1
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Martins GF, Galamba N. Wild-Type α-Synuclein Structure and Aggregation: A Comprehensive Coarse-Grained and All-Atom Molecular Dynamics Study. J Chem Inf Model 2024. [PMID: 39046235 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.4c00965] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/25/2024]
Abstract
α-Synuclein (α-syn) is a 140 amino acid intrinsically disordered protein (IDP) and the primary component of cytotoxic oligomers implicated in the etiology of Parkinson's disease (PD). While IDPs lack a stable three-dimensional structure, they sample a heterogeneous ensemble of conformations that can, in principle, be assessed through molecular dynamics simulations. However, describing the structure and aggregation of large IDPs is challenging due to force field (FF) accuracy and sampling limitations. To cope with the latter, coarse-grained (CG) FFs emerge as a potential alternative at the expense of atomic detail loss. Whereas CG models can accurately describe the structure of the monomer, less is known about aggregation. The latter is key for assessing aggregation pathways and designing aggregation inhibitor drugs. Herein, we investigate the structure and dynamics of α-syn using different resolution CG (Martini3 and Sirah2) and all-atom (Amber99sb and Charmm36m) FFs to gain insight into the differences and resemblances between these models. The dependence of the magnitude of protein-water interactions and the putative need for enhanced sampling (replica exchange) methods in CG simulations are analyzed to distinguish between force field accuracy and sampling limitations. The stability of the CG models of an α-syn fibril was also investigated. Additionally, α-syn aggregation was studied through umbrella sampling for the CG models and CG/all-atom models for an 11-mer peptide (NACore) from an amyloidogenic domain of α-syn. Our results show that despite the α-syn structures of Martini3 and Sirah2 with enhanced protein-water interactions being similar, major differences exist concerning aggregation. The Martini3 fibril is not stable, and the binding free energy of α-syn and NACore is positive, opposite to Sirah2. Sirah2 peptides in a zwitterionic form, in turn, display termini interactions that are too strong, resulting in end-to-end orientation. Sirah2, with enhanced protein-water interactions and neutral termini, provides, however, a peptide aggregation free energy profile similar to that found with all-atom models. Overall, we find that Sirah2 with enhanced protein-water interactions is suitable for studying protein-protein and protein-drug aggregation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriel F Martins
- BioISI─Biosystems and Integrative Sciences Institute, Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon, C8, Campo Grande, 1749-016 Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Nuno Galamba
- BioISI─Biosystems and Integrative Sciences Institute, Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon, C8, Campo Grande, 1749-016 Lisbon, Portugal
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2
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Vila JA. Analysis of proteins in the light of mutations. EUROPEAN BIOPHYSICS JOURNAL : EBJ 2024:10.1007/s00249-024-01714-y. [PMID: 38955858 DOI: 10.1007/s00249-024-01714-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2023] [Revised: 05/23/2024] [Accepted: 06/18/2024] [Indexed: 07/04/2024]
Abstract
Proteins have evolved through mutations-amino acid substitutions-since life appeared on Earth, some 109 years ago. The study of these phenomena has been of particular significance because of their impact on protein stability, function, and structure. This study offers a new viewpoint on how the most recent findings in these areas can be used to explore the impact of mutations on protein sequence, stability, and evolvability. Preliminary results indicate that: (1) mutations can be viewed as sensitive probes to identify 'typos' in the amino-acid sequence, and also to assess the resistance of naturally occurring proteins to unwanted sequence alterations; (2) the presence of 'typos' in the amino acid sequence, rather than being an evolutionary obstacle, could promote faster evolvability and, in turn, increase the likelihood of higher protein stability; (3) the mutation site is far more important than the substituted amino acid in terms of the marginal stability changes of the protein, and (4) the unpredictability of protein evolution at the molecular level-by mutations-exists even in the absence of epistasis effects. Finally, the Darwinian concept of evolution "descent with modification" and experimental evidence endorse one of the results of this study, which suggests that some regions of any protein sequence are susceptible to mutations while others are not. This work contributes to our general understanding of protein responses to mutations and may spur significant progress in our efforts to develop methods to accurately forecast changes in protein stability, their propensity for metamorphism, and their ability to evolve.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jorge A Vila
- IMASL-CONICET, Universidad Nacional de San Luis, Ejército de los Andes 950, 5700, San Luis, Argentina.
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3
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Martarelli N, Capurro M, Mansour G, Jahromi RV, Stella A, Rossi R, Longetti E, Bigerna B, Gentili M, Rosseto A, Rossi R, Cencini C, Emiliani C, Martino S, Beeg M, Gobbi M, Tiacci E, Falini B, Morena F, Perriello VM. Artificial Intelligence-Powered Molecular Docking and Steered Molecular Dynamics for Accurate scFv Selection of Anti-CD30 Chimeric Antigen Receptors. Int J Mol Sci 2024; 25:7231. [PMID: 39000338 PMCID: PMC11242627 DOI: 10.3390/ijms25137231] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2024] [Revised: 06/25/2024] [Accepted: 06/27/2024] [Indexed: 07/16/2024] Open
Abstract
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells represent a revolutionary immunotherapy that allows specific tumor recognition by a unique single-chain fragment variable (scFv) derived from monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). scFv selection is consequently a fundamental step for CAR construction, to ensure accurate and effective CAR signaling toward tumor antigen binding. However, conventional in vitro and in vivo biological approaches to compare different scFv-derived CARs are expensive and labor-intensive. With the aim to predict the finest scFv binding before CAR-T cell engineering, we performed artificial intelligence (AI)-guided molecular docking and steered molecular dynamics analysis of different anti-CD30 mAb clones. Virtual computational scFv screening showed comparable results to surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and functional CAR-T cell in vitro and in vivo assays, respectively, in terms of binding capacity and anti-tumor efficacy. The proposed fast and low-cost in silico analysis has the potential to advance the development of novel CAR constructs, with a substantial impact on reducing time, costs, and the need for laboratory animal use.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nico Martarelli
- Institute of Hematology and Center for Hemato-Oncology Research, University of Perugia and Santa Maria della Misericordia Hospital, 06132 Perugia, Italy; (N.M.); (M.C.); (R.V.J.); (A.S.); (R.R.); (E.L.); (B.B.); (M.G.); (A.R.); (R.R.); (E.T.); (B.F.)
| | - Michela Capurro
- Institute of Hematology and Center for Hemato-Oncology Research, University of Perugia and Santa Maria della Misericordia Hospital, 06132 Perugia, Italy; (N.M.); (M.C.); (R.V.J.); (A.S.); (R.R.); (E.L.); (B.B.); (M.G.); (A.R.); (R.R.); (E.T.); (B.F.)
| | - Gizem Mansour
- Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri IRCCS, Via Mario Negri 2, 20156 Milano, Italy; (G.M.); (M.B.); (M.G.)
| | - Ramina Vossoughi Jahromi
- Institute of Hematology and Center for Hemato-Oncology Research, University of Perugia and Santa Maria della Misericordia Hospital, 06132 Perugia, Italy; (N.M.); (M.C.); (R.V.J.); (A.S.); (R.R.); (E.L.); (B.B.); (M.G.); (A.R.); (R.R.); (E.T.); (B.F.)
| | - Arianna Stella
- Institute of Hematology and Center for Hemato-Oncology Research, University of Perugia and Santa Maria della Misericordia Hospital, 06132 Perugia, Italy; (N.M.); (M.C.); (R.V.J.); (A.S.); (R.R.); (E.L.); (B.B.); (M.G.); (A.R.); (R.R.); (E.T.); (B.F.)
| | - Roberta Rossi
- Institute of Hematology and Center for Hemato-Oncology Research, University of Perugia and Santa Maria della Misericordia Hospital, 06132 Perugia, Italy; (N.M.); (M.C.); (R.V.J.); (A.S.); (R.R.); (E.L.); (B.B.); (M.G.); (A.R.); (R.R.); (E.T.); (B.F.)
| | - Emanuele Longetti
- Institute of Hematology and Center for Hemato-Oncology Research, University of Perugia and Santa Maria della Misericordia Hospital, 06132 Perugia, Italy; (N.M.); (M.C.); (R.V.J.); (A.S.); (R.R.); (E.L.); (B.B.); (M.G.); (A.R.); (R.R.); (E.T.); (B.F.)
| | - Barbara Bigerna
- Institute of Hematology and Center for Hemato-Oncology Research, University of Perugia and Santa Maria della Misericordia Hospital, 06132 Perugia, Italy; (N.M.); (M.C.); (R.V.J.); (A.S.); (R.R.); (E.L.); (B.B.); (M.G.); (A.R.); (R.R.); (E.T.); (B.F.)
| | - Marco Gentili
- Institute of Hematology and Center for Hemato-Oncology Research, University of Perugia and Santa Maria della Misericordia Hospital, 06132 Perugia, Italy; (N.M.); (M.C.); (R.V.J.); (A.S.); (R.R.); (E.L.); (B.B.); (M.G.); (A.R.); (R.R.); (E.T.); (B.F.)
| | - Ariele Rosseto
- Institute of Hematology and Center for Hemato-Oncology Research, University of Perugia and Santa Maria della Misericordia Hospital, 06132 Perugia, Italy; (N.M.); (M.C.); (R.V.J.); (A.S.); (R.R.); (E.L.); (B.B.); (M.G.); (A.R.); (R.R.); (E.T.); (B.F.)
| | - Riccardo Rossi
- Institute of Hematology and Center for Hemato-Oncology Research, University of Perugia and Santa Maria della Misericordia Hospital, 06132 Perugia, Italy; (N.M.); (M.C.); (R.V.J.); (A.S.); (R.R.); (E.L.); (B.B.); (M.G.); (A.R.); (R.R.); (E.T.); (B.F.)
| | - Chiara Cencini
- Department of Chemistry, Biology, and Biotechnologies, Via del Giochetto, University of Perugia, 06122 Perugia, Italy; (C.C.); (C.E.); (S.M.)
| | - Carla Emiliani
- Department of Chemistry, Biology, and Biotechnologies, Via del Giochetto, University of Perugia, 06122 Perugia, Italy; (C.C.); (C.E.); (S.M.)
| | - Sabata Martino
- Department of Chemistry, Biology, and Biotechnologies, Via del Giochetto, University of Perugia, 06122 Perugia, Italy; (C.C.); (C.E.); (S.M.)
| | - Marten Beeg
- Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri IRCCS, Via Mario Negri 2, 20156 Milano, Italy; (G.M.); (M.B.); (M.G.)
| | - Marco Gobbi
- Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri IRCCS, Via Mario Negri 2, 20156 Milano, Italy; (G.M.); (M.B.); (M.G.)
| | - Enrico Tiacci
- Institute of Hematology and Center for Hemato-Oncology Research, University of Perugia and Santa Maria della Misericordia Hospital, 06132 Perugia, Italy; (N.M.); (M.C.); (R.V.J.); (A.S.); (R.R.); (E.L.); (B.B.); (M.G.); (A.R.); (R.R.); (E.T.); (B.F.)
| | - Brunangelo Falini
- Institute of Hematology and Center for Hemato-Oncology Research, University of Perugia and Santa Maria della Misericordia Hospital, 06132 Perugia, Italy; (N.M.); (M.C.); (R.V.J.); (A.S.); (R.R.); (E.L.); (B.B.); (M.G.); (A.R.); (R.R.); (E.T.); (B.F.)
| | - Francesco Morena
- Department of Chemistry, Biology, and Biotechnologies, Via del Giochetto, University of Perugia, 06122 Perugia, Italy; (C.C.); (C.E.); (S.M.)
| | - Vincenzo Maria Perriello
- Institute of Hematology and Center for Hemato-Oncology Research, University of Perugia and Santa Maria della Misericordia Hospital, 06132 Perugia, Italy; (N.M.); (M.C.); (R.V.J.); (A.S.); (R.R.); (E.L.); (B.B.); (M.G.); (A.R.); (R.R.); (E.T.); (B.F.)
