1
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Konold PE, Monrroy L, Bellisario A, Filipe D, Adams P, Alvarez R, Bean R, Bielecki J, Bódizs S, Ducrocq G, Grubmueller H, Kirian RA, Kloos M, Koliyadu JCP, Koua FHM, Larkiala T, Letrun R, Lindsten F, Maihöfer M, Martin AV, Mészáros P, Mutisya J, Nimmrich A, Okamoto K, Round A, Sato T, Valerio J, Westphal D, Wollter A, Yenupuri TV, You T, Maia F, Westenhoff S. Microsecond time-resolved X-ray scattering by utilizing MHz repetition rate at second-generation XFELs. Nat Methods 2024:10.1038/s41592-024-02344-0. [PMID: 38969722 DOI: 10.1038/s41592-024-02344-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2023] [Accepted: 06/10/2024] [Indexed: 07/07/2024]
Abstract
Detecting microsecond structural perturbations in biomolecules has wide relevance in biology, chemistry and medicine. Here we show how MHz repetition rates at X-ray free-electron lasers can be used to produce microsecond time-series of protein scattering with exceptionally low noise levels of 0.001%. We demonstrate the approach by examining Jɑ helix unfolding of a light-oxygen-voltage photosensory domain. This time-resolved acquisition strategy is easy to implement and widely applicable for direct observation of structural dynamics of many biochemical processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick E Konold
- Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Leonardo Monrroy
- Department of Chemistry - BMC, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Alfredo Bellisario
- Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Diogo Filipe
- Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Patrick Adams
- School of Science, STEM College, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Roberto Alvarez
- Department of Physics, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
| | | | | | - Szabolcs Bódizs
- Department of Chemistry - BMC, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
- Department of Chemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Gabriel Ducrocq
- Department of Computer and Information Science (IDA), Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
- The Division of Statistics and Machine Learning (STIMA), Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
| | - Helmut Grubmueller
- Department of Computer and Information Science (IDA), Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
| | | | - Marco Kloos
- Department of Chemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Jayanath C P Koliyadu
- Department of Chemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | | | - Taru Larkiala
- Department of Chemistry - BMC, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
- Department of Chemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | | | - Fredrik Lindsten
- Department of Computer and Information Science (IDA), Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
- The Division of Statistics and Machine Learning (STIMA), Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
| | - Michael Maihöfer
- Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Andrew V Martin
- School of Science, STEM College, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Petra Mészáros
- Department of Chemistry - BMC, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Jennifer Mutisya
- Department of Chemistry - BMC, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Amke Nimmrich
- Department of Chemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
- Department of Chemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Kenta Okamoto
- Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | | | | | | | - Daniel Westphal
- Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - August Wollter
- Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Tej Varma Yenupuri
- Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Tong You
- Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Filipe Maia
- Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
| | - Sebastian Westenhoff
- Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
- Department of Chemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
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2
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Chauhan M, Arshi SA, Narayanan N, Arfin HU, Sharma A. A mechanistic insight on how Compromised Hydrolysis of Triacylglycerol 7 (CHT7) restrains the involvement of it's CXC domain from quiescence repression. Int J Biol Macromol 2024; 265:130844. [PMID: 38484809 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.130844] [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: 01/24/2024] [Revised: 03/03/2024] [Accepted: 03/11/2024] [Indexed: 03/18/2024]
Abstract
CHT7 is a regulator of quiescence repression in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Initially, CHT7's repression activity was thought to be managed by its DNA-binding CXC domain. Later, it was found that the CHT7-CXC domain is dispensable for CHT7's activities. Rather, CHT7's predicted protein domains were proposed to be involved in regulation activities by binding to other repressors in the cell. Yet, it remains unclear why and how CHT7 refrains its CXC domain from participating in any transcriptional activities. The question becomes more intriguing, since CXC binding regions are available in promoter regions of some of the misregulated genes in CHT7 mutant (cht7). Through biophysical experiments and molecular dynamics approaches, we studied the DNA recognition behavior of CHT7-CXC. The results indicate that this domain possesses sequence selectivity due to the differential binding abilities of its subdomains. Further, to understand if the case is that CXC loses its DNA binding capabilities in the vicinity of other repressors, we examined CHT7-CXC's DNA binding stability under the spatial constraint conditions created through fusing CHT7-CXC with AsLOV2. The results show limited ability of CHT7-CXC to withstand steric forces and provide insights to why and how algal cells may hold back CHT7-CXC's indulgence in quiescence repression. CLASSIFICATIONS: Biological Sciences, Biophysics and Computational Biology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manisha Chauhan
- Multidisciplinary Centre for Advanced Research and Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi 110025, India
| | - Syeda Amna Arshi
- Multidisciplinary Centre for Advanced Research and Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi 110025, India
| | - Naveen Narayanan
- Regional Centre for Biotechnology, NCR-Cluster Faridabad, Haryana 121001, India
| | - Haseeb Ul Arfin
- Multidisciplinary Centre for Advanced Research and Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi 110025, India
| | - Amit Sharma
- Multidisciplinary Centre for Advanced Research and Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi 110025, India.
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3
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He Y, Collado JT, Iuliano JN, Woroniecka HA, Hall CR, Gil AA, Laptenok SP, Greetham GM, Illarionov B, Bacher A, Fischer M, French JB, Lukacs A, Meech SR, Tonge PJ. Elucidating the Signal Transduction Mechanism of the Blue-Light-Regulated Photoreceptor YtvA: From Photoactivation to Downstream Regulation. ACS Chem Biol 2024; 19:696-706. [PMID: 38385342 PMCID: PMC10949197 DOI: 10.1021/acschembio.3c00722] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2023] [Revised: 01/25/2024] [Accepted: 02/12/2024] [Indexed: 02/23/2024]
Abstract
The blue-light photoreceptor YtvA from Bacillus subtilis has an N-terminal flavin mononucleotide (FMN)-binding light-oxygen-voltage (LOV) domain that is fused to a C-terminal sulfate transporter and anti-σ factor antagonist (STAS) output domain. To interrogate the signal transduction pathway that leads to photoactivation, the STAS domain was replaced with a histidine kinase, so that photoexcitation of the flavin could be directly correlated with biological activity. N94, a conserved Asn that is hydrogen bonded to the FMN C2═O group, was replaced with Ala, Asp, and Ser residues to explore the role of this residue in triggering the structural dynamics that activate the output domain. Femtosecond to millisecond time-resolved multiple probe spectroscopy coupled with a fluorescence polarization assay revealed that the loss of the hydrogen bond between N94 and the C2═O group decoupled changes in the protein structure from photoexcitation. In addition, alterations in N94 also decreased the stability of the Cys-FMN adduct formed in the light-activated state by up to a factor of ∼25. Collectively, these studies shed light on the role of the hydrogen bonding network in the LOV β-scaffold in signal transduction.
