States
- Current Address: Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, United States
| | - Ty Santiago
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, United States
| | - Kristian Olesen
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, United States
| | - Zhijie Wang
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, United States
| | | | - Elsa C. Y. Yan
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, United States
| | - Sharon Hammes-Schiffer
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, United States
- Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, United States
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13
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Hu K, Shirakashi R. Dynamic Electric Field Alignment Determines the Water Rotational Motion around Protein. J Phys Chem B 2023; 127:1376-1384. [PMID: 36749793 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.2c07405] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
Water rotational dynamics in biomolecular solution is crucial to evaluating and controlling biomolecule stability. In this molecular dynamics simulation (MD) study on lysozyme solutions, we present how the exerted internal electric field determines water rotational dynamics. We find that the relaxation time of water rotation is equivalent to that of the reorientation of the exerted overall electric field for every single water molecule, regardless of its translation mode. Namely, water molecular rotation synchronizes with the exerted field reorientation. We also map the reorientation process of the electric field at fixed points relative to protein in the solution, which displays the local hydration dynamics commensurate with the reported time-dependent fluorescence Stokes shift (TDFSS) measurements. Comparing the spatial distribution of local field reorientation relaxation time with that of rotational relaxation time, we further suggest that water rotation dynamics are subject to the reorientation of the local overall field within the hydration layer. While outside the hydration layer, the relaxation time of the local electric field reorientation is short enough (subpicosecond) to assume the δ function, showing the electric force with randomly changing orientation is applied to each water molecule.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kang Hu
- Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro City, Tokyo 153-8505, Japan.,Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
| | - Ryo Shirakashi
- Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro City, Tokyo 153-8505, Japan
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Nagata Y, Bonn M. Biomolecular Chirality Is Imprinted on One Layer of Hydration Water. ACS CENTRAL SCIENCE 2022; 8:1380-1382. [PMID: 36313160 PMCID: PMC9615119 DOI: 10.1021/acscentsci.2c01148] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
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