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4
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Dettmann LF, Kühn O, Ahmed AA. Martini-Based Coarse-Grained Soil Organic Matter Model Derived from Atomistic Simulations. J Chem Theory Comput 2024; 20:5291-5305. [PMID: 38831535 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.4c00332] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/05/2024]
Abstract
The significance of soil organic matter (SOM) in environmental contexts, particularly its role in pollutant adsorption, has prompted an increased utilization of molecular simulations to understand microscopic interactions. This study introduces a coarse-grained SOM model, parametrized within the framework of the versatile Martini 3 force field. Utilizing models generated by the Vienna Soil Organic Matter Modeler 2, which constructs humic substance systems from a fragment database, we employed Swarm-CG to parametrize the fragments and subsequently assembled them into macromolecules. Direct Boltzmann inversion (DBI) facilitated the determination of bonded parameters between fragments. The parametrization yielded favorable agreement in the radius of gyration and solvent-accessible surface area. Transfer free energies exhibited a strong correlation with hexadecane-water and chloroform-water values, albeit deviations were noted for octanol-water values. Comparing densities of modeled Leonardite humic acid systems at coarse-grained and atomistic levels revealed promising agreement, particularly at higher water concentrations. The DBI approach effectively reproduced average values of bonded interactions between fragments. Radial distribution functions between carboxylate groups and calcium ions showed partial agreement, however, reproducing certain peaks was challenging due to fixed bead sizes. Detailed analysis of atomistic systems revealed different configurations between the groups, explaining discrepancies. The present contribution provides a comprehensive insight into the properties, strengths, and weaknesses of the coarse-grained SOM model, serving as a foundation for future investigations encompassing pollutant interactions and varied SOM compositions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lorenz F Dettmann
- Institute of Physics, University of Rostock, Albert-Einstein-Street 23-24, Rostock D-18059, Germany
| | - Oliver Kühn
- Institute of Physics, University of Rostock, Albert-Einstein-Street 23-24, Rostock D-18059, Germany
- Department of Life, Light and Matter (LLM), University of Rostock, Albert-Einstein-Street 25, Rostock D-18059, Germany
| | - Ashour A Ahmed
- Department of Life, Light and Matter (LLM), University of Rostock, Albert-Einstein-Street 25, Rostock D-18059, Germany
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5
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Ghosh D, Biswas A, Radhakrishna M. Advanced computational approaches to understand protein aggregation. BIOPHYSICS REVIEWS 2024; 5:021302. [PMID: 38681860 PMCID: PMC11045254 DOI: 10.1063/5.0180691] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2023] [Accepted: 03/18/2024] [Indexed: 05/01/2024]
Abstract
Protein aggregation is a widespread phenomenon implicated in debilitating diseases like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and cataracts, presenting complex hurdles for the field of molecular biology. In this review, we explore the evolving realm of computational methods and bioinformatics tools that have revolutionized our comprehension of protein aggregation. Beginning with a discussion of the multifaceted challenges associated with understanding this process and emphasizing the critical need for precise predictive tools, we highlight how computational techniques have become indispensable for understanding protein aggregation. We focus on molecular simulations, notably molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, spanning from atomistic to coarse-grained levels, which have emerged as pivotal tools in unraveling the complex dynamics governing protein aggregation in diseases such as cataracts, Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's. MD simulations provide microscopic insights into protein interactions and the subtleties of aggregation pathways, with advanced techniques like replica exchange molecular dynamics, Metadynamics (MetaD), and umbrella sampling enhancing our understanding by probing intricate energy landscapes and transition states. We delve into specific applications of MD simulations, elucidating the chaperone mechanism underlying cataract formation using Markov state modeling and the intricate pathways and interactions driving the toxic aggregate formation in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. Transitioning we highlight how computational techniques, including bioinformatics, sequence analysis, structural data, machine learning algorithms, and artificial intelligence have become indispensable for predicting protein aggregation propensity and locating aggregation-prone regions within protein sequences. Throughout our exploration, we underscore the symbiotic relationship between computational approaches and empirical data, which has paved the way for potential therapeutic strategies against protein aggregation-related diseases. In conclusion, this review offers a comprehensive overview of advanced computational methodologies and bioinformatics tools that have catalyzed breakthroughs in unraveling the molecular basis of protein aggregation, with significant implications for clinical interventions, standing at the intersection of computational biology and experimental research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Deepshikha Ghosh
- Department of Biological Sciences and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Gandhinagar, Palaj, Gujarat 382355, India
| | - Anushka Biswas
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Gandhinagar, Palaj, Gujarat 382355, India
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6
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Zhu Y, Zhao X, Xiang C, Liu X, Li J. Evaluation of Essential Dynamics and Fixed-Length Coarse Graining for Multidomain Proteins. J Phys Chem B 2024; 128:5147-5156. [PMID: 38758598 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.3c08198] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/19/2024]
Abstract
For multiscale modeling of biomolecules, reliable coarse-grained (CG) models can offer great potential to simulate larger temporal and spatial scales than traditional all-atom (AA) models. In this study, we explore the essential dynamics coarse graining (EDCG) and fixed-length coarse graining (FLCG) approaches for constructing highly coarse-grained models for multidomain proteins (MDPs), with 1 to 10 amino acid residues per CG site. In the studies of 13 MDPs, our data indicate that both EDCG and FLCG can preserve the protein dynamics of MDPs. FLCG, which restricts an equal number of residues in each CG site, represents an excellent approximation to EDCG and a straightforward approach for coarse-graining MDPs. Furthermore, FLCG is tested with a class B G-protein-coupled receptor protein, and the agreement with prior experiments suggests its general application to various MDPs in different environments or conditions. Finally, we demonstrate another application of FLCG through progressive backmapping, showcasing the ability to recover from lower-resolution CG models (6 residues/CG site) to higher-resolution ones (1 residue/CG site). These promising outcomes underscore the broad applicability of FLCG to construct highly or ultra-coarse-grained models of complex biomolecules for multiscale simulations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu Zhu
- Borch Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, United States
| | - Xiaochuan Zhao
- Department of Chemistry, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont 05405, United States
| | - Chijian Xiang
- Department of Horticulture & Landscape Architecture, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, United States
| | - Xianshi Liu
- Borch Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, United States
| | - Jianing Li
- Borch Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, United States
- Department of Chemistry, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont 05405, United States
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7
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Bian H, Shao X, Cai W, Fu H. Understanding the Reversible Binding of a Multichain Protein-Protein Complex through Free-Energy Calculations. J Phys Chem B 2024; 128:3598-3604. [PMID: 38574232 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.4c00519] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/06/2024]
Abstract
We demonstrate that the binding affinity of a multichain protein-protein complex, insulin dimer, can be accurately predicted using a streamlined route of standard binding free-energy calculations. We find that chains A and C, which do not interact directly during binding, stabilize the insulin monomer structures and reduce the binding affinity of the two monomers, therefore enabling their reversible association. Notably, we confirm that although classical methods can estimate the binding affinity of the insulin dimer, conventional molecular dynamics, enhanced sampling algorithms, and classical geometrical routes of binding free-energy calculations may not fully capture certain aspects of the role played by the noninteracting chains in the binding dynamics. Therefore, this study not only elucidates the role of noninteracting chains in the reversible binding of the insulin dimer but also offers a methodological guide for investigating the reversible binding of multichain protein-protein complexes utilizing streamlined free-energy calculations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hengwei Bian
- Research Center for Analytical Sciences, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Biosensing and Molecular Recognition, State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China
- Haihe Laboratory of Sustainable Chemical Transformations, Tianjin 300192, China
| | - Xueguang Shao
- Research Center for Analytical Sciences, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Biosensing and Molecular Recognition, State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China
- Haihe Laboratory of Sustainable Chemical Transformations, Tianjin 300192, China
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Smart Sensing Interdisciplinary Science Center, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China
| | - Wensheng Cai
- Research Center for Analytical Sciences, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Biosensing and Molecular Recognition, State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China
- Haihe Laboratory of Sustainable Chemical Transformations, Tianjin 300192, China
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Smart Sensing Interdisciplinary Science Center, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China
| | - Haohao Fu
- Research Center for Analytical Sciences, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Biosensing and Molecular Recognition, State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China
- Haihe Laboratory of Sustainable Chemical Transformations, Tianjin 300192, China
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Smart Sensing Interdisciplinary Science Center, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China
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8
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Pusara S, Wenzel W, Kozlowska M. Impact of DNA on interactions between core proteins of Hepatitis B virus-like particles comprising different C-terminals. Int J Biol Macromol 2024; 263:130365. [PMID: 38401590 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.130365] [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: 11/28/2023] [Revised: 02/14/2024] [Accepted: 02/20/2024] [Indexed: 02/26/2024]
Abstract
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) virus-like particles (VLPs) are promising therapeutic agents derived from HBV core proteins (Cp). This study investigates the assembly dynamics of HBV VLPs, which is crucial for their potential as drug carriers or gene delivery systems. Coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations explore the impact of C-terminal domain length (in the Cp ranging from Cp149 to wild-type Cp183) on Cp assembly and stability, particularly in the presence of DNA. Our findings reveal that the C-terminal nucleic acid binding region significantly influences Cp assembly and stability of trimers comprising Cp dimers. Shorter C-terminal domains (Cp164, Cp167) enhance stability and protein-protein interactions, while interactions between naturally occurring Cp183 are destabilized in the absence of DNA. Interestingly, DNA addition further stabilizes Cp assemblies, and this effect is influenced by the length of the nucleic acid binding region. Shorter C-terminal domains show less dependency on DNA content. This stabilization is attributed to electrostatic forces between positively charged C-terminal chains and negatively charged nucleic acids. Our study sheds light on the molecular mechanisms governing protein-protein and protein-DNA interactions in HBV VLP assembly, providing insights into Cp processability and informing the development of efficient gene therapy carriers using VLP technology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Srdjan Pusara
- Institute of Nanotechnology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology KIT, Kaiserstraße 12, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
| | - Wolfgang Wenzel
- Institute of Nanotechnology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology KIT, Kaiserstraße 12, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
| | - Mariana Kozlowska
- Institute of Nanotechnology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology KIT, Kaiserstraße 12, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany.
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9
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Li S, Wu B, Luo YL, Han W. Simulations of Functional Motions of Super Large Biomolecules with a Mixed-Resolution Model. J Chem Theory Comput 2024; 20:2228-2245. [PMID: 38374639 PMCID: PMC10938502 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.3c01046] [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: 09/22/2023] [Revised: 01/18/2024] [Accepted: 01/29/2024] [Indexed: 02/21/2024]
Abstract
Many large protein machines function through an interplay between large-scale movements and intricate conformational changes. Understanding functional motions of these proteins through simulations becomes challenging for both all-atom and coarse-grained (CG) modeling techniques because neither approach alone can readily capture the full details of these motions. In this study, we develop a multiscale model by employing the popular MARTINI CG model to represent a heterogeneous environment and structurally stable proteins and using the united-atom (UA) model PACE to describe proteins undergoing subtle conformational changes. PACE was previously developed to be compatible with the MARTINI solvent and membrane. Here, we couple the protein descriptions of the two models by directly mixing UA and CG interaction parameters to greatly simplify parameter determination. Through extensive validations with diverse protein systems in solution or membrane, we demonstrate that only additional parameter rescaling is needed to enable the resulting model to recover the stability of native structures of proteins under mixed representation. Moreover, we identify the optimal scaling factors that can be applied to various protein systems, rendering the model potentially transferable. To further demonstrate its applicability for realistic systems, we apply the model to a mechanosensitive ion channel Piezo1 that has peripheral arms for sensing membrane tension and a central pore for ion conductance. The model can reproduce the coupling between Piezo1's large-scale arm movement and subtle pore opening in response to membrane stress while consuming much less computational costs than all-atom models. Therefore, our model shows promise for studying functional motions of large protein machines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shu Li
- Centre
for Artificial Intelligence Driven Drug Discovery, Faculty of Applied
Sciences, Macao Polytechnic University, Macao 999078, China
- State
Key Laboratory of Chemical Oncogenomics, Guangdong Provincial Key
Laboratory of Chemical Genomics, School of Chemical Biology and Biotechnology, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen 518055, China
| | - Bohua Wu
- State
Key Laboratory of Chemical Oncogenomics, Guangdong Provincial Key
Laboratory of Chemical Genomics, School of Chemical Biology and Biotechnology, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen 518055, China
| | - Yun Lyna Luo
- Department
of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Western University of Health Sciences, Pomona, California 91766, United States
| | - Wei Han
- State
Key Laboratory of Chemical Oncogenomics, Guangdong Provincial Key
Laboratory of Chemical Genomics, School of Chemical Biology and Biotechnology, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen 518055, China
- Department
of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Hong Kong
Baptist University, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China
- Shenzhen
Bay Laboratory, Institute of Chemical Biology, Shenzhen 518132, China
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10
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Song Y, Selmani S, Freites JA, Guan Z, Tobias DJ. Multiscale Molecular Dynamics Simulations of an Active Self-Assembling Material. J Phys Chem B 2024; 128:1266-1274. [PMID: 38290526 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.3c06572] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/01/2024]
Abstract