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Affiliation(s)
- YongLe He
- Department
of Chemistry, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York 11794, United States
| | | | - James N. Iuliano
- Department
of Chemistry, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York 11794, United States
| | - Helena A. Woroniecka
- Department
of Chemistry, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York 11794, United States
| | - Christopher R. Hall
- Central
Laser Facility, Research Complex at Harwell, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Didcot OX11 0QX, U.K.
| | - Agnieszka A. Gil
- Department
of Chemistry, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York 11794, United States
| | | | - Gregory M. Greetham
- Central
Laser Facility, Research Complex at Harwell, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Didcot OX11 0QX, U.K.
| | - Boris Illarionov
- Institut
für Biochemie und Lebensmittelchemie, Universität Hamburg, Grindelallee 117, D-20146 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Adelbert Bacher
- Institut
für Biochemie und Lebensmittelchemie, Universität Hamburg, Grindelallee 117, D-20146 Hamburg, Germany
- TUM School
of Natural Sciences, Technical University
of Munich, 85747 Garching, Germany
| | - Markus Fischer
- Institut
für Biochemie und Lebensmittelchemie, Universität Hamburg, Grindelallee 117, D-20146 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Jarrod B. French
- Department
of Chemistry, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York 11794, United States
- The
Hormel Institute, University of Minnesota, Austin, Minnesota 55912, United States
| | - Andras Lukacs
- School
of Chemistry, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, U.K.
- Department
of Biophysics, Medical School, University
of Pecs, Szigeti ut 12, 7624 Pecs, Hungary
| | - Stephen R. Meech
- School
of Chemistry, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, U.K.
| | - Peter J. Tonge
- Department
of Chemistry, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York 11794, United States
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4
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Flores-Ibarra A, Maia RNA, Olasz B, Church JR, Gotthard G, Schapiro I, Heberle J, Nogly P. Light-Oxygen-Voltage (LOV)-sensing Domains: Activation Mechanism and Optogenetic Stimulation. J Mol Biol 2024; 436:168356. [PMID: 37944792 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmb.2023.168356] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2023] [Revised: 10/11/2023] [Accepted: 11/02/2023] [Indexed: 11/12/2023]
Abstract
The light-oxygen-voltage (LOV) domains of phototropins emerged as essential constituents of light-sensitive proteins, helping initiate blue light-triggered responses. Moreover, these domains have been identified across all kingdoms of life. LOV domains utilize flavin nucleotides as co-factors and undergo structural rearrangements upon exposure to blue light, which activates an effector domain that executes the final output of the photoreaction. LOV domains are versatile photoreceptors that play critical roles in cellular signaling and environmental adaptation; additionally, they can noninvasively sense and control intracellular processes with high spatiotemporal precision, making them ideal candidates for use in optogenetics, where a light signal is linked to a cellular process through a photoreceptor. The ongoing development of LOV-based optogenetic tools, driven by advances in structural biology, spectroscopy, computational methods, and synthetic biology, has the potential to revolutionize the study of biological systems and enable the development of novel therapeutic strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Flores-Ibarra
- Dioscuri Center for Structural Dynamics of Receptors, Faculty of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Biotechnology, Jagiellonian University, 30-387 Krakow, Poland
| | - Raiza N A Maia
- Department of Chemistry, The University of Texas at Austin, 78712-1224 Austin, TX, USA
| | - Bence Olasz
- Dioscuri Center for Structural Dynamics of Receptors, Faculty of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Biotechnology, Jagiellonian University, 30-387 Krakow, Poland
| | - Jonathan R Church
- Institute of Chemistry, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 91905 Jerusalem, Israel
| | | | - Igor Schapiro
- Institute of Chemistry, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 91905 Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Joachim Heberle
- Department of Physics, Freie Universität Berlin, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Przemyslaw Nogly
- Dioscuri Center for Structural Dynamics of Receptors, Faculty of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Biotechnology, Jagiellonian University, 30-387 Krakow, Poland.
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5
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Suzuki T, Yoshimura M, Arai M, Narikawa R. Crucial Residue for Tuning Thermal Relaxation Kinetics in the Biliverdin-binding Cyanobacteriochrome Photoreceptor Revealed by Site-saturation Mutagenesis. J Mol Biol 2024; 436:168451. [PMID: 38246412 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmb.2024.168451] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2023] [Revised: 01/15/2024] [Accepted: 01/16/2024] [Indexed: 01/23/2024]
Abstract
Cyanobacteriochromes (CBCRs) are cyanobacterial photoreceptors distantly related to the phytochromes sensing red and far-red light reversibly. Only the cGMP phosphodiesterase/Adenylate cyclase/FhlA (GAF) domain is needed for chromophore incorporation and proper photoconversion. The CBCR GAF domains covalently ligate linear tetrapyrrole chromophores and show reversible photoconversion between two light-absorbing states. In most cases, the two light-absorbing states are stable under dark conditions, but in some cases, the photoproduct state undergoes thermal relaxation back to the dark-adapted state during thermal relaxation. In this study, we examined the engineered CBCR GAF domain, AnPixJg2_BV4. AnPixJg2_BV4 covalently binds biliverdin IX-alpha (BV) and shows reversible photoconversion between a far-red-absorbing Pfr dark-adapted state and an orange-absorbing Po photoproduct state. Because the BV is an intrinsic chromophore of mammalian cells and absorbs far-red light penetrating into deep tissues, BV-binding CBCR molecules are useful for the development of optogenetic and bioimaging tools used in mammals. To obtain a better developmental platform molecule, we performed site-saturation random mutagenesis on the Phe319 position. We succeeded in obtaining variant molecules with higher chromophore-binding efficiency and higher molar extinction coefficient. Furthermore, we observed a wide variation in thermal relaxation kinetics, with an 81-fold difference between the slowest and fastest rates. Both molecules with relatively slow and fast thermal relaxation would be advantageous for optogenetic control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Takahisa Suzuki
- Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Tokyo Metropolitan University, 1-1 Minami-Ohsawa, Hachioji, Tokyo 192-0397, Japan.
| | - Masataka Yoshimura
- Department of Life Sciences, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Komaba, Meguro, Tokyo 153-8902, Japan
| | - Munehito Arai
- Department of Life Sciences, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Komaba, Meguro, Tokyo 153-8902, Japan; Department of Physics, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, Komaba, Meguro, Tokyo 153-8902, Japan
| | - Rei Narikawa
- Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Tokyo Metropolitan University, 1-1 Minami-Ohsawa, Hachioji, Tokyo 192-0397, Japan.