Inspired by the adaptability observed in biological materials, self-assembly processes have attracted significant interest for their potential to yield novel materials with unique properties. However, experimental methods have often fallen short in capturing the molecular details of the assembly process. In this study, we employ a multiscale molecular dynamics simulation approach, complemented by NMR quantification, to investigate the mechanism of self-assembly in a redox-fueled bioinspired system. Contrary to conventional assumptions, we have uncovered a significant role played by the monomer precursor in the assembly process, with its presence varying with concentration and the extent of conversion of the monomer to the dimer. Experimental confirmation through NMR quantification underscores the concentration-dependent incorporation of monomers into the fibrous structures. Furthermore, our simulations also shed light on the diverse intermolecular interactions, including T-shaped and parallel π stacking, as well as hydrogen bonds, in stabilizing the aggregates. Overall, the open conformation of the dimer is preferred within these aggregates. However, inside the aggregates, the distribution of conformations shifts slightly to the closed conformation compared to on the surface. These findings contribute to the growing field of bioinspired materials science by providing valuable mechanistic and structural insights to guide the design and development of self-assembling materials with biomimetic functionalities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuanming Song
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California 92697, United States
- Center for Complex and Active Materials, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California 92697, United States
| | - Serxho Selmani
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California 92697, United States
- Center for Complex and Active Materials, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California 92697, United States
| | - J Alfredo Freites
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California 92697, United States
| | - Zhibin Guan
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California 92697, United States
- Center for Complex and Active Materials, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California 92697, United States
| | - Douglas J Tobias
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California 92697, United States
- Center for Complex and Active Materials, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California 92697, United States
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11
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Wu X, Hone AJ, Huang YH, Clark RJ, McIntosh JM, Kaas Q, Craik DJ. Computational Design of α-Conotoxins to Target Specific Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor Subtypes. Chemistry 2024; 30:e202302909. [PMID: 37910861 PMCID: PMC10872529 DOI: 10.1002/chem.202302909] [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: 09/21/2023] [Revised: 10/25/2023] [Accepted: 10/26/2023] [Indexed: 11/03/2023]
Abstract
Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) are drug targets for neurological diseases and disorders, but selective targeting of the large number of nAChR subtypes is challenging. Marine cone snail α-conotoxins are potent blockers of nAChRs and some have been engineered to achieve subtype selectivity. This engineering effort would benefit from rapid computational methods able to predict mutational energies, but current approaches typically require high-resolution experimental structures, which are not widely available for α-conotoxin complexes. Herein, five mutational energy prediction methods were benchmarked using crystallographic and mutational data on two acetylcholine binding protein/α-conotoxin systems. Molecular models were developed for six nAChR subtypes in complex with five α-conotoxins that were studied through 150 substitutions. The best method was a combination of FoldX and molecular dynamics simulations, resulting in a predictive Matthews Correlation Coefficient (MCC) of 0.68 (85 % accuracy). Novel α-conotoxin mutants designed using this method were successfully validated by experimental assay with improved pharmaceutical properties. This work paves the way for the rapid design of subtype-specific nAChR ligands and potentially accelerated drug development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaosa Wu
- Institute for Molecular Bioscience, Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Innovations in Peptide and Protein Science, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, 4072, Australia
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, 4072, Australia
| | - Arik J Hone
- School of Biological Science, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84112, USA
- MIRECC, George E. Whalen Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84112, USA
| | - Yen-Hua Huang
- Institute for Molecular Bioscience, Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Innovations in Peptide and Protein Science, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, 4072, Australia
| | - Richard J Clark
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, 4072, Australia
| | - J Michael McIntosh
- School of Biological Science, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84112, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84112, USA
- George E. Whalen Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84112, USA
| | - Quentin Kaas
- Institute for Molecular Bioscience, Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Innovations in Peptide and Protein Science, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, 4072, Australia
| | - David J Craik
- Institute for Molecular Bioscience, Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Innovations in Peptide and Protein Science, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, 4072, Australia
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12
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Garay PG, Machado MR, Verli H, Pantano S. SIRAH Late Harvest: Coarse-Grained Models for Protein Glycosylation. J Chem Theory Comput 2024; 20:963-976. [PMID: 38175797 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.3c00783] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/06/2024]
Abstract
Glycans constitute one of the most complex families of biological molecules. Despite their crucial role in a plethora of biological processes, they remain largely uncharacterized because of their high complexity. Their intrinsic flexibility and the vast variability associated with the many combination possibilities have hampered their experimental determination. Although theoretical methods have proven to be a valid alternative to the study of glycans, the large size associated with polysaccharides, proteoglycans, and glycolipids poses significant challenges to a fully atomistic description of biologically relevant glycoconjugates. On the other hand, the exquisite dependence on hydrogen bonds to determine glycans' structure makes the development of simplified or coarse-grained (CG) representations extremely challenging. This is particularly the case when glycan representations are expected to be compatible with CG force fields that include several molecular types. We introduce a CG representation able to simulate a wide variety of polysaccharides and common glycosylation motifs in proteins, which is fully compatible with the CG SIRAH force field. Examples of application to N-glycosylated proteins, including antibody recognition and calcium-mediated glycan-protein interactions, highlight the versatility of the enlarged set of CG molecules provided by SIRAH.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pablo G Garay
- Biomolecular Simulations Group, Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Mataojo 2020, CP 11400 Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - Matias R Machado
- Biomolecular Simulations Group, Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Mataojo 2020, CP 11400 Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - Hugo Verli
- Programa de Pos-Graduacao em Biologia Celular e Molecular (PPGBCM), Centro de Biotecnologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Av. Bento Goncalves, 9500, Porto Alegre 91509-900, Brazil
| | - Sergio Pantano
- Biomolecular Simulations Group, Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Mataojo 2020, CP 11400 Montevideo, Uruguay
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13
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Miyazaki Y, Shinoda W. pSPICA Force Field Extended for Proteins and Peptides. J Chem Inf Model 2024; 64:532-542. [PMID: 38156656 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.3c01611] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2024]
Abstract
Many coarse-grained (CG) molecular dynamics (MD) studies have been performed to investigate biological processes involving proteins and lipids. CG force fields (FFs) in these MD studies often use implicit or nonpolar water models to reduce computational costs. CG-MD using water models cannot properly describe electrostatic screening effects owing to the hydration of ionic segments and thus cannot appropriately describe molecular events involving water channels and pores through lipid membranes. To overcome this issue, we developed a protein model in the pSPICA FF, in which a polar CG water model showing the proper dielectric response was adopted. The developed CG model greatly improved the transfer free energy profiles of charged side chain analogues across the lipid membrane. Application studies on melittin-induced membrane pores and mechanosensitive channels in lipid membranes demonstrated that CG-MDs using the pSPICA FF correctly reproduced the structure and stability of the pores and channels. Furthermore, the adsorption behavior of the highly charged nona-arginine peptides on lipid membranes changed with salt concentration, indicating the pSPICA FF is also useful for simulating protein adsorption on membrane surfaces.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yusuke Miyazaki
- Research Institute for Interdisciplinary Science, Okayama University, 3-1-1 Tsushima-naka, Kita-ku, Okayama 700-8530, Japan
| | - Wataru Shinoda
- Research Institute for Interdisciplinary Science, Okayama University, 3-1-1 Tsushima-naka, Kita-ku, Okayama 700-8530, Japan
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14
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Zonta F, Mammano F, Pantano S. Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Permeation Through Connexin Channels. Methods Mol Biol 2024; 2801:45-56. [PMID: 38578412 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-3842-2_4] [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] [Indexed: 04/06/2024]
Abstract
Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are a collection of computational tools that can be used to trace intermolecular interactions at the sub-nanometer level. They offer possibilities that are often unavailable to experimental methods, making MD an ideal complementary technique for the understanding a plethora of biological processes. Thanks to significant efforts by many groups of developers around the world, setting up and running MD simulations has become progressively simpler. However, simulating ionic permeation through membrane channels still presents significant caveats.MD simulations of connexin (Cx) hemichannels (HCs) are particularly problematic because HCs create wide pores in the plasma membrane, and the lateral sizes of the extracellular and intracellular regions are quite different. In this chapter, we provide a detailed instruction to perform MD simulations aimed at computationally modeling the permeation of inorganic ions and larger molecules through Cx HCs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesco Zonta
- Department of Biological Sciences, School of Science, Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Suzhou, China.
| | - Fabio Mammano
- Department of Physics and Astronomy "G. Galilei", University of Padova, Padova, Italy
- Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Italian National Research Council, Rome, Italy
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15
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Pacios LF, Sánchez F, Ponz F. Intrinsic disorder in the dynamic evolution of structure, stability, and flexibility of potyviral VLP assemblies: A computational study. Int J Biol Macromol 2024; 254:127798. [PMID: 37924902 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2023.127798] [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: 07/13/2023] [Revised: 10/18/2023] [Accepted: 10/29/2023] [Indexed: 11/06/2023]
Abstract
An all-atom Molecular Dynamics (MD) study was applied to three viral nanoparticles (VLPs) of Turnip mosaic virus (TuMV), a potyvirus: the particles genetically functionalized with two peptides, VIP (human vasoactive intestinal peptide) and VEGFR (peptide derived from the human receptor 3 of the vascular endothelial growth factor), and the non-functionalized VLP. Previous experimental results showed that VIP-VLP was the only construct of the three that was not viable. VLPs subjected to our MD study were modeled by four complete turns of the particle involving 35 subunits of the coat protein (CP). The MD simulations showed differences in structures and interaction energies associated to the crucial contribution of the disordered N-terminal arms of CP to the global stability of the particle. These differences suggested an overall stability greater in VEGFR-VLP and smaller in VIP-VLP as compared to the unfunctionalized VLP. Our novel MD study of potyviral VLPs revealed essential clues about structure and interactions of these assembled protein particles and suggests that the computational prediction of the viability of VLPs can be a valuable contribution in the field of viral nanobiotechnology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luis F Pacios
- Departamento de Biotecnología-Biología Vegetal, ETSIAAB, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM), 28040 Madrid, Spain; Centro de Biotecnología y Genómica de Plantas, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) - Instituto Nacional de Investigación Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA/CSIC), Campus de Montegancedo UPM, 28223 Pozuelo de Alarcón, Madrid, Spain
| | - Flora Sánchez
- Centro de Biotecnología y Genómica de Plantas, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) - Instituto Nacional de Investigación Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA/CSIC), Campus de Montegancedo UPM, 28223 Pozuelo de Alarcón, Madrid, Spain
| | - Fernando Ponz
- Centro de Biotecnología y Genómica de Plantas, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) - Instituto Nacional de Investigación Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA/CSIC), Campus de Montegancedo UPM, 28223 Pozuelo de Alarcón, Madrid, Spain.
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16
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Cieślak D, Kabelka I, Bartuzi D. Molecular Dynamics Simulations in Protein-Protein Docking. Methods Mol Biol 2024; 2780:91-106. [PMID: 38987465 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-3985-6_6] [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] [Indexed: 07/12/2024]
Abstract
Concerted interactions between all the cell components form the basis of biological processes. Protein-protein interactions (PPIs) constitute a tremendous part of this interaction network. Deeper insight into PPIs can help us better understand numerous diseases and lead to the development of new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. PPI interfaces, until recently, were considered undruggable. However, it is now believed that the interfaces contain "hot spots," which could be targeted by small molecules. Such a strategy would require high-quality structural data of PPIs, which are difficult to obtain experimentally. Therefore, in silico modeling can complement or be an alternative to in vitro approaches. There are several computational methods for analyzing the structural data of the binding partners and modeling of the protein-protein dimer/oligomer structure. The major problem with in silico structure prediction of protein assemblies is obtaining sufficient sampling of protein dynamics. One of the methods that can take protein flexibility and the effects of the environment into account is Molecular Dynamics (MD). While sampling of the whole protein-protein association process with plain MD would be computationally expensive, there are several strategies to harness the method to PPI studies while maintaining reasonable use of resources. This chapter reviews known applications of MD in the PPI investigation workflows.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dominika Cieślak
- Laboratory of Plant Protein Phosphorylation, Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Ivo Kabelka
- Science for Life Laboratory, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Damian Bartuzi
- Science for Life Laboratory, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
- Department of Synthesis and Chemical Technology of Pharmaceutical Substances with Computer Modelling Lab, Medical University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland.
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17
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Airas J, Ding X, Zhang B. Transferable Implicit Solvation via Contrastive Learning of Graph Neural Networks. ACS CENTRAL SCIENCE 2023; 9:2286-2297. [PMID: 38161379 PMCID: PMC10755853 DOI: 10.1021/acscentsci.3c01160] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2023] [Revised: 10/26/2023] [Accepted: 10/31/2023] [Indexed: 01/03/2024]
Abstract
Implicit solvent models are essential for molecular dynamics simulations of biomolecules, striking a balance between computational efficiency and biological realism. Efforts are underway to develop accurate and transferable implicit solvent models and coarse-grained (CG) force fields in general, guided by a bottom-up approach that matches the CG energy function with the potential of mean force (PMF) defined by the finer system. However, practical challenges arise due to the lack of analytical expressions for the PMF and algorithmic limitations in parameterizing CG force fields. To address these challenges, a machine learning-based approach is proposed, utilizing graph neural networks (GNNs) to represent the solvation free energy and potential contrasting for parameter optimization. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach by deriving a transferable GNN implicit solvent model using 600,000 atomistic configurations of six proteins obtained from explicit solvent simulations. The GNN model provides solvation free energy estimations much more accurately than state-of-the-art implicit solvent models, reproducing configurational distributions of explicit solvent simulations. We also demonstrate the reasonable transferability of the GNN model outside of the training data. Our study offers valuable insights for deriving systematically improvable implicit solvent models and CG force fields from a bottom-up perspective.
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Affiliation(s)
- Justin Airas
- Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139-4307, United
States
| | - Xinqiang Ding
- Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139-4307, United
States
| | - Bin Zhang
- Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139-4307, United
States
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18
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Frigini EN, Porasso RD, Beke-Somfai T, López Cascales JJ, Enriz RD, Pantano S. The Mechanism of Antimicrobial Small-Cationic Peptides from Coarse-Grained Simulations. J Chem Inf Model 2023; 63:6877-6889. [PMID: 37905818 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.3c01348] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2023]
Abstract
Antimicrobial cationic peptides (AMPs) are excellent candidates for use as therapeutic antimicrobial agents. Among them, short peptides possessing sequences of 9-11 amino acids have some advantages over long-sequence peptides. However, one of the main limitations of short peptides is that their mechanism of action at the molecular level is not well-known. In this article, we report a model based on multiscale molecular dynamics simulations of short peptides interacting with vesicles containing palmitoyl-oleoyl-phosphatidylglycerol (POPG)/palmitoyl-oleoyl-phosphatidylethanolamine (POPE). Simulations using this approach have allowed us to understand the different behaviors of peptides with antimicrobial activity with respect to those that do not produce this effect. We found remarkable agreement with a series of experimental results directly supporting our model. Moreover, these results allow us to understand the mechanism of action at the molecular level of these short peptides. Our simulations suggest that mechanical inhomogeneities appear in the membrane, promoting membrane rupture when a threshold concentration of peptides adsorbed on the membrane is achieved. These results explain the high structural demand for these peptides to maintain a delicate balance between the affinity for the bilayer surface, a low peptide-peptide repulsion (in order to reach the threshold concentration), and an acceptable tendency to penetrate into the bilayer. This mechanism is different from those proposed for peptides with long amino acid sequences. Such information is very useful from the medicinal chemistry point of view for the design of new small antimicrobial peptides.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ezequiel N Frigini
- Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia, Instituto Multidisciplinario de Investigaciones Biológicas (IMIBIO-SL), Universidad Nacional de San Luis, Ejército de los Andes 950, San Luis 5700, Argentina
- Biomolecular Simulations Group, Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Mataojo 2020, Montevideo 11400, Uruguay
| | - Rodolfo D Porasso
- Instituto de Matemáticas Aplicada San Luis (IMASL), CONICET, Facultad de Ciencias Físico Matemáticas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de San Luis, Av. Ejército de los Andes 950, San Luis 5700, Argentina
| | - Tamás Beke-Somfai
- Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Institute of Materials and Environmental Chemistry, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary
| | - José Javier López Cascales
- Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena, Grupo de Bioinformática y Macromoleculas (BioMac), Area de Química Física, Aulario II, Campus de Alfonso XIII, 30203 Cartagena, Murcia, Spain
| | - Ricardo D Enriz
- Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia, Instituto Multidisciplinario de Investigaciones Biológicas (IMIBIO-SL), Universidad Nacional de San Luis, Ejército de los Andes 950, San Luis 5700, Argentina
| | - Sergio Pantano
- Biomolecular Simulations Group, Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Mataojo 2020, Montevideo 11400, Uruguay
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19
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Borges-Araújo L, Patmanidis I, Singh AP, Santos LHS, Sieradzan AK, Vanni S, Czaplewski C, Pantano S, Shinoda W, Monticelli L, Liwo A, Marrink SJ, Souza PCT. Pragmatic Coarse-Graining of Proteins: Models and Applications. J Chem Theory Comput 2023; 19:7112-7135. [PMID: 37788237 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.3c00733] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/05/2023]
Abstract
The molecular details involved in the folding, dynamics, organization, and interaction of proteins with other molecules are often difficult to assess by experimental techniques. Consequently, computational models play an ever-increasing role in the field. However, biological processes involving large-scale protein assemblies or long time scale dynamics are still computationally expensive to study in atomistic detail. For these applications, employing coarse-grained (CG) modeling approaches has become a key strategy. In this Review, we provide an overview of what we call pragmatic CG protein models, which are strategies combining, at least in part, a physics-based implementation and a top-down experimental approach to their parametrization. In particular, we focus on CG models in which most protein residues are represented by at least two beads, allowing these models to retain some degree of chemical specificity. A description of the main modern pragmatic protein CG models is provided, including a review of the most recent applications and an outlook on future perspectives in the field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luís Borges-Araújo
- Molecular Microbiology and Structural Biochemistry (MMSB, UMR 5086), CNRS, University of Lyon, 7 Passage du Vercors, 69007 Lyon, France
| | - Ilias Patmanidis
- Department of Chemistry, Aarhus University, Langelandsgade 140, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
- Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute and Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 7, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Akhil P Singh
- Department of Biology, University of Fribourg, Chemin du Musée 10, Fribourg CH-1700, Switzerland
| | - Lucianna H S Santos
- Biomolecular Simulations Group, Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Montevideo 11400, Uruguay
| | - Adam K Sieradzan
- Faculty of Chemistry, University of Gdansk, Wita Stwosza 63, 80-308 Gdansk, Poland
| | - Stefano Vanni
- Department of Biology, University of Fribourg, Chemin du Musée 10, Fribourg CH-1700, Switzerland
- Institut de Pharmacologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire, Université Côte d'Azur, Inserm, CNRS, 06560 Valbonne, France
| | - Cezary Czaplewski
- Faculty of Chemistry, University of Gdansk, Wita Stwosza 63, 80-308 Gdansk, Poland
| | - Sergio Pantano
- Biomolecular Simulations Group, Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Montevideo 11400, Uruguay
| | - Wataru Shinoda
- Research Institute for Interdisciplinary Science, Okayama University, 3-1-1 Tsushima-naka, Kita, Okayama 700-8530, Japan
| | - Luca Monticelli
- Molecular Microbiology and Structural Biochemistry (MMSB, UMR 5086), CNRS, University of Lyon, 7 Passage du Vercors, 69007 Lyon, France
| | - Adam Liwo
- Faculty of Chemistry, University of Gdansk, Wita Stwosza 63, 80-308 Gdansk, Poland
| | - Siewert J Marrink
- Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute and Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 7, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Paulo C T Souza
- Molecular Microbiology and Structural Biochemistry (MMSB, UMR 5086), CNRS, University of Lyon, 7 Passage du Vercors, 69007 Lyon, France
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20
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Pierson E, De Pol F, Fillet M, Wouters J. A morpheein equilibrium regulates catalysis in phosphoserine phosphatase SerB2 from Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Commun Biol 2023; 6:1024. [PMID: 37817000 PMCID: PMC10564941 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-023-05402-z] [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: 02/13/2023] [Accepted: 09/29/2023] [Indexed: 10/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Mycobacterium tuberculosis phosphoserine phosphatase MtSerB2 is of interest as a new antituberculosis target due to its essential metabolic role in L-serine biosynthesis and effector functions in infected cells. Previous works indicated that MtSerB2 is regulated through an oligomeric transition induced by L-Ser that could serve as a basis for the design of selective allosteric inhibitors. However, the mechanism underlying this transition remains highly elusive due to the lack of experimental structural data. Here we describe a structural, biophysical, and enzymological characterisation of MtSerB2 oligomerisation in the presence and absence of L-Ser. We show that MtSerB2 coexists in dimeric, trimeric, and tetrameric forms of different activity levels interconverting through a conformationally flexible monomeric state, which is not observed in two near-identical mycobacterial orthologs. This morpheein behaviour exhibited by MtSerB2 lays the foundation for future allosteric drug discovery and provides a starting point to the understanding of its peculiar multifunctional moonlighting properties.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elise Pierson
- Laboratoire de Chimie Biologique Structurale (CBS), Namur Research Institute for Life Sciences (NARILIS), University of Namur (UNamur), 5000, Namur, Belgium
| | - Florian De Pol
- Laboratoire de Chimie Biologique Structurale (CBS), Namur Research Institute for Life Sciences (NARILIS), University of Namur (UNamur), 5000, Namur, Belgium
| | - Marianne Fillet
- Laboratory for the Analysis of Medicines (LAM), Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Medicines (CIRM), University of Liège (ULiège), 4000, Liège, Belgium
| | - Johan Wouters
- Laboratoire de Chimie Biologique Structurale (CBS), Namur Research Institute for Life Sciences (NARILIS), University of Namur (UNamur), 5000, Namur, Belgium.
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21
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Airas J, Ding X, Zhang B. Transferable Coarse Graining via Contrastive Learning of Graph Neural Networks. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.09.08.556923. [PMID: 37745447 PMCID: PMC10515757 DOI: 10.1101/2023.09.08.556923] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/26/2023]
Abstract
Coarse-grained (CG) force fields are essential for molecular dynamics simulations of biomolecules, striking a balance between computational efficiency and biological realism. These simulations employ simplified models grouping atoms into interaction sites, enabling the study of complex biomolecular systems over biologically relevant timescales. Efforts are underway to develop accurate and transferable CG force fields, guided by a bottom-up approach that matches the CG energy function with the potential of mean force (PMF) defined by the finer system. However, practical challenges arise due to many-body effects, lack of analytical expressions for the PMF, and limitations in parameterizing CG force fields. To address these challenges, a machine learning-based approach is proposed, utilizing graph neural networks (GNNs) to represent CG force fields and potential contrasting for parameterization from atomistic simulation data. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach by deriving a transferable GNN implicit solvent model using 600,000 atomistic configurations of six proteins obtained from explicit solvent simulations. The GNN model provides solvation free energy estimations much more accurately than state-of-the-art implicit solvent models, reproducing configurational distributions of explicit solvent simulations. We also demonstrate the reasonable transferability of the GNN model outside the training data. Our study offers valuable insights for building accurate coarse-grained models bottom-up.
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Affiliation(s)
- Justin Airas
- Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Xinqiang Ding
- Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Bin Zhang
- Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
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22
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Klein F, Soñora M, Helene Santos L, Nazareno Frigini E, Ballesteros-Casallas A, Rodrigo Machado M, Pantano S. The SIRAH force field: A suite for simulations of complex biological systems at the coarse-grained and multiscale levels. J Struct Biol 2023; 215:107985. [PMID: 37331570 DOI: 10.1016/j.jsb.2023.107985] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2023] [Revised: 05/18/2023] [Accepted: 06/13/2023] [Indexed: 06/20/2023]
Abstract
The different combinations of molecular dynamics simulations with coarse-grained representations have acquired considerable popularity among the scientific community. Especially in biocomputing, the significant speedup granted by simplified molecular models opened the possibility of increasing the diversity and complexity of macromolecular systems, providing realistic insights on large assemblies for more extended time windows. However, a holistic view of biological ensembles' structural and dynamic features requires a self-consistent force field, namely, a set of equations and parameters that describe the intra and intermolecular interactions among moieties of diverse chemical nature (i.e., nucleic and amino acids, lipids, solvent, ions, etc.). Nevertheless, examples of such force fields are scarce in the literature at the fully atomistic and coarse-grained levels. Moreover, the number of force fields capable of handling simultaneously different scales is restricted to a handful. Among those, the SIRAH force field, developed in our group, furnishes a set of topologies and tools that facilitate the setting up and running of molecular dynamics simulations at the coarse-grained and multiscale levels. SIRAH uses the same classical pairwise Hamiltonian function implemented in the most popular molecular dynamics software. In particular, it runs natively in AMBER and Gromacs engines, and porting it to other simulation packages is straightforward. This review describes the underlying philosophy behind the development of SIRAH over the years and across families of biological molecules, discussing current limitations and future implementations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Florencia Klein
- Laboratoire de Biochimie Théorique, UPR9080, CNRS, Paris, France
| | - Martín Soñora
- Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Mataojo 2020, 11400, Montevideo, Uruguay
| | | | - Ezequiel Nazareno Frigini
- Instituto Multidisciplinario de Investigaciones Biológicas de San Luis (IMIBIO-SL), Universidad Nacional de San Luis - CONICET, San Luis, Argentina
| | - Andrés Ballesteros-Casallas
- Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Mataojo 2020, 11400, Montevideo, Uruguay; Area Bioinformática, DETEMA, Facultad de Química, Universidad de la República, General Flores 2124, Montevideo, 11600, Uruguay
| | | | - Sergio Pantano
- Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Mataojo 2020, 11400, Montevideo, Uruguay; Area Bioinformática, DETEMA, Facultad de Química, Universidad de la República, General Flores 2124, Montevideo, 11600, Uruguay.