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6
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Hemmer S, Siedhoff NE, Werner S, Ölçücü G, Schwaneberg U, Jaeger KE, Davari MD, Krauss U. Machine Learning-Assisted Engineering of Light, Oxygen, Voltage Photoreceptor Adduct Lifetime. JACS AU 2023; 3:3311-3323. [PMID: 38155650 PMCID: PMC10751770 DOI: 10.1021/jacsau.3c00440] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2023] [Revised: 11/07/2023] [Accepted: 11/07/2023] [Indexed: 12/30/2023]
Abstract
Naturally occurring and engineered flavin-binding, blue-light-sensing, light, oxygen, voltage (LOV) photoreceptor domains have been used widely to design fluorescent reporters, optogenetic tools, and photosensitizers for the visualization and control of biological processes. In addition, natural LOV photoreceptors with engineered properties were recently employed for optimizing plant biomass production in the framework of a plant-based bioeconomy. Here, the understanding and fine-tuning of LOV photoreceptor (kinetic) properties is instrumental for application. In response to blue-light illumination, LOV domains undergo a cascade of photophysical and photochemical events that yield a transient covalent FMN-cysteine adduct, allowing for signaling. The rate-limiting step of the LOV photocycle is the dark-recovery process, which involves adduct scission and can take between seconds and days. Rational engineering of LOV domains with fine-tuned dark recovery has been challenging due to the lack of a mechanistic model, the long time scale of the process, which hampers atomistic simulations, and a gigantic protein sequence space covering known mutations (combinatorial challenge). To address these issues, we used machine learning (ML) trained on scarce literature data and iteratively generated and implemented experimental data to design LOV variants with faster and slower dark recovery. Over the three prediction-validation cycles, LOV domain variants were successfully predicted, whose adduct-state lifetimes spanned 7 orders of magnitude, yielding optimized tools for synthetic (opto)biology. In summary, our results demonstrate ML as a viable method to guide the design of proteins even with limited experimental data and when no mechanistic model of the underlying physical principles is available.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefanie Hemmer
- Institute
of Molecular Enzyme Technology, Heinrich
Heine University Düsseldorf, Wilhelm Johnen Strasse, Jülich 52426, Germany
| | - Niklas Erik Siedhoff
- Institute
of Biotechnology, RWTH Aachen University, Worringer Weg 3, 52074 Aachen, Germany
- DWI-Leibniz
Institute for Interactive Materials, Forckenbeckstraße 50, 52074 Aachen, Germany
| | - Sophia Werner
- Institute
of Molecular Enzyme Technology, Heinrich
Heine University Düsseldorf, Wilhelm Johnen Strasse, Jülich 52426, Germany
| | - Gizem Ölçücü
- Institute
of Molecular Enzyme Technology, Heinrich
Heine University Düsseldorf, Wilhelm Johnen Strasse, Jülich 52426, Germany
| | - Ulrich Schwaneberg
- Institute
of Biotechnology, RWTH Aachen University, Worringer Weg 3, 52074 Aachen, Germany
- DWI-Leibniz
Institute for Interactive Materials, Forckenbeckstraße 50, 52074 Aachen, Germany
| | - Karl-Erich Jaeger
- Institute
of Molecular Enzyme Technology, Heinrich
Heine University Düsseldorf, Wilhelm Johnen Strasse, Jülich 52426, Germany
- Institute
of Bio-and Geosciences IBG 1: Biotechnology, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Wilhelm Johnen Strasse, Jülich 52426, Germany
| | - Mehdi D. Davari
- Department
of Bioorganic Chemistry, Leibniz Institute
of Plant Biochemistry, Weinberg 3, 06120 Halle, Germany
| | - Ulrich Krauss
- Institute
of Molecular Enzyme Technology, Heinrich
Heine University Düsseldorf, Wilhelm Johnen Strasse, Jülich 52426, Germany
- Institute
of Bio-and Geosciences IBG 1: Biotechnology, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Wilhelm Johnen Strasse, Jülich 52426, Germany
- Department
of Biochemistry, University of Bayreuth, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany
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7
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Arshi SA, Chauhan M, Sharma A. Disruption of the FMN-A524 interaction cascade and Glu513-induced collapse of the hydrophobic barrier promotes light-induced Jα-helix unfolding in AsLOV2. Biophys J 2023; 122:4670-4685. [PMID: 37978801 PMCID: PMC10754690 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2023.11.011] [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: 04/28/2023] [Revised: 10/10/2023] [Accepted: 11/14/2023] [Indexed: 11/19/2023] Open
Abstract
The C-terminal Jα-helix of the Avena sativa's Light Oxygen and Voltage (AsLOV2) protein, unfolds on exposure to blue light. This characteristic seeks relevance in applications related to engineering novel biological photoswitches. Using molecular dynamics simulations and the Markov state modeling (MSM) approach we provide the mechanism that explains the stepwise unfolding of the Jα-helix. The unfolding was resolved into seven steps represented by the structurally distinguishable states distributed over the initiation and the post initiation phases. Whereas, the initiation phase occurs due to the collapse of the interaction cascade FMN-Q513-N492-L480-W491-Q479-V520-A524, the onset of the post initiation phase is marked by breaking of the hydrophobic interactions between the Jα-helix and the Iβ-strand. This study indicates that the displacement of N492 out of the FMN binding pocket, not necessarily requiring Q513, is essential for the initiation of the Jα-helix unfolding. Rather, the structural reorientation of Q513 activates the protein to cross the hydrophobic barrier and enter the post initiation phase. Similarly, the structural deviations in N482, rather than its integral role in unfolding, could enhance the unfolding rates. Furthermore, the MSM studies on the wild-type and the Q513 mutant, provide the spatiotemporal roadmap that lay out the possible pathways of structural transition between the dark and the light states of the protein. Overall, the study provides insights useful to enhance the performance of AsLOV2-based photoswitches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Syeda Amna Arshi
- Multidisciplinary Centre for Advance Research and Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India
| | - Manisha Chauhan
- Multidisciplinary Centre for Advance Research and Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India
| | - Amit Sharma
- Multidisciplinary Centre for Advance Research and Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India.
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8
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Spivak M, Stone JE, Ribeiro J, Saam J, Freddolino PL, Bernardi RC, Tajkhorshid E. VMD as a Platform for Interactive Small Molecule Preparation and Visualization in Quantum and Classical Simulations. J Chem Inf Model 2023; 63:4664-4678. [PMID: 37506321 PMCID: PMC10516160 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.3c00658] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/30/2023]
Abstract
Modeling and simulation of small molecules such as drugs and biological cofactors have been both a major focus of computational chemistry for decades and a growing need among computational biophysicists who seek to investigate the interaction of different types of ligands with biomolecules. Of particular interest in this regard are quantum mechanical (QM) calculations that are used to more accurately describe such small molecules, which can be of heterogeneous structures and chemistry, either in purely QM calculations or in hybrid QM/molecular mechanics (MM) simulations. QM programs are also used to develop MM force field parameters for small molecules to be used along with established force fields for biomolecules in classical simulations. With this growing need in mind, here we report a set of software tools developed and closely integrated within the broadly used molecular visualization/analysis program, VMD, that allow the user to construct, modify, and parametrize small molecules and prepare them for QM, hybrid QM/MM, or classical simulations. The tools also provide interactive analysis and visualization capabilities in an easy-to-use and integrated environment. In this paper, we briefly report on these tools and their major features and capabilities, along with examples of how they can facilitate molecular research in computational biophysics that might be otherwise prohibitively complex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mariano Spivak
- Theoretical and Computational Biophysics Group, NIH Resource for Macromolecular Modeling and Visualization, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
| | - John E Stone
- Theoretical and Computational Biophysics Group, NIH Resource for Macromolecular Modeling and Visualization, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