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23
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Abstract
A survey of protein databases indicates that the majority of enzymes exist in oligomeric forms, with about half of those found in the UniProt database being homodimeric. Understanding why many enzymes are in their dimeric form is imperative. Recent developments in experimental and computational techniques have allowed for a deeper comprehension of the cooperative interactions between the subunits of dimeric enzymes. This review aims to succinctly summarize these recent advancements by providing an overview of experimental and theoretical methods, as well as an understanding of cooperativity in substrate binding and the molecular mechanisms of cooperative catalysis within homodimeric enzymes. Focus is set upon the beneficial effects of dimerization and cooperative catalysis. These advancements not only provide essential case studies and theoretical support for comprehending dimeric enzyme catalysis but also serve as a foundation for designing highly efficient catalysts, such as dimeric organic catalysts. Moreover, these developments have significant implications for drug design, as exemplified by Paxlovid, which was designed for the homodimeric main protease of SARS-CoV-2.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ke-Wei Chen
- Lab of Computional Chemistry and Drug Design, State Key Laboratory of Chemical Oncogenomics, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen 518055, China
| | - Tian-Yu Sun
- Shenzhen Bay Laboratory, Shenzhen 518132, China
| | - Yun-Dong Wu
- Lab of Computional Chemistry and Drug Design, State Key Laboratory of Chemical Oncogenomics, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen 518055, China
- Shenzhen Bay Laboratory, Shenzhen 518132, China
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24
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Zha J, Xia F. Developing Hybrid All-Atom and Ultra-Coarse-Grained Models to Investigate Taxol-Binding and Dynein Interactions on Microtubules. J Chem Theory Comput 2023; 19:5621-5632. [PMID: 37489636 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.3c00275] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/26/2023]
Abstract
Simulating the conformations and functions of biological macromolecules by using all-atom (AA) models is a challenging task due to expensive computational costs. One possible strategy to solve this problem is to develop hybrid all-atom and ultra-coarse-grained (AA/UCG) models of the biological macromolecules. In the AA/UCG scheme, the interest regions are described by AA models, while the other regions are described in the UCG representation. In this study, we develop the hybrid AA/UCG models and apply them to investigate the conformational changes of microtubule-bound tubulins. The simulation results of the hybrid models elucidated the mechanism of why the taxol molecules selectively bound microtubules but not tubulin dimers. In addition, we also explore the interactions of the microtubules and dyneins. Our study shows that the hybrid AA/UCG model has great application potential in studying the function of complex biological systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jinyin Zha
- School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, NYU-ECNU Center for Computational Chemistry at NYU Shanghai, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China
- Medicinal Chemistry and Bioinformatics Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China
| | - Fei Xia
- School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, NYU-ECNU Center for Computational Chemistry at NYU Shanghai, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China
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25
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Ugarte La Torre D, Takada S, Sugita Y. Extension of the iSoLF implicit-solvent coarse-grained model for multicomponent lipid bilayers. J Chem Phys 2023; 159:075101. [PMID: 37581417 DOI: 10.1063/5.0160417] [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: 06/01/2023] [Accepted: 07/26/2023] [Indexed: 08/16/2023] Open
Abstract
iSoLF is a coarse-grained (CG) model for lipid molecules with the implicit-solvent approximation used in molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of biological membranes. Using the original iSoLF (iSoLFv1), MD simulations of lipid bilayers consisting of either POPC or DPPC and these bilayers, including membrane proteins, can be performed. Here, we improve the original model, explicitly treating the electrostatic interactions between different lipid molecules and adding CG particle types. As a result, the available lipid types increase to 30. To parameterize the potential functions of the new model, we performed all-atom MD simulations of each lipid at three different temperatures using the CHARMM36 force field and the modified TIP3P model. Then, we parameterized both the bonded and non-bonded interactions to fit the area per lipid and the membrane thickness of each lipid bilayer by using the multistate Boltzmann Inversion method. The final model reproduces the area per lipid and the membrane thickness of each lipid bilayer at the three temperatures. We also examined the applicability of the new model, iSoLFv2, to simulate the phase behaviors of mixtures of DOPC and DPPC at different concentrations. The simulation results with iSoLFv2 are consistent with those using Dry Martini and Martini 3, although iSoLFv2 requires much fewer computations. iSoLFv2 has been implemented in the GENESIS MD software and is publicly available.
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Affiliation(s)
- Diego Ugarte La Torre
- Computational Biophysics Research Team, RIKEN Center for Computational Science, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan
| | - Shoji Takada
- Department of Biophysics, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Yuji Sugita
- Computational Biophysics Research Team, RIKEN Center for Computational Science, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan
- Theoretical Molecular Science Laboratory, RIKEN Cluster for Pioneering Research, Wako, Saitama, Japan
- Laboratory for Biomolecular Function Simulation, RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan
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26
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Vila JA. Protein structure prediction from the complementary science perspective. Biophys Rev 2023; 15:439-445. [PMID: 37681107 PMCID: PMC10480374 DOI: 10.1007/s12551-023-01107-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/10/2023] [Accepted: 07/25/2023] [Indexed: 09/09/2023] Open
Abstract
A comparative analysis between two problems-apparently unrelated-which are solved in a period of ~400 years, viz., the accurate prediction of both the planetary orbits and the protein structures, leads to inferred conjectures that go far beyond the existence of a common path in their resolution, i.e., observation → pattern recognition → modeling. The preliminary results from this analysis indicate that complementary science, together with a new perspective on protein folding, may help us discover common features that could contribute to a more in-depth understanding of still-unsolved problems such as protein folding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jorge A. Vila
- IMASL-CONICET, Universidad Nacional de San Luis, Ejército de Los Andes 950, 5700 San Luis, Argentina
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27
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Ko SK, Björkengren G, Berner C, Winter G, Harris P, Peters GHJ. Combining Molecular Dynamics Simulations and Biophysical Characterization to Investigate Protein-Specific Excipient Effects on Reteplase during Freeze Drying. Pharmaceutics 2023; 15:1854. [PMID: 37514040 PMCID: PMC10384596 DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics15071854] [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: 05/24/2023] [Revised: 06/24/2023] [Accepted: 06/26/2023] [Indexed: 07/30/2023] Open
Abstract
We performed molecular dynamics simulations of Reteplase in the presence of different excipients to study the stabilizing mechanisms and to identify the role of excipients during freeze drying. To simulate the freeze-drying process, we divided the process into five distinct steps: (i) protein-excipient formulations at room temperature, (ii) the ice-growth process, (iii)-(iv) the partially solvated and fully dried formulations, and (v) the reconstitution. Furthermore, coarse-grained (CG) simulations were employed to explore the protein-aggregation process in the presence of arginine. By using a coarse-grained representation, we could observe the collective behavior and interactions between protein molecules during the aggregation process. The CG simulations revealed that the presence of arginine prevented intermolecular interactions of the catalytic domain of Reteplase, thus reducing the aggregation propensity. This suggests that arginine played a stabilizing role by interacting with protein-specific regions. From the freeze-drying simulations, we could identify several protein-specific events: (i) collapse of the domain structure, (ii) recovery of the drying-induced damages during reconstitution, and (iii) stabilization of the local aggregation-prone region via direct interactions with excipients. Complementary to the simulations, we employed nanoDSF, size-exclusion chromatography, and CD spectroscopy to investigate the effect of the freeze-drying process on the protein structure and stability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Suk Kyu Ko
- Department of Chemistry, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Gabriella Björkengren
- Department of Chemistry, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Carolin Berner
- Department of Pharmacy, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, 81377 Munich, Germany
| | - Gerhard Winter
- Department of Pharmacy, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, 81377 Munich, Germany
| | - Pernille Harris
- Department of Chemistry, University of Copenhagen, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Günther H J Peters
- Department of Chemistry, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
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28
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Szała-Mendyk B, Drajkowska A, Molski A. Modified Smoluchowski Rate Equations for Aggregation and Fragmentation in Finite Systems. J Phys Chem B 2023. [PMID: 37369009 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.3c02884] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/29/2023]
Abstract
Protein self-assembly into supramolecular structures is important for cell biology. Theoretical methods employed to investigate protein aggregation and analogous processes include molecular dynamics simulations, stochastic models, and deterministic rate equations based on the mass-action law. In molecular dynamics simulations, the computation cost limits the system size, simulation length, and number of simulation repeats. Therefore, it is of practical interest to develop new methods for the kinetic analysis of simulations. In this work we consider the Smoluchowski rate equations modified to account for reversible aggregation in finite systems. We present several examples and argue that the modified Smoluchowski equations combined with Monte Carlo simulations of the corresponding master equation provide an effective tool for developing kinetic models of peptide aggregation in molecular dynamics simulations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Beata Szała-Mendyk
- Faculty of Chemistry, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Uniwersytetu Poznańskiego 8, 61-614 Poznań, Poland
| | - Aleksandra Drajkowska
- Faculty of Chemistry, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Uniwersytetu Poznańskiego 8, 61-614 Poznań, Poland
| | - Andrzej Molski
- Faculty of Chemistry, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Uniwersytetu Poznańskiego 8, 61-614 Poznań, Poland
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29
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Di Bartolo AL, Caparotta M, Masone D. Intrinsic Disorder in α-Synuclein Regulates the Exocytotic Fusion Pore Transition. ACS Chem Neurosci 2023. [PMID: 37192400 DOI: 10.1021/acschemneuro.3c00040] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Today, it is widely accepted that intrinsic disorder is strongly related to the cell cycle, during mitosis, differentiation, and apoptosis. Of particular interest are hybrid proteins possessing both structured and unstructured domains that are critical in human health and disease, such as α-synuclein. In this work, we describe how α-synuclein interacts with the nascent fusion pore as it evolves toward expansion. We unveil the key role played by its intrinsically disordered region as a thermodynamic regulator of the nucleation-expansion energy barrier. By analyzing a truncated variant of α-synuclein that lacks the disordered region, we find that the landscape of protein interactions with PIP2 and POPS lipids is highly altered, ultimately increasing the energy cost for the fusion pore to transit from nucleation to expansion. We conclude that the intrinsically disordered region in full-length α-synuclein recognizes and allocates pivotal protein:lipid interactions during membrane remodeling in the first stages of the fusion pore.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ary Lautaro Di Bartolo
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Cuyo (UNCuyo), 5500 Mendoza, Argentina
| | - Marcelo Caparotta
- Quantum Theory Project, Department of Chemistry, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611, United States
| | - Diego Masone
- Instituto de Histología y Embriología de Mendoza (IHEM) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Universidad Nacional de Cuyo (UNCuyo), 5500 Mendoza, Argentina
- Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Nacional de Cuyo (UNCuyo), 5500 Mendoza, Argentina
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30
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Lu W, Onuchic JN, Di Pierro M. An associative memory Hamiltonian model for DNA and nucleosomes. PLoS Comput Biol 2023; 19:e1011013. [PMID: 36972316 PMCID: PMC10079229 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1011013] [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: 10/15/2022] [Revised: 04/06/2023] [Accepted: 03/08/2023] [Indexed: 03/29/2023] Open
Abstract
A model for DNA and nucleosomes is introduced with the goal of studying chromosomes from a single base level all the way to higher-order chromatin structures. This model, dubbed the Widely Editable Chromatin Model (WEChroM), reproduces the complex mechanics of the double helix including its bending persistence length and twisting persistence length, and their respective temperature dependence. The WEChroM Hamiltonian is composed of chain connectivity, steric interactions, and associative memory terms representing all remaining interactions leading to the structure, dynamics, and mechanical characteristics of the B-DNA. Several applications of this model are discussed to demonstrate its applicability. WEChroM is used to investigate the behavior of circular DNA in the presence of positive and negative supercoiling. We show that it recapitulates the formation of plectonemes and of structural defects that relax mechanical stress. The model spontaneously manifests an asymmetric behavior with respect to positive or negative supercoiling, similar to what was previously observed in experiments. Additionally, we show that the associative memory Hamiltonian is also capable of reproducing the free energy of partial DNA unwrapping from nucleosomes. WEChroM is designed to emulate the continuously variable mechanical properties of the 10nm fiber and, by virtue of its simplicity, is ready to be scaled up to molecular systems large enough to investigate the structural ensembles of genes. WEChroM is implemented in the OpenMM simulation toolkits and is freely available for public use.