| | - João Ribeiro
- Theoretical and Computational Biophysics Group, NIH Resource for Macromolecular Modeling and Visualization, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
| | - Jan Saam
- Theoretical and Computational Biophysics Group, NIH Resource for Macromolecular Modeling and Visualization, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
| | - Peter L Freddolino
- Department of Biological Chemistry, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
- Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
| | - Rafael C Bernardi
- Theoretical and Computational Biophysics Group, NIH Resource for Macromolecular Modeling and Visualization, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
- Department of Physics, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama 36849, United States
| | - Emad Tajkhorshid
- Theoretical and Computational Biophysics Group, NIH Resource for Macromolecular Modeling and Visualization, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
- Department of Biochemistry, Center for Biophyics and Quantitative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
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9
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Jain A, Dokholyan NV, Lee AL. Allosteric inactivation of an engineered optogenetic GTPase. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2219254120. [PMID: 36972433 PMCID: PMC10083549 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2219254120] [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: 12/02/2022] [Accepted: 02/14/2023] [Indexed: 03/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Optogenetics is a technique for establishing direct spatiotemporal control over molecular function within living cells using light. Light application induces conformational changes within targeted proteins that produce changes in function. One of the applications of optogenetic tools is an allosteric control of proteins via light-sensing domain (LOV2), which allows direct and robust control of protein function. Computational studies supported by cellular imaging demonstrated that application of light allosterically inhibited signaling proteins Vav2, ITSN, and Rac1, but the structural and dynamic basis of such control has yet to be elucidated by experiment. Here, using NMR spectroscopy, we discover principles of action of allosteric control of cell division control protein 42 (CDC42), a small GTPase involved in cell signaling. Both LOV2 and Cdc42 employ flexibility in their function to switch between "dark"/"lit" or active/inactive states, respectively. By conjoining Cdc42 and phototropin1 LOV2 domains into the bi-switchable fusion Cdc42Lov, application of light-or alternatively, mutation in LOV2 to mimic light absorption-allosterically inhibits Cdc42 downstream signaling. The flow and patterning of allosteric transduction in this flexible system are well suited to observation by NMR. Close monitoring of the structural and dynamic properties of dark versus "lit" states of Cdc42Lov revealed lit-induced allosteric perturbations that extend to Cdc42's downstream effector binding site. Chemical shift perturbations for lit mimic, I539E, have distinct regions of sensitivity, and both the domains are coupled together, leading to bidirectional interdomain signaling. Insights gained from this optoallosteric design will increase our ability to control response sensitivity in future designs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abha Jain
- Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC27599
| | - Nikolay V. Dokholyan
- Department of Pharmacology, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, PA17033
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, PA17033
| | - Andrew L. Lee
- Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC27599
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10
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Maity S, Price BD, Wilson CB, Mukherjee A, Starck M, Parker D, Wilson MZ, Lovett JE, Han S, Sherwin MS. Triggered Functional Dynamics of AsLOV2 by Time-Resolved Electron Paramagnetic Resonance at High Magnetic Fields. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2023; 62:e202212832. [PMID: 36638360 DOI: 10.1002/anie.202212832] [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: 09/26/2022] [Revised: 01/06/2023] [Accepted: 01/09/2023] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Abstract
We present time-resolved Gd-Gd electron paramagnetic resonance (TiGGER) at 240 GHz for tracking inter-residue distances during a protein's mechanical cycle in the solution state. TiGGER makes use of Gd-sTPATCN spin labels, whose favorable qualities include a spin-7/2 EPR-active center, short linker, narrow intrinsic linewidth, and virtually no anisotropy at high fields (8.6 T) when compared to nitroxide spin labels. Using TiGGER, we determined that upon light activation, the C-terminus and N-terminus of AsLOV2 separate in less than 1 s and relax back to equilibrium with a time constant of approximately 60 s. TiGGER revealed that the light-activated long-range mechanical motion is slowed in the Q513A variant of AsLOV2 and is correlated to the similarly slowed relaxation of the optically excited chromophore as described in recent literature. TiGGER has the potential to valuably complement existing methods for the study of triggered functional dynamics in proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shiny Maity
- Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Univ. of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
| | - Brad D Price
- Dept. of Physics, Univ. of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
| | - C Blake Wilson
- Dept. of Physics, Univ. of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA.,Laboratory of Chemical Physics, Nat. Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20892-0520, USA
| | - Arnab Mukherjee
- Dept. of Chemical Engineering, Univ. of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
| | | | - David Parker
- Dept. of Chemistry, Univ. of Durham, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK
| | - Maxwell Z Wilson
- Dept. of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, Univ. of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
| | - Janet E Lovett
- School of Physics and Astronomy and the Biomedical Sciences Research Complex, Univ. of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, KY16 9SS, UK
| | - Songi Han
- Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Univ. of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
| | - Mark S Sherwin
- Dept. of Physics, Univ. of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
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11
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Aumonier S, Engilberge S, Caramello N, von Stetten D, Gotthard G, Leonard GA, Mueller-Dieckmann C, Royant A. Slow protein dynamics probed by time-resolved oscillation crystallography at room temperature. IUCRJ 2022; 9:756-767. [PMID: 36381146 PMCID: PMC9634615 DOI: 10.1107/s2052252522009150] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2022] [Accepted: 09/14/2022] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
The development of serial crystallography over the last decade at XFELs and synchrotrons has produced a renaissance in room-temperature macromolecular crystallography (RT-MX), and fostered many technical and methodological breakthroughs designed to study phenomena occurring in proteins on the picosecond-to-second timescale. However, there are components of protein dynamics that occur in much slower regimes, of which the study could readily benefit from state-of-the-art RT-MX. Here, the room-temperature structural study of the relaxation of a reaction intermediate at a synchrotron, exploiting a handful of single crystals, is described. The intermediate in question is formed in microseconds during the photoreaction of the LOV2 domain of phototropin 2 from Arabidopsis thaliana, which then decays in minutes. This work monitored its relaxation in the dark using a fast-readout EIGER X 4M detector to record several complete oscillation X-ray diffraction datasets, each of 1.2 s total exposure time, at different time points in the relaxation process. Coupled with in crystallo UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy, this RT-MX approach allowed the authors to follow the relaxation of the photoadduct, a thio-ether covalent bond between the chromophore and a cysteine residue. Unexpectedly, the return of the chromophore to its spectroscopic ground state is followed by medium-scale protein rearrangements that trigger a crystal phase transition and hinder the full recovery of the structural ground state of the protein. In addition to suggesting a hitherto unexpected role of a conserved tryptophan residue in the regulation of the photocycle of LOV2, this work provides a basis for performing routine time-resolved protein crystallography experiments at synchrotrons for phenomena occurring on the second-to-hour timescale.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sylvain Aumonier
- Structural Biology Group, European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, 71 avenue des Martyrs CS 40220, Grenoble 38043, France
| | - Sylvain Engilberge
- Structural Biology Group, European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, 71 avenue des Martyrs CS 40220, Grenoble 38043, France
| | - Nicolas Caramello
- Structural Biology Group, European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, 71 avenue des Martyrs CS 40220, Grenoble 38043, France
- Hamburg Centre for Ultrafast Imaging, Universität Hamburg, HARBOR, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761 Hamburg, Germany
| | - David von Stetten
- Structural Biology Group, European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, 71 avenue des Martyrs CS 40220, Grenoble 38043, France
| | - Guillaume Gotthard
- Structural Biology Group, European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, 71 avenue des Martyrs CS 40220, Grenoble 38043, France
| | - Gordon A. Leonard
- Structural Biology Group, European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, 71 avenue des Martyrs CS 40220, Grenoble 38043, France
| | - Christoph Mueller-Dieckmann
- Structural Biology Group, European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, 71 avenue des Martyrs CS 40220, Grenoble 38043, France
| | - Antoine Royant
- Structural Biology Group, European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, 71 avenue des Martyrs CS 40220, Grenoble 38043, France
- Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, CEA, Institut de Biologie Structurale (IBS), 71 avenue des Martyrs, Grenoble 38044, France
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12
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Zhuang B, Vos MH. Photoswitching Behavior of Flavin-Inhibitor Complex in a Nonphotocatalytic Flavoenzyme. J Am Chem Soc 2022; 144:11569-11573. [PMID: 35727223 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.2c04763] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
An unprecedented photoswitching phenomenon of flavin-inhibitor complexes in a flavoenzyme was revealed by femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy. The vast majority of flavoenzymes, including monomeric sarcosine oxidase (MSOX), perform non-light-driven physiological functions. Yet, the participation of flavin cofactors in photoinduced electron transfer reactions is widespread. MSOX catalyzes the oxidative demethylation of sarcosine; methylthioacetate (MTA) is a substrate analog inhibitor that forms a complex with MSOX exhibiting intense absorption bands over the whole visible range due to flavin-MTA charge transfer (CT) interactions. Here, we demonstrate that upon excitation, these CT interactions vanish during a barrierless high quantum yield reaction in ∼300 fs. The initial complex subsequently geminately re-forms in a few nanoseconds near room temperature in a thermally activated way with an activation energy of 28 kJ/mol. We attribute this hitherto undocumented process to a well-defined photoinduced isomerization of MTA in the active site, as corroborated by experiments with the heavier ligand methylselenoacetate. Photoisomerization phenomena involving CT transitions may be further explored in photocatalytic and photoswitching applications of flavoenzymes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bo Zhuang
- LOB, CNRS, INSERM, École Polytechnique, Institut Polytechnique de Paris, 91128 Palaiseau, France
| | - Marten H Vos
- LOB, CNRS, INSERM, École Polytechnique, Institut Polytechnique de Paris, 91128 Palaiseau, France
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13
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Dietler J, Gelfert R, Kaiser J, Borin V, Renzl C, Pilsl S, Ranzani AT, García de Fuentes A, Gleichmann T, Diensthuber RP, Weyand M, Mayer G, Schapiro I, Möglich A. Signal transduction in light-oxygen-voltage receptors lacking the active-site glutamine. Nat Commun 2022; 13:2618. [PMID: 35552382 PMCID: PMC9098866 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-30252-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2021] [Accepted: 04/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
In nature as in biotechnology, light-oxygen-voltage photoreceptors perceive blue light to elicit spatiotemporally defined cellular responses. Photon absorption drives thioadduct formation between a conserved cysteine and the flavin chromophore. An equally conserved, proximal glutamine processes the resultant flavin protonation into downstream hydrogen-bond rearrangements. Here, we report that this glutamine, long deemed essential, is generally dispensable. In its absence, several light-oxygen-voltage receptors invariably retained productive, if often attenuated, signaling responses. Structures of a light-oxygen-voltage paradigm at around 1 Å resolution revealed highly similar light-induced conformational changes, irrespective of whether the glutamine is present. Naturally occurring, glutamine-deficient light-oxygen-voltage receptors likely serve as bona fide photoreceptors, as we showcase for a diguanylate cyclase. We propose that without the glutamine, water molecules transiently approach the chromophore and thus propagate flavin protonation downstream. Signaling without glutamine appears intrinsic to light-oxygen-voltage receptors, which pertains to biotechnological applications and suggests evolutionary descendance from redox-active flavoproteins. Light-oxygen-voltage (LOV) photoreceptors perceive blue light to elicit spatio-temporally defined cellular responses, and their signalling process has been extensively characterized. Here the authors report that the light signal is still transduced in the absence of a conserved Gln residue, thought to be key.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia Dietler
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Bayreuth, 95447, Bayreuth, Germany
| | - Renate Gelfert
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Bayreuth, 95447, Bayreuth, Germany
| | - Jennifer Kaiser
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Bayreuth, 95447, Bayreuth, Germany
| | - Veniamin Borin
- Institute of Chemistry, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Christian Renzl
- Life and Medical Sciences (LIMES), University of Bonn, 53121, Bonn, Germany
| | - Sebastian Pilsl
- Life and Medical Sciences (LIMES), University of Bonn, 53121, Bonn, Germany
| | | | | | - Tobias Gleichmann
- Biophysical Chemistry, Humboldt-University Berlin, 10115, Berlin, Germany
| | | | - Michael Weyand
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Bayreuth, 95447, Bayreuth, Germany
| | - Günter Mayer
- Life and Medical Sciences (LIMES), University of Bonn, 53121, Bonn, Germany.,Center of Aptamer Research & Development, University of Bonn, 53121, Bonn, Germany
| | - Igor Schapiro
- Institute of Chemistry, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Andreas Möglich
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Bayreuth, 95447, Bayreuth, Germany. .,Biophysical Chemistry, Humboldt-University Berlin, 10115, Berlin, Germany. .,Bayreuth Center for Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Universität Bayreuth, 95447, Bayreuth, Germany. .,North-Bavarian NMR Center, Universität Bayreuth, 95447, Bayreuth, Germany.
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14
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Zhuang B, Liebl U, Vos MH. Flavoprotein Photochemistry: Fundamental Processes and Photocatalytic Perspectives. J Phys Chem B 2022; 126:3199-3207. [PMID: 35442696 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.2c00969] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
Flavins are highly versatile redox-active and colored cofactors in a large variety of proteins. These do include photoenzymes and photoreceptors, although the vast majority performs non-light-driven physiological functions. Nevertheless, electron transfer between flavins and specific nearby amino acid residues (in particular tyrosine, tryptophan, and presumably histidine and arginine) takes place upon excitation of flavin in many flavoproteins. For oxidized flavoproteins these reactions potentially have a photoprotective role. In this Perspective, we outline work on the characterization of early reaction intermediates not only in the relatively well-studied resting oxidized forms but also in the fully reduced and the intrinsically unstable semireduced forms, where ultrafast photooxidation of flavin was recently demonstrated. Along different lines, flavoprotein-based novel photocatalysts for biotechnological applications are presently emerging, employing both substrate photooxidation and photoreduction strategies. Deep insight into the fundamental flavin photochemical reactions may help in guiding and optimizing their development and in the exploration of novel photocatalytic approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bo Zhuang