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Affiliation(s)
- Weiqi Lu
- Center for Theoretical Biological Physics, & Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rice University, Houston, Texas, United States of America
| | - José N. Onuchic
- Center for Theoretical Biological Physics, & Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rice University, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Department of Chemistry, & Department of Biosciences, Rice University, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- * E-mail: (JNO); (MDP)
| | - Michele Di Pierro
- Department of Physics, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
- Center for Theoretical Biological Physics, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
- * E-mail: (JNO); (MDP)
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31
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Fiorentini R, Tarenzi T, Potestio R. Fast, Accurate, and System-Specific Variable-Resolution Modeling of Proteins. J Chem Inf Model 2023; 63:1260-1275. [PMID: 36735551 PMCID: PMC9976289 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.2c01311] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
In recent years, a few multiple-resolution modeling strategies have been proposed, in which functionally relevant parts of a biomolecule are described with atomistic resolution, with the remainder of the system being concurrently treated using a coarse-grained model. In most cases, the parametrization of the latter requires lengthy reference all-atom simulations and/or the usage of off-shelf coarse-grained force fields, whose interactions have to be refined to fit the specific system under examination. Here, we overcome these limitations through a novel multiresolution modeling scheme for proteins, dubbed coarse-grained anisotropic network model for variable resolution simulations, or CANVAS. This scheme enables a user-defined modulation of the resolution level throughout the system structure; a fast parametrization of the potential without the necessity of reference simulations; and the straightforward usage of the model on the most commonly used molecular dynamics platforms. The method is presented and validated with two case studies, the enzyme adenylate kinase and the therapeutic antibody pembrolizumab, by comparing the results obtained with the CANVAS model against fully atomistic simulations. The modeling software, implemented in Python, is made freely available for the community on a collaborative github repository.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raffaele Fiorentini
- Department
of Physics, University of Trento, via Sommarive 14, I-38123 Trento, Italy
- INFN-TIFPA, Trento
Institute for Fundamental Physics and Applications, via Sommarive 14, I-38123 Trento, Italy
| | - Thomas Tarenzi
- Department
of Physics, University of Trento, via Sommarive 14, I-38123 Trento, Italy
- INFN-TIFPA, Trento
Institute for Fundamental Physics and Applications, via Sommarive 14, I-38123 Trento, Italy
| | - Raffaello Potestio
- Department
of Physics, University of Trento, via Sommarive 14, I-38123 Trento, Italy
- INFN-TIFPA, Trento
Institute for Fundamental Physics and Applications, via Sommarive 14, I-38123 Trento, Italy
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32
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Sieradzan AK, Sans-Duñó J, Lubecka EA, Czaplewski C, Lipska AG, Leszczyński H, Ocetkiewicz KM, Proficz J, Czarnul P, Krawczyk H, Liwo A. Optimization of parallel implementation of UNRES package for coarse-grained simulations to treat large proteins. J Comput Chem 2023; 44:602-625. [PMID: 36378078 DOI: 10.1002/jcc.27026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2022] [Revised: 09/19/2022] [Accepted: 10/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
We report major algorithmic improvements of the UNRES package for physics-based coarse-grained simulations of proteins. These include (i) introduction of interaction lists to optimize computations, (ii) transforming the inertia matrix to a pentadiagonal form to reduce computing and memory requirements, (iii) removing explicit angles and dihedral angles from energy expressions and recoding the most time-consuming energy/force terms to minimize the number of operations and to improve numerical stability, (iv) using OpenMP to parallelize those sections of the code for which distributed-memory parallelization involves unfavorable computing/communication time ratio, and (v) careful memory management to minimize simultaneous access of distant memory sections. The new code enables us to run molecular dynamics simulations of protein systems with size exceeding 100,000 amino-acid residues, reaching over 1 ns/day (1 μs/day in all-atom timescale) with 24 cores for proteins of this size. Parallel performance of the code and comparison of its performance with that of AMBER, GROMACS and MARTINI 3 is presented.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam K Sieradzan
- Faculty of Chemistry, University of Gdańsk, Fahrenheit Union of Universities in Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland.,Centre of Informatics Tri-city Academic Supercomputer and Network (CI TASK), Gdańsk University of Technology, Fahrenheit Union of Universities in Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland
| | - Jordi Sans-Duñó
- Department of Chemistry, University of Lleida, Lleida, Spain
| | - Emilia A Lubecka
- Faculty of Electronics, Telecommunication and Informatics, Gdańsk University of Technology, Fahrenheit Union of Universities in Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland
| | - Cezary Czaplewski
- Faculty of Chemistry, University of Gdańsk, Fahrenheit Union of Universities in Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland.,Centre of Informatics Tri-city Academic Supercomputer and Network (CI TASK), Gdańsk University of Technology, Fahrenheit Union of Universities in Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland
| | - Agnieszka G Lipska
- Faculty of Chemistry, University of Gdańsk, Fahrenheit Union of Universities in Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland.,Centre of Informatics Tri-city Academic Supercomputer and Network (CI TASK), Gdańsk University of Technology, Fahrenheit Union of Universities in Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland
| | - Henryk Leszczyński
- Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics, University of Gdańsk, Fahrenheit Union of Universities in Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland
| | - Krzysztof M Ocetkiewicz
- Centre of Informatics Tri-city Academic Supercomputer and Network (CI TASK), Gdańsk University of Technology, Fahrenheit Union of Universities in Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland
| | - Jerzy Proficz
- Centre of Informatics Tri-city Academic Supercomputer and Network (CI TASK), Gdańsk University of Technology, Fahrenheit Union of Universities in Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland
| | - Paweł Czarnul
- Faculty of Electronics, Telecommunication and Informatics, Gdańsk University of Technology, Fahrenheit Union of Universities in Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland
| | - Henryk Krawczyk
- Centre of Informatics Tri-city Academic Supercomputer and Network (CI TASK), Gdańsk University of Technology, Fahrenheit Union of Universities in Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland.,Faculty of Electronics, Telecommunication and Informatics, Gdańsk University of Technology, Fahrenheit Union of Universities in Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland
| | - Adam Liwo
- Faculty of Chemistry, University of Gdańsk, Fahrenheit Union of Universities in Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland.,Centre of Informatics Tri-city Academic Supercomputer and Network (CI TASK), Gdańsk University of Technology, Fahrenheit Union of Universities in Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland
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33
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He X, Man VH, Gao J, Wang J. Investigation of the Structure of Full-Length Tau Proteins with Coarse-Grained and All-Atom Molecular Dynamics Simulations. ACS Chem Neurosci 2023; 14:209-217. [PMID: 36563129 DOI: 10.1021/acschemneuro.2c00381] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Tau proteins not only have many important biological functions but also are associated with several neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, it is still a challenge to identify the atomic structure of full-length tau proteins due to their lengthy and disordered characteristics and the factor that there are no crystal structures of full-length tau proteins available. We performed multi- and large-scale molecular dynamics simulations of the full-length tau monomer (the 2N4R isoform and 441 residues) in aqueous solution under biological conditions with coarse-grained and all-atom force fields. The obtained atomic structures produced radii of gyration and chemical shifts that are in excellent agreement with those of experiment. The generated monomer structure ensemble would be very useful for further studying the oligomerization mechanism and discovering tau oligomerization inhibitors, which are important events in AD drug development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xibing He
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Computational Chemical Genomics Screening Center, School of Pharmacy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15261, United States
| | - Viet Hoang Man
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Computational Chemical Genomics Screening Center, School of Pharmacy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15261, United States
| | - Jie Gao
- Department of Neuroscience, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio 43210, United States
| | - Junmei Wang
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Computational Chemical Genomics Screening Center, School of Pharmacy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15261, United States
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34
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Corey RA, Baaden M, Chavent M. A brief history of visualizing membrane systems in molecular dynamics simulations. FRONTIERS IN BIOINFORMATICS 2023; 3:1149744. [PMID: 37213533 PMCID: PMC10196259 DOI: 10.3389/fbinf.2023.1149744] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2023] [Accepted: 03/13/2023] [Indexed: 05/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Understanding lipid dynamics and function, from the level of single, isolated molecules to large assemblies, is more than ever an intensive area of research. The interactions of lipids with other molecules, particularly membrane proteins, are now extensively studied. With advances in the development of force fields for molecular dynamics simulations (MD) and increases in computational resources, the creation of realistic and complex membrane systems is now common. In this perspective, we will review four decades of the history of molecular dynamics simulations applied to membranes and lipids through the prism of molecular graphics.
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Affiliation(s)
- R. A. Corey
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - M. Baaden
- Centre Nationale de la Recherche Scientifique, Laboratoire de Biochimie Théorique, Université Paris Cité, Paris, France
| | - M. Chavent
- Institut de Pharmacologie et Biologie Structurale, CNRS, Université de Toulouse, Toulouse, France
- *Correspondence: M. Chavent,
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35
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Ślusarz R, Lubecka EA, Czaplewski C, Liwo A. Improvements and new functionalities of UNRES server for coarse-grained modeling of protein structure, dynamics, and interactions. Front Mol Biosci 2022; 9:1071428. [PMID: 36589235 PMCID: PMC9794589 DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2022.1071428] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2022] [Accepted: 11/29/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
In this paper we report the improvements and extensions of the UNRES server (https://unres-server.chem.ug.edu.pl) for physics-based simulations with the coarse-grained UNRES model of polypeptide chains. The improvements include the replacement of the old code with the recently optimized one and adding the recent scale-consistent variant of the UNRES force field, which performs better in the modeling of proteins with the β and the α+β structures. The scope of applications of the package was extended to data-assisted simulations with restraints from nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and chemical crosslink mass-spectroscopy (XL-MS) measurements. NMR restraints can be input in the NMR Exchange Format (NEF), which has become a standard. Ambiguous NMR restraints are handled without expert intervention owing to a specially designed penalty function. The server can be used to run smaller jobs directly or to prepare input data to run larger production jobs by using standalone installations of UNRES.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rafał Ślusarz
- Faculty of Chemistry, University of Gdańsk, Fahrenheit Union of Universities in Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland
| | - Emilia A. Lubecka
- Faculty of Electronics, Telecommunication and Informatics, Gdańsk University of Technology, Fahrenheit Union of Universities in Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland
| | - Cezary Czaplewski
- Faculty of Chemistry, University of Gdańsk, Fahrenheit Union of Universities in Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland
| | - Adam Liwo
- Faculty of Chemistry, University of Gdańsk, Fahrenheit Union of Universities in Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland,*Correspondence: Adam Liwo,
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Unravelling viral dynamics through molecular dynamics simulations - A brief overview. Biophys Chem 2022; 291:106908. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bpc.2022.106908] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2022] [Revised: 09/28/2022] [Accepted: 10/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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Dorival J, Moraïs S, Labourel A, Rozycki B, Cazade PA, Dabin J, Setter-Lamed E, Mizrahi I, Thompson D, Thureau A, Bayer EA, Czjzek M. Mapping the deformability of natural and designed cellulosomes in solution. BIOTECHNOLOGY FOR BIOFUELS AND BIOPRODUCTS 2022; 15:68. [PMID: 35725490 PMCID: PMC9210761 DOI: 10.1186/s13068-022-02165-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2021] [Accepted: 06/08/2022] [Indexed: 12/02/2022]
Abstract
Background Natural cellulosome multi-enzyme complexes, their components, and engineered ‘designer cellulosomes’ (DCs) promise an efficient means of breaking down cellulosic substrates into valuable biofuel products. Their broad uptake in biotechnology relies on boosting proximity-based synergy among the resident enzymes, but the modular architecture challenges structure determination and rational design. Results We used small angle X-ray scattering combined with molecular modeling to study the solution structure of cellulosomal components. These include three dockerin-bearing cellulases with distinct substrate specificities, original scaffoldins from the human gut bacterium Ruminococcus champanellensis (ScaA, ScaH and ScaK) and a trivalent cohesin-bearing designer scaffoldin (Scaf20L), followed by cellulosomal complexes comprising these components, and the nonavalent fully loaded Clostridium thermocellum CipA in complex with Cel8A from the same bacterium. The size analysis of Rg and Dmax values deduced from the scattering curves and corresponding molecular models highlight their variable aspects, depending on composition, size and spatial organization of the objects in solution. Conclusions Our data quantifies variability of form and compactness of cellulosomal components in solution and confirms that this native plasticity may well be related to speciation with respect to the substrate that is targeted. By showing that scaffoldins or components display enhanced compactness compared to the free objects, we provide new routes to rationally enhance their stability and performance in their environment of action. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13068-022-02165-3.