- LOB, CNRS, INSERM, Ecole Polytechnique, Institut Polytechnique de Paris, 91128 Palaiseau Cedex, France
| | - Ursula Liebl
- LOB, CNRS, INSERM, Ecole Polytechnique, Institut Polytechnique de Paris, 91128 Palaiseau Cedex, France
| | - Marten H Vos
- LOB, CNRS, INSERM, Ecole Polytechnique, Institut Polytechnique de Paris, 91128 Palaiseau Cedex, France
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15
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Zerlotti R, Losi A, Polverini E. Oxygen diffusion pathways in mutated forms of a LOV photoreceptor from Methylobacterium radiotolerans: A molecular dynamics study. Biomol Concepts 2022; 13:164-174. [DOI: 10.1515/bmc-2022-0013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2022] [Accepted: 03/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Mr4511 from Methylobacterium radiotolerans is a photoreceptor of the light, oxygen voltage (LOV) family, binding flavin mononucleotide (FMN) as a chromophore. It exhibits the prototypical LOV photocycle, with the reversible formation of an FMN-Cys71 adduct via fast decay of the FMN triplet state. Mr4511 has high potential as a photosensitiser for singlet oxygen (SO) upon mutation of C71. Mr4511-C71S shows a triplet lifetime (τ
T) of several hundreds of microseconds, ensuring efficient energy transfer to dioxygen to form SO. In this work, we have explored the potential diffusion pathways for dioxygen within Mr4511 using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The structural model of wild-type (wt) Mr4511 showed a dimeric structure stabilised by a strong leucine zipper at the two C-terminal helical ends. We then introduced in silico the C71S mutation and analysed transient and persistent oxygen channels. MD simulations indicate that the chromophore binding site is highly accessible to dioxygen. Mutations that might favour SO generation were designed based on their position with respect to FMN and the oxygen channels. In particular, the C71S-Y61T and C71S-Y61S variants showed an increased diffusion and persistence of oxygen molecules inside the binding cavity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rocco Zerlotti
- NeuroTrans ETN Network c/o Nanion Technologies GmbH, Ganghoferstraße 70/a , 80339 München , Bayern , Germany
- Department of Mathematical, Physical and Computer Sciences, University of Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 7/A , 43124 Parma , Italy
| | - Aba Losi
- Department of Mathematical, Physical and Computer Sciences, University of Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 7/A , 43124 Parma , Italy
| | - Eugenia Polverini
- Department of Mathematical, Physical and Computer Sciences, University of Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 7/A , 43124 Parma , Italy
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16
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Ibrahim MT, Trozzi F, Tao P. Dynamics of hydrogen bonds in the secondary structures of allosteric protein Avena Sativa phototropin 1. Comput Struct Biotechnol J 2022; 20:50-64. [PMID: 34976311 PMCID: PMC8671528 DOI: 10.1016/j.csbj.2021.11.038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2021] [Revised: 11/28/2021] [Accepted: 11/28/2021] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
The Light-Oxygen-Voltage 2 (LOV2) domain of Avena Sativa phototropin 1 (AsLOV2) protein is one of the most studied domains in the field of designing photoswitches. This is due to the several unique features in the AsLOV2, such as the monomeric structure of the protein in both light and dark states and the relatively short transition time between the two states. Despite that, not many studies focus on the effect of the secondary structures on the drastic conformational change between the light and dark states. In this study, we focus on the role of A’α helix as a key player in the transition between both states using various computational tools as: 1.5 μs molecular dynamics simulations for each configuration, Markov state model, different machine learning techniques, and community analysis. The impact of the A’α helix was studied on the atomistic level by introducing two groups of mutations, helicity enhancing mutations (T406A and T407A) and helicity disrupting mutations (L408D and R410P), as well as on the overall secondary structure by using the community analysis. Maintaining the N-terminal hydrogen bond network was found to be essential for the transition between the two states. Via in-depth hydrogen bonding and contact analysis we were able to identify key residues (Thr407 and Arg410) involved in the functional conformational switch and their impact on the overall protein dynamics. Moreover, the community analysis highlighted the significant role of the β sheets in the overall protein allosteric process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mayar Tarek Ibrahim
- Department of Chemistry, Center for Research Computing, Center for Drug Discovery, Design, and Delivery (CD4), Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, United States
| | - Francesco Trozzi
- Department of Chemistry, Center for Research Computing, Center for Drug Discovery, Design, and Delivery (CD4), Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, United States
| | - Peng Tao
- Department of Chemistry, Center for Research Computing, Center for Drug Discovery, Design, and Delivery (CD4), Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, United States
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17
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Pook B, Goenrich J, Hasenjäger S, Essen LO, Spadaccini R, Taxis C. An Optogenetic Toolbox for Synergistic Regulation of Protein Abundance. ACS Synth Biol 2021; 10:3411-3421. [PMID: 34797069 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.1c00350] [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] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Optogenetic tools have been proven to be useful in regulating cellular processes via an external signal. Light can be applied with high spatial and temporal precision as well as easily modulated in quantity and quality. Natural photoreceptors of the light oxygen voltage (LOV) domain family have been characterized in depth, especially the LOV2 domain of Avena sativa (As) phototropin 1 and its derivatives. Information on the behavior of LOV2 variants with changes in the photocycle or the light response has been recorded. Here, we applied well-described photocycle mutations on the AsLOV2 domain of a photosensitive transcription factor (psTF) as well as its variant that is part of the photosensitive degron (psd) psd3 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In vivo and in vitro measurements revealed that each photoreceptor component of the light-sensitive transcription factor and the psd3 module can be modulated in its light sensitivity by mutations that are known to prolong or shorten the dark-reversion time of AsLOV2. Yet, only two of the mutations showed differences in the in vivo behavior in the context of the psd3 module. For the AsLOV2 domain in the context of the psTF, we observed different characteristics for all four variants. Molecular dynamics simulations showed distinct influences of the shortened Jα helix and the V416L mutation in the context of the psd3 photoreceptor. In conclusion, we demonstrated the tunability of two optogenetic tools with a set of mutations that affect the photocycle of the inherent photoreceptors. As these optogenetic tools are concurrent in their action, pleiotropic effects on target protein abundance are achievable with the simultaneous action of the diverse photoreceptor variants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bastian Pook
- Unit for Structural Biochemistry, Department of Chemistry, Philipps-University Marburg, 35032 Marburg, Germany
| | - Juri Goenrich
- Department of Biology/Genetics, Philipps-University Marburg, 35043 Marburg, Germany
| | - Sophia Hasenjäger
- Department of Biology/Genetics, Philipps-University Marburg, 35043 Marburg, Germany
| | - Lars-Oliver Essen
- Unit for Structural Biochemistry, Department of Chemistry, Philipps-University Marburg, 35032 Marburg, Germany
| | - Roberta Spadaccini
- Department of Science and Technology, Università degli Studi del Sannio, 82100 Benevento, Italy
| | - Christof Taxis
- Department of Biology/Genetics, Philipps-University Marburg, 35043 Marburg, Germany
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18
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Ding Y, Zhao Z, Matysik J, Gärtner W, Losi A. Mapping the role of aromatic amino acids within a blue-light sensing LOV domain. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2021; 23:16767-16775. [PMID: 34319324 DOI: 10.1039/d1cp02217b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Photosensing LOV (Light, Oxygen, Voltage) domains detect and respond to UVA/Blue (BL) light by forming a covalent adduct between the flavin chromophore and a nearby cysteine, via the decay of the flavin triplet excited state. LOV domains where the reactive cysteine has been mutated are valuable fluorescent tools for microscopy and as genetically encoded photosensitisers for reactive oxygen species. Besides being convenient tools for applications, LOV domains without the reactive cysteine (naturally occurring or engineered) can still be functionally photoactivated via formation of a neutral flavin radical. Tryptophans and tyrosines are held as the main partners as potential electron donors to the flavin excited states. In this work, we explore the relevance of aromatic amino acids in determining the photophysical features of the LOV protein Mr4511 from Methylobacterium radiotolerans by introducing point mutations into the C71S variant that does not form the covalent adduct. By using an array of spectroscopic techniques we measured the fluorescence quantum yields and lifetimes, the triplet yields and lifetimes, and the efficiency of singlet oxygen (SO) formation for eleven Mr4511 variants. Insertion of Trp residues at distances between 0.6 and 1.5 nm from the flavin chromophore results in strong quenching of the flavin excited triplet state and, at the shorter distances even of the singlet excited state. The mutation F130W (ca. 0.6 nm) completely quenches the singlet excited state, preventing triplet formation: in this case, even if the cysteine is present, the photo-adduct is not formed. Tyrosines are also quenchers for the flavin excited states, although not as efficient as Trp residues, as demonstrated with their substitution with the inert phenylalanine. For one of these variants, C71S/Y116F, we found that the quantum yield of formation for singlet oxygen is 0.44 in aqueous aerobic solution, vs 0.17 for C71S. Based on our study with Mr4511 and on literature data for other LOV domains we suggest that Trp and Tyr residues too close to the flavin chromophore (at distances less than 0.9 nm) reduce the yield of photoproduct formation and that introduction of inert Phe residues in key positions can help in developing efficient, LOV-based photosensitisers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yonghong Ding
- Institute for Analytical Chemistry, University of Leipzig, Linnéstrasse 3, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
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19
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Bogetti AT, Presti MF, Loh SN, Chong LT. The Next Frontier for Designing Switchable Proteins: Rational Enhancement of Kinetics. J Phys Chem B 2021; 125:9069-9077. [PMID: 34324338 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.1c04082] [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
Designing proteins that can switch between active (ON) and inactive (OFF) conformations in response to signals such as ligand binding and incident light has been a tantalizing endeavor in protein engineering for over a decade. While such designs have yielded novel biosensors, therapeutic agents, and smart biomaterials, the response times (times for switching ON and OFF) of many switches have been too slow to be of practical use. Among the defining properties of such switches, the kinetics of switching has been the most challenging to optimize. This is largely due to the difficulty of characterizing the structures of transient states, which are required for manipulating the height of the effective free energy barrier between the ON and OFF states. We share our perspective of the most promising new experimental and computational strategies over the past several years for tackling this next frontier for designing switchable proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anthony T Bogetti
- Department of Chemistry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, United States
| | - Maria F Presti
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, State University of New York Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, New York 13210, United States
| | - Stewart N Loh
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, State University of New York Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, New York 13210, United States
| | - Lillian T Chong
- Department of Chemistry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, United States
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20
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Andrikopoulos PC, Chaudhari AS, Liu Y, Konold PE, Kennis JTM, Schneider B, Fuertes G. QM calculations predict the energetics and infrared spectra of transient glutamine isomers in LOV photoreceptors. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2021; 23:13934-13950. [PMID: 34142688 PMCID: PMC8246142 DOI: 10.1039/d1cp00447f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2021] [Accepted: 06/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Photosensory receptors containing the flavin-binding light-oxygen-voltage (LOV) domain are modular proteins that fulfil a variety of biological functions ranging from gene expression to phototropism. The LOV photocycle is initiated by blue-light and involves a cascade of intermediate species, including an electronically excited triplet state, that leads to covalent bond formation between the flavin mononucleotide (FMN) chromophore and a nearby cysteine residue. Subsequent conformational changes in the polypeptide chain arise due to the remodelling of the hydrogen bond network in the cofactor binding pocket, whereby a conserved glutamine residue plays a key role in coupling FMN photochemistry with LOV photobiology. Although the dark-to-light transition of LOV photosensors has been previously addressed by spectroscopy and computational approaches, the mechanistic basis of the underlying reactions is still not well understood. Here we present a detailed computational study of three distinct LOV domains: EL222 from Erythrobacter litoralis, AsLOV2 from the second LOV domain of Avena sativa phototropin 1, and RsLOV from Rhodobacter sphaeroides LOV protein. Extended protein-chromophore models containing all known crucial residues involved in the initial steps (femtosecond-to-microsecond) of the photocycle were employed. Energies and rotational barriers were calculated for possible rotamers and tautomers of the critical glutamine side chain, which allowed us to postulate the most energetically favoured glutamine orientation for each LOV domain along the assumed reaction path. In turn, for each evolving species, infrared difference spectra were constructed and compared to experimental EL222 and AsLOV2 transient infrared spectra, the former from original work presented here and the latter from the literature. The good agreement between theory and experiment permitted the assignment of the majority of observed bands, notably the ∼1635 cm-1 transient of the adduct state to the carbonyl of the glutamine side chain after rotation. Moreover, both the energetic and spectroscopic approaches converge in suggesting a facile glutamine flip at the adduct intermediate for EL222 and more so for AsLOV2, while for RsLOV the glutamine keeps its initial configuration. Additionally, the computed infrared shifts of the glutamine and interacting residues could guide experimental research addressing early events of signal transduction in LOV proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Prokopis C Andrikopoulos
- Institute of Biotechnology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, BIOCEV, Průmyslová 595, CZ-252 50 Vestec, Czechia.
| | - Aditya S Chaudhari
- Institute of Biotechnology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, BIOCEV, Průmyslová 595, CZ-252 50 Vestec, Czechia.
| | - Yingliang Liu
- Institute of Biotechnology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, BIOCEV, Průmyslová 595, CZ-252 50 Vestec, Czechia.
| | - Patrick E Konold
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Faculty of Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, 1081 De Boelelaan, 1081HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - John T M Kennis
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Faculty of Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, 1081 De Boelelaan, 1081HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Bohdan Schneider
- Institute of Biotechnology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, BIOCEV, Průmyslová 595, CZ-252 50 Vestec, Czechia.
| | - Gustavo Fuertes
- Institute of Biotechnology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, BIOCEV, Průmyslová 595, CZ-252 50 Vestec, Czechia.