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Depta PN, Dosta M, Wenzel W, Kozlowska M, Heinrich S. Hierarchical Coarse-Grained Strategy for Macromolecular Self-Assembly: Application to Hepatitis B Virus-Like Particles. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:ijms232314699. [PMID: 36499027 PMCID: PMC9740473 DOI: 10.3390/ijms232314699] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2022] [Revised: 11/01/2022] [Accepted: 11/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Macromolecular self-assembly is at the basis of many phenomena in material and life sciences that find diverse applications in technology. One example is the formation of virus-like particles (VLPs) that act as stable empty capsids used for drug delivery or vaccine fabrication. Similarly to the capsid of a virus, VLPs are protein assemblies, but their structural formation, stability, and properties are not fully understood, especially as a function of the protein modifications. In this work, we present a data-driven modeling approach for capturing macromolecular self-assembly on scales beyond traditional molecular dynamics (MD), while preserving the chemical specificity. Each macromolecule is abstracted as an anisotropic object and high-dimensional models are formulated to describe interactions between molecules and with the solvent. For this, data-driven protein-protein interaction potentials are derived using a Kriging-based strategy, built on high-throughput MD simulations. Semi-automatic supervised learning is employed in a high performance computing environment and the resulting specialized force-fields enable a significant speed-up to the micrometer and millisecond scale, while maintaining high intermolecular detail. The reported generic framework is applied for the first time to capture the formation of hepatitis B VLPs from the smallest building unit, i.e., the dimer of the core protein HBcAg. Assembly pathways and kinetics are analyzed and compared to the available experimental observations. We demonstrate that VLP self-assembly phenomena and dependencies are now possible to be simulated. The method developed can be used for the parameterization of other macromolecules, enabling a molecular understanding of processes impossible to be attained with other theoretical models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philipp Nicolas Depta
- Institute of Solids Process Engineering and Particle Technology (SPE), Hamburg University of Technology, 21073 Hamburg, Germany
- Correspondence:
| | - Maksym Dosta
- Institute of Solids Process Engineering and Particle Technology (SPE), Hamburg University of Technology, 21073 Hamburg, Germany
- Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co Kg., 88400 Biberach an der Riss, Germany
| | - Wolfgang Wenzel
- Institute of Nanotechnology (INT), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, 76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany
| | - Mariana Kozlowska
- Institute of Nanotechnology (INT), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, 76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany
| | - Stefan Heinrich
- Institute of Solids Process Engineering and Particle Technology (SPE), Hamburg University of Technology, 21073 Hamburg, Germany
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Abstract
Coarse-grained models have proven helpful for simulating complex systems over long time scales to provide molecular insights into various processes. Methodologies for systematic parametrization of the underlying energy function or force field that describes the interactions among different components of the system are of great interest for ensuring simulation accuracy. We present a new method, potential contrasting, to enable efficient learning of force fields that can accurately reproduce the conformational distribution produced with all-atom simulations. Potential contrasting generalizes the noise contrastive estimation method with umbrella sampling to better learn the complex energy landscape of molecular systems. When applied to the Trp-cage protein, we found that the technique produces force fields that thoroughly capture the thermodynamics of the folding process despite the use of only α-carbons in the coarse-grained model. We further showed that potential contrasting could be applied over large data sets that combine the conformational ensembles of many proteins to improve force field transferability. We anticipate potential contrasting as a powerful tool for building general-purpose coarse-grained force fields.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xinqiang Ding
- Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States
| | - Bin Zhang
- Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States
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Jin J, Pak AJ, Durumeric AEP, Loose TD, Voth GA. Bottom-up Coarse-Graining: Principles and Perspectives. J Chem Theory Comput 2022; 18:5759-5791. [PMID: 36070494 PMCID: PMC9558379 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.2c00643] [Citation(s) in RCA: 72] [Impact Index Per Article: 36.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2022] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Abstract
Large-scale computational molecular models provide scientists a means to investigate the effect of microscopic details on emergent mesoscopic behavior. Elucidating the relationship between variations on the molecular scale and macroscopic observable properties facilitates an understanding of the molecular interactions driving the properties of real world materials and complex systems (e.g., those found in biology, chemistry, and materials science). As a result, discovering an explicit, systematic connection between microscopic nature and emergent mesoscopic behavior is a fundamental goal for this type of investigation. The molecular forces critical to driving the behavior of complex heterogeneous systems are often unclear. More problematically, simulations of representative model systems are often prohibitively expensive from both spatial and temporal perspectives, impeding straightforward investigations over possible hypotheses characterizing molecular behavior. While the reduction in resolution of a study, such as moving from an atomistic simulation to that of the resolution of large coarse-grained (CG) groups of atoms, can partially ameliorate the cost of individual simulations, the relationship between the proposed microscopic details and this intermediate resolution is nontrivial and presents new obstacles to study. Small portions of these complex systems can be realistically simulated. Alone, these smaller simulations likely do not provide insight into collectively emergent behavior. However, by proposing that the driving forces in both smaller and larger systems (containing many related copies of the smaller system) have an explicit connection, systematic bottom-up CG techniques can be used to transfer CG hypotheses discovered using a smaller scale system to a larger system of primary interest. The proposed connection between different CG systems is prescribed by (i) the CG representation (mapping) and (ii) the functional form and parameters used to represent the CG energetics, which approximate potentials of mean force (PMFs). As a result, the design of CG methods that facilitate a variety of physically relevant representations, approximations, and force fields is critical to moving the frontier of systematic CG forward. Crucially, the proposed connection between the system used for parametrization and the system of interest is orthogonal to the optimization used to approximate the potential of mean force present in all systematic CG methods. The empirical efficacy of machine learning techniques on a variety of tasks provides strong motivation to consider these approaches for approximating the PMF and analyzing these approximations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jaehyeok Jin
- Department of Chemistry,
Chicago Center for Theoretical Chemistry, Institute for Biophysical
Dynamics, and James Franck Institute, The
University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
| | - Alexander J. Pak
- Department of Chemistry,
Chicago Center for Theoretical Chemistry, Institute for Biophysical
Dynamics, and James Franck Institute, The
University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
| | - Aleksander E. P. Durumeric
- Department of Chemistry,
Chicago Center for Theoretical Chemistry, Institute for Biophysical
Dynamics, and James Franck Institute, The
University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
| | - Timothy D. Loose
- Department of Chemistry,
Chicago Center for Theoretical Chemistry, Institute for Biophysical
Dynamics, and James Franck Institute, The
University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
| | - Gregory A. Voth
- Department of Chemistry,
Chicago Center for Theoretical Chemistry, Institute for Biophysical
Dynamics, and James Franck Institute, The
University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
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Berselli A, Benfenati F, Maragliano L, Alberini G. Multiscale modelling of claudin-based assemblies: a magnifying glass for novel structures of biological interfaces. Comput Struct Biotechnol J 2022; 20:5984-6010. [DOI: 10.1016/j.csbj.2022.10.038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2022] [Revised: 10/24/2022] [Accepted: 10/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/03/2022] Open
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Zhang Y, Wang Y, Xia F, Cao Z, Xu X. Accurate and Efficient Estimation of Lennard-Jones Interactions for Coarse-Grained Particles via a Potential Matching Method. J Chem Theory Comput 2022; 18:4879-4890. [PMID: 35838523 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.2c00513] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
The Lennard-Jones (LJ) energy functions are commonly used to describe the nonbonded interactions in bulk coarse-grained (CG) models, which contribute significantly to the stabilization of a local binding configuration or a self-assembly system. In many cases, systematic development of the LJ interaction parameters in a CG model requires a comprehensive sampling of the objective molecules at the all-atom (AA) level, which is therefore extremely time-consuming for large systems. Inspired by the concept of electrostatic potential (ESP), we define the LJ static potential (LJSP), by which the embedding potential energy surface can be constructed analytically. A semianalytic approach, namely, the LJSP matching method, is developed here to derive the CG parameters by minimizing the LJSP difference between the AA and the CG models, which provides a universal way to derive the CG LJ parameters from the AA models without doing presampling. The LJSP matching method is successful not only in deriving the LJ interaction energy landscape in the CG models for proteins, lipids, and DNA but also in reproducing the critical properties such as intermediate structures and enthalpy contributions as exemplified in simulating the self-assembly process of the dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) lipids.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuwei Zhang
- Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Molecular Catalysis and Innovative Materials, MOE Key Laboratory of Computational Physical Sciences, Departments of Chemistry, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China
| | - Yunchu Wang
- LSEC, Institute of Computational Mathematics and Scientific/Engineering Computing, Academy of Mathematics and Systems Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
| | - Fei Xia
- School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, NYU-ECNU Center for Computational Chemistry at NYU Shanghai, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China
| | - Zexing Cao
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces and Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Theoretical and Computational Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Chemistry Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
| | - Xin Xu
- Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Molecular Catalysis and Innovative Materials, MOE Key Laboratory of Computational Physical Sciences, Departments of Chemistry, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China
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Coarse-grained modeling of the calcium, sodium, magnesium and potassium cations interacting with proteins. J Mol Model 2022; 28:201. [PMID: 35748949 DOI: 10.1007/s00894-022-05154-3] [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: 10/11/2021] [Accepted: 05/12/2022] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
Abstract
Metal ions play important biological roles, e.g., activation or deactivation of enzymatic reactions and signal transduction. Moreover, they can stabilize protein structure, or even be actively involved in the protein folding process. Therefore, accurate treatment of the ions is crucial to model and investigate biological phenomena properly. In this work the coarse-grained UNRES (UNited RESidue) force field was extended to include the interactions between proteins and four alkali or alkaline earth metal cations of biological significance, i.e., calcium, magnesium, sodium and potassium. Additionally, chloride anions were introduced as counter-ions. Parameters were derived from all-atom simulations and incorporate water in an implicit manner. The new force field was tested on the set of the proteins and was able to reproduce the ion-binding preferences.
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Marzol E, Borassi C, Carignani Sardoy M, Ranocha P, Aptekmann AA, Bringas M, Pennington J, Paez-Valencia J, Martínez Pacheco J, Rodríguez-Garcia DR, Rondón Guerrero YDC, Peralta JM, Fleming M, Mishler-Elmore JW, Mangano S, Blanco-Herrera F, Bedinger PA, Dunand C, Capece L, Nadra AD, Held M, Otegui MS, Estevez JM. Class III Peroxidases PRX01, PRX44, and PRX73 Control Root Hair Growth in Arabidopsis thaliana. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:ijms23105375. [PMID: 35628189 PMCID: PMC9141322 DOI: 10.3390/ijms23105375] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2022] [Revised: 04/29/2022] [Accepted: 05/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Root hair cells are important sensors of soil conditions. They grow towards and absorb water-soluble nutrients. This fast and oscillatory growth is mediated by continuous remodeling of the cell wall. Root hair cell walls contain polysaccharides and hydroxyproline-rich glycoproteins, including extensins (EXTs). Class-III peroxidases (PRXs) are secreted into the apoplastic space and are thought to trigger either cell wall loosening or polymerization of cell wall components, such as Tyr-mediated assembly of EXT networks (EXT-PRXs). The precise role of these EXT-PRXs is unknown. Using genetic, biochemical, and modeling approaches, we identified and characterized three root-hair-specific putative EXT-PRXs, PRX01, PRX44, and PRX73. prx01,44,73 triple mutation and PRX44 and PRX73 overexpression had opposite effects on root hair growth, peroxidase activity, and ROS production, with a clear impact on cell wall thickness. We use an EXT fluorescent reporter with contrasting levels of cell wall insolubilization in prx01,44,73 and PRX44-overexpressing background plants. In this study, we propose that PRX01, PRX44, and PRX73 control EXT-mediated cell wall properties during polar expansion of root hair cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eliana Marzol
- Fundación Instituto Leloir and IIBBA-CONICET. Av. Patricias Argentinas 435, Buenos Aires C1405BWE, Argentina; (E.M.); (C.B.); (M.C.S.); (J.M.P.); (D.R.R.-G.); (Y.d.C.R.G.); (J.M.P.); (S.M.)
| | - Cecilia Borassi
- Fundación Instituto Leloir and IIBBA-CONICET. Av. Patricias Argentinas 435, Buenos Aires C1405BWE, Argentina; (E.M.); (C.B.); (M.C.S.); (J.M.P.); (D.R.R.-G.); (Y.d.C.R.G.); (J.M.P.); (S.M.)
| | - Mariana Carignani Sardoy
- Fundación Instituto Leloir and IIBBA-CONICET. Av. Patricias Argentinas 435, Buenos Aires C1405BWE, Argentina; (E.M.); (C.B.); (M.C.S.); (J.M.P.); (D.R.R.-G.); (Y.d.C.R.G.); (J.M.P.); (S.M.)
| | - Philippe Ranocha
- Laboratoire de Recherche en Sciences Végétales, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, Toulouse INP, 24, Chemin de Borde-Rouge, 31320 Auzeville-Tolosane, France; (P.R.); (C.D.)
| | - Ariel A. Aptekmann
- Departamento de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Celular, Instituto de Biociencias, Biotecnología y Biología Traslacional (iB3). Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Ciudad Universitaria, Buenos Aires C1428EGA, Argentina; (A.A.A.); (A.D.N.)
- Departamento de Química Biológica, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires (IQUIBICEN-CONICET), Ciudad Universitaria, Buenos Aires C1428EGA, Argentina
| | - Mauro Bringas
- Departamento de Química Inorgánica, Analítica y Química Física, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires (INQUIMAE-CONICET), Buenos Aires C1428EGA, Argentina; (M.B.); (L.C.)
| | - Janice Pennington
- Laboratory of Cell and Molecular Biology, University of Wisconsin, Madison and Center for Quantitative Cell Imaging, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA; (J.P.); (J.P.-V.); (M.S.O.)
| | - Julio Paez-Valencia
- Laboratory of Cell and Molecular Biology, University of Wisconsin, Madison and Center for Quantitative Cell Imaging, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA; (J.P.); (J.P.-V.); (M.S.O.)
| | - Javier Martínez Pacheco
- Fundación Instituto Leloir and IIBBA-CONICET. Av. Patricias Argentinas 435, Buenos Aires C1405BWE, Argentina; (E.M.); (C.B.); (M.C.S.); (J.M.P.); (D.R.R.-G.); (Y.d.C.R.G.); (J.M.P.); (S.M.)
| | - Diana R. Rodríguez-Garcia
- Fundación Instituto Leloir and IIBBA-CONICET. Av. Patricias Argentinas 435, Buenos Aires C1405BWE, Argentina; (E.M.); (C.B.); (M.C.S.); (J.M.P.); (D.R.R.-G.); (Y.d.C.R.G.); (J.M.P.); (S.M.)
| | - Yossmayer del Carmen Rondón Guerrero
- Fundación Instituto Leloir and IIBBA-CONICET. Av. Patricias Argentinas 435, Buenos Aires C1405BWE, Argentina; (E.M.); (C.B.); (M.C.S.); (J.M.P.); (D.R.R.-G.); (Y.d.C.R.G.); (J.M.P.); (S.M.)
| | - Juan Manuel Peralta
- Fundación Instituto Leloir and IIBBA-CONICET. Av. Patricias Argentinas 435, Buenos Aires C1405BWE, Argentina; (E.M.); (C.B.); (M.C.S.); (J.M.P.); (D.R.R.-G.); (Y.d.C.R.G.); (J.M.P.); (S.M.)
| | - Margaret Fleming
- Department of Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1878, USA; (M.F.); (P.A.B.)
| | - John W. Mishler-Elmore
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701, USA; (J.W.M.-E.); (M.H.)
| | - Silvina Mangano
- Fundación Instituto Leloir and IIBBA-CONICET. Av. Patricias Argentinas 435, Buenos Aires C1405BWE, Argentina; (E.M.); (C.B.); (M.C.S.); (J.M.P.); (D.R.R.-G.); (Y.d.C.R.G.); (J.M.P.); (S.M.)
| | - Francisca Blanco-Herrera
- Center of Applied Ecology and Sustainability (CAPES), Santiago 8320000, Chile;
- Centro de Biotecnología Vegetal, Facultad de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad Andrés Bello Santiago, Santiago 8370146, Chile
- ANID—Millennium Science Initiative Program—Millennium Institute for Integrative Biology (iBio) and Millennium Nucleus for the Development of Super Adaptable Plants (MN-SAP), Santiago 8370146, Chile
| | - Patricia A. Bedinger
- Department of Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1878, USA; (M.F.); (P.A.B.)
| | - Christophe Dunand
- Laboratoire de Recherche en Sciences Végétales, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, Toulouse INP, 24, Chemin de Borde-Rouge, 31320 Auzeville-Tolosane, France; (P.R.); (C.D.)
| | - Luciana Capece
- Departamento de Química Inorgánica, Analítica y Química Física, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires (INQUIMAE-CONICET), Buenos Aires C1428EGA, Argentina; (M.B.); (L.C.)
| | - Alejandro D. Nadra
- Departamento de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Celular, Instituto de Biociencias, Biotecnología y Biología Traslacional (iB3). Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Ciudad Universitaria, Buenos Aires C1428EGA, Argentina; (A.A.A.); (A.D.N.)
- Departamento de Química Biológica, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires (IQUIBICEN-CONICET), Ciudad Universitaria, Buenos Aires C1428EGA, Argentina
| | - Michael Held
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701, USA; (J.W.M.-E.); (M.H.)
| | - Marisa S. Otegui
- Laboratory of Cell and Molecular Biology, University of Wisconsin, Madison and Center for Quantitative Cell Imaging, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA; (J.P.); (J.P.-V.); (M.S.O.)
- Departments of Botany and Genetics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - José M. Estevez
- Fundación Instituto Leloir and IIBBA-CONICET. Av. Patricias Argentinas 435, Buenos Aires C1405BWE, Argentina; (E.M.); (C.B.); (M.C.S.); (J.M.P.); (D.R.R.-G.); (Y.d.C.R.G.); (J.M.P.); (S.M.)
- Centro de Biotecnología Vegetal, Facultad de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad Andrés Bello Santiago, Santiago 8370146, Chile
- ANID—Millennium Science Initiative Program—Millennium Institute for Integrative Biology (iBio) and Millennium Nucleus for the Development of Super Adaptable Plants (MN-SAP), Santiago 8370146, Chile
- Correspondence: or
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Larsen A, John L, Sansom M, Corey R. Specific interactions of peripheral membrane proteins with lipids: what can molecular simulations show us? Biosci Rep 2022; 42:BSR20211406. [PMID: 35297484 PMCID: PMC9008707 DOI: 10.1042/bsr20211406] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2022] [Revised: 03/14/2022] [Accepted: 03/16/2022] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Peripheral membrane proteins (PMPs) can reversibly and specifically bind to biological membranes to carry out functions such as cell signalling, enzymatic activity, or membrane remodelling. Structures of these proteins and of their lipid-binding domains are typically solved in a soluble form, sometimes with a lipid or lipid headgroup at the binding site. To provide a detailed molecular view of PMP interactions with the membrane, computational methods such as molecular dynamics (MD) simulations can be applied. Here, we outline recent attempts to characterise these binding interactions, focusing on both intracellular proteins, such as phosphatidylinositol phosphate (PIP)-binding domains, and extracellular proteins such as glycolipid-binding bacterial exotoxins. We compare methods used to identify and analyse lipid-binding sites from simulation data and highlight recent work characterising the energetics of these interactions using free energy calculations. We describe how improvements in methodologies and computing power will help MD simulations to continue to contribute to this field in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Laura H. John
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford, U.K
| | | | - Robin A. Corey
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford, U.K
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Kawamoto S, Liu H, Miyazaki Y, Seo S, Dixit M, DeVane R, MacDermaid C, Fiorin G, Klein ML, Shinoda W. SPICA Force Field for Proteins and Peptides. J Chem Theory Comput 2022; 18:3204-3217. [PMID: 35413197 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.1c01207] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
A coarse-grained (CG) model for peptides and proteins was developed as an extension of the Surface Property fItting Coarse grAined (SPICA) force field (FF). The model was designed to examine membrane proteins that are fully compatible with the lipid membranes of the SPICA FF. A preliminary version of this protein model was created using thermodynamic properties, including the surface tension and density in the SPICA (formerly called SDK) FF. In this study, we improved the CG protein model to facilitate molecular dynamics (MD) simulations with a reproduction of multiple properties from both experiments and all-atom (AA) simulations. An elastic network model was adopted to maintain the secondary structure within a single chain. The side-chain analogues reproduced the transfer free energy profiles across the lipid membrane and demonstrated reasonable association free energy (potential of mean force) in water compared to those from AA MD. A series of peptides/proteins adsorbed onto or penetrated into the membrane simulated by the CG MD correctly predicted the penetration depths and tilt angles of peripheral and transmembrane peptides/proteins as comparable to those in the orientations of proteins in membranes (OPM) database. In addition, the dimerization free energies of several transmembrane helices within a lipid bilayer were comparable to those from experimental estimation. Application studies on a series of membrane protein assemblies, scramblases, and poliovirus capsids demonstrated the good performance of the SPICA FF.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shuhei Kawamoto
- Department of Materials Chemistry, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8603, Japan
| | - Huihui Liu
- Department of Materials Chemistry, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8603, Japan
| | - Yusuke Miyazaki
- Department of Materials Chemistry, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8603, Japan.,Research Institute for Interdisciplinary Science, Okayama University, 3-1-1 Tsushima-naka, Kita-ku, Okayama 700-8530, Japan
| | - Sangjae Seo
- Department of Materials Chemistry, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8603, Japan.,Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information, 245 Daehak-ro, Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea
| | - Mayank Dixit
- Department of Materials Chemistry, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8603, Japan
| | - Russell DeVane
- Modeling & Simulation, Corporate Research & Development, The Procter and Gamble Company, West Chester, Ohio 45069, United States
| | - Christopher MacDermaid
- Institute for Computational Molecular Science, Temple University, 1925 North 12th Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122, United States
| | - Giacomo Fiorin
- Institute for Computational Molecular Science, Temple University, 1925 North 12th Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122, United States
| | - Michael L Klein
- Institute for Computational Molecular Science, Temple University, 1925 North 12th Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122, United States
| | - Wataru Shinoda
- Department of Materials Chemistry, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8603, Japan.,Research Institute for Interdisciplinary Science, Okayama University, 3-1-1 Tsushima-naka, Kita-ku, Okayama 700-8530, Japan.,Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Okayama University, 3-1-1 Tsushima-naka, Kita-ku, Okayama 700-8530, Japan
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47
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Huertas J, Woods EJ, Collepardo-Guevara R. Multiscale modelling of chromatin organisation: Resolving nucleosomes at near-atomistic resolution inside genes. Curr Opin Cell Biol 2022; 75:102067. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ceb.2022.02.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2021] [Revised: 01/24/2022] [Accepted: 02/04/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
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de Oliveira ECL, da Costa KS, Taube PS, Lima AH, Junior CDSDS. Biological Membrane-Penetrating Peptides: Computational Prediction and Applications. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2022; 12:838259. [PMID: 35402305 PMCID: PMC8992797 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2022.838259] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2021] [Accepted: 02/21/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Peptides comprise a versatile class of biomolecules that present a unique chemical space with diverse physicochemical and structural properties. Some classes of peptides are able to naturally cross the biological membranes, such as cell membrane and blood-brain barrier (BBB). Cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) and blood-brain barrier-penetrating peptides (B3PPs) have been explored by the biotechnological and pharmaceutical industries to develop new therapeutic molecules and carrier systems. The computational prediction of peptides’ penetration into biological membranes has been emerged as an interesting strategy due to their high throughput and low-cost screening of large chemical libraries. Structure- and sequence-based information of peptides, as well as atomistic biophysical models, have been explored in computer-assisted discovery strategies to classify and identify new structures with pharmacokinetic properties related to the translocation through biomembranes. Computational strategies to predict the permeability into biomembranes include cheminformatic filters, molecular dynamics simulations, artificial intelligence algorithms, and statistical models, and the choice of the most adequate method depends on the purposes of the computational investigation. Here, we exhibit and discuss some principles and applications of these computational methods widely used to predict the permeability of peptides into biomembranes, exhibiting some of their pharmaceutical and biotechnological applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ewerton Cristhian Lima de Oliveira
- Institute of Technology, Federal University of Pará, Belém, Brazil
- *Correspondence: Kauê Santana da Costa, ; Ewerton Cristhian Lima de Oliveira,
| | - Kauê Santana da Costa
- Laboratory of Computational Simulation, Institute of Biodiversity, Federal University of Western Pará, Santarém, Brazil
- *Correspondence: Kauê Santana da Costa, ; Ewerton Cristhian Lima de Oliveira,
| | - Paulo Sérgio Taube
- Laboratory of Computational Simulation, Institute of Biodiversity, Federal University of Western Pará, Santarém, Brazil
| | - Anderson H. Lima
- Laboratório de Planejamento e Desenvolvimento de Fármacos, Instituto de Ciências Exatas e Naturais, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém, Brazil
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49
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Khalid S, Schroeder C, Bond PJ, Duncan AL. What have molecular simulations contributed to understanding of Gram-negative bacterial cell envelopes? MICROBIOLOGY (READING, ENGLAND) 2022; 168. [PMID: 35294337 PMCID: PMC9558347 DOI: 10.1099/mic.0.001165] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Bacterial cell envelopes are compositionally complex and crowded and while highly dynamic in some areas, their molecular motion is very limited, to the point of being almost static in others. Therefore, it is no real surprise that studying them at high resolution across a range of temporal and spatial scales requires a number of different techniques. Details at atomistic to molecular scales for up to tens of microseconds are now within range for molecular dynamics simulations. Here we review how such simulations have contributed to our current understanding of the cell envelopes of Gram-negative bacteria.
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Affiliation(s)
- Syma Khalid
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3QU, UK
| | - Cyril Schroeder
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3QU, UK
| | - Peter J Bond
- Bioinformatics Institute (A*STAR), Singapore 138671, Singapore.,Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117543, Singapore
| | - Anna L Duncan
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3QU, UK
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Kyu Ko S, Berner C, Kulakova A, Schneider M, Antes I, Winter G, Harris P, Peters GH. Investigation of the pH-dependent aggregation mechanisms of GCSF using low resolution protein characterization techniques and advanced molecular dynamics simulations. Comput Struct Biotechnol J 2022; 20:1439-1455. [PMID: 35386098 PMCID: PMC8956964 DOI: 10.1016/j.csbj.2022.03.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2021] [Revised: 03/13/2022] [Accepted: 03/14/2022] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (GCSF) is a widely used therapeutic protein to treat neutropenia. GCSF has an increased propensity to aggregate if the pH is increased above 5.0. Although GCSF is very well experimentally characterized, the exact pH-dependent aggregation mechanism of GCSF is still under debate. This study aimed to model the complex pH-dependent aggregation behavior of GCSF using state-of-the-art simulation techniques. The conformational stability of GCSF was investigated by performing metadynamics simulations, while the protein-protein interactions were investigated using coarse-grained (CG) simulations of multiple GCSF monomers. The CG simulations were directly compared with small-angle X-ray (SAXS) data. The metadynamics simulations demonstrated that the orientations of Trp residues in GCSF are dependent on pH. The conformational change of Trp residues is due to the loss of Trp-His interactions at the physiological pH, which in turn may increase protein flexibility. The helical structure of GCSF was not affected by the pH conditions of the simulations. Our CG simulations indicate that at pH 4.0, the colloidal stability may be more important than the conformational stability of GCSF. The electrostatic potential surface and CG simulations suggested that the basic residues are mainly responsible for colloidal stability as deprotonation of these residues causes a reduction of the highly positively charged electrostatic barrier close to the aggregation-prone long loop regions.
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