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21
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Pinto SMV, Tasinato N, Barone V, Zanetti-Polzi L, Daidone I. A computational insight into the relationship between side chain IR line shapes and local environment in fibril-like structures. J Chem Phys 2021; 154:084105. [PMID: 33639764 DOI: 10.1063/5.0038913] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Infrared spectroscopy is a widely used technique to characterize protein structures and protein mediated processes. While the amide I band provides information on proteins' secondary structure, amino acid side chains are used as infrared probes for the investigation of protein reactions and local properties. In this paper, we use a hybrid quantum mechanical/classical molecular dynamical approach based on the perturbed matrix method to compute the infrared band due to the C=O stretching mode of amide-containing side chains. We calculate, at first, the infrared band of zwitterionic glutamine in water and obtain results in very good agreement with the experimental data. Then, we compute the signal arising from glutamine side chains in a microcrystal of the yeast prion Sup35-derived peptide, GNNQQNY, with a fibrillar structure. The infrared bands obtained by selective isotopic labeling of the two glutamine residues, Q4 and Q5, of each peptide were experimentally used to investigate the local hydration in the fibrillar microcrystal. The experimental spectra of the two glutamine residues, which experience different hydration environments, feature different spectral signals that are well reproduced by the corresponding calculated spectra. In addition, the analysis of the simulated spectra clarifies the molecular origin of the experimentally observed spectroscopic differences that arise from the different local electric field experienced by the two glutamine residues, which is, in turn, determined by a different hydrogen bonding pattern.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sandra M V Pinto
- Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza dei Cavalieri 7, I-56126 Pisa, Italy
| | - Nicola Tasinato
- Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza dei Cavalieri 7, I-56126 Pisa, Italy
| | - Vincenzo Barone
- Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza dei Cavalieri 7, I-56126 Pisa, Italy
| | | | - Isabella Daidone
- Department of Physical and Chemical Sciences, University of L'Aquila, Via Vetoio, I-67100 L'Aquila, Italy
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22
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Li L, He L, Wu B, Yu C, Zhao H, Zhou Y, Wang J, Zhu L. Structural Determinants for Light-Dependent Membrane Binding of a Photoswitchable Polybasic Domain. ACS Synth Biol 2021; 10:542-551. [PMID: 33689308 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.0c00571] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
OptoPB is an optogenetic tool engineered by fusion of the phosphoinositide (PI)-binding polybasic domain of Rit1 (Rit-PB) to a photoreactive light-oxygen-voltage (LOV) domain. OptoPB selectively and reversibly binds the plasma membrane (PM) under blue light excitation, and in the dark, it releases back to the cytoplasm. However, the molecular mechanism of optical regulation and lipid recognition is still unclear. Here using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, liposome pulldown assay, and surface plasmon resonance (SPR), we find that OptoPB binds to membrane mimetics containing di- or triphosphorylated phosphatidylinositols, particularly phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PI(4,5)P2), an acidic phospholipid predominantly located in the eukaryotic PM. In the dark, steric hindrance prevented this protein-membrane interaction, while 470 nm blue light illumination activated it. NMR titration and site-directed mutagenesis revealed that both cationic and hydrophobic Rit-PB residues are essential to the membrane interaction, indicating that OptoPB binds the membrane via a specific PI(4,5)P2-dependent mechanism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ling Li
- High Magnetic Field Laboratory, CAS Key Laboratory of High Magnetic Field and Ion Beam Physical Biology, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, China
- University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China
| | - Lian He
- Center for Translational Cancer Research, Institute of Biosciences and Technology, Texas A&M University, Houston, Texas 77030, United States
| | - Bo Wu
- High Magnetic Field Laboratory, CAS Key Laboratory of High Magnetic Field and Ion Beam Physical Biology, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, China
| | - Chuandi Yu
- High Magnetic Field Laboratory, CAS Key Laboratory of High Magnetic Field and Ion Beam Physical Biology, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, China
- University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China
| | - Hongxin Zhao
- High Magnetic Field Laboratory, CAS Key Laboratory of High Magnetic Field and Ion Beam Physical Biology, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, China
| | - Yubin Zhou
- Center for Translational Cancer Research, Institute of Biosciences and Technology, Texas A&M University, Houston, Texas 77030, United States
| | - Junfeng Wang
- High Magnetic Field Laboratory, CAS Key Laboratory of High Magnetic Field and Ion Beam Physical Biology, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, China
- University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China
- Institute of Physical Science and Information Technology, Anhui University, Hefei 230031, China
| | - Lei Zhu
- High Magnetic Field Laboratory, CAS Key Laboratory of High Magnetic Field and Ion Beam Physical Biology, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, China
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23
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Hart JE, Gardner KH. Lighting the way: Recent insights into the structure and regulation of phototropin blue light receptors. J Biol Chem 2021; 296:100594. [PMID: 33781746 PMCID: PMC8086140 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbc.2021.100594] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2020] [Revised: 03/24/2021] [Accepted: 03/25/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
The phototropins (phots) are light-activated kinases that are critical for plant physiology and the many diverse optogenetic tools that they have inspired. Phototropins combine two blue-light-sensing Light-Oxygen-Voltage (LOV) domains (LOV1 and LOV2) and a C-terminal serine/threonine kinase domain, using the LOV domains to control the catalytic activity of the kinase. While much is known about the structure and photochemistry of the light-perceiving LOV domains, particularly in how activation of the LOV2 domain triggers the unfolding of alpha helices that communicate the light signal to the kinase domain, many questions about phot structure and mechanism remain. Recent studies have made progress addressing these questions by utilizing small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and other biophysical approaches to study multidomain phots from Chlamydomonas and Arabidopsis, leading to models where the domains have an extended linear arrangement, with the regulatory LOV2 domain contacting the kinase domain N-lobe. We discuss this and other advances that have improved structural and mechanistic understanding of phot regulation in this review, along with the challenges that will have to be overcome to obtain high-resolution structural information on these exciting photoreceptors. Such information will be essential to advancing fundamental understanding of plant physiology while enabling engineering efforts at both the whole plant and molecular levels.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jaynee E Hart
- Structural Biology Initiative, CUNY Advanced Science Research Center, New York, New York, USA
| | - Kevin H Gardner
- Structural Biology Initiative, CUNY Advanced Science Research Center, New York, New York, USA; Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, City College of New York, New York, USA; PhD Programs in Biochemistry, Chemistry, and Biology, Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, USA.
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24
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Resonance energy transfer sensitises and monitors in situ switching of LOV2-based optogenetic actuators. Nat Commun 2020; 11:5107. [PMID: 33037199 PMCID: PMC7547724 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-18816-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2020] [Accepted: 09/08/2020] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Engineered light-dependent switches provide uniquely powerful opportunities to investigate and control cell regulatory mechanisms. Existing tools offer high spatiotemporal resolution, reversibility and repeatability. Cellular optogenetics applications remain limited with diffusible targets as the response of the actuator is difficult to independently validate. Blue light levels commonly needed for actuation can be cytotoxic, precluding long-term experiments. We describe a simple approach overcoming these obstacles. Resonance energy transfer can be used to constitutively or dynamically modulate actuation sensitivity. This simultaneously offers on-line monitoring of light-dependent switching and precise quantification of activation-relaxation properties in intact living cells. Applying this approach to different LOV2-based switches reveals that flanking sequences can lead to relaxation times up to 11-fold faster than anticipated. In situ–measured parameter values guide the design of target-inhibiting actuation trains with minimal blue-light exposure, and context-based optimisation can increase sensitivity and experimental throughput a further 10-fold without loss of temporal precision. Cellular optogenetics applications are limited by difficulties in quantification and blue light toxicity. Here the authors design LOV2-based switches that use resonance energy transfer to overcome these concerns.
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25
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Lu X, Shen Y, Campbell RE. Engineering Photosensory Modules of Non-Opsin-Based Optogenetic Actuators. Int J Mol Sci 2020; 21:E6522. [PMID: 32906617 PMCID: PMC7555876 DOI: 10.3390/ijms21186522] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2020] [Revised: 09/03/2020] [Accepted: 09/04/2020] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Optogenetic (photo-responsive) actuators engineered from photoreceptors are widely used in various applications to study cell biology and tissue physiology. In the toolkit of optogenetic actuators, the key building blocks are genetically encodable light-sensitive proteins. Currently, most optogenetic photosensory modules are engineered from naturally-occurring photoreceptor proteins from bacteria, fungi, and plants. There is a growing demand for novel photosensory domains with improved optical properties and light-induced responses to satisfy the needs of a wider variety of studies in biological sciences. In this review, we focus on progress towards engineering of non-opsin-based photosensory domains, and their representative applications in cell biology and physiology. We summarize current knowledge of engineering of light-sensitive proteins including light-oxygen-voltage-sensing domain (LOV), cryptochrome (CRY2), phytochrome (PhyB and BphP), and fluorescent protein (FP)-based photosensitive domains (Dronpa and PhoCl).
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaocen Lu
- Department of Chemistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2G2, Canada; (X.L.); (Y.S.)
| | - Yi Shen
- Department of Chemistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2G2, Canada; (X.L.); (Y.S.)
| | - Robert E. Campbell
- Department of Chemistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2G2, Canada; (X.L.); (Y.S.)
- Department of Chemistry, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
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